One of Maggie's new loves: Playdough

Maggie really likes playdough. She doesn't make much, but she really likes it. Her favorite activity is to squish it and then tear it into tiny bits. So far she has had mommy make a frog, a piggy (because Daddy made one first), a dog, a cat, a tiger, and a ladybug. The frog was actually quite good, but I didn't snap a picture before it got squished.

I didn't forget Father's Day in Real Life

But I sure did on the blog!!!

What did we do? Not much. I had a wedding that weekend, and our anniversary was later in the week, so Sunday night we celebrated with, what else? Meat! I got a really nice porterhouse for Tyler and a ribeye for me, and grilled 'em up. MMM... grilled meat (and some asparagus also on the grill). Tyler got some needed additions to his work wardrobe: Polo shirts. With the horse. Got them at Marshalls - abou 60% less than than Macy's, so that made me happy. Tyler was happy, too. When I took Maggie to the store to get them, I told her we had to get Daddy a present. Now when we go somewhere other than the grocery store she asks if we have to get a present for Daddy. She also liked "choosing" the shirts I picked out.

I am so thankful for Tyler. He's been my best friend since 1993, husband since 1999, father of our child since 2006. I am thankful for how he loves God, loves me and loves Maggie. I am so proud and blessed to be his wife.

"I need summona eat"

That's what Maggie says when she wants a snack. Lately she has taken to opening the cupboard and staring at everything to decide what she wants. It's pretty cute, except when she gets an attitude about it.

Not much new here -

We've just been busy. The 19th was our 9th anniversary. We celebrated on Friday night with a trip to Longhorn Steakhouse. You know we Spaids celebrate everything with some red meat. And it was GOOD steak, too! Saturday I had another wedding so Tyler had Maggie all day. Sunday we had church followed by a youth group staff meeting and an awesome baptism service to attend that evening. In the middle of all that, Tyler picked up an early birthday present - a free-weight set for the rec room. He also found a Nordic-Trak for me (I've wanted one since high school). A big thank-you to Craigslist for these awesome finds. The junky futon is finally making its way to the trash since the weight set took it's place.

Sunday afternoon Maggie started coming down with a small cough, runny nose. Today the big D started, and she says constantly "Mommy, I don't feel good". Poor baby! And wow, has she turned on the Wambulance - she is so whiny!!! So we've had some serious cuddling in this house the past two days.

You know your baby isn't a baby when...

She moves from the toddler nursery at church to the preschool department!!! At the beginning of June, Maggie moved up. No longer do we drop her off at the toddler nursery, sign her in, and take a pager in case she freaks out. No, no. We take her downstairs to the preschool department now. We just sign her in, no pager, and walk away.

So far she is doing alright. The first week, Daddy went to see her between services, and that was not so good. She cried about the entire second service. Last week she fussed a little when I dropped her off, but this picture was taken seconds after the door was closed, and she was fine. I love the little windows in the doors. Most of the time I can peek in there (very carefully, just one eyeball) and verify that she is indeed having a good time.
Do you see Lamb is sitting on the table? Maggie is sitting on Mrs. Shirley's lap. Shirley Haskins is a WONDERFUL woman! She is the mother of 4 great kids (ok, adults) and watches Maggie every Tuesday night while Tyler and I volunteer with the high school youth group. She is also the director of our church's Mother's Day Out program, where I work one day a week, so I guess that makes her my boss, too. I could go on and on about how much I love Shirley, and how many neat talents she has, but most of all I love how she talks abou the Lord all the time to everyone! She is always an encouragement to me, and a great example of a godly woman and mother.

I also love love love the little bag of crafts she comes home with each week. There are usually several coloring pages and one "big" craft, and I love them so much. This has created some internal struggles though, do I keep it or toss it? I hate to toss all her papers, but I am NOT going to pack-rat them for the next 20 years for her and however many more children we have. So for right now I save my favorites and the rest go in the recycle. Grandparents - don't worry - you'll be getting some of this artwork in the mail.

