Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | November 30, 2013

The one thing I love about having an artificial tree is that you can put it up so early! I have always been a real tree kind of person, so a few years ago when we got our artificial one, it was an adjustment. I will say, being able to put up the tree whenever you want, and being able to enjoy it for a long time are a huge plus. It was kind of a bummer this year that Thanksgiving was so late because it ate into my tree time! I didn’t want to put it up before the holiday since it would be a little bit in the way, so the day after Thanksgiving was tree (and whole house decorating) day!

First order of business, before the tree, was getting the rest of the house decorated. I don’t know why, but that always has to come first for me. I think I need to be surrounded by the holiday to do the tree. As you can see, Sam was very excited to see the decorations she hasn’t been able to play with in a year.

The house got assembled pretty quickly, and then, after dinner, it was on to the tree. Mark and Sam made a fire, we turned on some Christmas music, and got going. It was really hard for Sam to wait for us to do the boring part – stringing the lights and the garland – but she was more patient then I expected her to be.

For some reason, she was very insistent that a little stuffed bunny that Mark won for her last summer in one of those claw machines had to go on the tree. It’s not an ornament, but it has a string, so I suppose that is reason enough for Sam. She gave bunny a big hug before hanging him up.

One of Sam’s favorite parts of tree trimming is unwrapping all of the ornaments. I do wrap them all in tissue paper to protect them so I guess it’s just as good as opening presents to Sam. You never know what is inside!

She loves these ornaments that are shaped like animals and made out of natural materials. We have a million of them. We all like the way they look and they come with the added bonus of not being breakable!

Zephyr was so sweet – she sat with us the whole time, right in front of the fire. I think she was just waiting for me to put down the tree skirt so she could snuggle up underneath the tree.

The bottom of the tree was getting a bit ornament heavy so Mark offered to help Sam decorate the top. She picked the perfect spot for her giraffe.

Thanks, Daddy!

As the decorating goes on, Sam gets more excited and more lovable. We got lots of big squeezes that night.

Last but not least, the star! The most important ornament on the tree. It is always Mark and Sam’s job to place it perfectly, right on top.

Come on Santa! We’re ready!!

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pamelamyers | November 29, 2013

Each year we host Thanksgiving for our family at our house. It has been a tradition for a long time and it is one that I am really happy we have. There are so many holidays, and so many people to see, it is hard for everyone to be in the same place together.

This Thanksgiving, I am so very thankful for everything I have. I have said it before, but it merits repeating. Thank you to my wonderful husband for standing by me in good times and bad. Thank you to my daughter for giving me the greatest purpose in my life – being a good mom. Thank you to my mom for being my anchor, and always making me feel like as long as she is alive I have a second home, my first home, one that will always be there for me. Thank you to my dad for joining our family so long ago and showing me what it means to have a father who cares, who is present. Thank you to my acquired family, my wonderful in-laws, you are not my family by marriage, but by love. You welcomed me with open arms, each and every one of you, and I am so grateful. Thank you to the many felines who have graced my life, especially Zephyr. Being privileged to live with a member of another species, and to be accepted as one of them, is truly life-changing. And thank you to my friends, my co-workers, both past and present. You can never have enough good people in your life.

Ok, ok, enough with the sappiness! So, how did we spend our day? This year, Sam and I watched the whole Macy’s parade on TV. She was so excited to see the Hello Kitty and Snoopy floats and she sang and danced around with all the Broadway shows. She told me that Grandmom told her that at the end of the parade Santa would be there. The whole time it was on she was so afraid to leave the room even for a minute in case she missed it.

After the parade, she had a bath and a nap, then it was on to dinner! Here is our family table, minus me and and Mark.

You may have noticed in front of some of the plates there were place cards. Sam wanted to figure out where everyone was going to sit before they got there. I found some Max and Ruby Thanksgiving place cards online and Sam wrote everyone’s name on a card. I cut them out and Sam helped me put them at everyone’s plate. She is getting a lot better at writing her letters. To do the cards, I made light, dashed lines and she traced over them.

