Kindergarten Lullabies

Not only did we have a tooth-pulling extravaganza at our house last night, afterwards, we got to enjoy the Kindergarten Lullaby Program at Luke's school.  Let me just say that I wasn't expecting a whole lot, and I walked away incredibly amazed by the cute little show they put on.  His music teacher did an amazine job getting around 80 kindergarteners to sing with actions and move around on the risers to play instruments and share little speaking parts they'd memorized.  They were amazing!  I was shocked when during the first song, Luke came down from the top riser to play the xylophone with a few others.  He also got to play the bongo drum later too.  I had no idea!  Enjoy (probably not as much as me, I know!) the short video & pics below.  Luke is in the yellow PJ (yes - they wore PJ's & had their teddy bears for the performance - so cute!) shirt playing the xylophone on the front right-side.

Finishing up the first song.

Singing along...

He's looking pleased after playing his part during this song.  His friend Vincent is right behind him & kept trying to get Luke's attention with his instrument.  It was pretty funny to watch.

In Luke's words, his program was "impressible", which I'm pretty sure means impressive!

One Down, One to Go!

Can you see the hole where the tooth used to be?  After weeks of struggling with Luke being too scared to pull it out, he prevailed last night!  Woohoo!  Now to get him wiggling the other one!  And a side note - look at those gorgeous blue eyes!

And there it is in all its glory.  The tooth fairy let him keep this one.  Isn't she sweet?

 

Spring Picture

So proud of my big kindergarten boy!  I can't believe there are less than 2 months left before we start thinking about 1st grade...

Birthday Favorites

He's such a huge Royals fan - we definitely need to get to a game soon!

I'm not sure what this pose is about, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it!

Six years old!  Unbelievable!

Love my family so much!

Still loving on the soccer ball with Grandma Kay & Grandpa Ron

Ginger decides to join in on this one with Grandpa Fred & Grandma Patti

What a great birthday weekend!

