WOW!

Where has the time gone??? Not even sure where to update these days. We are staying extremely busy with summer activities and summer camp that starts next week. This is the 1st weekend that we have been home in like FOREVER!!! Kinda nice but we are still busy this weekend. The boys continue to grow up so fast. Eli is talking non-stop like an adult with real adult conversation. Will asks a million and one questions about everything....and then likes to retale the story to all he encounters. So funny!!! Not much else to share other than our lives are full of love and happiness. Oh, we did get a new puppy. We named her Bella, for the little girl that I never had, haha. She is a joy to all of us. Will add a pic. Until the next time that I get to blog........

The Busy Month of February

The boys enjoying time in the heated indoor pool. They would have just enjoyed swimming the entire time if we had let them.

The only time we took them out on the beach. They loved picking up seashells of all shapes and sizes and did so until their cups were full.

Here the boys are posing in front of one of the many fish aquariums at Ripley's Aquarium.

Eli holding up his 3 fingers to show how old he is now. Notice the three fingers that he is holding up. So cute.

Eli got to wear the "Birthday Hat" at school the day of his birthday. I brought Batman cupcakes that he picked out for his class that day. He was so excited.

I know that I hardly update or blog anymore but I'm sure that the only person who reads this is YOU Mrs. Michelle. But I will keep it going just for you. Haha. So, we had a great day for Eli to help celebrate him turning 3. Cannot believe that my baby is 3. Goodness, where does the time go??? I took Batman cupcakes to his class at school and then had Glenn's family down that night for pizza and cake (and ice cream which I forgot to get out). LOL. He had a good birthday. We decided that instead of throwing a birthday party for the boys this year and getting them gifts that they really didn't need, we would take them to the beach. So, we went to Myrtle Beach for 4 days, just the 4 of us. We took the boys to the Ripleys Aquarium and they LOVED it. Well worth it. It ended up snowing a pretty big snow here at home while we were gone so we didn't see any of it. It was pretty at the beach with sunshine but windy and really cold. We were able to get the boys on the beach oneday with hoodies on to pick up seashells and they of course loved it. We stayed at the Myrtle Beach Resort and had a heated indoor pool and hot tub right outside our condo door so they loved swimming, especially in Feb. Well im gonna post a few pics. Alot to cover but this about wraps it up.......................

Cruising.................

Wow, it's hard to believe that it has acutally been this long since I have posted. Busy with life as usual but so needed to update the blog to let everyone know about our cruise along with some pics. We got back this past week from a 5 day 4 night cruise with friends. We went to Cozumel and sailed on the Carnival Inspiration. We had a BLAST!!! It was a very relaxing yet fun filled vacation. I missed my babies tremendously but it was good for Glenn and me to go without them and then to be with our best friends just added to the trip. We ate, danced, slept, ate, danced and ate and danced some more. LOVE DANCING and EATING. Two of my favorite things. LOL. Well, enough said......hope you enjoy the pics that I have included.

CHRISTmas fun!

Our Christmas went by really fast. We had such a wonderful time with the boys this year. They were so very excited. I won't list EVERYTHING that they got but will only list their favorite gifts. Will got a Batman cave, monster truck and transformer. Eli got a Gator from his Uncle Eddie and Aunt Suzy, walkie talkies, and a talking Handy Manny toolbox. Both boys got Incredible Hulk boxing gloves and a new flatscreen HD TV for their room. They both had a BIG Christmas. I had to go back to work this week so Glenn has been home with the boys all day. Most of you know how hard that has been for him. He has done well though. We don't have any big plans for New Years this year. Hopefully will spend a nice quiet evening at home with the family. Well, I will include some pics. Hope everyone has a wonderful New Years!!!

FINALLY!!

Can you believe it??? I finally got pics up on my blog. I'm so proud of myself. This is for you Michelle Norton. Hope you enjoy them. Love and miss you all!

The Shaw Family

My sweet family!
The wonderful men in my life!

Husband and wife for 12 years on December 14, 2008

Madison, Will, Eli, Owen & Ethan

The Shaw grandchildren

The Shaw Family

Glenn, me Eli and Will Shaw

Eddie & Suzy Shaw

Jerrell & Susan Shaw

Shannon, Eric, Madison, Ethan & Owen Syswerda

Clemson/Carolina Game 2008

Me, Kristy, Leslie, Shannon & Tate in the back.
We girls LOVE taking pics!

Me & my girl.

Awww, I love my hubby lots!

One of many pics of the two of us!!!

Living in the updated world!

