Blogging Drought

Wow... It has been so long. I had almost given up on blogging. Life gets busy and does anyone even read this anyways? I guess I'll just use this post as a "catch up" of sorts, with the hopes of updating more regularly in the future. :) The boys are out of school for the summer. I think I was just as thrilled as they were! I can't believe that come August I will have a 5th grader, 2nd grader, and a Kindergartner!!! This will be the only time in my life that all three will be in the same school. Baseball has been consuming our lives for the last few months. Jeremiah was on the 7/8 Pirates team and did great! He played mostly 2nd base. Jonas played on the 9/10 Reds and had the privilege of Dad being the coach! This was an awesome team to watch. No one seemed to think the Reds team was capable of much. Especially by a first team coach. These boys ended up winning the Post season championship game. It was AWESOME! :) We thought the season was over until we got a call by a coach wanting Jeremiah to play on his All-star team. They are a few weeks into the season and it's been so fun to watch. Last week he hit two triples and had 5 RBI's. Way to go Jeremiah and good luck Middle Valley HEAT!
In addition to the school volunteering, and baseball games I was the program director again this year for our districts Day camp for Cub scouts. It was a fun week, but long and exhausting. I'm glad it went well, but I have to admit I am glad that it's over!!! It was great having my sister Valerie and her kids, Ian and Lacey, for the week. We had a good time and the boys seemed to enjoy it. We had 125 scouts this year! PHEW!!!
Jonas has been super busy with work. Despite a tough economy he has been fortunate enough to stay busy. We feel very blessed, as so many contractors and subs of his are out of business. I'm sad to say that a very good friend of ours, Jeff, lost his battle with brain cancer. He was Jonas' electrician, but more than that a great person and the most giving man you'd ever meet. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. Jonas was close with Jeff and we all got to be great friends with his family. Jonas was a pallbearer at his best friends funeral and he said at one time that it was the hardest thing he has ever done. I am certain he is watching over his friends and family.
After the busy and chaotic few months we have had we decided it was time for a quick trip! The kids are staying with Memaw and Papaw and Jonas and I are making a trip to Cincinnati to visit a friend, watch some baseball and just chill out for a couple days. It's not long, but it will be nice! We're really excited!!!
So I guess that's the last few months in a nutshell. I definitely need to be better about updating. I'll try harder in the future! Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Way too long

So... It's been a while. I don't really have a good excuse. Just the normal hustle and bustle of the holidays. I am so excited for Christmas. I don't have all my shopping done, but I just love everything that goes into celebrating the season. We've made cookies, decorated gingerbread houses, sang christmas carols, trimmed the tree, and attended parties! I even managed to mail out Christmas cards this year which was a first! Pretty sad that we've been married 11 years and never sent any out. I think it's a tradition that is dying out. Sad but true. I was determined this year to do it! The tight that we decorated the tree, I made every last one of us get in a Christmas sweater and pose for the camera. The picture turned out quite nice and was put on our card this year. What you didn't see was what it took to get there! My boys were whining and complaining like no other about getting in the itchy sweaters, hair combed, faces washed. My husband was heard saying... "just do what she says to please your mother!" Then there was me shouting "Will everyone just ACT like they like each other for 5 minutes!" Click! We ended up with a nice result. Hey... I even mailed one out to the White house! Cause.... even the President can use a little bit of Christmas cheer! The Shackleford family wishes you a wonderful and blessed holiday!

Smokey Mountain Getaway

After a fun and relaxing fall break, I am ready to get back into the blogging buzz. We went to the Smokey mountains last week with my family. It was wonderful! Just what we needed. My parents were kind enough to rent a huge cabin in the middle of nowhere for a few days. It was complete with a stocked kitchen, pool table, Foosball table, plasma TV, hot tub, and... SCORPIONS! Luckily, we didn't see the later until our last night. I was the lucky one to find it in he bathroom when I was well... you know.... Needless to say, it kinda caught me off guard. My boys on the other hand thought it was the highlight of the trip. In fact they wanted to keep it as a pet! Go figure! Don't worry my husband saved the day and it is squished on a paper towel in a dumpster somewhere. One less scorpion. :)

Before I get to far ahead, I'll introduce the cast of Characters:

My Mom and Dad or AKA: Me maw and Papaw as they are known by my kids. They were the reason we were all able to go on this trip. THANK YOU Mom and Dad!

Valerie: Or Aunt Val. My sister the nurse. Fellow scrapbooker and confidante.

