Christmas

I am finally posting about our Christmas. We have been running all over for the last week or so. Here are some of the pictures to show what we were up to for Christmas. Our usual traditions were carried on this year and we also started a new tradition. We decided to cut our kids gifts back to 2. Yes, two. Spencer was really the only one we had to explain it to, but he took it very well and didn't seem to mind at all. We also decided to buy gifts for a family. I guess you can say we "adopted" a family. Spencer was the most excited about this whole experience. He took part in making the shopping list and buying some of the gifts. We wrapped all the gifts on Christmas Eve day and after our Dove family party, it was time for the "drop off". We turned off our headlights as we made our way toward the house. Spencer and I sneaked all the gifts out the back of the car, and tiptoed up to the door. We had made our plan before getting out of the car. We placed all of the gifts on the step, knocked on the door and took off running. Tim was parked in the dark waiting to drive away as soon as we were in the car. But we did get to see the ladies face whenever she opened the door, looked around and found the gifts. This was one of the high lights of my Christmas~as well as all our family. We enjoyed giving and teaching our kids that giving is much better than receiving.

We also decided to get out of town on Christmas Day. We headed down to the beach for some R&R. But our R&R didn't turn out quite as we had planned. Tim and I both got a stomach virus and spent the last day or so sick~YUCK!! Things are looking up now, thankfully the kids have not gotten it...yet!

We hope you all had a very merry christmas and we wish you the absolute very best in 2009.

Family Photo Shoot

We decided to take a few pictures before Tim, Chris, Sarah and I attended the Palmetto Drag Racers Dinner on Saturday. The picture says it all~~and you wonder where the kids get their silliness from!

Elf-vis

WES second grade had their cookie decorating night and Play last week. Every family had a big christmas tree cookie to decorate (which I gladly ate :).

In case you are wondering about Sawyer, he was mesmerized by Gunner and Katlin.

Then they big performance. The kids had to "try-out" for the parts, and Spencer was a rockin' elf. He really enjoyed the role. I must say I was a little surprised that he actually did the part with so many people in attendance. He did such a great job.

Another case of Strep

Apparently Spencer also has strep. So whenever I took Saxon for his check up, I picked up a rx for Spencer. Let's hope this is all gone soon. I can barely remember everything I need to remember now, how am I suppose to remember 2 prescriptions to be given twice daily??? Wish me luck!!

Strep

Sawyer has been running a fever since Sunday, and then today he had a rash all over. So I decided to take him to the doctor since the tylenol wasn't doing much for him. Well guess why? He has strep. After the visit, we headed over to Target to get the prescription filled whenever I talked to Leslie and found out that Publix fills antibiotics for FREE! Can you believe it? I marched right up to the pharmacy and ask for my rx back and took it right over to Publix. Well, this picture has nothing to do with Sawyer being sick, I just thought it was funny. Sawyer went in the playroom the other day and came out fussing about something, so whenever I turned around I saw he had a movie box stuck to his pants....too cute!

Santa Visit

So if you haven't been, you need to go see Santa at Dutch Square Mall. He is just sitting there all alone waiting on kids to come see him. The best part, you bring your own camera and take your own photo. Is that great or what?
I know, you're thinking...Dutch Square? Yes, for the most part it is a ghost town, but hey for a free picture....we'll drive out there.

As you can see, "Mr Chit~Chat-Never-meet a stranger Spencer" jumped right in and started telling Santa what he wanted. He also told him about our "2 GIFT RULE". We all discussed it and decided the kids would all get only 2 gifts this year. Then, can you believe Spencer said, he really doesn't have to bring us anything, we have enough. Talk about a head swelling on mom. I felt so proud that he could put aside all the gifts and wants, to say enough is enough.

We were also inspired by Pres. Giles talk on giving and Christmas that we have decided to take on a little "project" of our own. No details will be given.


