Spencer's Happy Day

I think it's safe to say Spencer had a fabulous fourth birthday. He chose pancakes for breakfast, then we opened his presents from the family. I loved that he spontaneously gave hugs to Kylene and Skyler after opening the presents from them. We went to the library that morning, then he helped me make his birthday cake (licking the bowl below!) and get ready for the party.

He chose to have a Superhero/Superman party. A few weeks ago, he wore the Superman cape I made him for Christmas to music class. One of his friends there wanted to wear it the entire time, and was so excited when Spencer shared it. Spencer told me afterward he wanted all his friends who came to his party to have a Superman cape, too. At first I thought, No, but then I figured it wouldn't cost much more than all the party favors and junk I would otherwise be buying. And Superman capes are way better than candy. So, I decided to go for it. He invited five little friends so I had five capes to make.

When the boys arrived, we had a Superman obstacle course/relay to show their super human strength and earn their capes. They had to fly around the world three times (running around the globe), pick up two trucks (two Tonka trucks), crawl under a kitchen chair, jump through a hula hoop and grab a piece of Kryptonite to carry back to the start (a Lincoln log). The boys loved it, and were even more excited when I put their capes on afterward. Our house was full of super heros! (And with only one collision the entire time, I think we did pretty well:).)

Then we played "Cape, cape, superman" (Duck, duck, goose). I was laughing at the varied levels of understanding of how to play. It was a tricky concept for many of the boys who apparently hadn't played it much before. One boy said, "Cape, cape, goose!" And several wanted to run around every time. It was so cute. Then we played "Pin the badge on Superman", had cake, and opened presents. The last thing they did was "Resuce the princess," who was Kylene, of course! They wanted me to be the dragon, but four year old boys are suprisingly rough (they were all grabbing at me and jumping on me), so I let Kyle be the dragon from there on out. It was a really fun party with lots of really cute boys in our house. I was glad I kept it short and sweet at only an hour long:).

We love our sweet, Spencer. He he has such a tender heart, and has always loved cuddling and giving me hugs. He went through a phase this last year of not wanting any kisses. I finally discovered it was because he didn't like getting wet from them:). He still sticks his tongue out a little when he kisses, which cracks me up. His favorite playmate is Kylene; they play together for hours each day. He is starting to play with Skyler more and more, which is also fun to see. He loves to ride bikes, go for walks, play outside, blow bubbles, go to the park, and read. He will "read" books to himself, but mostly likes me to read to him, of which he can't seem to get enough.

Happy birthday, Spencer!

Spencer is FOUR!

Today our big boy, Spencer Weston, is even bigger. Happy FOURTH birthday! We're so thankful you are a part of our family. I'll post later about his special day and Superman party, but here are a few cute pics of him over the last month.

A little pre-boarding fun before our flight to Utah for Grandma Ruby's funeral.

Helping mommy make waffles.

Driving the fire engine at a field trip to the fire station in February.

Instincts

Tonight we were throwing around a football-shaped pillow. The kids were all wound up and excited. Suddenly Spencer walked over to Skyler and "body checked" him. I was like, "Whoa, where did that come from?" Skyler just giggled and didn't seem to mind so I just ignored it. A moment later, another body check, this one a bit harder. Then, another, this time knocking Skyler over. I couldn't help laughing as I told him to stop. Where did my son learn to "body check" people? It's not like we've been watching lots of football on TV lately! (That's coming shortly, though!) All I can attribute it to is "male instincts". Hilarious.


Fortunately, a short while later when we had calmed down (somewhat) and were sitting on the floor, Spencer walked over and put both hands on Skyler's head like he was giving him a blessing. Hopefully that is instinctual as well:).


Here is Spencer boldly wielding the aforementioned football!

On a Mission...

Are You a Deep Sleeper?

