Kids say the darndest things...

Chloe has been attending Mother's Day Out two days a week this year. The boys in her class have exposed her to the "hunting" culture that is HUGE here! She came home the other day and asked how someone's hand (pointer finger) could make a gun. Then she said, "Mommy, we can't talk about guns at school. But we can talk about them at home, right?"

Yesterday, she was playing with her toy mop. She mopped with it for a while, then it became a stick horse and she galloped around the house for a few minutes, and then I heard the funniest thing...I peeked in to see what in the world she was doing. She had the mop up like she was aiming a gun and said, "shoot, shoot!" Most children would say "bang, bang" or "pow, pow," but this Spence girl came up with "shoot, shoot." Very funny!!

Hannah got a Chipmunk's Christmas album recently and has been singing all of the songs---all the time! Earlier this week, we were listening to the song, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause," and Hannah turned to me---very seriously---and said, "Mommy, you wouldn't really kiss Santa would you?" Ha, ha! I got a kick out of that one! :-)

Chloe's 3rd Birthday Invitation!!

Halloween Pic's

Chloe chose to be Little Red Riding Hood. Here she is with a cheezy smile...

Hannah chose to be a Cheerleader...

Here's Daddy and his girls in the toddler room at our church's Fall Festival!

Chloe wanted nothing to do with the people wearing masks---whether it was Tweety Bird or a Gorilla---she would climb up my leg anytime these "scary things" came near.

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy...Again!?

Hannah lost tooth #4 last night.
She came home with a scraggly smile and continued to wiggle that top front tooth until it popped right out onto the floor! She was SUPER excited and could not WAIT to see what the tooth fairy would bring her!

What a cute smile!
(She's very proud of it.)

Mail Call

Hannah has begun writing notes...almost daily...to communicate her needs. Kinda cute!

Here's one she wrote to daddy last Friday...I love the drawing---a self-portrait. The eyes are so bright and happy!

Translation:
"Dear Daddy, I love you. I cannot wait to spend the day with you tomorrow."

Here's one Mommy got yesterday after school...

Translation:
"From: Hannah To: Mom I love you Mom. Can I play with you?"

Cheer Like a Rockstar!!

Hannah attended Cheer Camp all this week after school. This morning, she got to perform her cheer and dance in front of the entire school. She was super excited---but a little nervous about having to perform some of her moves "in front of the boys in her class"---funny!!

She's a natural (and definitely takes after her Daddy and Aunt Rachael---and Mimi too)!

Her "dance" video won't load, so I'll have to try again later.

She gets to perform the cheer and dance at the high school game tonight too....It's cool outside right now---and I think we've already hit our high temp for the day. Brrr. It's going to be cold ---lots of hot chocolate!

Steve's Birthday!

Saturday was Steve's 36th birthday.


We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast---his favorite! Then we took him out to eat at Chili's for lunch---with a chocolate molten for dessert (of course). We stopped by Academy so he could spend some birthday money. Then we came home to open presents---and watch football. We ended the night with dinner at a friend's house. A very full birthday!


The girls had fun making and buying him birthday gifts and decorations. Here's a birthday banner they made together---Hannah drew the letters and punched the holes, and Chloe threaded the ribbon.
I took the girls to the Dollar Tree to let them "shop" for daddy. They came up with a "birthday boy" ribbon for him to wear, a "Happy Birthday" Sign for the yard, helium balloons, a thermometer (for the back porch), and an ice cream scoop. Kind of funny!

We designed a scavenger hunt for him. He had to follow the clues around the house to find his presents. The girls got a kick out of this one---we hid one of his presents under the kitchen table!

The day before his birthday, his favorite morning hang-out place closed---his beloved Starbucks. The manager pulled him aside and told him to take home two boxes worth of merchandise. Here's what all he found in one of the boxes (this is only HALF of what they gave him!) He was definitely a happy camper! We've donated an entire box of mugs to the college cafe at the church---they have the Starbucks look going on in there. We gave away a few of the other mugs---and plan to use the rest as presents for Christmas---to hold Starbucks coffee or gift cards to give to all of the church staff and secretaries (and the girls' teachers too).
Definitely random---but fun!

First Haircut!

