He Really Ate It ALL!

After our efforts of cleaning up the art studio we let Samuel watch a movie - I think he chose Curious George. He wanted some popcorn (who doesn't love to watch a movie with popcorn?) so Jim popped some for him and put it in this very large bowl. It was probably at least half way full of popcorn.

When the movie was finished Samuel brought the bowl into the kitchen and it was EMPTY! He ate the entire bowl all by himself. I thought for sure he would be so sick but he wasn't (thank goodness). Luckily he likes his popcorn plain - no salt, no butter.

I still couldn't believe it.

Last Saturday

We worked hard last Saturday. My number one goal for the day was to get Samuel's "art studio" cleaned up so that he could actually use the desk in there to draw/create/whatever. I have had a hard time keeping up with his collection of "stuff". He loves to cut little pictures from magazine ad inserts (mostly of fish and other animals - from a pet magazine) and make collages. He also loves to keep EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF ARTWORK THAT HE DOES. He does a lot! So, I compromised with him on Saturday and told him he could keep 5 pieces of his artwork and hang them up in his art studio and then we would take a picture of the other billion pictures/creations and then throw them away. I didn't realize what a task it would be.

About 200 pictures later we have barely scratched the surface. We still have two and a half bags to go through. He loves to draw and create and I think that is great, but we are running out of room here and soon we will be running out of computer storage space : ).

What do others do with their kids' projects. I have tried just throwing them away after he goes to bed but he has an incredible memory and will ask about something he created months ago. I have a few ideas, but I haven't gone forward on any of them yet. I would love to hear any suggestions.

The art studio right after we set it up - pretty clean.



I really should have taken a picture of it before we cleaned it all up. Next time. Just picture mounds of papers, puppets, collages, etc. covering the workspace.

I Want To Remember

Today I over heard Samuel pretend playing with his toys and I heard him say, ". . . and then he scampered over to the other side".

I was surprised that he used the word "scampered" because I am pretty sure I don't use that word on a regular basis. It was really cute to hear him use his newly acquired vocabulary in an appropriate situation. He just soaks everything in - he amazes me.

Winter Sun

We took advantage of some beautiful sun and warm-ish weather yesterday.

It's snowing today. Crazy weather.

My Bag Is In A Treasury

A bag of mine is currently being featured in a treasury on the etsy web site. Here is the link. I was excited to see it there and wanted to document this occasion.

Eco A Go Go

Go take a look at some pretty fun bags!

George Vs. Asphalt

Yesterday George had a run in with the asphalt.


Unfortunately the asphalt won.

More Cute Pictures of My Boys

Samuel and Jim built this large staircase and they were so excited about it.

Cute, cute boys!

Snowboys

Samuel has been so excited to have snow that actually sticks around. He has been asking to build a snowman, so last week I finally went out with him and we made some snowboys - a snow Samuel and a snow George. I realized as I was outside rolling the snow that it was actually pretty fun. Sometimes I get so caught up in my daily routine that I forget about the simple fun things. I was happy to have Samuel there to remind me. He had a good time as well. Our next snow adventure will be a snow iguana. That should be interesting.

A New Tradition

Growing up Jim and his family always made Gingerbread houses around Christmas time and then ate them on New Year's Day. We decided to make it a tradition at our house to make a gingerbread house as well. I cheated a little and bought a kit at Costco - so worth the money!

We all had a lot of fun putting it together (and then destroying it on New Year's Day). It was fun to see the creative ideas that we each had.

Jim and Samuel with the initial building of the house

The goods that will go on the house to decorate it (I'm not sure why the iPod is in the picture - that certainly didn't go on the gingerbread house)

Being decorated

The finished product (photograph courtesy of Samuel)

More Christmas Celebrations

We are blessed to live close enough to both of our families that we get to see them both on special holidays - like Christmas! We spent some time with my family in the early afternoon of Christmas day and then headed on up to see Jim's family. It is always nice to get together with family and reminisce about the past. The boys always have fun playing with their cousins. Jim's mom has seven grandsons under the age of 10 and only one granddaughter, so she wanted to get a picture of them in matching shirts with the granddaughter in pink. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to get seven young children to cooperate for a simple picture, but it was. This was the best we could do (Samuel was very unhappy that he had to change shirts - he wasn't the most cooperative AND George doesn't like to hold still very much either).

