Shy? NO WAY!

The girls and I were in the Limited store today. Keep in mind they only sell women's clothing. While waiting in line to return a shirt, Shelby decides to ask another shopper who is clearly female, "Are you a boy or a girl?" Again, luckily they were not offended and laughed. I said it could be worse she could have asked you what color of underwear you have on and if she can see them! The lady said that would have embarrassed her!

Convertible Cutie

Ever since Shelby has noticed convertibles on the road she thinks we need to get one. Sadly at this time in my life I would prefer a minivan. Well she quickly solved that dilemma - mommy can have a minivan and daddy can get a convertible! I hate to disappoint her but this Barbie Jeep at Nonny Mary's is the closest thing to a convertible she is going to get to.

Morgie, Morgie, Morgie

Some of my previous posts have been about Shelby and her crazy habits. Well little sis Morgan has plenty of silly qualities of her own. That girl can do amazing things with her tongue which is hanging out of her mouth most of the time. You can get a good laugh by just watching her walk. She doesn't watch where she is going so anything that might be in her way becomes a hazard. She doesn't step over or around, rather she trips, falls or hits her head on whatever is in her way. Most of the time she just picks herself up, dusts herself off and off she goes. She is a pretty tough cookie. For example, Shelby and Morgan stayed with Grandma Mary when we went on our anniversary trip. When we came back I noticed a big scab on Morgan's elbow and knee. No one knew what had happened. No big deal. Morgan has more scratches and bruises on her that you really have no idea where she got them. A few days later I asked Shelby what happened. She said she fell down in the driveway. I said, "Did she cry"? She said, "No". So that explains why no one knew. She didn't make a fuss so they probably didn't even notice. Her latest crazy attitude is what sparked the idea for this post. The last few days when I go get her out of bed in the morning she has a fit if I am still wearing my pajamas. She says, "Mommy clothes" with a little whine, pout and crabbiness mixed in. The first few times I changed my clothes and went back to get her. This morning I wised up. I left and said I would be back when she was ready. Next time PJ's and all she was happy to see me. :)

A side note about Shelby - as I mentioned before, she is not shy about much especially little boys. There is a boy across the street and down a ways who rides his bike by our house. Last night she is out there in her Minnie Mouse dress and pink kitty rain boots (a site itself) and she is determined to get to this boy. He has somehow managed to avoid her previous attempts to meet him. (I think he is scared of her). She steps out on the sidewalk to block his way. She put her arms out and spread her legs out and said, "He's not getting through. I am the stop sign." When I told her to get out of the way she stomped off muttering something but what I did catch was, "I'm not marrying that boy." Well thank God for that!

Sorry this post was so long but sometimes there is just a lot to say about these 2!

Friends Will Come & Go.....

This summer I have stepped out of my comfort zone to take the girls to the park a lot more than in the past. I prefer the park in the early spring before the kids get out of school so there is limited contact with other children. :) Shelby on the other hand does not feel the same as her mom. That girl will make a new friend every time and will cry every time as we leave the new friend behind. I will finally have to tell her that we live in a big town and chances are she will never see some of these kids again. Not exactly what she wants to hear but that is the reality. For the past year our next door neighbors had their 2 year old grandson living with them while his mom was on active duty overseas with the Army. The girls played with him a lot and I got to know his grandparents. Devon is now back with his mom and next Saturday his grandparents are moving to the Boston area so chances are they will never see him again. As I thought about it I realized growing up in a small town my closest friends were my cousins and also not many of my classmates moved out. Not until HS graduation did we part ways and I have little contact with most of those people. Then on to college where I made more friends and though we parted ways it seems the Christianity factor keeps us connected much more than my HS friends. But I have come to realize raising my kids in a bigger city, this is will be new for me too. Here are a few pictures from Devon's grandparents going away party last night.

12 Years & Counting.......

Tomorrow (July 20th) will mark our 12 year anniversary! We don't have anything big planned but a quick trip to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play the Brewers and a hotel stay. It may seem odd that I would be the one to suggest such an event to celebrate our anniversary since our day to day life revolves around baseball. But a few things make these type of baseball games special. First of all we will be going without kids thanks to Grandma Mary. It is so nice Greenville is on the way and just down the road from St. Louis. Also, when we were dating in college we would make trips to the ballpark. And as strange as it may seem, some of our quality time as newlyweds was spent on quite, sunny Sunday afternoons in Gridley edging the high school baseball field together. I also helped rake the field after Gridley ball games since that team required long speeches after games and I knew more about field work than they did! Another interesting tidbit of our relationship includes Cardinal baseball. The summer before my sophomore year in college (we started dating in November of that school year) Nate swears he saw me at a Cardinal game. When we started dating he told me that and I said not me. I must have a twin because I was not in St. Louis at any point during that summer. Nate first noticed me in a class we had together the previous year but we were both involved in other relationships. Seeing that girl that summer and assuming it was me got him thinking when we returned to school that fall and the rest is history! So a trip like this is a reminder of our beginning and simpler days before kids and serious baseball coaching jobs.

