Guess Sam's Mood

Below are some pictures of Sam at the Campfire Carols event. See if you can match the correct mood with the picture.

a) Bemused

b) Tired
c) Bored

Where's Pete?

You need to be careful when you take Pete somewhere where there are woods nearby. It only takes him a few minutes to head off deep into the woods. One helpful strategy is to dress him in some bright colors. (As a counter-example, yesterday we did a woodsy geocache with Pete wearing a black shirt and jeans - not good).

So in the spirit of this advice, look for Pete in the picture below from our recent cub scout Campfire Carols excursion. Bear in mind, he was standing right next to me moments earlier when I started fiddling with the camera.

Campfire Carols

We went to an event in December with Pete's pack from Cub Scouts. It was billed as "Campfire Carols", although in reality it was more just "hang out in rural Virginia".

Some of the activities were "sit around", "hang out", and "wander down by the stream". This was the boys playing "see who can sit closest to the water":

To cap off the event, we sang three carols. This was Pete's den doing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", with a few props mixed in:

(notice that Sam did not want to be left out)

Next week we will post two games from this adventure - "Where's Pete" and "Guess Sam's Mood".

Geocaching

After getting a GPS device for Christmas, we have taken up a new family activity of Geocaching. You can follow our adventures on our new Geocaching blog.

Note, Sam comes with us too. But he is not in most of the pictures because he rides in the "flying backpack".

Sam in a Box

Well, there can't be a blog without a picture of a kid playing in a box. Sam decided this box was his house for a few days in December.


Unfortunately, I made the mistake of stepping in the box in front and he said "No! You're crushing the food in the refrigerator!"

Starry Night

Here is some artwork Pete brought home from school last week.


I'm hoping they didn't teach them the part about cutting off your ear.

Blueberry Muffins

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit last weekend. These were our activities:

- Geocaching*
- Piano Lesson*
- Karate*
- Dinosaur Playground*
- Billiards
- Breakfast at hotel
- Swimming at hotel**
- Open presents
- Happy Feet movie
- Bake blueberry muffins
- Watch Eagles win playoff game against Giants 23-20
- Breakfast at IHOP

* These are activities we did on Saturday (since grandma and grandpa usually arrive around 5:00pm)

**Sam and Pete really like the pool game "Marco Polo". It is fun in hotel pools where you are the only people swimming. Also, we invented a version where you don't say anything, and me and Sam try to locate Pete by just listening for his breathing.

If you were betting on how many times grandma and grandpa would make a wrong turn while driving on this trip, the correct answer was 3.

Last of the Ski Trip

Closing out the summary of our holiday ski trip, below are pictures from family time at the condo. (Since only 3 of the 14 people on the trip ventured down to the bottom of the slopes, there was plenty of family time).

Sam is great because he is always so excited to open his presents. Here he is opening a Lion King Smartridge for his V-Smile (with Pete in the background opening a big box of K'nex):



This was the best moment of the trip - Ashleigh reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to the other children on Dec 24.



Here is Pete playing with his favorite new toy, Speed Stacks:



Here are Pete, Sam, and Sarah enjoying Uncle Paul's famous french toast at the kids table for Christmas breakfast:

Harrisonburg Children's Museum

We stopped at the Harrisonburg Children's Museum on the way to Snowshoe Mountain. Since we got there at 2:45, and they close at 3:00, it was a quick visit. But we made sure to stop for a full visit on the way home. This was a better museum than the Chesapeake Children's Musuem (which we described earlier here).

Here is Pete climbing on the rock wall. I'm not sure if he intended this, but from the right angle it almost looks like he is flying:


Sam sliding from the barn:


I couldn't convince Sam to let me paint his face ("everyone will laugh at me"), but of course Pete was game so I painted a scary face on Pete that Sam seemed to be excited about:


Now that Pete had his face paint, Sam was ready to give it a try. So here is Mr. Tiger getting ready to climb the wall:

Sam on the Ski Trip

Sam managed to have fun on our holiday ski trip, even though there were not too many activities for him to do at a small ski resort in the middle of nowhere.

Since there were 8-10 people sleeping in our 3-bedroom condo, we decided that it would be best for Sam to sleep in the closet of mom and dad's room. Here he is hanging out in his bed with Pete and Sarah:

Sam did not get to ski, even though he very much wanted to. He did get to go tubing with us at Silver Creek, which we called "tube skiing" so he would feel like he got to go skiing. Also, here he is "snownoarding" in the condo:

Here is Sarah reading with Sam:


We took him twice to the pool. The pool and the "Big Top" were the two activities that we knew would have some value for him to pass the time. Here he is in the pool:


His favorite activity in the ski lodge was to pretend to shoot the zombies to a bloody pulp in the "House of the Dead" video game. For some reason, he called it "House of God".

Name That Tune

When we picked Sam up last Sunday from the Kid Zone at church, he was singing a song walking out to the car. He kept singing, fast, and quietly, "Have you ever ...". It almost sounded like "Have you ever heard the good news about Jesus" or something like that. That was the best we could figure.