At least Grandma got her picture (one grandson was not there).

Since we are usually in the Salt Lake area on Christmas day we decided to make it a tradition to stop by Temple Square at night to see the beautiful lights.

I love the background of this picture with the Salt Lake Temple and then Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus:

Samuel bundled up to see the lights

We find it a nice way to end our evening of festivities by hearing the story of Christ's birth and seeing the beautiful temple grounds.

Christmas Morning

I have always loved Christmastime - everything about it. The focus of Christ in our lives, the kindness shown by most everyone, the time spent with family, the smells, sights, etc. We enjoyed a nice few days being together as a family that were different than the usual daily routine.

Christmas morning (bad hair and everything - probably bad breath too!)

We had ordered a special something for George for Christmas and realized two days before Christmas that it was actually on backorder and would not be here anytime in the near future. I was so sad because it seemed like the perfect gift for our music lover. I was also sad because that meant that I had to go out two days before Christmas and brave the crowds in last minute shopping. I was able to find a toy that I thought would be an ok substitute. Nothing great, but I figured George would like it. Luckily, he was super excited to have this little music toy.

It was in his stocking, so it was the first thing he opened and he did not put it down the entire morning. He showed no interest in any other presents. I was glad that he enjoyed it so much and it made me not feel so bad about the other thing that I had ordered. Maybe next year he will get the other present (if it isn't still on backorder!).

Samuel was also super excited about his present. He has been very interested in the books "The Magic Tree House" series for a good part of this year. I think there are about 45 books or something in the series. We have read many of them as bedtime stories and he just loves them. We have also listened to some on cd (which is great in the car when I just need some quiet time without questions). I was able to find a great deal for the first 28 books in the series. When he opened his present his face just lit up and he couldn't believe how many "Jack and Annie" books (that is what he calls them - Jack and Annie are brother and sister and are the main characters in the books) he now had. It was so fun to see him so excited about BOOKS! I love it. All day at random moments he would whisper to me "mom, I can't believe how many Jack and Annie books I got!" We decided to begin reading the series from number one and go in order. It has been really fun reading them together. Jim and I even get sucked into them and want to find out what happens.

Samuel also received the much anticipated sunglasses that he had asked for.

Sunglasses are kind of hard to find in the middle of December. These cool shades were found at the dollar store and he loves them. I think they are cute in a funny sort of way.

Jim has been bugging me - I mean encouraging me - to get our blog printed out into a book. So for his Christmas present I did just that.

It isn't anything spectacular, but it does have our blog from the first post through just before Christmas in it, including pictures. Since I have been no good at keeping a journal or scrapbook lately, I figured this would be better than nothing. He was super excited about it.

I was super excited to get a nice new, warm coat for Christmas from Jim.

He picked it out all himself - which I was impressed with. It fits perfectly and is very warm and comfortable. Probably the nicest coat I have ever had. He also gave me some nice warm mittens that work great.

Opening presents from Aunt Stephanie!

An unknown person left some packages on our doorstep a few days before Christmas. Samuel insisted that we needed to wait to open them until Christmas. Inside the two packages were some adorable pajamas for both boys. Samuel was very excited to see Orca whales and polar bears on his.

I think he wore these most of Christmas day and then the day after. George, of course, was still entertained by the music toy he opened first. But he will like his pajamas as well. Thank you to whoever left them for us!

Merry Christmas 2009

Although giving and receiving gifts are fun, I am thankful for the true reason we celebrate Christmas. I am so grateful for my Savior and for the role he plays in my life. I love being able to honor Him and remember Him and his birth not only at Christmas time, but throughout the entire year. It is nice to have a holiday where we all think of Him and his gift to us.