Rain and Fish

I feel like it has been raining forever!! I think nearly everyday last week it rained. All this rain has forced us to discover new ways to have fun and I am quickly running out of ideas.

Last week was very busy for us. I am not sure why, but every once and a while we have weeks where there is something every night and most days; and last week was one of those. I think that Monday night was the only night we didn't have anything going on.

Thursday the rain started falling and as the kids were getting more and more stir crazy I opened the door and let them run. Don't worry, I made sure that it wasn't lightning or thundering before I sent them out. It is amazing how much fun it is for them to run around in the rain. For 30 minutes they ran up the driveway and down the driveway. That was it, no toys, no games, no entertainment coming from anything other than running in the rain, and the only reason they came in is because I made them since it was getting late. They would have stayed out there for hours. JP was so wet that his shorts started to fall off because his diaper soaked up so much water.

On Saturday I had decided because of the rain earlier in the week and the possibility of more rain that day that we would take a break from the pool and just hang. As we were taking it easy that morning I thought about running to Michael's to get some new craft supplies and then got the great idea that since Shelby was studying about water and fish at school that we should get some pet fish. When I asked Shelby and JP if they wanted to get a fish they became very excited and when I asked Shelby what she wanted to name the fish, her first response was God. After going through several name ideas, we settled on Owen and Allie.

At the pet store we decided on getting a beta fish and walked out with two, a new bowl, and some food. We got home, set up the bowl and after nap time we decided that everything was good so we put the fish in their new home. Right away Owen (the boy beta) decided that he was better off dead than to be our pet. As Pratt was trying to get him from the take home container to the bowl he jumped out of the net onto the counter and when Pratt tried to pick him up he flipped himself off the counter onto the floor. Thankfully he didn't die right then because Shelby was standing there watching the whole thing. We were also very excited that when we got home from church on Saturday night he was still alive and so far so good. Owen and Allie (the girl beta) seem to be doing pretty well and tolerating the kids tapping and talking. Shelby has even danced for them a little, the whole time saying, "Look Owen. Look Allie. Watch me dance."

The top picture is Owen and the bottom picture is Allie.

One thing that I found at Michael's are these window markers. Shelby and JP went to town on the windows when we got home. It is so much fun to see what comes out of their little imaginations. Shelby really likes to draw right now and she is getting better and better at it everyday. It is hard to say what her favorite thing to draw is, but I love that everytime she draws a person she gives them a belly button.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends!! I hope that your day was filled with lots of love and fun. Mine started out with Pratt getting up with the children, something that he does at least once a week and is always greatly appreciated by me as I love to sleep!! While I was peacefully resting the morning away Shelby, JP and Pratt were making some super yummy flower pancakes for me. They brought the food to me in bed, but Shelby insisted that I sit at the table. Here is a picture of their masterpiece. The colorful flowers were a gift from Shelby that she made at school and the yellow rose was fresh cute from our beautiful rose bush. Every house we have owned Pratt has planted roses. They always smell so good and brighten our house through the whole summer.

After breakfast we took a bike ride through the neighborhood and then headed to the pool at Hampton Lake. I really couldn't have asked for a more fun day. We had a lot of fun swimming at the pool and Shelby did really well at practicing her swimming and JP is gaining more confidence at the pool everytime. After we had lunch Shelby decided to jump in the deep end without her swimvest on. I think that she might have forgotten that we took it off to eat and thought that it was still on. While I was racing to save her she calmly swam back to the ladder. Thankfully John Ussery was standing close by and was able to jump in and grab her. She kind of had this look on her face like what is the big fuss? I had everything under control. I don't think it even dawned on her that she was in any danger.

My little brother turned 21 a couple of weeks ago so we celebrated with a family dinner once he got home from Clemson. Here is a sweet picture of Matt, Shelby and JP. Of course, Shelby and JP really didn't care about anything except getting a piece of that yummy cake! Happy Birthday Uncle Matt!! We love you!

And in closing, here is a video of Shelby saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Everytime we take video of her she talks in this high pitched voice. Sometimes she will forget and half through whatever she is saying she will stop and start all over again with her video voice.

Family Beach Trip

Today I think was a first for our family...I am pretty sure it was the first day that the whole family went to the beach together. There have been a few times over the years that I have taken Shelby and JP, but today was the first that we were all together and we had so much fun!!! It was a beautiful day for sun and sand and the kids had a great time. My usually shy Shelby took no time to warm up and went for the water without hesitation. JP, on the other hand, wouldn't go near it. I tried to get him to put his toes in, but he just stood back screaming at me to get out when I put my toes in. I guess the moving water and the noise of the waves un-nerved him a little. While Shelby spent a good bit of time jumping the waves as they rolled in, JP was happy to stay back at the chairs with daddy eating and digging.

