This is a true story.

My worst fears have come to pass.

My sweet little Ethie has encountered mean, horrible BULLYS at school. Actually, they're on his bus to & from school AND in his classroom. Ugh.

For over a week now, he's come home complaining that these 2 boys are teasing him. Saying "you like Elmo, you like Elmo" (Elmo is the little dorky red guy from Sesame Street)

As if!

My child is a shoot-em-up, battle-throwing, Star Wars-loving boy! He actually (much to my dismay) stopped liking Sesame Street at age 2 1/2, but I digress.....

Now Ethan hasn't gotten too upset so far by this constant teasing. I think it upsets me more than it does him. He seems confused, more than anything, as to why kids would tell him he likes something he doesn't. He's a practical kid!

Yesterday, he said they're still teasing him....even doing it quietly in the classroom so the teacher can't hear (evil and smart - bleh!) So I gave him the best advice I could think of - ignore them. I said if you don't say anything back to them, they'll eventually get bored and will leave you alone.

And then dad came home.....

And gave Ethan completely different advice. Somewhere along the lines of "you have to stick up for yourself," "don't let kids push you around," "here's what you do - when they start teasing you, you tell them they like Barbie!" "Oh, and if they don't stop, tell them they look like a girl."

Now, I don't agree with this barbaric advice, however Zack had me convinced by the end of the night that Ethan had to stand up to these bullys. If he didn't, they'll keep on doing it and will get others to as well (that's already happened too - apparently, they told one of the older kids....a safety patrol kid, no less, to make fun of him. This 10 yr old said to Ethan yesterday "I hear you're gonna be Elmo for Halloween!!" SO mean.

So here's the point of my longest blog entry ever!

Our conversation, as I'm getting him ready for school this morning:

Me: So what did Dad tell you to say to those kids?

Ethan: He said to tell them they like Barbie (giggles) and that they look like girls (giggles again)

Me: So are you gonna do that?

Ethan: Ummm (long pause) I don't think so (another long pause) because I think that would be rude, wouldn't it?

Me: (trying to hold back the tears) You know what I think?

Ethan: What?

Me: I think you're the best kid I've ever met.

Ethan's 1st Football Game

And I forgot my camera. Bad mom! So we did a photo shoot when we got back.

His team (the Pasadena Panthers) won 6-2.....and Ethan scored his very first touchdown!!!

Spencer is on a card!

OK, not really....just wanted your full attention :)

Anyway, my mom sent me this card a while ago cuz she couldn't believe how much it looks like my child - and I completely agree! In fact, Zack didn't believe me at first when I told him this card baby WASN'T Spencer (he also doesn't believe me when I tell him Ethan's bday is June 20th, NOT the 21st....had to break out the birth certificate about 5 times to prove I was correct.....but who's counting??)

So here's the little chunk on the card

And below are several pics of Spencer where he resembles card baby most (but Spence isn't as chubby-cheeked, right?? His diet of cheese cubes & whole milk keeps him nice and trim, thankyouverymuch!)

Ethan starts kindergarten!!!!

My handsome little guy

He of course had to have a Star Wars backpack! Puttin' the football moves on Dad before his big day!

Spence is One!!!

Phew! This year sure has flown by. My little love is SO much fun! He still doesn't get the concept of sleeping through the night, which is annoying. Once he gets that down, he'll be perfect! (Well, he needs to be potty trained, speaking and driving himself to practices....THEN he'll be perfect!) Just kidding - not trying to rush your childhood little monkey! You just take your time....

I won't go on & on about how adorable Spence is and how much he's loved. Just know that he is....both of those.....adorable AND loved! :)

OK, that was too short for me. So we'll all remember, here is a short list of Spencer's Favorite things!!

1) The recently-discovered juice box (preferrably one that his brother is drinking)

2) Mandarin oranges & grapes

3) MEN (as in Ethan, Matt & Dad).....(OK, yes he loves mom too, but I definitely come in a close 4th place. No medals for me :(

4)Teletubbies ( I won't go into how disturbing this show is to me)

5)His green elephant blankie

6) BINKIES!!!

7) Seeing mom in the middle of the night (my least favorite of his favorites)

So we celebrated Spence's 1st bday with a small little party (family only + Debbie & Don, who may as well be family!) ;)

Since I already know I'll get FLOODED with requests on how I made Spencer's amazing birthday cake, I'll just let the cat outta the bag right here. Ready!!! OK, here we go.....You bake a cake. In a small, round pan (this can be found at a very exotic location, such as Michael's or JoAnne's) Then you frost the cake, with an exotic-type frosting.....I prefer Betty Crocker. ( And I also seem to prefer the word "exotic"??!) Next, you take your finger, and you very carefully carve a number "1" in the frosting. Last, you fill the "1" with sprinkles. And here are the fantastically outrageous results!!!!

I'm good, right? I know.

Debbie & hubby, Don

Uncle Ron, Aunt BJ, Cousin Sarah

Cousin Melissa & Tim

Yeah, yeah...I'm 1. Who cares? But after some coaxing from Ethan...... And a not-so-nice threat from Dad....... I dug right in! Ethan, always needing to be a part of the action.

Thanks so much for cleaning my mess of a child, Melissa!!! :)

And, I'm done.

Ocean City Vacation!!

We went to Ocean City for a little over a week and had a great time on the beach (minus the 1 yr old.....1 yr olds + sand = NOT my favorite thing)

But he's sooooo cute!

The "Spencer pout"

Uncle Matt playing around with Spence

Ethan with his best little bud, Colby (already the prankster!)

There was no way Spence was going to let Ethan eat a popscicle and NOT share

Love the slop

When your vacation is going a little too well.....the weather has been perfect, your kids have been little angels......you can always mix things up a bit by running out of gas. ON A BRIDGE. If you can find a 2-lane, really small bridge....that makes it all the more interesting. Oh, and make sure that when you do run out of gas, you are exactly in the middle of the bridge. I don't think we could have been more in the middle if we used map coordinates. We're that good.

Yep, true story. We ran out of gas on the middle of a bridge. I had to document, right???

Had to call the cops for help

Hurry and fill that tank hon!!!!

Long story short, after filling the minivan up with a gallon of gas, it wouldn't start....such excitement! So the police were nice enough to give us a ride home.

Ethan, riding in what will hopefully be his LAST ride in a cop car!

So if running out of gas while on vacation sounds like fun to you, the sure way to do it is to ignore your wife when she says that morning, on your way to the beach, while driving RIGHT past a gas station "Why don't we get gas now?" Do NOT listen to her! Then you just need to forget to get gas like you said you would. This is all hypothetical of course.... ;)

After all that fun, we were ready for some more low key, less dangerous activities...like the ultra-boring carousel.

That pout again.....

Ethie's so cool - he can have fun by himself on a frog ride built in '73. It was amazing - went up AND down! ;)

Here's a lesson on how to not take a family picture 1) First, make sure to forget to turn on the flash (my personal fave!)

2) Right before the picture is taken, remind your child to "smile like a normal person" (haha - I really do say that to him all the time!) And then feel really stupid cuz he already is :) 3) Bingo!

Our not-so-happy day at the park We escaped from the kids for a night and had a delicious dinner with friends So on our way home, we stop at Wendy's. We're all eating, when suddenly a Steve Winwood song comes on the radio.....you know, slow instrumental-type song. Ethan gets up and starts doing this ninja-esque/modern dance type dance in the middle of the restaurant. Zack & I had no idea what caused it, but it was hilarious. I wish I had recorded it. The pictures just don't do it justice!!!