For Halloween, Sammy Reads A Scary Monster Book

Saturday with the Boys

My nephew Adler came to visit on Saturday. He, Sammy, and I decided to have to have some fun.

First, we collected pine cones and then went down to the creek to throw them in.

Then, with Grandma's help, they made ghosts for the halloween ghost tree.

Adler climbed the ghost tree

  

Before AND after lunch, we went 'splorin' through the woods.

 

Before dinner, the boys collected leaves, sticks, and pine cones for a little fire. When the fire started to die out, they'd go get more. Certain sections of the yard are now pristine!

I couldn't let the day pass without taking a picture of me with 2 of my 3 favorite boys. (Adler, on the left, will be five at the end of November. Sammy, on the right, will be 3-1/2 on Christmas.)

Hammock Time

In my side yard, there's a hammock hidden by azalea bushes. At least there used to be. Today, my brother took down all of the bushes that had grown up around the hammock and even dug up the roots of the largest bushes so they wouldn't grow back again. He then put up a new-to-us hammock. It was a wonderful surprise to come home to.

An even better surprise though was seeing Sammy. He'd been gone since Friday visiting his Grandparents, but when I got home from work, he was home!!! I walked over to the hammock to check out what had been done, and Sammy followed. He wanted to get up in the hammock, so in we climbed.

For the first few minutes, he was snuggled up against me. Every time we slowed down, he'd ask to go higher and faster. One time I said, "I can't go any higher. I'm on my tippy toes." And that became the new standard. Every time we slowed down, it was time to go tippy-toe high. I'd hold him against the hammock until we were almost vertical. Every time he'd ask "Are you on your tippy toes, Annie?" I'd answer yes, but he'd lean over my arm and look, checking to make sure. Then on the count of three we'd fall back against the hammock and swing as high as we could.

Later, he turned side ways and laid with his head on my stomach. We looked up into the trees, talking about being monkeys swinging from the branches. Sammy decided he would be a medium sized orange monkey with a long tail.

It was a simple time spent reconnecting. We talked about nothing special. We just talked. Three year olds love to talk and ask questions. We covered monkeys, why trees grew, and how high airplanes fly. It was 30 minutes of laughing, giggling, and fun. I'm so glad he's home.

 

Sammy's after bath ritual

Every night, after we've drained his bath water and put away his toys, Sammy likes to lay down in the empty tub and pretend to change into his favorite good guys. Then he shows off his pretend suit. Then he repeats. Many times. The night this was recorded, he started out by changing into Wolverine. This is an audio recording of one of the times he changed into Iron Man.

Inside the Actor's Studio

What is your favorite word?
Forgiveness, compassion

What is your least favorite word?
Can't

What turns you on?
Respect, intelligence, living life to the fullest

What turns you off?
Superiority, intolerance, manipulation, cruelty

What sound or noise you love?
My nephews laughing, rain falling on the leaves, thunderstorms

What sound or noise you hate?
Pain

What is your favorite curse word?
Holy Crap

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Mother or Teacher

What profession would you not like to do?
Outside sales

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly gates?
Your family is here.

Validation

Fantastic short film about the power of appreciation and a smile - love it! Don't just watch the first few minutes, because it tells a story. (16 minutes)

Canon in D

I was blown away when I first saw this a couple years ago, and it still astounds me now. As of today, 77,585,900 people have seen this video of a young teen playing Pachelbel's Canon in D on the electric guitar. Have you? If not, here you go...and you're welcome.

Becoming Annie

Apparently Aunt Susanne is hard for an almost two year old to pronounce, so for many months, Sammy called me "uuuhhh". But then one day, many months ago, everything changed. We were in the dollar store, and I had my car keys hooked to my jeans. Sammy pointed to them and exclaimed "uuuhhh" because he wanted to hold the keys. When I asked what he wanted, he said "Annie's keys". My heart melted. I was no longer called by a generic sound that was also used for "yes," "what's that?" and "want that". I was separate and distinct from everything else in the word. I had been named. This is a picture that was taken a couple minutes before this fantastic moment. We had found some "rawr" hats that he absolutely loved...for 20 minutes (as soon as we were in the car, his attention was occupied on other things).  But when we were trying them on and giggling at how funny we looked in them, I took a picture of us so he could see himself in the hat.   And I'm so glad I did because now I have something to remember this day by.

Lost Generation