fun with oranges

you can throw them. you can pretend they are telephones. it is a good time.

(that is me and my grandma sandy. and some oranges.)

questions, questions.

1. What time is it: 4:50pm
2. Name: Samuel
3. Nickname: Sam!
4. Piercings: one time I cut my finger and had to get a Scooby doo bandaid!

5. What is the most recent movie you've seen in a theater? Madagascar! I really even paid attention for about half an hour before I wanted to run up and down the aisle and yell and stuff. Mom and dad would not let me.
6. eye color: bluey greeny

7. Place of birth: St. Edwards. They tell me it was a crazy few days.
8. Favorite FOOD: Burger! I love a good burger, any time of day. I would eat them for breakfast if they would let me. I am also a fan of grapes. Red, black, green, whatever!

9. Ever been to Africa: Where is Africa?? I know I have been to 15 states, though! Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, florida, south Carolina, new mexico, texas
10. Ever been toilet papering (rolling): no. mom says that is BAD.

11. Love someone so much it made you cry: I love homestar runner so much that it makes me cry when mom and dad say I can not watch it.

12. Been in a car accident: no way. Scary! but my cousins were in the car when nany backed into the big yellow thing at walmart.
13. Croutons or bacon bits: BURGER
14. Favorite day of the week: ummmmm I like them all!
15. Favorite restaurant: donalds! Burger!
16. Favorite Flower: the ones that smell good and do not have bees in them
17. Favorite sport to watch: curling. Swish swish swish swish!
18. Favorite drink? Applejuice. Hands down!
19. Favorite ice cream: I am not really an ice cream fan. Mom and dad took me to braums, and I wanted a coke instead.
20. Disney or Warner Brothers: Disney! I went to his world a few months ago.

21. Favorite fast food restaurant: donalds!
22. What color is your bedroom carpet: the same as the rest of the house. Speaking of carpet, there is another big stain, because I unloaded a whole bunch of barf on it last night! My stomach hurt, and I told mom. Then it just came flying out of my mouth.

23. How many times you failed your driver's test: oooh, driving! That sounds fun. I have driven a big van, but it was not technically legal.
24. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail: the last comment on my blog was a mean one. I erased it.
25. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Do they take credit cards at the arcade in the mall?

26. What is your bedtime? It is supposed to be 8:30, but I try and make it not happen as much as possible.

27. Favorite TV show: becky! (home movies) or veggie tales.

28. Last person you went to dinner with: dad and nany

29. Ford or Chevy: what?
30. What is your favorite color? Red! Yes! Red!
31. How many tattoos do you have? I specialize in making my own tattoos with a pen. Usually lines.
32. How many pets do you have: I like to think that thunder and b’elanna and Minnie pearl are my dogs.
33. Which came first the chicken or the egg? I will have to think about this one for a while. I have a toy chicken. Maybe I will ask him.

save larry!

okay! so i feel like i am getting some mixed messages in life.

eat your vegetables.

watch your vegetables sing and dance and teach you life lessons on television.

we are sitting in red lobster, nany and daddy and me, because i really really want shrimp for lunch. for some reason, with the shrimp, they give me sliced up cucumbers with ranch dip!! i am horrified. dad says, "sam, eat your cucumbers." all i can do is sit there and look disturbed, because i am. dad asks me, "sam, why don't you want to eat your cucumbers?"

"bob."

it takes a minute, but dad realizes that i am talking about bob the tomato. best friend of larry, the cucumber, from veggie tales. no, daddy, i will not dip sliced up pieces of bob's best friend larry in ranch sauce and eat them.

staying awake 101

so i do not like to go to sleep. i do not like naps, and i really really really do not like bed time. do you? i doubt it! here are a few of my methods for staying awake. they are not perfect, because i always end up falling asleep eventually. but i hope that you find them useful!

1. protest. sometimes this will buy you a couple minutes before the laying down happens. you might get to watch a homestar runner cartoon with daddy.

2. demand drink. juice is best, but i always end up with water, if anything. i am working on this one.

3. claim that something hurts. just the first thing that comes to mind. if you can not think of anything right away, just say, "...hurts!" this actually works out better for you in the long run, because then mom or dad have to figure out what hurts, in case something actually does.

4. kick off blanky. demand blanky. repeat.

