loose ends...

So, I did this post last week about some things that I didn't have time to expand on at that time. One of those things was finding a tarantula on our back porch. Here is, as Paul Harvey says, the rest of the story...

Talk about weird coincidences...Michelle called me the other day, and among various topics of important conversation, she asked me if I had seen any Tarantula's lately.

Um, no, and I don't care to, was my reply.

I hadn't seen a tarantula "in the wild" since I was a very young child. She mentioned that she'd heard something about Missouri being unique in it's geographical nature, and that Tarantula's are native here.

Great.

Now, I didn't doubt my dear sister-in-law, but again, I hadn't seen one for over 20 years. She said she'd seen a couple in the few years they've lived here, but I think she said she's just seen them on the road.

Fast Forward to later that afternoon. Jason steps out the back door onto our deck, to go get his four-wheeler and take the girls for a spin around the yard. A moment later, he's back inside motioning to me furiously to come and look at something. I go to the back door, and lo and behold, there is a Tarantula on the deck.

And our dog is trying to play with it.

Oh, we have some seriously smart animals.

Now, I am not a fan of spiders. But for some reason, I wanted the girl's to see this thing. It was HUGE, and HAIRY, and totally freaky, and I knew they would love it. I also knew that they're not poisonous, although they can bite. So, we cornered it behind the BBQ grill, and then placed a large glass bowl over it. Then we called the girls outside. They were satisfactorily impressed. They ooo'd and ahhh'd, and then ran off to play. Jason slipped a Frisbee under the bowl, and took our visitor waaaay down past our house and let him go. Yes, we let it go and did not kill it. After all, they are a beneficial spider, they kill a lot of other creepy crawly things, including mice.

Although I think that I'm good with not seeing one again for another 20+ years!
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

One Month.

One month.

That's all it took for Ellie to grow up.

Or so it seems, sometimes.

I got to visit Ellie at school today for the Book Fair. I met her in the library, and we picked out books together. She pointed out some of her classmates, and then, all to quickly, out time was up. I hugged her, and then she followed her class out of the library, and back to her classroom. As I watched her walk away, without looking back, it struck me how much has changed in just a month. As I was leaving the library, the librarian discovered two of Ellie's classmates that were reading quietly in a corner, and hadn't realized that their class had left! The librarian ushered them out the door with instructions to go straight to their class. The two girls skipped down the hallway in front of me towards the classroom.



All by themselves.



In a Big school.



That's when it really hit me.



They're not little anymore.



Wait! When did this happen? How can Ellie be big enough for this? She's just a little girl.

I'm not sure why it's just now hitting me. But it did, and as I drove away from school, I had this crazy thought to go grab her and keep her home for another year or two. I guess that's why a lot of people home-school that first year. They can't stand the thought of their little child being, well, Big. But even as I realize this, and understand how hard it is to let her grow-up, I know I must. I must let her go, and grow, and learn, and discover. She likes school. Sure there have been hard days, and I'm sure their will be more to come. But on the whole, it's been a really good experience. She seems like she has matured by years in just a month! She talks to me more maturely, and respectfully (most of the time!) She seems so much more capable of handling things, and life in general. These are the things that school is doing for her. Things that I couldn't accomplish if I kept her home. It's hard to let her go...but I must.

I wonder what the ENT would say?

I think my children might have a hearing problem.

Why? You ask. Well...here are some examples from today:

This morning I asked Annie if she needed to go potty before we left the house, she acted like she didn't hear me, so I assumed her answer was, No. Then I had to tell her several times to get in the car before she seemed to hear me. Once we were in the car, she immediately pee peed in her car seat, which leads me to the realization that she obviously must have a hearing problem, since she apparently didn't hear me ask her to go potty earlier.

Of course it just couldn't be that she hears and chooses not to listen.

Not my child.

Then, this afternoon after school, I took the kids for some ice cream. It was a special treat to reward Ellie for having been "caught having good character" at school. I joyfully headed to the DQ with all 3 kids, and called Michelle on my way to see if they could join us. All was well, until Michelle and the girls arrived. The only logical explanation I can fathom for the behavior that then ensued, is that the sugar from the ice cream must have caused their ears to stop working. Repeated attempts at telling them to sit down/be quiet/stop messing with your sister/stop laying on the floor/ ...or we will leave, I'm not even kidding, we WILL leave! ...seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Honestly, I'm concerned.

I mean, my children would never just ignore me.

Right?

However, after we arrived home, and punishment was doled out for the bad behavior at the DQ, their hearing did seem to return.

Hmmm, interesting.

Some things just can't be explained...

Wow, I'm blogging!

Why does this surprise me?

Well, for one thing, we have 5 kids here today.

For another, we're having a party at 4:30 today.