Sawyer wasn't so sure about Santa. He kept his distance until finally we convinced him to sit on Spencer's lap. Whenever you ask him what does he want for Christmas, he just looks at you. He hasn't a clue.

Of course Saxon was enjoying life and smiling away!

Spradley Family Updates

Here are a few pictures of the ongoings at our home! This year is flying by. Spencer is enjoying school, Sawyer is crazy as ever and Saxon is growing like a weed. We attempted baby food with Saxon yesterday. For the most part I think he liked it. The pictures are "HILARIOUS!" Thanks Leslie for being my photographer....boy did she get some good shots. ENJOY!

Sullivan's 9th Birthday

Today we celebrated Sullivan's 9th birthday with a balloon release, lunch and a cake. It was a small family event. We began our day by taking a floral cake to the cemetery and the roadside. Then home to prepare for lunch and balloon release. We released balloons at 1:44pm, which is the time of Sullivan's birth. We have always done something special at the time of our children's birth. For his first birthday, he and I were headed to the doctor for his check up and we pulled over to the side of the interstate to video him for a minute. Small things like this mean a great deal now.

If your children don't realize how important they are to you, make it a point to let them know...no matter how old or young. Always tell them how much you love them! A bond between a parent and child is something that is unbreakable. Boys hold a special place in mom's heart, and will always by my little boys! :)

Sullivan

Sullivan's 9th birthday is Saturday, so I decided to blog about it a few days before. Although we are SOOO busy with school, church, babies and life in general, we still miss Sullivan everyday. We miss his smile and laughter, his loving personality and most of all his hugs and kisses. We feel his spirit with us and we know we will be an eternal family one day, but sometimes that doesn't seem to ease the pain. Our days are a little (fraction) easier now, but we still miss everything about him. We sometimes pull out an old video to watch just to hear his voice (with his sweet little lisp) and see his smiling face. We have planned something special for his birthday at the time of his birth and will post about it at a later time. Please pray for our family and loved ones who are coping with Sullivan's loss. We will forever miss him and our love will continue to grow day by day! Until our reunion day ~ WE LOVE YOU SULLIVAN!!

Sullivan's 5th Birthday Party

Fear Factor

Family Fun Day 2008

Thanks to everyone for helping make this event a success. We enjoyed our day remembering Sullivan and supporting MADD Kershaw County. Despite the weather, we raised $700 on Saturday. We also had $1000 donation from BCBS as well as others. Thank you for your donations and support!

Family Fun Day!!

Family Fun Day

In Memory of

Sullivan

Sat, Nov 15 11~2

Scott Park, Battleship Road

Camden

RAIN OR SHINE!!

Veteran's Day Parade

Michael marched in the Veteran's Day Parade today downtown. Joey Conte is on the end carrying the gun and Michael is next to him carrying the Lugoff-Elgin white flag. Being at the parade made me proud to have the frredom we enjoy day to day. God Bless the USA ~ who knows what the future holds.

Happy Veteran's Day

Here is an "oldie" but a goodie. This is a picture of my veteran after he graduated from Basic Training at Fort Jackson in 1990. Has it really been 18 years??? Oh how time does fly. Tim went on to AIT in El Paso, Texas and then to Iraq to fight in Desert Storm. He safely returned home just before I graduated from high school. I love you Tim !!!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Thanks to all of our service men and women who fight for our freedom!

Friendly Reminder

Don't forget...

VOTE

Tomorrow!!

Happy Halloween

Tonight we hosted a Halloween Party. I must say that we all had a very good time. The kids loved it! Well...most of it. The hayride was a little scary for some of them. Thanks to all who came and participated! We will definately make this an annual event. Hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween!

