Halloween Hardcover

I like books, but I LOVE children's literature. When I walk into Barnes & Noble, I glance at the newest books, but head straight for the children's section... whether or not I'm with my kids. There is something about the imagination, creative writing, simple rhymes in these books that takes me back. I love reading to my kids, coming up with voices. I love it even more when we have read a book enough that they can recite it back to me. Spencer has been doing this with a book called "When a Monster is Born". He knows it by heart and even has hand motions to go along with it. I love reading this with him. Here are a few of our other favorites that we read together and Spencer's cute interpretations.

Each Halloween, I decorate my front table like a crazy person. I have a spooky tree, pumpkins, haunted house, gravestones... but my favorite part of the table is a basket filled full of kids Halloween books. They are easily accessible and constantly read. I add a couple more every year.

It happens multiple times throughout the day... Spencer runs to the book basket, grabs his choice and says "C'mon Mommmy, let's read a book!" How in the world do you say no to that? We were late for preschool the other day because we were reading. In fact, we have been so rushed lately that our little book breaks have been a welcome retreat. I love this time with Spencer... not bad for a kid who hated reading books a year ago.

I took Spencer to the bookstore the other day (we go every so often) and he ran in, took a hard left and emerged into the enchanting kids book land... I wonder who he gets that from?

Carving Claire

What's a little girl to do when her older brother gets invited to carve pumpkins at a friends house and she doesn't? She carves a pumpkin with her mom at home! It probably wasn't as fun and doing it with a friend, but it was great mom/daughter bonding time. Nothing like scraping out the stinky guts of a pumpkin with someone you love.

Turned out cute and her pumpkin now has flowers coming out of her ears on the front porch. Love this creative/crafty little girl.

Side note: Dallin went over to Tony's house (basketball teammate) for a pumpkin carving party and his pumpkin won first place and Dallin won $10!! He told me this story on the drive home and showed me his winnings... it was only $7. I asked what happened to the other $3 and he told me that the boy in 2nd place was little and was sad that his pumpkin didn't win, so Dallin split some of his winnings. Love him.

Cheer Camp

The Chaparral High School cheerleaders put on a cheer camp every year for girls age 5-11, so this was the first year Claire could participate and it couldn't have come fast enough for her. She was SO excited.

There were 3 nights of camp/practices and their final performance was during half time at the Friday night Chaparral football game.

Claire looked so cute, performed very well, made some new friends, and found something that she really enjoys. She actually woke up the next morning with crocodile tears streaming down her face because cheer camp was over. She cried for awhile.

It was so fun to watch all of these cute little girls in pink perform their cheers and dance. When they were finished, they all giddily ran through the football helmet.

I went and picked Claire up in the gym and she was all smiles.

She said goodbye to her cheer coaches and we went back into the stands to watch the rest of the game. Dallin and Claire LOVED hanging out with some of their favorite youth from our ward/babysitters (Duvalls and Scotts). They were so nice to make my kids feel super-cool at the high school football game.

Such a fun night together as a family watching Claire, hanging out with friends, eating pizza, and cheering on the high school football team.

GooOOOO Claire!

Tremendous Three

We have had a "terrible two" in our home for the past year. I have to counteract that statement by saying that Spencer is awesome. He's sweet, loving, hilarious, quirky and I love him like crazy.

He does, however, throw a mean tantrum... a two year old tantrum. Dallin and Claire think it's hilarious that I call him a terrible two in those moments. It seems to fit perfectly. And then a minute later, he's good. He'll come sit on my lap and say "oh, mommy.. oh, mommy"... like a hormonal teenager that lost it for a moment and then is all of a sudden back to normal. Well, all of that changes today... it's Spencer's birthday and he's 3! Soooo, according to my kids, the "terrible" part is over. Dallin says that he's now a "tremendous three". Let's see if Spencer can live up to that!

I've been asking Spencer "how old are you?" and he replies with a countdown, starting with 10. He says 10... I say no. 9... no, 8...no, 7...no, 6...no, 5...no, 4...no, 3... YES, HOORAY! He then says "I'm three!! Woo Hoo!!! (while holding up three fingers). Happy Birthday to my favorite 3 year old in the whole world!

