happy heart day

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was going to share with you some of the ridiculously random, super silly cards the kids and I (and one anonymous friend) made for the guys on my husbands det. 

I will say that there are some 'normal' cards in the bunch.....courtesy of Sarah. Actually, I made one appropriate card at the FRG meeting-- which is where the idea for homemade valentines for the deployed guys originated.

So, my thought process was this: I bet a good portion of guys aren't huge fans of Valentine's Day, and the ones that have significant others probably don't care much about cards, they just want to be with the one they love. So, I figured silly was okay, because a laugh is just a vocal smile, right? (This thought is usually what gets me in trouble.)

As it turns out, my kids get more genetic material from me than I realized. Tyler and Kaiti's cards were just as silly as some of the ones I made.

So, here are some pictures of a few of the cards we made. I am thinking about getting some girls together and doing something similar for Easter.

Kaiti did this one all by herself!

that's all. she just wanted them to know. and apparently, upside down peace on a necklace.

she cut out those hearts all by herself for a cutie pei.

that's right, son. enough of this love junk- just bEEt 'dem bad guys!

that is the USS Bainbridge, in case you were wondering.

by my anonymous friend!

that's what their ship looks like, right? 

we ran out of Valentine's Day stickers after the 3rd card. And we had 16 to make.

Bon Jovi is ALWAYS a winner. He's right up there with Confucius.

at second glance, this is definitely missing something. perhaps another portrait of the Bainbridge. darn it.

did you know that Navy guys really dig Bette Midler? No? Well, they do.

okay, so this one is more legit.

it's a valid question

this one was a joint creation. and apparently my son is dropping the L in our last name. and on the left it says 'Come Back Safly'

Tyler's cards had to be a little more manly. 

haha. well, who doesn't want to hear THAT? he get's an A+ for incorporating random stickers.

this one was for my hubby :)

well, I'm not.

Kaiti's card for her daddy

I have no idea, but it is 'I heart the bull'.

again with the hi. it's a fair introduction.

isn't he sweet!

so it started great

but then..... she was worried they would think the sticker was real gold, so she wrote 'this is pretend' in kaiti.

I wasn't sure the smiley face would speak for itself, so just in case, good ol' parentheses.

Just some helpful tips and some touching song lyrics.

again, great way to work in random stickers.

totally manly valentine!

"Hi. Win. from Tyler Nelson."

playing headbandz with my kiddos

We have had QUITE the week. 1 case of strep throat, 1 respiratory infection, 2 z-packs, 2 bottles of prednisone, 3 inhalers, 3 kids with fever, 2 nights of vomiting, no water to our house for 2 days, a $400 plumber bill, and all sorts of other fun things have made this week one I am glad to put behind me. With 4 sick kids, I have run out of ways to entertain them. So I took this video during our (I am not exaggerating here) 11th consecutive game of Headbandz. Pardon my funny voice and the coughing fit from Kaiti. Oh, and it is long, but worth it to get to the sparkly part.

Happy 6th Birthday Beautiful Girl!!!

I get by with a little help from my friends

I know I am probably starting to sound like a broken record on this here blog, but you guys----- I have AMAZING friends.  There are days when I feel overwhelmed and stressed and frustrated and want to just be a kid and push the responsibilities onto someone else's lap. And then, He sends a friend.

Like today. Tomorrow is Kaiti's birthday and I decided I would not be able to throw her the typical party we do- it would be too overwhelming for me this early on in the deployment. So, I followed the suggestions of friends and made it a girl day with Kaiti (and Evie, because the girl is refusing to take a bottle.) We got our nails done, went shopping, and then got Kaiti her FIRST real haircut. She reveled in the mommy daughter time, and really, I did, too. We have Lindsay and Steven to thank for this-- they offered to keep the boys for me while we did girl things. The boys had a great time and played with Lucas (and Steven) for hours-- Tyler said it was his favorite Sunday. I am so grateful for the Graysons! They have been such great friends to me and have come to my rescue more times than I can count!!

her birthday haircut

and some presents from grandma!

And this. I got an email from a friend a couple days ago, and literally was so touched, I got teary. I won't say his name because I'm not sure he'd want me bragging on him, but an AW Jeremiah worked with at HS-15 sent me an email letting me know he was here for me. Here it is:

Good evening Shannon and Nelson clan........

I'm writing you in hopes that you and your family are in good health and good spirits. One thing I will say is that your blog is truly outragous and funny. 

I want to offer my services of a strong back, hard worker, and handy man(remember, I am an AW, so nothing requiring math) skills to you and your family. I don't know what system you have in place or if you in fact need me. 

Jeremiah is considered a dear friend to me and so I offer humbly and with "hat in hand".


