Happy New Year 2014

We rang in the New Year with great friends, learned how to play Left Right Center and ate entirely too much. All in all it was a perfect way to celebrate the beginning of 2014. With new beginnings comes new promises, to myself. One is to get in shape and eat healthier and another is to start my blog...again. I love to write and I love to document my family's crazy adventures. So... here goes. First day of the new year and first post.

National FFA Week...

National FFA Week is in full swing and it has been a whirl wind of activity at our house. It started last Thursday with Carlie and several fellow FFA'ers getting to make a commercial to promote Lumberjack Day. As you can imagine none of them really look like lumberjacks, but I'm told they had a stellar performance. (I've requested a copy of the DVD) The week was kicked off by a Bonfire, Monday night, at Mr Bradford's. (which I didn't know about until the afternoon of... but that's life with teenagers) I get a text about 2:30 (yes school is still in session at this time) this one's from Justin..."bonfire tonite FFA... can I go" so sure I said yes. My next thought is, I know Carlie will want to go... Sure enough as soon as I pick her up at 3pm, "Hey there's a bonfire tonight for FFA, can I go?" Sure. " Can Rissa go with me?" Sure " She'll need to spend the night and ride with us to school tomorrow." That's fine. " Can Wes take us to the bonfire?" Ask your daddy... (I don't remember getting an instruction manual when I brought her home from the hospital, but I'm sure I was supposed to have one... really would like to read that chapter on teenagers...) After much consideration, and a conversation with Rissa's mom, we agreed to let Wes take them to the bonfire. All went well, home by 8:30. Great time had by all. But it's just Monday...

After the bonfire, when every one's settling in for the night, Carlie comes out of her room to say, "Oh, yea... the FFA Alumni Banquets tomorrow night and they really want parents to come" Thanks for the advanced notice... But what do you do, I said okay, put me down, I'll be there. Tim however was fortunate enough to be on call this week, so he didn't have to attend... (MEN. They always find a way out of things.) The banquet went well, won a few items at the silent auction. Carlie got a surprise... the president of NGA's FFA could not come and as secretary, she got to do the announcements... She freaked for just a second, but when it came to the task at hand, she did great!

Well it's Wednesday, not sure if there's any FFA activity planned for tonight, but I really hope it's a nice quiet evening at home...

How Time Flies

Time flies on so many levels...

There's the space in time since I last blogged, which has been filled with formal dresses, pageants and dances, boys and teenage life in general. Where is my little girl? When did she become this, this teenager? When did she start caring about how she looks? We have bought dresses for Winter Blast (her first formal dance), We have bought dresses for the Sweetheart Pageant (her first pageant since she was 7. Got in the top ten... I was a proud momma) and we've bought an extra dress for... well we're not sure yet. But she's gotten into the top 30 for the Falcon Walk in March, so maybe she'll wear it then... With all that said, when did I become a pageant mother... and when did my tomboy become a pageant girl... Time has sure flown by... my little tomboy has become a beautiful young lady in what seems like an overnight transformation.

Then there's the space in time that has brought us to Carlie's 15th birthday and non-stop talk about getting her permit. There are always milestones in our lives and in the lives of our children. Turning 5, signifies a milestone where we are now old enough to attend school, turning 10 is the milestone where we become "double digits" and somehow overnight are accepted as "older", next there's 13... teen being the operative word. It's that right of passage so many young children look forward to, it's when you are no longer a "child" you are a "teenager". Then we come to the magic # 15. Not quiet old enough to venture out on our own, but just old enough to be given major responsibility behind the wheel. Just old enough... but still slightly out of reach of the next extraordinary milestone... 16, drivers license, dating, freedom... After that how fast will time fly? 2 years later 18...adulthood by all standards. 3 years later 21... legal to drink. I have to stop myself from time to time and realize that each day of my child's life is a precious moment in time that I can never get back. 15 years have flown by so swiftly, will the next 15 as well.

With all of that, let me end by saying... Guess What?? She got her permit yesterday!! I had to say it because she has said that to me at least a million times since we walked out of the DMV yesterday. "Mom, Guess What?... I got my permit!!" Let the gray hair begin... :)

House Plans

Well... we finally got our preliminary house plans back from the designer. Minus a few minor changes... I LOVE IT!! Tim and I planned out what we wanted and the guy who drew the plans brought it to life. ... one step closer down that road to our house... and out of the "Cracker Box"

The road to our new house...

We have recently bought land, sold our home and moved into what we lovingly refer to as "The Cracker Box" all in preperation to build a house. While all of this sounded wonderful when we planned it out, I really didn't realize just how small "The Cracker Box" really is... We've cut our square footage down by 2/3, most of our furniture and "convenience" items are in storage and there's no where here to just "get away" and have quiet time. I can cook, wash dishes, watch TV, and wash cloths all pretty much at the same time. The driveway looks like a mud bog, with no forseeble chance of drying up any time soon and Tim wants to wait until Summer to start our house... But who's complaining... It's not lost on me that we have a roof over our head, we are healthy and we are getting a lot of quality family time. I just keep telling myself, and my daughter, "just think how much we will appreciate our house when we get it" So for now we'll continue to call "The Cracker Box" home and be thankful for so many blessings God has provided for us.

me a blogger... we will see

Well, I've decided to enter into the world of blogging. Not sure why really, other than I have come to enjoy reading others blogs and thought... "What the heck, I'll give it a try." It remains to be seen if I will take the time to keep this up, but for now I'm looking forward to keeping a "journal" ,of sorts, about the life and times of the Shelton Family... our branch at least.