Weekly Review: February 28 - March 6

The boys had a blast playing with all the cool stuff and toys at Grandma and Grandpa's house! On this trip, they also made a discovery that up until now, they hadn't noticed - Grandpa's guitar! Looks like we have another budding musician in the works!



We left South Dakota Saturday and went as far as LaCrosse Wisconsin. The boys have been very good travelers up to this point - the break was taken more because Mommy needed it than for any other reason. In one of our rest stop breaks, the boys proved that you really CAN make fun out of nearly anything. This is a changing table that they turned into a briefcase from the game show Deal or No Deal. They would take turns pulling it open while the other said "Open your case!" Then they would both jump up and down screaming! That's right folks - I don't think I could make this stuff up!








We got home early enough Sunday afternoon to join in on the joint birthday party that was already in progress at our house. We celebrated Krista's birthday that was last Wednesday and Grandpa's birthday which was Sunday!


The boys also go to call in birthday wishes to their girl Elizabeth who turned 16 on Wednesday! Happy birthday to you all!!!!!!!!!

Weekly Review: February 21 - 27

About 48 hours ago Mommy and Daddy made a last minute decision. We decided that Daddy would stay home and got caught up on some office work while Mommy and the boys made a flying trip to South Dakota! So Sunday morning, as Daddy left for church, the boys and Mommy loaded into the RSV (red sport vehicle) and made tracks to SD! Right before we left, our good friend Jenny surprised Brian and Spencer with travel goodie bags and they were a huge hit with the boys!

Our goal for travel day 1 was to get to Sioux Falls. Once there we spent the night at Mommy's best friend Jannelle's house. Spencer got a big kick out of Jannelle's dogs Sophie and Sam. Even though both dogs were incredibly kid friendly and very gentle, Brian wasn't quite so sure about the whole deal. Thanks for everything Jannelle - we can't wait to see you again!!!

We went to South Dakota to visit Grandma and Grandpa but we did have another reason for this particular trip. We wanted to go to Pierre and watch Senator/Grandpa in action at the state capital! While we were enjoying our day at the capital, we ran into some royalty - the lovely McKenzie Haley, Miss Rodeo South Dakota!

We were introduced by Senator/Grandpa during the legislative session! The added commentary you hear is why we opted to stay in the gallery this year instead of trying to sit next to Grandpa downstairs. I also apologize for the shaky video - Mommy had some "assistance" filming this one.

....and once again, we managed to rub elbows with South Dakota Governor Rounds! If you have the opportunity to go to your capital, (whatever state it may be in) we highly recommend it. It really is interesting and important seeing your government in action.

For a long time, Mommy and Daddy never thought we would say this phrase, "Spencer needs a haircut!" Well, he needed one so we paid a visit to Grandma's good friend Ann.

Thank you Ann! Spencer is back to his ever so handsome little self again!

PS: We sent long distance birthday greetings to the boys cousin this week. Happy 10th Birthday Krista!!!!!!!!!

Weekly Review: February 14 - 20

On behalf of Spencer and all of us, we wish you all a very Happy Valentines Day! Spencer is posing next to the beautiful flowers that he helped Brian and Daddy pick out for Mommy!

Grandma and Grandpa came over tonight to join us for a Valentines Day dinner. Keeping in line with the day, for "zert" we had a variety of fruits that we dipped in chocolate. Spencer was particularly fond of the chocolate dipped strawberries!

Spencer's brother Brian has been studying doctors this week at school. So, when Brian came home from school on Friday dressed like a doctor, Spencer wanted to be in uniform too! He opted to go with the fire fighter look though!

Weekly Review: February 7 - 13

Super Bowl Sunday doesn't mean much to the boys yet so - Sunday was just another day of playtime for them! A while back, Grandma made the boys an accessory to use in their play kitchen. She made them some hot pads! What would two little boys do with a couple of hot pads you ask? Well, they know EXACTLY what to do with them!

It's been awhile since we posted a "Random Cute Picture" of Spencer so.......here ya go! It doesn't get much cuter than this!!!