Carving of the Pumpkin

Roseola

Well it seems as though Saxon has gotten roseola. Don't know how or when, but he was apparently exposed to it 7~10 days before the rash broke out. SO, he was contagious last week when he was running fever....however, I attributed the fever to the 4 shots he was given at his well check-up last Monday. Bless his little heart, he hasn't slept well in 4 nights (neither have we) and has been so fretful during the day. Luck for me, I worked at school today so my mom dealt with him all day. But now it's sundown and he's all mine. :) Happy sleeping to all of you! Enjoy your rest ~ atleast you are getting some! LOL

The State Fair '08

Spencer, Sawyer & I enjoyed an afternoon at the fair on Wednesday. The kids had a blast, even though Sawyer was too small to ride anything. Thankfully my mom watched Saxon so he didn't have to beat the heat with us! ENJOY!

How dare you?

At approximately 7pm on Monday, Oct 13, my niece and I put a political sign in my front yard. It was far enough from the road that it was not considered "county property", so it was actually on my property. (Apparently political signs have to be on private property) Anywho, this morning at approximately 7:15 am, the sign was gone. How dare someone come into my yard, trespassing no less, and take something that does not belong to them?

You can take away my sign, but you cannot take away my vote. You may disagree with the candidates or what they stand for, but I urge you to NOT listen to the "driveby media" and seek for yourself what the candidates stand for and then exercise your right to vote.

Remember: NOV 4th VOTE!

Saxon at 4 months

Look at our little chunky dunk...

• 15 lbs 9.5 ozs
• 25 inches long
• 50th percentile for weight and height

He's graduated from his cradle into a porta crib (thanks Pam). And he doesn't miss a thing...especially me. Wherever I go in a room, he doesn't miss me. He is another sweet, sweet boy. But what should I expect right?!! :)

Sneaky Sawyer

Sawyer took the opportunity while I was pumping to sneak Saxon's pacifier and enjoy some private playtime. It was too cute not to take a picture of. Then of course I took on the Mommy role and explained he shouldn't.

This is a new reaction Sawyer has had whenever he eats some dairy products...not milk, not egg...so go figure. We will see how things progress. Looks like Trent is getting over his allergies and Sawyer may be getting them? Hopefully not!

Cookie Time

It's cookie time. The kids enjoyed some baking time last week. I must say, the cookies were delicious.

Obnoxious

Spencer had already gone to bed for the night whenever he got up (for the 2nd time) to tell Tim & I that he felt "obnoxious". I said, "You feel what?" He said, "you know when you feel like you are gonna throw up...obnoxious." How funny!! AND, this morning I volunteered in his class and he ask me to come back and eat lunch with him. I told him that I would come home and check on Sawyer and Saxon and that we might come back and eat lunch with him. Well, when I picked him up after school he said that he didn't eat his lunch because he was waiting on me to get there. How bad do I feel? But sometimes, especially at school when I am leaving, it's easier to say maybe than no :)o

Happy Birthday Tim

Happy Birthday to Tim! It just dawned on us, now that the kids are in bed and everyone is settled down for the night that we didn't get any pictures of Tim today. We had soccer this morning and then a much needed lazy day at home. I'll be sure to take one tomorrow and post! OOPS!

Saxon at 3 months

Saxon is now 3 months old...time is flying by! Contrary to this photo, he still has colic and periodically has crying spells. He also has not been acting himself, so I took him in to the dr on Friday to find that ears, throat and chest are all clear. Dr Finch said that it may be a little bit of reflux, so we are trying a new rx to see if that will help him. He weighed a whopping 14 lbs 2.5 ozs. Can you say chunky dunk?

We're still trying to determine who he looks like, in this picture....hands down...SULLIVAN!

But sometimes he looks like my dad and brother.

Good week wishes to all!

Lessons Learned this Week

We've had quite an interesting week, to say the least. Here are a few of the high lights;
~a hard fall on your face from the sofa to the floor will trigger Spencer's nose bleeds...AGAIN!
~AM sneezing and not covering your nosebleed will stain a white stripe shirt and cause reason for changing your outfit before 7am for school
~don't hit the snooze too many times when you are scheduled to work
~wallpaper picked by an 18 months olds tiny fingers WILL pull off in small strips
~when 2 boys are left alone and there is silence, someone (Sawyer) is usually locked in the dog crate, but Spencer said the gate wasn't locked (so much for mom pumping and checking blogs)
LAST BUT DEFINATELY NOT LEAST-
Cooking sausage biscuits in the microwave on 4 mintues will cause smoke to roll from the microwave like a chimney in December!

