Miscellaneous

Emma lost her 7th tooth - bottom left.

I tell ya, the tooth fairy needs to get a second job to keep up.

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The South Carolina Shockley Clan came to visit us on Saturday and spend the night - all were happy that we set a record of 73 degrees that day so all 5 of the kiddo's could play their hearts out outside at the house and the park and the creeper trail! It was a great visit and either we will refer all to the other shockley link or wait till they send us copies of the pictures because they were way outtaking us and they had fantastic pictures! Thanks for coming guys - come back anytime, but at least once in the summer so you can experience "slip and slide"!

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Happy Anniversary to David and I - 7 years! How in the heck did that happen? I swear looking at the pictures of the past 9 years it was really just last year.

David had to work and I took the girls to the Johnson City Mall in Tennessee so #1 the girls could burn some of their xmas moola and more importantly #2 we could stop at SAHIB and get Indian take-out for anniversary dinner!

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Note to Grammy:

the girls both bought new boots with their moola!

Emma got some snazzy black ones with a plaid cuff and Hope got pink ones

many thanks!

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Last note:

I am going to bed now with a drink in hand, I invited one of their best buddies Jeni over for the afternoon today. When I asked her dad last week, I said maybe 2ish and i'd feed her and bring her back after... well, dad said he got off work at 5 could he come to dinner too?

Um, i was thinking of Mcd's... but no problem, dave was in the mood for a pot roast so all were happy with the result.

But the reason for my departure to bed, 3 girls........ 4 hours................ lots of screaming, lots of running up stairs - downstairs... I talked to david late in the afternoon, he said, go downstairs and let them play upstairs and don't worry about it - ignore them.

Well when dad got home and heard the cacophony, he was heard more than one time going to them and saying keep it down... good job ignoring them.

Merry Christmas to All.......

ok, working backwards here...
the day after christmas, Hope had a birthday party to go to -- Mom's didn't have to stay ( however, I was the only mom that left - what is WRONG with people ??? ) and Ashely's mother asked if it would be ok, they were going to do hair and nails and put a little streak of color in the girls hair... I said, sure - no problem, she's washable. and left with Emma to check out sales at Target and Old Navy.
We got back at 4pm and all the other mom's saw me and their eye's went wide... and smirked... i eventually picked this little girl out of the crowd. the fairest of them all - with pink rocker hair, eye jewel, makeup and nails. I thought the girls mom was going to faint when she saw me but i said again, she's washable, glad she had a great time! Little did Hope know at the time that we had to go to Kmart on the way home, that was an interesting trip to the store.

Below, is Emma on Christmas day - i had to get the shot of her in capri's and no shoes or sock, she was making mud meatballs...

fa la la la la, la la la la

where'z the snow?

Hope and Dad in the sand box on Christmas day


Emma got her Art Studio!

and more supplies for the studio

towards the end with lots of things and lots of tissue paper

more chaos

Emma found Grammy's present

hmm what's this?

Just the one eye says it all!

the girls making cookies for Santa

christmas eve pj's!

It's a Wii !!!!

Wonder what it is....

Lilly hangin' with isabella the bear

Fashion Show night

First Wii Casualty

Ok, the Shockley family got a "Wii" for Christmas from Memaw and G-daddy -- we have had it in the house, er, today would be the 3rd day... Dad played a game of bowling with Emma and with Hope, then it was my turn to play a game with each, all was well and time for bed for the kiddo's. So Mom kept on playing and I did some baseball then tried my hand at tennis. I was on my 3rd set when upon using my stellar back hand swing, smashed the overhead light in the downstairs.... shattering the outer bulb just like when dad and rachel did it years ago.
Whoops, Mom did it too, talk about taking the wind out of my sails for causing havoc in the house.
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I must note as well that whilst I was cleaning up my mess, it was gone unnoticed upstairs by dad and the girls because Emma pulled out ANOTHER TOOTH!!!!
What the heck? That's 7 teeth in 14 months!
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we were just kidding her, if it came out tomorrow - what would happen if the Tooth Fairy and Santa ran into each other in the house?
Pictures to follow

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3rd note before I retire, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to DADDIO!!
The girls decided on what to do - Hope's idea for present: Hug Emma's idea for present: take him to dinner. not too shabby for a birthday.

