Secrets

So Andy took the boys shopping yesterday. I would love to have been a fly on the wall. Spencer told me this morning, "I bet you can't guess what we're giving you for Christmas!" I didn't say a word. He continued, "The first thing is something you wear and it starts with an 'S.' And the second thing starts with 'N' and it's something you wear around your neck!" Hmmmmm...I wonder what that could be! Andy says it's a noose.

Spencer wants a race track toy for Christmas that costs $80! That's a little over Santa's budget. He asked if that's what Andy and I were giving him. I said probably not. He asked me to turn around for a minute. I did, but I peeked. He was sitting there in the kitchen praying, probably for Santa to bring the race track. Oh dear!! I hope he doesn't lose his faith over this!

I keep forgetting to mention that Spencer is no longer called "Dadoof." He goes by "Peter" now. We're getting closer. Carson still calls himself Honey sometimes but more and more he is "Cahson." He is in love with "Rufolf" and "Fofy Nomam" (Frosty Snowman).

Santa Wannabes

It's getting close to Christmas and there are lots of Santa look-alikes around! Where is the REAL Santa??

This is one I found in the bathroom one night! Cute, but too small. The bubble beard disappeared shortly and gave the secret away....

These are all the cousins on Andy's side. We had a family party last week and Santa showed up!

This was Carson's reaction to Santa's arrival--LOTS of staring!! He told me the next day, "Antsa cared me!" (Santa scared me!)

You really can't complain too much though, when the old guy brings you presents!

Spencer figured out pretty quick that it wasn't the real deal. We asked him how he knew and he said, "Because Grandma whispered in his ear, 'John!' " He also said it sounded like Grandpa's voice. Santa handed out presents to everyone, including Grandpa.. Spencer asked incredulously, "You gave a present to YOURSELF?!" Weird!!

And this is our little race car driver. Yes, it's dark outside, but he still wears his shades. You gotta look cool, no matter WHAT!!

He even wears his glasses to church sometimes. He's pretty much the coolest little 2-year-old there is!

Snowdays

December is always a busy month, but I have taken just a few photos....

Here are the boys after one of many recent snowstorms. Daddy is lucky enough to have two big helpers this year. The smallest helper mostly stands around looking cold, but he wouldn't want to miss the opportunity, just the same.

These guys do EVERYTHING together, including using the facilities. Spencer is starting to desire more privacy, but he's not going to get it until he starts closing (and perhaps locking) the door!


Carson has a great time putting on eclectic outfits. One morning he came in with Christmas jammies, a Superman cape, a Santa hat, a hammer, and a plastic crowbar. I don't know whose side he's on, but I want to be with him!

Carson goofs off a lot after we put him to bed. Lately he keeps falling asleep in odd places. He never comes out of his room, but he might be on the floor or upside down in bed or something.

Today Carson was playing with a toy Santa. Santa was riding on the back of a zebra and yelling, "Yeeeee-haaaaah!" You just never know what will happen next around here. We had spaghetti for dinner last night and Carson thought it would be funny to fling a forkful onto the floor. After we scolded him, he said, "Sowee!" with a BIG grin. When I let him down from the table, he saw the mess and yelled, "WHOA!!" I hope we can get a handle on this little one or we're in big trouble!

Holiday Happenings

Well Spencer fell into the Christmas tree today. Yes, he fell INTO the Christmas tree! Don't worry--no injuries or other necessary repairs. I was in the kitchen making breakfast when I heard sort of a crashing sound. I turned around and there was the tree, shaking, with ornaments raining down. I said, "What are you DOING??" He whimpered a little and said, "Help! I'm stuck!" I couldn't help but laugh when I saw his predicament. He was leaning over the edge of the couch to get something and fell over, into the tree. He nearly tipped it over! So there he was, caught in the narrow space between the tree and the couch corner with branches in his hair and ornaments all over. Our Christmas train was completely derailed and the tracks were a mess. Nothing was broken, but it took a while to redecorate!

