A LIST TO DESCRIBE THIS DAY OF MINE

No pictures, no cute stuff, just the cold, hard facts.

1.) Mr. Shelton left the house this morning. Nothing unsual there, except for the fact that he left the house with my Armada, and left me with (for the fourth day in a row) the Bonneville.

2.) Anthony woke up to find that he wet right through his pull-up, onto his sheets AND his quilt. Bed was stripped, Anthony was stripped, Linens were washed, Anthony was thrown in the bath tub.

3.) Friend came over to scope out our unfinished (2 years and running) laundry room/back entry in order to finally finish it. Allelujia!

5.) Began to think about leaving the house in order to pick up Lucas' birthday cake, and get Ava from school.

6.) Thought about it some more, dreading the thought of the ordeal it would be accomplishing said tasks in the Bonneville.

7.) Realized if I did not leave, my Son would be late to his own birthday party, which would be pretty poor on my part.

8.) Began the arduous task of getting three kids, car seats and all squeezed into the back of a sedan, and buckled appropriately.

9.) Roughly 10 minutes later, task accomplished. WHEW.

10.) On to gathering up stroller, box filled with goodie bags, knife to cut cake, candles, camera and other miscelany.

11.) Opened trunk in order to store said items for the drive to the party, and find the trunk stuffed. With what, you ask? Tools, garbage, more tools, tool box, more garbage. Stuffed. Nary a single spot to place a thing o' mine. Blood was beginning to boil. Removed some items out of the trunk in order to get my items into the trunk. After jockying times around, pushing things this way and that, removing a few other things, I was finally successful.

13.) Off to Wal-Mart (two blocks away) to pick up the cake. Unbuckled all the kids, got cake, and as I was on my way to find a candle I heard a distinct "crunch" sound. Turns out Anthony accidentally sat on the cake. He was in the cart, stood up for a moment and fell backwards. Nice. The cake was smooshed on one side. What to do? Nothing, just deal with a smooshed cake I guess. Purchased the cake and the candles, only to find out I lost my keys. YEP. I made the mistake of letting Olivia play with them while I was shopping in order to keep her from crying. Now they were gone. Back through the store we went, up and down isles, retracing my steps, until we finally found the lost keys. Out to the car we went. Buckled up all the kids AGAIN, and managed to find a spot on the floor of the passenger seat to place the cake.

14.) Off to pick Ava up from school. Arrived, unbuckled the kids again, started making my way inside, when Anthony fell in the parking lot and skinned up his knees. Some comforting took place right there in the middle of the parking lot, down on one knee, with Olivia in one arm and Anthony crying and being consoled in the other. This, thankfully passed quickly. We got inside, picked up Ava and headed to the party.

15.) Party was going smoothly until I found Anthony writhing about on the floor crying that his tummy hurt. This behavior was on and off throught the hour of play time, but when we arrived in the room to eat cake he had that look. The I-am-going-to-puke-any-second look. I raced him to the bathroom where he sat by the toliet awaiting what seemed to be inevitable. Happily enough, he turned out to be just fine, no puking.

16.) All kids were picked up by their Mom's, goodie bags and balloons in hand happy as could be. The party was a success.

17.) Now on to the daunting task at hand - getting presents, leftover cake, 6 balloons, stroller, diaper bag, and 4 kids into the lovely Bonneville. I had a hard enough time getting everything in to get to the party, now I was leaving the party with more than I came with - this was turning out to be very interesting.... After much reorganization, squishing, and squeezing, I managed to get it all in the car.

18.) The car ride home was eventful, with Ava's balloon flying out the window, causing her to sob hysterically the whole ride, Anthony crying about how his tummy hurt again, and Livi wimpering out of pure exhaustion from missing her afternoon nap.

19.) We arrived home with one (Ava, my persistent one) still crying over the lost balloon, two sleeping (Anthony and Livi) and I am happy to announce, one smiling, content little boy (Lucas). Better one happy camper than not a one, right?

20.) I spent some time unpacking the car, let the kids play outside with some of the new toys, ordered a pizza, filled everyone's little tummies, placed jammies on their little bodies, and last but not least, made them march those little legs up to bed and off to dreamland.

As I sit here finishing this post, a few things come to mind.

1.) If Mr. Shelton seems to think the Armada is now his "work" car, then he needs to march his derriere down to the car dealership and purchase this Momma a Denali. Or an Escalade - in Pearl White. Alright, I will settle for the Denali. But this needs to happen... yesterday.

2.) I may just need to look into these "happy pills" I have been hearing about. Many Mom's as of late have been taking said pills in order to feel less stressed and more at ease about the daily going on's with children constantly in tow. Sounds like it could be a good thing, no? No, not really, but does cross my mind from time to time....

