Weston's 5th Birthday

If you shop at Costco, you might be able to spot a Costco cake in the picture below.  Yes, it's true.  For the first time EVER I bought a birthday cake.  And it was kind of painful.  I guess I take some pride in the cakes I make for my kids.  I'm usually the hero after I present them with whatever cake it is they've asked for.  Plus, it's a way of showing I care.  But this year, Weston's birthday fell in the middle of a week that was overwhelmingly busy and I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off.  Then on Saturday, we were headed to Costco when we decided to pretend his birthday was Sunday, the next day.  At Costco we told him he could pick out his own cake.  He didn't want to at first.  He wanted my to make a Hulk cake.  Eventually he decided the dinosaur cake would do. He had been counting down the days until his birthday, and for it to suddenly jump to 4 days sooner was OK with him. 

He wanted "red and blue" spaghetti for dinner.  Okay.  I can do that.  It's certainly easier than a Hulk cake.

Ben picked out this stuffed tiger for him at the DI for a dollar.  He loves it and has been sleeping with it ever since. We got him a bug vacuum that he can suck up bugs with and look a them in a magnified container.  His friend got him several packs of gum which was probably his favorite thing. 

He really wanted a Spiderman pinata, but for almost $20, BEFORE you have to buy candy to fill it, Jason quickly decided to make one himself.  An empty box and some crepe paper and there you have it.  It ain't pretty, but all they care about is smacking the heck out of it.





















If you can't tell, in his birthday pictures above, he's wearing an Ironman costume.  He's VERY into costumes right now.  He wears one 24/7, besides church.  You can see Superman and Spiderman below.  It usually has something interesting paired with it, like Spiderman in the helmet and snow boots. Sometimes it's superman with pajamas and cowboy boots.  The neighbors really get a kick out of watching him ride up and down the street in his latest getup.   
His grandma's both sent him some money for his birthday and he bought some superhero accessories. An Ironman mask to go with the costume and a Spiderman web shooter. 

































Does this remind you of someone else in my family?

Still Pretending

It's been a long while since I've posted anything about Spencer's uhh... creative side. You may have been wondering weather he's still in the business. Rest assured, it is still an almost daily occurrence. Often, he still dresses up as something or someone, but this recent creative moment didn't require costume.


I came downstairs to find that Weston's bedroom had been turned into an office. A principal's office. I quickly learned that it's not okay to just walk right in to the principal's office, unannounced. I had to call the phone number on the door for an appointment. The secretary must have stepped out of her office.


That boy looks like trouble to me. I can only imagine. No wonder he spent the entire afternoon in the principal's office.



Hard at work. A principal's job is never done. Keep at it, Mr. Murray, someday it might just pay off.

Alien Sighting

We caught an alien on tape. Strangely enough, it looked very similar to Spencer in his underwear, wearing the alien mask Ben got for his birthday.

Summer

I really cannot believe summer is over. And I can't believe that I didn't blog all summer long. So, if you haven't given up on my blog by now, here's a quick rundown of the last few months.

The first thing that kept me so busy? Our garden. Below is a picture of about half of it at the first of the summer.


We had an infestation of earwigs in the garden this year, due to the chicken coop, I think, and they were eating everything. I didn't want to put down any dangerous chemicals to kill them because my slaves kids spend a lot of time in the garden, weeding. So, I would go out every night around 11 or 12 (they only come out at night), and spray them with soapy water. It takes about 10 seconds for them to die, and I must say, I found much pleasure in watching them die. I really, really hate earwigs.
In the end, it paid off. Our tomato plants are all taller than me and packed with tomatoes. We had one plant that was at least 10 feet tall. Look at this monster roma. All of our romas are about this size.


