• Oct. 2, 2009
Birthday Bonanza!

Well, the month of October has arrived and around here that means Birthdays!  We have a plethora of October birthday's in my family.  (Not to mention quite a few friends that we happen to know who share my brother and husbands birthdays!)  It goes like this:  My nephew, my Dad and Daughter (same day), my brother and my husband.  Whew!  They go from beginning to almost the end.  In fact if my grandpa was still alive they would go from the 1st to the 31st!

Today began the festivities for our immediate family.  We spent the day with Sarah's best friend and her family to celebrate Sarah's birthday.  We began the day at the Soulard Farmer's Market then had a picnic lunch in the park. 

 After that we headed to Baked Goods Pottery to paint some ceramic pieces.  We had a little adventure there.  We pulled up to the building and it said "FOR LEASE" in the window!  Fortunately I called 1-800-YELLOW-PAGES and was able to discover that they had just moved to a bigger building across town. 

For dinner we all went to Pizza Hut then went back to Sarah's friends house for oatmeal cookie bars (yes, she requested that instead of a cake!)  It was a really fun day!

What has happened to the past 12 years!  I can not believe that it was that long ago when the doctor first placed her in my arms!!  Now she is becoming a young woman before my eyes and I can not begin to comprehend how it happened so fast!  I am just glad I have been able to see every step of her growth to this point.  I am blessed beyond words with a wonderful daughter!

Shannon

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• Sep. 19, 2009
New Family Photos

Thanks to John Shaw for taking some new family photos for us!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Shannon

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• Aug. 3, 2009
What a busy week

Last week was very full of activity around here. 

The majority of the activity centered around Sarah's "Theater Kids Camp."  This was a one week day camp that took place at our church.  The kids did all kinds of activities in preparation for their Friday night performance where they put on about a 35-40 minute musical presentation.  They did drama, choreography, and both choral and solo/duet singing.  Sarah had a solo, two duets and a trio and she did, of course, a fantastic job.  The favorite part of her week was spending the entire week with her best friend. 

Not only were they in the same small group at camp, but they spent nearly every night together that week.  Sunday night Sarah's friend spent the night with us, Monday night Sarah spent the night with her.  (Tuesday there was no sleep over due to her friend getting braces Tuesday and Sarah having an orthodontist appt. Wednesday.)  Wednesday night Sarah's best friend spent the night again along with her brother and sister.  That was fun!  From two kids to five instantly!  Then Thursday night Sarah spent the night at her friends house again.  Timothy's favorite night was Wedndsday because he got to have his own 'sleepover' with a couple kids sleeping in his room!  He was thrilled!

Thursday night was an interesting one for me.  I encountered a wasps nest and ended up getting stung (not badly) but in my haste to escape the wasps I ran across the yard, fell and hurt my leg (badly).  I really thought I had messed my leg up, but thankfully I am nearly pain free now.  I never even had so much as a bruise.

Sunday was the first night of house church that was held in our home this summer.  We had a great time and a really good chili supper.  Yeah, a chili supper the first week of August.  So much for summer temperatures around here.  It's been so cool at nights that a chili supper sounded good!  And it was!

We are looking forward to a slightly slower week this week as we prepare for vacation next week.  Just going to put the finishing touches on the school plan (since we start the week after next) and take it easy.  Well, that's the plan anyway.........

Shannon

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• May. 2, 2009
The Kids

I am happy to report that everyone is doing well at our house again!  After 3 days of on again, off again, mystery leg pain, Timothy is now fine.  He must have pulled a muscle or something that bothered him for a few days.  Of course, we had just finished paying for last years trip to the ER...........

Sarah successfully finished school 3 weeks early!  She got really motivated and doubled up on everything she had left.  Not only that but she took her achievement test and we already got the results back.  She scored in the 81st percentile, which means she scored as high or higher than 81% of 6th graders.  She also made all A's and B's in school this year.  We are very proud of her!

The spring musical is coming up two Sunday's from now.  Timmy's choir is singing two songs.  I love to listen to his rendition of one of them.  I will put the actual words first, his translation in parenthesis.  I don't know all of the real words so I will do my best:

A gentle breeze (a dental breeze)
And [something about] trees (and make me trees)
And busy busy bumble bees (and busy busy bum knees)
But better than all of these (but 'etter than all of these)
Simple as ABC's (He Gets The Rest Right)
From my head down to my knees, I thank God for all of these.

Sarah is very excited about her part in the musical "Acorns to Oaks."  She has a pretty major part and several solos.  She also gets to be a rumor weed (yes, like Larry Boy and the Rumor Weed).  We even get to sing the Rumor Weed song!  It is going to be so much fun!

Shannon 

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• Apr. 28, 2009
Timothy Update

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• Apr. 27, 2009
A Little Boy's Sacrifice

My son Timmy just exhibitted the sweetest spirit of sacrifice.  Before I tell you how I must explain his day to you.

