Peace, love and "Just Say No To Crack" ;-),
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
Monday, May 09, 2011
Mother's Day Afternoon 2011
In the afternoon on Mother's Day, I had to run a few errands. Doug watched the kids while they played in the sprinkler. They had a blast. Doug got some great video of Liam’s crack hanging out of his bathing suit. ;-) I think the video he took is right on par with Aunt Tracy’s wedge video from Disney World. Classic.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Were we on that show when OUR house was built?
The other day, Ava and I were driving home alone from her gymnastics class. She says “Mom, when our house was built, was it on that t.v. show where everyone gets to vote for which cabinets they want?”
She was referring to a show we’ve seen on t.v. named “Run My Renovation”, where the property owners agree to let viewers vote for their choice (of three options) in cabinets, flooring, countertops, etc.
When I told Doug about it, he laughed. He mentioned that Ava seemed to think that HE built our house with his own bare hands. :) She had mentioned a few things to him over the past few weeks that led him to that conclusion.
She asked recently about the hydrangeas in our back yard. When I told her that I planted them before she was born, she didn’t agree. She says she remembers watching me planting them. I told her that the people who owned the house before we did actually had a rose garden (so I’m told?) when they lived here. The wife who lived here mentioned that to me at our closing. I think I’ve seen one rose bush out there? But I think it helped Ava understand that we haven’t lived here forever, that someone else lived here before we took up residence.
It’s cute to see her try to piece things like this together. :)
Peace, love and a full house,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Liam's First Movie
Well, we made it through our first movie in a theater, as a family of four! Last night we went to see "Rio", a movie about a bird who can't fly. The kids really seemed to enjoy it! It started around 8:15, and ended around 9:40, so considering how long the kids had to sit, and that it was bedtime, they did AMAZINGLY WELL! At first we had to teach Liam not to talk in his regular voice in the middle of the theater, but fortunately there were enough previews on which to practice!
At one point during the movie, when the characters were talking about aviaries, I leaned over to tell Ava that her name means "like a bird". She didn't seem incredibly impressed. :)
It was a perfect first movie for Liam. Ava seemed to enjoy it, too. Super cute movie!
Peace, love and aviation,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
Memorable Recipe: Grandma Nila's Peanut Butter on Crackers with Marshmallow
These are the best! Warning, my Dad mentioned if any money is made from the production of this recipe, he is owed a cut of the profit... ;-)
One of my fondest memories growing up was staying at my Grandma Nila and Pa's house, waking up to go to kindergarten at Thompson Elementary. I remember Grandma Nila letting me eat the yummiest oatmeal with brown sugar in it (that she made) in their front room, while we watched the kid's show "Hot Fudge Comin' On Right Now," on the huge t.v. that sat on the floor. That t.v. seemed mammoth to me! (At least I think that was the name of the show?)
Dad brought this recipe out of the archives a few years ago and kept singing it's praises to me. Finally I had the chance to make it a few weeks ago. As you can see, it was a big hit in our house! Ava helped me assemble the crackers. Liam tried every possible way to eat these crackers. He can't stand his hands getting dirty. He got pretty inventive in his method for approaching these crackers.
This recipe is THREE ingredients, but the perfect combination of sweet / salty.
Grandma Nila's Peanut Butter on Crackers with Marshmallow
1 sleeve Saltine crackers
Peanut butter (enough to spread on each bottom cracker)
1 large marshmallow
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees on broil. Spread peanut butter on half of the crackers. Place one large marshmallow on each peanut-butter covered cracker. Place in the preheated oven. Broil until the marshmallow begins to become toasted / light brown. Remove and immediately place a plain Saltine cracker on top of the marshmallow. Serve immediately.
Peace, love and warm memories of my Grandma Nila's house,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
One of my fondest memories growing up was staying at my Grandma Nila and Pa's house, waking up to go to kindergarten at Thompson Elementary. I remember Grandma Nila letting me eat the yummiest oatmeal with brown sugar in it (that she made) in their front room, while we watched the kid's show "Hot Fudge Comin' On Right Now," on the huge t.v. that sat on the floor. That t.v. seemed mammoth to me! (At least I think that was the name of the show?)