Some of Spencer's favorite things right now:

-Little Einsteins

-Wow Wow Wubbzy

-Blue Hat, Green Hat book

-running up to me saying "thanks, mommy"

-saying "I cannot believe it!"

-making a line with anything on the ground, jumping over it and yelling "ok mommy, you're turn"! I then jump over it and he says, "yay, you did it!". I tell him it's his turn and we do this over and over again

-chicken dinosaurs

-counting

-farm animals

-playing the iPad

-when Dallin and Claire come home from school

-sharing his new bunk bed with Dallin

-reading books

-riding Daddy like a tiger

-jumping on the trampoline

-taking off his clothes

LOVE this tremendous three year old!

Kissing Kid

Spencer threw a few things today during sacrament meeting. He threw his Buzz Lightyear toy at my head... he threw his sippy cup and hit Brother Scott's head sitting in front of us... I then quickly took him out and he threw the biggest tantrum ever. There was a lot of crying, screaming, kicking, throwing himself on the ground over and over. It was Spencer's 2 year old grand finale (I hope).

Trying to be a little more patient (I was at church after all), I calmly walked over to the manimal, reminded him that we don't throw things, picked him up and loved him. He put his head on my shoulder and calmed down (only occasional sporadic crying remnants). I walked over with him to a picture of the Savior hanging on the wall and said "who's that?". Spencer looked up and stared. I said, "it's Jesus" and he quietly lifted his lips up to the Saviors and kissed him. I wasn't sure if that was okay, kissing a beautiful piece of art hanging in the church, but I decided it was.

It reminded me of the scripture in 3 Nephi 11 when the Savior comes down from heaven and shows himself to the people of Nephi. Verse 18 and 19 says:

"And it came to pass that he spake unto ^aNephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth. And Nephi arose and went forth, and ^abowed himself before the Lord and did ^bkiss his feet."

It was a tender moment in that church hallway. I realize that Spencer is only 2... capable of throwing toys at my head and throwing a ginormous tantrum, but also very capable of knowing the Savior and loving Him just as Nephi. It was a small reminder that sometimes difficult moments in life bring about some of the greatest spiritual experiences. In the middle of that temper tantrum, I would never have said that I'm glad it happened, but after witnessing that sweet kiss, I'm so glad we ended up in the hall today.

Raingutter Reggata

Dallin is an awesome, gung-ho cub scout. The only problem is, his mom isn't very well-informed. I am still trying to figure out what "achievements" and "arrows" are, but Dallin is there for me to help me along.

A few weeks ago at church, my friend Julie (Cub Scout leader) hands me a box and says "this is for the rain gutter regatta." I say thank you, look at the box and immediately needed my Dallin to translate. I was informed that it is similar to the pine wood derby (I've got that lingo down!), but boat-style. Dallin and I talked about how excited we were to put that boat together on our way home from church, I put the little "rain gutter regatta" box down in the garage and it sat there. It sat there for weeks. It sat there until the day of the race and then I panicked.

Pete promised he'd come home early from work to make this boat with Dallin (Pete was a scout... he gets it). Just as promised, Pete walks through the door a couple of hours before the race, rolls up his sleeves and my cute boys get to sanding, painting, and building away.

A couple of hours later, Dallin proudly carried his boat into the cultural hall of the church and put it on the table by the others. When it was time, the boys raced each other using straws to blow their boat the length of the "gutter". Through the process of elimination, the finals approached and Dallin had won every race prior to his final go round. Even though he lost the last one, he still managed to nab 3rd place overall! He even won a nifty ribbon to pin on his uniform. Not bad for a boat that had just emerged from a box in the garage a few hours before. Nice job Dallin and Peter!

Although the 3rd place win was big, my favorite moment of the night came right after Dallin won his second race. He quickly walked up to the boy he beat, high-fived him and gave him a sincere "nice job". Sister Phippen was sitting next to me, saw this interaction and was so impressed that Dallin would go out of his way to say this before even picking up his boat. I agree that I have one amazing cub scout!

