The Mack Pack

Superbowl!!

2011-11-14T22:49:00.001-08:00

Spencer and his team, the Richland Raiders, played in the Superbowl against the Prosser Mustangs. It was a heartbreaking loss, going down by 6 points, 13-7, but the kids had such great attitudes and fought so hard, that though they lost, they ended on such a positive note. It was a tough game and things just didn't go our way. I'm sure Spencer and his teammates will be extra hungry next year though. Spence had a great year and has been fortunate to be on such a great team. His coaches are so good at teaching the kids the game and keeping it fun. He played numerous positions including receiver, safety, cornerback, backup QB, and others that unfortunately I don't even know what they're called. "Spicy Red" even played quite a bit on the line....mostly on the offense.

Rob and I enjoyed watching him play and even got a bit dressed up for the big end of the season game. Rob really got into the spirit of it all and I decided to at least paint my face. It was fun and Spencer even thought it was cool. He was impressed that Dad made his outfit and came up with the whole idea. Don't worry everyone, this is only a Superbowl thing, there will be no face paint or outfit unless one of our kids makes it to the big game! We love football and we especially love watching our boys play the game!

Summer

2011-08-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Birthday Time

2011-03-28T00:25:00.001-07:00

It's crazy how time flies. Our once little "Car-Car" is all grown up.....according to him. He's NOT little anymore. He has learned so much this year. Carter's writing his name by himself, starting reading, can do a perfect cartwheel, splits, and the highest karate kick I've ever seen a 5 year old do. His enthusiasm and laugh continues to be so, so infectious. We love that toothy smile and his passion for all the little things in life. We were grateful to have a special visit from Gma and Gpa Harris and enjoyed them til our hearts' content.

I'm Smitten...

2011-01-24T17:41:00.000-08:00

What can I say about our little Jackson? He is such an amazingly happy cutie! He has grown so fast and keeps passing milestones that I'm not quite ready for. He has been standing all on his own these last few weeks and it's only a matter of time before he starts walking! Spencer and Carter didn't even crawl til they were 10 months old, and Jackson is only 9 months! I know he wants to go and play with his older brothers, especially since they take such good care of him and I'm forever grateful for that. -sure makes my life easier!

Just look at that face! I sure love this kiddo! His red hair, blue eyes, never ending drool, and a smile that I just can't get enough of!

Gettin' so BIG!

2010-12-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

Jackson is just about 8 months now and he has mastered so many milestones. He sits up like a pro, starting to crawl backwards, and can even push himself up to a sitting position. We are enjoying him so much! Carter and Spencer are such great big brothers and are the best of pals. I can't even imagine the day when they are all in cahoots with each other driving me up the wall with their antics and loudness, but I'm sure that it's going to be great!

For Thanksgiving we had Rob's Mom come and visit. We had a great time and Carter soon became her new best friend. They did puzzles together, played games together, toy cars, and she even gave him one of her famous word searches books. We enjoyed all her smiles and giggles and now...8 days later, we're still talking about Grandma Noni!

We have much to be thankful for!

Fall 2010....the everyday, the exception and the best!

2010-10-28T20:35:00.001-07:00

Octoberfest

2010-10-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

Every year the fitness club I work at puts on a members appreciation party. There's dinner, entertainment, a costume parade, and lots of things for the kids to do. Activities, games, a bounce house, a balloon man, face painting lady, and of course lots of candy! Jackson even got his first tattoo, smile. Don't worry gma's and gpa's....it didn't even last til morning.

At the Pool....

2010-08-31T16:11:00.001-07:00

His Smile....

2010-06-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Jackson has become so much more interactive and fun! It's so rewarding that he now recognizes me, Rob and the boys AND that we make him happy. He is growing so fast and changing day by day. I just can't even wait to hear his laugh....he is such a happy boy!

Here are some of my favorites caught by me...

Memorial Day

2010-06-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

These Boys are my Joys!

2010-06-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

There's something oh so special about seeing the face of my youngest peering out over the shoulder of my oldest.

& Carter is just plain smitten with his new baby brother!

Baseball's in Session

2010-04-28T09:51:00.001-07:00

Baseball has started and on the very last day of possible registration, Spencer decided he wanted to play. So luckily, Rob jumped on the phone and made it happen. It's been 2 years since Spencer's had any interest, so we are very excited about it. I know we shouldn't push our kids to do what we love, but it's so hard for Rob and I. Especially cuz the kid's got talent, but just needs a little more love of the game.
Spencer is on a Single A team with a lot of his friends and classmates. He's having fun, learning a lot, and is getting better and better. We love that he bats left handed, but is a total righty, and has such a smooth stroke. His defense is quite good as well, and can I just say am very proud that he majoritively plays short-stop! I've only made it to 1 game, well only part of it really with just having Jackson, but he looks great out there and is doing well.
He proudly wears the # of his favorite baseball player, Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, and I guess we'll just have to wait and see if Spencer sticks with it.

Ahhh, the dream lives on......

Jackson Porter Mackley

2010-04-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, so after a long week of waiting for the hospital to call so I could be induced, they called finally Thursday night at 11pm. Rob thought I was kidding, but quickly realized it was time, because I started making preparations and checking my bag to see if I had everything. After we got there they started me at about 12:30am. Jackson was born Friday afternoon @ 1:45pm. He weighed a whopping 9 pounds 9.5 ounces and was 22 inches long. He was my record breaker by far, but luckily I had no problems pushing him out. It was absolutely amazing to see him come into the world when just a few moments before that he was inside my tummy. I don't think the realization hit Rob nor I until after he was born. He is such a blessing and ever so precious. We are so grateful that he is healthy and doing so well. Thanks for all the phone calls, messages, and congrats....we can't wait for you all to meet him!

Easter

2010-04-20T15:48:00.001-07:00

Well Easter started off a bit different. I had been waiting to get called in to the hospital to be induced and finally the hospital called at 7am Easter morning. Well I'd been waiting since Friday and with it being Easter and Rob's birthday I decided to stay home and enjoy the holiday. The nurse thought I was crazy, oh well. We had a good day. Easter baskets with lots of candy, colored some eggs, had a yummy dinner, and had my parents here to boot. It turned out to be a good day.

Rob's Birthday & Easter

2010-04-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day

2010-04-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well you all know how much I enjoy St. Paddy's Day, but with being soooo pregnant had a bit of a challenge getting into this green holiday like years past. We did all get dressed up in our green and of course accessorized, but really struggled with the motivation to do all that I had planned. We did have our scavenger hunt which turns out the boys love! Spencer kept asking me if we were going to do one this year, and I made them do a little dance, which I'll post later...Carter wasn't quite as cooperative this year, and we did our corned beef n hash, with cabbage and Irish soda bread w/green Koolaid. And that's about it. I was tuckered out at the end of the day. The funniest part was after I made the boys do their dance this year, Spencer asked me from the bottom of his soul if he wouldn't have to do it next year......well, unfortunately for him--that day may never come.

Diego!!!

2010-04-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Carter has really enjoyed PreSchool this year with his great teachers and classmates, and one of the things that makes his school so great is they have these cute little things to look forward to, like: being Star of the Week, having performances and special parent activities at school. Well another thing Carter has been looking forward to for a very long time was his turn to take Diego home. My Carter is a HUGE Diego fan and watches at least one episode daily, (plus dressed up as Diego for Halloween last year). Well he finally got his turn and brought Diego and his backpack with tons of fun things inside home for the entire week. He carried Diego around pretty much anywhere we went, including all car rides and errands I had, and did nothing but play with the items inside the backpack. Camera Click, walkie-talkie, puzzle, movie, coloring book, magna doodle, & books. Carter is such a passionate, enthusiastic little feller. He adds a fun factor that you just don't get from a lot of people and we love him to death! I mean just look at his face and tell me he isn't the happiest boy ever!

Big Red

2010-04-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well I have a lot of catching up to do.....a lady I serve with in the Young Women's program gave Spencer a shaving kit for his Baptism gift. Spencer thought this was so cool! He voluntarily jumped in the tub and got right to work. Because seriously how fun it is to pretend like you're shaving. I know I did when I was a kid!

Here's a Spencer highlight. In Art class at school the kids were given an assignment of drawing 3 ballerinas. The entire 2nd grade participated and out of the entire grade 3 students, (one from each class) were chosen to display their drawing at the Richland High School Art Gallery. Well Spencer brought home a letter saying he had been chosen and we were to come to a small reception in the kids' honor for being such great artists. Rob and I were rather surprised. I mean we know he's talented but had no idea he was an artist. And the fact that they were ballerinas made us laugh a bit, but Spencer was very clear in explaining that he HAD to draw them and had no other choice. We thought that was pretty cool.

Now on to Scouts. This is Spencer's first year of Scouts and he recently passed off some requirements and received his Bobcat badge. Growing up with all girls puts me at a bit of a disadvantage....I have no clue about the Scouting Program, but he's enthusiastic and it seems to keep him busy in something worthwhile, so we'll keep at it. And not too long ago was the Pinewood Derby. This was awesome. Rob had been talking to Spencer about it for some time and after watching the Olympics on tv, Spencer decided he wanted to carve his piece of wood into the shape of a bobsled. (how cool right?) So for 3 or 4 weeks, Spencer and Rob worked on making his car. Spencer was able to cut it out by himself with some power tools and did most of the work. Rob helped and I must say may have enjoyed himself even more than Spencer. The Bobsled turned out great and my own contribution to the car was finding 4 lego men with helmets off Craigslist to complete the look. Spencer was so proud of his car and really worked hard on making it. His car ran pretty fast....and took 2nd overall with winning the coveted "Judges Choice" Award. I wonder what kind of car he'll make next year?

4 Years OLD!

2010-04-16T09:58:00.001-07:00

My Valentine Cuties

2010-03-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

It's Great to be 8!

2010-01-22T15:21:00.001-08:00

Wilkommen Zuhause!

2010-01-22T14:55:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2009

2010-01-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

Spencer's Birthday

2010-01-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

All Those Leaves....

2009-11-14T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here is your typical raking up the leaves day. With the help of Spencer and Carter we managed to complete the backyard, but not before the boys had a bit of fun first. Surprisingly, this was on a day Spencer stayed home from school with a cough, but as the day wore on and the kids grew more and more restless, I figured some fresh air and fun could be manipulated into helping me tackle all the leaves and we'd all benefit...

The End of a Perfect Season

2009-10-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

Spencer just finished up his Flag Football season and had an amazing year. Our little Red Kid has learned and improved so much that he became quite the little star. He showed his speed and knowledge of the game in playing majoritively QB and Safety on Defense. Their team went undefeated and Spencer still reminisces and ask Rob or I what our favorite plays of his season are. His hussle outshines any touchdowns he scored. He tracked down many a boys streaking down the field for a clear touchdown only to rip their flag off at the most opportune time and prevent them from scoring. He even flat out dove twice for the flag and came away victorious once.
His love of football has not waned one bit. If he's not playing or talking or watching football, he's reading his NFL or College magazine. The kid still can't quite ever get enough....Rob and I think we may have created a monster!

Spencer's First Tooth.......Finally!

2009-09-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Finally at the ripe old age of 7, Spencer finally lost his first tooth. His tooth had been loose for sometime and we kept telling him to wiggle it, because his permanent tooth was starting to come in. Rob decided to take matters into his own hands.....he gave Spencer one week to get it out on his own, but if after a week it still wasn't out and was ready, Dad was going to pull it out. Spencer was fairly disconcerted with this idea and I'm sure wiggled his tooth like a banchee the night Rob told him this, ....but 1 week went by fast and sure enough Rob remembered. Before going to bed (this was a Friday night) Rob had Spencer come show him his tooth. Rob got to work and starting loosening and working the tooth with floss, pliers, and even his fly tying scissors.....but don't worry! He washed and disinfected these tools of choice before going to town on Spencer. After Spencer finally realized that it didn't really hurt, he started to believe Rob that it was time to pull it out. Rob gave him the heads up and with 2 quick pulls --with the fly tying scissors-- Spencer's tooth was out! And let me just say that watching this all unfold from my view was absolutely priceless....something I'll (and I'm sure Spencer) will never forget!