Reminiscing

***warning - this is a really long post!***

Since Sunday, the events of 6 years ago have been rolling through my head.  Six years ago Sunday, was March 27, just like this year.  It was actually Easter Sunday that year & I remember the indigestion I got from my Easter dinner that I just couldn't shake.  I remember still puzzling over my indigestion on Monday, March 28 and starting to feel occasional cramping.  I remember talking to my friend Traci at work on Tuesday, March 29 and telling her about my occasional cramping feelings and the fact that my back was hurting (more than usual).  I remember her saying something to me like, "That sounds an awful lot like the beginnings of labor."  I remember going to my school nurse after that and talking to her about it and her telling me that unless the cramping began to regulate itself and came at regular intervals that could be timed that I shouldn't worry.  I remember sitting with our small group friends that Tuesday evening & realizing as the evening went on that the cramping feelings were starting to come at regular intervals.  I remember telling Brandon on the way home that I was starting to get a little worried, and talking myself out of being worried.  I remember waking up at 1:00 in the morning because these "cramps" just weren't going away and getting the book I'd been given at my first OB appointment and finding the chart that compared false labor to real labor.  I remember waking Brandon up after looking at that chart and telling him I was 99% sure that this was the real thing.  I remember going to the hospital and then getting sent home when my cramps contractions backed off to less than 6 in an hour (5 in an hour, b/c that's so much better!).  I remember heading back to the hospital at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 30 not knowing that I would not eat, take a shower, or sleep, among other things for the next couple of days.  I remember Brandon calming me down when they told me I was dilated and I freaked out because I knew that meant there was likely no stopping what had already begun.  I remember my amazing nurse, Karen, sitting with me for an hour during the afternoon when Brandon went home to take care of a few things, because she didn't want me to have to be alone.  I remember my mom & dad coming to visit me for a few minutes that evening even though we told them not to worry and make the trip down because they were worried about me.  I remember my doctor telling me that they were going to have to move me to St. Luke's downtown because they couldn't deliver babies earlier than 34 weeks and I was only at 32.  I remember the horrendously jarring ambulance ride to my "new" hospital home and the paramedic marveling at the fact I wasn't screaming like a maniac when I had contractions.  I remember thinking in my head how weird it was when my new doctor (a male - which I never would have felt comfortable choosing for myself) and a whole team of people came in to check me, and I didn't even care that a whole slew of people I'd never seen in my life were checking out my nether-regions.  I remember laying awake all night, wishing for sleep, but it never happening.  I remember Thursday, March 31 as a really long day...I'd had nothing to eat or drink since I'd been in the hospital and knowing that I wasn't going to get anything for the time being.  I remember the nurse offering me a drug (which turned out to be some type of narcotic) that would help me rest since I hadn't slept.  It did help me rest for about an hour, but at least it was something.  I remember an ultrasound tech coming in, so they could make sure the baby was ready when the time came to deliver.  I remember finally getting a Sprite and believing that I had never tasted anything so good.  I remember asking for more narcotics that night & then a conversation with Brandon where I told him that all our words "sounded like they were on springs, because everytime we said something I could hear...Boooiiiinnnnggg at the end of each word" & Brandon told me that he had an idea - "we should just stop talking". :)  Then I had some kind of crazy, psychadelic dream...not nearly as restful as my first experience, but after I came out of my drugged stupor at midnight, the nurse gave me a cherry popsicle, which was the best thing I felt I'd ever eaten in my life.  At 5:00 a.m. on Friday, April 1, I told the doctor who came to check me that I felt like I was having trouble breathing.  The medication I was on to slow my labor was a muscle relaxant, and it was just making me feel like an elephant was sitting on my chest.  The plan had been to take me off the medication later that day anyway, so the doctor moved it ahead of schedule by a few hours.  I remember things really kicking into gear after that.  I remember Brandon leaving to go buy a newspaper to keep for our baby as a record of the day he/she was born & coming back and telling me that he ate not one, but two, McDonald's breakfasts, because he didn't know when he'd eat again (to the person who has not had anything but a Sprite & a cherry popsicle in the last 2+ days!).  I remember my amazing nurse, Denise, telling me that all things happen the way they're supposed to happen right before she broke the news to me that the (one???) anestheisiologist had an emergency c-section & I wasn't going to get the epidural that I'd requested.  I remember being wheeled to the delivery room thinking that even though I knew this was going to happen, I really wasn't ready.  I remember Brandon whispering in my ear, constantly encouraging me and praising me, supporting me even though I think he was probably more scared than I was.  I remember the doctor joking (maybe not totally joking) with me about how I had to hurry up because he had a plane to catch at noon.  I remember him telling me in his East coast accent about all the "platinum blond" hair he was seeing and wondering why if he was seeing all this platinum blond hair, that the baby was taking so long to actually get out!  I remember hearing the team of doctors and nurses who took the baby once he was born saying, "The baby's breathing on his own!" and feeling so relieved and then having to ask..."Is it a boy or a girl???"  I thought that was always the first thing the parents were told when they didn't know already!  Guess not.  I remember holding my sweet Luke for the first time and being so amazed at this perfect gift I'd been given.  I look at him today and know that I didn't even know the half of it then.  Happy 6th birthday, Luke!

Holy Shark Teeth, Batman!

So as Luke and I were driving home from the library this evening, Luke and I have the following conversation:
Luke:  "Mom, one of my teeth hurts." 
Me: "Oh really, which one.  Is it loose?  One day soon, you're going to lose a tooth."
Luke: "No, it's not loose, it just hurts, but I can't wait for my teeth to fall out."
Me:  "You know they bleed when they fall out, right?"
Luke: "Oh, well, it's not loose, it just hurt, but it doesn't now."
Me:  "Well, let me take a look at it when we get home just to make sure it's not loose."