What happened to me? I used to stress over the birthday parties to the point of mental and emotional breakdown! Today, I am calm, collected, and relaxed! I think in my 5 years of party planning, I have mellowed a bit. I also contribute my oddly relaxed state to better organizational skills.

I'm excited about the party. Austin turned one year old on Friday, and I've been looking forward to celebrating that! I can't wait to help him open his presents and place his "Tire" cake in front of him! I love first birthdays! It is bittersweet though. My last 1st birthday. Well, at least until I'm a grammie!

OK, so seriously, it is oddly calm here.

Baron and Ellie are watching Charlotte's Web.

Tessa and Annie are playing quietly.

Austin is asleep.

The cakes are made.

We're ordering pizza.

The house is clean.

The laundry is caught up.

The dishes are caught up.

I look pretty good.

All on the day of MY CHILD'S birthday party.

With hours to go.

This is a weird, weird feeling.

Maybe I oughtta go knock on some wood.

Thursday 13

13 things I've thought about blogging, but haven't had time!

1. Finding a Tarantula on our back porch.

2. The Mountain of laundry on my couch... that I keep avoiding.

3. My son's first birthday is tomorrow.

4. My son's obsession with daddy's four-wheeler.

5. The fact that I want to like planning birthday parties and cakes for my kids...but I just don't.

6. I hate Baby Alive even more than this!

7. I can't seem to force myself to go to bed early, even though I'm completely exhausted!

8. My children conspire against ME ever sleeping through the night.

9. I want to paint my living room, kitchen, and breakfast room...I'm just not sure exactly what colors they should be.

10. My mom has a new kitten, that my girls don't know about yet, and when they find out, they're going to go CRAZY over it!

11. I hate waking up early.

12. I need to start my diet.

13. I'm not sure why, but I'm already getting excited for Christmas!


Maybe I can use this list when I actually have some TIME to blog more! Right now that laundry pile is calling my name!

100 Things you want to know about me...or not, but you're about to find out anyway!

Well, I made it. My 100th post! I wasn't as quick as Alana, Janelle, and Celeste, but then again I've never been accused of going to fast! Here we go...

100 things about Me !

1. My name is Shelley.

2. Right now I have a 3 year old sitting on my lap.

3. She is wearing a princess t-shirt, princess panties, and orange knee socks. Gotta love that!

4. When I was 3, I lived in Dallas for 3 months, other than that, I've been born and raised in Missouri.

5. I love Missouri.

6. My mom had me when she was 18.

7. I loved that she was a young mom, and I love that she is a young grammie!

8. I am an only child.

9. I learned how to swim when I was 5.

10. My mom and I lived with my Grandma for 3 years when I was young. That was fun!

11. We moved into our own house when I was 9. That was fun too.

12. My mom married my new dad when I was 11.

13. He's been an awesome dad.

14. I was on a swim team in junior high.

15. I love to swim.

16. I really want a nice pool.

17. I also really want to paint my living room. (not sure where that came from. but it's true!)

18. I started this post 4 days ago.

19. I love cats.

20. My mind doesn't always work "quite right."

21. When I was 12, we took a family vacation to California with my mom, my
new dad, and my dad's parents. I rode between my new grandparents in the backseat the whole way. It was a good trip.

22. When I was 13, I met the girl who was my best friend all through high school, her name was Sarah.

23. We had a falling out just after high school, and I haven't seen her since. That still saddens me.

24. I played the clarinet in high school and college.
I went to band camp.

25. I took piano lessons for 9 years...and yet I still don't play that well. (I didn't practice enough!)

26. I also love to sing.

27. I sang a lot in church. I even went to church choir camp.

28. I started going to church with my mom when I was 5.

29. It's a great church, and my mom and dad still go there.

30. It's where I was married.

31. I asked Jesus to save me when I was 9, at church camp.

32. I was baptized when I was 11.

33. I got to go on several youth trips around the country with my church youth group in high school. They were awesome, faith building experiences.

34. I went on 2, week long canoe trips in high school.

35. I am an expert canoer.

36. I love rivers.

37. Jason and I have been talking about buying some land on a river...and maybe someday building a cabin.

38. I love that Jason and I still dream together. (although right now he's sleeping and I'm blogging!)

39. Jason and I met when we were both 18, during our first month of college.

40. My 3rd cousin was his best friend.

41. I hadn't ever even met my 3rd cousin until college.

42. We finally met because we were in band together.

43. Our great-grandma told us to find each other.

44. I guess it was fate!

45. Anyway, so he introduced me to some of his friends...one of which was Jason, and after a couple of weeks, he asked me out.

