Confession Time

Okay, I have a confession: I haven't stamped a card since November. 2006.

Oh, the shame!

I don't know what's happened! I just don't seem to have the desire like I used to. Things just haven't been the same since my dealer, Kerry, moved away. (And by dealer I mean of all things Stampin' Up, my previous drug of choice.)

I blame it on two things: Spencer and Josh. Haha! Okay, I actually do have two excuses: time and space. I don't have nearly as much free time as I used to, and if I do, I usually read or blog or something like that. As for space, I don't really have a dedicated stamping area; if I had a craft room or something where everything was already set up I'd be making a lot more cards.

But, 'tis the season for Christmas cards. And here's my dilemma:

I just can't bear to buy cards; they're either too expensive or really ugly. Often both. But I also can't justify buying more stamping stuff to make cards, seeing as how I never stamp anymore.

So I've decided to do some card making a la Iron Chef: I'm going to make my cards this year using only the supplies I have in my closet.

Fortunately, as many of my friends know, my closet is very well stocked. Here are the two Christmas stamp sets I have:



And here are some random things I think could work with these stamps:

These pearly beads,

these really pretty pins that I've always wanted to use but never designed a card for, and

these small tags.

So, Lance is working late. The kids are in bed. The living room floor is strewn with the carnage of today's choice of toys. With this little time to myself, I'm hoping to at least design this year's card. (In other words, steal and modify a design I find somewhere online!)

Perhaps I'll design a card that will help me find redemption in the eyes of stampdom.

A Special Announcement

Guess whaaaatttt....

Just kidding!!!!

I am NOT pregnant.

But I almost wish I were so that I could use this book. (Almost... but not quite.)

I won this pregnancy journal from that oh-so-great site DesignMom. (I kinda wish I had won the baby book instead, but beggars can't be choosers.) I love that blog, not just because I seem to have good luck with her giveaways, but because she has such excellent taste in the products and stuff she blogs about. We're quite similar.

Anywho, to recap: I won. I am not pregnant. At all. So there better not be any rumors at church on Sunday.

Now go about your daily activities.

A Pre-Christmas Miracle

Remember when I won all those great Lego sets a couple weeks ago? Well the sets arrived in the mail on Monday.

I snuck the boxes into my room, closed the door, and opened them. The castle and the Bionicles were in the first box. We're saving these two for when the boys are older and not prone to swallowing small parts. (We have enough medical bills with broken bones, thank you.)

But when I opened the second box, it wasn't the big box of Duplos as promised. It was this:

I started to get upset until I realized exactly what it was - a Duplo Thomas & Friends set. Spencer ADORES the very pricey Thomas & Friends. But not only that, it was a train named Spencer, with the name SPENCER written right on the engine.

I believe this is what's known as a Christmas coup d'etat.

Santa is going to be VERY popular this year.

Thanksgiving Was A Week Ago?!?

Okay, I've been in super-busy mode ever since we got back from Thanksgiving on Saturday night. And I feel like I should devote some super-long post about it all, since it was so nice. But if I do that, it will never get done. And that means I would never post again, because I would feel guilty about ignoring Thanksgiving. And then what would my minions do? (That's why I blog - to create an army of minions who will do my every bidding.) ((Oh c'mon - don't act so surprised.))

So here are a few highlights of my Thanksgiving holiday with my Uncle Teryl and Aunt Tammy, who live in beautiful (if arctic) Madision, Wisconsin.

