Jack now can plug in things

What do these two pictures have in common? Well, Jack now knows how to plug things in...like the iron!! I guess we will be doing a little carpet repair! When I found the iron face down on the carpet I hollared, "Jackson Harris!!"!! He came running and saw me sitting on the floor. He smiled really big, began to pat my back and said, "I sa wee (sorry) mommy." Little stinker!

A tidy and organized house...

is a sign of a mind at peace. My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, posted a blog about a clean house being a wasted life and most of the time I disagree with that statement, even though I LOVE Elizabeth (and being at her house)! By now you have seen the following picture and you must be asking yourself, "What in the world!?!" Clayton had a few friends over last night. They played hard as you can see. Caleb and Shannon spent the night last night and they all had the best time. I didn't have anywhere for all of them to sleep and then I had the genius idea of turning them sideways on the bed so they could sleep side by side. It only took them about 45 minutes to settle down and get to sleep. I woke up at 2:30 this morning and went in to check on them. They were all so sweetly sleeping, without any covers. I covered them up and noticed Clayton was holding Shannon's hair...how funny!! Sorry Jeremy and Lauren, but he loves her hair!
Breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs and chocolate milk...yummie!
Now Clayton and Caleb are in the shower. Caleb is singing LOUD and Clayton is laughing hysterically. Shannon will take a bath next...by herself. I asked her if she wanted to do something "girly" while the boys were showering and she looked at me like I was crazy. She is playing with all the Power Rangers and Transformers in Clayton's room while the boys shower.
Oh, and since everything is out of Clayton's closet it will be the perfect opportunity to organize and clean Clayton's closet. Fun times ahead!!

Clayton's trip to the doctor

Clayton has had a cough for about two weeks. We think it is keeping him up at night, thus making him tired in the morning...forcing him to say things like this, "School and big church are the same. They are both boring and I don't learn anything!" Again...tired. We are praying through this...but I still had to laugh on the inside.
Since this little cough has been going on for two weeks we decided he needed to go to the doctor. The nurse came in for her usual preliminary stuff. Keep in mind that he has not been to the doctor since January. This is how the conversation went...

Nurse to me: Has he been running a fever?
Me: no.
Nurse to me: You're right. He doesn't have a fever.
Nurse to me: How long has this been going on?
Me: About two weeks.
Nurse to me: Is Clayton allergic to anything?
Clayton interrupting quickly: Shots. Yes, shots. They hurt really bad and I don't like them!
Nurse: (Laughing) Okay, I will make a note of that for Dr. Minor.

Hehehehehehehehe!! He may look that Fred, but that is trademark Jennifer Merwin...Shackelford!! Makes me proud!!

Clayton's second day

In posting this little story I am simply trying to keep from having to repeat it eight times, not to give Clayton a pat on the back (even though I am proud of him)...
Last night I made pumpkin muffins so breakfast would be ready this morning. The boys got up and ate and then Clayton put on his backpack. He asked me what was in his backpack and I told him his folder was in there with his lunch money inside. He then asked me why he had to have lunch money. I told him we had to pay for the food he ate at school for lunch. Then he said, "Mommy, could we take some muffins to the ladies in the lunch room? They worked really hard yesterday getting my lunch ready and we haven't taken them anything yet." Needless to say I began packing up all the muffins and quickly attached a note. He was so proud when we took them into the cafeteria. I was tyring to fight back tears!!

First day of Kindergarten

Clayton woke up with the sweetest smile on his face this morning! He jumped out of bed, got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed his teeth and put on his backpack. He was ready to go! I thought I was going to be sad, but as we headed down the hall I heard a child crying, no wailing, because he didn't want to leave his parents. Any bit of sadness I had was wiped away and replaced with relief. I was so thankful Clayton was excited and not crying! He's going to have a great year!

What does it take to go to kindergarten???

