Proud Mommy Moment

Today, I had Carson's preschool parent teacher conference with his teacher. Truthfully, I know Carson loves school and he is a good kid so wasn't expecting there to be anything that surprised me...BUT there was.

His teacher informed us that Carson is reading above a kindergarten level...and possibly a 1st grade level. She said he just gets it. She said she just can't explain how he reads the words he does because they are hard words. She asked me If Cory and I realized how gifted he was and all I could do was smile. She told me she knew he was special when the 2nd book her read her had the word "millions" in it and he didn't even struggle with it. We are so proud of him we can barley put it into words.

Guess my little boy is growing up..sniff, sniff!!!!!!

Where have I been?

We have been busy over the last few months so thought I would write a little update since the last time I blogged.

In January, Cory helped me celebrate by taking me away to the city for the night and letting me sleep in. Then a few days later, Marci flew out and surprise me for a few days. We had a great time relaxing and playing with the kids. I so wish the kids had their aunts and uncles and cousins closer for all those times. Thankfully, we have become pros at skyping with Aunt Marci and Uncle Samson, Nani and Pops, and Aunt Mendy and Peyton. We are waiting anxiously for our other cousins to get a web camera so we can skype with them too!

Also in February, Cory received a new position at NGK and spent 6 weeks in training. We are so thankful that he loves his job like he does. He has just recently started his new schedule of working 4 days on and 4 days off. It is taking me a little adjusting but we are making it with the help of Nena.

This month, we took the big step of registering Carson for kindergarten. This makes me so happy yet makes me sad also. He is growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was in 50+ hours of labor with him. He is really becoming a very responsible young man. He recently surprised us with starting to read. We knew he was interesting in reading because honestly he had been killing us with spelling words...no stop. But we were very pleased to see once we sat down with him and handed him the book that all that spelling was paying off. He is now reading level 1 and level 2 books with very little assistance. Because of this, Cory and I seem to be a little less worried that he will be OK in kindergarten since he will be one of the youngest in his class.

We have spent the last two months at multiple dr's appts for Braxtynn but are pleased to say after multiple tests, that everything appears to be fine with her "girlie parts." Brax continues to be our "handful" and acts nothing like her mother ;) I just don't know where she gets it. Let's see, she continues to challenge us with her strong willed personality. It would be so much easier to get a handle on if she wasn't so durn cute but she sure does know how to wrap daddy (and her mommy) around her little finger. She thinks she is a princess all the time but sure doesn't act like one. :)

I think that is updates on everyone except me. Well , what do I say. When I go to bed at night...or early the morning, I think how in the world did my mom do it with 3 kids under 2, she worked a full time job too. She always seemed so organized, calm (most of the time) and don't remember her ever been tired....she just kept going. So I guess that is my update...I just keep going! Cory tries to get me to stop and sit after the kids go to sleep but there is always laundry, always mail and bills, always clothes and book bags to get ready for the next day, always something. I think the one thing that keeps me going is I love my life. No matter how hard it is (NO ONE ever told me it would be hard) those kisses and hugs through out my day, those personal career accomplishments, those prayers answered make everything worth it. I am blessed with a beautiful family and a fabulous career. What more could a girl ask for?!?!?!

Happy New Year!

This last week at home has been amazing! I love my career but really do treasure these rare times I get to be with the kids all day. We had the best week playing with our new games and toys the kids got for Christmas. We had a pajama day...or maybe 2 pajama days ;) where we stayed in our pj's all day. It was fabulous as we had snow and they were good days to cuddle. The kids thought that was great.

One day we spent cleaning out our play room. We told the kids they had to donate 5 toys a piece to the Christian Mission so other little kids who weren't as fortunate as we were could have some new toys. I was a little shocked by how receptive they were to this idea...Carson especially. He wanted to give away things that he just got :) He truly is turning into a thoughtful young boy with a big heart. After a few hours, we ended up with 1 trash bag of trash, 3 trash bags and 2 bins of toys for the mission.

