Camping at Alum Creek

 Prior to Ben's banishment to Springfield (1 hour away) for this month's ambulatory family med rotation, we took a little family camping trip to Alum Creek.  Was I a little worried we were crazy?  Yes.

E remembered camping with Daddy a few short months ago for our ward's Fathers and Sons activity, so he was super stoked.  We started out the camping with a bang because E really had to go potty and couldn't make it to the bathroom station...so what's a boy to do?  Why, give the nearest tree an extra drink, of course!  He thought that was hilarious and consequently had to go potty many times after that.  We made him go to the bathroom station after that though, so that sort of squelched his enthusiasm.

 (There was a large cement parking pad at our campsite, so E got to ride in circles on his little bike during slower moments.)

 In time-out for some infraction...

 Sammi and Dada

He thoroughly enjoyed helping me set up the tent and couldn't wait to go to sleep in it.  He was practically begging to go to bed.  He was so intrigued with the idea of roasting a hot dog in the fire for dinner and was so pleased with himself that he ate the whole thing, bun and all.

We all piled into the tent, read a few chapters of The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and then Ben and I stayed up and chatted around the campfire while warding off raccoons.  Those things are creepy.  It was really nice to just sit and talk to Ben.  E faithfully waited up for us in the tent with his flashlight, and kept poking his head out saying, "Mommy!  Look at those pretty stars!" while Sammi was zonked in her princess-sized pack n' play.  Surprisingly, we all slept really well.  I was expecting much worse.

The next morning we packed up and headed to the Alum Creek beach.  Sammi has never experienced sand before, but she really liked it.  She liked it so much that she kept shoveling handfuls in her mouth and chewing.  I know, it makes me cringe too.  She was so dang fast, it was hard to keep her from doing it.

When it was time to go, E started bawling that he wanted to sleep in the tent for another night and asked if he could bring this sad little wet leaf home.  I think he just wanted something to remember his fun camping trip by. :(  Poor little guy.

Rollercoaster

Emerson has started to get really creative with his toys.  I love eavesdropping on his little scenarios when he doesn't think anyone is paying attention.  I was trying to tidy up a bit when he angrily came over to me and said "Mommy, don't!  It's my rollercoaster!"  Apparently Cedar Point made a big impression on him.  He used the trains to prop up pieces of the train track to be bumpy like a real rollercoaster.  Obviously he's very pleased with himself...and obviously we need to buy some longer jammies for our homeless child in the background.  (When's the flood coming?)

I'm glad the trains are ok.  I was worried when they were all tipped over being crushed by the heavy track. :)

13 Months

 I don't know where the time has gone.  She's getting so dang huge.  I love every single stage with my kids for different reasons.  Her stage right now is pure busy-ness coupled with pure adorableness.  

What Sammi girl has been up to:

 She thoroughly enjoys putting raspberries on her fingers.  This is right before she launches them onto the ground but only after she's announced, "Uh uh-oh" to me.  She plans these things out, I tell you.  And she doesn't feel bad in the least when she sees me picking things up from under the highchair.  She just looks sort of satisfied that she came up with a plan and then successfully carried it out. 

E copied Sammi and insisted I take a picture.  I can't complain...he's cute, AND he's actually looking at the camera!

And back to Sammi.

-She's learned the signs for "more" and "all done" and even surprised us by saying the words, "All done" while shaking her little hands for the sign.  

-She walks around the house greeting everything with "hi, hi, hi, hi" and likes to pretend everything is a phone by placing it on her shoulder and saying "hi".

-She insists on being my extra appendage which is usually ok until I have to cook dinner.  That's her whiniest time so it's kind of hard.

-She likes to snuggle with blankies and stuffed animals and says "Ohhhhh" to them while she lays her head on them.

-She loves everyone's shoes on the shoe tray by our back door, only she likes to suck on them rather than wear them so I strongly discourage her from doing that.

-She loves to brush her teeth and knows to wander into the bathroom after I get her jammies on and then reaches as high as she can until I get her toothbrush down for her.

-She decided she does not like when I tell her no.  She shook her finger back at me while saying "N! N! N!"  (Hasn't quite figured out the whole word "no" yet thankfully.)

-She has learned a few animal sounds like woof, roar, baa, peep, meow, moo.

-She barks at all the doggies she sees and reaches for them.  I insist on keeping her a safe distance away though since I'm a dog hater.  There, I said it.  I only allow her to pet our neighbor's dog because he's small and has no teeth.  Then I promptly wash her afterward.

