March to the beat of a diffrent drum

I've tried my hand, feet too, in the marching band once before. Didn't last long. I soon realized I was not coordinated enough! That really has nothing to do with this post other than the word "march!" (yea, I'm a dork like that!)

But I AM capable of raising $200 for the MARCH FOR BABIES! Let me clarify...with the help of a few great and faithful friends and family members, Chad and I were able to raise that $200!

We walked with another family who just so happened to be the March of Dimes March for Babies family for our area this year. What an honor for them!! I know the Lord had a hand in them being able to share their story with other families.

In total Luke's Gang raised just over $3,000 this year! Isn't that AMAZING?!

Here are a couple pictures from Saturday's walk!

I can't imagine

Not sure why I say that since I really do know how they feel. They- being the parents I read about (in the blog world, mostly) who have had to endure the pain of losing their precious little ones far too early.

I've cried my heart out reading about Maddie, and Sage and countless other babes who have left their marks on this earth. So little they are yet what a huge impact they have on my life, and the lives of others.

Each time I read a new blog about such sadness I find myself crying out for their parents thinking, 'Those poor parents. I can't imagine how they must feel. There has got to be something I can do. What in the world can I do to let them know I am thinking about them and keeping them in my prayers?' HA! How stupid does that sound coming from ME!? I, of all people, should know EXACTLY what to say, EXACTLY what to do. But for some reason...I don't.

Could it be because I have this awful way of bottling up my emotions? *Note to self, bottled emotions are not like fine wine...they don't get sweeter with time* I'm pretty sure one thing that I'm good at is hiding how I really feel. Scratch that...I am REALLY good at doing that. And while I am at it I will say that losing a child is NOTHING like the Lifetime movies make it seem. Maybe it's because in the movie it's not ME losing the child, but they make it look pretty dramatic and obnoxious. Sure, it's dramatic but not (okay, at least not for me-then again, that could go along with the bottled emotion thing...) fall-down-on-the-floor-kicking-and-screaming-so-bad-you-fall-in-the-grave-on-top-of-the-casket dramatic! It's more like watching it on the tv screen and being in shock thinking how in the world can the good Lord take something like that from us kind of shock!

Anyways...the whole point if this blog (if you got this far...thanks for reading the ramblings!) is that I DO KNOW HOW THEY FEEL!

Lela Marie-our sweet baby girl who went to be with the Lord (too soon!!) at just four months old.

Time for a change

We have only been in this house ofr a little over a year and already I want to put a new coat of paint on all the walls. I THOUGHT I really liked the colors that I picked out the first time but I soon realized they are just horrid. Seriously, it's awful. The colors just clash in the worst way. I mean really, who puts maroon walls in the kitchen with the adjoining room some baby puke green?

Um, yea, that was me.

Not quite sure if I was well aware of the bad decision at the time or not...tried to blame it on fumes from working in the candle factory but I had long quit that job so that one didn't work. Bad taste is all I can say. So this time around I did a little research at the University of Google and came up with this...


I really love the color combination. It allows me to have some fun colors but not go too bright. Anything is better than the ugly and dark maroon that I just had to have last year. I also want to take the cabinet doors off of some cubbards to open it up a bit and put my new canisters in there!

Now the living room is...well...undecided. Right now it's a tan color that I can't wait to paint over. I made the mistake of getting all brown furniture. Brown couch, brown rocker recliner and you guessed it, a brown glider rocker. Kind of silly I think. Maybe I can figure out how to make a cover for the glider. That's a good idea!! Oh and I can't forget...we have light tan carpet and a wood entertainment center. I do love my brown...but not THAT much.

Grandpa!

I have several favorite pictures of my Grandpa but I think these two are some of the best ones yet...well besides the one from when he took me to the Daddy-Daughter dance!

**Flash back SEVERAL years ago**I remember that like it was yesterday. I had this oh so pretty (or ugly since I was NOT a dress girl. Still not!) pink dress with the big hula hoop deal at the bottom making me look like some sort of bell. My mother feathered my hair like every young gal from the 90's. It was pretty sickening, actually. Despite the fact that I looked hideous, even though at the time it was apparently the style, the night itself was a fairy tale. I danced on his feet, he twirled me around in circles, swung me in the air and under his legs and we even boogied to the Chicken Dance! After the festivities we went to Bubble 'n Squeak to get a bite to eat and my favorite, a Shirley Temple...complete with THREE cherries! Man that just topped off the night. I just love drifting back into time to relive moments like those with my Grandpa.**

Present day...I find myself getting teary-eyed as I watch my Grandpa with my two boys. He has this look in his eyes that just screams how much he loves them. I can't even begin to say how thankful I am to be able to see them as often as I do, have them be a part of my life and have them watch my children grow. It's such a good feeling when you see him looking at me from across the room as I love on my boys and he has his huge smile on his face. He's proud of me. Proud of my boys. Proud to be my Grandpa and a Great Grandpa to Riley and Sam.

I snapped these pictures on Saturday during the Easter egg hunt at my Grandparents church. I had gone inside to check on Sam and came back out to see this...I became a big blob of goo!

Favorite Picture Friday

Today's FPF will be a little long since I haven't had a blog up and running in a while...and since I have so many new pictures that I am just in love with! I will try not to go overboard!

Sammy fell asleep with his new favorite blanket!

Daddy and Sammy having a staring contest!


Sammy giving big brother Riley some slobbery kisses!

Daddy and Riley taking a walk in the park!

Riley and his most favorite buddy, Alex!

By popular demand

I'm baaack! Okay, so it may not be 'popular demand' but I have had a few requests to return to the blogging world. After I spent some time thinking about it (read: was too lazy to set one up before now) I decided to oblige. Gosh, I wouldn't want to deprive my fans of some great Spain Family moments, though I'm sure some of you just want to read what stupid things I've done lately.

So here it is everyone...the NEW BLOG! I haven't quite decided if I am going to keep this strictly family related or not. I have so many ideas it's hard to decide which one(s) to go with. Of course, having ADD doesn't help me much now does it? I won't bore you with the many ideas floating around in my head-think of it as a nice surprise each time you check me out on here.

Like Forrest Gump says, "...life was like a box of chocolates.You never know what you're going to get." Since I love chocolate and the movie Forrest Gump I thought this quote was quite fitting!

Tune in next time...