Halloween Fun

Happy Halloween!
Clark dressed up as a farmer for Halloween in his striped bib overalls and chore boots. He seemed to enjoy carrying his jack-o-lantern!Since we live in the country we started out the night by visiting Gabe and Ty. All the boys went trick or treating together. The astronaut, the cheetah and the farmer.Gabe and Clark at the door.

Towards the end of the evening Gabe was still going strong but Clark and Ty enjoyed riding in the wagon and "sorting" their treats.

So, what was Clark's favorite "Treat" -- the pencils!

Exploring Indianapolis

While attending the National FFA Convention, Clark and I had a lot of time to go exploring while Alan was busy working with the Delegate committees and attending sessions. We visited a beautiful park with lots of playground equipment and plenty of walking trails. We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum (it was one of the best Children's Museums I have ever visited!). Finally, the zoo was so popular we went on two days (of course one of those times also involved trick or treating).

These first pictures were some from the Children's Museum. We spent A LOT of time at the train exhibit. The first picture is of a real engine they brought in.

Here Clark is playing with the model trains. They had trains running up above as you walked in so you walked under them and then they had this area with tunnels and buttons you could press to turn on certain lights and signals. Kids could also crawl under and pop up in the middle to get a different view.
Here Clark is looking at all of the trains and buildings they had in one of the many display cases. He spent a lot of time just looking.The museum also has a glass sculpture that rises from the main floor all the way to the fourth floor. It was really beautiful. To make the process a learning one for kids they had plastic replicas that they could play with. Clark loved moving these big pieces and putting them back in different holes. Again he played with these for a very long time.
Clark playing with the "glass sculpture." If you look above his head that is the floor of the real sculpture. Clark and I lay on the little bench they have in the middle and looked up through the glass -- that was really neat too!We finished the day at the museum in their area designed especially for babies through 3 year olds. There was a section for babies who couldn't walk yet to play. Clark loved the little soft maze they had for toddlers. Below is a picture of him in the play house making a sandwich. He like pretend play with food and kitchen appliances. By this time he was getting very tired so we headed back to the car.On our way back to the hotel for nap time! Clark enjoyed playing in the big passenger van. Lots of room to run (while the vehicle was parked of course) and lots of buttons to explore.
As mentioned we spent a couple of days at the zoo. The first day we were there it was a little chilly so we spent time in the aquarium and the desert conservatory. Clark loves aquariums -- he watched the fish and really enjoyed the shark tank. In the desert set up he pointed to all the turtles and had fun watching the meercats play. We also took in the dolphin show. He sat through the whole thing without complaint but I am not sure if he really enjoyed it -- he must have found it interesting though if he didn't fuss. The second time we went back with Alan for the zoo's trick or treat night. Clark went as an FFA member (again photos were taken of him by FFA members at the zoo). This time we went to see all of the other animals and stop along the way to collect treats!

Here Clark and dad are watching the elephants!
Mom and Clark watch the giraffes.

Clark really enjoyed the children's farm. Goats, rabbits, llamas and chickens were some of his favorite stops.

Clark's 1st National FFA Convention!

Clark had a great time at National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. These pictures are from his visit to the Career Show. While at convention he also went to a delegate session (he has his own Delegate button) and attended some of the delegate dinners. No matter where he went in his FFA Jacket and official dress cameras were flashing. I have no idea how many members and teachers asked to take his picture. Above Clark and Alan had their picture taken in front of the Oscar Meyer weiner mobile with Kool Aid Man and the Kraft Cheese Dinosaur.

Clark is "driving" one of the lawn mowers on display.

Here Alan and Clark are in the cab of a brand new tractor. Clark threw a small fit when we made him get out of the cab. He probably could have spent the entire day up there playing with buttons if we had let him.

Clark in between the duals. He spent a lot of time playing with the big tires and with a new baler attached behind (including finding the grease). We probably spent more than 30 minutes playing here and he had many, many requests to have his picture taken -- including one of the dealers working the show.

Clark seemed to have a lot of fun and was a very good and patient boy. The highlight for Alan was seeing Clark's picture with the National FFA Officer team during the last session in the National FFA Officer highlight video.

During the week Clark and I went out and about and explored the area -- more on that in another blog.

Grandpa Clark's Birthday!

Grandpa Clark's birthday was on Saturday -- Happy Birthday Grandpa!

To celebrate, on Sunday, we drove to Fort Dodge and met Grandma and Grandpa Clark and Carl, Hollie, Gabe and Ty for lunch. After lunch dad opened cards and gifts--he brought Em's card along to share too. This year my sister Emily gets the win for best birthday card for dad (there have been times she and I pick out the same card for dad) -- Good Job Em it was a great card!

We now have large quantities of tomatoes to use up that mom sent home with us. Looks like cucumber and tomato salad a lot this week.

While dividing tomatoes and squash Ty cleaned off the hood of our car for us! It made a great slide!

On our way home we stopped at Sonic to grab something to drink for the trip. Next time I guess we need to get Clark his own little juice cup since he did end up drinking a lot of my real fruit lime slush (and after backwash who wants the cup back). The kid likes lime what can I say.

