jack is seven

these are ten of the things we love about you: 

1. the enthusiasm you have for making peanut butter crackers, your first culinary masterpiece 

2. you've been requesting more responsibilities, like pushing the cart at the grocery store and helping with house projects 

3. you catch on to new games quickly and are always up for playing 

4. you are silly and fun 

5. snuggling is still one of your favorite things 

6. you love collecting pokemon with dad and checking cards off your list [and you have good binder behavior too] 

7. you are observant and notice the people and world around you 

8. you enjoy your friends and are always excited to spend time with them 

9. you know the whole hamilton soundtrack and were so excited to go see it with mom 

10. you love playing with archie just as much as he loves playing with you 

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archie is three

these are ten of the things we love about you: 

1. the way you casually rest your chin on your hand while eating 

2. when you randomly lean in close and whisper "i love you so much" 

3. listening to your nightly dinnertime prayers 

4. you love playing picture charades and really good at acting things out 

5. almost every question you ask begins with "may you" or "may i" 

6. how you're always pulling a chair into the kitchen to help make food 

7. you give amazing super hugs, which involve going to the opposite side of the room for a running start 

8. seeing how much you and jack love each other 

9. the way you waddle like a penguin 

10. you get the biggest smile on your face when you get our undivided attention 

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jack is six

these are ten of the things we love about you: 

1. you love tickle snuggles and request them often 

2. the way you pay attention to the world around you and notice beautiful things 

3. how well you play with and care for archie 

4. you love eating a big bowl of raisin bran for breakfast and drinking the milk after 

5. the enthusiastic way you pretend to be a dinosaur [with a significant amount of roaring involved] 

6. how you always hide and try to scare dad when he comes home from work in the mornings 

7. you decided to do the memory verses at school and have done a great job with them 

8. you still find your way into our bed in the middle of the night to snuggle up with us 

9. the animated dance moves you break into when a good song comes on 

10. you are genuinely enjoyable and fun to be around 

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archie is two

these are ten of the things we love about you:  

1. the exuberant greeting you give to whoever enters the room 

2. your shiny, golden hair and how it sticks up in the cutest way 

3. the remarkable volume at which you call for mom or dad 

4. you love getting bowls out of the drawer for "nacks" 

5. the way you say "come on" and drag us by the hand when you want us to follow you 

6. how you fold your hands and say "amen!" when we pray 

7. the low grunts you make when you are displeased 

8. the way you love and look up to your big brother 

9. you have a laugh just like your great uncle mick 

10. when you stand on the furniture, hold your nose, and yell "cannonball" before you jump off 

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jack is five

these are ten of the things we love about you:  

1. you are unusually skilled at puzzles and have earned your title of puzzle savant 

2. we know the bonus hugs you give us every night are mostly an excuse to come out of your room, but we love them anyway 

3. you are learning lots of new games and becoming quite a good game player 

4. you have such a genuine love for archie and are a caring big brother [and he adores you right back!] 

5. your stories and pretend play are imaginative, theatrical, and often make us laugh 

6. you often roll your eyes at "ding dang commercials", but you also randomly quote them and sing along with the jingles [our favorites are 'liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty' and 'paxlovid paxlovid'] 

7. the still life photos you take on mom's phone are surprisingly good, and you are always asking to sew with gaga dubs 

8. you are genuinely kind and grateful, and you have a tender heart 

9. you love playing "yellow guys" on mom's phone [which means typing emoji's into the search bar] 

10. little things often bring you such delight which makes you a joy to be around 

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archie is one

 [aka little archie; archie doodle; archibald; arch] 

these are ten of the things we love about you: 

1. you adore your big brother and he gets your best smiles

2. you are an avid climber and can scale things quickly

3. watching you mimic us by playing arms up, sticking out your tongue, or face planting into a pillow

4. you are often slow to give smiles and laughs, but once you get going they are so delightful

5. we've been a little lax on your nap schedule, but you are content to hang right along with us

6. you have a good temperament and are generally pretty chill [as long as mom isn't trying to drop you off in the nursery]

7. when you cover yourself up to initiate a game of peek-a-boo

8. the scrunched up face you make when you are displeased with something

9. how quickly you calm down when you snuggle up next to mom or dad

10. the way you throw your hands up and dance when a good song comes on

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jack is four

these are ten of the things we love about you:  

1. you are polite and grateful, often without prompting 

2. the way you "whistle" when you want our attention

3. you love racing to give the first hugs when we're leaving dyer dinner

4. how you cover your mouth and scrunch your shoulders when you laugh 

5. you don't stay mad and are quick to forgive 

6. when you make heartwarming comments out of the blue, like "mom, i just love being with you!"