This guy, who himself has to leave his family often and works long, hard hours when he is not deployed, offered to take some time away from his family to help me out, should I need him. It makes me feel very cared for and so blessed to have friends that think of my family. So B-- thank you times a gazillion-- Jeremiah and I appreciate your kindness more than we can express!!! (I tell you what, the HS-15 aircrew shop was full of some pretty amazing people!!!) 


I am counting my blessings today, and I've run out of fingers and toes.  Now I've got to finish up Kaiti's 6th birthday video and bake 3 dozen rainbow cupcakes, per the birthday girl! Until tomorrow.

{loved little lady}

"what's your emergency"

What went down tonight.

Phone rings, baby on hip, rushing to find a phone, I grab one, check caller ID and see that it is a city number.

The caller: "This is Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, what is your emergency?"
Me: "What? What emergency?" (for a moment I'm confused and thinking she is calling to tell me something happened)
The caller: "Ma'am, this is Jacksonville Fire and Rescue. Is there an emergency?"
Me: "Uh, an emergency? No, no, I don't think there is. Why? Is there?" (Still confused, and kinda freaked out)
The caller: "Ma'am, we just received a 911 call from your residence, heard some noise and the line was disconnected. Is everyone okay?"
Me: "What? From my phone number? I don't think anyo------"
**I look up and see Jack coming down the hall with the other phone in his hand**
Me: "I am so sorry, I think my 2-year-old must have dialed. I am really sorry."
The caller: "That's okay, just glad to know you don't need our help. Have a nice night."

Three children in, and he is my FIRST to call 911. At the tender age of 2. So the call from Jacksonville Fire and Rescue- that was a first for me.

Also, on our lists of firsts today.... Jack spilled a brand new full bottle of Tide all over my laundry room floor. I was standing right next to him during the Tide mishap.

Just a little bit before that, while I was emailing with my husband, he mashed up my deodorant, mixed it with water and put it all over his Daddy's nightstand, making a weird white mold that I had to use a scraper to peel off.

Sooooooooooo.........how was your day?????

I should be sleeping.

I am writing down the center of my blog today. I think it's because I really want to chop my hair off, but I won't, so instead, this is my rebellion. 

Do men do this? Go through hair-cut cravings, I mean, not aligning their writing down the center. Do men get urges to change something, to do something different with themselves? Or is that specific to women? 

I wonder about things like that. 

I wonder why when I braid my hair it suddenly looks 6 inches shorter, but when I braid my daughter's hair it's more accurate to her actual length. I wonder why I wanted to say indicative in that sentence, but I didn't, and now I regret it. Regret is too strong. Not regret. But I am still thinking about it.

I wonder how everyone else can apply mascara without getting it all over their eyelids. If you have seen me put mascara on you would understand this. 

I wonder how 3 of my 4 children got blue eyes when my eyes are hazel, and I come from two brown-eyed parents. 

I wonder what I would look like with bangs. I wonder what Sinead O'Connor would look like with bangs. Well, I didn't before, I was just being silly, but now I am trying to picture it.

I wonder if my husband and the guys he is deployed with talk about their wives and their families, or if they stick to talk of football, helicopters, beef jerky, and inappropriate jokes. Or do they grow out of that?

I wonder why young girls think Justin Bieber's haircut is hot. I wonder why grown women think that guy from the Twilight movies is hot. And I wonder why more women do not find Ed Harris so yummy.

I wonder if Nutella is really as great as it's cracked up to be. And then, wouldn't it be more like a treat than a bread topping? And I am not sure about the idea of chocolatey peanut butter on bread. You lost me at bread.

I wonder why killer bees repeatedly find me in my dreams. And where did I even get that from? MacGyver, maybe? Was there an episode with killer bees? It's weird.

I wonder why North Floridians do not appreciate the smoothie as much as Californians. My life is lacking without my Citrus Squeeze from Jamba Juice. 

I wonder why the cough syrup I took has me more wired than tired. I wonder where I left my bag of cough drops. 

That's about all I am wondering right now. Goodnight.

I heart this girl so much

Evie is 7 months  and 3 days old.

She got her first tooth yesterday. At least, I think that teeny white ridged think poking out of her gums is a tooth. Whatever it is, she's not a fan.

Today she weighed in at 19.6 lbs, and is measuring 27 inches long! She talks and laughs and yells and squeals.

She is sitting and pulling to stand, but doesn't care much for rolling. She rocks on all fours, but then gets frustrated and just tries to stand again.

She is one heck of a sleep fighter. She loves to be cuddled. She laughs when I laugh. And she loves to make silly faces. See.

Her eyes are still a beautiful blue, and her smile still stops my heart.

Our fourth child, our second daughter, our Everleigh Diane. I am over the moon for this girl. It is not lost on me for one single minute how blessed we are to have 4 little sweethearts to love and kiss on.