Primary Teacher Report: Sammy

On Sundays after church Sammy's primary teacher Kathryn often sends some kind of story about Sammy. They're so...indescribably...Sam! Enjoy!

2/14/2010: "Oh yeah and now for the funny moment...we were towards the end of the lesson anyhow. But the lesson was about families and after talking about how we were named and sharing the pictures, I said that since it's Valentine's Day and we show extra love today, how do our families show love for us everyday. I was trying to give the boys (I had all boys today, all in blue too, LOL!) ideas and at one point I asked "do your mommies help clean your rooms?" and very matter of factly Sammy says "No, we just always keep things messy." I was already kind of fading since my sinuses are killing me and I just couldn't get back into the lesson, I totally got the giggles. So we did our drawings instead and ended class and then walked down for water and the bathroom. Kids this age are hilarious...you never know what they will say...And since I have a 4 yr old who loves to do that I totally couldn't get back into the swing of the lesson once I started laughing. "

2/21/2010: "Okay so last week Sammy ratted out your housecleaning tactics. This week it's this: I showed them all my Articles of Faith chart and how they'd all learned and passed off #1. So I said now we will working on learning #2 in class and I had them repeat it with me. I let them know they can practice at home with their parents. Sammy raises his hand. When I said he could talk he told me that you have a really hard time with that one and that I will have to come and teach it to you before he can learn it. Trying not to laugh I said that I think I could do that if he really wants me to. And he said "Yes. And you already know where we live." He's pretty serious about it. When would like me to come over and teach it to you? ;)"

2/28/2010: "Well today you were spared of any ratting out by Sammy. But Thad wasn't. As part of the lesson I had made paper hearts and written messages on them and left them on their chairs before class. I led into the lesson by saying what a nice thing it was and asked who could have left it. After they told me, I asked who else does nice things for us. Trying to help them out "Do your mommies do nice things?" They all said yes. "Do your daddies?" All but Sammy said yes. He raises his hand. I let him speak. "No my daddy never does nice things." Trying to be positive I said "Well I know your daddy and I'm pretty sure he does nice things for you." I was hoping Sammy would agree with me. Instead I get a head shake and a "believe me, he really doesn't." What a character he is! But hey at least he's passing off his Articles of Faith.....he passed off #2 today! Woohoo!"

And one from back 12/19/2009 from me to her but about her.. "Thad told Sammy today that his primary teacher (you) brought him cookies last night and that he should give her a hug and a kiss on Sunday and say thanks. He responded, "I'm not going to kiss her" and when Daddy asked why he stated, "I'm not going to marry her!"

Okay, and a nice one from 8/9/2009: "Wanted to share this because it made me happy as his teacher....Sometimes as a Sunbeam teacher you wonder if you are even getting the main point of the lessons across to these squirmy little ones. Today Sammy showed that yes indeed we do manage to do help them learn something each week. First I have to share that 2 weeks ago the lesson was on saying I'm sorry if you've hurt someones feelings or whatever. Then last week the lesson was on forgiving others. So today.......some of the kids kept getting up and down and I've have to remind them to please sit back down in their chairs. Accidently Laura bumped into Alina who came over to tell me that Laura hurt her. Before I could say a word in regards to the situation, Sammy pipes up with this: "Alina I saw it was an accident. But Laura you still need to say I'm sorry. (Laura says "I'm sorry") And Alina you need to say you forgive her. (Alina says "I forgive you Laura.") Okay now we can go back to our lesson." Sis. Woods gave those two lessons. She's going to love hearing how Sammy remembered them and put them to good use and in class no less! :) "

How about another funny one? 3/17/2009: "I had to keep from laughing in primary yesterday. Sammy kept picking his nose and trying to hand whatever he picked out of it to poor little Alina. Alina would then say loudly enough for me to hear but still remaining quiet enough for nobody else to hear "Ewww! I don't want that! You keep it! Ewww! Teacher, tell him I don't want that!" It was more her reaction that made me want to laugh. Gotta love Sunbeams! :)"

One more smile…

Why is it that my two year old always escapes almost naked (or else strips outside?) and my cute Sammy puts everything (underwear included) on backwards? Nate could care less about the elements (he’ll strip down and sleep naked too!) And I haven’t figured Sam out yet, maybe he thinks that he’s Grandpa Bud from Meet the Robinsons? Who knows…enjoy the picture!