School is Beautiful

2009-09-02T09:58:00.001-07:00

First day of 2nd Grade was a success....Spencer has been excited these last few weeks to get back to school. I think we ran out of steam in August, plus got sick, and Spencer was getting a bit bored. It's good he's back to routines and structure and of course all his friends. I met his teacher, Mrs. Leedy, and Spencer reported that she's so nice! There were a lot of familiar faces in his class from previous grades and even PreSchool! We surprised him last night with a new LT Jersey, so he proudly got decked out in all his Charger Pride and had a great first day. He announced as we were leaving the house, that he could be the Charger's #1 Fan....and he just may be right.

Carter and The Wind

2009-08-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this past summer Carter has developed some kind of phobia of the wind. If he sees the trees moving out the window before we even step outside, the kid has a death grip on my hand and starts freaking out! I have no idea how this all started, but it's really not the greatest. Even camping last month was a trial.... any time the wind picked up, the little guy was running to me or Rob to "save" him from the wind. Why in the world is my son afraid of the wind and how do I break him of it!

Summer 2009

2009-07-14T14:46:00.001-07:00

A LITTLE PLAYSTATION.....well actually a lot of PLAYSTATION, Wrastlin! Floatin' down the Columbia River on the 4th, and then the crash at the end of the day......and yes, those are bubbles.

A Spencer Moment...

2009-06-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

So we were eating dinner the other night, and out of nowhere, Spencer says the following:

SPENCER: Mom, I wish I was Black.
ME: Why do you want to be Black?
SPENCER: -SILENCE-
ME: IS IT BECAUSE YOUR FRIENDS, SONJE, SOLOMON, AND MICAH ARE BLACK AND YOU WANT TO BE LIKE THEM?
SPENCER: -MORE SILENCE-.....NO, ALL THE GOOD RUNNING BACKS ARE BLACK.....LT, ERNIE DAVIS (from that Disney show), WESTBROOK.....
ME: -SILENCE-
ME: -MORE SILENCE- (WELL, WHAT SHOULD I SAY, THE KID'S RIGHT?!)
ME: WELL, SWEETIE, YES THOSE RUNNING BACKS ARE ALL REALLY GOOD AND YES BLACK PEOPLE ARE REALLY FAST, BUT SO WILL YOU IF YOU KEEP RUNNING AND PRACTICING.

Poor guy, he was so BUMMED! I didn't want to shoot down his dreams. He is a fast kid, but again..... he is right. It's been 2 days and I'm still racking my brain and can't come up with 1 amazing WHITE NFL running back!

Oh the things our kids say! Rob and I had a good laugh later about the whole thing. He's such a football lover and wants to be like his favorite player-- Ladanian Tomlinson, RB for the San Diego Chargers, and he was just so cute about it! He knows so much about football that he recognizes that running backs are in fact Black. I love kids' pure honesty and how they voice their true emotions without worrying about how it all sounds. --Man, I love this kid!

Who knows, maybe Spencer will be the first? -Or maybe we'll just have to slowly transition him to QB or WR....plenty of white guy opportunities there!

2009-05-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Spencer Reaches 100!

2009-05-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at school, Spencer reached his goal of running 100 laps at Junior Joggers. To achieve this goal it has meant that every Wednesday that there was Junior Jogger's, Spencer would give up his play time during recess and go run laps. I should mention that this started back in October and that Spencer would plan his outfit accordingly, so he would be able to run really fast.... He would also plead with me every Wednesday morning to have his lunch put in a brown paper bag or have hot lunch, so that he wouldn't have to take his lunch box back to his classroom and thus be the first on the field and have more time to run laps. He has worked so hard and ran somewhere around 50 miles. His legs and feet have hurt and he has enjoyed every minute of it. We're so proud of him for sticking to it and reaching his goal. I thought of taking a roll of toilet paper and having a finish line for Spencer to run through, but Rob thought that was a little over kill. When Spencer got home I asked him if he would have liked my idea, but with a puzzled look on his face he had no idea what the toilet paper was for. Apparently he's never watched very many races and didn't understand the concept of running and breaking the finish line. He probably would have just ducked underneath it. Oh well, I thought it would have been fun, .....maybe next year.

Witnessing an UGLY Moment

2009-05-16T16:05:00.001-07:00

Last night I was rummaging through our storage unit for a few items. Right across from our unit was a mom, her 2 boys, and her screaming baby, who were sitting in the front of a really old, rusted SUV. As I was on the phone with Rob trying to locate something, this lady just started screaming at her kids. It's late at night, dark, (and this lady was rather large and rough looking) ---thought I should add that, but anyways, her boys, who were around 10 & 6 were apparently trying to prepare a bottle for the baby. I guess they added too much formula or something that made their mom so irate, I'm not really sure, all I know is that the mom just started shredding those boys with the most abusive and foul language. It was so bad and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. I froze. At first I was thinking, I can't believe she doesn't care that I'm standing so close and can hear what she was saying. I wanted to say something, but honestly was a little frightened of this trashy mom. Think of a mid 35-year old woman who looks like she lived out in the woods in a shack of a cabin and could split wood with her axe with one swift chop. There were a few softball bats in our storage unit, and I thought of grabbing one and going over and beating her with it. I kept trying to think of what I should do, but had a feeling that I might just make things worse for those boys and she might take out her anger on them even more after all was said and done. --Maybe that's just a cop out, but regardless...I can't get it out of my mind. I was instantly so angry and shaky and wanted to go take this lady OUT, how dare she talk to HER kids that way, but I was scared... When I got out of there I called Rob and he tried to make me feel better. I asked him what he would have done, he said he'd have called the Cops. I wish I would have. I wonder if that baby was even in a car seat. They were all shoved in the front seat. There's no way it could have seated 4 people legally. I'm so mad at myself! It was such an ugly moment! All I can think of how horrible it is for those kids. And I didn't say anything. I don't know...I guess I know what I would say and do next time if I was ever in this situation again. But the really sad thing is that I'm sure it's so common for those poor kids and for so many others kids who have shoddy parents. Today, I have made a concerted effort to speak softly and nicely to Spencer & Carter and to take my role and calling as their Mom a little more seriously.

Just thinking about it gets me all worked up again. I don't know, have you ever witnessed an ugly moment like this? What did you do? If, in the future you did, what will you do?

A Nice Surprise....

2009-05-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I played in my first USTA Tournament. It was so much fun and to boot.... we even won. I had 2 doubles matches with my partner and we won them both. I had 1 singles match, my very first by the way, and barely managed to pull out a win in the tiebreaker. -Let me just say it wasn't very pretty. I was so stinking nervous! But it is just so much fun to be part of an all girls team and to play competitively at something I love. Unfortunately Rob and the boys were unable to come, because a few were sick, it was a late match, and the whole logistics of having one car just didn't work out. But when I came home Friday night, the first thing I saw when I walked in the door was this awesome poster that my boys had made. It made my whole night. Spencer explained the whole thing: which pictures he colored, and which picture Carter colored, how it was Dad's idea, and he showed me the things that he wrote, and well-- I absolutely LOVED it! I love that Rob thought of me and involved the boys, I love how they had fun doing it, and I love to be loved!

Seattle

2009-04-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

Our Trip to Seattle

2009-04-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

We decided to go up to Seattle and have a fun weekend before Rob had to work in Tacoma from Monday thru Thursday. So we took off Friday before Easter and drove up. This vacation was a little different than most, being that I planned what we were going to do and was in charge of all the information. I figured early on, that maps and directions are not my strength. So our first "funny" (that's what I'm choosing to call them, though maybe not so funny at the time(s)) was on our way to the hotel I wanted to stop and see Snoqualmie Falls. Well the map I had gave directions coming from downtown Seattle, so we missed our exit and ended up backtracking 6+ miles, which I was informed of a few times! But we made it and we laughed, .....see our first "funny." Snoqualmie Falls was really fun and beautiful. We enjoyed a little hike and the boys enjoyed running along the trail, climbing up trees and rocks, and daring to get really close to the edge of the lookout points. We checked into our hotel in Bellevue with a good deal I found on Expedia, yea me, and then encountered our second "funny" moment. I realize that in only half of the first day we'd had 2 of these wonderful moments, but I just really focused on the fun in downtown Seattle and forgot to mapquest directions to our hotel. Oops! Luckily, with Rob's Blackberry and his mad navigational skills we made it to our hotel with only a few turn arounds. The rest of the vacation went really smoothly, I think I just really by-passed Friday. Saturday we went to the Pacific Science Center and spent the entire day there. It was amazing and there were so many things to do as you will see in all the pics below. So many exhibits: butterfly house, Body Works, Laser shows, IMAX theatre, GPS scavenger hunt, and even a Madden tournament, which Spencer so desperately wanted to do. But you had pre-register, and I don't know how he would have faired against all those Men. We saw the Space Needle after and enjoyed some Indian cuisine for dinner. On Easter morning, the boys were lucky the Easter Bunny still came! We headed to the Museum of Flight and it was so amazing! We all love planes and enjoyed the displays, especially the WWI and WWII exhibits they had. Rob and Spencer went on a simulation ride and from the outside, all you could hear was Rob squealing with delight! They turned completely around, flipped upside down and around over and over just like the real deal. When it was over and the cockpit opened up, you could tell Spencer was relieved to be done, but had a huge smile on his face at the same time. The boys made kites, we saw Air Force One where 4 different Presidents had used the airplane, including Kennedy and Nixon. The boys took a dip in the pool and we were all exhausted after that. Monday, I took the boys to the Tacoma Children's Museum. It was a huge imagination playland! I think it was wonderful, because at all the exhibits the day before, they were not allowed to touch anything! They ran from one room to the next. And for 4 hours were thoroughly entertained. It was a great day and I was just glad to have gotten us there and back without getting lost. The end of our trip consisted of a bowling adventure where, I beat Rob, wahoo, and then on our search for where to eat dinner, our car of 6 years sputtered and died after barely making it through a busy intersection. We knew the transmission had been going out for some time, but unfortunately it gave out quite a ways from home. Well, at least it didn't up and die when I was driving home with the boys. I made it home the next day with a rental while Rob had to finish work and is due to come home today. Not quite sure what we're going to do about the car, but at least we were able to have all our fun before it quit.

Happy Birthday Three's!

2009-04-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Rob's birthday. He turned 33. I told him not to worry because I still consider him early thirties.....did I mention I haven't even turned 30 yet...ANYWAYS, we tried to spoil him all day starting off with a yummy hot breakfast: pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, and of course his fried egg. Then he went off to work, (I know it's sad he had to work on his birthday) so we met him at the park for a picnic. It was really fun and the boys had a blast. After he got home, I made his request of white chicken chili from America's Test Kitchen, (it's one of our favorite cooking shows) and it was really yummy! A bit of work but not too time consuming. After dinner, we had birthday cake and ice cream. Then it was on to presents. He got a rescue knife for kayaking/rafting and a much needed new pair of jeans. We finished the night off with a match of Madden. Unfortunately for the birthday boy, he lost.....today just wasn't his day. But we love him anyways!
I've been calling him 3's all day, so I want to mention 3 things I love about Rob. I know this will embarass him, but too bad Rob, it's my blog. First thing is Rob makes me laugh. I love his sense of humor and after nearly 10 years of marriage, he still has it. Second, I love Rob's ability to make things happen. Whether it's following through on a desire, or figuring it out on his own, he knows how to get what he wants. And third, he's a great man. He's honest, does the right thing on principle, and works so hard! Those are just to name a few. Of course he's a wonderful husband and father and he makes me and the boys happy, so Happy Birthday Rob, we love you!

