October here and gone...

Me and my hubby going into Lambeau Field!

Wow time sure flies! I can't believe October is almost over and November is right around the corner. Things have kept us busy the last few weeks. We have all been sick with the flu (influenza) and are now trying to stay healthy. The kids are getting ready for Halloween. We have been keeping up with our football team. Getting the basement project underway again (we finally had the egress window put in)....that is exciting! We went to another Packer game...we are just busy busy busy!

I woke the kids up the other day and while I was making breakfast I went into Sophia's room to find the two of them snuggled back in her bed reading books.....it was so cute!

Here are the kids getting ready for the Phantom football game!

Duke spelled his name on his easel...I just love how he did it backwards!

Duke and his classmates at their Halloween party! I love little kids in their costumes!

This was from a few months back...but I had to share! Duke at his first dentist appointment.

Funny Things!

So our week was a busy one. I did a lot of babysitting! We had five kids in our house a few times. I brought a lot of noise but we all survived! Which brings me to the story of Sophia and her cousin Reese. I bring Reese to school three times a week. Well normally she comes in takes her jacket off and plays, except last Monday. She kept her jacket on all morning. While I was helping Sophia pick out her cltohes Reese was playing with the barbies. Sophia picked out this green shirt that her grandma bought her, some jeans and I recommended a shirt to go underneath becasue it was so cold outside. After she was dressed I went to the kitchen to get breakfast done. The girls started giggling and came out....wearing the exact same outfit!! It was so funny.

Joe is a coach for our varsity football team. The kids love going to the games. It is such a big deal when the Phantoms play at home :) Well on Friday they didn't play at home and normally we don't get to see the game until it is on the news....until this night. Time Warner cable broadcasted the game from their website. So we pulled the website up on the computer, put the laptop on the floor and the kids watched the game. It was so funny!!!! They are huge Phantom fans :)

Well I am almost there!!! I am going back to school for Medical Transcription. I started this program last November. It has not been easy with three kids and Joe traveling so much for work. Well this weekend Joe took the three kids and the dog up north and gave me all of Saturday and most of Sunday to really dig into this medical terminology class. Well after twelve hours of studying and taking quizes I finally finished that class!!!! I now have one more left...medical transcription...and then I will be done with the program. I am going to push really hard to finish that class ASAP!!!!

Well here we are! These are some of the latest pictures of the kids that I had to share. Cameron has been into "working out" or doing pushups. It might have to do with being around the West DePere football team all the time! It is so funny to see my skinny ten year old "beef" up!!

Sophia had bring a friend to dance class last week and she chose to bring her friend Natalie Popp. The world is smaller than we realize..... Natalie's dad knows Joe from when Joe was about three years old. He apparently lived in Iron River a long time ago and they were friends. Natalie's dad moved down here a long time ago and now we live really close to them and our daughters are really good friends! It's a small world after all :)

Duke loves to play any sport possible. He lived outside all summer hitting balls over the fence to the neighbors house. So Joe finally put a piece of ply wood against our fence so he had farther to hit the ball and to stop him from hitting the balls over the fence. Well that worked for a few days! This is a video of him hitting and Papi fielding the ball. Those two did this all summer! Duke would hit and Papi would retrieve the ball and bring it back (well sometimes). It was fun to watch them...they are going to have to come up with something else now that summer is over.

Cameron working out!! This picture cracks me up :)

Sophia and her friend Natalie at "bring a friend to dance day"!!!

Count our Blessings!!

I just have to say I am thankful for my family! We have been blessed with three wonderful children and I am thankful for that every day. There was a horrible tragedy in Iron River this weekend and a family lost their 5 year old little boy. I feel so bad for this family and they have been in my thoughts ever since I heard of the accident. It just makes me realize when I think things are bad, they could be worse. I am counting my blessings today and will forever remember how lucky I am.