We get home, I start in on folding laundry and Luke sits down at my computer to Paint.  I suddenly remember the tooth conversation and say, "Hey, let's look at that tooth.  Which one was it?"  Luke responds with an "I don't know because it doesn't hurt anymore."  He opens his mouth for me to look in & here is what I see

What???  His 2  bottom front permanent teeth are coming in behind the babies.  And yes - the two babies are loose, which then made Luke cry, because he got nervous that now they really were going to fall out & I stupidly mentioned in the earlier conversation they would bleed when they did.  I got him calmed down about that, but he is not buying into the fact that I told him he needs to start wiggling those babies so we can get them out.  I did a little research, because I was slightly worried that the permanent teeth were coming in before the babies had fallen out.  Apparently, this is not completely abnormal (Whew!) and happens to 1 in 10 kids & they call them "Shark Teeth".  They say the baby teeth usually fall out within a few days & I expect his definitely will since they're already loose.  Fun, fun!

Wow.  I haven't adjusted to the idea that he is going to be 6 at the end of next week, much less to the fact that now he is already losing his teeth.  I'm just not sure that I'm ready for all this!  Sigh...

Spring Break Wrap Up

All good things must end...sad, but true!  It was back to the grind for the Spaeths today.  I have to say, though, that the past 5 days were probably my best break of the entire year.  Shorter than Christmas, but so much less craziness!  I actually felt more rested and relaxed than I have felt for a long time.  So thankful!

We continued our eating binge with a pizza buffet lunch and ice cream supper on Monday & then tried to wean ourselves off the junk with some "normal" food yesterday.  We made a trip to visit Luke's preschool teachers yesterday afternoon.  They were so happy to get to see him and hear all about his kindergarten experiences.  Luke was so nervous when we got there, I almost thought he was going to start crying when he walked into the room.  I don't know what it was, but he was just overwhelmed to see the two ladies who were his teachers for his 2 years in preschool.  After big hugs, all was well again, though.  We capped off the afternoon with a trip to the park.  Fun times, indeed.

And what a gorgeous day today is.  Knowing the nicer weather was on its way, I spent a little time revisiting my favorite spring/summer activity to get my feet ready for flip-flops and open-toed shoes!  I love this time of year!

Spring Break, Days 2-4

Saturday was another beautiful day.  Our morning walk was a little chilly, but with the sun shining brightly down, it was hard to even notice the slight bit of chill.  To quote John Denver, "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy."  Hard to argue with that!  Brandon's brother arrived from Des Moines around 2:30 and we left for Stroud's around 3:40 for our annual birthday dinner for Brandon's mom.  Over the years, we have learned to arrive earlier and earlier for our trip to Stroud's.  This year, because the weather was so nice and maybe because of the Big 12 Tournament being in town, we still had close to an hour's wait.  We entertained ourselves outside by looking at the geese and swan at the pond and walking around the grounds.  Luke drummed up his inner cowboy and the time passed fairly quickly.

Now there have been other years where we have waited 1-2 hours and the weather has been cold, which means you're crammed into the tiny waiting area with what seems like a bazillion people.  Not this year!  And of course, the food was worth the wait.  The chicken, the mashed potatoes and gravy, the green beans, the STICKY BUNS!  So amazingly good...always makes me think of the fried chicken dinners my grandma used to make.  We just don't cook like that around here!  After all the dinner we stuffed ourselves with, we came back here and plied ourselves with cheesecake too.  I probably didn't really even need to eat anything yesterday after all that food.  Of course, I did eat and I didn't work out, but hey, it's spring break!

Yesterday, was a pretty dull, all around boring day, and that was okay.  I took a great nap and did a lot of laundry.  I am excited that we have now "sprung forward".  I know it's a little hard to adjust to that "lost" hour, but come on, it's going to stay light later...who doesn't love that? 

And today - we wake up to this:

Seriously?  At least it is not as much as it could possibly have been, and based on the forecast for the next few days won't be sticking around, but come on!  This better be the last one...many of us may lose our sanity if we don't get a break from this winter stuff.  On the agenda for today - the workout I didn't get around to yesterday, reading, a trip to Target, nothing much exciting, but it's great to have another day off!

Spring Break - Day 1

Today was a beautiful start to our 5-day spring break!  The sun was out, the temperature was amazingly pleasant...it was a picture perfect day.  Here's what we did.