7. how you crawl into our bed to snuggle every morning

8. you catch surprise us by using "smart" vocabulary words in the right context 

9. your choreography to 'here come the grannies'

10. the way you play and giggle with archie

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jack is three

these are ten of the things we love about you:  

1. you aren't quite the stellar sleeper you were in your younger days, but we can never turn down your requests for a pre-nap or bedtime "hug kiss" and always giggle at the "excuse me mom, my light turned green!" announcement when it's time to get up  

2. you are genuinely delighted by so many things [christmas lights were a real treat this year]  

3. when you pull on our hands to get us to tickle you under your chin  

4. your surprising success rate when talking to google and convincing it to play your favorite songs  

5. the way you refer to colors by the name of their coordinating sesame street character [green is trash; red is elmo; blue is cookie; and yellow is big bird]  

6. watching you pretend play [especially talking with your winnie the pooh friends and fighting the bad guys with your zooms]  

7. your laughter and excellent repertoire of silly faces  

8. you take great joy in filling the sesame street treat bags with "surprises" for people you love  

9. listening to you sing "acchaeus", 'have patience', and quoting almost all of 'the many adventures of winnie the pooh'

10. you continue to impress us with your moves and are currently perfecting some fortnite dances like dance monkey and "itsa" [aka the rick dance]  

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jack is two

these are ten of the things we love about you:  

1. you have such a cheerful disposition...you are always smiling, laughing, and ready to have fun  

2. you're an all around good eater, but you especially love anything that comes with dip dip  

3. the way you close your eyes when you do something you're not supposed to or when you're trying to hide  

4. you love dumping your toys, but you're also a great helper when it's time to clean up  

5. you are so good at saying please, thank you, and sorry  

6. we know we keep saying it, but you are the. best. sleeper.  

7. you are agreeable, easygoing, and always up for adventures  

8. the way you are gentle when you see someone feeling sad  

9. your little toddler language and your little toddler voice  

10. you have some seriously amazing dance moves [specifically the handy manny toolbox dance, the wrist twist, and your mad dance...which is nothing short of epic]  

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jack is one

[aka baby jack; jack jack; jack-o-jack; buddy] 

these are ten of the things we love about you:  

1. you are a champion sleeper [and we appreciate that very much]  

2. the way your face lights up when you smile  

3. when you laugh really hard and drop your head  

4. the way you play and explore  

5. you are generous with your smiles and good at making friends  

6. how excited you get when you see mom or dad  

7. the sound of your giggles  

8. those bright blue eyes that everyone loves to comment on  

9. you are an easygoing traveler  

10. when you lay your head on us and snuggle [it doesn't happen very often, but we LOVE when it does]

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the thirty forty

the morning of the big day dawned bright and clear, and a balmy 5 degrees. we had plans to meet at the leslie's in the afternoon to head out on our little 'road trip'. when we arrived the first surprise was that we weren't just leaving as us, we were leaving in character. erica and i had written a screenplay titled 'threat level gold' and donald and grant were the stars. we sat down for a table read but soon decided that in order to really get into the roles we needed to take it out on location. the first scene unfolded in their living room, but as the caper evolved the men were sent to a mysterious address.

we loaded up the car and headed off, ending up at the independence train station. after hauling our bags inside we read through the next scene, which, in a surprise twist, had us getting back in the car to travel to a new address. this path ended at the airport, but given the whole train station confusion no one really knew what to believe. after solving a series of clues provided by a supporting character, a confirmation code was revealed. grant typed it into a nearby kiosk and bingo bango...we were on our way to warm and sunny los angeles! we also slipped in a couple of train tickets for the hogwarts express since we wanted to be sure to pay harry a visit.

the only surprise we kept all the way to california was our tour of the warner brothers studio, which ended up being one of our favorite stops. aside from riding through the backlot and checking out some sound stages, we saw all the batmobiles, a ton of original harry potter props and my personal favorite...sat on the central perk couch.

we spent our in between time checking out the hollywood sign, seeing a movie and strolling past some stars on the walk of fame.  we also paid visits to some of our favorite burger joints, namely in-n-out and shake shack. one of my best moments was unintentionally stumbling across gene kelly's star just outside of shake shack. he's my favorite.

on our last full day it was finally time to stroll through hogsmead and visit the hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. it really is a magical place. we drank butterbeer and dined at the three broomsticks; checked out the wands at ollivanders and bought some candy at honeydukes. it was the perfect way to end our magical birthday adventure.

