Woohoo!

It's a 2-day week...need you really ask what I'm thankful for today???

Brrrr...Was it really nearly 70 degrees yesterday?

This morning, it's sure hard to believe it was that warm yesterday. We went to church at 4 last night, walked in with comfortable temps around 60 and walked out to a cold wind and a car thermometer reading 43. Which leads me to being so thankful that we went to church last night and didn't have to leave our nice warm house this morning! I sure do love being all snuggled up in my bed with my cup of coffee. I love lazy mornings! And I'm thankful that the rest of my day will continue to be a lazy one (with the exception of laundry), because I didn't bring any work home this weekend. I'm planning on spending a lot of my day curled up with a new book I started yesterday. Sounds like the perfect day!

I'm also thankful for good friends. We enjoyed a good time hanging out after church with one of our favorite couples and their kiddos. I'm so thankful for their friendship and for the good times we have together.

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is only 4 days away! We are hosting Brandon's family and it should be a fun day. Luke is anxiously awaiting the day after, because he can't wait to get the tree up. He's been talking about it about since he took off his Halloween costume! I've been sneaking a little Christmas music (just a little!) here and there. I was so disappointed to see/hear that Kansas City doesn't seem to be having any Christmas music radio stations this year. However, was thrilled when I heard my XM radio now has a Christmas station. Starting Friday, I'll be tuning in regularly whenever I drive somewhere. I have barely thought about Christmas shopping...I know this might be hard for a lot of women to believe, but my husband is a way better gift shopper than I am and takes care of most of our shopping. He always has good ideas for people (my family included!). I'll come home from work and he'll say nonchalantly, "Oh, I took care of your Dad's (or Mom's or Grandma's, etc...) Christmas gift today." I know...I am so lucky!!!! I can't even think of things that I want for gifts, much less what to get for others. I would be in big trouble without him!

Gross, but Awesome

Yesterday, part of our conversation at lunch revolved around what I'm thankful for today - my Neti Pot.  I love, love, love my Neti Pot!  If you don't know what it is, it's a little teapot-looking thing that you use to "irrigate" your sinuses by filling it with warm water and a saline solution.  I use mine every morning.  I always wake up a little congested and it clear things right out.  The conversation at lunch was that it's kind of gross - and it is - but ahhh...the sinus relief.  Seriously...I skipped using it a few days a few weeks back because I got up later than usual and I got sick with my first cold after not using it those days.  I am convinced that I wouldn't have gotten sick if I had used it.  Who knows...but I love the thing!  One of my co-workers wanted me to video myself using my Neti so he could see it in action. Naw - that's not going to happen!  Silly, but true - I am so thanful for my Neti!

Note - my Neti is about 1/4 of the size as Dwight's neti.

Now I'm Only 3 Days Behind

What a week!  I can't keep up.  I am now 3 days behind in my thankfulness.  I did think of something I was thankful for each day, but I've already forgotten what Tuesday's was.  Fail.  So, I'm going to work my way backwards through time to see if I can remember at least one thing from Tuesday that made me thankful.

Today, my administrator observed me teaching, and I am thankful that is over and that it seemed to go fairly well.  It's been 3 years since the last time I was observed, and my job now is very different from what it was then, so I'll admit to having some butterflies about being studied in my new environment.  Another reason to be grateful, it was scheduled (randomly) in my very best class, so you know that didn't hurt anything.  We still have to meet and go over it all, but the worst part (in my opinion) is over and I don't have to worry about anyone sitting in my class for the whole hour again for another 3 years. 

Yesterday, I was thankful for Jason's Deli.  Did you know kids eat free there on Wednesday?  They do...at least at our location (one free kids meal with every adult meal purchased).  I heart Jason's Deli.  I get the Plain Jane Baked Potato, which is so incredibly large that it is not just my dinner, it is also my lunch the next day.  So bonus - I don't have to spend time a) thinking of & b) making my lunch for the next day.  And best of all...you get ice cream once you've eaten! 