5. engage the layer-down in conversation of any kind. usually a persistent "mom.".... "mom."........ "mom."....... will work. they cannot help but respond, even if it is just to say, "shhh. lay down and go to sleep, sam." tell them about every sound you hear. tell them about your day. sometimes if you are lucky, they will talk back a little bit before they remember you are supposed to be sleeping.

when all of those have worn out their usefulness, just fight to stay awake. here are some good methods:

1. kick and flail. motion and exertion keep your body awake. lift your head up and bang it down on the pillow. do whatever it takes.

2. inch your way up the pillow until it is completely uncomfortable or until you fall out of bed. it only hurts a little, and it is a sure way to keep yourself awake.

3. sing. it does not have to be a real song. just anything. make up your own words. this keeps your brain in it.

4. when all else fails, blink a lot.

kodak moment

left to right: daniel, ME, rebecca, jacob, rachel, and isaac

this is me and my cousins. we are arranged according to size and age, except the little bitty one, isaac. he can not really sit up by himself, and his head is still a little bit flopsy.

i overheard aunt keri and uncle michael telling mom and dad that they need to catch up, and mom and dad said that would only happen if they adopt a herd of 8 year olds. would they really do that?!?

p.s. i am wearing jacob's shoes, and the baby becky is holding is not real.

cousins

i have five cousins. three are older than i am, and two are younger. having cousins is really a good time. i got to see mine this weekend because it is daniel's birthday; he is 2! i remember when i turned two, and it was a lot of fun!
the thing is, i am not really that used to being around other kids, and it kind of surpises me when life does not really revolve around me. i am trying to learn how to deal with this, but it is really hard. what do you do, for instance, when daniel steals your toy that you are playing with? you love him, but you are mad at him. it is not like other random kids that you do not really know, and you would not mind hitting. i had a little bit of internal conflict, and i decided to hit him anyway. i mostly was just playing around, though, when i chased him through the house with those big plastic spoons, whacking him on the head. mostly.

lies.

so there have been some people who have written on my blog lately. most of them are friends of mine, and i am always real excited to read what they have to say. i apologize that i do not really ever respond to your comments on here, and i want you to know that i love you more for writing to me. please keep it up!

there are some other people who write on here, who i do not know. they all say the same thing, about how they like my blog, and i might like their blog too. let me tell you, that is a lie! never believe it when someone says something like, "you might find my blog inquisitive," and then they put a place where you can click it and it goes to their blog. it is never inquisitive! it is only stupid! never click those! to save you from wanting to click on those blogs and go there and be sad and not inquisitated, i made it where you have to type some letters that you see, in order to post here. it is very exciting, because i think it is a secret language! i have heard that the people with the inquisitive blogs do not know how to type the secret language! anyway, please keep writing and reading and posting. next time i see you, i will give you a good tickling, followed by some shrieky laughter!

addiction

it is not pretty, people. i have an addiction.

i like my Finding Nemo computer game and the Homestar Runner website more than i like my toys.

i wake up early and yell, "NEMO! NEMO! STAR!" to mom, in hopes that she will get up and turn on the computer.

i know how to click on the Firefox shortcut and find homestarrunner.com under daddy's bookmarks. nobody showed me how.

i would play/watch them all the time, if i could.

i am counting down the days until my Trogdor t-shirt will fit me.

too cool for my own good.

i wanted these really, really cool glasses, but mom said they were not worth ten dollars. i disagree.

but they taste so good.

this is how to pass the time in the car. people think it is funny.

good times

lacy and i build a snowman.

3 feet tall.

so today, we saw the doctor. do not worry; it was just a check-up to see if i am growing and can talk. good news! i am and can. i am three feet tall now. i think this is why people always ask mom if i am three years old. should i be two feet tall, since i am two? i like being tall, but i think mom and dad are too short for their ages.

mom has stopped keeping track of the words i say on the calendar, because she was running out of room. i have moved along to sentences, since the words themselves were not really as earth shattering anymore. still, they can not completely understand me. i find this frustrating, but they are getting better at it.

daddy is sick. he has to go to the bathroom a lot. good thing i wear diapers, so if i catch it i do not have to sit in the bathroom all day. unfortunately, they do not have anything for you to wear on your face and catch barf. maybe someday i will invent that!

i will put some pictures from the ski trip on here soon!

oh! i forgot to tell you

about riding the crocodile and falling asleep on the floor and the 3D movies. the bugs life 3D movie was scary. but the muppets and the mickey mouse one were really good! the things flew right out of the screen at us. they really did. oh! and the drumming acrobat guys let me play!

pictures probably tell the disney world story better.

mom had a thing about making me try on all the hats in the world.

oh man, this is the life!