-Her favorite food is gogurt.  Not yogurt, just gogurt.  She thinks she's eating it all by herself.

-She gives great hugs, sometimes while saying "oooh!"

-She loves books.

-She is still adored and loved by all in our family.

Just To Brighten Your Day...

 In case you were feeling sad, here's something to cheer you up.

We found this ring-pop sucker at World Market that has Mater teeth attached.  Worth the 50 cents, definitely.  And yes, yes it is the same sucker in both of their mouths.  E insisted that he share with Sammi before I could stop him.  So I gave in and grabbed the camera instead.

To Utah for B's Farewell

 After Grandpa and Brad's visit to Columbus, the kids and I got to visit the rest of the fam in Utah while poor Ben had to stay home to start his fourth year.  That's right, FOURTH YEAR!  It has flown by.  But that is a post for another time.

Sammi discovered that she likes DVDs.  And what we call "pretties".  She pulled some ribbons off her birthday boxes (which were fastened together in big loops) and she instinctively knew they were supposed to be decorative.  It was the cutest thing to see her toddling around, finding her pretties, and meticulously draping all 3 on herself and then deciding she was beautiful enough to continue on with whatever 1-year-olds have to get to.  I loved the little pleased look on her face as she showed them off to anyone that would look.

 She's very good at playing Angry Birds with Aunt Nat. (While wearing pretties)

 What would a trip to Utah be without a ride on the train at Hogle Zoo?  A complete and utter failure, I tell you.

 Sammi likes trains too, but I think mostly because E does, and she yearns for his approval.

 Nat was mistaken for Sammi's mom a couple of times.  I can see the resemblance, can't you? 

 E and part of Grandma in front of the train.

 Mmmm...those cheeks, that double chin, that NECK!  I want to kiss them all.

 Little monkies

 One of my proudest moments as a mother so far occurred in Utah.  Sammi discovered purses!  So stinkin' cute.

 Sammi and her good buddy Grandpa.

 Grandpa is always up for playing outside.

 E discovered that he fits in the little narrow window by the front door.  How useful!

 Grandma J surprised Emerson with a special trip on the Heber Creeper...or Heber Valley Railroad if you want to get technical.  You should hear E say "Heber Creeper".  It's funny.

 Nat and E with the engine

E even gets cuted out by Sammi and can't help but maul her.

Grandma, E, and Uncle Brad on the train.  He discovered that he's very terrified of train whistles when they are close.  Emerson, that is.  Not Brad.  He dove into somebody's arms every time the train whistled.  Well, not just anybody's...they were always arms belonging to someone in our family.

E's proud little face with the conductor INSIDE the engine.  The conductor was so nice to give E a little tour of the engine and to show him how everything worked.  E didn't say much, but you could tell he was thinking about it all and filing it away for later use.  He thought he was the luckiest boy in the world when he got to see the engine couple up to the train cars.  He described it like this "The engine bashed us just a wittle bit (with fingers demonstrating a small amount) until it coupled up!"

The reason for our visit was to attend Uncle Brad's farewell and to see him one last time before he left on his mission.  We had a great ten days with the whole family and Brad did a wonderful job on his talk.  We're going to miss seeing him for the next two years, but are so proud of him.  We're glad we got to spend so much time together as a family before he left.  Thanks for flying us out yet again, parents!

A Visit From Grandpa and Brad

 We had a visit from Uncle B planned for quite awhile, and then my darling husband had the great idea to talk my dad into coming too!  Dads/grandpas usually don't have the opportunity/excuse to come out often what with being the breadwinners and all.  Grandmas are usually the ones to help with new babies and stuff, although I'm sure my dad would do a great job helping me with a new baby sometime. :)

We planned a huge weekend o' fun together which included picking Ben up from his Boards (which he passed, yay!) and then driving straight to Cleveland to the Indians game.  It was hotter than heck on the way up, it rained a ton, AND we blew a tire.  It was great by the time we got there though.  And E thought he was big stuff wearing Grandpa's hat.

 The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and drove to Cedar Point.  It was lots of fun and pretty slick with the parent swap pass.  One set of us would stay with the kids and take them on rides while the other set waited in line for a big rollercoaster.  Then we just handed our parent swap pass to the attendant and we'd switch off the kids and the other set would come through the exit and get right on the ride.

 We were so proud of E for being 37 inches tall (just barely an inch over the required 36 inches for most rides...) and for being so brave to try everything!  He's not the bravest boy about certain things, but he genuinely LOVED all the rides.