Ashlee: Oldest niece. She is 17, a senior and has a new boyfriend. She was seen texting most of the trip. I sure wish texting was invented when I was a teenager! Hmph!

Lacey: Niece #2- 12 and doesn't have a boyfriend..... yet... Fun and has a zest for life.

Ian: The nephew. Age 9. He is three months older than Jonas and they are pretty much partners in crime. In fact they were caught often having acorn wars and stirring up a nest of yellow jackets for fun. What were they thinking?

Our family: I think you pretty much know us already. If you don't then you probably stumbled upon this blog mistakenly. So read on if you think I am interesting enough.

Okay... So here goes.... We pulled into Pigeon Forge on Sunday afternoon. Found our way the cabin, settled in and went to our first show. It was at the Comedy Barn. If you're no familiar with this show, it is worthwhile watching a few clips on youtube. My favorite is the juggler. You can watch here . My family is always chosen for audience participation stuff and this was no exception! My husband was picked and was hilarious! Later in the show Jeremiah was called up on stage as well. We bought a DVD of the live show and eventually I will upload it to youtube. For now you can watch this and well... you'll get the idea. It was a fun night and a great way to start off the trip. After dinner at Shoney's it was back to the cabin for some competitive games of pool. We had a big day planned for tomorrow.

Monday was such a fun day, but we were exhausted by the end of it. First off in he morning we went to Parrot Mountain. Now this is off the beaten path and not as well advertised or touristy, but that is part of it's charm. We saw so many different types of birds. We got to feed them as well! The kids had a blast with them flying all around and landing on them. We got lots of great pictures. Next up was Reptile World where the boys got up close an personal with snakes, alligators and tarantulas. I even held a tarantula. Jonas is trying to convince me to get him one for Christmas.... I don't think so....Santa Claus is afraid of spiders. :)

We went back to the cabin for a couple hours and got ready for Dixie Stampede. If you have never been it is worth going! We were all entertained! We had a great meal too. My husband was funny.... During the Dixie Stampede they divide you on either the North or South side. My husband after a little while was like.. "why are all the servers dressed in blue?.... Wait a minute... they're in gray over there! We're on the wrong side!" HAAAA! :) Watch the finale... It is great.

Dollywood was on Tuesday. I have never seen so many old people in one place. They were all there attending a gospel music festival. Worked out great for us, as they were not there to ride rides, so there was no wait for anything. The weather was perfect too. Jonas is the thrill seeker in the family. He managed to get both me and Daddy on a roller coaster. It was FUN! Do you know what I found out I'm afraid of? FERRIS WHEELS! I swear.... that was the first and last time I'm ever getting on one. I thought I was going to have a full blown panic attack! One of the highlights fr my family of boys was sniper shooting with water cannons innocent passerbys in boats. Yes... this is an attraction. They spent a good hour in one spot. They showed no mercy. Old ladies, mothers, children, teens. They were all victims. It was the funniest thing ever. My husband said that alone was worth the price of admission. Hee Hee Hee.... :)

That night we went to The Black Bear Jamboree. It was another dinner/musical variety show. The dinner was delicious and we all liked the show. Dexter the nerd was pretty funny. Back at the cabin it was time to pack up, as it was our last night.

Wednesday morning was departure day, but not without one last stop. We went to the Aquarium of the Smokey's in Gatlinburg. It was so nice. The boys got to pet stingrays and see Sharks. What more could you ask for?

All in all, it was a great trip and so much fun to be with the whole family. We did miss Missy and her family in Utah. Maybe they'll join us for the next one. It's only a two and a half hour drive for us and surprisingly we had never been before. It was worth it and we'll definitely go back again soon. The kids are back in school this week. Boy was it hard to wake up Monday morning. Jonas was glad he has a lot of ideas for his "creative writing"assignment for Language Arts. So... now you heard what we did for our Fall break. What about everyone else?