so, i went to disney world. people ask if it is everything everyone says it is. let me tell you, it is the real deal. i got to ride the dumbo ride, and peter pan, and snow white, and tour the haunted mansion and take a trip through time and space and walk around in an aquarium... it is too much to even try to describe, really. it wore me out. i am still tired.
oh! here is a funny story. we are walking around in the japan store at epcot. i am kind of really tired of the stroller and being awake, and i am kind of being fussy. i can tell the girl at the counter really likes me, because she smiles really big and says, "Oh! please don't cry!" she has a funny accent and is pretty and smiles a lot, so i do not cry. dad buys pockys, and the day is suddenly brighter. wait, there was supposed to be a funny part! dad overheard two other japanese girls at the store talking. he says he knows about five words in japanese, and one of them is "ka-wa-i."
a girl pointed me out to the other girl and said that i was "ka-wa-i." this means cute.
i think we should live at disney world.

happy birthday to ME!

this is me at my grandma and papa's birthday party for me that we had on thanksgiving. i get to have another party tomorrow, but today is my real birthday. i know, it is confusing. i am not sure i understand it myself. i got a lot of books and a barn and some animals and a tractor so far! i bet i will get more presents tomorrow! anyhow, i am eating the cake that mom made. it is an inchworm, and i am eating its face. yum!

before and after

happy hairsgiving!

so! today is thanksgiving, and today is also haircut day!
i had never had a haircut before, and it was getting really really long. it would just flop back down when mom tried to give me a mohawk, and it kinda made my forehead itchy. anyway, mom says to me this morning, "sam, today you and daddy will get haircuts!" and i sit and eat breakfast and watch while dad gets his hairs cut. this way, i know what i am in for. when it is my turn, mom sits me in the sink and starts cutting away. "sam, be still!" she says, and since i assume this means "be as wiggly as possible," i do just that. dad is afraid mom will "stab me with the scissors." i do not like the sound of that, so i am glad when she gets the clippers and decides to cut it with those instead.

anyway, now my hairs are very short, but i look quite handsome, if i say so myself.

i commemorate the whole occasion by pooping in the bathtub during my post-haircut bath. but please do not tell dad, because he is in the shower right now as we speak.

plague of frogs

i had the most original costume at the fall festival at church. i also had a good time "rearranging" the candy in kids' bags.

on the lawnmower

riding on the lawnmower with my papa is a good time.

whoah, where has the month gone?

so, a lot has happened in this long while since i last updated.

i am still letting out a few words daily, to dazzle mom and dad. no fainting has occured yet, and i am thankful for that. the latest ones: chair, baby, teeth, mine (mom really likes this one!), and me. mom is writing them all on the calendar. i wonder how long she will be doing this. seems like there might not be enough room on the calendar, if she keeps it up forever. maybe just until i am 35.

speaking of 35, i will be 2 years old this saturday. when is saturday? i do not know for sure, but i think it must be soon!

so a couple weeks ago, mom and dad and some kids from the college went on a trip, and they left me at my grandma and papa's house! this was the first time i had been away from both of them at once for overnight, and i only cried just a little! mom said she only cried just a little too. i had the best time, going to deer camp for a cookout, and meeting new people, and playing with (screaming at) the dog and cat, and riding on the lawn mower. my only regret is that i did not get to see a lot of friends who were on the trip with mom and dad. i would like to therefore send a shout out to craig. "Sticks!!" he will know what that means.

speaking of sticks, i got to see jeremy and kathleen last weekend. kathleen filmed me on her camera while i sang Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, and also while i danced around outside. i like to perform; what can i say?

and speaking of shout outs, it is my Pappy's birthday! Happy Birthday, Pappy!

my secret

so i know a lot of stuff. the thing is, i have been holding back for a long time now in the talking department. i am not really sure why, but it seemed like the thing to do. i talked a little bit a long time ago, and i even said my first word almost a year ago. (it was "good," and i was talking about my food, of course.) then i just kind of stopped, except for the occasional "Mama!" and "Daddeeee," used kind of non-specifically, and usually when i want something or am hurt. i used to repeat words and sounds that mom or dad tried to get me to say, but i felt that that was kind of cheating, because it was not really in context or my idea. but now, there are words and things that i really want to say. i do not know how many times i have almost let my secret slip and just started blurting out sentences. i am afraid that my mom and dad could not handle this, so i have to do it a little at a time. i would not want mom to pass out or anything, and judging by her reaction to the tricks i have been pulling out the past few days, that is definitely a valid concern.

