Christmas Fun

Christmas comes & goes so quickly, but despite that, the Spaeths had a fantastic day! It was a bit of a weapon-themed Christmas for Luke:

Exhibit A - Nerf Sword

Exhibit B - Nerf Gun #1

Exhibit C - Nerf Gun #2

I don't have a picture of exhibit D - nerf gun #3!!!!!!  I have a feeling we may be having a lot of nerf wars going on around here over the next few days...

Ginger enjoyed her Christmas too.  Well, okay, she really didn't between all the nerf guns and a few other noisy toys that Luke received.  She really does love her new blanket for her bed in Brandon's office.  It is so cozy and warm, she's spent a lot of quality time curled up on it asleep as she has recovered from all the Christmas get togethers she attended:

A Christmas first this year - we had a "kids" table for the first time at my mom's & dad's dinner this year.  I think the kids loved sitting together & the adult table was a lot quieter than normal.

And what is Christmas without trying to get those perfect family pictures where everyone looks happy.  The key word is "trying":

Luke with Great Grandma Louise (Spaeth)

Spaeth Grandkids with Grandma Louise

  

"Jackson" (Jackson, Whiteley, Spaeth, Whiteley) Grandkids

"Jackson" grandkids with Great-Grandma Jack

Grandpa & Grandma with the crew

The Spaeths - notice I am the only one who could still conjure up a smile at this point in the day. :)

I hope everyone's Christmas was as blessed as ours!

Christmas Countdown - Day 12

Well, here we are rounding out my own little "12 Days of Christmas" with what is I think (because it really is hard to make a decision when there are so many that I love) my very favorite Christmas song.  It was written by Chris Rice, but of course, my favorite version is Amy Grant's.  It's called "Welcome to our World" & it is a beautiful lullaby to welcome our Savior into this world that is far from perfect.  Reflect on the real reason we celebrate as you listen to it here.  Merry Christmas to you all - may you and your families be blessed in all you do!

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome holy child
Welcome holy child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long awaited holy stranger
Make yourself at home
Please make yourself at home

Bring your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
World now breaking heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around you
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect son of God
Perfect son of God
Welcome to our world

Christmas Countdown - Day 11

For a short week, it has been a really long one for sure.  I am counting my blessings right at this moment that I can enjoy the next 10 days without the craziness of work!  This is always a good time of year to count our blessings anyway, which leads me to one of my favorite songs of all time "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep" by Irving Berlin.  It's originally from the holiday classic White Christmas, but Amy Grant (I know - her again - and you're getting another Amy song tomorrow - sorry!) did a version on her Christmas Collection album a couple years ago that I just love listening to.  You can't go wrong with this song as long as it causes you to consider the blessings and gifts we've been given as you listen to it.  You can listen to it here for Amy Grant's version or here if you want the original White Christmas version with Bing Crosby.  Or you can just read the lyrics:

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

Christmas Countdown - Day 10

Everyone loves "The Night Before Christmas".  It is for sure a classic, and I love reading it to Luke every single year.  I heard this song by the same name for the first time this year.  Steven Curtis Chapman sings it, and I think it is just beautiful, and it really makes me think about what it must have been like that night before the very first Christmas.  I can't find a good link to listen to the song online, but you can read the lyrics below:

It was the night before Christmas and all through the world
Everything looked like business as usual
Shepherds sat on a hillside looking up at the stars
While the world fell asleep unaware just how deep
Was the darkness the night before Christmas

And the night before Christmas it seemed to be just a night
But the wind blew like something was coming
And like children with secrets that they're bursting to tell
The cedars danced in the breeze while all of nature it seemed
Held its breath on the night before Christmas

And hope, hope long awaited
The hope of the ages
Would break with the dawn
And the song that all of creation was anticipating
Would start with a baby's first cry

And on the night before Christmas Mary laid down to rest
While Joseph, he paced the floor praying
And in an everyday stable, in an everyday town
In the hours to come God would wrap Himself up
And come down from heaven and the world would forever be changed
After the night before Christmas

Christmas Countdown - Day 9

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Enough said...

