The Wheels on the Bus

Every now and then, just out of the blue, Spencer will tell me that he wants to have a bus driver training party for his next birthday. You know, because we did astronaut training at the last one. Why do I have a feeling he's going to stick with this notion? And why do I have a feeling Dave and I will be scouring Etsy and Pinterest for bus driver party ideas in about eight months?

Driving Range

Yesterday before I took Spencer for school, he asked if Daddy could take him to the driving range  when he picked him up. The rain didn't show up as predicted so they were able to go. They got a bucket of 100 balls. Spencer let Daddy hit about 7 or 8 of them and he took care of the rest. Just love the tongue-wagging concentration!

Architects of Air 2013

Last year Dave and Spencer stumbled upon the Architects of Air Mirazozo Luminarium at the Long Center, as documented here. When I found out it would be back this week, I knew I wanted to get to experience it this time around. We arrived early this morning and saw them inflate it - that was really cool. Then we waited for about an hour and we were in the first group admitted. Steffani, Chad and Ella were there, too - an added bonus! My pictures are not great, but here you go...

 

 

 

Lazy Sunday

Last weekend, Spencer and I had an awesome slow morning at Town Lake. We got some exercise, fed the ducks and swans, tooks some pics and did a little cloud gazing in a field. My kind of day!

Quotable Quotes

Just a few quotes and things I've jotted down lately that I want to remember.

• "Daddy, when can we go to the moon? Maybe February?"
• "Wow, this sure has a lot of constructions!" Referring to the instruction manual on a new Lego kit.
• After asking me to fry an egg for him one morning, he asked if I was going to cook it in a "skittle."
• After walking around Town Lake last weekend, he asked if we could lie down in the grass because it was "a good day for cloud gazing."
• "God won't like that. Or Britt (nature school teacher)." Expressing his concern after Daddy smashed a bug. 
• One morning we were talking about Grannie and I said I really miss her and I wish she was still here. He said, "I bet she'd REALLY freak out if she saw how big I'm getting!"
• On the way to school this week, we were listening to a recording of one of my recent band concerts. "Mommy, are you really playing on this CD? That's impressive!"
• A prayer for the ages before dinner one night: "Thank you for this food and thank you for this lovely family and I love peas SO MUCH!"
• Watching a football playoff game, he kept calling the Seahawks the "Sea Hogs" and "Sea Ravens."
• Upon opening Daddy's wallet and pulling out his driver's license, he said with a grin, "Who's this old man?" 

I have to admit that while these are all cute, funny quotes, there are some not-so-cute and not-so-funny ones in recent memory. When moms blog, I think we tend to shy away from the negative stuff. But I must say that we are going through a phase with our boy - lots of boundaries being tested. We are all feeling frazzled. I know it's just a stage, but it's hard. These pictures from last weekend when Paw-Paw visited make me smile because they remind me of the changes in personality we experience from hour to hour!

Following Spencer's Lead

The weather was magnificent last weekend. The bluest skies ever and not a cloud in the sky.

A hike in the Barton Creek Greenbelt was calling our names. I think it's one of the best places to go with a little one. So much to explore. Water hasn't been flowing there in several years - I barely remember what that was like. I actually think it's more fun dry. Feels like you're in another world.

We saw a group of people climb up a cliff and go into a cave. From the ground, it looks like a really difficult climb, but it only took them a minute or two to get up there. Spencer really wanted to check it out. Dave and I were very hesitant but Spencer enthusiastically said, "C'mon guys!" and motioned for us to follow him. We climbed probably 120 feet to a different cave - it was a little lower and more in our comfort zone for this impromptu rock climbing adventure. 

Now, where we did have to put on the brakes a little was when Spencer wanted to go into the cave. We just weren't comfortable heading in without a flashlight. He sure did try to talk us into it. I have a feeling we'll be going back this weekend.

Spencer's 5th Christmas (Finally)

I really don't have much more to add about Christmas morning, but wanted to include a few pictures. None of our pictures really seem to capture the "Christmas magic." You can get a better sense of it here. But we really had a wonderful morning. Woke up around 7AM to see what Santa brought.

Santa left Clarabel and Annie trains in Spencer's stocking.

Christmas morning hugs.

Always nice to have a before shot.

Spencer opened lots of gifts from Mommy, Daddy, the Loves, Paw-Paw, Aunt Dianne, Uncle Scott, Jenni and Mitch. 

Fun stuff from Jenni and Mitch.

Bible book from the Loves.

Kite kit from Daddy.

He screamed "I love it! I love it!" when he opened this drawbridge from the Loves.

Trying out the Magna-Tiles that Santa brought

After we opened our gifts, Geep and Pop arrived. We were planning to go to their house, but their water heater broke just before Christmas so they came to us instead. After another round of gifts, we had a lovely lunch followed by lazing around and playing with new toys. Later that night we drove around and looked at Christmas lights in a couple of neighborhoods.

Playing with a neat race track from Geep and Pop

Look at those long legs!

Ready to see some Christmas lights

So that's the final Christmas wrap-up. It was a blessed holiday season and as always we are so appreciative of everyone's generosity with our sweet boy.

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas plans changed a little at the last minute this year. Paw-Paw was going to come back with us to Austin from Aunt Bobbie's house, but he wasn't feeling up to it. So for the first time ever, we had nothing going on Christmas Eve. We had a relaxing day, visited with some friends, then came home to bake cookies and get ready for Santa's visit.

Like last year, Spencer dictated a letter to Santa. This one said:

"Dear Santa, What do you want for Christmas?
Do you know what we have for Christmas?
Cookies and milk and water for you, Santa, and carrots for the reindeer." 

Then he signed his name and we got everything set for Santa and his crew.

Before he went to sleep, Spencer made us promise not to stay up too late so that Santa wouldn't skip our house. After a couple of last-minute preparations, I took a few minutes to admire our pretty tree and count my blessings before we settled our brains for a long winter's nap.

Christmas in Columbus

We went to Aunt Bobbie's again this year for the Elliott-Rives-Trahan-Ruston-Horridge-Stancik pre-Christmas celebration. I don't think we had our "camera mojo" working that day - really struggling to find cute pictures...

Shammy, Lee, Elliott, Sarah and Spencer - ready to tear into some gifts.

Big pile of gifts for Spence.

Showing off some loot from Aunt Fay.

Helping Aunt Bobbie open an ornament he made her.

Paw-Paw gave Spencer a cool remote control dino.

Paw-Paw gave Spencer some A1 because he once called it "steak juice," which Paw-Paw thought was very funny.

Group shot.

The little ones posing in Elliott's new kayak.

The next morning, Spencer couldn't wait to put together the Lego City kit that Lee picked out.

Aunt Bobbie made the girls funny headbands, which I named "Christmas Fascinators" and I wore mine all week!