UGH, FINE, I'LL DO A FAMILY BLOG

3 in 1 Birthday Party

2010-03-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

On March 7th, 2005, Kallie and Owen were born. On the same day in 2010 they turned 5! They counted down for at least 20 days prior to their birthday. I originally thought for the last few years that it was tricky having a birthday party for two kids. Especially due to them being different genders. Then along came Emmett. He was born February 25th, 2009. We now get to do one birthday party a year for three kids that were born ten days apart. Watching Emmett open his first birthday gift with the help of his big brother and big sis was so sweet. He'd had practice since Christmas was only two months ago. The kid has billions of toys that were Kallie and Owens so I made him a rag quilt instead of buying more junk. As soon as he got it out of the paper, he SNUGGLED it. Mmmmm, he is a DELIGHT.

The day went smoothly. Food prep in the morning. Kallie and Owen went to church with Doug. The primary children sang to them and they received a painted block that read, " I am a child of God." Don't worry, it did get used as a weapon later on in the day when Kallie threw it at Owen. It bonked his head and he told everyone.

Emmett and I stayed home. He has a runny nose and a cough. It worked out. (Us staying home, not the runny nose.?!.) By the time they got back from church, Nana and Travis arrived at the house. The kids were soooo excited. Owen exclaims, "We FIVE today!" He holds his painted block up to Nana's face. I correct, "We ARE five today." (Speech therapy, work in progress) They wanted to go to their party all morning. We kept telling them, "After church we will go have dinner at the armory." That is where we had their party so we had room for the kids to run. 13 adults and13 kids. It was definitely more comfortable at the armory than it would've been at home. I had (as I'm sure all others) a great time. Costumes were recommended seeing as it was a pirate AND mermaid party. Cousin Lindsay (Tad and Jess's daughter) came as a cheerleader. Every party needs a cheerleader.

As soon as everyone arrived we had dinner. I thought and pondered for days about what to fix for dinner that would appeal to everyone. It had to be so yummy but be easy to put together the day of. I considered ordering pizza but decided against that because it was Sunday. I was wanting to make a few different things but couldn't decide. All I was sure of was, I didn't want anyone to have to bring anything because they were our guests. Doug could tell I was putting way too much thought into the menu so he suggests that I ask Kallie and Owen what they would like to have for dinner. (BRILLIANT! I mean, sigh...Psh, Duh, that was my next thought. Doug and I were made for each other.)

Mom, "Kallie, If you could eat your favorite food for dinner, what would it be?"

not more than half a second pasted

Kallie, "CAKE."

Mom, "We are going to have cake and ice cream for dessert. What else is your favorite?"

Kallie (standard automatic response), "I dun know."

Hmmm

Mom, "Well....would you like breakfast, lunch or dinner food?"

Kallie, "Breakfast!"

after much prodding she decides, "WAFFLES."

I ask Owen the same question and he says, "MACARONI AND CHEESE."

So there you have it. Our menu. I'll add fruit and protein and call it a day.

After dinner, the kids sunk a ship. I coerced Doug into fabricating two large pirate ships out of furniture boxes. They were spectacular. He pretended to dislike the task but I knew he way enjoying himself when he made an unexpected run to the hardware store for spray paint.

We had two teams unevenly divided. Over 50 wads of newspaper wrapped in duct tape. (Cannon balls)

Uncle Tad was not interested at all in playing such a childish game.

Kurik, Mindy's son, was the time keeper. We aren't sure what Mike (Mindy's husband) is doing over by the closet door. 60 seconds to get as many cannon balls to fly over and land in/on the other teams ship.

Uncle Tad again being entirely too uninvolved. We wouldn't dream of calling him Captain.

Rachel, Mindy's daughter, was protecting the "Mermaid Kingdom" castle from stray cannon balls. She wasn't about to participate in the crazy ship sinking feud.

Hey, there's Owen. This is one of the many times he thought to ask if it was present opening time. Good idea. We got right to it.

Emmett went first. He is so lovable. A whole year old. He was real careful with the paper.

Grandpa Stan got him a great vtech walking toy. He loves it!

Emmett has a new best friend, just his size. The Giraffe. He kisses it every time he sees this furry little long neck.

They have gift opening down to a science. "I'll take that off your hands. It looks like it has my name on it. Come on, just give it to me. Rip Oh look, Kallie it's for you. You are going to love the new..."

The comments they made each time they would open a gift would send me rolling on the ground. Owen opened a life like dinosaur from Mindy and he happily says, "Are you SERIOUS?!"