Dad brought this recipe out of the archives a few years ago and kept singing it's praises to me. Finally I had the chance to make it a few weeks ago. As you can see, it was a big hit in our house! Ava helped me assemble the crackers. Liam tried every possible way to eat these crackers. He can't stand his hands getting dirty. He got pretty inventive in his method for approaching these crackers.
This recipe is THREE ingredients, but the perfect combination of sweet / salty.
Grandma Nila's Peanut Butter on Crackers with Marshmallow
1 sleeve Saltine crackers
Peanut butter (enough to spread on each bottom cracker)
1 large marshmallow
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees on broil. Spread peanut butter on half of the crackers. Place one large marshmallow on each peanut-butter covered cracker. Place in the preheated oven. Broil until the marshmallow begins to become toasted / light brown. Remove and immediately place a plain Saltine cracker on top of the marshmallow. Serve immediately.
Peace, love and warm memories of my Grandma Nila's house,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
School Orientation: A Day in the Life
As of August 15, Ava will officially be a Murdock Mustang! It's a great school, so I'm very excited for her.
On May 3rd, we went to an orientation for all upcoming pre-K kids attending Murdock Elementary. I was impressed, to say the least!
We were greeted by upper-classmen Student Council members at the entrance to the building. They walked us to the cafeteria, where the Principal spoke, a Science Teacher, PTA board members, a School Board member and a few others. We saw a kid-friendly video / cartoon about school and were then split into groups to go on a tour of the school.
We were given folders that contained a "Bingo" type card. Ava and all other upcoming Kindergarteners were to place a sticker in the square of the particular place in the school we visited. We went to the computer lab, Art class, Music Class, Kindergarten Class, got on the bus, visted the school office, nurse's clinic, Media Center, Physical Fitness Class, P.E. Class, went through the lunch line and even got to pick out a snack. :) Ava tended to stick close to us, but then when all of the kids went to get on the bus to check it out, she did so by herself. Doug and I kind of hung back to let her socialize a bit and check out the bus. She seemed excited about it.
The Kindergarten teacher had checked-out the laptops for her class to use that day. Boy, have things changed since I was in school. I think we started using them in 5th grade, and IN the lab. The Kindergarten class also sang a song to us, something about "We welcome you..." So it was nice to see that, as well.
I asked Ava what she thought her favorite part might be. She said everything looked so fun, she couldn't pick. :)
August will be here before we know it. It's hard to believe Ava, my sweet baby girl, will be with the big kids at the elementary. I think I might have a harder time with it than she does!
Peace, love and it's "elementary, my dear Watson..."
Shelly, Doug, the newest kindergartener and Liam
On the way to orientation
Happiness is a bit tempered, here. ;-)
Getting excited...
On the grand tour of the school...
Pretty excited about this school stuff!
Monday, May 02, 2011
A New Position for Shelly
My manager recently came to me with a new job opportunity within Sprint. A position that would relate more to wireless products within Sprint. I have been leary in the past of accepting new positions, due to the "unknown". For some reason I felt like it was right to take this position this time around. My manager mentioned he saw it as a way to "springboard" me into / onto greener pastures. I agreed. There aren't any salary increases with this opportunity, but I will definitely be broadening my horizons and will become intimately more familiar with a different technology (wireless) and related systems.
What is very interesting about this job? It hasn't even been defined yet! How do these jobs land in my lap? When I first started at Sprint in corporate Customer Service, they created a job for myself and one other person in hopes of retaining more tenure in the department... It is common knowledge that there is a specific group / product within Sprint that could use some help. My new group, comprised of 14 people who were previously Implementation Project Managers like myself, basically has carte blanche to define the position / improve upon existing processes.
I am very excited to see where this new role takes me. I am now officially a Wireless Technical Support Manager. I will basically be responsible for large enterprise / corporate customers with Custom Network Solutions (i.e. amplifiers and antennaes on their own property to increase cell signal survivability). With the huge Network Vision project to combine the iDEN (Nextel) and CDMA (Sprint) spectrums, it will be interesting to see where this group is a few years from now, after all is said and done.