3.) I need to finish this post, publish it, and pour myself a large glass of wine.

ADVENTURES IN BIKING

Yesterday we bought Anthony a brand spankin' new "big boy" bike. I was very happy with this find as it was a mere $35.00 at Wal-Mart - as much as I loathe going to that store, they do have some great deals.

Anyway, I decided to show it to him after I picked him up from Grandma and Papa's last night, which was a mistake. You think I would learn one of these times, that showing a child something new and exciting right before they are to get to bed is NOT a bright idea. After he laid his eyes on that bicycle there was no turning back from the inevitable. It's maiden voyage out in the Cul-de-sac. I decided to let him go for it, as how could I possibly say no now after showing him the bike and getting him all excited.

He got on his little bike and took a short cruise around the garage, decided against going down into the cul-de-sac for a more scenic ride, parked it and said he wanted to ride more in the morning. Perfect. No fighting him, hands gripped to the handle bars, yelling and screaming to get off the bike and in the house. (This has happened with previously with the other kids).

So this morning he woke up, and naturally wanted to go right outside, pajamas on, bowl of cereal in hand. Yep, that's right. He wanted to quick eat his breakfast in the garage, then ride his new bike in his pajamas, with his brothers flip flops.

I told him it would be better to quickly eat in the house, get dressed, put on tennis shoes and then go out and ride bikes. Amazingly, he agreed to this plan.

After accomplishing all tasks mentioned above (except for removal of flip flops, he just had to wear them), we headed outside. He first got on the bike in the garage, pedaled a few times, and almost as if in slow motion, began making his way down the drive way. Not good. Our driveway is a little bit steep in nature [see picture below], and is not conducive to a first time bike rider attempting to bike down it. He started picking up speed, and I started to worry and wait, wait for the crash at the end of the driveway that would result in skinned up knees, face, tears, hugs, band-aids, etc. But, he managed last minute to turn the handle bars and crash into the grass.

Whew, what a close call that was.

After this ordeal, all was well and we got to practicing where we should have been practicing in the first place. The Cul-de-sac.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Miss Ava and I had the pleasure of having a girls night out this evening, and it was quite special. Quite special as (sad to say) these types of evenings are few and far between seeing that we have four little ones, and Mr. Shelton has a crazy busy work schedule. Needless to say, both Ava and I were very excited for this night out.

It all started once she got off the school bus at 3pm. We decided to hop in the car and go do some much needed shoe shopping. We headed to the local Famous Footwear to peruse their sandal selection, and in doing so, I realized that I once again (I do this every summer) started my sandal shoe shopping WAY too late. Their selection was very small, and very picked through. Darn it. We managed to find a pair of cool Addidas flip flps that she fell in love with, so we did not leave empty handed.

We were still in search of a pair of leather sandals (not flip-floppy in nature as these are not allowed at school), so we headed to Kohl's. Again, we found the selection minimal and very picked through. At this point, I was looking, searching, hoping to find a pair of sandals that looked half - way decent, and that would please both myself and Ava. (This can tend to be hard at times.

Ava was beginning to sway off course, looking at High School Musical tennis shoes, wedge Sandals, (who the heck makes wedge sandals for toddlers/little kids?) grabbing random boxes and trying on shoes that were not her size, nor appropriate footwear for a 6 year old.

Frustration was setting in for both of us, and I was beginning to give up when finally, I found a pair that were cute, would match generally everything, were her size, and she liked them. Well, for the most part. I had to do a little convincing to sway her away from the those ever coveted white wedge heels, but I managed to turn her onto them.

So our sandal shopping was a success. We managed to find a pair of nice leather sandals, and a pair of flip flops.

Now it was time for dinner, which was Ava's choice, we could eat anywhere she wanted. What did she choose?

Culver's. And she wanted to eat inside.

This was a very special request as we rarely eat inside restaurants being that we have four little ones that tend to make it rather difficult. But today was just Ava and I, so I figured we could go for it.

We had a very pleasant dinner of hamburgers, french fries, soda pop (what a treat), all topped off with some ice cream.

Oh - did I mention our dinner conversation? We talked about many things. Boys, more importantly which boys were cute in her class. This was determined to be Alex. We talked about who she enjoys playing with at school, and she said only the girls in the monkey bar club. I asked what the monkey bar club was and got this answer: It is a group of girls that does the monkey bars at recess every day. I asked if she made sure to include everyone in this little group, and she assured me that everyone was welcome to be a part of it, as long as they knew how to do the monkey bars. And that Allison said who could and could not be in the club, but she always let's anyone join if they want. We talked about how dissapointed she was that she was not able to buy those wedge sandals. About why little girls can't wear "high heels", and about when she would be old enough to wear them. [Here is a picture of the sandals in question]

We talked and talked. It was so good, so fun, so needed.