We had a good weekend. Joe put a lot of hours in at work last week and then had to drive to Iowa for some training class on Friday. So we laid low this weekend and just hung around. We did go to the Halloween store yesterday and the kids picked out their costumes. Cameron is going to wear a long chain and some funky glasses -- like a rapper (not sure I like this). Sophia is going to be pebbles the cat (she wanted to be a cat and we wanted her to dress up like pebbles so we compromised). Duke is going to be Bamm Bamm. I still have to figure out his costume but we found the cave man bat thing that will go with his costume. It should be cute and fun :) Today Joe went back to work and the kids are off to school. Me and Duke tried to go to the library this morning but I guess 8:40 am is too early, they don't open until 10:00!! Tonight is a big night of football....Packers vs. Vikings. Very exciting if you live in Green Bay!!

Time to start blogging again

I guess life has been busy lately! A lot has gone on since May. We had a summer filled with baseball, softball, swimming, and just hanging out! The kids have all started school. Cameron is in fifth grade, Sophia is in kindergarten, and Duke is in preschool. Cameron is doing awesome! He was chosen for good citizen (which is an award the teacher hands out to two students each month)! I am very proud of him :) Sophia had a rough start to kindergarten. It took her three weeks to figure out that everyting was going to be okay. She is now loving it and making great friends! Duke is a little hesitant still but he is enjoying his class. He doesn't cry anymore, he just tells me he is going to miss me and wishes I could stay!

He are now done with baseball until March. Cameron just finished up fall baseball. Sophia just started dance again and she is happy as ever to be back at that. She also has an interest for gymnastics so we are going to give that a try next summer. Duke is just busy being a boy! He enjoys his time with me at home and playing with his brother and sister when they get home from school. It is quite an adjustment for him to be alone.

What a busy, but fun weekend!

Well, we had a great but busy weekend. It all started on Friday night with Cam's first game in Door County at 6:30. They won that game and he played great! The next day consisted of games at 10 am, 4 pm, and 8 pm! The first game they won and Cam had a great game again. We then headed to Sturgeon Bay for lunch at Applebee's. I am sure we are still being talked about. We pile in with 8 families and a lot of kids. It was a zoo, but we all left fed and ready for the next game. Duke was riot...he never napped and ran all day. He was a tired boy!! Sophia ran as well, and she was exhausted by the end of the day. We left our house at 8:15 am and didn't get home until 10:30 pm Saturday night....it was a looong day :-) but worth it!! The next game was at 4 pm and with another win we were ready to move on and play at 8 pm. Cameron did an amazing job catching this game. The score was 1 - 0, we were ahead. That point was scored by Ryan who hit a home run. After many scoreless innings, Cameron made an a really good play and threw a kid out at second base, which brought our team up to bat. We had runners on first and second and Bryce was up to bat. He smashed the ball so far, it was awesome. He hit a home run which brought in three runs and they won the game 4 - 0, which gave them first place in the whole tourney ;-) We hung out with some wonderful friends on Saturday night and Sunday which was a great time!! Our refrigerator is having some major issues that we are trying to figure out and it isn't a fun thing to deal with. So now we are deciding what to do about that. And then on Sunday Cameron had a scrimmage against Ashwaubenon and took a smash to the face when he was involved in a pickle with his other teammate. He looks pretty rough today, but he is so tough and I am so proud of him :-) Well that is it for now!

Duke playing at the game in his uniform!
Sophia watching her brother

Cameron enjoying his candy bar before the final game!

This is his face right after he was hit.

This is his face last night after we got home. Today it looks even worse!

This was the sign that was nailed to the field the boys were playing on! It cracked me up enough I had to take a picture with the boys in the background playing!

Cameron, Sophia, and Duke after the final game on Saturday night!

Party on....