I'm excited to be working for Sprint during a time of such innovation and change!
Peace, love and spectacular spectrum,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
What is very interesting about this job? It hasn't even been defined yet! How do these jobs land in my lap? When I first started at Sprint in corporate Customer Service, they created a job for myself and one other person in hopes of retaining more tenure in the department... It is common knowledge that there is a specific group / product within Sprint that could use some help. My new group, comprised of 14 people who were previously Implementation Project Managers like myself, basically has carte blanche to define the position / improve upon existing processes.
I am very excited to see where this new role takes me. I am now officially a Wireless Technical Support Manager. I will basically be responsible for large enterprise / corporate customers with Custom Network Solutions (i.e. amplifiers and antennaes on their own property to increase cell signal survivability). With the huge Network Vision project to combine the iDEN (Nextel) and CDMA (Sprint) spectrums, it will be interesting to see where this group is a few years from now, after all is said and done.
I'm excited to be working for Sprint during a time of such innovation and change!
Peace, love and spectacular spectrum,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
Sunday, May 01, 2011
History: Osama Bin Laden’s Death
On the heels of the happy news of Prince William and Catherine Middleton marrying this past weekend, we finally saw closure with the capture and death of Osama Bin Laden.
Osama bin Laden was responsible for organizing the terrorist plot carried out on the United States on September 11, 2001. Ava and Liam, I pray you never need to feel the terror that most Americans probably felt that day.
I woke up, as I would any other day, and headed into work at 3065 Cumberland Blvd, the 6th floor. There was a man who shined shoes on the entry level into the building from the parking garage. In front of his area, there was a t.v. When I walked in, I saw people staring up at the t.v. By that point, one of the beloved Twin Towers in New York City had been hit by a plane hijacked for the sole purpose of killing innocent people. I watched the t.v. with great confusion as we saw the second plane hit the other tower. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I got in the elevator as soon as I could to get up to my cubicle, so I could call your Daddy. When I got to my cube, I turned on the radio immediately. I called your Dad. We were both in shock. He was still working for Georgia Pacific. I felt like I was listening to a “War of the Worlds" broadcast and had somehow missed some important news at the beginning, that this was all some sick joke. It wasn’t. They talked on the radio of grounding all planes, as they didn’t know how many other planes in the air had been hijacked. It was an incredibly scary time.
After that news, as you can imagine, people didn’t work long that day. Over the next few days, I was sleepless; I couldn’t amass enough information to make my brain and heart feel comfortable enough in any way with these attacks. I told Doug I wanted to be awake when they caught whoever was responsible. I was that naive. I remember going for a run that weekend, feeling like I just had to get some tension out, and didn’t know what to do with the frustration I felt because of this. We felt so far removed here in Atlanta, but at the same time part of this huge nation that was not going to let pure evil dictate that we live our lives in fear.
Things have changed so much since then with security, being proactive about our safety. Until that day, it seemed we lived in a world where things like that couldn’t and wouldn’t happen. Sadly, they did. It was so comforting to see the resolve of so many Americans and see how we all were one at that point. Color didn’t matter, where you came from, who you were, what your job was, if you were the poorest man on the block, or someone with a big bank account. Those things didn’t matter that day. We were all Americans and simply people overwhelmingly hurt by this ordeal.
We would frequently hear news about a different strategic focus in hopes of catching Osama Bin Laden. They never seemed to be able to find him. It was hard to believe that one man could outrun a country with as much military prowess, training and know-how as the United States. Almost ten years passed.
Thankfully and finally, through a covert operation performed by the U.S. Navy Seals on Sunday, May 1st, in a secure and upper-class compound near Islamabad, Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden, leader of al Qaeda was shot and killed. He and his family had been living there for approximately five years. The U.S. government is currently questioning his wives, to learn as much as possible. They buried his body at sea.
His death will have lasting implications on the United States. I am sure, as are most Americans (if not all), that someone will step into power to resume Bin Laden’s duties, if they haven't already done so. More than ever, though, his death might symbolize an end to the fear Americans felt when he was living and in-hiding. It is likely that his militant group will eventually splinter without his so called "charismatic" leadership. We can only pray that happens, and quickly.
