Friday, September 26, 2008
An Addition to our family
Summer got some birthday money (thanks Grandma/pa S., Schurings, and SKBCAM) with which she bought a stuffed meerkat at the San Diego Zoo. After playing with it for awhile, she excitedly told us, "Her name is Peyton Meerkat Spendlove and her initials are P.M.S." Summer was puzzled why Stuart and I thought this was so funny.
A NEW CLEANING TIP
If you are tired of the boring old way of getting laundry stains out of clothes, then try this new inventive way that Spencer helped invent. First pour about a quart of liquid stay remover onto your carpet. After you have spoon most of it up, then dip your stained clothes into the large mass of stain remover. This not only cleans your clothes but also leaves your carpet nice and clean. Yes, Grandma Spendlove, Spencer can teach you this new cleaning technique when we visit you next weekend.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Questions about Mommy
These are some questions that I saw on my friend's blog that she asked her daughter. I loved the idea and was curious what my kids would say so each were interviewed separately. The following are the questions and then their responses.
1. What is something that Mommy always says to you?
Spencer: Do not scream and no being scared in the dark either.
Summer: No; I love you!
2. What makes Mommy happy?
Spencer: Being nice.
Summer: When we’re nice to each other.
3. What makes Mommy sad?
Spencer: That we (Summer and Spencer and Nephi) fight.
Summer: When we’re not nice to each other.
4. How does your Mommy make you laugh?
Spencer: Tickle.
Summer: When you tickle me.
5. How old is your Mommy
Spencer: Um I don’t remember…how many are you, 4? Your 4 though Mommy (laugh) I’m so jealous of 4.
Summer: 29 or 28.
6. How tall is your Mommy?
Spencer: Bigger like Daddy.
Summer: I don’t know..Almost as tall as me.
7. What is her favorite thing to do?
Spencer: Play a game with me.
Summer: Go to the pool/beach.
8. What does your Mommy do when you're not around?
Spencer: Um, vacuum clean.
Summer: Dating Daddy.
9. If your Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Spencer: Pennies.
Summer: The greatest Mom ever.
10. What is your Mommy really good at?
Spencer: Playing games.
Summer: Being happy.
11. What is your Mommy not so good at?
Spencer: Pet shop game.
Summer: I don’t know…nothing.
12. What does your Mommy do for her job?
Spencer: Cleaning the floors, and sweeping, and mopping.
Summer: Being a Mom.
13. What is your Mommy's favorite food?
Spencer: Watermelon and candy corn (note these are actually his favorite foods)
Summer: Pizza.
14. What makes your Mommy proud?
Spencer: To swim underwater…remember you were proud of me when I swimmed underwater. Summer: When me and Spencer are nice to each other.
15. What do you and your Mommy do together?
Spencer: Play a game.
Summer: Have fun when the boys aren’t around.
16. How are you and your Mommy the same?
Spencer: Playing games.
Summer: We’re both girls and I can fit into her shirt.
17. How are you and your Mommy different?
Spencer: Black and white.
Summer: She has brown hair and I have blonde hair and she’s taller than me.
18. How do you know your Mommy loves you?
Spencer: So much!
Summer: I don’t know (meaning that she is not sure how she knows, but not that she doesn't know that I love her).
***It is always so funny to me at how honest Spencer is and how Summer is a kiss up. I sure do love these two.
1. What is something that Mommy always says to you?
Spencer: Do not scream and no being scared in the dark either.
Summer: No; I love you!
2. What makes Mommy happy?
Spencer: Being nice.
Summer: When we’re nice to each other.
3. What makes Mommy sad?
Spencer: That we (Summer and Spencer and Nephi) fight.
Summer: When we’re not nice to each other.
4. How does your Mommy make you laugh?
Spencer: Tickle.
Summer: When you tickle me.
5. How old is your Mommy
Spencer: Um I don’t remember…how many are you, 4? Your 4 though Mommy (laugh) I’m so jealous of 4.
Summer: 29 or 28.
6. How tall is your Mommy?
Spencer: Bigger like Daddy.
Summer: I don’t know..Almost as tall as me.
7. What is her favorite thing to do?
Spencer: Play a game with me.
Summer: Go to the pool/beach.
8. What does your Mommy do when you're not around?
Spencer: Um, vacuum clean.