St. Paddy's Day Come and Gone

2009-03-27T09:12:00.001-07:00

I realize after all the hype I created with my last post, this post is super late! St Patrick's Day was quite fun, as it always is. We dressed in as much green as possible! After hitting some errands around town, I was super impressed with other Green Enthusiasts. At the Dollar Store, this girl had on every shade of green from her scarf all the way down to her shoes! It was awesome. Spencer got his green on and wished me a Happy St. Patrick's Day!....he knows just how much I love it. I worked the accent in wherever I could without scaring too many people. We had our fun scavenger hunt for our pot o' gold after Spencer got home from school. Which was really just for Spencer. Carter raced around behind him, always too many steps behind, but still got excited about the delicious pot o' gold Spencer found. We colored our shamrocks, did some Irish puzzles and pages, danced some Irish jigs, practiced Spencer's Irish accent, had our delicious Irish feast of corned beef, cabbage, sweet Irish soda bread, green Koolaid, kiwi fruit, (they're green ok) and our green oreos for dessert. During our dinner I quizzed the fam on some basic St. Paddy trivia. Did you know that they originally wore the color BLUE to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! The phrase, "remember to put your green on"-meaning a shamrock pin or something, turned into wearing green and the color blue no more. *Just thought you'd all like to know that. The week before St. Patrick's Day, Rob took me and Spencer to a Celtic Music and Dance Festival. It was amazing! So many bagpipes, drums, Irish dancing, and wonderment! We had so much fun and the little beginner dancers of about 4 were so cute! If I have a girl, I'm afraid she won't have a say in whether or not she takes Irish Dancing! Now if I could only learn how to play the bagpipes, Rob the drum, and Spencer could just dress up as a Leprechaun and provide the entertainment, considering he already has the hair for it. The only missed out festivity was I was going to have the boys wear green, shamrock bow ties to Church and Rob a shamrock/beer jug tie. But since Carter and I weren't 100%, it didn't happen. Rob promised he'd wear it next year. -What a guy. Willing to wear a beer jug tie to Church and took me to an Irish Dance/Music festival this year all on his own! Now that's love.
Yummy rolos in a green bowl, .....that's our pot o' gold!
This is for you Mandy, notice Spencer's dancing, that Celtic Festival sure paid for itself. Spencer's moves are priceless and pretty good, not to mention he knew exactly where his hands were supposed to go.

Let the Countdown Begin!

2009-03-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

So many of you who know me, know that I really enjoy St. Patrick's Day. It is such a fun holiday to me. Maybe it's enjoying the bright, vibrant color green after enduring such a long dreary, gray winter. Maybe it's the feeling of warmer weather, knowing flowers are about to spring up and bloom. Maybe it's the amazing, fantastic accent the Irish have or the awesome music that just makes you happy! Don't you want to jump up and dance an Irish jig after hearing the music on my blog?!
After last year's celebration, many of you out there commented on how next year (this year) you wanted to do something fun...and really get into the "green" holiday. Well now's your chance. You have 15 whole days to decide how you're going to do it. Tell Irish tales, dress crazily all in green, talk Irish (it's so much fun!), go on a hunt for yer pot o' gold's! Color your food green or make a traditional Irish feast: corned beef, cabbage, soda bread, ....there are tons of good recipes! Turn your front room upside down and blame it on all those mischievous Leprechauns! Just have fun and get into it! And post on your blog's with lots of pics, so I can relish in all the Irish craze/love I've inspired!

Irish Blessing:
May your day be touched
by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles
of the people you love.

Carter's 3!

2009-02-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we celebrated Carter's birthday. We had a Thomas the Train theme and poor Carter was put through a bit of torture before the blessed day. I bought everything a month in advance with Carter: Thomas plates, cups, balloons, party favors, cake mold, and pinata: and came home only to stuff it in the closet and made him wait 4 painstakingly long weeks for the day of his party. It didn't help that our house is so small that every time we opened the closet for a coat he saw his train pinata just sitting there. I will definitely not purchase party supplies with the birthday boy ever again...what can I say, I'm not too bright.
I was getting really excited for Carter's birthday....I found a train table loaded with tracks already nailed down in place on Craigslist which my friend told me to check out (Thanks Shanda) and it's been a big hit. Not only with Carter, but Spencer too. And thanks to my great friend Debbie who let me store it in her garage until the birthday party, it was a fun surprise. We invited a few of Carter's friends, had pizza, cake, ice cream, and just let the kids play. He loved all his presents and thanks everyone for remembering! One of his highlights was his special call from his cousin Hannah. He has a special place for her in his heart!
The whole day was fun and filled with Carter telling all friends, family, and strangers that "Today's my Birthday Party!" and of course that he's Fweee!. He is so not shy! He's such a great boy. I love his enthusiasm for everything! He makes me laugh and is just a sweetheart. I can't believe my baby's 3 years old!

Random Thoughts

2009-01-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I haven't had a whole lot I've wanted to post about but seeing as it's been awhile, I thought I'd ramble for a bit....
I'm kind of in a funk right now. My arm is hurting, I see the Doc today, find out if something's wrong (again!), or I'll get the okay to start up some more PT. I'm a little nervous, not too excited, but I'm getting frustrated and wanting to get back to my workout routine and just plain normalcy! My arm just isn't right and I hate doing everything one-handed! Plus, since I haven't been working out lately, I thought it'd be a good time to eat everything in sight! Uggghh! Now I've recently started watching my intake(meaning this is day 2) and trying to do what I can at the gym, but honestly! if only I could be a little more consistent!

Okay, on to better things....Spencer & Carter. Spencer's great and wonderful. He's been going out of his way to do nice things for me, and help me before I even ask. He is an amazing kid. And he's quite the runner. They've been having a Junior Jogger competition between classes at school and every Wed. they run laps around the field behind the playground, and Spencer just runs and runs! Parents could come help out and earn extra laps for their child's class, so I went and ran with Spencer. He could keep up the entire time, 30 min. and even carry on a conversation! (with all his friends, not me, I was extremely out of breath) The kid has some wind. All the other kids just sprint and stop and sprint and stop- trying to not get passed by any of their friends, but in the end can't hold on...Spencer just keeps going and going. His last Junior Jogger day, both Rob and I came to help ensure that his class would win 1st place, and Spence could even keep up with Rob! I think we may have a little track star on our hands. Of course that's only if football doesn't work out.

Carter is super-excited for his upcoming birthday. He tells everyone when it is and then asks when is your birthday? His little voice is super sweet and always makes me smile. His latest wonderful is that he said to me, "Mommy, you're my best fwiend." Oh, I loved that! And I think that he's told everyone else they're his best friend too, even the cat, but I was his first...so I'm holding on to that.

I'm hoping this little funk of mine doesn't last too long. Maybe it's the weather, I would really appreciate a little sunshine and warmth. Tired of the overcast thing.
Send some rays my way!

Our New Bedtime Routine

2009-01-09T20:09:00.001-08:00

After our trip to Idaho/Utah over Thanksgiving, Carter got used to someone (ME)sleeping right next to him every night, that ever since we got home he would plead and ask me to, "pease lay wif me mommy?" I love snuggling with him, and I can't say no to those words combined with his sweet little voice and please?! But after awhile, -2 weeks straight-, both Rob and I decided that this routine needed to change. So instead of laying with him after we said our family prayers, I decided to kneal next to him and sing some Christmas songs. What started out as a few random songs has ended up being these 3 favorites in ALWAYS this order: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, and Santa Clause is Coming to Town. After doing this every night since the beginning of December Carter has learned many of the words. He loves to sing along to his favorite parts, ....well shout really. For example in between the pauses of the Rudolph song, ....Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say, Carter will yell, "HO HO HO!" AND oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh.... "Hey!" AND, especially when he starts shouting the lines, "ya betta not pout! ya betta not cwy! Santa Cwaus is coming to town!" --that I'm willing to sing these Christmas songs well into the summer! Hopefully, I can capture it on camera in the next few days and you can all hear how enthusiastic he gets!

Spencer Carving Some Snow

2008-12-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

Fun in the Snow

2008-12-28T17:31:00.001-08:00

Christmas was a Hit

2008-12-26T10:45:00.000-08:00

Well I guess all our hard work and shopping paid off. We had a great Christmas and the boys had so much fun Christmas morning. They woke up at their normal time, 7:30am and came into our room to try and persuade us to get up. After a bit of family cuddling time, Rob went downstairs to make sure the video camera was hooked up, then he called us down. Spencer was the first one down and he went straight to his Santa gifts. Powerful Pokemon cards, Ladanian Tomlinson figure, and Charger ball cap! For Carter, a sweet car racing track with Hot Wheels. Very shortly after their discovery it was off to their presents under the tree. Spencer had organized all the gifts the day before into their own piles by name, so that they were easier to open, and he quickly opened his first.

But surprisingly, after his first present his focus changed to having Rob open the present that he (& Carter) had picked out for him. He insisted he open it and was so excited! Rob then opened his John Elway, Denver Bronco t-shirt, so sweet....and I was so impressed.

The rest of the morning was typical. Carter opening every present he could get his hands on, whether it was his or not, he didn't care. It was hilarious! He had such a good time ripping off the paper and moving on to the next. The front room was covered in wrapping paper and the presents somewhere underneath all the mess. We are so lucky and had so much fun. Thanks to all of you for the Christmas presents! WE love them!

For the remainder of the day, the boys just played and played and played and we were able to talk to most everyone even my parents from Germany, yay! -(I must say mom, I'm so impressed that you didn't even cry on the phone! You're growing up over there lady....luv ya!) Rob and I got busy in the kitchen making Stuffed Flank Steak in the dutch oven, roasted potatoes, Hawaiian Nut Bread, and garlic-bacon green beans. It was yummy! but it was a 3+ hour operation. (yes, sometimes we wonder why we always do this on the holidays) And then we had a Christmas visitor, Sister Pettey, who came over to see all the boys' lute. She's so great! The boys grab her attention and love it when she gets down and plays with them. After all the excitement and sugar, we finally put Carter to bed. I fiinished helping Spencer build his Star Wars Legos, which he is so good at, and then he went to bed too. I watched one of my favorite shows, especially since it was Christmas, The Family Man, and then we called it a day. Merry Christmas!

Spencer's Special Day

2008-12-21T21:49:00.000-08:00

The Birthday Boy

2008-12-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

The countdown is finally over. Spencer turned 7 today. Miraculously, to start the day off, I beat him downstairs, (He's always the first one up in our household) and made him the breakfast of his choice. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. As soon as he woke up, he started asking if he could open 1 present. So after he was finished eating, I brought 1 down for him to open. A Charger's shirt and knit beanie. He loved it, especially the beanie! He ate the candy in the avent calendar, -which apparently he'd been stocking up as a special surprise for his birthday, about 6 candies, compared to 2, and is currently watching Scooby Doo with the school delay. I even decided he could have hot lunch today. -that's right, special treatment, for a special boy. Oh the simple things kids love- I'm sure he'll soak it all up as the birthday boy and have a million special requests because it's his birthday, but he really deserves it. He's the best kid. So sweet, obedient, fun, and darn cute too. We love our Spencer. Happy Birthday Bud!

Thanksgiving Trip

2008-12-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

2008-12-01T12:19:00.001-08:00

This year's Thanksgiving was so wonderful. We were able to enjoy 2 turkey feasts with all of our wonderful family. -I know how lucky are we?! And the only way this was accomplished was that one feast took place during lunch, the other dinner. Needless to say, we had our fill. We traveled to Idaho to see all of Rob's family and had such a great time! Besides all the good food, it was so fun to see everyone, catch up a little bit, and just enjoy being surrounded by great people. Spencer and Carter had so much fun and were spoiled by all. (Thanks Gma & Gpa's, Aunts & Uncles!)
I was even able to travel to Utah with the boys and spend a wonderful day with my sisters and their kids. -Whenever we get together, it seems we laugh so much and it's never long enough, but I was so grateful to see them, especially Leslie and little Oscar. He is so cute and I loved seeing Leslie as a mom. She's the best little mom and is doing a great job! (I love you Les!)
We made the long drive both ways all in one day and Rob & I have decided that this is the way to go. The boys were so pleasant and it beats packing twice, getting a hotel, paying for the hotel, and wasting 2 extra days in the car.
Thanksgiving is such a great time to be reminded of the things I'm most grateful for--the long-living Harris tradition is to name 3 things we're grateful by putting 3candy corns in a small dish and passing it around the table. So staying true to my roots the 3 things I'm grateful for this year are: 1-My Family (who I love very much! & mom and dad I miss you tons!), 2-The Gospel (It's Truth, Meaning, and Direction it gives to my life), and 3-Sis. Pettey (because she gives so unselfishly to me and my family)
Happy Thanksgiving!

