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Glow Sticks

Matt gets to spend one evening a week supervising the young men's activities at church. Last week, they planned a "glow in the dark game night". They were going to play glow volleyball and generally run around in the dark wearing glowing bracelets. Apparently, when the activity ended, all the kids started giving Matt their glow sticks, because he came home with a pocket full of multi-colored bracelets and necklaces. Sam was grinning as her daddy handed her one after another, extracting them from his pocket like some sort of magician with a bottomless hat. We spent the next hour playing with them, spelling out pur names and making shapes in the air.

Hey! I had fun.

Trick or Treat 2008

Our Halloween pumpkins--the mummy and the cat--stood guard on the doorstep, but now are protecting Sam's loot on the kitchen table.

Sam was a Jack-o-lantern and little Kelsie donned a mummy hat and an "I love my mummy" shirt for the evening.

Sam got to go trick-or-treating through our neighborhood with her friend Lightning McQueen (otherwise known as Ethan).

A few years ago, we ran out of candy for the trick-or-treaters at our house, so I bought extra this year, just in case. We didn't need the extra for the neighborhood kids and definitely don't need the massive bowl of candy we now have (in addition to the massive haul Sam dragged home). Happy cavities!

We hope everyone enjoyed a happy and safe Halloween!

Trip to Disneyland

As part of Matt's company trip, we had the opportunity to spend a few days in southern California. I waited as long as possible to tell Sam that we would be going to Disneyland. Once she found out, she began singing "It's a Small World" with relative frequency. (Apparently, she'd learned a little about the park from a Sing-along Song video at daycare.) As it turned out, though, that was one of the few rides that would be closed while we were there. Once we started driving on Wednesday, it wasn't even ten minutes before she asked if we were almost there. Just a little excited about it.

We visited both Disneyland and California Adventure Park. Sam loved the carousels and the flying Dumbo ride. If you ask her what her favorite was, she will tell you her favorite was the Pirates ride. She will tell you how we went down the water slide on the boat and laughed at the silly pirates. She will even move her arm from side to side at the elbow as she sings "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" (Immediately after the actual ride had ended, however, she was very clearly a little relieved the ride was over.) Our favorite part of the park with Sam was in California Adventure Park in the "Bug's Life" area. There were fountains that would randomly spray out of the ground and "jump" from place to place. Sam was fearless as she ran around trying to catch the water and play. Suddenly, we noticed that there was water dripping off of her, but no water spraying her. In her excitement, she had forgotten all about the potty. We then encouraged her to wash off her bum to get the pee-pee off. It was hilarious to see her identify a place where water was spraying and back up toward it with her backside sticking out. Inevitably, just as her bum would make contact with the water, the spray would shut off and she'd have to redirect her soggy pants somewhere else. Funny!

Before we left southern California, we had to seize upon the chance to visit the beach with the girls. Sam had never been to a beach and was very excited about it. As soon as we got to Huntington beach, she wanted to run through the sand. She loved digging for crabs and seashells and chasing the waves back to the sea and running back up the shore when more came rolling in. It was a quick trip, but she soaked it all up--all the way to her waist.


As for Kelsie's enjoyment of the trip south, well, she slept a lot and seemed intrigued by all the people in the theme park. She did wake up when we got to the beach, but wasn't feeling up to getting her feet wet...yet.

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

On Saturday, I took the girls to the pumpkin patch. Sam wanted to wear her Halloween shirt and her "bug eye" on a string around her neck. Our friends Beth and Andy came with us with their one-year old daughter, Jennah. As soon as we got there, Sam started to look for "her" pumpkin. She couldn't have one unless she could pick it up all by herself. The path wound through areas filled with pumpkins of all different sizes and varieties. We walked through the whole patch, taking pictures and checking it all out. Ultimately, Sam decided on a nice orange pumpkin that was just the right size. Before leaving, Sam and Jennah got to ride on the little train that traveled in a giant circle. Overall it was a nice autumn day.

Kelsie Madison

It's Another Girl!

We were expecting a second daughter by August 13th, but had to wait a few extra days or her to get here. After unexpectedly going into labor after a routine appointment, we welcomed "Baby Girl" on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008. She was 7 pounds, 5 ounces and 19 inches in length. She had lots of dark hair. We know that we had 9 whole months to prepare and to choose a name, but hadn't decided on a name for her by the time she was born. Not wanting to be pressured into choosing a name before we were ready, we opted to leave the hospital without a name for her. We bounced around a few ideas over the course of a month, finally narrowing it down to three, then two, then one name. We decided to sleep on the name, then woke up with a completely different name: Kelsie Madison. And that's what we're calling her. Matt wanted to be able to name her after his grandmother, Elsie, so we put a K in front of it to make Kelsie. Interestingly enough, by changing the spelling of Kelsie from the more conventional -ey ending, it changed the meaning of the name from "from Ceol's island" to "chalk landing place". Not a very exciting meaning to her name, so we'll just tell her she was named after her grandmother instead. Madison, though, means "son of Matthew". Not a boy, but we liked it. All in all, she cute and we think her name is, too. I guess we'll keep her.

Sam is quite fond of her baby sister. We frequently hear her pronouncing in a sing-song, high pitched voice, "My baby sister is so cute!" She loves to cuddle with her and help in any way she can with the baby. She helps get new diapers and changing supplies and will run upstairs to retrieve new clothes or blankets for baby sister. Sometimes, it seems like Sam forgets that she is not a baby anymore. She is terribly fascinated with all of the baby toys and clothes, insisting that when she is a baby, she will wear those clothes or play with that toy. She seems a but hazy on the idea of growing older and bigger, not younger and smaller.

We are thrilled to have two, beautiful daughters and for all the unexpected surprises they seem eager to share.

Sam's Summer Adventures

This summer after I finished with school, I wanted to make sure Sam and I got to do something special every day. She wanted to do some fun things and I knew that once Baby Sister arrived, Sam would suddenly have to share her time with Mommy. We made a calendar of activities for every month and Sam got to choose activity stickers and decide where to put them on the calendar. We went to museums, the library, picnics at the park, made a painting, and played games together.

One of her favorite things to do is to go to the Children's Discovery Museum. During the summer, we took the "train" (lightrail) to get to the museum. On the train, Sam would list all of the things she wanted to do when we got there--play with the bubbles, see Alice in Wonderland, climb on the red dragon, make a straw doll, and play in the water. She has become so familiar with the museum that she remembers what comes next in her list of things to do and makes sure we accomplish everything she listed while on the train. After visiting the exhibits, we ate our picnic lunch in the park before getting back on the train to come home again. On a couple of our visits, Sam got to invite a friend to come along.

Sam created a painting for Daddy one day while Matt was on a scouting trip near Tahoe. She had a great time choosing paint colors and putting the pain on the canvas. I gave her a few pointers on when to get more paint or how to hold the brush, but didn't help her with the artwork at all (which was hard not to intervene sometimes). She got really good at knowing when to dip the brush in the paint again, announcing, "It's getting a little scratchy." She was so proud of the finished masterpiece that she wanted to put it up where Daddy would see it.

Sam took "swimming lessons" this summer and enjoyed spending time in the water. It was a toddler class in a shallow pool, but got her used to being in the water and not being so afraid of getting into the water and splashing and getting her face wet. She loved playing with the toys, especially the "squirty fish" and rubber duckies. Her teachers were encouraging and Sam really liked them. On the last day of the two-week session, she got to go down the water slide with her teacher.