January 2010 is the Month of Sam

January still has a few days to go, but already Sam has accomplished quite a lot. In this video clip, he's on his way to a second place finish in the Wing School Geography Bee, answering what dammed river forms Lake Havasu on the California-Arizona border.



He followed that up with two separate performances with the concert and jazz bands, the latter culminating in a solo during one of the numbers.



By day, for a class project he was building a house from balsa wood and tissue paper that could withstand a massive earthquake, but still had time to defeat me in Risk for the first time. Look out, everyone. I can testify directly that he is ready to take over the world.

If only he'd remember to bring his lunch box home from school.... It's tough being a super genius!

See no evil

Couple of interesting things to note about one of the rare group photos taken of our clan at Sam's winter band concert the other night:

1. Sam is wearing my tie. He is growing up so fast, which of course means so am I.
2. Mason still hates having his photo taken, which is funny because he really enjoys being the center of attention, too. Such a dichotomy!
3. You almost can't tell from the photo that Benjamin is in a complete meltdown. Brandy and I don't even look stressed by it. I assure you the situation was completely opposite.
   

Best of 2009, Animoto-style

Here is the second annual slideshow showcasing much of the fun and laughter we had in 2009.

(Those using feed readers or reading this on Facebook may need to click through to watch the video.)



While you're in the mood for memories, here was the video we put together last year for 2008.