All that talking made me realize I had lost track of time, and we were running late. We hustled our little buns home, curled and styled her hair, put tights, costume, and tutu on, bow in hair, and made our way to her second, and final dance recital rehersal. I sat in the audience and watched her dance her little feet off, she smiled back at me in the audience. So sweet.

Dance rehersal ended, we hustled home, changed into pajamas, got back in the car and drove to grandma and papa's to pick up the rest of the kiddos. On our drive we talked about our day, and how much fun we had, and how we wanted to do another Momma and Ava day out again very soon. Soon after this little exchange I looked over to find her fast asleep.

It was a good day.

ON COMMENTS

So I have been thinking lately. Thinking about comments, blog comments. Some of these blogs I read have oodles and oddles of people commenting on their posts, and others (like mine) have nary a comment to be seen.

Is it because the content of my posts is found to be rather dull? I know I blog mostly about my family and kids, but so do many of these other bloggers and they have a ton of comments. Is it because I am not the best writer? I think I am half way decent. Is it that most of the bloggers that have so many commenter's, are receiving these comments from their family and friends, and not perfect strangers that stumble upon their blog and find it so fabulous they are inclined to comment? What is it?

Really I am curious.

Or maybe I am just jealous... Nah, just curious. Really.

If for most of you it is the whole family friends thing, then I have something to say to my wonderful group of family and friends that stop by my blog on a daily, weekly, monthly - whatever basis. (And I know you do as I get emails from some of you saying so.) Please leave little old me a comment! I like comments, I like to read what my family thinks about what the kids are doing, and about what Mr. Shelton and I are doing. I simply like to know that you are out there, reading this! I write this blog not only for my kids to one day read, but also for you, my family, friends, to be able to keep up with the daily going's on in the Shelton household. And as for perfect strangers passing by my blog, reading, AND commenting? Now that just makes me all happy inside.

After that last paragraph I must, must stop and say something. I read a post a while back from a fellow blogger named Meg. She is a fabulous writer, and I frequent her blog a lot (she is one of those that gets oodles of comments - maybe I AM a bit jealous). Anyway, she wrote this post here, and I have to say.... I am NOT one of these people:

I know, I know, here I am dedicating a post to why people do not comment, but it is only because, I want to know why my ever so dear to my heart family and friends do not comment. Now, I know not a one of you actually has a blog, or knows much about blogging,(with the exception of Kari, who leaves me a comment on occasion - gotta love her), but now there are no more excuses as I can give you a little tutorial on how to make a comment.

Here goes.

At the end of this post, you will see in very small print, written by Maria at [whatever time I wrote the post], then you will see, again, in small print, comment with a little picture of pencil after it. You can click on this button called comment and a screen will pop up. under choose an identity, click on anonymous, type your comment in the box provided with your name at the end, and then click submit comment. Voila! You have successfully made a comment! Very easy, right?

So here is what I am asking of you my dear family members, friends, and heck, perfect strangers if they want. Leave me a comment and let me know that you stopped by this little bloggity blog, tell me you enjoyed your stop, did not enjoy your stop, will be coming back, will never come back, what makes you so inclined to comment on a post, whatever. Just let me know you were here.

It will make me feel good, and gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

And if I happen to come home Sunday and find not a single comment, this will be the first and last time I ever bring the subject up. Afterall, I would hate to be labeled a comment whore, as really, I promise, I'm not.

So get commenting, and the next time I see you I will have to give you a big old hug. And if you don't comment, you just won't get one. Hmph.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LUCAS ALEXANDER

To my Lucas,

Today you turn 5 - WOW, Momma can hardly believe it, it has truly gone by so very fast! I wanted to write you a note today to say happy birthday, to let you how very much I love you, and tell you all about who you have become, and how you have grown over the past year.

From the moment you were born, I could tell that you were going to be a sweet, calm, anything goes type of boy, and I was right! After we got you home from the hospital, you slept like a champ, ate, napped, and did everything else a baby does with ease.

As you grew, I began to see what a happy, carefree little personality you had. I could set you down on the carpet in front of a pile of toys and you would happily play for long periods of time, I could change your poopy diaper and you would smile back at me as if nothing was bothering you, we could be on a long car ride stuck in your car seat and you would be content.

You were always so happy to just be, and Momma always loved this about you, and still loves this about you to this day as you have not changed a bit.

What I love most, is now that you are older, you are able to share this joy for life and joy for just being, with others around you. Not only are you able to share this with others, you have grown in so many ways, and added even more wonderful attributes to your personality that you are able to share.