• I went to The Container Store for the first time. I think I am in love.
• I actually got to sneak in a couple of naps, which is a very rare treat! (Teryl and Tammy put a heated mattress pad on our bed - heaven!) I literally would have slept through Thanksgiving Dinner if Lance hadn't woken me up!
• Spencer ate about four bites of Thanksgiving dinner, but Josh made up for this by not only eating his rather large dinner, but also finishing Spencer's leftovers a couple hours later. That boy was born to eat.
• Doing the majority of my shopping online, as God intended, not out in the bitter cold at 5am!
• Lance and I doing some afternoon shopping on Black Friday - sans the boys. I went to Steve & Barry's for the first time. I was really excited to see the new Bitten line. (It's great because it's so reasonably priced.) They had jeans on sale for $10, but they were all either too short but otherwise looked good, or long enough but looked weird. I hate shopping for jeans. But I did find a cute pair of navy blue canvas shoes. (Like All Stars - only $10 instead of $35!) Lance was also thrilled to try out the $15 Starbury basketball shoes - he bought two pairs!
  
• Lance and I going out to dinner and seeing Beolwulf in 3D on the IMAX screen. The movie was decent, but I enjoyed being without the kids more!
• The kids were actually really good on the way home. We stopped several times for potty breaks and diaper changes, so there were no accidents. (Always a good thing!) In fact, the only disagreeable thing was the occasional sock/half-chewed walnut/random toy thrown at us from the back by Josh. I think he does it just to remind us who is really in charge.
  

I always forget to take pictures at Thanksgiving. I don't know why. But here are the few I did manage to get.

Lance trying to get Spencer to fall asleep by playing Super Mario Brothers on his phone. It worked.

Josh working on his second Thanksgiving feast of the day. Mmmm... celery and cream cheese.

Molly, Teryl & Tammy's dog. She has hair and doesn't shed, which made it okay for Spencer to be there. However, allergic people are actually allergic to the dog's saliva. Spencer soon learned to only pet her back, and not to let her lick him! (Poor kid looked like he had been in a fight and lost, with a big swollen and dark eye and his arm in a cast!)

Spencer and Josh 'helping' me pack. They were both glad to head home!

Well, I hope that does some justice to our Thanksgiving holiday. Now back to work, minions.

To Blog or Not To Blog?

Work on my church callings, decorate the house for Christmas, clean, run errands, Christmas shopping, save Josh from Spencer, make meals, save Spencer from Josh, plan FHE, give FHE lesson, exercise, sleep, do laundry... or blog?

I think the answer to that has lately been obvious!

Hopefully back soon...

Thanksgiving Trip - Tuesday

I'm finally clear-headed enough to blog!

So our Thanksgiving trip began Tuesday afternoon with a drive up to Chicago to visit our friends John and Maura. After a small detour to some of South Chicago (which I can't seem to get enough of) and a small sampling of Chicago rush hour traffic, we made it in time for dinner.

We had a great time! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera in the car. So instead of boring photos, I'll treat you instead to my own hand drawings of the evening. Now don't be shocked, but I have never been to art school. I know, I know, after seeing my drawings you'd think I had some sort of professional training, right? (Spencer answer: "Yes... but no.")

Here's John and Maura:


This looks just like them. Except they wore shirts and Maura doesn't have curly hair (strait hair is really hard to draw). But that weird heart kept floating around their heads all evening... it was kinda creepy.

Anywho, one of the great things about John and Maura is that they totally belong together. You know how you sometimes meet married couples and think "How in the world did they get together?!?" They just don't match; they seem total opposites. It's a bit disconcerting, especially for me because then that's all I can think about when I'm around them. But then there are those couples who are a match made in heaven - you couldn't imagine them with anyone else, because anyone else would just be wrong. You know what I'm talking about. Well, that's how John and Maura are - a perfect match.

That last paragraph doesn't really have anything to do with our evening - it was just something I thought of while we were there.

So we drove up to their apartment building along the North Shore of Chicago. We missed it the first time and felt a bit foolish about that because it looked like this:


Just kidding! There were way more lop-sided minarets!

Just kidding! It really looked more like this:


That's because it was a really rainy and foggy night.

