Sweet Times

I'm honored that a number of you missed my blog entries, so without further ado, let me give you a glimpse into our last 2 weeks of life.

During one of our pleasant Spring days, we've wondered into the woods behind our house. While back there, we discovered a grape vine that someone has taped "hand holds" onto so you can swing on it. Noelle finds extreme joy as she daringly swings across the forest floor (2 feet off the ground).

So great is her enthusiasm that she's decided to dig up the tree that the grape vine is on and replant it in our yard so she can have it at her disposal at anytime. I'm guessing the tree is about 45 feet tall, so that may take her a while.

Brad and I were looking for adventure of another kind, so we dropped the kids off with some dear friends and headed to a Bed and Breakfast just outside of Madison, IN. We did exciting things that you can't do with kids - we did some shopping, we took the scenic route, we had a leisurely supper, we soaked in the hot tub and watched the sun set, we watched a movie in bed, we slept in, we had a leisurely breakfast in the sun room, we sat around and read interrupted, we hiked a few miles, we ate a leisurely lunch and headed home. Ahhhhh! That's a great adventure I could repeat again soon.

And here is Sadie - what a character. Have any of you read the children's books about Fancy Nancy? I think she's Sadie's hero.

December Fun

Blogging seems to have taken a low priority this time of year. I'll officially take a sabbatical after this post so that I don't feel guilty for not updating everyone.
December has been full of tree trimming, paper snowflake making, and good book reading - perfectly lovely.

The challenge of promising Noelle she could put the star on top of the tree:

Chief "Paper Snowflaker", hard at work, cutting out Noelle's design

The awe of discovering what all these cuts can make

One of our final products

Sadie's decided to start reading chapter books. She seems especially fond of Cam Jansen books. It's so very entertaining to hear her "read" it. I recommend these short chapter books for anyone looking for something age appropriate for a 4 year old and up.

Thanksgiving Thoughts and Pictures

"If we are only given tomorrow, what we gave thanks for today, how much will I have tomorrow?"
This is a quote I came across today that makes me think more and more about my gratitude, or lack there of.

With that thought, here are some fun times I am grateful for over the Thanksgiving weekend:

sipping hot chocolate with 2 sweet girls

Celebrating cousin Ethan's 2nd Birthday

Hottie husband with his Bro and Sis-in-law after the Turkey Day 10-k (Elizabeth ran too but her race number is on her back...I want to be sure she gets credit for her had work!)

Preparing the Turkey
(Sadie wants to know why there's a hole in the turkey)

The Spence Clan

Shiny Sinks and Heavenly Smells

My birthday was earlier this month and my main present from Brad was having 4 cleaning sessions from a young lady from our church, Beth Survant. I was a little apprehensive on how it would all go since I've never hired someone to clean for me. Should I make a list or does she have her own agenda? Will she be grossed out by the crumbs in my silverware tray? Will she do too much or do too little? etc...

Well I was suitably impressed and I think I'm addicted after just 2 hours. My sink was so shiny and my house smelled heavenly!!!! After Beth left I actually ran through the house squealing with joy at the euphoric feeling of having a beautiful home that smelled sooo good. She could have spent twice as long but alas, I have to limit my indulgences.


At one point during my cleaning session, I sat on the couch and read a book to the girls. I had visions of a postcard I get in the mail every so often...the one with a mom reading books to her kids while a cleaning lady is working in the background. The one with the caption "Life's too short to clean your own house." The one I laugh at and throw in the trash with a judgmental attitude. The one I will never look at the same again.

A Plate of P's

Do you ever sit down to a meal and realize your food is all one color or is all garlic flavored or some other common denomenator? Well today's lunch was a plate of P's.

My intent was to clean out a hodge-podge of food from the refrigerator and this is what we got:
a Pork BBQ sandwich with Pickles, Pizza and Popcorn. Before I had this revelation the girls had asked for popsicles for dessert (spurred on by a popscicle wrapper we had seen at the park earlier in the day). Once I discovered the P theme, I couldn't resist giving in to the Popsicle and having a Picnic :)