Seay For All

We only had one basketball game on Saturday which is very rare. We got home and had the whole day in front of us...whatever will we do. My thoughts were a nice afternoon nap, but as you can see Mike had other plans. We have been meaning to get our garden replanted so off we went and what a beautiful day to start. Our backyard is constantly growing with just about everything. Lets see if I can remember it all...I will start with the trees - Orange, Lemon, Lime, Peach, Banana, Mango, and Avocado. Next in our garden we are planting - lots of tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, basil, oregano, onion, zucchini, and blackberries. Lastly we enjoy having a colorful backyard so some of the plants we planted are - gardenias, hibiscus, bougainvillea, bamboo, and geraniums. This awesome mix of vegetation is mostly due to Mike. Working in the backyard is very relaxing to him and as you can see he's out there a lot to keep up with everything. I'm still trying to find my green thumb and still hoping his will rub off on me.
All of the kids are always great helpers. They love to spend time out side with Mike and I doing just about anything. Sometimes they get side tracked and lose focus on what their working on. Somehow that big green ball was calling their name to play with it.
Lucky for us Ben and Esther stopped by and joined in the fun. We always welcome their visits the kids absolutely adore both of them.

Now just think what we could accomplish if we had every Saturday open...haha

Spencer came home from school with this note from the school nurse...
"This is to inform you that Spencer Seay was given first aid for an abrasion to his left ribs. He hit a Grand Slam during PE and slid into home plate. A player from the other team slid into to try and get him out, but he was safe. I washed the area and applied a band aid."

As soon as I read this I was picturing Spencer telling the nurse about what happened not leaving out a single detail. He was so proud of his hit.

I think I smiled for hours after that...loved it.

Every 4 or 5 years our ward puts on a huge ward activity "The Academy Awards." This year we made 3 movies and split the youth into 3 groups. It was the Beehives/Deacons, Miamaids/Teachers, and the Laurels/Priests. Of course I was one of the leaders that was in charge of the youngest groups the Beehives and the Deacons. We only have 3 beehives but we are definitely not short handed with the boys they have about 15 deacons. So needless to say I was pretty intimidated trying to make a movie being so out numbered. Luckily we have 2 great YM leaders who took control. We spent about 5 weeks coming up with an idea, writing the script, and then filming. I was very pleasantly surprised out how well our little movie turned out the kids did a great job.

So last night was the BIG night. All the movies were judged by the activities committee and were given various awards. We had members of the ward who looked similar to movie stars dress up and they were the presenters of the awards. Everyone that came was to be dressed in their finest clothes. I was amazed at how much everyone took that to heart. Some of the women wore full formals, feathers, hats, boas, ect. and the men were all in suits or tuxes. The youth looked great many of the girls wore prom dresses and they all made a grand red carpet entrance. As they walked down the red carpet they were followed by the spotlight and the paparazzi. It was a very fun and exciting night.Jake and his friend Kai...so darn cute!

Yesterday was Tylers first field trip. He has been so excited about it and I really think he has told everyone he knows or anyone that he has seen in the past week. His kindergarten class got to go to a farm and pick strawberries which just happen to be Tylers very very favorite thing to eat. Not only was it his first field trip, but it was also his first time on a school bus. He was amazed that the bus didn't have seatbelts. All in all he loved every minute of it and when he got home he told me everything without leaving ANY detail out...so cute!

Thursday night Spencer and Mike went to the Dodgers game with Scott and Grant. Scott had 4 tickets for the game and they were all excited to go. Mike said the traffic was really bad but that is to be expected driving to downtown during rush hour. Regardless of the traffic they all had a great time. This was Spencer's first Dodger's game he has been to the Angels game before so he was very excited to watch them. He LOVED IT! Doesn't hurt that they had great seats. Thanks Scott what a fun night for the boys.Mike took these pictures with his phone they actually didn't turn out that bad considering.

