sam completes a duathalon

A few weeks ago, Sam's friend Blake Sweat invited him to go to St. George with he and his mom and her boyfriend to participate in a duathalon. (bike and run race).  Sam was so excited to go!  Mainly, because he would be able to spend an entire weekend in St. George with his best buddy. 

They had so much fun!  They swam, they went shopping at fun stores, they hiked, and they completed the race!  The race was not easy at all.  It was a 3.5 mile run and a 10 mile bike ride.  I was so incredibly proud of those boys for finishing it.  Karli, Blake's mom, said that it was a hard course and she wasn't sure the boys could do it.  She was very impressed with the boys and their determination.   My favorite quote from Sam was, "mom, it was so hard and so fun!"  Music to my ears!  Lesson learned.

Sam and Blake have been best friends for 5 years, and their friendship is so special.  I love that they got to do something like this together.  Hopefully there will be more in the future.

stiches

Sam came running down the stairs last weekend, and told me that he had cut his hand with his pocket knife, and that it was deep.  He had his hand wrapped, but by the trail of blood following him and even more blood pooling from his hand, it was no question.  We wrapped his hand up in dish towels and headed out.  I found it amusing that when I asked William to get a towel for Sam, he asked, "a red one for blood, right?"  Ben looked up from a book he was reading to Molly, asked if any tendons were cut, I replied no, and they went back to their book. Obviously this was not our first rodeo.  haha!

Mary came along for the ride and took pictures and documented it all.  Typical.  Sam was tough, and came away with 6 stitches.

 We came home, I went to the gym, the kids carried on with what they were doing, and the day went on.

Poor Sam.  Probably not as dramatic as a kid would hope for, but hey, we have 3 boys in a row and very active girls.  Such is life around these parts.

sammy boy turns 12

Sam turned 12 a couple weeks ago.  We had a great time celebrating him and the great kid he is.  Mary and I took him to lunch on his Birthday, and he got to open presents, play with friends, and have cake and ice cream with the family on the big day.

That weekend he had a party with his friends.  There were 12 boys to be exact!  We had pizza and cake at our house, and then we piled all of the boys in our cars and drove them over to the rec center for the next couple hours.  They played soccer, basketball, tennis, and every other game you can think of.  Sam has a great group of friends and it was so fun to see them all together having fun.

Jesse, Jace Phillips, Bransen Rausi, Blake Sweat, Try Cherry, Gavin Anderson, Luke Thorne, Drew Thorne, Gage Anderson, Ethan Hubbard,  Peyton



Sam had "dirt and worms" for his Birthday cake.  I LOVE that he asked for this.  He has had this every single year since he was 2 years old. 

Sam already got the priesthood and became a Deacon in January, due to the new church policy that all boys turning 12 within the year.  It is still so special to see him passing the sacrament each week though.

Sam LOVES to play with friends.  He is very good at soccer and currently plays for the Rangers with his friends Ethan Pearson, Gavin Anderson and Payton (can't remember last name).  He likes to ride his scooter and go to the skate park and learn new tricks.  He loves to do "challenges" of any kind.  Drinking hot sauce, bottle flipping, pranks, tricks, weird foods, etc.  He just got busted by the principal last week at school for bringing ghost pepper hot sauce to school, and being the reason kids were skipping class to hold their mouths under the drinking fountain, and kids going home from throwing up in class.  lovely.

Sam is very fun loving.  He is a very good and loyal friend, and he is quick to laugh and tell stories.  Sam does not sit still...ever.  He is always pacing all over the house when he is talking, eating, thinking, or pretty much doing anything.  He does not sit at school either.  His teachers let him stand in the back of the room.

Sam is a great kid, and I have loved watching him start to turn into a good young man.  We love him so much!!!

Happy 12th Sammy boy.

sams scout camp

Sam was able to do his first overnighter scout camp about a month ago.  Ben got to go with him, which was really cool.  They both said is was a lot of fun.  Sam had a blast!  I am really sad that the scouting program will be ending in about a year and a half. My boys have loved it so far.  I can only hope that whatever the church will be doing to replace it, will only be better. Sam came home filthy, exhausted, and grinning from ear to ear.

this boy can flip

When it comes to tumbling and flipping, Mary is usually the topic, and rightly so.  She is an amazing tumbler and has worked very hard to become such.

