Baby Shower

My sister-in-law is due January 2nd with my 1st nephew to live in the state and easy distance to spoil and love. Sorry dear Sister, nephew and future nephew (due Dec. 21st) and 2 nieces in Wisconsin. You make sure your medical school dad tries really, really hard to get residency much closer.

My daughter and I eagerly set out to provide an awesome baby shower. Grandma set the theme with lambs. Yes, that's right, we adore lambs. Being Shepherd's (with the correct spelling) has always been a source of pride and we wanted to help welcome the new lamb to the fold in style.

I made a diaper cake (unfortunately, no picture). We played candy games like how many butter mints are in the big plastic bottle and name that candy shout out with breastfeeding matching Milky Way and the night of conception matching Skor candy bar. It was a lot of fun.

My favorite addition to the party came from my 9 year old and her love of getting cookbooks from the library. Her latest checkout was Cupcakes Galore. She was flipping through it 2 days before the shower and found sheep cupcakes. So we jetted to the store. Friday she made cupcakes and Saturday she decorate them.

Aren't they cute? Just need frosting, Junior Mints and marshmallows. Not only did we have a themed treat but my daughter loved making them and showing them off.

Halloween

Halloween Night--my WONDERFUL brother not only dressed up but took my 3 eager children trick-0r-treating for hours! They came home loaded up with candy, said he was the best uncle ever and knew which houses gave the best candy. So, one of the real stars of Halloween was my brother who left me to lounge around passing out candy instead of booking it with my kids for candy.

She, of course, was brilliant. However, I didn't concoct her brilliance. Every year my kids love their costumes and look amazing. The other real star of Halloween is Grandma. My husband took one look at my daughter's vampiress dress and asked if we took the sleeves off could she wear it to church. It's that fancy. It is made out of left over bridesmaid dress fabric and notions. It cost me all of $1 for a pattern and I don't count the boots because she needed another pair shoes.

He was scary. He wanted to be. He is my most easy going when it comes to costumes. Somehow, he always chooses something we have stuff for. I spent $6 buying a Dracula make-up kit with fangs and the medallion. Grandma had the cape and she made him a special cummerbund to finish off the effect. He always shines on Halloween in my eyes. If he notices a discrepancy in candy levels, he never fails to share or help other kids feel good about what they have. It's a trait I love about him.

The force is strong with this one. Grandma of course made all the pieces for his Jedi costume. I made the lightsaber out of a pool noodle and duct tape. I learned long ago that little Jedi's need soft lightsabers for their duels. Grandma knew how much my littlest one loves Star Wars and made the costume purposely bigger so he can enjoy it for the coming year and maybe even next year. Thanks to my family, my children had a wonderful Halloween.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Yes, that is what happens when your 3 children go off track right before Halloween. There were play dates, parties, Halloween costumes to get in order, church activities and responsibilities, baby showers to plan and execute, a piano to refinish and paint coffee table to match living room decor and 3 kids to keep from killing each other.

But, today, my children are back in school.

Did I enjoy sleeping in? Of course. But what I do not currently hear? I don't hearing fighting or teasing. I read the paper this morning, finished all my daily cleaning chores, read Star Wars books with my kindergartner and I'm now sitting down to enjoy computer time which would be non-existent with my children clamoring around me. It's a little bit of heaven.

I was very creative the past 3 weeks with my children and now I hope to share with all of you my triumphs and best moments. My husband always says wow but as a female I want a little more gushing from those who know how much work it really takes.

Annual Fun Run

To me, the words don't go together. I run/jog/power walk/walk to lose weight. My children's school has made this an annual tradition that my kids love. They have balloons leading up to the finish line. Teachers challenge their kids to stay with them on the course. They hand out water bottles.

This year both Emma and Teddy ran the 2 miles instead of 1 mile.

Wyatt, my little kindergarten hero, jogged in the school field. Unfortunately, he couldn't do 2 laps, only 1. However, the little man had croup the night before and was just recovering so I'm giving him kudos for doing 1 lap.