the first one was actually an accident. we are sitting in McDonalds the other day, and i drop my french fry. before i know it is coming out, i hear myself say, "Uh oh!" and then i look up, and mom's eyes are open wide, and she is asking dad if he heard me. he says he did. for a minute i do not know whether to deny it or just go with it, but i eventually decide to go with it. "Uh oh!" i guess that is an appropriate way to start things off. no turning back now!

the next day, mom comes home with this little bag of beads that look very much like the ball in The Cat in the Hat. the one with the stripe and the star. anyway, i notice the similarity, and i point to the beads and say, "ball!" mom, of course, freaks out. "oh my gosh, jeff! did you hear that?" (jeff is my dad) "he said ball, because these look like the ball in his book!" well, at least she understands what i am talking about. but i need to take a few days off. this excitement can not be good for her.

this morning, i really really want mom to wake up, so i decide to pull out another trick. "E!"....... "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Mom wakes up and sees me pointing to an E on her shirt, and says, "Yes! that is right! E!" now i have known lots of my letters for a good couple months now and have been pointing them out on command. i just had not told anyone i know how to say them too. i pick up my book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss, and before i can stop myself, i find myself pointing to the O and saying "Oooooo!" then i do "D" and "R," although "r" is sort of hard to say, and i can only really say "ah." we will work on that. but i thought that was enough for today.

mom seems to be doing okay. her color is back to normal.

The Merriest Go-Round and other fun things

so, a week or a few days ago, we go to the Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair! i think they were confused about which state to have the fair in, so they just decided to make it both. i am not really sure, but that is beside the point. we ride rides, including the merry-go-round (twice!) and the train, and this crazy, convulsing horse. i like the horse at first, but then it gets carried away, and i leave. it is the best time ever. dad says this is excellent practice for disney world!

confession

so, when i get my hands on a sharpie, i can not control myself. i try! (a little)... but the marks they make are so bold and good... and all that stuff i see, is so bare... okay, well i guess i better tell the story. okay, stories.

so the other day we are at aunt margie's house. i play with the pool table for a while, then i almost pet the dog, but he is a little too scary. and then i turn the light on and off. and then i see the hallway and remember there are rooms down there for me to go look around in. i take a quick glance around, and nobody seems to mind much, so i head down the hall into margie and joe's room. there is lots of interesting stuff. and then, there on the desk, i spy it. a sharpie! this room, i decide, needs some decoration. you know the rest. i hear people heading down the hallway saying "where is sam?" at this point i realize maybe i should have thought this through a bit more. i make one last mark on the carpet, when margie comes in and her eyes get real wide. mom comes in right behind her. margie takes away the marker, and they look around a little. before long they discover all the marks. the dresser... the other dresser... a little on the floor and one mark on the wall... and the remote control... mom looks in my eyes and tells me that i am never, ever to draw on things with markers. i nod to show her that i understand. it is hard to look at mom when she talks to me like that, because it takes the fun right out of everything. mom tells margie she is really sorry, and margie says it is okay. mom's face is all red.

so that was kind of a big deal but not too bad. i tell myself i am done with sharpies, though, because i do not think mom was very happy about that whole incident.

the next morning, i wake up, and mom and dad are still asleep, so i decide to read a little bit. then i see it on top of the shelf. another sharpie. i look away, trying to focus on reading again. my eyes keep being drawn back to the marker, and before i even know what is happening, i am making a really detailed picture on the wall. i realize how much i have actually drawn and take the marker off. oh no! mom and dad told me i am only to ever draw on paper! i find a piece of paper and draw on it. the paper is too small. oh, but then i see my cat in the hat book! these books are made of paper, so surely they are okay to draw on. so i draw on another and another and another... then the marker slips off the book and starts to draw on the carpet. the mark on the carpet does not look quite right, so i try to make it look a little better. then i wonder if you can see the black marks on a black chair and decide to experiment a bit. (you can, by the way; it looks shiny) then i draw a little bit on the bed and the pillows. mom does not let me finish the design i start on her forehead, before she wakes up...

the mysterious box

so we are at the church yesterday, and i see this big box stuck to the wall. so i point at it and grunt and raise my eyebrows in such a way as to indicate i am asking a question, as this is how i get mom and dad to tell me the names for things.