One Cute & Squishy Bubbas

2008-11-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Here are all his sexy poses

There's something about this little boy that just makes you want to grab that extra skin! He's so soft and squishy and so, so Cute! On this day, Rob thought it was time to start the potty training process. I, however, was not so sure. Mostly because I'm not ready to do it. He has been doing really well though, we've been at it for almost a week and I've actually been surprised with all his progress. It's not easy and we have a ways to go, but hopefully we'll get there soon.
And when that day when it comes, it will be so wonderful.....no more diapers to change, diapers to run out to the garbage, no more diapers or wipes to buy or pack with us! .....Oh yes, it will be a glorious day!

The Best Day Ever!

2008-11-03T15:49:00.002-08:00

What a day Halloween was. It seemed so long in coming! I started off by going and helping out at Spencer's school for his Halloween party. It is always fun to go help out and to see Spencer in his element. I "manned" the bookmark station, and got off pretty easy. The other 3 mom's were in charge of cookie decorating, witch's hands, and pumpkin hats. The kids were great and I had a lot of fun. Then it was was off to the store to pick up some food, so I could make this cool spider web chip dip. I forgot to take a picture, oh well. Then it was time to finish carving the extremely thick pumpkin we bought at the pumpkin patch. I decided to make it half-elmo & half-Charger helmet. With the pumpkin done and out of the way, it was finally time for all the candy! (This was all the boys wanted anyways) We headed off to the Uptown Mall (a little strip mall) and trick-or-treated to all the stores. This truly was the best part.....after Carter caught on to the whole concept, he just started yelling "Tandy, Tandy!" laughing in between each store as they gave him candy. He would hold on to as many as those little, squishy hands would hold, and when he started to drop them because there were tooooo many!, he finally agreed with me that we put them in his candy bag. Spencer was great, and I know many of you are wondering if I finished the famous "Blaziken" costume, and yes I did. (tell me what you think) I think it turned out great and Spencer liked the costume AND even a select few Pokemon lovers recognized exactly who he was exclaiming to their moms--, "Mom,...look, it's Blaziken, ..that's so cool!" you bet it is, those few kids made my whole day! I worked on it intermittenly, but it probably took about 4-5 hours total, in creating the entire look. It lasted the whole day and is still in tact, so to me it was a success. I actually enjoyed doing and just love the homemade costumes that no one else has. After Uptown, we rushed home to eat some dinner, because I knew if they didn't eat dinner, then all they would eat would be junk food for the rest of the day. Carter had probably already had 20 pieces of candy give or take. Rob came home early, we ate our yummy bacon burgers and then it was off to our tri-ward's trunk or treat. This took all of about 30 minutes, which was great! and then we went to a Halloween party we were invited to. We had a blast! I have never seen such enthusiasm and such effort put into hosting groups and groups of kids and families on Halloween. Their whole family dressed up, decorated the house, came up with a zillion games, had yummy spooky food and drinks, and were so casual and not stressed out about all the noise, crazy kids, spills, and chaos! The boys loved it, especially Spencer. He participated in all the games, tried some doughnut bobbing, knocked the pinata, and played so hard his costume started to come apart, piece by piece.
After the party, it was on to our honorary Grandma, Sister Pettey's house! The boys love her and she spoils them with everything's she's got. They each got a goodie bag- Spencer some Pokemon cards, an entire Kit Kat, and some kind of sour candy and
Carter his favorite fruit roll, scooby doo snacks, and his 2 favorite yellow cars he plays with at her house. THEN....we went off in search of the "Pirate House" we had been hearing about. There are some amazing Halloween enthusiasts around here, seriously. Apparently this dad and son start at the beginning of the month and create a Pirate ship out of their front yard and front rooms. They went all out! Just look at the pictures. Carter thought it was very "stary!" but once they gave him a piece of candy, he tolerated Spencer and I's gawking of all the decor. Finally, we headed for home, where the boys were amped and checking out all their loot. This was one of my favorite moments as they both buried their heads in their pillow cases to look at all their candy, instead of just dumping it all out. Too cute.

Here is Blaziken

And here is the costume!

2008-11-03T15:49:00.001-08:00

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-30T11:52:00.001-07:00

Here we are at the Pumpkin Patch, yet another fun Halloween activity. I know a lot of you out there are getting a little burnt out of all the "Halloween-ness," but I'm still enjoying it all. At the Country Mercantile store in Pasco, they put on a lot of fun for the family. They had 2 mazes for the kids to go through, and Spencer absolutely enjoyed running around and climbing the mounds of hay. He did it like 7 times! The boys went through some bounce houses a few times and Carter could do it all by himself. We ate yummy kettle corn, the boys tried their luck at a soccer shootout- and Spencer rather surprised us. I think we may need to put this kid in soccer, cuz what a leg! They had a live Jazz band that was fun to listen to. They even had pony rides. Carter absolutely enjoyed himself, while Spencer is just getting too big for that kind of stuff. We went on a tractor ride to go get our pumpkins. Carter found a cute little white pumpkin in the shape of an apple and on the ride back found 2 more little white ones that he insisted he have and carry all by himself. It was quite a treat seeing him balance 3 pumpkins. Spencer found a perfectly round, orange pumpkin after we told him that he had to carry himself back to the wagon, --so the enormous one he picked out first went back. The carving will commense tonight, so wish me luck.
All in all, it was just really fun to spend an afternoon with the family. The boys had fun, the weather was wonderful, even hot! and we got some great pics too, which I'm discovering how much I'd like to get into photography.
Happy Halloween tomorrow!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-30T11:50:00.001-07:00

Halloween Festivities

2008-10-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Well we've already enjoyed some Halloween festivities and Halloween is still 2 weeks away. One party at my work, where the kids dress up, get to do some Halloween crafts, play games, eat lots of sugar, and even participate in a little parade. (but we didn't do the parade this year) After the work party we went to a ward party, which was really fun. The kids loved the food, were highlighted on stage for their costumes, and played some fun games after as well. Spencer enjoyed being Steve McNair from the Tennessee Titans and Carter enjoyed his pirate getup and even had a great impression of what a pirate says, ARRRRRR!
Enjoy the pics!

Randomness

2008-10-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a whole lot to write about lately, just a few little things that I will mention. First, let's start with Spencer. This kid of mine continues to amaze me. His goodness, his abilities, how likable he is! I went to help out in his classroom Tuesday and having the kids read their assigned books to me, and then I get to grade them and write a little update on how they're doing. It was so fun! I show up and as soon as I see Spence, a smile just spreads on his face and it was nice that he was pleasantly surprised, (cuz who knows how long that'll last, seeing his own mom at school.) Anyways, I got to hear all the kids read, even Spencer, and I'm just so impressed at his level of reading, he's able to sound out words like magnificent and scientist, but what I was most impressed with was how he read his story to me and then was able to retell the story in amazing detail. The kid has quite a memory. Which leads me to my next thought, of how if Spencer with his amazing memory is able to retell all these details from a story at the age of 6, how is he going to remember his childhood? What will he remember of me at this age? Did I yell a lot? Get on him too much? Have no patience and a short fuse? (kind of the truth right now) He's such a great kid with so much potential, that it really makes me want to step it up. My focus is to make sure he feels safe, loved, and comfortable about himself, which I'm sure is every mother's goal, but for me right now, I have really felt a need to make this my priority.

Now on to Carter. 2 words loud and loud! But we are working on this, and I think he's really understanding that he shouldn't yell so much, but breaking this habit will definitely take some time. I admit, that sometimes I'd like to cut those vocal chords and enjoy the quietness, but then I wouldn't get to hear his sweet voice when he's not yelling. He is talking up a storm and says the cutest things! His "I love you Mommy, Huggies! and That's Funny!" are some of my favorites. He just really enjoys hearing his voice, which I know runs in the family, and you can't help but smile at all his lovely enthusiasm.

2008-09-25T14:51:00.001-07:00

Wings Over Washington

2008-09-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to an air show last night at the Pasco airport. We all had a blast! I stumbled onto the idea after seeing an advertisement in a coupon magazine. So I bought the tickets online. I packed up all the things the air show website recommended and off we went. The day was a huge success. This is how it started. Online, it said that parking would cost $10, but when we got there it only cost $5. Then, when we went to go in and hand them our printed tickets from the internet, the guy tried putting a VIP band on Rob and I. I tried to stop him and explained that I didn't buy VIP's, I bought the Adult passes, but he assured me he was right. What am I going to do? Argue with a wonderful man who wanted to upgrade our bands to VIP? that's right! Rob said, this will probably be the first and last time for us honey. So in we went with our special green bands, (not your low class red bands.)
They had 2 bounce houses for the kids, airplanes all spread out for you to look at. Army forces recruitment booths, one of which thought I should join, yah right! I said no, it's not for me! The guy was pretty persistent. He really wanted me to sign up, just goes to show you how desperate they are, now doesn't it! But our little Spencer didn't back down. He did 10 pushups on the asphalt! and scored a free poster. -what a stud. ---We found our spot along the runway, laid out our blanket and set out our chairs, and then Rob found out just what VIP meant. There was a special taped off area for the "special" $35 per person people, where they served a catered buffet BBQ dinner, complete with the most delicious chicken and steak, side dishes, and drinks one could enjoy. (Rob mentioned that if we drank beer, we really would have saved some money.) It was delicious, and here's the funny part. I mean if someone gives you something for free, you better bet we're going to enjoy it. They started serving food at 3:30pm 30 minutes before the show started. So we went and had a bite to eat. And then yes, we went back at 6 for round 2. They also had tatoos and face-painting for kids, Spencer became a cheetah, which freaked Carter out for the next 10-15 minutes, because Spencer wouldn't stop hissing and crouching like a cheetah cat waiting to pounce his next meal, which apparently Carter thought was him. Oh brotherly love-
We went back to our spot just before the show started, grabbed a bag of cotton candy and placed our ear protection on.
They had a really cool opening presentation and a pilot even sang the Star Spangled Banner while he flew all these aerobatic moves in his airplane. They had a long procession, almost parade, of all the counties fire and police departments and their vehicles. Bomb squad, armed forces, hummers, cars, trucks, boats, and then some.
They started with an F15E jet. This sucker was so loud! It traveled faster than the speed of sound. Rob and I thought it was so cool! Then they had the Canadian Blue Darts hit the air, all 9 of them, where they did some spectacular flight formations and even drew a heart in the sky. At one point, they had 2 airplanes fly directly at each other and then at the last second turn and just miss one other--Spencer turned around and said to me, "that was awesome!" Even Carter sat still and just watched all the planes. He loves airplanes though, everytime one flies over our house he has to stop, point up at the sky, and yell airplane momma! They had a few other free falling planes and one really quiet, bomb dropping airplane that could maneuver so easily. It was just amazing to watch. Lastly they had an old WWII airplane fly alongside another one and it gave Rob and I chills! The music was great, fun atmosphere, and you couldn't have picked a better night. Even though we were facing the sun, it was completely overcast and just a cool pleasant evening full of 3 hours of watching different airplanes do amazing tricks. I mean we scored a great deal, saved over $40, the boys had a great time, Rob and I did too. Spencer & Rob even got their picture in the paper, check it out!
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/galleries/gallery/327364.html

Go Cougars!

2008-09-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Such a lucky kid! Rob received tickets to a WSU game and took Spencer Saturday night. They left right after Spencer's Flag Football game to make it before kickoff. It was a 2 hour drive. They packed a lunch, their Cougs shirts, rain gear, and a blanket. They called and I got to talk to Spencer, and I could tell he was just grinning from ear to ear having a great time watching some football with his dad. They enjoyed the game with a 34-9 win over the Portland somebody's? It rained on them pretty hard, so Rob asked him when he wanted to leave, and Spencer said, "Not till the game's over." Ya gotta love it. Rob tried to keep him as dry and warm as possible, but let me just tell you how wet the blanket and all their clothes were when they got home. It was close to 11 when they got home, Spencer had fallen asleep in the car, so Rob carried him up to his bed, laid out all the stuff to dry, and I got to hear how cool it was the next day.
Go Cougs!

