Belle and the Beast

The kids met Belle when we were visiting Disney World and had no idea who she was because we had never watched Beauty and the Beast. That, however, did not stop them from being excited to meet this pretty Princess.

I checked out Beauty and the Beast from the library to watch for our family movie night this week. It was a HIT. Addy and Jack played Belle and the Beast by growing like the beast and dancing like princesses. Addy wore her princess dress and danced with Ryan during the ballroom scene. (melted my heart to watch) Addy has requested to watch Belle and the Beast every day. (she told me that is what she calls it)

Highlight of our current Beauty and the Beast obsession was on Monday when Jack and Addy had some friends over to play. Beauty and the Beast was on in the background as they played and when Belle appeared at the top of the stairs in her yellow dress, Jack silenced the room with a "Guys, Guys, it's the yellow dress. That's what she was wearing when I met her in Disney World." He made everyone stop what they were doing and watch Belle walk down the stairs. He even chastised me for walking in front of him because he could not see.

Needless to say, we are in high Princess adoration this week.

More to Come

1/1968

but one of my favorites

Give me some time and I will share the rest of our trip with you.

Thank you, Emily!

Olcott Beach Carousel Park is my new favorite place. I think it might be Jack's favorite place too. Before he even got to ride any of the rides, he declared, "This is the best day ever!"

I will agree that this was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Jack drove a Sheriff's car
and called for back up
and shouted orders.
Jack and Addy worked together to "shoot the bad guys."
Addy rode a horse, twice!
A red fire truck? I think so.
"Mom, I'm driving!"
I can't believe they went on this but they loved it too.
Driving boats together.

Who needs Disney World when you can ride all of these rides for just 25 cents a piece and never wait in a line? Did I mention the ice cream and the cool summer breeze off of Lake Ontario?

Thanks for the tip, Emily. We now have a new favorite place to visit in Western New York.

Next year, we're taking our swimsuits and going to the spray park down the street before we ride the rides. Anyone want to join us?

Just add water

We are so ready for our vacation to Florida.


We may wear our swimsuits all day just to remind ourselves that it is warm and sunny somewhere.

Lovely Day

Our day started early.


We made heart shaped pancakes.


Ella joined us in her festive sleeper.


Jack and I made these cute airplane valentines to take to school.



Addy, Ella and I went to Wegmans to get a treat while Jack partied it up.


Jack received an amazing amount of candy that he gladly shared with Addy.


This one made me laugh.


It's been a lovely day with the kiddos.

Good night.

Boo!

Ella excited to leave for her first Halloween Party.

Snuggled together in their Halloween pajamas/costumes.

Mmmmm Chocolate.
She was very efficient in her candy eating.

The spoils of the Church Trunk or Treat.

"I Love CANDY!"

The kids are now passed out in a sugar induced coma.

Other than Ella

Addy makes our life happy. Her favorite phrases are "That's silly." and "That's a good idea." and "Mommy clap." All said with her trademark lisp.

Grandma Peggy let Addy choose a craft from the store. Addy loves to make things.

Jack made cookies on Sunday for Family Home Evening. Always a favorite activity.

Jack and Addy went Trick or Treating at the Zoo with Grandma Peggy and Daddy. What is Addy's costume? Well, Grandma Peggy carried Addy's Princess Dress around the Zoo while Addy walked around in her tights and fleece jacket carrying her princess purse and sporting a princess hairdo. Maybe she'll wear her costume on Halloween.

First Day of School

Jack is just finishing his first full week of Universal Pre-Kindergarten.

Let's just say that he loves it.

He would not let me take pictures at the school. He kept saying, "No pictures, mom."

He just wanted to get to his classroom and get started.

Addy and I love it too. We're having a great time together in the afternoons.

Where are you Sheltons?

We're still here and boy have we been busy this summer.

Let me sum up . . .

May and June meant soccer classes taught by our friend, Tessa. 2 classes of 3-5 year-olds in my backyard, twice a week. It was hilarious to watch and we went through 500 Popsicles. So you know it was fun. Tessa is a good sport as it sometimes resembled herding cats:)

We visited the air conditioned Strong Museum often. Jack's favorite part is Wegmans. He is very meticulous in his scanning of the items and even though you are only supposed to have 5 things in his cart, he always returns ALL of his items to the shelf without complaining.