Today's movie- ROBOTS

2010-02-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

"When you pick a lost cause, you really committ! Where do they find dreamers like you?" -Robots

"BACKOFF, he's got his own dreams that won't come true."-Robots

I love aunt fanny.

It's mine, ALL MINE...

2010-02-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

I finally am taking a minute (not any longer than a minute)to update our(my) family blog. When Doug posted a bunch about the hunts I was totally miffed that he wanted to start with a hunt that took place a million years ago. I don't know why, I was a bit possessive of the thing (the blog) that I neglected on a regular basis. I guess, in my mind, I am the only one that had permission to share family information with the world. I'm sure it is my undying need to control and micro-manage that Doug fell in love with. Really people, I just stick to the things I'm good at. Just sayin'... It's a new year and I have come to terms with the posts from the blog imposter (love ya Douglas). It is time to inconsistently post on the happening of the Spencer rugrats.

Day 1

2009-11-10T20:17:00.001-08:00

Deer Hunt 09

2009-11-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

I figured I would add some real content to lissa's blog so let me start with the deer hunts. This is Hoppy's (Stan) muzzleloader buck. We knew there were a couple good bucks in the area so I was pumped when I heard dad fire off his shot. We switched our tags to the Southern unit and really enjoyed seeing bucks with trash. I missed this same buck the night before. Dad complained about ground shrinkage but this is the first 5x5 he has shot. I even got a couple reluctant pictures of Hoppy behind this guy.

Tad seems to be able to pull his little stashes of luck out of his pocket at pretty much any time. Well he did it this year for sure. Opening morning after a first light blunder he was faced with a decision most hunters will never have the opportunity to choose from...... Do I shoot the one with trash, the really heavy buck or the tall wide buck? Let me see.... I'll shoot the one Doug laid claim to just a few minutes ago....the one with trash! He scored a nice 4x6 at 309 yards with a muzzleloader. We were just glad he didn't use ALL his luck when he stumbled across this toad because he definately needed some later that day. All I can say is way to open the muzzleloader hunt.

All season long I was stood firm that I wouldn't shoot a buck unless he was bigger than my last. That philosophy has kept me from shooting a deer for three years. Me and Tad spent the better part of the day looking at awesome deer country but saw few deer. Sometime during the day I piped off about shooting at a buck's forehead and fate would have it the only buck we found on the way back to Delta was a 2x3 that was perfectly OK letting me shoot at him. With a little badgering from Tad about never shooting deer I finally decided to follow through with my earlier threat. I missed the forehead but did not miss his neck and there we were. We spent the next half hour taking care of the little guy. Even though I wasted a chance at a limited entry draw with my unfilled dedicated hunter tag on dinky here I still had one heck of a day. No matter how bummed out I acted I spent the day tooling around the mountains with Tad and we got to deal with another deer together by the time it was over, I guess the 2x3 was worth it:)

Grrrr. What a day. All I want to do is finish something.

2009-11-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Today has been a "When you give a mouse a cookie" or "When you give a pig a pancake" sort of day. If you don't know, they are a series of childrens books. Let me explain why I seriously drive myself crazy... I was on the phone with Mindy and I come up with this brilliant idea. Let's do a vampire party as a prelude to the New Moon movie that premiers at midnight on the 19th (12:05am on the 20th if we get technical). As I'm typing this I realize that it sounds like I am still an infatuated teen. That may be so. I'm okay with that. Anyway...I suggest to Mindy that we have this party outside on my patio. She says, "I don't know what you're talking about. Won't we get muddy if the weather turns bad?" Realizing that she didn't know that we had built a covered patio this summer, I say, "I'll post pictures of it on my blog." Well...I take the pictures, download the pictures, resize the dang things so they upload quickly, then I think, "It makes sense to post the "before" pictures also. So I repeat the process with the "before" pictures. So now I have spent what seems like all day, finding pictures of the building of this patio so I can post them. Ugh. Grrr, Sheesh! I would like to get off the computer now but am so bothered that I spent 3 million years in the process and still have a super long to-do list. I give up. Happy stinkin blogging. Will someone take my computer away from me and send me to time out? Sorry kids, your mom has been blogging and will soon return to Earth.

Lovin' the Patio Part 4

2009-11-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

We/I TOTALLY appreciated Tad, Doug's brother, for helping with the tin. Truth be told, we had to bribe him but I'm sure he would've stayed to help either way.

