Valentine's Day fun and some Daddy time too

Sam and I attended a Valentine's Day extravaganza at our local mall. It was loony. The line to sign in was probably an hour long. Good thing we got there early! Sam decorated this box for Daddy and we gave it to him on Valentine's Day. It was pretty sweet.

Amongst the face painting and dancing Sam's reoccurring attraction was this balloon decoration. For some reason he thought it was really cute and kept making baby faces at it.

Nothing held a note to this dog. Sam followed this character around and around. In fact the worker who was helping out kept laughing every time she saw Sam come back. I think the person in the suit was losing ideas for funny antics.

Sky Zone! The Trampoline place. Imagine a gigantic trampolined room where even the walls are jumpable. It was awesome! Yet, Sam found the trash can outside the room to be more interesting... I tried, I tried.

My mom's group had a Valentine's Day party. I was really proud of Sam for coloring this hat. He's recently taken a interest in coloring. He actually makes a few marks on the paper before popping the coloring utensil in his mouth. We are making progress.

All the kids in the group are fairly young. We tried to have a game where the kids would hop on numbered hearts until the music stopped, then they got a prize. Sam did NOT like being told where to go and eventually found his way to some nearby puzzles. I felt okay because most of the kids were running around screaming, eating the paper hearts or trying to get their prizes early. I love this age.

So for those of you who know Sam, you know he has been a momma's boy through and through. So this little experience made Dad a happy man. We were walking around a nature preserve and Sam found this rock. Dad joined him and they were have a nice time enjoying the rock together. When I tried to get in on the fun, Sam would not have it and kept pushing me away. We tried to take a family picture  but Sam was determined to have the rock reserved for only him and dad!

My sister in law tried a well with no avail. This rock is only for the men in the family!

Hank's time has finally come.

Colored spaghetti part 2

This has nothing to do with colored spaghetti I just thought Sam looked really cool.

So I brought the spaghetti out again. Sam and I made a discovery. Spaghetti is really sticky and kind of yucky. Sam would reach hesitantly into the bowl while making various  "ick, yuck, bleack" sounds with his tongue. We decided to use spaghetti's yuckieness to our advantage and found it sticks quite well to the dishwasher. I think I have found Sam's artistic side. Together we created a little picture. Sam is much more thoughtful than I am. He took the effort to pick out individual strands and place them by hand to specific points on the dishwasher wall. I enjoyed the wind up and throw approach more. I think together with both our techniques we make a great artistic pair.

The creation enlarged after this picture was taken but I think you get the idea. I call it "Bleack!", Sam came up with the name. I think it fits. You'll have to watch out for more Sam and mom originals.

What! Another post about Sam!

There is no reason in Sam's mind why he could not ride his Dad's bike.

Sam has a new best friend. Sam chooses his friend's well. A sandbox in the backyard and a train table in the front room. I think Sam is getting a handle on this "playdate" thing.

What sound does a duck make? "Back, back!" 

I could be wrong but I think I found a new favorite snack.

This was taken after half the bag was consumed. I don't know where all that food goes! Maybe he burns it off while he's tackling me to ground and throwing balls in my face.

New find! Bounce Palace. A first Sam was apprehensive until I got into the bounce house with him. He loved having me hold him while I jumped and jumped. Basically I considered our visit my work-out for the day.

If Sam ever happens upon a bar you will be sure to find him doing this.

Choas!! After playing in the younger kid area for a while we ventured to the big kid arena. Legs kicking, children flaying about, sinking bodies and lots of laughing, crying and panting. I think I needed to get out of there more then Sam did.

Sam is learning his alphabet.

Sam's newest talent: clicking his tongue. His favorite time to exercise this talent is when I am singing to him. He'll click when  I pause or to a beat, for example: The ants go marching one by one, hurrah "click!" hurrah "click!", The ants go marching two by two, hurrah "click!" hurrah "click!" etc. My favorite is when he is almost asleep and I am singing him a good night song and he still can't fight the urge to click: baby beluga in the deep blue sea "click!" you swim so wild and you swim so free "click!". I think his clicks before bed are a close 2nd to his random giggles and chuckles he lets out right before he falls asleep. At least I know he is falling asleep happy.

A week of hiking, family and throwing

 Last Monday Hank took the morning off and we found a great hike along the American River.

We were trying to teach Sam all about moss, fungus and dead plants. Maybe that's why he has that expression on his face. I still thought it was pretty, but you can't please everyone.