Spencer School

Spencer started preschool today!! He's only 2 (almost 3), not even close to being potty trained, still has a difficult time communicating, yet has been welcomed with open arms by Ms. Carol and Miss Melissa and he's really excited! He has spent the only 2 years of his life dropping off and picking Claire up from this wonderful place and now he's excited to emerge from the car seat and be a part of it! Hooray for preschool! Love my big boy.

Literary Lemming

Yep. That's me. I have officially dubbed myself a literary lemming. I enjoy reading, but I'm not one of those people who walks through Barnes and Noble and buys a random book from the shelf. The ones I read are national best sellers, talked about in book clubs, referred to be my my devout reading friends, mentioned on Oprah, and apparently have movies being made after them.

I know it sounds like Junior High, but I read what all the cool readers are reading. I've decided that my lemming ways are a protective device for not wasting precious time. Many times after a TV show or movie, I think to myself "well, there's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back"... I feel the same way about a mediocre book. So in all reality, I take others opinions and reviews to heart.

This book, "The Help", is one of those books referred to me by friends, is everywhere I look, a national best seller. So check, check and check... yep, I can now read it :). I bought it at Costco on a Wednesday, started it on Friday and finished it a few days later (I would have read it straight through if my life permitted it). It was divine, emotional, beautifully written... life changing really. I fell in love with the characters, the message. It was a difficult book to put down. I found myself waking up at 4:30 one morning just so I could figure out what Hilly was going to do next. There were moments when I laughed out loud, many moments when my heart broke, moments when I wanted to do something to change the world. That was my gauge for how good this book really was... it made me feel, think. Loved it.

I finished it just 2 days ago... the same day the movie debuted. I was anxious to go and meet these characters I had fallen in love with (and hoped that the movie would do them justice... the way my mind did). I went and saw the movie last night with my friend Chelsea and LOVED it. The characters were perfect. The parts of the book they highlighted in the movie were spot on. I never cried once while reading the book, but boy did I bawl during this movie. It was an emotional film and very tastefully done.

There were people walking out of the theater with tissues in their hands, red rings around their eyes, and looks of change in their faces. I decided that those were the people who had read the book... who have come to love these characters in each of the book's 520 pages. There were those who didn't even seemed phased by what they just saw... they either hadn't read the book, or they had their heart removed prior to the show.

In all of my blabbering, my final conclusion is this: I'm glad I followed the crowd and read the book and then followed that same crowd all the way to the movies. I guess it's okay to be a lemming sometimes.

Twin Trouble

The verdict is in and... we're having twin BOYS!! Heaven help us. :)

Chocolate Cure

Dallin told me earlier today that he had a headache. I asked if he wanted some Tylenol, but he politely declined. A little while later, I see him grabbing a huge handful of chocolate cookies from the pantry. I told him not to eat so many, to which he replied:

"Mom, I just read online that chocolate can help get rid of headaches, so I'm going for it."

He ate a bunch of the cookies and proudly proclaimed minutes later that his headache was gone. Miraculous.

Shocking Stuff

First shocker - I'm writing a blog post!

Second shocker - I'm almost 3 months pregnant!!

Biggest shocker - We just found out this morning that we're having twins!!!

It has been an absolutely crazy morning. I gathered all 3 kids in the van this morning and told them they needed to come to my first baby doctor appointment and that it would be quick. It took almost 2 1/2 hours. Sorry kids.

As we were sitting in the waiting room, my kids were crazy. They were climbing, running, jumping, using their "outside voices" and were especially wild for some reason. I sat there with my morning bags under my eyes, folding my arms, wondering how I was going to do this plus another little baby. Little did I know.

We were finally called back, I was weighed in, had my blood pressure taken and had a lot of questions thrown my way. Thankfully my kids calmed down once they were trapped inside a small room.

I met my new OB (who is great), she got to know my pregnancy history (which was basically running all over that little room), and then left so I could change into the fabulous pink gown waiting for me on the bed. She came back in and we all sat around anxious to see the first ultrasound of this baby. As the doctor prepped the machine, she was telling me how she thinks even #'s of kids are perfect. They all have a buddy, no one is left out, etc. and I'm totally agreeing.

