"You say Goodbye, I say Hello..."

Goodbye Summer...

• goodbye temperatures above 80
• goodbye shorts
• goodbye flip-flops
• goodbye watermelon and peaches
• goodbye fake tan from a bottle
• goodbye BBQ's
• goodbye camping trips (that we didn't actually take this summer)
• goodbye seven peaks water park
• goodbye beautiful sunshine and long days
• goodbye patriotic holidays
• goodbye swimsuits (I will not miss you)
• goodbye baseball (Dave will not miss you)
• goodbye family reunions

More like, see you later Summer.

But...

HELLO FALL!!

• hello beautiful colors
• hello pumkins
• hello jacket and cardigan weather
• hello fun holidays with lots of food and candy
• hello cute decorations
• hello pumpkin flavored everything (I love you)
• hello apples and pears
• hello corn mazes
• hello leaves on the lawn to be raked
• hello apple cinnamon candles
• hello shorter days
• hello haunted houses
• hello candy corn
• hello Cougar Football

I love Summertime, but Fall is my favorite time of year. Bring it on!

Super Saturday

I am the counselor over Enrichment in my ward, and these are the samples for the projects we are doing for Super Saturday in October. Normally I'm not gung ho about Super Saturdays because I am not a very crafty person, nor am I a very creative person when it comes to this stuff. But lots of ladies in my ward wanted to have one this year, so we gotta give the people what they want! Luckily I have a fabulous Enrichment leader and committee to work with (shout out to Leslie - hollah!). Leslie says she also is not very crafty, but I pretty much don't believe her...cause she came up with most of this stuff! Wait, maybe she came up with all of it =). Anyway, I'm excited about these items and just wanted to show them off!

p.s. I LOVE my ward. Shout out to all the sistahs in the Provo 6th ward. Even the ones who petitioned for a Super Saturday. =)

Preschool and Cleats and Drums

My big boy four year old is in preschool this year! It's a preschool that is a part of a gymnastics facility, so the kids get to learn their ABC's and 123's and also get to jump and tumble around =). Spencer is liking it, and doing well...although, after his 2nd day, Dave asked him what his favorite part about preschool was, and this was his reply - "Not listening. (pause) Not listening and not sitting down." Those teachers have their work cut out for them!

Riding the "train" (bench) out side the classroom with his friend and neighbor, Breanne. It's fun to already have a friend in his class!

Watching through the window, getting ready to play in the gymnastics room!

Dave loves soccer. So when Spencer was born, Dave bought some kid size soccer cleats in the smallest size he could find. I knew it would be years before Spencer could wear them...but the time has finally come that Spencer can wear them! (They're a little big, but that's alright). He loves them, and wants to wear them everywhere. We gotta get this kid on a little soccer team!

The last Spencer story of the day is about drums. For the last several months Spencer has had a facination with and a love for drums. I think the Imagination Movers and the Doodlebops have something to do with it. (If you don't know who I am talking about, refer to Playhouse Disney.) He recently has created his own drum set, which he plays with much vigor and gusto while he watches the aforementioned groups on TV. He even told me he wants to be a drummer when he grows up. He better not start practicing with real drums until he is 18 and moves out of the house.

Yes, those are canned goods, plus a mayonaise jar, a jar of peaches, a jar of peanut butter, a pumpkin bucket upside down, another upside down bucket, and finally an actual drum we got in India. He adds to this set pretty much everyday.

Four year olds should get 2 birthday celebrations...

Especially when they are sick for their first one!

I now have a four year old. So weird.

For Spencer's actual birthday, we decided to take a ride on the Heber Creeper, which is a local train that does tourist rides. Spencer LOVES trains, and so we thought this would be a fun birthday activity...and it was...after Spencer stopped covering his ears for the first half hour, because the train whistle was "so loud." After the train, the plan was to go to Park City for the night...maybe do the Alpine slide, swim at the hotel...all that good stuff. But as soon as we got to Park City, Spence threw up in the car, twice. So we decided to go home, where he threw up again =(. Poor kid! How sad to be sick on your birthday!

The next weekend, we had a birthday party with some family and friends at a new themed pizza place in town called Pirate Island Pizza. It was LOTS of fun, and Pirate Island did not disappoint- 24 inch pizzas, a huge pirate ship, games and prizes, and a very impressive Jack Sparrow who came and gave Spencer a pirate sword. There would be no throwing up for this party...thankfully. Since Pirate Island, Spencer has had a new interest in pirates. He dons his new paper pirate hat and sword from the restaurant, and says "arrg matey!" and "aye, aye, captain!" We were trying to think of a pirate name for him. I came up with "Captain NoBeard," but he wanted something different. As I was thinking, I said "Hmmm, Captain..." to which he finished with "weird!" So "Captain Weird" it is.

Also this weekend was the BYU (#20) vs Oklahoma (#3) game, which BYU WON by some act of God! It was awesome, and amazing, and historical, and a great way to end a fun birthday weekend! GOOOO Cougars!!!