Football all weekend long

2008-09-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Our Big Red is all about football. He just started Flag Football and had his very first game last Saturday. He loved it! And did awesome! It was so fun to watch him in all his enthusiasm try his hardest, blocking other little boys, grabbing at their flags, having his turn to be Quarterback, and the best part, running the ball. The best part of the day was when his shirt came untucked and he had to tuck it back in. And proceeded to do so in the back of his undees. This didn't faze him one bit. Nothing could break this kids focus on game day.
So now we have Spencer's game Saturday morning, we return for a little college ball, playing catch, and Spencer tackling Carter, and then on Sunday all the NFL games. This kid just can't get enough. He actually remembers so many statistics that it's kind of scary, really. He knows more about the players, who's hurt, who's predicted to be good, numbers, previous game scores, and yes, that's right.....scary! Spencer says he's going to play high school football, play on the Florida Gators football team, and then play for the San Diego Chargers. (He wants to be the next LaDanian Tomlinson) Rob told him after he's done playing, he'll have a great career as a sports analyst because he knows so much and loves to talk!
Enjoy the pics!

Superheroes Party

2008-09-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last week, my friend Wendy told me that her husband was performing at Hastings for a Back to School Superhero Party. It was so much fun! We had Batmans, Spidermans, Supermans, Fire girl, Catwoman, & even Super girls. He's made a cd and performed at numerous places. His songs are for kids and they're fabulous! They are so catchy and they all have a great message, and they stick in your head, and they're just fun! Even Spencer & Carter would sit and listen, or stand up and dance along. The boys loved dressing up and being with all the other Superheros at Hastings. They're called Wiggle Like A Fish, and I highly recommend it! The whole family's involved. He and his dad, his son, and I'm not sure who dresses up as Wiggles, but Wendy does all the Public Relations, and they are just having a good time pursuing this endeavor. So check out their website and buy a cd. Your kids will love it!
http://www.wigglelikeafish.com/

Here's some pictures of the Superheroes party.

Flying Airplanes: Crash & Burn

2008-09-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

Spencer's First Day!

2008-08-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this day has happened! Our little Spencer now goes to school all day! Rob and especially me, have been excited and looking forward to this day, but as it got closer and closer, we both started getting a little nervous and sad. Spencer would be gone from 8 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon. 7 and 1/2 hours! he would be gone, in the care of someone else, interacting with other kids all day long, experiencing so many firsts without me or Rob. So anyways, I basically just tried to not think about it a whole lot, because Spencer was excited and I certainly didn't want to mess with that. Yesterday was the first day. The night before I showed him how to use his new alarm clock, we set out his clothes for the morning, went through the routine, and then tried to get him to calm down and go to bed. I think this took awhile as he was so excited! He woke up to the sound of his alarm, and I heard him turn it off and jump out of his bed. He got ready, I made him breakfast (yes, that's right, I don't do this a whole lot, but figured it was a special day, so I made him a hot breakfast with the hopes that he wouldn't get hungry until lunch.) He even did his own hair, which was just awesome, (so hard not to do it myself!) and we snapped a few pictures and then we were off.

I dropped him off at school, took him to his classroom, watched him find his seat and sit down and said my good bye. -I think I did well. I held it together, I left him with a smile, and told him to have a great day! As I left, and the more I thought about it, the more emotional I got. Luckily I didn't have a break down or anything, I just kept telling myself that everything was going to be okay. As people called or asked me about how I was doing, I simply told them that conversation was off the table, until I knew I wouldn't lose it when I talked about it. So, I did my grocery shopping, physical therapy, nap with Carter, even a little housework, until it was time to go pick him up. As I waited for the bell to ring, I was still a bit on end, but as soon as I saw him walk out, smile, come over and tell me, "it was so much fun!" all my worries, emotions, and anxieties went away. I wasn't sad, or nervous for him, and was just happy that he had a good first day. He is such a wonderful kid, and I know he'll do well in school. He has a few friends from his Kindergarten class with him, so at least he knows some kids already. He thanked me for his lunch, and told me all the cool things he did and how fast his day at school went. So at least for now, he still loves school, loves setting his alarm, getting up and ready in the morning, and even homework. We'll see how long that lasts.

Class of '98

2008-08-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

I know this is going to be dorky, but I don't really care.
Wow, I can't believe it's been 10 years since I graduated high school! I remember so long ago when my sister went to hers, and how I thought she was old then. Now I guess that I'm old, but I don't feel like it. I missed my reunion and everyone back in Sandy, so I thought it would be fun to listen to some of the music that I did back then in all my glory days.
I'm even missing a very fun girls night and I'm bummed, but I'm looking forward to all the pictures posted on everyone's blog from the reunion and to see who showed up, what they look like, and who's changed, who hasn't, and all those things you wonder about.

So here's a list of songs that brought back some really funny, stupid, and unforgettable memories.

Go Hawks!

Packwood Vacation

2008-08-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

Trip to Mt. Rainier

2008-08-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

We went on a family vacation to Packwood, Washington to see Mt. Rainier with Rob's friend Dallin, his wife Heather and their one year old daughter Lidia. It was a lot of fun. We arrived there on Friday, settled in and hit the local pizza joint, Cruisers. (super good pizza) Saturday, we hiked a trail to Silver Falls and then went to a nearby town, Morton for the local Lumbermen's Jubilee. This was the highlight of our trip. We saw some real burly men chopping, sawing, climbing, log rolling, axe throwing, and a real entertaining clown act. The world record holder for climbing an 80 foot tree was there, and he flew up that tree and down lightning fast. They even brought out this chainsaw that had a V8 engine and was all suped up, called the "Predator" that cut through a super thick stump in only a few seconds. *Needless to say, we were in red neck valley for sure. We managed to bring home a few souvenirs, a slice of wood cut off from the top of the stump the world record holder cut off, -pretty cool and some other random cut of wood that Spencer just had to have.
Rob went fishing with Spencer a few times, who caught a total of 3 fish. We walked through the Groves of the Patriarch, where the trees were soooo huge! Red Cedars and Douglas trees. Unfortunately we forgot the camera. We traveled up to Mt. Rainier and even caught a great view of the majestic mountain. We walked around the visitors center and stopped to see some sights on the way down. We played a lot of games, --one that was new called The Age of the Empire, or something like that. It was super fun, a great Christmas present (hint, hint, that is only found at Barnes and Noble). The Farming Game, Battleship, Go Fish, & Phase 10. I love playing games, so I was glad that Spencer and Dallin enjoy playing games too. Rob and Heather even joined us for a few.
The boys enjoyed running around and getting dirty. Throwing rocks in the river, eating lots of junk food, and all the fresh air. It was so much fun. We love going up there and staying at the shabby cabin that has it all for only $65 per night.

Our Guitar Hero Family

2008-08-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much going on here except for rehabin' my arm, but as I haven't been too active, we've spent some serious quality time at home. I've been able to share my love of Guitar Hero with each member of my family. Spencer has recently started playing and does quite well. He loves to rock out on Easy, and Rob & I keep encouraging to move on to Medium because he's ready. Well my little red headed rocker asked me the other day if it would be cool if he played in a band when he got older. Of course I said yes, that would be awesome! Even Carter will grab the guitar, sit on the couch, hold down the yellow fret button and strum. They both have quite the rockin' moves, which I really need to capture on camera and post later. Carter moves his hands to the side as if he's playing a guitar (I think), then he stomps his leg to the beat, and curls up his face in a major pucker up kind of way. It's really hard to describe, so I'll have to post some pictures and footage later after I figure out how to put my digital camera footage on here.
As for me, I've added playing Guitar Hero to my list of PT exercises that I need to do and can play Medium to Hard, but not for too long. My wrist seizes up a bit, but I play through the pain. Things are coming along well. I have about a month left until I'm 100%, so can't wait till then!

Streak's Over!

2008-07-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

Keep in mind I'm floating on pain meds right now and I'mtyping this post one-handed.. why? you might ask, because I've broken my arm. And i thought to myself that i'd better just go all out, so i basically shattered my radius in 2 placed. At my wrist and close to my elbow. ....it all really sucks quite bad. i did it while training for my triathlon which i was supposed to do today!!!! (i'm a little upset about that part) so with some creativity i'm hoping this summer won't be a total bust! triathlon's out. tennis is quite done along with softball for at least 6 months.....i'm trying to be patient,....trying. /this happened thursday morning around 6:30. i proceeded to ride my bike home.(i realize this wasn't the brightest idea, but then again i've never done this before. got home, woke rob up, said i needed to go to the hospital, went to the hospital where after they took the x-rays, said i needed surgery on my wrist asap andthey're doing my elbow next week.
i am really grateful though. i broke my arm not my leg. and it was my left arm, not right, i was wearing my helmet, or i know i would have been knocked unconscious, my bike is okay, i'm really okay, rob has been phenomenal! if i'm asleep or forget to take my meds, he's right there holding them and some water for me. we had friends help us with the boys and i know it could have been worse.
i'll just have to do another sprint triathlon another time. i just need to be patient and heal up in the next 6 months or so. big sigh.

A Bedtime I'll Never Forget

2008-06-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago I was putting Spencer & Carter down for the night. I had crawled into bed with them on the lower bunk and we were snuggled in tight. I sang a few songs and thought that it was time for Spencer to go up to the top. I asked Spencer if he would climb up,....but he started crying. Not any old tears, but the kind that looked so sad and heartbroken. I had no idea what had upset him. I asked him if he wanted to stay with Carter, or if he wanted me to stay longer. After many questions with no reply, I finally got it out of him. This is what he said, "I don't want you to die." ---Now I have to be honest here. Spencer is such a good kid, does what we ask him, loves to please others, is very good natured, ...truly one of the best kids out there-- that I began to wonder if Spencer knew something that I didn't. This freaked me out a little to say the least, but of course my tender boy's feelings were hanging in the balance and he needed some understanding, so then I told him I wasn't going anywhere! Mom was here to stay for a long, long time! That I wasn't sick, I take good care of myself, and I have a looooooot of good years left!!!!!!!!! (Right, little buddy?) And then I tried to explain that heaven forbid something happened to any one of us, (again, I hope not me) that it will be okay because families are forever. If we do the best we can with what we know, we will live with each other up in heaven forever. I have never been hit so strongly with my testimony of this and the Spirit about something so, so important before. I don't do this enough, but I bore my testimony to my little Spencer about the plan of happiness and about how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father & Jesus and about how they have made it possible so we can be together. I was instantly so grateful for my little Spencer and all that I have and know. And boy did I rededicate myself to be better! It sure made an impression on my night about how much I love my kids and about how important it is for me to live in a way that mirrors my beliefs in the gospel. I started saying that we will never miss FHE again! Rob and I need to go to the temple asap, and the list went on and on. I'm so grateful I have a child that inspires and reminds me to be good. Spencer spurred on some real thought provoking perspective on the future for me and how I want our family to be.

Thanks Spence for caring so much and for being such an amazing kid! You are so, so special! You are so likable and genuine. Never change little buddy. Luv you tons!

