Selling our baby!

Selling our baby!! No we are not selling baby Mark... it's the baby we have worked on for the last 3 years... YES! I know it needs to be painted, but we can't seem to climb that ladder... IT IS A TALL behemoth! Anyhow, it will be painted in the coming weeks. Soooo, we just had it listed today in order to buy our adored Victorian. And I must say the outside does not lend any style to what we have completed on the inside. Paul & I have enjoyed the work we have been able to do on the house over the last 3 years and thought we could share some peeks from the listing. Click here to check out the touches we have left on this home.

A New Chapter

Well we have clearly jumped off the deep end here and provided you, along with ourselves, an enticing twist in the Shoup Story. After visiting a friend here in town, just two doors down this beautiful Victorian caught my eye. And I thought... hmmm... what would I do with a house like that? Well after feeding my cravings for design by looking up the realtor and the pictures of this large beauty, we ventured off to look at it. Then, we ventured back to look again... and again. And now, we are in escrow to buy this beauty. Oh the things I could tell you about this house... let's just say it is HUGE, its like a wonderland... and hopefully in 60 days it will be The Shoup's Wonderland. Now, I will have to pay more attention over at the Nesting Place blog to get my ducks in a row... or should I say my wing back chairs in a row. Oh I am completely tickled! Click here to check out the digs to this house...


Another point to this fine day and this story is... the current owner of our future abode. After walking through the house I noticed some tropical touches, and endless seasonal place settings (obviously someone who cooks and entertains often)... and then the face and the cover of one of our family's favorite recipe books. Naam Priutt! ...and her book Lemongrass & Limes. In fact, it was in the sun room off of the master suite that our dear friend and realtor Amber just nonchalantly mentioned that this is where she writes her recipes. Now we all know I will not be carrying any torch to writing recipes... but any that know us, know that Paul's taste buds must be peaked and quenched with new foods regularly. So since we moved here in April 2006 and received this book as a gift as a housewarming gift... we have experienced Thai food regularly and we have been amazed at how simply extravagant this food does seem. Those two words 'simply extravagant' are an oxymoron in a sense, but truly it is fairly simple to find, purchase and prepare these foods, yet the experience of dining with them is a much more extravagant experience. ... oh, and surprisingly filling as well. Now I won' t be cutting up my fruits into extravagant shapes and features. But this book does offer a variety of meal courses and entertaining tips to prepare and carry off a splendid Thai dining experience.

Now, if only I could meet her this weekend at her rummage sale!

A Sunday evening...

It was a relaxing Sunday evening... and then Mom got a wild hair to go to the park to take a 'walk' with camera in tow of course. Well the fountain was a beautiful spot, until... I mentioned the park. So there go the girls running to find the nearest slide and swing... while Mama admires the daisies at sunset. I could here this deep belly laugh throughout the park... only after I peered around this massive oak tree and low and behold Paul is swinging Sara Kate to high heaven and she was taking in every bit of it with a belly of a laugh. At that point it was just about time to go home... and then, Sara Kate saw the carousel. So we had ourselves a ride... though Hannah seemed more comfortable gripping my shirt than the horse... it does spin a bit fast I must say. At last, off the to truck... but not before Mom turned back for one last look. It was a splendid evening. Now everyone is tucked in bed... but wait, I hear tiptoeing, who turned the light on and what's that pecking? Oh it's just Mama on the computer playing with her pictures. Okay... good night everyone!





Thanks for stopping to visit...

Sitting pretty...well, pretty handsome

At 7 weeks old, our little man is stealing the stage as the family beauty. I have grown to call him my baby boy with all the sappiness and adornment one mother can muster. It almost seems as though he is trying to talk to us when he uses every bit of energy to make such a small sound. But it truly is the biggest and best sound in the world to his mama. Daddy and Mama, and sisters are so terribly proud of our baby boy!

Sara Kate...blooming before our eyes...

Paul and I took the girls on a walk through the park this evening and we couldn't help but notice that Sara Kate has grown up before our eyes over the past two months. It is easier to see when she has a baby brother to compare her to, but truly she has shot up and bloomed and it wasn't until we saw these pictures that we saw it in our little girl.

SCRAPT

Here are a few layouts I was able to put together this last week while Paul was gone in Kentucky. I suppose this is all that gets accomplished when left to my own devices. (Note: The children were not harmed nor neglected in the making of these pages.) But all is well now that Daddy is home. We love you all... and baby Mark sends his coo's and ahhh's.

