October

I am repenting for neglecting my blog and will do my best to keep it up better.  I am always surprised to learn how many people actually read this thing!

Andy has asked me repeatedly if he could have a bow tie.  I just didn't think it would look very good unless he was attending a formal event.  So he borrowed one from a boy at church one day and took a picture to prove how debonair he looked.  I'm still considering....

Yes, this is from Halloween.   Andy told the kids that if he had to carve the pumpkin, they had to clean it out.

Poor Carson had a hard time.  I thought one handful was enough, but Andy insisted he do more!  The poor boy had already helped clean out a pumpkin at school, and his teacher said he did it willingly enough, but turned his head and gagged audibly a couple of times.

Parker was a little dragon for Halloween!  I took him around to see some of our friends in the neighborhood. He's a pretty popular guy, especially with women. They always comment on his squishable cheeks.

Dakota loves to have someone sit with her.  She follows me around the house all day and literally sticks her nose into whatever I'm doing.  She loves her toys too.  She's started bringing them into the house sometimes, which I'm not in favor of, but it's cute that she loves them so.  Her favorites are the squeaky ones, but I think she has loved the squeak out of all of them.  Maybe Santa can help....
 

Spencer is learning to type.  He's pretty good at it, especially for a third grader.  I didn't learn until 8th grade.  Already his education is so much different from mine!  Anyway, I liked his comfy little set-up here.

Parker loves to watch shows with Carson.  They were watching Sesame Street on this day.  He giggles and dances when they sing.  Then when it's over, Carson turns it off, and Parker wails with despair. 

Catching Up

Once again, time has slipped away from me.  There's something about having the third little boy that keeps things really busy!  It's not any one of them, it's the combination of the three.  Anyway, here's the update....

You may have heard of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."  At our house, we have Invasion of the Food Snatchers.  I went out with Carson to catch his ride to school yesterday, and when I returned to make my lunch, the plate that had previously been full of roast beef was quite empty!  The plate itself was right where I had left it and all the other food was undisturbed.  I turned around and saw these brown eyes watching me, guilty as sin!  She was uninterested in her doggy kibbles that afternoon.  Hmmm, I wonder why....

She really likes Honey Nut Cheerios.  She hangs out by Parker in the mornings because she knows he'll start tossing her Cheerios.  He throws them over the edge of the high chair and immediately shakes his head "no-no."  (He's aware of the rules, he just chooses not to obey them.)  Dakota snaps the cereal in midair and Parker giggles like crazy. 

Dakota loves her family.  She always goes in the bathroom and rubs against Andy's towel.  I've even noticed her rubbing up against the kids bath mat when the shower curtain isn't in the way.

One day she stood at the window, growling and barking in her scariest tone.  I saw an animal control truck across the street.  Apparently the neighbors had found a stray dog and called the county to come and get it.  Dakota has never had any contact with animal control, though, and I can't figure out how she knew who they were and that she didn't like them.

Parker is a delightful little rascal.  He is busy getting into mischief all day and he gets really mad when we stop him.  He wants to be deeply involved in whatever his brothers are doing, whether they like it or not.  He recently taught himself to play the kazoo.  (If I can figure out how to post a video, I'll put it on here.)  He also enjoys playing an impromptu duet when Spencer is trying to practice the piano.  He loves to go for wagon rides, especially when Dakota comes along.
 

He loves his baby swing and giggles a lot. 

This was Spencer's birthday party at the pool.  Parker looked super cute in his little baby Speedo.

Enjoying the outdoors at Carson's soccer game.

 One day while the kids were out of school, I took them to a trampoline park.  It was pretty amazing!  Basically, it's a huge room with multiple trampolines hooked together so the kids can jump from one to another.  They have an area for basketball and dodgeball.  The boys' favorite part was the foam pits.  They bounce down a long tramp and jump into a pit of foam cubes. 

Spencer is becoming a good swimmer!  I am delighted with his progress.  I've scheduled them for more lessons while they're out of school in a couple of weeks.

Geronimo!!

He actually enjoys jumping off the diving board and going down the big slide.  This is amazing for any child of mine!

Carson isn't as brave yet, but hopefully with more time and practice, he'll get there.  Right now he just needs to get his face in the water!

Off-Track Activities #1

The kids have been out of school for the last three weeks, so things have been busy here.  Let me tell you a little about it....

Well, okay, they're not ALWAYS busy!  Sometimes we relax enough that someone takes an impromptu nap.

Carson started asking about soccer a couple of months ago.  I thought it was just a passing fancy and he would soon forget about it.  Nope, he kept after me until I signed him up.  We are not athletes in this family.  None of us are very coordinated.  Carson spent the first couple of practices admiring his new uniform and shoes.  He still runs with his elbows out--lots of movement, not so much efficiency.  But that's okay.  He got some good exercise and obeyed the "Stingers'" number one rule:  have fun!

He spent a fair amount of game time hanging back with his pal, Maddie.  I have no idea what they talked about (thought I'd love to).  They just seemed to stick together a lot.