Christmas Countdown - Day 8

It's getting so close!  Only 5 more days until the big one.  I think I am more excited for Luke than myself, but I guess that is how it is once you have kids.  It gives you such delight to see it through their eyes.  It is so important to Brandon & me that we teach Luke that Christmas is not just about Santa & presents and all the commercial stuff that seems to go with the holiday.  Yes, it's fun, but it's about so much more than that.  The song I've chosen for today is called "Strange Way to Save the World" by 4Him.  I realized that I don't have this one downloaded in my collection & I don't know why, because this song always really touches me!  I can only imagine all that Joseph must have been thinking to be in the situation he was in - this song gives me an idea of what those thoughts might have been.  You can listen to it here.

I'm sure he must have been surprised
At where this road had taken him
'Cause never in a million lives
Would he had dreamed of Bethlehem
And standing at the manger
He saw with his own eyes
The message from the angel come to life
And Joseph said...

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here, inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

To think of how it could have been
If Jesus had come as He deserved
There would have been no Bethlehem
No lowly shepherds at His birth
But Joseph knew the reason
Love had to reach so far
And as he held the Savior in his arms
He must have thought...

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here, inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world
...this is such a strange way to save the world

Christmas Countdown - Day 7

One of my all-time favorite Christmas songs is from Amy Grant's Home for Christmas album called "Breath of Heaven".  It's another song that focuses on Mary and what she must have been going through as she and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem before Jesus' birth.  It is a haunting and emotional song as you think about what Mary must have been going through, wondering why in the world God chose her to carry His son.  It has been covered by others, but of course, my favorite version is the original, which you can listen to here.

I have traveled
Many moonless night
Cold and weary
With a babe inside
And I wonder
What I've done
Holy Father
You have come
And chosen me now
To carry your son

I am waiting
In a silent prayer
I am frightened
By the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone
Be with me now
Be with me now

Breath of Heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of Heaven

Do you wonder
As you watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan
Help me be strong
Help me be
Help me

Breath of Heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of Heaven

Christmas Countdown - Day 6

As I listened to my son loudly playing Hungry, Hungry Hippos by himself in his room at 6:30 this morning, being resentful of his lack of understanding that this is my one & only day of the weekend to sleep in, I thought of Faith Hill's Christmas song, "A Baby Changes Everything".  Luke is a baby no more, but having a baby - having children - completely changes your life.  You know before you have a child that it will change your life, but you can't really KNOW until that baby finally arrives.  And despite the changes & the Hungry, Hungry Hippos (feel free to substitute in what your child did to wake you up this morning) wake-up calls, you love your child more than anything you could ever imagine and you wouldn't go back to the way it was before.  This song specifically speaks about Mary & how her life must have changed...I truly can't imagine.  You can listen to "A Baby Changes Everything" here - be prepared to wipe a tear or two.

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what’s to come
A baby changes everything

Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

The man she loves she’s never touched
How will she keep his trust
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries
Ooh she cries

She has to leave go far away
Heaven knows she can’t stay
A baby changes everything

She can feel it’s coming soon
There’s no place, there’s no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries
And she cries
Ooh she cries

Shepherds all gather ’round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything

Choir of angels say
Glory to the newborn king
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Everything, everything, everything

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

My whole life is turned around
I was lost and now I’m found
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

Merry Christmas from the Spaeths

We don't do the traditional Christmas card, but we do love the JibJab.  Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Countdown - Day 5

I am so relieved that it is the weekend and I have time to sit back, relax, and enjoy myself after a long week at school.  It is such a good feeling to come home on a Friday afternoon knowing that 2 whole days of nothingness (or not-muchness) stretch ahead of me.  Thinking about relaxing and being restored after a long week makes me think of tonight's song - one of the most soothing Christmas songs I know.  "Away in a Manger" is probably my very favorite traditional Christmas carol just because it is so simple and sweet. I used to sing it to Luke near Christmas back in the days when I still got to rock him to sleep before bed, which brings me even more warm and happy thoughts as I think back on it right now.  I know you probably know all the words - I know all 3 verses by heart because I love this one so very much.