Projects like this can't be completed with out injury to persons or property. Owen must have grown bigger, more clumsy feet the day we backed the flat-bed trailer up to the house. He fell through the rungs on the ramps, tripped over the ladder, scratched his arm on the tin that stuck out off of the trailer. Oi', that kid is a hazard to himself somedays.

Ahhhhhhh. FINISHED.

Lovin' the Patio Part 3

2009-11-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

We drew up plans and measured and planned and measured again. Welding the patio roof/awning was quite an undertaking. Doug and Kyle (a family friend) worked all of one day and half of another. Kyle was working to pay for the toilet he blew up. Who knew that bottle rockets and fire crackers would still go boom after they were lit and flushed.

Thank you Owen, for taking the pictures.

Lovin' the Patio Part 2

2009-11-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

We were out bright and early to finish the forms before the cement truck came at six am. It was an awesome way to start the day. Our neighbor, Blake, helped Doug and Stan. We poured one half of the patio on Thursday morning then the other half the next morning.

Lovin' the Patio Part 1

2009-11-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken in July when we were forming our patio. To get it to this point was kind of fun. In the evenings, after the kids were in bed, Doug and I would grab our gloves and shovels and dig until we were sick of diggin. As soon as we got it as big as we wanted it, we would decide that it needed to be bigger for whatever reason. We might as well right. Load after load, Owen helped spread the reject sand. Before this he helped clear the rocks. He would load the rocks in the bed of his dump truck and dump them in the rock pile.

With the purple shovel in hand, Kallie dug her toes into the sand and threw caution to the wind. She really just threw sand into the wind that landed in her eyes and Owen's hair but neither really seemed to mind.

Owen kept telling Doug, "Tay Dad, dat's enough." or "Teep doughing, teep doughing. Tay (s)TOP."

Emmett supervised.

Today I resolve...

2009-11-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

Today I resolve to give the benefit of the doubt.

I will not use the words lie or liar today. Instead I will hint that I am a very smart mom with an amazing ability, super power if you will, to detect and sniff out the truth. I will sincerely slather on the praise. "Thank you soooo much for brushing your teeth on your own. By doing so, means you are taking a stand against those hole-digging cavity bugs that creep into those spots that the toothbrush missed. It is soo great to have kids that brush well so the dentist doesn't need to give them shots. Keep up the good work kids!"

Side note: I help them brush at night and they are in charge in the morning. It is the morning cleaning that provides the opportunity to stretch or fabricate the truth. The love and logic folks tell us that the simple phrase, "I only give treats to kids that brush." is enough to motivate.

Kid say the darndest stuff.

2009-11-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

I could sit for hours listening to my kids talk, pretend and imagine together. I often hear them say things that are profound. "Mom, wemembow dat you should tart da day wit lub." Kallie told me this after I turned snarky due to the kids having selective hearing.

Oh, by the way, they are going to speech therapy every Friday. I am optimistic.

Other times they remind me, through their play, that they are always watching, listening and learning. Owen says to Kallie, "Tay tid, it time a go. Are you wedy?" Kallie replies, "Awmost. I hab to det my check to depodit in da bank."

Funny kid. Not just a balloon.

2009-11-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

Who knew that a balloon could bring so many huge smiles out of something so small.

Emmett was in love with the balloon that he got from a gal at the grocery store today.

Weird Sunday

2009-11-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

Today Doug flew to Iowa. He is making plans and preparing for the annual training in March that the soldiers are being sent to. Kallie and Owen handle the separation fairly well. They are always sure to ask, "How many days is Dad going to be gone?" or "Will Dad be gone for a long day?"

It's daylight savings time. Ugh. Why? An extra hour of sleep should be celebrated, NOPE, not in this house. It means an extra hour of play time in our jammies before breakfast.

It's fast Sunday so I know one of the Young Men will be knocking on my door before church starts. I'm sure to get dressed early so I'm not walking around in my undies when the doorbell rings. I was doing great, Emmett was napping, making it easier to get things together. Owen decides he is wearing a sweater vest and only a vest to church. He has a melt down when he learns that sleeves and pants are not optional. Kallie boycotts tights and throws a pair of denim shorts under her dress. "My legs won't det told mom," she says. I reply, "I'm glad you've put some thought into it."

