They're My Blue Eyed Girls!

 Beautiful Blue Eyes

As blue as the ocean.

 As blue as the sea.

These little eyes, yes they smile back at me!

PHO 107: Reflections

 Kailee & Gracie kept asking why I was taking pictures of the reflection and not the object itself today. So I decided to post the pictures because they helped me figure out what to photograph!

Sour Tooth

Another day snuggly buggly at home for Gracie. (She's really not loving it.)
To up our Vitamin C defenses we bought, peeled and ate some oranges (the lil "cutie" kind). She took a couple slices of lil cutie orange in her mouth, made this scrunched up, nose crinkled, lips puckered face and then said,  "Oh man my sour tooth is acting up again." Trying hard to compose myself to not laugh, I asked, "What exactly do you mean by sour tooth?". She replied in a serious tone as she grabbed another orange slice, "you know, the sour tooth, the one on the other side of the sweet tooth." OH! How could I not know this!

Snuffy Nose

Last night was miserable in the Sassy House of Spalding for Gracie and Mommy. Neither of us slept, she had a "snuffy nose" and fever. She couldn't get comfy or cozy so it was a night of lots of tossing and turning. We slept together in her bed because she didn't want me to go far because she wanted me to rub her back for most of the night. What a long day it has been! We slept from 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Fingers crossed that the fever breaks soon!

Sick Putty Tat.

Lilly Sue, our first baby, is very sick. It started a while ago, she had blood work done because she had been pulling her hair out since Odie went to be with Jesus a year ago in December. She has an over active thyroid and it turns out her liver enzymes were very high (which is too serious to ignore) so we started giving her some "synthroid" for cats... but she was one of the 2% of cats who have a serious reaction to the medication. (Just par for the course here in this Sassy House of Spalding! Even the cat is a rare one, fits in well with all the rarities we have going on in our family!) Well... this leaves us with little to no options... she goes back to the vet tomorrow for more blood work but I don't know what we will do because it's a sad situation. We don't want to see her suffering, yet we cannot afford to spend $50 a week on food for our cat. (That's half of our people food budget!) So, we're going to bring our sob story and sweet little putty tat to the cat doctor and hope for the best. The Sassy's are saying extra prayers for Lilly, we hope that you will too. xoxo
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Putty Tat update: 2/22

Liver levels were 1003 two weeks ago and now they are 123! Only 23 above normal which is fantastic! She's also gained almost a pound too! We have switched her from medication to food, the first trial bag is free so... we'll see how it goes. We may be able to find online for cheap... thanks for the prayers!
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Putty Tat update: 2/23
Lily is not a fan of the new food. We've mixed it as direct 50/50 and she keeps picking out her food and has left all the new food... so do we mix another 50 of her food in or do we leave what's left in the bowl until she just accepts that she's eating this food now... oh boy this cat is stubborn as all get out! She does not like change in the least... (I mean really who does?) but she's rebelling like a teenager! Pulling her hair right in front of us and all over the house. It's almost like, "Give me my food back or I am going to be bald."... bald kitty is her choice I guess... I want her to live a long while still so she'll just have to suck it up that this is her new food. Thank you again for all the prayers!!

Snuggly

The Sassy's were all snuggled in and Kailee was reading but mommy just had to get on that snuggly sweet sassy fun.

"Gold" Fish

 

Sometimes we like to use other games and create out own... so we took this memory game and made "gold" fish out it. It's very much like "go" fish but with fruit and veggie cards and we say "gold-fish" when we don't have the match. It's tons of fun that creates some giggly good girlie fun!

Read Between the Lines

Gracie was playing on the computer and the volume was really loud. Daddy asked her to turn it down. I then noticed it was still loud so I asked her to turn it down and she says, "You just mean to turn it off, right?"  She read Daddy's mind. xoxo

PHO WEEK5: SHADOWS

Not a perfect shadow because the top is not well defined.

A perfect shadow because it's well defined.

Kailee's shadow changed a lot depending on how I placed her.

A perfect shadow.

A perfect shadow.

