10 Years and Counting...

10 Years ago today, J asked me on told me we were going on our first date.

Now here's the back story for those of you who don't know it yet...

August ??, 2004 I was hired by a bank in town (I had been working for another bank for 2 years in a nearby town) and a few days later I went to the local Wal-Mart branch of the new bank to open my account. The male teller (J) opened my account for me. Now, while there was nothing overly special about this guy as far as appearance goes (a bit too skinny for my usual liking), he was nice.
The following week, I started my new job and resumed night classes at the local university. J was in a couple of my classes, as we were both Business Management majors. He tried showing off a few times of the next couple of weeks, but I didn't pay him much attention. But our co-worker Amy had different ideas...she thought J needed a date and the new girl at work seemed like just the right girl.

So she fired up her matchmaking skills, and on Saturday, September 11, 2004, while we were working a shift together at the bank, J gained up some nerve was told to just take a risk and ask me out. So while I was at lunch, he left a note on my computer that read; "We are going to that concert together tonight." (I already had plans to take myself to a close by town for a southern gospel concert of a group that I loved)
When I got back from lunch, he was already gone and taking his own lunch break, I found the note and started laughing. Amy chuckled too and we decided a date with J would be just what I needed.

After work, we each went home, changed and he picked me up. We attended the concert (he sang to me while we were there), ate dinner and then spent the rest of the night (until about 1:00 AM) talking about just about everything. Over the next few days, we saw each other as often as possible with church, work and school....

Fast forward 5 days (yes, you are reading this correctly) and J called me before work. We were scheduled for the same shift at the same branch that day and he was going to stop by my apartment and pick me up for work. Well, what happened next was the real surprise...when he got to my place, he PURPOSED!!! He had went and bought the ring that morning and decided I was the one...and more surprisingly, I said yes!
Now, I should mention here, that only a few people even knew we were dating and we hadn't really told people from work; but that all changed very quickly on that Thursday morning!

His parents thought he was crazy and hung up on him. My mom laughed and my dad told me to make sure I didn't start making him doubt my judgment over this. (My parents are clearly the laid back ones here) We met my mom and sister for dinner that night and picked a date, June 11, 2005. My mom informed she was NOT paying for Tulips in June (and since she owned a flower shop and was clearly paying for and designing the flowers, I had to listen) so we picked a new date, March 12, 2005. (J was mortified that I moved the wedding date for a flower. He clearly had NO idea just how stubborn I could be and clearly didn't realize the extent of which I had dreamed of tulips for my wedding and just how much I basically detest roses for myself (not as a flower in general).)

March 12, 2005 rolled around, we got married and then we started our Happily Ever After.......

9 1/2 Years of marriage later and we have accomplished and been through so much together.

Would I have liked a lot of it to have been easier...Yes
Would I go back and change any of it...No
It has been hard, trying, scary, and down right horrible at times, but the bad has never out weighed the good and with our continued faith that God will take care of everything; we will make it 10 more.

Happy First Date-aversary J. I love you!!!

MommyShelle

The Great Debate

Today, in Missouri, is the August Primary election; did you vote?

I did and I proud to say that I did.

We had several issues on the ballot that I had to do some studying on, but I figured out the wording enough to know which way I wanted to vote on the issues at hand.

We had a couple of big county seats available and we will see if the old stays around or if its an "in with the new" kind of election.

Do you regularly vote? Are you even registered?

If not, I'd like to tell you why you should...

Its one of the freedoms that was fought for and won. And as women, we had to fight harder to win this freedom. It should be considered an honor.

You get the opportunity to make a difference on issues that mean something to you.

You help decide who runs your city/ county/ state/ country.

And lastly; your vote entitles you to an opinion on all of the above mentioned items. Your lack of voting (by blatant choice) gives you the right to keep those opinions to yourself.

Soapbox over.

Hope you all are enjoying your last days of summer before school starts back.

MommyShelle C

The Great Downhill Slide

20 days until school starts back...

That leaves 20 days to get all of the school supplies bought (I have a cheat on this: my mom buys the basics and I take care of the stuff they actually care about)

That leaves 20 days to get hair cuts, a few new clothes and shoes purchased and my mind wrapped around both boys going to school everyday

That leaves 20 days for me to cram in a few more trips to the park for picnics and playtime, at least one more trip to the local State Park for fish feeding and hopefully a couple of good day trips

That leaves 5 more days until our friends say good-bye and move to Kentucky

That left tonight for the last night of our VBS for the summer. We have an ice cream/ movie night tomorrow and that will be interesting to say the least.....

And all of this has left me to wonder (for the last couple of days); what am I going to do with all my time this school year??