No A’s just O’s

  As told by Grandma…

“We were playing with little cars yesterday along with the Fisher-Price house and hospital (using the elevator as a garage...).  Part of the time Nathan was using the truck like a bulldozer, pushing little things around the sofa.  I thought I would give him something else to push and I picked up one of the magnetic letters he had spread over the carpet, an "A", for what it matters.  He looked at it, drove the truck over by it and pushed it quickly off the sofa, telling me rather strongly, "No A's" !!!  I didn't even know he knew what an "A" was, but he jumped off the sofa, ran over to the pile of letters, pulled out an "O" and said "Just "O's"! and put it on the sofa to push around.  Hmmm!  Too funny!”

Thanks Grandma for sharing a cute story about my boy and for being around so much! :) Nathan definitely knows what he wants to eat, wear, and play with and although he’s a bit crazy, obstinate and really loud at times we love him!

Danny boy…already 1/2 a year old! :D

It seems like just yesterday that I was at home waiting in bed trying to figure out if the contractions were strong enough to call the nurse before Danny arrived in a hurry that August morning, and now six months have already passed!

His appointment with Dr. Cheng is on the 2nd but I can tell you that he’s a big boy! He’s about 20 lbs and is about the length of his bassinet (he hits his head and his feet if he stretches out all the way--now I just have to find/buy another crib, stick him in with the other two boys and hope for the best!) He’s long and pretty lanky not a chunk like my Nate Nate was although he is solid like the other boys. 

Anyway…I digress. I really wanted to just stick a cute picture of the Dan-man up here. He is a charmer and has already wiggled his way into many hearts with his HUGE smile and sparkling blue eyes. Just ask Grandpa or Grandma or anyone at church that has seen him for that matter. He is a happy go lucky little guy who adores his big brothers and is very well behaved for Mom and Dad (thank goodness!) I still am not sure what color his peach fuzz is going to be but he’s very fair and I do wonder if it will be auburn-ish? We shall see.

Happy half birthday my little Danny boy. We’re glad that you joined     our little family even if life here is a bit insane crazy sometimes.

Sammy: I had a dream…

Sammy: (runs in excitedly) Tell me if I had a dream last night.

Mommy: (quickly translating his sentence) What did you dream about last night?

Sammy: I dreamed that Chloe had a cat tent and inside it she makes and sells TVs. That’s silly.

Mommy: That is pretty silly.

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The next morning (while typing this up)  I asked him about his dream again and he said, “oh yeah, she watched TV and invited lots of cats inside to watch TV too. She’s crazy!”

Snow much fun!

After all of the rain that we have had we really wanted to take the boys up to the mountains to see all of the snow! We tried to go Wednesday after school but a little boy jumped off a couch and went head first into the printer! It was a little too late to go to the mountains after the ER visit!

The second time we tried to go was on Friday after my last final exam. I had to grade my scantron finals and then we left later than we wanted and got stuck in traffic. After a while we realized (when we weren’t moving or making much progress) that we would get to the mountains around the time that the sun would be setting—no fun! So we turned around and promised the boys we’d go early the next morning.

We found out that the third time was the charm!  Turns out that Thad’s sisters were meeting up at IHOP for breakfast and then heading to Wrightwood! We got up Saturday morning, threw the boys in the car in their PJs, ate at IHOP with Becky, Josh, the Badalamenti’s, Adrian and Eric, and then caravanned to Wrightwood. It was a little crowded there but we found a spot and had a lot of fun! The snow was quite deep and a few times I stepped through and was in it up to my knees and a few times up to the mid-thigh! Yowzers! Luckily it was a gorgeous day and the sun warmed up our soggy tennis shoes and wet jeans! The boys loved sledding and the snow in general! It was a fun day and worth the wait!

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Celebration Puffed French Toast and Healthy Pancakes!

