You Can Take the Dog off the Farm...

but you can't take the farm out of the dog.  Not only does Luke love visiting my parents who live out in the countryside, but Ginger does too!  Seriously...we call her the farm dog anytime we go visit.  As soon as she gets out of the car, she is off & running, sniffing out all the wonderful scents of the other animals that must  wander around their property.  Our well-behaved sweetheart becomes a dog that doesn't listen to a command we give her once she's on the trail of something.  It is hilarious to watch her run around like a puppy, because at home, she doesn't have enough room in our small yard.  It's hard to believe from watching her there that she is nearly 9 years old!

Exploring

Nose to the ground

It's all good

Exploring with Luke

The frog Ginger obsessed over once it jumped down on the ground where she could stalk it. :)

Gotta love the farm!

Yum!

Veggies from Brandon's garden

Peaches from my dad's tree

I love the summer growing season!  It is so amazing to have such a variety of fresh fruits and veggies to choose from.  I feel like I should be orange from all the carrots I eat throughout the rest of the year.  I can't wait to enjoy the cucumbers and tomatoes at dinner tonight & the fresh peach crisp I plan to make later.  My stomach is already growling...YUM!

Busy Week!

It has been a crazy, busy week at the Spaeth house.  It has mainly been busy, because Luke & I have been doing VBS this week.  It has been a lot of fun.  Luke did VBS a couple years ago, but as a 3-year old, didn't get to do all the fun stuff the bigger kids have got to do.  I have really enjoyed being a "crew leader" for Luke and 4 other sweet kiddos whose ages range from 5 to 11.  To see these kids so excited about God is a pretty cool experience.  It has made our lives a little nutty, though, because we have to eat dinner at around 4:30 so we can leave by 5:00.  It has definitely been worth it, though, and I am looking forward to what the next 2 days have to bring.

Today, we finally made it out to Splash & Play at The Springs aquatic center.  If you've got a kiddo who is 5 or under, it is fabulous.  It is from 9-11:30 Monday-Thursday, kids are only $4 & parents are free!  The little ones get to play in the smaller water park area with 3 slides & water that is spraying everywhere.  We had the pleasure of going with an old friend & a new one today.  Luke had a wonderful time & we could barely drag him out of the water when the time was up.  I can't wait to hopefully get back a few more times before school gets started.

Oh Air Conditioner, Where Art Thou?

Just in time for the weather to heat up, our air conditioner has failed us.  It's such a defeating feeling when you realize that hmmmm, it doesn't really feel super cool in the house.  You check the thermostat & then put your hand in front of every vent in the house to discover, hmmm, it's not super cool in the house because there is not super cool air blowing from the vents.  Awesome!  Thankfully, it was not a miserable night & we got the temperature down to a downright refreshing 77 degrees this morning before we shut the house back up.  We think we just need a frion (is that how you spell that?) re-fill.  We hope so anyway!  Please hurry, air conditioner repairman, hurry!

2:20 p.m. - UPDATE - Air conditioning is in the house!  Eighty-two degrees never felt so good! (Although once we finally get back down to 75-76, that will be pretty sweet!)  It wasn't the frion - it was a worn out part that was broken.  It is now replaced & wonderful, super cold air is blowing once again.  Thank you, Mr. Repairman!

Sweet Summertime

Wow - it just amazes me that summertime flies by so quickly.  My summer break is half-gone and my head is spinning wondering where the time is going.  I am thoroughly enjoying it, though.  I was talking to my mom, who has just retired in the last week (Yay, Mom!) and she was saying that she spent a day last week just basically being lazy and not doing much, to which I responded - that is exactly how I enjoy spending most of my summer days away from work.  I always have a list of things in my head that I want to do once I'm free for the summer, like steam-cleaning the carpet in my basement, which has years-old, bubble-solution induced stains thanks to the now disabled bubble mower Luke used to push around down there while I worked out. (By the way - even at 5, he still loves pushing that thing around even though there have been no bubbles for quite awhile now).  Anyhoo - has the carpet been cleaned?  Nope.  Have I thought about how I should do it every time I've worked out this summer?  Yep, but gosh, being lazy and not doing it is so much more enjoyable. :)  It hasn't been all laziness, though, we've been having fun doing a few things around here. 