Unfortunately, Cory had to work on New Years Eve, so the kids and I went to a friends house for a little New Years Eve Party. The kids had fun doing sparklers, playing games, watching the "ball" drop, and throwing confetti.

The week ended with a play date with Nena for the kids while Cory and I went out for a date. It is so nice to start the year off great!

We wish all of you a healthy and blessed 2011! I pray this is our best year yet!

Preparing for the ball drop with their confetti and noise makers

Watching the ball drop!

Braxtynn enjoying her sparkler!

The kids laying in their tents Santa gave them.

Recovering from Christmas

Well, Santa has been here and apparently we had too little people who made the "nice" list!!!!!

We attended Christmas Eve Candlelight service on Friday night and then came home to spread our reindeer food and make cookies for Santa. They kids could not wait to get into their beds since Santa doesn't come if you aren't in your beds.

Christmas morning, we were up before the kids turning all the Christmas lights on and getting the cameras prepared. We were so lucky that Nena and Nani (via skype) were here and able to watch the kids unwrap their gifts from everyone and see what Santa brought them!

Cory's mother's side of the family was planning on coming over on Christmas evening; however, plans quickly changed as snow started falling in NC at about 10 AM. We bumped the time up to mid afternoon, and I quickly started preparing food for everyone. Unfortunatley, the snow kept all our company away but we were lucky that Nena went to get Grandma June and then Cory's cousin and his girlfriend were able to join us for a bit! We were able to skype with the crew at Grandma Schooler's, which the kids really enjoyed and I think Grandma did too! By the time evening came the snow here at our house was starting to pile up so we got in our jammies and all cuddled until bedtime. Waking up this morning, we were shocked by the 4-5 inches of snow that had falling. The kids loved seeing the snow and it is already melting so don't think it will stick around that long.
I am looking forward to this whole week off work with the kids. I am sure we will have a great time playing with all our new toys and games!

Hope you had a good Christmas with your family and friends!

Spears Family Christmas Letter 2010

Merry Christmas from the Spears Family! It is that time of year again that we reminisce about the current year and think what will come in 2011. We hope this year has been full of laughs, memories, and blessings for you and your family and hope it continues in the years to come!

The Spears household has been full of excitement this year, but how could it not be when you have two little people running around.

The year started out with us celebrating my 30th birthday and my wish of snow in North Carolina on my birthday coming true. It was great getting all bundled up and going outside to play in the snow with the kids. Oh, I have never thought I would miss the Missouri snow but I do, every year when winter rolls around!

We had a visit from Nani (My Mom) and Aunt Marci in March and as always we hated to see them leave but had a great visit. The kids are finally at the age where it doesn’t take long for them to get reacquainted with Nani or other family members and it always amazes us how they NEVER have to get reacquainted with Aunt Marci! It must be that twin thing going on as it is always like she is around them.

Spring flew by with our normal daily routine and Summer quickly came upon us. Our summer started out with Braxtynn getting tubes in her ears after multiple earaches. Thank goodness for tubes as she has been good to go ever since! We spent most of the summer weekends on the lake with our friends or in our neighborhood pool. Carson learned how to “tube” very quickly this year and loves the lake and pool. Braxtynn also became very independent in the pool this year and decided she did not want to be in a floaty or have her life jacket on, and demanded she could be a big girl like Carson. She found out soon enough that she couldn’t float when someone wasn’t holding her and gave into the arm floaties. I wonder where she gets that stubborn side from?!?!?!

Up until August it was pretty much routine as normal with work, daycare, and play. Once August hit, it got crazy!!