I'm so excited because as I am typing, we are having our new satellite installed for our HDTV with DVR and I'm loving working on computer with my new high speed internet. It's the small things in life that excite me. Our family is doing great at the moment except for the fact that Glenn had a kidney stone hit him Saturday at midnight. After spending all night in ER giving him IV pain meds, we returned home to let him pass it, which is has yet to do. I feel really sorry for him because I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for him. He was in soooo much pain. Never quite seen him like that. He has been drinking lots of water and cranberry juice. Other than that, everyone is doing great at the moment. No exciting news to share. We do have our Christmas tree up with lights on it since it is prelit. LOL! No ornaments yet. Hopefully we will get to that soon. We will be attending our SS Christmas party tomorrow night. We are having a progressive dinner, so should be interesting to say the least. Lots of stuff planned for the holidays, just full speed as usual. Gonna try and add some pics now that I have this new and improved internet. Hopefully it will work. We will see!

Thankful!!!!!

As I sat here thinking that I should update my blog, I thought that I would blog about all of the things that I am thankful for. So, here it goes:
I'm thankful for:
My salvation, that I'm forgiven and that Jesus loves me no matter what!
My wonderful husband and my beautiful boys
The rest of my family
My family's health
My church
My friends
My job
My home
Our automobiles
This beautiful time of year
The food that I eat
The fact that gasoline prices went down
My boys preschool and their teachers
My cat (well most days, LOL!)
My education
Clemson football
As I continue to think, the list could go on and on but these are some that just popped up first.
I started this blog so that people who know me could follow the everyday happenings of the lives of me and my family. Don't know how much it is read by others but if you are reading this then I am thankful for you too. Tell everyone who you know and love how much you are thankful for them because life can change in an instant and you may not have that opportunity again. Life takes many twists and turns and we are not promised another moment. So, live life to the fullest and never regret one moment. If there are things that you want to do, dream to do, strive to get there. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm going to eat some Peppermint Ice Cream with Will. Oh yeah, that's one more thing that I'm thankful for.

Music to my ears!

So, as I'm typing this blog entry, I'm listening to my boys whine, cry, fuss & fight. What joy!! Haha. Yes, tonight has been a very relaxing night in the Shaw Household. Daddy is working late, so mommy and boys have had just a quiet, well not really, night. Life for us has been just moving along really fast. Busy of course. What else would you expect from a lady who works 3 1/2 days a week, is a mom and wife, works out (try to workout at least 4-5 x's a week; gotta try and win the Biggest Loser contest at work) and busy with my wonderful family and fun loving friends. This weekend is going to a very busy weekend. We have 3 fun gatherings to attend this weekend along with a picture setting for our entire family. Life is always so busy for us obviously. I know that everytime that I post we are so busy. Soooo, nothing changing here!!

AWARD WINNING WORST BLOGGER EVER!

Yes, I know that it has been forever since I have blogged but goodness the time just gets away from me. Thought I would try and update on you quickly b/c it's really my bedtime. So, we have just finished Will's fall soccer season. He LOVED it and definately will play again in the spring. He did really well and was great at being goaly (splg??) He and Eli both are getting so big and just getting more mature everyday. Eli is at such a fun stage right now, learning different words and using lots of sentences that actually make sense. He is full of life and just the happiest little fella ever. He has the biggest and prettiest smile. He can say his ABC's and count to 10. He can identify circles and the letter "W" and "E." He is learning so much and just not a "baby" anymore. Will continues everyday to amaze me too. He says stuff that sounds like it should be coming from an adult, which is so funny. On another note, he continues to have a really bad chronic cough. We have been to the Dr. so many times recently, had chest x ray done and on RX cough med. Nothing showed up on x-ray and nothing has seemed to help. He coughs worse while sleeping but also coughs during the day at times. He gets to coughing and cannot stop. It is so irritating for all of us, mostly to him I'm sure. A respiratory therapist at the center is tryng to help me with testing for asthma. I hope that its not but really just want to know what to do to help him. Glenn and me have been busy with normal daily lives. We both have joined the gym with hopes in getting in shape for our cruise in Feb. We are looking forward to that lots. Well, I could go on and on but Glenn has left me for bed and he hates to go to bed alone so I will go for now but will try and post more later.

Life as we know it...................