Timmy woke up fine today.  He was happy and normal.  He wanted to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  (We currently watch that movie 2-3 times a day!)  He wanted to watch one of the special features which teaches you how to do an Oompah Loompah Dance and he danced all around the living room.  It was histerical! 

About an hour later we were getting ready to leave the house and I asked him to come to me to get dressed.  He said he didn't want to get out of his chair.  I thought he was just being stubborn because he didn't want to stop watching his movie so I turned the movie off and he came to me under protest.  He fought standing up so I could get his shorts on him then immediately sat down once he was dressed.  When we started to go to the car he scooted on his bottom across one room and crawled across another.  He was laughing so we thought he was being silly.  However as the day progressed it became clear that he did not want to stand or walk.  When I finally made him he would only go a few steps and he would not put his feet flat on the floor.  When I asked him what hurt he pointed to the back of his knees.  I called the pediatrician and they asked me to bring him in.  However they were completely perplexed and told me to give him ibuprophen every six hours and update them in the morning. 

He still won't walk.  He can, it just hurts.  Unless we ask him to stand he is fine.  He is playing, crawling and rolling around.  He has even wrestled with daddy.  It doesn't hurt him to move his legs, just to straighten them out all the way.  It is very bizarre.

Now, back to his act of self sacrifice.  Timmy was just sitting across the table from me where I have been surfing the net.  While I have been 'surfing' my arms have been resting on the edge of the table.  Apparently while I had a hand up in the air for some reason, the red stripe, left by the table edge, caught Timmy's eye.  He said, "What happened to your arm mommy?"  I tried to explain that it was fine but he said, "I'm going to kiss it."  He got out of his chair, crawled around the table, took my hand gently in his and kissed my arm!  What a tender hearted little boy!

Shannon

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• Apr. 22, 2009
Dentist Details

Well, we thought we had a little break in the dentist appointments but I called yesterday to confirm some things with the dentist and they said, "could you come in tomorrow?"  Well, we could, so we go in today to get the rest of the fillings that Sarah needed.  That means that all is done that needs to be done before she can go to the Oral surgeon and orthodontist.  Unfortunately since she has a pretty big part in the kid's musical we need to put off the rest of her stuff till after that.  So, she will go to the oral surgeon on May 19th and get her braces on May 29th.  Today we are just praying that she is no longer numb at choir practice time!

Shannon

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• Mar. 11, 2009
Timmy's You Tube Debut

You have got to check out this video of my little boy!

If you have never seen the Mom Song video you really need to check it out.  But, you can click on THIS LINK  to see Timothy's rendition of it.  What a hoot!!

Shannon

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• Mar. 3, 2009
Bible Quizzing

Last Saturday was Awana Bible Quizzing.  Sarah was quizzing in the 4th (final) T&T book and her team took 2nd place!  We were very proud.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Sarah and her best friend Samantha.

All four Bible quizzing teams.

Sarah's team, Left - Right: Sarah, Jacob, Will

Paddles up!  Yes, A was the correct answer!

Huddle!

Congratulations on your second place ribbon, Sarah!

Shannon

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• Mar. 3, 2009
Basketball

I was so much better at keeping track of this last year!  Sarah has now played 6 basketball games and only has two more to play.  She is doing really well this year.  I can not believe how much her game has improved.  Last weekend we finally won a game!  The final score was 21-18.  It was a great game and Sarah made 3 baskets.  Here are a couple pictures of her and some of her teamates getting warmed up before a game a few weeks ago.

Back Row, Left - Right: Sarah, Sierra, Valerie  Front: Kristen

Shannon

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• Mar. 2, 2009
Puppy Sitting

Well, I made it to church last night and today I feel that I may slowly be returning to normal.  I guess it is good that I was able to go last night because we ended up coming home with a puppy!  Friends of our are going on vacation so we have their 3 month old chow/fox hound for a couple weeks.  She is adorable and the kids are having tons of fun caring for her.  Here are pictures of her and the kids, 

Puppy Sitting Slide Show

Shannon

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• Feb. 28, 2009
Sarah's video

Sarah and Jay made a video recently. It was really funny. You can check it out by clicking on the following link:  The Great Escape.

Shannon

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• Jan. 27, 2009
Finally, a snowy day!

The kids have been waiting and waiting for a snowy day and it finally came.  We have had a few dustings but this is the first real accumulation we have had all winter.  There was a frantic search for a sled but when that couldn't be found they decided to 'body surf' instead!

Shannon

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• Jan. 14, 2009
Sarah started a blog

Sarah is very excited to have started her very own blog.  You can view it HERE.

Shannon

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• Dec. 29, 2008
angel video

Here is a very short video of Sarah at her most angelic.  You can view it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYzZnk4hN2k .  And if anyone can tell me how to put it in one of my entries where the little TV screen would be showing there instead of just the link, please let me know.  Apparently that is beyond my computer ability!

