High Five!

Wasn't it only yesterday when I was across the street sitting on Brad and Angie's front porch, timing my contractions while the potatoes I was boiling for dinner burned and stuck to the bottom of the pan? After a less than desirable meal of creamed (and charred) peas and potatoes, Jason and I were convinced by his parents to go to the hospital, and not a moment too soon. When I was situated in my room, I didn't have time for the anesthesia to take effect before it was time to deliver, and a concerned husband was reassured by a sweet nurse that she was capable of delivering the baby if Dr. Woolsey didn't make it to the hospital in time from his home across the street. What a fast and furious delivery!

The past five years have gone by just the same...fast and furious, that is. Wait! That doesn't sound very nice. Consider the years as fast and fabulous. (Now, that sounds better. I wouldn't want anyone to think I have ever been furious during the past five years--although I've had my moments, to be sure!) However, with a flash of his brilliant smile paired with an irresistible charm, Spencer can diffuse the deepest anger or lighten any heavy mood. He's simply a great kid!

The Friend Party

I have decided that five is the age to begin having friend parties, and only every other year. That made this an especially exciting birthday for Spencer. We worked together to pick a theme, make an invite list, and plan games and activities. He wanted an "encore" of his third birthday volcano cake, so we chose the dinosaur theme. That was great because I had the know-how for the cake, the dinosaurs for the decorations, and even some left-over dinosaur plates. Nice and simple.

I used the image from the movie Jurassic Park, and altered it to read Spencer Park for the invitations. It was a nice touch, enhanced by a free font I found online that matched the original text.

The boys made masks, created fossils in plaster of paris (sort of), listened to Jason read the book Dinosaurumpus, had a dinosaur dig in the sandbox, ran a water obstacle course with hard-boiled eggs, and searched for giant dinosaur eggs from which they retrieved their goody bags. And because two of the five invited guests could not come, it was a calm, intimate group, and it was perfect!

Out to Eat

The birthday boy gets to choose where the family will go out to eat for dinner. We prompted Spencer to choose something a little more sophisticated than McDonald's (it is a special occasion, after all) and he settled on Chuck E Cheese's. I didn't care. I didn't have to cook or do dishes. Plus, the boys always get a thrill from burning through twenty-five tokens in five minutes or less. We followed the pizza with a vanilla and chocolate twist ice-cream cone from Macey's.

A Sabbath Birthday

Spencer's actual birthday landed on Sunday this year. That worked out great, because we stretched out the celebrating and it was really manageable. The festivities actually started Friday night with a "Father and Sons" camp out in the backyard. I was not too disappointed that I wasn't invited to sleep in the tent with Brevin, Spencer, and Jason, but I don't think it will improve my status as the lesser favored parent. I did make his breakfast of choice, though: blue pancakes with blue syrup. Whatever.

Cupcakes and frosting had been made in advance for the family party, but Jason and I spent a greater part of our morning cutting mini marshmallows and shaping them into popcorn. It was an idea I got from this darling book.

Steve and Judy were gracious enough to host the family party in their home where we enjoyed gifts, cupcakes, ice-cream, and viewing Spencer's year in review video.

This turned out to be such a fantastic weekend for Spencer. I'm just afraid his birthdays will all be "downhill" from here.

This post authored by Amber

"Oh, They Say When You Marry in June"

It's nice to feel like you're a bride every once in a while. Going on a date to a fancy restaurant sans kids, holding hands as you stroll through the parking lot, getting your picture taken as a couple at the end of the evening; it all had that familiar air of newly-weddedness. Yes, it was a great way to spend an evening (while making a substantial financial contribution to the sushi chef at Happy Sumo). What a lovely 12th anniversary!

This post authored by Amber

Playing Favorites

After a shopping trip to Wal-Mart with the boys, I waited with them in the van in the parking lot of Pizza Hut. We had redeemed the final personal pan pizza Brevin had earned through his reading program at school, and I was about to make him split it with Spencer for lunch. When out of the blue, Brevin made this comment, "Mom, we still like you, but not as much as we like Dad."

Please understand, I had, not too long before this declaration of loyalty toward Jason, informed them that they would not be receiving the ice-cream cone from McDonald's I had tried (unsuccessfully) to bribe them with in hopes that they would behave well for me at Wal-Mart. I also informed them that since I was good at the store, I was still going to stop at McDonald's to get said cone for myself...and I wouldn't be sharing!

But even so, I can't say that I blame Brevin for his remarks, nor did they upset me too much. I mean, let's be honest. Jason is pretty amazing!

The pictures for this post were obviously taken on the most recent Father's day. Quite appropriate for the written content, don't you think?

This post authored by Amber

Fire Station No. 41

Springville City has built a much needed, brand new facility to house the fire department and other emergency response vehicles. In celebration of the building completion, the fire department held an open house where anyone interested could come tour the building, climb in, on, and around the fire trucks and ambulances, and even get inside the Life Flight helicopter. Cake and punch was served as well. Yes, it was a young boy's dream!

This post authored by Amber

Cupcakes for Sale

So...I figured if my sons were old enough to ask to own an expensive item like a Nintendo DS, it was time for them to learn something about fiscal responsibility. Besides, I am not going to shell out over $100 for a piece of technology that will shortly be superseded by the next "big thing." Instead, I offered to bake cupcakes for them to sell in efforts to raise their own money. (Too bad the cupcakes did not taste like these ones!)