Kyle & I just heard a "thud" in the kids' room. Spencer had insisted I take down his bed railing before bed tonight. Seeing a possible connection here, anyone? But, there were no sounds of crying, so could he really have fallen out of bed? What else would that sound have been? Kyle went to investigate...yep, sure enough. Spencer was on the floor...and still fast asleep. And you thought you were a deep sleeper!

Update: he is now back in bed, with the railing in place..again.

Choo, Choo!

Mine & Spencer's train creation.

I love the focused look on his face.

Happy Birthday, Spencer!

I totally forgot to post on Spencer's birthday. He turned THREE YEARS OLD on Tuesday, March 23rd. We had a relaxing day since we had already celebrated, but we did take him out to dinner then had leftover cake and ice cream. And I took them to the school and park right next to each other: in about an hour, we hit five playgrounds. He loved that!

Spencer has grown up so much in the last year. He is talking so well and is much more mellow. He is a wonderful helper, gets himself dressed many days, and is completely potty-trained! I bought one pack of pull-ups for him to wear to bed at night, but when they ran out I asked him and he said he didn't want me to buy anymore. He wanted to wear underwear to bed like Kylene and mommy and daddy. Woo hoo, okay by me! He loves bubbles, going on walks and to the park, drawing, reading stories, playing with Kylene and Skyler. He has some sort of strange attraction to Skyler's head that I can't figure out: he always wants to squeeze it, hug it, pull at his ears, squish his nose, etc. etc. Most of the time I have to "protect" Skyler from him, although Skyler is very patient when I don't get there fast enough. Poor younger siblings; how do they ever survive?!

We love our Spencer!

Notice Skyler's hand trying to move Spencer's hand?

Spencer & Skyler's Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated Skyler's first and Spencer's third birthdays with a family party. My parents, the Clark family (Jana & Scott and David, Matthew, Michael, Stephanie, & Daniel) and Logan & Shayla were able to make it. We chose a "Cowboy & Indian" theme and a few of us got dressed in the act. Kyle & Jana were Mexican and Argentine cowboys, respectively, so we even had some international representation going on:). Very authentic, thank you very much!

We had lunch together, played games, opened presents, and had cake & ice cream. I think the games were the biggest hit: even though they were simple, they were a blast. The Clark's brought their huge stash of nerf guns and ammo and we had two shooting contests: one to knock over the most plastic cowboy & indian figures and one against our sliding glass door "target" (we drew on a target with different points). We also had fun playing "pin the feather on the indian", which idea Kylene came up with on her own.

It was a wonderful day. My favorite part was definitely seeing the pure joy in Spencer. Kylene & Spencer were both so excited all week for the event, especially Saturday morning before everyone arrived. Spencer's excitement, giddiness, and happiness "spilling over" was so neat to watch. Of course, Skyler wasn't quite sure what was going on but loved all the attention, the new toys, and especially LOVED his first cake experience.

My dad took over 300 pictures in the 2 1/2 hours everyone was here. How do you begin to choose from 300 pictures by a professional? I haven't even downloaded the ones from our camera yet! There were so many excellent ones. Here are a few "standouts" (sorry they're not in order).

The Mexican bandito and me wearing what I could put on in under two minutes:).
The birthday boy in his "gettup" and playing with other guns. We definitely had a lot of different "guns" in our house this weekend. I hope that's not too awful of us!

The Clark Clan definitely got in on the dress-up action. So fun!

Skyler's post-cake joy.

You didn't let me have any of this sooner because why, mom?

Spencer blowing out the candles on his Indian headress cake.

Skyler entranced by the flame on his singular candle:). A shot of the cowboy hat and indian headress cakes I made. I also made a delicious chocolate chip applesauce cake my sister, Alyson, gave me the recipe for.

Look at me walking! Give me a gun, I'm ready to shoot!

Kylene playing with Skyler's new toy.

Yeah, I'm cute!

Skyler admiring his new bath towel my mom embroidered.

Hugs of joy after opening his presents.

Logan & Shayla watching the present-opening action.

Kyle intent on winning the shoot out.

