Four Christmases...with 2 to go

I can hardly believe that it has come & gone already in a whirl of white. Really, it's not over yet...we have 2 more Christmases to celebrate, but at my house, the tree is down & things are starting to return to order. We started celebrating with a lovely Christmas service at church on the evening of the 23rd. We had a wonderful time with just the 4 of us, celebrating, opening gifts and enjoying one another's company in front of a cozy fire on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day came with a change of plans due to weather, but we made it safely to Gower in all the snow & wind to spend time with Brandon's immediate and extended family at 3 different locations. Tomorrow will bring more time with family...this time with mine & I'm really looking forward to that. Here are a few pictures from some of the fun times we've enjoyed over the past 3 days. I'm sure there will be more to come after tomorrow! Merry Christmas everyone!

Finally!!!!!

I have a dishwasher other than myself! It unfortunately took 3 weeks instead of the 10 days we originally expected, but the wait is finally over. I so appreciate not only having something that cleans the dishes for me, but also a place to put the dirty dishes instead of the counter! Those of you who know me well know how much I despise clutter & dirty dishes on the counter about drove me nuts. Luke got to enjoy the hole left by the old one the night before the new one came. And, I must give Brandon props for taking out the old one & installing the new one all on his own. He's getting to be a pretty handy guy to have around.

Christmas Celebration

I just noticed that the kid in the very front of this one is crying his eyes out - poor kiddo! Guess he wasn't as excited as everyone else.

We had a terrific time celebrating with Luke's preschool class last Friday afternoon. We enjoyed lots of yummy snacks before we got to see the kids perform 2 songs & 2 poems they memorized. You can't beat watching a preschool performance that lasts maybe 4 minutes tops. The kids were all really cute - their enthusiasm is contagious. Luke's favorite poem from the performance...The Pet Snowball:

I made myself a snowball, as perfect as can be

I thought I'd keep it as a pet and let it sleep with me.

I gave it some pajamas & a pillow for its head,

But last night it ran away, but first it wet the bed!

Too cute! Enjoy the video excerpt from "Ha, Ha, Ha for the Holidays below"

Another Christmas Tree

Thanks to Grandma Kay, Luke now has his very own Christmas tree in his room. He is sooooo proud!

RIP Dishwasher...

Thanks for only 6 years (almost)of service. Can't wait to do your job for the next 10 days while I wait for your replacement.

Black Friday

I never shop...but I always get the tree up. I did have to go to Target to buy new lights because 2/3 of my old strands were burned out when I plugged them in. That just brought it home why I don't want to ever have to go out and do any shopping ever again on Black Friday. Good deal lover that I am...it's just not worth it to me to fight all the people! I'll stick to getting my tree up (and checking the lights beforehand).

Check these out...

Flowers from Brandon's garden picked on Thanksgiving Day!

Counting my blessings

I have so much to be thankful for...so, I spent a little time this evening counting my many blessings. Here are a few...

My cousin Andy wrote this quote on facebook today & I thought it was a perfect fit for this blog - "The optimist says the cup is half-full. The pessimist says the cup is half-empty. The child of God says my cup runneth over." Mine definitely does...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Luke had a fun Halloween, though it didn't turn out exactly as we had planned. We had planned to join Luke's cousin Brady for the evening's festivities. Unfortunately for Brady, he got sick at the last minute, so in order to avoid the bug, we struck out on our own. We got in some trick-or-treating only to realize after the fact that Luke appears to have come down with pink eye! So...in our quest to avoid illness, it still managed to find us in one way or another. The worst part of it all is that Luke now has to miss his first field trip at school tomorrow. He has been so excited to ride the school bus & go to the Red Barn Farm in Weston with his school buddies, but I guess it was not meant to be.

Handsome firefighter!

Posing with his faithful fire-dog.

Really scary purple teeth - made even scarier with the red eyes he's sporting!

Fall Party Fun

The food must be good since his face is so dirty!

Fun with friends

A firefighter playing with The Hulk...how sweet!


Giving The Hulk the "evil eye" instead of looking at the camera.

Having fun with Dad.

The fall party was a fun prelude to tomorrow night's festivities. If you're really astute and you remember that Luke was a firefighter for Halloween last year, here's why it's a repeat this year. I asked him a few week's ago what he wanted to be for Halloween. He replied, "A firefighter," then paused for a minute before adding, "It's the only costume I have, Mom." Like I was so silly for even asking... After explaining he could be something different and we could get a new costume, he was still set on being a firefighter. I wasn't going to argue!

Fun Day at the Zoo

We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday at the zoo this past weekend. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to enjoy seeing all the animals. The Kansas City Zoo offered free entrace and rides for teachers & their families, so we took advantage of the great offer. Brandon & I hadn't been to the zoo for years and Luke's first trip to KC's zoo. I must say none of us were disappointed. We had a wonderful time.

Fall is Here...

For some reason or another I am having a really hard time adjusting to the idea that fall is here. The fact that I'm starting to see my breath as I walk into work in the mornings is starting to drive home the inevitable...summer is really over. Normally, I love fall. I love when the air gets crisp & you start smelling wood smoke as you're out walking along. Not so much this year...I'm dreading what's to come - cold, dreary, drab, and did I mention cold? - winter. I'm not ready to trade in my capris, shorts, t-shirts, and sandals for sweaters, turtlenecks, long pants, and *gasp* shoes that require me to also wear some type of sock. Sorry for the complaints...I'll try to look at the bright side - gorgeous leaves turning into a rainbow of colors and the promise of a snug evening cuddled up by the fire with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa. I'm just not quite ready for it yet!

Luke Funnies

I just wanted to make sure I wrote a few of these funnies Luke has shared recently.