The real highlight of the day was after dinner when…you won’t believe this…Santa came!! The kids were playing nicely together in the family room when we all heard jingle bells. I went to investigate and Santa was at our door! He came all the way from New York and the parade to see Sam and Maddox.

He asked them what they wanted and they confirmed for him that they had both been VERY good this year. Santa also brought some early presents, a coloring book for Maddox and a small Ariel doll for Sam.

Zephyr came peeking in to see who was there and she got a nice Santa cuddle too. She has been a very good cat this year!

After all of the excitement, the kids played together so nicely, coloring and drawing pictures.

I know what Sam is thankful for – her dad!

Happy, happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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pamelamyers | November 28, 2013

Sam got her first progress report at school recently. The sections discuss her social, physical and academic development. She only really gets scored on how well her skills are developing, not like a real report card. She did really well. On most of her criteria, she was scored either “Has Developed”, which we think means she has this skill already, or “Showing Progress”, which is pretty self-explanatory. She only had a few “Needs to Work On” things and they weren’t too surprising to us. One was holding a pencil or crayon correctly and the other was speaking in a group situation. Also, she needs more work on recognizing her name in print. Otherwise, she did great. Our little girl loves school and is doing really well. Her next progress report comes in January when we actually have a parent-teacher conference and then again in May. I am really proud of how far she has come. I know by January she will have come even further. Our biggest obstacle is going to be the speaking up in public. Her reticence to talk in front of groups hasn’t really gotten better, and I had hoped it would when she got more comfortable with the kids in her class. I know it took me a really long time to be comfortable talking in front of a group, and I think Mark too, so we may just have to work on building her confidence. Whether she becomes a great public speaker or not, we are very proud of how far she has come in just the few months she has been at school. I hope she knows it.

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pamelamyers | November 23, 2013

Every year we seem to have a million leaves to rake up. Which is not fun. What is fun, is Sam playing in them. And basically disassembling the pile Mark created… But that’s ok. I still remember the first year we tried to get her to play in the leaves she was so scared! Now, of course, she loves it. Here are some pictures of the cutie pie having a blast.

She stopped hurling leaves in the air long enough to show us her smile, but only for a moment.

We weren’t sure what this cluster of leaves or dried up flowers in her hand was, but she was completely enamored with it. When she wanted to keep jumping around, she asked me to hold it so it wouldn’t get lost.

I love the windblown look – she is like a forest nymph.

Ok, done being adorable – it’s time to have fun!

Right before she decided she was cold and went in the house, Sam got the idea that it would be fun to use her Hippity Hop through the leaves. I didn’t think she could do it, but she did!  Pretty impressive, I think.

I think that’s it for our leaves this year. All Sam needs now is some snow!

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pamelamyers | November 22, 2013

Sam’s school is trying to foster the spirit of giving and generosity, so they asked all the parents to send in a new pair of mittens for the kids to hang on the “Mitten Tree”. The mittens would all be donated to kids in need. Sam loved the idea, even though I don’t think she quite understood exactly who was getting these mittens (she wanted to keep them for herself for a while there). But when we got to school and I showed her the tree and told her that Mrs. McCann would bring them all down together to hang their mittens on it, she was pretty excited. Today when I went to pick her up I stopped to take a picture. The mittens Sam brought in are at the bottom, pink with hearts on them.

I hope she really understood what they were trying to do – giving to those who are less fortunate. Mark and I believe in giving to worthy causes, doing volunteer work, and things like that. When she is older, we hope to find something we can all do as a family to volunteer. Mark and I used to love volunteering for the SPCA, and for a while, before I got pregnant, I did volunteer work with a local cat rescue. I think we are doing a pretty good job of raising a child who cares about other people, the earth, and the animals who roam it. Thankfully, her school is also fostering that sentiment.

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