Mr. Shockley Goes to Washington...

ok, it's Hope and Emma in Washington DC

That's the Capital !

Dorothy's Ruby Slipper's

Roberto Clemente's Uniform

Didn't see Dad taking this picture, there I am pointing to Ipswich, Ma where I grew up.

Ok, Emma has lost 6 teeth to date, and one was lost in Savannah, one in traffic in the middle of NYC, and one in Washington DC!!! The tooth fairy is going to have some travel issues that may start affecting her tooth value if this keeps up.

The girls and the otters

at the Washington National Zoo -- did we mention that the Smithsonian and the Zoo were FREE??? We are definately coming back here!

Um, it's Hope, ok?

Elephants doing training

Ok, get this - we leave the "Ape House" and are walking to the next thing when Emma points up and say's look at the Gorilla!! They have these towers going from the ape house all over the zoo - and the gorilla's can go from tower to tower and get exercise and not be bored! apparently the platforms have a small electric charge to keep them from joining us on the ground!

If anyone has or has had a cat - this should be a familiar scene.

It was apparent the Tiger heard something inside and she initally stared into the door window - then she rolled on her belly being cuty - then she did what cats do best, pound on the door and stare at whoever is inside demanding food!

I have to give the girls major Kudo's for their behavior on Monday!

We walked for almost 4 hours and no one said a peep or asked to be carried, we ran and played all day then went from the cab to our beds for a nap promptly by 3pm. Then for dinner that night we went to a very nice italian restaurant. We walked in and I said wow to myself and the waiter looked at us saying wow to himself too i'm sure, two kids. But they were excellent and I was complimented by a couple leaving the place on how well they were in there! Not that I am surprised but it's nice when a totaly stranger tells you they appreciate your kids. Maybe we should of sat them with the congressman behind us.

Thanks to Dad for letting us mooch off his "training" and enjoy a trip to the big city and miss school for two days!

Props to Rachel

I needed to add this to the mix and give Rach the offical "Rand McNally Road Award"
During the thanksgiving holiday - we got Rach from Blacksburg and drove back to Abingdon - the next day we drove from Abingdon to Grove City, Oh - 2 days later Grove City back to Abingdon - next day we went to Roanoke, then back to Blackburg.... Whew, from Tuesday afternoon to Sunday afternoon - then, get this... on Wednesday of that week, Rachel's class went on a field trip... to the Barter Theather, in Abingdon VA!!! it was a day trip too!

Pics!

Working backwards - here we go - David was able to download our camera onto his work laptop

A birthday visit to Memaw !

The yearly picture of Rachel and Dad on the roof hanging Christmas lights

The Shockley Clan - at the Tolar's house - with the 26lb bird!

Again, we took several picture of the BIG BIRD

All the girls at the park in O-HI-O !

Rachie

The whole troup on the crazy playground

Rach and Erin

Shockley's at Church - the annual Christmas parade was a balmy 27 degrees with snow.

Find the Pope in the Pizza

or

a Smiley Face in the blueberry muffin!

Nov 21st - our Second SNOW day - it's going to be a long winter.

Emma had an evening of giggle

Hope ate a fruit roll up that tatoo's your tongue, it's an inchworm!

Glad to have gotten back to speed.