"that is a water fountain, sam. do you want a drink?" asks my dad.

wow, i can get a drink from that box? neato! so i climb up the little stairs in front of it. dad pushes the button, and water shoots out! wow! this is the coolest thing ever. i put my face down there and cold water shoots into my mouth. this makes me laugh, and i forget that i am supposed to be drinking it. i have a good time getting my face wet for a minute. then i decide to actually drink some. then i just push the button and make the water shoot out for a while. i lose interest for a minute and run around and make noise. then i see the water fountain again and climb up there again and repeat steps one through three. then i play and run around some more, then play with the water fountain again. then mom and dad want to leave, but i have to play with the water again, just one more time!

i am considering giving up cups altogether as a means of drinking. no dishes to wash, no hassle of keeping track of a cup. and also a very cool toy. now i just need to get mom and dad on board with the idea of installing a water box at home....

pictures pictures!

what we have all been waiting for. these are some pictures from the last couple months. i had a pretty good summer.

action shot

as you can see, the ducks really like the bread that we throw. i only eat a piece myself occasionally now.

i am telling you it is a good time

you should try throwing rocks in the creek. (oh yeah, these next three are in Colorado.)

hey i would like to take a picture

someday i will get my hands on that camera.

mom takes too many pictures

sometimes a guy needs to protest.

good for a laugh

this trick was good for passing the time on those gazillion hours we were in the car.

this is definitely not an apple!

what a disappointment. (this is my grandma's and papa al's garden by the way)

wow

i really should post a lot more, because interesting things are always happening to me.

a couple of weeks ago, my friends jessica and felicia and mom and i went a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong long long time in the car to see our friend amber. she is the one who gave me the drum and drumsticks and calls me samwise, which is definitely my favorite name. she lives in Colorado, where there are lots of mountains and stores with different names than here (although we still somehow ended up at hobby lobby - go figure).

while i did get really tired of the car after a while, it was definitely worth the trip. we laughed a whole lot, and i got some good reading time in there. green eggs and ham is my favorite, by the way, and i recommend it to everyone. i got tons of attention, and my best trick at this point is sticking my fingers in my nose a lot. it is good for a lot of laughs.

we went to a flea market which turned out not to have any fleas, but they did have lots of fruit and clothes, and sunglasses, and random things, and my new ball. we also went to a place higher in the mountains that had my favorite of all things, ever. a creek with rocks. man, did i throw some rocks in the creek. they were different rocks than we have here. very good for creek throwing.

also on the trip i learned one really good piece of advice to pass along. it feels weird and mostly unpleasant to lick one of the rectangle-shaped batteries. there was one sitting on a table at amber's house, and i saw it there and thought, "hey, i think i will lick that." i am not really sure why. but i probably will not do it again anytime soon. for some reason, mom kept trying to get felicia to lick it too, but she would not do it. this was a wise move, and i told her so.

the only problem with taking a trip is that not everyone can go. dad had to stay home. something about work. and then when we came back, amber stayed there. and we dropped off felicia and jessica in fayetteville. i wish all my favorite people were in one place.

feet eater

so yesterday we are out in the back yard having a dandy time playing. we are throwing the ball around, spinning, and things like that. there is a lull in the activity for just a second (i knew i should not have stopped spinning!) and mom looks over at the grass. "wow, the grass is getting tall! i should weedeat."

she goes and plugs in the weedeater, and i am sad and scared. i just hate that thing. i guess partially because it is so noisy and awful, and partly because it destroys everything in its path. somehow, the combination of those two things is a little too stressful for me. i quickly run to the door and get dad to let me inside where i can play on the floor safely with him.

mom comes in a few minutes later with a bloody, bruised foot. she hobbles in and says to me, "sam, you must never, ever weedeat in flipflops!" this works out for me, because for one, i do not wear flipflops. for another, i hope to never ever touch the big scary noisy awful grass-destroying machine. she says it is her own fault for not paying attention, but i am not so sure. i knew i should not trust that thing. it is out to eat feet!

the hot fun summer

it has been a little while since i posted. lots of things are going on with me.

last week i got three new teeth! this is a record. i am glad to have them now, but when they were coming in and tearing through my gums, i thought maybe i would like it if i never had teeth at all. they come in handy for biting things, though. like mom's toe, when she does not expect it. and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. and the occasional dried up centipede i find on the ground outside. see! teeth are worth it.

i have spent a lot of time getting to know the other kids at church. everyone is crazy but me. they also do not understand that whatever it was, i was playing with it first. and they all cry a lot and smell kind of bad, but it is usually a good time. i can overlook these things.

also, i love to swim! i sit in my upside-down turtle float, and dad takes me all around the pool outside in the back yard, while mom goes underwater and comes up under me and tickles my toes. i throw a ball around, i splash a lot, and i have neat green swimtrunks. it is like a big bathtub but funner.

