God's Slpendor Outside Our Window

We greatly enjoy nature and it's especially incredible to see God's creativity and splendor up-close. This is the first year we've had a hummingbird feeder and we've had a great time watching the hummers dart in and dart out.
This is also the first year we've planted sunflowers. They truly are as vibrant in real life as you see in pictures.
"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

female hummingbird (no 'ruby' throat)

male hummingbird

morning glory, in full glory

sunflower

Spence Happenings

First of all, we're totally in love with the new-carpet smell. I feel like we just moved into a new house. If we could blog a scratch-and-sniff sticker for you to experience it too, we would.

Secondly, while Brad and I were busy moving all our furniture out of most of the rooms, Sadie was busy in the kitchen. At one point we stuck our head in the kitchen to check out the sounds we heard coming from there. There we found Sadie taking the silverware out of the dishwasher and putting it in the silverware drawer. (Isn't she brilliant?)
The silverware was dirty. (okay maybe not brilliant, but at least cute.)

Yesterday the girls and I had leftover baked potatoes and green beans for lunch. After lunch I noticed a good bit of potato chunks and green beans on the floor. I moved the chairs aside to sweep up the food when Sadie discovered the treasure I was about to sweep up. She picked up at potato chunk, looked at me and said, "Eat?".
Since I knew the food was from lunch (today's lunch and not yesterday's) I figured it couldn't hurt so I said "Okay," and she proceeded to pick up the prime morsels from the floor. Not to be out done by her sister, Noelle runs to the scene. She shouts "Hey, I want some," and joins Sadie in the floor feast.
This just goes to show how much Sadie enjoys eating and how much Noelle hates it when Sadie has something that she doesn't.

New Carpet is In!

There is still furniture in the garage, a layer of 'carpet dust' over all our furnishings and my muscles ache from all the moving BUT our house is full of wonderful, new carpet. We praise God for a smooth installation, the resources to have it done and the pleasure of enjoying the finished project.

Before - obviously (eww!)

After - Horray!

A comparison of the old and new carpet

Old Carpet in Noelle's bedroom


New carpet in Noelle's room

New carpet in the living room

The carpet is California Berber and we got it from Hadley's. We were very happy with our service there.

Sadie's Words

It's so fun to hear Sadie try out new words. It's such a joy to have her tell me a word in her 19-month-old language, have me guess a dozen things until I get it right, and see her face light up because mommy finally figured it out.
Sadie does not say "Mommy" or "Noelle." (Apparently she doesn't feel the need to honor me in that way just because I gave birth to her and have nurtured her everyday since - not that I'm bitter or anything). However a few nights ago we were trying to get her to say "Noelle."
So we would say "Sadie, say Noelle. Noelle." (we hoped repeating it would help it stick) She looked at Noelle and said what sounded like "Butt." Noelle took it very well and said matter-a-factly "Well, I do have a butt."

New Carpet!!!

Tomorrow is a big day in the Spence household. Tomorrow we're getting new carpet installed in the whole house. This is something we've talked about since the day we moved in -- 5 years ago -- and the time has finally come.
Since our kids have outgrown the spit-up stage, we thought it would be a safe time to invest in new carpet. Don't worry, we think we got a good quality carpet that will handle the occasional spit-up from your kids. I wouldn't be surprised if God allows one of our kids to stain it the first week, just to be sure fresh, spotless carpet isn't an idol.
Check back later in the week to see some before and after pictures!