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.