Live happy... and decorate

Well this was a simple job... I have this beautiful picture frame I bought for $10. I planned to take the original picture out and replace it with something more personal... but the blasted thing is so big, I either couldn't find the right size or the right print for our room. So this was my solution... park it on Paul's dresser... whatdya think?!

It has been a happy morning here at home... the girls continue to be Mark's best fans and cheerleaders. It doens't matter if I am changing his diaper, if he is crying or if I am feeding him the girls just want to cuddle and coo at him. We are enjoying some 80's music while the girls dance in the hallway and Mark looks on at them. This is definitely a living happy moment!!

I have more scraps coming... come back soon!!

I've Been TAGGED!

So my girlie friend Tara tagged me months ago and I have been staring at this list on my desk for months… so here we go!

10 years ago I was:
Graduating high school, working for UPS and just crushed by a boy… then mommy bought me a new car!!

5 Things on my To-Do list Today:
1. get the netflix from the mailbox
2. create our book list for school
3. hunt down the UPS man
4. dishes, vacuum dining room, fold and put away white clothes, water the garden
5. take Hannah to karate

5 Things I would do if I became a Billionaire:
1. give a large sum to family and take grandparents to Europe
2. design and build a house for us and our extended family
3. start my own company
4. get and PAY FOR my bachelors and master in education
5. travel

5 items near me:
1. my camera (always!)
2. Milano cookies
3. scrapbook paper (and scrap supplies) galore!
4. jordan almonds
5. diet cream soda

3 of my bad habits:
1. yelling
2. going to bed late... so therefore getting up late
3. being selfish with my time

5 places I've Lived:
1. Central Missouri
2. Rialto, CA
3. Riverside, CA
4. Topeka, KS
5. Independence, KS

5 places I want to visit:
1. Louisiana/Mississippi antebellum homes
2. Oregon coast
3. Machu Pichu
4. Ruins in Central America
5. Palmyra, NY

5 vital people to my life: ...okay eight people then...
1. hubby Paul
2. our children (they're a package deal)
3. my mom & mom-in-law (this is ying & yang here)
4. my grandmother
5. my sister-in-law BRIDGET

5 places I've worked:
1. Kountry Folks Restaurant- as a hostess
2. Albertsons- bagging groceries
3. UPS-loading airplanes, and loading packages
4. Franklin Covey- sales associate
5. Stampin Up demonstrator

Something most people don't know about me:
I am 75% hermit, and 25% crab.

Thanks Tara, this was a lot of fun!

Quiz Time... What movie...?

"Don't you just love New York in the fall? If I knew your name and address, I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils." What movie is this? Now for the prize... if you know the answer I will send a RAK of scraps to the one who obsesses over this movie as much as I.

Man I could sit and watch this repeatedly in anticipation of the coming season! I must say this line always comes to my mind when I am anticipating autumn time. Okay, I will be the one to say it, summer is overrated. Besides the Fourth of July there isn't much to shoot for during the summer out here in the outskirts of Oz. I mean even on the Fourth of July life is haphazard... I live a block away from the fire department... no one was getting any sleep on this block. Then there is me... Wal-Mart started their seasonal sale of crayons, pencils and glue sticks this week and I was like a kid in a candy store... so bring on the school frenzied sales and the beginning of fall leaves. NOW, those are some picturesque scenes I tell you! I am ready for the end of summer... and anticipating the quiet time with my girls on the couch reading, making paper mache planets, dioramas of world geography, adding endless numbers with the abacus, our own mummified potatoes reminiscent of ancient Egypt, towering piles of library books, and lists of Latin root words. I am just tickled to make our book list this week as I thumb through all the books trying to decide what is first, next and last... just wishing we could read them all at the same time. (More this week... on our family homeschool schedule.) I must say... as it seems quite obvious... pull the shade on summer ya'll , grab a book and enjoy the cool and crisp breezes of fall!

Figured out that movie yet?! Let me know with your contact info as well...

Thanks for stepping into our storybook here... (((HUGS)))

SCRAPT

Here are a few more tidbits to add to our family story. This first layout is from the infamous Neewollah festivities that our town has put on for 100 years now. Neewollah is Halloween spelled backwards, and it began in order to keep the misfits from tearing this town apart. It is complete with onion blossoms, fried turkey legs, and a personal favorite fried candy bars... not to discount the classic cotton candy and candied apple lovers. The parade is like the cherry on top to the food, music, plays, contests and fair complete with ferris wheel... and all this just two blocks from our house. Paul was lucky enough to join other Amazon.com associates on the float for the parade. Here you can see Hannah with Daddy waving to mommy... well Hannah saw her friends before she ever saw mommy (and the camera.) To this day, she still says I saw Abbie and Carter... mommy where were you. Well as you can see I was amongst the crowd clamoring to get a picture of Hannah's day with Daddy and Amazon.com. The second layout here is baby Mark's new fan club of grandma's. My mother and Grandma (and Grandpa) were lucky enough to make it here to visit Mark. We celebrated with the telling of my favorite stories... Great-Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Hawkins (my mom) reliving their childhoods for us with some classic tales. I will never get my fill of old family stories!!

