Spencer is 7!

 Blake is so good to me.  He will bring me home my favorite lilies just because.  It is so nice to have fresh flowers in the house.  I am always sad when they die.

 We were at the park one day and William was so excited about the ducks.  He just loved them!!

 William got bitten by something, who knows what.  At least it wasn't a tick.  Welcome to the Midwest, spiders and bugs have plenty of room to grow.

 The kids have loved hanging out in the tree out front.  They concocted a system with our swing where they can all be up there at the same time.  It is a great climbing tree. 

 Spencer with his birthday breakfast of green pancakes and bacon.  He loves the bacon!  He is always so good to tell me that I am the best cooker ever.

 Spencer opening family presents.  He got some legos and more legos!  Grandma Barb sent him $7 because he is 7.  He loved the magnet set from Grandma too.  He was good about being grateful too.

 This year, he wanted an army/lego party.  He had some friends from school and church.  Dallon, Asher, Ben, Ethan, Isaac and Sam and Noah.  The only girl he invited was Natalie, who is says he is going to marry.  He made all the games up and they all had a great time.  It was a humid day too, so that was seven sweaty boys running wild!

 We did an army obstacle course.  It was pretty fun for them to cheer on their team.

 Then we had a marshmallow war, which Blake loved because he kicked butt. Then all the boys threw them at me. 

 We got them all army vests that were a big hit.

 They had two teams and were supposed to capture the treat bags from each other.  It ended up just being crazy but the boys had fun. 

 For a Relief Society auction, I won a birthday cake! Hooray for not having to make one!  It was camo inside and the frosting was amazing.  I will be calling Abra for other cake needs, since mine always turn out weird.

 Boys enjoying the cake and then open presents.  Spencer felt pretty special.  He has a good group of friends at school and church. He is a pretty social kid.  There have been times that he has had a hard time getting into group situations, but he has persevered and done awesome.  It is always fun to see your kids with their friends because you see how they act in other situations.  Spencer is a big lover of the scriptures and understands so much about the gospel. He is a great missionary.  He loves reading and remembers so much about what he has read.  He loves running and playing outside and riding his bike.  He is a good brother and has a great imagination.  So blessed to have him in our family. His soft heart is a wonderful trait. 

 Spencer and Blake went on their birthday dinner to Popeyes.  He loves chicken and Blake, so that works out.  They are two peas in a pod.

 Spencer has been wanting to cook more, so I taught him how to cut things without cutting his finger off!  He loves the show Masterchef kids too, a kid's cooking competition.  I always tell him he needs to learn to cook for when he goes to college and mission, plus the girls like it.

 He requested broccoli cheese soup for his birthday dinner.  He loves that stuff. 

 And for dessert, he wanted oreo cheesecake.  It was no bake, hooray!

 For Blake's birthday, I secretly contacted his co-worker Mike to decorate his cubicle. He sent me this picture.  Blake was pretty excited about it, even though he pretends to hate birthday attention!

 We tried growing corn this year.  We got a lot of stalks, but no corn.  At least it makes good decorations.

 I went with Spencer on his field trip to the Hartman Reserve.  I loved him reading in the classroom before we left. 

 Spencer's class

 I was in charge of this cute group.  We had a nice walk through the woods.  It was a little rainy but the Fall leaves were beautiful!  I loved being able to go with him.