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head
The stars in the sky look down where he lay
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes
But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes
I love Thee Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle til morning is nigh

Be near me Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me, I pray
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care
And take us to Heaven to live with Thee there

Christmas Countdown - Day 4

I have had a truly blegh day.  Work was crazy and stressful - getting my kids caught up with all their end of quarter tests (with more to look forward to tomorrow & next week!) may be the death of me.  Luke came home from school sick, my computer is not working right, and it is Thursday, which in my anal-retentive world means that I feel like I have to keep my weekly cleaning schedule and at least vacuum. (which I did - would someone teach me how to let things go?)  As I vacuumed, I listened to Christmas music hoping it would bring me some good cheer, and I heard this song.  I had planned to go the more traditional route today, but when I heard this song, I decided it was a good one to go with.  It's called "Sing, Mary Sing" by Jennifer Knapp.  I like this because it's upbeat and fun and it definitely lifted my spirits as I listened to it.  You can listen to it here.  Lyrics:

Mary Had A Baby Born In A Manger
Mary What To Do, Mary What To Do?
Before The Vow Was Made,
In Her Belly Laid The King

Sing Mary, Sing
Lullabye The King
Born To Be Our Pardon
No Longer Shall We Weep
Come Soften What Was Hardened
Sing Mary, Sing

Herod With A Vision Out With A Vengeance
Mary What To Do, Mary What To Do?
Flee To Galilee
Raise A Baby King Of Peace

Sing Mary, Sing
Lullabye The King
Born To Be Our Pardon
No Longer Shall We Weep
Come Soften What Was Hardened
Sing Mary, Sing

Mary In Your Mourning
Turn Now As You Weep
Look To See A Savior
O, Sing Mary, Sing!
Sing Mary, Sing!

Christmas Countdown - Day 3

So often when we think of Christmas, or any holiday for that matter, we think of spending time with our families.  Each year I look forward to spending time with my family - my parents, my sister and brother and their spouses and kids.  I always feel like once the holidays are over, there is this let-down, because it all goes by so fast and you're so busy getting from gathering to gathering that you don't have time to really relax and enjoy the time spent with loved ones before you're rushing off to the next thing.  Today's song is called "To be with You" sung by Sara Groves.  When I hear this song, it almost makes me well up with tears because it is truly what I long for during the holidays, but don't always feel like I get.  You can listen to the song here.  If you like this Sara Groves song, she has a free Christmas album from a prison tour she did around last Christmas that you can download here.

Here are the lyrics for "To be with You":

We come in from our travels,
Lay our gifts beneath the tree,
My mother's in the kitchen,
The parade is on TV.

My father's with his father,
They're setting out some toys,
The kids all want the train he's had
Since he was a boy.

To be with you,
To be with you,
I love this time of year,
It always brings me here,
To be with you.

I fall in with my sisters,
Just like when we were young,
My grandma holds the baby,
She rocks and softly hums.

We gather round the table,
We close our eyes and sing,
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow,"

To be with you,
To be with you,
I love this time of year,
It always brings me here,
To be with you.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

We set out milk and cookies,
The kids are quick to bed,
They know Saint Nick is coming,
And nothing need be said.

We gather by the fire,
Reminiscing by its light,
The kids'll be up early,
But it's hard to say goodnight - Oo-oo-oo-oo-oo

To be with you,
To be with you,
I love this time of year,
It always brings me here,
To be with you,
To be with you,
I love this time of year,
It always brings me here,
To be with you.

Christmas Countdown - Day 2

This time of year is so overwhelming.  It gets so busy, it is easy to get stressed out and wrapped up in all the things that really don't matter.  That's why I love today's song - it's a great reminder to slow down and remember why I celebrate Christmas.  And it's also by my favorite singer, Amy Grant.  She's been my favorite since childhood & all her music brings me joy and comfort whenever I listen to it.  This song is from her most recent Christmas album, A Christmas Collection which was released in 2008.  Needless to say, this probably won't be the only Amy Grant song that makes my countdown list.  You can listen to this one here.  Here are the lyrics:

I’ve made the same mistake before
Too many malls too many stores
December traffic Christmas rush
Breaks me till I push and shove

Children are crying while mothers are trying
To photograph Santa and sleigh
The shopping and buying and standing forever in line
What can I say?

