Um, I guess she's right...

While I was upstairs cleaning out a closet, Shelby was busy running up and down the stairs, doing whatever she does when I'm not paying 100% attention.  She screamed from downstairs, "Mom, what is on the floor?"  I just ignored it.  She then ran up the stairs, asking again, "What is that on the floor?"  It then occurred to me I should probably investigate a little further, so I asked her what it looked like.

You could see her little wheels turning, then she finally announced, "A LOBSTER!"  At that point I decided I had better go see this "lobster" for myself.  I had to admit she was right when I saw one of these on the floor:

The cutest scorpion image I could find

We've seen lots of scorpions in our house since moving in, but the fact that my precious first born daughter found this one on her own makes me hate them even more!

The Grass is Greener

We have an area on the side of our house that has always required more attention than the rest of the yard.  We've seeded.  We've sodded.  We've plopped a big plastic storage container on top.  All with no luck in getting it to be a usable space.  

Bryon had big plans on ropping in our families to help lay flagstone down to finally put an end to the muddy mess.  Luckily our awesome realtor, Corey Young, said just to put down some sod and keep our fingers crossed it lives until our house sells.  

So, this weekend, Bryon leveled the mud, shoveled 1200 pounds (!) of topsoil, and, with Shelby's help, laid a pallet of sod, all before 8:00 am.  It was so cute watching Shelby tell her daddy where to put the next strip of grass and help stomp it down.  Her attempts at pushing the wheelbarrow were also VERY amusing.  

Now, let's just keep our fingers crossed (and our sprinklers running) that all of their efforts will pay off!

And, just to keep things even, I had to include a picture of Cutie Pie #2, Haley Bear.  Adorable, even with a boo-boo on her head!

Open Up and Say Aaaahhh!

Going to the dentist has become a whole different experience since I was a kid.  First there is the waiting room:

Yep, that's one of three touch screen video games you can play while waiting for your torture cleaning.   

All my dentist had was a big fish tank and two issues of out-dated "Highlights" magazines.  After you were summoned, you were led down the yellow-brick-road to a big room full of 7 other kids getting their teeth fixed in one way or another.  I think my biggest problem with it all was the fear of the unknown.  Some days, they would just look in my mouth and give me a sticker.  Other days, I would leave with four less teeth than I walked in with.  If only I would have had my mommy back there with me holding my hand...

Okay, sorry about that tangent!  I clearly still have a few issues to be resolved...Back to how incredibly wonderful Shelby's first dental visit was.

Instead of watching the other kids get their teeth fixed, Shelby got to pick her favorite movie to watch OVERHEAD while the dentist herself cleaned her precious pearly whites. Dr. Linda Steele and her assistant Eva were like two little Fairy Godmothers there to make Shelby's first experience like a playdate with her friends.  She was such a big girl and cooperated the entire time.  I could not have been more proud of how brave she was compared to the 'fraidy cat I used to be! 

There wasn't one unknown factor in this office.  They let Shelby play with all the equipment before putting it in her mouth.  She loved the water-shooting thingy and even played with the sonicare toothbrush so much it ran out of juice.  

So, thanks to changes in pediatric dentistry, it shouldn't take my girls twenty years to learn to love going to the dentist!

A Tale of Two Trips

Recently, it has occurred to me that grocery shopping ain't what it used to be for this ol' mama.  Observe the before and after scenarios:

Thoughts on the way home:

Before--Can't anyone control their kids anymore?

After--Did anyone see me almost cry in produce?

Items in cart:

Before--champagne, fat-free milk, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches,  margarita mix, People magazine, anything labeled "spicy", and the latest snack seen on Oprah

After--champagne, whole milk, string cheese, frozen pizza, Capri Sun, anything labeled "microwavable", and the latest snack seen on Nickelodeon 

Mode of Transportation:

Before--a short half-block walk to the hip neighborhood market

After--curdled milk-smelling SUV to suburban Kroger

Biggest Indulgence:

Before--Caribbean Lobster

After--Brand name diapers

(Cutest thing ever, right??  Yep, I'm not spending hard-earned money on "Designer Diapers" unless I have a coupon and they are on sale!)

Conversations with fellow shoppers:

Before--"Aren't you my pharmacist?  Thanks for the advice on my foot fungus.  It has cleared up."

After--"Does this bottle belong to you?  Your kid dropped it by the Campbells Soup."  

Wallet is found in:

Before--Latest designer purse found at the Galleria

After--Nylon diaper bag found at Babies 'R Us


Biggest Pet Peeve:
Before-Grocery bagger crushes some of my Baked Lays bagging them with heavier items.

After-No novelty "car" carts available.

Total time spent:
Before--10 minutes to throw on a cute outfit and makeup + 25 minutes shopping from the list made in my head + 5 minutes checking out in the express lane = less than an hour

After--30 minutes getting shoes, clothes, bottles, diapers, and snacks for mom kids ready to go + 90 minutes shopping and backtracking to get everything on my detailed list and cleaning up the messes made by the mom kids + 30 minutes checking out with coupons, frequent shopper card, ID for champagne, debit card covered in slobber, and constant monitoring for foreign items that "randomly" appeared in our cart + 30 minutes loading and unloading kids and groceries = THREE hours of pure chaos

Everything I Know, I Learned in Home Ec.

My latest obsession has been my new sewing machine.  We are just getting know each other, so my creations have been amusing at best.  I bought Sewing For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies)) just to get back in the swing of things, since it had been 22 years (ouch!), my Freshman Home Ec class at ol' SHS.  The book inspired me to make a marker holder for all of Shelby's markers.  It was just 6 straight lines stitched on a ready-made cloth napkin.  Fun!

A great blog has kept my inspiration going.  The gals at Sew, Mama, Sew led me to Joel Dewberry's Sewn Spaces: Fresh and Modern Projects for Your Life and Home, and I can't wait to make these cute little birds for everyone I know (act surprised if you get one for Christmas)!

Searching amazon led me to Sewing for Children: 35 Step-by-step Projects to Help Kids Aged 3 and Up Learn to Sew.  I can NOT wait to get Shelby involved.  She's already helped me make a bobbin and loved working the foot peddle.  

Okay, time to get to the point.  Because I've become a little obsessed with my new creative outlet, I now want a serger.  I've only used one once in Home Ec and was banned from using it again by Mrs. Engle.  My failure to use it properly only fueled my curiosity. 

More projects I have big plans to do:

octopus costume

doll clothes

I-spy quilt

A serger machine would speed up these projects, once I figured it all out!

My Potty Girl-in-Training

For the past few weeks, I've had big plans to potty train Shelby.  But, then I get antsy to leave the house and just throw a diaper on her.  Well, this week is it.  Starting Wednesday Thursday Friday (yep, Friday, for sure.  Maybe.  Hopefully.), I'm going to following the instructions from this book on Amazon:















My friend Rita used www.askthepottytrainer.com with success.  If anyone else has any suggestions, feel free to drop by to watch a little of this all day:

Staying Cool

Because of this:

We've been doing a lot of this:

And this:

I've learned the Shops at Willowbend in Frisco has the best kids' play area.  A little closer to home is The Tubes at Irving Bible Church.  Who wants to join us?