After a weekend with my parents:
Luke, "Dad, I have something I need to tell you."
Brandon, "What is it buddy?"
Luke, "Grandpa Ron's battery van only has one leg left. It's in bad shape. It still has 4 wheels, but only one leg. That's bad."
-----We later find out Grandpa told Luke that his battery delivery van was "on its last leg". :)

Talking about Brandon's parents:
Luke, "Grandma Patti and Grandpa Fred always stop by on Saturday nights. Then they always go see a movie at 8/7 central."

Watching Tom & Jerry swordfight & hearing "En Guard!"
Luke tries to repeat, but says, "I'm Guard!" & pretends to sword fight.
Me, "No, Luke...En guard"
Luke, "No Mom, I'm guard!"

I just love the way the 4-year old mind works! Okay - 3 posts in one day...I think I'm done. :)

Fun with Cousins!

One of Luke's favorite things is to spend time with his cousins. We spent time at the pool with Brady & Cooper in August. Luke got to spend the night with them 2 weeks ago, which was a huge treat for him (thank you Aunt Krissy!). He is still telling me things 2 weeks later that he did with Brady and Cooper or things Aunt Krissy told him. Such as "Mom, your dad's birthday is before yours. Yep, that's what Aunt Krissy says." We also got to spend a little time with his newest cousin, Ellie, last night. She visited for a couple hours while her mom and dad took a class nearby. We are so thrilled to have a little girl cousin as part of the family now and you'll see from the pictures how cute and sweet our little Ellie is! Luke felt like pretty big stuff next to her.

Enjoying a snack between swimming

Brady thinks something is hilarious. :)

Cooper being his sweet, laid back self

Look how much bigger I am than Ellie!

All ready for bed

Ginger Update

Ginger has now been home for almost 2 weeks and is continuing to improve. One of her liver values is still fairly high, however, her kidneys are nearly back to normal & she is acting more & more like herself again. Every day she seems to act a little bit better & a little bit stronger. After seeing her unable to even stand up for a short period of time, we are grateful to have her feeling this well again. Below is her "room" she had in the doggie ICU at her hospital. In this picture she was down to only 1 tube, her catheter, but you can see on the leg that's not bandaged, the lovely shave job she got. Her fur is growing back, but it's still pretty obvious that she had shaved legs for awhile. :) Thanks again to everyone who prayed for her. She still has a little ways to go, but she's definitely on the mend & improving every day!

Ginger - shortly before heading home from the hospital

Enjoying a little ice cream (doggie variety, of course!) now that her appetite is returning.

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Ginger over the past week. She has made an amazing recovery thanks to all the prayers for her. It looks like she may get to come home today after 9 long days in the hospital. She is off her IV and catheter & unless something big changes, the doctor is planning to let her come home today. Her kidney values, which were 5 times the upper range of normal are now back to normal & her liver values are now decreasing. She'll be taking medication for her liver for awhile, but the doctor anticipates she shouldn't need it for more than a few months. I knew it before, but God reiterated it to me this week - He hears our prayers and He answers them. I know that it could have been His will for things to end differently, but through it all, He taught me that had it ended that way, He still would have been with us & seen us through. Ginger may just be a dog to some people, but she is family member to us. I'm grateful for all the prayers and for all the work God did in Ginger & in my own life too.

Keep Praying!

Keep praying for Ginger. We got our first piece of good news today. Basically, she has been in acute renal failure & has shown no signs of improvement until today. We are unsure whether an infection caused this or if it is something else that she got hold of somehow. The test to find out if it was a specific infection takes 5-7 days for the results to return, so we won't know for awhile. We had all but lost hope last night, but God has really been working since she has shown some improvement. We know that she has a long road to go still, but we are hopeful and trusting her to God's care. Thank you to everyone who has been remembering her & us in your prayers. We can't put into words how much we appreciate them.

Pray for Ginger

If you read this, please keep our Ginger in your prayers. She had not been feeling well for the past couple days, so Brandon and I took her into the vet this morning. After some blood tests, the doctor recommended that we take her to an emergency clinic where it looks like she will be for the next few days. We know that she has some kind of infection, so we ask that you pray that the antibiotics will do their job and take care of it. We miss her so much and those of you who have dogs know that our house is not the same without her here. Thanks for taking the time to pray for our sweet girl.

Back to School!

Well, it's official! We are back to school at the Spaeth house. Luke & I started this week. Brandon starts next week, but he is furiously working to get prepared, so it's almost like he's started too. We are tired, grumpy, and adjusting to being back to a normal routine, but I think we're starting to get the hang of how this works again. Here are some first day pics from Monday.

You can tell by this picture that Luke was pretty sick of getting his picture taken! He only has so much patience with pictures these days. I almost have to bribe him to get him to smile. :)

So sweet together!

Summer's End

It seems really awful that the beginning of August should mean the end of summer, but unfortunately, it does! With only a week before I head back to the grind of my work and 2 weeks left before Luke heads back as well, our sweet summer days are dwindling quickly. It seems when we get to this point we realize all the things we meant to do, but just didn't get around to for one reason or another. Today, we headed out to the splash and play at Tiffany Springs to enjoy one of the first hot days of the summer. Who knows what else we might manage to fit in before real life hits us full force once again all too soon?

Summer Fun

We spent a great day at Grandma's house this past week. We did it all...swimming, swinging on the tree swing Grandpa Ron put up with Luke's help last spring, and golf (or yardball, as my dad likes to call it). Luke & Ginger were both exhausted by the time we got home that night, but everyone had a great time.

The swing grandpa put up for the grandkids - Luke refused to let me take a picture with him actually on the swing.

Ready to look for golf balls.

Looking for balls with dad.

One really tired, but really happy pup.