I am going to miss lunches with L when he insists on PB&J and orange slices everyday.
I am going to miss my baby snuggles and a built in reason to take a nap most days.
I am going to miss L looking up at me and saying; "Mommy, will you sweep wiff me for all the minutes of my nap?" "Mommy, will you rub my eyes/ back?" "Mommy, please hold me while I fall asweep."
I am going to miss his enthusiasm for helping me clean the house.
I am going to miss the trips to the library for story time.
I am going to miss my babies!!

Ok, enough emotional non-sense for today.
MommyShelle

Noises

Children

They are cute, they are *always* hungry and they make LOTS of noise!

This summer has been filled with the following noises:
I'm hungry
I'm thirsty
I'm tired
I'm not tired
I need to go potty
Can I pee in the corner? (boys love to pee outside and they are supposed to 'hide' in the corner of the yard to do it)
I want to go outside
It's hot outside
There are bugs out here
He won't leave me alone
He won't let me sleep
He ate my _______
HE took my ________
He hit/bit/pinched/stepped on me
Is today my baseball practice/ game?
Can you rub my back?
Can you rub my eyes?
Can you tuck me in?
I didn't get a kiss and a hug

And so on...

Today, L started whining about his lack of snack having abilities (he had just finished breakfast 15 minutes before this) so I made a decision; I whined back at him. Every time he made a whining sound, I made one back at him. He DID NOT find this amusing! He got mad at me, but the whining stopped. Point made!!!

In other news:
I am slowly getting more of our boxes/stuff unpacked. I know we've lived here for almost 5 months, but I'm a procrastinator. I am also a bit of a pack rat collector of stuff. There might or might not be are some boxes in my garage that are still packed just like they were 5 years ago when we moved to our last house.
I'm not proud, but it's the truth. I am working on the problem, but as with any good 12 step program; admission is the 1st step.

Summer baseball/ T-ball is coming to an end. I am going to watch L's T-ball games tonight; it's the first time all summer I have been to one of his games. Typically I work on Monday nights, but I switched with Boss Man so I could get to at least one game since it's his first year playing. He has a double-header tonight, so it's a 2-for-1 deal. Next week is his last game. B has 2 games this week to make up for a couple of rain-outs and then his season is over as well.

I scored some good deals on some clothes for both boys the other day at the local Gap Outlet. I do LOVE that place. And its one of the few places I can find jeans for B. He is so skinny and long legged that its hard. Most jeans for children are boxy and when the adjustable waist is pulled in as far as he needs it pulled in, the jeans bunch in the butt and at the crotch. Not Gap jeans! They have a good shape to begin with, so no bunching. And to find a 7Slim, skinny cut - near to impossible! I found 2 on sale. Yay me!!!
So that means, back-to-school shopping has officially started. The boys are excited to get pick out their new school supplies and some new shoes.
And we got to find out who their teachers are for this year. We got a top-pick for B and L got a good one too. Hopefully we have a great year with both of the boys.

We had a great 4th of July. The boys stayed with J's parents for the night and we went out to dinner and fireworks with some friends. We did this last year as well. I think it needs to become out new annual summer tradition.

Last weekend, we had a good-bye BBQ for our friends that are moving to KY for his job. They leave in about 2 weeks and I get sad just thinking about it. So I try not too...
The kids had a blast playing in the sprinkler and on the slip-and-slide while all of adults enjoyed getting some time to just sit around a chat.

Well, I think pretty much catches up the last few weeks.
So until next time,
MommyShelle

Taking The Ordinary out of Extraordinary...

**Warning-this is my attempt at being Philosophical

Have you ever thought about...
Ordinary: to be regular, normal, run of the mill (my definition)
Extra: more, plus some, to be in excess of (again, my own definition)

Extraordinary: to most people and common acceptances of this word; it is said to be great, extravagant or super-duper.

Does that even make sense? To be more normal? To be in excess of regular-ness?

I for one want to take the ordinary out and start living more EXTRA!

For the last 10 months, I have been anticipating trying not to think about one of my dearest friends moving out of state (in 4 weeks). Her little family of 5 is moving 9 hours away to pursue an incredible new opportunity.
So...to make life with more EXTRA, we are cramming as much time together in this summer as possible. We have celebrated her birthday, I have kept her kids for a day, she is keeping ours a couple of times, we are having a good-bye BBQ (lots of kids, food and slip-n-slide fun) and we are planning a couple more girls night dinners and shopping days.
And to add to the EXTRA, her new geographical location will become a new, fun place to visit and vacation with the kiddos for spring breaks and summer weekends.