46. I was really excited!

47. It was my first date in college.

48. He was over an hour early!

49. I was mad, because I was hot and sweaty from band practice, and he wasn't supposed to see me like that!

50. I made him wait for an hour while I got ready.

51. I think he thought it was worth it.

52. We had a great first date! (no details!)

53. We (almost) immediately fell in love.

54. We dated for 3 years, and were engaged for one.

55. I cannot believe we've been "together" for 12 years!

56. We had a beautiful Christmas wedding.

57. We were married for 1 1/2 years before we got pregnant with Ellie.

58. She "happened" a little earlier than we planned. We were supposed to start trying the next month!

59. When Ellie was 2 1/2, we had Annie.

60. Annie "happened" a little earlier than we planned also.

61. When Annie was 2, we had Austin.

62. He wasn't planned at all.

63. I'm not a very good planner.

64. You can get pregnant if you don't take your pills for 4 days.

65. Jason has had two vasectomies. Both after Austin's birth.

66. The first one didn't "take."

67. We don't really know if the second one did or not, he hasn't been back. It's been months.

68. If we have baby #4, we'll know it didn't.

69. I love babies.

70. I loved being pregnant, until the last 2 months.

71. When I was 6 months pregnant with Annie, Jason was diagnosed with a
kidney disease.

72. That really rocked my world.

73. Sometime in the next 5 - 15 years, he'll need a kidney transplant.

74. I'm praying for the 15.

75. Most of the time I trust God that Jason will be OK.

76. But sometimes, usually in the middle of the night, I let myself get scared.

77. I thank God for His faithfulness though, for He always calms my fears.

78. One of my favorite Bible verses is 2nd Timothy 1:7; For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control.

79. Another one is Philippians 4:6; Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

80. That's some good stuff.

81. That is why I am not a worrier.

82. In other news...My baby turns one year old on Friday.

83. He is so stinkin' cute I can hardly stand it!

84. Seriously, some people just think they're babies are cute...Mine really is!

85. I'm loving having a boy.

86. Of course, the girls are awesome too.

87. It really bugs me that people assume that we kept having kids until we got a boy.

88. Anyway, we're having a birthday party on Sunday.

89. I haven't planned anything yet...not even the cake.

90. I really am not a planner!

91. I'm also not truly an organizer.

92. My house is organized out of pure necessity.

93. I do love to decorate.

94. I love anything from Pottery Barn.

95. I don't garden.

96. I do love to blog.

97. Sometimes I blog too much...sometimes not enough.

98. I am trying to put my priorities in the right order...clean home, clean laundry, clean dishes, clean kids, clean mommy... then blog!

99. Unfortunately by the time everything is clean, I am often too tired!

100. But that's OK. The blog understands, it waits for me patiently, knowing I will return with funny stories about my crazy life! Thank you blog, for allowing me the opportunity to type out all these memories of this season of my life. Without you, I doubt I'd remember much!

Thursday 13

Why is it that when I have a ton of work to do, and only one child awake, I have no motivation to do any work at all?

Can we say L.A.Z.Y. ?

Seriously, the house is a mess. After dinner was over last night, I abandoned the "after dinner mess" to get the kids into bed. I had every intention of tackling it after they were asleep.

I never did.

The kids were asleep by 7:30, all three of them.

After that, I think my mind and body just shut down.

So, now I have to face reality. And do my jobs.

Oh, and I shall return in a few days to do my 100th post.

I'm sure it will be pure writing genius.

Or not, since I have no idea what I will write about.

Here's my Thursday 13:

13 things I'm going to do after I get off the computer!

1. Pick up all the stuff off the Living Room floor.

2. Pick up all the stuff off the Play Room floor.

3. Clean the Dining Room table, since it's still dirty from last nights dinner.

4. Clean the Kitchen that's also still dirty from last nights dinner.

5. Do the dishes from last nights dinner.

6. Decide what's for dinner tonight.

7. Fold the 2 loads of laundry in the chair.

8. Put another load of laundry in the washer.

9. Make my bed. Maybe.

10. Take a shower.

11. Get myself ready.

12. Get Annie and Austin dressed.

13. Go to the Park! It's a beautiful day!!!

Home! At least for a little while...

Oh am I happy to be home!


Seriously, I feel like I haven't had more than 5 minutes to sit down at home in days!


I finally got all the blogs on my bloglines un-highlighted!


Oh, the things that make me happy.


Anyway, after tomorrow, it may be a few days between posts, 'cause starting Friday, I probably won't sit down until Tuesday.


Seriously, I'm beginning to think I may have over scheduled us. Although, in my own defense, until yesterday, I only had 2 things on my datebook for the next 5 days.


Now it's full.


Sometimes I wish I had this life...




That would be the cat of the house, Princess Daisy.


But for now I'm enjoying the quiet day at home, that is until we pick up Ellie at school and head to swimming lessons!


