Spencer Turns 12!

So I'm running a little behind on my summer posts, but I couldn't march forward without talking about Spencer's 12th birthday!

First, he went with about ten friends to SPACE CAMP! And, wow, what an experience. I still don't quite understand it all, but from what I gather it was like walking onto a Star Trek ship: They dressed-up, and roll played, and aliens attacked, and asteroids threatened, and they barely escaped a black hole. Whew. And it was all he and his friends could talk about for weeks. So. Okay. Fun was had.

Second, he got to go out to lunch to is favorite CHILIS.

And third, he received the Aaronic Priesthood at church. And did all kinds of deaconish things, like passed the sacrament, graduated from primary, earned his Faith in God award, collected fast offerings, and helped clean the church after sacrament. Wow. And all the while he looked so sharp in his new suit. And he suddleny turned quite responsible! Like overnight. Who is this new boy?


We couldn't be more happy with Spence. He's a great little man and we love him so much!

Apparently I'm raising a bad girl...

Who knew? Not me...until we attended Midway's Swiss Days. You gotta watch out for those Swiss...they'll bring out the bad girl in all of us.


By the way, the choices of "tatoos" were endless. They had nice things like butterflies and flowers, or how about a "Y" for BYU or even an Angel Moroni (I know, a little ironic, right?) But what does my baby choose?

Bad Girl.





Like I said, I blame it on the Swiss...It's all that "We're neutral" stuff you can't trust. :)

Picking Berries on a perfect September day...

We did a little berry/grape picking with the Ma's and Pa's. Grandpa's and Grandma's, that is. Okay, the Grandpa didn't pick any, but he cooked the chicken and ate all of Lucy's spoils, so he still gets credit.

There was a HUGE dragonfly caught in the blackberry net...it didn't even look real. And Sophie was freaking out about all the little gnats that flew around when we dove into the grapevines, but eventually she toughened up and proved her worth as a bonafied grape picker.

And from the look on Lu Lu's face, she ate quite a few blackberries (so sweet and juicy). So this bowl should be at least 3 times bigger. And all this produce picking made we want to plant some grapevines of my own, or least a strawberry plant or two. But, we haven't had such great luck with our previous gardens.

My recent gardening experience is as follows: I can grow really big, GREEN, tomatoes that never turn red. And Basil that withers and turns to dust. And onions that forget to grow. Yes. I am a fabulous gardener.

A Little Something Called WILLpower...

You heard of it? Yes? It may sound vaguely familiar to those of you, who like me, find it to be a fickle friend.

Today I went to lunch with my oh so smart writing friend (and her two spunky boys) at Flour Girls and Dough Boys. Oh, and spunky Lucy came along too!

(Are you kidding me with these Flour Girls and Dough Boys cupcakes?! No willpower when it comes to these!)


And I realized over a delcious cob salad (ok, and a huge sugar cookie) and fabulous conversation with lovely Ms. Ransom, that my life can be boiled down to one delicious word...well, sometimes not so delicious, nugget of wisdom: WILLPOWER.

Willpower To:
1. Eat right (gasp)
2. exercise (gasp gasp)
3. write (sigh)
4. wade through the nonsense of life and know what's most important (yes!)
5. clean the toilets (if I have to)
6. be patient and smile when two-year-old pees all over bathroom floor (smile)
7. mop the floor that the 2-year-old peed on...(smile harder)

Okay. You get my point. The list it endless....

So. Here's to willpower...may we all have it in abundance, to get what we really want, to always take the high road, and to be brave and take the road less traveled (or at least the road you are inspired to take!)

Here's to willpowered us's ...and to our abundance of being able to tell ourselves what to do and how to do...and then to acutally follow through.

And this is me...declaring to the world that I will have self-control. Yes. Right now, I'm doing it. :)

First Day of School and THE FASHION SHOW FEAST

Happy First Day of School! Can't believe I have a 6th grader, 5th grader, and a 3rd grader!
It was pretty tricky to get an air shot of the kids on the trampoline...but we had fun trying.



The kids did a runway fashion show with all their new school clothes...Apparently Spencer was going to wear a flowered sheet? Of course he changed his mind on the first day of school.


We had to cajole Spence into participating, but he got the hang of it after a while.

This is his "nerd" look (?) That's what he said...

It doesn't look that much different from his "cool guy" look. Personally, I like the flowered sheet.

And during school shopping Sophie gravitated towards anything SPARKLY...she was dazzling.

And really our feast was delicious...but the cake was the show stopper. I promise it was really good. This picture says otherwise...but if I had given it enough time to cool before I put the chocolate ganache frosting on it, it would have been prettier. But I was running out of "cooling time", and it still tasted divine. Maybe it was even better because it was warm. YUM! You can find the recipe here.



And this years theme? Try New Things. Each child got a letter with the theme and then a special note about what they're great at and what they can improve upon this year. Even Lucy got a letter which said, "We love you Lucy. You're the best baby ever." The next day she brought me her letter and said, "This says: Daddy loves me!" Aww. So sweet.

Remember how great it was to get rid of the binkie?

Well. Maybe it's not so great.
First: Because Lucy no longer has binkie to sooth her into dreamland, she has decided to do other things with her lack of sleeping. Like climbing out of crib and causing havoc.
Second: This has caused me to sit outside her bedroom and spy on her sleeping habits. Which has reduced me to saying things like, "Lucy, lay down." About, oh, 85 times. Or maybe things like, "If you go to sleep I'll buy you a brand new car."
Third: Because of "Lucy Watch" I have now read every magazine/catolog/brochure in the house, an entire book, and eaten a WHOLE bag of pretzel M7M's in one sitting. Oh and I looked at the caloric intake--you don't even want to know.
Fourth: I have ordered a crib tent...and it just can't get here fast enough. I almost broke down and revealed a binkie that I found in her toy box the other day, but alas, I held firm.
Fifth: Now she thinks I'm her "naptime" assistant. She's pretty smart and she knows I'm sitting outside her door so she says things like, "I need more water." Or "I need a bandaid". Or "Read ABC's." What's a mom do to?

Help me.

We both need naptime desperately!