yesterday we fed the ducks some hotdog buns. and the geese too! these geese were mostly nice, i think because there were no babies to protect. and i threw the bread this time instead of eating it myself. mom says it was very nice of me to share. i really wanted to eat that bread, though.

my new favorite hobbies

so i really like to throw stuff.

a few days ago or last week or sometime, mom and i walk down to the pond where the ducks swim around. we get real close to the side, and something big goes in the water and splashes. mom says this must have been a big old frog, but i will believe it when i see it. anyhow, we walk right up to the edge and sit down. mom picks up a rock and throws it in the water. i pick up a rock and throw it in the water. then another. and another. and another. before you know it, it is a long time later and there are no more rocks around us to throw in the water. the ducks swim up and get all excited. i think they think we are throwing bread again. i do not throw the bread anyway; i eat it. so i hope they did not get their hopes up too high. we have been back two other times to do this, and always it is so much fun that i do not want to leave.

today, i figure out what mom wants when she says "sam, throw me the ball!" she wants me to throw it to her so that then she can throw it to me and then i can throw it to her and then she can throw it to me again! this game is genius.

happy birthday to my dad!!!! 

my dad

so there are a lot of things i love about my dad.

he is the first person who i ever saw. he was holding me right after i was born, and i looked up, and there he was. it was all kind of blurry, but i know it was him because of the beard.

speaking of the beard, that is a really nice beard my dad has. it tickles my face when he kisses me on my forehead. maybe someday i can have a beard like that, if i am lucky!

he makes the very best faces ever. this makes me laugh, especially in the car when he points the mirror right at me so he can see me, and i can see him, and he makes funny faces to make me happy. this makes car trips one hundred percent funner.

he has the best voice for reading stories. all the people in the book have a different voice, and they are all funny voices!

my dad is the first one to run and make sure i am okay if i fall down or bonk my head or something like that. mom tries to be real calm and mellow, but dad runs up and holds me and makes me not cry anymore.

he lets me sit on his lap while he plays games on the computer. i like to just sit there on dad's lap and hang out with him. he lets me eat dinosaur crackers or animal crackers or raisins and sometimes even little pieces of candy.

sometimes i throw fits. i admit it. i just get so mad i can not see straight! (why can i not have that thing??? i want it!!!) dad handles this really well. he talks to me until i calm down and maybe even smile. i can not resist.

sometimes he can have a big scary voice, but i know that my dad is a big old softie.

he lets me get away with just a little bit more than mom does sometimes. shhhh! do not tell her about this one!

my dad protects me and buys things for me that i need and teaches me things and loves me a whole lot. i am hoping i can be just like him someday. or a fireman. whichever.

two new and exciting discoveries!

ketchup makes everything taste better. everything! one day, dad and i go to the mall to shop for something for mom. we stop to grab a bite to eat at the food court, and dad gets some french fries. mmm, fries!! i notice that he is sticking the french fries down into some red sauce before he eats them, and so i ask if i can please try some. i do try it, and it is wonderful! now i eat ketchup on green beans! i eat it on mandarin oranges! i eat it on lemons! i delicately dip them into the ketchup, and the dipping is half of the fun. sometimes if i do not have any mandarin oranges or french fries or toast to dip into the ketchup, my fingers work just fine too.
hooray for ketchup!

another fun thing to dip stuff into is the air vents on the floor at my grandma and pappy's house. spoons are just perfect for dipping in there, except that i am not quite sure how to get them out once they go in. i do not think mom or dad or grandma or pappy are either. i managed to get four spoons into the vent, but the nutcracker would not fit. i will try harder next time.

i forgot to mention that i got so dirty that i had to take a bath in the big steel sink in the camp kitchen. 

donkey mucous is the best mucous! 

these are the toothbrush pigs. as you can see, i was not too impressed. 

this week

so, this week i went to my very first church camp. mom and dad say, "sam, it is time to go to church camp!" and i run around and play with stuff while they pack up all my stuff. (i hope that this will happen long after it is no longer necessary. i mean, packing does not look like fun.)
anyhow, the camp is full of high school big kids, who love me. sorry, it is hard to be modest when really you just want to tell the truth.
we swim, we sing, we eat. i have at least 15 new scrapes or bruises. here are the stories of a couple of them:
i am running with a roll of tape in my hand, and i fall down, and my finger scrapes the ground under the tape, and a piece of skin comes off, and it bleeds a little bit. it does not hurt that bad, and dad puts this brown sticker over my ouchie! i think he called it a bandade or something.
i also have two skinned knees. these are from backing into the swimming pool on my knees over and over. see, it is a little scary to walk around in the pool, because sometimes you slip and fall and your face goes down in the water (i know this from experience). and so it is more fun and makes you a little less nervous if you just climb in and out of the pool for a half an hour. i did get it down to an art. i would rather have skinned knees than the chipped teeth that my friend JT got. he fell with his face in the water too, and his mom grabbed him, and he fell again, and his teeth hit the side of the pool. he cried a whole lot, but i think he is okay now.

