Big Boy

Two words I've been using a lot lately: big boy. Spencer just seems to be changing so much right now. It's making me very aware of how fleeting childhood is. I feel like I need to be better about jotting down all of the precious things he says each day, but maybe slowing down and being in the moment is a better plan.


We had a big weekend. Spencer and I went to our friend Cyrus' birthday party at Loco-Motion (aka The Bounce) Saturday morning. Seeing him sitting with all the bigger kids eating pizza and cupcakes made my heart ache a little - in a good way. It was like he was figuring out how life works or something. It's hard to explain.


We left straight from the party to drive to Angleton to spend two days with Grannie and Paw-Paw since Daddy was going to a conference Saturday and needed to work the rest of the weekend. We had a really nice visit and got to see Aunt Renee, Aunt Sandra, Grandma Rives and Grandma Hill. On Sunday morning we went to play with our little friend Sebastien and his new twin brothers who were visiting from Houston. It was cute to see Spencer and Sebastien together - the last time was when they were just 6 months old. And Spencer was SO sweet about those babies. He kept asking to hold Luca, and his mommy was nice enough to oblige. All together now, "Awwwwwwwwww."


While Grannie and Paw-Paw went to an appointment Monday morning, Spencer and I went to a park. We also walked around the neighborhood a bit and watched a big backhoe knock down some trees. When we walked by the Episcopal church, Spencer commented, "I love that hotel!"


We also had another success with sleeping in a big bed while we were away. No more pack-n-play. Hooray for the big boy!

Valentine's Day Past and Present

Spencer's great-great-grandmother, Leona Helen Cahill, was born on Valentine's Day in 1894. I came across this picture last week when Spencer was digging through one of my storage boxes. This was taken when we were celebrating Granny's 79th birthday in 1973. Love this picture!

And here's one more picture to close out Valentine's Day 2011. Spencer and Daddy were acting silly after dinner - trust me, the Valentine's Day card wasn't that funny!

Now off to see if our French macarons are at room temperature yet. Yum!

I Heart Homemade Valentines

Construction paper hearts, glitter, puffs. What's not to love?

What a Day!

Today was one of those perfect days in Austin, Texas. The weather was to die for and we loved soaking up the sunshine. Definitely felt like spring has sprung. We started off the day at a new French bakery called La Patisserie, where Spencer tried a bubblegum flavored macaron. Ooh la la.


When we left the bakery, Spencer said he wanted to go to the park. We went to what we call the "new playground," which is this great spot in Rollingwood that has a super fun playscape and is also next to some baseball fields where Spencer loves running. When we were leaving there, Spencer said he wanted to go to Zilker Park. We headed to the Botanical Gardens and had a lovely time exploring.

After eating a very late lunch at home, relaxing with a Bob the Builder video, playing with leaves in the carport, and going on a short stroll in the neighborhood, we went to the Buchanans' house for pizza-family-fun-night. I got a few seconds of Spencer playing Cooper's drum set.

Looking forward to Valentine's Day tomorrow with my two sweeties.

Sleepover at Geep and Pop's

Spencer went to Geep and Pop's house in San Antonio on Friday for an overnight stay. He had so much fun! He played in the park, threw the Frisbee with Pop, did finger painting in the tub, went shopping for Valentine's Day cards for Mommy and Daddy, and slept in a big bed all by himself for the first time.

One-Sided Snowball Fight

Here's one more video from last week's snow day.

Blizzard on Westoak Drive

We woke up to a beautiful dusting of snow this morning on Westoak Drive.


When we saw the side driveway was covered in a good 3/4" of snow, we knew we just HAD to utilize it. In a pinch, a darkroom tray makes a perfectly fine sledding device. I went first. I was pretty sure there was a 30%-40% chance of breaking a limb, but I couldn't resist.

Dave took Spencer for a ride too, once we did our preliminary safety testing, of course. We were able to slide right into the street because apparently no cars can get into our neighborhood because of the ice on South Lamar. Funny what a little snow and ice can do to a Texas town.

Today is going to be one of my favorite memories! So fun to see Spencer really experience snow for the first time. The sun in peeking out now - hope it doesn't all melt before we get back out there.