I can't believe how old Sam looks in recent pictures.  He is really growing up and turning into a big kid. 

My Bedstefar is here visiting from Denmark.  He brought some things to make a kite with Sam because he knew what fond memories I have of making kites on our visits when I was a kid.  Sam thought it was dang cool, and brought it for his show-and-tell that day.  Since then, he asks almost every day when it will be windy enough to fly it.

Sam has been very into the Halloween season.  They've been doing lots of fun things at school with it.  On ghost day, he brought this home.  It's a picture of a ghost, who ate 5 other ghosts (a mommy ghost, a daddy ghost, an Owen ghost, an Emmett ghost, and a Jacob ghost).  And once I looked closer, I saw he had written "Boo" on it.  I was impressed, and asked Sam if he did that all by himself.  "Sure!  B-O-O spells Boo!"

We've also done a few things here at home, too.  The other day we went to happy hour at Sonic with some friends, and one of the car hops brought out balloons for all of the kids.  When we got home, Samuel wanted to draw a scary face on his.  "Here are the big spooky eyes, and a round nose, and scary sharp teeth, grrrrrr." 

And while I'm here, I ought to do some back blogging.  (I thought I had caught up on that, until I realized I never blogged about Sam learning to ride his bike or soccer.)  So way back in May, Samuel popped his bike tires.  We could not find new 10" tubes anywhere, so Erik just bought a new bike for $5 at the D.I. with the intention of taking the tires off of it and putting them on Sam's bike.  Samuel saw that bike and ended up being very taken by "his new silver bike."  So Erik took him to the church parking lot and we were totally impressed with Samuel's balance, but he still struggled a bit.  He could do a straight line, but couldn't turn or start himself without a running push from Erik.  That's where we left it for the time being. 

A couple days later, Sam brought that bike with him to the park even though he wasn't riding it.  His buddy Gabe, who is a maniac and has zero fear, and is also an expert on his balance bike, gave Sam's bike a shot.  In 10 minutes flat, Gabe was a pro.  We decided to switch bikes for the day, so that Gabe could show his dad.  The next day Gabe rode over to our house on his new bike (also $5 from DI).  That was all it took for Sam.  He hopped onto his own bike and took off without help.  I was blown away.  That evening, Sam took Erik out to show him his new skills.  Clearly, he was still working on stopping and accurately stearing, but that didn't stop us from being impressed.  By the next day he was a pro, and pretty much didn't get off his bike for the rest of the summer.

Samuel started his soccer season in August.  His first practice was the Saturday after Emmett was born.  So the first couple weeks were a bit crazy, but I am so glad we had something for him to do in the evenings when the world pretty much stopped for a few weeks there with Baby 3!  There were a few practices, then 4 on 4 games twice a week.  Samuel was on the same team as two of his neighborhood buddies and a boy he goes to school with.  Sam had a lot of fun, although sometimes at the cost of his father's complete and total frustration.  Erik was diligent taking videos with his phone, but I didn't once bring the camera to take pictures.  I realized that, and planned to most definitely have it with me at the last game.  Except that Sam came down with a fever of 104 that afternoon and was in mood for a soccer game, even if it was the last.  He was disappointed, but cheered up when Nathan brought over his medal. 

So, while I'm here documeting the Amazing Mr. Sammers, I do believe it's time for a new edition of Samuel Says.  It's been so long.  I could write a book.  But instead, I'll just highlight some recent favorites.