God Bless The Sister-in-Law

When I started this Blog I didn't think I would have a whole lot to say and never thought I would have 2 posts in one day! But if I don't post this stuff as I think of it, chances are it won't ever get done. As mentioned in an earlier post we spent the weekend with Nate's family. I enjoy spending time with Jill my sister-in-law because I can really learn from her. She is a natural with kids and handles difficult children well. I can pick up some tips with dealing with Shelby just by watching her work with her own kids. This picture I included of Jill with all the kids around her just shows her in her element. If I had 5 kids standing that close around me I would get the shakes but not Jill, this is where she loves to be.

It is interesting how God gave me 3 sister-in-laws who are trained teachers of young children. So I have the opportunity to learn about handling children anytime I am with family. I think teachers are born with a love for children, probably the biggest reason for their choice of career. I however was not born with that quality, thus the reason I knew in the 8th grade I would not be a teacher and a decision I do not regret today. :) So thanks Jill, Dana & Sarah for your patience & love that I can learn from.

The Upside of Kids

I wanted to share some things about Shelby that makes me laugh and I suppose that balances out those times I really feel like tying her upside down to the ceiling fan. (Unfortunately she would find that to be fun). 1. For supper last night I had made some lemonade. Nate said "This is some really good lemonade." Shelby says, "Yeah, it really hits the spot." Nate almost choked on his supper. Times like this is when it is hard not to laugh at what she says. Unlike some of those things I have written in previous posts. 2. This summer she has really gotten in to catching fire flies. She had been putting them in small containers with lids but no holes for air. Aunt Jill gave each of the kids the best gift at the party - bug catching containers complete with nets for catching, tweezers for torturing I guess, and a lid that allows breathing. The container has a string to hang around your neck. Perfect! She was out last night and caught herself quite a few. I said she had to let them loose before she went to bed. After putting Morgan to sleep I stopped by her room because things did not sound good. She was having a meltdown because she wanted to keep the bugs as her pet. Her dad informed me she also wanted a dog and cat and believe me that will never happen - at least not in my house. 3. Today I found her putting letter magnets over her cousins' pictures on the refrigerator. It's just too painful for her to look at them right now. She just wants to be with them so bad. :(

Time With Family = The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

This weekend we headed to Missouri to celebrate our nephew Trey's second birthday. It was nice because Nate was able to join us and with his schedule he isn't always able to do that. Nate's brother has three kids: Drew - 6, Reese - 4 (couple months older than Shelby) and Trey -2 (couple months younger than Morgan). Shelby especially loves hanging out with these guys. With Reese she plays dress up and other girl things and besides just being fascinated with Drew and all he can do she does her best to keep up with him. And in reality she is wired a lot like Drew. They are both stubborn and are challenged in the listening category! It is clear that Shelby has a lot of her dad's personality as his brother says living with Drew reminds him of growing up with Nate. We went to the Magic House and to a good pizza place with them on Sunday. All that was the good. But the bad and the ugly is the result of staying up late, getting up early, skipping naps and all the fun coming to an end and going separate ways. I feel bad for her because she truly loves being with people, especially family. We are fortunate to live in the middle of both sides of family but the distance does not exactly put us close to any of them. Some of my best childhood memories are growing up with my cousins and I feel bad that my kids will not have that same experience. I guess we will have to make the best of opportunities we have to be together and make an effort to do so more often!

The Truth Comes Out

Yesterday for lunch I cooked hot dogs on the grill & we had some chips or as Morgan calls them ips. If we ate all our hotdog we could have a frozen Strawberry treat in a bowl that I found at Sam's Club. Morgan ate some of her ips but was not interested in the hot dog. Of course she wanted the Strawberry treat especially since mom and sister were eating theirs. I kept telling her she could have one after she ate the hot dog. She tried to get her sister to eat it and even me. I finally decided to warm it up in the microwave and let her sit in the toy room and watch a movie hoping if I left her alone she would eat it. It wasn't long and both of them came running out saying she ate her hotdog! I don't know if it was mental exhaustion or the heat, but I didn't question it at the time. Morgan finally gets her Strawberry treat and after a big mess it is naptime. After reading to and rocking Morgan I put her in bed. Once she is in she says, "Baby ate hotdog." (Baby is what she calls Shelby). So it becomes clear to me that Morgan didn't eat her hotdog, her sister did. When Shelby wakes up from her nap I say to her, "I have a question for you and I want the truth. Who ate the hotdog?" I could tell by the look on her face before she said anything what the answer was. Finally she says, "Morgan ate one and I ate the rest". If they are already pulling tricks like this at 2 & 4 I can only imagine the things I need to be watching for as they get older!