Thanks,

Shannon

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• Dec. 23, 2008
Angel Sarah

Sunday night we had our Adult/Youth choir presentation of a musical called The Question.  Sarah was part of the Drama Troupe.  She played an angel.  I was in the choir and Jay was video taping so I asked our friend Glenn to take a few still shots for me, and he did.  Thanks Glenn!

Here she is:

Shannon

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• Dec. 17, 2008
Timmy's First Choir Performance

Timothy has talked about singing in 'big church' now for about three weeks.  He loves choir, he loves to sing, music is definately his favorite thing.  So, needless to say, we were all very excited about his musical debut.  Just before his choir was set to get ready, I decided to get some pictures of him.  I asked him to get on stage by the microphone and sing one of his songs for me.  He immediately commenced singing 'Little Bitty Baby'.  He sang every word of it right into the microphone that was not yet turned on.

Look at him!  He looks like an old fashioned crooner!  Okay we think, sorry to all the other kids but Timmy is getting ready to steal the show!  Well, while there were other people in the sanctuary at this point, they were all milling around and the lights were on like normal.  Here is what happened when they actually got up to sing as a choir.

Okay, so the picture is pretty blurry, and it doesn't really capture the full essence of his 'deer in the headlights' moment.  But he was pretty well overwhelmed.  He barely sang at all.  By the end of their second song he sang a little and loosened up enough to sway from side to side with the music!  When everyone clapped at the end he clapped as well.  We aren't sure if it was because he was having fun or just because he was glad it was over!  Here are some more pictures of his 'big night.'  Notice in the first one how all the kids are doing hand motions, except Timmy, who is staring intently at the teacher!

The next picture is just because I loved the way it turned out.  I was not paying attention at all when I took this picture so I was really surprised by it when I saw it.  These two were not standing nearly as close to each other as the picture suggests, it was just an angle trick I suppose, but it looks just like they are posing for a wedding magazine or something!  I love it!

Shannon

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• Dec. 13, 2008
Growing Up

I can hardly believe how our kids are growing up.  Sarah is now 11 and Timothy is 4.  Sometimes I will look across the room at Sarah and try to figure out who that young woman is!  And the other day I realized that Timothy is as tall as many 6 year olds!  What kind of kids are we growing around here! 

It is so much fun to see them grow up, and to see them play together despite the vast age difference.  Just tonight I thouroughly enjoyed watching Sarah be the 'baby' while Timothy attended to all her 'cries.' 

Here are their newest pictures:

Sarah, age 11:

Timothy, age 4:

(Ok, so he doesn't pose as well as Sarah, look at the sheer joy in his face as he is making his escape!  My favorite part is the sideways tongue!)

Shannon

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• Dec. 3, 2008
Guess who's four!

Yes, Timmy is now four.  Actually he has been four for about a week and a half now, I am just a little behind!  As you can see by the slightly dazed look on his face above, he had just woken up.  He came out of his room a little upset at having been awakened, but as he walked into our room we sang "Happy Birthday" and he just stopped and stared, then, when we finished singing, he said, "Well, thank you." He is so cute.  It didn't take him long to wake up enough to open his present.

He got the long talked about 'Talking Handy Manny' doll.  Needless to say, he was quite fascinated with it all day.  We met Timmy's Granna for dinner.  She wanted to take him to Chuck E. Cheese and he had been talking about going there for a week.  We were thrilled, since his Birthday was on a Monday there was hardly anyone there. 

Timmy however, upon seeing the restaraunt, looked at me while we were still in the parking lot and said, "I want to hold you mommy."  He was absolutely overwhelmed.  He spent the first 1/2 hour we were there just like this.

He did not want to ride any of the ride on cars, he did not want to do anything but sit and look around.  Finally, after a little coaxing, (and a little hissy fit) I got him to the picture booth and accomplished getting 3 pictures taken of him and Sarah.

By the end of the night he had loosened up some and even talked to Chuck E. himself. 

But he was ready to go back to Granna's for cake and presents.

He got a robot, that scared him to death when he pressed a button that made it spin and talk and walk.  Now he says, "You don't press the button on the back of his shirt." 

The next night we went to Fazoli's with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Patrick.  More Handy Manny figurines were forthcoming along with a stuffed Sea Turtle and the VeggieTales, Pirates Who Don't Do Anything movie. 

Needless to say, he had a very good birthday.  We can't believe how much our little guy is growing up.  He is not so little anymore!

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• Nov. 10, 2008
She's so Funny!

Sarah was practing her piano this morning.

A little later I looked at her and saw this.

When I asked her what she was doing she pointed out the following information on her music.  "Moderate and relaxed."  What a goof-ball!

Shannon

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