Happy Birthday Spencer!

After much frustration I have finally been able to upload some pictures of Spencer's birthday. The computer was still not letting me put everything on, though. So, let's all remember what we tell our preschoolers, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." Just be happy that you get so see some pictures of his birthday.

We went to Galveston in the morning. Here is Carly making Sand Dollar Cookies!

Carter probably spent the most time in the water of everyone. He loves to walk out as far as he can and jump as the surf comes in and tries to knock him over. I have to admit it is pretty fun especially since you can walk out so far and it is still shallow.

Taylor is trying to build a little boat and sail away. (We watched the Legend of Johnny Lingo a couple of weeks ago.)

Spencer absolutely LOVES the water. He too likes the surf to come and knock him over. He loved to splash and wouldn't let me hold his hand (MR. INDEPENDANT).

"Mom, this sand is sooooooo cool."

My cute little baby is all grown up.

Spencer's favorite thing is balls, and since we went to the beach for his birthday I thought a beach ball was just right!

My little baby is a year old. I can't believe have fast this past year has gone. They say "time flies when you're having fun." I can truly say I have really enjoyed this past year with my cute little Spencer Bruce. Spencer you are so happy that it just oozes from you. Everyone comments on how happy you are even when they hardly know you. When I have a bad day it is always lessened when I get to hold you or you give me a big, slimy, open mouthed kiss. I love being your "MA" and love to play "BA" (ball) with you. Your cute little "evil man" laugh is unforgettable and you are so fun to tickle. Thanks for being so patient when I need to help your brothers and sister. I am so lucky that I get to be your mom for eternity. I love you little "coke-roch".

Oops!

Thanks goes out to Con. I don't know why that link didn't work below. And since I am a dunce and can't figure out how to change it here is the name of the website and you can just get there yourself. www.kneadfulthingsnow.com

Technical Difficulties and More....

I realize some may think that I have fallen off the face of the earth. But, alas, I am still here. We have had a busy couple of months and when I did have the time to blog I chose to sleep instead. So now that life has slowed down a tad and I actually have a desire to blog I am being kept from it. For some reason when I try to upload pictures the computer works on it for forever and then comes back and says it was a bad request. So sorry, all you who were waiting for visual entertainment will just have to sit tight. But, I wanted to talk about something else so read on if you dare.


If you have known me for any length of time you probably know how much I work on my food storage. Not only is it something that brings me joy but also security. When I was a teenager my dad lost his job and so we ate A LOT of food that my mom had stored over the years. I was very grateful for that experience because when Scott was in school it saved us a lot of money to bottle fruit and have other things stored and because I had lived that way before it wasn't so hard. Then, last fall when Hurricane Ike hit it was once again a great blessing in our lives. We were able to just eat what we had stored and be happy with that. It took a few weeks for the stores to really be back up and running full steam so I honestly didn't go grocery shopping for nearly a month after the hurricane because I had almost everything I needed in my home. Thus, because of these experiences in my life I have a very strong testimony of having a good supply of food in your home. And, with these troubled times especially wouldn't it be nice to have some extra just in case. There are all kinds of reports of diseased crops, drought, frost, etc. If you don't think we are in the last days just read the book of Revelation and other books of Scripture again.

Recently I have come into contact with an absolutely amazing lady here in my neck of the woods. She is working hard to help those around here get the essentials for very good prices. Some of you can get those things much easier than we can here. Take advantage of that!!! She has a wonderful website that is full of information. Even if you live in Utah I strongly encourage you to check out and read all of the sections on her website. She has so much information on things like appetite fatigue (huh! yeah it can and will happen if you aren't prepared.), wheat intolerance, and so much more. She has some great bread recipes that help your body digest grains better. Also, this summer she is doing 2 meal recipes per week with all the ingredients you would need to make them 12 times. If you follow her plan you can get a years supply of dinners by the end of the summer! She has done all the brain work for you. All you have to do is go to the store and buy it! It doesn't get easier than this people!! Click here if you would like to check it out. I don't get on my soap box very often so you know that this is something I feel very strongly about. If you have any questions you can also always call me-- I LOVE to talk on the phone. Okay, stepping down from the soapbox. You may now resume your regular blogging entertainment.