My 3rd thing I'm thankful for doesn't go back to Tuesday, but it does span over yesterday and today.  I'm thankful for Luke's generous heart.  It's no secret that I'm a bit of a cheapskate bargain hunter, and Luke is about as tight-fisted with his money as anyone I've ever seen.  (I wonder where he gets that?)  He doesn't ever want to spend his money on anything.  He just wants to hoard it and know it's there, I think.  Anyhoo, he came home yesterday wanting to bring money to school for a "Penny War" to support his school's food drive.  He probably pulled out $3-4 in change from his piggy bank for the cause.  Today, he told me he thinks he'll bring some more for tomorrow.  Now, don't get me wrong, I know the idea of the penny war is probably enticing, but as stingy as the kid is, I'm really impressed and thankful for the example he's setting to me that it's important to give of what you have to others.

I don't have any pictures from my singing act at the halftime show at Tuesday night's volleball game, but when I do, I'll put them on here.  There are pictures that just haven't been pulled off cameras yet.  Stay tuned for those...

Insert Witty Title

Cause I can't think of one!  And I'm a day behind once again.  Maybe I am thankful that it is only one day behind and not two?  Nah - I can do better than that.  I was thinking yesterday, as I gave my sweet Ginger a bath and a trim, how thankful I was to get to do that chore.  A little over 2 years ago, she got incredibly sick, spent 9 days in a specialty animal hospital, but somehow made it through.  We didn't think she was going to make it, so I try to remember every day to be thankful for the gift she is to our family.  I know she won't be around forever, so I am so very grateful for the "extra" time we've had with her. 

I am also so very thankful to a co-worker who will be joining me in a karaoke duet tomorrow evening at our annual student vs. staff volleyball game half-time show.  Even though back in the day I sang in front of people all the time at church and the like, I haven't really done that for years, so the thought of getting in front of people and karaoke-ing made my tummy hurt just a tiny bit.  And yes, I volunteered and did this to myself, but I feel bad, because I know no one wants to volunteer for the duty and I refuse to make a fool of myself on the actual volleyball court, so there you have it.  But - I don't have to do it alone.  My friend Becky, agreed to join me and we're going to try to pull off some kind of Sister Act routine.  Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll have a picture of us to post later this week. We'll see.

Thanks Times Two

Again...last night Luke was playing on my computer for a lot of the evening on his new favorite website - ABCya!, and he was having so much fun, I didn't have the heart to make him get off so I could update my blog.  I figured I'd just be doubly grateful for all I have this morning. 

Yesterday, the way my day started off, I wasn't sure I was going to have much I was thankful for.  When I got to school, I checked my mini-fridge which has been freezing everything in it.  I've defrosted it, moved it, but alas, everything (aka my Mt. Dew & water) was frozen again.  I am thankful that with my pop freezing that none has exploded!  What a mess that is to clean up.  But anyway, I was bummed about my fridge.  Then I hear the intercom call, "Mrs. Spaeth, please come to the office."  Let me just tell you - in the morning before school - that is never good.  It usually means a parent wants to see you about something.  And I knew exactly who it would likely be.  I won't go into details, but needless to say, after that conversation, I was wound up pretty tight.  I spent home base taking deep breaths and pacing a little, while the kids watched the morning announcements, and though still annoyed, got it together for 1st hour.  Things were going swimmingly when I sat down to help one of my students.  I happened to be carrying my coffee, so when I sat down at the desk in front of her and turned around to help her, I put my coffee on the table of the desk.  Bad idea - the student in front of me decided he wanted to ask me something too and turned around elbow first, knocking my coffee over and spilling it all over...me.  So now - my fridge goes bad, parent-problems, AND I look and feel like I just wet my pants.  Awesome.  I run out to get some paper towels to clean up the mess on the desk, my students are laughing like loons (with me - not at me - because I've got to laugh at the situation, right!) and at some point in the less than 1 minute while I was out of my room, drama ensues, because when I walk back in one of my students is running out in tears followed by two friends.  Really?  I have to deal with this now?  So, I talk down crying student, clean up coffee, wait to dry out, and wonder, what now, can go wrong.  Thankfully - nothing else!  And my amazingly wonderful husband offered to bring over the spare mini-fridge we keep in the garage now that he's working from home and to take my broken one off my hands.  So, now I have a working fridge, gotten over my frustration with the parent situation, have dry pants, and the drama is long-forgotten.  And, nothing else went wrong.  Thank you, Lord!