The next thing keeping me busy was The Pizza Cart. We opened a wood fired pizza business this summer, and it was SO much more work than I anticipated. Last summer I posted about Jason selling pizza at the fair. This year we decided to try and make everything legal so that we could sell on the street. After all the licenses, bonds, inspections, and a million other details, we were finally legal to sell. In the beginning, we figured Jason would just run it himself, but after our first day in business, it was obvious that it was a 2 person job. We sold out in 4 hours, about 50 pizzas! It has continued to grow and become more successful, so far, then we ever dreamed. We sell on Monday, Friday, and Saturday, and Jason is going to school on Tuesday-Thursday.





That pretty much sums up my summer. We did do one camping trip to Manti to watch the pageant. It was the first time camping as a whole family since Ben was a baby, and it was a success.
We also spent almost 2 weeks up at my mom's. I think it was the highlight of the summer for the boys. My mom took us to Lagoon, Thanksgiving Point, movies, The Lion King at Capitol Theater, swimming, and many other fun thing. They were also able to spend plenty of time with their cousins and see some old friends. I told my mom we wouldn't visit for another year so that she could recover from the financial loss of having us visit. Thanks, mom, it was a great time. She took lots of pictures, but I haven't go them from her yet.
Here's a few other random pictures -

There's nothing like playing naked in the gutter during a rain storm.


When Uncle Chris comes to visit, he always buys the kids some Henry Weinhard's root beer and cream soda, and boy, do they live it up!


Here's 3 out of the 4. Aren't they a good looking bunch?


And Spencer. He's still a new person every day. Here's one of his latest- Mission Impossible.

Officer Murray

Yesterday, Jason got a ride home from a police officer in one of his classes. When they got home, Jason asked if it would be okay for Spencer to check out his cop car. The officer showed Spencer everything, even letting him turn on the lights. He also locked Spencer in the back, as if he were the "bad guy". Before leaving, the office gave him some police stickers. Spencer thought it was awesome. When he came back in the house he immediately set to work creating a police man costume. After he was all dressed, he asked me to take his picture. After reviewing the picture he said, "Wow! I look just like a real police man."

He made an office in his bedroom and sat at his desk, giving orders. He also kept a close eye on Ben so that he could "arrest him and throw him in jail" at the slightest infraction of the law (or at least his own interpretation of the law). However, he didn't like it when he found out police men still have to follow some rules, like cleaning their rooms. He had to call my dad and ask if police men really have to clean things. He was clearly disappointed when the answer was yes.

He decided that because he looked so cool, he needed to wear his costume to Regan's pinewood derby that night. I told him I thought that was great idea. Pinewood derbys tend to quickly get out of hand. It would probably be wise to have a police officer there to help keep the peace.

He thought that was a great idea too, until we got there. The scouts started asking him if he was getting ready for Halloween. He was suddenly embarrassed and tried hiding under Ben's coat for the remainder of the night. Poor Spence, if only it were possible for him to live in his own little made up world, he'd be content. Unfortunately for him, he must live in reality, which includes scouts who aren't afraid of his authority, and a mom who makes him clean his room.

Santa

Tonight was our ward Christmas party. Jason had to work, so I wasn't sure it would be worth trying to take the kids by myself. I decided to go, mostly because I didn't want to cook dinner. As we were walking through the door of the church the kids let me know they were supposed to be dressed up for the nativity. Oops. Weston missed his evening nap and was beyond tired. He cried for at least 45 minutes before he finally fell asleep. I found out Ben really likes ham. He must of eaten 5 slices before I finally convinced him to stop. I felt bad for letting him eat so much after hearing that they ran out of food.

The real fun started when Santa came. Ben was standing in the aisle when Santa headed his way. He literally dove into the nearest chair and started crying. One of our friends picked him up and held him at the back of the room. He was terrified, to the point of shaking. We tried telling him that Santa was nice and gives out candy, but he wanted nothing to do him. He didn't take his eyes off him the whole time he was there and refused to be put down until Santa had clearly left the building.

When we got home, Spencer decided to show Ben what a nice guy Santa is. He got all dressed up and brought his bag of toys. Ben looked a little startled at first, but quickly recovered and climbed on "Santa's" lap. I think he suspected that it was Spencer. I'm not sure what gave it away. Maybe he recognized his size 2T pants that Santa didn't quite fit into.