Well here I am with some updated pictures! Sophia graduated preschool! She was so cute. I was sad to see this chapter of life end. She had the most amazing teachers! I can't believe my little girl will be in kindergarten next year, every day all day :-( She also had her birthday party at Snips and Giggles, what a day for her. It was right up her alley! She loves sparkles and glam and all that girly stuff so this party was perfect! Cameron has been very busy with baseball. Between his baseball games and helping with the JV baseball team he is living, eating, and breathing baseball -- which is an awesome opportunity!! Duke has been very, very, very, very, very, energetic lately. He ran all day yesterday outside. He is such a boy!! We had a great time with family this weekend for the Cellcom half marathon which was awesome. They all did a fantastic job, and we are very proud of them.

Sophia, grandma, grandpa, and grandma Sally at her graduation

Mrs. Mary Jane, Sophia, and Mrs. Barb

Sophia and her class on their last field trip to the Dairy Farm -- she loved this field trip

Sophia was a pretend cow during on the of presentations. Here she is ready to be milked :-)

Cameron the batboy for the JV baseball team. They are having a team meeting after the game.

Cameron was coming back from the bathroom at the JV baseball game so I managed to snap a shot of him and Duke

Sophia getting her nails done at her party!

The girls dancing on stage at Snips and Giggles!

This weekend

Hey everyone,

Well it will be a fun weekend! We will start off the morning with Sophia's birthday party with her friends at Snips and Giggles (one of her favorite places to go). It should be a fun time. I will update with pictures tomorrow. Then right after that Cameron has his first scrimmage of the summer (yes he will play outside, yeah!!!) against Ashwaubenon at 11:00. I am very excited to watch him play.

The kids had a good week. Sophia is winding down her school days. She has only two weeks left, I can't believe it. Cameron was busy again with baseball. He is loving every minute he gets to spend with the JV baseball team. He had a really good practice on Wednesday. They also received their team jackets which are awesome. I will get a picture of him in it today :) He is one lucky kid!! Duke is just amuzed at putting his underpants on backwards. He likes to see the picture from the front, but I can't believe he wears them that way considering how particular with clothes he is.

I waited a long time to join facebook. Well I caved and joined a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe the people I have met up with. I had really good friends when I moved away from Arizona 15 years ago and I have reconnected with five of them. I am so happy! That is what my main purpose was when I joined facebook. I can't believe I am talked daily with the people who were such a big part of my life. It is so cool to see where they have been and where they are right now :-)

Last note....I watched Marley and Me last night, what a great movie. It is so funny how that movie mimics our life around here. Three kids, a crazy job, and trying to balance it all :-) I am a softy and cried at the end. If you haven't watched that movie I highly recommend it. Alright have a good weekend.

Oops, I have been slacking!!

Wow it has been a long time since I posted an update. Shame on me!! I guess life went and I followed and it has taken me this long to get my stuff together. Oh well! Anyway well we have had Easter, basement progress, and Sophia's fifth birthday since my last post. Yes my baby girl is five -- I can't believe it. It went by so fast. She grew up in a hurry. Here is her baby picture taken at Marquette General Hospital when she was born and we were almost ready to go home.

Sophia Paige Shovald 6 lbs. 15 oz. 19 1/2 inches long

....and here is she is five years later

45 lbs. 8 oz.

45 1/2 inches tall

Here she is showing off her birthday outfit :-) She loves tutu's


I took the kids to a place called Monkey Joe's a month or so back. It is an inflatable air place. They had a ball. This was their favorite thing. It is a 20 foot slide. They both climbed up 20 feet and slid down countless times.

Yes that little body up there is my Duker!!!

This is the basement with framed walls. We are getting there.

This was just before they were actually framing. They were figuring out how to

lay out each wall.

Easter pictures....

Duke decided to go hulk style. Yes this came off a few days later.

Sophia ready to dig in.

Cameron digging in.

Who needs spoons and those tools that come with the kits to get your eggs out of the cup,

just use your hand!

