My Little Shelby

For months, Shelby was telling everyone we saw her birthday was going to be June the 8th at Chuck E. Cheese.  Everyone in her class, in line at the grocery store, at the park, and even at the dentist was invited.  (Something tells me she's an extrovert just like her mom!)  Not being the biggest fan of Chuck's, I was trying my hardest to find another place as awesome as she perceived the Mouse House to be.  

Finally, we visited Aquatots just to look around and see if it was an acceptable place for her to host the hundreds of people she had invited.  Bingo!  She loved the idea of a swim party.  Plus, they do everything a party needs to be a success in the eyes of a 5-year-old:  cake with oodles of blue icing, indoor pool you have to yourself, Cheetos and Capri Suns, lifeguards playing games with the kids, and even the required bags of crap party favors.  I didn't even have to clean up.  Talk about BINGO!!  

Could she be any happier?

Look at me!  I'm 5!

Haley was less than thrilled that I wasn't taking pictures of her.

The camera loves Haley.  And Haley loves the camera (as long as it is pointed towards her).

Bryon and Josh discussing the joys of parenthood

The birthday girl riding the rapids

Ava Pie, Shelby Sparkle, and Dany Dash

 Shelby has become obsessed with My Little Pony in the past few months.  Not wanting to disappoint our filly, I let her run with the pony theme.  We stumbled upon these printable party hats, and Shelby begged to make some for her party.  We had lots of fun coloring, glueing, and inspecting the hats, and Shelby couldn't wait to show them to all her friends.

Can you tell which ones Mom colored?

The Ponyville population ready for their sugar cubes!

Look closely and you will Twinkle Sparkle and Rarity hanging out on the beach cake.  I'm wondering what happened to Princess Chardonnay...

Shelby's blue eyes match the icing.  Scary!

Shelby, you are growing up to be such a sweet and caring girl.  We love your willingness to please us and your ever-inquisitive questions.  You are so brave that you even held a snake this morning!  Please don't ever lose your sweet spirit, your unlimited supply of kisses for mom and dad, your love of learning, or your fearless view of the world.  And, please don't ask to go to Chuck E. Cheese next year!

Fast Learners

Our yard is embarrassing.  It is full of any kind of weed known to man.  Although I enjoy pulling those pesky weeds, it has gotten out of control, in particular these tiny trees that are easy to pull.  Taking advantage of the "helping" hands around my house, I told the girls I would pay them 1 penny per weed.  Shelby quickly grabbed some paper to chart her work.

After about 5 minutes, both girls were "exhausted" from all their weed pulling.  Shelby informed me she pulled 10 weeds and wanted her pennies.  When I tried to explain that she could get a whole dime for her wages, she said she wanted a dollar instead.  After learning she had to pull 100 weeds for the dollar, she declared, "Well, I'll just ask Grandma Birdie for one!" 

Yep, forget working for her money.  My girl will just call Grandma!!

Shelby and Grandma Birdie

And, then there was Haley.  That girl LOVES chocolate.  One night, after being told she couldn't have another chocolate chip cookie, she declared that she would just go to Mimi's house.  For the record, my mom (mimi) loves chocolate as much as the rest of us.  She always has chocolate-covered somethings in her house:  almonds, cherries, pecans, and recently acai berries.  Of course, the acai berries were only stashed for the antioxidants contained in the berry and NOT for the dark chocolate goodness surrounding them.  We like the way you think, Mimi!

Mimi, Mr. Monk, and Haley

Webster's Latest Dictionary Additions

My kids speak a language of their own, and we tend to pick up on their odd words and use them like it is normal.  In case you are around my budding vocabularians (yes, that is a real word), here is your guide to the latest additions to their dictionary. 

Poe•Poe adjective 

1. a common color made by mixing blue and red

2. synonym of Purple

Example:  I can't go to school today because my favorite poepoe shirt is dirty.

Origin:  Early Haley English

Shelby in her poepoe Easter dress

Fike•Y No•Ko noun

1.  Dried booger found in the nose.

2.  Alternate pronunciation for Spiky Moco 

Example:  Due to the dry and dusty air, Haley's nose was full of fikey nokos. 

Origin: Early Haley English (Fikey), Spanish Nanny (Moco)

Best place to find Fikey Nokos

Rest•Er•Hunt noun

1.  A place to eat when mom is too tired to cook.

2.  Also known as deli, pub, Chick-Fil-A, drive-through and restaurant.

Example:  All this noise in the resterhunt is drowning out the screams from our kids.

Origin:  Early Shelby Statement "Since we had to hunt for a place to rest, we must be in a resterhunt."

'Tend adjective
1.  Some that is imaginary or not real.
2.  Alternate pronunciation of pretend.
Example:  The 'tend snake just made mom's heart stop.
Origin:  Early Haley Engligh

Barbie's figure is just 'tend.

Oo•Sa, Faw•Na•Na, Hawn•A nouns

1. Imaginary friends

Example:  Haley and Shelby were 'tending to give Oosa, Fawnana, and Hawna a bath.

Origin:  Pfaff English

Piñ•on•o noun

1.  A musical instrument in the percussion family, closely related to the organ, keyboard, and synthesizer.  Sounds range from the most annoying (childsized piñono) to the most astounding (grand piñono).

2.  A commonly forced lesson in early childhood that most adults regret not spending more time practicing.

Example:  All that banging on the piñono is giving me a headache!