Summer: Dating Daddy.
9. If your Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Spencer: Pennies.
Summer: The greatest Mom ever.
10. What is your Mommy really good at?
Spencer: Playing games.
Summer: Being happy.
11. What is your Mommy not so good at?
Spencer: Pet shop game.
Summer: I don’t know…nothing.
12. What does your Mommy do for her job?
Spencer: Cleaning the floors, and sweeping, and mopping.
Summer: Being a Mom.
13. What is your Mommy's favorite food?
Spencer: Watermelon and candy corn (note these are actually his favorite foods)
Summer: Pizza.
14. What makes your Mommy proud?
Spencer: To swim underwater…remember you were proud of me when I swimmed underwater. Summer: When me and Spencer are nice to each other.
15. What do you and your Mommy do together?
Spencer: Play a game.
Summer: Have fun when the boys aren’t around.
16. How are you and your Mommy the same?
Spencer: Playing games.
Summer: We’re both girls and I can fit into her shirt.
17. How are you and your Mommy different?
Spencer: Black and white.
Summer: She has brown hair and I have blonde hair and she’s taller than me.
18. How do you know your Mommy loves you?
Spencer: So much!
Summer: I don’t know (meaning that she is not sure how she knows, but not that she doesn't know that I love her).
***It is always so funny to me at how honest Spencer is and how Summer is a kiss up. I sure do love these two.
Monday, September 15, 2008
LOL
About a month ago, Stuart and I decided that many of the tween Disney shows/albums were having a bad effect on Summer. I loved High School Musical and loved watching it with Summer. But we started noticing that Summer was idolizing the wrong kind of people(Sharpay to be specific) and was trying to act like them. She really started giving us a lot of attitude. We tried talking to her about certain characters being people that you don't want to be like, but at her age she was just confused because those characters were the pretty ones. Long story short...we told Summer that she couldn't watch certain shows like High School Musical and Hanna Montana (after a particular photo shoot). She has pleasantly surprised us with her willingness to obey us. I really wanted to reward her for her obedience to us and so I was looking at Deseret Book to find the Sound of Music DVD (her favorite movie) to get for her and saw a brand new tween group called LOL (Live out Loud). I got it for her birthday and she absolutely loves it. It is a group of 3 teenagers with good morals and awesome voices. Their music is so fun and upbeat, but more importantly the lyrics have awesome messages. Summer and I both love rocking out to the music. Summer has been asking a lot about the lyrics and telling me what she thinks they mean. It has been so wonderful for her to be asking about good lyrics. This proves to me once again that when you choose the right, even though it may be hard, in the end you are rewarded with something much better. I am so lucky to have Summer as a daughter.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Did I say never....
OK, so I said that we would never do a blog, but as we read the blogs of our families we decided to break down and take the time to do it.
We recently moved to sunny San Diego, California. Stuart is finishing his PhD in Clinical Child Psychology from Texas Tech by doing a one year internship through University of California San Diego. We miss our friends in Lubbock, TX, but have made some great friends here and are loving being so close to the beach. We have had a great time at the San Diego Zoo, Legoland, beach, pool, and parks. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I can really appreciate the beauty of palm trees. They are every where and I love it. The cost of living here is outrageous and so we are living in a spacious two bedroom apartment. It has actually been a lot of fun because we have a pool outside of our apartment, palm trees every where that we don't have to maintain, and of course less cleaning than a home. It still feels like we are on vacation staying in a nice condo or something. It has been a lot of fun.
Summer started 2nd grade this year. She is so much happier in this school than last year because at her old school, there was no recess. Here she has recess and it is just a much happier atmosphere. They allow children to be children. She has made several friends. I am her home room rep (we used to call them home room mom's, but I guess this is more politically correct) along with another mom. I am excited to be involved with her school. At her school there are 11 kids from church, which made the transition a lot easier.
Spencer started preschool this year and is loving it. He loves playing with his friends. He just loves singing and being sung to. He comes home singing the songs that they sing and also loves to sing one liners from songs that I sing to him. One thing that he loves to sing is, "I know the scriptures are true!" That is definitely music to my ears. I get to volunteer in his class at least 2 times a month. I love watching him interact with others. I was so shocked to see that he was so obedient to his teacher. I think it is that he is so afraid to get into trouble. He is so sensitive.