Things around here are busy as usual. Cameron is the bat boy for the JV baseball team and loving every minute of it. He has an absolute blast. Now his team in ready for summer ball. They will begin their tournaments this weekend with a scrimmage against Ashwaubenon. I'm excited :-) Sophia is all set for Kindergarten. She had her doctors appointment today, got four shots -- she cried at the last two, but man was she a trooper!!! She is getting ready for softball and swimming lessons. Duke is also going to take swimming lessons, that will be interesting! But it will give him something to look forward to everyday for three weeks. Joe is busy with work. He is ready for warm weather since he is outside every single day of the year. Poor guy I want warm weather for him as well. I am just running around with the kids getting them where they need to go every day! WE are ready for summer!!!!

One year already!!!

It has been one year since we moved into our new house. Wow did time fly. One year ago on Saturday we signed all the paper work and started moving in. We are so happy in this house. The neighborhood is wonderful and the house itself is awesome -- we couldn't ask for a better set up. I think that was the best birthday present ever. We bought this house and stayed for the first night on my birthday :-)

A very productive weekend

Wow!!! We had a great weekend. The basement has been offically framed :-) Yes we have a bedroom, a playroom, a bathroom, a family room, and some storage! There are a few things left to be framed, but over all I can visualize what it will look like finished! We are very excited. We had amazing help this weekend and we can't thank them enough. Joe, Mark, uncle Dane, Cory, and Rob did an amazing job! Thanks to all of you for everything you did this weekend.

I on the other hand said I would stay away from helping out in the basement and that is what I did. On Friday I took the kids to Monkey Joe's -- it is an inflatable air place in Appleton. The kids had so much fun. They ran and jumped until they were sweating and beat red in the face. They had an awesome time. I will update pictures later.

I also started a project on my own last week.....I started painting my kitchen. I finally figured out what color I wanted and bought the paint on Tuesday. I painted a little each day and finished it yesterday. I love it. It adds a splash of color and makes the kitchen feel comforting. The color I went with is a green/blue -- it is hard to explain. I will also update a picture later so you can all see the color I chose. The color of the kitchen is almost the same color as the font color I am using on this blog update!!

Our dog, Papi went to the Wagg Inn, a doggie hotel, Friday and Saturday. This was the first time he spent the night without us at our own house. I picked him up on Saturday and he was pretty quiet. When he got out of the car he started limping -- Joe was pretty nervous. Well he didn't move all evening. He layed in the garage and on the porch the entire evening. Which is absolutely abnormal for this dog. I brought him inside and put him on his blanket and looked at his paws, well they were raw and bleeding. At the hotel they have this room full of gravel (very fine gravel). They let the dogs run around in there and play. His paws are not used to that and so it cut up his feet and that is why he was limping. Ever time he would sit down in front of us he would hold out his paw, like he was telling us to look at it, I felt so bad for him. Needless to say he hasn't moved since Saturday. He will barely walk at all. We have to force him outside to go to the bathroom. He won't eat or drink -- he has had two bowls of water since I picked him up. I am going to call the vet today to see what to do. He keeps licking his paws so they are not getting any better. I hope he gets better soon. He just isn't himself :-( That was the only downer of the weekend.

Have a great week everyone!! Check back for updated pictures later.

WOW!!!

St. Patrick's Day is always fun. It is a special day because that is the day Cameron and I left the hospital after he was born. So I always recognize it as a very memorable day. So this year we made green pancakes -- the kids thought they were so good.

This is a green pancake the kids had for dinner on

St. Patrick's Day along with their green milk.

The fantastic five Shovald's!

The cake -- it is an ice cream cake and yes they messed up his name!!

Cameron, Duke, and Sophia being silly!

Cameron and his grandpa aka as his buddy :)

Holy cow does time fly!! I have some updates to report. Here we are almost a week has passed since Cameron's 10th birthday. I was going to update the morning of his birthday, but instead I felt the need to clean up the Atlantic Ocean that Papi left on the kitchen floor. Joe gave him a big bowl of water before bed and he released it on the kitchen floor early that morning (he was whining but I thought he was just ready for someone to play -- boy was I wrong. So my plans of updating were not going to happen.

