Kids Do the Darndest Things

Sometimes I wonder what in the world is wrong with my kids. Then, I remind myself that they are acting their age. I was laying on the bed nursing the baby and my hard-headed 3 year old was pulling the drawers out of my chest of drawers. Of course he didn't stop when I told him and the whole thing came tumbling down on top of him. The lamp and my jewelry box flew across the room. My heart pounded as I jumped off the bed and tried to pull the dresser off him. Fortunately, Darian was there to help. Finally, the dresser was in an upright position again. Marcello was crying as if his world was ending. That was understandable. He was frightened and hurt. Wait a minute! Where was he? He was in the closet! How in the world did he end up over there? He couldn't explain it so I guess we will never know. Kids.
~Shalanda

The American Dream is a nightmare!

Nice house, 2 cars, new clothes, 2-1/2 kids, and a dog-all a part of the American dream, so we're told. Unfortunately, many of the people living this dream are in debt up to their eyeballs. As for us, we have the starter home, the 2 cars, decent clothes and the kids. Whether or not to get a dog has been an ongoing discussion that will remain up for discussion until the kids are old enough to provide most of the care.

In an effort to live our debt free American dream we have come up with a plan. Sell our home-even though the market is terrible for sellers, pay off all credit cards, and pay off all loans. So far, we have managed to pay off one car and are a couple of thousand away from paying off the minivan. Three credit cards down and two to go. The biggest pain may be here for awhile-student loans. We are going to do some serious celebrating when those things get paid off.

Our plan is to 1. write down all bills, 2. write down all expenses (groceries, eating out, gas, etc.), 3. pinpoint unnecessary expenses, 4. take the extra money from unnecessary expenses and have an automatic draft into another account. The goal is to minimize spending & maximize saving and investing. We've done steps 1, 2, & 3. Boy could we eat out less. If we stick to our plan maybe one day we'll be on the Dave Ramsey show yelling into the phone, "We're debt free!!!"

Mysterious Moose

I believe every parent has that one child with that one, bad habit. Well, my oldest son has been sucking his thumb ever since he was a baby. Darian and I have spent four years trying to break that dreaded habit and nothing has worked, at least not until tonight.

We had a pretty good day today. I got some "me" time at the beauty salon after 8 months of doing my own hair in order to save money. Then, the five of us went to the Tanger Outlets in Bluffton, SC to do some window shopping and to get Darian out of the house. He's on a 3 month vacation with the Navy and doesn't know what to do with himself until they ship him off to OCS.

Anyway, while we were there we ate at the Cornerstone Grill. All three of the kids were fascinated with this huge, lifelike moose head that was hanging from the wall. The two-year old kept saying, "Moose going to fall down on me. Moose going to fall down off wall." So me, in my moment of brilliance, said the moose was going to knock on their windows if they are bad and suck their thumbs. Darian smiles at me in agreement.

Let's skip ahead to bedtime. Baths have been taken, bedtime stories have been read. Caleb, the four-year old, decided he was going to suck his thumb to help him fall asleep-his usual routine. I loudly say that the moose is going to come get him. The next thing I know I hear the front door open. I walk down the hallway. Darian's gone. All of a sudden I hear this loud, repetitive knocking on Caleb's bedroom window. Seconds later, the two-year old is in the hallway whining about the moose coming.

Caleb and the baby come running from the back room. Baby Nathan looked more confused than scared. Mr. Thumbsucker was terrified. He shot past me and shut and locked the front door just as Darian was stepping onto the porch. He says, "Close the door, Mommy! The moose is out there! The moose is out there!" To make a long story short-I was finally allowed to open the door to let Darian back in and everyone eventually calmed down and went back to their rooms.

Needless to say, Caleb fell asleep without his trusty thumb and I feel like a terrible mother. Is tramatizing your child out of thumb sucking in lieu of a high dental bill worth it? Hmmm. We'll see how he does tomorrow night.

We get asked the same questions over and over so why not put them in our blog?


How long have you two been together?
Eleven years-we dated for 4 years and have been married for 7 years.


How did you meet?
As teenagers, our neighborhoods were in walking distance of each other. Sometimes, we saw each other when we were hanging out with our friends. We started getting to know each other in the 8th grade and became good friends sometime in high school, around the 10th grade.


Why did you decide to start dating?

• Shalanda's version
  We were on the school bus oneday and the boys were saying off the wall comments to the females like immature boys do. Well, Darian decided to join in and said something about my breast size being small. Anyway, I thought he was a real jerk and I think I rolled my eyes at him before getting off the bus.
  
  Later that day, I was in the living room with my dad when Darian came by and apologized. As I watched Darian walk away, I turned to my dad and said,"he's not like the other guys, he's different." I made up in my mind that I wouldn't try to date him until the time was right. I had really strict parents and my dad was good at running guys away.
  
  I really knew Darian was different and worth keeping around when we started college and my dad tried his hardest to discourage us from dating. Darian never asked me for sex and unlike the other guys, he kept calling and coming by despite my dad's negative comments. Here we are 3 kids later.
  



• Darian's version

Most of that is on point. However, I did not say her breast size was too small. What had happened was...Shalanda and her friend were talking about filling in a shirt or cup sizes (something I still don't quite understand till this day). Not knowing exactly why I said it, I said, "Oh, you don't have to worry about that." As soon as the words rolled off my tongue I proceeded to insert my foot. There was a strange silence in the air for about 3 seconds and everything was moving in slow motion. The look that came over Shalanda's face was like Craig's on Friday when he went to pour the milk in his cereal and... "drip, drip." I am not quite sure who else heard me. I really did not care. I don't even remember if it was when we were going to school or coming home. I pray it was coming home, because it was excruciating knowing I had just embarrassed one of the sweetest (and finest) girls I have ever met and I did not want that feeling to last any longer than it had already had.

Well, I got home and commenced to writing a letter asking she forgive my immaturity. Not sure what I said in the letter. I just wanted to redeem any chance of her talking to me again. That was more than a decade and a half ago. Wow!! Maybe it was providence that caused me to blurt out such a crude suggestion (I swear I did not mean anything by it). May be it was the proverbial opposite attracting its mate. I being immature and she being mature. Whatever it was I am glad it happened. You just never know...

When are you going to try for that girl?

NEVER!!! Adoption is an option we have considered though.