Then we had a gigantic treat this weekend. My sister and brother-in-law came to visit! Sam absolutely LOVES my sister. I can tell she has an earned a special place with him because he head butt her to the point of tears. That he reserves for only a privileged few.

If one visit wasn't exciting enough my sister's best friend (who I am going on play dates with now a days) came over as well with her family. We had a party at the park. We needed to get out of the house because Sam kept chucking things at the other baby. We had a family night about being soft but I am not sure it's sticking yet.

So as previously mention Sam's new thing is throwing everything he can get his hands on. I have tried to be creative in attempting to lessen his aggression, but mostly in vain. I've decided to accept the fact that he is a boy and needs to throw...desperately! So I made colored spaghetti!

And throw he did. Not as much as I thought he would. Maybe we'll try again soon. If I can gear myself up for the clean-up that is!

Paper

I really enjoy making paper and fiddling with paper crafts. Paper has actually brought me a lot of joy and at times has been my therapy.These are my most recent paper creations

 

Making paper can be very spontaneous and often exciting. I like incorporating new colors and torn scraps in hopes of a happy accident.

I just love texture.

I really enjoy decorating paper as well and I try to incorporate my papers into my family journal. I know that scrap booking is changing a lot now a days. With blogs and digital photo books it doesn't seem worth it to spend so much time and money making a scrap book anymore. I don't think I will ever give up my family journal. There is something so intriguing about hand made crafts. I really enjoy the quirts and mistakes that occur when something is homemade. My journal is chalk full of accidents, mistakes and messy handwriting. For me it works and is very satisfying.

I really enjoy the designs of scrap booking paper. Here are some panels I made for Sam's room. Excuse the little man below.

 

Ahh paper. The world of paper is a never ending flow of creativity and energy. I really love paper.

Yum! a little adventure in cooking

I have noticed that the past couple months I have gotten really lazy with cooking. Hank is hardly ever home so I am really unmotivated to make a fancy for meal just for Sam and me. I think I realized one day after Sam had had his 3rd peanut butter and honey sandwich that I needed to get out of my food runt. Hank got me America's Healthy Test Kitchen Cookbook for Christmas and I have made a goal to develop some skills in preparing nutritious food for my family. It has been a really fun couple weeks. Hopefully by blogging about my kitchen creations it will keep me motivated to continue cooking/baking and poor Sam can experience some variety in his diet.

  Ingredients
1 TB olive oil
 1 onion chopped
1 cup bulgar
1/2 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
1 cup spinach
1 can drained chickpeas
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper

I sauteed the onion in the olive oil until it became tender. Add the quinoa and 1 cup of broth. When quinoa is halfway done add the bulgar and the rest of the broth and water. When both the quinoa and bulgar are done, add the Parmesan cheese, garlic, broccoli, spinach, chickpeas, salt and pepper. Stir all together. Put the mixture in a casserole dish and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake on broil until cheese melts. Enjoy!

Tidbits from the week

Sam started a tumbling class this week. Oh is he is a big fan. Since it is for little guys it's pretty flexible which is good for Sam because he just runs around the gym like an excited bunny. He'll stop at a station for maybe a minute and then see something else that excites him and scamper off. We've gone 3 times this week and every time we have to leave Sam yells for more. He is learning though. His teacher is so nice. In this picture his teacher is helping Sam jump with two feet. I am going to blatantly brag here; Sam is a natural. His teacher has already commented on his ability to climb and hold onto bars. He's also the cutest kid in the class and I know everyone is thinking it!

Here is Sam with his bud Ty.

It was a challenge to get him to come out of that swing, even when he started to look like he was going to throw up.

My newest addition to Sam's doll collection. A rhino.

Saturday was cold so Hank got the night off from Cheesecake since he was scheduled on the patio. As soon as we heard the news we bundled up and drove up to Auburn. Such a nice town. They have a cute downtown and so we spend several hours exploring the shops. Here we are at an old fashion soda bar drinking an Irish Soda. I think Sam got the biggest share.

We had dinner in Old Town Auburn and when we were finished the night time fog against the lights felt so mystical. It was pretty romantic. Hank said it was the perfect thing to do on his day off. I had to agree.

I have found a new favorite activity. Take a glass of water and color it with food coloring. Then give your kid a brush and let him paint the floor. When he gets bored with that dump the water out and let him splash in it (be careful of slipping). Lets just say by the end of our event his hair was a red orange color. It was really fun.