First Haircut

I decided to get Maggie's hair cut. Unless I put it up in pigtails, which I don't do too much since she doesn't really like them, it was really looking like a mullet: business in the front, party in the back! So with my mom here, we went and got her first trim.

Here we are at home right before we left for the salon. You can see how long it is in the back.
The big snip: I got a little teary-eyed. I had to suck it up, though, it only took like 2 minutes from start to finish. Not even enough time for me to get out the video camera.
Maggie checking the new 'do.
Final result: 2 1/2 inches off the bottom. Looks good! A little shorter, but still pig-tailable.
Getting big treats from the stylist: a sucker and a balloon!
I don't think she really knew what was going on, so she wasn't happy or sad. Just a little confused. I've got a little baggie with her trimmings, so I'll need to prep it for her baby scrapbook, then I'll take a picture of it.

Friday Night Fun

Last Friday night, Tyler and I did the annual "Laserquest Lock-In" with the combined Jr. High and High School youth groups at church. You show up at church at 7pm, we dink around until 11:30, then we head to LaserQuest in downtown Nashville where we chase each other around with laser guns until 6:00 in the morning and get back to church just before 7am.

Let me tell you: the first year I did this - 2003, I managed to stay up all night. 2004 I napped, 2005 I napped. 2006 and 2007 I got a break because Maggie was a newborn and last year I used her as an excuse. =) This year - no excuse. The family that watches her so we can go to youth group on Tuesday nights was able to watch her overnight.

The Laserquest portion of the night was not the most important to me, though. This time the evening's events before we went to LaserQuest were a final good-bye to Smed & Janet Yates, youth pastor and wife, who are right now on the road moving to Tempe, AZ. Smed is moving on in ministry to be an associate pastor at a church there. I know everyone at our church will miss them immensely (I certainly do), but I am so glad for this new opportunity for them to serve the Lord and shepherd a new group of believers. I think my favorite part of the night was one of the other leaders, Anthony Brooks, did an acoustic version of "My Hero" by the Foo Fighters in tribute. It was awesome!

Here are some pictures from the night:
Smed & Janet holding the giant cake. One of the fun things you can do at LaserQuest is karaoke. I'd say that sleep deprivation is equivalent to 5 shots of tequila in reducing inhibitions... the BOYS totally comandeered the karaoke machine for the entire night (OK, I did do YMCA, that was it). Jordan, Anthony and Tyler rocked that machine until 5am. Tyler serenading me with "more Than Words" by Extreme. Ah, music from Jr. High and high school!Some of the gang.Students that pooped out before the night was over.I was able to make it ALL NIGHT without a nap. I even had to meet a bride to talk about flowers at 11am on Saturday morning, so a 2 hour nap before that.

Our favorite new Maggie word!

The other day Maggie popped off with "oranges 'elicious!" when she had oranges for a snack. Well, you know I had to get that on video!!! This word is funny for several reasons: I don't talk about food that way to her - I try to use smaller words so she'll understand it better. That's a 3-syllable word she's using. Smart little stinker!
Saying it good:

Faces:

Could she BE any cuter?!?!

We had dry ground last week!

I'm sorry I am so late in getting these pictures posted. Last week we had a day where it wasn't too cold, too wet or too windy. Poppy and Mimie got this for Maggie's 2nd birthday. Other than putting out tubes in the kitchen, we've not played with the set very much. Let me tell you, Maggie LOVED her new fort - Mommy thought it was pretty awesome, too. Thank you again, Poppy & Mimie!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last night Maggie and I made Valentine's cookies for Daddy to bring to work. We only did sprinkles instead of my normal intricate frosting for two reasons: 1) I was out of powdered sugar, 2) I can only imagine the mess Maggie would make with frosting - the sprinkles were quite enough! =)



Tyler surprised me this morning with the nicest letter inside my card - I had tears with my breakfast! I thought we weren't doing much this year... so wonderful!

The best part about Valentine's though, is the moment we can take to reflect on true love. Not just the love you have for a spouse or a child, but also the incredible love that God has for us: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16. Our relationship to God is irreparably broken without Jesus, and I am so thankful that He died for me. I certainly don't deserve it, and I will never fully understand how awesome a gift I've been given this side of Heaven.

We had snow!!!

Snow in Nashville is a big deal. We only get a tiny dusting each year (in 2003 we got 6 inches, but that's not normal), but it never fails that schools will close because of it. Growing up in Seattle the schools only closed if it was 3 inches or more, but here - the mere mention of snow will close all schools in the state!

So here's a picture of the school-closing blizzard from yesterday, and another of Maggie out in it about 2 hours later.

Don't "goggle" at Maggie!!!

These pictures are from last weekend, the 2nd, it just took me a while to get the pictures since they were on Tyler's cell phone. So, Tyler's been swimming at the gym, and needed some new goggles. Ah, the joys shopping at Costco and buying a multi-pack of goggles - Maggie got to wear her own pair and wore them all day Saturday! You will note in the second picture that Daddy is ALSO wearing goggles. I was doing some flowers stuff, and he had to bring me something I forgot, and there was Maggie, conked out in her car seat, with her goggles still on! I wish we'd gotten a picture of that...


And we should probably start working on modesty with her. She loves to be naked a little too much I think. =)

Yep, I got my hair cut

So, I finally got a hair cut. It has been long for several years now, and I just couldn't take another second of it!!! When I came home, Tyler said "Boy that's short. But I guess it's alright." I will take an "Alright" from him, since he hates short hair (no offense to all our female friends with short hair!).

I really like it - the wave in my hair actually looks good at this length, it's got a lot more volume, and it is EASY to style. It will probably be like this for a while - color not withstanding - that could change tomorrow. =)

Saturday mornings

Saturday mornings we always have a "nice" breakfast together. The food is nice, that doesn't mean we look nice =). Required attire: your robe, with the hood up if you have it. Thankfully, I have neither a hood on my robe NOR a picture of me first thing in the morning in my robe. But, Maggie loves being just like Daddy, so the hood has to go up. You will also note that sunglasses are an acceptable accessory for Saturday breakfasts at the Spaids.

Just a quick funny

Maggie has finally learned to close her eyes when we pray at dinner. Most evenings, though, I've already put her plate on her high chair tray by the time we pray. The other night I heard some rustling while Daddy was praying, so I peeked. Ha! There was Maggie, hunched over her bowl of dinner messily eating with her eyes squished shut as tight as she could get them. I had to nudge Tyler to make him stop for just a sec to get his own peek. She never noticed the break and kept her eyes shut until Daddy said "amen." It was all we could do not to fall out of our chairs with laughter!