Weekly Review: January 31 - 6

On Wednesday evening of this week, Brian's school had a fun event planned. Kids from Preschool through 2nd grade (as well as their siblings) were invited for "Bedtime Stories". Teachers and members of the school/church staff invited us into their rooms where we snuggled in and listened to a bedtime story. There were 8 different reading stations that we roamed between. To add to the fun, the kids (as well as the teachers who were reading the stories) all wore their jammies! Both boys (okay - Mommy and Daddy too) all had a great time! Spencer in particular seemed to really enjoy getting to be a big boy and go to Brian's school!

Hi Ho - Hi Ho - it's off to work in Daddy's vest I go!

Grandma D had to be at the hospital bright and early Friday morning as she was scheduled to have rotator cuff surgery. She came through the surgery very well but her doctors decided that they would prefer for her to have a sleep over at the hospital and not go home until Saturday. On Saturday morning, Uncle Corey flew in prepared to assist his father with home health care for the next few days. Needless to say, we all love it when Uncle Corey comes to town!

Weekly Review: January 24 - 30

You never know where Spencer will be when the muse strikes him and he needs to create some new artwork. Mommy keeps the crayons close at hand because the boys request them often!

If you recall, we recently posted a picture of Spencer opening a Christmas gift that contained some play vegetables. What fun can you have playing with plastic food? A whole BUNCH of fun if you live at our house! The boys spend a lot of time playing "grocery store". Spencer started out as the cashier, ringing up all of his customers items.

The boys are getting a little better at sharing and taking turns so, soon Spencer was the customer!

If imitation is the best form of flattery, that Mommy and Daddy are indeed flattered! He was either doing what he sees his parents do or........looking for an apartment of his own!

Weekly Review: January 17 - 23

Since Christmas, the gift of a simple little plastic bowling pin game sure has brought a great deal of joy into the lives of one Brian and one Spencer! Initially, Spencer's bowling technique was less of rolling the ball and more of THROWING the ball towards the pins. He tended to prefer the overhand throw so we are thankful that the bowling balls are hollow little plastic things or we would have some serious dents in our floors! This also explains why Mommy and Daddy decided that Spencer wasn't quite ready to attend Haley's birthday bowling party on Sunday.

Spencer was happy to hang out watching football at home with Grandpa. Actually, Grandpa did most of the game watching while Spencer did a little more bowling of his own!

When Brian returned from the birthday party, he had lots of exciting stories to tell but frankly, I think Spencer was more interested in looking into the grab bags that Haley sent home for them!

Last December we talked about how Spencer was no longer interested in sleeping in his crib anymore. Daddy immediately converted his crib into the toddler bed. Spencer isn't completely sold on the idea of the toddler bed yet but he has no problem crawling into Brian's big boy bed!

Since Spencer isn't a big fan of sleeping in his toddler bed but he loves sleeping on his Big Bird bed, a few weeks ago Daddy came up with a win-win solution! Put the Big Bird bed IN the toddler bed and call it a day! Spencer crawls right into it for his afternoon nap each day as well as at bedtime. Case Closed!!!

Weekly Review: January 10 - 16

What is it about kids and water? Put a couple inches of water in the kitchen dish pan, throw in a couple measuring cups, teaspoons and a small glass to fill and Spencer will be occupied for hours!

There were a few additional Thomas the Train accessories under the Christmas tree so the boys have been enjoying some extra time in the land of Sodor with Thomas, Percy, Flora, Stanley and Bill. (If you know anything about Thomas then you understood what I just said.)

We may have mentioned that Daddy has been hard at work remodeling a kitchen. What does that mean if you are 2 or 3 years old? It mean that when Daddy starts installing the cabinets you are about to score some amazing new forts to play in!!!!!!

Weekly Review: January 3 - 9

This week is starting out with another birthday and it belongs to Aunt Ann! Happy Birthday Aunt Ann, we hope you had a wonderful day!

Now that we are back home, the boys their Christmas gifts from our Illinois family to open! Some of the photo's Mommy was able to snap include looking inside their Christmas stockings,

showing excitement over some new books (which we LOVE!),

and some additional vegetables to add to our groceries store/kitchen in the playroom!