Logan trying to escape Scott's onslaught with the rapid fire nerf gun. SCARY!

Kylene & Stephanie, silly cousins:). (Believe it or not, that is Kylene's "cowboy" costume...she wears it for dress up all the time with a pink wide brimmed hat that she calls her cowboy hat. It's hilarious!)

Pin the feather on the (teeny, tiny) indian.

You can have the ball if you walk to me, Skyler.

One of my favorite shots. Can you spot the nerf bullet in the air? Nice action shot, dad!

Grandma Barney, intent on shooting.

Of course, the only person I don't have pictured here is my dad! Sorry, dad! Definitely part of being the photographer...

Kids' birthdays really are the best! (It makes all the work worth it.)

What an Okole!

For all of you who don't speak Hawaiian (don't worry, I don't either!). . ."okole" means "behind", aka, your backside.


Now that that is out of the way, do you notice anything about this oh, so cute okole?


If you guessed that it is "without diaper", you are correct! This is an amazingly photographed shot of Spencer's diaperless behind, because...

HE IS POTTY TRAINED!!!

He has done an amazing job, with very few accidents, much to the relief of his mom & dad.


This is how we feel about the recent success at our house:



Happy New Year, everyone! Spencer just may be the quickest kid in the world to accomplish his New Year Resolution (imposed by his mother, of course). What an amazing kid, if I do say so myself!

Boys Will Be Boys

Aren't you impressed my 2 1/2 yearold can bounce and play with my seven-month old on his lap?

Oh, wait, I guess that is with lots of help from daddy, as this photo reveals.

It's so fun to see the boys start to play together, even if it is with lots of help at this point. I'm sure there is much more wrestling, rough-housing, and tackling to come! Bring it on!

My kiddos!

I just loved the way these pictures turned out. It's not every day you get a picture of all three of your kids looking at the camera at the same time!

Kylene (4 1/2), Skyler (3 months), Spencer (2).

Skyler is my 'happy boy'! He will still smile at you at just about any moment, and loves to laugh and look around. Definitely a social boy. But, he sure doesn't like to sleep. I used to call his 50 minute naps during the day his "cat naps", but now I'm lucky if I get a 30 minute nap out of him. Ugh. His night time sleep has been better than his day sleep, thankfully, but not super consistent. I've been trying to get him to sleep in his bassinet rather than his car seat, but he is not nearly as consistent at sleeping through the night as he was when he slept in his car seat. (The on-call pediatrician I saw said I can't have him sleep there anymore because his head is getting so flat on the right side. It was that or she recommended me seeing a specialist to get him a helmet!)

Smiles!

Just Like Daddy!

Fun in the Sun

Kylene & Spencer have enjoyed a few days of fun in our backyard.

Kylene has been enjoying her first experience with swimming lessons.

Are you watching mom and dad?

I Got to Go Camping with Daddy!

This weekend was my first Father & Sons' Campout and boy, was it ever great! Daddy took me with four of my buddies and their dad's to Fishermen's Bend near Detroit Lake.

I got to play at the park (my favorite),


play frisbee with the guys (my favorite),

roast hot dogs and eat as many chips as I could stuff in my mouth (since mommy wasn't there to stop me!), and eat marshmallows (all my favorite),

and play in the water. Man, it was cold, but since I'm so tough, it was still great getting wet!

The only bummer was my dad forgot to bring my port-a-crib so I was a little afraid of the tent (I hadn't been camping since last summer, after all!), so I wanted daddy to hold me until I fell asleep. (Don't tell mommy I got to stay up until midnight! Man, that was cool.) Then I kept waking daddy up during the night, oops! Sorry, daddy. I was pretty tired the next day but, hey, it's worth it to go camping with the men. And, trust me, I'm one tough two-year-old, so I can handle it.

Daddy and I had the BEST time together and I can't wait until next year. Neither can daddy!

Love, Spencer

P.S. Thanks for taking such great pictures, daddy!