The biggest news of the week is that Taylor is now 16.  I look at all his peers dating and driving cars and it is hard to believe that he is just as old.  In some ways its nice to have a child who will never grow up but will always snuggle with his mom.  He has had a great week.  For his birthday we put a bag of candy bars on his wheelchair with a sign to take one and wish Taylor a happy birthday.  Robyn told all of her friends so as soon as the bus pulled up that afternoon he was swarmed.  We learned that banana/butterscotch chip pancakes with maple/peanut butter syrup followed by lemon bars make Taylor a VERY happy boy (no one else really likes lemon bars so Taylor ate the pan pretty much by himself all week long).  Robyn's"presents" for Taylor:
 Saturday we had around 100 neighbors and friends over for Taylor's annual birthday BBQ.  I always plan to take pictures of this event but then I get caught up in the moment and don't.  But just imagine a lot of hot dogs and potluck dishes, kids running around screaming and shooting balls and plastic rockets in the air, adults talking on the grass and kids shyly coming over to give Taylor a hug and wish him a happy birthday.  Taylor had spent the afternoon laying  on his swing with Melissa our new respite worker, napping and having his hair played with and then the evening outside with friends and chocolate cake.  He had a great day.  And then we sent everyone home, told our kids to disappear and broke out the ice cream and a brainless movie on the couch.  Totally necessary for adult mental health.
Spencer had a guitar recital this Monday.  I was all set to tell him that he had to quite guitar as piano practicing is getting to be not so great around here.  But as he pointed out to me after the recital when I asked him how he managed to sneak in some practicing without me knowing, "you wouldn't want me to stop guitar now and loose all this talent!" - such humility.

Spencer has been loosing crickets from his cricket keeper.  We thought they were just dying off.  Nope...Jeremy took all his computer equipment to the studio this week to teach a class there.  When he came to put everything back the next day, he opened the floor outlet cover to find a whole swarm of crickets.  First day he caught 4, next day 3 and then 1 - they are fast little critters.  Equal parts disgust and humor fill those moments - I really need to stop laughing at inappropriate moments.

Robyn had a moms and muffins event on Friday morning.  She made me a cute little book about me to share.  According to her I am 23, my favorite food is salad and I hate to eat sugar - not sure if she just really doesn't know me or is she is just feeling optimistic.  I spend my days doing jobs and day care and hate teaching manners and wearing high heels - maybe she does know me pretty well after all.  Although she did think I was only 8 inches tall.

Jeremy had a few photo events this week including teaching a class to his peers. He also had a trip to the dentist where he learned that two of his old fillings had cracked so he is back in this week for some dental work. We are taking turns with the dentist over the years. Biggest thing of all for me is that Saturday I knew there was no way I could get any work done of the yard, cupcakes take priority in my book so Jeremy just snuck out and cleaned everything up, edged and mowed by himself. I tell you the gifts of love look different now than they used too but a mowed lawn yesterday seriously brought tears to my eyes.

Mother's Day means I have spent the morning in my pajamas and laid in bed while Allison with Jeremy's judicious help made me waffles.  I just laid there until my body couldn't stand it any longer.  It felt wonderful.  Kids all gave me hugs and little trinkets.  Jeremy did the morning routine with Taylor.  Life is pretty wonderful.

This week has been mostly spent with me in the yard whenever possible.  I did get to go on a long bike ride this week with a new friend as she showed me a back-road way to get to Provo Canyon.  Yesterday we did a trial run of the tri course for this next weekend.  First, I didn't realize how slow I am on a bike, my legs just don't pump around as fast as everyone else's.  Definitely need to work on that.  Second I have been running in the early morning dark and then biking later in the day when I have tried to double up.  When I tried biking and then running, it was ridiculous.  My legs were trying to bike while my mind was telling them to run.  Glad I learned that my body won't function properly this week so I know what to expect next.

I guess my morning of sloth needs to come to an end and I actually need to get dressed and hit church.  Jeremy has been home all morning as meetings were cancelled so it has truly felt like a holiday.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there and all the women who teach me how to me a mom.  Today I always have mixed feelings about being so happy to be a mother and wondering at the same time how much my parenting is messing up my kids and then being glad to have had such a wonderful mother myself.

love, Heather

P.S. How could I forget?  Spencer had a court of honor this week and got 6 merit badges and a rank advancement to Star.  In these pictures he is technically blind as he fell asleep wearing his glasses and crashed and smashed.  So he is wearing an old back-up pair.  He got new lenses Saturday with a huge leap in prescription and was having a hard time being able to see clearly.  -4.75 and still getting worse...Must be related to me.