EXTRA: we had new family pictures taken and the pictures of the boys are incredible. I love our photographer and the job she does. Her country farm setting (and I ordered way too many pictures but I can't help it) is blending beautifully with my new and old decorating style I am trying out in the new house.
*The friend from above helped me plan my entire picture wall, Pinterest style, and once the pictures I ordered come in and the wall is complete, I will post some pictures on here.

EXTRA: J and I took a mini-vacation and couple of weeks ago and went out of town for a couple of nights. We didn't go far or do anything overly great, but we enjoyed a couple of nights with no kids. I did convince beg J to go zip-lining with me and he gave in, once. It was not the normal harness style, but more of a ski lift chair that took us up the hill backwards and then rushed us back to the starting point at somewhere around 43 MPH. It was a blast and I did another 2 times without J. Each ride only took about 50 seconds (I recorded it once on my phone, while clutching my iPhone with a death grip so I wouldn't drop it in the lake I was flying over).

EXTRA: J and I will also get one more kid free night this summer; July 4th. We are going with some friends of ours to a nice dinner at a resort in a near-by town and then staying to watch the spectacular fireworks display. Of course, there will be outlet shopping before dinner!

EXTRA: I am going to make myself enjoy the next 8 weeks until school starts back. I am going to be less harsh and ridged. I am going to loosen up and have some fun with these boys. I am going to be okay with a house that isn't always is almost never a clean I am happy with. I am going to finish decorating my house (I know we have lived here 4 months and that I have only hung pictures in the last 4 days). I am going to spend far more time thanking God for all the little blessing in life. I am going to continue to love my job and try to be less high-strung about the little things at work that irritate me. And finally, I am going to love my husband more deeply and less critically.

Its all these EXTRAs in life that I am going to use to make life more and in excess and far less ordinary.

Being less ordinary,
MommyShelle

Summer Time, Summer Time, Sum Sum Summer Time

Ask anyone who knows me well, and they'll tell you...I love music and can break out in a bit of a song at anytime and for all sorts of reasons.

Today's songs would have included "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and a made up song about how much I love the new wedges I just bought.

They are Gianni Bini, brown, tall and lovely.

B had his first baseball game of the summer tonight.

13 boys between the ages of 6 & 8, many very loud parents/ grandparents and a coaches wife who doesn't know how to properly run a batting order; all made for an interesting ballgame. B loves baseball and the idea of playing baseball, but not so much the actual playing and paying attention to the game. In the last inning, he was far more interested in sitting in the grass in his Left Field position.

Oh well, he also loves to sing and listen to music. He will probably end up my band/ choir kid. And that's cool. He comes from a long line of beautiful singers and band geeks.

L has learned to ride a big kid bike in the last couple of weeks and every chance he gets is spent riding his B's bike in the driveway and garage. I am so proud of him, despite the fact its a little sad that he's growing up so fast.

Once August gets here and both boys are in school (B in 1st grade and L in pre-K) I'll be singing a new song; "All By Myself."

The new house has 3 rose bushes that came with it. I don't really like roses as a general rule, but I am so excited that they have bloomed, that I can't help but love them.

L got several bubbles for his birthday. We spent quite a while one morning playing with a bubble blower he received. I was able to catch a couple of really cool shots.

B has 1 1/2 days of school left before summer break. Yes, that means he has to go back to school for 1/2 a day on Tuesday; after a 3 day weekend. Kind of silly but in MO, the winter weather usually causes some make-up day requirements.

Here a few of the pictures I promised the other day:

My younger sister (Aunt T), our mom, Tanner (the puppy) and myself

First picture of the 3 of us in a few years

Mother's Day

Food art at work

Tulips are my VERY favorite flower and this is one that came with the new house

L's birthday breakfast at the restaurant

J's grandpa turned 92 on the day of L's party, so I made each of them blow out candles. This will be one of those pictures that I treasure for a lifetime!!

 L, B and K digging into a 'Pazookie" in Oklahoma City when we all went outlet shopping

 

Family time is rare these days, but sometimes we all pile into our bed, laugh, snuggle and pose for awkward selfies.

Rare moments of brotherly love are worth catching on camera

These 2 beautiful girls took me to dinner to commemorate my 30th birthday.

We had steak!

We ended up with some free birthday cake!

I am NOT embarrassed about the cake, but slightly embarrassed about how we came about getting the cake.

It was FREE. From the table next to us. Another girls was having a birthday too.

They offered us all some cake and we decided to go for it.

The cake was fabulous! And totally worth it. And it makes for a great conversation.

Red Velvet Cake

My Favorite (so I didn't have to bake my own)

Made by a friend (so I

The frosting was TO DIE FOR!!

The New House

We only moved about a block and a half from the old house (2 streets over to be exact)

A lady at worked teased that she wanted a picture of me moving stuff down the street.