I think this was helpful for him. Seeing the thing you fear the most dressed in pants five sizes too small has to help you overcome that fear.

(Whoops! Santa shouldn't bend over while wearing size 2T pants.)

Indiana...The Saga Continues

This afternoon, Spencer got a little scrape on his side. He ran in the house to show it off.

"Does it look cool?"

"Um...Yeah sure." At least he wasn't screaming.

Fast forward to this evening. Spencer is now screaming. Apparently his scratch looked so cool, he decided to make more. He took a pin and scratched some lines across his chest so that he would look just like Indiana after being whipped by the bad guys. That part wasn't so bad. He was tough. The trouble started when he went outside to put on his "shirt" he had made out of leaves.

Now the scratches did hurt. After a good amount of crying and a hot shower, Indiana has recovered and the scratches look cool once again.

I find myself wondering..... should I be worried?

Indiana

Spencer has decided to officially change his name to Indiana. I think we'll wait a few hours, just to make sure this isn't just another "phase".

An Early Education

Regan and Spencer took Ben downstairs to play while I was on the phone today. This his how they returned him. It was obvious that they were quite proud of themselves.
By the age of two, he ought to be a professional. After all, he's being schooled by the best.

Here Comes Santa Claus

How does he come up with all of these? It usually depends on the movie he's most recently viewed. In this case, it was The Grinch.
It all started out with a blanket and a paper towel beard (attached with scotch tape), then my Mom found the Santa hat for him. At that point he decided the blanket wasn't really 'Santa' red, so, he was off to rummage through the suitcases. After combining 2 red shirts (one was only part red and needed to be covered by another), some pajama bottoms and Grandma's black belt, all on top of 2 other layers of clothes (necessary to achieve the "fat look") -Santa has arrived. But Santa can't go anywhere without his reindeer, and what makes better reindeer than kitchen stools (they both have 4 legs right?).
So, to those who would argue that television has no influence on children-Spencer is living proof that it does. Just put on a movie, then watch out. With him, you never know what you're going to get.

The Defeat of the Ninja

This afternoon my visiting teachers called to say they were coming over, so I banished the boys to the basement to entertain themselves. And what could be more entertaining than wrapping your whole head in packing tape (I've since been informed that this is the preferred method for concealing your face if you're a ninja)?
So, about 30 minutes into our visit, Spencer runs up the stairs screaming. No reason for alarm just yet. It's probably a small scratch, or maybe he fell down. Oh wait, you're having trouble ripping the packing tape from your hair? Yep, this one's going to hurt.
"Now tell me one more time why you wanted to wrap your head in tape?"
"Regan did it!"
"Regan?
"Spencer told me to?"
"Spencer?"
"We wanted to be ninjas!"
"Oh. Of course. Do you feel like a ninja now, tough guy?"
In the end, I had to overpower him and rip it off his head as fast as I could. He told me it was the worst thing that has ever happened to him in his whole life.

Superman Returns!

After weeks of waiting, I finally caught the elusive Clark Kent slipping into the hall closet only to emerge as Superman- a good 15 minutes later (not exactly super speed). And...he's off. Probably to find someone else who needs rescuing because, no doubt the last person didn't survive Superman's lengthy changing session. Oh well, maybe Spider Man came to the rescue instead. Rumor has it he's recently been spotted in the area.

Ratatouille!

For those of you that know the many faces of Spencer, here is yet another. He saw the movie Ratatouille the other day, so of course he must become one of the characters for a day or two.

The following day I was required to play at least 20 different customers in a row. I was shown to my table and supplied with a menu (the selections were very slim: tomatoes, yellow squash, grapes and banana muffins). He had his pad of paper and pen and took all 20 of my orders. I was required to let him swipe my credit card before being served.

I have to give him credit though, he was very cordial. He even asked how old my baby was and commented on his cute smile.