this n' that

Sam is pushing it - he is in the very age appropriate phase of not listening, being sly and doing all kinds of things he knows he isn't supposed to do.  He can really be a nut!  He is almost always having a ton of fun so its hard to stay mad for long.  Over the last week or so, we have been teaching him the phrase "Leave it alone" as the proper response to the question "Is that yours?"  "Is that yours?" I will say as he walks down the hall with, say, my cell phone, and he will say "Leave it alone" and hand it to me, with a big grin.  He just cannot seem to resist touching everything.  When I do get mad at him and he has to go to time out or suffer through my explanations of how this or that is a bad idea, he will give me a hug, pat my back and say "You're so great" in this goofy low voice.  I do not know what that is about, but it makes me laugh (most of the time).

The church is getting rid of all the old trophies.  

 

This week I noticed that Sam is talking in a lot more full sentences - I think I missed the transition from choppy toddler talk to sentences, but he has made it.  He and Casey have very interesting conversations.  Now, they have created voices for some of their "guys" and they have conversations too.  Nothing like a little boy trying to do a higher voice for a stuffed animal - very entertaining.  Sam has really gotten attached to two "guys" lately, a frog and a sheep, surprisingly enough their names are Frog and Sheep.  There is also a white bear and his name is Bad Wheelers.  I have no idea where that came from.  Right now Sheep is in desperate need of a bath (washing machine) but Sam is opposed to the idea so far.  Its fun to watch him get into the animals too - it was about this age that Casey really claimed his pig and dog - Gary and Kouker.  They are still in the mix even though the gang has grown considerably. 
The weather the last few days has been awesome!  I am hopeful that I didn't jinx anything by tucking the shovels, salt and snow blower away.  The boys have been out on bikes, and we have done most of the super fun clean up after Obie - let's just say it seems his system has been working fine all winter.  I have not gotten the camera out but the boys have been really happy to be outside.
I am glad too, since Casey has recently discovered computer games.  He loves the Nick Jr website and has no problem navigating around it and finding fun games to play.  He has chosen this over watching TV most days lately.  So now we get to think about "screen time" and help him understand why he cannot play video games for 45 minutes and then watch a show.  Good stuff.  The last few days he has opted to be outside which is cool.
The other day, Casey and I were playing in the sand table.  We were talking about kindergarten and how he would get to make some new friends.  He is so excited about it, and he told me he wants to make a lot of friends because "That's how you share your heart Mom."  I don't know if this came from Dora or if he came up with that on his own but it was pretty sweet.