I hope you have gotten a good laugh from our week, because I did. We have to laugh, we have too much going on to cry over small stuff!

Don't sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff!

How Many of Me?

This is pretty interesting... check it out!!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Hot Mama

Spencer and I were sitting at the table doing homework the other day, while Sawyer was watching Barney and Saxon was napping. And out of the blue Spencer asked me what did I want to be when I grow up? I said, "A mother of 4 boys." He said, "well, what do you want to be when you are 80?" I said, "A grandma and great-grandma." He said, "And you will still be hot! With your stripe pants and black shirt (which is what I had on) wearing your pumps everyday." I couldn't help but lol. How funny is that? And what does he know about being hot and wearing pumps? Talk about making me feel good, since I am still carrying around 20 extra LBs! :)

Sullivan Billboard

If you have traveled any of the local interstates that have the LCD screen billboards, you may have seen this. DPS asked for pictures of those killed by drunk drivers to post during the "Sober or Slammer" campaign. We drove down Memorial Day and took this picture at the billboard on I77 between Shop Rd and Garners Ferry exits. Tim also saw the billboard in Charleston, so this was state wide, not just Columbia. Three years later and Sullivan is still making an impact!

Soccer time again

It's soccer time again, and I must say that I am kind of excited. I enjoy watching Spencer (any of our kids) playing sports. He has only had one practice, today's practice was cancelled due to the weather (which ended up being sunny). Seems to be more girls than boys on his team, so this should be an interesting season.

I'm not sure what is so interesting, but Sawyer and his new friend just had to check it out.

Weekend Wedding

We made a day trip Saturday to Clemson to Sandy and Jonathon's wedding. My mom, sister and niece all went with Tim, myself, Sawyer and Saxon. Leslie was gracious enough to allow Spencer to spend Saturday all day and night with them. The road trip was not so bad, and seemed to fly by...but I guess when you are all talking non-stop time passes quickly. We had a great day and wish years of happiness to the new family!

I think they should've played "Holding out for a hero" as they drove away on the Harley ;)

(Bo & Hope fans will understand)

First Day of 2nd grade

Spencer is officially back to school. :( I am sad to see him go, and Sawyer kept saying "I cool" (meaning I go to school) and pointing at the door. Tim and I walked him in and the kids and I picked him up. He said that he loved 2nd grade, it was a whole lot more fun than first. He also said that he loves his teacher. By the way, that is a gift for his teacher in his hand. He told me that he REALLY liked his teacher, and when he hugged her she smelled GOOD! lol How cute is that?!! After homework today, I wonder if I am really ready for school, but unfortunately, I have no choice.

Good luck to all the little kiddies this year! Unpacking!

Saxon Update

This is one of the moments when Saxon wasn't crying. He went for his check up last week ~ 12lbs 2 ozs and 24" long, shew... talk about growing. Anyway, Dr Finch diagnosed him with colic. We had noticed over the last few weeks he just wasn't content, with sleep, feeding or anything. It was easy to explain it away to hungry or sleepy, but the crying wasn't going away. So he gave us a prescription for levlin, and I took it this weekend to get it filled. In the process, Jenny experienced first-hand what kinds of fits he can throw. Tim can't seem to deal with them, and I just can't seem to kiss them away. The more I kiss the more he cries. We've tried everything, and walking is the most beneficial. Once we gave him the rx, he seems very relaxed, a little too relaxed, almost sedated. So after 2 doses (and talking to Ashley who dealt with colic with Emery) we stopped giving it to him. Now I am going to try an all natural method.