The Neighbors You Wish You Never Had...

What would you think if you saw the following going on in your neighbor's garage / yard?

So the secret is out:  We have a die-hard skateboarder in our family! Now all the neighbors know it, like it or not!  Actually, Jaron has been doing an amazing job putting together his "mini-ramp" in some of his spare moments. I'm proud of how well he's done, having drawn up the plans, gathered all the materials and thrown this thing together so well (it's even level on our sloped lawn!).  He's had a little help from some fellow high-school boarders (or do they still call them "thrashers"?), and from our buddy Aaron who lives in a home nearby for persons with Downs. I'll have to have Jaron write more later about his first-hand experiences with the ramp, but I think he's had lots of fun building it (he prefers it to post-call sleep most days!). 

Our boys also love the ramp, especially in this "skeleton" stage.  They have a blast climbing on it, and in this picture I think they're "fishing" off it with the neighbor kids.

Bring Your Family to School Night

Spencer's school hosted a "Bring your family to school" night, showcasing each grade's accomplishments in art, singing and P.E.  We're so proud of Spencer for being such a good Kindergarten student!  I couldn't resist sharing this video clip of the Kindergarten singing.  Spencer is in the back row (he was excited that he was tall enough!), and he's definitely a cutie, but if you want the "America's Funniest" version, check out the kid down one row and to the right of him (our right).  I crack up every time I see it!

During the P.E. time, the Kindergarteners showed their parents some activities they do with water noodles (like playing tag and sword-fighting).  Mikey was DYING to get in on it--he hated just watching from the side.  He'd scoot closer and closer away from the sidelines and toward the action.  An astute P.E. assistant noticed this little brother and invited him to join the older kids, handing him his very own noodle!  Mikey was ecstatic!  

Spring Fun

Here's a few things we've been up to so far this spring:

The day before Easter there was a free egg hunt/play-in-the-inflatable-bouncers in the park.  It was warm and wonderful!  Here's a pic of the "big boys" before the hunt.  I don't have any of the actual hunt because many more kids showed up than they were anticipating, and it lasted all of about 15 seconds!  But, hey, any candy is better than no candy, right?  After the egg hunt in the park our boys were super lucky to have the Easter Bunny come (a day early!).  They loved hunting for their baskets, which had fishing poles in them, and then finding eggs all over the yard.  Spencer, bless his heart, exclaimed in excitement, "This is the best Easter ever!  And we don't even have to go to church on Easter!!" (Another one of those, "I'm failing as a parent" moments :-)

We colored eggs with our good buddy Dylan.  His dad is an Ortho resident with Jaron, and his mom, Nancy and I are good friends.  Even though Dylan is just two, he LOVES being around my boys, and Spence and Mikey LOVE having a side-kick who adores them and laughs his head off at any silly thing they do.  (I forgot how wild 2-year-olds can be; he got more dye on the counter and his shirt than on the eggs!)

We went to a party for residents' families at a gymnastics place.  The kids loved jumping in to the foam pit.  Notice Spencer's blue shirt...In the second picture it's barely a spec engulfed by the foam...see if you can find him (to the left of the girl in pink).  So fun!

Marvelous Mikey:

I realize that I've been slacking big time at taking pictures of Trevor.  He's just too adorable to capture on film, but I guess I should try anyway, right?  I promise I'll post more on him later...

Spencer's Quotables

I was at church today with the boys (Jaron was working), and had an experience with Spencer I just had to report.  

It was during the Sacrament, and I noticed that Spencer was drawing in his notepad.  In an effort to help him feel the purpose of, and reverence for the Sacrament, I leaned over and whispered, "Spencer, isn't it so wonderful that we get to think about Jesus during the sacrament?"  To which this all-wise 6-year old responded, "Yea, yea mom...I already know to think about Jesus so I don't have to think about it anymore!"  

Strike one.

I tried to recover as I looked around the chapel, noticed the 12-year-old deacons passing the sacrament, and asked Spence, "Hey buddy, do you think you'd like to pass the sacrament someday?"  He looked up at me and whispered, "No way!"  I was a little taken back, "Well, why not Honey?"  "Because then I'd be the last one to get the bread!"

Strike two.

"Well Spencer, would you rather be the Bishop?  He always gets the sacrament first."  This one made him think for a moment, and then he said, "Nope.  Not that.  I wouldn't want to sit in front of everybody."

Strike three.

And with that, the sacrament was over.  Spence went back to drawing his rocket ship, and I was left wishing Jaron was there to share the special moment with me ;-).

Trevor is sitting!!

...With the help of the Bumbo!  What a great invention!  It makes us feel like we have a super-advanced 10-week old to see him sitting up like this!  We sure love our little guy!

(After a several minutes the little baby muscles get tired and this is what happens:)

We love Mammy and Pappy!

Last week we were so lucky to have Mammy and Pappy come visit from Texas.  We had a lot of fun with them, talking, playing, showing them around town, showing them the beautiful Iowa farmhouses, eating out, shopping...basically getting spoiled by getting to be with family!  This post is mostly for Jaron's siblings, who may love hearing a smidgen of a song they grew up with.  And Pappy, if you see this, please don't feel embarrassed--we really cherish this special gift you gave our boys! 

Mommy, I saw Spiderman at the zoo!!

...And the grocery store...and at Joyschool...and riding his bike in the neighborhood...and at the post office...and at church...well, that's where Mommy puts her foot down.  I don't know where our little Mikey has gone, but we sure have been seeing a LOT of Spiderman lately!  Such a fun age!!  (Oh, and the Des Moines zoo was fun for the kids, even in our crisp Iowa spring air!)