Amme??????

About 6 or seven weeks ago I made a deal with Scott that if I lost 10 pounds could I get my hair cut and colored. I have been putting off getting my haircut for about 6 months wanting to get some more weight off. Well, I lost the weight and last Saturday was the big day. I have been told before that I look like Katie Holmes (Tom Cruise's wife). Wow! She's pretty. Thanks! Anyway so I looked at some pictures of her for inspiration. It's not quite as short as Katie's hair. I think the stylist could tell I was a little nervous. But, I went quite a bit darker than my natural color. Finally, my eyebrows are the same shade as my hair!!! My kids think I look like my sister, Tammie. When I went to church so many people didn't recognize me. I would walk past friends and they would say "hi" but then they had to do a double take. So, then the other night I was asking my dear sweet husband what could my reward be if I lost another 20-30? He said I could have a piano!! Wish me luck!!

I HATE CRAYONS

Hate---it is a VERY strong word. I don't allow my children to use it because I feel it is a word with such an ultimatum and leaves not room for forgiveness. I really try not to use it myself except in extreme situations. Well, this is an extreme situation. I HATE CRAYONS!!!! Even as a child I didn't really like them. I didn't like the way they smelled and I didn't like how they made my hands feel. For those reasons I still don't like crayons as an adult. But, I have one more reason as an adult that I don't like crayons----they go through the laundry and RUIN clothing. A few years ago Taylor left an orange crayon in his pocket. It went through the laundry and ruined many things. Being the poor college student's wife that I was I desperately called the Crayola 800 number and followed their suggestion on how to get crayon out---this involved a lengthy process of applying WD-40, dish soap, and maybe one other thing to the clothing, rubbing it in and then washing the clothing, and then repeating if necessary!! It took forever. Not something I wanted to repeat again.
Fast forward 3 1/2 years--- last week I was pulling clothes out of the dryer. What do my tired, I've had a long day, mother of 4 children, I just want a break eyes behold????!!!!! "NO, it can't be, not again. I thought we learned that lesson." Yep, it was orange crayon. But, says me, "It will be okay. It ruined a few things but it was on mostly dark things and mostly play clothes." I was upset and reprimanded my children the next morning. I thought that was the end of it. But, apparently there is something I didn't learn the two previous times. Today, being Monday and laundry day because all good wives in Boston do their laundry on Monday (name that book), I pulled a load of clothes---jeans no less--- out of the dryer. And what do my little peepers see? Yet another crayon wrapper in my dryer. "Oh, maybe they peeled it off and put the wrapper in their pocket," I foolishly think. Then I begin to look more closely at the new fodder for the landfill. Yes, there is WHITE melted crayon on the freshly washed clothes.
Two weeks in a row. This is ridiculous. I don't want to wait around and see what will go through next week---maybe purple or perhaps turquoise? No thank you. I can now say my home is a "crayon free" zone. That's right, I threw every crayon in my house away (with the exception of one lone brand spankin new orange one--I just couldn't throw away a new one and it is carefully hidden). Now, hold on there. I know you are thinking I am a terrible mother. Where and how will my children share their creative abilities and express themselves. Lest you turn me into Child Protective Services let me tell you my children do have WASHABLE markers and colored pencils. So you may rest easy knowing that my children will still be able to share with the world their creative side through other mediums. Also, I've been thinking maybe I should start a new designer children's clothing line. I'll call it CRAYOLAWEAR. No two pieces will be alike. I'll make a bundle!!

A Long Time Coming

Okay, so nobody probably even reads or checks my blog anymore since it has been so stinkin long since I updated it. Life has been busy and to be honest it is so much more fun to see what the rest of you are doing than write my own stuff. The last few months have kept us busy but we are happy and doing well. Here is an attempt to bring you up to speed. Carly turned 4 in March and had a Tinkerbell cake. We love you Carlyn!
The weekend of the father's and son's campout for our ward ended up being cold and rainy so instead we set up the tent in the living room and all the kids slep in there. Oops, I didn't get a picture of them actuallyin the tent.




Scott's mom and dad and sister came to visit us at the end of March. Thanks for coming!

Here are the boys on the ferry in Galveston with their flat Stanley's when we took Gr. & Gr. and Katie. It was a cold windy day.

Spencer like the ferry ride too, but he stayed inside most of the time.

Carter in the water on the beach. The kids were all soaked within a few minutes We thought they would stay out of the water since it was only about 60 degrees and a cold breeze was blowing. But, no. And then we got their second outfits wet too!!! AAARRGGHH!

We also took Grandma and Grandpa to Brazos Bend State park to see the alligators. There weren't really any big ones this year. Mostly 2 year old who were only about 4 feet long and they weren't on the banks so you could see them up close. Oh well. They also have a nature center where you can learn about different kinds of animals and touch some. Last year Carly loved the corn snake. This year she and Carter got to pet a Tarantula. Very brave.

Here are Carter and his good buddy AJ with a HUGE shell they found at the park. We had to take a picture because I am a mean mom and wouldn't let them bring it home. It was absolutely disgusting, all slimy and gross.

For Easter dessert we made Chocolate Pizza. It was amazing (even if I do say so myself). In this picture Taylor is upset because we put nuts on too much of it.

NEVER, NEVER let this happen to you!

Recently I was cooking some black beans in the pressure cooker. Well, the pressure got too high and my pressure release valve (no, not the rocker) blew off thus spraying hot black bean water onto my kitchen ceiling and all over the front of my cupboards and microwave. All I can say is the Lord was really watching over me that day because literally 1 minute before it happened I had been standing with Spencer right next to the stove. If we had been standing there we would for sure have gotten burned. Thankfully we had just gone out the back door and I heard a loud pop.

Spencer and Elizabeth. We trade baby sitting for date nights with a friend. Here is Spencer and Elizabeth. She is such a cute little girl. I just love her curls and chubby cheeks. She reminds me a little bit of Carly at that age except Carly didn't have those awesome curls. And guess what?! She loves me too! Just yesterday I dropped Carly and Spencer off at my friend's house to be babysat so I could go to the temple guess who cried when I left? It wasn't Spencer. It was Elizabeth! She gets excited when she sees my house and cies when I leave hers. And, when she wants her parents and they can't hold her and won't go to other people she 'll come to me. So, yea for me. I have a little friend.

HOT STUFF!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, so that was probably annoying but it is really how I feel. My little baby is growing up. WAY TOO FAST! I am emabarassed to say that it has taken me until my 4th child to truly, 100% enjoy my baby. The other 3 I was always wishing for the next stage. But with Spencer I have just been happy with where we were. And I really didn't even mind getting up in the middle of the night to feed him. Some nights I would just sit there in the dark and smile while thinking about how very blessed I am. So what.......? "Time flies when your having fun or what?" But, Spencer obviously missed the memo about how he is supposed to be a baby. How many babies do you know with 8 teeth before they are 7 months old? How many babies do you know who are crawling ALL over the place by 7 1/2 months AND trying to pull themselves up to stuff and succeeding?!?! This child is breaking my heart--and the awful part is that he doesn't even care!!!! He is supposed to be my little baby. Boo hoo.

Spencer thinks he is pretty hot stuff with all these new skills he is mastering. I had almost forgotton what it is like to have a little one crawling around. I can't believe how many little things there are on the floor that I never noticed before. I guess I can try to look on the bright side of this sad (for me) event-- at least my floors are going to be cleaner!

Living Room part 1

Here is the before pictures of the living room before we painted. Blah, yuck, boring. Another view. Notice Spencer on the floor in the process of rolling over.

It feels so much better now to have it painted. See next post. Even though I have a lot of decorating to do it almost feels decorated because there is some color on the wall.