The next day, we realized what he had been singing. It was "Haji was a punk just like any other boy", the opening line from "Oi to the World". Pete and I were wondering later if Sam had taught that song to all of the pre-schoolers at church. If so, we hoped that he skipped the part about "On the roof with the nunchucks Trevor broke a lot of bones, but Haji had a sword like that guy in Indiana Jones. Police sirens wailing, a bloody dying man, Haji was alone and abandoned his band."

Christmas Vacation

This year we took our first Christmas vacation, at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia.

Pete took two ski classes, and we were very proud that he persevered through 7 hour classes on Saturday and Tuesday. He was able to take the Skidder lift and ski down the small hill by himself.

Happy Holidays

We are off for our Christmas vacation to West Virginia. Happy Holidays and we will be back with new posts on December 28.

Most Rockinest Christmas Song Ever

Pete and I have been checking the mail every day for a new CD coming from LaLa. It finally arrived the other day, and we were not disappointed by what we had been waiting for - the most rockinest Christmas song ever - Oi To The World by No Doubt (cover of the original by The Vandals). (Video)

Karate Santa

Saturday was the holiday party at karate school. Sam graduated to his "black" belt, which is a white belt with a black stripe.

There was also a surprise guest, who gave a gift to Pete and Sam (a little stuffed bear with a black belt). Sam, of course, calls the bear "beary".

Blue Christmas

I don't know what they're feeding him, but this is how Sam arrived home from church on Sunday.

Helping The Needy

Pete wanted to help give out food to the needy again this year. He went to Christ the Redeemer (same distribution location as last year) with mom. They did mostly re-stocking the shelves with food as people went through and took the items for their families.

Here is a picture of Pete wearing his "Lending Hand" t-shirt that he got for volunteering.



Also, here is Sam. He wanted a picture of how he can help, too.

Kids Just Don't Appreciate Quality Humor

Me: What book did you bring home from school today for bedtime?
Pete: All About Magnets
Me: Well, it's pretty late. I think we need to change the title of that book to Half About Magnets
Pete: Grrr

A True Patriot

It is undeniable that Sam is a true American patriot. As you can see, he sleeps with an American flag and bald eagles on his pillow. Also, he has a special power which is not well-known but you can see it if you watch him sleep. Any time someone anywhere in the world discusses an attack against the U.S. while he is sleeping, Sam sits up and rolls over.

I predict that at age 11, he will become the first person in history to simultaneously defuse a bomb with one hand while signing a peace treaty with the other. You heard it here first.

Deal Or No Deal

Pete loves to watch the TV show Deal or No Deal. He is ahead of his time in this regard, since based on the intellectual content I think the target audience is ages 8-12.

Towards the end it gets exciting, so he can't watch. He closes his eyes and says: "If it's a low number, give me a smack and if it's a high number, give me a punch."

Dinner Spelling

Sam decided that he didn't want to finish his dinner last night because "it has mustard and ketchup on it" (it didn't).

So the challenge is on - to keep Sam entertained long enough for everyone else to finish eating. We tried asking him to spell some words. He was able to spell P-e-t-e, but he had trouble with dad. He said it was m-s-e-e-e-

Pete thought this was pretty funny, the prospect of a word with three consecutive e's.

Then we bought some time by having him go count the presents under the tree. However, we were disturbed to learn upon his return that he did not count the presents with his hands, but rather "I counted them with side kicks". I'm not sure what this meant - so far I have been afraid to go check.

Piano Lesson

Pete had his first piano lesson on Saturday with Ruth Ann.


Here he is practicing at home. You may be able to see the tape line on the floor. Sam is not allowed inside the tape when Pete is practicing. Then Sam gets a turn, and Pete needs to stay outside the line. As you can imagine, there is still quite a bit of debate as to whether you are allowed to touch the line, reach over the line, etc.

Karate Ornaments

Pete wanted to put an ornament with his picture on the Christmas tree at the karate place. We took a picture of Pete pretending to hold his bow staff, then printed it out and glued on a toothpick for a 3-D effect.

Sam wanted to make one too, so he held up his horse as his bow staff.

Frozen Pancake

Sam likes the little mini-pancakes that you toss in the microwave for 30 seconds. He dips them in a little bowl of syrup.

Somewhere along the line he figured out that he also likes to eat them cold, right out of the freezer. Here he is enjoying a frozen pancake.

Just Checking

I noticed a few times this week that Pete was feeling around in the stockings by the fireplace. He said he was just checking to see if anything arrived early.

Sam is 3

Sam wanted to have a carnival party (like Pete) for his 3rd birthday. On Saturday a week earlier, it was 70 degrees and sunny, but the forecast for his birthday was in the 40's so we decided to move the carnival into the living room.

The games we did were Mystery Machine, Tic Tac Toe, Super Putt, Bucket Bash, and Fishing Frenzy. And of course we had the calliope music, tickets, and prizes.

The festivities then spilled over to Sunday (more presents from Nana) and Monday (presents from Mom and Dad on his ACTUAL birthday). All in all, we did better than last year. The only known evidence of Sam's birthday last year is a single photograph of him blowing out a candle on a cupcake.

Here are some pictures from the party: