reposting David's video for those who had viewing issues....

Some people have brought it to my attention that they've had trouble viewing the video, so I put it on youtube. Click on the below link to view it.

http://youtu.be/6oi6Pujwlgs

Thank you for the people who have given us some positive feedback on it!

in his words: 9 years later.

As a lot of you already know, March 28th marks 9 years since my husband was injured in Iraq. This, and his time in Iraq, are subjects that he doesn't talk openly about. Yet, these are huge experiences in his life. Since he is nearing a decade on the big anniversary of his accident, I thought it would be interesting, if not enlightening, to see what kind of information I could pull out of him to reflect on his time over there.

I must warn you, the video is a tad long, but it's worth it. I think because of the length of the video, I wasn't able to upload it onto the blog. You'll need to click here to watch it.

Otherwise, head on over to my shutterfly page and search under videos on the right hand side. The video is called "9 years movie."

If you can't view it with either of these options, maybe I'll have to upload it onto youtube. Just let me know if you have issues.

Enjoy.

Toddler jabber

Helping Daddy hang blinds.

Spencer is getting much more vocal these days. Some days I almost miss the "quiet" days. Dave often is stumped by what comes out of Spencer's mouth and looks to me to translate. He said he isn't as fluent in Spencenese as me. Even I struggle to comprehend what he's saying sometimes, but his vocabulary is definitely broadening and his pronunciation is developing. He has grown fond of consonants. Or maybe more accurately, he has decided everything needs a T, even words that don't contain Ts. For example, park is now "parTtt."

Shortly after snapping this picture, Ash
woke up. Whoops!

To help in teaching in colors I decided to incorporate real world learning. I have been using the traffic lights to teach him red and green. I should have realized that would come back to haunt me. Now he has taken it upon himself to become a conscientious backseat driver and yells, "Stop, Mommy, stop! Red means stop!" He told Dave the other day that Mommy does not stop, she goes fast. ;)

On the learning note, this week we had fun with the letter N. We focused on his name. Using scrapbook stickers, we decorated upper and lower case Ns with the letters of Spencer's name for our Nn flashcard. Then we drew his name on a piece of paper, talking about each letter. He especially liked S since it is like a snake. Of course we had to incorporate tracing our hands since no picture is complete without it. Another day we played with nails. Not real nails, of course. We pounded golf tees into a box with plastic toy hammers. I chose a variety of colored tees and instructed Spencer to pound in specific colors. He pretty much just guesses colors still, unless it's green. He's got that one down!

Grandma Keeha

This week we had a special visit from some family. My Grandma Faye, mom and sister, Hope, came for a few hours since they were in the area. It is always great to spend time with family, and it's fun watching my boys interact with them. My grandma paid me one of the best compliments ever when she told Ashton that his mommy must be doing something right ;)

It was rainy on and off all week, so we didn't get to enjoy as much time outside. We did manage to sneak in a few odd moments of outdoor fun here and there. Mostly we tried to make the most of being inside. I pulled out the neglected water table and filled it with soapy water. Ash even got a kick out of splashing his hands in it.

"Flying."

We hit up Chuck E Cheese's tonight and Spenc had a blast. He left a bit overloaded and needed to be carried out. He is just like his mommy where people and loud noises and a lot of stimulation tend to wear him out easily.

2 1/2 years old.

Both boys got haircuts this week, too. It's absurd to think that my 5 month old baby got his hair cut twice already! I debated cutting Ashton's hair really short because of the stubborn cowlick that creates his signature crazy hair, but I just couldn't do it. He's only a baby for so long; I wasn't ready for him to look like a big boy.

Today is Ashton's 5 month birthday. The time is going too fast and I don't know how to slow it down! He is now rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy. He often gets his arm stuck under him when rolling from back to tummy, but he's working on it. He's also working on getting some teeth, so he's munching on everything he can get his hands (or gums) on and drooling like crazy. I think this has caused disruption with his sleep patterns because he is suddenly getting up 3-4 times at night again. I don't know how I functioned off such little sleep like this for four months straight!

5 months old.

Spring break = Play dates

Since it was spring break this week and we didn't have school, we made up for it with a lot of play dates. The weather definitely cooperated with us, too! We are loving this summer weather in March! Here is our week of the letter M and outside fun...

Monday

Mickey Mouse sticker fun.

Monday morning was rainy, so we did a few projects. We started by playing with Mickey Mouse stickers, which I turned into our Mm flashcard. Then after printing off a bunch of pictures of family members, we glued them onto card stock and then played a matching game with them. Spencer grew bored with this game after a while, but he was relatively good at matching the two alike cards. Monday afternoon we walked around the lake with Daddy and spotted more ducks and geese.

Gluing pictures onto card stock.

Playing our homemade match game.

Tuesday

Tuesday we stayed home and enjoyed time playing at "our park" (Spencer refers to the swing set as our park) and baseball, tennis and basketball in the driveway. Tuesday night Spencer went with Daddy to eat dinner with Grandma Amy and Marmer while Ashton and I attended our second Baby and Me type class at the library. I very much enjoy these classes. It's fun meeting other moms with babies, and it's a nice opportunity for Ash and I to spend some quality one-on-one time together.

Wednesday

New friends hanging onto hands.

Picnic lunch at the park.

Wednesday my sister made the trek all the way here with her nephew Jase. We walked a mile and a half into town and had a picnic lunch and spent the afternoon playing at the park. It was a lot of fun having my sister here. It just reminds me how much I wished we lived closer so we could do random outings like this more often. Wednesday night the boys and I met Daddy at the drive-in for supper outside. It was hard to pull Spenc away from the tractors long enough to eat. After scoping out the geese at the lake, I sent the boys home with Dave and I had my "Angie time." Every Wednesday after supper I leave for a bit to enjoy a little time to myself. I normally just go to a cafe and read, but now that the weather is nice I will be meeting a friend for a walk. It will be weird to walk without strollers or kids, though. Definitely a nice change of pace.

This is where Spenc spent most of his time.

Cat napping.

Aunt Hopey.

Thursday

Thursday we had another play date at the park with my friend Kari and her daughters, Becca, Kayla and Abby. It's always interesting watching Spencer interact with other kids, especially slightly older ones as he tends to follow them around and copy whatever they do.

Friday

Spenc and Austin driving the Gator.

Friday we made the short trek to our ECFE friends Carrie and her son Austin's house for another play and lunch date. Spencer was in tractor and choo-choo heaven. We played outside a bit and reveled in all the greatness that living out in the country affords you. After lunch we stopped at home for some naps. Then we headed to Grandpa Dave's for some fishing and a fish fry. Spencer absolutely loved fishing on Grandpa's dock and even ate some of the fish, although he said that was a gross idea when Daddy mentioned it to him the night before ("Ewww, gross, Daddy!!").

Saturday

Saturday we spent the afternoon outside around our neighborhood. We tried playing at the park behind our house for a bit. Our 4 year old neighbor, Saul, was there, so Spencer enjoyed having a play mate for a bit. But it was far too windy for Ashton, so we took shelter in the calmer area in our front yard, where we drew on the driveway with sidewalk chalk while we waited for Daddy to get home. Then we headed to our friends' house, where we grilled out and then ended the night at another park.

Jackson and Spencer going down the slide hand-in-hand.

Sunday

Driving Marmer's tractor.

Today we dropped Spencer off at Grandma and Marmer's, where he enjoyed a lot of tractors and picking pine cones with grandma, while Dave, Ashton and I went furniture shopping for our living room. Hours later this indecisive family settled on a new sectional, rocking chair and some tables and accessories at a great deal. After picking up our son, we stopped for some ice cream before heading home to grill out on our deck for the first time this season.


It's absolutely bizarre having this summer weather in March, and I only hope it's here to stay. Try explaining to a two year old how we were able to play outside one week in sandals and no coats and then be stuck inside the next. Please, Minnesota, be nice to us.