J ended up rolling the dumpster to the new house the morning of the closing

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the picture filled journey,

MommyShelle

 



 

Alas, We Meet Again!

So it has been awhile, so let me catch you up quickly:

Made an offer on a house, it got accepted, we went under contract.
J got another year older.
I got to buy a brand new refrigerator and washer and dryer set.
We had a very handy moving crew of friends and Boss Man that got us moved quickly.
My mom paid us a visit and measured all of our windows for curtains.
We celebrated my 30th birthday in the new house and a dear friend made me a Red Velvet cake, so I wouldn't have to bake my own birthday cake.
B and L are both playing baseball/ T-ball.
L turned 4.
We had the first big birthday party in the new house and my dad and sister finally got to visit and see the house.
B graduated "Bloomed" from Kindergarten.
L was screened for and accepted into the schools pre-K program.
J has to do most of the running for the boys' ball practices (in the evenings while I'm at work) and is getting a taste of what all I do in a days time.
I have had several cupcake orders and they keep on coming in.

That has been life, in a large nutshell, for the last 4 months.

I will try to get some new pictures loaded soon and some pictures of the new house as well.

Until Next Time,
MommyShelle

Selling, Buying and Crying

The art of selling a house, as we have learned over the last 12 month months, is just that; an art form.

We have a smaller home of 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, updated eat-in kitchen, 1 car garage and full basement home with all original hardwood floors. It is not a large home but it has served its duties of raising 2 small boys up to this point. When we moved into this house, we only had 1 child and he was just 18 months old. Four months later we found out child #2 was on the way and 1161 sq. foot never seemed so small. Nevertheless, we have lived in and loved on this house for almost 5 years,

So last January when we decided to list our house 'For Sale', we never imagined what it was going to entail.
-Last minute scrambles to clean-up so they could show the house
-24 hour clean-ups so they could show the house
-A few, we're out of town and I hope it looks ok, clean-ups so they could show the house
See a trend yet....
And so did we, for about 30 house showings. In our small town, that's a LOT of showings for one property. We were happy it was popular....but SELL it already!

(We had a couple of offers, but they were ridiculous and no I am NOT paying to remodel the house for YOU!!)

Then, the Wednesday before Christmas, the house was shown again. I had no hopes due to the fact we only had 4 weeks left of our listing contract and we were about to just un-list it for awhile and try again later. The cute young couple and their adorable baby boy toured the house, asked a few questions, analyzed the yard for quite awhile and then went of their merry way.

The next day, we got an offer. An incredible offer. We countered back and within an hour, we were under contract.
YIKES!
We had stopped the house search in early Fall and hadn't really expected much to happen. We wrote in an extended closing to allow for us to find a house....and that's where the crying comes in.

My criteria:
Decent sized, working kitchen
Larger home
2 bathrooms (mommy is tired of 1 bathroom and 3 boys in her house)
3+ bedrooms
Fenced-in yard
Laundry room
J wants a coat closet and carpet (I love my hardwoods so we will compromise probably)

We have a very limited house buying budget, but I did not expect it to be impossible. But apparently; it is. We have looked at close to 20 homes and only a few met our guidelines. Most of those were over budget. Then, one day, we found it. It needed a small amount of love in the kitchen, but it was a project and I saw it as a good chance to design my dream kitchen at some point in the future. We will call this: The Yellow Kitchen House.

Now to back up a few months, we looked at a house in May that we loved and could've been our forever house, had it NOT been $60,000 over budget. It needed a lot of work. But we could've over time if we could get it for the right price. We call it: The Unicorn & Rainbow house.
(Explanation: The 3rd bedroom of this house had blue wallpaper with Glow-in-the-dark constellations on it and this really bright Unicorn & Rainbow border. I will have to post a picture of it someday. My friend, Aunt B, made up a song about it and would sing it to me every time I got discouraged about our house hunt.)

Back to last week:
We put in an offer on the yellow kitchen house and we got countered, but accepted the terms. Then it was inspection time...not as pretty as the 70's yellow tiled kitchen. We walked away thinking it was not going to happen.
The same time as we decided it wasn't worth it, the unicorn house came back on the market. It was in our price range (got foreclosed on) and we decided it was worth a shot to get our forever house. It wasn't! The inspections on it were even worse and it was going to be a money pit! So again, we walked away.

Finally, we decided that the yellow kitchen house is where we were truly meant to be. So we addressed the inspection issues found: and now we wait....and wait...and we are still waiting as of this morning to see if they are going to fix the problems.

I have shed a LOT of tears and said many prayers over the adventure....and I will continue to pray Gods will for us in this situation. But is hard; knowing that in 36 short days...we are homeless.

Until we know for sure,
MommyShelle