First Swim of 2011

I am sitting here at 10:46pm on a cold, windy, rainy night in April....so I ironically I am blogging about a heat wave we had last week here in AZ. I guess that is the weather in Arizona in April for ya. Or global warming really does exist...or the end of days in near... who knows! I just am so excited to swim again this year. I technically have only gotten waist deep as of yet, but I do look forward to a long summer and enjoy my swims with the kids. We were worried that Spencer would be too young still for floaties, but with a little love and help from Aubrey (she really is so good with her little brother,) he was off!

Weston and Aubrey still remember how to swim from last year. A little too much doggie paddling is going on, but who am I to judge. I haven't swam with my head under water in who knows how long.

We love you Benner....

Ok, this whole blog post is dedicated to my Benner, Benny, Bencer, Jemmer..."little brother" and Spencer boy. For some reason, not just me...the WHOLE WATKINS FAMILY...freakin loves this kid. I mean it. Aubrey plays with him for hours. Weston wrestles lovingly with him. No one can hardly get mad at him...even when he spills milk, throws fits, cries in the night...you name it. He is by far the sweetest 2 year old to date. He is funny, talks up a storm, repeats EVERYTHING we say...we love him. I love him. He is my saving grace. I am really enjoying this little guy.

These are just a few pics of him over the past few weeks. He is growing up so fast. He really behaves like the other kids in so many ways. Spencer wants to be big and cries when the other two go to school. He loves his daddy, his mommy for that matter and wants us all there...all the time. Lately, now that we live closer to Norm and Sue (nanna and papa) he even cries when he can't visit them or hears they are gone. We have to tell him that we will see them soon. He loves them. It really is great the love has for people. So aside from getting told seriously...daily how cute he is (which I totally agree,) there is more to him than just good looks! I want to remember some of the funny things he does. Right now he loves these drinks called "kid essentials" that is the actual name and Spencer begs for them non-stop and says kidsentual...so cute. If I don't understand...he calls them "chalk-let" because they are chocolate. He is still drinking out of a sippy and it is starting to bug. Right now we are working on getting him to eat more real food and water instead of milk. He naps still every day; almost 2 hours ( I count myself lucky there.) He stepped on a thorn in our back yard and it hurt him really bad. I call those thorns "bullheads" (don't know why.) Anyway, now every time he gets hurt...he calls it a bullhead...even if it is a scrape or something. Spencer plays with squinkies ( a very small toy that can be a ladybug or a girl...they are all different.) Anyhoo, he can play for a LONG time. He puts them in time out, he sings to them...No more Squinkies jumpin on the bed. He can play with anything this kid. He is SO creative. The other day he played with the letters of the alphabet for at least 45 minutes. He talks to them, gives them baths, sings...you name it. He came up to me with two letter G's and had them on his fingers as rings. He was laughing and said..."two G's mom..." ha ha ha ha. He thought it was so funny they were his rings. He loves the computer and fights to be on when the others are doing their school work. He is really is SUPER smart. He is learning to add and knows all his letters and numbers. He LOVES the ipod and never wants to share. He loves to look at books and just be with the rest of us. We love Spencer. I really do find myself thanking Heavenly Father for you daily. Your Spirit is a bright one...and I pray we can help you continue to let it shine.

The IPOD addiction

Cosmic Bowling

He is such a little "lover" too. I love his hugs, kisses and the wonderful back pat. Jake doesn't write in the blog...but Spencer if you ever read this...Dad would agree with everything I have said...and maybe even add that you are a great soccer player too.

Spring Break Camping Trip

We didn't do much much for spring break.  I think when you home school you aren't as worried about what to DO with the kids.  I have gotten used to them being around and we just live and it doesn't seem to be as "crazy" as it was before.  Anyway, we went swimming one day and took off school 3 days (I made them do school the other days...just to keep them busy) and that is about it. Oh, and we went to a movie with Grandma...so we did do stuff after all!