In August, Cory and I were faced with probably the most difficult decision we have had to make as parents. Our home daycare sitter that the kids had been going to for 2 years, was returning to work and was no longer going to be keeping kids in her home. We were shocked, yet happy for her career move even though we didn’t know what we were going to do. That same week, Cory also had found out that his hours were going to be changing at work. After no luck with finding another daycare to take both kids, added with the cut in hours, we decided to take the leap and keep the kids home temporarily. So 2 weeks later, Cory, my fabulous husband became the stay-at-home daddy! Now that he was home, we were able to enroll Carson into a 4 day, morning, preschool program. Though it was a hard decision to make due to all the implications that would come from being a 2 salaried family down to 1 during these economic times, it has been the BEST decision we have ever made. The kids adjusted well and Cory is doing a fabulous job! With all this going on, I decided it was a good time to go “Home” to Missouri since I hadn’t been back since October of 2009.

Braxtynn and I flew home at the end of August to co-host Marci’s bridal shower and attend Grandma Schooler’s 90th surprise Birthday party. I wouldn’t have missed either of those events for the world and Braxtynn sure did enjoy her time with Mommy alone! It seemed like we just arrived back in North Carolina when we turned around, 3 weeks later, and all headed back to St. Joseph for Marci’s big day. We are so glad all four of us were able to be a part of Samson and Marci’s wedding festivities.

Just as we thought things were settling down, Cory landed a fabulous, temp to perm, job working from 3:30 – midnight for a company that makes ceramic inserts for catalytic converters. He is really enjoying his “away” time but I have to say I do miss him in the evenings. We are hopeful after the first of the year, he will receive good news and get offered a permanent position with NGK.

As for me, I am still with in the Human Resources dept at Lowe’s Corporate Office and just celebrated my 5 year anniversary in October. Last year and this year have been the most challenging in my career, as I was project co-lead for the business in a company wide initiative which involved the redesign and implementation of our applicant system. In short, that is the system that manages all job postings that Lowe’s has and the system that our 5 Million applicants apply to every year. To say the least, A LOT of hours were put in not only from me but from Cory, as I would not have made it without him being so helpful at home with the kids. I look forward to 2011 and what opportunities/projects will come my way in this role. I also continue to have my passion for “couponing” and getting a deal. Cory has finally just dealt with the fact that I will make an extra trip somewhere if I have a coupon or it’s just a great deal.

Now, we are just settling into our new routine at home and are looking forward to the rest of the holiday season.

Thanksgiving was very quiet and we spent the majority of the day snuggled on the couch watching the parade, playing games and watching movies with the kids. Cory and I, in an effort to get that great deal and spend time together alone, decided to do our first Black Friday…stand for hours in lines…freezing, shopping event on Thanksgiving night. Never did I imagine we would leave the house at 8:00 pm on Thursday and return at 5:45 on Friday morning but we did it and believe it or not, we will probably make it a tradition and do it again next year.

We are looking so forward to Christmas this year, even though we won’t be going “home” to Missouri. We will be attending Christmas Eve service at our church with our close friends. This is very exciting to me as we have never been able to attend in the last 6 years, because we have always either been out of town or have had a family event to go to. On Christmas morning, we will be using technology to our advantage, and will be able to Skype with Nani and Pops in Missouri so they can watch the kids open all their gifts. ( Cory scored big points here by getting my parents and us webcameras for early Christmas gifts …I think he knew that would be the only way I would be not bummed out on Christmas day). Then Christmas night, Cory and I are hosting his mother’s side of the family for their annual Christmas celebration. It will be a great day full of memories and hopefully traditions for all of us.

As for Cory and I, we hope you and your family have had a healthy, blessed, and joyous 2010. We pray that 2011 will be everything you want it to be and more.

Love Always!
Cory, Melissa, Carson, & Braxtynn

Summer is HERE!

The kids are loving summer. They sure are growing up fast. We have been spending some time at the pool on the weekends and some on the lake. Here are some recent pictures. I am going to try an blog more often. :)

New Pictures

Today, we decided we would take the kids to get their pictures taken professionally since we had not done this since last May. I have to say, I was a little nervous as last time was a disaster! For the most part, they both did good. We only had 1 Carson meltdown that was resolved with the promise of a sucker and then we only had 2 "throw ourselves on the floor while whining and hitting ourselves on the head" instances from Miss ATTITUDE herself!