Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Lucy danced her little heart out in her recital. She smiled. She knew all the steps. She bowed and blew a kiss. She's grown up so much since last year's performance. Last year she frowned and didn't do any steps. Yay, Lucy! You're a super Santa star.

T.E.N.

Double digits. Elliot had a great birthday! We began the celebration in California over the weekend. We had a joint party with his cousin Sam, who turns 6 on Thursday. We ate ice cream and opened presents. The missionaries sent a Phillies jersey all the way from NYC. He hasn't taken it off since.

We continued the festivities tonight with dinner at the Pizza Factory with Grandma and Patch. Elliot ate half the pizza. Is that a sign of things to come? He scored with gift cards, cash and  Chargers bedding. 

Elliot is by far my favorite first born.  He couldn't be sweeter or smarter. We love you!

Trick or Tween

Elliot is no longer a "little" kid. He had me carve WX into his pumpkin instead of a spooky face. He went trick or treating with friends. I dropped him off at 5:30 and was told he'd be home at ten. He dismissed his monster bag as lame. Opting for the much cooler pillow case. 

Sigh.

Treat or Trick

This year we had a baseball player, a zombie rockstar and an angel. We headed out to trick or treat with Joshy after a yummy spaghetti dinner. Along the way we picked up the Nelsons, Sonntags and Hogans. The kids ran from house to house for two solid hours. Their bags got so heavy I carried them while they went to the door.

They made out like bandits in the candy department. The Great Pumpkin trade-in is going to be epic.

High Five

The baby is five. Lucy is so excited to be older than four. She thinks she's in the big leagues now. We opened presents and had yummy cupcakes, provided by her Aunt Morgan. It was definitely an American Girl birthday. She's been asking for an American Girl doll since she discovered Kirsten at Nana and Grandpa's house. Her wish came true when she opened a just like me doll, blond haired, brown eyed girl. She named her Katherine and has been changing her outfits and carrying her around since the second she opened her. Katherine has been to the doctor's office, the Eccles Fieldhouse, Wendy's, the car and all around the neighborhood.

A Spencer family tradition is on your fifth birthday you have your first friend birthday party. We've been planning a princess party for a couple of years now. A few weeks ago, Sissy and I were at Target and I started putting tiara's in the cart for party favors. It was then Lucy told me, she didn't want a princess party. She wanted a regular party with BOYS. I'm still not sure what a "regular" party is. I soon convinced her to have a Witch and Wizard party. So this morning we hosted 6 of Lucy's besties for a spooky party. They played halloween bingo, tossed rings over the witch's hat, levitated balloons with their wands, destroyed a ghost pinata, magically turned white frosting into the color of their choice, learned to fly on broomsticks and lastly defeated some super scary death eaters who tried to capture them. Fun was had by all.

Happy Birthday sweet sissy. We love you.

Last First

Lucy headed off to our last first day of preschool. She was very excited and a little bit nervous. She has two new teachers because Ms. Mary had a baby. She walked nonchalantly down the sidewalk, because, "Mom, it's not a big deal." She no longer brings an object to share that starts with the letter of the day.  Second years bring a WORD that behind with the letter of the day. Fancy. After much deliberation she settled on apple. In case you can't tell, she's pretty much a kindergartner. Just ask her.

Preschool is also 3 whole hours! What's a person to do with no one to take care of for so long. I'm sure I'll find a way to fill my time!

Dancing Queen

In reorganzing my "pile" for back to school, I found this!

Saying Lucy loves to dance is like saying the sky is blue. She loves everything about her dance class...having her hair in a pony, wearing a leotard, her ballet shoes, her tap shoes, twirling, jumping, tapping, her friends, skipping, wearing her costumes, performing, she could go on and on. Lucky for Lucy, dance starts up again next week.

Daily Grind

Summer is officially over. The boys headed back to school this week. It was a happy sad day. Happy to see all their friends. Sad to wake up. I'm happy to have some structure back in our lives. Sad to spend time without them. They're pretty great.