You share so very well. I see it all the time, when you play with your friends and they want the lightsaber you are playing with you say "sure" and hand it to them with a smile. When you are eating a treat and your brother asks for a bite you give him one without a second thought. When your sister wants to try and ride your new bike that Santa got you, the one that is so special and new, you say sure Ava, you can ride it whenever you want.

You always include others. When new neighbors moved in across the cul-de-sac they would watch you and the other neighbor kids play longingly as if they wanted to join, but were too timid to ask. You ran over and asked them to play, and made them feel welcome.

You are so helpful and loving toward others: When Anthony or Ava get hurt playing outside, you always run to their aid, helping them and asking if they would like a band aid. I once caught you rubbing Anthony's back so very sweetly while he was sitting in the middle of the cul-de-sac weeping after falling off his scooter. I can't even name all the times you have walked up to me out of the blue, given me a big ol' hug, and said, I love you Momma." and walked away. So simple, yet so very sweet.

All of these things encompass the fact that you are so very sensitive to other peoples feelings. And to see this in you when you are only 5 years old is amazing - you are such a special little boy.

I see you being sensitive, I see you sharing, I see you including others, I see you helping, and loving those around you. I see these things all the time, I see them and it makes me so very proud. So very proud of who you have become over the past 5 years, but most of all so very proud to be your Momma.

Happy, happy birthday my Lucas Alexander. I love you to the Moon. And the stars. And the sun.

PRICELESS

A stapler to replace the old one the kids broke in the midst of being creative: $6.99

A set of Sharpie markers assorted in color: $10.99

A new notebook to write my grocery lists in: $6.99

A bottle of white out: $1.59

Using said bottle of white out in order to rearrange some activities on my calendar (cause of course I don't use a pencil, silly me), and tipping it just enough to the side to induce spillage all over the wood floor and my feet. Priceless.


Ever wonder how fast white out drys? Ever wonder how truly difficult it is to get said dried white out off of wood floor and skin? Try doing what I did, and you will wonder no longer.

DAZED AND CONFUSED

The past few days have seemed like a whirlwind around here. I am totally, utterly, unbelievably exhausted, a bit dazed and confused if you will.

What has been goin' on round here that makes me feel all of these wonderful feelings all at once? Well, let me tell you.

Sunday morning we arrived home from Camping. Unpacked camper, did 3 loads of laundry, bathed 4 pig pen kids, cleaned downstairs bathroom, swept floors, and vacuumed carpets all in preparation for Lucas's 5th birthday party that afternoon.

Yep, you heard me right. We arrived home Sunday morning from camping only to have to prepare to have 12 adults and 9 kids over for a birthday celebration. This would have been all fine and good if I would have prepared ahead of time and had things set to go when we arrived home. But of course, that was not the case. [Silly me].

After putting things away, and cleaning in order to make the house presentable for the party, we sat down to tackle what to make for dinner.

Yes, I was that unprepared.

I had not a single idea as to what to feed all of these lovely family members that were coming over in just a few short hours expecting to get their bellies filled with something. Pork tenderloin? No, takes to long to cook, not enough time. Fajitas? No, too much work. Order pizza? No, did that for the last birthday party. Jimmy John's? Hmmm. Jimmy Johns. Yep, that would work.

Mr. Shelton ran to the store, picked up a vat of potato salad, couple bags of chips, and placed an order at Jimmy John's for a party tray. Whew. Done.

Darn it. A cake. I did not order a cake.

Mr. Shelton saved the day by making his way to Wal Mart, finding a ready made cake in their bakery department and having them write "Happy Birthday Lucas" on it. Voila.

He managed to get home just in time for us both to get showered and ready for guests to arrive. And arrive they did - 15 minutes early.

The party went swimmingly, Lucas had a rousing time playing with his cousins, opening presents (one of which was a coveted storm trooper helmet),

And singing happy birthday and blowing out his candles.

I was happy to find that everyone was very satisified with our choice of Jimmy John's for dinner, and went home happy and with full bellies.

Brian and I put the kids to bed, and crawled into bed ourselves. Once my little old head hit the pillow, I was off to sleep, dreaming of peaceful, calm days ahead.

And dreaming was exactly what it was, as this week has been far from peaceful and calm. Oh so far from it.

Thus far, I watched my dear friends children on Monday (that would make 6 kids under the age of 6 in my home all day), mowed the 1/2 acre of lawn (curse this big yard, curse it) we have in order to stop the spread of dandelions throughout the whole darn yard, replenished the mulch in the garden out front, replenished the mulch around the trees out front, got flowers out front in my pots, cleaned out the garage, did 5 loads of laundry, went to Target, and went grocery shopping. And it is only Tuesday.