Happy train passengers

"It's too loud!"

He's smiling!

Pirate Island Pizza!

"Happy Birthday to me!"

A very cute dinosaur cake, that I did not make.

This is his pirate face.

4 years ago tonight...

Four years ago tonight, I was 2 days shy of my 33rd week of pregnancy. Dave was in Texas on a business trip. I managed a student apartment complex and had been running around all day doing clean checks. I decided to treat myself to a cheeseburger, fries, and peanut butter cup milkshake from the Malt Shop, which I brought home and devoured in front of the TV. When I was finished with my meal, I stood up, and my water broke. I called Dave, and then the doctor, who told me to get to the hospital right away. So I drove MYSELF to the hospital (it was only 3 blocks away, ha ha), and soon enough my sister-in-law and my best friend joined me. Twelve hours later my adorable and impatient Spencer was born. He was 4lbs 13oz, and screamed as soon as he was born - best sound in the world. Dave got to hear everything on his cell phone as he waited for his plane to take off to come back to Utah. (He thought about chartering a jet, but the doctors kept saying that I may not give birth for a couple more days...they had no idea.) It was quite an entrance into the world, but then again, Spencer is quite the little boy. I cannot believe that was 4 years ago.

I don't have a picture to share yet. We didn't have a digital camera at that time, and we don't have a scanner now...so as soon as I can find a scanner to use, I'll post some pics of Spencer's day of birth =). But I thought tonight was an appropriate night to at least share the story...

Birthday and Sleeping

I just realized that birthdays and sleeping are 2 of my favorite things! So it is appropriate write about them together in one post...

I am officially 31, and have been for a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure 31 is the new 30...cause I still only feel 30 =). Anyway, for a while now I have been wanting to try this fondue restaurant in Salt Lake called The Melting Pot, so we decided to go for my birthday with my sis-in-law and her family. It was very fun, different, and yummy. The best part, as always, was dessert! But it was a 4 course meal (we were there for 3 hours!) - staring with a cheese fondue for breads and veggies, salad (non fondue), a broth fondue to cook all types of meat, and then a chocolate fondue to dip strawberries, brownies, poundcake, cheesecake, marshmellows, and bananas. Yeah, it was awesome. Then, at 10pm, we went and saw a movie, as we thought Spencer would fall asleep. We saw The Proposal, which was very funny. And yes, Spencer stayed up for the whole thing!

I also got a very cool, and somewhat dangerous, gift from Dave...a whole set of Cutco knives! I am really that boring now. No, but they are awesome, and I love them (besided the fact that I cut myself almost everyday...).

Next time I go to The Melting Pot, I think I'll just get dessert!

Cute family photo on my b-day. Spencer's actually smiling - ish!

My twinner sister-in-law, Amanda. Among other things, we share a name and fashion sense. We are wearing the same skirt to my b-day dinner =). Love that girl!

To change the subject COMPLETEY here...Spencer has recently given us a couple of great photo ops with some silly sleeping arrangements...

We had come home from playing at a splash park, and I go in to the office to write a few e-mails. No more than 5 min later, I realize it is very quiet in the living room, so I walk out to see him like this. What a cutie.

This is how we found him one night after putting him to "bed." He had pooped in his underwear and decided this was the least uncomfortable way to sleep in it! What a little stinker...literally.

ABC's of me

In light of my birthday coming up soon (ahem, wednesday...nudge nudge, hint hint...), I decided to share with you the ABC's of me. This is a tag that I saw on facebook, but was not actually tagged with...so is that a stolen tag? I don't know, just play along =).


A - Age: 30, for another day
B - Bed size: king
C - Chore you hate: Bathtub
D - Dog: no thanks
E - Essential start your day item: toilet paper
F - Favorite color(s): green and pink
G - Gold or Silver: yes please
H - Height: 5' 4"
I - Instruments you play: saxaphone for 1 year in 4th grade, piano lessons for 6 or 7 years...but do I actually play them? no, not really
J - Job title: Wife and mother
K - Kids: Spencer
L - Living arrangements: Cute house near the state liquor store
M - Mom's name: Kay
N - Nicknames: honey, mommy, mands, manders, daughter #1 (cause I'm the oldest in my fam)
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Yes
P - Pet Peeve: ingratitude, foul language, when people don't wash their hands after using the restroom
Q - Quote from a movie: "You are everything I never knew I always wanted..." Fools Rush In, "You not cool unless you pee yo pants!" Billy Madison. So many more I can't even think of right now.
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: 4 - 3 sisters, 1 brother
T - Time you wake up: 7:30am-8:30am
U - Underwear: clean ones everyday
V - Vegetable you dislike: squash
W - Workout style: eliptical machine, aerobics
X - X-rays you've had: teeth, arm, ankle
Y - Yesterday's best moment: spencer telling me my eyes are "green and brown...like a flower!"
Z - Zoo favorite: Elephants and polar bears

I will now tag everyone with a summer birthday - that's May - August. Ok, get going!