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Stories from the Shoe

1st Days!

1st Dance Class!!!!

She loves to dance!

She is head and shoulders taller than the rest of the class.

I LOVE the way she has her hand on her hip just like Erica!

1st day of nursery school!

The FACE!

Hugs from Mommy!

Silly Faces!

Goofballs

It's easier to get a "good" picture when we make silly faces

Her cubby

It's easy to find your name when you get there last:)

Maddie, Lindsey, and Gabbi.  Apparently none of them have ever had a picture taken.  This was the best I could get.

Great Expectations

Most people would say it's a good idea to "shoot for the moon."  I disagree.  The problem with shooting for the moon is that you rarely actually reach it, and frankly, it's a long way down.  Now before you go thinking that I'm a pessimist that just isn't true.  I'm a realist (aka what pessimists call themselves).  In our adoption path I am planning for longest possible wait.  Yes, we could have our baby by Christmas but I prefer to hope we'll have our baby by next Christmas and then if we our home by next Spring I am pleasantly surprised.  Those are the kind of surprises I like.  Pleasantly surprised surprises.
   You see even though I am a realist that is not my inclination.  I have had to teach myself that skill.  I am naturally inclined to assume the best.  The very, very best.  For example, if George says, "We are going away, but the destination is a surprise."  I immediately assume we are going to a tropical island, specifically one of those huts on the water in Bora Bora, when he is talking about camping in the Poconos.    Therefore, I am disappointed. 
    Unfortunately this trait seems to be hereditary.  After six years we have finally learned to stop saying to Christin, "We are going somewhere special today!"  She always assumes it is Disney World when usually it is the zoo.  We weren't sure that Lindsey had caught this particular trait until last week.  Mom came to pick up Lindsey for the library.  She foolishly said those six little words, "I have a surprise for you!"  Lindsey said, "what"  Mom, "We are going somewhere."  With a level of enthusiasm that only Lindsey can attain she said, "Skydiving?!?!?!"  They were going to get water-ice.  Where my two and half year old even came up with the notion that her Nana was going to take her skydiving I will never know.  I don't even know where she has heard of skydiving.  What I do know is that we will never say to her, "We are going somewhere special today!"
 

Momma has a Meltdown

Have you ever had one of those days where you are a complete wreck for no apparent (or hormonal) reason?  It's kind of an out of body experience.  Let me tell you about mine.
For our homestudy I have to have a physical.  I have been to a regular doctor exactly one time since I got married.  That was at the shore.  So I had to find a doctor.  I found one, scheduled an appointment, realized it wouldn't work, called back and rescheduled for today, early.  I showed up at the doctor's office at 7:45am for my 8am appointment.  As I pulled in my cell phone rang.  It was George telling me my appointment had been canceled.  I went in anyway and was told I would have to sit there until 8 when they opened their window to reschedule my appointment.  That ticked me off so I went home and called at 8.  Guess what?  They don't answer the phone til nine.  I may be done with them.  I haven't decided.
So for whatever reason this really made my day crappy.  I was tired and cranky for most of the morning. 

I had to suck it up though and head to see my favorite Irish doctor.  I was looking forward to the relaxing environment of the waiting room:  the candles, tea, cookies and the greeting of, "Shannon, my love, how are you?!?!?"  I didn't realize how apprehensive I was about going back there until I was on my way.  I started realizing that I was usually pregnant when I was there and I wasn't this time and probably never would be again but I pushed it down knowing that my obgyn would make me feel better (I know it sounds weird but I adore the woman)  Anyway, I walked in and gave my name to a girl I'd never seen before.  She said, "Oh I tried to call you and tell you we had to cancel your appointment but the line was busy"  Commence breakdown.  I said, "When did you call?"  her, "March 17"  Me, "AND YOU NEVER CALLED BACK!"  She said, "Well, we called three times and it was busy every time.  If you could see the list of people I have to call.  I can't just keep calling people.  Sorry.  I can reschedule you  for the end of June"  I made sure my number we correct and gave them my cell phone and got out of there just as I started to cry.  I was soooooo frustrated I just started driving home when I realized I was supposed to pick up a prescription.  I pulled myself back together.  Turned around and went back in to demand my prescription.  I expected the girl to give me an attitude but instead she apologized saying she had had a bad day.  I said, "me too" and started to cry just a little.  That's when Patti, the midwife walked in.  She asked what was wrong.  When I told her I was fine she said, "Shannon, your standing in the window crying!  What are you doing?!?!  Come back here!"  I put my head down and plowed through the crowded waiting room to the back where Patti put her arm around me while I tried to convince her, between sobs, that, "I [sob] really [sob] am [sob] fine.  I ddddddon't [sob] know [sob] what [sob] my pppproblem is."  The whole time I was sitting there I felt like such a dork!  I was so embarrassed to be crying like that and I still don't really know why.  I went in there expecting to tell them all how great I was doing and instead I was having a complete break down. 