Needless to say, I am feeling a bit dazed and confused - I am also feeling glad and thankful to be a mother to 4 babes, even if they induce the occasional feelings of being totally, utterly, unbelieveably exhausted.

It's all worth it.

HAY CREEK

This weekend was cold. Cold, a little rainy, and VERY windy. BRRRR....

And I know first hand how very cold, rainy and windy it was, as we were camping in it. Alright, we had our motor home to shelter us from the inclement weather, but we really did spend most of the time outside, dealing with it. After all, we were camping and it did not seem right to hole ourselves up in the camper and watch movies, right?

Aside from the weather issues, we really did have a fabulous time....

Riding in the motor home to our camping destination.... The kids were very happy - they were actually hugging eachother in all their excitement!

Warming up by the fire, which was not much of a fire due to the incredibly strong winds on Saturday.

Flying kites....

Taking fun pictures... (see Anthony peeking through between Lucas and I?)

Eating hamburger buns - Livi seemed to be especially fond of these.

Having a few beers - Livi was apparently in need of a beverage to wash down that hamburger bun with as she seemed pretty interested in that Bud Light Daddy had.

Being SiLlY....

Finding sticks which were used as make shift light sabers....


Playing in the woods, along with all the ticks (none were found inhabiting their little bodies which is always nice).

Putting the kids to bed and having some adult time, hanging out around the campfire, having some cocktails.

Spending time with Mr. Shelton, who still managed to have a great time even though his allergies were crazy bad. (What a trooper.)

Way too kick of our first camping trip of the year - great times were had by all.

SHARING. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING.

Today I witnessed something sweet. A very sweet exchange between Anthony and Livi.

What is this sweet exchange I happened to see, you ask?

Anthony was busy eating his colored goldfish and playing Star Wars on the Wii when Livi approached him. She grabbed onto his pant legs, and pulled herself up, and stood there giving him a look and a squeal that said "please give me one, please!"

Now, on most occasions, Anthony would say "No! Mine!" But today was different. Today he took one look at her, reached his hand into his ever so coveted bag of goldfish, and said in a high pitched squeaky sort of voice, "here you go weethot" (Here you go sweetheart).

I kept myself at a distance as I did not want to disturb this kind act while in progress. And honestly, I was dying to know if he would give up any more of the goldfish when his baby sister would more inevitably cry out for more.

And cry out for more she did. Without a second thought, Anthony gave in to her cries, and shared more of his goldfish. What a sight.

In fact, he was in the mood for sharing a bit too much. Olivia had finally had her fill of goldfish and tried to crawl away. But Anthony was right behind her saying "Here you go weethot, here you go weethot." Over and over again while chasing her around the family room in an attempt to stuff more crackers in her mouth.

So he did not quite get the fact that she was done eating goldfish, but he shared them, and that is what matters.

Little moments like this make me realize that in regard to raising the kids, I must be doing something right. :)

MY LITTLE DANCER

Miss Ava had a big day yesterday. Yesterday was her dance recital rehersal, which was very exciting for her.


Once she arrived home from school, we did not waste a moment beginning to ready her for the big night. We took out our trusty curling iron and began working. Not two minutes in:

Ava: "are we done yet Mom."

Mom: "Not yet honey, it will be a while."

Ava: " are we done now?"

Mom: "No hon, it will take a while."

[insert long sigh from both parties]

After about 35 minutes of curling, hairspraying, and curling, we were finished. Whew. Now came the bow placement. Holy heck that was a difficult bow. Every time I bobby pinned it in place, it seemed to move and face at an akward angle. I must have replaced that darn bow 15 time - you know, it had to be just perfect. We finally got the bow in place, got the tights on without any runs (a miracle in itself), then got the last, and final piece of the ensemble on her, the costume.

After all the rushing, curling, dressing, and primping, she was finally ready for her big dance rehersal.

I stood back and took a look at my little girl, she looked so sweet. Of course, I teared up for a moment, then pulled myself together to get some pictures of my little dancer.

All of that and it turns out this was only the first rehersal. We have one more at the end of the month, then a recital on Friday the 12 and another recital on Saturday the 13th. Whew. I guess we have our work cut out for us over the next 6 weeks.

Work that is all well worth it. She seems to really enjoy dancing, and cause really, how cute is she?

Very, if I do say so myself.