Not much new today (Monday). Clark helped me put supper in the crock pot. This week will be a lot of crock pot cooking because I simply cannot stand the sight and smell of food come 4:00 pm. So at least if its in the crock pot I may smell it but I don't actually have to work with it at that time. We also made some banana bread to get rid of some old bananas. Clark stood on his new work platform and dug right in. He would put the chopped celery and carrots in the measuring cup as I finished chopping and moved them over for him. He also enjoyed stirring items and using the whisk along with dumping veggies and raisins into various bowls. Our supper menu included chicken and rice casserole, squash and bread pudding.

Clark is using more words but often he still will say a word once and then not use it again for a long time. But he is up to dada, mama, ditty(kitty) -- he uses this one more than mama andbath. Other words he has said but doesn't repeat often: tractor, ball, stick, apple -- I know there are others but am having a hard time coming up with them right now. He has no problems understanding though.

Clark really likes watching Handy Manny and Curious George. We watch one either right after lunch or before naptime. He claps along to the music in Handy Manny which is really cute. He also goes nuts anytime he sees a rabbit on either show. He has a thing for rabbits because he heads straight for them in Earl May too. I don't know where that comes from. He recognizes ducks and cats too on those shows (but we have those so that's understandable) but doesn't go as nuts with those as he does with bunnies. He is also a fan of Jumpy Squirrel on Curious George.

All for now -- have a great week!

1st Cyclone Game!

On Saturday we went to the Iowa State vs Kansas game at Jack Trice Stadium. We sat in the South End Zone where Grandpa Spencer has tickets. This was Clark's 1st Cyclone football game. He seemed to enjoy the experience -- so much to see! Since the game started at 11:30 am we ate at the stadium. Clark had a hotdog and we all shared some fries (Clark ate most of the family fries I think). The first half was great! And at half time Clark was getting pretty sleepy so we walked back to the Clark (Uncle Carl & Aunt Hollie's) household to put him down for a nap. Clark rode on dad's shoulders on the way home and fell asleep up there too. Clark did get to see the best part of the game (where we were winning) because it all went downhill from there and the Cyclones ended up losing 33 to 35.

Watching the band at half time!

Riding back to the Clark house on dad's shoulders. Had a great nap while the Cyclones lost yet another game :(

Oh well, we all shared pizza when everyone came back from the game -- at least we had some good family time later in the afternoon. There's always the next game right? Go Cyclones!

Fall Weekend

This weekend we spent some family time outside. Saturday we packed a lunch and went to a park. Clark went down the slide (a number of times) and then tried out some classics -- the horse swings, teeter totter, and sand box digger. He really enjoyed using the levers on the digger and picking up and dumping out sand.

After lunch and play we went to the DeMoss Family Pumpkin Farm in Gilbert. Clark had to thump some of their pumpkins too, he helped pick out some nice mini pumpkins and gourds to use in decorations around the house. While there he also had fun looking at the tractor and visiting the animals including: sheep, chickens and pigs (really liked the pigs).

This week has been great when it comes to food preparation. Mom and dad gave me a stand for Clark for my birthday -- it works great! Clark asks to get up now to help us when we're at the counter and it saves on a lot of tears that I used to get when I worked at the counter and he couldn't see. Sunday I made a tomato/cucumber salad -- as you can see Clark was eating tomatoes about as fast as I was cutting them up to put in the bowl. He has also helped dad wash some dishes at the sink.

Sunday afternoon Cortney was able to come out and babysit so Alan and I could finally go see the new Batman movie. The movie was great! However, Cortney was so excited to play with Clark and then he took a three hour nap -- so not a lot of play time.

Monday and today Clark and I started a major sorting/cleaning project. We are going through all of his clothes and sorting them by size to store them better and have a better idea of what we have for the next little Spencer. Clark likes to help throw the clothes in the new storage bags and resort the piles!

Visiting the Amanas

Today we all traveled to Iowa City to visit the hospital (the only good reason to visit Iowa City for a family of die hard Cyclones). We met Clark's Aunt Dee there and they went to play while Alan and I went to our 7 week ultrasound appointment. There was one little sac with one tiny little life -- there was a very strong heart beat and seeing the little flutters brought smiles to our faces and tears to our eyes. We are now released from Iowa City's care and can start visits to our Ob/Gyn here in Ames.

As a treat to celebrate we went over to the Amana Colonies and ate lunch with Aunt Dee. Later we walked around. A visit is never complete without a stop at the chocolate store. Clark's treat was a chocolate cat on a stick. He liked it very much - however, he is squinting in all the photos we took due to the sun (so it looks like he doesn't enjoy it). We also visited the Christmas shop -- Clark liked all the lights and shimmering ornaments. Hard to believe that time of year is not far off. Finally we stopped at the toy store -- we found a cow puppet that Clark really enjoyed.

Yesterday when we were outside Clark found a little frog sitting in our grass. It was so tiny it can sit on a single blade.