Well, you've heard that the squeaky wheel gets the oil?  Apparently so does the sobbing nut case.  The receptionist brought me in several months of free prescriptions and Patti told her to schedule me an appointment.  When the girl said, "We don't have anything until the end of June" Patti said, "I think we've inconvenienced her enough, make something, and soon."   So I go back in a couple of weeks.  I'm hoping I can come up with a great plan by then to convince them I really am fine! 

My Life: The Musical

I've always loved musicals.  The range of emotions that come out when watching a musical make them so memorable.  I'll never forget the way I felt sitting on my parents couch with my friend Erica sobbing our eyes out repeating "Did he have to die?!?!" after watching West Side Story.  A beautiful sunny morning always get me singing Oh What a Beautiful Morning from Oklahoma.  Put on a Happy Face from Bye Bye Birdie and You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile from Annie can always put a smile on my face.   Speaking of Annie, I can't tell you how many times I've walked around my house belting out Miss Hannigans Little Girls:) 

All that to say, I always thought there was something bizarre about the concept of people just bursting into song in the middle of talking.  It's weird and unrealistic, or so I thought.  Then I had kids.  My children will be holding a perfectly normal conversation with me and suddenly break into song.  It's hard not to laugh when your five year old asks you a deep question about God, you sit down and answer her as clearly as you can and she suddenly stands up and says, "So it's like this?" and burst into a totally made up song.  Sometimes it's more gradual.  I don't even realize what's happining.  Talking becomes singsongy talking and then before I know it there is an entire song and dance taking place in front of me. Lindsey doesn't do this as much but I'v noticed she's starting.  Maybe they are the next big Broadway duo?!?!
It makes me wonder what Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein were like as children.

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Little Philosopher

No one ever told me that after the "why" stage there was another, even more frustrating, stage around the corner.  It's the "What do you mean?" stage.  Christin feels that this is an appropriate question to ask in any situation.  "Christin it's time for dinner."  "What do you mean?"  "Christin you left your clothes on the floor"  "What do you mean?" "Christin did you finish your schoolwork?"  "What do you mean?".
I sometimes give an extremely long answer in hopes that I will frustrate her as much as that question frustrates me.  For example:
Me:  "Christin, it's time to brush your teeth."
Christin:  "What do you mean?"
Me:  "It is seven-thirty in the pm.  It is customary to brush you teeth at this time of day.  The reason we brush our teeth at this time is because we are about to go to bed.  If you do not remove the gunk from your teeth before going to bed it will turn into plaque.  Plaque cannot be removed by your tooth brush and must be taken care of by the dentist.  So put a pea size amount of toothpaste on your red toothbrush and brush every single part of every single tooth and your tongue and cheeks."
Usually during the lengthy explanation she interrupts several times with "Maaahhhmom" (is that the appropriate spelling for the long drawn out version of mom?  I had moooom but that made me think of a cow which made me feel badly about myself, but I digress)
 Anyway, I just keep talking and hope that one day she will grow out of the "What do you mean?" stage.

We Should

Lindsey has developed a new love for the word should.  Every time I tell her she "shouldn't" do something she replies, "I should!" in her little chipper voice that frankly is hard to argue with.  Sometimes she even switches it up and says "you should!"  Let me give you an example:

Just last week I was hiding in taking a shower.  Lindsey has decided that when I shower she should come in the bathroom and sit on the toilet and talk to me.  It's especially great when I get out and she gives me a running commentary on my body, but you so don't want to hear about that.  Anyway, the other day I opened the curtain to find the entire roll of toilet paper unrolled onto the floor.  I sighed and said, "Lindsey, you really shouldn't unroll the toilet paper."  She looked my right in the eyes and said, "You should!  It's fun."  I have to admit, she can be very convincing, it does look fun.  I may have to try it.  The trick is finding a time I can do it and frame it on the kids in perfect timing so that someone else has to roll it back up because that is not fun. 

I think she has a career in advertising. 

