Tired. . . but it was worth it!

Last night (or should I say this morning) I saw Twilight. A bunch of people from our ward went to the 12:01 showing of it. I loved it! There were some cheezey moments, but I think they did an overall good job. They kept the things that were important to the plot. I really didn't like the girl that played Alice, she looked like she was thirty and she couldn't act. And Jasper, come on, I thought the vampires were supposed to be good looking. I laughed when I saw him because he looked like such a dork. Also, there was some butt-rock guitar going on during vampire fighting sequences that I could have done without. And those baseball uniforms were cheezey. I want to see it again on a normal screen (I saw it on an IMAX screen--holy creepy close-ups! They looked like big monster faces!). Still, it made me want to read the book again and see the movie many, many more times, which is what they were going for, right? I can't wait to see New Moon!

Spencer is six months!! (13 days ago)

I can't believe Spencer is already six months!! It has passed so quickly. I totally understand where it came from and why there is the phrase "mama's boy". I just love my little boy (I love my little girls, too); there's just something so sweet about little boys. Here are some cutie pictures of Spencer through his short, but fast lifetime. WARNING: this blog entry may contain lots of photographs and things that only a mom (or family members) would care about.

I could only find thumbnail size pictures of these ones, but I love them so I put them on anyway.

Look at those chunky cheeks!!! I think his cheeks were bigger at birth than they are now.

So sweeet!!

I love his little dimples!

I love how it looks like Lucy is strangling Spencer. Spencer looks like he's thinking, "If I hold really still, she might let go."

Spencer's first camping trip

Big boy in his big boy chair

Spencer's favorite things:

Playing with his toes

Chewing on his toes

Pulling hair

His sister's (even though they maul him)

He also loves crinkly sounds, anything that I am holding, playing with his toy chicken, splashing in water, going outside, playing on his tummy, rolling around and scooting backwards along the floor, and of course,his mommy (daddy, too).

My Favorite things about Spencer:

His big blue eyes

The Spencer face (he looks like this 90% of the time). A little girl in our ward even commented on the fact that his mouth is always open.

I love the squealy sounds he always makes; his backward scooting, his sweet little laugh, when I go to get him in his crib he buries his head on my shoulder and grabs some hair and starts chewing on it (gross to others, only sweet to a mommy); how he always stares at me
and when I look back at him his face breaks out in a huge smile; his chillaxin' personality; his cry that sounds exactly like he is saying waaa-a-a-a-a; the face he pulls when he gets hurt and the cry that goes along with it, and the chicken dance he does (he bobs his head back and forth--kind of like head banging). I could go on and on and on because I love everything about him so I will stop. I am so glad we have our little Spencer!

Mom Jeans

Sad, but true...

(Use Internet Explorer if you have problems with this video. If the video doesn't show below, go here.)

Anna lost her 1st tooth (finally)!

Anna lost her first tooth last Friday. She was very excited. All of her friends have been losing teeth forever. The Tooth Fairy came and left fairy dust on her pillow and Anna even saw some sparkling lights during the night.

Visits and first days

My parents came to visit a few weeks ago. It was soo great to have them here. I really miss living by them and I love to have them see my kids. Sorry Mom for putting pictures of you on here, but I have to document your stay. Thanks for all of the help you guys gave me when you came to visit. I love you!

We didn't want to spend lot of money while they were here so we mostly went to the beaches. This is at Newport Beach by Balboa Pier. There's my dad in the ocean.

I had to put this one in to document that I did actually go on all of these outings. I am just usually the one taking the pictures. I'm the one in the shadow under the umbrella.

Having fun with Grandpa!

Lucy was fascinated by this boy that was buried in sand. The only thing poking out was his head. She kept going over there and staring at them.

Aliso Creek Beach--this is my first time at this beach and I love it because you can park right there. You don't have to walk up any stairs or down any steep hills lugging all of your beach items. You can leave things in the car and go get them if you need to. There is also a park for kids to play at and it's pretty! I think I found my favorite place to go. 

Anna's first day of dance. Doesn't she look like a pretty ballerina?

Lucy's first day of preschool. She was so excited to wear her backpack and to be going to school like her big sister.

There's my cutie coloring at preschool.

Spencer with Grandpa Spencer (can you guess where I got his name?) at Dana Point. Spencer looks huge!

