Spencer's day off

Wednesday was Spencer's day off and it was quite a productive day. I went to the temple with friends in the morning and when I got home, Spencer had cleaned the house. It was so nice! When I walked in the door, he was snuggled on the couch with Ellie and Tate watching Oliver & Company. So cute. After lunch, Spencer kept working and starting ironing. I absolutely HATE ironing so I greatly appreciated him doing it all! I even got to lay down for a nap (I caught the cold going around our house and wasn't feeling well). So nice. When Ayden got home from school, we all went outside to enjoy the cool weather. And the boys played football.

While the boys played, Ellie rode her bike and Tate just wandered around (sometimes playing football sometimes stealing Ellie's bike).

His day didn't stop there, Spencer then went inside to make dinner. He made Alfredo (from scratch, yummy) and rolls. And then he was off to Young Men's. So it wasn't until 8:45pm that he actually sat down to relax. I am so grateful for my husband.  He was such a help at home and we all had a good day. The kids loved having him home and I realized how much I miss a normal work schedule which allows him to be home more. We love you Spencer.

Speaking of messes

In the previous post, you got to see Tate make cookies and a mess. Here's some of the everyday mess he makes while eating. He is getting so independent and refuses to be fed by anyone but himself. Which results in a pretty big mess. Here is snack time the other day

Needless to say, he needed a good scrubbing and new clothes!

Baking with Taters

Since I've done posts with Ayden and Ellie baking, I thought it would be cute to add Tate's baking pictures too. The other night, I decided to try a new cookie recipe and Tate got to "help"

carefully using his measuring spoons

showing me where to put the Vanilla

Tate loved being on the counter to help.

But of course, his favorite part was tasting it.

getting a taste

After the cookies were done, not only did I have the baking mess to clean up, but Tate too

Tate Videos

I know I post a lot of videos of this kid, he does the funniest stuff and is learning so quickly.  Plus, for those who don't get to see him often, you can see his personality and the little boy he is becoming.
This first one was in the morning and you can hear his cute jabber and his not-always-so-cute attitude.

The next one is in the evening after the older 2 were in bed and this little guy didn't want to sleep. Spencer was making some noise at him and this happened. I love his deep laugh you get to hear!

Let's jump...finally

We promised the kids once the weather cooled down that we would put the trampoline up (so backwards from what we are used to). When we moved in June they begged us to put it up, but we promised once it wasn't so hot it would go up, probably in October. Well, Ellie held us to it. On Tuesday (Spencer's day off) she asked if it was "October enough" so we could put the tramp up. So Spencer being a great dad, did it. And now they are outside all the time.Ellie spends most of the day dressed up in her princess dress jumping on the trampoline. Last night, our friends brought Ellie some Rapunzel hair they had made for a halloween costume(thanks Rubi and Amy) and she wanted to jump with that on too. She got very upset and couldn't understand how it would get ruined.

And yes, we get the parents-of-the-year award for safety....we haven't replaced the old blue pad yet. 

Surprisingly, Tate doesn't like it. I thought for sure he would love it and always try to get on. Nope, it scares him right now. Instead, he prefers to play on his own tot-lot toy.

General Conference weekend

We enjoyed General Conference this weekend as a family. Ayden and Ellie did very well through all 4 sessions. Tate, not so much. He was such a pill! I didn't expect my 17 month old to sit quietly for 2 hours at a time, but one can hope. Instead, he entertained himself by walking around screeching and getting into the pots in the kitchen. Ayden and Ellie both have their own Conference journals that we've used for the past 2 General Conferences. Ellie's is filled with pictures of temples and the speakers. And Ayden's has a combination of both. But during the Saturday afternoon session, he was diligently taking notes during President Uchtdorf's talk. And later he showed me what he learned. He had written "I am not invisible to God. He loves me." There were tears in my eyes as I gave him a hug. I am so pleased that he listened so well and took something from that talk. The kids' favorite part of Conference was the children's choir and they sang along to every song. It was so sweet.

Sunday's sessions were very inspiring and Spencer and I particularly enjoyed Sister Dalton's talk about raising daughters. It made me think of how much I love and respect my own father. He helped raise 5 girls...and lived to tell the tale. I respect him for the way he loves my mother and through his example, I learned what traits I wanted in my own spouse and father of my children. Thank you, Dad. During the talk, Ellie looked over at me and said "she's talking about me and daddy!" Yes, sweetie, she is.  We are so grateful to have been able to partake of this inspired Conference.