My Day

Mother's Day started off with a bang this year. I woke up (slightly hungover, I must admit), in our motor home after a rousing evening of birthday festivities at the Smith family campground. We quickly gathered up bikes, lawn chairs, packed up and headed out on the road to home sweet home in order to get Mother's day underway.
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Mr. Shelton had a nice day planned for me. It started with a big breakfast - egss, bacon, and toast all washed down with a glass of orange juice. Sounds nice, right? Only thing is it ended up not happening. Why you ask? While Daddy was taking a shower and getting cleaned up the kids decided they were too hungry to wait, so I made microwavable pancakes for them all. A far cry from the big breakfast Daddy had planned. Oh well.

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My Starbucks coffee would just have to do - I was not all that hungry anyway.

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After breakfast, and once every one was cleaned up, Daddy announced we were going to go bike shopping and then have lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen. I was simply elated. I have been wanting a bike for some time now, and I was finally going to buy one! On top of that, we got to have lunch afterward at one of my favorite places.

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This day was going well so far....

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We packed the whole crew into the car and headed out to the first stop on our list for bike shopping. On the way Ava said, "Where are we going?" Lucas said, " How long will it take to get there?" Ava said, " How many stores do we have to go to?" These are the normal questions/complaints we get when out and about running errands, but today I was in no mood. It was "my" day, and I did not want to hear it. Any of it. So we told the kids to be patient and good and that we were shopping for a bike for me. End of Story.

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Daddy went into the first store to look at the bikes, came out, told me to go in and look at a few he picked out. I went in, looked, looked some more, and could not decide. The bikes looked somwhat grandma-ish in style. Extra large seats, weird handle bars, I wanted something "cool" more mountain bikish looking. Because apparently style is more important to me than comfort. Silly me.

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This same sort of scenario played out at four or five other stores, until I began to lose my patience. I need a lot of time to shop. I have to look at all my options, weigh out the positives and negatives to each item (this time bikes being the item), decide which one I like best, go back and forth on my choice a few times, and then make my final decision and purchase. It is a whole process for me. And having 4 kids along for the ride was not making this pleasent. At all. I started to get cranky, and decided we should just go to lunch.

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Lunch turned out to be not so great. The kids were crawling underneath the tables, Olivia was throwing her food all over the place, whining and in desperate need of a nap. We quickly snarfed down our pizza and got out of there before any major meltdown ensued.

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The kids all fell asleep on the drive toward home, which worked in my favor as it gave me some time to stop at a few more stores to look at bikes without kids crying and asking how much longer. Same thing happened at these stores, I looked, looked some more, didn't really 'love' anything, looked some more, got frustrated, and left.

Turns out little old me needed some cheering up, so I ever so kindly asked Mr. Shelton to stop at Nelson's, our local icecream shop, for a nice large ice cream treat. Turns out this helped my mood and the kids moods a bit. All was well.

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We finally arrived home at about 3:30pm. Without the one item that sent us on this excursion in the first place. Without a bike.

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Mr. Shelton, my ever so patient, loving wonderful other half, said he was going to purchase one of the bikes that I liked at one of the many stops we made as he wanted me to have a bike. And he wanted me to have it Today. So he went, and I was happy and excited to see what he would bring home. He arrived home rather quickly with my bike. My pink bike. My very pink bike. This is one of the bike's that I did like, but the one I took a ride on, the one I saw, was blue in color. Not pink. [Poor Mr. Shelton, the things he has to put up with.] That was alright, as my man said he would bring it back for me and get me the blue one. He explained that he found this one in Pink for cheaper at a different location (always the bargain hunter - glad there is at least one in this family) and thought he would get it. Turns out he did not know I was not a fan of pink.

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All was well.

We put the bike in the garage and decided to end the day on a good note and go to my other favorite place, Outback Steakhouse. Again, we loaded the kids up in the car, and not 5 minutes out of the driveway it started. Ava: "Mom, my eye hurts. It really hurts." I turn to see her rubbing it and sniffling quite a bit. Then she started crying. And crying, and crying. Ugh. Her allergies were acting up again. We got to Outback to find it was packed and there was a 30 minute wait. It seems that every other Mother wanted to go out for dinner as well. Go figure. 30 minute wait + 4 cranky kids = potential disaster, so we left and went across the street to Baja Sol - a fast food mexican joint. A far cry from Outback Steakhouse, but it would have to do. Ava cried throughout dinner, Anthony did not touch his food and simply sat underneath the table the whole time, and Olivia threw her food all over the floor. Again.

We left, got home, bathed the kids, and put the to bed EARLY. Brian and I flopped into bed at ripe old hour of 8pm and layed there just looking at eachother.

Me: "Thank you for a good day honey. I love my bike even though it is pink, I loved that you took me to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, I love that you spent the day thinking of me and what I would want. I love you."

Mr. Shelton: "Yah, but it really did not turn out the way I wanted it to, did it?"