Charlie was excited and nervous. Elliot was pretty much just excited. The night before we had father's blessings, laid out their clothes, lined up their backpacks and packed up all their new supplies. In the morning we started with a shower, dressed in uniforms, ate a healthy mini-wheat breakfast (totally a sucker for those back to school commercials) and then they were off. Lucky boys got to have their dad take them to school. Charlie wanted Justin to walk him to class. Elliot walked through the doors and said peace out. He walked himself to class. I see great things happening this year!

Bear Yake

We vacationed for the first time without Nana and Grandpa. It was a little weird, but still really fun. We did the usual, boating, eating, beach, eating, mini golf, eating. Did I mention I ate a lot of Mary's treats. And I took all weekend off from fitness. Oh the horror. Actually, I didn't miss it at all. It's amazing what 26.2 miles will do to your motivation to keep running.

The kids loved the boat as usual. They wake boarded, knee boarded and tubed. Charlie got up several times on the wake board in deep water. He looked like an old pro. And then there's the knee board, his new favorite past time. I think he loves it so much because any little wave or bump gives him sweet air. Elliot wake boarded mainly. He was a little gun shy after a bad fall at Pine View last week. But he pushed through and is getting better with every run. And then there was Princess Lucy. Uncle J.D. dumped her and Mary from the tube early on and then the drama was on. She would only sit in the middle of the tube, winced at every bump, and cried if the boat went too fast. Good, good times. I'm not anticipating pleasant times when it's time to throw her in the water to learn to ski.

We also spent a lot of time on the beach building sandcastles, searching for seashells and playing in the water. The cousins played and played and played. They wrestled, played soccer, baseball, tag and of course many games involving hunting or corralling animals.

Nana and Grandpa we missed you. We tried our best to offer the advice Dad would give to a skier in the water. Reminisced about crying in the water because Dad wouldn't let you in the boat until you got up. We used all the tricks you've taught us about planning ahead for dinner time. Without Nana there, I had no motivation to get up and run early. Sadly, I felt no guilt about that. We went on lots of "drives" to go get a beverage in your honor. We blessed our missionaries in every prayer! We love you.

D.U.N.

I ran my first Marathon today.  It was amazing, hard, fun, grueling and long. 26.2 miles is a long way to run. But I did it. When I'm not so exhausted I'll post more. Out.

Go Dodgers

One of our nights in California we went to a Dodgers game. It was a special treat for our Dodger fan, Charlie. He was in heaven. Our first stop was the gift shop for a Kemp shirt. Next Dodger dogs. Which were seriously yummy. Then 9 innings of 1-0 nail biting win. Charlie was on the edge of his seat for each double play, pop fly and out.
I chipped in by taking Lucy to the bathroom so the Dodgers could score in the 8th and get the final out in the 9th. Seriously.
Even though they're bankrupt, we were treated to an awesome fireworks show after the game. Go Dodgers.

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Disneyland

How do you describe three days of nonstop fun at the happiest place on earth? You can't, but here goes. The kids were hosted by the ultimate Disneyland experts, Grandma and "Fast" Patch. We rode rides the favorites being anything fast or wet. Apparently two anxious worriers produce daredevils. They couldn't get enough speed. By our final day, even Lucy had her hands in the air screaming with delight.
Patrick was on his a-game regarding fast passes. His scientific system is sweet! The kids thought it was weird if they had to stand in line for more than ten minutes.
We ate yummy food. We laughed. We walked and walked and walked. At the end of each night the kids passed out only to wake early and do it all again.
Aufedersein Disneyland. We miss you already.

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Big Leagues

Baseball is long. We're still going strong. Elliot went to three hours of camp this morning and played a double header in the afternoon. Charlie got in on the action with his own double header as well.

All-stars is Charlie's first experience playing real baseball. No more pitching machines or holding the ball up to stop the runners. He did great. He hit a single on his first at bat. He played second base, catcher and pitcher. In the second game he hit a triple!

Both boys lost both games. But they're so stoked to be playing all-stars they shook it off pretty quick. Or they were too tired to make a fuss. My money's on the latter.

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Rocks

Is there anything better than throwing rocks in water? Nope.

