Nearly done with Christmas

My mother says that I don't post enough.

I say that posting takes a lot of time...is she going to babysit while I do it?

Yeah. I didn't think so.

Christmas is gone, and as always it is with a sigh of relief that I bid it adieu. Thank goodness that it only lasts esentially one month of the year, I might collapse of exhaustion otherwise. We had a lovely holiday, very little drama, lots of get-togethers. Jacob's favorite gift is his Nintendo DS, Kiernan's is her "real live" turtle. She has been dubbed Elizabeth. No, I don't know why.

Mike and I did very little for each other this year, considering the bills from renovating the house this year, starting a new business this year, and medical bills for Kiernans visit to Valley Childrens Hospital in December. I have never made it a year without paying for some kind visit to an emergency room for one of the kids. Mainly for Kiernan. She is beautifully dangerous at all times, I never relax when she is around. Never.

With her I either have this...

Or this...
There is no in between.

I'm trying to decide if I had a favorite part of Christmas this year...apparently not, since no one thing comes to mind. At this very second my favorite part is surviving. Which I did. Yay.

What's going on...

Soooo long since I've posted. Life has been out-running me lately. I love all of my jobs, but 3-4 is getting to be too much I think.

The credit union in the morning is the most sensible...It's while the kids are at school, it's the best pay, I am pretty good at it, I love the people.

The Perfect Dress Salon is a blast. It's pretties, and sparkles, and music and friends. I'm creative in ways that stretch my imagination, they let me be free with it...no restrictions.

When I do graphic design I love creating something so many people can see. But printwork takes time...lots of time. Postcards, business cards, logos, web banners...HOURS of work every time. But, so much satisfaction when it's done.

The Celestial Bridal Salon is slow...it's Christmastime after all. Spring is coming and I'm hoping it gets busy. How nice would it be if THIS were my only job? The pay of the credit union, the sparkles and pretties of the salon, the satisfaction of graphic design, and best of all time for my final and most important job of all...MOM.

To have more time for classroom volunteering, baking treats, going on field trips. Just hanging out. The kids come and snuggle in my bed in the mornings, but I have to kick them out so I can shower, do make up, hair, find the right outfit. Wouldn't I love to just lay in bed & snuggle for awhile. To make breakfast instead of handing them a cereal box and bowl.

Regardless, things are good...I'm SOOOOO lucky to have every one of these opportunities, when so many others don't. So, I hang on to them all...with a death grip even. For now. One day it will all work it's self out.

Why my daughter is a Diva...

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6978872

Some things just explain themselves.

Over the river, and through the woods...

Grandpas house...

Below Mount Lassen

What a great weekend!

Well, it was just Dad and the girls (minus Michelle) taking a trip to Hat Creek, California to visit my grandpa. Grandpa has been living up in the hills for ever and ever. Grandpa has had alot of health problems over the last few years, and we've really been wanting to get up to see him. My Dad drove, and I rode up front just like I said I would. Stef got in the back, and the proceeded to stretch out along the back seat and drift off to sleep...Hi, I'm Shelby, and I'm stupid, just a bit jealous there! SO, anyways, I slept upright and dad drove.

We managed to make a 6-7 hour trip about 8 hours, which my dad seemed surprisingly relaxed about. There was McDonalds (bathroom), Gas station bathroom, Rest stop bathroom, Starbucks, lunch at a mall, and finally we hit Redding. Redding is 80 miles from Hat Creek, but my dad wanted to show us the Sundial Bridge. It's a bridge that's a giant sundial...get it! You can tell time with the bridge, which was surprisingly accurate by the way.

Handsome Dad on the bridge over the Sacramento river.

The floor of the bridge is glass, very cool.

We got to grandpas and the first thing he did was grab his lawn chairs so that we could sit with him and watch the interstate traffic go by. It's his favorite passtime.

Chatting. Check out the cute house.