It's Good to Plan Ahead

We are planners. Both George and I are always making plans. We don't fly by the seat of our pants very well. Admittedly George manages to act out his plans much more often than I do. I tend to plan and not accomplish. Christin has definitely inherited the planning gene. I often say, "Christin, it's time to do schoolwork" to which she responds, "I had planned on playing first." Only time will tell if she will turn her plans to actions or will just always be planning.
So it's not surprising that she made a new plan for her life. One that includes college and moving out (she's come so far, sniff, sniff:) So here it is:
1. Go to Villanova. She made this decision based based on the strictest criteria. They were close to home and had a cat has a mascot. Frankly, I've heard worse reasons to pick a school.
2. Move to Disney World and become a vet at Animal Kingdom.
3. Ride rides on her days off.

Frankly, I'm hoping it works out.

When Homeschooling Goes Hillariously Wrong

There was something on the couch yesterday.  It was blue and all over the cushins.  Because of the color I was fairly confident it was not poop (which is always a scary possibility) so I bent down to give it a wiff (I know, I am so brave).  It had a distinctly minty smell which told me that some one dared to leave the bathroom while brushing their teeth.  I decided to ask anyway, "Does anyone know what's on the couch?"  Shockingly no one knew.   Then Christin had an flash of brilliance, or so she seemed to think, "I'm pretty sure it's a plague from God."  Oh yes, how could I have forgotten that possibility?  Now I remember:  water to blood, frogs everywhere, flies everywhere, children's bright blue toothpaste on the couch, locusts, darkness, death.  It all makes perfect sense.
Later on I was playing Pharoh and the children were the Israelites (yup we are super weird and dorky).  Anyway, I was ordering them in my most Pharohy voice to clean my fields (aka the playroom) so I could see all my beautiful land.  Christin jumped right on board and started cleaning.  Lindsey however, made her best brat face, looked up at me and said (in that snotty tone usually reserved for eleven year old girls) "No way, Hosanna!"  Somehow it didn't have the same umph that Jose seems to have.  Who knew?
Homeschooling allows my children more creativity when sinning.  That's why we do it.

A Family Dictionary

It bothers me when people adopt their childrens words for things and create their own language.  However, lately I find myself doing the same thing.  I think it's Lindsey's fault.  I'm not sure if you noticed but she's pretty stinkin cute and when she makes up her own words it's hard to resist saying them.  Here's an example of some of the words we've been using:
"oushy squoshy" = silly putty
"mooolk"   = milk (I think this one is pretty smart)
"nilky"  = thats an old one from Christin originally meaning milk but now refering to all liquid
and my favorite:
"smarshmellow" = marshmellow

Soon I'll be talking in a widdle, biddle baby voice and repeating everything twice twice.  Don't you love how motherhood changes people?

Momma called the doctor and the doctor said. . .get a DS.

My children have a doctors kit.  You know, the kind with tweezers, a stethescope, play bandages etc.  However, they don't really seem to know what it's all for.  Uncle Joel bought Lindsey the doctors kit for her birthday at the end of July, a few weeks later the blood pressure taker cuff (I'm pretty sure that's the medical name) detached from the tube and air pump thingy (sorry if I'm confusing you with the medical terms).  Shortly after this piece broke I caught Lindsey walking around with the tube in her mouth pumping air in and sucking spit out.  I said what I say about 392 times a day, "take that out of your mouth please."  She looked up at me horrified and said, "this is my breathing tube, I'm Baby Jack!"  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  I think I've done both several times since this is now how that tube is used on a daily basis.

Today Lindsey was "sick" and Dr. Christin was caring for her.  I observed her taking her tempature, pulling out a splinter, giving a shot, and listening to her heart beat; all normal stuff.  Then she handed her the pager, which I found odd, until I heard her say, "Just lie here and play with this DS.  You'll feel better soon." 

Fisher Price, it sounds like it's time to phase out the pager and replace it with the age old healer, a Nintendo DS.


PS.  My children don't even have a DS!

This is My Life

I'm not complaining

I'm just sayin

There's something poetic about the hot chocolate splattered vacuum in the background.

I woke up this morning and decided I needed 15 more minutes to be happy.  It worked and Supermom showed up.  Supermom is my super hero alter ego.  She gets all the school work done, plays horseys, convinces the children to eat all their veggies, does laundry, takes the children outside to play in the snow and then vacuums while the children happily sip hot chocolate.  Unfortunately she doesn't visit very often.  It's usually her evil counterpart, Stupidmom, who stuffs her in the closet, locks the door, and tortures everyone around her.

