Being Thankful

Jake had to write a speech for a writing assignment at school. He made the tactical error of telling me he got extra credit for delivering the speech at Thanksgiving dinner. Extra Credit? Hooray! Since Jake had to give a speech I assigned Max the task of saying grace. When I asked him if he needed to write it down, or needed any help, he said " I go to church, I know how to pray!" Jake's speech was beautiful and touching. There was not a dry eye at the table. He told me I wasn't allowed to make commentary after his speech. I could applaud if I liked it. I did, and I did!

Here is his speech:

Today I’m going to give thanks to my family. First, I would like to thank my Mom and Dad for being caring and supportive. Whether I’m sad, frustrated, or just lonely, they’re always there. I give thanks to my brothers for giving me a friend when I need one. Then, I give thanks to my Nana and Pa. I thank them for letting me stay at their house when I’m on break. Next, I give thanks to my Aunt Kate. Even though she can be obnoxious, turning her movies to the loudest volume ever, I still give thanks for her. I also give thanks to my Uncle Vitcha, who is fighting in a war, hoping he will be safe. I thank Aunt Jo and Tatianna even though they are not here. Now, hopefully, my brother can recite a decent prayer.

For the record, his brother did recite a wonderful prayer. I'm thankful for these beautiful, wise, and witty boys.

Halloween 2010 at OneTrueMedia.com

Our Fifth Annual Halloween montage! We have so much fun planning our costumes every year; we have to share our fun with our friends and family.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Alaska July 2010

Spring Break 2010 - Easter at Palm Springs

Spring Break 2010 - Colorado

Huntington Library - Pasadena, CA

We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the Huntington Library and Botanical gardens in Pasadena. The boys loved the little hiding nitches created by the bamboo. There were many sections of the gardens. We started in the desert section and, too funny, our guys were the only kids who knew NOT to touch the cactus.

We frolicked in the flowers and hiked all the paths. Our funniest memory of the day was the elderly volunteer guard pointing out a statue of Diana and calling it a Greek goddess. Jake, of course, corrected her that Diana is Roman (Artemis is the Greek one). We capped off a great day by stopping at Tito's Tacos for a feast!

2010 Pinewood Derby

Once again the Spear boys rocked the Pinewood Derby! Jake painted his car green. He put a circle with a lightning bolt. We named it "The Lightning Thief" (you can see that it was raining that night!) Max's was a pizza slice called "Max's Pizzeria Car"

Both of the cars were super fast! Max was excited to win Second Place for his den. Jake was a little stunned when he got First Place. They were happy to pose with their medals. Big kudos to Pa for cutting the wood and to Daddy for putting on the tires. The boys are going to treat Pa to a trip to McDonald's next time we are in AZ.

Max's Magical Birthday

We dug out our Harry Potter supplies for Max's party day. We were celebrating his EIGHTH birthday with lots of friends. Everyone who knows me knows what a fan I am of HP, and I love that my guys are too. We had the best time planning the party around the theme. All of Max's pals were impressed and had a blast!

We turned the dining room into Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe. Each boy got to "shop" for candy at the end of the party. We had all the treats mentioned in the books: Acid Pops, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Lemon Drops, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, etc.

I made and packaged the Chocolate frogs, Cockroach Clusters and Peppermint Toads. When the party was over I asked Max if he had fun. He said "You are the best Mommy in the world. No other Mommy would make a Honeydukes." That pretty much made it worth all the work put into it!


We turned the backyard into a mini Diagon Alley with activities for the kids to do. Each kid made a wand at Ollivanders; a animal puppet at the Magical Menagerie, a bookmark at Florish and Blotts and a golden snitch at Quality Quiddich Supplies. Of course the wands were the favorites and they had tons of fun with them. At one point it got a tad rowdy (12 second grade boys, need I say more?), and Jason said "Oh nice. Give them sticks and turn them loose to play." There was a bit of play that was closer to fencing, so I had to police it a bit. The only injury of the day occured when Sam poken Max in the eye with a wand. Max had a bit of a "mouse" the next day.

Max is hanging out at the book store. Jake's favorite thing I made was the "Monster Book of Monsters" .

Each partygoer started at the Three Broomsticks for drinks. They were all standing around drinking their "butterbeer" (which was cream soda and root beer) and one boy said "are we drunk yet?" Whoops! I made sure to explain to all the parents that it was SODA.

Every boy visited the Sorting Hat to determine which Hogwarts house they would be in for the day. There was only one unhappy customer on this. One of Max's best friends is a big HP fan and he pulled out Slytherin. Before the tears started, we let him switch. They then wore little ties to denote to which house they belonged.

Max wanted a Knight Bus cake to go with the party. We kept it pretty simple, but had a blast with the purple frosting. Everyone had a super purple tongue for a while.

Max had a great time playing with his friends for the day. He really enjoyed pretending and getting into the theme. Jake was my helper for the day and he was a riot. He really had no patience for the rowdier boys attending. We played games based on the Hogwarts classes. Mixed drinks up for Potions, guessed how many jelly beans in a jar for Devination and had to get a hula hoop around the dementor for a game we called Expecto Patronum. Each boy got to plant a little seed for Herbology class. Some boys were bouncing around and dropped their seeds. When they asked for another, Jake said "too bad! you were messing around." I had to step in and give out seeds. The funny part is at the end of the day the younger boys were all hero worshipping Jake.