Today as I blog, I'm a little down in the dumps, to say the least. I know that I have so very much to be thankful for but when life hands you hurdles, they are not easy to get over. We had planned a short trip with the boys to the beach but had some unexpected expenses arise. Glenn discovered that I needed 4 new tires on my car before we could head anywhere out of town. After checking out prices all over town, we finally were able to get some tires for about $460. Then we also remembered, at the last minute of course, that my car insurance was also due. So, needless to say we have cancelled our trip to the beach. I hate it so bad for the boys more than anything. Oh well. I know things could be so much worse. I know that there are also people out there who would not even have the money to cover those expenses but just having to cancel our family vacation bc these are immediate costs just stinks. If only they would have come up a few weeks from now. Oh well. I know that there is a reason that this happened but I still am upset. So, enough of my poor mouthing.
Will has finished with T-ball and has started soccer. He absolutely loves it. It is definately going to be interesting. He is so cute out there in his little soccer attire, if I do say so myself. He is getting so tall and seems to have grown so much through the summer. He is ready for school to start back and is looking forward to being in 4K. He thinks he is such a BIG boy bc he will be in Kindergarten for 4 yr olds. Just a funny bit: This a.m. while we were waiting on the guys to put tires on my car, a guy walked in with an earring and Will said ALOUD, "Why does he have an earring on Mommy? He's not a girl." I could have crawled under my chair. I just explained that he had one bc he wanted one. Enough said......
Eli is also growing so fast. He is talking and saying so much these days. He is really becoming the little "terrible two" year old lately. He is a very strong willed child. He loves to aggravate Will at times but also wants to be right beside him doing what he does. He thinks that he is as big as Will is. He has also started sleeping with Will at night. This has actually been a great thing for Glenn and me since he is now sleeping all night. He is also excited about going back to school but not sure he really understands it all.
Other news in the fam: My sister Melissa had her baby on Tuesday. She had a girl and named her Morgan Shelby. She weighed 6 lbs and 7 ozs. She has a head full of dark hair. Mommy and baby are both doing great. Madison is VERY excited to have a baby sister. She cannot keep her hands off of her and doesn't want to leave her for a single moment. Glenn's MaMa Shaw was in the hospital bc she fell and broke her hip. She is now at NHC of Anderson for Rehab. with hopes to return to the Maples Assisted Living. She is very confused which is not uncommon for her after she is put to sleep. We are hoping and praying that she comes around as she has before. On our way to see her last Saturday, a guy pulled over into my lane and hit my car. He never even knew he had hit me. He pulled into a parking lot to talk with a bus full of guys and I got out and approached him. He acted like I had hit him and he was not worried. Once the police got there and took our statements, the evidence showed that he was at fault. Glenn and the boys were with me, luckily no one was hurt. My car has some damage, poor car. The guy had an expired temporary tag, was found at fault, no registration and most likely no ins. He gave the cop some name and number of ins. but that was Sat. and as of yet, I have not heard from them. So most likely he didn't have ins. either. This makes me so mad bc now I will most likely be paying for increased ins. bc he had none. This world is so screwed up!!! Well, I've gotta run and get ready for the day since it is 4:11 p.m. Yes, I was off today and have tried to clean house. Soccer practice at 6pm. Gotta run.......................................

Loving my Life!

There is not much share these days. Just staying busy haha. The boys only have one more week of summer camp which is so hard to believe. This summer has BLOWN by. We have done alot this summer. Work, school, church, birthday parties, camping at the lake, swimming at least once a week, T-ball games, vacation to lake with Shaw family, spending lots of time with family and friends, well these are just some of the things that have helped keep us busy this summer. For all of you who know that I have had the hardest time with the babysitter thing, PRAISE THE LORD, I have found someone to keep the boys in the fall for me. We have known her for a while and she will be finishing her job of being a nanny after 11 years with the same children. This has been such a blessing for me. I have also been lucky to have a teenage girl from our church to babysit this summer. The boys will so miss her when she starts back to school. Other news: Please keep some people that mean alot to me in your thoughts and prayers. My stepdad, Joe, has had 4 back surgeries in the past and has been having alot of pain recently. They cannot pinpoint the exact cause of pain but have given him a few different things that COULD be causing it. As you can imagine, this is very frustrating. He will be having a series of 3 injections to help alleviate the pain. Please remember him. Also, my mom has been having to work ALOT of extra hours at work recently due to a system "switch over." She has worked up to 70-80 hours in a week. This is really hard for her as she is new to all of the computer guru anyway and with all of the long hours it has been really stressful. She has been with the company for so long that there is absolutely no way that she could even think about looking for another job, so please pary for her and the other people she works with as they are in the same boat as she is. One guy who had been there for 20 years up and quit last week, which just puts even more stress on all of them. Another prayer request is for our neighbors, Daryl and Angie Key (and family). As some of you know, Daryl had a very bad motorcycle accident in May. You can read more about it through his link. I spoke with Angie this week and she has alot ahead of her. Not knowing what the future holds, she has put their house up for sale along with her car. Daryl also owns "Scotts Heating & Air" so that is another stress added on to her. Right now Daryl requires 24 care and has not really shown alot of improvement. They have a teenage son also who stays on my mind. This has been such an ordeal for this entire family and they have a long road ahead of them. One last request without too much detail: I have a dear friend that my heart hurts for. Please pray that she finds happiness & peace in a very difficult situation. Thanks and I am sure if you have not already closed my blog without reading its entirety you are bored with me so I'm signing off now.

