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?"

Smarty Pants

I am sure that this will be the first of many blogs that I will be able to title "Smarty Pants", but for my memory sake I have to make note of this as the week that Shelby is starting to be smarter than me.

Right now they are learning about different types of weather at school and Monday on our way home Shelby asked me, "Mommy, are those cumulus clouds?" I let a little laugh come out just at hearing her say the word cumulus. Trying not to show that I didn't commit to deep memory all the different types of clouds that learn about in school. I asked her, "What do you think honey?" To which she replied, "Yes, I think they are." Phew....just barely got out of that one.

Another cute Shelby story...she has really great speech but there is just one letter that she has trouble with and that is v. She always pronounces it as b. So today we were in the car and she was telling me that she would be bery, bery, bery, bery, bery, bery happy if we could go to the playground today. I asked her after her long list of "bery", "Would it make you bery happy?" And she said, "Yes!!!"

In Review

We have had a busy week. Last Sunday (not yesterday, but the one before that) we packed up the kids and went to the pool. They have started heating it on the weekends and since it was such a beautiful day we thought we would enjoy it. Shelby and JP had a blast. Watching them playing with Pratt and their little buddies really got me excited about this summer and all the fun times we will have. The water was perfect, but you had to make sure that your towel was ready for when you got out because the breeze coming off the lake was a little chilly. We enjoyed lunch with grandmother, grandpa and Uncle Matt that day.

Monday we had a guest come in to stay with us for the week. His name was Reed and at first Shelby and JP were a little unsure of him, but after about a day Shelby was totally smitten and couldn't wait to see him every morning and every evening. All day she would ask, "Where is Mr. Reed? When is coming home? When can I see him? What is he doing?" etc, etc. When I put her to bed on Thursday night she asked me if he could live with us. It was so funny to see her become so attached to him and bless him for going along with it and letting her hang on him, cuddle with him, and just be in his face everytime he was around. I thought for sure that we would have some tears when he left today, but Shelby just gave him a great big leg hug and waved good bye. Of course, she has already asked a couple of times when we would see him again:)

Tuesday Shelby started swim lessons with three of her little friends. Surprisingly to me, she was so excited and really did a wonderful job of listening and participating. When it wasn't her turn she sat patiently on the edge of the pool with her little hands in her lap (I like to think this was a little glimpse into how she would look sitting around the ellipse at school). It was a very precious site for me. When they were getting started she did make sure to tell the swim teacher that she didn't want to get her head wet. JP and I hung around to watch. Since I didn't bring his suit because I didn't want to get in knowing full well that the water would be freezing (which it was), we sat at the edge and he went to town kicking and splashing water all over the place. After about 15 minutes I wised up and took his clothes off and let him sit there in his diaper. Of course, that was a little late as his clothes were already pretty wet. Lesson learned and tomorrow we will make sure that he starts out with no clothes on.

Here are the girls getting instruction at the side of the pool.

This is a picture of the girls practicing "big arms" before getting in the water and doing it. It was so funny because once they got in for their turn to swim, they all did little arms and kicked just to splash water every where.

First Trip to the Salon

After Pratt asked me for about 2 months to get JP's hair cut, I finally gave in and set an appointment at the salon for him and for Shelby. This would be our first ever. Pratt had cut Shelby's hair twice in the past and since it took her so long to grow enough hair to cut it and since she is a girl, it wasn't that huge of a deal if her hair didn't get cut. But JP on the other hand will need to have his hair cut more frequently. Pratt wants it to stay shorter and I love his curls so I knew that it would need to be done by a professional to give both of us what we want. After playing phone tag for about 2 weeks with the salon the appointment was set. Even though I never mentioned Shelby by name or used the word girl in setting up the appointment for both girls, she somehow knew that she was going to be in on this too and before I could even put the phone back on the receiver she chimed in, "No mommy, I don't want to get my hair cut. Please, no mommy." I mean seriously!!! How did she even know?!?!?!?!

Anyway, haircut day came last Tuesday and thankfully Pratt was able to go with me. We tried JP first and he was definitely not having it so Pratt took him for a bit and Shelby sat on my lap and let them cut her hair. After all her protest it was amazing to see her just sitting there very still and very calm. She did great and her hair looks so cute!!!

JP on the other hand was quite the opposite. He kicked and screamed and fought us through the whole process. At one point he scaled so high up on Pratt that he looked like a cat trying to find higher ground to get away from rising water. It was kind of funny....is that bad??? Anyway, we made it through and his hair got trimmed and we also got to keep the curls. I am glad that experience is over with and hope that the next one goes better.