Swimming like a FISH

We recently started swim class with Sam, I went in the pool with him for his first class and Dan went to his second class with him ... so we have pictures of his first two classes. He really does seem to like it. He really isn't learning anything new per se. We just walk in circles and sing songs at this point. We are also working on pulling ourselves out of the pool, floating on our backs and tummy's. One of Sam's favorite parts of swim class is jumping off the side of the pool ... he stands at the ledge and grabs for my hands while he is chanting MORMORMOR!!! He loves it. So I think we are getting our money's worth - the point of the class was to get him acclimated to the water - and that he is.

Sam is a good little floater.
Big boy pulling himself out of the pool.

More singing and dancing.

Dan and Sam get ready for class. Look at his little belly - some day my little Sam won't have that belly.

Practice jumping in - at first he wasn't too sure of it - now he LOVES it.

Sam's new friends at the YMCA swim class.

Floating on his belly. I wonder at what point they tell you just to let go. Scary thought.

Fun at the Aquarium

With fall starting to settle into New England, we have started to venture out into Boston and try to get in some of the sights before it gets too cold to do anything outdoors but freeze your butt off. We went to the New England aquarium, one of Sam's latest words is Fish (ffssshhhh) so we thought it would be great to take him to see all kinds of fffsssshhhh! Jen, Jeff and Asher met us in town and toured the aquarium - we had a lot of fun. Sam enjoyed all the animals - penguins, turtles (when we left all he could talk about were the trr -- tle).

While we were waiting for the rest of the gang to show up, we watched the sea lions play, so was so intrigued.

Sam sported his new jean jacket for the first time - cool dude!

What a sweetie - he is such a sponge these days, he hates to miss a thing.

Uncle Dan (so much cuter when Asher says it) and the boys hanging out near the seals.

Uncle Jeff and Asher

One of Sam's books has a penguin in it and we always ask him what sound a penguin makes - wow, now we all know, it is such god awful sound - I didn't think they actually made a noise, I always just told Sam they walked funny - We all learned something today.

Silly boy, covering his ears.

Sam isn't the only silly one in the family.

The Boys outside of the Aquarium - What is Sam checking out?

Uncle Jay. T in Iraq

Jay.T will send pictures occasionally - here are some of the latest tour in Iraq. Things have been pretty low key which is tough and very boring for him. He has been in Iraq since the end of July and will be home at the beginning of December. If you would like to send him a note or something I have included his address in the post below. I wish I would of thought of adding it earlier. Anyway, if you get a chance send him a note - he really enjoys hearing from friends and family.

EOD1 JT McGraw
sotf-c area 4 Raptor Base
APO, AE 09342

What boys do when they are bored - BLOW UP THINGS!!! FIRE FIRE!!!

Jay. T with LT

Spending a day at the shooting range.

Luvin Naked Time

What can I say - this kid really loves to be naked! Here are some cute pictures of us trying to round Sam up for tubby time - he just loves to run around the house with no clothes on, so it can make getting in the bath tub a bear some nights - funny thing is that once he is in the tub he doesn't want to get out. He keeps us on our toes.

Hanging with Luke before the bath.

Nothing better than reading a book in the buff...with your mom.

It was a good book!

Squeezing the checks - how can a mom resist.

Yard Work

Dan and I took a few days off to go to the Jersey Shore in September ... as we got closer to the weekend we found out it was supposed to rain the entire weekend, so we decided that a 6 hour drive to LBI for a rainy weekend was not in the cards. We still took the days off thinking we might have some fun going to a movie, or going out to lunch after we dropped Sam off at school. Well it was all a nice idea, but as all you homeowners out there that can relate, we decided to stay home and tackle some long overdue projects around the house. I did the fall clean out indoors while Dan spent most of the time in the yard getting ready for fall clean up and getting rid of unwanted trees and shrubbery. It was quality time well spent. Here are the pictures from the outside work.

Dan dug out 4 small maple trees that lined the fence of our "soon to be" pool ... we figured we would get rid of them before they got too big - who wants to swim around in a salad bowl?

Hard at work!

We also got rid of the awful looking bushes in our front yard, they were dying anyway. We hope to plant hydrangea there some day - not now, but some day.

The boys had fun pulling them out! Argh Argh!

Hauling them off! Thanks for your help Mike!

Rainy Cape Visit

Rain is the worst! We spent the weekend at the Cape and it rained the entire time (no exaggeration), what do you do with 2 little boys who want nothing more than to be outside playing. We took Asher and Sam to Snow's (a local hardware store) where they had a train set up ... it was so cool. We enjoyed it as much as Sam did - maybe more. That took up about an hour of the day.

Sam must be in the market for new lawn furniture - he was testing out the chairs.

GuiltyLooks like Asher is trying to teach Sam some of his latest dance moves.

Sam loves his Uncle Jeff, there were times this weekend that he would just follow him around the house. What can I say this kid has a thing for his Uncles.

Asher takes a ride on the Semi.

Are we sharing. Look what can happen if you are cooped up in the house all day because of rain. This may be one of the first signs of Sam and his unwillingness to share. I have been dreading this phase. But we have proof.

Aunt Jen and the boys.

This is what sharing looks like.

Sam has been practicing his stair climbing abilities lately. I can't think of a better place to practice other than Grandma and Papa's house where we can practice with 1 and 2 steps instead of a flight.

Nice and easy.

Asher wears Uncle Dan's flip flops.

Grandma shares pictures of Dan when he was a baby with Sam. Sam just pointed and said DaDa over and over.

For the most part the boys enjoyed each other. It is so fun to watch them grow up together.