So anyway......Cameron's birthday went great. We went out to eat at Old Chicago (his choice), and we loved it. The food was great :) When dinner was over the employees brought Cameron a chocolate chip cookie with a candle on it and they had the entire restaurant sing to him. I managed to get some of it on my camera -- I didn't realize what they were going to do until they started singing so I missed the beginning. He was very excited and took it pretty well. He had his little grin on his face -- it was so cute!!! I still can't believe he is 10 years old. He now has to remember to write two numbers for his age!!

Happy 10th Birthday Cameron!!

Just Around the Corner for Boys........

That is what the title read on a note Cameron brought home yesterday from school. Okay so anyone who has been reading my posts about Cameron turning 10 knows how not excited I am. Well this only made it worse!! Yes that is right, he will be having the talk at school. The name of the video is Just Around the Corner for Boys. The letter was informing us parents about what will be going on and then telling us we can preview the video first before we join our child for the video. I can't believe he is old enough to get this lesson. I don't know that I am ready for him to go through this. But, I better get my game on because he will ask many questions -- why?? because I have told him forever if he hears something that he doesn't understand or know what it is (from friends, at school, or wherever) to ask us and we will tell him. This is something I knew he would have to do, but now --- holy crap!

Aaahhhh.....

Yes that is a sigh of relief that the snow may go away soon!!! Why you might ask??? Well it is 7:30 p.m. and the sun went down not that long ago. We had another awful snow storm yesterday and today the sun was shining and the snow was MELTING quite quickly :-) We are sooo ready for summer -- or spring for that matter!!!!

Well we are down to 5 days until Cameron hits the big 10. Each and every day he reminds me how old he is. I don't want to believe it, but it is inevitable!

And so the count down is on.....

Well things have been pretty uneventful around here. Cameron finished his first season of indoor baseball on Tuesday. They finished 8 -0, they played really well. Next week they will start another indoor season, but this time they are playing in a 12 and under league (this last one was a 10 and under league). It will be interesting... I just hope there are no 12 year olds throwing balls 60+ miles an hour at my kids head!

Sophia has been working hard at her ballet. Her recital is the weekend after Memorial Day. This is something we look forward to all year. This year we will run into something we knew eventually we would have to deal with, but not this soon. We have our first conflict...Cameron has a tournament in Kenosha the same weekend as Sophia's recital. The way we look at this is Sophia only performes one time every year and Cameron plays tons of baseball. So we are still trying to figure out what to do. We have an idea, but we have to see if it will work.

Duke is enjoying his creative class on Friday's. He also loves being in his pajamas 24 hours a day. He was very excited to learn that today was pajama day at Cameron's school so he figured he was able to stay in his pajamas as well. So the kids wore their pajamas all day!!

And so the count down is on.....Cameron will hit the double digits in exactly 9 days. I can't believe he is going to be 10 years old. It seemed like just yesterday we were figuring out how to tell our family that I was pregnant. At the time little did we know what our life would hold as a family :-) Cameron has been such an awesome big brother lately. Sophia and Duke can't wait for him to come home just to see him. He takes very good care of his younger brother and sister. It is crazy to think we will have a son who is 10............

Duke's party and a winter storm

I am not sure if you can see the snow coming down in this picture, but this is the weather we are experiencing now. We can't even see out of windows now and we have seen purple lightening along with some thunder. I can't believe we are having such a horrible storm!!

Here is Duke with his cake. He had on a nice shirt and a pair of jeans, but it just wasn't quite right so he came out in his pajama pants and no shirt.

This is Duke on his third birthday. All he wanted to do was go to McDonald's to have breakfast and play in the playland. So we dropped Sophia off at school and went to McDonald's. He had some cinnamon rolls and an orage juice.