Our Little Mischief Maker

2008-06-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

Do not be fooled by this cute, innocent, pie-filled smile. He is not so innocent ---at least not in the following instance:
Carter's a busy boy. He tends to get into a little bit of trouble because he likes exploring and trying new things a bit too much sometimes. Well this particular "new thing" I would like to share and remember, because I'm sure it will someday be as funny as Rob thought it was when I called and told him about it.
Here's how it happened....
So I'm upstairs on the computer checking my email, while Carter was putting the blocks away downstairs, (or so I thought) And oh...about 10-15 minutes had passed and I heard him coming up the stairs. He came running into the room with his hand full of candy wrappers and a huge piece of candy half in-half out of his mouth. I asked him where he got the candy. So we went back downstairs so he could show me and to my surprise I find out that he is now able to climb over the gate which blocks off the kitchen. On the other side of the gate were candy wrappers everywhere. -Needless to say he'd had his fill, but this is not the topper. The candy part was actually quite funny, the rest not so much. Upon looking around my front room/dining area, Carter apparently, (now this is all a guess as to how this all took place as I wasn't downstairs at the time, but I imagine this is how it happened.) Carter took his cup from off the kitchen table, dipped it in Lincoln's litter box and filled it as full as he possibly could, chased Lincoln all around the front room throwing cat litter at him. -Now I heard him laughing and saying "Meow Meow" from upstairs, but I had no idea what he was up to! I thought he was just playing innocently with the cat. He had thrown cat litter all over! And I mean all over! It was on the kitchen table, the kitchen floor, the high chair, on top and inside the box of russet potatoes, the front room, the couch, the chair, and even the window sill!!!! Seriously, it was not very funny. Just try and imagine this picture. I blew a little, well actually a lot. Not only had he made a huge mess which took me over an hour to clean up, he had been scooping cat litter and been next to Lincoln's shtuff! ---No, there was no poop strewn about, but there might as well have been.
I have no idea where this kid comes up with this stuff. Really makes you want to get inside that kid's head and just listen to all those crazy thoughts! He's rather smart, and I think he just gets bored and creative at the same time.
Unfortunately my over-reaction did not quash this new found fun activity. He did it a few days later. He didn't make as much mess as the first time, but none the less, I was at a loss for words. Not sure how to communicate that we do not get in the cat's litter box, nor do we scoop it up and throw it around the house! I guess we'll just have to work at breaking down this communication barrier. I just hope it doesn't happen again.

Leavenworth

2008-05-31T11:09:00.001-07:00

Still Catchin' Up.......Leavenworth

2008-05-31T09:44:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics from our trip up to Leavenworth with my parents. It was so fun and all the credit goes to Rob for the fabulous idea and lodging arrangements. We had a blast. I can't remember the last time I saw both my parents playing putt putt golf and laughing at themselves. We had the best German food, surprising I know, and we enjoyed all the amenities of the Enzian Inn. Golf, swimming, racquetball, basketball, hot tubbin, a featured piano player for the evening, Bavarian breakfast buffet, ....even a morning horn player complete with liederhausen which unfortunately we missed. But we will definitely stay there again.

We hit the shops while Rob and the boys went to the fish hatchery. Can you even imagine the disaster Carter could produce in small shops filled with collectibles, glass, cuckoo clocks, and small trinkeets! Yah, he was definitely not coming along.

Okay wait, I need to go back to the beginning. My parents stopped to visit us after their trip to the Oregon Coast. They came the Saturday night before Mother's Day and stayed with us until the following Thursday. The day they arrived we went out to dinner and the entire time, Carter was hooked on Grandpa. He kept running back and forth around the table wantingeither "papa" or "dada." Me and my mom couldn't catch a break, which was fine with me. It was so cute though, he just loves being with the guys I guess. After dinner and later that night, we thought we'd watch a movie and Rob insisted that we needed snacks even though we had candy bars and ice cream. "But we need some popcorn, hon." So he threw a football to Spencer and if Spencer caught it I'd go to the store, but if he dropped it, Rob would go. Well, Spencer caught it so off I went for popcorn, oreos, and licorice.
-Ya know I should have known something was up, but Rob is just too good when it comes to surprises.....Anyways, so I get home, put Carter to bed, and it was getting pretty late, so I said lets watch Dan in Real Life (an absolute classic, love it so much!) and Rob says, yah, put it in. ----So I don't know it yet but I'm about to open my Mother's Day surprise!!! ....I go to open the doors to the entertainment center and there's this black box sitting on top of the tv. ( a Playstation2!) and to the sides of the tv are one box on each side ----Guitar Hero!! Oh my do I love my husband! Ever since our spring break trip, I have been trying to find someone who has this so we could borrow it and jam out a little. And I've looked on ebay, craigs list, ksl for a package deal on the set. ----I am completely addicted! I will literally be listening to the radio and can hear just the guitar part and can picture myself playing it to Guitar Hero.
After all this excitement of talk I guess Rob had been looking and planning this for a good month. He got a good deal and I got Guitar Hero! plus a whole bunch of other games, so you can imagine what we've been doing late at night almost every night since. I know it's pathetic, but we've held off buying a gaming system for so long because Rob was in school and we knew that as soon as we bought one, we'd never get anything done. So my ironing stack is almost as high as the top of the bookshelf, the bathroom hasn't been cleaned for awhile, and you can just imagine what the rest of the house looks like, butttt I'm gettin' pretty good at medium level, Rob's been called up to the Big's in MLB 08, and NBA Jams is kind of fun too. Yes that's right we're hilarious parents addicted to PS2. I think we've watched tv once this whole week, which is amazing for us. So anyways, that was my big surprise and I loved it, obviously.
Mother's Day was wonderful. Rob made us all breakfast and he makes the best breakfasts! He also made me a candy bar bouttenniere (how do you spell that!) for one of his mutual activities and I proudly wore it all through church. Surprisingly it stayed together and Carter didn't rip it apart during Sacrament meeting. Lots of people thought it was so cute and yummy.
Spencer sang songs with the Primary after the meeting and did a great job. ----there was a bit of trauma during the singing......I didn't know the kids were singing as it wasn't on the program. Rob says he told me they were singing and it was Spencer's big surprise for me, but I for some reason don't remember him ever saying this, so I was in the foyer with Carter cause he'd had it. Debbie tracked me down in a frantic saying that Spencer was having a fit because I wasn't in there and they were about to sing. I dashed in to my seat, waved to him, but he was already worked up. And to make matters worse, the little boy standing in front of Spencer had started a pushing match, and Spencer WOULD NOT GIVE UP HIS POSITION! He wouldn't back down, puffed out his little chest and would not budge! Me, Rob, and my parents were trying to signal him to move over, but he would not (he's so stubborn) Things were nearing melt down. The little boy didn't mean any harm and even turned and gave him a hug after the last bit of shoving. But Spencer had finally had it. His face turned red and the tears started to come. I was a bit upset that the Primary ladies sitting on the front row hadn't done anything up til this point, but finally one turned to me, and I said will you move him next to Martin?! She did and he was okay after a bit. Sad, huh? What do you do? I replayed this in my mind, but knew that if I stood up he would have had a major melt down, and the mother of the other boy moved to the front bench and told him to stop pushing, so in my expert opinion, either something should have done immediately at the beginning with the boy pushing Spencer, or else they should have removed the other boy after the damage had already been done so he really knew that he'd done something wrong and not my poor tenderhearted Spencer who was so excited to sing to me all week!
Spencer wanted to go home after they were done, but luckily Rob took him on a walk and got him to go to Primary. THe rest of the day was great. I made dinner. My mom was a good sport. It probably wasn't her first choice, but she was a good sport and ate it fruit and all. (she does not like fruit) It's one of my favorites, and they really liked it barring the pear, apple, and raisins. I know it sounds weird, it's called savory italian stew, and it's just scrumptous. It has stew meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, squash, onion, the fruit, and some spices. Maybe I'll post the recipe later. I highly recommend it.
I gave my mom a sour cream lemon pie. It's like tradition and I didn't want to let her down. We enjoyed a relaxing day and finished it off with a rousing game of The Farming Game.
I had to work Monday, so it was pretty uneventful. Tuesday, my parents watched Spencer at his swimming lesson then came down to catch the end of my tennis lesson, which was fine until my dad whipped out his camera, came on to the court and took a few pictures. Gotta love parents! Some things never change.

Okay so I'm a little out of order, but after this, was our trip to Leavenworth.
Whew! I think I got it all.

We love it when Grandma and Grandpa Harris come to town!

Spring Break......I know I'm a bit late

2008-05-27T23:09:00.001-07:00

Spring Break 08

2008-05-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

I have some posts long over due, so the next few will be random and packed, but so many fun memories, don't want to forget them!
Our trip down to Idaho/Utah over Spring Break was absolutely wonderful. The boys traveled well, we had a great visit with everyone, and it was so much fun. First, we visited Rob's Dad, Dave & Terri and his 2 sisters, and celebrated Rob's 32nd birthday! Wow, you're getting up there honey! It was so much fun with all the chaos and to see our nieces and nephews who we don't get to spend enough time around. Terri-Lynn, Jeff, and Ashlee came up from Logan for the night, which was so awesome of them! and spoiled the dickens out of the boys. There's no stopping that woman. And Teresa, Cam, Skylar, Tegan, Carson, & Zack came too. Tegan was hilarious and full of energy, and Carson just plain won Rob and I's hearts. Those two boys are so cute and played so well with Spencer and Carson. It was so much fun to get them all riled up, wrestling Skylar, sharing birthday cake, playing Bionicle, and even having Tegan sleep over. After the birthday celebration we were able to just relaxingly spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Mackley in the hot tub, out to eat, a little shopping, and we even caught a little bit of General Conference.

Then it was on to Grandma Noni, Auntie Misty, Hannah, and Mo (short for Morgan) Again we had a blast and love our family! They have both grown so much and are so mature for their ages! It helps that they are so smart, too. They graciously introduced us to the Wii and Guitar Hero. It was so much fun playing those games! We went to the Idaho museum and they had an exhibit about Egypt which was so cool. The best part of the museum was they had a separate corner for kids where they could play, climb, color, laugh, scream, and play till their heart's content. But the topper of the Museum day, was when Grandma Noni mounted a play wooden horse for $20 bucks on a dare from Rob. She popped right up there without any hesitation and just cackled her laugh in complete satisfaction! -In your face Rob! Who knew she was so spry?

We headed down to Utah and had our last, final and amazing visit. We saw my parents new kitchen which I just love, but have no idea where anything is! We went to Marissa's soccer game and cheered her on as a family. The cousins played and played and played. We snuck in a little guitar hero at Alayna's house, where Bryce and Michael schooled us all!
Our last night there we went to a church Family Home Evening with my parents where they had a whole bunch of different games. It was so much fun. Rachel and I played guitar hero, Dance, Dance Revolution, and even a little karaoke. I talked her into this by saying, we don't know anyone here, so we can go all out and hopefully never see them again. We sang some Cyndi Lauper and oh yeah, we rocked. It was fun, something I've never done before and the kicker was when we received a compliment from some girl watching, which by the way we had quite a crowd watching us, Rachel said that our mom made us perform a lot as kids. What the heck does that have to do with how awesome we were? All kids sing right? I don't know why, but I just thought that was the funniest reply. Anyways, love ya Rach, thanks for the duet. We'll have to do that again sometime.

On our way home, we made sure that we got to our hotel early enough to go swimming and let the kids out of the car awhile before bed. This is because in our last few car trips, no matter what time we get to the hotel, or if Carter's slept for a period of time or not, he gets his second wind and just wants to play. He's running around, jumping on the beds, investigating every drawer, talking crazy about who knows what, and just can't wind down. So we went swimming, had yummy Chinese, and we all went to bed by 10pm. This was a success. Yay!

We had a great time and just miss everyone so much already. I wish we were able to stay longer, or were able to visit more often, but at least when we do we have a blast!

Spencer's First School Project

2008-05-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here's Spencer's first Discovery Quest project.

He was to choose a topic of his choice, learn about it, and display those things he learned. I thought for sure he was going to pick football, but to my dismay, his 3 choices were clouds, eagles, and volcanoes. He decided on Eagles and I was happy about that. We checked out 3 books from the library and read them each a few times. Then I sat down with Spencer and asked him what things he remembered learning about Eagles. Those were the things he displayed on his poster. His main focus was about all the different things Eagles eat, how fast they can fly, and how many feathers they have. We were quite proud of him. He chose how we would put the pictures on his poster and had a great idea of an eagle tracking his prey from far away because they can see a mile away. He did almost the entire poster by himself. By far the kicker and excitement of the poster was the Eagle sounds Rob recorded with Spencer off the internet. It had Spencer's voice recorded saying, "This is the sound of a Bald Eagle." Then a whole bunch of screeching erupts. He practiced saying it a few times and was very clear and articulate.

