Florida - Day 3

I've gotten behind on my blogging so check back regularly for all my updates!

Day 3 in Florida we went to Frosty the Snowman on ICE.  Everything was made out of ice and it was about 8 degrees in this place.  Super cold and it did not take us long to get through the entire thing as Case was chilly and just wanted to get out.

Special coats they hand out at the entrance.

Siahna is coming down the left slide (on ice!)

The whole train was made out of ice.  Amazing.

Nativity

Florida - Day 2

Our 2nd day in Orlando was spent at Sea World.  What a fun place and perfect for our kiddos.

Taking the shuttle to Sea World.

Even Siahna thought the sting rays were pretty cool.

I love her expression!

Case & Jeff took a behind the scenes tour of the dolphin area.  Case got to pet the dolphins and he even learned some sign language an made them do tricks.  That was pretty exciting.

Florida - Day 1

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida to visit Jeff's mom.  We spent our first 4 days in Orlando and thanks to my mom and dad, we had some pretty nice digs to stay in.

The living room of our 2 bedroom suite.

This was the bathtub in the master bedroom!

There was a nice playground on the hotel property.

One of the swimming pools

The kids loved these spinning chairs at the playground.  Makes me sick just looking at the pictures!

We spent our evening going to a magic/comedy show with all you can eat & drink.  It was a fun night.

Seeing if she's tall enough...

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken this last weekend.  Here's the link to see them.

A Loose Tooth

Last night Case proudly told us that his front middle tooth was loose.  We were so excited and talked all about it.

This morning I asked him if I could feel how loose it was.  I wiggled and it wouldn't budget.  I asked him how he knew it was loose.

"One of my friends at school told me I had a loose tooth."

"Did your friend wiggle your tooth or how did they know it was loose?"

"I don't know.  They just told me it was."

Needless to say, he does not have any loose teeth.

We Bought A Cow!

Yes, you read that right.  We bought a cow.  Or part of a cow.  1/8 of a cow to be exact.  Our neighbors talked us into splitting a fourth of a cow with them.  And now, the cow is ready to be picked up and put in our freezer.  I'm not sure how big 1/8 of a cow is and I'm not exactly sure why someone who doesn't eat a lot of red meat would agree to this, but we bought a cow.  Check that off the list of things to do.  Next on our list is raising chickens!

Pictures

I always feel bad getting the kids' pictures taken when I can't work it out for Collin to take them.  He does an amazing job and it's one of the benefits of having a photographer in the family.  But, with him in NE it is often hard to find a weekend when we visit to fit it in.

A few weeks ago, I made an appt. for the kids at a little store here just so I could get a few pictures taken.  However, Siahna came down with bronchitis so I had to cancel.

Then, Jeff and I started hosting a supper group with people in our church and one of the ladies was a photographer.  I asked if she would be willing to take the kids' pictures and she said "Yes!".  And, I cannot say how happy I am with the pictures.

Siahna was in prime form that day - usually we can't get her to look at the camera, let alone smile.  But, she was so giggly this day and everything turned out fantastic.

Please visit Tara's blog to see the photos.

Business Opportunity

I was recently approached by a gentleman who runs a large store in our local mall.  It's a place where people can rent out a space, large or small, and sell their homemade products.  He had seen my letter door hangers and height charts at the craft fair that I just participated in and wanted my products in his store.

I'm sure you can imagine my excitement.  I started this as just a hobby and a way to raise money for our Dominican Republic trip and never dreamed it could become a business.

Jeff & I met with him last night to see his store and hear about all the costs.  My excitement grew as he showed us where we would display our items and how he wanted the letters to hang in the windows so shoppers could see them from outside the store.

It was exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.

I was ready to do it, but knew we couldn't seem too eager and needed to talk about it privately and think on it.

This morning, Jeff ran the numbers.  Being the techy guy that he is, he made a spreadsheet - what if we sold one item a week.  Two items a week, etc.  He figured out an average price we would sell each week minus the cost of materials minus the monthly rental fee minus the 20% they would keep from each item.

This is when my excitement came back to reality.  Darn you rental fee and 20% commission.

Long story short, we decided that if we did 3-4 craft fairs a year and averaged what we made at the first craft fair, we would make over 2x what we would probably make having our items in a store.

But, what an honor to even be asked to sell your product in a busy mall!

