Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet Sammy!!
Sammy turned 10 the end of March, and I have been remiss in recording how amazingly awesome the boy is! Ten is the year I throw a party for the kids (the only birthday party they get), so we had a dodge ball pizza party at the church, complete with a white elephant gift exchange. Sammy had a great time!
Getting his Bear merit badge.
Sammy is the kindest kiddo around. He's a peacemaker and likes everyone to be happy. In fact, we are working on teaching him that it is good to have an opinion--his own opinion. For example, when we were planning his birthday party I tried to figure out which he'd rather have, root beer floats or cake & ice cream.
"Well, which would be easier for you?"
"No, Sammy--what do you want?"
"Well...it's a birthday, so cake & ice cream would be good...but root beer floats are also really yummy..."
"But what do you want?"
"Well...I know Mason really likes root beer floats..."
Etc., etc.
It's hard to pin him down. Usually when he gives an opinion he gives the exact opposite opinion in the same sentence.
The little boys loooove playing with Sammy--he's creative and patient and silly and easy to be around. Ruth adores her Sammy, and sometimes chooses him over me! He can get her to calm down when she is upset and has everlasting patience with her fussing. He takes time to play with her at her level, never losing patience with things that make her happy. As I write this he is gently pushing her around the house on her little car. He saw that I was trying to blog, so is taking care of her.
At a recent doctor's appointment the Dr. heard a funny sound in Sammy's heart, so we had to go down to Fort Collins for a pediatric echo. Sammy has spent more time in doctor's offices than anyone between stitches, a concussion and then the echo. Fortunately nothing serious has resulted from any of those things--the echo being no exception. He has a very small hole in his pulmonic valve, but it should never be an issue with anything he wants to do. He doesn't need surgery or to change his lifestyle. It's just there. Thank goodness, because if he had to stop gymnastics I don't know what he'd do!
Very, very recently Sammy has discovered that he can read books-formerly-though-to-be-too-hard. A new world has opened up to him! He still loves listening to audio books (I do, too!), but isn't afraid of big books anymore. We do a thing where he reads a book of his choosing and then I choose a book for him to read. Well, actually I give him a stack of books to choose from. It works well. :)
The kids have to do one thing for me every day--I give them any sort of random jobs from taking out the bathroom trash to washing walls to vacuuming stairs to getting Ruth ready for the day, or as in the picture below, installing Ruth-proof locks on the cabinets. Sammy frequently goes above and beyond--he likes to go the extra mile, in this case I asked him to do one lock (and it took him awhile), but he ended up installing 3 more, just to be nice.
Sammy has a pig named TLB (Tomato Lettuce Bacon). He's hoping to sell it at the County Fair and make a couple thousand bucks. His responsibilities include hanging out with her every day and sharing feeding/watering/mucking duties. Soon he'll add walking her to the list. He's good with animals--his calmness encourages them to trust him, and they do.
For April Fool's Day Sammy decided we should have spaghetti & meatballs (his favorite meal)...minus any plates or utensils. He covered the table in plastic wrap and away we went, missionaries and all! He thinks we should eat that way more often...as it happens, we got our pigs the same day (the elders helped us get them in the barn), so I thought how we ate very appropriate to the evening's activities.
Sammy is rarely too busy to read to the little boys--I think he remembers that it wasn't long ago that he couldn't read so needed an older sibling to help him out. Calvin & Hobbes is a current favorite. He also enjoys playing games--for awhile he and I would play a game and read a book together every day. Now he more often plays games with his brothers, almost always "nice-e-ating", which is a word he made up that means being very nice to someone, especially when playing a game. He'll give away cards or money or favors, just to be nice. That really sums Sammy up. He's a nice guy, always willing to help out a brother (or sister or mother or father or friend).
