BUSY BEE

Lately, it seems as if Liv cannot find the time in her daily schedule to actually sit down in her high chair and eat a meal. She seems to be much to busy reading her books in the playroom, watching Dora, climbing up and down and up and down the stairs, pulling all the toilet paper off of the ring in the bathroom, splashing in the toilet. You know, all those important things a 1 year old needs to get done during the day.

Every time I pluck her from whatever task she was busy completing in order to place her in her highchair for some much needed nourishment she revolts. Most often she begins screaming out loud with a look of panic on her face as if she is saying, "Mom get me out of here!! I must finish tearing apart that bathroom and read my 'all about animals' book or I will just die!"

I tend to ignore this behavior, placing different items on her plate in the hopes that one will spark her interest and distract her from her tantrum. Sometimes this works, but as of late it has unfortunately not. She now throws the tantrum AND throws the food. Let's just say I don't like this very much. Not to mention, she is very persistent, and will sit in that darn high chair for what seems like an hour screaming and crying to be released. So naturally, I give up, and get her out of the highchair, where she happily goes back to her task at hand. Until she decides she is hungry, comes back, shouts and crys out pointing to her highchair in the hopes of getting some food. So I put her back into the high chair, where she screams again.

Seems she wants the food, but does not want to be bothered with having to sit nicely in her chair to eat it. Seems she wants to eat her food at her leisure, taking a bite when she feels the need, then going off to the playroom for some fun, and coming back around again when the mood strikes. You get the idea, she does not want to be told when she should eat.

So this morning, I had a grand idea. I decided after we had gone through the whole process talked about above, and she was standing at the high chair reaching and whining for the food, to just put the top of her highchair with the food on it, on the kitchen floor. At first when she noticed her food sitting on the ground she was a bit hesitant. Looking up at me as if to say, "is this for real??"

Even when she came out of the playroom for seconds she still seemed a bit hesitant, almost wondering if this was too good to be true.

But after that second trip to the site where her food was put out for her, she seemed quite comfortable with the idea of eating off of the floor, no longer worried about Mom taking the food away.

For over an hour or so, she played, came around to the kitchen to grab a cheerio off her plate, went to play again, came back around for a piece of banana, then off to the playroom yet again smiling all the while- the girl was elated that I had finally come up with a solution to her problem.

Mom, on the other hand, not so elated. I am thinking this may have been a mistake as now she is going to think she can eat off of the floor all the time, and this really is not acceptable - c'mon, us Shelton's weren't born in a barn.

But goodness, the girl was in hog heaven.

IF YOU DO FOR ME, I WILL DO FOR YOU

Anthony is quite obsessed with playing his Star Wars Playstation 2 game. So obsessed that I find myself having to drag him away from the T.V. screen in order to get him to eat lunch, use the bathroom, etc.

It is a little bit out of control - his love for his video games is so strong, that there are times he wakes up to find the T.V. and Playstation have mysteriously dissappeared.

Well, the Playstation has been in hiding for a good 6 months and all was going well until he saw it in the motor home when we were camping last weekend. He begged and pleaded for us to let him bring it back into the house. He promised he would be good and turn it off when Momma said. He promised there would be no crying, and no tantrums when he got frustrated with the game.

Of course, I fell for it. And of course, he did not follow through on his promises.

Everytime he is told to turn it off a huge tantrum ensues, when he can't pass a level and wants my help he gets angry that I don't know how to play. It is business as usual with the darn playstation, and once again, here I am left wondering why the heck I brought the god forsaken thing back into the house. Why?

Well, here I was this morning, trying to get some things done around the house, when Anthony comes walking up to me sniffling and pleading for my help to pass a level. At the time, I was getting ready to start cleaning the toilet and a brilliant thought came over me.

"Anthony, Momma is busy cleaning. If you want me to help you play Star Wars, then you will have to help me clean the toilet."

Long pause....

"How do you do that?"

"Momma will put the cleaner in the toilet and you have to scrub it with the scrub brush."

"O.K. I will do it."

And he did.

And I helped him pass that level on the Play Station.

He does for me, I do for him.

NOT FAIR

The Mr. is away on a 5 day cross country road trip with his friend Bill, delivering the big red bus to his brother in California.

Big Red Bus you say? This would be the extra large motor home that the Mr. purchased a few years ago, thinking he would rent it out and make oodles of money doing so. Turns out he never got around to renting it, so it has turned into a thorn in our side as far as the monthly payments. But the thorn was pulled out just recently when his brother Jeff, who lives in California decided he wanted to buy it. Of course, once Mr. Shelton heard this, the wheels began turning. Thoughts of how he could get a fun week away with a friend, out on the open road, stopping in different cities, visiting different bars, restaurants, staying up late, meeting the locals, all that fun stuff. So he planned a trip, and set off on his adventure last night.

