American Idol -- Season 24

I think we have found your American Idol -- Season 24......

From a very early age Sam has loved music. We started going to Kindermusik class when he was only 5 months old, He gave his first 'piano recital' at grandma's house before he was 1 (I need to get a copy of that video and post it here for those of you who haven't seen it), and recently he started giving us 'Rock Star' concerts with his guitar.

Last night we discovered that he can sing an entire song all by himself. Okay, so it isn't an entire song, but he is able to get through the entire part of the song that daddy taught him. We call it 'The Peaches Song'.

If you would like to sing along with Sam, here are the lyrics...."Peaches come in a can, they were put there by a man, in a factory downtown....."

Lovin' this spring weather!!

For those of you who don't know, Sam LOVES being outside! His favorite things at the moment are riding his bike, playing in his sandboxes & going to the park by grandma's house.

I guess I only captured one photo from one of our multiple trips to the park over the last 2 days, but it is a good one :)

Working with Papa

Sammy is spending the morning with Papa Don (Swain). At breakfast Papa told Sammy that he was going to get to help him work, while Mommy was working. When I heard what work they were doing, I couldn't resist stopping by to catch a few pictures :)

Getting some instructions

"This is pretty easy Papa."

"How do you like my work Mom?"

The Joy of licking the 'Spoon'

Tonight when we told Sammy that we were celebrating Uncle Andy's birthday tomorrow, he responded "Cake". So, I decided it would be a good evening to make cupcakes for the first time. We have gotten pretty good with cookies, but have never attempted any type of cake where there is batter involved :)

I wish I had my camera handy when we started cracking the eggs. You won't believe it, but I only had to rescue one small piece of shell from the bowl :) I was also quite surprised when he didn't attempt to eat any of the ingredients along the way. After the cupcakes were in the oven and it was time to clean up, I asked him if he wanted to lick the spoon. There was no hesitation, he was more then ready...and decided that the spoon wasn't enough...he opted for the measuring cup we had used to scoop the batter into the cups.

I was able to grab the camera quickly and take a few action shots of him thoroughly enjoying himself...watching him brought back lots of wonderful memories of baking things with Mom & Michele...and of course always being ready to lick the spoon clean at the end.

Holiday Q&A with Sammy Swain

Holiday Q&A with Sammy Swain.....

Q: 'More Presents?' was the question of the holiday season for Sammy. I think it may have had to do with the fact that our celebrating was spread over a couple of weeks. Every time he saw a gift bag or box or even a christmas tree, he would ask 'More Presents?'.

A: 'New Toys!' was the answer of the holiday season. When we asked Sammy what he wanted from Santa this year, he answered 'Toys'. When we asked him what kind of toys, he said 'New Toys'.....toddlers sure are literal :) hehe

Now for a few of my favorite photos from our Christmas Celebrations:

New goggles & power drill

New Blocks from Santa

Sammy studying his new floor puzzle

Aunt Mimi

My Sister has reminded me for weeks now that I haven't updated the blog in a while, so I thought I would dedicate my first post of the new year to her :)

If you don't know already, Sammy LOVES Aunt Mimi.....they have lots of fun together. Here is a picture of the two of them at our Tresemer Christmas Party.... they just crawled through the box in the background......(together)

Camera Day @ Tumbling

This week is Camera Week at Jump Start Gymnastics, so Grandma Howerter & Mommy got to take more pictures of our little monkey :) As you will see in the pictures, our baby has become quite independent these days. He prefers to do things my "self".

"Look Mom & Grandma, I'm tall enough to reach the bar all by myself...."

Before we sing our goodbye song, we get to play with the bubbles! Sammy has gotten pretty good at blowing the bubbles all by himself!