Today, I am just enjoying a relaxing morning and looking forward to our daily walk.  Due to weather and meetings this week, Brandon and I didn't get to walk together Monday through Wednesday of this week and I really missed it. I am so thankful for that time together each day.  We leave the distractions of home behind and just get to enjoy talking and listening to one another.  I'm so thankful it's been our habit for so many years and I hope it's a habit we continue for many more years to come.

Happy Saturday!

This and That

I'm a day behind...my day yesterday was just too crazy and I didn't have time to post last night.  So...for yesterday, I am thankful for funny moments throughout my day.  For example, I was making my bed yesterday morning and Luke's door flies open and he runs down the hall like his room is on fire...because he has to go to the bathroom that bad, I guess.  It's not the first time I've seen that and I'm sure it won't be the last, but it never fails to make me giggle.  It's also listening to Luke laugh like crazy tonight when he was playing a game on a new website they used at school today.  It makes me laugh too.  So thankful for those moments of laughter and joy throughout the day.

I am also thankful for my new work laptop!  Our old ones were getting to be somewhat on the slow side.  I was so excited to go in this morning knowing the new one would be waiting for me.  Imagine my surprise when I turned it on at 7:00 and by 7:30 it still had not even managed to get to the log-on page.  It did not make a good first impression.  After consulting with one of my students because our tech was nowhere to be found, I decided to restart it.  Lo and behold, that worked (should have done that about 25 minutes earlier!) and now I have a nice, new, much faster computer.  Yay!

There's No Place Like It

I am so thankful for my nice, warm home on nights like tonight.  It's hard to believe that this has been home for 11+ years...I can't imagine any other place being more home than here.  It felt that way the first time we even walked into the place.  In fact, I think I've lived longer in this house than I've lived in any other in my life.  Weird.  That makes me feel really old for some reason.  This homebody is thankful that it's not just a house - it's home...it's where my heart is and there's definitely no other place like it.

Rainy Days

I am so thankful for the rain we're getting tonight and tomorrow.  It has been so dry - this is much needed.  Plus, I love cuddling up with my pup-dog in bed and staying warm, knowing how cold and wet it is outside.  Not to mention the thunder and lightning...in November?

I'm also really thankful that Halloween was last Monday night and not tonight.  Then I would not have been nearly so thankful for this much-needed rain!  Stay warm and dry!

School Days

I am so grateful that Luke loves school.  He enjoys the weekends, but looks forward to Monday mornings and re-joining the rest of his class for all the exciting things they're learning in first grade.  I taught the pre-school/kindergarten class at church this morning, and I as I was talking to one of the little girls in my class, trying to coax her out of her shyness, I asked her how old she was.  When she told me she was five, I asked her if she was in kindergarten, and she said yes.  When I asked her if she loved kindergarten, she said, "No, I don't like school."  It made me so sad...shouldn't everyone love kindergarten, at least?  It just warms my heart as a mom and as a teacher that Luke loves everything about school.  He loves reading, he loves math, and he even loves his spelling test each week.  It is such a blessing.  Take a look at our latest homework assignment - due Friday - disguising a turkey.

No, that's not Matt Cassel - that's Luke's turkey.  We just gave him a really amazing disguise. :)  Luke has a few finishing touches he needs to add, and he's got to write about his disguise from the turkey's perspective, but he's looking forward to it.  I'm so thankful for a child who loves to learn!

Lazy Days

I am so thankful for my one, absolutely, completely lazy day of the week - Saturdays!  Yes, I know I was thankful for Friday yesterday, but I promise I'll think of something different than Sundays tomorrow. :)  I just love lazy mornings whenever I can catch them.  I love getting up late for me (ie - a little after 8 this morning), enjoying some breakfast and then reading and catching up on blogs and facebook while drinking a cup of hot coffee all snuggled up in bed.  I love that I have nothing on my agenda for the day other than exercising, walking Ginger, and taking a nap.  It's a great feeling!  Tomorrow will bring laundry and grading (and another nap), but for today, I can just enjoy being lazy, and for that, I am so very grateful!

It's Friday!

Today is easy - I am so thankful it's Friday.  This week has flown by and this girl is exhausted, pooped, spent, drained, and dog-tired.  I don't have any special plans for the weekend, but just knowing I don't have anything pressing is like bliss to my weary soul.  I'm thinking it will be early-to-bed tonight, up early (but not as early as usual), relax, relax, relax, nap, relax some more, and repeat.  Plus one extra hour of sleep (probably not really, but it always sounds good) on Saturday night...don't forget to Fall Back!  I love weekends and I am so thankful that I can rest and be restored to almost as good as new in time for the week to begin again on Monday.  Happy Friday everyone!

Okay - yes, I'm thankful!

I've decided I'm going to once again dedicate myself to being thankful up through Thanksgiving on the old blog.  It's a good way for me to stop and consider all the good things in my life.  And since it is now the 3rd day of November, I am 2 days behind.  Therefore, I will be thankful for not one, not two, but three things today! 

First, I was oh-so-thankful this morning to wake up and see that no snow materialized last night.  Sure, I think snow is lovely and all that, but after having to take EIGHT snow days last year, I am still a little bitter and not yet ready to see any of the white stuff yet. 

Second, I am really thankful for my job.  It was a fun day today - my kids really liked (YES - LIKED) an assignment I gave them.  It was on 20's slang - they had to translate.  Let me just say, they thought it was the bee's knees.  My usually dead quiet 1st hour got so into it, I totally lost all control and just let them go with it.  Things like "Who do you carry a torch for?" and "Are you a hotsy-totsy flapper?" were flying across the room.  Good stuff.  It was also career day - I had a great speaker.  He's the dad of one of my students and is in advertising.  He's the guy who is behind writing and directing many of the Sonic commercials with the 2 guys in the car.  Very funny stuff.  Plus - it's Red Ribbon Week - which means it's a Spirit week and today was twin day.  I heart my job.  Here's a pic of my twin and me.

And finally, my pocketbook is very thankful today.  I went to the dentist around 3 weeks ago, and much to my dismay, she discovered that I had a crack in one of my teeth.  She told me that she might be able to just fill it, but I might have to get a crown (==$$$$) - she just wouldn't know until she drilled out the old filling.  So back to the dentist I went today just knowing that I would probably be shelling out $350-450 for a crown (depending on insurance and what they could write off or whatever they do).  Long story short, since you know my pocketbook is thankful, you've probably deduced that they were able to just fix my tooth with a filling and I didn't have to shell out all my clams (more 20's slang for you) for a crown.  Yay!  Hopefully, it will hold up...if not...pocketbook will = sad.  But for now, it is very thankful!

Happy November!  What are YOU thankful for?

Halloween 2011

Another October has come and gone...it is hard to believe!  It was a pretty quiet Halloween around here...we didn't have too many trick-or-treaters and we live on the main street in our neighborhood.  I think the combination of Halloween on a Monday + Chiefs on Monday Night Football made for an early night for a lot of folks. 

We finally got around to carving a pumpkin on Sunday evening.  With conferences taking up 2 of my evenings last week and Luke at Grandma's Friday and Saturday night, we just about ran out of time for carving this guy up before Halloween.  Luke had been dying to get the pumpkin carved and when Sunday night rolled around and Brandon and I were working on it, where was Luke?  In Brandon's office watching the Steelers and Patriots football game.  Brandon and I looked at each other and said, "Now - why are we doing this?"  After yelling at Luke to get his you-know-what in the kitchen, we had just a real nice time together.  Luke even posed for some pictures.

Before carving...Luke's request was for a scary face.

How's this for a scary face?

"I only smile with my lips closed." -Luke Spaeth

Ooooh...scary!

I think it turned out pretty well for us - we're pretty low-tech on our pumpkin carving.

Halloween was a lot of fun for Luke.  His only goal for trick-or treating was to not return home until his bucket was full.  He met his goal and we'll be enjoying candy for quite awhile, I think!  What was hilarious was that after we got home, Brandon and I told him - go crazy, it's Halloween, eat whatever you want, eat as much as you want.  So, what does he do?  He starts sorting his candy by the types he got.  Wow - go crazy, kid!  It was like he enjoyed the fact that he had so much, he didn't even really want to eat it. 



