Sam turns 9

Sam turned 9 years old this week.

Sam was my first Mother's Day gift, yes, he was actually born on Mother's day. I have to confess, once upon a time, what seems like a very long time ago, I had not always been enthusiastic at the thought of motherhood. But I am so grateful that I did not miss out on the greatest blessings of my life. Sam has been such a blessing from day one. He has always been a kind and gentle child - so easy to love. We have started to reach the point where mom's hugs and kisses are embarrassing, but every now and then he will still reach out and hold my hand while we are walking and I cherish those moments because I know they won't last much longer.

Sam is thoughtful and mindful of those around him. He takes after his dad as he loves to surprise people with various acts of kindness. Out of nowhere, he will secretly sneak upstairs and make everyone's bed, or he will surprise me by cleaning the playroom all by himself or unloading the dishwasher. He is very responsible and a hard worker. I know I can always count on him to get his homework done, take out the trash or keep on eye out on his little brother. He's becoming quite the chef too! He makes great scrambled eggs and brownies. His interests right now include anything and everything having to do with Star Wars, Legos or camping. He loves scouts and he is a pretty good artist. He is really good at building things - forts, Lego creations, Lincoln Logs.

Sam also has a crazy-silly side and loves to make us laugh. His thing lately has been crazy songs. He will get stuck on a song and sing it over and over and over..... Last week walking to school, his song was:

"Have you ever seen our chili, our chili, our chili,

Have you ever seen our chili go this way and that."

He says that should be the church's potluck song. Tonight at dinner, he was singing:

"I got a pickle, I got a pickle,

I got a pickle, hey, hey, hey, hey"

Supposedly that one is from the movie The Little Rascals.

He will so kindly sing these songs for hours and days at a time, just to make sure we all have the tune stuck in our head. He also has an incredible memory and loves to quote funny things from his favorite movies. The sillier, the better.

Star Wars blaster from Grandma & Grandpa - unfortunately, this toy has caused us a bit of trouble lately, everyone seems to want to play with this one, so we have to put it away when friends come over.

Sam asked for one thing for his birthday - a Camelbak backpack.