Oktoberfest and Halloween

During October, we decided it would be fun to have Oktoberfest at our house (minus the beer, of course). So we had a family-friendly all-you-can-drink root beer party, had lots of food, and played some rockin' polka music. I think that everyone that came had a good time, even though it was a little crowded. We had around 40 people come! I didn't get any pictures besides these two:

Halloween was fun and we had plenty of food and candy at the parties we went to. I had a couple good-lookin' pirates and a squishy little pumpkin to take pictures of. But I have to say, it was a little weird putting eyeliner and mascara on Aaron. It turned out pretty good, though!

Differences

Wow, our boys are so different from one another. Here's my example from tonight:

• I tell Cameron it's time to get ready for bed. We go upstairs, and he says he'll go to the bathroom first. 45 minutes later he is still sitting on the toilet wasting time (and probably too much toilet paper!), like he doesn't have a care in the world. 15 minutes after that, he's finally brushed his teeth and gotten his pj's on.
• Kyle, on the other hand, is all business. In the same amount of time, I change his diaper, brush his teeth, make a bottle (haven't taken it away yet), and then he plays for a while. Then I tell him it's time to go to sleep. He walks straight over to the gate in the living room, we go upstairs, he helps me close the door, turn off the light, and is ready to drink his bottle. When he's done, I lay him in the crib. And then for my favorite part:

HE PUTS HIMSELF TO SLEEP.

He's done that since he was about 6 months, but I'm still grateful every night. :)

Okay, I have a few more minutes to spare this time, so here's what's up:

Kyle is cute. Like, really, really cute! He is such a sweet boy. He took his first steps the day before his birthday, but really got going around Conference weekend. He thinks he's pretty awesome and is all over the place now. His favorite games are: "Try and push the power button on the computer before Mommy and Daddy can stop me," "Open up the cupboards and drawers and throw everything out at lightning speed," "How many magazines and books can I destroy?" and "Throw my blankie out of the crib and whine about how I can't get it back." As I write this, he is ripping up a phone book, but at least he's entertained. (Who still uses phone books, anyway?) Kyle's #1 favorite thing in his whole life (so far) is cheese. He thinks it's the best stuff ever. He's also good at eating everything--last night was chicken enchiladas and he loved it. He also loves spaghetti and lasagna. Anyway, he jabbers a lot ("nanana" means food or drink, we think) and if we're lucky he'll do the sign for "more." He's getting pretty good at sippie cups, so I think we're about ready to take the beloved bottles away. He's not too bad with change though, so hopefully it won't be a major shock. He loves when Cameron does silly things to make him laugh.



My good-lookin' boys:

Cameron, for the most part, is enjoying kindergarten. He likes riding the bus with his friends and likes doing "centers" where they go to different tables and do projects. He's doing really well with reading and writing, and can read a lot of books on his own. We can't spell words in front of him anymore to disguise what we're talking about, so Aaron's resorted to Portuguese and I have to try and interpret the best I can. :) He's still a huge fan of dinos and dragons, trains, pirates, swords, and all those typical boy things. And even though I've never been a fan of having swords and guns, somehow everything turns into them anyway (like Legos, toy screwdrivers, etc.). Cameron is in a music class that he goes to each week with other kids his age (I go with him every other week) and is having fun there. He's learned a lot, and I can tell he's getting better at pitch and rhythm.

We got the ginormous window in our living room tinted a few days ago. It's not super dark like a car or anything, but maybe it'll help our house from getting to be 87 degrees in the middle of October.


Aaron's new job is good, most days. He's doing way different stuff than he used to, so he's struggled with that. But he's gotten to do a few fun things like hiking and 4-wheeling, so it can't be that bad!

I got called to be the 1st counselor in the YW in our ward. At the moment, that's along with being a VT coordinator and ward organist, so it's not like I'm overwhelmed or anything. :) Anyway, so far so good, even though I was really nervous. The girls are great and I think it'll be good for me (and hopefully for them!).

Yes, we're still alive!!

Lowdown of the last 3 months:

• We had a good summer.
  
• Company party at the baseball game.

• Boys excited for a bike ride.
  

• Cute baby.

• Copper mines.
  

• I turned 30. Wow, I'm old.



• We had some fun family reunions.



• Aaron accepted a job offer with the state, so he had vacation time to use up.



• We took a trip (minus Kyle) to Washington, D.C. using said vacation time.



• Cameron started kindergarten.
  

• Kyle turned ONE!

• Aaron had his birthday, too.

Phew! That's the short version, huh?

