Time is moving

   Yo! Spencer here! Have you noticed that Christmas really was 5 days ago? It seems like it was Christmas 3 days ago! Wow! Also, New Years is almost here. That's 2 days! Or maybe I'm a few days behind!

Posted by Spencer at 1:20 PM

Carson

Readers rejoice!  Instead of doing household chores as I should, I've chosen to sit here and share the recent activities of my children.

Carson is an interesting little person.  In many ways he is very much a six-year-old, but in other ways, he seems older than his years.  Or maybe he's just eccentric.  I go to his classroom once a week to help with small group activities.  I've mentioned before that he's easily embarrassed by my presence.  So this week I asked if he'd rather have me or Dad.  He requested his father.  So the preferred parent went and helped the children write their numbers.  When Andy came home, he reported that only one child in the class acknowledged him--a little girl who lives up the street.  He saw Carson sitting at his desk and his desk mate kept asking, "Is that your dad?"  Carson kept his eyes cast down, gritted his teeth and whispered, "Yes!"  Oh, the humiliation!!

He claims he plays by himself at recess, by his own choice.  However, despite his anti-social nature, he seems to have several friends.  He gets birthday invitations and scraps of paper with other boys' addresses on them. 

He is still eating mainly chicken sandwiches or chicken patties for lunch every day.  His teacher went through the line with him one day to show him where the other foods could be found.  What more can we do?  One of these days he'll get sick to death of chicken and be forced to eat something different. 

Parker is at the stage when he wants whatever Carson is playing with.  So I often hear Carson yelling, "MOM!!  He's getting my (whatever)!"  I enter the room to find Carson literally holding Parker at arm's length while Parker shrieks and demands the item in jeopardy.  Other times, Carson dashes from one room to the next with his toy, hoping to outrun Parker.  Of course, in either scenario, he never has a chance to play with the toy because he's so busy keeping it out of Parker's hands.  I keep telling Carson to just go in his room and shut the door.  He argues, "But he'll follow me!"  Then I reply, "Yes, but you're faster than he is."  He still doesn't take my advice, so he often ends up relinquishing the toy and hoping it will soon be forgotten.

Since starting piano lessons in September, he is already tired of practicing every day.  He does it dutifully, but only after a sudden onset of vague but debilitating symptoms.  I tell him to just plow through and practice anyway.  Miraculous recoveries are common here.

He's a happy little boy.  He gets the giggles just like anyone else.  He laughs at Curious George and Parker.  He loves it when I make Dakota say silly things or when I imitate Yoda from Star Wars.

We have some very talented neighbors, one of whom came and painted a mural on Carson's bedroom wall.  It's even more amazing up close, but you can get an idea from these pictures.... 

Sledding, Sports, and Madden 13

Hello! Spencer here! Winter has been fun so far!

SLEDDING

Friday and Saturday me, Lincoln, Jake, Bennett, Cole, Will, Carson, and Ethan all went sledding. We all had a blast! We all did a competition to see who's sled went the farthest. Cole won, I got second, Jake got third, Bennett got fourth, Carson got fifth, Ethan got sixth, Lincoln got seventh, and Will got last. We did many rounds of this and I only got first and second. Carson got fifth, fourth, and last. Carson got cold and frustrated and Jake got cold so Jake's dad gave Carson and I a ride home. But other than that I had a lot of fun!

Sports

I adore sports. If it wasn't for sports I wouldn't be alive! I particularity like football. LSU is my fave!

I am deeply sad about LSU QB Zach Mettenberger tearing his ACL. Boo Hoo. As most of you know, I check the sports daily. I find a lot of info on a website called espn.go.com. Try it!

Madden 13

Friday after we went sledding, Lincoln and I went to Cole's house. Cole has a Wii game called Madden 13. It is a football Wii game. It is an NFL-like game. Me, Lincoln, and Cole made it to the Super bowl and won against the Pittsburgh Steelers, 52-14! Grandma, you should get that game on your Wii!

Enjoy your own winter!    

Mom Strikes Again!/Too busy/3 Amigos

  Hi! Spencer here! When Mom said "That I was wishing for LSU to have a better season," Well, she was right! LSU is in the Outback Bowl Game against Wisconsin!
Now some of you ladies may not know much about football, but I'll tell you this, Bowl Games mean that a team (such as LSU) are really good. But sadly, for you college football fans, LSU is not going to the BCS National Championship. Boo Hoo.


If only I was 6. If I went back 4 years I wouldn't have to PLAY THE PIANO!! It takes up at least 20 minutes each day. GRRRR! I also have homework. BORING! It takes up at least 10-15 minutes per day. AND the last thing that well known to be hated by kids,
(drum roll) SCHOOL!!  It lasts 7 hours of pure boringness! Except recess of course.
I ALSO HAVE 2 EARSPLITTING LOUD 6 AND 2 YEAR OLD BROTHERS!!!!!!! 
Now don't you feel sorry for me?


I have 2 half-monkey friends, Jake, and athletic, plain old crazy, Lincoln. We are always finding some way to mess things up. One day Lincoln and I were in my front yard when a dog that we didn't know came along. I thought it was cute but Lincoln thought it was creepy! We decided to call her Bessy.
Bessy uses my garage as shelter and eats Dakota's food!

Well, that's my story so far!
-Spencer

A New Post!

I hope no one was holding their breath, waiting for my next post.  It's been a long time coming.  I blame Andy...he got me an iPad a few months ago and it's been a source of continual distraction. 

Parker got his first big boy haircut!  He was very good-natured about it, as you can see.  I was prepared with treats and tricks, but none were needed. 

 We had some work done on our piano, so we borrowed this digital one from Grandma and Grandpa.  Everyone had fun with it, including Parker!  He learned early on which buttons were most interesting.  He is a baby rockstar!
 

 He got into playing dress-up just in time for Halloween.  The cowboy hat is one of his favorites.  He also likes the boots that go with it, but they're twice as big as his feet, so they don't stay on very long.  Then he asks for "hop" (help) to get on his "hows" (horse).  He even hollers "Yee-haw!" sometimes. 

 This is his Halloween costume, Yoda.  The big brothers were off trick-or-treating  before I could get a picture of all three together.  The plan was to have a Star Wars theme, with Spencer as a Jedi, Carson as Darth Vader, and Parker as Yoda.  But Carson changed his mind at the last minute and opted for last year's ninja outfit.

 Prince Parker, ready for nap time.  He loves his two teddy bears, or "beows" as he calls them.  He tucks them under the blanket, as you see here.  There is also a designated side for each one.  The yellow bear goes on the left, the tan one on the right.  If I put them on the wrong sides, he immediately rearranges them. 

Spencer is a big softy.  He may complain about reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for the tenth time, but he would do anything if his baby brother asked.  You can see him turn into a marshmallow when he sees that cute little face.  

Parker is in the midst of a language explosion.  He says new words every day.  Today he said his own name for the first time--"Pahkew."  He also said "Cahson" (Carson).  Spencer is too hard to say.  I was decorating a little Christmas tree for my porch tonight and Parker said, "Nice twee!" 

It's so nice when everyone is healthy.  Parker had croup about a month ago.  He was miserable with a fever and coughing.  He had to take cortisone for three days to "keep us out of the ER," as the doctor said.  He was cranky for a week and a half.  I'd forgotten what a sweet little boy he really is!  We've just finished a round of colds, so I hope we can stave off further illness until after Christmas. 

Andy took the boys to a Jazz basketball game the other night.  At first Carson didn't want to go because he said he doesn't like the Jazz and he doesn't like the Phoenix Suns, their opponent.  Andy tried to convince him it would still be fun, that they've won two out of twelve games so far.  Carson said, "That means they've lost TEN!"  At the last minute he changed his mind and went to the game.  Their seats were beyond the nosebleed section.  Andy said they could see players on the court, but they couldn't distinguish the teams.  Carson drank a large bottle of Powerade while they watched.  They stayed until halftime, then called it a night and went back to the train station to come home.  Carson had to go to the bathroom BAD, and there was nowhere to go, so Andy took him to a corner somewhere and took care of business.  When they came home, Carson headed straight for the bathroom.  Andy exclaimed, "You're going AGAIN??" to which Carson explained, "I drank an ADULT-size Powerade, Dad!" 