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Yellowstone

We made the annual trip to Yellowstone with the Walker, Wray, Froehling sans Daniel clan over the weekend. The weather was cold and wet, but the animals didn't disappoint. The tally: 15 bears, 5 sandhill cranes, 4 coyotes, 5 golden eagles, 3 foxes, hundreds of bison, a few elk, 25 bighorn sheep and the kicker .... a family of badgers. The kids always have a blast looking for animals, asking strangers what they're looking at, hiking, roasting hotdogs to lure in bear, eating smores and spending lots of time with Gromma, Patch and David.

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The Natural

Dear Baseball,
I am sorry to have maligned you all these years. I thought you were boring. I thought you were gross with all the spitting and adjusting. How was I to know the middle one would take to you so?

Are you happy to hear you've won me over? Charlie hit 2 doubles and a single last night. I cheered. He helped with every out in the first inning. I smiled. I heard the run down of games last night on sports center and knew what they were jabbering on about. I'm excited for 3 solid hours of baseball at the park tonight.

So goodbye soccer. I'll miss you. Just not as bad as I thought.

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Pinewood Derby

First off, sorry for the sideways video. Not so technically savvy am I.

Justin and Elliot, mostly the former, spent the weekend working on a sweet derby car. They consulted an expert, our home teacher Brother Swinton. He offered some sage advice and they were off. Sort of. Once the sawing became tedious and was yielding no results, Justin was ready to be done with the whole experience. So they headed around the block to the seek Bradd's wisdom and proper tools. It's amazing what the right tools will do for morale. They were off again. After much sawing, sanding, 2 paint jobs and lots of duct tape #3 was ready to race.

We were convinced it was going to be a long night and prepared Elliot for the worst. He heard lots of, "It's about the experience of building something with your dad." Or "It's just fun to participate." After all, this car was literally duct taped together. Justin split it several times trying to install the wheels and weights.

As I running to the church from the park, where Charlie had just hit a triple, I got my first text from Bradd that Elliot had won his heat. What the?! After I arrived, he won his second and third. This continued until he won the whole thing. Seriously. Hysterical. That car was almost thrown away several times because it's builder was so over it.

#3 also won the "sportiest looking" award. Which, lets face it, might mean more to the both of them than anything else. We have to give a big shout out to Bradd who put graphite in the wheels before the race. Pretty sure that was the game winning move. I don't even know what graphite is.

Princess Tea Party

Lucy was invited to a princess tea party at Ruby's. She enjoyed little ham sandwiches, mini cupcakes and marshmallows dipped in pink icing. She played kiss the frog and enjoyed the company of the other princesses.

Happy birthday to her bff, Princess Ruby.

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Papa Flies to the Opera

As you can see Charlie was a mummy in the opera. He was very believable. Helped, in no doubt, by the sweet costume hand-crafted by his uncrafty mother. He was also a "bad" Egyptian and tomb raider. All three characters were trying to stop the eagles from building a nest along the Nile. Eventually, everyone became friends and the eagles were allowed to stay in Egypt.

Bravo, Charlie!

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Biker

Lucy is officially a biker. She has been begging for months to have the training wheels taken off her bike. Yesterday, we finally obeyed. It only took a couple of times with me holding on and running beside her before she figured it out. She practiced last night at the park during Charlie's baseball game. There were a couple of close calls with some pedestrians. She learned that leaning away from the pedestrian doesn't work as well as steering away from the pedestrian. She also learned that learning to ride a bike means you will fall down. However, it also means you're old enough to be tough. Messages received. Today she looked like an old pro.

To celebrate her new found independence she picked out a pink helmet and bike bell at Target. Go Lucy, go!

Belated Art Show

Dear Nana and Grandpa,
My mom rushed out of the art show right after my performance to go the gym. Sheesh! But today at school she took a picture of me with my drawing. It's a goose with her gosling. Nana, I thought you'd appreciate it since you're a birder.

I love you.
Elliot

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Art Show

Dear Nana and Grandpa,

We had our annual art show at school last week. We both performed with our classes. Elliot even danced during a song about bills becoming laws. Weird.

In the picture is one of my creations. It's the space shuttle.