• He loves to ask about animals if they have teeth and if they lay eggs.  One day he knew he was being silly when he asked me if monster trucks lay eggs.  I told him of course they don't, to which he replied, "Sure monster trucks lay eggs, that's where Hummers come from."   
• Em started fussing while Sam was holding him.  He rubbed his head and said softly, "It's ok, don't worry, Samuel is here."
• Another time I was holding Em on my shoulder.  Sam said, "Aw, he looks so cute like that, like a tiny . . . . TIRE!"
• Owen totally sneezed on Sam, who was not happy about it.  He yelled at him, "Owen, that's disgusting, I'm not a tissue!!"    
• Sam stopped his playing one day to randomly tell me, "Mom, I wish we had a balcony and fancy stairs."  Me, a little confused, "A balcony??"  "Yeah, so me and Owen could play on them."
• For Pet Day at school, Samuel wanted to bring his stuffed moneky, and polar bear and seal.  The other two boys and I came to meet the other animals, and watch Sam share his.  The moms all went up front with their kids who had real pets.  So when it was Sam's turn (he was the first without a real pet to share) I thought it was really sweet that he still wanted me to come up front with him.  Then he proceeded to show his "pets."  I didn't give him any prompting, because he knew just what he wanted to say.  "This is my monkey.  He lives in the jungle and likes to eat bananas and bugs.   This is my polar bear and seal.  They are artic animals.  The polar bear is a land animal and the seal is a water animal, but the polar bear can swim in the water and the seal comes onto land.  The polar bear is the predator with very sharp teeth and he swims after the seal and eats him."  At this point, Samuel started acting out a very dramatic predator vs. prey with his animals, complete with sound effects.  Then he stopped.  "Ok, that's it.  I'm done now.  Any questions?"  It was great.
• He was playing an iPad game with Erik and asked, "This game is going to be more technical?"  We laughed, "Uh, what do you mean by that?"  "I mean, like it's gonna be more difficult?" 
• Preparing the boys for conference, Sam was not having it.  "Conference makes me siiiiiick.  I need to go lie down in my bed with the light off and rest.  Mom, you can bring me breakfast up there."  But he did take it upon himself to make sure Erik was up and ready for conference.  "Mooooom, I told Dad to get dressed and come down for conference but he didn't hear me.  Now I'm going to go back up and tell him in my loudest voice.  My loudest voice EVER!"  So he took off, and I heard him yelling, "DAD!!!  IT'S CONFERENCE!  YOU NEED TO COME LISTEN TO THE PROPHET SPEAK TO US NOOOOOOW!"
• He was burping at the dinner table, and I asked him to stop.  "I'm not burping.  Those are bird calls.  *burp*  See, that was an Amercan parrot from Asia.  *burp*  That was a North American bird from India."  Then he gargled, so I rolled my eyes and asked what that one was.  "That was just a human gargling."
• Seriously, this kid does. not. turn. off.  He wakes up talking and doesn't stop until he is asleep at night.  Perfect example:  I heard his door open one morning.  I'm still in bed and hear him lift up the toilet lid.  I heard the pee begin.  Then I heard Samuel, "Mom, are predators nocturnal?"  What do you think Sam? "Lions are predators, and they're nocturnal."  Flush. "But cheetahs aren't nocturnal, they have black lines on their face to protect from the sun, so they must be diurnal."  Walking downstairs. "And cheetahs are predators, so that means all predators aren't nocturnal, I guess.  Owen turn off the light upstairs, you don't want to waste electricity!" Downstairs now. "Oh, I forgot my new micro machine upstairs.  I lost it but then I found . . . " voice fades as he goes upstairs, but here he comes again  " . . . my army truck and they go in the big helicopter."  He takes a breath.  "MOM!" and this is where he goes into a monologue about lung fish and how they breath and Jeremy Wade on River Monsters. Then, finally, "I'm ready for breakfast, can I have some waccles?"  Right.  He knows the difference between nocturnal and diurnal, but still can't say the word waffles.

Anyway, so that's our not so little Samuel.  Who is almost 5.   

I really wanted to make this summer a good one before Little Lambert entered our lives and shook things up a bit.  We really had such a great summer and did so many fun things.  In fact, the first two weeks with Baby at home, Samuel asked every day, "What's today, a pool day?  A friend day?  A park day?  A field trip day?"  The boys didn't really know what to do with themselves hanging out at home all day every day!

August 6, 2011

So the Saturday before D-Day, I wanted to make sure we had one last family hurrah before we became a Party of Five!  We kept it low key, just playing at the park and splash pad all afternoon then finishing up the evening at Cafe Rio.  But it was still a lot of fun to have the special time together.

August 8, 2011

I figured we better fit in a last hurrah with the friends, too.  So the Monday before D-Day, we headed up to the children's museum in Salt Lake.  We've been there so many times, but it never gets old.  And it's always good for a day-long outing with our friends!