Had a great morning of playing outside with Aunt Krissy, Brady, & Cooper.  Luke and Brady have the best time together.  Cooper is catching up with the big boys more and more every time we see him.  We had such a great time and are so thankful for the time we got to spend with them today!

After all that playing, we were all exhausted.  We came home, crashed & enjoyed a great Friday afternoon nap.  The nap was so refreshing, we got out for an extra long afternoon walk around our neighborhood.  Luke was thrilled to exchange his jacket, long-sleeved shirt, & pants for shorts & a t-shirt.  He'll be disappointed tomorrow when the weather doesn't warm up quite as much as it did today.  He thinks every day should be a shorts/t-shirt kind of day.  We rounded out the afternoon playing a little catch in the yard before Luke & I headed over to Chipotle to pick up dinner (for the 3rd time in less than 2 weeks - did anyone else take advantage of the Buy 1 Get 1 Free Burrito coupons from their America's Next Great Restaurant Promotion?  Obviously, we did!).

We finished up the evening making a coffee cake to put in the fridge, ready to bake for tomorrow's breakfast...yum!  And not only that, Luke helped me whip up a cheesecake for when we celebrate his Grandma Patti's birthday tomorrow.  It's now baking and smells oh, so delicious.  Except for reading the news that my district in fact decided not to shave any days off our calendar due to all the snow days (hello, short summer :( )Oh well, it has been an otherwise great ending to an all around great day!

So pretty!

I love my Ginger!  She's my pretty girl.  Plus, she loves to sit on the bed with me and sleep while I blog. :)

Who loves a deal? I do!

Sandals I bought a few weeks ago for $4 (that price includes the tax!)

I can't wait for the weather to wear them! 

And while the weather is still chilly, I found these last night for $14.60 (again - tax included in that price).

I love finding great deals...and especially on shoes!!!!!

It's the Little Things

Sometimes it is the little things that make life fun.  Especially if you are a 5 (almost 6 - he'd be sure to tell you) year old boy.  It was a boring Friday evening with no plans at the Spaeth house, so what to do?  Hmmm...how about spice up bedtime with a good, old-fashioned fort/tent thingy made out of blankets?  That worked for Luke.  He was in heaven when I told him we could get his sleeping bag down & he could sleep in it all night.  We made shadow puppets on the walls with flashlights in the dark, and you would have thought that was better than any TV show or movie he's ever watched.  Too cute. 

The fort - notice how intricately I put this thing together. (Ha ha!)

Happy boy

It's big enough for mom to fit in (sorry for my makeup-free appearance - yes, I was ready for bed before 8 p.m.)

Room enough for Dad too.  Fun times!



Stuff & Things

It has been a slow February!  There has not been much going on at my house to report, so I'll just bore you with some stuff and things that have been happening.


We had an unprecedented 8th snow day on Friday.  Just when we were starting to think winter was over...BAM...another 6+ inches of snow.  On a happy note, I did see that our school board is considering reducing the number of days we have to make up.  I did not see that coming - usually they want us there for every day we're contracted for.  There was one year when they forgave the kids one day, but the teachers still had to be there.  We'll see what happens, but I do appreciate the fact that they are at least in the consideration mode for this. 


Not to only make this post about weather, but we were coasting along, starting to enjoy several days in the 50's and even a couple in the 60's & 70's.  It's been so great to get out and walk Ginger without freezing to death & dodging snow.  However, I am out of practice as a mother when the weather is warm, because here is Luke after one of the rare times he joined us for a walk on his scooter(usually we walk right after I get home & meet him as he gets of the bus). 

I didn't notice he wasn't wearing his helmet until, hmmm, about 5 seconds before he decided to scrape his head along the sidewalk.  It's remniscent of last summer when we were at Grandma's house for the day & forgot the helmet & had a bike wreck:

Helmets, people!  Learn from my mistakes.  We're all healed up now, thank goodness!