...apparently, a lot!!!!!(You can't tell from the picture, but they know his name is not Clayton Mitchell. His last name is written in small letters beside his first name. Mitchell is his teacher's name. He has to wear this name tag everyday so people will know where he belongs.)

PARIS SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
STUDENT SUPPLY LIST
2008-09

W.G. RHEA SCHOOL

KINDERGARTEN
8 glue sticks
1 pair metal scissors
1 package small plain pencils
6 boxes crayons (basic colors)
1 bottle glue
2 folders with pockets
1 box gallon size zipper bags
1 box quart zipper bags
1 box sandwich bags
1 large backpack
1 towel for rest time
3 boxes tissue
2 large bottles hand sanitizer
1 large package baby wipes

Check, check and double check...We have it all packed. Our clothes are laid out and our camera batteries are charged. Kindergarten here we come...

Oh, and I failed to mention that he is supposed to know all his letters, how to count to 50, his address, his phone number, his parents names (believe it or not this was the hardest) and how to spell his name. He will also have to each lunch at a table with 60 other kiddos. Hopefully his ketchup needs will be met!!

Happy Birthday Clayton!

We had Clayton's party last weekend,but on his "real" birthday Mun, Janice and Mimi came to town to help us celebrate. Mun treated us all to lunch at Burger King...Clayton's choice. Here are a few pictures from the day. Jack would not look at the camera. He was a bit distracted by the cake!!
As usual, Jack took a lick of the cake before we could get to him...classic Jack!

Henry County Fair

That's right, it's time for the fair in Henry County!! We left our house with the O'Neals and walked to the fair the other night. The kiddos (and adults) rode some rides. I love the looks on Jack and Katelyns face...priceless. I think Jack loved it!

Typical of a county fair they had all kinds of contests. We entered a picture of each boy in the photo contest. Jack's picture won best smile! Elizabeth took the picture, (did I mention she is now a photographer for hire? Check out her website here.) but we thought you might like to see the display.

A week full of firsts and lasts

This is a big week at the Shackelford house. Clayton will meet his kindergarten teacher tomorrow and he will turn five!! He will start school Tuesday, August 12th. Each school day starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m. He will no longer be at home during the day with me and Jack (sniff, sob, sniff). Ever since we moved here, when Clayton was about 14 months old, we have had lunch with JerryPatsy (as Jack calls them...Jerry and Patsy to the rest of us) each Wednesday at Dairy Delight. We have missed a few weeks here and there, but not many. Patsy and I set our time to meet this morning and it dawned on me that today would be Clayton's last day to eat lunch with us (sniff, sob, sniff). I took my camera to document this important day in the life of our family.
This is Ms. Rose. She has been at Dairy Delight since we started going in 2004. She was out for about six weeks with a shoulder injury, but we have seen her almost every week. Ms. Sharon is usually there as well, but she wasn't working at lunch today so we didn't get our picture with her. Recently, Ms. Rose and Ms. Sharon shared with me that they couldn't believe Clayton was starting school. Ms. Sharon said, I remember when you guys first started coming and Clayton was so little. He would rub his greasy fingers all over our clean windows. It would make us so mad. Now we know that little boy by name and know what he's going to order before he says it. We have really grown to love him. Are you sure he's going to kindergarten? It just doesn't seem possible!

Happy Birthday, Fred!!

Fred's birthday is Monday, August 4th. I asked him about a week ago if he would like for me to get a friend party (as my friend Beth calls it) together for him. He thought that would be a great idea. About five days ago I organized this little get together and we were all able (minus one couple) to coordinate schedules and rendezvous for Fred's birthday. We all met at Beck's Oyster Bar to have dinner and then headed to our house for dessert and a little Wii time. It was such a fun night! God has truly blessed us with an amazing group of friends! Beth and Adrian Herrod in their prom pose... Billy and Erica Mauldin (who just happened to be in Paris for the day)...
Jeremy and Lauren O'Neal...

Corey and Melody Cain...
Stan and Stephanie Dunagan...Me and the Birthday Boy!!...