Grandpa had a lot of great stories to tell us, stuff we had never even heard about before. Every morning he was the first up, and all kinds of chatty. Did I mention he was up VERY early?


This is Birney Falls, not far from his house. Part of the river runs underground...you can see it pouring out of the walls of the canyon. It was SUPER COOL!

This is my friend Bob. He tried to snuggle up to my sister, but she wasn't having any of that. Bob is a great swimmer, and a touch shy. Watch the video at the bottom of this page to see me making friends with Bob.

Just pretty

Hiking around the falls.

I went exploring the super cool lava mountains while dad and Stef stayed safe on the ground. Chickens. Thats all lava beds under their feet.


Shelby the snake hunter

countdown

Baseball season.....OVER!
School.....................2 weeks!
Dance Class............1 month!

Not having to run around like a crazy person all week long....PRICELESS!

Is it terrible that I am so looking forward to school getting out? I used to think parents who said they were glad school was almost done were CRAZY! Are you kidding, free babysitting for most of the day?! HaH! That "free babysitting" includes homework, studying for tests, field trips, waking up, getting ready, classroom visits, sack lunches, "friend drama", pick up & drop off EVERY DAY.

Ugh, is it June yet?

Riddle

What do the following items have in common...

A car jack

A Jeep

A chain

An axe

And a shovel?

Answer: They are all yard tools when my husband gets his hands on them.

Road Trippin'

Next weekend my sister Stuffy and I get to go on a road trip with Daddy. Our daddy, that is. Our baby Sis Mush will be off frolicking in the waves of Mexico with her boyfriend "Uncle G", and Stuffy & I will be in the back seat of the Yukon alternately taking naps and picking on each other, much like when we travelled as children.

Actually, I may get in the front seat, it is MY spot after all...I am the oldest, I've earned it. It's funny how these things are a given. Like, when we go somewhere with Mom in the car I drive, even if my sisters are there. Why do I drive, you ask? Have you ever ridden in a car with my Mom? Hmmm! Really she isn't a bad driver, but it's not exactly relaxing either. That's not to say that I'm "Suzy Safe Driver" myself. My parents came to visit me in Texas once and my father still tells everyone the story about how I gave him chest pains because I blew through downtown Houston on a major interstate, at night, while texting. I really thought he was going to have a heart attack because of my driving. So I texted Mush to tell her about it. Looking back it wasn't the brightest idea...but he sure loves to tell that story!

So anyways, Mush is frolicking while I ride in the front seat alternately mocking Stuffy and most likely reading a book. While both of my sisters are fun to travel with, I have a little bit more fun with Mush...because she is soooo much easier to tease. Stuffy is too much like me for me to pick on. We did in fact have Mush convinced once that cows had shorter legs on one side of their body so that they could stand up straight on a hill. Priceless. She was 16.

Stuffy on the other hand likes games. Most likely we'll have a deck of cards or some other form of entertainment to keep us busy. We're going to Redding, it'll be a good 6 hours or more on the road, and my Dad will most likely drive straight through. I'm a terrible car traveller, which means I don't like it, not that I can't do it. I would rather go through labor again than go on a road trip across the country, but don't tell my husband that. He still thinks there's a chance I may accept a road trip at some point...Fat Chance, I say. Anyhow, Stuffy & I will plot, plan, chat, and play...all the way to Redding. Maybe we'll start planning Mush's wedding to Uncle G...not that they're even engaged, but it's what Stuff and I love to do together, and we could do it for hours!

Raking the pool

WHAT?!

Doesn't eveybody have to rake their pool?

Angels in the outfield, or out in the fields...

No. Not this kind of angels.

THIS kind of angels!

This last weekend the youth of my church went on a "pioneer trek" to reenact what it was like to be pioneers pulling their handcarts west across the country. Part of the many trek activities is when the "pioneers" have travelled most of the day (6 miles by foot, I believe) as they near the end of their journey they hear a choir of angels welcoming them to their destination...

OKAY, stop right there!

