More Spencer Funnies

• The other day Lynnsey was having a meltdown over some small thing or other. Spencer walked into the room, sighed in exasperation, and said : "Oh Lynnsey, what is your heck now?"
• Spencer is going to be a spider for Halloween. He told me he wanted a "scary" spider costume. Well, there is no such thing as a scary spider costume for a four-year-old. So I bought him a very cute costume on eBay and when it arrived he wanted to try it on right away. When he was dressed he went and looked in the full-length mirror. He said: "I really look scary in this costume and also a little adorable."

Kalen and Kaya's Utah trip

I've been slacking off in getting some things posted. The biggest thing was Kalen and Kaya's trip to Utah a couple of weeks ago. Kalen had a language conference at Snowbird and decided that since Kaya can still fly for free, he would take her along to spend some time with his family. I really struggled with the idea of letting her go! But I knew it was a great chance for her to see relatives and that we need to take advantage of every opportunity we have since we rarely get back out west anymore. I missed Kaya like crazy. It was so strange to not have her here and I realized that there are a lot of minutes of the day that are devoted to her!

Apparently she was fine on the four hour flight and charmed all the passengers. But once they arrived in Utah at Sherrie's house and she realized that this was where they were ending up, she became a bit more fussy and shy with everyone. I guess by the end of the trip she warmed up somewhat to some people but Kalen said she spent the majority of the time clinging to him. I was actually surprised by that because she is so easy- going and friendly nearly all of the time. But still, I'm glad she went and that Kalen's family got to see her for a couple of days.

I thought Kalen would take more pictures of everyone but apparently they were having too much fun visiting to remember the camera. Oh well. Here are a few anyway.

Snowbird:

Tony Grove (in Logan Canyon):

On the way back from Tony Grove:

Spring Hollow (in Logan Canyon):

Kaya and Uncle Todd

I believe Kalen and I sat on this very bridge over 15 years ago to have our engagement pictures taken.

At Todd and Nikki's house:

Apparently everyone got a kick out of Kaya's fascination with the drum set.

I wondered how Kaya would be when we were reunited. Once Kalen and I went to Mexico for a week when Taylor was a year old and he was so furious with me when I came home. He wouldn't look at me or talk to me for a full day afterward. And then he completely switched gears and became so ultra-clingy that I couldn't go anywhere including the next room without him falling apart and thinking I was deserting him. But upon her return Kaya spotted me and came happily to me as if we hadn't been apart at all. She has also throroughly enjoyed the extra attention of her siblings who missed her nearly as much as I did!

Is It My Turn?

Everywhere we look there are sick people! Schools are closing right and left and we've even had Lynnsey home this past week with the flu (we think just the regular kind...). But with so much junk going around, the stake presidency decided that we should cancel church this Sunday as well. I explained the situation to the kids and told them that because so many people were getting sick that we would not be having church. Spencer took the news well and went off to play. Then today he asked me, "Is tomorrow the day that I'm gonna be sick?"

Not I...

Once upon a time there was a frazzled mother of five children who had begun her day with a long to-do list and high hopes of checking off at least a few items. By the afternoon she had given up on the rotten list and just wanted one thing: to get her house straightened up so that her one shred of sanity that remained could stay intact.

"Who will help me clean the house?" she asked her children.

"Not I" said the middle schooler who had been sitting in the same chair without moving all day. "I've only gotten to watch four hours of TV today. I just don't have time to help."

"Not I" said the nine-year old son. "I already started cleaning but nobody else was helping so I don't think I should have to do it. Plus, I'm contemplating how cool it will be in a few hours when I flush the toilet and it floods all over the bathroom floor and spreads to the carpet of the bedroom so that you will have to drag out the steam cleaner and shampoo carpets instead of getting us to bed at a decent hour."

"Not I" said the six-going-on-sixteen-year old daughter, rolling her eyes dramatically. "I don't want to and you can't make me. And by the way, do you think you could possibly get my halloween costume made in this century?"

"Not I" said the preschool boy who was still a little groggy from his late afternoon nap in the recliner. "I'm still too tired to help and also while I was sleeping I had an accident so I need you to get me some new clothes and clean up this chair again."

"I'll help" said the baby as she headed for the toilet with five new toothbrushes. "After I get done throwing these into the potty, I'll make sure that you have enough other stuff to clean up in the kitchen by dumping out the rest of the pretzels and stomping all over them and then I will pour out my sippy cup on top to make sure they get really sticky and gummy and impossible to clean up."

The poor mother sighed and went to put in another load of laundry, load the dishwasher, and make the dinner that most of the kids would say tastes like puke. And she did. All by herself. The End.

Of course this was all just a story. It in no way resembles anything that may have taken place around here today. Not at all. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go and put away my steam cleaner and mop some sort of gunk off the kitchen floor.

ABC Tag

Alison posted this tag on her blog and I thought it looked like fun, so even though I could probably just copy and paste her answers here (with a few name changes of course)because our responses will be so similar, I will attempt to give some original answers.

Here goes!

A: Addiction: blogging, chocolate, reading, and scrapbooking. (I used to just be addicted to stockpiling scrapbook supplies but thanks to Alison's creation of a scrapbooking blog and my commitment to do at least one layout per week, I have rediscovered my old addiction!)