Mama, come play with me!

Some friends and I were recently having a discussion about the trials of parenting, and I made a HUGE confession.  Don't judge me, but I admitted I really don't like playing with my kids.  Shelby begs me to play board games with her, and it is 15 minutes of torture.  Haley wants me to play school with her, and all I do is get mad about the mess.

Anyway, back to my "wining and whining" discussion with fellow moms.  After my great reveal, one of the moms gave me some great advice.  She said I need to think about what I love doing and then try to do that with my kids.  As Oprah would say, it was my "Aha!" moment.  One of my all-time favorite things to do is curl up with a good book.  I read with any spare time I can get.  While my hubby watches his t.v. shows, my Kindle is put to good use.  I've been guilty of staying up WAY past my bedtime to finish just one more chapter, adding to my sleep deprivation.

For some reason, I had only been reading to my girls at bedtime.  But, I'm trying to change those habits.  When the girls come to me wanting attention, encouraging them to go pick out a book for us to read is my new goal.  The girls love for us to snuggle up in bed and read.  They still have their quirks that test my patience i.e. squirming, interrupting, and asking questions I can't answer, but it is far less torture than another round of Diggity Dog.

We have books coming out of our ears around here, so there are lots to choose from.  Keeping my fingers crossed, there aren't any that I'm sick of yet.  My mom stills complains about having to read George and Martha to my sister so many times that it dulled her brain.

Messy Bookshelf #1

Messy "Bookshelf" #2

Messy Bookshelf #3

Because I like lists, here are some of my favorite books:

• Any of the Llama Llama books.   Anna Dewdney's rhyming and cadence make reading her stories fun.  I love the build-up to Little Llama's meltdowns, and then the calmness of his mama's lessons.  
• Time Life Library of First Questions and Answers.  Shelby brought home Do Fish Drink? from her pre-school library, and it was love at first page for me.  As a child, I loved reading the encyclopedias we had at home, and this series of books from the early '90's reminds me of that.  Each page answers a different question, so we can read 1 page or 50 pages depending on attitudes.  Thanks to the internet, I was able to find a few of the books from this series used from Half Price Books and am hoping to stumble upon more.

Were these used books stolen from the library?

• Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy.  Both series have great lessons that I hope are sinking in with my kids.  And, the illustrations are adorable!  

• Are You My Mother? or, as it is known around here, Are You My Mudder?  Our favorite part is when the little bird asks the bulldozer, "Are you my mudder?" and the bulldozer answers, "SNORT!" 
• And, thanks to Shelby's teacher, Ms. Monica, our new favorite is Where the Sidewalk Ends.  Bryon still had his 1st edition copy from when he was young, so we've been able to read "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me, Too" over and over again.  I don't quite get some of the poems, but the girls just love it.  

The Upper Crust(less) Epiphany

Every time I inquire about how Shelby liked her school lunch, she always has to tell me how Kara's was SOOO much better because her mom cut the crusts off her PB&J, and my poor child had to peel them off herself. 

So, recently, Kara's mom and I were chatting.  I mentioned how Shelby thought Ms. Alicia was the bomb because of the crust issue.  Alicia rocked me to my core when she told me the whole reason she cuts off Kara's crusts was because her mom never cut hers off.  She also mentioned that she didn't see the point in leaving those darn crusts on when they offered no nutritional value.

Now, one would think bread crusts shouldn't keep this exhausted mom up at night, but it did!  I laid there thinking how irritated I would get at my mom for not cutting off the crusts too.  But, what really kept me up pondering was the whole "no nutritional value" of the crusts.  All this time, I left those crusts on thinking that there was added fiber.  Or vitamins.  Or something.  Kind of along the lines of an apple peel or grape skin.  HA!! 

From now on, those pesky crusts will be cut off of each and every sandwich I make, including my own.   Why did it take me 38 years to realize I don't HAVE to eat the crust?

P.S.  Of all the things I could blog about, I chose bread crusts??  It's time to get back in the blogging game and write about things that matter!!

You Mexico

We were FINALLY able to make it to New Mexico in late February since we weren't able to go out over Christmas.  As usual, we had a great time, and the kids LOVED seeing Grandma and Grandpa Birdie.  Highlights included:

• A visit from Sonia and her new baby boy Peyton.
• Feeding about 150 sandhill cranes that migrate through the property
• Spending lots of time with the cousins, including our newest addition, Jude
• Shelby announcing she was changing the name of the state from New Mexico to You Mexico.  Um...okay...???

And a million pictures from the fun trip:

Shelby showing Grandma how to use an Innotab

Haley and Peyton

Feeding the cranes

Sandhill Cranes

Haley learning to use the plasma car

Shelby and Grandma building a puzzle

Aaron and Jude having a little nap time

Shelby on the fort

Storytime with Grandma and the cousins

PADdington Bear

My cousin and his wife were recent houseguests of ours.  While we were having a lovely time catching up on life, Haley was keeping herself busy playing doctor to her stuffed animals in her bedroom.  I didn't think much about it until she marched in to show me her bandaged bear.  Take a gander at her nursing talents:

Poor bear had a cut

In case you can't tell why a bandaged bear is worthy of a blog post, maybe a closeup will explain why I was incredibly embarassed!

Where's the nearest rock for me to crawl under?