I loved their apartment. Maura had painted some of the walls a dark purple, which I just loved. If I thought I could convince Lance, I'd repaint my kitchen to that color. The whole place was too cute and the perfect newlywed apartment. (Especially compared to ours - our first apartment was 400 square feet. You could stand in one spot and see everywhere, and the bedroom was so small that it only fit our bed. On the other hand, rent was less than $300 a month, including utilities and cable.)

We had a yummy dinner of tacos, with lots of choices for toppings, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Muy delicioso! (My Spanish is about as good as my drawings.) Only, the tacos weren't hairy like mine appears to be.


Then John took us on a little field trip to see from the top of the building. Spencer was in love with the elevators - I'm surprised he hasn't asked why we don't have one in our house! We made it to the 55th floor and this was the glorious view:


Okay, it was still foggy and rainy, so we really just saw bits of light through the fog. But the trip up and down was fun, and John was pretty sure he saw Spiderman web-slinging by, so we'll definitely have to go back some time when the weather is better.

It was a really nice evening, and we hated to leave. But we had a drive to our hotel in Glenview and two tired little boys.


Actually, Josh threw things more than flexed his muscles. And his muscles are bigger. But that's a pretty spot-on Spencer.

So we loaded up the fam, said our good-byes, and were off.

Thanks for the great start to our Thanksgiving holiday, John & Maura! We are certainly thankful for you!

Can't.... Breathe....

Can't think or breath.

Annual Thanksgiving head cold.

Drugged out on antihistamines.

Thanksgiving low-down tomorrow.

If I make it through the night.

Thanksgiving Agenda

We're heading out to scenic Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. Here's a brief agenda:

Tuesday:

• Take Spencer to preschool, then come home and pack.
• While packing, get after Josh around 389 times for such things as: sneaking into the bathroom to play in the toilet, knocking the plant in my room over, and pulling all the just-packed clothes out of the suit case.
• Pick up Spencer from preschool.
• Pick up Lance from work and drive up to Chicago.
• Spend half of the trip turned around in my seat and dealing with two little restless boys in the back seat.
• Have dinner with our awesome friends, John & Maura.
• Spend the night at the Fairfield Inn down the street from the temple.
  

Wednesday:

• Take turns watching the boys while the other does a session at the temple.
• Do a little shopping, especially at the Container Store. I want to get a few of these for my Christmas goodies. (And whatever else I fancy!)
  
• Drive to Madison, but before going to Uncle Teryl and Aunt Tammy's house, hitting the Land's End Inlet. (Priorities, priorities...)
  

Thursday:

• Eat more turkey and pie than is responsible for an adult my age. (Remember, I'm nearly flirty! I should know better; but it won't stop me.)
• Scan the ads for Black Friday.

Friday:

• Shopping! My main goal is to find a camera for my birthday. I want this one. I also want to find Lance a new winter coat.
• Perhaps see a movie while my Teryl and Tammy watch the boys. (Aren't they awesome?!) ((Teryl and Tammy, not the boys.)) (((Okay, the boys are awesome, too.)))
• The real question isn't who is awesome and who is not. The real question is what movie do we see?

Saturday:

• Pack up and leave some time after lunch.
• Pray there's no snow, traffic, or diaper explosions on the way home. (Is that too much to ask for? Probably.)
  

There, now I've squelched your burning curiosity about my holiday trip. See you on Saturday!

Primary Proverbs - Special Program Edtion!

I haven't been posting Primary Proverbs lately because I didn't teach class while I was in Utah and we have been practicing the Primary Program the last couple of weeks. The Primary Program is a presentation put on once a year by the children during Sacrament meeting. Each child has a short speaking part and we sing lots of primary songs. The kids get to practice speaking and singing in front of a large audience, and congregation gets a very entertaining Sacrament Meeting. (Because the Primary Program is nothing if not entertaining!)

Things went pretty well. A few highlights from my point of view:

• Spencer gave his line perfectly. (He was the only Sunbeam (3 & 4 year olds) that you could understand!) Here it is!