Proverbs 24 tells us: “Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble.” I can’t imagine being one of those whose family member died in the attacks on 09/11, and I can’t judge them for what they might feel toward someone like Bin Laden. I personally feel a sigh of relief knowing he is not orchestrating future attacks personally. I can only pray that the hatred his regime overtly demonstrated is quickly destroyed, as well, and that the response of Americans is a respectable one, one that will not provoke further hatred of our country, and possibly lead others to know of our peaceful, just, mighty and loving God.
Peace, love and tough history lessons,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
Osama bin Laden was responsible for organizing the terrorist plot carried out on the United States on September 11, 2001. Ava and Liam, I pray you never need to feel the terror that most Americans probably felt that day.
I woke up, as I would any other day, and headed into work at 3065 Cumberland Blvd, the 6th floor. There was a man who shined shoes on the entry level into the building from the parking garage. In front of his area, there was a t.v. When I walked in, I saw people staring up at the t.v. By that point, one of the beloved Twin Towers in New York City had been hit by a plane hijacked for the sole purpose of killing innocent people. I watched the t.v. with great confusion as we saw the second plane hit the other tower. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I got in the elevator as soon as I could to get up to my cubicle, so I could call your Daddy. When I got to my cube, I turned on the radio immediately. I called your Dad. We were both in shock. He was still working for Georgia Pacific. I felt like I was listening to a “War of the Worlds" broadcast and had somehow missed some important news at the beginning, that this was all some sick joke. It wasn’t. They talked on the radio of grounding all planes, as they didn’t know how many other planes in the air had been hijacked. It was an incredibly scary time.
After that news, as you can imagine, people didn’t work long that day. Over the next few days, I was sleepless; I couldn’t amass enough information to make my brain and heart feel comfortable enough in any way with these attacks. I told Doug I wanted to be awake when they caught whoever was responsible. I was that naive. I remember going for a run that weekend, feeling like I just had to get some tension out, and didn’t know what to do with the frustration I felt because of this. We felt so far removed here in Atlanta, but at the same time part of this huge nation that was not going to let pure evil dictate that we live our lives in fear.
Things have changed so much since then with security, being proactive about our safety. Until that day, it seemed we lived in a world where things like that couldn’t and wouldn’t happen. Sadly, they did. It was so comforting to see the resolve of so many Americans and see how we all were one at that point. Color didn’t matter, where you came from, who you were, what your job was, if you were the poorest man on the block, or someone with a big bank account. Those things didn’t matter that day. We were all Americans and simply people overwhelmingly hurt by this ordeal.
We would frequently hear news about a different strategic focus in hopes of catching Osama Bin Laden. They never seemed to be able to find him. It was hard to believe that one man could outrun a country with as much military prowess, training and know-how as the United States. Almost ten years passed.
Thankfully and finally, through a covert operation performed by the U.S. Navy Seals on Sunday, May 1st, in a secure and upper-class compound near Islamabad, Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden, leader of al Qaeda was shot and killed. He and his family had been living there for approximately five years. The U.S. government is currently questioning his wives, to learn as much as possible. They buried his body at sea.
His death will have lasting implications on the United States. I am sure, as are most Americans (if not all), that someone will step into power to resume Bin Laden’s duties, if they haven't already done so. More than ever, though, his death might symbolize an end to the fear Americans felt when he was living and in-hiding. It is likely that his militant group will eventually splinter without his so called "charismatic" leadership. We can only pray that happens, and quickly.
Proverbs 24 tells us: “Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble.” I can’t imagine being one of those whose family member died in the attacks on 09/11, and I can’t judge them for what they might feel toward someone like Bin Laden. I personally feel a sigh of relief knowing he is not orchestrating future attacks personally. I can only pray that the hatred his regime overtly demonstrated is quickly destroyed, as well, and that the response of Americans is a respectable one, one that will not provoke further hatred of our country, and possibly lead others to know of our peaceful, just, mighty and loving God.
Peace, love and tough history lessons,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
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