Love,
Charlie

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The Arts

Charlie's class had "paint day" to create the scenery for their class opera. Mayhem would be an appropriate word to describe 25 first graders painting in unison. Diet Coke would be the remedy to relieve a headache created by the mayhem.

The finished product was spectacular! Can't wait to see "Papa Flies to the Opera" in a couple of weeks. I love, love, love the kids' school!

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Geared Up

I thought all you needed to play America's past time was a ball, bat and glove. Apparently not.

According to these two you need Nike cleats with removable swoosh colors, a baseball bag, batting gloves, batting helmet, a hat and a titanium necklace. The necklaces arrived on the slow boat from China in time for their first games. Consequently, their balance has never been better. Now the baseball hat has to look a certain way. FLAT. Oh brother.

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Minor

Charlie is a baseball fanatic. Who knew? I guess we should have started him sooner. As soon as he gets home from school, he grabs his mitt and heads outside to toss himself popflies. As soon as Justin pulls in the driveway, he begs him to go to the park so he can hit. It's nonstop. Luckily his games started last week. And luckier still, there's 2 a week.

In his first game, he struck out both times he got up to bat. He later told me he "stressed" himself out trying to hit a homer. (It doesn't help his entire team is chanting homerun whenever he steps up to bat) We now TRY to focus on getting a base hit. It seems to be working. In the last 2 games he has got on base and hit 2 homeruns. He also loves to play shortstop and first base. Yesterday he helped get 4 outs by fielding at shortstop and throwing to first base. After each out he got the classic small Charlie smile. Super excited, but doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself. Love it.

Easter

The Easter Bunny made a stop our house this year. The kids are on to his tricks. Elliot found his basket in about 2 seconds and Lucy in 10. Charlie's basket was a little trickier and took at least 1 minute. The kids have already devoured most of the jelly beans, robin eggs and marshmallow bunnies. The boys have made some sweet trades with their new basketball cards. Lucy is having a viewing party of her new Tangled with Elliot. All in all, a successful morning.

Lucy understood this year that the Easter Bunny hides your basket not hides IN your basket. Therefore, there are no frightened pictures, just happy ones.

As an added bonus, Lucy gave a talk in primary today about the resurrection. When I say Lucy gave a talk, I mean she held the picture while Justin gave the talk. And when I say she held the picture, I mean Justin did that too. Happy Easter.

Aging

This afternoon we took the kids to our neighbor Easter egg hunt. The kids love it! As they were waiting for the countdown, I began to look around. There were lots of toddlers and preschoolers. Many of Lucy's soccer, school and dance buddies were waiting to storm the field. Upon further inspection, I realized Charlie was one of three first graders. And worse, Elliot was the only 9 year old. When did I become the "older" mom? Yikes!!!!!

I pulled the boys aside and we discussed how to have fun and make sure not to smash the hopes of the young ones by taking all the eggs. Mission accomplished! They had fun and didn't make anyone cry. Now, I must go apply eye cream to help mask my aging face.

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Major

It's begun. Baseball has consumed the Spencer household. Elliot pitched for the first time on Saturday. After a rocky start he settled in and struck a couple players out. It ended a little sour, with a few walks. But overall, it was a great first experience. Pitching will definitely teach him to keep his emotions in check. Not too high nor too low. His mother may need a prescription to learn that lesson.
At bat he struck out, hit a pop fly and had a single with an rbi. Look at me and my baseball speak. Impressive, eh? As an added bonus, I'm enjoying baseball. Never thought that would happen.

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Consumed

These are the last websites visited by a Spencer. It is all basketball all the time around here. Lucky for us, Uncle Geoff told Elliot about some NBA draft website. We apparently need to know more about the draft. I was hoping with a loss by The Storm last night we could take it down a notch. However, Elliot greeted me at 7:30 am with his NCAA bracket, yellow highlighter and black pen. Brackets must be updated you see. As I type, I can hear dribbling in the driveway and the clang of the rim when a shot is missed. Gotta love it, baby!

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Seven

In typical Charlie style, he downplayed any special attention we tried to bestow upon him. He got a sheepish grin when I woke him a hug with and birthday wishes, but warmed up to the idea of being the center of attention as the day wore on. He requested french bread pizzas and salad for his special dinner. For dessert we gobbled up chocolate cupcakes with blue icing.