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• Josh sitting on Lance's lap (in the congregation), pointing his little chubby finger at me (up on the stand) and bellowing at the top of his lungs "MAMA!!!! AMA AMA MAMA!!!!"
• Spencer continuing to sing a song after everyone else had stopped. (Haha!)
• Spencer entertaining the congregation with his shenanigans, such as waving to Josh and saying "Hi Joshie!", dancing to the music, and singing at the top of his lungs.

And here are a few of my favorite lines from class and sharing time today:

• "The little kids get their treats first because they have no patience. Yeah, little kids have no patience. Hey, where's my cookie? I want my cookie now!"
• "Dude, you don't even have half a dog!"
• Child: "Can I pressure point him? Please?!?!" Me: "No." Child: "Just once!" Me: "NO." Child: "You never let me do anything." Me: "True."
  

Flashback

These pictures and video were actually taken the night Spencer broke his arm. I just kept forgetting to post them.

We had had clam chowder for dinner (my grandma's fantastic recipe). I made it even more fun by making bread bowls, which Spencer thought was really fun. It was really yummy! And Josh LOVED it. I mean, this kid really packed it away - he had two bowls!


Things started getting silly when Lance started teasing Josh, bringing the spoon just to his mouth and then taking it away. Josh gives the cutest looks in this video!

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Then Spencer started eating his bowl with no hands. (Portent of things to come!) And then Josh started showing off his legs (see video). The burp at the end was classic Josh. It was actually a really funny evening.

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At least until the bone cracking and all.

Blogging is Becoming Quite Lucrative!

Okay, I know, three posts in one day. But I couldn't wait to share the happy news:

I WON I WON!!! AGAIN!!!

I won a giveaway on the oh-so-excellent blog DesignMom.

It's going to be a very merry Christmas for some little boys because this is what I won:

A set of Duplos
A big Lego castle set
And a couple of Bionicles, whatever those are.
I'll probably save the castle and bionicles for when the boys are older. (Small parts are a favorite Joshie snack.)

Now the real question: should the Legos come from Lance and I, or should Santa have all the glory?

Flirty Momma

From a real conversation with Spencer this afternoon:

Spencer: Mommy, is it your birthday?

Me: Nope. In a couple of weeks. (On December 4th, actually.)

Spencer: What number is your body?

Me (thinking I'm quite clever): Daddy says I'm a ten.

Spencer: What?

Me: Do you mean how old am I?

Spencer: Yes.

Me: I'm twenty-nine.

Spencer: No! You're flirty.

Me: What? Flirty?

Spencer (exasperated, talking as if I'm a bit dim): Yes! You will be flirty on your birthday!

Me (thinking I'm still quite clever): I don't have to be flirty. I already got your dad to marry me.

Spencer: Silence.

Me (trying to recover as if it really mattered that a three year old didn't get the joke): I am not thirty yet. I am 29. But...

Spencer: No! On your birthday you will be flirty.

Me: Fine. On my birthday I will be flirty. Watch out, boys, here I come!

Spencer: What? Watch out what?

Me: Nevermind. Is flirty old?

Spencer: No...... But yes.

Expensive Poop

This morning was rough. Actually, it started out okay. I had the boys up and ready to take Spencer to preschool. Then Josh decided that it was time to get some attention by having a diaper blow-out. A big one. Ten minutes before we had to leave. The same ten minutes I had planned on eating my breakfast. And then Spencer decided to have some sort of broken arm-related melt down. And it was tears and fighting and patience-testing until we were out the door, in the car, and five minutes on the road.

No worries. We still got to preschool on time and things had calmed down nicely. Josh and I had a an appointment with the Purdue Baby Lab later in the morning, so I didn't want to drive all the way home and then all the way back. I decided this was all a good enough excuse to go to Panera Bread for breakfast.