Thanks for visiting us here ya'll!

Look-a-likes

Golly gee who do we have here?! I was doing a scrapbook page today with the first picture here of Sara Kate... and Hannah says, "that looks like Daddy." My thought was, well... Daddy has a shaved head (perfectly formed I might add) with glasses... so she must be delirious to think this little girl looks like Daddy. I just dismissed the mention for the moment (never bother me with oddball facts when I am scrapbooking)... and then 30 minutes later I jumped up to get something out of the cabinet and I found this second picture pinned on a board above the cabinet... it's of Paul... which happens to be a favorite of mine. I finally found the proof... I always said you would love good as a girl honey!!

Hannah SCRAPT

This is a layout that came together easily this Sunday afternoon. I already had the pages pieced together, it was simply a matter of plugging in the pictures. I did this while watching the movie 'Bella', which was quite good, a simple sort of good. Now, I am off to make this baby boy sparkle in a bath of bubbles. More soon!

ME Scrapt

I have never ventured to create a layout of myself. I am feeling a bit sheepish for doing it. So have mercy!! But with having a baby recently, being married almost ten years (more like 8 years), and almost 30 years old (more like 28)... I have felt like our lives and our family have turned a big corner in the last year. And I do feel it is so very vital that our children know and remember us, not just when their grown and we're past our prime. But for them to look back and remember us as women, friends, and sister and daughters ourselves. Because in 20 or 30 years honey, I ain't gonna look like this no more! (If you want to enlarge the layout, click on the layout, it will open up in a new window.)

As a bonus, I got the inspiration for this layout from two sources. The Memory Makers cover layout for August 2008, and my dear friend Brook Stewart with her 'Summer Hair' layout. Thanks love!!

Well now, its a Sunday afternoon and my dear Paul has flown the coup to Kentucky to help at another Amazon.com facility. We are so proud of all the work he does, but it makes us a bit teary eyed here at home to let him venture so far from us. We love you Daddy!! Come home soon!

Thanks for visiting us here ya'll!!

SCRAPT

I got some layouts finished Sunday evening, though not before Paul and I had to keep handing off baby Mark back and forth to keep him content. This first layout is Mark's first week home. He had jaundice, so we kept him in the sunlight. Plus, our doctor recommended giving formula for 24 hours to help bring down the billirubin count faster. So the girls and Paul got to enjoy feeding him as well. Now we make it a daily ritual... I am able to pump milk to give them the chance to feed him. The second layout is from last summer when we went home to Cali to visit our families. Pictured in the layout is my mother and I, and my girls. The title 'Mothers & Daughters' wasn't quite appropriate since my mother takes being a grandma very seriously. So the note on the right page says... 'Mothers and daughters... make amazing grandmas.' Really, that is my limit to journaling for the time being. I consider this blog my main journaling spot. Hope that counts!


Miss you MOM!!

Our New Swimmer!

Hannah experienced some hard earned success during her swim lessons over the past two weeks. First, our Hannah is small for her age so standing in 3 1/2 ft water can be exhausting when your trying to stand on your toes for an hour. During Hannah's lessons she had the task of going under water and retrieving diving sticks from the bottom of the pool. I have to say, it seemed as though she was diving to her death because she could barely stay above water, yet it seemed a far greater task to swim to the bottom. At the age of 7, I doubt some children can see far enough into the future (a precious 5-10 seconds) to realize they will come back up after going to the bottom.

These pictures were taken on the last day of Hannah 's lessons, after many attempts at coaxing her to retrieve it on her own, her instruction held her up, and then...uh well... pushed her under and she grabbed it on her own. As you can see here... Hannah came up out of the water with a HUGE smile on her face. We were cheering... and I admittedly had a few tears of joy at seeing her joy of accomplishment.

So these are the pictures of Hannah' sweet success! Congrats to my blooming duckling!!

Mark's Blessing

Today Mark received his baby blessing. It was performed by Daddy and many dear friends were able to participate in the blessing (as we have no family near to join us) by laying their hands upon his head as they stand in a circle around Mark. Actually there was another baby blessed as well, this other blessing was a very special one because the child, Bryson, was adopted and as the adoption was made final last month he had the opportunity to receive his own "baby blessing" as a part of his new family. It was a special experience to be a part of both of these blessings today.