She then proceeds to do the ultrasound and says: "it looks like you're going to have to have another baby...". My heart sank thinking that this little baby's heart wasn't beating. She then turns the screen and that is when my life changed again forever.

There were 2 babies. Two little heads. Two little hearts beating away. Two sacs. I instantaneously cried, laughed and shook uncontrollably the rest of the appointment. The kids were so excited and I was too... sort of. That's a lot to take in when I look to my left and see 3 darling, crazy kids, and then I look to my right and see 2 more cooking away. Life changing for sure.

The crazy part about this whole experience is that I had a dream right after I found out I was pregnant. It was a very vivid and real dream. I had twins... a boy and a girl named Evan and Elle. I've joked about it for the past few weeks and now it's no longer the joke, it's the reality (at least the twins part... we'll see about the gender in a couple weeks). Unbelievable.

Oh, and I'm still shaking.

Here are the photos taken at today's appointment:

The 2 little heads in their 2 separate sacs

The 2 cute baby blobs

Baby #1 in all of it's 3 month glory

Baby #1

Cute Baby #2

Baby #2 and it's gummy bear body

Crazy exciting!

Easter Excitement

Happy Easter! It has been a really fun weekend with some really fun kids.

To kick start our Easter weekend, we attended our ward Easter party Saturday morning at the Pulte park. Bishop Waldron was in charge of the breakfast, so he took Spencer, went to the store, stocked up on doughnuts and OJ and met us at the park. Dallin, Claire and I walked/rode scooters there... it was a great activity.

We chatted with friends, had a yummy breakfast, played tug-o-war, went on an egg hunt, and played some more.

Dallin found a basketball buddy and they scrimmaged most of the morning together. In fact, when it was Sr. Primary's turn to hunt for eggs, I couldn't find Dallin. I looked over and he had thrown his Easter basket to the wayside and was playing more basketball. He eventually came over to find a few eggs (probably to appease his mother) and then high-tailed it back to the court.

Claire was in heaven with so many fun friends and was prime age for the egg hunt.

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Spencer, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with it. Don't you love this face...

He was pretty groggy from his nap and I wasn't about to force the tired beast to put an egg in a basket.

He just wanted his Daddy. Once he finally woke up, he loved playing on the playground and running on the field.

The rest of our Saturday was spent relaxing. Peter did his first wedding as a bishop that afternoon, but we had him home with us the rest of the day. We colored Easter eggs, did a little bit of organizing, went on a walk and enjoyed a beautiful spring day together.

This morning, we woke the kids up early so that they could reap the benefits of the Easter bunny before church started at 9. They found lots of eggs (Spencer still not interested) and were spoiled by the nicest bunny around.

We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and while we were eating, I looked up and saw that it was 8:20... we had 25 minutes to get all of us ready for Easter Sunday! Ahhhh!!! I just had another ulcer writing that. We miraculously got ready (Pete left early to open the church) and were only a few minutes late... an Easter miracle.

Church was wonderful and the sacrament meeting program was one of the best I've experienced. Haden Jaramillo gave his mission farewell talk on the atonement and it was beautiful. There were 2 incredible musical numbers and Brother Badal wrapped up the meeting with another beautiful talk on the Savior. The spirit was ever-present.

After church, Peter left for a business trip to San Fransisco while the kids and I went to the Warner's house for Easter dinner. It was a great time with the Warner and Davis families!

In between church and dinner, the kids came with me to drop some Easter goodies off to friends and look who we saw as we were driving down the road...

Fifty years ago, this would have been endearing, but today it was a little creepy. Claire rolled down her window to wave, so I slowed down. The bunny started walking up to our car and Claire could not roll her window up fast enough. He handed me a Sees candy chocolate egg and introduced himself. I could tell he was an older man. I made up a sweet back story for this grandpa so that I wasn't too freaked out. Just for the record, we didn't eat the egg :).

Every Easter, I try to get a photo of the kids in their Easter clothes and it always seems like a crazy chore. This is as good as it got today...

Happy Easter from the Waldrons!