Fancy Faces...

Can I just say that the kids school does absolutely fabulous things all the time! This past Friday was Fine Arts day and they had the chance to get their faces painted by the Zoo Lady. She's pretty famous in this neck of the woods. If you mention face painting everyone knows the Zoo Lady. Here were our choices...



A Scary Lizard





And a beautiful butterfly





Brother and sisterly love



Mike went on Friday night and ran the National Guard Freedom 5K and I didn't make the kids wash off the face paint before we went. They received lots of compliments on their cool looks!

Counting the days away...

After spring break I decided to come up with a way to help the kids understand how many days of school were left. When we started the process there were 45 (including Saturday's and Sunday's). We made a simple paper chain to count the days down.



We hung the chain on one of the french doors so we can rip one off every night before bed.



Did you know that as of yesterday there are only 30 days left!! The end of school will be bittersweet for me. I am looking forward to it but I also know that it means a lot more together time and we will need to find some things to keep us busy!

On Saturday Cameron had his first t-ball game. He is playing through the Morton Youth Baseball Association and is on the Sand Gnats team. The Sand Gnats are a real minor league team in Savannah, Georgia. We play against other teams called the Mudcats, Timber Rattlers, Muck Dogs, you get the idea. Very cool names for these boys! God bless the coaches who are teaching beginning baseball to 5 and 6 year olds. Patience! Here is our boy at his first game...








Cameron's absolute favorite part of the game was the inning where he got to be the catcher. Since it is t-ball the catcher is more of a helper to the coach who is putting the ball on the "t" and of course is responsible for all the plays at home. Since they don't keep track of outs or runs the plays at home are minimal. But, Cameron still LOVED IT!!!

Springtime fun with safety...

In case you may need Amanda to cut down a tree or use a sharp tool she is ready...



I have no idea why she INSISTED on wearing the safety goggles for our walk but as with many things she does I just go along with it. I tell you, no rules with this child!



On Saturday Mr. Shook ran a 4 mile Race for the Heart run at Eureka Lake. Let me just say his supporters were FREEZING!! But, we tried not to complain...can you see the cold in Molly's face??!!



Here is our favorite guy running by to the finish...



Can I also say that Mr. Shook has a little secret to share. At this time last year he was the heaviest he had ever been. Since he started taking up this interest in running and has eliminated all soda from his diet he has lost 16 pounds!! We are so proud of you! You rock!

Interesting note...tribute to Mark and his Falcons with the BG shirt. The guy sitting next to us at the post race lunch (i.e. free hot dogs!) was a Bowling Green grad and also was wearing a BG shirt. How ironic! Small world from the Buckeye state!

A week from Saturday Mike is doing his next 1/2 marathon in Champaign. Stay tuned for the pics!

A week in review...

All I can say today is TGIF!! It has been a busy week here.

On Tuesday morning I decided to go with my intuition and have Molly's shoulder/collarbone/ribs looked at again at the pediatrician's office. Three times on Monday she burst into tears over different things regarding the continued pain. Under no circumstances could we pick Molly up under the arms. Instant tears. So I thought it best to take her back into the doctor's office. After a 2nd set of x-rays it showed that her collarbone is indeed fractured. There isn't anything you do for it other than not allow her to swing from the ceiling, wrestle with her brother or get it bumped. We'll do our best, Doctor!

On Wednesday we had Amanda's one year VCUG test at the hospital. VCUG stands for Voiding Cystourethrogram. They insert a catheter into the bladder, run dye up to your kidneys and x-ray the dye coming out as you void. Easier said than done! This tests for kidney reflux and Amanda's results were the same as last year. Not any better, not any worse. We were given some options by our great doctor and we decided to continue the antibiotic for another year and see what happens then. I told him that to me this is like a scab with a band-aid on it. It's not quite healed and ripping the band-aid off exposes me to all the feelings I had last year with Molly. Sorry. Not quite ready to go there. And we are so lucky that our doctor totally supports (and understands) our decision.

Tomorrow we head to Eureka, Illinois for Mike to run in a 4 mile race. I say head to Eureka like it's across the state. I just used mapquest and Eureka is a whole 18 miles. We haven't been to Eureka yet so it seems farther than that! Maybe this time I will remember my camera. We have quite the runner in our house now. Maybe it will be contagious. Or maybe not.

There are 2 bathrooms in the Wal-Mart...

Did you know that there are 2 bathrooms in the Wal-Mart here in Morton? I bet there are 2 in your Wal-Mart in where ever, USA. The reason I know this is because I have kids. It never fails that we hit either of the 2 bathrooms at any given visit. Sometimes we have even visited both!

Today we had a productive morning. I got up early (I won't admit the time because some smarty pants will email and say that it wasn't early, but it was early for me!!) and got the kids ready so we could attend the Moms In Touch meeting this morning. Are you familiar with it? It was only my 2nd meeting but you go and a leader reads scripture and then it is an open time to pray out loud for your children, their classmates, their school, the administration at the school, everyone associated with the school. We even prayed for the crossing guard today...Rhonda. It lasts about 30 - 40 minutes and I leave feeling positive about our community, the parents at the school and our kids futures.

After that I hit the gym. Not my favorite thing to do but it felt good to go. The kids don't mind playing with some friends there and they got in some good coloring time, too.

That's when we hit Wal-Mart. I have a goal to start a project to give the kids a concept about how much time is left for the school year. But that's an upcoming post...
Cameron announces 1/2 way through the store that he has to go potty. Great. We hike to the back of the store because I like the family restroom much better. A gentleman is cleaning the bathrooms but says we can use the Family one. Thank god!! I'm just not ready to send Cam in alone yet. We all go in, I beg them not to touch anything, ANYTHING!!, and Cameron starts his process. He starts giggling and announces that when he got dressed this morning he must have forgotten to take off his old undies before he put on new ones because he is wearing 2 pairs! We laughed and laughed about it. My clueless boy can be really, really funny. And maybe he is a future boy scout? Always be prepared!

A week late...

I have been trying for a few days to post some oldie but goodie pictures. Very frustrating...I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but they won't scan at a normal size. I bet Mr. Shook could help me but I haven't completely given up on getting the pictures up on my blog.

If you could see them it would have been pictures from a special day 12 years ago on April 4, 1998. Last Sunday Mr. Shook and I celebrated 12 years of marriage. 12 years!! Pat on the back to us, if I may say so. We are so different that those pictures would show. We were relatively young, skinnier and had so much love. We still have the love it's just a seasoned love that grows stronger all the time. Yes, there are days where we drive each other nuts (yesterday afternoon to be exact) but I love my guy every day with the same amount of love I did that special April 4th.

It is a bit of a bittersweet day. We were married on my Grandparents anniversary and this year would have been their 68th anniversary. I know that my Grandfather misses his bride and that breaks my heart. They had a very, very special love. I love both of them very much.

I know a few of you were there in person 12 years ago to help us celebrate our wedding day. I hope the pictures in your mind are good memories like we have, too. Someday I'll figure out how to share them. Until then, you'll have to take my word on what a beautiful day it was!

Back by popular demand...

For Mr. Shook's stalker...







And more because I love this man, too...





Thanks for being the best, Mr. Shook!