We were just so proud of Max and how gracious and charming he was with all of his guests. He is such a friendly boy and really enjoys his friends. One mom told me that Max and four of the boys who came (who are his closest friends) had made a pact to be friends all the way through to high school. So three years down, ten more to go!

Spear Boy Guide to Impressing the Ladies

1. Just go about your business, picking your nose!

2. Hide your face and pretend that you don't see them.

Whenever any princess or girly character comes within ten feet of the Spear boys, we don't get a lot of excitement. They are usually ducking under napkins, or heading back to the buffet.

Christmas at Disneyland

Disneyland is, of course, always magical, but there is a little extra magic during the holiday season. We love going to see all the lights and Christmas decorations; as well as hearing the Christmas music. Two of the Spear guys (the really tall one who knows a lot about renting cars and the short one who knows a lot about eating chicken nuggets) think the Christmas parade is the best part. It definately puts you in the holiday mood. We were lucky to get to head out in the middle of the month before it got too crazy. The Carruthers were in town to enjoy the night with us which made it extra fun. The boys really love hanging with their cousins.

I always love it when the camera actually captures a bit of someone's personality. There is just something in Sam's eyes which makes you think he is plotting to take over the world. We headed to Goofy's kitchen for a tasty, kid friendly dinner.

Minnie was really trying to get Jake's attention by kissing him, but he continued to eat as if no one were there.

The look on Sam's face when he saw Goofy (from afar, of course) was pure joy.

The little ones made the hot chocolate look so good. The adults were only a little embarrassed to ask for one too!

I was getting a shot of the Carruthers boys for prosterity when Mr. Max jumped into the shot eating his 7th dessert. We always get value for our money when we take Max to an all you can eat buffet.

Posing with Chip only briefly interrupted his eating regime.

Jake's First Band Concert

It was standing room only at Jake's first band concert. The teacher splits his time between three elementary schools in the area; so all three got together for the performance. We had to stand up in the back of the room to see the concert. As you know this only works when you are very tall. At least one of Jake's parents could see the show. (If it wasn't for the telephoto lens we would never have gotten a shot.) We could hear just fine from the back though. The teacher did a great job. On one song he had each instrument group play the song through solo, so that we could hear. Of course we all thought the clarinets were the best, but we are a little biased.

Jake was so funny the day of his performance. He would be fine until he heard us discussing it. Then he suddenly would say he wasn't feeling well. He had a big case of denial about his big case of nerves. Jason was so great with him. He explained how it was natural to be nervous, and that he always was before he performed. He assured Jake that he would come through with flying colors, which he did.

You know we also thought he was the cutest kid there, but I am sure we are a little biased about that too!

Williams, AZ - Snow!

It got colder and colder on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In the evening it really started snowing. The kids were already in bed but not quite asleep. They all ran outside and played in the snow in their pajamas. The next morning there was a small blanket of snow on everything. It wasn't quite enough to make a snowman, so Jake and Russell made a "snow puffle" (all you Club Penquin experts know what that is...). The famous "snow puffle".

The boys got to play around for a little bit and then it was time to head home. They took off ther wet socks and snuggled in for the long drive. It is always fun to visit snow, but we were glad when we came home to 73 degrees and a beautiful California day!

Grand Canyon

It was a short drive from Williams to the Grand Canyon. It has been forever since we were there, and the boys had never been. It was very cold, but still suprisingly busy. We took in the amazing view and then got souvenirs and hot tea/cocoa. When Max and I were in line to pay for his purchase, he looked out the window and said "Mommy, what is THAT?" Of course he knew what it was after our spring break adventure at Yosemite; it was snowing. Here are my four favorite guys in the whole world posing for me slash huddling together for warmth.No matter how many times I have seen it, it still takes my breath away. I always get a bit philisophical when I see all the colors and layers and think of how long it took to make such wonder.

Polar Express

The day after Thanksgiving we trekked to Northern Arizona to Williams. Williams is an adorable "Route 66" town, and home of the Grand Canyon Railway. During the holiday season they have a Polar Express adventure for the kids. Nana had been working overtime to make matching pajamas and robes for all the boys. (You can't see in the picture, but their names were embroidered on their robe pockets, too cute!) All the kids have to wear their p.j's on the train.

They all looked so cute in their matching ensembles. They were chomping at the bit to get over to the train. It was frigid outside and we had to huddle up for warmth waiting for the train.

The Polar Express is made up of railway cars from 1923. It was very charming inside decorated with evergreen around the top. It was warm and cozy as we took off for the North Pole. The chefs danced up and down the aisles and brought everyone hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. We listened to a reading of the Polar Express storybook and then stopped at briefly at the North Pole where Santa boarded the train. He wished everyone a Merry Christmas and gave each child a jingle bell from his sleigh.

We sang Christmas carols all the way back to the station. Sam, Nattie and Max were hanging out singing Jingle Bells.

Jake and Russell were enjoying their cookies.

Santa giving Zach his bell. Sam and Zach were especially impressed by Santa. Everyone, including the adults, had a magical time. It was such a wonderful way to begin the Christmas season.