My Leetle Arteests

I love to see careful Shelby crafting her picture in her satiny pink pjs and Wyatt going free-for-all and looking like he might be tinkling in the paint cup.*

*This picture is deceiving. 

I, actually, hate kid paint. 

As far as I am concerned, it's a walking time-bomb at this age. I am too busy to fight that battle clean up battle so it only comes out 2-3 times a year.

First Day!

Mark the year folks: 2012

It is the year the public school system welcomes one special, curly-haired girl to it's numbers.

Being her first day, her dress was chosen with great care.

"Mah signature culah is pink."(name that movie)

(I actually had to heavily edit the pictures. We took so many we could have created a flip book starting with Shelby walking out the front door to her arrival at her Kinder class.)***

Nothing says "Welcome to Kindergarten" like a lump o' playdough. 

(Please observe that the teacher gave her a piece of PINK paper beneath her PURPLE playdough. An auspicious beginning indeed!)

Look! I'm being smothered by a small horde of blonde children!

And lovin' it!

***So, you might be wondering, "What's with the hands in all the pictures?" 

Excellent question. 

About six months ago she took her first visit to a magical place called Disneyland. When she arrived home, we began to notice a theme that seemed to crop up in

EVERY

SINGLE

PICTURE.

The hubby and I were at a complete loss until Disneyland pictures started rolling in. 

See below:

Hmmm...I believe we have solved the mystery of the weird picture hands.

Case closed.

Not to be left out, Wyatt begins his first day of the 3's class in preschool.

And Walker....

well...

I think the new schedule is wearing him out.

Daddy's in charge on Saturday...

Therefore, donuts with special sprinkles

 and comics.

The good life.

Hazards of marrying a vet

So with all this new technology, Seth's photos automatically load to our home computer. Normally, this would be convenient, however, I have also set up our screen saver as a montage of our pictures. See below:

la de da sweet Christmas photo...

 awww...

 1st Halloween...

ha ha silly kids...

SHA-BAM!!!

Unexpected blood and guts slipped in between photos of our sweet kiddos! 

This is truthfully one of the tamer ones (I was trying to look out for any potential blog readers who actually might  want to eat later). We have horrific mouth tumors, intestines, infected wounds and on and on. Just gird your loins if you are ever flipping through our pictures or watching a montage on our computer screen. 

Yep, this is our reality. 

Safe to say our kids probably won't be overly squeamish.

Look! We do get out!

See! Here we are at the rodeo with NO kids! Finally posting a pic of the gals. The "lean-back-upclose" pose is almost as flattering as the hospital bed photo.

You're welcome, Julie. 

You're welcome.

See! Here we are reenacting our version of Aggie "Alien." But instead of a blood-sucking creature with mucus dripping from its fangs bursting from someone's chest, we have a cute maroon-clad baby! (I like our version much better. Less disturbing.)

Wyatt l.o.v.e.d. the baseball game! 

Shelby l.o.v.e.d. the popcorn!

You can see her distraught state when I informed her that she indeed had to share with others the bag of popcorn large enough to feed the Duggar clan.

Kids are hoping for a ball to come their way! I choose to believe that the wet spot on my pants is the damp grass but it's a hard call at this age and stage of children to make any definitive statements about wet areas.

WARNING: American Girl Doll store is open!

I repeat...the American Girl Doll Store is open! Hide your wallets. Tell them the "open" signs are lies. Anything to avoid getting sucked into the vortex that will eventually end with you explaining to your husband why the credit card bill was so high and why matching outfits with your doll is the only way she will have a complete and healthy childhood.

Actually, you can save your breath on the last one b/c husbands will never truly understand the thrill  of matching outfits with your dolls. This does not compute with the Y chromosome much like the confusion over why you cry just cause you feel like it.

So, I have warned all who will have ears to hear. I made the mistake of attempting a return to Old Navy (next door to new AG store) w/o realizing it was OPENING WEEKEND!

Pause and rest on that thought.

You would have thought the president had a speaking engagement based on the winding lines, men with thingies in their ears, the tickets required to earn the privilege to wait in the line (see Shelby below).

Good news. Bad news.

Bad news: Shelby is developing reading skills. Normally this would be a cause for celebration. Not when she can read the word "open." 

More bad news: I had just been running in the blazing heat and ten minutes prior had noticed a mystery stain on my sweaty shirt. This is acceptable attire for Old Navy returns. This is not acceptable attire for the AG store grand opening. (I'm basing this opinion on the mother/daughter duos who wore matching outfits)

Good news: there wasn't a wait to get in at 5:30pm. Actually, that might need to go in the bad news column as well. I might have been able to resist the pleading of the face above if an hour+ wait was a part of the bargain.

More good news: apparently all those times I told her "no" as a child and endured the full force of her disappointment have come to fruition. I did not purchase any matching outfits, custom made shirts, or doll accessories. Yep, we went and looked and left with nothing but smiles and a weird book about stars they gave her for free.

Lest I sound too "bah humbug," I really did want to take her to the AG store and have tea in the bistro. My vision was a special time where we would paint our nails and put on lipgloss. We will have to go back again for a better planned "girl time" that involves showers and clean clothes.

Even so, Shelby enjoyed walking around the museum-like display of all the dolls and their accouterments. I'm sure she will enjoy our second trip even more...

Upgraded our security system...