Mother's Day Photo Shoot

We gave some of the important moms in our lives updated pictures of the boys for Mother's Day this year.  We did the shoot in our backyard.  Alan was my assistant and acted like a crazy monkey to try to get Mason so smile.  Mason must have just thought he was weird though, because there was no smiling going on.  :)  Here are some of my favorite shots:

My goodness, I am one lucky momma!!!

Mother's Day and Changes

This was the best Mother's Day picture we got this year.  It could have turned out worse considering Spencer was in tears about 2 minutes before this because I wouldn't let him change out of his church clothes for the picture. :)

Mother's Day for me was far from relaxing and peaceful, but that's alright.  I have a wonderful mother and mother-in-law to celebrate.  I can credit much of who I am to my own mother.  My values and the way I live my life are a direct result of her example and teaching.  We are blessed to live close to my mother-in-law so I get to have her support and friendship all the time.  I love that my boys get to grow up close to at least one set of grandparents.  I just wish they could be close to both!

Life has been hectic lately with lots of changes.  The biggest change for me has been that our ward split at the beginning of April.  There were about 750 people in Cedar Creek Ward and 170 kids in primary!!  It really needed to be split, but that hasn't made the transition easy.  We are now in the newly formed Edy Ridge Ward.  Every person who was moved to that ward was released from their callings on the night of the split.  I only stayed released for two days though and was called back to be the primary president.  I don't think any of us expected the amount of work and time it would take to staff and entire new ward.  After five weeks, I finally have a complete presidency and a music leader, but still only have half of the teachers I need.  Finding subs each week has become a huge chore because the ward is small and there just aren't many people available to sub.  I keep telling myself that it has to get easier and better eventually, but it won't happen without a lot more work on the bishopric's and my parts.  I don't envy our new bishopric!  Our primary is still large with about 90 kids, but teaching sharing time is much easier!

Partly due to my life revolving around primary at the moment and partly because Alan's schedule has become busier, I finally decided to quit my little job at the YMCA.  I took that job when Spencer was almost three.  At the time, I just needed something to do out of the house.  This job of teaching an exercise class for teens and adults with disabilities was only two hours/week and provided free, on-site childcare.  It was perfect!  It did it for about four years.  Some of the girls were there the entire time and I really learned to care for them.  I helped them exercise and they taught me about love and acceptance.  At this point in my life however, that little job was an unnecessary stress.  Taking care of my family and fulfilling my calling are giving me plenty to do.  Plus, Mason was really having a hard time in their childcare.  He would cry for almost the whole hour whenever he had to go.  It was not good for him.  Last Thursday was my last day at the YMCA.  It was sad to say goodbye, but I know I won't regret reducing my stress and being able to enjoy my boys and life a little more.

Lastly, after 8.5 years at Farmers Insurance, Alan has finally had enough.  Actually, he'd had enough about 6 years ago, but has been sticking it out to provide for his family.  He has been miserable there.  Uberthons is growing and becoming more and more profitable though.  Alan really feels like he needs to be able to devote more time to it in order for his company to move to the next level.  He knew he needed to keep a job with health insurance, so he has been looking for something part-time that provides insurance for awhile.  And, he finally found something that will work a few weeks ago.  As funny as it sounds, he is going to be a school bus driver for the Sherwood School District.  It's only about 5 hours a day and provides insurance.  It is a financial risk for us because he will be making a lot less than he was at Farmers, but we have prayed about it and feel that this is a necessary step for Uberthons to be more successful.  I am NOT a risk-taker so this is scary for me and I'm accepting it on faith right now.  Alan will complete the training and get his CDL license this summer and will begin driving a bus in the fall.  He plans to continue at Farmers until then.

Change is good.  It's stressful and hard, but it keeps life interesting and stretches us into better people.

Track Club

Spencer had the choice between baseball and track club for a spring sport this year.  He loved being on a t-ball team with a bunch of friends last spring, but decided he wanted to try track this time.  They practice twice a week and have meets on Saturdays.  The nice thing is that the meets are totally optional.  We took Spencer to the two meets close to home and I think that's all we'll do.  Track meets are long and it's hard with Mason.

Spencer first meet was right here in Sherwood.  He decided to do the 1500 and 100 meter races.  Luckily, Alan was able to go to this meet.  He took Spencer at around 10:00, but they had to wait for about two hours before it was Spencer's turn to run.  He wasn't all finished until 2:00.  It was a long, boring wait for him.  

This must have been the 1st lap of the 1500.  He was tired and not smiling so much at the end of nearly four laps.  :)

Spencer was just old enough to participate in track club this year so he's in the youngest group.  Not many kids his age are brave enough to do the longer races.  Spencer finished in 7:39.  Not bad at all for a barely 7-year-old!

We had to wait around a while longer for the 100 meter race and Spencer was pretty tired by the time it was finally his turn to run.  He tried his best though!