Grandma and Patch made his day with a magic eight ball! Unfortunately, it said I'm going to get a big derriere and Patch is going to lose his hair. Stupid magic eight ball. Nana and Grandpa sent magformers, which were immediately used to build pyramids, balls and buildings. He got loaded up with cash and gift cards from his aunts, uncles and grandparents. Thanks everybody! He was counting down the minutes to go to Target and blow it all. Yesterday his wish came true. He got a new bike, baseball bag, baseball belt and webkinz! He was so happy to walk that bike to the cash register and pay for it himself.

A Tale of Two Games

Elliot played in 2 games tonight. The first, a championship game for the season title. The Storm versus the Titans for all the marbles. Elliot played with a lot of intensity and passion. This led to foul after foul after foul after foul after foul. That's right, he fouled out early in the third quarter. Blast! The Storm played hard and kept the game within reach. It came down to the last second. We had the ball, shot and scored to win by 1!! Unfortunately, time had expired a 1/2 second earlier. Double blast!! However, there was no time for tears, at least on the court. We had a second game to play, our first in a tournament.

Elliot pulled it together in the car ride over, thank goodness. The second game was against the Havoc. The game went back and forth from beginning to end. Elliot played amazing. He had 14 points, played great D, hit foul shots and stayed out of foul trouble. Sweet. This game too came down to the last second. Davis made 2 foul shots with 19 seconds left to put us up 29-27. The boys hustled and played great D to cause a turnover and then ran the time out. Double sweet!!

Thinking back on the night, Elliot said overall it was good cause the Titans didn't even get medals.

Rainbow Bright

One of the joys of having a daughter is seeing what she picks out to wear in the morning. Her snow outfit is a good example: purple pants, peach coat, pink boots, pink gloves and purple & pink hat. Yesterday she wore a pink dress, pink legging with white hearts, pink shoes and to top it off a pink flower headband. The girl loves her some pink.

Jimmer

A perk of being the coach's son is getting to go to practice with your older brother and his teammates. Charlie's game has improved a ton over the course of the season. This week he won a game of Speed! In your face with mace 9 year olds.

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Say Cheese

Charlie will not, under any circumstances, smile for the camera. Case in point.

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Mencers

The boys spent President's Day on the slopes. Elliot got to board with his aunts and uncles. Which means he thinks he's hot stuff. After a full day of one on one time with Justin, Charlie's a for real boarder! On his last run he even went off a jump. Plus, he only ran into one skier. Kudos!

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Jubilation

The Storm made it to the finals last night with a win over the Heat. It came down to the last 20 seconds. We caused a turnover, made a shot and held them off to win by 1! Elliot played great. He set screens, played awesome D, hit 2 clutch free throws and tried to take a charge. But the biggest coup of the night .... he kept his emotions in check. Go Storm! Take state!

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Birding

It's eagle time at the Farmington bird refuge. We watched eagles soar, dive, relax on the ice, taunt seagulls, fight and eat fish. We counted over 70 eagles at one pit stop. There were probably over 100 in all! The kids also identified kestrels, geese, great blue herons, swans, northern harriers, grebes, seagulls and starlings. Not to shabby for a frigid afternoon activity!

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Storm

Elliot is playing on his first basketball team. Lucky for him, his dad is the coach. It's pretty fun watching the boys learn and get better every game. Justin is loving coaching and designed the logo....of course.

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Silent Night

Recital

The Middle

Charlie is the best. Here's why...he read 4 chapters in his library book when I thought he was playing legos. His sacrament activity these days is reading the Scriptures on Justin's phone. Last Sunday, he read all of 3rd Nephi 1. He sat amongst the football team last night to watch the highlight film. But every so often he came back to home base and gave me a hug. He can beat Elliot @ NBA live. Justin can't even do that! He plays babies with Lucy. He's super stoked every Monday for school lunch because there's salad with his pizza. He asks for cereal for dinner every night. He's a delirious night pee-er. Seriously have to retrieve him from downstairs and guide him to the bathroom. He laughs easily. I could go on and on. Love that kid.

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