This time of year is sooooo exciting for the kids, especially Spencer. We go over and over "how many more days." He told Grandma S. the other day that he had been "a little bit naughty" this year. (I think he's hoping Santa will forgive a few trespasses and take a broader perspective.) Every year I become more tired of the Chipmunks and Mickey Mouse singing Christmas songs. Unfortunately, this only the beginning....

Tonight was the Christmas devotional by the Presidency of the church. It's televised for us Utahns. They always have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing, which was amazing as always. Carson was hoping they would do a rendition of "Rufolph" (Rudolph), but he was disappointed. Rudolph is his newest (and severe) infatuation. He was also certain that one of the men in the choir was Santa. He kept pointing to the TV and babbling on and on in language we didn't quite understand. Finally Spencer said, "He's going to speak Spanish when he grows up."

Firecracker in November

Carson is becoming a firecracker! He gets funnier every day. He still refers to himself as "Honey" and Spencer as "Dadoof." One day Spencer asked him, "Are you strong?" He gave Spencer a little punch in the arm and said, "STONG Honey!!" Last night he was playing football with Andy. He would yell, "Honey, me, HIKE!!" and take off running with his elbows out for momentum. This morning both boys wanted to be close to me. Carson had to sit right ON me and Spencer was not allowed to touch me. Carson would move Spencer's hand away and say, "Honey's mommy!" I'm glad they love me, but I hope it doesn't cause a fist fight some day!!

Yesterday Carson woke up at 6:30, so by late morning he was exhausted. I tried to keep him happy by reading stories for 30-40 minutes. Then I had to get up for a quick break. By the time I came back, he had tucked himself into bed, pulled up his blanket, and was sound asleep! He slept right through lunch and woke up 2 1/2 hours later! He was a different (and much more pleasant) child when he got up!

Spencer's head is mostly repaired now. We've had no more traumatic injuries, thank goodness! He is already excited for Christmas and has been creating lots of holiday drawings. He also requested Christmas music today! I told him that regardless of the worldly trends, the Sherman family does not do Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving.

The Other Side of the Story

Andy wrote the following:

While Kristy was tending to Spencer, I had the chance to observe lil' Carson after "the incident." What Kristy didn't notice was little Carson looking really sad with real big lower lip. He watched Spencer and kept on repeating "Dadoof, owie" over and over. When we were putting Spencer in the car, Carson kept on crying about Dadoof. I went back in and picked Carson up. "Carson, are you sad?" He shakes his head yes. "Carson, does Spencer have an owie?" Shakes his head yes. "Carson, did you hit Spencer?" Shakes his head yes and then puts his head on my shoulder real sad.

I really think Carson felt bad about the entire incident. I think he was quite worried. Anyway--just thought I'd let you know our little offender did feel quite a bit of remorse on his own.....

The Worstest Day Ever

I dropped off Spencer and the neighbor boy at school this afternoon. I was just walking around the car to get in and go home, when suddenly Spencer was standing there, crying and dripping blood! He had tripped on his shoelace and smacked his head on the sidewalk. It was a nasty gash. I gave him a wad of Kleenex and drove to the doctor's office. However, it was lunch time and all the docs were at lunch! So I had to drag my poor bleeding boy to the Layton clinic, where they had to call around for a while to find someone to stitch him up. He was very brave. At first he wanted to go back to school, but by the time he was done, he just wanted to go home. I held his hands while they put three stitches in. It isn't the first time I've assisted with such a procedure, but when it's my child, it's very different!! I got a little queasy toward the end. I will never be able to erase that image from my mind. I took him home and we watched a movie together. As if that wasn't enough for one day, tonight after dinner, the boys were playing in Spencer's room. Carson threw a toy and of course hit Spencer right in the head and broke open two of his stitches. His little head was flooding. He was quite upset at having to go back and do the ordeal all over again. I told him we were going to wrap his head in bubble wrap or put a little pillow over it. He doesn't want to do that. Anyway, he told me in the procedure room that this was "the worstest day ever!" I heartily agree.