Luke throws a great "sports party" - his best selling point - it's free!  You can play golf, baseball, football, soccer & if you get tired of that, you can spell your name out of all your equipment. 

Fun just hanging out

Swimming as much as the weather allows

Being goofy & shooting water guns with cousins

I just wish it could last a little longer.  Maybe then I'd make time to get those darn stains out of my carpet...

Vacation

Brandon and I set off for Phoenix, Arizona two weeks ago today. It is one of our favorite vacation spots - we've gone there every summer for the past 5 summers! Our main source of entertainment is just sitting by the pool and relaxing every afternoon, but we also enjoyed some shopping and a couple other activities, like hiking up a mountain. It is a great time for us to relax and enjoy one another's company the way we don't always get to do when we're at home. I always come away from it remembering how thankful I am to have such a great husband who is really a whole lot of fun to spend time with! Here are a few pictures from our journey:

Brandon and I with the beautiful view behind us as we drove through the Colorado National Monument at the end of our first travel day. If you're like me, and you don't know what a national monument is - basically it is similar to a national park, but smaller. If you want more information, read up on national monuments here. If you'd like a list of all the national monuments in the states, click here. The Colorado National Monument is home to many beautiful mesas...a great site to see if you're ever near the Grand Junction area.

Brandon - standing in the rocks on my very favorite part of our 2nd day's drive. This 2-lane highway winds along the Colorado River in Utah & is just stunning. I am in awe of God's handiwork as we drive through this area. If you're interested in traveling this way - it is Highway 128 & will take you to Moab, Utah, home of Arches National Park (another amazing place to visit if you every get the chance!)
Me - also along the Colorado River - this is the other side of the highway from where Brandon was standing. Is that not the most amazing view behind me or what? Gorgeous!

Brandon at the top of Lookout Mountain. We hiked it - I admit I'm not the most enthusiastic hiker, but it was a pretty cool view from the top. Unfortunately, after this day, the weather got a little too hot for hiking.

We tried to capture ourselves with the view from our balcony. It overlooks a beautiful golf course & with the mountains in the distance, it was a pleasure to sit outside & enjoy the view!

Ahhhhh...

Summer break is here. Finally. It started off with a bang, though not in the good sense, with the discovery that our sub-basement flooded in a huge rain that occurred last week. Unfortunately, it went undiscovered until about 3 days after the huge rainfall that dumped about 5 inches on us in about an hour! Thankfully, though, it was not standing water I discovered, but just very soaked carpet. It is now dried out & hopefully we'll avoid any more excitement of that nature. It is so nice to have nothing but relaxation, reading, playing, and more of the like ahead of us...ten blissful weeks to soak it all up before going back to school again. Happy summer to everyone!

Onward & Upward...

Though he's not officially out of school until the 28th, we celebrated the end of Luke's preschool career last week. It is hard to believe that it has been nearly 2 years since a wide-eyed 3 year old walked into the preschool for the first time, but it's true. Luke and his fellow soon-to-be-kindergarteners performed 5 songs for us and then we got to celebrate by watching Luke have some fun in the 2 bounce houses the preschool provided for the evening festivities. It was all really emotional for me...I won't lie, I shed more than a few tears even though I was trying not to. Seriously, get a bunch of 5 year old kiddos singing The Judds "Love Can Build a Bridge" and try not to cry! It actually is making me tear up thinking about it right now. I think it is just overwhelming emotionally to look at my little 4-pound baby boy and see a big kid standing in his place singing songs with actions he's memorized. How amazing it is that they change so much in such a short time. I'm so proud of the person my little guy is becoming. It just made me think - what kind of person is he going to be 13 years from now when I really see him graduate into real life? Needless to say - I'M NOT READY for that!!! Enjoy a few pics below (mostly present, but I couldn't resist a couple of pasts too).