Born 2 B Busy

Well, it's no surprise that we have been extremely busy here at the Shaw household. Glenn, Stephanie and I took a quick trip to Charleston last weekend just for fun. We had a wonderful time just us with no kids. We did miss our kids but had a great time for "grown up" time. We came home on Sunday and left again on Monday evening for the lake. Glenn's family rented a house on Lake Thurmmond for the week. Glenn and I worked off and on and stayed at the lake house all week. That was really nice and was really relaxing. We came home last night and are getting together with some friends tonight. We haven't seen the Collins' in a while so it will be nice to catch up. Tomorrow we have a birthday party for Lauren Mitchell. We have not seen them in a while either so we r really happy to be getting together with old friends. Tomorrow night, we have a "decades party" that I have been looking forward to for quite some time. Glenn and I both are dressing in the 60's fashion. It should be quite interesting that is for sure. I cannot believe that the summer is almost over. It has been great and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer holds. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband, 2 beautiful and healthy boys and the most wonderful friends that a girl could ask for. Who could be any luckier????

Catching up!

Well, it is 5:45am and I am wide awake, thanks to the cat. I thought that I would walk on the treadmill but wanted to make a quick post first. We had a great 4th of July. On Friday, we took the boys to Piedmont Tech for rides, sno cones and fireworks. Our friends, Stephanie, Cole and Chloe went with us. Eli did not feel very well so he did not want to do much. Will and Cole had a great time on the rides. They enjoyed the fireworks but it was a little too loud for Eli and Chloe. On Saturday, we went to see the fireworks on Lake Thurmons (or Elijah Clark). KIDS FREE. That was nice. Eddie took us out on his boat and it was so very relaxing. I skiied for the first time this year and YES I got up surprisingly on the first try. I was VERY sore the next day though. On Sunday, we had a family gathering at Glenn's aunt and uncle's in Anderson. Glenn's cousin Duane was home for 2 week leave from Korea. It was good to see him and the kids a great time there as usual. They went swimming, played in the woods and of course rode the gator. They had a blast. Well gonna run quickly b/c NOW I'm going to get on the treadmill. No more putting it off!!

LOVE......HATE

A friend of mine posted a love/hate list and that made me really want to do that. So here we go....

I love.......when Glenn holds my hand..........my boys run and give me a "sqeeze"............my friends......to see a rainbow.......smell the air after a summer rain.........the first sight of the ocean when we are driving to the beach........ranch dressing on my baked potato..........listening to music.....going for a Sunday afternoon drive........but yet my Sunday afternoon nap...........to make my boys smile........my job for the most part........to be needed.........taking pictures..........Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Pepsi........myspace and facebook (i'm addicted)........to swim in a clean swimming pool........to take a hot long bath.........cappacino in the winter...........the color pink.......the number 14 (don't ask why just always have)..........singing and dancing with my boys..........reality TV.......to do for others and make others happy.

I hate......slow drivers........rude people who work for the public........meatloaf.........when Glenn and I fuss/fight........sick babies.........hot, humid weather (so does my hair)........when Glenn watches wrestling.......the cost of gas these days........having to drive so far to go on a real vacation..........having to try and work out babysitters.........DHEC.......classical music.......jealous people......anyone who is rude/mean to my children......bills......sweet tea when it has just been made.......housework.......my hair most days.......being fat........that I cannot give my boys more that they have already!!!

Just wanted to share these thoughts. I also want to add that my friends have played a big part in my life. I have been so lucky to really find some real true friends. It is so hard in life to have one true friend and I have been so blessed to have a few. I have enjoyed spending time with them so much lately. Glenn does not mind it when I go out and have "girl time" or "girl's night out." I think that all moms and wives need that time. Although I don't get to see them all as much as I would like, I don't forget them at all. This may seem a little weird to blog but just wanted to get my feelings out there. Gosh, I'm such an open book huh??? I really admire my friend Stephanie. She has been through so much in her life at such a young age and she always seems to move forward in a way that I don't understand. She is such a strong person and I am so very blessed that God has put us in each other's paths. Not sure that I am the best person for her but she has been one of the best people for me. And for "mean girl's" I love you both so much. What in the world would I do daily without having you both. Oh well, gonna run and stop all of the mushy stuff. Just wanted everyone to know what life has been like for me lately.

