November 2009

Maybe I should re-think the Spiderman pajamas.

Spencer and Carter must have had an early morning photo shoot. I love when I go to upload pictures and find these random shots on my camera.

I thought it would be so fun for the boys and I to do a Thanksgiving craft for all of the grandparents. The boys lasted about 10 minutes before they were over it and I was stuck at the kitchen table for another hour and half. Oh well, the grandparents all liked ‘Spencer and Carter’s’ handiwork.


The night before Thanksgiving we went to my mom’s so I could make apple pies for the next day. My cute grandparents were staying there while their house was being fixed after a small house fire. My grandma wasn’t going to make her apple pie because I was already making one and because she didn’t have all of the ingredients she needed for hers. But when my grandpa found out he wasn’t happy and he took my mom aside to ask her if she would go to the store and get the ingredients grandma needed. I tried not to take it personally that my apple pie wasn’t good enough for him.

Mom pretending to be helping us – she just threw on an apron and held up a cup, such a faker!

Grandpa had a captive audience as he was setting up his childhood train around the tree.
A little glimpse of our feast - I love Matt's face up in the corner.

Aunt ‘Chelle giving the boys haircuts –Nice!

Spencer has a hair twirling obsession. Ever since he was a baby he has used it to self-soothe. He does it when he's eating, when he's thinking, when he's sleeping, when he's relaxing - basically all of the time. The only problem is that it makes his hair stand straight up in the back. In fact as I look over at him while I'm typing this he has a massive rooster tail going on. He was rather traumatized over the summer when I took the boys in for haircuts and had their hair cut really short. That night he was in tears for 20 minutes saying that he didn't want his hair 'small' he wanted it 'big'. I felt so bad for him as I watched his fingers go up to their familiar spot trying to twirl hair that was no longer there. Spencer has refused to have his hair cut ever since. But after a long talk with Aunt Michelle and a promise that she would leave it long enough in the back for him to twirl he finally agreed.

Family Pictures

I was very grateful when my friend Amanda generously offered to take a family picture for us. She is a brave woman! I’ve seen kids who will pose for the camera and hold a smile while their picture is being taken, I’ve just never seen either of my boys do it. Getting the boys to both sit still, both smile, and both look at the camera is near impossible, and usually has me yelling and threatening them within an inch of their lives – not really conducive to a cute family picture. Needless to say we don’t get pictures taken very often. Amanda had her work cut out for her - the boys were totally rotten, running around like crazy, not listening, not wanting to sit still, etc. She was great about it though and I think she got some really cute shots!

I really cannot take any credit for our Christmas card this year. Not only did Amanda take the picture and design the card, she somehow got roped into ordering them and picking them up for me. She also picked up envelopes and stamps for me and hand delivered all of it to my door. She is seriously the best!! I think I’m going to tell her that I’m having a hard time getting my grocery shopping done and see if I can get the same result.

The Birds and the Bees when you're Three

Carter has a fascination with babies. He loves them, wants to hold them, tickle them, basically mal them. Every time he sees a baby he says, “Awww, that baby is so cute!” He even has imaginary babies (they come in twos around here) that we have to be quiet for because they are sleeping, or feed because they are hungry. So I wasn’t surprised when Amanda came over with her baby that Carter was all over him. I was surprised though when he asked her if she had gotten her baby at the baby store. We laughed about it and thought it was cute, but I didn’t think much else of it. But as we ran into other people with babies Carter kept asking if they had gotten their baby from the baby store. I finally decided I had better try and set the record straight when Carter asked our home teacher if he had any boys (meaning kids), and when he said no, Carter said, “Oh, do you have to buy some at the baby store?”

Fast forward a couple of days as I am looking online and come across a friend’s blog that has posted pics of herself pregnant, in the hospital, in labor, pics of her baby just newly born – basically the whole process. So I call both of the boys in for a little chat. As I’m showing them the pics of her very pregnant belly I’m telling them, “See how big her belly is? There’s a baby in there. Babies don’t come from the baby store, they grow in mommies tummies.” Both of the boys are looking at me skeptically, but I could tell that Spencer was especially distressed by this. Finally he asked, “Mom, did she EAT the baby?!?”

It never ceases to amaze me how literally they take things. To him that is how thing get inside your belly is by eating them. Luckily a simple, “No she did not eat the baby, that’s just where it grows” satisfied him, for now at least.

Family project

My mom found this gem in the classifieds on KSL. A family who had moved here from out of state a few years ago had this swing set at their old house. When they moved they decided to bring it with them but they didn’t have the instructions for it anymore. So they labeled all of the pieces with blue tape and made their own instructions on how to reassemble it. Five years later they never ended up putting it together and they had lost their homemade instructions. All they had was a picture of their kids playing on it, and it wasn’t even a picture of the whole thing. My mom was very excited when she found it, but when I saw the pile of wood I wasn’t so sure. It was a process that took the whole family, but we figured it out, and the boys love it! It’s not quite finished, but we have some big plans for it in the Spring.

The picture they gave us, our instructions.

All of the pieces

Staining all of the pieces

The decroded blue tape that was on every single piece of wood and had to be removed - I think this took the most time.
My mom (the brains of the operation) and Matt studying the picture tyring to figure it out.
Progress!

Trial run on the swings.

Helping dad

The final product, for now at least.

October

Going to the park is always fun, especially on a beautiful day like this. It's one of my favorite times of year when the weather has cooled off but it hasn't gotten cold yet.

A rare sight these days, I really miss the days when the boys used to take long afternoon naps.

After disappearing for a while one day Spencer re-appeared looking like this. He told me that he just wanted his eyelashes big like mine. I was actually impressed with how well he applied the mascara, and with the fact that he didn't poke his eye out.

We had our first snow of the year and the boys were soooo excited. They really wanted to be able to put on all of their snow gear and go and play. Who am I to stand in the way of fun? It was very cold out there but they stayed out until they were popsicles. Even then I had to drag them inside. I told them now to worry, there’s plenty more of that to come.

We made these frog masks in our preschool group. Good for both a mask and a frog fight.

They boys went to a little Halloween party with their preschool group. Apparently Spencer had to go to the bathroom during the party and his costume didn’t make it back on. Good thing he had his Spiderman shirt on underneath.


Halloween just gets more and more fun the older the boys get! Of course both boys wanted to be Spiderman so we had matching costumes again. I wonder at what age they will want to start being different things? They were the cutest Spidey's on the block!

Girls Trip

Wow, what a weekend! I was so excited to get the chance to go down to St. George for a fun-filled weekend of food, shopping, relaxation, and most of all FriEndS! I had the best time with these ladies. I am so lucky to have been friends with these amazing girls since Jr. High. Even though so much has changed in our lives, when we get together it’s like no time has passed at all. It was so fun to act silly, shop ‘til we dropped, and laugh my guts out. I can’t wait to do it all again!
I should also mention my amazing husband who not only took care of the boys all weekend, but had the house cleaned and had taken the boys to the grocery store so he could make me a nice dinner when I got home. Seriously, I'm a lucky gal!