Spiderman 2011 - great costume, except for the mask.  He really didn't like it - it was hard to breathe in it, according to Luke.  It was hilarious as we trick-or-treated too - he kept pullin on it and half the time, he couldn't even see.  I loved it when he'd walk over to other adults once he got his candy - he couldn't tell them from me since he couldn't see.  It was like leading a little blind child around - "Follow my voice..."

Ginger loves Halloween too...well, sort of.

This is what a bucket-full of candy looks like!

And now it's on to Thanksgiving.  I'm trying to decide if I have enough time and brainpower to do a thankful countdown again this year.  We'll see!

Untitled

Since this is just going to be a hodge-podge of a post, I have no ideas for a good title to it.  I'm too tired to sit here and try to come up with one, so "Untitled" it is.  My posts have been too few and far between lately.  I just haven't had the energy or the ideas to do it.  Which is really unfortunate, because I've found that I really enjoy writing blog posts...it's so much fun to know that others are reading about what I'm thinking.
Funny story...Luke has been trying to scare me for years.  Let me tell you, he's just NOT sneaky whatsoever.  Let's say I'll be in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner.  He'll be there too and then walk up behind me and say "Boo!  Did I scare you, Mom?"  And I'll say, "No, Luke.  I knew you were in here, so I wasn't surprised or scared.  Just because you say 'Boo!' doesn't make you scary."  He'll be all disappointed and so I tell him I'm impossible to scare.  Last Saturday, all was quiet in the house.  I had attempted to take a nap, but it didn't work out, so I got up and was painting my toenails with this cute new color I had picked up earlier in the week.  Brandon was on the couch napping, Luke was in his room napping...or so I thought.  I'm in the middle of putting polish on a toe, when I hear a monstrous "BOO!", and proceed to knock over my brand new bottle of nail polish because it scared me so much.  Thankfully, the nail polish bottle spilled on an old towel (always used as a precaution in case someone decided to scare me as I paint).  However, grumpy old me yells at Luke for picking such a precarious time to finally scare the you know what out of me, which totally burst his excited-for-scaring-the-you-know-what-out-of-Mom bubble.  I apologized and we laughed about it later.  I can't believe he finally pulled it off.

I haven't been doing much "good" reading lately.  I find I've been choosing really mindless romance novels because anything too deep seems too stressful now.  I did, however, start in on a young adult novel that I am pretty sure I'm going to use as a lit circle choice come 3rd quarter (which seems far away, but I assure you isn't!) called Peak, and I am loving it.  It's about a boy named Peak who gets in trouble with the law for climbing a skyscraper in NYC and gets probation until age 18 if he leaves the country with his father, whom he hasn't seen for 7 years and who is also a mountain climber.  He thinks he's going to spend a few months in Thailand, but it turns out his dad is going to take him up Mt. Everest.  It is super good so far.  I hope my other choices are this good or all my kids are going to want to read this one. 

Work is crazy, but good.  About 2-3 weeks ago, I was feeling really good about where I was and feeling like I was finally starting to get ahead of the game with making plans, etc.  Well, that's over.  First quarter ended yesterday and though I know we're going to read To Kill a Mockingbird, that's about all I know.  So much to do...  We do have a school improvement/work day on Monday, so I'm hoping that between the weekend and then I'll be able to move beyond just the general idea and get some real plans put together!  Despite the challenges, I am loving it.  I love the kids, love my team I get to work with, and love knowing that even though I have a lot of plans to make, I don't have any IEPs or other such-type reports to write. 

I switched out my summer clothes for my winter/fall clothes last night.  The weather we've been having has been so amazingly beautiful, but a look at the 7-day forecast shows that after the weekend, the real fall is going to arrive.  I actually think I'm at least kind of ready for the change.  Usually, it seems like the weather gets cooler faster than it has this year and I'm not ready, but this year I'm okay with it.  What I won't be okay with is another winter like last year's (or heaven forbid - worse).  I'm rooting for only 1-3 snow days (or less even!)...8 was so not cool last year.