 We did plan a GREAT camping trip to Oak Flat for Friday and Sat. morn.  It was so much fun.  The weather was perfect.  We had the most adventuresome hike ever!  The kids were "adventurers..." and that meant they led the way and were fearless leaders.  Aubrey made up a lot of rules to follow.  She may have learned some from Girl Scouts.. but I think she is just a born leader.  It really was so cute how well Aubrey and Weston got along and how Spencer tried to be big boy.  It seems like they just love camping so much that there is literally NO fighting; gotta love that.

 

 Dad also had a BIG surprise! A bb gun. Who would have thought. Out of all my siblings...I probably had the least interest in guns. However, I found myself just in HEAVEN. The kids had a good time, but I think the parents had the best time.  I just loved hitting the target...it was addicting. 

 Spencer even had a turn in my lap shootin.  Fun fun!

The night ended with silly camp songs...smores and the craziest stories I have ever heard told.  We all fell asleep together in the tent and no one threw up (last camping trip.)  I of course am barely recovering from sleep...but it was a blast.  Next time I think I need a good book or something for the night.  Cause I CANNOT fall asleep at 8:30pm like the rest of the family. 2nd Watkins' Family Camping Trip:  SUCCESS.

Saint Patrick's Day

We didn't even remember right away. Not a one of us is wearing green but I saw Katie had done this with her kids and thought it would be fun to try it our ourselves. All the kids had fun. I usually do stuff like this when Spencer is napping. But he is a lot older and more coordinated that I even knew. He did great and the Leprechauns are fun to run around the house with.

 Weston is at the point in his comedic career that he tries to be "on" at all times.

My new obsession....

I personally think you should buy the whole album...but if you just want to try out a few songs. My faves are #5, the #11, then 1,2,3 and 4...and the list goes on.. thus the buying of the whole album suggestion. And just so you know, I have WONDERFUL taste in music. My kids and husband agree with me on this too!

 Love it!

Here are pics of the kids "loving it" too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J36rli99tY

Let's go fly a kite...

We have been so bored and sick around here...we just had to get out for a bit yesterday. I just laid around on the grass and enjoyed the breeze while our kids tried out their kites.

The wind was so sporadic...it was frustrating. They had fun regardless though.

Home Depot and Carnival

One of my favorite things about our move to Mesa has been living CLOSE to things. Home Depot does this great craft once a month on the first sat. of each month. My kids found out about it last month by accident, but now it is scheduled in for the rest of the year. This last Sat. they made home deport race cars. They loved it! Later that day we went to Houston Elem. to enjoy their annual carnival. Jake helped Grandpa Norm Dj and we had fun going to all the booths. We have had the flu here since Wed. but for some reason we pushed through and enjoyed our Sat. anyway. We totally crashed for the next two days and I just laugh thinking how even when we are sick...their is no shortage of FUN for the Watkins' Family. (Jake wasn't sick until that night...or we might have slowed down for his sake. He has not learned to push through the pain as we say...)

Date with Spencer

So a few weekends back we went to Maricopa to take Aubrey and Weston to a friends b-day party. We thought all the other parents were staying so we just planned on being there. Long story short, it was a "drop off" kind of party...so we were left with Spencer and each other for a couple of hours. So, we called it a date night and went to dinner with Spencer. We have made an effort to have one on one dates with our older kids, but never with Spencer. It was just so nice to be with just him. His sweet personality showed the whole time. I can't believe how big he is getting and how super duper cute he really is. He is not my baby anymore and shows me daily that he can "do it" by himself. We love you Spencer and you are so special to dad and me.

Spencer singing his ABC's.

Caught Spencer doing this on his own.  Look how cute his earphones are!

Here is a video of it.

Silly Aubrey

Last night Aubrey remembered that TODAY was her field trip and busily got to work on this. It just made me smile. She is so organized and funny and cute all in one.

Click on the bottom picture to read her list. I especially love the one about starting You-tube for Spencer.