I must say though, that I was most definitely the hottest and sweatiest I have ever been.  That includes wearing pioneer garb and pushing a blasted handcart through the desert on trek.  All I can say is, no wonder the pioneers headed west.  At least they have dry heat.  We decided my mom would've withered and died within the first 30 seconds of being at the park.  I don't blame ya, Mom.  It really sucked.  Like, really bad.

Just a short time after we were at our hottest, walking through the main strip of the park, (which we lovingly entitled the Bataan Death March) the skies opened up and it poured for about half an hour.  All the rides shut down and we just waited.  Then it stopped long enough for lots of people to leave and for us to ride a few more rides, and then it opened up again and we were stuck.  It was not letting up.  We were all soaked to the bone by the time we got to the car.  But hey, at least we were finally a little bit cool.  We stopped at a Taco Bell on the way home to Columbus and we were all shivering from being so wet and feeling as though we'd never experienced air conditioning, EVER, it seemed.


On Sunday we went to church and celebrated Sammi girl's birthday and just enjoyed doing nothing.

On Monday we went to Thurman's Cafe and experienced the enormousness that is the Thurmanator.  Then, sadly we had to take Grandpa to the airport.  Luckily it wasn't too sad though because we were going to see him in two days when we flew to Utah for Uncle B's farewell.

Uncle Brad and Grandpa were so good to the kids.  They played endless trains and got much too little sleep. Uncle Brad didn't even mind sleeping in the same room as them and waking up to two big pairs of blue eyes staring at him, eager to play.  He was a huge help on the airplane, which I appreciated, since I more often than not fly all by myself with the two wild'uns.

This picture was just taken during the course of their visit.  Sammi can't stand having Emerson cry in time-out alone even though he was in there for being mean to her.

Thanks for visiting, guys!  It was such a fun trip.

Sammi Is One!

 Miss Samantha May turned one on Saturday!  This year has flown by.  She is such a sweetheart and we're so glad to have her in our family!  We just can't remember what life was like without her.  We were at Cedar Point all day on her actual birthday, so we celebrated on Sunday.

Weight: 19 lbs. 1 oz. (10%)

Height: 29 3/4 inches (51%)

Head Circumference: 17.9 inches (51%)

 The beautiful girl on her actual big day.

 "Helping" Daddy with the camera

 I'm a big one-year-old!

 Love those cheeks.

 She loved the little pull-along doggy that E picked out for her.

 She was so excited about her book of animals.

 Her with all her loot.  She has loved and played with everything so far.  Thanks for the dollhouse, Grandma and Grandpa J!

 The little cake.

 Sooo excited for cake!

Mmmm....

She devoured the cake, but then got really mad that she was all sticky.  She had a very sad little chocolate face when she was all done.  She held her hands out with her fingers spread and was looking at me like, "Mom!  Wipe me off now!"

Sweet little Sammi, 

At one year old you are still the sweetest, most content baby.  You are a great eater, great sleeper, and have such an overall pleasant disposition.  We really can't remember what life was like without you, sweet girl.  Your big round blue eyes charm everyone you come in contact with, and your sweet little smile gets you anything you want, especially from Daddy.  I came home from the store late the other night and you were sitting on Daddy's lap enjoying a sucker while watching a show.  Daddy let you stay up late because he thought it was so cute that you found your brother's unopened sucker on the table.

At 12 months old you can:

-Say "hi", "bye", "mama", "dada", and "yeah".

-You can take up to 9 steps.

-You can climb up the stairs but haven't gotten the hang of going down yet.

-You are done with formula and didn't have a problem with switching over to milk.

-You love cheese, yogurt, milk, bread, and pretty much anything else we let you try.

-You LOVE animals, especially dogs.  Any time you see one, you start flapping your arms and doing your belly laugh.

-You love to tease your brother by stealing his trains.

-You get excited when we turn on "Go, Diego, Go!" probably because of the animals on it.

-You love books.  Whenever I need you to hold still and be entertained, I put a pile of books on the floor and you will then meticulously turn the pages of each one.

We love you, sweet little girl!

Melt My Heart

 Sammi adores her big brother, and many times he adores her right back.  Of course, sometimes he pushes her over for fun, but lots of times he squeezes her in a tight hug and says "She's so c-yoooooot!"  And she just takes it.  I now have proof that he's nice to her.

I like that he has an amused look on his face here.

I also like her adoring little eyes in this picture.

Recipe Blog

I updated the recipe blog.  I know, I can't believe it either.