In-House Protection

I found him some army helmets at the dollar store and Carson loves his. He's spent the major portion of his waking hours wearing it. He usually has his binoculars around his neck, too, including during mealtime. You never know when the enemy will strike.

This morning Spencer asked Carson if he is a baby. He said, "I not baby, I HONEY!!" I wonder if he will still go by "Honey" when he's 16!

Halloween

Here are some pictures from Halloween, in no particular order since Blogger just seems to do whatever it wants.

We went to the school Halloween carnival and the boys had their faces painted. Carson had a partial pumpkin and then decided he was done. So it turned out more like an orange blob. I told them we had to wash it off before church on Sunday, so I started scrubbing Spencer's face. He squirmed and whined about it, and even bawled a little, saying it hurt. I figured he was just tired (changing the time back an hour really throws us off schedule). The next day he had an abrasion on the side of his face and I realized I had literally scrubbed his skin off!! I felt really bad!

These are the alternate costumes. They wore these to the Syracuse Pumpkin Walk, where they have carved, lit pumpkins all around the perimeter of the park for people to see. Carson loved the Elmo outfit and still wears it. He had it on for two hours yesterday while we were outside.

These were the best toys we've ever received in a kids' meal. They are little finger flashlights in the shape of Halloween characters. This was taken in my closet, if you couldn't tell.

The neighborhood Trunk or Treat. Carson is Curious George, Spencer is the man with the yellow hat, and Andy is an angel. I was dressed as a devil, which you will see shortly. I must say that I fashioned the boys' outfits myself (with a pattern, of course). It was a learning experience. I have learned that next year I will do something much easier!

Carving pumpkins with Grandpa. It's very serious business.

A broader view of the pumpkin carving process....

We did mohawk hairdos for Halloween. They both thought it was way funny.

Here we are, the polar opposites. Truly, I think this is how people probably see us--he is angelic and sweet and I am ever so slightly wicked. It's the real me.

At this point in the evening, Carson (aka Curious George) had had enough Halloween, and definitely enough pictures!

He perked up a little when I sent them out to visit a few neighbors.

"I hate Halloween! The doorbell keeps ringing and it makes me soooo tired!"

Slippy went to the vet for a geriatric screening last week. They checked her blood pressure with a cute little tiny cuff. They also did a heart tracing. Her blood work is normal. She is borderline hypertensive and she has an AV block (probably associated with age), so she will go back for a follow-up in three months. I think it would be great fun to be a veterinary assistant for a day or two. They have much of the same equipment and supplies I used to use at the hospital. It's quite intriguing.

This is not exactly Halloween-related, but I had to include it anyway. Next time we need to put some red punch in his cup, so you can see the liquid going up and around. It's pretty cool. I might even try it myself sometime.

Personality Plus

Spencer talked to his Grandma S. tonight. Of course I only heard snippets of the conversation, but my ears really perked up when I heard him say, "Dad just kept messing with Mom ALL DAY yesterday!!" He then went on to explain that Andy was TALKING a lot and Spencer felt he couldn't get a word in edgewise. Yikes!!

Carson spontaneously burst into song tonight after dinner. He started singing "Barbara Ann." It's actually more like yelling--"Ba-ba-ba-ANN!!"

Little Rascals

Well, the excitement of being a schoolboy is wearing off. Spencer has decided he doesn't like homework anymore. His teacher made each student a homework book. They are supposed to bring it home every day and practice writing one letter and draw pictures that begin with that letter. A couple of weeks ago he didn't bring it home. When I questioned him, he said his teacher said he didn't have to that day. It happened again and again. Finally I asked his teacher if it was still supposed to come home every day. She giggled and said, "YES!" I guess he thought if he didn't take it home, he wouldn't have to do it. So we had a little chat. Yesterday it was missing again. I packed everybody up and we went over to the school. They were both really mad and bawling on the way over--Spencer because he didn't want his book, and Carson because he had other plans for his afternoon. We found the homework lying on the floor by the coat rack. Good thing we got there before the janitor!