something else fun we did was go to the place with all the animals. we drove in the car, and these big old crazy looking birds and deers and donkeys and monkeys kept looking at us through the windows. the donkey even put nose mucous on the window, and the big cow with big horns tried to rip off the antenna. that was a good time. at the end of the driving, i got to get out and pet some goats and a pig or two! petting the pig felt like petting my toothbrush, but the goat was nice.

i have some pictures to show you!

this is me and my friend carl. he gave me that hat! amandla! 

amandla

so the other day, the three of us (dad, mom, and i) head up to fayetteville to go to a party.

the party is for our friend carl, who is leaving to go back to his country. there were lots of people there, including my auntie amber who i never hardly get to see either! (she is the one who gave me the drumsticks). i did my best to help everyone have a good time, by dancing and talking and just being entertaining all around. the best part of the night is when we watch Mac and Me, a movie about an alien. the alien is very ugly and can never close his mouth. he is about the same size as me, but he is not nearly as cute. mostly i think that the movie is about mcdonalds and coke, but the alien is trying to get back to his family. they call each other by making their hands in a cup shape in front of their faces and whistling. everyone keeps doing what the alien does on the tv, so i do it too! everyone finds this very entertaining, so i keep doing that a whole lot. we all have such a good time that we ALMOST forget to be sad that carl is leaving forever or maybe for a couple years. either way, it is too long.

i will be probably 3 when he gets back, and i will be talking really really good by then. i already know what i will say. "Amandla!" and carl will know what it means, in fact, he will probably turn the jerry springer off and rise up when i say it!

what is that thing?

so today we go outside as usual. the sun is very bright today! i look at the ground because the grass is a little high, and high grass makes me nervous. you never know what could be hiding down there! while i am looking down, i notice that there is a big dark thing down there in front of me. mom asks where the goose is, and when i point, the thing on the ground moves. when i move my arm again, it makes a different shape.

what is that thing?! i tried to get away, but it followed me.

share the bread with the ducks? nah.

so today a friend of mine came over. his name is jon rocket, and he will be 2 in july. i do not know how impressed he was with me, as he did not smile all that much, really. not when i cocked my head sideways and talked funny, and not when i spun in circles. i may need to work on my act before i take it on the road.

the best thing that happened today was that we got to feed the ducks and even mean mister gander and his wife. mom gets a big sack of hamburger buns and says, "come on boys; we are going to feed the ducks now!" well, when we get close to the ducks, and mom throws some bread for them, the goose *ahem* gander comes over and hisses and puts his head down and chases the ducks away and eats the bread! so, we get a little closer to the ducks and throw some to the gander to distract him. mom gives jon rocket and me some bread to throw. john rocket throws his real far, but I say to myself, "Wait a minute! That is perfectly good bread they are throwing to that angry mister goose. I should not throw the bread. I should eat it." So I did.

it is a good time. the gander may even be my friend now. and his wife indeed has some eggs in there, because when she stands up to see what is going on with the bread, and we give her some, we spy some under there.

new toys (sort of)

so, all my toys started making weird noises. some would talk or play the music really slooooow. sometimes they would not come on at all. sometimes they would come on when i was nowhere near them. i thought they maybe were becoming bad, mean toys with minds of their own. but then, mom and dad took all of the metal sticks out and threw them away and put in different metal sticks. now the toys work just fine, and it is like it was my birthday or something all over again! i forgot how fun some of them were! yay for new metal sticks! it is good that my toys all work now, because it rained and rained and rained and i could not go outside. that is kinda a bummer.

in other news, my pacifier got lost, and so dad bought me a pink and purple one, because that was all they had at the store in my favorite brand, Nuk [tm]. i do not mind so much; i mean a pacifier is a pacifier, and i am down with pacifiers. mom says she feels bad for me, though. is there something wrong with pink and/or purple?

okay. so this is the courtyard behind the house. i think i figured out why the goose is mean. he is on the right. there is another goose that sits over in one place all the time (on the left), and the mean goose makes sure that we do not get close to the other goose. mom says maybe the other goose is his wife, and she is sitting on the babies to keep them warm. i think that is a little weird, but i guess it makes sense. if mom was sitting on me to keep me warm, i would like it if dad protected us.  

bathtime is over!!!

yesterday i took a bath. so i am having a great time playing with the duck and the shampoo bottles, when i decide to stand up and splash around a bit. i look down and see that there is a new brown toy down there that i had not noticed before. hooray! a new toy! so i start to grab for it and mom yells out, "sam, NO!" and then whisks me out of the tub real fast.

i learned two things:

1. playing with mysterious brown objects in the bathtub is a NO NO.