This is the first year we've let Luke go out front & play on his own too.  He's enjoying the independence.  He's (thankfully) a good rule follower, so I trust him to stay where he is supposed to stay and yes, put his helmet on if he gets his bike or scooter out.  I only look out the front windows about a hundred times while he's out there to make sure he's okay. :)


I was really disappointed that we didn't have school yesterday, because I put up this fabulous bulletin board in the cafeteria (each team is responsible for one) with pictures of each of the teachers on my team when they were in 7th grade (or close to it) and information about what was going on in the world the year we were in 7th grade.  You can go to this fun website and put in your birthdate or any other date you want and get a page of information from that date.  News headlines, top songs that year, top toys, TV shows...fun stuff.  Here is my 7th grade picture (I won't risk the wrath of the rest of my team by putting theirs out here too)

Ahhh...1988...what a great year! :)  It was so much fun to see ourselves in middle school & reminisce about those years.  It was a disappointment that now I have to wait until Monday to hear about what people think about my bulletin board.  I guess I should appreciate the anticipation.


And that's about it from the Spaeth house.  Like I said, nothing much exciting!

What are you calling it?

Blizzard of 2011?

The storm of a lifetime?
Snowmageddon?
Snowpocalypse?
Snowprah Winfrey? (because everyone gets a blizzard!)

All of the above?  I love how big storms always get names that will live on in infamy.  And does anyone else find it ironic that the Groundhog predicted an early spring for us this year?  Yeah right!  Apparently the guy has predicted an early spring only 16 times since 1887 & he picks this year to do it.  Sure, Punxsutawney Phil, we really belive that...(and for those of you who didn't know, like me, it is predetermined by a committee whether old Phil will see his shadow or not, not whether he actually does)

For the record, the only kind of Blizzard I like are the ones I can buy...at Dairy Queen.  Otherwise, I'm not interested!  Today is our 6th snow day, which for my teacher friends out there who are watching summer shrink before our eyes, means that our last day of May 23 has now moved into June.  And likely farther into June as I'm going to go out on a limb & predict that we won't have school tomorrow either since the temps are going to be so darn cold.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Friday.  I think that this will be the first year since I've been teaching that we will have more than 6 snow days - and the year we had 6 was the year of the "Great Ice Storm of 2002". 

I'm just going to hope that maybe, just maybe, this will at least be our last big snow event & we can limp into spring with some small bit of sanity.

For Me?

I don't even know what to say - I can't believe it has happened to me, but it's true - I've been awarded a Stylish Blogger Award!  I think that the most fun thing about it is that someone I don't even know personally passed this on to me.  Thank you to MrsEyeCanSee for bestowing this upon me.  I began following her blog after it caught my eye in another fellow blogger's sidebar.  Once I read it, I was hooked!  Check it out - you won't be disappointed.  Funny thing - my husband will look over my shoulder as I'm reading blogs & ask "Who is that?"  It just boggles his mind when I tell him I don't know exactly - I just like her blog. :) 


Anyhow - here are the rules if you win a Stylish Blogger Award:

1) link back and thank the fabulous person who bestowed said amazing award on you
2) share 7 things about yourself
3) award 15 other deserving and great bloggers (I'm going to amend the # b/c I just don't have time to actually keep up with 15 other blogs!)
4) contact said bloggers to let them know of their award!

