Mother's Day

This Mother's Day exceeded my expectations. Andy was gone to Las Vegas all week, then he went fishing most of Saturday, so I expected him to be worn out and at least slightly unprepared. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when I was presented with a tasty breakfast in bed--French toast (cut into pieces for easier eating while sitting in bed), sausage, and strawberries. Spencer came in as live entertainment and told me a joke that I'd already heard at least twice. Then they all came to give me a beautiful gift--a Pandora charm bracelet. If you haven't heard of them, they're very popular and a bit on the pricey side. Andy got it in Vegas for me. It's one of those gifts he can build upon at every occasion. He did great!

It's hard not to feel motherly when you're eight months pregnant. I got out a suitcase last night and started putting a few things in it. Andy came in with a smirk on his face and asked, "So...are you packing your bag?" Of course he thinks I'm jumping the gun. I think it's better to do things now than wait till the last minute, not to mention that with babies, you never know when the "last minute" will be for sure. So yes, I'm packing up and hoping (a lot!) that I get to use that suitcase sooner than later.

Carson notices things that I wouldn't expect him to. He asked me yesterday why I go to the bathroom so much. I explained that there's someone in there taking up all the space! He also told me recently that he wished the baby was a girl because he likes baby girls. Oh well. We can't do a thing about it. I've wondered if maybe a girl would be less threatening to him. Or maybe he just really does like girls. Who knows?

Spencer has been off track for the last week and a half. I put both boys in swimming lessons and they're doing fairly well, especially for having me as their mother. I hate swimming and I never learned how, so it's important to me that my kids know how. Carson still won't put his face in the water, so he'll probably repeat his class later in the summer, but he has been much more cooperative than I expected. Spencer is doing remarkably well in my opinion. He may not be the best in his class, but like his father, he keeps working and giving his best effort every time. As long as they keep trying, I'm a happy mom.

Carson Turns Four!

Carson is finally four years old--it was a long wait for him! He started talking about his birthday shortly after the last one.

He had multiple parties, the first of which was at Thanksgiving Point. We went to the dinosaur museum--way cool! Some of those guys really were outrageously huge. Makes me glad we don't have enormous reptiles wandering around anymore.

They have a sand and water table where kids can build little islands for the plastic dinosaurs and see how erosion works. Carson refused to get his hands dirty, but he sure enjoyed watching Spencer and finding more trees for their project.

This is the finished work. If you look really close, you may see a small green dinosaur living in there.

This statue is about the same size as Dakota, only ugly. I definitely prefer furry pets.

I've been telling Spencer he's like a shark because he has rows of teeth. (A new one will grow in behind the loose one.)

Time for cake with Grandma and Grandpa (after dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets).

This was Easter Sunday with my parents. They gave Carson a Mack truck (from the movie Cars). Spencer fell in love with it, too, and was quite hurt when Carson didn't want to share right away. In fact, Carson became so protective of his new toy that he took it with him to the bathroom and stowed it under his bed that night.

The actual birthday--note that Carson is pushing Spencer aside because he does NOT NEED HELP! Spencer was almost as excited about the festivities as Carson was, and he wanted to be included in everything, even when his presence wasn't necessarily wanted!

Batman books, Batman shirt, and (he's not wearing them here) Batman sandals

New cake, more candles. This time it's chocolate with white frosting by request.

YUM!!

Tidbits

The following are some interesting tidbits from our life around here:

Spencer told me a couple of weeks ago that one of the teachers at school makes these way cool bracelets and "all" the kids have one, therefore he must also have one. He wanted me to just send $4 with him, but I thought for $4 I ought to see what I'm paying for. So I went to the school and found this very talented teacher. The bracelets are made of parachute cord and have a nifty little clasp that's easy for kids to work with. She asked the name of the student, and when I told her, she said, "Oh, he already ordered one!" Just then Spencer showed up and I informed him that he should not be ordering things without being certain how he would pay for them!

Carson gave his first talk at church in front of about 50 other kids ages 3-7. He had no intentions of cooperating when he got the assignment. He said, "I just want to keep my mouth closed." We discussed the matter one day when Spencer was nearby and Spencer offered to help him. I said, "If Spencer helps you, will you do it?" Carson replied, "Sure!" So we practiced. Spencer held up the pictures and whispered each sentence to him. Carson then repeated the words in a loud, clear voice. He did a beautiful job!

My body shape is increasingly large and awkward. I went to lunch the other day with a friend. The Mexican waiter showed us a booth and asked if it would be suitable. We said it was fine, and then he looked me up and down and asked, "Can you fit?" I felt like shouting, "Of course I can fit, you imbecile!" But I didn't. I restrained myself because he was otherwise a very nice little Mexican and he couldn't even remember the word "spinach" in English. At least we knew our food would be authentic.