Status: Computer is offically deceased

So... this means I wont be able to post pictures for a while - I can update some at night since dad is so nice to bring home his work laptop so I can try and keep up.
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Recap:
Rachel -- got report card - all A's and one B ! How awesome is that? Has been reading real books without pictures and several hundred pages long. Ok, we went and saw Twilight and when we got home I gave her 'New Moon' and she's hooked. I'm just found the 3rd book and apparently the publishing house didn't think that after all these millions of girls and mom's saw the movie they would go and get the books to find out what happened next. I read them all already at from the library and have had to scrounge and after looking in Ohio, Roanoke, Bristol ... I finally found in this weirdo- newwave book store in downtown Abingdon book #3 and #4. Whew...........
Emma -- got mid-term report doing great. I know i've told most everyone this story but this is for record in later years too ... Emma is doing very good in spelling and is now in the accelerated spelling fastlane for 1st graders... she takes her spelling test that is normally on friday on monday and if she gets all the words right she gets a new list to work on during the week. So the first week she got all the words right // ie. for, four, gone, good.... and her NEW set of words was // Pilgrim, Autumn, Mayflower, November, Indian, Score, Sport.... talk about getting screwed for being smart!!! She did get a 100% on her accelerated spelling test and we hung it up on the wall. It's well deserved.
Hope -- who knows what is going on in her head! She loves school and all the kids seem to love seeing her, they all yell, "Hope's here!! " when we get to school. She is just like Emma and rachel and when she counts to 20 she omit's the number 16 or 17. She is doing better writing her name as H-o-p-e instead of e-p-o-h. She loves to sing at the top of her lungs and playing the air guitar! She was sooo into it the other night, after going to bed she was doing her guitar moves on the bed and flipped off onto her head. Thank goodness it's Shockley brand and she is ok.
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November flew by in a flash. Lots of time at church - school - work ... I worked the christmas craft show and dad took care of all the girls for the whole weekend, what a man!!!
As usual, we got to the 9th hour before deciding what to do on thanksgiving so I called a family meeting at breakfast before church the sunday before and asked what everyone wanted to do and it was unamious to go to OHIO and see the Tolars!!! We struck out on Weds am - took a little longer as we were beind one accident and a really really really slow traffic light, it was wonderful to see them and they seemed very happy to have friends in to visit with. Paige and I attacked the turkey feast early thrusday am - we were quite a team , then we hit the park to let all the girls run around like maniacs - then checked out the new church in Grove City, then back to check on the 26lb bird!!!! it came out perfect, it took David and Robert both to get it out of the oven. David is always handy to have as he is the gravy master !!! oh yeah, and the greenbean king! We headed out on friday and got home safely in on shockley piece.
We went into Roanoke to wish memaw a happy birthday and brought Rachel back to b/burg.
Whew... 5 whirlwind days.
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I will do my best to stay current with the latest, it's just not as fun without the pictures!!!

Computer...still...died

But I am NOT, not doing this from work...{tugs at collar nervously}...

Emma so diligently worked on this, upside down, on beanbag, so I really should make every effort to post.

D

Don't it figure...

The computer is still on the blink...
and I have pictures on the camera... the best one is a shot of Hope's tongue... yes, Hope's tongue - gotta be a story there.
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I noticed I forgot to point out Emma's report card - she got all "O's" outstanding and one "G" good for gym - and her teacher sent home a letter saying she was going to try her on the advanced spelling words too - she is reading chapter books in addition to the regular reading books. Not just pretty but wow!
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Rachie is doing well in school too - hasn't lost any points on her grade this week - lots of homework and lots of shenanigans - that's my girl!
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And Hope isn't receiving the class clown award ( yet ) I talked briefly to her teacher and she said that her personality in class is different than we see at church ( where she is crazy and acting like a "good mannered" lunatic ) - says she concentrates and pays attention and seems to enjoy school. Hopefully she will catch on to which are letters and which are numbers and it doesnt' bother me about her spelling her name EPOH...
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that's all i got - figured i'd get points for keeping up on what's going on even if you can't see the kiddo's.
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oh yeah, Hope was playing school with Emma when Emma told her to work on her math homework - and Hope was looking down at the paper and mutters " this sucks! "
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I'm doomed!