2. a good way to end bath time early is to try to play with the brown thing. i enjoy my baths for the time being, but i will remember this in case i get tired of baths some day.

a goose

a crazy thing happened yesterday! mom and i went outside in the big yard behind our house. i had never walked around near the pond and the pool before, and mom said we were going to look at the geese. i did not know what a geese was, but she seemed excited enough about it, so i was all for it as well. we walk to where a couple birds are, near the pond, and mom points and says, "look, sam, a goose!" turns out they are big gray birds, as tall as me, and with black necks and heads. they look nice enough, so i want to pet them! we walk closer to the nearest goose, and he makes a hissing noise like a cat! i think this makes mom nervous because she says, "hmm, sam i think the goose does not like us." well, i am not scared, so i walk a little closer. the goose makes the hissing noise again and walks in our direction! we take a few steps back, and mom says again that the goose does not like us. but maybe he is just trying to talk to us? so i walk closer to him again, and he hisses some more and walks close to us some more and starts putting his wings up in the air a little bit. we take a few steps back and the goose keeps coming! so we turn and walk away kind of fast, and mom holds my hand and tells me that the goose is mean, so we better not try to pet him anymore. why is he so angry? i just want to be friends.

a few of my favorite things

*one time mom put in a dvd with a bunch of farm animals. we danced! we sang! i even walked up and touched the tv. (the current fingerprint count on the tv now is up to i think 146,035.)


*i love the mouse and the keyboard and the power button on the computer. mom and dad really do not like it when i touch that power button, but i can't help it. mom says it is like i am an addict. what does that mean? anyway, it is a good, good time.

*aunt amber gave me two drumsticks. i like to stick the drumsticks through the holes in the wicker chair. the holes are getting bigger! if i keep on with such diligence, it will just be one big hole in no time.

*outside is so fun. i do not even care that mom has to rub some smelly weird stuff all over me every time we're outside. she will not let me get a tan, but that is okay. i like to throw the wood chips onto the slide. i like to yell at big kids when they go by. i even do not mind the rocks in my shoe. why do we ever have to go back inside?

*i like my new seat in the car. it has armrests and a cup holder, and it reclines. what more could i possibly hope for? (except to not have to ever ride in the car.)

*i like to toss things over my shoudlers. i just open up that drawer of dvds, and i get one in each hand, and i throw them backwards. my drawer-emptying speed is down to 3.8 seconds, and i plan to try to break the record today.

the angry face! do you like it? 

yay! basketball on tv at grandpa's! 

i found a blue one! 

easter and angry faces

so the other day, it was easter. mom says she does not know why it is on the day it's on, but it means that Jesus is alive. that seems like a fine reason to celebrate, although i do not understand how the eggs come into it all.....

but anyway, nany and mom and dad and i ride out to where my uncle and aunt and four cousins live. we get there, and two grandparents and two more great-grandparents (nany is also my great-grandma) are there too! so it's a big old housefull. and there are candy, and presents, and lotsa people who want to kiss me. aunt keri and mom mysteriously leave, then they tell us all to come out, and they hand us buckets, and there are lots and lots of colorful eggs laying around! i pick up a few, shake them, and run around. it is most definitely a good time! dad helps me by carrying the bucket, and of course mom takes pictures. i will try to add one to the blog soon.

in other news, my current favorite thing to do is make the angry face. that is what mom and dad call it. i am not really angry when i make the face; i just think it is fun to put my eyebrows down and yell. it certainly gets a reaction! once, i made the angry face and yelled at the lady who took the money and put the stuff in the bags at the food store, and she laughed and laughed and said that i had cussed her out. i think mom was embarrassed. but it was a good time, because i made the lady laugh.

also, and man, my fingers are starting to hurt! mom and i went down to see my grandpa who lives in the woods. well, in a house but in the woods. i learned that when they yell a lot at the tv, it is not because they are mad at me. it is because the people on tv are playing basketball. i think somehow they can hear mom and grandpa yelling, and it helps them play better?