In Mark's blessing, he was blessed with character... (more specifically) the character of service. He was blessed to have a desire to emulate the Savior and to gain a testimony of the Savior, that will help him (Mark) to do great things. He was also blessed with wisdom through observing others. After his blessing I had the opportunity to get up and share my testimony with the congregation. I shared my testimony of the Holy Ghost, which as members of of the LDS Church we receive through a special blessing at baptism. The Holy Ghost is the spirit which helps us to recognize both good and bad, and right and wrong in our lives, though first we must recognize the promptings and make the choice for ourselves to choose the better part. The Holy Ghost has helped me to see my potential and guide me to make righteous choices. It is through the blessing of the Holy Ghost that I have been able to change and develop myself in ways I could not have done on my own without this spiritual guidance. As a convert to the LDS Church (also known as the Mormon church) 13 years ago I have seen great changes in myself that I would not have imagined possible on my own. I am grateful for the changes that a loving Heavenly Father has helped me to see and make ... revealing a greater potential in me. And, through this I have been able to strive more diligently to become a better wife, mother and daughter.

The pictures that follow are of the girls with Mark before church. The third, is a picture I caught on the sly in Sunday school, which was probably not an appropriate time to be taking pictures... but who could resist Mark with his Daddy. And the last picture was an impromptu shot outside after church. It truly was a special day!! We love and miss our dear family and friends who could not be with us today. Please know we are thinking of you!

What is FREEEDOM...

In honor and rememberance of our Nation's independence day I wanted to share what FREEDOM is to me. Freedom for me comes in many forms...

Trust of my husband Paul
A day of shopping
Literacy
Love and support of Paul and my family... gives me greater freedom to be myself
Religious freedom to practice my beliefs as Mormon pioneers strived for and were persecuted for...
A stack of chick flicks... Pride & Prejudice, You've Got Mail, Sense & Sensibility, 50 First Dates, Legally Blonde (my personal faves)
Being educated through lifelong learning
A balanced checkbook
Scrapping LATE with the girls at Chasing Rainbows Scrapbooks
Being able to run a 5K without falling over dead... I have done it only twice... we all have our seasons in life...
Next... being able to run a 10K
Unlimited book shopping on Amazon.com
Potty trained children
Being a stay-at-home mama
On a date with Paul
A warm night, with fireworks in the sky- MINUS THE MOSQUITOS!!
Extra hot fudge on my Peanut Buster Parfait
Obedient to God's laws... freedom from spiritual bondage

All of these freedoms have come through the freedoms granted us by this great Nation, the US of A.

Hope your Independence Day was a special celebration! May we all continue to experience and value of our own unique freedoms.

Party Like a Blog Star!!

Serendipity Blog Party!! Oh YEE-AH! Okay so some are off having block parties this summer, well some others of us are having a BLOG party!! Head over to Serendipity Scrapbooks to get in on the party challenges or check out the links on my sidebar to catch up on some of the Serendipity girls and other news on the boards at Serendipity. There's plenty of eye candy in the gallery to check out and some great girls to chat with... and the best news of all... this party is going on the whole month of July!! Oh YEE-AH!! See ya there!

Keep out of the heat... come party like a BLOG star!!

Mark's First Scraps!!

With an unlimited supply of Diet Pepsi and jordan almonds (I am thinking of you Mom!) and with Mark in the Moses basket beside me on the floor I have been lucky enough to 'scrap' some layouts the past few days, and refine them for the most part today. It definitely clears my mind (and heart) to be able to create these layouts. This is one of the many ways I enjoy designing things and laying them out in some organized fashion. Now that we have a little boy in our storybook I can't seem to keep my hands off anything blue.

The girls love their brother Mark to the stars and back! Sara Kate loves nuzzling him, and Hannah can be found singing softly to him when he needs some TLC. For now, Daddy, the girls and little Mark are watching their marathon of superhero movies today... and me, well I am burying myself with pictures in the scrap room! More soon!!

Classical Education Today

Ah, this time of year and season, with our children running about us, it is a time of celebration for most and possibly family vacations for some others. Even as I type, I can hear neighborhood children outside lighting fireworks in the street. Then, there are some dear friends of ours busily preparing for a family vacation to Mount Rushmore this next week. I am terribly jealous Teresa!! It all has such a patriotic theme doesn’t it? It seems as soon as summer begins to shine there is the mentioning of all things American… like apple pies and baseball games. It’s all good and fun… baking pies that is… as long as it’s not blazing hot! Uh yeah, let’s wait until fall at least.