And there you have it.  Not much really, but I feel a sense of accomplishment in actually getting a blog post done.  One of these days, my brain won't hurt so much from thinking too much and I'll get back in better habits.  And maybe I'll even remember to take a picture or two. 

UNO!

UNO has become all the rage at la casa de Spaeth in recent days.  It has become an every night phenomenon.  Luke cannot get enough...after 5 games, it's still, "Who wants to play another game?"  Luke was the undisputed champion tonight, Brandon last night.  Maybe tomorrow will be my night...

Welcome Fall!

We've spent the weekend welcoming the official arrival of fall.  The mornings and evenings are cool, the trees are starting to turn, and my 2 small loads of Sunday laundry have turned into 2 really large loads that maybe should have been split into 3.

I have not been a good blogger of late.  My new job is keeping me far busier than I expected.  I am loving it, but just trying to keep my head above water with planning each week.  If you know me well, you probably know that I'm not a day-to-day person.  I like to be way ahead of where I need to be, so this has taken me out of my comfort zone, but I feel like I'm finally starting to get into the swing of things and work it out. 

On Friday night, we spent a fun evening with family celebrating my dad's & my birthday with a good old-fashioned wienie roast.  Growing up, this was how we celebrated our birthdays every year at my grandma's, and it always felt like it was my special thing.  I mean - no one else had a wienie roast in their honor every year.  It had been years since the last one, but now that the grandkids are getting a little older, my folks thought it would be fun to have one this year.  They were right...the kids had a blast!

Next year at this time, there will be 2 more grandkids added into the mix!  I have a nephew due to arrive in January and another neice or nephew who will arrive in March.  There are many more fun times awaiting all the grandkids.

After stuffing ourselves on hot dogs and s'mores Friday night, we hung out with some friends in the city last night.  They surprised us with more s'mores made over their fire pit after dinner last night.  I think Luke's s'more total for the weekend was 5, along with many single roasted marshmallows as well.  I'll apologize to his teacher if he is still on a sugar high tomorrow!

Reflections & Ramblings

So we're finishing up dinner tonight and Brandon asks Luke if he's ready to go outside and do his chores, which I know nothing about.  So Luke says, "Mom, Dad is going to pay me to pick up acorns.  That IS NOT a rip-off!"  Cracked me up. 

My husband is in the running for "Husband of the Century" or some such award that he should be given, hands-down.  For the 3rd week in a row, I've come home to a clean house.  The man HATES to vacuum, but he's done it...for me...for 3 weeks.  Wow...hubba, hubba.  And not only that, he surprised me with flowers on our anniversary last week.  Neither of us are gift people.  It's not one of my love languages (have you read that book?).  I'm a words of affirmation person - compliment me sincerely and I will love you forever.  However, I have to admit, my heart did go pitter-pat and my eyes teared up when Brandon told me to go look in the fridge to figure out what was for dinner and I found a dozen roses in there.  Love.That.Man!

We had a great time visiting with friends last Friday night.  The former youth pastor of our church, who is now a missionary in Ecuador, his wife and one of his daughters came for dinner, along with another of our best couple-friends.  It was a great night of visiting and catching up.  I'm so thankful for their friendship - even if we only get to spend a little time together once a year when they come back to the States to visit.  An added bonus was that we were talking about this awesome church video that our friend, Bennie, was part of several years ago that was so funny.  He told us it was on YouTube, so we watched it with them and once again over the weekend.  And I'm not going to lie, I just watched it again before I put the link in.  It is funny everytime.  I'm putting the video below...if you don't think church can be funny, then please watch this video.  It's a hoot!

I LOVE my new job.  I can't stop smiling.  I can't stop gushing.  I'm so happy doing it, it's ridiculous.  I love my new team, I love the kids, I love, love, love, love, love it!  I knew I needed the change.  I had no idea how badly I needed the change, though.  I wake up and I'm excited to go to work.  Someone told me last week that they had never seen me so happy at work (and I thought I was a generally happy-and-even-if-I'm-not-I'm-going-to-look-like-it kind of person), so that really told me something.  Tomorrow is IEP sign-off day and instead of worrying about who will or won't sign all my IEPs, I actually have to go sign someone else's.  How cool is that?  I know - not really that cool, but I'm excited. :)  I know the feeling will likely fade as the year wears on and August becomes December and then (cringe) March, but I hope that even if it fades, that it won't completely go away.