Milestones

Spencer turned 10!  My little boy is growing up.  It doesn't seem like a decade since he was the length of my forearm. 

I told him he could have a friend party, and since he's Mr. Popularity, he had a hard time narrowing down the list.  We decided to have just neighborhood friends this time, so here's the group.  They went to a trampoline park, which is basically a warehouse with wall-to-wall trampolines.  It's a perfect activity for a bunch of energetic boys!

Ten candles on a lemonade cake.  He probably wished for LSU to have a better season than last year.

No, he's not flipping you off, Carson lost his first tooth!  He was eating lunch at school--a chicken sandwich.  He eats a chicken sandwich nearly every day because he says he can't find anything else.  Gone are the days when the lunch ladies plopped a scoop of mashed potatoes on your tray for you.  Now the kids have to serve themselves.  That can be a problem for first-grade boys.  Anyway, he said he finished his lunch and got in line to go back to class when he realized his tooth was gone! 

He was worried about not having the tooth as proof for the Tooth Fairy, so I suggested he write a note of explanation.  It says, "Dear Tooth Fairy, I swallowed my tooth at lunch.  From, Carson."  The handwriting was so cute I had to take a picture of it.  She got the message--the next morning he had a dollar in his tooth fairy pillow!

Parker Pictures

Parker continues to grow and change and surprise all of us.  This is just a sampling of his daily activities.

He enjoys "coloring," and as seen here, he is very intent on his work.  He recently learned to count out loud.  He decided to count his fingers in church and said loudly, "DOO!  WEE!"  (That's "two" and "three" to the rest of us.) 

He's a pro with the iPad and we have to be very careful to disable the Internet access before letting him play with it.  He takes lots of pictures of himself and even listened to an audio book of "Dracula" a couple of times.  It wasn't the abridged version, either.

You can see he has a bandaid on his knee.  That's been a constant all summer.  He LOVES to go for walks.  He's at the stage now when he stops to look at every rock and clod of dirt and ask, "Mama, this?"  That means "What is this?" as if he didn't already know!

I wanted these pictures side by side, but I'm not technologically advanced enough to do it.  This picture was taken about five years ago.

And here's the current version!  Cute little guys.  They change so fast!

This is a grocery cart.  I happened to have my camera in my purse, so I captured the moment.  They get lots of attention from other shoppers (especially older folks) when they're driving like this.

Parker's first popsicle!  He's a big fan!

Shucks!  What a cute little cowboy!

Back to School

Kids started school July 25!  This summer has been so hot, I don't mind sending them back so early.  We might as well have our break when it's pleasant to go outside!

Carson is in first grade!  He has a morning teacher for reading and writing, and an afternoon teacher for math and art.  He is very reserved, but has already been labeled "a strong student."  I went in to help his class this week.  I was helping a small group of kids log in to the computer while Carson was in another group doing an art project.  When my group was settled, I went over to see how Carson was doing.  I was careful to be discreet and un-embarrassing, but before long he hissed, "Mom, you can go back to the computers now!"  It's already started!

Spencer is in fourth grade.  He's moving into "big kid" status now!  He was one of the first in his class to pass off his multiplication facts.  He is reading The Hardy Boys series and just bought a big stack of baseball cards.

And this is how a happy, contented mom looks when her children are at school and the baby is napping!

Summer Fun

We had a very brief (3-week) summer vacation.  We tried to party hard, but frankly, we just didn't have much time.

Spencer and Carson were invited to ride in the parade for Heritage Days.  It was hot, but they had fun.  Parker loved watching the fire trucks and horses go by.