An hour goes by and while I'm in the kitchen wiping off counters I hear Owen and Kallie SCREAMING at each other as if they are ticked off male cats fighting over a... I don't know...whatever cats fight over. It truly sounded like Kallie was having her head shaved and toes bend backwards. AWFUL!! It really scared me. So I race around the counter, down the hall, push open the door and shout, "WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?" They stop pushing and shoving each other but continue to bawl. It would have been laughable had there been mud but at this particular moment, when all was said and done, Kallie wanted to leave the bedroom with two post it notes that belonged to Owen and she wouldn't give them up. POST IT NOTES. I am calling the company to file a complaint. I'm sure that some of the ink from the sticky little memory joggers leached into both of my children via their skin and made them lose their minds. Then the doorbell rings and my neighbor is there on my porch wanting to collect fast offerings. I offered him two four year olds but he countered my offer with his nine year old daughter. No good.

Our stake had a devotional in the Priesthood room at the Manti Temple today. I made arrangements for the kids to play at the neighbors house so I could go. I get a call from the Bish (25 minutes before church starts) reminding me my recommend is expired. NO WAY! I know that I am super woman most of the time. I didn't even think to check the expiration date. The Bish invites me to hustle down to church early for an interview. So much for hair and make up. At least I made it through to wardrobe. So I have the kids hop in the truck hoping that they will follow orders in a timely fashion. Long story short, we get there, on time (divine intervention) my recommend is renewed, a friends baby is blessed, the kids get to have a break from mom for a few hours and I made it to the temple. Ahhhh. Good night.

Carving scary pumpkins and scooping out GUTS

2009-11-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

The proud parents of "stary pungkins". Owen wanted his "pungkin" to sleep in his bedroom when Halloween was done. He asked me to tell him where I hid his pumpkin from last year. I said they get frozen, soft, squishy, moldy, stinky and shriveled and I threw it in the garbage. He asks why they get rotten. I say, "Good questing. I bet dad can tell you."

Emmett is always on task.

Just sitting around plotting and scheming.

Daddy took the job of carving the pumpkins very seriously.

Owen was busy squeezing the slimy guts.

Trunk or Treat on a Thursday and Saturday

2009-11-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Just home from Trunk or Treat #2

Emmett was Winnie the Pooh on Saturday but he decided to fill his diaper with it right before the Trunk or Treat and I didn't feel like putting the costume back on.

My skeleton pirate and pink haired fairy wanted the Trunk or Treat to start as soon as they woke up that morning. They wanted to skip everything and go straight to the church where the candy gathering was going to take place.

Emmett was a Jack O Lantern, he didn't care one way or the other. Poor kid, he just wanted the sweet stuff in the wrappers that crinkled when he put them in his mouth. I wouldn't have dressed up except that I got honey all over my shirt (not sure how) when I was making the honey butter to take to the church for the cornbread. Bah humbug.

Caldron of eyeballs

Halloween is a favorite around our house. Even though I don't get crazy with the decorations, we try to compensate with the costumes and the activities. I am such a dweeb. Last year I bought cobwebs and window clings to use this year and I totally forgot about them until Thursday, 2 days before Halloween. When I brought them up from the basement I showed the kids. They were jumping up and down hollering, "This is the BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!" I guess I'll get better at decorating for the basted holiday so every year is the best year. They were especially excited when they saw the eyeball bubble gum that I put in the candy bowl to pass out.

Painting Pumpkins

2009-11-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

Emmett was thrilled to eat saltines while the painting commenced.

Owen was sure that it is easier to paint his "biggest" pumpkin while it was laying on its side. (Really...It was because he saw Kallie lay her pumpkin over on its side.)

Kallie asks, "Mom, is it otay if we det paint on our shuts(shirts)?"

Space Mud

2009-10-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

Why not have the first post on our "Family Blog" be about SPACE MUD and fart sounds?

Today was the first time we have made "space mud". I have wanted to make this junk for as long as I have had the recipe book. It's a Spencer 6th Ward cookbook so I've had it almost ten years. Well, it was worth the wait. Kallie and Owen loved this stuff. They poured, measured and mixed all by themselves (Of course I was there supervising. Kallie said, "MOM, Let me do it BY MYSELF.")

Here is the recipe:

SPACE MUD (thanks Delone Hayes)

2 c white glue

1 1/2 c water at room temp

Food coloring, if desired

1 cup hot water

2 level Tbsp 20 Mule Team BORAX

Combine glue and room temperature water. Blend thoroughly. Add food coloring. In larger bowl, combine hot water and borax, stirring until borax is completely dissolved. Slowly pour glue mixture into borax mixture, stirring constantly. The borax mix doesn't mix in but does cause the glue mixture to react.