I know. I CAN NOT sing! I know this, my family knows this, my friends know this, the poor people sitting next to me in church know this. I can't sing, hum, or even sway to the music very well. So how did I end up here? Let's just say it was a case of desperate measures being taken. And just a little bit of mouthing the words.

I won't even mention the absence of a real bathroom...or what it's like to traipse through the hills in heels (the only white shoes I had).

Regardless, we drove up past Coarsgold and waited in the wilderness for the weary travellers so that we could sing them home. It was actually very moving. We were at the top of the final hill just above a bend in the road and it was so fun to see the kids, several of whom I have taught, come around that bend and see their faces light up when they saw us. Many tears were shed by the pioneers, and by the angels. Here are the first of approximately 400 kids coming around the bend in the road. Exhausted, dirty & sore...

Me, my sister Stef and niece Jordyn. We spent a fun day together. (Aren't we angelic?)

Stef & Jordyn with the sun behind them. I love this pic!

As we were singing, we positively echoed through the hills. Literally!

Boo's Easter Dress

Well, a lot of you knew I was working on an Easter dress for my friend Tracy. Here is the finished product, on her beautiful little girl Boo. I am so pleased to have someone that lets me have the freedom to do what inspires me, and really appreciates my effort. And really...who could ask for a better model?!

Friends & Family Texas Style

Ah, vacation! Lucky me, I got a free plane ticket on my credit card (thank you, new house purchases!) and decided it was time to head out of town. I have been missing my Texas girls the same way I missed my sisters when I was living there. They had been telling me to come visit, so I took the leap and bought the ticket. My dear wonderful friend Melanie was my "go to girl" for this trip. She drove me around, put me up at her house, fed me, and generally made the trip a really awesome time.

While there we did your basic fun girl stuff...we ate, watched movies, ate, went shopping, ate, ran errands, ate, ate and ate. In spite of all of the eating I STILL forgot to go to Maureens Bakery to get my favorite chocolate petit fours. BUMMER! It's probably a good thing...during my flight out an old woman congratulated me on my "condition". She thought I was PREGGO! If I ate one more thing while I was there, I would have looked like I was having twins on my way home!

(*side note: I complained to Mike about being called that and his response was, "Well, yeah." Excuse me?! Then he say's "You look like a clown when you travel. You wear the comfy slumpy clothes and look ridiculous." Hmmm. I told Tracy the story and let her know at least I don't wear overalls to travel anymore, at which point I think she wanted to smack me. I'm expecting lessons on looking good while travelling from her any day now.)

Here are some out takes of the trip:

1. The WORST traveling ever. The airline sucked, I was supposed to be in to Texas @ 8pm, Mel picked me up well after midnight. Coming home I was supposed to arrive home around noon, I got in after 5 and without luggage. It sucked! Here is what you arrive to when you get in at nearly 1 in the morning...nobody:


As I was waiting for my luggage a whole lot of THIS rolled by on the baggage claim belt...no one was claiming it. Creepy much?:

I got to Melanies, and always the perfect hostess she had this waiting for me (I forgot to get a pic of the mints on my pillows!) :


It just so happened thar Jareds family came to town the same weekend as I was there. We had people everywhere and it was a total blast! His family is HILARIOUS. This is everyone working together to make a big family dinner. It was a really fun night. We ate, did hair, watched movies, killed cookies, and just had fun:

We got the girls together to go antiquing out of town. We CRAMMED Mels suburban with stuff we got and then had to squeeze the girls into the back seat for the 2 hr ride home. Amber had a giant glass window, Dawnette had a 6 ft tall bookshelf, and Deann had the bicycle you see in the back. I sat in the front seat with my lasso. Yes, I got a real lasso for Jake...he has already broken the light fixture on his bedroom ceiling fan. Great idea Shelby!
Here's a pic of all of us shopping. Me, Mel, Dawnette, Amber, and De Ann.