This whole experience was great. But it wouldn't be complete without a little bit of drama.....The night of Discover Quest, I took Spencer to hang up his poster. All was well until- the button stopped working. Spencer was a mess. We thought that maybe the battery died after all the "testing" that took place of pushing the button the day before. (I am very tired of the sounds of a bald eagle) So we hurried home grabbed a few batteries, more tape, and back we went. Unfortunately this was not the problem. Spencer was a real wreck by now, and Mom just had no idea how to fix this gadget, sooooo we hurried up to the church where Rob's activity was with the Scouts. He tried his best, but was unable to fix it. So we all jumped in the car and drove to Radio Shack to purchase another recorder. Well, of course they were all out, soooo- we went back to the school, put his poster back on the wall. I then dropped Rob back off at his activity and then drove to Kennewick, (what us parents will do for our children) bought 2 recorders, (there's no way I was chancing another recorder malfunction) and Rob and Spencer re-did the recording. The very next morning, I dropped Spencer off for school, went to the gym and installed the new recorder, and went home.
This time it worked and just in time for all the other classes to tour the school gym and admire those students' projects who participated in the Discovery Quest. Rob went with Spencer that night to take a closer look at all the other projects and they even gave the students a medal and certificate for all their hard work. Spencer was quite happy about that! He loves to finish, do it well, and of course...be rewarded.
Good job Spencer!

And here's my wonderful boys wrestling on the school gym's floor. Love 'em!

For the Love of a New Game

2008-04-01T09:45:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my new obsession. TENNIS. I love tennis. I started taking lessons a month ago, and I just can't get enough. It is so much fun. It's incredibly challenging, and so much to learn. I had no idea it was so hard. It's actually been quite humbling. I thought that I'd catch on quick and it'd be easy. Wrong! There are so many things to learn. All the different ways you have to learn how to hold the racquet, different techniques in hitting, punching, slicing, and placing the ball. Where you want to aim, the concept of where you are at on the court, and how to play doubles, and on and on it goes. I'm playing in a women's league right now and it's so much fun. I always play with someone new and there's quite a range of skill. There's women my age all the way up to some cute grandma's that can school me all over the court. And I mean that. There's a cardio tennis class I used to go to and a lady, Bonnie, was I don't know mid 60's, possibly older, and she was text book tennis. Everything was deliberate and accurate. It's amazing to watch that kind of talent play. So with all this love, I am now faced with which racquet to buy. This is not an easy decision. There are lots of things to consider and you basically have to test them all out. I have found one I love, which is fairly reasonable, and it has my name on it. I'm not sure how long I'm going to have to wait for it, but I'm hoping I can scrap up the funds quickly. I'm tired of having to borrow a racquet each time I play, plus the grips are a little bit big, because I have small hands.
Any of you out there play? I highly recommend it!

Easter

2008-03-24T16:23:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Easter turned out all right. I was a little worried with St. Patrick's Day being so close to Easter, which by the way, I really didn't appreciate that. Easter should not be the first Sunday after the Full Moon thing. It should just be the First Sunday in April. That's my 2 cents anyways.

Spencer and I dyed our eggs Saturday night and it was fun. I was a tad controlling with the potential of mess at his every move, but we still had fun.

We awoke to find out that the Easter Bunny remembered to come to our house. It was funny, Carter just ripped right into his eggs and gobbled down all 6 of them which were full of jelly beans. There was no waiting and thankfully no chocolate. Thanks Easter Bunny, you sure are smart!

Our little Spencer is getting to be too smart. Before he went to bed he said he was going to wake up at midnight and sneak down to see if the Easter Bunny really came to hide the eggs, or if "you guys" (mom & dad) were going to hide them. --ohhh, I know, how sad. He's only 6 and the magic of the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and who knows what else --is already not so magical. He's just too smart and logical for his own good sometimes. But there was no mention of mom and dad on Easter so I'm hoping he's a believer for another year.
We ate our ham, of course, with some other yummies. And I was reminded of how I actually enjoy cooking. Rob took the boys up for a nap, which left me alone, all by myself, in the quiet, to do it all without interruptions, pleadings of a snack, Carter's gibberish, Elmo's world, crashing of toys, football noises, or anything! It was so enjoyable! I can't remember the last time I really enjoyed cooking. I was able to relax and take my time instead of rush, rush, rush.
After dinner we took turns hiding the eggs. I hid them for Spencer, Spencer hid them for Carter, and around and around we went. It was really fun. It's amazing how good you feel when your children are getting along and actually enjoy being around each other.

It was nice to take the time to talk about why we celebrate Easter and to hear that Spencer understood the story of Jesus resurrection and in turn what that means for all of us. Church was wonderful and the day relaxing. All in all a fabulous Easter.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-21T10:41:00.001-07:00

Our Green Festivities

2008-03-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well St. Patty's Day was fun as always. We had a blast with all of our green. To start off we all dressed up in as much green as we had in our closets. Then, Spencer went on a Shamrock Treasure Hunt for his pot of gold. He got a real kick out of it. We put on buttons and stickers saying all kids of Irish sayings. We mixed up some green cupcakes with green frosting and green sprinkles on top....yummy Spencer did his best to "speak Irish" as he calls it, and I must say that he's vastly improved. Maybe next year he'll be able to roll his r's and speak Irish fluently. We ate sweet n' sour corned beef and hash with fried cabbage and Irish sweet bread the night before. And I must say that it was tasty! I was extrememly skeptical but willing to try this new recipe my friend gave me. It is definitely a repeat. For our St. Patrick's Day feast, we had a roast, green mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, more Irish bread, and of course our green cupcakes for dessert. I found out something interesting. Both Spencer and Carter ate their mashed potatoes. All I had to do was change the color. So for Easter we're having purple taters. We also made green ice cubes the night before to put in our glasses. Spencer thought that was cool. We read Irish riddles, Irish folklore and talked Irish the whole day. All in all, it was a great St. Patrick's Day. It was so fun to see so many people dressed up in green. There were even green enthusiasts at the gym, working out in their green shirts. Hope you all had a great St. Patrick's Day. Now I'm scrambling to get ready for Easter.

HA HA HA BEAT YA BOTH!

2008-03-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

96 words

Speedtest

I tied Rachel!

2008-03-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

I tried this yesterday about 10 times trying to beat my sister Rachel, who typed 89 words per minute, but I never could, so I thought I'd give it a go again today, & this time I tied her on my very first try, I thought I'd better just stop & accept the tie.

89 words

Speed test

Instilling My Obsession 1 Block at a Time

2008-03-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

So, via my previous post about lovig the Irish, Spencer has been fed lots of Irish wisdom and "enthusiasm" for St. Patrick's Day. The other day he told me we need to decorate our house for St. Patrick's Day. I said, "we need lots of green, go see what you can find that's green and we'll put it all over the house." I proceeded to go and print off some shamrocks he could color and decorate and also some leprechauns, and we'd put 'em on the windows or something. Well my adorable red-headed Spencerrrrr went above and beyond. He found green colored blocks and placed them all over the house AND he assembled decorations using his green magnetics and then hung them from the ceiling fan in the kitchen.

He did this all by himself and then came up to tell me he had a surprise for me. You can imagine what a proud parent moment I enjoyed after seeing all his decorations and hard work. ....ya know, I think it's really important we instil those things that are valuable, meaningful, and so, so fun, into our children. -like getting into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, perfecting our Irish accent's and appreciating that beautiful "Green" culture. Some may say I get a little carried away, but to them I say, "That's RRRRight laddy!" *****6 days til St. Patrick's Day!

Me, Me, Me

2008-03-07T09:44:00.001-08:00

I thought this would really help me think more about my life, which I just don't do enough of, so hopefully it motivates me to improve some of my answers.

I can
Shoot, I'm finding this one difficult, I'll come back to it
1. play ball, this is a constant, but sometimes I wish it were something else, something of a little more importance.
2. make others feel comfortable
3. carry all the groceries inside in 2 trips

I can't
1. express myself without crying
2. run fast
3. believe how hard this is!

I should
1. hold my tongue more
2. stop eating so much
3. get more organized for my sanity

I could
1. get caught up on my scrapbooking
2. get ready
3. go clean

I would
1. like to go back and finish school
2. like someone to clean and go to the store for me
3. n't mind getting rid of the cat, just for a little while.....

I will
1. get this weight off before I turn 30!
2. be a better mom to spencer and carter
3. be proud of the things I do

I won't
1. raise my voice today
2. miss the snow
3. drive the car, Rob just left for the river

I want
1. to buy a house
2. to paint my table black and buy new square back chairs
3. spencer and carter to be better friends

I crave
1. acceptance
2. turtle cheesecake
3. compliments

I hear
1. the computer
2. silence, which isn't good, better go check on Carter......Yep, yogurt spill, knew something was going on
3. all the dang crows squawking outside! Seriously, there are too many crows here.

I smell
1. PB on my lips
2. my laundry detergent, (my clothes are drying on the rack)
3. Kracky's cage, it needs to be cleaned!

I see
1. a lot of clutter, where does all this stuff come from!
2. my cowboy hat that I really want to wear, but probably won't until it's hot and we're at the beach or something.
3. pictures of Spencer and Carter at the pumpkin patch last year

I am
1. tired
2. yet to get ready
3. Full, too much PB

I was
1. hoping to reorganize the linen closet by now
2. thinking of going back on the diet tomorrow?
3. downstairs, but now I'm upstairs

I hope
1. to keep improving my life
2. my boys turn out all right
3. Carter isn't making any more messes right now

I love
1. my family
2. it when it's quiet
3. blogging

I love the Irrrrrrish!

2008-03-02T21:43:00.001-08:00

So March is definitely one of my most favorite months. It's starting to warm up, less white, more green, getting the itch to play some ball, and most importantly....the month we celebrate St Patrick's Day, one of the coolest holidays out there! I love the Irish! Someday I will go to Ireland, and be able to hear that Irish accent all day, in one of the greenest countries out there. I have always been a little infatuated with the Irish. Especially since I first saw Colin Farrell. I'll randomly talk like them and make myself believe how authentic my accent is. Well, sometimes I get a little carried away. Today, I was randomly talking to a lady in my ward at church about how I hadn't seen her around for a while and what not, ...anyways, I just busted out the accent on her, without thinking about it at all. After I was done, and realized that I had just given her a little too much taste of Jen, ---you should have seen the look on her face. It was quite humorous really, priceless, because seriously, who do you know that busts out some random accent in the middle of normal conversation. Wouldn't that just make your day? I know I'd appreciate a good accent impersonation here and there. Rob and I always talk in a redneck sort of accent, there's the English accent that comes into play on Tuesday and Wednesday nights because of American Idol, and now I have to throw in my Irish. I'm pretty sure everyone secretly loves it, they've probably been practicing at home, just like all of you who read this are trying yours out right now, out loud, all alone, sitting at your computer. ....you were thinking about it though, weren't ya? I sure wish I had some kind of roots from Ireland, but nope not lucky there. Only Bloody English and Welsh roots. Oh well, for now I just pretend. I do have a red head, with quite a fiery temper, and maybe we'll just have to name the next boy Patrick!

Nothing like a Wet Cat

2008-02-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

So, I go and get the boys clothes for the day while they're in the bathtub. I come back and low and behold, Lincoln was chillin' in the tub wtih them. Apparently, Carter pulled him into the tub as he sat on the toilet watching, and instead of freaking out and jumping right out of the water, he was surprisingly calm. It even looked like he was enjoying himself. The boys thought this was great and Spencer insisted I take pictures. Not to worry bud, mom would've anyways. What cat actually likes the water, seriously?

Carter's 2

2008-02-17T00:04:00.001-08:00

Carter's 2!

2008-02-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

Our little Bubba just celebrated his second birthday. Upon being asked how old are you Carter? He'll stick his hand in the air and shout two! We tried to make his day special and put all of our attention on him. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed this. He was able to watch the Wiggles, play at mommy's work, and basically have his way the entire day. Spencer enjoyed telling everyone that it was Carter's birthday and how his little brother turned 2 today. It was very cute.