Carson is increasingly "full of it." He can be somewhat of a bully to his big brother. He bops Spencer on the head as he walks by, for no apparent reason. If Spencer is standing in the doorway, he pushes him out and says, "GO!" What a tyrant! He is becoming more and more familiar with the Time Out chair, which is currently the piano bench, turned to face the hallway. He was acting up at dinner one night and I said, "Do you need to go to Time Out?" He suddenly cast his big blue eyes downward and said quietly, "No." He was better after that. I think I have my hands full!

The Latest

Here are miscellaneous pictures of the boys doing their daily cute stuff. I love being a mom!

Carson is starting to like talking on the phone as much as Spencer. Here he is talking to "Mam-mam" (Grandma) on the real phone and "Bapa" (Grandpa) on his play phone. He is so good at multi-tasking!

Not everyone gets help from Superman when they're mowing the lawn!

Carson loves his big brother (most of the time)! One day he just climbed up in his lap and gave him a big squeeze. Boys also have odd ways of showing affection. Lately Carson grabs Spencer's arm and snorts on it. They both think it's hilarious. That's just not something I ever thought of doing!

Number 2 wants to be JUST LIKE Number 1!

I bought these glasses for Spencer in St. George. They're actually a straw. You can put one end in your mouth and the other end in the drink. The liquid goes up and around both eyes. It's pretty cool!

Awwww! Nothing cuter than a sleeping baby! Look at his wrists...they still have fat pads so it looks like he has a rubber band around his wrist. I love that!

My Funny Boys

Spencer has discovered my Achilles heel. I HATE spiders! I've been cleaning out closets and found a few books I had put away until he was old enough for them. One happens to be about spiders, with large, closeup photos on each page. I told him I would read him any story we own EXCEPT that one. He got a wicked gleam in his eye and kept shoving it under my nose, saying "Look Mom!" Then he giggles and makes spooky spider sounds. This morning he was at it again, begging me to read the spider book. When I refused he said, "But Mom, they're not real." I said, "No, but they're still yucky!" He said, "They're not yucky...they're FANTASTIC!!"

Carson is experiencing a language explosion. Finally!! He repeats just about everything we say, especially if Spencer says it. One morning we were making him say stuff. We started naming everyone we could think of. "Say Slippy." "Bippy!" "Say Pooh." "Pooh!" "Say Spencer." "Dadoof!" He is so funny. I wonder how long he will call his big brother Dadoof! Spencer made a sign for his door that says "No Babies in my Room." He told Carson what it said and Carson replied, "No no no babies!" Then he laughed and opened the door and helped himself!

They are such good kids. We waited for an hour and a half today for our flu mist. They were angels! Spencer is taking more swimming lessons. He really doesn't like going under water, but he tries so hard and does it anyway. I know exactly how he feels. I hope he gets the hang of it soon so we can be done!

Zoo

Typically we only make one trip to the zoo annually, but this year we splurged again because Spencer was out of school and had a burning desire to see the new baby elephant. They also had lots of other babies, like a baby giraffe, snow leopards, and Spencer's favorite--a crocodile! He claims the baby croc was "cute." I'm not sure that's the word I would use, but if you're a reptile aficionado maybe that works!

Visiting the cats is almost always a disappointment. They are so...catty. They hide and sleep all day, which makes bored little guests. These were the only cats we could get a really good look at without contorting our bodies or wearing out my muscles trying to hold people up to see!

Here you can see baby Zuri and her mom. She really is tiny (for an elephant). I found her quite endearing too.

Here are the boys in the giraffe house. It always surprises me how tall these things are. God has a very creative imagination! We have a picture of the baby giraffe, but it didn't turn out great. He was cute, too. I am glad I didn't have to carry around a baby giraffe for nine months!

We enjoyed a ride on the carousel before we left. Carson was exhausted by then and would NOT sit on that giant monkey with a post down the middle. Then they turned on the carousel and I tried again. Suddenly it was a marvelous ride and he giggled the whole time!

