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JANUARY - Here we are in 2010!! Sam and Mommy rolled into the New Year quietly. Sam had his first
ever bout with the stomach flu and we have both been ill with a bad respitory infection off-and-on the entire month. |
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FEBRUARY - Sam had his first musical at Skyway. The kids practiced for nearly a month before
and after school to give their presentation. Sam was "Redbeard" (all the lead parts were a colored-bearded pirate). He had a great
time and the play was awesome. This was also the month Sam gave his state report at school. He chose Alaska and was given it because
he wrote a wonderful paper on how much he liked out trip there last year. We worked on the backboard over Christmas and used
the notes he developed during the semester. Sam had the "tallest" backboard with aurora borealis over Mt McKinley at the top. Across
the board he had information gathered about the state including the poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service. Finally
this month, the Cub Scout Weblos I's attended the Winterspree held annually at the Air Force Academy. The boys went through about
ten different stations that were focused on physical fitness. The boys did calistenics, an obstacle course, three-legged race, and
a dead-man lift. They also got autographs from the Academy football players, and watched presentations on falconry, gliding,
honor guard, the rifle team, and a guard dog presentation. Their favorite activity was the tug-of-war with the cadets! |
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MARCH - This month was the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Sam's car won "Most Futuristic" looking.
It did not race very quickly but he had a great time anyway. His teammates got their time's mixed up and one scout had to give
back his trophy to one of the other boys. The entire group of boys were so gracious about it and the boy who gave back the
trophy got a special "Scout Spirit" award at the next pack meeting. During a windy day Sam and I took out one of his kites to fly.
This kite was in the shape of a dragon and just kept spinning around and diving to the ground. Sam, who is usually very
blase' about these things, had an absolute fit. The next day he began displaying terrible sign of the return of our bronchitis
and then an ear infection on top of that. We went to see the Dreamworks picture "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3-D IMAX for Spring Break
but due to his illness (which I did eventually get) we didn't do much else. |
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APRIL - Okay always a lot going on in Sam's world in April. First there was Easter at which little man made out great. He
Received a new phone from the Easter Bunny which has texting. He loves to sit right next to me, or Gramps, and text. He thinks it's funny. Also, Sam
had his state presentation at Skyway. Sam had to compete for his state Alaska by writing a paper about why he should get the state. Because we had
visited just the year before he had a lot to say and his paper won!! We made an awesome presentation over Christmas and he had his in class presentation
in February. Finally in April they had the "State Fair" in the Skyway gym with all fourth-graders in attendance. Sam got an A+ on his presentation
as he had some very unique features, like a poem he read (The Creamtion of Sam McGee), had a cool volcano/mountain display, and brought smoked salmon
for everyone to eat!! Finally the month ended with Sam's birthday. This year he wanted a bowling party. So we headed to Bunswick Fun Zone for
"Cosmic Bowling". He invited 10 friends (and Mr Matt, his daycare worker from Greenshades) and everyone had a rockin' time!! Sam made out great again
by earning a Nintendo DSXL!! |
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MAY - Finally school is ending. Sam ran nearly 50 miles in the Skyway marathon. He set his goal at double the marathon
(52 miles); however, he got a sprained ankle (which the doctor thought was broken) in football and couldn't finish. He obtained a very respectable 48 miles though
and was the highest mileage fourth grader in his class. Sam also decided to try tackle football this year (why I would let him after his concussion I don't know
but your can't wrap them in bubble wrap). He hated it. He was so huge they made him a tackle and he hates being jumped on. The rest of his team was nearly a head
shorter them him (which didn't help) and most teams they played were nearly a head taller than him (which also didn't help). So he's decided to head back to flag
football and I am not crying!! Sam also played Claire de Lune by DeBussey for his paino recital at the end of May. He is really becoming an accomplished piano player, even
though he feels that I am forcing him too. Oh well!! |
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JUNE - This month Sam took his traditional 2 weeks to the IN lake cottage with Gramps. He also took a scouting friend Ben Doornbos
and his father Jim with them. They caught lots of fish; however it was a slightly less than relaxing trip (the Derrickson's are cursed travellers and should never leave the state).