I need a silent night, a Holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear
A little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night

December comes then disappears
Faster and faster every year
Did my own mother keep this pace
Or was the world a different place?

Where people stayed home wishing for snow
Watching three channels on their TV
Look at us now rushing around trying to buy Christmas peace

I need a silent night, a Holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear
A little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night

What was it like back there in Bethlehem
With peace on earth good will toward men?

Christmas Countdown

As I've listened to my Christmas music this year, I've decided that I want to countdown to Christmas with some of my very favorite Christmas songs. Some songs are traditional, so aren't, but each of these songs that I'm giong to post over the next few days are songs that make me really think about what Christmas is really all about.  Today's song is called "While You Were Sleeping" by the group Casting Crowns.  It's about how Bethlehem missed out on the miracle that was happening on the night of Jesus' birth.  It goes on to challenge us not to be "asleep" and miss Jesus in our own world today.  You can listen to it & read the lyrics here.  Here are the lyrics if you'd just like to read them:

Oh little town of Bethlehem

Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight


Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping


Oh little town of Jerusalem, looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save


Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping


United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night


America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping


United States of America
Looks like another silent night

You Make the Call

I got a call during 8th hour today from the Hawthorn Health room so the nurse could inform me that Luke fell during recess, hit his head on the concrete playground & had a nice goose-egg above his right eye.  She said he told her he was "chasing girls".  So, of course, when he gets home, Brandon and I begin to give him a hard time about chasing girls at recess.  He informs us that he wasn't chasing girls, he was just running around and fell.  You make the call - was he making up a story to the nurse about chasing girls, because he was embarrassed to be running for no reason and then falling on his face, or is he making up the story about just running around for no reason because he's embarrassed about chasing girls?  Who knows!

Fun with Cousins!

We've been lucky enough to get to watch my neice and my nephews for the evening over the last 3 weeks.  See how much fun we have!

Clearly based on the Indian Native American headress - this was around Thanksgiving!

Brady loves doing puzzles!

Cooper loves Thomas! 

Luke just loves being a goofball.

Post Holiday Gratitude

It seems like Thanksgiving comes and goes faster and faster every year.  I can't believe that we're 2 days post-holiday and roaring toward Christmas.  Thinking about what I was grateful for in the days leading up to Thanksgiving was good for my attitude over the last few weeks.  Now as we head toward Christmas, I want to remember what it is really about and not get caught up in all the craziness of it.  Before that, though, here is my last gratitude post (maybe) until next year.

1.  I'm grateful for the great Thanksgiving we enjoyed on Thursday.  Time with both families was good for all of us.  Even the littlest ones had a great time.

2.  I'm so grateful that I was not doing the Black Friday deal yesterday.  Brandon got out (against his better judgment) to Nebraska Furniture Mart when it opened to see if he could get a TV he has been researching that they had for a great price.  He said he knew as soon as he parked that it wasn't going to happen - but he went in anyway, just for the experience.  He said that should cure him of ever wanting to do that again in the near future!  I don't love to shop & I really dislike it even more in big crowds, so I'm thankful I stayed home in my nice, warm, & comfy bed!

3.  I'm grateful the tree is up and looking pretty.  Luke has been so excited to get it up & ready, but I'm a strict - not-until-after-Thanksgving person. It always goes up the day after and down the day after Christmas (with the exception of one year - can you sense my OCD-ness coming through?).  It looks "nice and beautiful" and "splendid" to quote Luke at different times during the process of getting it all up and decorated.

4.  After the tree lighting & decorating extravaganza, I set to work cleaning my house.  I even cleaned some windows & washed some curtains.  I'm grateful that I'm done with that!