Summer stuff

A few things I wanted to write down before I forgot them:

• I was holding Kyle and walking into the house from the garage, Cameron behind me, but the door shut before Cameron could come in. He came in and said (kind of confused but joking), "Why would you do that to your own....loving you child?"
• It used to be that every morning when I'd go in to get Kyle up, the first thing he wanted to do was play with the dinosaurs on his mobile. Now he's usually pulled himself up to the side and is standing there waiting for me. (Huge smile, of course.)
• Kyle is OBSESSED with water. He practically dives into the bathtub and then whines when it's time to get out! He loves faucets, baths, swimming (not the first couple times, though), and today I even caught him eyeing a puddle in the gutter.
• Kyle loves when trucks go past. We sit outside and wait for them to go past (he even recognizes the word and will look around for the truck and watch til it's out of sight).
• When Kyle eats, he hums. Like with every bite of food, he starts going "Mmmm, mumum mmm." It's really cute!
• Cameron thinks the best food in the world is a churro.
• Cameron loves to play with his friends Jacob and Braxton (and was at Braxton's house for like 5 hours yesterday!).
• This week Cameron has been going to "day camp" that a girl in the neighborhood is doing. He's had SO much fun--they've had a swimming day, game day, and cooking day so far. Tomorrow is craft day, and Friday is sports day. How fun!

Everything

Okay, so here's the highlights from the last couple of months. For the most part it goes from most recent stuff to the oldest.

Cute little boy having fun at the zoo (Memorial Day):

The other cute boys having fun:

Cameron's birthday party (with a few of his neighborhood friends):

This game was called "Throw Water Balloons at the Dinosaur Since It's Way Too Cold to Throw Them at People"

Hitting the dragon pinata with a sword:

Ignore all the junk and boxes, please.....

Cameron's birthday present from daddy and mommy:

More presents!

Kyle being brainwashed. We're startin' him young on American Idol.

Look at those cute teeth!

He really likes his carrots and oatmeal.

Some trifle I made:

The cuties with the "greats" from my side o' the family (at Los Hermanos, for my brother's graduation dinner):

He's thinking, "Really? Another picture?"

Hanging out at Thanksgiving Point:

Cameron's performance at my students' piano recital (May 21):

Today's funny

Cameron, talking about a toy: "Did you know this alien from outdoor space can actually fly?"
Me: "Oh, you mean outer space?"
Cameron: "Yeah!"

Update

I've decided I'll never get around to blogging about our Europe trip. I mean, it's been two and a half months--have you seen much yet? Nope. I journaled everything, but it's like 10 pages long. So if you're bored and really need something to read, let me know and I'll email it to you. Or you can watch the video on here; that's a pretty good overview.

Kyle is 7 1/2 months old. Seriously? Where has the time gone? He is such a happy, sweet little baby. Sometimes he even smiles when he's crying! He is starting to like solid food more. Now he just likes to wiggle around a lot, get distracted by the fun things Cameron is doing, and try to pull his bib off. He sits pretty well, but since he's such a chunky fella he still tips over a lot. He is such a talkative boy! He's hardly ever quiet--he's always cooing and gargling and making cute sounds.

Cameron is just as talkative, but at least we understand everything he's saying. :) He will talk anyone's ear off if they show the slightest interest. The usual topic is dinosaurs or dragons. We took him to see How to Train Your Dragon soon after it came out, and boy does he love it! He's got all the names of the dragons memorized and knows everything about them. Funny kid.

We took a short trip to Disneyland over spring break and had a great time. Both boys are great travelers--we didn't even have to resort to the DVD player for Cameron! Anyway, my whole immediate family went the same time, and we had a super yummy dinner at my beloved El Torito (best Mexican restaurant ever) the first night we were there. The next morning we all went to Disneyland. The weather was PERFECT! We all did our own thing at different points throughout the day--it's a nightmare trying to keep a group together! So Kyle's first ride was Pirates, and he was a little unsure of what was going on at first, but eventually he realized he could hold my hand and then he was happy. Actually, that's about how it was for Cameron, too! :) We were all (everyone) able to go on Buzz Lightyear and Haunted Mansion together. Our little Spencer fam went on Nemo and Storybookland, which both boys really liked. The rest of the rides we had to do the stroller swap thing (which is awesome), so overall we got to do and see everything we wanted to.

The next day everyone went their own way (most of them back home) and we went to the La Brea Tar Pits. I'd learned about it in Geology way back in the day, and had wanted to see what it was all about. I knew Aaron and Cameron would think it was interesting, too. So it was mostly a museum, but outside there is still a tar lake and spots in the grass that have tar seeping through. Weird. So there were lots of preserved bones n' stuff that they've found over the years.

After that we went to Santa Monica Pier, and it was a little chillier that day, but Cameron still wanted to play in the ocean. He had fun even though he about had hypothermia by the time we got back to the car!

Easy Easter Project

I decided that Cameron and I need to do more little projects together. So today, I thought it would be fun to do something for Easter. This "bird's nest" idea was in a newsletter thingie from Thanksgiving Point. I think they turned out pretty cute!

It's just chow mein noodles, melted chocolate chips, and Reese's PB eggs. I'm all about easy!!

Kyle's First Haircut

Today was the first time I've cut all three of my boys' hair! And it was Kyle's first haircut. I almost felt bad doing it, since he's only 6 months old, but he really needed it. He was starting to have a mullet and a mohawk...since the 80's are long gone, they had to go too! :)

Before:

After: