73 Degrees of loveliness!

Today it was 73 degrees, Grace went to play at Lia's house after school. 

Kailee and I went to Burger King and had an icecream treat.

Then we decided to do some gardening.... (The crocus have bloomed!)

While moving rocks, I suffered a severe ouch... pinched my finger between two big rocks - OUCH!

Spring is coming!

This is hope!!

And the Sassy's are so happy!!!

The Liberty Bell

Grace was schooling us in what the Liberty Bell is: a bell with a giant crack in it because people rang it too many times. It is called the Liberty Bell because it was made by the Liberty. Of course!

Ballerina Grace

Food

Discussing thankfulness Jon asked Kailee, "What are you thankful for?" Gracie chimes in and says, "Good food. Not rotten food. Cause rotten food is gross and people can get real sick from eating rotten food too." Oh... she's our Gracie Monster... she'll eat almost anything - except rotten food of course. xoxo

PHO107: Group Portraits

This one I chose to submit.

 For this assignment I needed 3 people in the photograph to consider them a group. So I used Angela, Abby and Mom (because they were kind enough to come and brave this germ infested house) and Jon and the Sassy's. Kailee wasn't thrilled about photographs because she still is not feeling well. Note: the reason for the red eyes. Poor sweet pea endured for mommy though. xoxo

This is the one I chose to submit

 

I liked this one best but they all had to be looking in the same direction... Jon wasn't.

GERMS!

The Sassy House of Spalding has temporarily closed it doors and locked us all inside because we have been infiltrated by the Rotavirus. This is a nasty bug that makes people puke, poop or both! Oh it's terrible - terrible I say! Instead of dwelling upon the week of horrific smells, bleach burnt hands and puke stained carpeting, I will focus on the happy children, the healthy appetites and the smiling faces! Smiles that a mommy has missed more than anything in the entire world! I know every mommy loves the smiling faces of their children... but after a long week of...no sleep but fantastic snuggles... sleeping on the floor but hearing the sweet slumber whispers of my dears makes it all better. As I watch them play, eat and play some more it makes me smile. We have honestly had a week full of television watching. *Yes I know it's terrible! They have probably met their yearly quota just over the last four days. It's terrible thing to admit but it's true, mommy tried reading books but had such a horrible sore throat that I could only suffer through one book. These little Sassy's are troopers. This made me realize just what strong, brave and loving children I have. Even at their worst they still manage to find onto their 'thank yous', 'I love yous', and 'you're the best's'. My life though the entire week was a school flop, it was a fill this mommy's heart kind of week too. Tomorrow is a new day and it will be a beautiful day at that!

Grown Up Things

Our New Table! It was a hard choice but great buy that we decided upon!

Besties... Then & Now

 Besties.. Then... May 2010

 

(Minus Ashlynn and Kailee in this picture of course)

Besties.. Now! March 2012

Informance Day!

This is Grace and Besties! (Lia, Alynna and Sweet G)

You're probably thinking, what's an informance? Well, the Music Teacher, Mrs. Asiala-Gross invited parents to come and see what the children are learning in Music class! It's more than just banging instruments and singing "Down By The Bay!" These children are beginner learners of music notes... what it takes to find the singing voice... and the difference between talking and singing. Mrs. Asiala-Gross has this down to a fine science! She has flash-cards showing what the children should be doing during certain times, thinking, talking, and singing. 

 The first informance of the day for Mrs. Rogier's Kindergarten Class was at 12:30 p.m.

 They also learn how to use musical instruments appropriately as well!

 There's my girl with perfect "bicycle arms".

The next informance for Mrs. Whitfield's 2nd grade was 2:20 p.m. 

 The children came in and knew just what they were suppose to do!

 Kailee and Alston are taking their turn! They are an adorable team!

 The children learn so much during each school year! Music is such an important part of learning!!

Sabbath

Since Grace was sick yesterday we felt it best for her to stay home with mommy, so Kailee and daddy went to church without us.

So this is what the sicky little Sassy and I have done all morning. Just chillin like villains. It's best to chill in a bean bag (according to Grace) because it allows you to snuggle in and be cozy. She only stays in that position for so long then she comes and curls up in mommy's lap. She loves having her back rubbed while being snuggled... I'll take it for as long as she'll let me. xoxo

PHO 107 - Portraits!

 Week 7 of the photography class was to apply the rule of thirds (head in upper third of picture) and use natural light to photograph! The instructor wanted these to be outside pictures but unfortunately with the icky sickness that has infiltrated our house yet again, we had to make due with some blankets as back drops! I think they turned out just fine! I don't know if they are A work but, for a sick filled week - I think we did pretty good.

 This little punk is so sicky! She was vomiting last night until the wee hours of this morning.

This guy didn't want to cooperate but finally he gave in!

