sam is 10!

today my middle child,

my sweet boy, my kind tender heart,

is 10.

wow. thats crazy.

in the early years this kid was hard.

some days i wished he would hurry and grow up.

i wondered what he'd be like when he was 10.

oh, its so much better.

i went to his parent teacher conference the other day

and his teacher was saying some really nice things about him

and at the end she said,

"above all those other things i've said sam, i know you are kind

and that is what matters most to me."

it is true.

sure he's a tease.

sure he can back talk with the best of them.

and yes. he can still make me crazy.

but sam is kind.

he will probably never know the important role he plays is this family.

he is our comedian.

there is no one in this family that can make us laugh like sam.

even so inappropriately during family prayers.

one giggle from him and we're all goners.

we love you sam.

yes, you are the middle but i like to think of you

as the center.

because you are.

happy birthday buddy.

we love you.

we might be boring.

ya, i said it.

when i have nothing great to post

i ask myself, "are we boring?"

and sometimes the answer might be yes.

so here's what we've been up to...

josh...working.

me...home, chores, panicing about christmas.

ethan...school and friends.

emma...school and friends.

sam...school, friends, and indoor soccer.

eliza...school, friends, piano(gett'n sooo good!)dance.

griff...hang'n with his homies aka. everyone listed above.

and taling in full sentences. the latest?

"how's it goin?"

life is so good though.

sometimes there's beauty is the norm.

not to say there arent challenges but if you look for

the good it is all around us.

do you know what was not good? twilight.

there are no words.

it was lame, and gross, and stupid, and badly acted,

and had a horrible soundtrack, and really lame yelling wolves...i'll stop.

we're all entitled to our own opinion.

we had company this weekend and that made up for it.

i am hosting thanksgiving again this year and i love it.

my kids get so excited (by kids i mean sam, eliza, and griff)

to help set up, cook, and have family over.

i love how it makes our home feel.

i like tidying things and making it nice for everyone to come and feast and hang out.

sams bday is friday and he will be 10.

i'm not sure how that happened?

i can't believe it.

i have such a soft spot for that kid.

i mean i do for all of my kids but, sam?

he gets to me in a good way.

he is so in tune with me.

always the first to tell me i look cute,

or comment on dinner, or just notice the little things.

he's a goodie.

well, busy week so i better get to it.

haircut!

oh liza loo you dolly.

she has been begging for a haircut!

so bye bye long hair!

7 inches to be exact.

love it!

happy fall.

ahhh...fall.

i love it so.

the weather, the clothes, the food.

griff and his buddy loved playing in the leaves.

i also had to document the night josh took

these 2 boys to the REAL game.

it was right before halloween so they dressed up.

griffy kept saying,"look at me i'm a cow-boy."

love these boys.

other than that its business as usual around here.

we just got back from a fun weekend in st. george.

ethan played 3 soccer games over the weekend and

his team won all their games.

we had fun being together away from the norm.

we love it down there.

thanks to heidi for her condo!

happy fall!