On another note, please keep our products in mind as Christmas approaches.  We have a basement full of letter door hangers (for either a last name or first name) and I love the height charts (to measure kids' heights so you never have to worry about moving and leaving their heights behind).  But, my absolute favorite are the set of 7 blocks that can spell out 16 different words.  We love to change our words around each week.

Feel free to send me an email if you're interested: shannon@jeffnshannon.com

If I Had To Choose

Today, we were leaving the gym when Case said, "Mommy, I have a very serious question for you."

Me - "Okay, what's your question?"
Case - "If there was a fire and one of us couldn't make it out alive, who would you choose to die?"

Well, that's not the serious question I was expecting!

Me - "Wow, Case, that's a hard question.  I think I would choose that I die and that the rest of you made it out safe.  You still have a long life to live and I hope I would be ready to meet Jesus."

Case - "So, you would want to die so that you didn't have to clean up our messes anymore?"

No, not really but apparently the question was related to the messes in the house!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Giggles

There is nothing sweeter than the giggles of children.

Overworked

Today, I had Case spraying letters off for me after I sanded them.  8 letters and then some blocks.  All he had to do was carry them to the hose, spray them off and return to the patio.  I came inside to find him to do one last set of blocks and he said, "Uhhhh, I feel like I'm in the DR having to do such hard work."

Funny thing is, he didn't do any hard work in the DR (his daddy did, but he didn't).

BUG Awards

This has been a big week in our house.  Siahna is on day 3 of potty training and is doing excellent.  I was beginning to think she would never be potty trained, but like she does, she's always full of surprises. 

The other exciting thing that happened this week was that Case received the BUG Award at school.  I got an email from his teacher saying he was getting this award and we were welcome to come.  I had no idea what BUG stood for, but figured it was something good.  Bringing Up Grades I found out this morning.  He received the award for having good grades, trying hard, and always trying to improve.  We're so proud and his little friends were all high-fiving him when he sat down.  It was pretty cute.

Beauty From Ashes

This past week has been a rough one. A dear friend of Jeff's lost her husband. He was 35. She is now a single mom to a 6 year old and a 9 month old. His death was a complete shock to us and, as most people would, I put myself in her shoes and wondered how I would ever go on without Jeff by my side. The grief I have felt this week has been overwhelming and she and her boys are constantly in my thoughts and prayers.

Despite all the grief and heartache, I have seen beauty through the ashes. I had a clear view of our friend during the funeral and I was overwhelmed with the beauty of God because of her. Her face was basking in the glory of God during her husbands funeral. I saw a woman honoring The Lord in the words she spoke about her husband and the love she has for him. And despite her pain, she comforted ME in my struggles with Siahna's delays. Although she is walking through a very dark time in her life, she is allowing God's light to continue to shine through her in the way she is handling this tragedy.

I pray this prayer over her from Isaiah 61:3
To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.

Craft Fair

For anyone interested, my 1st craft fair is almost 2 weeks away.  I'm super excited and super stressed.  My inventory is almost done, but now I have to figure out how to decorate my booth.  If you're interested in seeing my products, you can visit here.  And if you want to visit me at my booth I'd love to see you.

Ketring Park
6028 South Gallup Street
Littleton, CO 80120

Saturday, October 5
9am - 4pm

School Life

Life is definitely a little different now that both kids are in school. Siahna loves preschool and has her OT wrapped around her little finger. He calls her "angel"! On the other hand, Siahna's speech therapist said to me today, "she's a little bit naughty isn't she?" Bingo! I hope this isn't a sign of Siahna's future - boys wrapped around her finger and not playing nice with the girls!

On the other hand, at Back To School Night for Case tonight, his teacher said: "He's a super good kid. A couple of times I've had to ask him and his friend Le'Marcus to settle down but I was actually glad to see Case act up a little because I was beginning to think he was a perfect child."

I will be volunteering in Case's class once a week starting next week. I told his teacher I'd be happy to do whatever - stuff papers in folders, cut out stuff for her, etc. Her reply, "Oh, you won't be doing any clerical work. You're a teacher. You can help kids learn to write their name and write their numbers and pull out small groups to the hall and teach." So, I guess this teacher (me) is gonna learn how to teach KG!

65 Years

Jeff & I figured out that he would be 100 if we made it to 65 years of marriage.  Oh, the woes of getting married later in life.  We grandparents (my dad's parents) just celebrated their 65th anniversary and anyone who knows my Aunt Jan knows she will do it up big.  I'm pretty sure the entire town of Cozad, NE was at their house at some point in the weekend.  There was not a lack of food or activity.  She knows how to throw a party!