Not a perfect shadow.

It's really interesting to learn how the time of the day can change a picture... not only it's "light" on the subject but it's shadow. It's very hard to capture a subject if the conditions are not "just so" for the taking. Even taking pictures of shadows are difficult, a shadow not well defined is not a perfect shadow.

4Day Weekend!

It's Thursday night and the Sassy's are at the start of a 4 day weekend! Mid winter break rocks!

Sweet Silly Sassy's

....and 1 sick mommy.

Love Day!

Some sugar for our loves! We rarely buy extras during the year for the Sassy's so when it's a holiday, I love to go all out! 

Call it spoiling. 

Call it over doing. 

Call it what you want but I call it fun! 

They will only be this little for so long! 

I will be their Valentine's for as long as they will let me and then some!

100th Day of School!

Gracie's Kindergarten class dancing to Zero the Hero music!

Gracie's 100 Penguins Shirt

Gracie & Claire doing 100 finger prints on 100 numbers!

Gracie and Claire writing numbers 1 - 100!

Gracie's Table: Claire, Fred, Orin and Gracie eating their 100 piece snack!

Gracie's favorite from 100's day was making and eating the snack! The snack included:

10: Marshmallows

10: Fruity O's

10: Cheerio's

10: Chocolate Chips

10: Gummy's

10: M&M's

10: Pretzels

10: Gumballs

10: Popcorn pieces

10: Good & Plenty's

for a grand total of : 100 pieces!

Our Daddy

Our daddy is an amazing man. He has done some amazing things in his life! {This week he went to the VA (Veterans Affairs) Department and spoke to them about his serving for our country for 4 years!} Our daddy was a Marine. He is not a Marine who goes away for long times, he's just a Marine now that is home and we talk about him on Veterans Day. {Daddy got this cool card from the VA Department.} It says, I am part of a Retired American Flag. I can no longer fly in the Sun and the Wind. I have been tattered and torn but not forgotten AND "your are not forgotten either." Thank you for your service. We love our daddy for the person he is and that he keeps giving of himself even though he is not a Marine anymore. We love him because he's our daddy and he always helps people. He loves us and mommy so much. {Arms opened wide as they can reach.} Daddy is also a fireman who does good things for people who need help. He is our daddy.

Jordan's 5th Birthday!

On Friday, February 10th, 2012 your cousin Jordan turned 5 years old! Jordan's birthday is very special! Jordan shares the same birthday as your Great Grandpa Pete, (Grandma Debbie's dad). Great Grandpa Pete passed away 15 years ago this year. Today, Saturday, Feb. 11 we celebrated Jordy's birthday with Grandpa Lou, Grandma Deb, Great Grandma Ruth, Auntie Angela, Uncle Josh, Abby and of course JORDY! He had a Phineas and Ferb Style party, which ROCK'ed MAN! For his birthday we bought him 2 videos (Fireman Sam and I Love Big Trucks) and we bought him a fireman outfit with a real super soaker fireman hose! There was a pinata that we did "polish style"... which meant hit it with a stick on the floor! We spent 3 hours at Jordan's birthday party! You played non-stop with Jordy and Abby Doo! You were both very good girls and I am so proud of you!!

Pasghetti

Tonight Kailee wanted leftover "Pasghetti" for dinner. Now, This is just one of those phrases that cannot bring myself to correct because one day all too soon, she will start saying it the "adult" way. I say if she wants to say "pasghetti" then let her say it! Innocence will live on in the Sassy House of Spalding for as long as it does because mommy & daddy will never crush it. xo

Ham & Potato Soup

 This little Sassy LOVED the soup! She said, "Mommy this soup makes my heart sing! I could eat it all day any day for dinner or lunch but not for breakfast." "I have to get this recipe mommy, so that way when you get old I can make it for you."

 This little Sassy LOVED the soup too! She however didn't want the recipe! xo

 This is what was left in mommy's bowl!

Daddy bowl was scrapped clean twice! 

I love it when a good hearty soup warms up our souls!
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The Recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.