busy bee...

honestly, i wish could just run away sometimes...
just for a little while... to have peace and quiet, to not have one thing needing to be done or accomplished for just a few hours would be nice.

i had so much i needed to get done today but my list was completely twisted around this afternoon. i spent the morning making valentines day cards with the kids. i was sure to start this project bright and early because i wanted to make sure they got out in todays mail so that grandparents would be getting them tomorrow. perfectly planned procrastination done only as shannon could do it!


brian and both girls have had runny noses for the past few days and this afternoon i swore i felt a mild grade fever on alivia. seeing as how today is friday i thought it best to go ahead and take both girls in just to be sure everything was looking A OK....
and naturally it wasn't. alivia has yet another ear infection! so, i now have the joy of having antibiotics spit in my face for the next 4 days...YEA!
fitting in their DR. appointment made it so that i couldn't possibly get the cards in todays mail. but thankfully brian came to my rescue and was nice enough to be our "mail man". he said that he would drop cards off to the places they needed to get to in tomorrows mail (and i love him for it!).




levi spent the day with nana and papa. munky had a vet visit and so did my parents dog so they decided they would take both dogs and levi wanted to tag along. i am assuming that everything went well. i know levi had a great time cause he talked about it the whole time he was in the bath tub tonight.


i took full advantage of only having two kids in tote today. after their appointment we ran over to the new produce stand and stocked up on a few things. this seriously makes my world.... the produce stand that is. they have everything i could ever think of wanting and being able to get all that kinda stuff at the restaurant just knocked my grocery bill down to practically $0.... i'm so excited.... it doesn't take much to amuse me these days! :)
speaking of which. as i drove around thinking of what i could possibly give my husband that would have meaning i started thinking about how becoming a mother has changed me. seriously, five years ago a new high end designer bag would have practically made my month (well, my week at least) and now i honestly don't remember the last time i walked in anywhere with enough money burning my pockets to drop on something that does nothing more then hold my lip gloss (that i never even use)!
that thought was made even more clear this evening while i strolled the isles of target looking for little things to put into the kids valentines day boxes. i have been told my brian to make sure that i walk past the "monster jam" toy section anywhere i go with eyes open looking for the trucks to which my son is lacking. levi thinks, breaths and lives for his $3.04 monster trucks. whenever he gets one he stares at the back of the packaging for at least an hour going over which ones he has, and which ones he doesn't and which ones are the "hard" ones to find (he learned that from brian).
anyway, there today as i scrolled my eyes down their selection i quickly spotted "superman".... i say this in all honesty, the lady across the isle from me looked at me as though i was crazy as i jumped for joy. i was so super excited to see levi's most craved one. he talks about it daily with this super sad look on his face because it is so hard to find. and i found it!
yes, this girl who used to be excited about pretty jewerly, handbags, and the perfect shirt was elated to find a tiny little toy for only the excitement i would find in those big blue eyes when he realizes he's got it....
when did this life become so wonderful?
and let me just say...
i felt 10 billion times more happier in that toy isle today then i ever did even once at COACH!

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here are a few pics from school yesterday. i think (and this may sound funny) that valentines day is levi's favorite school holiday.
he was so excited when he went in yesterday morning. he shouted "look friends, i brought us candy!"..... stinking cute!





now i'm off. i still have to make up sugar cookie dough so that the kids have something to put pink and red frosting on tomorrow...
once again, perfectly planned procrastination! ;)

gross...

i guess i no longer need wipes, washcloths or vacuums anymore!

munky....

ah, the things we do for our children... amaze me!
i'll start off by saying this, i do not like dogs! they shed, they smell, they lick, they require too much attention. they are just all around gross to me! brian, on the other hand, is and always has been very much a dog person. and yes, his love goes so deep for them that he even enjoys a good lick on his face! however, i warned brian before we ever got married of the whole disliking of dogs situation. i told him i didn't think i could EVER own a dog....EVER! either he truly loved me regardless of the fact, or he knew this day would one day come.... or possibly, a little of both!
for a few months now my mother has felt the need to buy someone.... ANYONE a dog. they got themselves a black lab about a year ago, and mom is just so in love with this animal. seriously, she refuses to allow anyone call it " a dog". it is like her 8th child, my brother, and her new best friend! it's funny because she never liked dogs while we were growing up, and i do believe that her dislike towards the critters led to most of her children's dislike towards them. and now, when i'm practically knocking on 30 myself she has up decided to own and fall head over heals in love with every dog that crosses her path. hmmm, an odd situation i do believe.
anyway, she was really wanting to get my sister one for their family. my nephew, well..... lets just say she thinks he is the type of boy who needs a dog. connie, however refused to get one for him. she promised my mother if a puppy was ever left on her door step, before it was all said and done my mother herself would be the new dog owner. so, i bet you can guess what happened next....
thats right! mother came knocking on my door. at first my response was the same as my sisters. don't want one, don't need one, refuse to get one. but then i began thinking more and more. and i came to the conclusion after one day seeing my little boy dragging a shoe lace string by his side telling everyone it was "his dog" that my children deserved the right to have a four legged doggy friend. and while my love for dogs my not be great, my love for my children far out weighs my disfavor for the doggy kingdom.


now, that long story brings us to munky....
after calling mother up giving her her long awaited good news, we began the search. the search for the right breed, the right look and the right dog to fit our family. after several long... tiresome conversations between my husband, my mother and my father we came up with the boston terrier. of all the dogs in the world, they have always been the least bit bothersome to me. i think perhaps i feel that they are just so stinking ugly, it makes them rather cute in a weird sorta way. and after reading up on them.... well, they are just great dogs to have around children. we found a breeder and arranged a time for mom, dad and i to go pick out the one we would call ours. there were two girls to choose from, and something the whole time we were there felt like the smallest of the two was meant to be "the one". i had hoped on calling her tayla, i took a quick snapshot picture of her and arranged a time that we would be getting her.... she was still far to young to come home.
the whole time i was at the breeders she kept calling our little tayla monkey.... later, brian looked at the picture of tayla and immediately said she looks like a monkey not even knowing that is what the breeder had been calling her.... and thus munky got her new name!

last night was her first moment home....
alivia was practically filled with glee dancing up and down the hallway as my mother brought tiny munky up the driveway to our door. both levi and livi followed her around the rest of the night, and kept picking her up hugging and kissing her. she had an instant connection to us. didn't cry at all, and went right to sleep last night in her bed. our tiny (2.75lb) doggy is a perfect fit.... so far!
so, i guess this means while i still do not consider myself a "dog person".... i am almost, and maybe one day soon will be a "munky person"!