When we were in California Shelby and Grammie spent some time combing the beach for seashells and she hasn't forgotten one bit the fun that she had; so one of the first things she did when we got to the beach today was to grab her bucket and head on her hunt for seashells. She and Pratt came back with a whole bucket full and I think they made it back to our house.



JP had so much fun getting all sandy. I never really can understand how kids can be happy as can be and covered in so much sand!! It was amazing all the sand that he accumulated on his body and he just kept on playing and playing. Of course when it came time to eat we had a little clean off time, but that didn't last long.

After Shelby and JP started to settle down a little bit from all the excitement I decided to lay down for a moment on the towel and watch them dig holes, hide treasure, and make castles. I was probably on the towel for about a minute and JP came running over and laid down next to me. It was so cute!!

Another fun adventure we had was chasing the seagulls. Oh, the simple things in life bring so much fun. Here are two videos of the seagull chases....the wind sounds worse than it really was. There was just enough breeze that we couldn't put up the umbrella, but not too much to where the sand was blowing and stinging your legs.

Shakespeare Festival

This week is Shakespeare's birthday and to honor the occasion Shelby's school had a little festival last night. It was one of the cutest things I have seen. All the 3s, 4s and 5s participated, each sweet child had a line to say from one of Shakespeare's plays and they sang three songs. Leading up to this I have to say that I really didn't think that Shelby would have ever gotten up there to say her line. From the day we got the little note from school that had her line on it she was very certain that she didn't even want to go to school on that day. She would say her line for us, but if we ever discussed anything further beyond that she would break down in tears and beg us to not take her to the Shakespeare Festival. Well, we made it and I am so proud that she joined in the program.

The first song they sang was a Happy Birthday song to Shakespeare, then two of the classes lined up and each little child walked across the stage, said their line, and then took a bow or curtsy. Some of the children really got into it and said their lines with gusto and made huge arm gestures and some spoke so softly and so quickly that you really had no idea what they said if they said anything at all. The second song they sang was some Italian song (I think). We got it on video, but I didn't record it on my camera. If you are ever around I will have Shelby sing it for you because it is something that really amazes me everytime she sings it. After that the other two classes lined up and followed the same protocol as before. They closed the performance with the first verse and course of a song by Taylor Swift.

Here is a picture that I got with my camera. Most of the children dressed up in Shakespeare type costumes and wore fun little hats. I knew that getting Shelby up on stage was going to be challenge enough so I didn't even try to convince her to dress up (I think she might be the only girl on earth who really doesn't like to dress up), but I did bring her fabulous little Clemson princess hat (thank you so much Erin!!!!) and she wore it the entire time. Don't you think she looks so cute?!?!?!?

By the way, her line was "Sweets to the sweet, farewell." and she said it very quietly and very quickly and curtsied as she was walking off the stage..

I just love hearing Shelby talk and get things from her perspective. Today on our way home from Moe's a car pulled up behind us that had some pretty loud music coming from it. Without wasting a minute, Shelby chimes in and says, "Mommy, what is that bonky noise?" I told her it was the car behind us playing their music really loud and she said, "Yeah, they must have their windows rolled down." A few minutes later JP piped up and said, "Wat dat noi?" I told him the same thing I had just said to Shelby because the car was still behind us. Then Shelby said, "It is hurting my ears." To which I thought, "Yes!!! Thank goodness we won't have to contend with that 'bonky' noise as Shelby gets older."

Here is a little video clip of JP scooting around with his bum foot. Today we thought we would try to take the brace off to see how he would do, but everytime we talked to him about it we would get protests and he would tell us, "Doctor take off." In other words, only the doctor can take it off which is what I told him earlier in the week when he wanted the brace off....now he is throwing it back in my face. Anyway, we were walking around in Petsmart (no, we aren't getting any pets; the kids just like to go their to look at all the animals) and when I took JP out of the stroller to look at something the brace fell of and I thought that I would just leave it off to see what would happen. He did well for about 30 minutes and once we got to Moe's, he just lost it and started crying, "It hurt me. It hurt me." So I took him back out to the car and put the brace back on, but he still seemed to be in quite a bit of pain....oh well, looks like this might be a longer process than I thought.

ER take 1

So last night was the first of many nights that I am sure to come in which we ended up in the ER with JP. It started off as such a promising night. Shelby and JP were in pretty agreeable modes and we had a wonderful family dinner followed by a walk to the lake across the street to catch some fish and look for alligators. Thankfully, the very first cast the Pratt threw caught a pretty big large mouth bass. The gnats were so bad that we left right after that. Once we got home we enjoyed the nice evening a little more with blowing some bubbles as family and then called it a night once the rain started coming down. Just like many nights, Shelby and JP ran off through the house playing together and having a grand ol' time so we left them to their fun and started on getting things done to prepare for today. I was upstairs doing some accounting and Pratt was taking care of some business e-mails when all the sudden an ear-piercing scream came from JP's room. We both rushed to the scene. Pratt got there first and found JP laying on the floor next to the chair in his room. Of course initially Shelby wasn't giving up any information, but eventually we got out of her that JP was jumping off the chair when he hurt himself.

