Happy 5th Birthday, Samson!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY
SAMMY!

Only somewhat embarrassingly, I have no pics from Sam's birthday, which was on November 16th. But this doesn't bum me out too much because 1) we DID get a good pic of the cake that Sam and I decorated together (Ron baked it - gingerbread! - mmMMmm!), and 2) I think it's good to 'chill out' a little bit, sometimes, on the whole Documenting with Pictures for the Sake of Posting to a Website thing. All the pics I did take are fuzzy and uneventful.

Sam was actually 'sick' on his birthday. The day before, when i picked him up for school, his teacher Mr. Smith pointed out that Sam's eye had been getting red throughout the day and tearing quite a bit. When i looked at it, it surely looked like the beginnings of pink eye. We've all been dealing with colds and coughing and all that seasonal stuff, so it was no surprise. The next morning, it seemed iffy (still pink but not gooped) and i had told him the night before there was a chance he'd stay home on his birthday. So he did. And he was fine with that. Only the eye didn't progress (GOOD THING) and he was very much Super Active Boy despite me wanting him to get some rest. I had made 20 iced "ice cream cone" sugar cookies (which i really should have taken a pic of - i was proud of them - three colored 'scoops' with sprinkles!). He simply celebrated the next day. He came home all smiles with one of his own goodie bags we put together and a paper 'crown' with a big "5" on the top. SO PROUD!

My bugger is FIVE! It's one of those things: time's flying by, but at the same time, i feel like i've enjoyed and appreciated all five years. Not a day goes by where we take him for granted, even when he really !@#$%^& us off. He's our Sammy... and we love him more and more each day!

Hope & Sebastien Visit!!!

Well, this happened a whole month ago, so i apologize for just getting around to posting this. It's truly no SMALL thing, because Hope and Seb (Ron's sister and her husband) live on the West Coast and the last time we saw them was for their wedding last summer. If i could have my way, they'd move into the house that is vacant diagonally from us. But then again, Sam would probably bug the hell outta them every hour of every day and they'd be forced to move! ;-)
Hope and Seb just completed a 30 day long hiking adventure in Spain and France on a trail called Camino Frances. Hope's blog tracks their progress and journey. Most days, they hiked no less than 8-12 miles. EVERY DAY. I really admire them for not only committing to that sort of physical challenge, but also for their adventurous spirits. Everyone who knows them knows this sort of jaunt is not at all unique or unlike them; they've traveled the globe over, a few times, often plunking down to live for months/years at a time! So cool.


During their stay in cozy little Corning, they were without a car (unless borrowed from us), which didn't seem to bother them at all. They enjoyed a couple walks into town, and just plain relaxed and chilled here, reading or working on a jigsaw puzzle - yes, even with three crazy kiddos to keep them on their toes. Sam was completely enamored with Sebastien. I think Seb "had him at hello" when he agreed to play in the leaf piles out back. From that point on, Sam was tugging on Seb's hand repeatedly to do it again. Meanwhile, Thom crawled onto Hopey's lap on numerous occasion to hear some books or just plain snuggle for "huggies and kisses." Hank made his way around to both quite often as well.

On Halloween night, Hope and Seb manned the barracks at home (Ron had to work that night - poo!) with sleepy Hank while I took Sam and Thom around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating. I think they had a good ol' time, even if they only opened the door to about 16 total kids. Hope whipped together a crazy cat-lady costume while Seb was some sort of Fireman Zombie.
It's always SOO good to see them. The distance between us really bums me out a day or two right after they leave. But maybe by the time the boys are grown up, "they'll" have perfected the whole teletransportation thing and it will be much easier to see one another.

Pic du Jour! (another, for now...)

Pic du Jour!

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween season, Samson was TOTALLY into it all. He knew exactly what it all meant, counting down the days from 5 days ago, wearing his costume (Wolverine, a hand me down) just about every day, and just getting VERY PUMPED. This was Thom's first Halloween trick or treating, however, and let's just say that it definitely helped to have the influence of an older HYPER brother! By the second door, he had the whole "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" down pat. Of course, for Thom, it comes out "Tick TEE!" And his little fuzzy green Old Navy three-eyed monster costume was a hit! Another great find at the Sal Val. And it kept him warm! Luckily it was only in the 50s i believe, and clear. We literally went up the block, over, and back down, the kids little bags were FULL! It was just the right distance and time for Thom. At the end, he was struggling with the weight of his little bag and so we did "Teamwork, Teamwork!" (a little song he sang), Mommy holding one handle, Thom the other. Sam was SUPER good, leading the way with great manners and awesome enthusiasm. He was PSYCHED to finally be out, getting a bag full of treats! Unfortunately, Ron had to work, and Hope and Sebastien (Ron's sis and her hubby) are visiting for a few days and they stayed home and manned the door (only 15 kids!) and hung out with Hank, who just bounced and cooed. An awesome Halloween 2010 had by all!