Running

I've had a bit of a blogging drought lately... I just haven't felt very creative. Plus, I have just been so busy. You know... I thought my life was busy when I had a newborn and two toddlers in the house. Little did I know that the craziness doesn't really begin until they are in school. My month of October is booked solid already and it's only the first week! I turned 30 a couple weeks ago. That should probably be a whole blog post in itself, but I get a little depressed just thinking about it. Silly... I know. People say it is no big deal, but it is to me. I think of how fast time has flown by. It sounds cliche' but it really is true. Anyways, I decided upon turning thirty that I wanted to take a little bit of time out of my busy week and do something for myself. I decided it was time for me to get healthy! Now, I am thin by genetics, I suppose. I am always trying to put weight on instead of take it off. Most would say it is a blessing and I suppose it is... I mean, don't get me wrong, things could be a lot worse for me. I am in no way fit though. My cardio is terrible, I have no stamina, endurance. etc. I decided to take up running. I am training for a 5K. Last week when I started training, I could barely run half a minute without feeling as though I was going to die! Today I jogged/waked 2 and 1/2 miles. I can go about a quarter of a mile without stopping! I know that's not saying much for most people, but seeing where I started, and the fact that I really don't think I have run since middle school.... is a big deal for me! I feel great. My husband has joined a gym and has been working out too. Together we are trying to get in better shape for ourselves and each other. I also want to show my boys that if you put your mind to it, set a goal, and work hard, that anything is possible. Little Jonas has been running on the Cross Country team at school. He can run circles around me. His best time this year was a mile in 6:56! Yeah.... he's pretty fast. I'm not worried about how fast I am. I just want to run, finish, and not come in last! The best part about this whole thing is actually seeing improvement each time I run and I FEEL good about myself. This is good for me. The boys school has a road race on Halloween. It is just a mile run, but it is a good starter race before the 5K. Our whole family is set to run. I'll take pictures and let you know how we do. That's it for now. We're taking a little trip to Gatlinburg over fall break next week. I should have some good pictures to post when we get back.

One "SWEET" Day

So... This is a picture of me after making and bagging 350 bags of cotton candy. Granted, I didn't do it alone, we had lots of help. We've been selling coupon books in Hamilton County. The're actually a pretty good deal. They have coupons for several places all over Chattanooga and only cost $10. The school actually gets to keep 7 out of the ten, so it's the most productive fundraiser out of the whole year. Anyways, the PTA has thought of incentives for each day that the kids bring in their money. Friday was "cotton candy day." Wow... What a fun day it was. The school owns a cotton candy machine, but when we plugged it in this morning it didn't work. Lovely. After calling a couple rental places we found one and got to work. 4 and a half hours later it was done. The whole school smelled of cotton candy and the kids were delighted with their puffy bags of the pink and blue stuff. I was COVERED from head to toe with it! My husband had to take a picture and the Principal nicknamed me "fluffy." The best part.... We get to do it all over again next Friday. I'm think that snowcones sound liek a better idea for next year! :)

Bits and Pieces from the week

It's been a busy week. I'm looking forward to the long weekend. Some things that happened this week:

* Cole decided to wipe out on the pavement. Unfortunately he gets his coordination from me, his mother. No.... He there was no exciting bike wreck, no collision between brothers, etc. He was just walking outside on the driveway and tripped over his own feet. Poor thing. He gets it from me. It takes talent to not only fall down the stairs, but to trip UP them as well. No hope for him I'm afraid. He wasn't too thrilled when I decided to make this little accident a "Kodak moment." Now, he proudly displays his "road rash" to just about anyone. Oh and he was heard saying (about his "boo boo") "I LOVE it!." BOYS!

* Jonas this week was complaining about an unruly child in his class. He said... "Mom, I'm POSITIVE he forgot to take his medicine this morning!"

* We had pizza and movie night last night. We've been taking turns picking some of the "old" movies that we remember watching growing up. This week's was "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The COOL version with Gene Wilder, not the weird one with Johnny Depp. Don't get me wrong... I love me some Capt. Jack, but he is and never will be Willy Wonka to me. Anyways, Cole was watching it with me and the part where Wonka takes them on that weird boat ride, he turns and tells me he's not going to watch this part. I asked him... "Why is it a little scary?" He said... "No, it's a LOT scary!"

*We were driving around town running some errands and Jeremiah out of nowhere says.. " I was just thinking.... I wonder if I can get a job as a candy taster when I grow up?" Now keep in mind, this was before we watched the Willy Wonka movie. In fact, I believe it's what gave us the idea in the first place. This, of course, is the kid that woke me up one morning when he was three. I heard some noise in the kitchen and there he was standing with the refrigerator door open and DRINKING the Hershey syrup out of the bottle.

* Last thing... Jonas and I went out on a date Thursday evening. We got a babysitter and went to O'Charley's. I was really nice! Before we left, Jonas told the boys he's pay them 10 cents for every pile of crab grass they pulled out of the yard. Our yard is covered in the stuff. We got back after being gone just a short time and our driveway was lined with PILES and PILES of the crab grass. Whoever said money isn't an incentive? Needless to say my husband is about $20 poorer. :)