Well ironically for me, summer is a time for me to prepare for the next school year. So while most are out celebration the independence of our great nation, and others are planning trips to Mount Rushmore... I find myself getting hot and bothered over the coming school year. For this past week I have been planning and preparing Hannah and Sara Kate's coming school year, and today I purchased Hannah's Latin curricula to continue studying the Latin language, which can be previewed and purchased through http://www.memoriapress.com/. There website is amazing, they also provide FREE online Latin games as well.



While perusing their website I was able to read some articles on Classical Education, the form of education that we have followed in our family. First let me say, I am gratefully there are many forms of education available today, so that each may choose the course most fitting to their needs. As for us, a classical education has been the most fitting. The following excerpt from an article speaks to the reasoning of why a classical education is often seen as cumbersome in such a modern age. In the end, I have found, just as in the end of this article, there is no other way I would rather encourage the learning of our family.

The Classical Education of the Founding Fathers
by Martin Cothran

Classical Education Today

To become inspired by the great deeds of great men is to obtain the motivation to do similar things. We become great partly by seeing what other great men did and being inspired to do such things ourselves. But while beholding the great deeds of others gives us the motivation to be like them, it doesn’t equip us to achieve what they achieved. We can admire other men, but that won’t necessarily make us more like them. In order to become like those we admire, we must not only admire them, we must do what they did.

It is tempting to look back on the education of these great Americans and think that what they did is too difficult for the students of today. But that would be a grave mistake. Yes, they enjoyed some advantages over us, mostly in terms of having fewer distractions, but that is something we have the power to control. The fact is that we have advantages they didn’t have. For example, the educational resources available to colonial children were not only harder to find, but of vastly inferior quality.

We can, moreover, say we lack their fortitude, but that is not something they brought to their education; rather, it is a benefit they received from it.Education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue. In deciding how to accomplish this with our own children, we would do well to see how it was done in a time when wisdom and virtue were more prevalent than in our own.

The article in its entirety can be found at http://www.memoriapress.com/ under the link Articles.

HEADLINE: Homeschool Abounds with Pumpkin Blossoms

An update on our garden that Hannah began the first of May for her plant unit- complete with pictures... would you expect any less of me?! Well our pumpkin vines have now overrun the yard. It is a very small patch of grass which we politely refer to as 'our yard', and now its grown in stature to 'THE VINE'. In the pictures here you can see the clusters of blossoms that will soon become pumpkins. And as my mother-in-law educated me earlier today, they will begin to get their orange color only when the weather cools and fall frost begins. And Paul wants to pluck a few of the blossoms so that we have fewer pumpkins on a vine, so that the plants energy can channel itself to produce larger pumpkins.

I have to say, homeschooling is as much an education for myself as for my girls (I can still say girls because Mark is not yet walking or talking... much less participating in school activities). Sometimes I become quite embarrassed at exactly how much I do not know regarding their school material. But be as it may, I do not find that a reason not to educate them as their mother, but rather the precise reason for educating them as an example of lifelong learning and the fun that can be had in the process. I must say, even as a child I loved playing school. Building stacks of books, lined up by their spines, fresh white stacks of lined paper, newly sharpened pencils... all as entertainment to a 10 year old girl. This passion to 'play' school has not cured me, but only made the experience of homeschooling fonder and more amusing as I remininsce, as I hope I have become wiser as a teacher and example to my girls.

In the midsummer heat and humidity of Kansas it can be painstaking to tend a garden. And we are surrounded by farms in SE Kansas... I don't understand how they get it done. But in the case of our garden and its vines, it has been Hannah's love for nature, animals, and the human body that has made up her science curriculum this past year. Though she has done very well in math and reading, science has come alive for her... and in turn, it has come alive for me, thus, teaching me the things I realized I never learned as a child... or I never enjoyed learning as a child. Truly, as a homeschooling family, it brings great pride to see that the knowledge and experience she gains is through our time and efforts spent together. Just to imagine that these plants are a part of her toil, energy, knowledge and faith in what God has created for us, that we may truly reap our harvest.

Hannah's pumpkin blossoms... as I see here... the closeup also makes me aware of the weeds we missed under the huge vining pumpkin leaves...

These are the pumpkin vines beginning to climb across the yard...

These are the HUGE vining pumpkin leaves and these too have crawled across the opposite side of the garden and yard as the above vines. In the bottom left corner you can see the bush beans being dwarfed and robbed of their sunshine and energy.