Utah: Spencer's Birthday

On July 10th, Spencer reached the age of 3! This is quite an achievement given his propensity to jump, fall, bump, and bleed.

He requested an R2-D2 cake, which only required two emergency trips to the local bakery for cake salvaging supplies. It was, however, decorated solely by his doting mother, Audrey-the-Great-cake-over-do'er.

Utah: Miscellaneous Adventures

While in Utah, I ran my extended family ragged with excursions. Above are photos from:

• My Grandma's house, where the kids played outside all morning while my sisters and I had fun selecting items from my Grandma's vast collection of fabric, notions, and whatnots. She was emptying the house in preparation for her move to Washington with her new husband.
• The Clearfield Aquatic Center
• A slumber party of just the "older" cousins (Ages 6, 5, and 4--I know, so old!)
• The Kangaroo Zoo Bounce House
• The Union Station Train Museum

Utah: Camping

I left for Utah on the morning of June 29th with our three boys and my 17-yr-old cousin, Jackie. Somehow, my parents talked me into going straight to camping after a two-day drive, so we arrived at "Grandpa's Cabin" on June 30th. Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos, but here are the better ones that I did take.

David did not enjoy camping, but Spencer thought it was great and even went with me on quite an ATV adventure ride--which included crossing a river that got me wet up to mid-thigh. Because Jason had just learned to crawl, he spent most of the time inside the cabin. Unfair, I know.

These photos are from the kids playing in the hammock, and a little ATV ride/nature hike that we (Audrey, Stacey, and Dad) took the older grandkids on. There are also some "morning forest" shots that I took--morning is my favorite time of day in the mountains.

June 2009

June began with a visit from Audrey's Grandma (aka "Grammie" which is easier to say than "Great Grandma Jackson") and Audrey's Aunt, Nancy ("Grammie's" daughter). During their stay was when Spencer dumped an entire new container of liquid blue Tide concentrated laundry detergent on the carpet. We had a wonderful visit with them, and were not left alone for long since on the day that they departed, Aunt Angela (Jonathan's sister) arrived to stay with us for a week. On David's last day of school we went with her to an indoor play place called "Bonkers".

During June I (Audrey) made a banner for girls' camp, and we finally bought a new kitchen table! We had a great Father's Day and celebrated Jonathan's birthday, however, due in large part to our upstairs A/C going out, we didn't take any photos of Jonathan's birthday celebration.

Finally, the last part of June was spent madly packing for our road trip to Utah for three weeks.

A lot of catching up!

So, it has been several months since I updated our Picasa Web Album. Here is a link if you want to see some of our daily life: http://picasaweb.google.com/jrstonehenge

No pressure.

My little Jason J

For those of you who haven't seen my sweet little giant lately...

Did I mention that I love baby feet?

We've got...

Roughly 14 sq ft of carpet to replace (thanks to Spencer and the blue Tide),

a cracking garage door panel ($175),

a blockage in the sewage pipe leading out of the guest bathroom,

the boys' toilet just broke,

"and Guilder to blame for it.

We're swamped!"

My Aunt Nancy with Spencer, spooning up the concentrated liquid Tide that has ruined our floor. These are just the larger patches, Spencer tried to clean it up himself; soaked a towel in it, gave up, dragged it across the playroom and left it on the love sac. This also doesn't show the blue footprints EVERYWHERE!

David's understanding of concepts

This was found today while I was flipping through his science journal which he brought home for the first time (since it was the last day of school). For those who are unfamiliar, the figures are holding Wii remotes. I love the angry face.

Being crafty

I know that I should be posting a photo of my cute boys, but instead, here is my cute craft project! My sisters and I spent two days sanding, painting, modge-podging, and spraying to create a set of "O's" for the word home. Each block represents a month of the year, except for the cupcake--which is for birthdays. This set was a birthday gift given to me by my Mom and sisters in April. Thankfully, when my sisters came to visit this weekend they decided to help me create it, because I probably would never have finished it on my own.

Funny quotes from The Boys - 2

DAVID: David approached me (Audrey, aka "Mommy") with his new Christmas DVD in hand, a movie he had just seen the day before with his little brother, Spencer.

"Mommy, do you want to watch this funny movie with me?"

"What if I don't want to watch that movie, David?"

"Well, it has a really funny movie part that you will like. It's so funny!"

"OK, David. Why don't you watch the movie and when the funny part comes on you can call me in to watch it with you?"

"Well, there is just so many funny parts that I think I will have to call you when I press play."

SPENCER: For those of you who may not know, Spencer is very attached to a blanket that his great-grandmother, aka "Grammie" made for him. This afternoon Spencer was missing his blanket, so he stood at the top of the stairs and called down, "Blaaaaanket!" He then put his hands on either side of his mouth to call out louder, "Blaaaaanket! Come here!"

The Presidential Inauguration of Barrack Obama

I have a new president. I was touched and thrilled by the massive crowd brought together to support our new president. I was also proud of former President George W. Bush and his wife for the gracious, generous, and peaceful transition of power.

I hope that President Obama will make the right choices for our nation.

The George W. Bushes will be welcomed back here in Texas. I know that they are taking a residence here in Dallas. Perhaps we will see them in person one day.

Blue Monday

It may be hormonal, it may be circumstance, it may be lack of sleep from a busy/trying weekend. Whatever the cause, today was a blue day for me. I fed my children, took a shower, bathed Jason, and trimmed Spencer's toenails. That is it. I decided to blog myself out of it. I posted a few new photos, which is good, and I'm going to get on the treadmill after this and listen to some rockin' music. Hopefully, that will get me back on track to blaze through tomorrow. I need some power, some righteous fire.