Samuel turns 9!

Samuel wanted a shark cake for his birthday. I got online and found this one. He loved it.
Samuel saw this shovel back in October and wanted to get it because it is "his" size. The handle does extend to make it more his size. Now we just need to wait for the snow to come so he can use it. We had frozen fog that came through a couple of days ago, and the sidewalk/parkinglot at the church, had a skiff of frost. So Samuel took his snow shovel over there and shoveled up the snow and brought it over to our house :)

Samuel has been wanting an alarm clock for a long time. He was excited to get this. He's used it every morning, except Saturdays. I told him that Saturday was our day to sleep in so he can't use it then. This has been a great gift to me too. He set it on his dresser, which is across the room from his bed. So when it goes off, (and I can hear it down the hallway and in the kitchen just fine) he has to get out of bed to turn it off. That means he wakes up all on his own. I don't have to call his name 5 times anymore before he gets out of bed!!!! It's a win/win situation!! Sarah I guess doesn't care for it much since they share a room, but I don't let him set it too early. He gets to set it for 7:15am and that is a good time for her to wake up too.

This looked like a book that was made for Samuel. It shows you how to build a model airplane, wooden tank, boomerang and other wooden toys. The guy said he wrote it to get kids away from video games and TV. Its supposed to be simple enough for kids to make, with adult supervision of course.

Samuel has a wonderful Primary Teacher. She brought his present this morning as she dropped her son off for Seminary. What more could a 9 year old boy want than 3 big bags of candy!!!

We love our Samuel! He is such a wonderful example to everyone around. He is so kind, and cares about everyone. He tries to solve every one's problems at school. He told me one of his successes. He saw a girl that was sad, so he asked her what was wrong. She said that she and her friend were fighting. He asked why, and she told him what happened. Then he goes to her friend and talks to her. He tells her that if she just went over and said sorry, that she and her friend could play the rest of recess. So the girl listens to Samuel and apologizes to her friend. Sure enough, they forgive each other and were able to play together for the rest of the day! One day I decided to pick Samuel, Jacque and Calista up from school. They still had to walk through the park to get to the car, but it isn't that far. I guess Calista had hurt her ankle during one of her recesses, and was limping, so Samuel stopped and let her climb on his back for a piggy back ride all the way to the car. There have been other times when we're going on a walk and Ellen will be straggling behind us, and he'll bend down so she can climb on his back and he'll carry her the rest of the way home.

He loves scouts and earned his Wolf badge in 9 months. He's excited to be a Bear now so he can earn more badges.

His teachers love him at school. He is learning cursive and multiplication and loves both of them. He says that multiplication is a lot more fun than addition and subtraction.

Samuel loves to think of inventions, or ways to make things run better. He takes after his dad in this area. He comes to me regularly with new ideas on how to make a model airplane, gun, or other contraption.

He loves to play soccer and air hockey. Aaron can still beat him regularly, but he's good competition for me.

He's been reading a lot of Calvin and Hobbes lately and can't wait until we get actual snow, frost doesn't count! He also enjoys reading Garfield, Magic Treehouse, Boxcar Children, and he's enjoying Farmer Boy (we're reading that one as a family at nighttime).

I love my big, little boy! Happy Birthday to you, Samuel!!!

Our snow/frozen fog

I just thought these were pretty pictures!

The Lady With The Alligator Purse

One of my girls' favorite books is The Lady With The Alligator Purse. Jacque will read it to the girls, and she's done it so many times that I can't tell if Calista can read it, or if it is just memorized. We got to watch one of our friends today, and Ellen sat down to read him the book. After listening to her, I grabbed my camera and had her read it again. Hopefully you can hear her little voice. Don't get too impressed, because I know it is all memorization. Sorry you don't get to see the pictures while she's reading, but I couldn't get them to show up very well.

Our Pumpkins

Every year I'm excited to paint pumpkins. And this year we got to paint pumpkins from our very own garden!! Most of the pumpkins turn out like the little pumpkins in this picture, which is fine because its just another fun activity to do with your pumpkin. However this year, Samuel and Jacque got a little more creative. Jacque painted her pumpkin and did a great job making a face. Samuel let me help him paint his pumpkin (the big one). We looked at some coloring pages that I got online, and then I drew it on the pumpkin and Samuel painted it. The more I look at it, the more his pumpkin makes me feel at home. It seems that whenever a camera get pulled out at family gatherings, there is at least one person in my family, or extended family for that matter, that likes to make a similar face :p I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween

Here's our fun costumes for this year. I found them all at the Salvation Army for $5, with a few accessories for $1. Before going shopping, we looked at costumes online and Samuel saw a Darth Vader costume and asked if he could be it. He was so excited when we went to the store and found one. When we first went, we found the outfit and a plastic mask. But when we returned, we found this really cool hard plastic mask that makes your voice sound like Darth's voice, and it even had some pre-recorded messages. The suit also lights up some too. He loved it. We had a light saber but forgot to bring it.