It's been a while!

Boy hasn't life been so busy lately. We went camping this past weekend at Hawe Creek. My mom and step dad and brother and his family all went too. We had a great time. It was really nice to spend that time with my brother since I don't get to be with him much these days. The weather was wonderful, hot during the day but not unbearable. At night, it was warm but wind blew and that made it very nice in the evenings. The boys of course enjoyed having Nanny and Papa and Allison and Karrie there to play with. I think that by Sunday afternoon we were all ready to get home to our homes though. Now, it's back to the nitty gritty of life. It's going to be a short week since the 4th of July is Friday. That is nice. Well, not much more to share right now but will keep posting as I have time. WOW, where do the days go???

"Busy Bees" as usual

This past week has been really busy in the Shaw household. On Friday, NHC had their annual golf tournament at Stoney Point and we were all out there from about 9:30 am until about 7:30 pm. We had alot of fun but it was so very hot!!! The boys spent the night with Nanny and Papa, thank goodness. Saturday morning we had a t-ball game and then a birthday party. Saturday evening we went to VBS kickoff pool party and then Sunday was full of Father's Day stuff. We were in Honea Path all day. The boys start summer camp tomorrow at The Learning Express and then another t-ball game tomorrow night. Gosh, should I just keep going???? Life is so very busy. I did manage to get in a little swimming with the boys today at the Lander pool. Not much else to tell other than I am really ready for a vacation away. We are planning to go camping in the next couple of weeks for a few days but I'm really ready to get out of town further than Hawe Creek in McCormick. Oh well, hopefully soon. Well, gonna run. Eli is having a hard time going to bed tonight and it is already 9:45pm.

My T-Ball Star!!

Will had his very first t-ball game this morning and PRAISE THE LORD, he played the entire game without crying that he was hot, hungry, tired or he just didn't want to play. He did so well and Glenn and me were so very proud of him. He had to hits and two runs. Of course both teams were winners and there were no losers but the Dodgers (Will's team) really won. I could not have told him enough how very proud I was of him. Glenn was pretty excited too. Next week will be another story. Who knows from day to day how he will act. I guess that is a 4 year old for you. Right now he is trying to get me to say "CHEESBURGER" and he is pretending to take my picture. Eli has my duster and is using it and saying "tickle tickle." Okay now it is "mommy say french fry." Guess what, he got a good picture of me. These boys are so funny sometimes. I got some really good pics of Will this morning at his game and I hope and pray that I will get them on here to share. If by chance I don't get them here, please check out myspace at myspace.com/lorishaw1. Well, gotta run and finish cleaning house. My Daddy's side of the family is coming over tomorrow for lunch after church. Gotta have a half decent house for the fam. Later................

Surgery Update!

We had to be at The Outaptient Surgery Center yesterday morning at 7:00am but they did not take Eli back until about 8:00am. This made for a long wait, especially for him since he could not have anything to eat or drink that morning. He did well in those circumstances though. Finally Dr. Rust and Dr. Harwell (LOVE BOTH OF THEM) came and talked to us and the nurse took him back. Eli never blinked an eye. He went right with the nurse. Glenn and I told him that he was going to see another room in the Dr's office. After about 7 minutes or so, Dr. Rust came and got us and said that everythink went great and that he was still asleep in recovery. He even gave me his old tubes in a cloth napkin. HOW GROSS. I actually threw them away once we were home. Once we walked into the recovery room, out little boy was laying there sound asleep with those beautiful little lips puckered out. He looked so precious. Then the nurse had to put drops in his ears and tried waking him up. He was a little disoriented from the anesthesia and cried just a bit but once I gave him his "pappy" and he saw and heard Glenn and me he was fine. He drank some apple juice and even started talking and pointing at the "elphants" and "pooh" on the wall. He did so well. He only had to stay in recovery for about 30 minutes. Once home, he ate, drank and played. He never missed a beat. Just wanted to let you all know how he did and thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers, phone calls and emails and of course the peach pie from Holly. We are so glad that it is over and hopefully his ears will not bother him anymore. I will blog later about Will's t-ball pictures and practice tonight. I have some pics that I need to post but who knows if I will ever get them on here.