Spencer is an old pro and of course found a yellow and blue frog to ride on. He made us seek out EVERY single animal that lives at the zoo, and consulted the map to be sure we hadn't missed anything. We really got our money's worth!

This is how I found Carson one night when I went in to check on him. I hope he's not planning on being a ballerina when he grows up! He does have a cute little tummy.

And here he is in his new little bed. He loves it! So far he hasn't tried to get out once we put him to bed, either. I love to be able to go in and kiss his little cheeks at night. I also love that I don't have to lift him in and out. Toddler beds are rather convenient and they don't take up near as much space as cribs do!

One other note.... Carson is saying just about everything now (if he feels like it). We all think it's fun to make him say new words. We looked at a photo album the other day. I pointed to a picture of him and asked, "Who's that?" He replied, "Honey." I guess I do call him that a lot! Don't worry--he still knows he is Carson, too.

Children's Museum

As many of you know, I went for a little vacation a couple of weekends ago. I went to St. George with my family (saw a play, went shopping, etc.). So while I was gone, Andy had to feed and entertain the kids for FOUR days! Somehow he managed to cook only once (the day I returned). He's pretty good at making people feel sorry for him. Anyway, I suggested he take the boys to the children's museum, so here are the pictures....

He said they had a great time and probably could have spent much more than the two hours they were there. This little safari set-up would be enough for an entire afternoon, I'm sure.

Regardless of your political stance, you must admit that this face looks a lot cuter in the Oval Office than the one that's in there now!

He just needs to get a little taller....

My little firefighter has a bit of growing to do, too. He still loves fire trucks and gets excited when we see one. He is saying new words every day. Tonight it was "apple" and "peas."

I wish I could keep them this size forever. They are so sweet and tender and they still think Mommy is the most wonderful person in their lives!

Swimming Party

Here are some pictures from our last swimming party of the summer. It was a church-sponsored party. We had a good time. I even got brave enough to go down the slide again and I loved it! I know how to keep from going too fast, so I don't get my hair wet. (I do the curly slide, not the straight, fast one!)

Here is Carson enjoying a cookie afterward. He was being so careful not to spill the crumbs, and he was cold too.

Andy took him down the curly slide a couple of times and he loved it (as you can see)! Spencer wouldn't go. I am so afraid he's going to turn out like me!

Carson loves his baby float. He's getting rather big for it, though. He'll have to learn how to swim soon!

Wow--what a babe. At least you can't see my lower half.

Spencer's Birthday

Blogger has changed, so I'm not sure how to do some things. Anyway, Spencer had a marvelous 6th birthday. I can't believe he is that old. He is still loving school and today started homework. He was so excited to do his homework, he was dancing around and couldn't wait to get going. I wished I had a video of that so I could show it to him when he gets to high school!

Here is the big candle blowout. The cake is shown below. I tried to make a pond with lily pads and then I put his little plastic frogs on it. He thought it was cool.


Here is his new bike. He really doesn't need the training wheels anymore, but he lacks confidence, so we'll just wait till he decides it's time.

Spencer is nuts about nuts. Costco's trail mix is his favorite snack. He even prefers it over Hostess Zingers. You can see here how he relaxes. He often watches TV like this: leaning back, legs crossed, enjoying a treat. He has a good life.

And here is our little munchkin. He loves Spencer's soccer shirt which fits him like a dress. He is saying lots of new words this week. Here are some that I can think of right away:
eetchup (ketchup)
owie
help
beep-beep
owl
mam-mam (Grandma)
Dadoof (Spencer)

That last one has us all baffled. I have no idea how he got "Dadoof" out of "Spencer," but that is definitely his new name. He has probably been using that for a long time, but because it is so bizarre I didn't figure it out till now. It is so fun to finally start communicating with him. I love to ask him questions and hear him respond, which is usually "Yah." He has a cute little voice. I hope he starts using it around other people so they believe me when I say that he DOES speak!