5.  I'm grateful that I can listen to Christmas music out in the open now.  I usually tend to be a strict no-Christmas-music-until-after-Thanksgving person too, but I couldn't stop myself.  I've been secretly listening to it for the last 2 weeks.  I can't help it - it just makes me happy. 

6.  I'm grateful for so much.  The list is too long to even begin to try to say it all.  My life is full & blessed.  I'm so thankful to the One who has given me all that I have.  I don't want to take a minute of it for granted. 

DGD - Day 24

Thanksgiving
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

This expresses my thanks better than I can myself.  For all the big things, the small things, the mundane things, and everything in between...I am so grateful.  My life is beyond blessed.

DGD - Day 23

I mentioned in a post last week about how much I love reading & for my gratefulness for getting to read chapter books with Luke.  I am going to expand on that today and express my gratefulness for what an amazing library system we have here in Kansas City.  The Mid-Continent Libraries just rock, if you ask me.  I seriously am at the library at least once a week, because I am always getting new things to read.  Not only can I get books there, I can get music and DVD's too.  And to piggy back on my post  from yesterday - it's all free! (if you don't count the taxes you pay to support it - but hey - it is well worth it!).  If you don't have a library card from your branch - get one.  They are always wonderfully helpful and I think that I get the books I want pretty fast - even when I'm the 457th person on the waiting list for something popular.  Thank you, Mid-Continent Library for feeding my need to read (and rhyme).

DGD - Day 22

It is no secret if you know me well that I am a bit of a frugal person.  Call me a cheapskate, a tightwad, a penny pincher - whatever - I'll take it as a compliment.  There is nothing I love better than feeling like I got a good deal on something.  Being the budget-minded person that I am, I love free stuff (of course - don't we all?).  That's why I am really grateful for a friend at work who shared with me the program we have through our health insurance that allows us to get free gift cards to restaurants or stores if you log the time you exercise.  Now, I exercise anyway, but I want to exercise even more, so I can get more points, and more free gift cards!  I've gotten $90 worth of gift cards so far & before the end of this week will be sending off for another $25 one!  Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me, and so, while it's available, I'm quite thankful for the way it feeds the thrifty girl in me!

DGD - Day 21

Sunday night - I usually dread Sunday night.  I like my job, but the thought of getting up at oh-dark-thirty the next morning, just makes me cringe inside.  Not tonight, though.  When I'm only facing a 2-day work week, Sunday night does not seem so bad.  A 2-day work week & a 5-day "weekend" - now that I can handle.  Not to mention that I can look forward to spending time with my family in the days ahead.  I am thankful tonight that even though I have to get up tomorrow morning, I will only have to do so once more this week!

DGD - Day 20

It has been so hard for me to believe that my little guy, who is not so little anymore, started kindergarten this year.  I have been grateful all year for the amazing and wonderful teacher he has had to start him off in his school career.  It is so nice to have him come home from school each day happy and excited about what he is doing in the classroom.  As a teacher myself, it has totally blown my mind how much planning and organization must go into the day in the life of a kindergarten teacher.  And not only that, the weight and responsibility of training these kids who have never been in "real" school how to be students and hopefully teaching them the joy of learning.  All I can say is that I am very thankful, in particular, for Luke's teacher, and for all the people out there who want to teach kindergarten.  I know people say that middle school teachers have to be special people, and maybe that's true in a sense, but in my opinion, you must be really, very, extra special to be a kindergarten teacher.