I took 46 pictures.  For the whole month.  (To compare, in May I took 331.  In June I took 397.  August was 348.)  We must have been too busy enjoying our summer.  Living it up before Baby made his debut.  Here's the rundown of July, being fully aware that we are well into September at this point. 

We thoroughly enjoyed Sno-Cone season.  Pretty sure at 8 months pregnant, I was a regular at the Sno-Shak down the street.  Like 4 times a week.  Easy.

We played.  A lot.  Inside.  Outside.  Near.  Far.

And that about sums it up.

July 2011

We took swimming lessons in Provo with our friends the Adcocks and the Christeans a while back.  It was a drama filled couple of weeks.  During the first lesson, once they saw what he could do in the water, Samuel was moved up a level.  Besides leaving the class with his buddies, Sam moved from the Whale class to the Lobster class, which had no bearing on anything other than the little picture on the sign the kids had to stand under to wait for their teacher.  But to Sam it was the worst thing you could possibly do to a 4 year old.  "Because lobsters are slow and small."  I cannot even tell you how frustrating it made those next several days.  It took the first week, but Sam finally got over it, and by the last lesson had passed everything off and got to move up a level again! 

Owen, on the other hand, loved the first week of our Mom and Tot swim class.  He was giddy and talked non-stop about going to "teacher in da water pool."   He jumped in the pool, put his face under, blew bubbles, floated on his back, kicked his legs, and scooted along the edge of the pool without me holding onto him.  Owen especially loved that he got to do this with his girlfriends, Emily and Charley.  Then he got an ear infection.  And that pretty much ruined the last week for him.  Bleh. 

But I am still glad we did swim lessons.  The boys were so comfortable in the water the rest of the summer.  Samuel, especially, blew me away with his awesome swimming skills.  It was super fun to watch them practice and get better each time we went to the pool for the next couple months. 

The one and only picture I have from the whole two weeks.  Oh well!

Um.  It's been a whole month.  Since we were in Brian Head.  How the heck did that happen??  Here's the quick rundown . . .

So Erik's awesome parents, the beloved Grandma and Grandpa B, rented out a huge cabin in Brian Head, Utah from July 2-9 for all of their kids and grandkids.  We were really really looking forward to a fun family week in the beautiful, cool mountains.  I was selfish enough to ask Erik if he would take the boys ahead for the first two days and then let me catch up.  I desperately needed some quiet time to myself at home.  So Saturday morning I kissed my three guys goodbye and sent them on their way.  Erik checked in when they arrived safely, only to call me a few hours later and report, "Well, you sure missed all the drama!"  Ugh.  Not the best thing to tell an already anxious Mama.  Turned out as Erik and the boys were the first to arrive, he started unloading the van while the boys played in the garage.  A few minutes into it, he confiscated the bottle of oxiclean that Owen has spraying Samuel with.  A few minutes after that, Owen had the bottle again, with oxiclean dripping down his chin and soaking his shirt.  In this point of the story, I remember yelping and tearing up and asking in a panic, "Is he ok, did you call poison control, how's he doing now, why didn't you call me right when this happened????" and about a hundred other things.  Erik of course responded calmly and told me he had cleaned Owen up, read the back of the bottle, got Owen a drink, and promptly gave him a preisthood blessing.  And that is why I married this man.  Owen was just fine, and showed no signs of anything ever. 

After that, Erik got to load the boys back up in the van and drive 2 more hours south to St George to rescue Jared and his girlfriend who had been run off the road by a semi.  The boys got to sit in the car at 100+ degrees on the side of the road while the grown-ups moved the entire contents of one tightly packed Prius into our van.  Of course, crazy mom that I am, I again panicked about the fact that I had only prepared Erik and the boys for a barely 3 hour drive from Springville to Brianhead.  But once again, they all handled it like a champ.  That night when I talked to Erik again, everyone had survived, made it to the cabin, and was doing well.  Phew.

So the rest of the week was far less eventful.  Thank goodness.  We did hiking, exploring, adventuring, playing, and all sorts of other great things.  It seriously was such an awesome week, and we sure did enjoy ourselves!!  We love our family tons, and I am seriously so thankful for the relationships we have with them.  I love that my boys can grow up like this, knowing their family, loving their family, and knowing their family loves them, too.  We are pretty spectacularly blessed, if you ask me.