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big smooth's big 40

a few years ago while hanging out with grant and erica we discovered that donald and grant not only have birthdays three days apart, but they are specifically ten years and three days apart, meaning they will always be celebrating milestone birthdays together. erica and i decided that such a memorable occasion required an equally memorable trip, so about seven month ago we got down to business. i was happily planning this one and only birthday surprise when it occurred to me that in order to keep this a surprise i was going to have to get him a present on his actual birthday too...one thing led to another and suddenly i was on the hunt for forty, yes i said 40, gifts.

my husband loves things. they bring him great joy. receiving gifts is definitely one of his top love languages. it's also definitely not mine. but as i said, one thing lead to another and it just made sense that this was the perfect idea for his special day.

so on december 27th the songs started to play. five times a day a different silly birthday song meant another birthday gift! there were games and star wars trinkets, gift cards and silly cereals, and a game of thrones umbrella thrown in for good measure. he caught on pretty quickly and it was great to have so much birthday fun to look forward to each day.

but little did he know this was also a ruse to distract him from the bonus gift that was coming the following weekend. he knew we had a little something planned with the leslies, but i did my best to keep his expectations at rock bottom [something along the lines of a weekend in branson]. while i am normally an olympic level sleeper, i was tossing and turning every night with nervous excitement, and then the day finally came...

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33 pennies

it's pretty standard for my birthday to last longer than just one day and this year was no exception. the free food started rolling in about week early, but the best part came on my birthday eve. we rolled in from omaha around 9pm and the most spectacular birthday penny scavenger hunt you have ever seen was waiting. there were thirty four pennies hidden all over the house, one from each year i've been alive. (yes, technically that makes the title of this post incorrect, but i'm only thirty three...it's confusing) donald left me a note and a game board and the search was on. i was a penny finding machine, and i was pretty good at finding the bonus prizes too. i blazed through the first half in about thirty minutes and then it started getting tricky. kim and my mom helped a bit, but there were a few stragglers that we couldn't find until the next day. it was SUPER fun.

after a breakfast of gas station donuts on my birthday morning we headed to the pool for a bit before my mom "threw me a birthday party" at noodles for lunch.

mom . donald . kim

shelly . christy . tommy

the nighttime festivities included a super fun game night at grant & erica's house. we feasted on cheese ball, funky punch and peach crisp/cobbler/pie and played the night away. it was hilarious and fun. the best birthday game night i ever did have.

donald . shelly

erica . grant . missy . kim

i just love birthdays. and i'm so thankful i have family and friends that know that and try really hard to make it special and fun. i enjoyed lots of birthday wishes and had a perfectly lovely day. happy 33rd birthday to me!

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i love my mom because

my mom is my favorite person in the whole world. i love her a lot. really a lot. in honor of mother's day [and her birthday] i requested some assistance and asked her friends and family to tell me what words came to mind when they thought of her. here is what we came up with...

happy mother's day!

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100 birthdays for picklepuss

my friend edith turned 100 today. she is hilarious...and kind of feisty. i kept pointing out the fact that she is now 100 [because really, how often does that happen?] and she kept pointing out the fact that she is now older than dirt. during her birthday dinner, she paused to sing us the star spangled banner. just because she loves living in america. she told lots of stories, the most memorable being the one about how when she was younger she was given the nickname picklepuss at work...because there was also another edith that worked at the casket making company and it was too confusing. true story.

so happy birthday edith. you're definitely a special one.

marilyn . shelly . edith . edna

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so now i'm thirty

it's not too bad so far, except i've already had to check the "30-34" box when filling out a form...that wasn't so great. there were many fun surprises to be had...lots of e-mails and facebook messages, yummy treats, cards in the mail, flower, a blog post, and a bouquet of fruit!

on thursday some of my best friends and i stayed at a hotel down by the plaza, and saturday we had a 'park party' in lee's summit. thanks so much to everyone who made my birthday special...in person or from afar!

kim . jackie . casey . missy . shelly

me and the happy meal...both thirty

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happy thirty to missy

thirty reasons missy has always been, and will always be, my friend:

1 - she knows the exact location of the sunshine bus stop

2 - she invites me to eat with her family, and she does it often

3 - we share the same feeling of mortification when we think back to the skits we performed every year at the salem camp talent show...and when we remember they are well documented on video

4 - she has that sweet little sophie rose

5 - she has read a larger volume of books than anyone else i've ever met

6 - she once had to pee so bad when we were on the bus coming home from camp that she cried in order to convince them to stop [editors note: the reason she had to pee so bad was that she had guzzled a large soda minutes before boarding the bus so she could compete in a burping contest with a bunch of boys]

7 - she enjoys musicals as much as i do

8 - we met in the two year old sunday school class, and there's just not many people who can say that

9 - she also had to endure the obscene number of college visits our mothers arranged for us

