{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:  A Friday ritual. A single photo*** - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.


***OK, so technically it's not a SINGLE photo this week, but a collection of photos.  I want to remember these summer moments with my munchkins and savor them as we move into early morning wakeups, after school activities and homework galore.  
 

Otter-opoly ~ Samstyle

100 Days of School ~ Sam Style

 Today was Sam's 100th day of school, and each year the Kindergarten classes at our school celebrate and ask the children to do a 100 days project.  They want each child to bring in 100 items of some sort, in any way they'd like...you can be as creative as you'd like.  Sam wanted to do 100 pictures of Sam, but only after I convinced him that I probably didn't have 100 pictures of his Daddy (which is wrong, I probably do, but didn't want to print them all out).  He settled for Sam pictures though, and luckily I had over 100 pictures left from all the times I caved and bought the "big cheap package" at the photography studio. 

He took the pictures and taped them onto 12x12 paper and then I took all ten pages and stapled them together with a cover.  And he finished the project by "reading" the book to his Daddy....and he counted all the way to 100 with just a little bit of help from Dad.

 this was Sam's favorite picture, can you guess why?

 the book cover

The Otter Family is Complete

Last Christmas Sam was so upset because he had asked Santa for two otters, and only got one.  You see, I don't think Santa (or his elves) understood that the reason he NEEDED two otters was because he only had four, and wanted a family of six, just like his own.  He was a little miffed at Santa.  So you can imagine his delight when St. Nick saved the day (or the year, however you look at it) and stuck one more baby otter in his stocking this year.  The otter family is now complete.  And Sam is a happy boy.

ps...for those who don't know Sam he is OBSESSED with otters!

Making Dinner ~ Sam Style

Last night we had leftovers for dinner.  Usually leftover night is met with cheers, especially on a night like last night when the leftovers were all kid friendly and some were even leftover from parties.  We had pizza, homemade mac and cheese, BBQ sandwiches, and spaghetti & meatballs.  Well not one of those things interested Sam. But I wasn't going to make him something else to eat when we had all these great leftovers.  I felt he was being too stubborn (I wonder where he gets that).  So we argued.  He pouted.  He cried.  He begged for something else.  He moped.  He whined.  

And finally after everyone had eaten and I was cleaning up and I still couldn't convince him to choose one of the leftovers I said something close to this:  "Fine!  If you want something else then make your own 'darn' dinner!"

And he did.

Student of the Month ~ Sam Style

Playing in the Leaves ~ Sam Style

Jumpstart ~ Sam Style

I just dropped Sam off at school for Kindergarten Jumpstart.  It's a two day introduction to Kindergarten, just to get the kids used to things and comfortable before school starts for everyone next week.  I don't think Jumpstart is just for the kids though...it's definitely for the parents.  We have to get used to things and comfortable too, so we're not bawling like babies next week in front of all the other parents.  I dropped Sam off and then cried the whole way home.  He is the third child I've had to drop off to Jumpstart, and you'd think it'd be easy by now...but I'm having a tough time.  Sam never went to childcare like the older two kids.  I started staying home when he was born, so he has been with me everyday with the exception of preschool which was only two mornings a week.  He's my sidekick, my friend, the grouchy old man who hangs out with me.  Who is going to entertain me?  Who is going to keep me in line?  Who is going to tell me outrageous stories while I run my errands?  Who is going to tell me what music to listen to in the car?  Sigh.  I'm still hoping to convince Michael that we should just homeschool them.  The other aspect is health...I've been able to closely monitor Sam's allergies and asthma because he's never out of my reach for long.  Sending him off to school only makes me a little bit nervous though, because the teachers and staff at our school are awesome, and have pretty strict peanut rules and they are all aware of his medical needs.   

Despite Mama being a bit sad, Sam was excited this morning...ready to go!  While we waited for the doors to open he looked up to me and said "I have butterflies in my belly!" with a big ol' smile on his face.  I think he's going to love this new adventure. 

Turning Five ~ Sam Style

sam had a fun-filled birthday today...a class picnic, cool presents from his parents, dinner on the patio at the sky galley restaurant where we saw many planes coming & going, and then ice cream at DQ.  what a day! 

preschool graduation ~ sam style

sam's first soccer game

The boy was on fire!

Except for when his allergies were bugging him...

{this moment} x3

Inspired by SouleMama: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Hard at Work ~ Sam Style

Sam is pictured here doing some very important work on his Transformers laptop. 

time out ~ sam style

**please excuse the crazy messy room and the blurry video...we are still figuring out how to make good movies with the new camera ;)

Spidey Sam

If you have a few minutes check this out...my third born child so serious and intent on becoming his favorite super-hero.  It's amazing how a little tape can entertain a child all morning long. 

Tape ~ Sam Style

Ketchup ~ Sam Style

I made Chicken Broccoli Alfredo last week.  It was delicious, and 75% of my children ate it up with no complaint.  Sam was another story...he was sure that it called for Ketchup.  I repeatedly refused his requests for Ketchup on the pasta because the thought kind of grossed me out.  But he wore me down.  I relented and said he could have Ketchup.  This is what happened.  You can't even see the noodles & chicken!  Yuck.  But Sam ate it up.  It reminded me of the parmesan incident.

another perfect pout

i love capturing the perfect pouts in my family!

First Day of School ~ Sam Style

parmesan cheese ~ sam style