Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!! Look at my little stair steps, aren't they they cutest!!

Don't forget the true reason for the season. Emmanuel, God with us!

What We've Been Up To

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted last. Time gets away from me!!

In short, here's what we've been up to:

Ethan and I worked on a "bean" turkey. Aren't they both so CUTE!

I've worked on a MILLION bows. Abby has one in every color and boy is she FANCY! Joel wanted to try them all on too! I'd like to sell them, since I have SO many, anybody interested??

Sam had a chess tournament. I took him, and we both had a great time. Who knew chess could be interesting?!

This was Sam's first competitor. Notice the rat tail. Rat tail's Mom was no joke the equivalent of a Chess Pageant Mom. I thought I might slug her if she yelled at my kid one more time. Sam should have beat him, but being the sweet kid he is he agreed to a tie.

Ethan lost his first tooth...

...courtesy of Miss Connie. That woman just YANKED it out!! She's brave!

We continued our annual Thanksgiving Eve tradition by eating at "The Original Steakhouse" where kids eat free every Wednesday night AND they have free "hand" painting. (It would be "face" painting but have you ever tried to eat with a kid who just recently had their face painted?? It's very stressful for everyone involved!!)

Mom and Dad had a nice time too!

On T-day night the boys enjoyed Home Alone for the first time with Papa. They are still asking when it will be on again. I think they could watch it nonstop. But then, I could too, just to hear them giggle!

We put up the Christmas tree. I had a BIG helper.

And lastly, Abby got to sit in the Bumbo for the first time. Joel loves to talk and play with her.

Overall it was a wonderful November. We are so thankful for everything in our lives, trying to be thankful about the uncertainties. Merry Christmas everyone!!

A More Beautiful You

It's always hard after you have a baby to keep things in perspective. One day I'll have my body back, one day I'll be "beautiful" again.

It has been so refreshing to hear this song from John Diaz, especially after receiving what I have dubbed a Kate Gosslin haircut. I swear I went into the salon imagining walking out as some super model. Why am I always disappointed when it's just the same ol' me??

When I got out of the car after many hours and way to much money at the salon, the

first thing Sam said to me was "I don't like it". After doing a little more digging I

realized he just meant he didn't like it because I didn't look like "Mommy"

anymore. Ahhh...how sweet. Gotta love little boys!

I think my favorite part of this song is that I was "made to fill a purpose that only

I can do". WOW!! God made me, Heather Spencer, for a specific purpose.

That's mind boggling and amazing all in the same thought. Before Abby was

born I didn't pay much attention to this song. A girlfriend of mine who has

4 girls had it on her blog and I thought it was sweet but my perspective

has totally changed since having her. I pray the Lord gives me the grace

to teach her that beauty truly is on the inside contrary

to what the world would like us to believe!

It's happened again...

My baby went from this:

To this:

In the blink of an eye!!

Last Monday, Ethan turned SEVEN! I just can't believe that seven years ago I was holding this little boy and wondering what in the world we were going to do with him. The little boy who was born with his foot turned in and who's birth kept me flat on my back for 10 days with a throbbing spinal headache! A birth that won me a trip back to the hospital in an ambulance and an MRI that I will never forget. I wouldn't trade any of it if it meant not having him. Ethan is a delight in our house. He is a ray of light every moment of every day. Here are some pictures of his big day which included a play date with his friend Luke (shown above).

Of course the theme this year was transformers! Believe it or not...this is JOEL!

Sam sipping coke, Gabe trying to put his mask on!

Two first grade transformers.

A Razor scooter from Gigi and Papa!

A transformer gun from Granny and Grandpa!

The cake per Ethan's request: Ice-cream cake with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee on top.

Seeing the cake for the first time. He was EXCITED! This is the cake my Mom always made me for my birthday...it is so yummy, ya'll want the recipe??

And now seven things I love about my seven year old:

1. My favorite thing about Ethan right at this very moment is that everyday, several times a day, he tells me how beautiful Abby is. Then he tells me how beautiful I am. LOVE IT!
2. Ethan loves to snuggle. We spent the first 30 minutes of the morning today snuggling on the couch. He is going to make some woman very happy one day.
3. Ethan can read, he can read really well, he doesn't do it often but he's smarter then he gives himself credit for.
4. Ethan delights in making Joel laugh, he loves making himself a human ride for Joel.
5. Ethan is a fantastic artist. He loves comic books and super heros!
6. Ethan is a great mimicker. He makes me laugh with all of his antics.
7. Despite being knee high to a grasshopper and barely 40lbs sopping wet Ethan would beat up anyone for being mean to his family. That kid is as loyal as the day is long and I know I always want him on my side.

I love you Ethan Mark! Happy seventh birthday. I hope I'm around to see your 70th!