Poor Samuel didn't have much fun at the trunk or treat. He said his tummy hurt, then said, "Mom I think we need to hurry." On the way to the bathroom, as he was running, he ended up throwing up in the parking lot. Luckily he was smart enough to turn his head so it didn't get on him, or anyone else!! And yes, he had already taken off his mask. But once he got it out of his system he was just fine. Since he had a mask, I let him go to each of the cars since he wasn't breathing on anyone. He never did have any problems after that.

Here's our pretty Jacque!! She was Cinderella. I started looking at the girls' dresses and thought about how cold Halloween usually is, so I made them little cloaks. Jacque's is actually a baby blanket that she got as a baby. I just sewed on an eye and hook thing and ta-da a fancy looking, warm cape was made. And I didn't have to ruin the blanket!!!! Jacque loved getting her picture taken, actually all the girls did so I have multiple pictures of them.

Side view

Jacque's hair. I was actually pleased with myself on this one. I did the woven thing on top and brought them into two pig tails. Then I put it all in a pony tail. Divided the pony tail into two braids. Wrapped the braids around to form a bun and then put the big hair tie around it to hold it all. This was a combination of different styles I found on that website. I thought it turned out very pretty, and she almost looked like the REAL Cinderella!!

I'm not sure where the smile went! She really was having fun!!

There she is!!!

Here's Sleeping Beauty Calista! I made the cloak and hand muff our of some fleece I got for free. The best part is that the back of the fleece already had the words Sleeping Beauty!! It was perfect and it sure helped keep her warm! The crown didn't stay on long. We had to take it off before we left the house. If anyone knows a good way to keep these things on, let me know. They are always popping off their heads.

Sleeping Beauty!! I did a twist around her head and ended it with a rope braid to keep it going.

Calista without the crown and cloak!

I'm not sure if Calista was more excited about the socks or shoes!!!

Ellen is Baby Bop from Barney!! I liked this one and Sarah's because they were both warm. Ellen likes to go around the house with a high pitch squeal which I found out is actually her dinosaur roar! Here are some more Baby Bop pics. She was having fun!

And this is actually the final costume. When she saw the girls getting in their princess dresses, all of a sudden she didn't want to be Baby Bop anymore. She wanted to be a princess. I was worried about her getting cold, so I had the brilliant idea that she could be a Baby Bop Princess! She loved it, although she added that she would be a Baby Bop Sleeping Beauty Princess because there is a medallion on the dress that has Sleeping Beauty's picture on it! Isn't she cute!! We had to explain her outfit to a lot of people!

And here's our Sarah. She's a Poodle!! And she was a warm little poodle. Whenever I felt her hands they were nice and toasty. This is actually a size 2T-3T so it was big on her. I like this picture because she is walking and you can see the poodle better.

Peek-a-boo!!

I love the smile!

What did you say?

Calista goes to kindergarten on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She loves kindergarten and can't wait to get homework. She gets so excited and finishes it within the first 30 minutes when she gets home. If we have to read a story 5 times, she wants to do it NOW! It is fun to see her enthusiasm for learning.

On her days home, she is constantly wanting to do learning, or help Ellen on her learning. It is kind of tiresome to try and keep up with her energy, and at times I wish they could have school every day just so she doesn't get bored. But she is also such a good help at home. She just keeps me on my toes!

Well this morning, I was looking on the computer and trying to listen to what Calista was saying at the same time. The next thing I know, she's saying, "Huh mom, do you? Do you?" I said, "Sure!" not really knowing what I agreed to. But within a few seconds I suddenly realized what I had done to myself. I could faintly recall a small voice saying, "Hey mom, I can count to 100 plus 100. Do you want to hear it? Huh mom, do you? Do you?" And that's when I said "Sure!" So she began and successfully counted to 100 plus 100, which I taught her was called 200! She did a great job, without missing a number! What a smart girl I have!!!

No! He's in a box!

Ellen is very to the point sometimes. Ori and her family spent the night Thursday night. Adam had to go to Boardman to get a pipe for a guy in Utah, so they made a "family vacation" out of it. After breakfast, Ori, Ellen and I were sitting around the table, waiting for Ellen to finish her breakfast. Somehow we got talking and Ellen said, "Pops died!" Ori was trying to be sympathetic and said, "Yeah, that sad....but he's happier where he is now." Ellen's eyes get big and she says, "NO! HE'S IN A BOX!" I guess she hasn't caught on to all of our talks about what happens after we die.