Santa!!! I Know Him!!

I have chronicled over the years Shelby's extreme fear of Santa and this year we had the major breakthrough we had been waiting for.  Yes, the picture you see is for real.  There is no photo shopping involved.  In fact this is only one of the four times that Shelby sat on Santa's lap on Sunday!!  AMAZING!

Of course as she continued to process this Santa through out the day she was quick to figure out that it wasn't the "real" Santa and made sure before she went to bed to confirm with Pratt that it was just a man dressed up like Santa.  Then the next day she announced that she still didn't want him coming to our house, but we will take the baby steps:)

Color Vibe

A few weeks ago Shelby and I did our first race together.  There was much excitement on my part as I love to run and had all these great ideas in my head of how the day would go and how this would be a big love fest for Shelby and I; well....maybe not so much.  I am not sure Shelby will ever run again, but we did it!

The race that we ran (actually we only ran the first mile and then we walked the rest, but I was extremely impressed that Shelby ran the first mile as we did absolutely nothing to train for it) was called the Color Vibe.  It is pretty neat.  Along the race they have color stations set up where they throw the color at you. 

I am not sure if you know this about Shelby but she likes to be IN CHARGE all the time; no ifs, ands or buts!  This was not a race for someone like her.  You really don't have control over a lot of elements and I quickly realized that she was not enjoying it so much.  We made it through the first color station fine, but then we started walking and she started, in her own little way, panicking.  First sign was that she held my hand for two miles.  This girl does not like to hold hands but she held on tight and every time someone came running around us she would grip tighter and tighter.  The second sign was that she asked a million questions..."Mommy, why is everyone so loud?  Where are Jack and Miss Erin?  Where is Miss Erika?  I can't see them anymore" etc, etc.

If you asked her today if she like it she will tell you yes, but take it from me, it is not something high on her list of things to do again in this life.

Making Beds

I feel like I have completely fallen off the blogging bandwagon and every time I sit down to write one I just can't...blogger's block maybe??? 

Anyway, I have succumbed to the pressure of my parents and my husband and hopefully this post will be the one that gets me going again.

The age old question: Why is it so hard to get your children to make their beds in the morning.  Six months ago both of my children were making their beds everyday before school and then summer came.  It seems like all rules go out of the door when summer hits and they completely forgot how to make their beds.  I guess I have to take some of the blame as I didn't make them make their beds everyday but these last six months have been a battle everyday to get this simple task done.  Sometimes I wage it and sometimes I just say it isn't worth it.

Anyway, one morning after a success I walked into JP's room and found this arrangement on his bed.  It was too cute and I couldn't resist taking a picture.  Every time he makes his bed this is how it can be found.

I wonder what makes him decide to cover up his tiger and monkey with his blankie??