History Lesson

I've had lots of interesting conversations with Elizabeth lately. Here's the latest...
Elizabeth: Are there really people with red skin?
Me: Red skin? Are you thinking about the words from Jesus Loves Me?
Elizabeth: No, I just thought about it. Are there people with red skin?
Me: Well, I think that would refer to the Indians, but their skin really isn't red.
Elizabeth: Where did the Indians come from?
Me: They were in the USA when we, the people with white skin came here from Europe.
Elizabeth: Where did the black people come from?
Me: Some mean white people went to Africa and stole them and brought them here to work on their farms. They were very mean to them and beat them and sometimes killed them when they didn't do what they were told.
Elizabeth: But they don't really have black skin right, it's brown.
Me: You're right.
Elizabeth: Where are the Indians now?
Me: Again the white people were very mean and made them move to Reservations. On a reservation everybody's an Indian.
Elizabeth: Did you know that not all people with different colored skin are mean?
Me: Yes I did. There are mean people with all different colors of skin, but God loves you no matter what color skin you have and you shouldn't be mean to someone or think bad about them because of the color of their skin. Did you get to pick your skin color?
Elizabeth: No, I guess that's why you shouldn't make fun of people or not like them because of their skin color. They didn't pick it. God made them that way.

I'm not sure who did the most teaching, but I think she got the point.

What's new at the zoo?

Goodness, it's been a long time. What's been going on. Let's see...for starters we got new furniture for our living room. It's very comfy and we donated our old furniture to the youth at church. They said it was just what they'd been looking for. Along with at new couch, table and love seat we got a recliner. We hadn't had it 3 days when Elizabeth fell out of it and cut her eye on the new table! That was a trip to the hospital, but luckily no stitches were needed, Praise God!
The kids and I made a trek to Tennessee. We had a good time, but missed Daddy. He couldn't go because he was playing in the second round of the regional tournament!
Basketball went pretty well. I think they won 11 games one of them being a regional tournament game! Coach Shedd was named Coach of the Year by the local paper. We're so proud of him and his kids. They all worked so hard!
We took the kids to the circus! Barnum and Baily were in Birmingham doing "Barnum's Funundrum" and we all enjoyed it!
Elizabeth brought home her "progress report" for preschool. There were only 2 things she needed to work on. The first was tying her shoes and second was her attention span. I think all 4 year olds need to work on their attention span. She counts to 27 and she knows most of her letter sounds. She even knows some sight words! We're so proud of her. She's so smart!
Sarah Grace's vocabulary is growing every day. She's such a smart girl too! We converted her bed to a toddler bed, but I think we need to change it back. I don't think we're quite ready for that. She's working on potty training and we're gaining progress there.
Cole is amazing us daily too. He loves to watch basketball (ba ball) and play with his sisters. They usually pretend he's a monster and run away from him, but he eats it up. The other day Cole was standing in a chair and his father started counting so he would get down. He said one and Cole said 2. Not to shabby for a one year old! He also says "no" and "oh no". He's trying to say Sarah and sissy for Elizabeth.
They amaze us daily and we're so blessed to have them all even though I sometimes want to pull my hair out!
Right now we're dealing with a stomach virus which is NO FUN!
Love you all!
Hope you are well.
That's what's going on at the zoo!

The Zoo

It's been a while and I know I haven't posted pictures like I said I would, but it's been a little crazy here at the Shedd family zoo.
The kids all had colds or bronchitis or something. We got medicine for that yesterday. Cole and Sarah have ear infections. Elizabeth has eczema and I was diagnosed with migraines. It's been a little rough lately, but I think we're on our way to better health. Hopefully anyway.
Elizabeth went back to school today for the first time since before Christmas and she was so excited to go. On the other had she's experiencing night mares. We check for monsters every night in hopes that it will help and sometimes it does. She did sleep in her own bed until about 7 this morning which was wonderful. We've also been leaving her lamp on at night just in case she does wake up in hopes that she will just go back to sleep. I'm not sure if that is working or not.
Poor Sarah and Coley are still very sleepy today and very clingy, but maybe rest will help them get better faster.
I hope to be back in the gym by the end of the week, but the babies have to quit coughing so much before I can do that.
Hope all is well at your house.
Love,
The Shedd Family Zoo