Good times in the kiddie pool!

Parker looks beat up because he somehow tipped forward off his chair at the parade.  He hardly ever cries when he gets hurt.  He just points at the sidewalk and says, "Ow!"  He had a scraped knee almost all summer because as soon as it started to heal, he fell on it again!

Always a show-off!

This is what we do after the kids are all in bed.

 

 We went to see Monsters University.  Carson laughed the most! 

 Spencer and his friend next door decided to dress up as "old ladies."  They hobbled around with baseball bats for canes and talked as if they had no teeth.  Crazy boys!

Day to Day

Here's another snapshot of daily life in our household....

Parker is a techno baby.  He is quite skilled at using computers, iPads, etc.  He has "the swipe" down, and he does it with flair.  He has played with Andy's phone and changed the wallpaper to a picture of himself (zoomed in on his own face)!  We have to be sure to turn off the WiFi so he doesn't make purchases.

Lately he is using this grumpy face when he doesn't get his way.  The grumpier he is, the more the bottom lip sticks out.  He also tries to hide when he doesn't want to have his diaper or clothes changed.  He hurries (as only a toddler can) into the kitchen or laundry room and presses himself against a cabinet or the washer, as if he could melt right into it and not be seen.  It hasn't worked yet.

YEEEEE-HAAAAAWWW!!

 Yeah, like I said...Techno Baby.  He knows how to relax too!

 They weren't just tired, they were WOOPED!

Baseball baby--swing, batter, batter!

Carson likes to put on all this gear and go bug-catching.  The thing that looks like a gun is a bug vacuum.  He also has a special explorer vest and a microscope to examine the species. 

One day the boys were discussing cartwheels.  Carson wasn't sure what a cartwheel was at first, so Spencer described it.  Carson said, "Oh yeah, my entire class can do those, except me and the people who never tried!"  Makes sense.

Home Life

Just some random cute moments....

Parker looks cute in his towel.  He's even cuter when you can see how small he looks standing there!

What a happy thing for a parent to find in the morning--everyone reading quietly!  Rest assured, this doesn't happen every day!

Spencer has a fascination with attics, probably because of books about magical things happening in an attic.  So when Andy announced he was putting some baby stuff up there to store it, Spencer got excited.  I don't know if it met his expectations, but he can check it off his bucket list.

They snuggled up like this to watch a movie one night.  I think they'll always be best buds.

 Supposedly two heads are better than one, but I don't know about these two....

 Yep, probably up to no good!

 He's not quite as accomplished as Spencer yet, but he sure does practice a lot!

 Can't get enough sleeping baby pictures.

After we finished the boys' rooms downstairs, we converted their old room into a playroom.  Parker loves to sit at this table and play with cars.  Put a little music on or throw a brother in there with him, and he's a happy guy.

Disneyland Part 2

The next day, we explored the other side of the park, which is called "California Adventure."  This was my favorite.  It seemed more geared toward the younger children, although that's just the opposite of what people told me before we went. 

Each morning, the boys would hurry down the hall ahead of us.  When we got to the elevator, this is what we found....

That was before we saw the green army men from Toy Story!  Spencer volunteered to be one of their recruits. 

You can't tell, but most of this "street" is just a big mural.  Even when you're standing right there, it's hard to tell where reality ends and the illusion begins!

"Cars Land" was probably the most sought after part of Disneyland for us.  It's like walking into their favorite movie!  We took a tractor ride at Mater's Junkyard. 

Then we saw Lightning McQueen at the Cozy Cone Motel!  These characters are very real.  They talk and move with real facial expressions.  Pretty impressive!

White wall tires--only the best!

Who's that snazzy babe?  There was a HUGE line for this Cars ride, but Andy got us fast passes so we zipped to the front of the line.  Whew!

We got in these cars that look just like the ones in the movie.  There's another one right beside us so we can "race."  It was quite a ride!


So that's pretty much our trip in a very small nutshell.  I think we all had a great time, but it was nice to come home and get some sleep!