Card Shark

My Aunt Jane came up to visit and we all had a wonderful time playing with her. Here are some pictures of a rousing game of Old Maid.

The anticipation is the best part of the game. Spencer could hardly wait to find out who would get the Old Maid next.
Grandma's turn....
Uh-oh! Look who she got! Note the look of glee on Spencer's face.

Aunt Jane's turn....
I can't remember who ended up with the "Old Scrook" (I don't think it was Spencer), but it was a great time.

Carson had some good times with her too. Thanks for the party, Auntie!

Some Fun Photos

Carson loves hats, and put on Spencer's baker's hat all by himself! Too bad the picture turned out dark, but it was cute.

Spencer fell in love with marigolds during planting season. So he got some of his very own, thanks to Grandma, the Big Sponge. Unfortunately, the soil settled and I was slow to add more, so they burned up in the hot sun. Here are Spencer and cousin Jeffrey examining the damage. They stood there for a long time with mournful faces discussing the tragedy of the flowers.

Carson was standing and holding on to his walking toy, but as soon as I got out the camera, he got upset about it. He prefers scooting around the house on his bum. One night I was drying him off after a bath. He thinks it's funny to roll away from me while I'm working on him. He was still stark naked and rolled away, only to sit up right on top of the air vent. Whoa! That was cold!! His facial expression was priceless. Wish I could have captured that in a picture!

Here is a picture Spencer drew on his "new" whiteboard. The smaller figure is himself. He loves to draw now.

Andy said Carson looked like a little convict in this outfit, so I took his picture in his "cell."

Daddy's shoes are just a little too big yet. Those feet have a long way to go! (These happen to be the same shoes he was wearing the day of the pool plunge. They aren't quite so shiny now.)

Here are my lovely roses a couple of weeks ago.

I am proud of my flowers. Especially since I did basically nothing to make them look this way.

Another bathtime picture. They were posed really cute with their backs to each other, and then, of course, I tried to capture the moment and ruined it.

Here's Carson kissing the easel. He also uses this to help him stand up.

Trampolines

Last night Spencer was outside helping Andy mow the lawn. They finished their job and were next door watching the neighbor kids jump on a trampoline. Spencer was invited to jump too, but he declined, saying, "My mom says those are dangerous." That's my boy!! If Mom says it's dangerous, he will NOT do it! There's one kid I don't have to worry too much about. I know pretty much every family on our block has a trampoline, but my sister and I both agree they are not safe. I remember every year going back to school, and at least one kid in my class had a broken limb from jumping on a trampoline. My sister worked for 10 years at Primary Children's Hospital, and she doesn't let her kids use them either. No tramps, no motorcycles, and no guns. Those are the rules!

Parade

Our lovely city held their annual "Heritage Days" parade on Saturday. We decided to go to that one instead of the others next week since the parade route is just down the street from our house, and it started earlier (which means less heat). It was a sure winner! Spencer got a sackful of candy--just like Halloween all over again. Andy made sure to hoot and holler a lot so we would be noticed. The lady sitting next to us enjoyed his antics as much as anything else!
Carson wore a sun hat for the wagon ride down the street, and then promptly flung it off as soon as we got settled. So here's his hat hair....

Fire trucks are waaaay cool! They were loud too, and everybody threw candy out. The girl on left was quite grabby. She will probably go far in the corporate world someday. Poor little Spencer was trying to be polite, even though no one else was.

The horses were another favorite. There was a really cute little girl riding one of them. Spencer waved faithfully at everything.

More Sleeping Pictures

For some reason, I just can't get enough of watching my kids sleep. Maybe it's because I consider it a miracle every time it happens. They just look so sweet and peaceful. It makes me want to crawl in there and sleep with them. But we don't want to start any bad habits....

This is how Spencer usually falls asleep--Superman style. I don't understand how that can be comfortable, but it must be.

Carson just looks so...baby. When he wakes up, he's so soft and warm and snuggly. I love it!

This pose doesn't look very comfy either, but I guess it's just a kid thing.

He didn't always sleep in the "stinkbug" position, but he's started to lately. It's kind of cute. One day, he woke up from his nap with "Old Navy 12-24 months" imprinted on his leg. His socks have tread made up of those words. He must have pressed his foot against his leg and given himself a temporary brand!

Unexpected Splash

Today was the last day of swimming lessons. Spencer graduated from the "Guppy" class and seems to have had a pleasant experience. Andy has been taking him to most of the lessons since they were right at Carson's morning naptime. He enjoys watching Spencer as well as the other kids, to see what we can work on when we have family pool time. When they came home today, Andy related the following experience:

There are three pools: the main pool (where Spencer was), a lap pool, and a little square hot tub. (which is situated sort of between the others). Andy was sitting and watching Spencer when he noticed some 8-9 year olds performing some impressive jumps off the diving board into the lap pool. He got up to take a closer look. On his way back, he was watching Spencer in the other pool when suddenly he was "all the way under!" Apparently he wasn't aware of the hot tub and fell in head first--complete immersion! Of course, several people observed the mishap and he overheard them saying, "Did he mean to do that?" "Of course he didn't mean to do that!!" Spencer's class was only half over, so Andy had to sit there, drenched and dripping in his dress pants and church shoes, for another 20 minutes! It isn't very easy to be inconspicuous while soaking wet in business casual. The worst part of the incident (besides the humiliation) is that his fancy little Blackberry cell phone is ruined. So I guess we'll be getting a new one shortly since he uses it a LOT for work!

This one's going to keep me laughing for a few days!

New Teeth

Tooth alert! While brushing Carson's existing teeth tonight, I was actually able to sneak a peek at the back of his mouth, and he has three molars coming in! The fourth is on its way, too; it just hasn't poked through yet. Poor baby! No wonder he's been a little out of sorts at times.

Also, Spencer told me today that his swimming teacher's husband was at the pool today, "pretending to be a lifeguard." I think he really is a lifeguard. I can't imagine they allow people to pretend-for-a-day! The lessons are going well. His teacher says he just needs to get more comfortable in the water. We have lessons the rest of the week and then this class is over. We plan to do the next step in October.