Enjoying Life

Things around our house have actually been pretty calm lately. Everything is moving smoothly, no major drama- we're pretty much just floating through life enjoying every minute of it.

Jamie and I love to sit back and just watch as the girls interact and play with each other. Karlie is in the part of her life where she is very observant and tries to imitate everything she hears and sees- very funny at times. Supper time has turned into one of my favorite times. Kinsley enjoys saying the prayer before our meal and is echoed by "jabba jabba da da AMEN" by Karlie.

I try to cherish every moment because I know this is the calm before the storm. May is one of the busiest months of our entire year. We have Jamie and Kinsley's birthday, our anniversary, Kinsley's school program, and I have graduate classes every weekend. I am looking forward to being out of school to be home with the girls this summer. I always enjoy getting to just be a mom (as if that isn't a big enough job) and take a break from being a teacher, student, and mom.

So, I will do my best to add new pictures and post about everything going on, but if you keep checking and still find this post...don't give up on me....just check back in June. Ha Ha!

Happy Easter!

The Spears Family enjoyed a wonderful Easter this year. Both girls have enjoyed hunting eggs and eating as much candy as they can possibly get in their mouths...(Kinsley is paying for that tonight - she has been sick to her stomach). Guess that is a lesson that you learn quickly as a child.

We hunted eggs on Saturday at church. It went much better than last year when Kinsley was so afraid of the Easter bunny that she wouldn't hunt any eggs. Don't get me wrong...we still DID NOT get close to the bunny, but we at least got down and hunted eggs. Karlie didn't seem to understand why she was putting eggs in her bucket, but she quickly learned that when she saw a colored egg, she was supposed to bend down, pick it up, and throw it in her bucket.

We had Easter dinner at my parents' house and also had an egg hunt there. Karlie didn't need any directions this time. :) It was a good day- all the grandkids enjoyed flying a kite and playing outside. It was pretty cool outside, but they didn't seem to mind.

We were thankful to have another holiday where we were all blessed with good health. We had a scare on Saturday when Tyler (my nephew) was mauled by a huge Alaskan Huskie. He was rushed to the ER and it took 15 staples to close up the wounds in his head. He is such a brave kid. We are all thankful that he is okay.

The Snow is Here...so why the disappointment?

It finally came! The biggest snow of the season. It started snowing at our house around 7:30 Friday night and kept snowing off and on until around 8:30 Saturday morning. All in all we ended up with about 3-4 inches. It was beautiful! We all woke up excited and couldn't wait to get outside- to FINALLY build a snowman.

It took about 15 minutes to get eveyone bundled up in their layers. We stepped outside and within 5 mintues the whining and crying began...Kinsley was cold, Karlie didn't want her gloves on- but then her hands were too cold- so either way she was upset. Plus, the snow was so deep Karlie couldn't walk in it without falling down. So, the crying got worse. I think 7 minutes was the extent of our outside time before we all headed back in.

So, I think I was the most disappointed of all- the Yankie in me wanted to stay outside and build a big snowman- complete with scarf, eyes, stick arms, and a rock mouth. But, instead, I had to come back in the house where the "southern girls" were happier. Maybe when they get older they will learn to appreciate a big southern snow that doesn't come very often.

Jamie had decided not to play in the alumni tournament. "I'd rather stay home and play with my girls in the snow" I think were his exact words. By 2:30 we were at the gym ready for a good old basketball game with Jamie and about 7 of his buddies. They ended up having to play 5 games in a row because they kept winning. By 9:00 last night they were completely worn out and proving that "the mares aren't near what they used to be". Their basketball skills were still there- it was the cramps, heavy breathing, exhaustion, and dehydration that pretty much affected the entire team right in time for the championship game. So, they got killed. But still came home with a trophy for Runners-Up. It was a lot of fun watching all of them play together again...brought back some high school memories for me. I am already looking forward to the tournament next year.

Waiting for the Snow...

They say it is coming...the biggest snow of the season. I am excited, but skeptic...haven't we heard this before this year? As a teacher, I am sure that they have called for snow that we never got. So I was prepared to go to school and try to tame the wild beasts (the threat of snow does strange things to kids- ask any teacher). However as I was walking out the door, I got the phone call that we are out of school for the day. So as I sit here looking out the window and I see nothing- not even rain at this point- I'm wondering why school was closed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Just a little perplexed. Kinsley has been dying to build a snowman all winter and has been disappointed every time. Maybe this time she will get her wish. Until then, we'll just keep waiting, watching, and enjoying a long weekend at home together.

By the way, if you haven't heard, they are doing an Alumni basketball tournament Saturday in Columbia. Jamie and some of his CA basketball buddies are going to be playing. Should be fun to watch because if they are all like him...."The Old Gray Mare ain't what he used to be!" Ha Ha! He will love me for that one!

Finally a New Post!

Don't you just hate when you keep checking someone's blog and you see the exact same picture or exact same post day after day, week after week? Me, too. So , I figured I need to write SOMETHING- even if nothing wonderful or horrible have happened and life has just been moving along quite steadily.

So, what have we been up to? A little bit of nothing but a whole lot of everything. Somehow our lives seem to keep getting busier even though we keep promising to slow down.

Karlie is in the process of leaving the baby phase and turning into a little toddler. She is very verbal and will say just about anything you ask her to say (but only if SHE wants to say it). I have always heard about siblings who are very different but I never realized just how different they could actually be until Karlie came along. She is not shy and reserved like Kinsley. She is rough and tough, and if you make her mad she comes at you. In fact, her big sister is already scared of her! Ha Ha! Ages 3 1/2 and 1 and we already have some pretty interesting fights!

Speaking of Kinsley, she was struck with the flu a week ago. Luckily her pediatrician gave the entire family Tamiflu to help keep us from getting sick from her. Apparently it worked because the rest of us made it through our five days without any problem. She was pretty pitiful, but has made a full recovery. I think those were the longest five days of our life because the doctor advised us not to go anywhere because we might be contagious...so the Spears family spent 5 whole days(Wed-Sun) at home and didn't go anywhere. By Monday we were about to go completely out of our minds!

So, we took Karlie to get her 1 year old pictures made (yes she is already 16 months old- don't remind me). The proofs turned out pretty good, even though Karlie was in her "I don't care what you do, you can't make me smile" mood. Ah! Finally one thing my children both have in common- being hardheaded when trying to get pictures made. Now isn't that quality that parents just love for their children to have?

Jamie has been very busy at work. He has had to give a few presentations and for those of you who know him, that is completely out of his comfort zone. However he came through both of them successfully and I think he has actually increased his confidence a little. He has also been working very hard at getting in shape and losing weight. He does a much better job than I do of running or working out on a daily basis. He has lost about 7 pounds so far. (Yes I am jealous!)

I have been a little overwhelmed this semester with my Masters classes. We have 2 of our hardest classes at the same time- School Law and Organization of Public Schools. We've had lots of papers and interviews, and busy work- plus the professors decided to start giving us tests this semester. So, between work, school, and trying to keep our family taken care of, that has left me very little time (or energy) to workout.

Other than all of that, not much has been going on with our family. We are just trying to fight the pattern of getting so involved in daily life that we forget to stop and smell the roses. Does life ever slow down? Every year it seems to go by faster.