Mornings with Sammy

A few weeks ago my friend and neighbor Emily and I happened to be talking and realized that:  a) she was feeling stuck and stressed since her son Sam's preschool will be off for the summer and she will still have to teach her music classes throughout, b) I love babysitting for friends kids, especially when they are as sweet and easy to have around as Sam is, and c) I'm forever broke and always looking for opportunities to make some extra cash.  Hooray!  Perfect fit!

So, we'll have the pleasure of hangin' with Sam a bit this summer and if these last couple of days are any indication of how it's going to go, it's safe to say we are going to have a blast.  Owen is over the moon, since he and Sammy play so well together.  Sammy is a couple of years older but it seems to be a great combination for a couple of little guys like them. I think because Sam is past the toddler phase where absolutely anything and everything has meltdown potential written all over it.  When Owen starts to melt, it just sort of gets smoothed over.  I was amazed this morning that even the couple of times I checked on them in the kids' room, there were absolutely no issues they needed me to help them resolve (and no crazy mess somehow!).  This is so different from the way things normally go...such a starkly different dynamic than we've ever had in the house, for Owen especially.  Even Zoe, who normally gets immediately bored and whiny if there are "no kids my age to play with", seems totally cool with it all.  She was content to sit quietly with me at the kitchen table while the "crazy boys" played upstairs.  At one point, she even chose to sit on our bed and read to herself while the boys played and I puttered downstairs. Lovely! 

Crazy boys

So grown up

When Sammy showed me this get-up, I immediately said "Hey!  You're a walk-in closet!  Get it?  A WALKIN' closet? Ha!"  None of them laughed!  My genius is wasted on these tiny people sometimes.

Moments like this one above and when they are all piled in the car make me so happy.  I grew up with so many siblings and although Nathan and I are definitely done having kids, I sometimes long to have a big crew surrounding me.  I think that's why I love watching friends kids and getting together with neighbors so often.  I get my fix that way.  Hooray for fun times with Sammy!