Me: "No, but that is alright, it was still a good day."

And it was. I got some fabulous gifts from my kids, the kind of gifts I love most, ones made with their little hands. Ava made me a coaster out of yarn. How sweet is that?

Lucas made me a handprint that came along with this cute poem.


So breakfast did not happen, the bike shopping may have been difficult, the lunch not so pleasent, and the dinner did not happen, but through all that I recognized that Mr. Shelton and the kids took time to plan and make this day special for me, and in my eyes, that made it perfect.

ON BEING A MOM

[Mom and I Christmas of '07]

My Mom is so many things. Things that I am sure all other daughters find true for their Mom's as well, but my Mom, in my eyes, truly enbodies each and every one of these traits. She is beautiful, kind, loving, strong, humble, oh, and just plain fabulous. Let me tell you a bit about this woman.

She raised my brother, sister and I pretty much on her own once she and my Dad were divorced. Her amazing strength at this time in our lives was truly awe inspiring. At the time I did not fully grasp all she was dealing with so I was unable to understand all she went through, and for this I am sad. I only hope and pray that I have told her enough over the past 10 years how much I truly appreciate everything she did for me, my sister and my brother.

Before the divorce, throughout the divorce, and after the divorce, we were always put first. She kept busy raising us, running us to and from school, sporting events, playdates, you know, all the usual things that kids days are littered with. But more importantly she was there to comfort us when we were sad, talk us through our many make-ups and break-ups with boyfriends, discipline us when needed, teach us right from wrong, clean, give kisses, and apply band-aids to our many wounds (of which I had the most), and tuck us in at night always telling us how very much we were loved.

She did all of this while holding down a full time job, which allowed us to stay in the house we knew and loved, stay in the private Catholic school we knew and loved, and most importantly allowed us to put food in our bellies. 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, she was responsible for the three of us. And I never once saw her lose her temper, yell, shout "I give up!", or curl up on the couch and just have a good cry. Amazing.

What a strong, independent woman my Mother is.

Once I was married, and thinking of starting a family, I found myself frequently looking back and remembering all of these things about my Mom. Remembering, and hoping that I could do what she did for my brother and sister and I. Raise us to be good, self- sufficient, well-rounded adults. It seemed like a pretty daunting task, but I was up for the challenge.

4 kids later, I think that I am doing a pretty good job. I do have my "moments" where I yell, cry, and want to give up, but in general I am confident I am on my way to raising for pretty fabulous children into 4 pretty fabulous adults.

Beyond all of this, I have learned so much from my Mom. I have learned that I am not always going to be perfect, that I am going to have my bad days, that things are not always going to go my way, and that the kids are going to do things that are going to dissapoint me from time to time. But this is all par for the course, part of raising kids, and these things that make good days turn to bad, these situations that don't always go our way, these things that the kids do that are disappointing, are all things that make us who we are. These are the things that make me a better Mom, and that shape and mold the kids into the responsible young adults I know that they will become.

Thank you Mom. Thank you for putting me first. Thank you for raising me, for loving me, for making me into the person I am today. But most importantly, thank you for playing such a huge part in making me into the Mom I am today. I only hope I am doing half as good of a job raising my four babies as you did raising your 3. As if I am, I can take comfort in the fact that they will do just fine in life.

GETTING A BIT TOO BIG FOR HER BRITCHES PART 2

As of late, Miss Ava has been asking, actually begging, for certain items that no 6 year old has any business asking for. I say she has no business asking for such things as most of these items on her list of things-I-will-fall-to-pieces-over-if-I-do-not-get are things she would not even know what to do with.

What are these items you ask?

A T.V. in her room, a lap top, a cell phone, an Ipod, and last but certainly not least,

This one is really unbelieveable....

A credit card. Yes, she asked me for a credit card. My 6 year old asked me for a credit card.

The T.V. in the room I get. She is 6 and wants to watch such things as I-Carly and Drake and Josh, while her brothers are wanting to watch Sponge Bob and Backyardigans. She want's a place where she can go and watch what she wants, when she wants. As of right now,that place is my bedroom, which I am not all that thrilled about. So she may just get he way with the T.V. in the bedroom. I am going to speak to Mr. Shelton about this request and see if I just can't get it approved.

The Laptop is just ridiculous. The only reason I can fathom as to why she would want one is that she sees me working on one a lot, and wants to be just like me. [ Mr. Shelton likes to call it messing around on Facebook and this blog of mine.] What would a 6 year old do with a laptop? She does not quite have the reading and writing thing down, so doing anything on a laptop may prove to be quite difficult.

So we have gone back and forth and back and forth on the Laptop and T.V. in the bedroom issues. Most often these conversations go something like this.