10 - it boosts my self esteem when i remember the permed bangs she and jen sported in the late elementary years, and how i managed to avoid that fad

11 - she knows all the cool places to eat in kansas city

12 - she's not necessarily quick to share her opinion, but is a very thorough thinker

13 - she has a bigger m.a.m.a. trophy collection than i do

14 - she can probably still recite the major points of the westminster catechism from salem confirmation

15 - seeing as how she has known me my whole life, especially during my socially questionable junior high days, she knows way too many embarrassing things about me

16 - she came to visit my planet of blue people in the musical 'out of this world'

17 - she doesn't find it abnormal for me to take two slices of bread from her house so i can make a peanut butter sandwich the next day

18 - she came to all my birthday sleepovers

19 - she was once a 'pooper-scooper' in a parade, and i have the photos to prove it

20 - she is a really great garage sale helper

21 - she lets me be a part of her family and refers to me as 'aunt shelly'

22 - she is one of the few people who knows the names of my family, church friends, high school friends, and college friends

23 - she is one of shellylynn photography's biggest fans

24 - she takes me to the lake so i can lay in the hammock and eat a weeks worth of food rations in 48 hours

25 - between church and recitals, we've performed together so many times we'd be rich if we had started charging admission

26 - she runs a very reliable airport taxi service

27 - in our high school days we took many summer evening slushie runs in that teal ford tempo

28 - she's a good mom, she trains and disciplines with a purpose

29 - we both enjoyed the wild and zany times of the calvary church youth group, which included, but was not limited to...tomato fights, fish head slinging, and the glass olympics

30 - i know that i can always count on her, for sure...that's what friends are for

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tea time

this post is two days late but...

happy 30th birthday jackie!

i drove down to bolivar after work on tuesday to spend the evening with the birthday girl [and boy...it was ted's birthday too]. we ate at lambert's and played settlers until the wee hours of the morning. i also got to surprise jackie with a really fun gift that i had 'acquired' for her...a silver tea set! i knew she had been wanting one for awhile and was hoping it was just what she dreamed of. she was real excited so i think the gift giving was a success.

and just so everyone knows how great she is,

here are 30 things i love about jackie…

1 – she never fails to provide intelligent conversation
2 – she made it possible for me to have multiple british adventures
3 - she is a great swing dance partner
4 – she likes finding good deals
5 – she always says what she thinks
6 – we went on a new years road trip and she came home with a husband
7 – i am always amazed that at the end of a meal she can decide “i need more protein” or “i need more carbs”…how the heck does she know that?
8 – she took the game of mafia international
9 – she bleeds purple
10 – she doesn’t get intimidated by not knowing how to do something, she just starts doing it...becoming a bookshelf builder for example
11 – she is a very artistic math teacher, which is kind of an oxymoron
12 – her excitement about drinking pepsi is amusing
13 – she loves america more than anyone else i know
14 – she openly shares her struggles without shame
15 – she puts her husband first
16 – she created the tommy hilfiger couch on which we enjoyed many springtime evenings on maple tree lane
17 – she introduced me to the bible study girls
18 – she is good at asking questions that really matter when getting to know someone
19 – she has become quite the little chef and taught me to make onion rings from scratch
20 – we were the first groupie graduates
21 – she is willing to ask the hard questions
22 – life is fun when she is around
23 – she is appreciative
24 – she truly cares about her single friends
25 – she has a seemingly endless supply of good prank ideas
26 – she sharpens me
27 – she loves to play matchmaker
28 – she co-wrote the brooke and kevin song and played the slinky on opening night
29 – she has shared a bathroom with more people than anyone else i know
30 – she is one of my most cherished friends

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bahama mamas

we have returned from the islands, and here is a rundown of what we did:

• ate a lot...as in six or seven times a day [my food favorites: cheesecake and caesar salad]
• played some casino slots and this totally addictive quarter pusher game
• took a surrey tour of downtown nassau
• watched the live shows complete with very impressive dancers
• laid in the sun when it wasn't raining...and a little bit when it was
• watched the spring-breakers sing karaoke
• sipped some strawberry daiquiris
• explored norwegians private island and laid in a hammock until we were totally drenched
• played shuffleboard
• made appearances at most of the night-time parties...and even got kim on the dance floor!

it did rain two days, which was a bummer...but we still had fun!

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the final countdown

kim and shelly's 30th birthday spring break extravaganza begins in just seven days!

i am so excited that i had to have not one, but two countdown chains. one at work and one at home. i love how little they are these days.

we're going on a four day cruise to the bahamas, and i think i may be most excited about the FREE twenty-four hour room service...pretty sure i'll have their phone number memorized by the time we come home.

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