DGD - Day 19

The picture above is not really a link to a video - I just couldn't find a picture, so I snipped this from a video about what I am grateful about today.  It's a big one too!  You can read about it or watch the video here.  Today, the bridge over Weatherby Lake that has been closed for 2 years, 3 months, and 6 days (yes - I keep track of these things) has finally re-opened!    For the past 2+ years, we have dealt with very heavy traffic through our neighborhood, and in particular, our street, due to people having to detour from one side of Barry to the other.  There have been many frustrating moments of waiting to back out of our driveway, waiting to pull into our driveway, waiting to cross the street to get our mail, and watching people fly by as our child played in the front yard or as we walked down the street.  I am so, so, SO grateful that the road is now open and we can return to normal traffic in our neighborhood.  We live on the busiest street (first-time homebuyer mistake we will not make again if we ever move) and the extra traffic this bridge closing brought was inconceivable!  As Brandon & I walked Ginger this afternoon, it was almost eerie how quiet our neighborhood was once again.  Hallelujah!  Now - it is only until 2012 until they finish the rest of the construction around Barry & Amity. :)

DGD - Day 18

Today my gratitude is in the form of relief.  For the first day in many, all my students are caught up on tests and quizzes that they were not finished with yet.  Extended time for taking tests is great in theory, but in practice, it makes my life heck trying to chase everyone around to finish things!  I am grateful to know that tomorrow, I don't have to sort tests, check tests, re-sort tests, read tests, or really have anything to do with tests.  Of course, it will all start over Monday when my kids have a math test...but for the next 3 days I'm going to not think about that!  Yay for feeling caught up!

DGD - Day 17

What a cold, gray, dreary day it has been today.  It was pure pleasure to walk in the door to my house today & feel its warmth envelope me.  (And the smell of the homemade soup that my amazing husband had simmering on the stove didn't hurt a thing either!)  I am so thankful to have a warm, dry place to come home to on days like today and every day for that matter.  I realized today that I have lived in this house longer than I have ever lived in any house in my life...10 & 1/2 years!  From the moment we moved in, this place has just felt right, and for that I am unbelievably grateful.

DGD - Day 16

Look at those faces...don't they just make you smile?   They sure make me smile & my heart melt.  I am grateful for my nephews, Brady & Cooper, and my neice, Ellie.  If I think of them, it never fails to make me smile.  In fact, I have a silly grin on my face right now as I write.  They are each so special and they just make our family better because they are there.  It is a delight to see them all together --- and believe me when we took this picture this summer, it was amazing we kept them all together as busy as they are.  I am so looking forward to getting to spend time with them all on Thanksgiving Day!

In case you're wondering - the picture in the matching T-shirts was for a gift for our parents upon their retirement in July.  They spent the last 26 years selling Interstate Batteries, which as the shirts say are "Built to Last". :)

DGD - Day 15

I have loved reading for as long as I can remember.  There is nothing I love more than getting lost in a good book.  It sometimes drives Brandon crazy when he is talking to me & I nod and respond with an "Mmm-hmmm" and then he asks me to repeat what he just said & of course, I can't.  As a teacher, I've always believed in reading to my child & have been doing so regularly since he turned one.  But to be honest, there have been many moments along the way when I have gotten really tired of reading Elmo stories, then Thomas the Train stories, endless ABC books, counting books, shape books...you get the idea.  That's why I am soooooo grateful that Luke is old enough to now enjoy some of my favorite chapter books from my childhood.  It is a treat to see him enjoying books that I enjoyed reading as a kid.  It is so much fun to laugh along with him and see him being able to pick out words he knows as we read together.  And an extra thrill to this grateful mom's heart as I finished reading to him tonight, "I want to read for awhile."  A boy after my own heart...but only until 8:15 when I told him lights had to go out. :)  Here are some favorites we've read over the last few months:

DGD - Day 14

Be warned - this may be a little gross.  Sorry...but today I'm not sure where to start being grateful.  First, I'm grateful that I didn't swallow the ladybug that landed in my Mountain Dew can and shortly thereafter, in my mouth when I took a drink.  I knew that my soda was nice & cold, but was surprised when I heard the clink of what I thought was ice as it made it's way from the can to my mouth.  When I noticed that my Mt. Dew did not taste right, I had thoughts of Phoebe on Friends finding the thumb (or whichever finger it was) in her soft drink & knew I had to spit it out.  So...I am grateful that it was only a ladybug & not any type of extremity.  Finally, I am grateful that there was more Mt. Dew in the fridge, because I could not honestly bring myself to drink from the ladybug contaminated can.  So - for all of you pop drinkers out there:

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