The Mrs. is at home dealing with the mudroom/laundry room project, getting the kids to and from school, play dates, dance, and karate. Cooking, cleaning, trying to stay on top of the laundry. Breaking up fights, trying to peel Anthony away from the playstation 2 Star Wars game long enough to eat something, dealing with random kids from the neighborhood who I don't even know showing up on my doorstep (escorted by older brother) to play (two days in a row now). And on top of all this, normal regular, run of the mill type stuff, I have been dealing with (for 1 1/2 weeks now) my angry digestive system that seems to want to do nothing but revolt against me by giving me many, many, not so pleasent visits to the bathroom.

So why am I taking the time to complain on this blog post, when, as you can see from above I have a million other things to get done at this juncture? Well, to do just that. Complain. Vent. Get it all off my chest. It's cathartic for me to be able to write when I am frustrated or angry about things. Plus it is only human for me to have my not so good days, and for you, dear reader, to know that things are not always rainbows and butterflies over here in the Shelton house.

Off to get the kids fed, Ava to dance class, homework done, everyone bathed and in bed.

Done complaining now, thanks for listening, I feel better already.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were away from home all weekend, camping. I also mentioned how chaotic it was leaving the house Friday afternoon with all the packing, organizing, and general getting out of the house tasks. So I did not notice something as I had left the house that afternoon. What is it that I did not notice?

I did not notice that the fan in the bathroom was on. Yes, the fan in the bathroom was on, and it was left on all Friday evening, all day Saturday, and into Sunday afternoon when I finally arrived home and turned it off.

Why the heck was the fan on all weekend?

I then remembered quite vividly, that as we were walking out the door Lucas mentioned he had to go #2. My Lucas always takes his time on the toilet (just like his Father), so I knew I had some time to kill. I told him I would be outside, and that he should come out when he was finished. I made my way outside to check and double check the car in case there was anything I was missing before we finally headed out. I did my checking, ended up running in and out of the house a few times over, and packing even more items into the abyss of a car I had. This took some time. And still Lucas was on the toilet.

I ran back out to the car to screaming kids, yelling the car was too full. Ava could not get to her car seat as the bikes were in the way, Anthony's goldfish fell and he couldn't reach them as the bike wheel was in his way, Olivia dropped her sippy cup on the floor, under the seat which was nearly impossible to fish out. I was getting frustrated. My mind was on other things when Lucas finally emerged from the house, done in the bathroom, ready to go. Because of this, I forgot to tell him to forget about turning the fan on this time around.

I am sure you are dying to know what the deal is with the fan, right? We have a rule in the Shelton house. Well, I have a rule. And it needs to be followed. I posted about it here a while back. Anytime after going # 2 you must, I repeat, must always remember to flush (kids forget sometimes, and with pee, no big deal but with #2, there are no exceptions), wash the hands, and always, always remember to turn on the fan and close the door. Why? Well, because I have a weak stomach, and cannot stand walking into the bathroom and getting hit with a foul smell without being forewarned. It is just gross. Turning on the fan eliminates the smell quite quickly, and also gives me a heads up that someone indeed did go #2 should I make my way to the bathroom . This is a good thing.

Anyway, this rule has been drilled into the kids and the Mr's heads over and over again, and they are always very good about it. But this time my rule backfired on me, as Lucas did do what he was supposed to before we left that fateful Friday afternoon. He did his business, flushed, washed his hands, turned on the fan and closed the door. Problem was that he did not know that leaving that fan running for three days straight would most likely do some damage.

And some damage it sure did.

When I went to the bathroom this morning, flushed, washed my hands, and then went to turn on the fan, it did not work. That is right folks, the fan did not work.

This is a very, very bad thing.

I need my fan.

Simply cannot live without it.

And let's just say projects such as fixing broken bathroom fans are not high on the list of to do's for the Mr. he can't get to mowing the lawn for God sakes. But this, this will be fixed, and soon. If not by the Mr. then by a fix it guy I look up in the local Yellow Pages.

Yes, I am that serious about my bathroom fan.

SHADES OF SHERWOOD

Getting ready to go camping the Shelton house is NOT an easy task. Packing clothes, food, blankets, pillows, bikes, toys, and all other paraphanalia for 6 people, 4 of them being kids, tends to be quite the arduous task. I am usually quite crabby on the day we venture out (just ask Mr. Shelton) because of all the work that is involved in this whole camping thing. This time around was even higher up on the stress level indicator as I was asked by the Mr. to pack the car and head down to the Marina in order to unpack it all and get it into the Motor Home to go. That meant I had to pack a cooler, sheets, kids blankets, sippy cups, diaper bag, all the food, suitcases, bags, bikes, cooler and stroller 4 kids and myself into my SUV. Easy? Nope.

But I managed to stuff it all in the car, sweating profusely by the end of this task and in desperate need of another shower, but it was packed. Here is a look at the car as we headed out the driveway on our way to meet Dad. Nice, right? I am glad we did not get pulled over as I am most certain I would have gotten a ticket for having an overstuffed car. Is there such a law? I bet there is.


Once we got there, and got settled in, the fun began. Well, actually not. We got there so late, the kids had minimal time to play before melt downs were had by all, and bed time was needed.

After a good nights rest, the fun DID begin.

Ava and Liv played together, taking a moment to stop and let Momma get a picture.