Mel, Amber and I did a girls night out and went back to Melanies to watch Twilight in Mel's movie room...Amber hadn't seen it!!! Melanie showed us what it was like watching Twilight on opening night with hundreds of teenage girls by squealing every time Edward came on the screen. Amber & I joined in and we just had a fun time being goofy and being there with Amber for her "first time" watching the movie. This is us at Chili's before we headed home to get the PJ's on & watch the movie. Hey girls, I'll always remember..."S...E...E"!

I had such a great time and I look forward to more visits in the future. Thanks Mel for putting up with me for SO LONG! Just remember, there's lot's to do in California!

Baptism Day

I still can't believe it.

I feel like just yesterday I was standing in a little tiny blue and white bedroom in Texas thinking "Wow, there's going to be a little baby living in this room soon". That little baby just got baptized last week. WHAT THE CRUD HAPPENED?!?

I look at Jacob and think how did this darling, smart, beautiful boy come from me? I was a holy terror! Just ask my mom, she'll tell you...she tells me every other day!

We had a great day, most all of the family was there (minus the members of our Texas family), and even some friends were able to come. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be, and somehow I managed not to go overboard. I've learned my lesson over the last few years that I seem to care a lot more about the details than everyone else does. It has saved me a lot of ginormous migraines, and a screaming fit or two (much to my husbands relief). Thanks to everyone who came, or who wanted to come but couldn't, or who didn't know about it but wish Jake well, or who could care less but will pretend that they care. We love you all!!!

Doing it the Disney way

We did it again...Disneyland!

So many of our friends have been going to Disneyland lately that I was feeling a bit left out. I talked to Mike & realized that getting him to agree to a trip there was about as likely as my being crowned the Queen of England, so I took matters into my own hands and scheduled a trip for me and the kids. I was excited that my sister Michelle agreed to go with me. It was more fun for me AND she was a total lifesaver, not to mention a really good sport! We went one day, stayed in a hotel that night and drove home the next day. It was a lot of fun, but there definetly is a reason daddys need to go to Disneyland, such as:
-To carry tired children around when they're pooped.
-To hold up beastly huge children that can't see the castle during the fireworks show. (I think Michelle lost two inches just trying to keep Kiernan up.)
-To climb all the way up the Tarzan Tree House, while mommy's rest peacfully at ground level.
-To drive home extremely exhaused mommys & kids who had a little too much fun and stayed up a little too late the night before.

Jake & Kiernan at the castle. Yes, I made their outfits.

Yes folks, she did it again. This time I started saving my money early, and scheduled in a decent dinner so that I wouldn't get bitter. It's a good thing, apparently the cost of glitter has gone UP! I think we will be seeing this every time we go.

Jake monkeying around. He was a joy to spend the day with.

Artsy shot of me & the kids on Main Street.

Auntie 'Shell & the kiddies waiting to get our tickets. Thanks for the help Sis, you're the best!

Next time Daddy will be going with us. You can just call me Your Highness the next time you see me.

Naked House

Can you say that on a Blog? *whispering* "naked"?
Oh well...
My house is in fact naked...as in, without cover. Her plumage has been plucked. We are in fact, exposed...to the world...BARE!

I now have to add to the list of things that the former owner did to ruin this house "Tree killer". He never pruned anything. The little branches that should have been pruned off never were, so they sucked the strength from the big heavy branches causing them to periodically (drumroll please) FALL OFF! We'd come home from work & there'd be a giant branch in the driveway, just sitting there for all the world like we'd planted it right in the middle of the drive. The big sequoia trees in the back were so full of sucker branches that the trees were actually dead. Really BIG trees, they even leaned a bit. (Thankfully not towards our house. Oops, did I say that out loud?)

Well, now we're totally exposed, which is:
#1- a bit unnerving, I feel like everyone can see in.
#2- VERY bright. A bit blinding actually.
#3 -Very ugly. The cost of removing them took away any money we had for landscaping for now. We are now the house you don't want to live next door to...again.

Take a look

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After