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!
 ----
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.

No More!

There has been a request in the Sassy House of Spalding, No MORE Snapshots mom! To which I said, No WAY Sassy's! And so... this is what the camera captured today. These faces love the camera no matter what they say. Mommy loves you within each and every picture, you can see the love!
xoxo

Play Days

Today Gracie had her dear friend Lia over to play after school. She wanted me to go through their play day minute by minute so here we go:
3:05-3:12 : drive home in the car, Grace & Lia discussing what they will do when they get to the house.
3:12-3:14:  eat a quick snack of yogurt and fruit punch.
3:14-3:48:  played in the basement with the doll stuff and kitchen things; giggling loudly and playing tag with Kailee.
3:48-3:52: pestered mom and beg to frost and eat cupcakes (no they didn't win I told them after dinner).
3:52-4:09: played in the playroom with the zoobles and littlest pet shops.
4:09-4:13: pestering mom again about cupcakes.
4:13-4:29: played with mom's kindle (read the book Strawberry Day and played Angry Birds).
4:29-4:48: Kailee created a game; hide the squinkies, similar to finding Easter Eggs but better because it's squinkies of course!
4:48-5:12: Went through mom's Valentine stash and made out Valentine's for fun. (Who doesn't love giving and receiving a Valentine?)
5:12-5:14: Washing hands for dinner
5:14-5:30: Eatting dinner and discussing the fun that was had while playing here today.
5:30-5:44: Frosting our cupcakes and decorating with sprinkles!
5:44-5:47: Eat our cupcakes.
5:47-6:09: Play "Kailee's version of pictionary", which is similar to I'm drawing something random and when you guess something I want it to be, then that's what it is.
6:09: Lia's mom arrived to take her home. Hugs and thank you's for coming were said. Happy girls departed and quickly went to bed.
Good times were had in the Sassy House of Spalding!

Bed Time

 These precious faces are surprisingly tired at the end of the day. These little hands, feet and brains work very hard all day long by 6:30 p.m. these little Sassy's are ready for bed. By 7 p.m. they are cozy in their beds nestled in with sugar plums dancing in their pretty little heads. Some may think that it is too early for a child to go to bed, I feel that if a child wasn't tired, they wouldn't sleep! These little Sassy's sleep a good 11 1/2 hours every night! I believe that sleep is how they allow their little bodies to rejuvenate for the next day and process all that information that they learned through out the day.

Super Sunday!

 It's been a long 4 days for the Sassy House of Spalding! Momma has been busy studying for a huge exam. Daddy has been busy taking care of the house for Momma and the Sassy's have been being very good!
This is what happens when Momma is busy... daddy gets creative and tries all kinds of weird concoctions... this time you'll never guess what it is...

Chocolate covered bacon.

 Super bowl Sunday was spent roasting a chicken... the Sassy's were fascinated that this machine can turn that chicken without it falling off. It's magic! 

That chicken was well worth the wait! It was juicy, tasty and all kinds of yummy in the tummy.

Funky

"Sup, my name's G. G-Money."

This whole bunches of Sassy is all kinds of crazy funny when she's dressed up. Tonight's attire she was sporting... sunglasses, a floppy hat, a girl scouts vest, t-shirt and pj shorts. There was a gold cape at one point but she wanted the cool vest to be seen in the picture. This is how G rolls after school... LOVE IT!

Tuesday.

So we're going to pretend it's Tuesday when I'm writing this because it was so crazy yesterday that we never had a chance to write an entry!
This was our Tuesday:
Wake up at 6:45 a.m. (20 minutes late)
Breakfast
Get dressed
Brush teeth & hair
Go to bus stop
Wait patiently
Go to school and be happy all day.
Ride bus home.
See mom waiting in car and smile.
Come inside and eat a snack.
Start helping mom clean up the playroom... (more organization bins arrived in the mail - woo hoo)
Kailee gets upset and starts crying because she doesn't want to clean anymore.
So Kailee take a time away to think.
Gracie helps mom sort more toys.
Gracie then decides she needs a time away to think.
Mom is left to cleaning playroom (which is okay because mom wanted it a little more organized.)
Mom starts dinner.
Kailee and Gracie are still enjoying their time away spots. (Reading books)
Daddy comes home and puts steaks on the grill.
Daddy cleans out his truck... (it's an organizing kind of day!)
We watch as the sun disappears as the sky turns dark.
We eat dinner... steak, mashed potatoes and green beans.
(No dessert tonight because they choose time away spots instead of helping clean.)
Kailee showers first tonight because it's an odd night.
While she's showering Mom & Gracie shadow read Snow White.
Gracie showers.
While she's showering Mom & Kailee talk about what we should do for Kailee's birthday (Tea Party theme she has in mind.)
After both are snuggly in their pj's and in bed.
We read one story and turn out the lights.
Everyone is sleeping peacefully by 7:10 p.m.
What a full day!

Crisp Morning Sunrise

This morning we woke up to dark (what feels like middle of the night dark)... that kind of dark that makes it hard for everyone to get moving. So we had to get ourselves motivated for school by enticing ourselves with a little "go juice" a.k.a. hot chocolate. It's not a normal morning request but this morning with it as chilly as it was, I knew it would feel good to fill tummies with warm goodness while waiting for the school bus.

Do you see the tired? It's so hard to leave the coziness of our beds on cold mornings...

 

Just when we start to think the morning was so long... we see this beautiful sunrise while awaiting the bus.

This kind of beauty is our reward for getting out of bed.

We are blessed!

Heaven...

Picture it: (Gracie is laying on my bed, petting our cat.) 

Gracie asks, "Mom what do you think Heaven is like?"

"What do you think it is like Grace?" 

"Mom, I think it's like...." (before she can finish Kailee walks in and jumps on the bed.) 

Gracie asks Kailee, "Kailee what do you think Heaven is like?"

To which Kailee quickly replies, without giving it any thought or consideration, as if she's contemplated this question before, "Oh that's easy, it's perfect-ness. It's a place where people get to be together forever and not have to say goodbye."(I'd say she's definitely given this a lot of thought and she makes me so proud.)

Gracie replies, "Kailee that's a really good thought, but I just want to know will there be houses or do we live in clouds?"  

((I love them!))

 

A Sprinkling of Sparkle

 Guess what... it did it again... yes... it snowed! It was so beautiful outside, everything freshly sprinkled with the beautiful glitter of God. The sparkle that God sprinkled all over the yard was so clean and pure... it was nearly breathtaking. But it wasn't enough to get the Sassy's or myself outside.While we sat within the warmth of the house. Me with my coffee in one hand and kindle in the other, daddy bravely went out and shoveled the driveway. (Don't feel bad for him, he loves it. As soon as he seen it snowed last night, he got all twitter-patted and antsy about getting outside. I think he just likes a reason to wear his warm hunting boots - since he doesn't hunt anymore.) So... while daddy was shoveling away... (Note: Gracie made an observation... she said, it looks like he's pushing more than shoveling mom. Oh the humor that child has without even knowing it.) ... anyway... while he was "pushing" the snow ... the Sassy's and I were snuggled inside. We watched daddy shoveling , pushing for the longest while. Almost feeling bad... but not quite.

So while daddy was doing some daddy-duties, we were enjoying playing on the kindle. We listened to some books (Luna, is our newest favorite book - it's about a little girl who looks at the moon. It's really super cute.) and then we played Angry Birds and Words with Friends against each other. (These Sassy's are brilliant! They can come up with great words worth lots of points. We love waking up to the beauty of the sparkly snow... we love staying inside and being cozy just as much though.