As I knew it would, the novelty of playing with her baby sister wore off, and she headed out to play with the bigger kids. This left Olivia no other choice than to get into anything and everything in site.

Here she is climbing up the stairs to another campers Motor Home, checking things out....

After getting her down from there, she meandered around our site, and managed to find a fishing bobber on the ground and decided to give it a taste. Why not, right?

Then she headed over to the cooler, decided she was thirsty, took out an ice cold beer and attempted to drink it.

I finally contained her in her high chair for a while where she happily drooled away and ate some dinner.
Ava spent much of her time riding her bike in circles around the camp ground.

Anthony decided his idea of camping this weekend was to sit inside the Motor Home and play Star Wars on the Play Station. And me, being Mother of the year, decided what the heck? He was happy, so why not. [For those of you that know Anthony, you surely understand.]

He did occasionally come out of the camper for some fun. Here he is pulling his shirt up over his head, calling himself a ghost from Scooby-doo.

On Saturday we all headed down to the crick with our chairs and coolers to dip our feet in the water and enjoy some libations. The kids had a great time catching minnows in their nets and playing in the sand.

Lucas posing for a nice photo by the water, in his clothes.

He decided to get down and dirty in the wet/muddy sand and build a castle. Notice the very white socks and new shoes off to the side?

Well, here they were after our little excursion down by the crick. He decided, when Mom was looking, that he wanted to put his socks and shoes back on. He then decided he wanted to go walking around in the crick and find some minnows, with his new shoes and socks on. Can we say ruined? He obviously did not mind, as he spent the rest of the day with his soaking wet, mud/sand filled shoes and socks on his feet. These kids never cease to amaze me.

So besides having to throw out a brand new pair of socks (not a big deal), and a brand new pair of shoes (a bit bigger deal), we had a great time camping. Fun was had by all. Here's to looking forward to next summer's camping trips!

CHEETOS

We like Cheetos 'round the Shelton house. I stopped purchasing them some time ago, as everytime we had them in the house they seemed to magically disappear right before my eyes and into my children's and my spouses stomachs. The problem with this were many. One: they all ended up having stomach aches shortly after ingestion. Two: they seemed to not learn from the stomach aches the first time, and kept making the same mistake of eating too many in one sitting. Three: I am the only one in this little family of mine that finds eating too much of these things is not healthy. Four: let's just say eating a whole bag of these really bad for you, make your hands, face, clothes, and any furniture in the near vacinity orange things we call Cheetos is just plain old disgusting.

So like I said, I stopped purchasing them, and we went about our lives, business as usual. I do have to say that the kids, and the Mr. all dealt with the fact that Cheetos were no longer found in the pantry quite well. They seemed to forget all about them actually.

Then one day, as I was winding my way up and down the isles at the local grocery store, I came upon a fabulous find. All Natural White Cheddar Cheetos.

Aaaaa-Ha! An alternative to the much adored by the family regular old Cheetos. I had to buy them, and I did. And everyone loved me for it. The kids, the Mr and believe it or not, yours truly, really enjoys eating them as a snack. But I do have to say that Miss Liv Grace seems to be the one who loves them the most.

Today, she managed to pull the bag off of the countertop while standing on her tippiest of tippy toes. When it hit the floor, she was quick to drop the sippy cup in hand and grab that bag.

Once the bag was in her posession, she walked around the kitchen with it, quite happy about having the whole bag to herself.

She stopped here and there to open up the bag, grab a few out and gobble them up, probably in fear that Mom was going to take them away.

To persuade me to let her keep them, she offered to share with me by holding the bag out towards me. How nice...

As you can tell from the picture, her hand seemed to be pretty far down into that bag. Almost as if.... as if.... the Cheetos were gone. Heaven's no, it could not be true!

Unfortunately, it was true. After taking the bag away and distracting her with some of her favorite books, she seemed to quickly forget about the empty bag, and calmed down quite quickly.

What can I say? The girl loves her Cheetos.

COMING TO AN END

Summer fun is coming to an end.

Soon Liv won't be chasing balls out in the cul-de-sac,

or taking a ride in her ever favorite Little Tykes car down the driveway.

Soon Ava and Lucas won't be playing base tag, riding bikes, and playing kick ball with the neighbors,

and Anthony won't be standing in the background, watching this all happen, taking his time to join in on the fun.

Soon the kids won't be taking a break from the pool to enjoy their ice cream treats in the hot sun,

or stopping for a moment in the midst of a game of tag to roll around in the cool grass.


Soon we won't be riding bikes in the rain,



Or making trips to Nona and Papa Scotty's cabin to spend time with cousins, hanging out on the dock, dipping toes into the cold lake water.

Soon we won't be spending every Sunday out on the St. Croix, boating,

playing in the sand,

Enjoying snacks on the boat,

playing in the water, and enjoying friends in the hot sun.

Soon we won't be going camping, spending times playing in the mud in our pajamas, swimsuits, or whatever attire the kids feel like,

and making smore's after dinner.

Although it's sad to see Summer go, we had such fun, and made some memories that will be remembered for a life time.

Here's to looking forward to next summer, and to more great memories that will be made.