LIving Room part 2

There was a spot on the wall up near the ceiling (Scott gets to do all the ding and hole fixing) that I aked Scott to sand so it wouldn't be so rough when we painted. When he got up there he discovered that there was a hole in the wall nearly the size of a dinner plate. It had been patched with packing tape and then mudded over. So a wall patch kit alone was out of the question since the hole was so big. My ingenious husband used this sign and then the wall patch grid stuff and then mudded over it. I triple dog dare anyone to come and find where he fixed the wall! Taylor and Carter wanted to paint so badly so we gave them some paint brushes and what started out as regular wall painting turned into a mural.

The finished product. The deer on the top was Scott's contribution. We ended up with some people, a frog face, and a dog/machine gun (depends on which boy you ask).

Here is the finished product. There was too much sun coming in the window for the color to be quite right but at leas you can see it is so much better.

The wall I am still brainstorming about. And yes, I realize that there is a line. But, one room is all we could accomplish in one weekend with 4 little helpers.

Vampire Baby

Spencer has gotten teeth way sooner than all the rest of my children. By 4 months he had 4 teeth! But even funnier is the order in which he got them. The bottom 2 came in like normal. Then he got the two on the sides of the front teeth so he was a little vampire for a while. It was pretty funny. He now has 7 teeth (so you can tell how old this picture is) and #8 is slow in coming but that's okay because I am enjoying having him take good naps.

More Catching up

On New Year's Eve we had some good friends over. We had meatball sandwiches on yummy homemade french bread (thanks, Wendy) and our own version of a F'zookie for dessert. For those who have never had the wonderful opportunity to have one it is a piping hot chocolate chip cookie with an ice cream sundae on top. As you can see from the kids plates it was a hit! We had lots of fun playing limbo and other games. I think this was probably the second time since we have been married that Scott and I actually made it until midnight . But barely, though. I had just crawled into bed and the clock hit midnight. I just love cute little Elizabeth. Wendy is pretty cool too.

I think it was on Christmas Eve we made snowman and star pancakes for breakfast.
Here is Carter with a creation.

Scott likes to make one big huge pancake with the last of the batter.

This one ended up being as big as a plate. Guess who ate the entire thing? No, it wasn't me. Rude!

It was Taylor!

Some more of our darling pancakes.

We had a great Christmas and enjoyed being together as a family. Unfortunately, on Christmas morning our batter was dead. Woops! I think we did get one or two videos is all.

Random Catching Up

Okay, this post has lots of random things in it. Life has been busy and I just have not had time to post things. So here is some catching up.

This is Spencer's first time to fall asleep in the high chair. He looked too cute.

One day I told Carly to clean up her room. She went upstairs and not too much later she came back down to say she was done. I went up to find that while her room was now clean, the hall was not!

Oops! I got these pictures backwards. This is pretty much what was left the morning after it snowed. Yep, it actually snowed here.

This is the van the night it snowed!

Aunt Jemima move over!

I Love it Here

So, can I say that again? I love it here. "Why?", you may ask, "does she love it so much in the land of the hurricanes?" I will tell you why by telling you what my children and I did today. First, when I woke up this morning the sun was streaming through the windows (once I opened the blinds), making it a beautiful day. Then, after lunch I loaded up the kids in the van along with everyone's bikes and went over to the boys elementary school to play and ride bikes around the track. The only one wearing a (light) jacket was Spencer because he has a cold. Now I know what you are thinking, "What, it's December 30 and they are out there without jackets?" Just wait, this story gets even better. Then, we came home and the big kids put on their swimming suits, crazy I know, and they helped me wash the van! December 30!!! It is at least 70 outside. So beautiful. Those who know me well know how badly I hate snow and to be cold. Those of you who are being dumped on with snow right now, I am sorry. I know some of you are happy with that and love the snow. Just go ahead and keep it. I really don't mind. So, now you know why I love it here. Just thought I would share.

Jumpin'

This movie is kind of old but it sort of shows how much fun Spence has in the Jumper.

Thanksgiving trip part 2

We had a fun tiem the night before Thanksgiving getting together with my family. Thanks to all those who planned that. The kids had lots of fun playing with cousins, exchaning presents, and eating way too much chocolate.

Carter and Aidan

Carly and Nathaniel playing Barbies.

Mom and Spencer. I never could get a very good picture of them together. Spencer was always tired when mom was around. In this picture Mom is blinking and Spencer is sneezing. Maybe next year......

Thanks to my Grandparents for coming too. It was lots of fun to see all of you (sorry, I missed Grandma Grizzy in this picture)

Thanksgiving trip part 1

We had a GREAT time visiting family and friends at Thanksgiving. Thanks to Laurie and Blake and to Michael and Charlynn for hosting us. You are awesome. You are welcome anytime in Texas. We won't even mind if YOU get US sick. Thanks to Jessica for the fun party at your house. I must admit that I wasn't very good at taking all the pictures I should have on the trip. I was just too tired. But here are a few.

Umm.......Camille, I think Charles needs his own little buddy!!!!

Sorry folks, but Camille won Spencers best smiles when they met. I wish I had had a video camera. When we got to her house they were both so happy. You just had to be there I guess.

Thanks to all those who came to our get together. It was so fun and good to see all of you.

Amme, Jess, Camille, and Kristi.

While we were at Michael and Charlynn's they took us to the Dinosaur Museum. It was ver cool. If you haven't been there you should really put in on the top of your list of places to go.

Here is Taylor pretending to throw a spear.

OOPS! I just realized this was the wrong way.

You cant see it very well, but this is a giant sea turtle. I would have to say it was my favorite.

Thanks again to all those who fed us, played with us, put up with us, etc. We had a great time and were so glad we got to come. Donations are now being accepted to the "Jenkins Fly" account (I never want to drive again, It takes way too long just to get out of Texas).

Trying to catch up!

Okay, so I am really behind with my blogging. But, better late than never right? This post is random but oh well. This picture is of Taylor at school. His class studied Indians in November. He learned a lot of cool things and even the meaning of some pictographs. Each child was supposed to make some sort of project for their "Living Native American Museum". There were all kind of thing they chose to do. There were teepees, totem poles, dream catchers, drums, jewelry, bow and arrow, and Taylor made an adobe pueblo. It was very time consuming but it was fun to work on it with him and we all learned a lot. For instance, did you know that the women made the bricks and did a lot of the actual building of the adobe homes? The picture below is of my awesome neighbors/friends. From left to right: Miss Jill, Miss Deena, and Miss Linda. Well, that's what all the kids call them. In Texas kids put the Miss in front of your first name, to show respect I guess. A very southern thing. So yeas, I now answer to Miss Amme. This is from Haloween. We had dinner at Miss Deena's (center). I love these ladies. they have really become good friends in the short time I have known them.

My camera would not focus well for this shot at all. But you can see Carter was a storm trooper, Carly a princess (her hair was so pretty), and Taylor was a ninja.

Here is Carter digging the seeds out of his pumpkin. All 3 of the kids were whining about how stinky and gross they were. What a bunch of wimps!!!!

Six Inches Off

After patiently waiting for me to stop being sick (I have had strep off and on since the middle of October) Carly was finally able to get her hair cut yesterday. She has wanted to get it cut short for months. There ended up being about six inched on the floor of the salon. She is so excited and loves it. She looks so grown up. No more pigtails at our house for a while. My little girl is officially a big girl- sniff, sniff, sniff.

Coming to Visit!!!!

It feels like it has been forever since we saw you all when we left home. But, we are coming to visit and would love to see ALL of you. Some of you don't live in the area any more but if you are around that would be great. Also, I unfortunately don't have everyone's email address so if you see don't see someone on the list by all means please forward this to them! If you are reading this it means we love you and miss you and would love to see you. Obviously, we can't stop by and see you all so--here's the plan. If you would like to see us:

When: Monday Nov. 24
Where: Jessica house (If you need her address let me or her know)
Time: 5:00 PM--??
We will have hot dogs on the grill so bring a potluck item to share!!

We are trying to start early so those that have kids in school can get them home to bed.
But, if you can't be there that early, come when you can!
If you can, give a little reply as to whether you think you can come please do so we can get an idea.
We are excited to come visit and look forward to seeing you all!