We found a good spot on a busy road, not too far from our home, that proved to be ideal for a small business operation. People were quick to stop for a twenty-five cent cupcake and to give support to the budding entrepreneurs. We didn't stay outside for very long; long-term exposure to warm temperatures doesn't bode well for butter-based icings. Nevertheless, an hour and a half on Friday and one hour on Saturday allowed the boys to bring in $30.00. Not too bad.

If I decide to take my cut, the boys will only have to do thirteen more bake sales like that before they will have their coveted Nintendo DS in hand. Well, it appears this experience may be a two-for-one, because I may also be teaching them something about being patient...really, really patient!

This post authored by Amber

One Final Post on Art City Days

We really have enjoyed living in our quaint, little town of Springville. Despite continued growth, it still feels small-townish to me. The Art City Days festivities seem to punctuate that feeling.

I look forward to another year of talent festivals, carnival rides, parades, teddy-bear picnics, and a fresh hot scone from the Kiwanis booth. What a cute little town we live in!

This post authored by Amber

"It'd Be Nice If You Could Pull Me Into Town"

Yeah, I thought this idea was pretty clever, but now that I look at the pictures, I realize it was comedic gold!

Each year for the Art City Days children's parade, I have made my children dress up in costumes because I am too lazy to put streamers on their bikes. They've been clowns, Spiderman, clowns again, and one year Brevin was Napoleon Dynamite. So I got thinking, Spencer hasn't had a chance to wear the Napoleon costume, and this is a good opportunity to wear it. So when Brevin asked to ride roller blades as opposed to a bike this year, everything came together to create this perfect costume duo. I guess you could say this is our little tribute to a ridiculously funny, yet pointless piece of cinematic creation.

While the boys worked their way around the block, I pushed Garrett alongside in the jogging stroller. It was fun to hear all of the comments people were making about Brevin and Spencer. I don't think Brevin heard any of them. He was fixed and concentrated on not falling down while trying to keep up with Spencer's erratic pace. They made it completely to the end without mishap, but that's when Spencer stopped the bike abruptly, causing Brevin to bump into him and fall on his bottom. From his new position on the ground, he managed to get off a frustrated kick that hit Spencer square in the back. That's when "the gloves (wig and glasses) came off" and a slight scuffle ensued. I broke up the fight and was met with protests of, "I never want to do this again!" I hope they were talking about never wanting to do the fighting in public thing again, because I am all for that!

Oh well, I'm just glad I got pictures of them during happier moments of this whole experience. Although, they don't exactly look too happy in these pictures, do they?

This post authored by Amber

Bronze Baby

In the past we have entered each of our boys in the Art City Days baby contest, and have had relative success. Brevin placed third and Spencer came in second. Not too shabby. Win or not, you get a bag full of goodies, coupons to local businesses, a diaper, a t-shirt for the baby, and a professional photograph just for entering, so we're always sure to participate. I admit, it is nice to receive the extra validation of a perfect stranger's opinion that your child is worthy of recognition.

Of course, all of the babies are darling. I haven't quite figured out the judging criteria for the contest. I think it must, in large part, have something to do how much your child interacts with the judges (smiles at them, claps hands, does other funny little tricks that mom and dad are trying too hard to encourage, etc.). I couldn't keep Garrett on his assigned number, let alone get him to perform for the judges. But they must have at least got a glimpse of those beautiful baby-blues, 'cause they decided to give him a medal anyway. He placed third for boys ages 11-13 months. That meant he would have his picture in the paper, a ride in the parade, and his oldest brother would have major bragging rights ("My brother, Garrett, won third place in the baby contest just like I did when I was a baby!").

Below is a picture of him right after he placed. You would think I would have tried harder to tame that crazy hair, but that cowlick on the forehead thing makes it difficult to figure out the direction the hair should be combed.

And now here is the picture taken of Garrett and I during the parade. Yeah, it looks like I've got the "elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist" wave down. Garrett, on the other hand, did not want to be on a truck bed. He wanted to be in his own bed in a quiet, dark room. The parade time ran right through his morning nap.

But look how happy he was when we got off our float and joined the family to watch the rest of the parade:

Okay, I'm done boasting about my sweet, handsome boy...for now, at least!

This post authored by Amber

Boys of Summer

Now that Brevin has completed his first year of school, he is eligible to sign-up for t-ball. His team is the Giants and his number is 7 (because it rhymes with Brevin). During his practices and first game, he really has emerged as a team leader. Well, at least he likes to boss people around a bit, a trait of a first-born child, no doubt. But he really does have a pretty good grasp on the workings of the game. All of his time playing catch with Dad, receiving many pointers, has translated to skillful play on the field. Here are just a few of the "action" shots we got from game one:

This post authored by Amber

Kindergarten Graduation

Look who's moving on up in the world! Parents were invited to listen to an hours worth of songs with choreographed hand motions just prior to an individual presentation of diplomas and donning of paper caps.

I am thrilled that Brevin's teacher, Mrs. Sabey, provided him with a foundation for his educational experience that includes an excitement for school and a love of learning. He thoroughly enjoyed kindergarten, and he looks forward to being in first grade. But first, he will greatly enjoy the summer, I'm sure!

This post authored by Amber