Nashville Zoo

Last year we got a zoo membership. Thursday (I know, I know) was the first time since we bought it that I used it. Dixie and I and the girls made a quick trip. We were supposed to go swimming at the lake, but the A/C tech didn't come to my house until 11:15, 15 minutes after their "window" appointment that was from 9 - 11. So, in order to salvage some fun, we zipped over to the zoo since it's only 10-15 minutes from the house. ...I really should go more often...

It was in the 90's with humidity so Dixie and I definitely got our exercise that day! The girls had a great time, too. They loved seeing the monkeys, tigers and alligators (I didn't take pictures of those - the monkeys and tigers were hard to get a shot of, and it didn't occur to me at the time to take a picture of the alligators). We stayed long enough to do one half of the zoo and eat lunch. Next time we go we'll have to go to the elephant and giraffe side. Zayli kept reminding us that we hadn't seen the elephants yet, but after lunch Dixie and I were worn out and it was way past nap time for the girls so we had to head home.

When we first got there - red cheeks already starting.
Best picture of the day, the clouded leopard. He was sitting out on a big tree limb in the middle of his enclosure where we could all see him. Most of the other animals were hiding in the shade. What a beautiful kitty!The girls next to the three new baby camels in the "petting" zoo. There was only 1 goat out in the open, everyone else was behind their fence, so other than poking their fingers through the fencing the girls didn't get to pet any animals. The baby camels sure were cute, though. Two bactrians and one dromedary. At lunch a wild family of geese strolled through the picnic tables. The gosling was pretty ugly, half in baby fluff and half in adult feathers. Poor baby! We ended it by spending some time in the air conditioned exhibit hall looking at frogs and turtles and snakes and amazonian fish. The girls really liked those fish. Dixie and I liked the relief from the heat and pushing big strollers!

You trusted a 2-year old to do WHAT?

Last Saturday while I was doing another wedding, Tyler got out Maggie's pool so they could play in it. He was telling me all about how he got her slathered up so her pasty-whiteness would notburn, and how he had used some spray sunscreen on himself since I wasn't home to help and asked Maggie to rub it in for him. She missed a spot - what do you expect from a 2-year old - but you can see her cute little fingerprints where she touched him with suncreen on her hands! So funny!

Survival Island

Last Wednesday our youth group had its annual Survival Island adventure on an island in Percy Priest Lake, about 15 minutes from our house. This year I brought Maggie, and she had a blast! She loved the boat ride, loved being outside, ALL DAY, and after a while got used to being in the water.

For several years I have been in charge of the "Wheel of Delectables". It's a tamer version of a Fear Factor eating challenge. Maggie thought she'd join in by eating this leaf. She actually continued to chomp on it after the picture was taken.

In her swimsuit and lifejacket, getting ready to go in the water. She liked sitting in the water at the shore, but not floating around with Mommy.
Nap time: on the beach, under some trees, screaming teens running by periodically while they played a capture the flag game. She slept for over an hour this way.
On the boat headed home. She had so much fun riding on the boat.

I miss my friends!

This post is late, the past week or two I haven't had a lot of time to be on the computer.

The weekend after Memorial Day, Tyler's company went on a retreat to Phoenix, including all spouses. So, while we were there, we got to see our friends that recently moved there - the Yates. Smed is the associate pastor at Grace Bible Church in Tempe. Friday, while Tyler was in meetings, I got to go to In-N-Out for lunch and shopped at IKEA with Janet and her kids, Evi, Zoe and Emet. Talk about a great time. They moved at the end of February, and I have missed them terribly! It was so nice just to hang out.

Saturday morning, Smed picked us up for breakfast at their house, and we had fabulous blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes (2 different kinds, not all together). Again, it was awesome to just spend some time together. I love them all so much!
Emet, Janet, Evi, Zoe
Smed, Janet & Emet