Anyway, after Supermom served the hot chocolate and vacuumed all the floors her slippy sidekick decided to bring her her mug and it's leftover contents.  Unfortunately Slippy slips a lot and this time she slipped off the bench and dropped Supermoms ceramic Sleeping Beauty mug.   Happily no bones or mugs (amazingly) were broken.

That's life in the day of a super hero.

Cast off Day!

Lindsey get's her cast off today!!!!!!  It will be so nice to not get accidentaly punched with a cast several times a day.

More tomorrow!
PS.  My "thin" page is updated.

Health Vomit

Sometimes Christin gets cases of knowledge vomit, for no apparant reason all her knowledge on a subject comes spewing out.  Lately we've been talking a lot about being more healthy and I guess Christin overloaded because at dinner last night she said the following:

"It's important to be healthy, to do healthy things and take care of our bodies.  You should drink lots of water, eat healthy foods, exercise, wash your body regularly, and brush your teeth.  I'm pretty good at all of that.  Well, maybe not brushing my teeth, but that one isn't really that important."  Here she paused to breathe and I interjected.
"Brushing your teeth is very important."
"Yeah, but it's not like you are going to get sick if you don't brush your teeth."
"Actually, when you brush your teeth you get the germs and bactaria out of your mouth.  Do you know what happens if you don't get them out of your mouth?"
She replied.
"They come out in your poop, eventually, as long as you eat healthy foods and drink lots of water you won't stay sick because the sickness will come out in your poop."  I decided while this may not be exactly biologically correct it was close enough.
"Oh, what healthy foods would you eat?"
"Lima beans, and chicken. . . may I be excused?"

So there you have it folks, everything you need to know about being healthy.  Well, I'm off to make sure Christin brushes her teeth this morning.

Jinx

As many of us know "the rules of jinx are unflinchingly rigid."  That is why children should not not be taught the game until they are at least never.  Unfortunately we did not learn this until important lesson until it was too late.  Now in our house "jinked" has lots more rules:

1.  Singing doesn't count
2.  You must actually speak at the same time.  Thinking something someone else says does not count.
3.  There is a time limit on how long you have to think of what the other person must do, you cannot leave someone in silence infinitely (since no soda is allowed for the children).
4.  You cannot sit and listen to someone speak and just try and think of their next word to "jink" them.
5.  Mommy and Daddy have vitto power over what you can make us do

Those are the rules, for now, I'm sure as this game continues to develop more will come.

PS.  It wuld apear I know longr hav spel cheker so watch out wurld!

Sunday pSalm

I thought the first Sunday of the year would be a good time to start adding a little spiritualness to my blog and since I'm a big fan of alliteration, a Psalm on Sunday was too (to?) good to pass up. I started flipping through the Psalms looking for one that was representative of the way I'm feeling this new year. This is what I found:

Psalm 13
A Psalm of David

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him",
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation,
I will sing to the Lord
For he has been good to me.

While the past eight months have been horrible and I have so many times cried out, "how long, Lord?" I am now ready to "rejoice" and "sing to the Lord." I am once again excited to find God's will for my life and see where He is leading me. I know there will still be times of deep sorrow but I will trust in God's unfailing love.

Child of the 80's

It was 29 years ago that Olivia Newton John recorded that infamous song "Let's get Physical." One would think that the repercussions of that song (and so many other awful 80's songs) would have run their course. Alas, this is not the case. Another trademark of the 80's were Carebears. While I enjoyed carebears as a child and don't really mind their come back I do have a problem with this: Warning!!!! What you are about to see may disturb you.

New Years Resolutions

Ah, a new year is upon us. Time to forget the past and set lofty somewhat unattainable goals for the next 365 days. I've decided that this year is my year. The year I am going to become the person I've always wanted to be: a combination of Elizabeth Elliot, a super model (anyone will do), Duff (Ace of Cakes), the Pioneer Woman, and an environmentalist (oh and I am going to win the elusive Mom of the Year award this year!). I'm pretty sure I can do it, no problem, ok I'm sure they'll be problems but let's be honest, that's why you read my blog:) So without further ado (become a better speller is not on the list for 2010):
My New Years Resolutions for 2010
1. Get in shape (drop 30lbs)
1. Read through my Bible in a year
1. Eat better (or stop eating crappy foods)
1. Become more "green"
1. Run a full marathon
1. Sell at least one cake (or cookies) a month (including several wedding cakes!)
1. Have 50 followers of this blog
1. Blog every day

I know it's a lot and next year my resolution will probably be "make no resolutions" but 2010 is my year:)

PS. I've created two new pages to chronicle my weight loss and green goals. Check out the links on the right -->