We waited till he finished his nap and Rob was home to start the festivities. We ordered pizza, opened presents, and then had cake. He opened each present very meticulously, starting out at the corner, and eventually tearing the entire paper off. He enjoyed all his presents: the blocks, the puzzle, the Wiggles book and movie, the moving dog, and his bowling pin set. -Yes, he made out like a bandit.

We sang him Happy Birthday, and he had a huge grin on his face the entire time, focusing on the candles, wanting to touch them and saying hot, hot, hot, hot, over and over and over again. It was hilarious! We were very impressed that he was able to blow out his candles all by himself. (I think the flying spit helped douse one of the candles.) I guess it was good that it was just family. I don't think any one else would have appreciated the added moistness.

Thanks for the calls and gifts. He really enjoyed talking with his grandparents on the phone. He thinks he's something special when he gets to talk on the phone. It was fun to be able to talk to all too.

So I guess it's official that my baby's not a baby anymore. He has grown so fast. He is learning to communicate and becoming more and more independent. It's a beautiful thing. He is such a charmer and has the cutest chuckle. We love his personality and his zest to have fun!

Happy Birthday Carter!

Dang Cat

2008-02-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

So, here's my experience yesterday. I was downstairs folding the laundry when I heard a crash upstairs. I had just put Carter down, so I knew that the cat must be into something. As I went upstairs to investigate I had suspected what that crash had been, but was hoping that I was wrong. I came into my room and saw Lincoln up on the computer desk against Kracky's cage and facing the cricket house. I was right, the blasted cat had knocked down the cricket house, and yep you guessed it, there were crickets scurrying and jumping around everywhere!

I do not like crickets! They are jumpy and random and creepy. Rob thinks its hilarious because they are in no way harmful, but they just freak me out. And unfortunately for me, Rob and Spencer had just bought about 80 on Saturday, so I estimated that there were approximately 50 on the loose. So first I threw the cat out of the room and shut the door, (I dealt with him later), and then I hurried and gave Kracky an early snack and threw as many as I dared grab into his cage before they all hopped off and surrounded me. Then I grabbed a container and started gathering them without having to use my hands as best I could. They were starting to hide in Rob's binder, the basket of lizard supplies, under the cage, under the fax machine, under Kracky's cage, everywhere! This was so unpleasant. Well, I rounded up all that I saw. It took about 30 minutes. I wasn't so sure if I would be able to sleep in our room last night, but Rob assured me that they wouldn't jump up on the bed and jump all over me, --thanks honey, so reassuring, good dreams. We saw one last night hopping around downstairs, Lincoln came over and ate him. So, I forgave him for helping out in my cause. Hopefully, there aren't too many others hopping around. We caught about 5 on a sticky trap. Ohhhh, crickets! Rob thought that after this incident I would be over my fear of crickets. . . . Nope, still don't like them, not one bit.

Our Biggest Football Fan

2008-02-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

It's kind of sad that football season is over, when you have a child so enthralled in every game that he has even shed a few tears over his favorite teams losing. -This picture was taken before the Chargers lost.- Spencer has been a huge San Diego Chargers fan. He followed them all the way until they lost the division championship game to The New England Patriots. It was so sad to see his little heart broken. He cried a good few minutes to which Rob just held him and let him cry it all out. He liked them so much and wanted them to win sooo badly. But, at least he liked the Patriots as well, so then he thought the Superbowl was in the bag. Unfortunately for him and the Patriots, they ended their perfect season with their one and only loss to the Giants last night. Again our little football fan shed tears. He told us, "None of the teams I like won!" He was so upset. Rob being the good dad that he is and wanting to make Spencer feel better, reminded him of how his team, the Denver Broncos, only played one playoff game, and lost. He also reminded him of how the Broncos even lost to the Chicago Bears. (It just goes to show you how much Rob loves his boys to even bring this painful point out) This cheered Spencer up quite a bit, but he still needed a few moments to regain his composure.

Such a cute, little fire ball. I love his competitiveness and obsession. All he does is eat, drink, and sleep football. --I guess our family will have to find some other way to spend such quality family time together on Sunday now that the season's over.

TAGGED

2008-01-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Here I am yet tagged again, but I have to admit this one's a lot of fun.

Time to spotlight the hubby.

What is his name? Robert David Mackley III

How long have you been married? 8 years

Who long did you date? 11 months

How old is he? 32

Who eats more sweets? That one's me all the way. Rob has way more self control than me.

Who said I love you first? Rob, I'm afraid I chickened out, sorry honey.

Who is taller? That's Rob by a few inches

Who can sing better? Judging by Rob's girl & boy singing voice, I'm still going to have to go with me.

Who is smarter? He's a scientist for crying out loud! Yes, him.

Who does the laundry? That would be me

Who pays the bills? Me

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

Who mows the lawn? Both

Who cooks dinner? Again, me mostly, but it's a treat when Rob cooks, and it's really good.

Who drives? Rob, he's much safer than I

Who is more stubborn? He'll tell you me, but I"m not!

Who kissed who first? He kissed me finally after 4 looong months

Who asked who out first? Rob took me to Fong's Chinese for lunch. It was love at first site.

Who proposed? Rob, took me by surprise and it was perfect. All alone, gave me a book I'd been wanting, The Holy Temple, and cut out the pages, put my ring on a single white rose, and got down on his knee. Man, was his face pale, he was a bit nervous

Who has more siblings? Rob

Who wears the pants? Rob all the way

Now I tag...Ronni, Mandy, Tice, Sara, Holly, & Myr

Winter Fun

2008-01-22T14:13:00.001-08:00

We didn't get much snow here, which I'm not complaining, but with what we did get, we made a little snowman, snow, leaves, dirt, and all. Spencer had a good time, and Carter again just loved being outside. He likes to roam, he's a roamer. Anyway, we were proud of the snowman, it toppled over while Spencer was in school, because it warmed up, but we fixed him again, and this time it lasted for 2 days. Every hour or so Spencer would inform me that he's still up mom! He's always keeping me up to date on things.

Spencer Can Read

2008-01-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

I need to spotlight Spencer here for a minute. He has just started reading books to me. I gave him the 10 beginner books I grew up reading and let him have at it. The boy is smart, and sounded out every word. He is just taking off with all he's learning and I'm so grateful things come easily to him. He seems to excel in learning, and what more could a mom ask for. Can you believe it? My not so little "red" is reading. Rob and I are so excited for him, but having a hard time with it as well. Not that he's growing up, cuz that's great and he loves it, it's that we're getting old. Anyways, good job Spence, you are the little man of the family, and we're so proud of you. Keep practicing, (that's a tough one sweetie) and you'll get even better.

TAG, I'm it

2008-01-14T10:34:00.000-08:00

The RULES:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog....
#1--
hmmmmm, okay, every so often, about once or twice a year, i focus on me. Now is one of those times, so I am trying to get me and my body where I want them to be. I'm down 25 pounds, I'm reorganizing all the rooms, and trying, trying, trying to stop yelling at the kids. I'm proud of my progress and hope I will achieve my goals in 3 months time.
#2
My weird habits still exist. I still crack my little knuckles on my fingers and pick my lip. I truly wish I could stop the lip thing.
#3
I am so, so, so excited for Lost season 4 to start at the end of the month. Rob and I are late fans and have purchased the last 3 seasons and are up to speed on it all. Can't wait!
#4
I am learning something new which I have not done for a very long time. I am taking tennis lessons. Just had my first one and loved it. A lot harder than I thought and rather humbling. Rob calls me the next Martina Navritilova
#5
I love my kids and am trying to give them more of my time.
#6
I love and miss my family! I truly wish we lived closer to you guys. I almost feel guilty. The boys are growing so fast, and I want to have the whole, dinner thing once a week, with gma and gpa sleepovers, breaks from the kids, birthdays to go to, holiday celebrations together, and everything else I can't have. I just wish I could see you all more.

Okay, I tag: Tice, Mandy, Holly, Ronni, Myr, and Liz

The Best Lady Out There

2008-01-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a lady I have for a mother. Specifically the things that make her great are the times she stopped what she was doing and focused on me; making me feel important, loved, and valued. Mom, do you remember when you stayed up late, wrote an alto music line, so that me and my friend could sing it the very next day in Seminary? ---I recognize now how awesome that is. And how about all the games you came to, and the very few that you missed. Knowing you were always there cheering me on was a constant reminder of how supportive you were. Always rearranging your schedule, spending all your money, and being happy all at the same time, just so I could do something I enjoyed. Gosh, what I took for granted as a teenager, I value today, and can only hope to be the same kind of mom to my own boys. You taught me how and I only hope I can be the same mom for them as you were/are for me, so they never question how much they're loved, how awesome they really are, or how grateful I am for them. Happy 66 Lady! Hope your birthday is as memorable as you are to me. We love and miss you!

Christmas Day

2007-12-28T11:38:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2007

2007-12-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, this year was a fun Christmas. We celebrated Christmas Eve with some yummy chinese takeout and watching the Bronco/Charger game. Spencer's Chargers won, which Rob did not appreciate very much, but at least he let Spencer watch the entire game even though his Broncos did not play well at all. We made Santa some gingerbread man cookies, and of course left some apples and oranges for the reindeer as well. We read the Christmas story and watched a little video about it and then Spencer informed us he was going to turn on his listening ears when he went up to his room, so he could hear Santa. And then he'd know if Santa Claus was real or not. Christmas morning, Spencer was awake at about 7am. He was so excited and ready to run down and open presents except that I wasn't ready. I ran down to get the camera ready, but couldn't see very well, as I had woken up with a migraine. Spencer was on the verge of tears wanting to see his presents, so I gave in and let them come down without the camera ready to go. oh well, we caught most of the excitement. As soon as Carter saw his basketball hoop, he was saying basketball over and over and over again. That's all he did for quite some time as we opened our presents. Finally, he started to get into it as well, trying to take all of Spencer's presents and opening a few of his as well. He was happy with his hoop and Wiggle video. It was so funny. Spencer couldn't slow down. He was opening presents so fast we only caught about half on camera. He was divying out mine, rob's, carter's, opening up the family gifts and saying each time he opened one, "This is just what I wanted!" That made us feel really good. Spencer was excited about all of his presents, especially the LT jersey Santa brought him which he has been wearing these last few days. Lincoln, aka "Linx," our new cat, entertained us all by jumping and pouncing on all of the wrapping paper. We love having him around, and he's already so comfortable around us that he doesn't go and hide anymore. What a Christmas. A new pet, lots of goodies, a big mess, and happy kids. We hope you all had a great Christmas as well.

Spencer's Birthday Celebration

2007-12-19T08:05:00.001-08:00

Spencer Turns 6!

2007-12-19T06:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official. My little boy is no longer little anymore. He's passed 5 up and he's on his way. Rob & I are in a little denial at this point. We celebrated last Friday and threw Spencer a football party. It was a big hit. The kids had a blast, and why wouldn't they? They were able to break all the rules they have to keep at home. Throwing and kicking balls inside, playing tackle football, and eating lots of sugar. It was a lot of fun. We had a great group of 8 boys, all dressed up in their football apparel. We played games, ate cake & ice cream, hit the pinata-made by Rob (and yes hon, it is definitely "blog-worthy") and opened presents. The boys took home plenty of candy and some good stuff. Spencer thoroughly enjoyed his presents and even remembered to thank mom and dad. On his actual birthday, yesterday Dec. 18th, Rob took him out to lunch to Burger King. We opened presents when they got home, and he was excited with them all, especially the NFL teams poster. Of course the most inexpensive gifts they love, right? For school they sang Happy Birthday to him, and he took some cupcakes for the snack. After school I let him invite a few friends over and I just want to say that I'm so glad he has such good friends. They are so agreeable and nice and play really well together. We expect nothing less in the future. ---All in all, he had a great birthday. We are so proud of Spencer and all he's accomplished. He is a great kid. So smart, so sweet, and so fun. Thanks for all the calls and presents. We miss all of you and wish you could have been here.