Happy Saturday morning! I'm sitting here on my bed (with all three boys) after enjoying a mini-celebration breakfast. Why celebrate do you ask? Well because usually at this time of year I’m so stressed out and behind in grading that I am miserable and tired (from staying up late and getting up early) but…(drum rolls please) I finished my written final exams (essays) last night. It was about 3 am when I finished inputting them into my grade book (Thad read the scores to me) and I was so excited. I was going to fall asleep to a movie about midnight after grading a bunch but when I put in the movie August Rush I got a spurt of energy and kept going until I finished one more set! WOO HOOOO! Anyway, so I celebrated by fixing myself (and anyone else who wanted to eat) some yummy Puffed French Toast from one of my favorite blogs, Our Best Bites.

This stuff is heavenly and I felt like I was eating in a restaurant the first time that I ate it (even though I was in my PJs in my dirty kitchen!) It makes enough to feed a small army (since it is very rich and you can’t eat too much) but it is delicious and freezes well. I put the leftovers on a cookie sheet or a plate in the freezer and then when they’re frozen throw them in a baggie for a quick meal. Heat them 15 seconds or so in the microwave, cover them in the cinnamon sugar mix and wa-lah, breakfast!

Puffed French Toast by Kate at Our Best Bites

Ingredients: 2 eggs
2 ½ Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. milk
1 c. flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
12 slices Texas style toast, cut in half diagonally (*I used regular white bread since it’s hard to find Texas Toast here, I also tried half with wheat bread today and it was delicious as well!)

Directions: In a large skillet or frying pan, heat about 1/4" of vegetable oil (not olive oil) over medium heat. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, flour, and baking powder. Test oil heat by flicking some water into the frying pan. If it pops, reduce the heat. If hardly anything happens, turn up the heat. If it sizzles, it's just right.

Working quickly, take each 1/2 slice of bread and soak it both sides in the milk/egg/flour mixture. If you leave it in too long, it will get soggy, but you want to make sure enough of the egg mixture has soaked into the bread. Gently shake to remove excess batter and place in hot oil. Cook until puffed, golden brown, and a nice, crispy crust has formed on each side (probably 3-5 minutes per side; you really need to babysit them and make sure they're cooking correctly) and then remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. While cooking remaining French toast, keep cooked pieces warm in an oven set to the lowest temperature it will go. When ready to serve, roll each piece in cinnamon sugar.

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Now that I’ve shown you a recipe that will NOT help your waistline and that is a once-in-a-while dish, here is something that I’ve made at least ten times this month (after making the mix a few weeks back), they are delicious AND they’re healthy! This recipe is from another favorite blog of mine, My Kitchen Cafe, that I found while “nesting”. The recipe is Oatmeal Pancake Mix. I love it because it’s a bit “nutty” and unique versus other pancake recipes and I love that I fix the mix once and then it’s an easy after school snack or quick breakfast later on since you leave the mix in the fridge and then just add milk and one egg and go! Sammy has been known to eat 8 or more of these pancakes in one sitting!

Oatmeal Pancake Mix by Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe

*Makes 10 cups of dry mix
3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup vegetable oil

To prepare the pancake mix: Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixer with a paddle (or by hand). With mixer on slow speed (or gently by hand), drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it stays together, it is just right. If it is still crumbly, add another tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct (I've never had to add additional oil). Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

To make the pancakes: Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup buttermilk** (a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk will also work), and 1 egg. The mixture may seem thin at first but the oats will soak up the milk as it stands while the griddle preheats. Heat a griddle and drop the batter onto it. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface and don't break, turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side. As a side note, buttermilk can be frozen indefinitely for future batches of pancakes, so it's worth keeping it around! 1 cup of mix will make about 6-8 4-inch pancakes. (I usually am able get 10 or 12 of them)

**If you don’t have buttermilk you can make it by taking a little less than 1 cup of milk, adding 1 Tbs. of white vinegar, let it stand for 5 minutes and then you’ll have buttermilk for your recipe! :)

Recipe Source: Adapted from King Arthur Flour The Baker's Companion