Until Next Year

We kept plenty busy while Joe and Johnny were here but we had some down time too.
Joe took time to read J.D. his favorite book...several times! As you can see (above and below), different days...same book!
Arf! Woof! Bark! Yap! ...and nine dogs on a moonlit night say...AAA-OOOOOOOO!!

And how did J.D. feel about saying good-bye to Joe and Johnny until next year?
That's okay J.D. I think it will take Johnny until next year to catch up on his missed sleep!
Who knew kids could be so tiring??

Bay Beach

After the museum on Tuesday morning the guys decided the rain had stopped enough to head to Bay Beach. So I stayed home with a napping J.D. and the boys headed to a soggy Bay Beach.

I don't think it bothered the little boys at all! They still had fun.

Hayden (above) was excited to see one of the little race cars painted like his favorite "Home Depot Number Twenty Joey Logano"!

Justus (above) on the airplanes...I always feel bad for the workers on this ride...those guns make an awful noise!
No trip to Bay Beach is complete without a ride on the train. I think Johnny was cold...is that your winter coat Johnny!?!
Wesley (above) loves the big swings. Uncle Johnny was brave enough to join him for the ride.

Eli (above) flying solo on the helicopters. If you look carefully you can see Uncle Joe and Hayden in the orange helicopter in the background.

Museum and Shown Boys

Tuesday morning we wanted to go to Bay Beach but the weather did not cooperate. It was dark, cold, and raining...not good Bay Beach weather!

So we headed to the Neville Museum instead. Despite their initial disappointment the boys had a good time. The main floor exhibit is currently about Spiders. The boys spent plenty of time checking it all out.

On the second floor (where the permanent exhibits are) we discovered Justus wasn't too fond of the fake woolly mammoth. Wesley, Eli, and Johnny weren't to scared to stand by it for a picture though!
Here is one of my favorite shots from last weekend. The Shown boys...all EIGHT of them!!
Thanks to the AZ Showns for the D-backs shirts!!

Memorial Day Parade

Here are a few pictures from the Memorial Day Parade. It was sunny but a bit breezy and cool. Perfect parade weather except for the wind. We saw all our usual parade favorites...fire trucks, the Piggly Wiggly car, the big bike, and of course Seroogy's! The boys got plenty of candy, well...except Eli who is a bit slower in the candy reflex department. Our friends Sara and Erin joined us for the fun.

The kids up on the bridge waiting for the parade to start

Eli in his "shades"

J.D. shows his patriotism

Waiting for some candy

Memorial Day/Birthday Party

Jerry's brothers were here for a visit over the Memorial Day weekend. Since we have a couple May birthdays we decided to roll it all into one big party Sunday evening. My mom, dad, sister and her family came to join us. We had a bunch of good food and a huge (delicious) cake!

It has become a tradition to play a few rounds of ladder golf with Uncle Joe. Everyone enjoys the game...both players and spectators.

Joe tosses flanked by two Johns

Johnny's turn

Roz is a ladder golf pro...
she took lessons in P.E. at school

Watching is almost as fun as playing

Cooper wishes he could play too

After we cleaned up the boys (big and little) headed down to the fireworks with snacks of popcorn, kettle corn, and Kool-aid. I stayed home with J.D., Abby stayed home with Cooper, and Roz was off with friends, so it was a van full of testosterone. Justus fell asleep on the short ride home he was so tired.

Celebrate De Pere

This weekend is Celebrate De Pere. Any of you guys going? Let me know if you plan on going to the festivities! I'll keep an eye out for you.

Fireworks are Sunday night just after it gets dark. We usually park and then sit by Foxview School on the corner of Broadway and Merrill, but they can be seen from anywhere down by the river in De Pere.

The parade starts at 10am on Monday and is always fun! As usual, Seroogy's will be throwing over 20,000 meltaways! If that doesn't convince you I don't know what will!! We always sit up on the bridge for the parade (usually close to the middle).

Looks like the weather will be perfect! Hope to see you there!!

A Welcoming Front Door

Everyone knows you should make your front door area warm and inviting so guests feel welcome right? Well, apparently my door is a little to welcoming...to birds anyway! We have robin trying to build a nest in the wreath on our front door. Early last week I noticed grass everywhere when I went out to get the mail but I thought it was the kids. Later in the week I noticed the partially built nest. Not wanting to have a protective mother on my front door I removed the nest materials from the wreath. And she rebuilt. And I removed. And...you guessed it...she built again. Persistent those robins! So yesterday I wasn't exactly surprised when I heard scratching by the front door again.
I took these pics quick before taking down the wreath for a few days. And wouldn't you know that darn robin flew right towards the open door as I was standing there taking these shots. We scared each other and she flew away! The last thing I need is a scared bird in my house!!

We love birds so it is a bit hard to kick them to the curb when we would love to watch them through the whole cycle of building, laying, etc. I hope she finishes building her nest somewhere close so we can observe...just not on my front door.
Speaking of nature type stuff, here are some "bleeding heart" flowers Wesley gave me. He picked them from the neighbors yard (with their permission). They've held up surprisingly well in the little vase I stuck them in. These flowers always make me think of my neighbor Maureen...she grew these in her yard. I had never seen them before living next door to her.

It Had to Be Done

Now, all you little curl lovers out there are going to be mad but it had to be done! J.D. finally got his first "big" haircut. His hair was starting to get hard to manage and tangled. I couldn't even tie on his bib without his hair getting in the way! And no son of mine is going to have a mullet so...it was time. Sigh.Admire the curls one last time...I'm not sure if they will grow back again or not...Eli and Hayden's never really did...but then again I don't really give them a chance.

Awww, curls...aren't they cute!?!