Now

Then

Now

Then

Luke with his 2 main teachers - Ms. Debbie & Ms. Brenda

It was hard to get a good shot of the performance, because we really weren't close enough, but it's cute. I could download the video of them singing "RocketShip Run", but it would take forever & you probably don't really want to watch the whole thing anyway! :)

Feeling bouncy!

Wow - once again - NOT READY!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter spent with family on Sunday. It was so nice to enjoy the springlike weather. The kids spent most of the afternoon outside fishing at the pond and enjoying an Easter egg hunt. We had a great time coloring eggs as a family on Saturday (once we made Luke turn the TV off!). We are so thankful for the time spent with our families and for our Saviour who gave us a reason to celebrate together!

Luke scored a tractor & plow in this egg - exciting stuff!

Grandpa & the boys enjoying the day fishing at the pond.

Luke & Brady are so sweet together!

I had some fun playing with picture effects on this one!

The Big 5

Luke turned the big 5 on Thursday. It is so hard for me to believe that 5 years have passed since he was born, but he keeps telling me it's true, so it must be. It was a wonderful week of reminders from Luke, "Mom - my birthday is Thursday." and "Mom, Thursday is a very special day." He kept those up all week long. We teased him that he wouldn't officially be 5 until after 10:18 a.m., the time when he was born, so when he woke up on the big day, he said, "I'm a little bit 4 still, but I'm a little bit 5 too." When he got home from school, he was sure to inform us, "I'm all the way 5 now!" Another word of wisdom from him when he woke up, "I grew last night. Well, my bones did even if I didn't." Too funny! And this morning when I asked him if he was tired after the big day, he told me, "No. I got up at 6:06 this morning." I said, "I know - you got up early and you went to bed a little late, so I thought you might be tired." His reply, "No - that's what I call sleeping in." I'm going to remember that when he's 15! Here are some pictures from the big day.

Posing in his new shoes from Grandma Patti

With Grandpa Fred

And Grandma Patti

With Grandpa Ron

And Grandma Kay

What a big guy he is!

Big Day

Happy 5th birthday, Luke!!!!

New Appliances!

We spent our Saturday cleaning up & moving out our old fridge & stove to make way for new ones. Brandon found a really great deal on both, so we said goodbye to our old & hello to the new. It was hilarious that one of the guys who delivered our dishwasher back in December remembered this and asked Brandon, "What happened, your wife got a new dishwasher and decided she needed all new appliances to match?" Brandon's response, "No - her husband did!" So true...however, I am loving it that they make our kitchen look so much nicer. See before and after pics below.

Big Changes

Luke has spent the last 2 years in a toddler bed. We felt like with the size of his room, it would be a better fit than a normal twin and he'd have more room to play. Well, that has been true, but he's also grown faster than we anticipated, so yesterday we bit the bullet and got him a real bed. If you know anyone who'd like a really pretty little toddler bed, let me know!Then

Now

Loving it!

Kindergarten...here we come!

Ready or not...I'm starting to think I might be on the "not" side! We got an e-mail yesterday informing us of what needs to be done to enroll Luke for kindergarten & wow, I didn't realize there would be so many things to do! Besides all the paperwork we need to fill out, there is also finding forms that prove we live where we live (not as easy as it used to be when you don't receive "paper" bills anymore!), and a mandatory eye exam that needs to happen soon. The organization freak in me started gathering things together last night, even though I have until April 16 to enroll. I still need to find one more form to prove my residency and to schedule an eye appointment and then we'll be ready to roll. I can hardly believe that in less than 6 months, my baby boy will be on his way to kindergarten!