See what I mean??

Whew!  A thirsty little athlete.  The post-game snacks were a big bonus too.  Spencer was Carson's personal cheerleader.  He found a couple of friends at the soccer field and made a sign that said "Go Stingers  #6 Carson Sherman!  Run!"  He would hold the sign up and run from one end of the field to the other, cheering all the way. 

Spencer is just a funny, funny kid.  I don't know what he was doing dressed up like this, but it sure made me laugh, especially the look on his face!

Spencer is quite the little entrepreneur.  He began his own business called "Jobs Around the House."  Here is the advertisement:  "We can (1) Take out the trash for 10 cents (2) Clean the baseboards for $3 (3) Dust the house for $2.  Thank you!  Open Friday at 4:30 and Saturday 10:00 to 2:00 or call us at..."  My mom called that day and he picked up the phone and in his most professional voice greeted her "Jobs Around the House, this is Spencer."  Since he's been out of school he hasn't done much business though.  He's too busy playing! 

Once again, Parker is not easy to read with.  He was sitting there playing with Spencer's hair, but as soon as I tried to take a picture he decided to try and roll off the couch--yikes!

Parker

I've been a terrible blogger lately. A brief update on Parker: He LOVES puppies! He started making high-pitched meowing sounds at every animal he saw, so I tried to teach him to bark like a dog. Now he says, "Arf! Arf!" We had a little stuffed puppy that my grandma gave Spencer. Neither of the other kids showed much interest in it, but I got it out for Parker and he gave it lots of wet, open-mouthed kisses on the nose and hugged it to his chest. He gets excited about pictures of dogs and of course, he loves Dakota and laughs at her all the time.

He holds his play phone on the back of his neck and says, "Ha-wo!" He learned the word "ball" shortly before I got a bushel of peaches to can. He discovered the peaches and said, "Ball!" again and again as he tossed them across the floor. (I stopped him before he bruised more than 4 or 5!)

Anyway, here are some pictures from quite a while ago that were just too cute not to post.

This was at a restaurant called Kneaders. They have delicious sandwiches, soups, and salads. And Parker thoroughly enjoyed the raspberry cream cheese pie!

Perfectly pink, round baby cheeks are the best!

His brothers got a real hee-haw putting these glasses on him!

Too many boys in the tub again! Parker didn't want to be left out, so he went in and started throwing stuff in the water.

It's complicated to try to read with Parker. He wants to be too involved in the story!

He's very short!

Fishing for a Compliment

I just overheard the following exchange:

Carson: Hey Spencer, see this painting I did?

Spencer: Oh, hmm.

Carson: Are you amazed or anything??

I don't know if "amazed" would be the best word to describe Spencer's reaction, but that's what Carson was hoping for! I think everyone has experienced this situation. You're so proud of some accomplishment and you finally share your news with a special someone and they just don't react as strongly as you hoped. So you want to grab them by the shoulders and ask, "Are you amazed or anything??" Oh well.

First Day of School 2012

It's that time of year... already! The boys started school July 25. Spencer is now in third grade and so far he's he's having a good time. He finally lost his other front tooth, so now he has the typical vacancy in his smile. (I'll have to get a picture of that to put on here too.) He was in P.E. class when he decided to just pull it out. He keeps losing teeth and Parker keeps growing them--eventually they'll have the same number, right?

He says his teacher is funny because she does math problems backwards (gotta ask about that at parent-teacher conference)! She seems like a really cute lady.

Carson is in Kindergarten and he LOVES it!! It's fun to see him come running behind Spencer at the end of the day, pulling his little backpack and looking very scholarly and busy. He's been doing a lot more paperwork at home too. I separated his "school clothes" from his "play clothes" and he is very good about changing as soon as he gets home.

One day Andy made some (jokingly) chauvinistic remark and Carson piped up, "That's what men do!" How will I ever survive this house of boys?!

Aww, I love sleeping babies! When the kids are at school, Parker and I are free to play, play, play! I like taking him out and about, but it's getting embarrassing. He's started pointing at people and laughing, "HAHAHA!" I worry about this child. He may be the troublemaker. His latest tricks include: folding his arms for prayer and "bowing" his head (touching his cheek to his shoulder), making animal sounds which all sound the same (a soft, high-pitched "Ahhhh!"), and pretend eating (I think I mentioned that in an earlier post). Oh, and he also loves a game of peek-a-boo, even though his hands don't often land over his eyes.

Spencer was eating Pop Rocks tonight and of course, several of them fell on the floor. Dakota started licking them up and I could hear the little crackly sounds in her mouth! She has become such a good doggy, there really aren't any stories to tell about her. Well, except for the day she snatched a waffle off the counter top. That was a huge no-no! She likes to sleep in our room at night now, which is fine except for when she's dreaming. She must be chasing cats or something because she twitches a lot and makes little throat sounds. Silly puppy!

Family Pictures

Here are my favorites of our recent family pictures, for anyone who hasn't already seen them...