There is another tumbler in our family though, that has quietly honed in on his own skills, and is very gifted!

Sam has taught himself, a front flip on the ground, a standing back flip on the ground, a double front flip into a pit, and just today, he got his back full twist on the trampoline!!!  It took me 5 years of serious gymnastics training to be able to do that.   Sam has had no official training, and he just started trying it this week! 

The amazing thing about it all, is that Sam has had no coaching or classes.  It is all self taught.  Mary has helped him a lot along the way, and he spends hours out on her gymnastics mat or on the trampoline, but the fact is, he is pretty darn gifted!

There is a gym opening here soon with a class called "Big Air."  It is for boys that want to learn how to do flips and tricks for snow skiing, snow boarding, skateboarding, or just to flip.  Sam really wants to take the class, and I can't wait for him to do it.  He is so good already!

Sam has a lot of talent in that body of his.  He is less aggressive and serious as some of our other kids, so it can get overlooked at times, but when Sam really goes for something and puts his heart into it, he is pretty darn amazing!

Way to go Sammy!!

back full twist

arrow of light

Thursday was a very special pack meeting for Sam.  He passed off his weblo and he also earned his Arrow of Light.  He graduated to Boy Scouts.  Sam has been really blessed with some great scout leaders since he has been in the Boy Scout Program.  Having good leaders makes a huge difference.  Sam also has a lot of boys his age, in scouts, so they have a lot of fun and really enjoy it.  I have definitely helped him along the way, and made sure he in on pace to earn what he needs to, but most of the time, he works on his belt loops or badges willingly and with a good attitude. 

 

They let me draw all of the symbols on Sam's face while they explained the meaning of each one.  Since he earned his weblo, and his arrow of light, he had symbols ALL over his face!

 

putting the pins on me.  Molly refused to stay in her seat, and Ben wasn't there, so she got to join in on the action.

Sam walking across the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and receiving his new bandana.

adding his name to the names of others who graduated on to Boy Scouts.

His arrow of light

I am so proud of Sam and the young man he is becoming.  I love the scout program, and all that it has taught him.  I am glad that he recognizes the special program that it is, and that he is pushing forward in it.

sammy boy turns 11

Sam had his 11th Birthday last month.  Normally, we only do friend parties on even number Birthday's, but this year, we let Sam have an exception.  He has so many great friends, and he is such a good friend as well.  Playing with friends is his absolute favorite thing to do, so why not let Sam do his favorite thing on his special day.

His Birthday was on a school day, so Molly and went to the store and got a super huge balloon/candy boquet for Sam and delivered it to his school. He loved it, and he wasn't too cool to show it. 

He really wanted a hover board for his Birthday, so that was his gift from us.  It is an offroad hoverboard, so he can ride it outside.  It is pretty cool!

Sam had his party the next day.  He invited 12 friends!  Yup...12. 
We planned a fun party, and kept them busy.

They played a hilarious game where they had to eat whatever food was in their brown bag, and it was a relay.  It was great.  We had some nasty stuff.  Lemon juice, raw fish, baby food, wasabi sauce, pickled onions soaked in vinegar, and so on.

The boys and, ahem, the one special girl, loved the game. 

Sam drinking juice out of a baby bottle, as part of the game.

Luke Thorne

They also played the candy bar game, ate cake and ice cream and pizza, and hung out.

Sam had an absolute blast.  He has awesome friends. 

He is such a great kid, and he is a really good friend.  He is a great example to his friends,  He has a big heart and a good compass that he follows. 

He is in 5th grade.  His teacher is Mrs. VanHouten.  Sam is a math wiz and has straight A's.  He is a smarty pants.  He loves to do all sorts of contests that involve sit ups, push ups, sprints, and so on.  He also loves doing "challenges" with his friends.  Eating gross stuff, water bottle flipping, and whatever they can possibly think of.  Sam is ALWAYS moving, wiggling, pacing around, or doing something.  He does not sit still.  In fact, his teacher literally moved him to the back of the classroom, so he can stand during class.  For real.  He just does not sit still.

