Good thing only one week left

or I may lose my temper.

If one more person rubs my belly or asks me if I am having twins, I may be very unkind in my response. I've been thinking of rude things to say all day. You are warned.


I have never been so cranky as during this pregnancy, so be kind to me this last week and we will all be happier. (Ryan thanks you in advance too).



Stay tuned for pictures of our extreme nesting project. It is mostly done.

Favorite Fall Tradition

We love going to Brown's Berry Patch to pick apples each fall. We were even more excited this year because we kept hearing about the unusually sweet apple crop. We were not disappointed.

Addy had to use her body weight to pull the apples from the tree.

Jack picked out his bumpy pumpkin. He plans to carve a happy face.

Can't wait to use our 30 lbs of apples.

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.

We did it!

Darren and Amy with (L to R)Annette, Sister Grace, Sister Rita and Sister Gloria

of the House of Mercy.

We had a very SUCCESSFUL Run for Mercy 5k yesterday. The weather was perfect, people were happy to be there, people were generous with their time and money and we only had a few minor glitches that will easily be worked out and changed for next year.

Seleta, Anna, Darren and Amy

Here is the Race Committee minus Heather who worked an over night shift and still managed to walk the 5k yesterday. As you can see two of us are VERY pregnant.

The best part was that we raised an unexpected amount of money for a great cause.

Addy at the end of the race after playing in the dirt. She had a great time!

Enjoy more pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/debpulley/RunForMercy2010?feat=email#

http://picasaweb.google.com/debpulley/5k?feat=email#

http://picasaweb.google.com/anna.tuttle/5K91110?feat=email##

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.

One of Amy's pet projects

The House of Mercy has been a part of my life for many years now. This organization does so much with limited resources. When my friend, Darren, approached me to ask about an organization that would benefit from a fund raising event, the House of Mercy was my first thought. When I called my friend, Melissa, who is on the Board of The House of Mercy, and told her that our church community wanted to sponsor a fund raiser for The House of Mercy she was shocked and delighted. She had just attended a board meeting where they were brainstorming ways to bring in more donations as they had a major shortage in their budget and would run out of money for some of their programs. Needless to say, I think it was an inspired connection between our two groups.

From these early discussions, the Run for Mercy 5k Race and walk was born. We held our first run last year and raised a little over $2000 with about 150 runners/walkers participating. This year we hope to expand the number of participants and hope to raise even more money.

Join us September 11th, 2010 at Genesee Valley Park for a good run/walk on a beautiful course along the Genesee River that is certified accurate by the USATF. Pre-register through Fleet Feet and pick up your timing chips the day of the race between 8 and 8:30 a.m. You'll get a fabulous t-shirt and a pancake breakfast after the run/walk. Plus you'll get that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from doing something good for your community.

Check our website for more information.


http://www.runforhouseofmercy.com/



Not sure you can run or walk 3.1 miles? Never fear. There are other ways to support this great event. Feel free to make a donation on either the race or House of Mercy website. If you are interested in contributing money to underwriting some of our expenses for putting on the race so that even more money goes directly to the House of Mercy, feel free to contact me.

If you live locally and want to help with volunteering as a Race Marshall, let me know too. We are looking for about 25 good people to help direct runner/walker traffic on the course. You will get to have a fun training meeting with me and I will drive you to your post in my fancy new van. What could be more fun?

Reverence begins with Jack

Favorite moment during church:

Jack sitting quietly with arms folded, eyes closed and head bowed during the opening prayer.


We all say, "Amen"


Jack loudly proclaiming, "I am so reverent!"


Followed by Jack jumping up and down in excitement over his reverent performance.