Nephi is my boisterous 1 year old. He is into everything. I no sooner clean up his messes and then realize he has made a totally new mess. Thank goodness for great articles in our church magazine the Ensign that helps me to remember to look at the positive in this stage. He is such a cute little boy that loves women!!!
Stuart has absolutely loved being so close to the beach. He has gone surfing a couple of times since we've been here. He never wants to leave. He has also been called to be the scout master and absolutely loves his scouts. He went on his first camp out this weekend. He had a blast. That is the perfect calling for him because of his love for youth and love for the outdoors.
I (Kathy) have been thinking a lot about how blessed I have been to graduate in Elementary Education from BYU. It has helped out tremendously in teaching my children. One of my favorite things to do is to create fun educational games for my kids. I love incorporating PE into the games so that they are exercising. I was so grateful for the opportunity to teach PE at Fun of a Kind back in Lubbock, TX. I have really been able to use some of those games into our home life to spice up our days. Summer's favorite game is Parts of Speech Charades, where your hint is a part of speech and then you have to act out the noun, verb, or adj. Spencer's favorite game is a relay race with flash cards or fishing for the alphabet.
Although I dearly miss the Young Women and sisters that I served with back in Lubbock, TX, I have also loved being in Relief Society (our churches organization for women) here in San Diego. I am the secretary. I love the sisters of our ward. They have been tremendously kind to us.
We recently moved to sunny San Diego, California. Stuart is finishing his PhD in Clinical Child Psychology from Texas Tech by doing a one year internship through University of California San Diego. We miss our friends in Lubbock, TX, but have made some great friends here and are loving being so close to the beach. We have had a great time at the San Diego Zoo, Legoland, beach, pool, and parks. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I can really appreciate the beauty of palm trees. They are every where and I love it. The cost of living here is outrageous and so we are living in a spacious two bedroom apartment. It has actually been a lot of fun because we have a pool outside of our apartment, palm trees every where that we don't have to maintain, and of course less cleaning than a home. It still feels like we are on vacation staying in a nice condo or something. It has been a lot of fun.
Summer started 2nd grade this year. She is so much happier in this school than last year because at her old school, there was no recess. Here she has recess and it is just a much happier atmosphere. They allow children to be children. She has made several friends. I am her home room rep (we used to call them home room mom's, but I guess this is more politically correct) along with another mom. I am excited to be involved with her school. At her school there are 11 kids from church, which made the transition a lot easier.
Spencer started preschool this year and is loving it. He loves playing with his friends. He just loves singing and being sung to. He comes home singing the songs that they sing and also loves to sing one liners from songs that I sing to him. One thing that he loves to sing is, "I know the scriptures are true!" That is definitely music to my ears. I get to volunteer in his class at least 2 times a month. I love watching him interact with others. I was so shocked to see that he was so obedient to his teacher. I think it is that he is so afraid to get into trouble. He is so sensitive.
Nephi is my boisterous 1 year old. He is into everything. I no sooner clean up his messes and then realize he has made a totally new mess. Thank goodness for great articles in our church magazine the Ensign that helps me to remember to look at the positive in this stage. He is such a cute little boy that loves women!!!
Stuart has absolutely loved being so close to the beach. He has gone surfing a couple of times since we've been here. He never wants to leave. He has also been called to be the scout master and absolutely loves his scouts. He went on his first camp out this weekend. He had a blast. That is the perfect calling for him because of his love for youth and love for the outdoors.
I (Kathy) have been thinking a lot about how blessed I have been to graduate in Elementary Education from BYU. It has helped out tremendously in teaching my children. One of my favorite things to do is to create fun educational games for my kids. I love incorporating PE into the games so that they are exercising. I was so grateful for the opportunity to teach PE at Fun of a Kind back in Lubbock, TX. I have really been able to use some of those games into our home life to spice up our days. Summer's favorite game is Parts of Speech Charades, where your hint is a part of speech and then you have to act out the noun, verb, or adj. Spencer's favorite game is a relay race with flash cards or fishing for the alphabet.
Although I dearly miss the Young Women and sisters that I served with back in Lubbock, TX, I have also loved being in Relief Society (our churches organization for women) here in San Diego. I am the secretary. I love the sisters of our ward. They have been tremendously kind to us.
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