My reading for pleasure is definitely suffering now that I'm back at work.  Between trying to walk the dog, spend time with family, work out, and also get a little extra of my job-work done, I haven't had much time.  Add to that, today one of the sweet girls on my team brought me a Young Adult book that she feels is a must-read.  So sweet of her, but yikes, when am I going to get that done?  I just started The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale a couple nights ago, but haven't gotten very far.  Labor Day weekend isn't too far away - maybe it will be a Labor Day Marathon Reading Weekend?  We'll see!

So, there you have it...my reflections and ramblings on my life as I know it these days!

I Hear Ginger is a Birthday Girl!

Happy 10th birthday to our sweet Ginger girl!  She celebrated the occasion with a cup of Frosty Paws Peanut Butter puppy ice cream...and several restful naps, of course!  We're so thankful that she's such a special part of our family.  Enjoy a look back at Ginger's puppyhood.

Ginger at 9 weeks - the day after we got her.  Couldn't you just die at how stinking cute she is?

Enjoying a treat in the sunshine.

Practicing tricks with her daddy.  If you've never seen Ginger do her tricks, you're missing out.  Not to brag, but she's a smarty-pants.

1st Christmas...

Enjoying a favorite pastime of kicking herself in the face & then biting the foot that is kicking her in the face...she still ocassionally pulls this one out, but don't let her catch you watching her do it.  That'll stop her in her tracks.

Just so pretty.

LOVE this one...she still loves to cuddle up and sleep with her daddy.

Love that ear flopped back. :)

Ginger with what remained of her first birthday present - Hermie (the 1st).  Still one of her favorite toys if she's in the mood to play.

We're so thankful that she survived her illness of 2 years ago and is still with us to celebrate reaching double digits.  Everyday we give thanks for all the joy and love she brings to us!  Happy birthday Ginger!

This Day in 1996

Do you know what you were doing?  I was getting married.  I can't believe how quickly 15 years have gone by...gulp...it makes me feel a little old.  Of course, I was still essentially a teenager when I got married.  I didn't turn 20 until a month later. :)  I'm so thankful for Brandon and for all the amazing memories and adventures we've shared over the last years.  To celebrate, enjoy a look back in time at the two of us...

1994 - High School Graduation

1996 - the spring before we got married.

1997 - in St. Louis

1998 - before graduating from college

1999 - Heading home after visiting Brandon's brother in Des Moines - he gifted us with some of his garden tomatoes...that's what's in the bucket I'm carrying.  Maybe even the whole reason for the picture?  I don't know. :)

Christmas 2001 - Ginger was just a puppy...look how little she is!

2003 - At Graceland II in Holly Springs, MS.  If you ever go through Holly Springs, you MUST stop in & see this place.  It is a visit you'll never forget.  If you go 3 times, you become a lifetime member!  We still haven't made it back that way for visit #2, but we've promised that one day, we will!

2004 - At a friend's wedding.  I think the old couple behind us was jealous of our young love.

Easter 2005 - only 5 short days before Luke was born 8 weeks early!  And I thought I just had indigestion that day...little did I know what was to come.

2006 Arizona trip - Painted Desert & Petrified Forest - beautiful.  Go if you're in the area!

2007 Arizona trip - the lady with us is Rusty.  She and her husband own(?) a Pioneer ranch and restaurant we love to visit.  See picture below.

2008 Arizona trip - Rusty was so kind to help us recreate the previous year's photo.  We brought her a copy of the one from 2007.  I'm sure she still treasures it.

2009 - Utah ski trip.  Brandon's first experience skiing...lots of memories there!

2010 - Summer fun at home.

2011 - I think we're so much better looking now that we're older.

I discovered that 2000 & 2002 must have been really bad picture years - we had NONE that I could find of us together.  I also realized that once we got a digital camera in 2005, I started taking A LOT more pictures.  The first 15 have been amazing.  I can't wait to see what's in store for us in the next 15!