We put it off long enough...Chloe finally got her first haircut last week!
Here she is sitting in Mrs. Ashley's chair. She was such a big girl.

Here's the new 'do! The back looks thicker (it's not straggly anymore) AND
it still curls up when it's wet! Yay, we didn't lose the curl!!

Fall means Pep Rallys!

Each Friday, Chloe and I (and sometimes Daddy, too) go to Hannah's school for the weekly Pep Rally! Here's a picture of Hannah and her "big sis" Mary (and Elise, a pre-k "lil sis"). Each elementary girl is assigned to a "big sis" in the middle school or high school cheer/dance squad. They get to see each other each week at the pep rally. This particular pep rally was "western" themed.

A picture of the "sisters" smiling together at the pep rally! Too cute...

At this pep rally, Hannah was chosen (along with Grant sitting beside her) to present a picture they drew for the Homecoming Queen. They had to dress up---and hold hands down the red carpet---to present their pictures to the Queen! Hannah was so excited.

Caught her!

It got really quiet, really fast a few nights ago at bedtime. It was a school night, and Hannah was fast asleep. When I went to check on the girls before heading to bed, I found Chloe asleep on the floor of their bedroom, surrounded by pillows and blankets---the remnants of a tent she built herself---when she was supposed to be in bed sleeping! Hard to see in the pic's---guess you just had to be there...she even had walls (pillows) standing up. Not bad for a 2-year old.

First Day of School...for Chloe!

In September, Chloe began her second year of Mother's Day Out at our church. Two days a week, she goes to church for a few hours to play, eat, learn letters and numbers, and nap.
Here she is posing with her nap mat and "pack-pack." :-)
She's so excited to be going to "school" like sissy!

August Camping Trip!

At the end of August, we celebrated Uncle Mike's 30th birthday with an overnight camp-out at Tyler State Park (roughly half-way between Dallas and Monroe).

We cooked all of our food (hotdogs here) over the campfire!

And we rented a paddle boat and canoe. Very fun!
Hannah even paddled the canoe around the lake with Uncle Mike.
We had to hang onto Chloe (literally)---her favorite thing to do on the paddle boat
was to sit on the VERY edge of the back platform and put her
barefeet in the water---We almost lost her once...(that's what life jackets are for!)

The girls (and grandma) had a blast on the playground!

What a fun weekend. It made me realize how much I miss camping. Thankfully, the girls are now big enough for us to be able to camp more often---and enjoy it!

First Day of School...First Grade!

Here's the big first-grader on her first day of school on August 19th.

Here's the sisters posing together. Chloe missed her big sister quite a bit during the first few days back to school.

Our Ten Year Anniversary!!

We celebrated our anniversary a bit differently this year...

As we were trying desperately to find an available babysitter, Hannah came up with a plan:
She offered to serve us an anniversary dinner here at home!

She helped plan and shop for the meal, and she totally directed the decorating of the
"Spence Mexcian Rings" Restaurant, complete with hostess stand and reservation book. :-)

She decided we could eat at the "bistro" table (brought inside from the back porch and placed in the sunny foyer). She opted for red balloons hanging from the light fixture, placemats, the "special" drinking glasses, candles---and even fresh flowers picked by hand from our backyard (with Chloe's help). She even gathered up all of the framed "mommy-daddy" pictures from around the house and displayed them on a separate bench near the table. As a final touch, she directed mommy to hang curtains in the doorway leading to the foyer.

That afternoon, she called daddy at work and "confirmed his reservation"
for 5:30 at the "restaurant."

Hannah was quite the little waitress. She fixed our plates and drinks (sweet tea for daddy, and water with extra lemon for mommy), refilled our drinks, and offered seconds. She even grabbed the camera and took pictures for us!

Chloe enjoyed the evening too! She got a kick out of eating in the foyer while sitting on the window sill and using the piano bench as her table. ;-)

We ended the day with a family walk around the block. It was definitely
a fun and memorable evening!

It's hard to believe we've been married for a decade! Time sure flies when you're having fun...