Josh and I shared a French Toast Bagel with Hazelnut Cream Cheese and some hot chocolate - YUM. (Way better than the picture above.) We ran into Ginger and her kids while we were there, but she had a piano teacher's meeting so we couldn't really chat. (So sad!) I enjoyed sharing my bagel with Josh (and by sharing I mean giving in to his demands for at least half of the bagel and all of the leftover cream cheese on a spoon), drinking my hot chocolate, and thinking about what a small world it is.

And since we were right next door and had some time to kill, I decided we'd go browse around Borders Bookstore for a while. I had a gift card that had been burning in my wallet for several months. I was going to buy some kids books for Christmas, but remembered that I had already gotten some at a big book sale earlier. So I splurged again and bought Oprah's latest book club book: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. (Only mine doesn't have the Oprah sticker on it because she just announced it yesterday. Score.)

I'm not one to always rush out and buy Oprah's book club choices. Oh, she's had a pretty good track record, and there have been some really great books on her list. Let's just say I'm not in luurrve with Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou like she is. But the last book on her list, Middlesex, was excellent. And the description she gave of this book made it sound right up my alley - I'm a sucker for historical fiction. Especially European historical fiction. I'm only telling you all this because the employee I asked to help me find the book looked at me like "Oh, you're one of those people", and then proceeded to ask over her walkie talkie (in a snotty way and as if this were the biggest annoyance ever) "Does anyone know where the new Oprah book is? She just announced it yesterday, so I haven't seen in yet."

Despite the obvious inconvenience it was on the salesgirl, I bought the book and headed back to the car.

Sniff sniff...

Yep, Josh had another dirty diaper. Not a diaper blowout - thank goodness! - but it needed to be changed. So we found a bathroom and took care of business. He didn't even grab his poop this time, a sure sign of better things to come.

I left the store in an optimistic mood - only to find this on my car:


I looked at my watch. We were literally five minutes over the one hour time limit. I looked up and saw someone I recognized from Panera Bread, who had been there well before us, get into there un-ticketed car and drive away. Apparently the West Lafayette meter maids had some sort of ticket quota to reach this morning and I was one of the unfortunate souls to feel their wrath. How dare I be five minutes late?!

It's not a huge amount - just $20 - but I can think of a million things I'd rather spend the money on. Like this. Or this. Or even this.

I told Josh that this was his fault and that he should pay for it. He looked up from his car seat, smiled, and let out a rather loud and hazelnut-scented burp. Then he laughed, incredibly pleased with himself.

Good one, Josh. Can't argue with that.

Child Containment

The boys and I had another round of Vacuum Chicken today.

And I was losing. Badly.

I finally lost it after having tried to vacuum for nearly 20 minutes and only getting half of the house done. (Our house is not that big! Joshie kept unplugging the cord every other minute and Spencer kept inexplicably getting tangled in my legs.) It was time to take drastic measures:

Just kidding.

Kind of.

No, I would never duct tape my children! It would leave too many marks on their chubby little ankles and wrists! (Plus, I'm pretty sure Josh is strong enough to break through something as feeble as duct tape.)

No, I took matters in a different direction:


Yep, into the crib you go, boys!

They actually loved it. Josh liked the novelty of Spencer in the crib, and Spencer has wanted to be in the crib since the day Josh was born.

I was able to vacuum the house, dust, clean a billion fingerprints off of the entertainment center glass, and even go to the bathroom in peace (*gasp*) in the 20 minutes the boys were in the crib.

So now I have a great new way to win at Vacuum Chicken. Now I just need to figure out what I'll do when they're too big for the crib...

My Little Supermen

My kiddos rock!

They had their flu shots today. After a busy morning at preschool for Spencer, and library lapsit and lots of errands for Josh, I thought I'd have to deal with two tired and hungry boys by the time we got to the doctor. Not a good combo for shots. Visions of legendary crying jags and a certain baby demanding to be held for the rest of the day danced in my head.