Grandma and Grandpa Spencer with the kids at Dana Point.

We went to dinner at our friends' house, the Lakes, and Lucy accidentally got hit in the head with a baseball. Can you see the stitches? Poor girl. She recovered quickly, though.

The Great Southern California ShakeOut!

Mountains and Forests

I recently travelled to Washington for work. What a beautiful place! I was fortunate enough to catch a job just north of Olympic National Park. I flew into Seattle and drove south through Tacoma and then north to Port Angeles. Here are some photos from the trip.

And yes, Leslie was jealous.


Token tree photo, taken at 65 mph.

Here's a picturesque "stick-out" near the ferry landing (yes, I rode the ferry).

Evidence of man's destruction of the forest, i.e. the place where your house came from.

Mt. Ranier from 30,000 feet.

1st Day of 1st Grade

 Picture #1, Anna the happy!

Picture #2 and she's already sick of me taking pictures of her.

Too bad I am going to take a million more.

A happy one!

Outside of her classroom. It's weird because they do 

everything outside here. They eat outside, their backpacks 

and lunches stay outside, they line up for school outside. 

Also each grade has it's own building so they have to go 

outside to get anywhere else. I guess that's California for you. 

Anna had a good first day despite someone taking her lunchbox on accident and getting into an argument with another girl. She made a new friend that just moved here, too. They both like Littlest Pet Shop and had little animals attached to their backpacks. We missed Anna while she was gone (especially Lucy, she asked me all day long when we were going to go get her), but we are excited for her to be in school. Anna loves school and really thrives when she is in it.

Super Lucy...TO THE RESCUE!!!

We had a "fun" experience today. Wade and Anna were out on the balcony and I went out there to ask Wade a question. I shut the door behind me so that I wouldn't let out all of the cold air and somehow locked the door behind me. Lucy was sleeping downstairs and Wade, Anna, Spencer and I were locked outside!! I felt like I was in of those sitcoms when everyone is watching you shut the door and thinking, "Don't shut the door, it will lock!!" Too bad I didn't have a live studio audience to warn me with their astonished gasp.

At first I felt a little panicky and I seriously contemplated making Wade jump off the balcony and walk around to our garage to let us in. Then I realized that Lucy would wake up soon and we could tell her to open the door. So we waited out there for about 15 minutes or so and along came Lucy. She had just barely woken up so she was a little groggy and probably confused that we were all out there, but not coming inside to see her. She came over to us and we convinced her to unlock the door (she had to push it up to unlock it), but she immediately pushed it down again. We all said, "NO! Push it up!" and some of us started laughing. I think we hurt her feelings or scared her because she started crying and ran across the house into my bedroom. Eventually, I convinced her to come back and unlock the door. Hooray for Lucy! I don't know what we would have done without her! I guess Wade would have had to make that jump. I have learned my lesson to never shut a door that locks behind me. Or at least to make sure that it's not in the locking position. Now we have a good story to tell and a silly memory.

Born to be a Scout

Wade got called to be the Bear leader for scouts. He was soooo excited! Having a calling in scouts has always been his dream. He bought his shirt the other day and sewed on all of the patches (yes, he did it himself). Then he stood in the mirror smiling at himself and saying things like, "I'm a good lookin' guy" or "You gotta love a man in uniform." When he said, "I was born to be a scout", I knew it was blog worthy.
The Bears are lucky to have such an enthusiastic leader! Go Wade!!

Fantastic Contraptions

I just found this weirdly challenging flash game. The object is to build a michine that will transport an object to a specified area using simple wheels and rods. There's a short tutotrial to introduce you to the game and then you're on your own. Give it a try the next time you've got a few minutes (or more).

http://www.addictinggames.com/fantasticcontraption.html

Thanks to the Woot! blog for this discovery.

Wade

Water Olympics

Our ward had a water Olympics activity. Look at how many kids came! It's such a change from our Texas ward, everyone here is so active and involved. It seems I need to clarify that last comment. We loved our Texas ward, there were some great members. But we all know that there was a definite lacking in members attending ward functions (especially primary activities). Also there were a lot less kids in that ward!

That's our Bishop that the kids are squirting in the face. Good thing he's wearing that mask!

Classic water squirting face!

Lucy was afraid of the water balloon toss so Anna helped her.

This game had something to do with missionaries.

As you can see they had lots of fun!