Monday July 4: Look out points at Cedar Breaks, small hike that took us through leftover snow, dinner with Erik's aunts, uncles, and cousins, fireworks in Brian Head. 

Story of the day: On the hike, most of the group got far ahead, so Erik and I thought we were funny making moose calls to them.  Then they'd holler back.  Erik might have gotten a bit carried away demonstrating his sasquatch call.  It did not sit well with Owen, who was riding on Erik's shoulders.  O panicked big time and even after he finally calmed down, he still didn't stop telling us, "I scared a' da moooose!"

Tuesday July 5: I was feeling yuuuuuck.  O and I hung out at the cabin while Erik went out with Sam and the rest of the family.

Wednesday July 6: Bryce Canyon.  A few look out points, a couple little hikes, lots of dirt, family picnic, a stop in "downtown" Bryce Canyon for ice cream, and tons of 4 year old drama.

Thursday July 7: Quiet time at the cabin, fishing "practice" at Panquitch Lake, then the "real deal" later that afternoon just Erik and Sam, date night in Cedar City at the Shakespeare Festival.

Story of the day: On the way home from fishing, Sam said from the backseat, "Hey, Dad, there's a worm on my foot."  Erik, smart man that he is, pulled over quickly and was right in assuming it was no worm.  Sam pulled it off himself, and then got a biology lesson on leaches during their ride home.  He had a fine time telling everyone the story when he got back to the cabin.

Friday July 8: Cedar Breaks National Park, Sam became a Junior Ranger, family picnic, hike to Cascade Falls that started in the cold rain and hail and ended in the hot sunshine.

Story of the day: Along the hike, Samuel found a great sandy spot under an overhang, with lots of rocks and such.  He quickly became a paleontologist and enlisted the help of his brother and cousins to help him discover fossils and dinosaur bones.

Saturday July 9: Clean up the mess, load up the cars, go HOME!  Phew.  Vacation is exhausting!!  But such a wonderful adventure.  Thanks Rob and Linda for setting up and providing such a great week and lots of memories!

Erik was working late one night, so while I grilled up some bratwurst outside, I told they boys they could come out in their rain boots and play in the puddles.  Which was apparently very loosely interpreted to mean, "Come out in your rain boots, but then take them off, and don't forget to get nakey, too!"

Our t-ball season came to an end last week.  It's been such a fun experience for everyone.  Samuel loved it, learned a lot, and almost conquered the "no crying in baseball" rule.  Owen learned to be a great little spectator.  Erik always made an effort to be there for the games and help out with the team.  After the last game, Sam could hardly contain himself when he got a TROPHY!!  We just started swimming lessons for July.  Soccer starts in August.  Bring it on.

Anatomy of a first-base hit.

Playing the field.  Look alive, Sam, look alive!

Could there really be anything more exciting than a REAL trophy made of METAL?!

One of my blogging friends was in town and invited us to meet up in Spanish Fork at the splash pad.  It was packed, but still so much fun.  I was surprised when Sam was the one who didn't want to play, and O jumped right in.  Samuel warmed up to it though, and before long both boys were running around, fighting the fountains, stomping on the sprays, and have a grand ol' time.  We will for sure be going back there again!

The teacher we've taken gymnastics classes from for the last several years through Mapleton decided to change directions a bit.  She moved to a local gymnastics place and took over the mobile gymnastics bus with her son.  We set it up for the month of June.  So each Wednesday, the gymnastics bus parked in front of our house and we had classes with our neighbors!  There was such a huge response, that we had to split the group into 2 classes.  It was a lot of fun, and the boys enjoyed it lots.  They loved watching out the window each Wednesday for the bus to show up.  We love Teacher Deana, and she once again did a great job with the kids.

9 of the 14 kiddos.

A vanilla ice cream cone is definitely the boys' favorite treat.  Usually I get kiddie sizes.  So it was a special treat at the zoo the other week when they got full sized cones.  And they both devoured them.  When they were finished, the only thing left was four messy hands and two very sticky faces.