A Sunday Stroll

This afternoon something very exciting happened at our house...it snowed! :-) The snow didn't stick to the ground, but Sam was not to be deterred from being outside. So, Evan being the amazing daddy that he is took Sam on a walk around our neighborhood in the freezing cold...for an entire hour!! He sent me this picture that he took with his phone. It's classic Sam. He wanted to wear a hat and only this sun visor would do. I guess sun visors go well with puffy jackets, especially when you're three. Of course he had to push his baby "Judah" in the stroller (there's a kid in his preschool class named Judah. I think that's why he named his baby this). And of course there's the stick he picked up along the way that turned out to be a great walking stick. Walking stick in one hand and the stroller in the other. I love it. I love that he had such a fun time being himself outside in the cold. I love my little boy and all the quirks that come with being three years old! :-)

Halloween 2010

In case you are wondering, Sam is an elephant and Lauren is a lion. ;-)

This year's main Halloween event was our ward's annual "Trunk-or-Treat!" Both kids were very tired and equally as grumpy right before we left for the party...so much so that Evan and I thought about putting them to bed and watching a movie downstairs with our big bag of Halloween candy from Costco. But we decided against it and put both kids in the car (without their costumes on) and left. At the church we coerced them each into their costumes (as long as there were no hats/hoods that had to be worn they were okay).

They both ended up having a great time (although we couldn't get either of them to smile for the camera). Who wouldn't have a great time in a parking lot full of friends with a big bucket of candy?!?

Later that night Evan and Sam lit our jack-o-lanterns. Sam thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Love this picture of Sam with his Daddy. :-)

The Pumkin Farm

This week I took Sam to the pumpkin farm with his preschool class. We had such fun and I was so glad that it was just him and me (thanks, Natalie!). I took a few good pictures, but none in the actual pumpkin patch. Darn. I was too busy trying to convince Sam that ALL the pumpkins were dirty and that we'd have to wash it when we got home. He was determined to find a small, CLEAN with no dirt on it, orange pumpkin. No such luck. I finally convinced him that we could wash it at home and he chose a pumpkin. It helped that the tractor/hay ride was pulling up and everyone was lining up to get back on.

Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun!

So, remember when I mentioned in my last post that I bought a second baby and stroller for Sam. Well, I think we've already got our money's worth. Sam and Lauren been having a great time chasing each other around while pushing their babies around the house.

The other night they were especially having a good time with their favorite new activity (pushing strollers). I thought it was hillarious so I got out the camera. Well, as soon as Lauren saw the camera she didn't move and would only stand there and say, "Cheese!" She's such a funny girl. It's been fun to see her personality shine a little more the last little while. I think preschool has helped. The poor girl is constantly in Sam's shadow and now that he's in preschool three mornings a week she gets a little time to herself.

Happy Birthday!

 Last Wednesday (September 22nd) was Lauren's birthday...she's 2 years old!! Evan is super busy at work so we picked him up for a few hours and drove over to Gasworks Park to celebrate. It was a beautiful day and so much fun!

For her birthday Lauren got a baby and a stroller. Wow...I had no idea what kind of a hit this would be. She loved it! I was so happy! Funny side note: Sam also loved the baby and the stroller. Let's just say that by Saturday he had *his* own baby and stroller. I never thought I would do that...buy two of the same toy, but sometimes sanity doesn't have a price tag. :-)

 We had cupcakes with lots of yummy frosting. Sam ate so much that he got a little sick. It's funny because now if his tummy feels sick it's because he ate "too much cupcakes."

 They had cupcakes at preschool this week for someone else's birthday. He made sure to tell me that he didn't eat "too much cupcakes" and he didn't get sick. Phew! :-)

 Lauren loved her stroller and baby so much that she just pushed and pushed it all around Gasworks Park. It was hillarious. The funniest part was that she wouldn't push it on any of the paved paths, just all over the grassy parts.

 She also loved looking at her cards or "papers" as she calls them. She'd push her stroller for a while and then plop down in the grass and read her "papers."

It was also Evan's birthday this week (September 21st). On his actual birthday the poor guy worked the entire day. I think he left home around 6 am and didn't get home until 9:30 pm. We made sure to listen to Earth Wind and Fire's classic song "September" before we went to bed and he did open have a few presents to open.

We had an impromptu birthday party for Evan Friday night. It was so fun! I think we had almost 20 adults here and who knows how many kids. We just ate pizza and had cake. We feel blessed to have so many great friends here in Shoreline and a place big enough to have them all here at once. A fun night!

First Day of Preschool

This past Wednesday was Sam's first day of preschool. Can you believe it?! I know it's just preschool, but it's hard to believe that he's old enough to be attending school of any kind. He goes to preschool at the Shoreline Covenant Church. I'm super impressed with the school and teachers. His teachers' names are Miss Katie and Miss Sarah. Miss Katie has been teaching preschool there for 15 years and she's really good with the kids. Sam loves her. I love her. I think it's a good fit. ;-)

Funny story: On Thursday when I went to pick Sam up he was walking in a line with his class in the hallway back to his classroom. Later when I asked him what he did at school one of the things he told me was he walked in a line...just like in Make Way For Ducklings! So funny! I love that he made the connection from walking in a line to one of his favorite books. Anyway, so far Sam loves going to preschool! Yeah! I knew he would just eat the whole experience up. I'm so thankful he can go this year. Three cheers for preschool!! :-)

Ouch!

Yesterday on our way into the YMCA Lauren tripped and hit her head against the corner of a concrete stair. OUCH!! It gave her quite a gash in her forehead and we had to take her to Children's Hospital to get some stitches. Because we were at the YMCA they had to call an EMT and we had to let them drive us to the hospital in the ambulance. It was all a little traumatizing for Lauren, but I have to admit a little exciting for me. :-) Despite the trauma, Lauren was quite the little trooper and handled it all like a pro. Here are some pictures I took (with my cell phone) to prove it.

In the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Ouch!

Waiting to have the stitches done. The green "princess" band (that's what they called it) is holding the anesthetic to the wound to numb it. I think she looks more like a little Indian, especially with her hair (feather) sticking straight up.

This whole trip to the E.R. was a little bit of a Déjà vu experience for me. We went through the exact same thing with Sam two years ago almost to the day. Crazy!