Sam's 4

Tonight we celebrated Sam's 4th birthday and he was so excited.  He has been a little confused about if he is 4 since July, when we celebrated early with family [I said he could be 4 back then ;)].  Now it's the real deal!  Our little Sambo is 4. 
I can't believe how fast he is growing up ...  Susie said today that it doesn't seem like that long ago that he was a baby and loved to lay on our chests and listen to our heartbeats.  Now he doesn't slow down for one second!  Riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, shooting hoops, going to the dirt jumps, playing with friends and going to preschool.  So BIG and we couldn't love him more!!

Happy Birthday Sambo!

His presents this year were: Buzz Lightyear, Woody, a puzzle, Tech-Decks, a basketball and basketball hoop, and riding gloves! (and sort of a new trampoline, cuz our other one broke and I got tired of him using everything in our house as an indoor trampoline)  Lucky Boy!

We have been waiting ...

for this book for a while now!  .... 

Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins, The Final Book of the Hunger Games Series.

The question is who gets to read it first ... Ben or Mom?

Ben, snuck off with it of course ;)

Susie's Room

This is another 'Rewind' post ... because I never got around to posting how Little Miss Susie's room turned out ...  which is SUPER CUTE! 

She made the the zebra pillow cases and the small pillow in the middle!

Really love the lamp Grandma made

We spruced up her old shelf by repainting it, spray painting the baskets black and adding new liners

She spray-painted this earring holder to match her room, so crafty!

An organzied closet makes me SO HAPPY!

Tournament Season

Soccer Tournament Season is well underway ...  we have had several already and more planned, but this past weekend we went to the Santa Clara Rotary Cup Tournament.  For some reason this is all of the boys favorite tournament (from both the old Red Devil team and the 49er Strike team).   It was fun to cheer Ben on and get to know the 49er Strike families better. 
Ben was especially happy that the team took 1st place ...  he was excited to wear his shirt to school today and gloat to all the former Red Devil players!

Sam playing with new friends from the team!

The Champions!

Coach Jeff

"Rickshawing"

This word "Rickshawing" was coined by Sam after his latest adventures with our Rock Star babysitter and friend Zach.  Zach and his brother have a knack of creating things out of what most of us would call junk and their latest creations are something closely resembling a Rickshaw!

Wikapedia says that Rickshaws (or rickshas) are a mode of human-powered transport: a runner draws a two-wheeled cart which seats one or two persons. Rickshaws are commonly made with bamboo and chinchilla skin. The word rickshaw came from Asia where they were mainly used as means of transportation for the social elite.

Runner-pulled rickshaws have mainly been replaced by cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws. The term "rickshaw" is today commonly used for those vehicles as well,

So here they are ...

(I need to get a close-up, Sam is sitting on a 'Tot Spot' camp chair - and Zach gave Ben a ride home it the other day and Ben looked like Budda sitting in that tiny chair ... so funny!)

Rewind ...

My Mom noticed that I have a few holes in my postings from this summer and requested one about Ben's BYU Soccer Camp experience.

Going to this camp was out of Ben's comfort zone ...  but he agreed to give it a try. 

We checked him into the dorms Monday and picked him up Thursday evening.

When they gave us the schedule for the week I noticed that they were selling BYU soccer apparel, so I asked if he wanted extra money for that ...  and I got a very adamant "NO!"  [is that Steve's bad influence or because of Ben's Nike contract?]

Anyway ... he sent me text messages through the week that said things were 'Good' [I know, not a lot to go on, but better than wanting to come home] and one Wednesday he sent me a text that said he bought a BYU soccer jersey ;)  I have to say I probably had the hardest time, worrying how he was, if he was making any friends, eating, etc

When all was said and done he had a great experience, worked out hard and long, and met friends from all over the world! 

He was even selected by his coaches as an ALL-STAR - pretty great!

Reluctantly being photographed by Mom

Receiving the All-Star Award!

First Day

The big kids are off to their first day of school!

Ben to 8th grade and Susie to 5th.

A few nerves and a lot of excitement ...  I hope they have a good year!!

a cute prize from the Allreds

a clever gift for the teacher that I found here

and, of course, a silly treat from Mom!

Kidnapped!

At 6:30 this morning my fellow Girl Scout leaders and I kidnapped our Troop of Junior Girl Scout and took them to breakfast at the Pancake House ...  so funny to see these girls first thing in the morning,  most of them tried to crawl back under the covers when the whole troop was there, with paparazzi bulbs flashing, to wake them up!

The 2010 Season Has Started!

Ben is playing with the The Auburn 49ers Strike this year and they got off to a good start this past weekend during a tournament here in Roseville.   It was fun to watch (of course Ben was great!) and the team took home a respectable 3rd place medal!

I can't believe how much these kids have grown!

Here is Ben NOW (#15)

Here he is in 2007

This boy LOVES soccer!