I have been a terrible blogger for the past few years. I started this gig in large part to keep a journal of our family ordeals but it's ending about the same as my other journaling attempts. It's a good thing I'm not a paid historian because I wouldn't get paid very much. But, we do what we can and shoot for clean underwear and cereal each day. Beyond that, anything I accomplish is a bonus.
Spencer and Caroline are in the "say funny things" stage and we had an episode this morning that made me smile. The boys were away with Corbin and I was home with Caroline sewing some pillows that the "hair" (stuffing--but the kids call it hair) was coming out of and sewing lace on a pillow that I made somewhere around the time Caroline was born--but who's keeping track anyway?
Spencer came home and said "Mom, are you "sweating"? "Well, actually it's called sewing." "Oh, can I do it?" [Enter Caroline] "No, it's only for girwls." How they pick up on these things at two years old is beyond me.
And one of my favorite sweet lines from Spencer to Caroline on another occassion, "Carowine, you're my best girl." And she is. They are two peas in a bad pod.
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| Matthew pulling out his pumpkin guts. He's not so much a fan of the ichy sticky. |
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| Trick or Treat Night 2012. Matthew was Spider Man, Spencer was a dog and Caroline refused to dress up and was only in it for the candy. I'd say she has it all figured out. |
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| Matthew loses a tooth. The other front tooth went not long after this photo so eating is a bit tough. |
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| Decorating the tree. One of the most anticipated times of the year--until everyone tires and balls are breaking and Mom loses patience. |
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| Making holiday crafts on a cold day. |
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| One of our favorite holiday activities. I love that we can buy the cheater starter kit so we can focus on the decorating--the fun part! |
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| Our trip to see the lights on Temple Square with our friends Adam and Kate. It was about this point that the 20 foot tree started to sway a bit. Thank you, Spence. |
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| Family photo op. |
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| Decorating cookies for the man in the red suit. They had enough decorations on them to gag a horse. |
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| Set out with pride. |
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| Christmas morning 2011. Santa survived the sugar overload and managed to trade us some presents. Christmas morning is so fun with this crew. |
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| Welcome Christmas 2011! We promise not to fight for a whole half day. |
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| Can we just say this chick has attitude? The suit actually goes the other direction but there is no negotiating. Boots are mandatory swimgear in the winter months, apparently. |
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| I ought to be in pictures. |
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| Check out the dragon detail on these Chinese laterns made to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Matthew is so creative and came up with this idea all on his own. He hung these above his bed. He is in his first year of Mandarin Chinese language immersion and having beginning success with the language. We are proud of his work and look forward to watching him work in a tough language to conquer. |
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| Saying our goodbyes to Cousin Trey on the night before he enters the Missionary Training Center to head to the Bangkok Thailand mission. Trey will be learning a tough language too. |
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| Spencer is our little farmer. He spends hours organizing his farm animals. I love to see the precision with which he plays. |
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| Apparently love is in the air as staged and shot by some unknown photographer. |
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| Both front teeth went missing. Self-portrait. |
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| This photo pretty much says it all about these two. Watch out. |
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| Our annual 3rd or 4th (I can't remember) Valentine's breakfast. Each year we invite a few special people over on a Saturday morning for waffles and to share the love. This year we had grandparents and a few special friends on our street. The kids look forward to this tradition each year. |
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| Playing with neighborhood friends. |
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| Pilgrimage to BYU Creamery for lunch and ice cream with our friends Adam and Kate. |
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| One of our favorite outings. A visit to the Monte L. Bean Life Sciences Musuem at BYU. Matthew loves the new African exhibit. The animals are all real (though living impaired) and are quite an impressive collection. The giant child is only a year older than Matthew. The lady at the museum thought he was 11 or 12. |
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| We tagged along with a private animal show to learn about reptiles and other such creatures. These animals were real and the kids loved seeing and touching them. In the background is one of my favorite exhibits--the elephant and the lion. Absolutely beautiful and the size is impressive. |