We also ate at the real Wegmans roughly 500 times this summer. I would not survive this pregnancy without Wegmans. Love that place and all of it's yummy take and make food.

My sister and niece came for a week and we went to Strong Museum twice, Washington D.C. (which will get a post of its own this week), and went to the real Wegmans at least 5 times:) My sister cleaned my basement because she is wonderful like that and she even got up with my kids at 7 a.m. so that I could sleep. She also cleaned up my vomit in a hotel in rural Pennsylvania but that is a story for another day. It was a great time with Ann and Emmy.
Addy discovered dress up clothes. She loves her fancy princess clothes and shoes and purses and crown and magic wand. A friend gave us a bag of clothes and she is set for life.
Jack has also been known to put on dress or two in his life but he uses the purses to carry his cars and snacks around his neck.

We ate our fill of ribs at Ribfest. We will be going again next year.

This summer we also had a month of daily swimming lessons, traveled to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. twice in the span of a week, celebrated the 4th of July in Style, put 4000 miles on our new van, drove 16 hours to the beach, discovered that Amy has kankles when pregnant in the summer, oh and Ryan took the Anesthesia Boards in there after studying 12 hours daily for a month. So it's been busy and if I get around to it then I will try to post more pictures. Because even though it was busy, it's been a fun summer.

We are now in a phase that I call EXTREME NESTING in preparation for the arrival of Baby Girl Shelton on October 5th. We are refinishing the hardwood floors, painting and resurfacing the driveway and rewiring the garage. I hope to have everything back in place before October. Wish us luck. We'll post pictures as soon as we surface from the mess.


As you wait for pictures of our fun family vacation, feast on this delightful picture of Jack that my friend, Deborah, took. It will make you smile, I promise.

Florida Revisited

We traveled to Florida at the end of March to meet a new cousin and have fun with family.

Lillian Jayesh Patel

Adorable girl but sadly she had RSV while we were visiting. Poor baby and mama.

Jack and Mariam plugged into technology. I see this picture in our future again when they are teenagers. Jack loves "my Mariam" as he calls her.

5 kids and one great swing led to some good lessons in taking turns. This swing in the Patel's backyard is awesome and Grandma Shirlene became and expert and swinging the kids. (This is a picture of Uncle Jay with the swing but usually it was Grandma.)

Jack had a patch of dirt and some trucks. Life was good.

Jack celebrated his 4th birthday a little early so he could celebrate with Grandma and cousins.

This is one of his many presents from Grandma Shirlene. This is still one of his favorites.

This shirt (thanks Greenwood family) got quite a few laughs at the beach. With his long curly hair, board shorts and candy necklace, Jack was looking like the ultimate beach bum. He had a great time at the beach and a highlight was Aunt Tracie's creative Treasure Map and digging for the treasure that pirates left.

Jack loved the trench that Aaron Jones dug for the kids. Glad Auntie Kristina married someone with good skills to entertain our children.

To say that Addy loved the beach would be a vast understatement. She loved the sand and the water. Only problem is sand in a diaper makes for not fun walking. She was less than thrilled with that. However, if I could, I would rent a cabana on a beach everyday and watch my kids play. Perfect day.

Missing the pretty snow

This was my front yard over the weekend.

We spent Jack's first snow day from school last Friday taking a sled ride to a friend's house to play and shoveling the two feet of HEAVY snow when Ryan came home.



Jack's favorite part about the snow day?

The official Snow Day Snow Cone.

He had two.

While we were gone

my parents came to watch our kids. They had a blast and the kids didn't notice we were gone until we got back. (But that is a whole different story)

Addy dressed herself in this outfit. I love the pink and red beret. I think it really pulls the whole ensemble together.

Jack wore his pajamas most of the time. A battle that my mom and I both don't think is worth fighting. He wore clothes to church and school but when at home, why not?

Glad to see that life is the same whether we are here or not.