He was clearly in tons of pain because no matter what position he was in he was uncomfortable and once reinforcements arrived to help with Shelby, Pratt and I were off to the ER. JP did pretty well in the car and once we were there, but as soon as they called us back he started crying and carrying on. Its funny, because we really didn't do anything wrong and we definitely aren't neglectful parents but when they asked us what happened and I had to say the words, "I don't know, I wasn't in the room." I felt like the most neglectful mother in the whole world.

Everytime someone walked by the door to the room we were in he would scream a little louder as if to say, "Come any closer and I will kill your eardrums." Anyway, 2 hours, 4 x-rays, and a plaster brace later we leave and head home. The ER doctor said that he might have a break in his foot and we should see our doctor the next day to have him look at it.

We got an appointment today and saw our pediatrician and Praise the Lord, it is just a pretty bad sprain!! I was so relieved because JP really doesn't like the brace and the thought of having him in a cast for any amount of time was enough to give me mental breakdown. The doctor did say that we needed to keep the brace on for a while until he was walking again and he should be good to go.

The poor little guy is so frustrated with that brace!! Last night he keep saying, "It hurt me. It hurt me." as he pulled at it and this morning he was doing the same thing so I told him that we were going to see the doctor today and he would take it off. Of course, the doctor did take it off, but he put it back on. Since we have been home he keeps scooting over to me and saying, "Doctor off, doctor off." in this most pathetic little whinny voice. At one point I was in the kitchen and saw his little head pop up and I thought, oh wow, he is trying to walk with the brace on, well, he didn't get too far and he started whimpering and when I went to him I discovered that he had taken it off. Oh dear...it is going to be a long couple of days. Hopefully we will have a quick healing and be back to normal in no time.

Before and after pictures: This was taken before. Our rose bushes are starting to bloom and we picked the first two yellow roses for JP and Shelby to have in their rooms. How cute, right?!?!?!

This is when we got home from the ER. JP was pretty tired from all the drama, but the little thunderstorm we had offered some distraction to what had just happened. Everytime there was lightening JP would say, "I see lightening, I see it."

Movin' on Up

So apparently Shelby loves change about as much as she loves the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus...(which she truly, truly, truly dislikes those two-I mean seriously!!) Yesterday Pratt had the day off and as I was playing in JP's room with him I got this crazy idea that it would be a great day to move him into a big boy bed. We decided that it would be easier and cheaper to buy new bedding for Shelby to move into the queen bed than it would be to buy a new mattress for JP so that was out plan. As we told Shelby that we were going to go to Target so she could pick out a new comforter and sheets because we were going to put her in a big bed and let JP have the little bed the tears and protests started. It took a lot of coaxing, but we got her to Target and she picked out a princess comforter and pink and purple sheets (I know, surprise, surprise). While we were in Target it suddenly hit me....we aren't going to have a crib in our house any more!!! Let me tell you, some of my friends eagerly anticipated that day, but I haven't looked forward to it one bit and I really don't know why I didn't think of that first when I was coming up with this crazy plan. Oh man, how sad!!! We have had that crib up for over four years and now it is gone. That is just almost more than I can handle so I am going to move on from that thought.

Anyway, after nap time we set about to move the beds around and put everything together. It started out well and both kids were very excited, but when it came time for bed Shelby was completely broken hearted. All she kept saying over and over was that she wanted her old bed back. Boy did I feel terrible. I kept asking Pratt if he thought I made a mistake for everytime she asked for her old bed. Of course, in the end it all worked out wonderfully. Shelby and JP slept through the night and neither one got out of bed once. Hopefully that is a trend that will continue, but I have a feeling it won't take long for JP to start jumping...yes, I do mean jumping...out of bed several times a night.

This is Shelby's new princess bed. I think that Pratt and I are going to get new sheets for our bed because the sheets that she picked out are the softest ever!!

Here is JP in his new bed. He really like it a lot until we put him to bed in it. Part of the problem may have been that we didn't have time to take down the crib so we just rolled it to other side of his room. He asked about it a couple of times and I told him that his baby cousin Sebastian was going to be sleeping in it. What I didn't convey clearly was that I didn't mean that he was going to sleep in it in JP's room, but he was going to sleep in it in his house once Uncle Patricio and Aunt Suzy get moved. After I mentioned Sebastian he kept asking for him to be in the crib and the first thing he said to me this morning when we woke up was, "Where Bastian?"