So it started out that Ben was having bad allergy attacks and was not sleeping well, so he was cranky. Sam was not taking his ADHD medication so can REALLY be a
handful, so he was cranky. Gramps was having gallbladder attacks (which by the way ended up with surgery, a longer stay, and one of the most infected gallbladders
the doctor had ever seen), so he was cranky. And poor, sweet Jim. He only lost his temper once but can you imagine?? There were midnight ambulance rides to the hospital,
two cranky boys to deal with, and he cooked!! Anyway, as the trip ended I received a phone call from my son from the Indianapolis airport. "Hey mom, were heading
down to the airport tornado shelter because there is a tornado at the airport. We're going to be delayed getting into Denver (ended up being about 2 hours)." All I could
do was shake my head and say,"Okay son, call me when you get home." Can you believe it?!? Anyway all's well that ends well. All boys made it home in one piece (except the gallbladder) and
I will never let my son take friends to the cottage if I'm not going too!!! BTW, we had Father's Day too!! |
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JULY - Back to normal. Summer fun. Baseball, fireworks, lazy days. Ya right. So do you know baseball has some 50 games and twice as many practices.
And it gets hot in CO during the summer. So instead of going on a Revolutionary War tour vacation of the east coast this summer, Sam decided he was going to get braces. As the
orthodontist is getting ready to look in his mouth he says, "He's too young for braces. Most kids don't even have....oh my, he already has his 12-year molars!!" And so $5,200
later we have a tin grin for the next 2 years (and no vacation). And then our little dog Buster, who was not that old, but got sick about 2 years ago and never seemed to recover, decided
it was time to go. He started getting really bad about 2 months ago. He got some cortisone pills and perked back up, but by the end of the month was down for the count. We loved our little boy. |
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AUGUST - Look at Daddy Long Legs!! Sam had lots of fun during his last month of summer vacation. There was an olde tyme baseball game on Labor Day with
big scoops of homemade ice cream, players in turn-of-the-century outfits, NO gloves used, and a cow on the field!! A visit to the state fair in Pueblo with milkshakes, carnival rides,
a draft horse pull, and a concert in the park. Camp Alexander for the end of summer cub scouting weekend sleepover. There was shooting arrows, B-B guns, crafts, hiking, and geocaching!!
Finally, school started on 18 August and Sam has our fun cub scout dad Mr. Eick as his teacher. |
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SEPTEMBER - Fall in Colorado. The leaves took a LONGGG time to change this year and it has been very warm. Sam and I took a chance to see the King Tut exhibit
at the Denver Art Museum. Expecting to see the headdress, they only crought some of the gold artificats on the mummy including his golden flip-flops. All that way to see that!! Oh well, we
stopped at the Bonnie Brae Ice Cream store on the way home and Sam got a giant ice cream cone. Sam decided he wanted to play football again; however, we chose flag football instead of tackle. After
his sprained ankle he was not too keen on getting hurt again. His coach was the awesome Ms Krystal who stepped in after the original coach quit. She really kept those boys in line!! We also
went to "The In Their Honor" airshow again which is always a good time. |
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OCTOBER - Halloween time!! Sam decided to be The Headless horseman for Halloween. His outfit was very cool but the headless part had to come off very quickly as it made him crazy
itchy.We had an awesome time at the Spooky Halloween at Camp Alexander. There was pumpking carving, face painting, hiking, and a hay ride with full-sized candy bars. Skyway also had their annual Halloween
Carnival, with games, a haunted house, and a cake walk, in which Sam insists on staying until he earns a cake. We had a pumpkin decorating contest at our pack meeting. Sam's mid-year piano recital
was on Halloween and he played Moonlight Sonata and Clare de Lune. He played beautifully and his piano teacher says he is the youngest person who has mastered those two songs that she
has taught. Finally, Halloween night!! Sam went trick-or-treating with his friend Ryan and some frinds from the neighborhood. The night was warm and balmy and the boys stayed out as late as they could. |
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NOVEMBER - For the first time ever the Derrickson family got together for a Thanskgiving dinner at Grammy's house. |
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DECEMBER - Sam and I go to see Beauty and The Beats at the Pikes Pean Center. We have box seats and have a lot of fun. |
| More miscellaneous pictures of Sam in 2010:
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