Ah Choo!!! Guszendtight

It's back to being crazy at the Shockley's.
It started last Thrusday - David got last minute tickets to see VaTech play Maryland Terp football. I wasn't up to the whirlwind trip - but an added bonus was that Emma and Hope got to go to Blacksburg with him and met Memaw and G-daddy who whisked them off for a sleepover!! Emma was SOOO excited, we were letting her miss day of school ( our school's were closed on monday for teacher workday and tuesday for election - so it was a nothing day to miss as all the test's were cancelled )
Have you noticed what this meant??? I was all ALONE thursday night and friday till it was time to go to b/burg and get Rachel and the little hoodlums!
The Terps lost the game but it was a great second half, so it was worth the trip...
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I got the girls and listened to 3 girls telling me all about their day/night/outfit/lunch/what the teacher said/did to her/and enjoyed the ride home my girls.
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I also saw the dust from the g/parents van.... it was uttered as they drove away that the little ones fell asleep around 11ish the night before - had been up since the crack of dawn and no nap was had! Lots of different food groups, popcorn, donuts, pretzels, and several cups of peaches ??? It all works out in the end. Hope made it till T - 10 minutes from the house before falling asleep.
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Not sure if Emma has had allergies or brought home a delightful cold from school - but I would venture that it's a nasty cold - since I have it - Hope has it - Dad had it briefly --- running out and buying stock in Scott Tissue would be a good idea about now.
Emma's on the mend, Hope is walling in er, well snot - and I would be too if not for the invention of DayQuill!
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Saturday - we pigged out on lots of bacon, eggs, biscuits and cool pancakes, made with cheese and bacon! gotta love Saturday mornings with family! Then we bundled up and ran to Enterprise to get the rental while the van goes in the shop ( de-deer the front ) the girls were thrilled at the thought of picking out a new car! we have a Dodge Caliber.... it works, kinda weird being down low but it's better than no car for a week. Dad and Rachel went to the Coomes Center and ran and played basketball, nothing like getting whopped by a 12 year old, er, dad whipped the kid - yeah right. We had an awesome dinner - played Trouble - layed around.
What a weekend, and we all were in bed by 9! It's been a big week. We even offered Rach the controller, the computer, all to herself and she said "g-night".
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Sunday - mum felt like a truck hit her, Dad fed me and sent me back to bed, he and the girls went to church and i rested up a bit. We hung out for a while then dad took Rach back early to have dinner together in b/burg - time together. I gave the girls a nap then headed to the movies to see ' Madagascar 2 ' ... 3 thumbs up!!
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I took some good pictures but our home computer is blink so I will catch up eventually.
I'll be adding the whatnot's at night on Daddio's laptop from work.

Fall Leaves

Not a bad way to spend the day off from school - Election Tuesday

Happy Election Day

Riding to the park on Saturday, Emma says: "I hope McCain is the new President"
Inquisitively, I say: "why is that?"
Emma: "Well, if Obama wins, Olivia and Sami are moving to Canada and I would miss them."
Kids, gotta start them early...

Trick or Jeesh.... is that Dad?

Don't knock on that door girls...

trick or treat

cuties....



um, that's really scary

diving into the loot

Hope, Emma and Tom

Dad, Emma's art project and the missing tip of his finger

Fun Dip - they still make that!?!

meeewow

Hopie the helper at Trunk or Treat

Dad and Hope and our trunk, at least the deer hit the front of the van

Since daylight savings hasn't hit yet - we took our time getting ready because it was still light at 6pm! It was time for the second round of trick or treating... Emma's school did Trunk or Treat earlier on Friday, so Emma got the treats and Hope and I handed out the tricks....

after dinner of Emma's favorite, Michelina's frozen macaroni and cheese - and Hope a frozen pepperoni pizza -- mum and dad had beer baked bratwustz...

David's boss Tom came with us - his family is in Minnasota and he was having kid withdrawl

a large haul was had by the girls - Emma conned me into 3 pieces before bed ( no chewy candy after all that dental work ! ) and the adults tried a sampling to make sure it was not tainted.