And just because it is so darn cute...a picture of Sam and Abby:

More Fall Fun and an Announcment

Attempting to "do it all" with five children is rather hard. Here are some pictures of us trying to make memories. (Let me just say there were a few times I wanted to run out of the room yelling "We are having fun DAMN IT!!", sorry for the potty mouth).

Picking out a pumpkin for our first ever pumpkin carving. "Mommy, we should get that one"

"I'll sit on this pumpkin, but I still think we should get THAT pumpkin"

"You're not going to get that pumpkin are you?"

Abby did what Abby does best...SCREAM!!!

Still worried about that pumpkin!

He had every right to be worried...I went with a different pumpkin!

Sam reading me the directions on how to carve a pumpkin. Like I mentioned before, this was our first time!

Stabbing the top!!

To say that Gabe thought the pumpkins stunk would be an under statement!

Our bat pumpkin in all it's glory. Of course we forgot to put it out on Halloween but we still had fun carving it.

On a side note, I made some FANTASTIC pumpkin seeds with it. I did some research online and combined a couple of recipes.

1. Remove seeds from pumpkin and place (goop and all) into a pot of salted water.

2. Bring water to a boil.

3. Boil for 20 minutes.

4. Strain seeds and remove any extra "goop", most will have come off during the boiling.

5. Spread seeds on a cookie sheet and allow to dry for 24 hours.

6. Melt enough butter to evenly coat your seeds. Toss seeds in butter and spread back out on a cookie sheet.

7. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

8. Crack sea salt over seeds.

9. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15.

10. ENJOY!

Lastly, I wanted to post our baby girl's birth announcement. Greg did a fantastic job taking the picture and a special thanks to my brother for all the post processing he did to make them just right!

Aren't my kids precious! The Lord truly has done great things for us!

Halloween

Wanted to post pics from yesterday. This time of year is crazy for us. Halloween is always nuts with a five kiddos and then 2 days later is Ethan's b-day. After that everything is blur from now until Gabe's b-day in January. AGHH!!! I wanted to go ahead and post our costume pics and will try to back track later this week with pictures of fall "stuff".

Optimus prime, Bumblebee, Bumblebee and a monkey!

The two Bumblebees!

Of course Miss Abby as a 50's poodle skirt girl. Thanks to Patricia for the awesome skirt!!

You can tell Daddy took this one while Mommy was out with the boys trick or treating. "Hello Daddy, my skirt is up to my arm pits", ha! I love this BOW!! How fun to have a girl!

It poured on us, can you tell?

They didn't care that they were getting wet...I did!

Always excited about candy!

I'm glad the boys had fun. I was pretty miserable. Stay tuned for more from this weeks fall festivities!

When you are having a bad hair day...

It's best to ACCESSORIZE!!!

A Parent's Love

My parents had a full term still born before I was born. Her name was Amanda and things were different back then. My Dad was allowed to see her, they told my Mom it was best she not. I wouldn't say I was necessarily my parents "miracle baby" but I would say my birth was miraculously different from what they had gone through just 18 months before.

Today I was going through my memory box and found my baby book complete with these pictures:

Just looking at them makes me tear up. Look at my Daddy (he doesn't always look shocked like he does in that first one, ha!) he is so proud of me. Look at how thin he looks, how dark his hair is, and it's wavy. It's like looking at my brother with dark hair, and look at me, I look just like Abby. Even my boys said, "is that Uncle Gregory with Abby?". Look at his hands! I love hands, I love my Mom's hands, my Dad's hands, my boys hands, Greg's hands!

In that same box I also found my Baby Memory Book. It was neat to hear my Mom talk about the day I was born, to see my grandmother's handwriting, but especially to hear about the day I came home:

Daddy came to pick us up around noon. Julie Bennett (nurse) came to see us before we left. Mommy wore a pink carnation corsage which Aunt Judy and Uncle Jerry sent. The nurses had brought Heather and Mommy dressed her in a yellow nightgown. On the way home we stopped by McDonald's and got some lunch to bring home. When we got home there was a little lost puppy at the door and Mommy made Daddy take the puppy home before he helped us in the house. Heather slept all the way home. After we got home we put Heather to bed, ate our lunch and Mommy and Daddy took a nap, too! Later Eric and Robin Kennedy dropped by and brought chicken for supper and a bassinet for Heather to sleep in. Then Grandma and Grandpa came.

It makes me smile to think about my Mom being worried about a stray puppy. She is pretty no nonsense and I can't imagine it. It's just fun imagining them bringing me home in the same way I've brought all my babies home.

I love you Mom and Dad!

Alright, enough mush...Mom stop crying so you can look at these pics of your grandbabies:

Abby and Abby Cadabby

Abby on her one month birthday enjoying some tummy time. Don't worry I check on her about every 2 minutes when she's like this!

And to close this post...a picture of my littlest boy baby. We went to the Chick-fil-a play area the other day. When we got home he went straight for the wipes. I guess even he could tell that place is a petri dish!