This was a very fun Easter that all came together very last minute. I guess sometimes not planning for something is very stress free and easy. So Friday or Saturday Mom called and invited us out for Easter dinner, because she knew that everyone else already had other plans or probably didn't want to make the drive out last minute. After a few hours of figuring everything out we ended up having everyone out for dinner except Wendy and Tom (which we really missed). I'm sure if they had a little notice they might have been ale to make it. They are awesome at always driving out to be with the family. Mom made a great dinner of ham and funeral potatoes...yum.
Once again I have to say how much I love my family and how well everyone gets along. The cousins always have so much fun together. We had a very fun Easter egg hunt. Griffin and Grant hid the eggs for the younger kids and then the doors opened and it was a free for all of Easter eggs and candy.Of course as soon as the kids were done finding the eggs it turned into a huge egg fight between all the kids against their uncles. I think my brothers find way too much fun in the pain and torture of the kids. Funny thing no matter how hard they throw the eggs and how much it hurts the kids are loving every minute of it. My favorite pictures have to be of Jake he couldn't throw an egg without jumping first. He would get so excited it was so cute to watch him.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a great Easter!

The weather has been so nice lately we decided to go on a hike. So 3 friends of mine and 19 kids later we were caravaning to Santa Barbara to hike up to a waterfall. This was my first time taking Jake on a hike and was a little apprehensive but he did great. It was about 2 to 3 miles to get to the waterfall and all of the kids were loving it. Of course Tyler was already telling me he was tired, but he kept going, like he had any other option. He cracks me up while we were hiking the entire way he had his hands in his pockets. I kept telling him to take them out because if he falls he is going to fall flat on his face he just looked at me like I was crazy. All in all it was a great time and we got through the day with only a couple scratches and tears. That's not bad for 19 kids ranging from 11 down to 3 1/2 months.
You can't beat the Southern California weather
I love it here!

All I can say is wow where has the time gone. I feel myself saying that more and more often as I watch my children growing up before my eyes. Spencer has been such a fun loving sweet boy that I feel once again blessed to be his mom. Spencer was probably my easiest baby and toddler. He never got into trouble and was always looking for ways to make Mike and I happy. Spencer has an awesome personality he is never far from a crowd it seems like people are just drawn to him and his infectious personality. He is always trying to find new ways to make people laugh he is my little comedian. His mind is always working overtime to be a high achiever or just to be able to create or build something. Since about age 2 until now you will usually find Spencer in his room building anything from blocks to 500 piece star wars Lego sets. He has an audience of his 2 younger brothers who look up to him and want to be and do everything he is and does and I am so proud of the example he is to them.
Each of the kids went with me to the store and wanted to buy Spencer something with their own money...I helped Jake out with some money. I love that Brooke and Tyler were so excited to spend their own money that they had been saving. As a parent those are the moments that make us smile watching our kids find joy in doing things for other people. This year Spencer asked for Star Wars Lego sets, Bakugon (magnetic balls that transform into creatures), and he wanted some Pokemon cards to trade with his friends.

When Spencer woke up on his birthday he was so cute I asked him a couple of questions of what he wanted and you can tell he had put a lot of thought into his day. He wanted doughnuts brought into school for his class and then he wanted me to take him out to lunch (that's my tradition on their bday). For dinner he wanted Brookie's spagetti and meatballs and for desert a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I love celebrating the kids birthdays it gives me a chance to spoil them and give them all of my attention.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER!

Spencer has really been wanting to see Race To Witch Mountain and has been wanting to go to the movies with his friends. So logically it was an easy decision to combine everything and have a day out with his friends going to the movies and eating junk. Spencer has a great group of friends they are very fun and polite kids.
Spencer is always such a great big brother little Tyler really wanted to be included in his party and Spencer was awesome and invited him to come also. The movie was great and the best part was watching the boys react to everything in the movie they were so in to it. They hardly even took their eyes off the screen to eat the candy I had brought them they were in complete concentration of what was happening in the movie.

After the movie Mike and I were going to take the boys out for ice cream and they all decided they wanted frosties from Wendys. Everything is a competition to boys they all raced to see who could finish first and in the process were all getting brain freezes. It was a fun day Spencer and his friends seemed to have a great time.