Anyway, on to other news...


I just heard the words that strike fear into every mother's heart (well, at least mine)...


"Mommy, I want to play with Play-Doh."


NOOOOO!


I'm sorry, but I hate Play-Doh!


I realize that it's a wonderful product that helps with motor skills and imagination and blah blah blah...


It always results in a HUGE mess, that I spend way too much time cleaning up.


Let's be honest, I have much better things to do with my time than cleaning up play-doh.


For instance, Blogging!


Anyway, I caved...




At least she's happy, and for once, not watching 14 episodes of Dora while mommy blogs.


I really should be nominated for Mother of the Year.


Especially since her baby brother is crawling around on the floor underneath her, and eating the play-doh scraps.


Well, there you have it. Teresa, I hope you're happy, 2 posts in 2 days! By the way, I'm glad you got a blogger account, now we're waiting for the Blog!

It's Christmas in September!

I apologize in advance to Alana, for this next sentence...

It's so much fun to have girls!

Yesterday after we got home, Annie started feeling better (she'd had a low temp in the morning) and we decided to try on some clothes that we got from our friend Jeanette.

To make it fun, I told her we were doing a "fashion show!" I showed her how to "walk" and "turn" and "pose" like a model...

She was just Too Cute!

I wish I would've gotten her little fashion show on video. She modeled 4 or 5 outfits, and boy did she strut her stuff!

By the time I got the video clip going, she (of course) decided she was done! I did get her to perform a little song for me though.

We went with one that fit the outfit!

(sorry it's so dark, I don't know how to lighten it.)

TGFM

TGFM!
(thank goodness for meme's!)

I'm having a bloggy blockage...I know it happens to the best of us! Anyway, I've been meaning to do this meme that Carissa started, so here goes...

Accent: I don't think I used to have one, but since living a bit farther south, I think my "twang" has gained a bit of strength!

Drink: Starbucks Mocha Latte, Coca-Cola

Chore I hate: Dishes!

Pets: 2 dogs: Elvis is a 7 year old lab/bird dog mix (we think); Chester is a 5 month old Border Collie, they both live outside. 1 cat, Daisy Duke, she's 10 years old and as feisty as ever, she lives inside with us.

Essential Electronics: Computer, TV with Tivo, iPod, Cell Phone!

Perfume: Elige, by Mary Kay

Gold or Silver: usually silver, but I like gold too.

Insomnia: Not usually.

Job Title: Mommy, housekeeper, chauffeur, financial advisor, nurse, home management expert!

Most Admired Trait: friendly, and sometimes I have good hair.

Kids: Ellie age 5 1/2, Annie age 3, Austin age (almost) 1!

Phobia: creepy crawly things.

Religion: I'm a Christian! I was born and raised southern baptist, and now attend an awesome non-denominational church.

Siblings: 0

Time I wake up: Well, now that Ellie's in school, I usually wake up at 6:15am. However, I tend to go back to bed after Daddy takes her to school, and sleep until one of the other's wake me up! Usually around 8:00am.

Unusual Talent/Skill: I can High March while playing the clarinet in 100+ degree weather!

Vegetable: Red Bell Peppers

Worst Habit: Picking at my feet.

X-rays: ankle (fell at church camp), collar bone/neck (fell at a church youth retreat, and a car wreck), 8 ultrasounds for the babies, arm (fell down my front steps)...wow, I fall a lot!

Favorite Meal: My moms roast with potatoes and carrots...I've tried to make it just like her, but it's never as good!

OK, tag, you're it, if you want to be!

Creative Avoidance

Avoidance. That is the name of the game that I'm playing this morning.


Why?


Well...



Yes, that is my kitchen. And yes, that would be Austin crawling through the mayhem.


I have done all sorts of things this morning, none of which involved me setting FOOT inside my kitchen! Note, that even when I took the picture, I was standing outside the kitchen!


The mess is the aftermath of the party we had last night. It was a Backyard BBQ in honor of Annie's 3rd birthday and Austin's 1st birthday. We had a blast with our friends and family! I love parties. I love being with friends, I love watching our kids play nicely together, I love good food, and I love good music. Some things I don't love are the actual work of getting everything ready! Yesterday I actually didn't stress too much, mostly because my mom had the girls, and being that it was an outside party, Jason had to help a bit more!


It really was a great time.

I loved seeing our swing set filled with kids laughing and playing. It was one of those moments that I envisioned when we got it!




I loved seeing our deck filled with friends, another vision I've had!



I love the EASINESS of cupcakes!




I loved seeing Austin tear into his cupcake, that boy is hilarious!




I loved watching Annie play with her buddies!




Ok, so now I must go tend to my kitchen, because my eye is starting to twitch at the thought of Austin crawling on the very dirty floor!