SAM'S DAY

Birthdays are a YES day in our house. I say yes to almost anything.

This is what Sam wanted to do on his birthday: have bacon and eggs and gingerale for breakfast, go to Go Bananas with some friends, have Mr. Noodle for lunch, skip school, play UNO, watch Monster House, go for a bike ride, have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, play Wii, play chase.

We accomplished everything! And we still have a party to go to next week...

Yay for me, for getting his invitation done. I tried out my new gouache paints.

FIVE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM

We are so thankful God chose us to be your parents.

We love you so much.

XO mommy & daddy

IN SEARCH OF SNOW:PART II

SKIING AT WHISTER

by Clara

Daddy took us skiing. We went up to the top of the hill in a chairlift. It was a long way up. We skiied down and it didn't go very well. Mommy came and walked halfway up the hill. When we got to the bottom, Daddy took me up by myself, and we got off the chairlift and I didn't even fall and I skiied all the way down without going in Daddy's legs. And then it was Sam's turn and I had hot chocolate and listened to some crazy songs and watched Will dance.

And I had cookie dough ice cream when I went home.

We went tubing too. It cost us $11 per run, but for Sam, it was worth it!

I went once and it was terrifying. The rest of the time I hung out with this guy at the bottom:

THE END

IN SEARCH OF SNOW

We drove an hour and half north and found some snow this weekend! We skied, tubed, threw snowballs, drank hot chocolate and Will even tried this...

(that would be his tongue on a pole).

Lots more pictures tomorrow!

SAM AT SCHOOL

I'm really love my new lens (thank you mom and dad and Jake). It has been on my camera since Christmas Eve and sometimes I just like to go over to my desk and look at it. I thought I might tackle a 52 weeks project (a photo each week for the year), but then I realized I already take at least a photo each day!

I brought my camera with me to pick Sam up from preschool. Here are some of his little buddies. He is the oldest in his school and I think he might also be the coolest. Apparently, in school, he talks a lot about boats, spicy food, cars and asks his classmates how many motors are in their car? We have 5. More motors=faster car.

Each day at pick up he runs out, hugs my leg and asks me whose house he can go to, and then takes off down to the Playground to play "Drownders" (Grounders). I'm not sure if anyone else is familiar with this game but it really is crazy and completely unsafe. The person who is "it" has to close their eyes on the play structure and try to tag someone. If they call "grounders" while someone is on the ground then that person becomes it.

Sometimes, I'm surprised that Sam survives the day.

STOP. WINDY ROAD AHEAD.

While playing Mario on the Wii with Sam today, I realized that January, for me, is kind of like the invincibility star. At the beginning of each year I feel like I have super powers. I'm motivated, I'm energized, I dream big, I have epic plans, I move fast...I'm invincible. I move couches and rearrange beds. I carry wardrobes down stairs, mop floors, organize drawers and cupboards, sharpen my pencils, hang pictures, plan out a month's worth of meals, choose which marathon I'm going to run in...

But like the invincibility star, my powers are only temporary. The feeling of starting fresh and being able to do anything I want turns into crazy lady who is emotionally unpredictable and frustrated and can't sleep at night thinking about the all the things I want to accomplish now.

So today, when Will would not nap again at noon, which is also the only moment in the day when I have free time to tackle my lists and resolutions, I started feeling less like invincible Becky.

So I put on my runners, put Will in the stroller and walked for an hour and a half...and then took a breath and reminded myself that there are still 360 days left in the year. And more importantly, what I do have is love, health, beauty and joy in my life, never mind a Starbucks and a new Cobbs up the street (where I walked to and got a latte and a cinnamon bun, and which I consumed without interruption since Will did finally fall asleep).

2010

My first post in 2010. There is so much pressure to write something really good!

But let's just move on to resolutions. If you recall, my family usually follows a To Be, To Do and To Have format:

To Be: Joyful. I'm totally copying my Dad on this one. At first, I thought Simple should be my theme word of 2010, but I'm changing it to Joy. So...to be more joyous, do more joyful things and bring more joy to people's lives.

To Have: Time. Time to organize my home, and in particular our basement. Time to create a weekly meal plan and cook delicious meals. Time to play the piano. Time to exercise. Time to go on dates with my husband and hold hands. Time to really play with my kids. Time to read books. Time to write. Time to do creative things (like paint).

To Do: Train for and run a 10K race and officially start a photography business! And then of course, there is also my list of things I want to do before I turn 36.

Jake still needs to make his resolutions, but Clara would like to have a chocolate fondue, learn how to skate, go on a girl's date, play games and draw pictures with mommy. Sam wants to go to Pasley, play with Max and Truman and play with Max and Truman at Pasley. And Will still does not talk so he did not participate in this.

So Happy New Year everyone! Doesn't it feel good to start fresh? I have already moved around lots of furniture in our house and sorted through 2 drawers full of crap.

And this is what we did on New Years Eve:

Ate delicious lobster dipped in truffle butter, drank champagne and celebrated the New Year with friends (and our kids). It was perfect!

And Sam even got to blast Nerf darts onto the tv screen with Uncle Geoff (could not get any better):