Buddies

Things have been pretty busy here lately, so I haven't been taking lots of pictures. Here's a few though.

Carson has a friend who is crazy about Batman too, so we had him come over for a playdate one day. They had a great time playing with their Batman toys and wearing their outfits for about three hours!

We have plenty of seating in our living room, but these guys insist on sitting in the same place to watch TV.

Last night I went in to see my sleeping cuties and found them in the same bed! I guess they were lonely for each other. Maybe we should have just bought a double bed instead of a bunk bed.

"Sick Day"

Spencer had his first (and hopefully last) day of feigning illness to avoid school. He had a very busy weekend last week and wasn't at home much. Going to school on Monday was fine, but Tuesday came and he said he wasn't feeling well. The symptoms were quite vague and he seemed all right, so I told him to go to school and if he still didn't feel well, he could call me. Sure enough, at 10:00, the phone rang. He tried hard to suppress a grin when he saw me come in. When we got home, he kept asking if he could come out and play with Carson. He also wanted treats throughout the day, but I told him I didn't think that was wise for an invalid. I made him lie down and rest in the afternoon, and he said that at precisely 3:30 (when school is out), he made a sudden and remarkable recovery. He's been quite healthy ever since.

Carson thoroughly enjoys his food and when he's eating something he likes, it is impossible to distract him. One night Andy came home from work after we had begun eating. He cheerfully greeted Carson and asked how he was. Without looking up, Carson said, "I'm HUNGRRRRY!"

Yesterday Carson was very tired and grumpy in the afternoon. He refused to pick up his Legos and had to go to Time Out. When he returned, he said, "I want to lay on something soft with a stuffed animal!" Don't we all?

When they are both well rested, the boys have a lot of fun playing together. Spencer found an empty box one day and began to fashion it into an airplane or a ship (I'm not sure which). Carson was sitting in the back and Spencer was steering. Carson experienced a loud passage of gas, and Spencer announced, "That was the engine!" Carson giggled and said, "No, that was my bum!"

Furry Friends

Here's a little update on our furry family members.

Dakota continues to enjoy all kinds of affection from the boys. She is looking forward to spring when she can lounge in the grass and the sunshine. I am looking forward to less dog hair in the house.

She's always good for a big, wet kiss on anyone within reach!

Note that Carson decided to stand up after the doggy kiss....

This is about as friendly as they get. Just one more benefit of warm weather: I won't have to spend so much time running interference between the pets!

Slippy is enjoying a sliver of sunshine while sleeping in her toy basket.

Andy recently became part of the leadership of our ward (congregation). Since it was a special occasion, our parents came to church with us. As my mom was leaving, she turned around and came back to tell me "There's a dog running around outside that looks a lot like Dakota." I thought she was kidding and I couldn't believe she was joking about the dog at a time like that. I looked out and sure enough, there was Dakota, running back and forth by the front doors of the church, tongue hanging out, having a glorious time. I don't know how many people she must have terrorized before we found her! Andy went out and threw a snowball in her direction and told her to "Lie down!" My mom said it was like her legs collapsed under her. She knew her "dad" meant business. Spencer thought it was hilarious that Dakota had come to church with us. (In case you're wondering how she got out, we have a weak section of fence that falls apart when the wind blows hard. I had tried to fix it, but apparently I didn't do a good job. She came to church because we often take her to play in the field right next to it. Andy has fixed the fence now so we don't have a repeat of the chaos that day!)

One closing thought: I was putting Carson's socks on this morning when he said, "I miss my toes when they're inside my socks." Do you ever miss your toes?

Guess Who?

I have found some different looking folks at my house lately. See if you can guess who they are....

Carson has a mild lazy eye, so we tried patching for a few weeks, to no avail. He hated the patch, and even though he was very good about keeping it on, he cried every time I put it on. So now he has glasses, and says he misses the eye patch! The lady who fitted the glasses on him was just dying over how cute he looked. She is putting his picture on their bulletin board as well as their blog. He doesn't seem to mind the glasses most of the time, but he insists on pushing them up on top of his head to take a drink. They are also constantly covered with little fingerprints, so I hope he can actually see out of them!

Who is this crazy character?? I belong to a neighborhood book club, and I was hosting one night. Spencer wondered if he could attend, but I told him it was only for ladies. He got a gleam in his eye and I knew what he was thinking! Before long, he came out looking like this! I assigned him to answer the door to our guests, and they all got a laugh. One lady called him "Miss Thang" all night. He was the life of the party!

This strange dude is my spouse! (What was I thinking??) He just finished a scuba diving course with the Scouts, and felt the need to purchase his own mask and snorkel. Dakota thought he looked really creepy with it on, and she kept barking at him.

Spencer built these Lego cars a while ago and took lots of pictures so we could show them to everyone. This one is for Carson.

And this one he built for himself. He used a variety of angles and lighting, but I think you get the idea....