Next year, I hope to keep up with Emma. I think it might take 2 years to get me in shape for Teddy's pace. He's fast and wants to be. I know I can keep up with Wyatt. So here's to Fun for my kids and hopefully weight loss and a more in shape woman for me.

Summer Lesson #6

The end.

I love the end--the end of the story, the wrap-up, the completion of one thing to go on to something new.


I love the end of summer. The last minute hikes in the canyons to see everything before the colors start changing. It finally begins to drop in temperature. My kids fidget in anticipation, excited to wear new clothes bought at the last possible moment--a little big-- in hopes that they will last the school year. My kids and I get a routine back, myself a slave to school bells just as much as when I was in school.

Now, there are NEW stories to read. Science projects to explore. Exciting things to tell each day around the dinner table. Friends seen each day and new ones made. Most importantly, a chance to learn new things and grow.

A chance to read, practice math and spend a couple hours with
other kids learning, instead of all by himself with just mom for company.


A chance to be a great friend, find out about experiments that will drive Mom
crazy as each day something new can be tried, to become more responsible
and crazy smart.


A chance to hone the steel trap of his memory, absorb new facts,
test his physical strength and continue to excel in anything
he desires.

The beginning of new school year is filled with possibilities.

Summer Lesson #5

I love to create or remake.

We had the opportunity to get a locking cabinet. It had been my Great Grandpa's gun cabinet. It had been in my parent's room for over 20 years. My mother was remodeling and since my father only had one shotgun left, they weren't keeping the cabinet.

My husband wanted it. We have few more guns and he was more than happy to keep my father's shotgun safe. However, the front panel was clear glass and the size of the cabinet made it tricky to place in the house. There was only one room it would fit in--my living room.

Despite my husband's desire to be NRA and proud of his guns, I do not decorate my living room to Guns and Ammo taste. So, it was time to be inventive.

For years, my mother had wanted to give the cabinet the stained glass effect. You can paint the glass with lead lines and special paint and TADAAA! You have a beautiful decorated cabinet that women would be willing to display. So, we moved the cabinet to the garage and went to work.

A couple of hours were spent searching and drawing the design. It cost me about $30 in Gallery Glass paint. My mother and I spent 3 days painting.
















The result was perfect. My husband likes it so much, he is willing to go the extra mile and install cabinet lighting to glow from the inside and highlight the glass.

I love looking at and knowing that I helped create it's final look. It gave me the confidence to tackle my next project. I found a functioning piano for $75. The piano cabinet is very sad. Someone cut the piano legs to clear a corner and then tried to glue them back in. It's dented and dinged and pieces were not fitting nicely. So, with my husband's extraordinary carpentry skills, I'm restoring a 1920's piano. I'll share my new project when I've completed it.

Summer Lesson #4

Bribery does not always work.

With a week left of school this last June, I started dreading the fact that two of my children would now spend more of the day together instead of in different classrooms. My 9 year old and 7 year old waste no opportunity to tease, tattle, pick on and generally annoy each other.

So, I came up with a reward system. Each day that no major fighting occurred, I would mark a star on the calendar. When there were 5 stars, we could all choose a $1 movie and go.

So how many times did we make it to the $1 movie theater. That's right, not once.

I did however come up with many clever new consequences. If you say an unkind thing, you can make that person's bed the next morning to do something nice to compensate for the not nice. Physical fighting will not be tolerated in any form and you will be grounded (I had to do this twice). If I have to listen to potty language, you can clean the toilet. Potty language disappeared entirely.

So, how did I survive the summer? Projects, friends and Grandma's. I came up with projects that took us out of the house. I drove them to friend's house to keep them apart. Most importantly, the Grandma's saved us all.

On both sides of the family, they took time to give each child days on their own with just Grandma. My children came home happier with awesome stories and projects they did. Each one felt valued individually and not in relation to their siblings which is the major reason they pick at each other. They want to be noticed above, around, or over their siblings. Mom loves them all but each day they clamor for more proof or fight to the death to get just a little more attention, even the negative kind.

So here's to the Grandma's--summer wouldn't have been the same without them.