Well here is the cake I made for Duke's third birthday. We did a cars/baseball theme. This cake took forever, lots of trial and error, some tears, and many hours later here is the final product. A huge thanks goes out to my wonderful mother in law who helped me make this!! And to my husband for telling me it will all work out! My favorite part of the cake is the catcher -- It is Lightening McQueen with tires on his eyes -- well when I saw the car I had to buy it because it reminded me of Cameron -- he is a catcher and wears his rec specs (sports goggles) so it was perfect for the cake ;-)

Things Going On Around Here

Well of course we thought winter was over....boy were we wrong! We are suppose to get nailed tomorrow night with a huge storm that could bring us up to 10 inches of snow, maybe more! We had a taste of spring -- you know just enough for all of our grass to show -- just enough for the kids to get really excited to think that summer would be here the next day. Sophia was so excited, she was suppose to have a field trip to an envioronmental center where she would have had the opportunity to go snow shoeing, take a walk in the woods, and eat her cold lunch!! As a four year old eating a cold packed lunch is pretty exciting! Well we got a call from her teacher yesterday that they had to cancel the field trip because of the freezing rain we are having today. She cried!!! She was so sad. But they still get to pack a lunch and eat it at school, so that brought a smile to her face.

Duke has been enjoying playing board games the last few days. We have played trouble and hi-ho cherrio many, many times! It is funny how kids will put things together. As we were playing hi-ho cherrio, Duke says, "Auntie Thuzie brings cherries." I said to him yes she does. He says she brings lots of cherries. So I asked him what she brings the cherries in and he said...FROSTING! And then he proceeded to tell me it was his favorite snack!

Well the sickness in our house will never disappear! I went to the doctor yesterday and I have bronchitis along with a bunch of pulled muscles in my stomach and my neck from coughing so much and so hard. GRRRR......I am so tired of someone being sick in this house. I really wish summer would get here soon.

Alright well have a good day everyone!!

A good weekend!

Well we had a busy weekend! The weekend started out with Joe and his buddy going to Menards to purchase materials to finish our basement. When we bought our house we knew this had to be a priority to fit our family. So we have been here almost one year and it is time to get started. I will have no part in the building of the basement! It is my own fault or should I say my own stupidity. When we were figuring out how much material to buy Friday night (all he kept talking about was "studs") so I asked if a stud was a nail -- well it is not -- it is the 2x4 piece of wood that gets nailed to the wall. Therefore because I am blonde and I would be a hinderence to the project I will stick to picking out the color of paint :-) After the materials were loaded into the basement Joe could not wait to get started. We are very excited to get this project going -- it will be so fun to have more room to play! I took the kids to a movie at the school, we saw Space Buddies -- what a boring movie! After that we came home got ready and headed to our cousins house for a birthday party. We ate lots of food and had a great time visiting with our family!! Today we went to church, Cameron had baseball camp from 12:00 to 4:00, and Sophia and I went to my girlfriend Casey's house for a candle party. It was lots of fun! Now we are getting ready to put the kids to bed and I am preparing to take my midterm exam tonight. I will post some pictures of Duke's birthday party soon.

GOOD MORNING AUNTIE THUZIE!!!

Update

Well here are the pictures I said I would post of the kids outside.. Also Sophia had her very first dentist appointment last week, and she did very well. She was a great patient. I managed to sneek a few pictures while she was in the chair!

Duke turned three yesterday!! That was exciting. He is such a big boy now! All potty trained, loves to act like his big brother, and enjoys playing with Sophia (sometimes!!). He really has grown up in the past year, it is soo scary. I can't believe what a year did to him. I can't remember Cameron or Sophia growing up and changing into such a young boy or girl so fast. When people look at him they can't believe he is only three. He just seems so much older than that. Well last night we had cake and he opened his presents. He had no nap yesterday so he was pretty tired by the time we got to the party stuff. He was almost expression-less when he opened his gifts, but today he has been playing with them non stop! Enjoy the video and the pictures. By the way the picture of Duke with is red pajama pants on and Cameron's jock strap on, is a picture I took last night -- that is how he came out of his bedroom -- I guess he was ready to play baseball. Sorry it is sideways, but I put it on here before I rotated the picture and now I can't figure out how to delete it.