Boy was I surprised when Spencer barely even flinched when he got his shot. I was even more surprised when Josh didn't cry either! As we were getting him ready for the shot (lying him down, me holding his hands and the nurse holding his legs) I could see his thought process:

"Hey, what's going on? I don't want to hold hands, Momma. I want to play - specifically with that toy Spencer has right now. And what's with the lady holding my legs? I want to... Hey! Ouch! What was that? Oh, we're all done? Coolio."

Made my busy day soooo much easier. We celebrated with lunch at McDonald's with Lance - a treat!

On a bunko-related note:

I had the most bunkos and the highest score tonight. So I rock, too! (Sorry, Rachel, for taking away your bunko prize dreams.) I decided to take the high score prize, a gift card to TJ Maxx, since I already had the bunko prize, a pizza peel and cutter. I love bunko.

Socks for Dinner

I spent all weekend working on this:

It's a felt nativity that the kiddos can play with this Christmas. Each part is attached to the back with velcro. I started it Saturday morning at our RS Super Saturday, but didn't even get close to finishing it there. I knew I had to finish it this weekend or it would never happen. (It'd become a 'millennial project' - something I'd only have time to work on during the millennium!) I think it's cute, if I do say so myself. Almost too cute... do I really want my kids to play with (a.k.a. destroy) it? I'm already picturing the shepherd hanging out of Josh's mouth, covered in drool...

Other than that, it's been a little rough around here. Spencer's going through a phase where he acts and talks like a baby: crawling, whining, 'crying', pointing, etc. When I tell him to stop acting like a baby, he says "But Mom, I'm only pretending I'm a baby!" This morning I told him that if he's going to act like a baby I would have to treat him like one - starting with nap time. That got me a few free hours.

Josh is also being a handful. Besides getting into EVERYTHING, he has also started throwing epic tantrums over little things. How dare I stop him from turning the computer on and off, take the garbage can away from him, or, *gasp* change his diaper. The nerve!

On a different note...

This evening, during the middle of dinner, Josh decided to pull off his sock and throw it onto his dinner plate. It landed right in the sauce. Yeah, that pretty much sums up my life right now - as fun as socks for dinner.

Mmmmm... Buckeyes

Our ward's RS Super Saturday is tomorrow. We're supposed to take a family favorite Christmas treat, but I couldn't really think of one. (Except this awesome sugar cookie recipe I have, but it's just too soon for something that Christmasy.) In fact, I guess the only tradition I have concerning Christmas treats is trying lots of new recipes every year.

So I decided to try a new recipe that I've been wanting to try: Buckeyes. Not very Christmasy - but YUM! They look like a bit of work, but they're actually pretty easy and yummy. They're also fun for little boys to help mix, roll, and steal. And did I mention yummy? So here's the recipe. (I got it from the Nestle site.)

Buckeyes

2 cups creamy peanut butter, (not all-natural)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened

3 3/4 cups (16-oz. box) powdered sugar

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

LINE baking sheets with wax paper.

1. BEAT peanut butter and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in powdered sugar until mixture holds together and is moistened. Shape into 1-inch balls; place on prepared baking sheets. Freeze for 1 hour.

2. MELT morsels and shortening in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until melted.

3. DIP peanut butter centers into melted chocolate using a toothpick, leaving a small portion of the center uncovered. Shake off excess chocolate and scrape bottom of candy on side of bowl. Return to baking sheets; refrigerate until chocolate is set. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

The Cookware of My Dreams

I can't remember if I've blogged about this or not (and I freely admit that I am too lazy to go back and look), but all of my cookware has been falling apart lately. The set I got for my wedding was slowly committing suicide. It was time to get a 'grown up' set of cookware since I am a 'grown up'. (I also freely admit that I sometimes forget that I actually am a grown up. Every once in a while I'll get in the car and think "Cool - I can drive!") Anywho, after a month of testing and doing research and such, I bought the cookware of my dreams:

Behold! The Chantal Copper Fusion Cookware set! Avert your eyes, all ye who are not worthy! (Angelic choirs seeing and trumpets blaring.)

