Let down your hair

After donning her long, blonde Rapunzel wig, Abby says to me, "Mom, isn't my hair beautiful?  I used to have brown hair a few years ago.  But then I watered it and watered it and it grew to be yellow."

Family pictures...

Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?

Ha ha ha...just a movie quote.

These are from last year, but once again, we are just gonna go with it.

 

 

 

It's official

Oh brother.  Another birthday post that is months late, but at least it's only 4 months this time, right?  See...I'm getting better!

This birthday shout out is for Nate, who officially became a teenager in March.  It's hard to believe I have TWO of them now.  I am so screwed..er..I mean...lucky. ;)

We had a fun little birthday party with the grandparents on the night of his birthday.  I can't believe how big this kid is.  He is now taller than Shawn (which I admit isn't too difficult), but considering he still has many years of growing ahead of him...I think it's safe to say he will be the tallest in our "little" family.  Ha ha.

Nate has had his own unique struggles in the past few years.  Life isn't always easy for him, but he tries hard and is one of the most dedicated, talented, and loving kids I know.  He takes after Shawn in many ways with his ability to work with his hands, his dedication to the people he loves and even some of his weird hobbies (unicycles, yo-yo's, puzzle games, plants vs. zombies, etc.).  He loves to play the bari saxophone and is pretty darn amazing at it.  The bottom line is, we love this kid!  He is one of my greatest blessings.

It's like they made this shirt especially for him.

Seth...in a bag...?

His favorite present:  headphones to completely block out the noise of his siblings and parents. :)

Nice pj's

Love ya Nate!

Abby-isms

Oh Abby...she is a constant source of entertainment for us here at the Shipley house.  Let me tell you a little bit about her:

Her favorite place to shop is "Barnes and Elbows".

One of her favorite hobbies is zewing with her noodle (sewing with her needle).

Her favorite breakfast is a yummy egelote (bagel) with white butter (cream cheese).

Her favorite lunch is "noodles to make 'em beef". (top ramen)

When she gets up in the morning, I frequently hear the phrase, "Mom, will you take me a bath?"

She loves to play at Amy Aunt's, especially since Amy Aunt lives in the park.

She loves to eat at Chick-FAL-ay.

She loves to go anywhere, but her favorite place to go is "visiting cheeching" to "play with that one baby who has all the princesses."

She has learned many things in school.  Her letters, numbers and apparently, anything naughty that we catch her doing and ask her, "where did you learn that?".

8/1/12 The boys are outside mowing, so Abby turned to me and said, "Mom, when I grow up I want to move the lawn. So I asked her, "Where are you going to move it to?" To which she responded, "Well, to the right and then to the left and then to the middle."

Shawn was outside talking to a neighbor last week and Abby was playing one of her pretend games in the driveway.  He couldn't hear what she was saying, until she yelled out, "Oh my giddy aunt!".  Hmmm...we watch too much British tv, I think?

Abby, we love you infinity times infinity!!

What happens when Abby gets the camera

Nice shot of her messy floor

Alex in his usual position... inside the refrigerator

Ha ha!  She is too funny...

the things we handed down

I listened to a song today that I haven't heard in...well, years.  I was looking at my oldest son and reflecting on how much he is like me.  That always leads to a fervent prayer that my less than favorable traits have passed him and the rest of my kids by, but I know that's unlikely.  Anyway, it reminded me of this song and I just wanted to put it on this page in hopes that it will get out of my head.

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that you were made
Some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell or trade
And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed
But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed
By our fathers, and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
Come the things we've handed down

Bread Therapy

Last week I had one of THOSE days.  You know the kind I'm talking about.  When your kids are late for school, you don't have time for a shower, you have to wear your ugly pants because nothing else is clean and your 4 year old decides to fill up a bucket of water and dump it on her bedroom rug.  And to top it all off you woke up with a gigantic zit.  Ya...THOSE days.

So I decided to bake bread.  I admit this is not my normal response to having a bad day.  I am not one of those women.  Believe me, I like homemade bread.  I am a big supporter of homemade bread.  I can make really yummy homemade bread if I decide I want to spend half of my day being chained to the kitchen.  But let's face it...I have commitment issues.  Heck, my family is lucky if they get dinner!  But I was messing around on Pinterest and saw a recipe from my sister for Cinnamon Swirl Bread.  And I was suddenly gripped with an overwhelming desire to smell that intoxicating aroma of fresh-baked bread.  Whenever I smell it, I am immediately transported back in time to my mother's kitchen--sitting at the counter with my own little lump of dough while I watch her bake her magical bread.

The great thing about bread therapy is that you really get two for the price of one.   You get the smell AND you get to eat it after.  Because, quite frankly, if all I wanted was the smell I could just light that Cinnamon Roll scented candle I have in my cupboard and save myself a good three hours.

My oh my...it turned out lovely...

...and I am pretty sure I ate 90% of it myself.  Can you just imagine one of those big slices slathered with butter?  Mmmmmmmm.

What a delicious way to end my day!

Do you need some bread therapy too?  Well...my bread is long gone, but I'm happy to share the recipe!

My baby boy turns 15

So what if I'm six months late posting these pictures?  Go ahead and judge me!  I dare you!  Lol!  Oh well.  I found this post still labeled as a "draft" and thought, "What the heck? Better late than never."

Alex...age 15!  :)  And what else does a teenage boy want to do on his birthday?  (well..besides hang out with cute girls)  The arcade, of course.

This picture is my fave.  I guess he got to hang out with a cute girl after all, right?

Why?

Why is being a good mom so much harder than being a bad mom?

New Post

I have started a "new post" 5 different times in the past few days and I just end up throwing it out instead of posting it.  Apparently, I am out of words at the moment.  So I will post a few pictures of my adorable daughter prancing around in her tutu.  Her closet door is a full length mirror, in case you are wondering what she is looking at.

Ta Da!!