Friends

Here are some of our recent encounters with friends and relatives. We are lucky to have so many great playmates close (and some who visit from far away).

This is Katherine, daughter of Andy's best friend from Michigan. They came to visit a few weeks ago. Their two girls are quite close in age to our boys, so that makes it fun for everyone. These two little ones were wary of each other for most of the visit, but about the last 20 minutes, they decided to play together. I love watching two-year-olds try to interact!

Now they're finally having a good time! I guess we'll just have to make another trip to Colorado so they can get to know each other!

Spencer and Alison are two peas in a pod. They had a blast! They giggle all the time. They came out all dressed up like this and Spencer said (with genuine bewilderment), "Have you seen my pet alligator?" I have never seen him enjoy playing with a girl so much!

This is our neighbor, Jake. He is a good pal, too. Note how everyone enjoys the alligator costume. I don't know why the picture is so pink....

Woo-woo! Kissing cousins! He looks like he's enjoying himself, too, with his eyes closed. Maren is one beautiful babe! She can run circles around him and talk circles around him, too.

Big Daddy

This morning we realized just what a huge impact Andy is having on our children. As is his habit, he said his good mornings to the family and went straight downstairs to check the news and the stocks, etc. When he came back up, Spencer asked, "So Dad, how's the market?"

Andy is trying to look like he did in high school, so he's been exercising and eating egg whites for breakfast. Here he is showing off the results thus far....

Carson is an avid little lawn mower, just like Spencer was until he learned to ride his bike.

He also likes to ride his little tricycle bike up and down the sidewalk. Sometimes he forgets to turn around, though, and Spencer will start yelling, "MOM! He's headed for Africa!!"

Little Monkeys

I'm pretty sure Spencer took this picture. He always gets the cutest grins out of Carson.

There he is--His Highness, the Burger King! Looks like he had a little trouble holding it all together. Messy burger boy!

This face speaks for itself. Rock on, dude!

I love boys in jammies. They are just as snuggly and huggable as they look.

Carson kept wearing Andy's huge work gloves, and of course they didn't stay on, so we got some that fit a little better... for both of them!

Friends

I just overheard the following conversation between Spencer and his friend:

Friend: Your bike is more like a tricycle because it has training wheels. My bike has just two wheels.

Spencer: I know; it's called a two-wheeler. Think about it.

We actually had two little boys over to play this afternoon. At about 5:00 I told them to go downstairs and clean up. Spencer wasn't too keen on the idea until his friend said, "I know! We can work TOGETHER!!" They certainly did. They bustled around like three women. One would hold the bag while the other put the blocks in it. Somebody had a whistle and kept blowing it and yelling, "GET WORKIN'!" They did a remarkable job. They are good kids.

Carson is saying new words quite often now. He had two today. This morning Slippy was sitting on my bed. Carson found her two favorite toy mice (with long fur) and put them right at her feet and said, "Baby!" I guess he thought they were her children. I had a bag of corn chips out while I made dinner, so of course Spencer and Carson both wanted some. Carson started asking for "Bip! Bip!" Bips are the new "chips." I like it.

Screaming

Tonight was a difficult time for Spencer. I think the biggest problem was tiredness. Anyway, we had a little "issue" outside (if you know what I mean), so he had to come in and take a bath instead of going for a walk. He was pretty mad, so he was doing the scream/bawl. I've learned to cope with that in the last couple of years. It wasn't easy. So in the midst of the emotion I reminded him of tonight's family night lesson on following Jesus' example. I suggested that perhaps he could communicate more effectively if he did it as Jesus would. He wailed, "I'm too tired to be like Jesus!!" No kidding!

We also had drama over the cleaning and care of his most recent "owie." He wandered away from me in Walmart today and ended up with a nasty scratch on his leg from some metal junk in the back of the garden center. So tonight I thought we should remove the bandaids and rinse it off. He was incredibly anxious about the procedure and started the scream/bawl all over again. It was quite an ordeal. I started responding to him by mirroring his terror. He then recognized that he was overreacting and laughed, only to freak out again when he looked down and saw the carnage. It was truly a comical moment. I wish I had it on tape for posterity to see. He would scream, "Yucky blood! Yucky blood!" I picked him up to carry him to the kitchen for clean bandaids and he exclaimed, "I'm dead! I'm dead!" How can a parent not laugh at that point?! Anyway, I think he's going to make it as long as he wears long pants.

Lazy

One afternoon Spencer and I were discussing the importance of swimming lessons. He said, "I don't want to do important things; I want to be lazy like Dad!" Daddy happened to be just getting up from a nap at the time. He is typically the least lazy person I know, so it seemed pretty funny to me.

Our Funny Farm

Anyone who's reading this blog knows that at our house, strange things sometimes happen. Okay, strange things OFTEN happen (like when Andy tripped while trying to put on his shorts one night--I heard a thump and suddenly he disappeared)! Anyway, this post is dedicated to all those goofy moments that make life fun....

I try not to be creeped out when people do this to me, especially when they have the binoculars turned the wrong way. It does feel a little strange, though, to be "watched."

On the other hand, maybe I'm the one who's creeping people out. Spencer made these glasses at preschool. Don't they look splendid on me??

Not my favorite picture, but we seldom take photos of ourselves. I've got to start sticking my neck out a little more to avoid the double chin look. Or maybe I just need exercise!

This is Slippy on her 13th birthday. Because her eyes are blue, they are very reflective, thus the "Ewok" look whenever we take her picture.

Instead of birthday cake, she got a saucer of milk. Usually cats don't digest milk very well, but she seems to have no trouble. Mmmm! She loved it!

Here's Carson and Grandpa P. reading stories. They are pals. This photo doesn't actually fit into the "funny farm" category, but I had to throw it in somewhere.