Okay, ready for the big reveal?? I'll say this...it sure does make him look like he's a big boy! Ready?


Here....


You....


Go....

See...he's still cute...even without the curls!!! And don't worry I saved a couple of the curls for his baby book!!!

Senior Ball

This weekend was the "Senior Ball". I don't understand all the unwritten rules but apparently prom is only for juniors (and their guests--who may or may not be seniors). So the seniors have a little something special but it's not prom! The seniors (and their guests--who may or may not be seniors) get together for a nice dinner followed by a dance. They also show a special senior video that was recorded over the past couple weeks.

Roz went with a group of friends before the festivities and took several group shots. I don't think she got them off her camera yet. Maybe I'll share those later, but I did get a few pictures of Roz before she left though.

Lovely Roz

Roz and Eli

Wesley, Roz, and Eli
(the other brothers refused to
participate in the photo shoot)

Roz and her friend Jeff--who is also a senior

Another interesting tradition that I never heard of is coming up soon..."A Night on the Field"...the seniors spend the night on the football field with all their friends and have a bon fire. The parents club supervises and provides food. I'm not sure what will happen if the weather doesn't cooperate. Also on the calendar besides graduation...final choir concert, senior class group picture, graduation practice, and Grad Bash--a big party following graduation, and...

the big AP Physics field trip to Six Flags is tomorrow (or today depending on when you read this!). Apparently Jerry is the only chaparone--besides the teachers! It should be interesting. Wesley told me that Jerry admitted his tummy "got the tickles" on the little ferris wheel at Bay Beach last year...so I'm curious what will happen on some real rides! I'll try and give you an update tomorrow.

Good Day

It's shaping up to be a good day over here at Casa de Shown. I ran to the only grocery store in our area that doubles coupons this morning and got almost $70 worth of food for $19!! A special thanks to those of you who give me your coupons! It is WORTH it!
Don't worry we eat a lot healthier than this! (Mostly!) This was just a quick run for deals...all the rest of the groceries (bread, fruit, veggies, etc.) were bought last night. You guys in AZ don't know how lucky you are to have so many stores that double coupons ALL the time!

We only have one store that does double coupons here. And the rules are ridiculous...you only get to double 5 coupons, on Wednesday, you must spend over $25, your first born male child must bag your order and there must be a full moon. Just kidding about those last two...but you see what I mean. Here's my post about it at GB Savers if you want to read more.

PLUS tonight is the BIG night. The LOST season finale. :) Originally, I was going to have to do some quick bedtime maneuvers since Jer and Roz were going to be on their way home from a Six Flags field trip, but the weather decided to cooperate act up a bit and they rescheduled the field trip for Monday. So it will just be me and the TV for a couple hours tonight minus the interruptions. The phone will be unplugged so don't even think about calling!

Check This Out

Finally some recognition for all my hard work! :)

Confused

Do your kids mess with your head? Mine do. When we clicked on our weather widget to check the temperature the other day we were shocked to see the temps for the first week in May! I know we live in Wisconsin and all but this is ridiculous! Lows in the single digits!?! Stupid thing must be broken!
Nope, someone* changed the temperatures from fahrenheit to celsius. I knew it felt warmer than that!


*When asked "Who messed with the computer?" It could have been any one of the following four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. You know like the joke where it ends up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!

May Menu

May Menu is now up for your viewing pleasure. Just click on the monthly menu tab above if you would like to see it. I hope you can see the planned meals through all the activities. This menu very subject to change!

The Eyes Have It

Eli has been wearing an eye patch for the past few months to help with his amblyopia (aka "lazy eye"). There are different types of "lazy" eyes. His does not wander or look off center like some (strabismus or exotropia). Amblyopia is a developmental (wiring) problem in the brain, not a problem with the structure of the eye. If caught early enough you can re-wire your brain properly.

He comes by it honestly. I had the same thing as a kid. It went undiagnosed and my dreams of Lasix were crushed a few years ago because of it. After age 6 or 7 your brain, alas, cannot be re-wired! Eli will probably always need glasses but we can improve his vision a good bit with the help of a patch. In fact, his vision in the bad eye has already improved from 20/60 to 20/30 in just a few short months.

Eli wears the eye patch for 2 hours, 5 days a week...and hates every second of it! The eye doctor originally recommended adhesive eye patches so there would be no peeking. So for the past several months that is what we have used exclusively. However, I think part of the reason Eli dislikes the patch so much is because his eye gets all wet and it hurts to peel the patch off when his time is up. Not to mention the fact that the patches cost about $7 for 20 and they just go in the garbage.

So after a little discussion the doctor showed me this patch that goes over the glasses. They wanted $12 for it and it had a purple butterfly on it so I passed. After looking it over though, I thought...I can make that! So thanks to the miracle that is Google and this tutorial, Eli now has his very own, reusable, over-the-lense, soft, handmade-with-love eye patch!
It took me about 5 minutes to make with felt I already had on hand! Easy and free...my two favorite words! And as you can see he really liked it! It proclaimed it was "cozy" like a "blanket" for his eye. When I asked him what he wanted on it for a little decoration he, of course, said a tornado. I suggested a letter E instead. These were simple to make and felt comes in a million colors so he can have several. I'm thinking I could get some cute iron on firetrucks or puppies or some other boyish item....or I think it would be funny to make one that looks like an eyeball!

And so it begins...

May is jam packed with stuff to do. We have hit the ground running! Well, not literally...I'm actually typing this in my pajamas...but you know what I mean. The calendar has very few blank squares...so if I'm not around here much you'll know why. I do need to get going on my monthly menu scheduling plenty of quick & easy or crockpot meals. I don't have time to stand around and think about what to make for dinner every night...so if you have any suggestions please let me know!