Routine

This morning went (surprising) well! There was a brief moment at 6:15 a.m. when I thought, oh it's going to be a rough day but (happily) I was surprised by the cooperation and smiles of going back to school today! Today Gracie has "Beach Day" in her classroom. She thought she could just wear her bathing suit to school... so mommy had to put the kabosh on that, her acceptance of the torching news was (amazingly) pleasant! I think we're turning a corner with "Sassiness" in the Sassy House of Spalding! I may have to change the title of the blog to the "NOT SO Sassy House of Spalding!" :) So, Gracie ended up wearing a pair stretch pants and a hoodie (minus the hood) to school OVER TOP the bathing suit.

I love these kids and their school spirit!

I just found out that Kailee's class raised $391.00 for "Have a Heart for Alyssa". A girl who has brain cancer and her family is going to use the money for medical bills. The entire school raised $2000! That's just amazing!! Since being on Student Council Kailee has been more responsible and thoughtful about things. I think the "responsibility" of Student Council is teaching her the importance of caring for others. (I mean I have tried to teach her that but apparently when someone else says it other than mom, it means more?)

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As a special treat for the Sassy's we went to see "The Lorax" at the movie theater!! It is always fun to do these special little tid-bits every so often! The Sassy's were on the "edge of their seat" the entire movie. It was so sweet and the movie has SUCH A GREAT MESSAGE!!! I wish I could have taken pictures of them; their little faces were so sweet especially at the end when the Lorax came back... it brought tears to my eyes watching the precious looks on their little faces. xoxo

And March Maddness Begins!

Today is the beginning of a long count down to SPRING BREAK! The March Maddness I speak of is not Basketball related... it is all dependent on surviving the long haul to April. Chances are it won't feel as long as it is really is... though 30 days is a long time. What to accomplish in 30 days: Well, the Sassy's want to reorganize the playroom... some of which was done a while ago but cannot really tell anymore because of all the fancy playing that goes on in this ever so magical space. In 30 days Mommy hopes to nearly have all of her classes completed! (What I wouldn't give to be done with my classes before Spring Break... that would feel SO GOOD!) Mommy has been subbing a lot lately for Char-Em and Head Start so the busy-ness of it all is keeping me from accomplishing much school work related.
We are all home again today not because of a snow day (as we wished) but because it seems our home has been infiltrated by the Rotavirus. This truly is the beginning of the Maddness! Oh... these germs have to leave us alone! We have missed too much school already... Kailee is now on her 7th day for the school year (which isn't as bad as it was when she was in Kindergarten but still that's too much!) and Grace is on her 8th day missed. Puking, fevers, strep throat, all have contributed to these missed days at least twice!! The bleaching *yes bleaching* began again yesterday... everything we touch has been bleached... everything the girls play with has been bleached (except baby clothing... we're in debates on how to handle those delicates.)
We're going to spend this **Sick Day** resting away the day so we can all get back to routine tomorrow!! Pray for us! xoxo

Perfection!

Snow Day! We've been up since 3:30 a.m. because Kailee has been vomiting... so Mommy was able to watch the school cancellations roll in since 5 a.m. it didn't take long before Petoskey Public Schools followed suit, it flashed on the television at 5:23 a.m. Thank goodness! The snow flakes are 2" round (as reported on 9 and 10 News) the winds are crazy and the snow makes it hard to see across the field! We haven't had much of a winter to speak of, so I guess we're lucky in that aspect but we're so close to Spring that the fever has got me! I just want it to be in the 60's already! I look forward to sunshine kissed cheeks, lazy afternoons with lemonade and beaching it Sassy Style! The Sassy's are so geeked because we booked our Memorial Day camping! It's slowly coming but yet coming too fast at the same time! I just want to freeze time for a little while! These Sassy's are at such fun ages!! They get along with one another pretty well, they pretend the same, they enjoy the same things... I'm so content with our life right now, it feels like perfection... now if only I could bottle it, can it or stop time!

Pizza-riffic

Support our School day was a fundraiser that included buying a pizza from local pizza places and $1 was donated to the schools. So we went with our dear friends the Himebauch's out for pizza after school. We brought Daddy back his own because he didn't get to go with us. Poor daddy always misses out on the fun! I wish I would have brought my camera to take pictures of the kids, because they did so well together! 2 mom's & 5 kids... not such a bad combo!

Story Time

One of the Sassy's favorites is stories! Every night when Daddy comes home from work, or the second mommy sits down Gracie is right there with a book saying, "read this to me." That's one thing we can never say no to... so most days these Sassy's end up with a good couple dozen books read to them. It's one joy that keeps on giving and I love it!! The love of reading is something every child should enjoy!!!

Now there's sumthin'

Today proved to have entertaining moments, being a little under the weather and snifflely we laid low... so the girls did some playing with the Barbies... well, as they are playing I hear, "Watch out, she's coming through!" I said, "Move it or use it!" "Oh come on, people really?" Then I hear, "Oh no! I can't believe she just fell down that huge clift and broked her skates and sunglasses!" (Yeah... the huge "clift" was the chair and for some reason I don't think it was a "I can't believe" situation.) So then I hear, "Now there's sumthin'." I asked what "sumthin'" was and Gracie said, well she broked her skates and sunglasses in one fall. Yep... she did.

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.