I mean, what can you say about Thanksgiving?
"Well we had a bunch of turkey and Uncle _________
had 5 pieces of pie, and then we played a board game
and then and then and then and then..."

It was fun. What? What else am I supposed to say? Well, I guess
I could mention that during our game of Cranium, we had three grown people
trying to hum and pantomime Aretha Franklin's "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" at the same
time. No body guessed what in the world they were doing, but we laughed
until we almost fell off our seats. And we ate turkey and pie.


I was going through an old chest when we were putting up the Christmas stuff
and I found a little gymnastics outfit. "What is this?" I asked Leigh.
"Oh, that was mine from when I was four years old. I took lessons."
Belinda's eyes lit up. "Would you like to wear it Belinda?"
"Yes!"
And so our downstairs neighbors were treated to the sounds of the
Pre-school Olympics for the after noon.

Thanksgiving Outfits




Mom's Taxi




He was so weird with his mittens on. He laughed and then
he just sat there, not moving. At one point during our walk I stopped
to check and see if he was OK, since he wasn't moving. I found him
looking off, far far away..,
Maybe they are magical mittens that make kids good.
There's one way to find out: take them to Junior Church and put them
on the worst kid there. If he suddenly stares of into space, I'll know
that I've got a good thing (I almost said "on my hands").

You can't take pictures of anything when it gets this grey out...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG BOY SAMMY!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday. We can't believe it was a year ago that we brought this little guy home!

The first year of a child's life is unimaginably long, especially after a couple of months of having him.
After the sleep deprivation passes and the child starts to respond, you really feel like you're starting all over with a new child.
Then he begins to do more and more things, and you find you can do more and more things. A million little habits and mannerisms change, and the year must take forever for all of this to come about!
Then by the end of the year, he's a full fledged toddler, able to poke and destroy about anything. And accomplish disgusting cullinary displays

Most animals grow up so much quicker. A panda is mature somewhere between 4 and 7 years (depending on where it goes to school), and a dog can buy cigarettes by the time he is 2.

If Samuel matured at that rate, he would look like this:


or, if something went wrong, like this:


Imagine how quickly that year would go! "OK son, it's been a year. Now it's time for you to seek your fortune."
"Great, dad. I've been getting a little restless around here. I think I set up an import business for Chinese goods."
"Don't you think you might want to wait until you're 2 to do that? The extra year might be a good learning experience."

But instead, he's still a little munchkin that has to take his silky snilky with him everywhere he possibly can, chewing on the whole time.


Speaking of cloth and dirt...the washing machine is broken.
Should we get some pictures of the Hatfield laundromat? It's a very international experience!