We always hate to see it end, but once the calenders tell us it's January, it's time to take down the tree and box up our decorations until next year. Before we take everything down though, heres one more shot of the boys in front of the tree!

We end our week with one more birthday......this time it's the boys cousin Haley who turned 5 years old on Saturday the 9th! Happy Birthday to you.......Happy Birthday to you.......Happy Birthday to Haaaaaaa-leyyyyyyyy......Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!!!!!

FYI: Mommy's 2010 New Years Resolution. She resolves to get a better handle on this blog and stay on top of it remaining current. To ensure that can happen, she will no longer be posting daily entries. Instead, she will continue doing these weekly reviews. This should allow us to keep you up to date on the day to day doings of Spencer and his brother Brian while allowing Mommy to also do everything else she needs to do!

Weekly Review: December 27 - January 2, 2010

If you were holed up in the house while a snowstorm raged away outside......what would you do? I don't know about you but we decided to make home made ice cream! Spencer assisted Grandma in measuring all the ingredients and then Brian helped Grandpa get the salt poured into the ice cream machine.

The results were........delicious!!!!!


If life give you snow: then just ask your Daddy to dig you out a nice snow fort to play in!



There was no way Daddy could spend that much time digging and shoveling snow without leaving his trademark "dude stuck upside down in a snowbank" fella behind! As we were getting ready to leave, we ran into the mail carrier. She said seeing "dude" made her laugh all the way down the block! Grandma informed us that they received a few other calls from people who passed by who got a chuckle out of "dude" too. Hey, if a big ol' snow storm is going to cause you to loose your sense of humor.......chances are, you are in for a LONG winter!


We promised some pictures of the remodeling project Grandma and Grandpa have done so here ya go! This photo was taken while standing in the sun room looking towards the dining room which is at the front of the house. Going to your left would take you into the kitchen and the original part of the house. Going to the right would take you out into the attached garage.

Here's another shot of the sun room. Space, space and more space! Fabulous!!!!!!!


The road reports said that they weren't great, but that they were do-able so we decided that we needed to start for home today (Monday the 28th). HUGE thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for everything. We had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again soon! Maybe not the blizzard part, but definitely everything else!!! Love you both lots!


The first hour or so was a little intense but once we got onto the Interstate the roads improved greatly. So much so that we decided that we would try to make our drive home in one day instead of splitting it into two. Mommy and Daddy decided that if it got to be too much for the boys we would stop, but if we could, we would drive straight though. We stopped for lunch in Sioux Falls where we met up with Mommy's dear friend Jannelle and didn't stop again until dinner. Fortunately we made it to LaCrosse Wisconsin by then and they have an incredible McDonalds playland at their location right outside of LaCrosse so the boys got to run around and stretch their legs for awhile. Being strapped into a car seat for 12 plus hours is a lot to ask of anyone but the boys were troopers and handled the long trip like true professionals! I'm sure eventually Mommy and Daddy won't get all silly the moment we drive Spencer by the exit which leads to the town of Spencer South Dakota. However, as of this trip........the humor hadn't worn off yet!

We got home with just enough time to finish planning our New Years Eve party! The group of friends/family that we make our annual December group outing with just so happen to be the same group of friends/family that we spend New Years Eve with! Kids from age 2 to 17 (although the 17 yr old wasn't able to make it since she had her own thing going on this year - we missed you Beth!), their parents, food, fun and games are all a part of the evening. At the stroke of midnight, Brian hung with the older kids out in the yard, throwing streamers and blowing noise makers. Even though Spencer was still wide awake, he chose to watch the festivities with Aunt Karen from inside the house. Both boys stayed up until midnight but faded fast from that moment on. By 12:20am they were both in bed and fast asleep!


Happy New Year everyone - we hope your 2010 will be filled with good health and happiness!

AND.......as of today, January 1st, 2010 - Happy Birthday to the boys cousin, the lovely Lauren who turnes 2 years old today! Happy Birthday Lauren!!!!!!!!