He is playing STORM club soccer, and is doing phenomenal this season!  The coach put him as a forward where he can use his speed and his good foot work.  It is a great position for Sam and he is doing great in it.

Sam knows facts about pretty much anything.  He loves to learn all sorts of facts, mostly about reptiles, but it branches out to a little bit of everything.  It is awesome.

He just finished passing off his Weblo in scouts, as well as his Arrow of Light.  He is officially a Boy Scout now.  Crazy!

We love our Sammy Boy so much!  Happy Birthday Sam!

pinewood derby

Sam had his pinewood derby last night.  My dad cut out his car for him, and Sam designed it. 

I walked into the kitchen Monday evening, to see Sam painting his car with a toothbrush!!  For real!

I told him that I bought him paint brushes he could use, and he responded that he couldn't find him, and that the toothbrush was working just fine.  I just bit my tongue and let him do his thing.

He ended up doing a great paint job!  haha!

He had a great time at the derby.  His car came in 3rd out of 4 every single race.  I guess 3 is his number. 

I am so glad that he wasn't caught up winning and in being competitive.  He was having a blast just watching the races, and being a part of it all.  I love that so much about Sam.  He could be winning or losing, but as long as he is having fun, he is content.  What an awesome trait to have.

At one point during the derby, the Scout Master asked all of the boys to tuck in their scout shirts.  Sam and his best friend, Blake were wearing sports shorts, but he made them tuck their shirts in anyway.  Karli, Blakes mom, and my best friend, was sitting by me.  We about died laughing watching our boys run around with their shorts up to their ribs and their shirts tucked in.  We literally laughed until we cried when we saw this picture. It was great.

Can't wait to pull this picture out when they are seniors in High School....hahahaha

This picture melts my heart.  It is so true to the friendship these boys have.  They have so much fun together, they are happy together, and they watch out for each other. 

The most ironic thing of the night...Sam won the best paint job award!  hahahaha!  I guess painting his car with a toothbrush was the way to go.

tramp scooter anyone

Lately, Sam has been really into looking up different types of bikes and scooters on You tube.  Sam is incredibly smart.  He is very math and science minded.

A few weeks ago, he asked me if he could take apart one of our old scooters, so he could make a "tramp scooter."  He got the classic eye brow raise from me, so he continued to explain that it would not hurt or tear the trampoline, and it would not require power tools. 

I went ahead and bought him a roll of duct tape that he asked for, and then he and his friends disappeared for the rest of the afternoon.

Next thing I knew, Sam, and basically ALL of the neighborhood boys his age were standing around our trampoline begging to have a turn on the epic "tramp scooter."

Not kidding, kids were constantly on our trampoline with it for the following week.

It was a huge success!

Sam and Trey Cherry

You know, it is kind of funny how I am so incredibly paranoid about our yard being the "eye sore on the corner."  I have worked countless hours planting flowers, trees, mowing the lawn, creating the dry river, setting up play structures, raking sand, pulling weeds, picking up any garbage or toys that are left out each day, and so on.  It is not all because I care about what others think.  I am a clean freak, always have been, always will be.  Organization makes me happy and clear minded.  I love beautiful things in nature and in my own home.  I work very hard to surround myself with clean, organized and beautiful spaces.

The interesting thing is though, is that we have Luke's bad guy traps, potions and inventions in the front driveway.  Our dirt mound that has been a volcano, a triple bike jump, a "swimming pool," and currently is a pirate island with buried "treasure in it," on the front corner, we have a tramp scooter in the sandbox, and we have Sam's and his friend's "invention club set up" in the window wells.

There is rarely a time that we don't have several neighborhood kids in our yard, enjoying these things, along with my kids. I love that.

As much as this can drive me nuts, these are the things memories are made of, and that is more important to me.   Part of me has realized that I can have an awesome yard, full of beautiful things, clean from weeds and trash, and a mowed lawn, but what adds to it even more, is the presence of children making memories.  That is why we built this house and this yard in the first place. 

I'm pretty sure my kids are going above and beyond in giving our yard plenty of "character."

new beginnings

Three kids started a new sport this month.  It has been exciting to see William, Luke and Molly try new things and join in the crazy fall sports schedule.  Fall is always extremely busy, but it is my favorite season, and I wouldn't change a thing. 