There was another close meet in Tigard last weekend.  Spencer decided that he just wanted to do the 1500 this time.  Two races was too much for him.  Happily for us, the 1500 was the 3rd event at this meet.  We got there fairly close to beginning of the meet and were all finished in an hour!  Much better!

Start line:

Spencer and this little girl were neck and neck for the first three laps.  She pulled ahead at the end.

It was hot that morning and Spencer was TIRED by the end.  He was the last one in his heat to finish, but didn't seem to mind at all.  He was just happy that he set a new personal record of 7:27!  Alan took him for ice cream later as a reward for trying his best.

Mason was happy chewing on his dinosaur in the stroller for most of the time.

 

Spencer will still have practice for a few weeks, but I think we're finished with the meets.  I think he likes running just fine, but the waiting around was hard for him.  None of his friends did track this year so he didn't have anyone to play with while he was waiting.   We'll see what he chooses to do next year!

Duet

Funny Birthday Balloons

 

Just in case you need a reason to laugh today!

Spencer turns 7!

Spencer wanted a Ninjago party for his birthday this year.  (Ninjago is a Lego ninja series, in case you didn't know.  I didn't until a couple of months ago!)  I have to admit that it was really nice to do a party that didn't involve some kind of vehicle this year.  It has been trains, cars, and planes for the last three years.  All credits for ideas go to Pinterest.

Invites:  Spencer got to invite four boys from his school class to go mini-golfing.  Pinterest had tons of awesome "ninja training" activities, but we decided to keep it simple because the weather is iffy here in April and our house is too small to train a bunch of ninjas!

We made these pvc pipe and pool noodle swords to give to the boys as party favors.  They are supposed to be ninja swords, but are pretty heavy.  I asked Spencer to make fierce ninja faces in these pictures.  :)

Lloyd the Green Ninja cake.  This was two 9x13 cakes stacked, and for the record, it was WAY too much cake!
 

The boys got to mix up their "Ninja power" drinks before we went golfing.  We lucked out and it was a beautiful, almost hot day, so it was good they had these drinks. Full-sheet labels or "sticker paper" is awesome for these kinds of projects.

Grandma showed up at the golf course to help with Mason.  I haven't gotten in sunscreen or hat mode yet, so she kept him in the shade.  Thanks Debbie!

I way underestimated how much time it would take five 7-year-olds to play 18-holes of mini-golf.  We only got through half the course, but I think they all still had a great time.  We didn't keep score or enforce any rules.  They were pretty funny to watch.

Spencer always hops up and down when he gets excited about a shot.

Alan and Mason
Sam, Kyler, Joseph, Sawyer and Spencer

There was a lot of traffic driving back home and we only had 10 minutes for presents and cake by the time we got back!  Spencer opened his gifts while everyone else ate.  He was thrilled to get three Ninjago Lego sets and a fun game.

Spencer's actual birthday was on a Monday this year.  He chose to go to God Father's Pizza for dinner.  (It reminded me why we don't go out to eat with Mason very often!)

Grandma AND Grandpa LeFevre sent him money to pick out his own gift this year.  It was a huge hit and Spencer was so happy to be able to choose Ninjago sets that included the two ninja's he was missing.
 

 He got some cute cards from thoughtful aunts and a cousin.  Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen came over for a bbq on Sunday.  They gave Spencer more Legos.  He was in heaven!

Alan got him a nerf football so they could play catch.

Cute baby watching them play catch:

We are so lucky to have Spencer in our family!  He is the BEST big brother to Mason and helper for me.  He never complains about having Mason play in his room while I am making dinner or cleaning.  (That might change once Mason is mobile though!)  Spencer works hard in school and his other activities.  I don't think he has any best friends - Spencer is just a good friend to everyone.  He is excited and happy about almost everything in his life.  He rarely even complains about dinner anymore!  Spencer grew two inches in the last year and is now 50 inches tall.

Spencer wakes up at least 30 minutes early every morning so he can read before school.  I still read to him for about 30 minutes before bed most nights too.  His current favorite chapter books series are: Dinosaur Cove, Magic Tree House, Magic School Bus, and Jigsaw Jones.  Spencer is still excelling in school and I'm going to have to push harder to make sure his teacher challenges him more next year.  This year's teacher has not done as much as I would have liked. 

I don't know if I ever blogged about his or not, but Spencer has been using an inhaler for a couple of years.  He doesn't technically have asthma, but he has had a hard time getting over coughs.  The inhaler has helped, but is quite expensive.  Recently, we've tried using some essential oils instead of his inhaler and it was successful!  Essential oils aren't cheap either, but they're cheaper than the inhaler and don't require a prescription so we'll stick with them.  Spencer is 100% healthy other than that.

We love you Spencer and can't imagine our lives without you!!