Ava walks in the door from Kindergarten and sits down at the table for her afternoon snack.

Ava: "Mom, I want a laptop just likes your's."

Mom: "We will have to see honey, maybe when you are a little older."

Ava: "Awwwww."

The conversation ends there. This request, as I mentioned above is just ridiculous.

Ava: " Mom, I want a T.V. in my room."

Mom: " We will have to talk to Dad about that and see. T.V's are expensive and you have to be very responsible to have one that is all your own. You have to make sure to turn it off when you are done watching, and put the remote up high where your brothers and sister cannot get it and break it. Do you think you can handle that responsibility?"

Ava: "Yes Mom, I can. Please ask Daddy."

Of which I do. Every time this conversation comes up I ask Mr. Shelton. We talk, weigh the positives and negatives, and always come to the same conclusion. That it could be a good idea to get her one, but for some reason, we never actually go purchase the T.V.

The last three items on her wish list happened to come up while we were driving in the car a few weeks ago.

Ava: "Hey Mom, can I get an Ipod?"

Mom: "How do you know what an Ipod is?"

Ava: "Because. Emily at school has one. It plays music."

Mom: " I think you have to be a little bit older to have one of those."

Ava: "How old?"

Mom: "12."

Ava: "Awwwww." Then I want a cell phone."

Mom: "Ava, you are way to young to have a cell phone." [oops. that tends to be the wrong thing to say to her, as every time I do she seems to break out in tears and drama ensues.]

Ava: [tears and all] "I am NOT too little Mom! Emily has a cell phone and she brings it to school."

Mom: "Honey, it is probably not one that works, her Mom probably got a new one and gave her her old one to play with."

Ava: "IT IS TOO REAL! IT IS MOM, IT IS!!"

No sense in arguing here, she is not understanding. She cries for a few minutes, then on to the next "want".

Ava: " Alright then, I want a credit card."

Maria: "Do you know what you do with a credit card."

Ava: You pay for things with it. Emily has one Mom!" [Boy Emily sure does have everything, doesn't she?] "she brought it to school and showed me!"

Mom: "Ava honey, it is probably an old credit card her Mom and Dad don't use anymore and they let her play with it."

Ava: "NO MOM! IT WAS REAL! IT WAS, I SAWED IT!"

Again, conversation ended there, for reasons you can probably figure out for yourself.

We drove the rest of the way to our destination in silence, except for the occasional sniffle coming from the back seat. When I took a gander in my rear view mirror I saw a very sad, pouty little face staring back at me.

Mom: " Oh Ava, one day you may have those things honey, just not right now."

Ava: "I never get anything. Hmph."

Boy do I ever love that little girl, and I have to admit, she reminds me a lot of myself. But if this is what I am dealing with when she is 6, I cannot imagine what the teenage years are going to bring.

My Mom always said she wished I would grow up to have a daughter just like me. Turns out her wish came true.

A DAY WORTHY OF ICE CREAM

I woke up this morning to the sun shining, birds chirping and silence throughout the house. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat admiring the peace and quiet and anticipating the busy, but beautiful day that was ahead.

The kids pulled their sleepy heads off their pillows at about 7:30 and we started our day. Everyone got dressed, ate breakfast, Ava got out the door to meet the bus, Lucas got picked up for preschool, and Sammy got dropped off for the day.

The day was officially on it's way.

We spent the day playing outside, riding bikes, and scooters, and swinging on the swingset. We stopped only for drinks of ice cold milk, lunch and the much needed afternoon nap.

Before I knew it Ava was off the bus and in the front door with her friend Lauren in tow. Then Lucas and Maddie were home from preschool. I looked around to find 7 kids ages 6 and under running rampant inside my home. It was making me a bit crazed, so I herded the lot of them out the back door and onto the playset.

More swinging, sliding, and riding of bikes occured. Hide and seek and freeze tag were played as well.

By the time Mom's arrived to pick up their prospective children, there were flushed cheeks on all of them, and beads of sweat running down their little foreheads. It was a fun, long, beautiful, activity filled day. The best kind there is.

I decided that this type of day warranted a special treat. Ice cream cones. Chocolate ice cream atop yummy sugar cones to be exact.

The kids savored every bite. Especially Anthony, who was found licking the picnic table so as not to miss the bit of ice cream that happened to fall off of his cone.

Miss Ava decided that Olivia needed to enjoy the ice cream as well, and shared her cone.



Olivia seemed to enjoy her first taste of Chocolate ice cream, but really, who wouldn't?

Our day ended with a much needed bath, followed by snuggle time on the couch, and an early bedtime.

Perfection.