So - 7 things about myself...
1) I am a special education teacher.  I've done this for 12 years and have mostly loved it, but I'm ready to move on to something a little different.  The opportunity to change positions may be there, but there are a lot of unknowns and trying to be patient and wait on this is so much harder than I would have thought.  I'm working on the attitude that I will be happy with the job God has given me no matter what it is.  I do know that I can't imagine being anything other than a teacher.
2) I am a rule follower.  I feel the need to do things exactly as I'm supposed to.  I think it drives my husband crazy sometimes that I feel the need to do things so precisely.
3) The only time I ever remember faking being sick from school was on April 14, 1989.  I was in 7th grade and it was my boyfriend's (and I use that term loosely b/c boyfriend then meant we wrote each other notes & probably never actually spoke to one another) birthday & I didn't have a present for him & didn't want to be bothered with buying a present for him, so I figured that if I just missed school that day I could just avoid the whole situation. Obviously this was true love...ha! The craziest thing about it to me now was that this was also the day we had a practice to learn the cheer for tryouts for 8th grade cheerleader & that was super important to me, so I can't believe that I was willing to miss the day.  By the way - the boyfriend didn't last (shocking I know!), but I did make the 8th grade cheerleading squad.
4) I have a thing where I remember random dates forever (refer to #3).  I can't remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, but go figure...
5) I still drink Mountain Dew every day at lunch.  I am in my mid-30's & I can't seem to shake my love for the Dew.  All my 7th grade students always want to buy a can off me. :)
6) I am cheap - the better deal I get on something, the happier I am with it.  I found a pair of sandals on clearance at Kohl's a couple weeks ago that were $5 - and not only that, I got an extra 30% off of that.  $3.75 for an adorable pair of sandals that I can't wait to wear when the temperature maybe works its way toward the 60s.
7) I am a creature of habit.  I feel the need to do some things on a schedule - like cleaning day is on Thursday.  I can't make myself not clean on Thursday - the only exception being if I have Friday off.  I can't let it go.  I've tried - I just feel like things are not right in my world if I don't stick to my schedule.


These are my favorite blogs to keep up with.  I would actually have more if more of my friends would update theirs more often (hint, hint).  I am passing on the Stylish Blogger Awards to...


Krista at Always A Reason to Run
Laura at Dometic Goddess
Shea at It's a Guy Thing
Rachel at The Kanooths
Sarah at Pieces of Us
Katie at The Brittain Buzz
Sara at Surpised? No, not really...
Angela at Handmade in the Heartland


Thanks again MrsEyeCanSee - you really made my day!

Salivating for Spring

Is anyone else just dying for spring to get here after a day as warm as today?  I am just so done with the cold & snow.  In fact - I'm pretty much over seasons period.  I want to be this girl - every day - not just for a few months of the year (well - I don't want to lay in the grass & read, but you get the idea):

Days like today are such a tease at this time of year.  It will be at least a month before days like these and warmer ones will become the norm.  It is only serving to make me want what I can't have.

One of my students asked me today if I was ready for another snow day, to which I replied (possibly more forcefully than I should), "NO - ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" :)  He couldn't believe I was so against it.  But yes, I am against it.  I am against winter.  I do not like it anymore.  I have had ENOUGH!  

Oh Snow...

Here we are again - digging out from another 7 or 8 inches of snow.  I don't know about you, but I'm longing for some sunshine and pool time about now.  I'd take sunshine and 40 degrees even...that would feel downright balmy.  Luke is getting to enjoy the snow for the first time this year.  He was sick and spent 2 of our 3 snow days last week in bed feeling rotten.  He couldn't wait to get his shovel and go out with his dad to "help". 

I don't know why my picture is sideways - it is not saved that way, but for whatever reason, blogger is not uploading it the way it is saved.  Anyhoo - Brandon cleared the driveway once last night around 6, so what you see is what we got after that through this morning.  I am praying for school tomorrow - I am in the minority of snow day haters...I want summer break - not rotten snowy winter days off.  We're getting too close already to getting out after Memorial Day and that just makes me downright angry!  I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed that I will get to see my students' smiling faces tomorrow and that the next 6 weeks will bring us warmer & drier weather!

A little late, but still worth sharing

I had the bad luck blessing of being part of the annual Christmas skit at school this year & one of the things we had to do was wear some type of really ugly Christmas sweater/top.  I guess that is getting to be all the rage these days.  Anyway, I found my closet to be sorely lacking in the ugly Christmas-wear department.  Thankfully, in an e-mail sent out to a few friends, I was given this gem & was the hit of the (half)day before break.  The funny thing was, all the adults laughed, but I had kids I didn't even know coming up to me telling me how much they loved my top.  Much to my amusement, I even had 2 kids pet my shirt - yes, weird, but still pretty funny.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of me actually wearing it that day, because you can't get the full effect in this picture, but here it is in all its sequined-poinsettia glory: