A Mother's Love

{Trust Me.  You do not want a picture of this event.}

This morning while I was walking Calvin to school I heard him sneeze loudly and exclaim, "Mom, I need a tissue!"  I turned around to see him bent over with the world's biggest snotty booger hanging out of his left nostril.  

And I had no tissue.  

And from where I was standing, I couldn't find even a leaf. (A disadvantage to living in the desert.)

So, I did what any mother who loves her child would do.  I let him wipe his nose on my shirt.

And it grossed me.

And I rolled up the bottom of my shirt onto itself so as to hide the grody (pronouced GROW-DEE, as in slang for gross) booger from other people, and I (with dignity) made my way home.  

Thank you Jenn, for standing by me.

Summer: What We Did

Wyatt dressed up as a favored Nintendo Character, Link:  Hat (check), green tunic (check), Iron Man Underwear (though not part of Link's costume, check), Shield (lid tucked into underwear, check).  

 I went shopping and upon finding these t-niny shorts in the juniors section realized I am too old to be dabbling in juniors any longer.  

 Enjoyed several beautiful sunsets while out running.  

 Enjoyed visits from grandparents and my double chin.

 We went to Costco A LOT.  And loved every second. (Costco, I love you.  You complete me.  Thanks for the deals you give me.  xoxoxo)

 We hung out in the backyard.  Just chillin'.  Steady chillen'

 I went to Girl's Camp and discovered that while I missed my family so much, i still had a very fun time. I stayed up way to  late, laughed way too hard, and slept way too close to the latrines.  You live, you learn.

    We had Calvin (a.k.a The Guillotine) take our picture on Noah's birthday before church.  Happy Birthday Honey, your present is Bon Jovi hair.

 I experienced the strange mix of emotions that comes with the passing of a loved one:  Happiness that they are not suffering, Emptiness that they are gone, Sadness that you didn't have that last chance to say goodbye, Joy to see relatives that you haven't seen in at least ten years.  (Hardy girls, why didn't we get a pic???????)  I am glad to have gone to my Grandma's funeral and celebrate her life, but I have found myself yearning to have one last visit with her.  Rest in Peace. 

 Adorable Cutie at Pioneer Day.  

 Cyrus and I logged a lot of hours watching Calvin and Wyatt swim it up at swim lessons.  They are certainly more fish like than they were a few months ago.

The boys traced themselves and colored them.  And yes, I don't make my kids wear clothes that match during the summer.  

The boys opened a very successful lemonade stand and made $4 each.  Regular tycoons, I tell you.  Plus, it was just adorable.  

 We went on several evening walks and let Cyrus lead the way because let's face it, he never gets to lead the way!  

Summer, as always, it is a bitter parting.  But we shall meet again after Spring.  Don't forget us!  And don't forget to get us pool passes next year!  Much love, Shafers.

Splash Pad

Because summer is almost over here, I decided to make the most of the few days that we had left.  I said farewell to a clean house for the week, and tried to just focus on fun, fun, fun.  We went to the splash pad and took our fun neighbors with us.  I wish that I had gotten more pics, but I was too busy  lazing around.

 The one time that getting dumped on is fun and refreshing.  

 Cyrus and his smoking moves.  Bonus:  those are not his flip flops.  In fact, I don't know whose they are, but he enjoyed clomping around in them anyway.  

We ended this week with Friday being "Do whatever you want day."  (Thanks Ortons for the idea).  Much to my surprise, it wasn't all that huge of a disaster.  The boys started off their day by not doing their chores.  They had to go to Costco with me, even though they didn't want to, but they decided to order churros for lunch.  Then they spent the rest of the day sword fighting in their underwear, watching Pink Panther, and eating hot dogs for dinner.  They fell asleep in our bed, after which Noah and I moved them to their beds so we could get some sleep.  I am sad that Calvin is starting back to school tomorrow, and that Wyatt starts preschool this week.  The house will be so quiet!!

Livin' On A Prayer

I woke up with Bon Jovi hair this morning.  I'm just as confused about it as you are.  

It's a Bad Week to be Furniture and/or Valuables at Our House

Shafer Household Weekly Damage Report

 (July 24th - July 31st)

1.  Sharpie Marker on new kitchen table. (Wyatt)

2.  Rubbing alcohol removed part of finish on kitchen table in effort to remove sharpie from the table.  (Katie)

3.  20+ holes in the leather ottoman by way of a pointy object. (Wyatt)

4.  Sunscreen sprayed on the side of the car only to come out after a trip to the car wash and a good wax down.  (Wyatt) (Note to Mom:  Don't put a child in timeout in the garage when the other time out spot is occupied.  In the future I would recommend the bathtub without water.)

5.  Scratch to the front of the new desk. (Nobody)

6.  Broken support on the bottom of the bench. (Calvin)

7.  Game stuck in the Wii Console thereby rendering the Wii temporarily unplayable.  (Calvin)

8.  Original artwork piece executed on the hallway wall.  Medium is colored pencil.  (Cyrus)

9.  Chocolate ice cream stains on kitchen chairs.  (Wyatt)

10.  So far nothing else, but there are still 5.5 hours left in the week.

My Mom says to look at these acts of destruction by my children with fondness because when they are grown up, they will remind me of when my kids were small.  And because they will be all grown-up, the memories will be all I have.  

I am still waiting for the fondness to come and make me feel better.

Wyatt Got a New Wallet

Wyatt found this great new wallet while we were doing our back to school shopping the other day.  And let me just say that I am so glad that they are finally making age appropriate wallets for children.  He doesn't need some small, leather, tri-fold thing-a-ma-bob.  No, he just needs something that he can put his money in.  Something that will allow the money to drop out of the top when it is turned upside down.  He just needs something that epitomizes his love for puppies and doesn't fit in his pocket, or anyone else's pocket.  Or even my purse.  Heck, this gem won't even fit in my carry-on luggage.  That's why it's perfect because we never forget it. It's highly visible.  (Don't judge his love of this puppy wallet by that face.  I forgot to tell him to smile.  My bad.)

 If you are a thief and reading this: please don't take this young boy's money.  I know that he has enough for two items at the dollar store, and while that might be too much for you to pass up, consider this:  Is your integrity worth $2?  I didn't think so.

Roughing It

A few weeks ago we went camping and had so much fun!  We went out to Bluewater.  Although I am a little confused because the water seemed more brownish to me, but anyhoo, we still had a great time!  After we (and by we, I mean, Noah, the, ahem, Eagle Scout) put up our tent, we wandered down to the lake to skip some rocks and panic while our kids got too close to the choppy water.  Wasn't it beautiful?

 Noah used a walking stick to make his way down to the beach.  And yes, that perfectly round cylinder was just lying on the ground.  And by ground I mean hung up in Noah's closet for his clothes.  But who needs a place to hang your shirts when you are going camping?  Not us Shafers.  Notice the title is "Roughing It" and not "Cushy Camping."

Here is Cutie wearing the same shirt that both older brothers sported.  Why throw it out when it says so much about each one of them?

 Yes, that's me.  I know you couldn't recognize me with that whack-a-doo ponytail, but just look at how I am trying to display my double chin, and surely you will say to yourself, "Oh yes, it's her!  That's her signature picture-taking face."

 Noah pondering his life's choices. 

 I love this picture of Calvin.  What you can't see is that he is looking at Noah.  And that is the face he is giving Noah about 99% of the time.  Calvin loves him so much.  

 Here is Wyatt giving himself up as a sacrifice to the big tent.  We were grateful for him being so willing to be consumed by Nylon.  Thank you, dear son, thank you.

 Yes, he survived the leap into the tent, and this is proof:  he woke the next morning inside of it.  And I was the lucky sleeping bag.  

 Look at Cyrus' sleepy, wake up eyes.  Seriously adorable.  The footed jammies just make it all the more sweet.  

 And because of the horrible fires that New Mexico and Arizona have been having, we were on fire lock down.  We had to camp without a flame. No smores, no roasting hot dogs, no nothing.  Just lunchables, pop tarts, and doritos.  There may have been a few packs of gushers.  They just went so fast that I can remember!

The beauty of the camp out was that it was fast.  We broke camp at 6:30, and we were home by 9:00.  It was so much fun.  We plan on going again when Cyrus is a little bit bigger and not so unwilling to just go to sleep in a tent.