William decided that instead of soccer this fall, he wanted to try out flag football.  I missed his first game, because I was at another sports event (divide and conquer is our motto over here), but I made it to his second game. 

I love how in between each play, the teams huddle together, and the coaches actually teach them plays and strategy.

William's coach is awesome, and for each play, he lets the kids try a new position.  What a great way to let the kids try a little of everything, and see what is a good fit for them.

About half of William's team has already played before, and the other half, including William are experiencing their first season.

William is still trying to get the hang of it all, because it is a lot to learn and to grasp, but he is doing great!  His very first game, he ran the ball all the way down the field for a touchdown, but he stepped out of bounds, so it didn't count.  Rats!!  His game this week, he blocked the other player from getting the ball, and almost got an interception.

I can tell that once he gets the hang of the plays and the strategy, and can just play the game, he is going to do really well.

The most important thing though, is that he is having fun, which he is.  He is really enjoying it so far.  His only issue is that he just "really wants to be able to smash people."  ha!  Soon enough William, soon enough.

Miss Molly started gymnastics two weeks ago.  I think she thought the day would NEVER come.  The day I told her that I signed her up for "jump jump, " Mary gave Molly her leotard from when she was 3, and Molly put it on.  She was sooo excited all day! 

We walked into the rec center for her first class, and Molly got nervous.  Thank goodness Mary was with us!  She helped Molly get used to the idea of following the coach.  It was really neat to see Mary helping Molly.  It was 10 years ago, almost to the month, that Mary was her age, in her first gymnastics class.  Now, here she was helping her sister follow the same path.

Once Molly got over her nerves, it was all uphill from there.

Molly LOVED every second of the class.  She was so excited that she skipped to and from the different stations, and she was jumping in line while waiting for her turn.

When it was finally time for them to go to the trampoline, Molly looked at me and fist pumped the air!  I about died laughing.  It was great!

Molly had a blast, and is very naturally talented.  She definitely has a love for the sport, and some natural ability to go with it.

Luke had his very first soccer game this week.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with him.  He is very athletic, and incredibly fast, but he can also hold back and be shy and not want to participate.  It could go either way.

He is the one that asked to try soccer though, so I was hoping that he would just go for it.

Within the first quarter of the game, Luke had stolen the ball three times, and had made several shots on the goal.  At his age, there is no goalie, but some kid on the other team was literally sitting in the middle of the little goal net, so there was absolutely no way to make a goal. It didn't seem to bother Luke though, so no worries there.

I didn't care about Luke making goals, or stealing the ball though.  I was just so thrilled that he was playing AND smiling and laughing!!  He was having a great time!

I love to see my kids being active, but even more so, I love to see them having fun doing something they like to do.

Luke ran as fast as he could through the whole game.  He is very speedy and could catch up to whoever had the ball pretty quickly, if he wanted to. He definitely has some learning to do, as far as how to play the game, but dang, he is good little soccer player.

I hope he has a really fun season, and learns to have a great time doing sports.

Luke is on the yellow team.  Easy to spot with his white hair!

His coach is awesome...and he was William's coach last year.

So, basically, this fall, our week is something like this....after the hour of 3pm

Monday:  Sam soccer practice, Mary tumbling, mom teaches 4 piano lessons, homework, FHE
Tuesday: Luke soccer game, William flag football game, Mary cheerleading, yard work, homework
Wednesday: mom teaches 2 piano lessons, deep house cleaning day, mutual, scouts, homework
Thursday: Mary cheerleading, Molly gymnastics, Sam soccer practice, homework
Friday:  FREE DAY!!!!
Saturday:  Sam soccer game, Luke soccer game, William flag football game, mom had her long runs, dad does a biking session
Sunday:  try to rest, regroup, and fulfill church responsibilities.

It is pretty crazy, for sure, but I really do love it. 

(for real, as I was tying this post, Ben just asked where Sam is.  I started calling for him, and then realized that he is at soccer practice!  Yikes!  I totally forgot.  I just got back from picking Mary and from cheer, taking Molly to gymnastics, and trying to feed everyone dinner. Ben is rushing over there right now to pick him up...good grief!)

Welcome fall!!!