Potty Training Time...What Fun!

Boy... am I glad we live in the country. We have recently started working hard with Samuel to potty train. Might I add that this is harder than it seems. I have learned so much by trial and error. Lots of errors I might add. Today he is running around in a pull up, Grandmama's flip flops and a fan around his neck. This sight mad me laugh so I had to take a picture.

Full of Emotions

Wow, what a summer. You never know when you wake up what the day will be like. On this particular summer day we were going to have Aunt Jill and Ella's birthday party. Of course, we could not have the party on their real birthdays because of busy schedules. So we managed to plan the parties a week later. Mom was going to head to Walmart for the last minute party supplies while Samuel was down for his nap. Just as she left I got a call on my phone. She told me to wake Samuel up and come outside. I was not sure what I would find but I did as I was told. As we walked out the front door, I could barely see a tree that had fallen across the road. Now I am not talking about a twig or a branch I am talking about an entire tree. Seeing this made me have a wide range of emotions. I began to think of someone we could call to help us. There was no way that mom and I could cut and move the tree. Of course, we both thought man I sure wish Dad were here. Not only could he most defiantly move the tree but he would have fun doing it. Since we could not call Dad, we called my brother Cale. He came from work to help. He could not help us out without a tractor so he called a family friend to come help. Roger came but had to go get a tractor to pull the tree off. As he came back down the driveway I filled with emotions again. He was drive a big yellow backhoe just as my father had for years. I had to fight back tears. He of course was able to successfully move the tree. And you guessed right...Samuel wanted to ride. Roger was kind enough to ride Samuel back down the driveway. Again, I fought back tears....if only Dad were still here....Samuel could ride everyday.....

We made it to WalMart and back just in time for the party to begin.

As I was posting this today Samuel so sweetly looked at the picture and said "PaPa". Wow! For a split second I was ready to say "yes baby that is Papa" because it would have been a natural thing to see. And yes, Roger does look a bit like Papa. I again fought back the tears.

It has been almost a year and a half since Dad went to heaven. I think I have done well dealing with all the emotions that come with losing a loved one but somehow I am reminded daily of him and how much we need, love and miss him.

Yesterday, I read the book Heaven Is Real. It was a fantastic book about a four year old boy who went to heaven. I was reassured that I would see Dad again and that Dad would know Samuel and they too would meet in heaven. Man, I cant wait!

Happy 4th!!

The 4th was a day spent eating, playing, and laughing with family. It was so great to have the entire family together. We had so much fun in the pool that even the watermelon went for a dive in the pool. Boy was that a bust. We were all hoping the watermelon would sink so we could see who could get the watermelon out. Instead the watermelon floated around with us. Oh well...maybe next year. We were going to head into town to watch fireworks but we decided to go buy a few instead. Samuel loved the fireworks. He enjoyed watching them in the sky but loved holding the little sparklers the best. I think he could have done it all night. I guess we will have to stock up for next year.

Did someone say FROGS?

Samuel is a little unsure about the water this year. He likes the idea of going swimming but once there only likes to sit on the steps. For awhile he was content to sit and splash around...that was until he discovered the skimmer. He now knows that he can find all kinds of insects and frogs. Instead of sitting and splashing in the water he now wants to hold a frog. So.... each day when it is time to swim we get dressed in swimming gear, spray on the sunscreen and get a towel. We sit in the water (on the steps) for a few seconds and off he goes to find a frog. He then comes back with frog in hand to sit on the steps. He will occasional send the frog into the water for a short swim and then scoops him back up. He flips and turns the frog and will sit the frog on the side of the pool. He will repeat these over and over and over again until the poor little frog dies. Then and only then can I convince him to put the frog in the grass. But don't worry...he heads straight to get another one.

New Milestone

Well, Samuel never fails to amaze me. We were heading to run errands the other day. I opened Samuel's door to help him into the car. As I opened the door, he begins to crawl in. As he was doing it, he said "I do it". I stood back to watch and to my amazement he climbed into the car and into his car seat. I was so shocked! It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened. All I can say is my baby is growing up. How sad!! Although I don't want him to grow up I must admit that it is nice for him to be able to do it by himself.

Important Sayings of a 2 Year Old

My wise sister keeps asking me if I have written down all of Samuel's cute says. My answer is always...no not yet....I will. She continues to inform me that if I do not I will forget. Well, here goes my attempt to write down the cute way Samuel says things.

"Fip-Flops....I need fip flops...I put fip-flops on." And this continues nonstop until you put on his flip flops. Samuel is in LOVE with this flip flops. He wants them on the minute he wakes up each morning and will wear them ALL day long. He even wants everyone else in the house to put on their flip flops. If he can not find his flip flops that is fine too because he will just find the another pair of flip flops that belong to someone else and put them on. He will clonk around the house until he comes across HIS flip flops. If you remember several post back these same flip flops were the cause of his first bloody nose. These flip flops have been washed twice this summer because of the horrible smell they had and he has almost worn the bottoms completely away.

"I hold keys.....I mash buuuuttons......I beep the horororororn." Right next in line to his love for flip flops is his love for buttons. He loves to hold my car keys and make the horn blow. I love to hear him say "hororororn".

"I ride in mommy's cars." This is Samuel's code for "Please take me for a ride in your car." He always calls a car...cars. I am not sure why he puts the s on the end of it. I try to correct him so he knows how to correctly say the word but I must add that it is so darn cute.

"I need memote." is Samuel's code for "May I please hold the remote." He loves a remote. If you cant see the pattern here I will spell it out for you. The child loves anything with buttons (cell phones, house phones, car keys, remotes) that is an adults. He does not want the play keys, phones or remotes he wants the real things. He knows if it really works or not. He gets really mad if you try to give him the play junk.

"Mommy hold you." I am sure most children say this from time to time. Samuel will say this when he wants me to pick him up.

"I get ououououououout" This is what he says when he wants to get out of his car seat which is normally about 5 minutes into the ride. Boy am I glad we are not making this 3 hour trip back and forth from Ga.

"Bear, Papiece, muuuusic" If you lay Samuel down to sleep, you will hear these 3 things. He must have his bear, papiece and music. Once he has all three, he will go down to sleep without much fight.