Cousins - I had to bribe the boys with candy to get them all smiling.

Aunt Jan rented a mobile gaming bus.  The kids, and some adults, loved this.

Cousin Brandee gettin her groove on.

This entertained the kids for hours.

Aunt Jan also bought 65 mini hot air balloons and planned on lighting and releasing them all to celebrate 65 years of marriage.  However, they were hard to light and it was windy so it was hard to tell where they'd go and no one wanted to be responsible for a house fire or field fire.

It would have been pretty cool to release all 65 if it would have worked.

First Day of School

 

Siahna and Case started school on the same day last week.  Jeff took the day off and we dropped both kids off, shed a few tears, said a few prayers and went out for breakfast.

Case is one of three white kids in his class and made friends right away although he can only tell you one of their names.  Siahna walks right into her classroom, waves at us and couldn't care less that we are leaving her.  I guess that's a good thing.

I will be volunteering once a week in Case's class and am excited to get to know how KG works.

It's going to be a good year.

All Growed Up

A couple weeks ago, I took Siahna shopping for a couple new outfits.  We got home and I threw the bag of clothes and my purse on the floor.  I was in the kitchen doing something when Siahna walked by me, holding my purse and her bag of clothes.  She stopped, looked at me, said "Bye, bye" and walked out the back door.

Birthday Card

My sister recently wrote a funny blog about the cute letter she received in the mail from our Grandma Van.  Grandma is probably the wittiest person I know and makes us laugh all the time.  When I turned 21 (and yes, we all still remember this) I had a few friends over to my parents house for a party.  Jeff was there because even back then I was in love.  Anyway, hamburgers were on the menu and Grandma went through the line right behind Jeff and informed him that she needed to watch her weight and would therefore only eat half a hamburger - which actually meant the bottom half of the bun and the whole hamburger.  We still laugh about her half hamburger philosophy to this day.

I just had a 30 something birthday last week and got a card in the mail from Grandma.  This is how it started:

"Happy Birthday Sweet Shannon,
Ifen I'd knowd it was youren birthday Ida baked you a cake!  I guess ifen Ida done that Ida had to et it meself!

Enough of that!  How are you? & your family?....."

Truly, she's the funniest person in person and in her letters that I know.  Love her soooooooo much!

End of Summer

Obviously, our summer has been very busy hence the lack of blogs. Maybe, now, I'll get back into the swing of it and get you updated on all that's been going on.

Both kids start school next week and although I'm looking forward to some alone time, I'm also scared to send them out into the world of the unknown. We took the kids to their schools the other night and prayed for their safety, their teachers, their learning and the new friends they'll be making. Case will do great. He makes friends easily. He's super smart. He's well behaved. He's helpful. He's a good listener. He's excited to start school so he can learn how to read.

But, I'm nervous to send my little girl who doesn't understand what's happening, who will be surrounded by strangers, and who can't communicate. I know preschool will be good for her and that this school is designed for her, but it's scary to send my child out and entrust her care to someone I  don't know and who doesn't know her.

Next week may be a rough week!

Josh Groban

Jeff and I went to a Josh Groban concert a few weeks ago at Red Rocks.  Not only is that an amazing place to hear someone sing, it was Josh Groban.  He has an amazing voice plus he's super funny.  We splurged a little and got tickets in row 28 which was nice after climbing all those steps just to get into Red Rocks.  You know when they have paramedics standing along your path, that it's a workout just to get there!

Dominican Republic Thoughts #4

This is the "house" that our crew made an addition to while we were in the DR.  A family of 4 lived in this 9' x 16'  home.  You can see the addition being started on he left, but the original house is on the right.  Can you imagine living in that?

Making mescla (cement).  This whole addition was done without any power tools.  This was true manual labor.

Walls going up.

The roof came off the original house and the addition is progressing.

New roof being framed.

Hey, look.  That's me.  I did help a little bit.

This actually looks like a house now.

The house was built on top of another house so everything had to be lifted onto the roof of the bottom house or carried up some spiral steps.  It was super hot up there.

Paint, new windows, and a new door.  If you look at their original house, they had wooden windows.

Inside the addition.  The floor is a cement slab but this addition more than doubled the size of their home.

This space is their original house with the bathroom in the back right corner.  This is all they had - this small room.  I complain about the size of my kitchen but I came home much more appreciative that my family isn't living in a space the size of our kitchen.

Bathroom.

This is our group.