For any mere mortals who don't know about the cookware, here are the basics:

• A copper plate is fused into the carbon steel core, resulting in a pan that heats very quickly and evenly without leaving any hotspots in the pan.
  
• Features one of the most stick-resistant surfaces without any type of chemical or nonstick coating. (Enamel coating)
  
• Short helper side handles create an ease in transfer and weight balance.
  
• Durable, stick resistant, never fades, and is dishwasher safe.
  
• Backed by a lifetime warranty and is perfect for all stove tops, including induction.

I've already used several of the pieces tonight and...

LOVE IT!!!

Fifteen years ago this 'grown up' would have never thought that she'd get so excited over some pots and pans!

X-Rays or...

... postmodern art?

Yeah, we're kinda weird like that. But Lance has access to all of Spencer's x-rays, so I had him print them up. Then Spencer and I made them into a collage to hang in his room. (It looks bigger that it really is - it's only about 18 inches across.) It's very manly; I mean, how cool is it to have your own x-rays on your bedroom wall when you're three/almost four? (Answer: very.)

Spencer LOVES it. He's likes to point and say "There's my arm! And there's my leg! And there's my elbow! My elbow is broken and it hurts. Look at it!" And then he waves it and takes a good swing in your direction and you have to jump out of the way or risk being walloped with his day-glo green cast.

I was hoping it would be a sobering reminder of the pain he'd been through. Perhaps get him to be a bit more careful in the future. No dice. Just today, 24 hours after having the cast put on, I caught him:

• Jumping from the love seat to the couch and back again (over the armrests, of course!)
• Using a plastic storage box as a 'skateboard' down the hallway
• Trying to skate in his socks in the kitchen
• Trying to balance on his behind on the thin back of the couch
• Several other things I can't remember exactly; all I know is that I spent most of the day yelling at him to stop and be careful...
  

I guess I should just give up; he doesn't quite seem to understand the concept of self-preservation. Perhaps I'll have to make a collage of the medical bills and hang it up in the office.

p.s. Here are my favorite/scariest x-rays. They're the ones of the bones he literally snapped 18 months ago. I had nightmares and the biggest guilt trip for months after the accident. But now that I'm over it, I find it amazing that he went through that kind of pain and didn't freak out any more than he did. That kid's Superman!

Utah Trip - Part Five

Our last few days in Utah were nice. We enjoyed the nice weather outside and the views from Dad & Susie's house.

Spencer learned how to rock out with Uncle Kevin and Guitar Hero III.


Josh decided that eating cut apples was for wimps, and that it would all or nothin' from now on!


Josh also decided that if anyone were in the kitchen (especially Grandma Susie) he needed to be there, too - right in the middle of things.


On Monday it was my brother Kyle's 27th birthday. All of my grandparents came out and we had a nice dinner.


Spencer showed off his mad nursery rhyme skills.

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We ended the evening with a picture with my Burgoyne grandparents. The first one didn't go so well - Josh decided it was time to play peek-a-boo and Spencer was... I don't know what Spencer was doing, but it wasn't cute.

But the next one turned out pretty good.


All in all, a good trip!

It's All Just A Little Bit of History Repeated

We went to the orthopedist this morning - the same orthopedist we saw 18 months ago. He decided that Spencer does indeed have a crack in his elbow. He said that if Spencer were older and could be easy on his arm we'd be okay. But given Spencer's history and the fact that he seems to trip over dust particles, we decided to put put his arm in a cast. Oh joy.

So we were went into the cast room - the same cast room we were in 18 months ago.

And Spencer chose to have a bright green cast - the same color he chose 18 months ago.

And now he's in a full arm cast - same arm as 18 months ago.

At least this time it will only be for 4 weeks. (And not 8 like last time!) ((It would have been only 3, but they pushed it back because of Thanksgiving. So now it's the week of my birthday. Good timing, Spence.))