B: Breakfast: a bowl of corn chex and a couple of pretzels that were left on the table from one of the kid's snacks.

C: Chocolate or Chips: Absolulely chocolate (see addictions above).

D: Dessert or Appetizers: If we are eating out, we usually go for an appetizer but at home, it's usually dessert.

E: Essential Items: binkies are the big thing right now and we can never find one when we need it. Also diapers, wipes, and pretzels--the two kids I babysit are pretzel maniacs and if I don't keep enough on hand, it's not a fun day.

F: Favorite Color: It varies. At the risk of sounding like my preschooler ("I like green and red and blue and orange and yellow..."), I like all shades of purple, dark blue, brown, and green.

G: Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Neither. Not a big gummy candy fan.

H: Hometown: Duchesne, Utah.

I: Indulgence: the eating of chocolate paired with the reading of a good book/magazine or a chick flick. (I'll just add my amen to Alison's answer).

J: January or July: July without question.

K: Kids: The five cutest kids on earth--Taylor (13), Kendall (getting really close to 10), Lynnsey (6 1/2), Spencer (4), and Kaya (1).

L: Life isn't complete without: my family and the gospel. (And that darn chocolate).

M: Most exciting memory: I'm not one who really lives on the edge so my "exciting" memories probably won't seem like much. But for me eloping to the temple was exciting. A second honeymoon to Mexico was exciting. Finding out that I really would have a daughter was exciting. And our recent trip to the Chicago Symphony was amazingly exciting.

N: Number of Brothers and Sisters: 7 brothers, 4 sisters.

O: Oranges or Apples: both. I LOVE fruit. (But not as much as chocolate.)

P: Phobias or Fears: dying young or something happening to my husband or one of my kids. Plus, I still have nightmares about signing up for a college class and forgetting to attend until the final. So apparently I still have a healthy fear of bad grades! (Another amen to Alison's response) Also, BATS--I'm absolutely horrifically terrified of them. And lately I'm a bit paranoid about swine flu. (The kids are so sick of me constantly asking them if they washed their hands.)

Q: Quote: I love quotes! I have so many quotes written down that it's impossible to pick one. A new one that I just ran across the other day is: "It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end" by Ursula K. LeGuin. I love the one from President Hinckley that goes: "In all living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." And funny quotes too: "Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in theri shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you ware a mile away from them, and you have their shoes." by Frieda Norris. Also the latest from one of my kids: "If Daddy comes after our toys with that garbage bag again, I'm running away from home and taking Kaya with me--and Baby Beethoven." (That was Lynnsey).

R: Reading: I love books. A lot. So I'm usually reading several at the same time. Current ones include (but are not limited to) "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Rejoice" by Karen Kingsbury, and "The Mother in Me" by various authors.

S: Summer or Spring: I love them both. Spring is always exciting and beautiful after a long winter but summer is all about family and spending time together.

T: Tag 6 people: Oh, anyone who wants to play along is welcome to. I'd especially encourage any of you who haven't posted recently to do this one.

U: Unknown fact about me. Not that I have a ton of secrets but I finally caved and colored my hair. I was getting so many grays that Kendall was really beginning to stress about them (and there were too many for me to keep pulling them out). When I finished coloring my hair, he hugged me in gratitude. But so far, he is the only one who noticed. I tried my best to match my natural color because I happen to really love my natural color, and apparently it was a good match. Kalen was out of town when I did it and so far he hasn't seemed to notice anything different.

V: Vacation I want to go on: Two places that I would really love to visit are Hawaii and Spain.

W: Walking or Running: Walking. Definitely walking.

X: X-Ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasound. I've only had the baby kind and those are always great. X-rays usually are for an unpleasant reason. Although, Spencer still loves his souvenir of the rock in his throat.

Y: Your favorite food: Yes. Food is my favorite. (But especially Mexican, Italian, fresh baked bread, and most desserts--especially the chocolate kind. Huh. I guess after looking at that list I should just say that carbohydrates are my favorite food).

Z: Zoo or Bowling: Zoo. We have a membership there so we tend to go quite often. We like bowling too but no membership for that so it rarely happens.

A-Maizing Day

A week and a half or so ago we went once again to the corn harvest festival. It was fun to finally have Kalen join us--the first year he was traveling and last year he was sick. Spencer liked the little petting zoo that they had.

We brought "Flat Koby" with us on the adventure. Our nephew Koby sent this to us as a part of a school project. They read the book Flat Stanley and then made life-size pictures of themselves to send to people who will do something fun with the replica and then send it on to somewhere else (did you get it yet Alison?)

Lynnsey in the maze.

Kaya was just happy to have Timothy lug her around everwhere.

A few cute scarecrows.

In spite of being rushed because we had to squeeze it in to a jam-packed day of soccer and General Conference, it was a really fun time.

Who's A Child of God?

A couple of months ago we had a family home evening lesson in which Kalen asked the question: "Who in this room is a child of God?" to which we all raised our hands--including Kaya. Ever since if we ask her the question she shoots that little hand up in the air and it is the most precious thing ever. We thought we would share.