Little Drummer Boy

Today was my birthday so I decided Clark and I would do some fun things together. We took our time this morning and then went to town. Ironically my favorite spots to shop are also Clark's. We went to Earl May to check out tulip bulbs and plants for me and to look at fish and bunnies for Clark. He was so excited when we got out of the car. When we went inside he ran over to the fish display giggling all the way. We then picked up lunch and ate in Bandshell Park. Clark could watch all the equipment at the power plant from the park bench and see the trains go by through downtown. After playing on the playground equipment we headed to Holub's (a local nursery) and looked at all the mum's.

Dad took us out for supper when he got home. After supper he and Clark set up the "drums" by the garage. Quite a lot of pounding going on.

Today is also Day 7 in our pumpkin watch -- one week and it is starting to turn orange. However, the vines are starting to die back pretty fast -- hopefully it will manage to turn before the vines are done!

Cake!

(This was actually supposed to be blogged yesterday, but, between an SSTFI Board meeting and Bell Choir rehearsal I didn't get it done).

On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa Clark came down for a visit with us and Carl's family. Along came a much loved favorite -- Grandma's chocolate birthday cake. Last night we were still working on some left overs. Clark loves chocolate cake -- I believe the pictures describe that sentiment better than I could describe:

On another note we did some toad watching yesterday. Clark likes to bend over and peer in the window wells to check for toads. Yesterday we counted 10 toads in our one window well. All the way from babies to big papas/mamas. I picked up a big one to have Clark touch -- he laughed when it urinated all over my hands -- typical toad response. Not really sure why we have such a very large toad population -- they have tunnels everywhere and this year a group took up residence in a third window well. I would really like to clean up our window wells and put some nice rock in over the bare soil but I have a soft spot for our friendly toads (who hunt crickets).

Apple Festivals & Pork Suppers

Today was definately a day spent enjoying the beautiful Iowa Fall weather (granted Fall doesn't officially begin until Monday). This morning mom had to go into church to help set up for communion, since September is her month to serve on Altar/Chancel Guild. Meanwhile, back at home, dad and Clark started working on our porch. We have a new door to put in but of course once starting a remodeling project you realize that you should fix it right. So, we measured for drywall and tile and will work on this project over the next few weeks. Clark had a great time rummaging through dad's toolbox and "helping."

After lunch we headed out to the ISU Horticulture Research Farm where the ISU Hort Club was selling apples and cider and giving various demonstrations. We took the farm tour and Clark had fun riding on the wagon and looking at all the different trees and plants. There was another girl about his age sitting across from him and they kept each other entertained. After taste testing some apples we headed home for a nap.

After nap we went into Gilbert to the 35th Annual Gilbert Lutheran Church Pork Feed. So much food! We are still not sure where Clark manages to put everything he eats. He really enjoyed the baked beans and the pork. He even tried some coleslaw.

Ridin' the Slide

Today was a pretty typical day. We played outside a lot and checked on all our veggies and animals. Dad came home early this afternoon since he had to pick up the milk samples from ISU for the Dairy Foods CDE tomorrow. Since he is staying home and not traveling to NE Iowa we had to go to town and meet the State Advisor to transfer the milk samples. Meanwhile we took Clark to Inis Grove Park. Clark loves slides and today was the first day he went down the slide all on his own. He knows how to sit and push off to make himself slide. He even tried the twisty slide all on his own and went down that one a number of times. The slide set also has a large fish that can be crawled on and he enjoyed trying that out too! Then we went to Pizza Ranch (with Woody), Clark's favorite restaurant -- he enjoyed pointing out all of the cowboys and horses and ate and ate and ate.

On our way home we stopped at the bookstore and picked up a few books. We found a new Biscuit book for Clark. (If you don't know Biscuit is a dog.) Honestly this past week I have probably read Biscuit Goes to the Pumpkin Patch at least 20 times.

Train Crossing Update: The barricades are down and the train crossing is finished! It's really nice -- all paved and smooth. Bad part is the traffic is back. It was nice and quiet for a few days with no cars going by.

Pumpkin Watch Day 1

Clark truly loves the outdoors (honestly, if I let him he would spend all day outside). When he goes out he has to check all the tomato plants and I have to convince him we need to wait until they are red. Today, hooray, there was a red one that we ate for supper. Then we go check the pumpkins. We have two big ones and 3-4 smaller ones. The one large pumpkin is already orange but the other just reached full size. So, we are going to keep watch to see how many days it takes to turn orange (and if it can do it before the vines die).

Here is the green pumpkin in our pumpkin watch:

We also visit the apple tree on a daily basis as I have mentioned. Today we harvested a bunch to make into something this weekend.

Today Clark had to take out his new Woody figure. He really has a thing for Toy Story and loves to have Woody with him.

The goose also for some unknown reason follows us everywhere! He will get within a foot of me or Clark and just stand there. He has also taken to sleeping on our front steps. I think the poor guy is lonely. Springtime we might have to see what we can do about finding him a companion.

We also have a train crossing update. This afternoon they were working on the asphalt (smelled like tar all afternoon). Still have some more work to do but it is getting closer all the time. It should be a great crossing once they are done.