Sam

Sam with his sensory tray.

   Another week has come and gone.  I don't know how, but the weeks seem to be going by relatively quickly.  Sandra left for Boise to visit her folks, so we'll be dog-sitting Merlin for the next week or so.  He's a good boy, but Sam gets on his nerves.  Sam just loves him too much!  Merlin is really good about it though, and he'll just get up and move as soon as he sees Sam heading his way.  Of course he loves Sam when it's meal time, and Sam has decided that feeding the dog is the most fun thing ever!  He will just hold out whatever he's eating and giggle when Merlin takes it from him.  Silly boys.
  Since I'm trying to keep Sam entertained and exploring new things, I made him a sensory tray with rice and corkscrew noodles.  He loved running his hands through it, and of course sprinkling it on the carpet.  He tried to put some in his mouth, but for the most part he just played.  We've also been having fun with piles of cooked spaghetti noodles and finger painting with peas and carrots.  After lunch we go next door and play with the girls, Bonita and Violet.  They are 2 and 3 and pretty much ignore Sam, but he loves watching them and playing with their toys.  I'm happy he can spend some time around other kids since he loves it so much.

Sam and dada playing during lunch.

  There was a wrestling tournament here this weekend so Joe spent part of Saturday opening up the student store with his student council kids.  He's hoping to earn enough money this year for the seniors to take a senior trip.  There would only be 6 or 7 graduates, so it wouldn't be too terribly expensive.  When Joe brought up the idea of going to Hawaii with them, I told him I would never forgive him if he went to Hawaii and left me and Sam behind.  So he better start saving up for 2 more tickets!

Sneaky boy!

  Sam is just as cute as usual and makes me laugh every day.  On Thursday I was in the kitchen while Sam was playing in the living room and I noticed that I hadn't heard him in a while.  I peaked around the corner and saw that Sam had gotten a hold of a canister of puffs, taken the lid off, and was eating them by the fistful.  Little stinker.  His new push toy came in the mail and Sam loves it.  He spent the first couple of days just sitting by it and playing with the gators' mouths and the beads on the back.  Then he started pulling up on it and standing.  He got a little scared when it started to move forward, so now he just pushes it while on his knees.  Too cute.

Loving his new toy!

  It was snowing this morning when we got up, but since it was a bit warmer than it has been lately, we decided to take the four-wheeler down to the beach.  It's about a 2 mile ride along the river and through the trees to get to a nice sandy beach where Sandra and I like to take our camp chairs after work and relax. Joe and Sam don't usually get to go, so it was nice to be down there as a family.
  

Down at the beach.

My boys down by the river.