"The Best Day Ever..." by Hannah (as dictated to Mommy)

Sea World 2009

This is Shamu. He has a girl trainer on top of his nose. He is a nice killer whale. You should see Shamu at Sea World. You could go to his shows (there's 4 each day). Shamu can jump to touch the ball. He can do whatever they tell him. He can get up on dry land, spin his tail, and spin his body. He spins and spins and spins. If you sit up close to the tank, Shamu will splash you with his tail with lots of water. I think you should sit up close to the tank, becuase the water will cool you off, because it is nice and cold. That's it for my Shamu story...


This is the baby dolphin at Sea World. This is all true. I hope you believe it. I got to feed him fresh new fish and I got to feel his skin. They said his tank was 100ft long. The baby dolphin feels soft and warm and cozy. He is really cute. That's it for my dolphin story...



This is the front gate of Sea World. You need to go online to SeaWorld.com, and you can get tickets to go inside Sea World---or you can get your tickets from the front gate. I would get my tickets online so I wouldn't have to wait in line a long time. You have to have tickets to get through the front gate. That's it for my Sea World adventure. I hope you go there sometime...

10 year anniversary trip to Hot Springs!

We celebrated our 10-year anniversary with a trip to Lookout Point Bed and Breakfast Inn in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We LOVE this place! We enjoyed the food, the hammocks, the rocking chairs, the waterfall, the boat, a picnic in Garvan Gardens, playing putt-putt, and shopping. We truly did very little other than RELAX.

Here's Steve in the huge hydrotherapy tub---next to the shower that had THREE shower heads! (Steve seriously took 10 or more showers in the four days we were there---he loved that shower!) We enjoyed dreaming about remodeling our own bathroom to include these features---who knows? Maybe one day...

Kindergarten Field Day!

Mommy and Chloe went to cheer Hannah on at field day at school. Here's Hannah and Chloe with the girls from Hannah's class. Chloe enjoyed lots of attention and "doting" from these girls who think they are so much bigger than she is...What a fun day!

Hannah competed in the tug-of-war, balloon pop race, egg toss, and some relay where she had to run while balancing a ball on a cone (?). She earned FOUR ribbons---3 2nd place and 1 3rd place! Here she is showing off her ribbons.

Hate to brag, but this coupon thing is getting FUN!!

I have been couponing for about 2 months now and have consistently saved 50% or more on each grocery trip. Well, today, the girls and I ran to Target to grab a few items...

We purchased several items in addition to the ones pictured above---BUT---each of these items in this picture was absolutely FREE!! (Actually, they were less than free, because I made $0.17 on this deal---but who's counting!?)

It's kind of fun to stretch a dollar and to be a better steward of the money God gives us.

A fun afternoon with our friends Jolie and Sarah!

A few weeks ago, we had our friends Jolie and Sarah come over for the afternoon. The girls enjoyed playing dress-up, jumping on the trampoline, swinging, and riding bikes. Here they all are in the wagon---enjoying a snack!

We survived Kindergarten! First grade, here we come...

Hannah had her kindergarten end of year program at the school a couple of weeks ago. She and her class danced and sang "western" songs! Very cute!

It's official, Hannah is now a kindergarten graduate! I cannot believe it. She has grown so much this year---she's even reading! Wow!

Here she is holding her diploma and her Character Counts Medal. She was chosen out of her class as the one who most displayed the character qualities of kindness, discipline, honesty, etc. We are SUPER proud of her! Yay!!

Mothers Day!

Here's the latest video...It's one Steve and the girls made for Shelley for her best Mother's Day ever!! They made the video while Shelley was at work on Thursday. Hannah even kept it a secret for 4 days! WOW!

MORE EASTER PICTURES



Hannah's posing in her dress.
She likes the color, the bows, and the "twirl."
By the way, Hannah has begun to do her own hair.
She does a pretty good job, but I sure do miss the curls...

Chloe was not up to posing.
Here's one where she actually looked at the camera. :-)
Wish you could see her pigtails and sandals...

EASTER PICTURES

We managed to snap these pics this morning before the drenching rains came...

Silly girls...why is it so hard to get a decent picture!?
These are a couple of the better snapshots.
(Admittedly, these two above are my favorites---
they perfectly capture each of their personalities:
the "in charge, keep it organized" big sister,
and the life's-a-party "little ham" in the front.)

Our family picture!
This one was fun to take---watching Steve run back and forth from the camera.