Christmas, New Years and Tournaments

We started off Christmas break with a basketball classic at Verbena. we spent 2 nights in Manchester and left there Christmas Eve to come home for Santa. Christmas Day we went to Cullman and stayed 2 nights. We got home just in time for yet another basketball tournament! Now were working on getting back into a routine. Jonathan's been back in school for 2 days now and Elizabeth goes back to preschool tomorrow.
I went to the gym today. I haven't been in 3 weeks. Hopefully we can get back in the grove now.

Elizabeth is more than ready for school to start. She misses her friends. I know this because she talks about them more every day. She has been really sweet toward her brother lately, but not so much with her sister. She has a hard time with all the travel. She really seems to miss people when we come home. Her worst problem lately is that she is having trouble sleeping. We check the closet for monsters every night now and we're struggling with night mares. We quit watching anything with violence. I have stopped watching CSI, Grey's Anatomy, and Law and Order. I'm working on no wrestling. I think the problem is the news. They always talk about someone getting killed, so I think I will record it and watch it after bedtime.

Sarah Grace has decided that everyone should call her "Sarah Grace". When I call her Sarah she says, "I not Sarah. I be Sarah Grace." That's fine with me because that's what I wanted to call her. Sarah was just easier at times.She loved getting to see everybody. She adjusts well to all the travel. I just wish she'd sleep better when we're away from home! Sarah is a joy most of the time, but when the terrific 2 moments hit, they hit HARD!

Cole is walking really good. He is even trying to run now! He gets carried away though and trips. His poor head always has a bruise on it. He's really working on talking. He's said momma and dada for quite some time, but he's trying to say Pluto and dog. When we go to basketball games he watches the game and his Daddy. He tries to do what his Daddy does. We're working on teaching him to box out. We want him to learn this early since Daddy's bassetball babies seem to have trouble with it.

Pluto is doing well. He survived our travel well. He stayed home to protect us from rats and birds. Those are the only things he barks at.

Well, it's nap time for us. Hope it's warmer for you than it is here!

Happy New Year! Pictures will be posted soon.

Sickness and basketball

The kids have had bronchitis this week, so I haven't had a chance to go to the gym. They've coughed and had runny noses, but no fevers. They are finishing antibiotics, but I know that with bronchitis there's always a lingering cough to look forward to. Just what I need when I'm the new Volunteer Coordinator for the Toddler nursery at church. Things are a little rough now and I have to be there a lot, so my kids have to be there, but I've been assured they are NOT contagious! They are on the mend and seem to be feeling better, now if they'd just sleep better!
Basketball is going well. The Red Devils are 6-5! This is the best they've done in a long time. The kids are excited and continuing to work hard. We hope they keep it up. Jonathan maintains that it's not him, but the kids that are working so hard and I agree. The Lord just seems to continue to bless us here.

Our Newest Addidtion

No, it's not a baby. We are NOT expecting, but we got a puppy last night. We think it's a boxer mix and Elizabeth has decided to name him Pluto. I think this is because that is the name of Mickey Mouse's dog, but that's ok. Pluto had a good first night with us. Even though it was stormy we never hear him whine. Then again we didn't hear the storm siren. Elizabeth did and she woke us up.
He and Elizabeth get along great. Sarah and Cole have mixed emotions. They seem to like him, but not in their face. They all tend to get excited and freak Pluto out, but we're working on it.
I'll take pictures and post them soon.

Thanksgiving travels

We spent one night in Cullman. Had lunch and packed up around lunch time and headed to Tennessee for a few days. We got there in time to see Uncle Joe-Joe and Aunt Manda for a little while before they left then Uncle Mike, Uncle Tracy, Aunt Donna, Aunt Julie, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ed and the cousins came over. The girls had a big time and I think Cole did too. Shedd wasn't feeling too good though. After an eventful night we went to bed, but Sarah Grace woke us up. I noticed that she was screaming and digging in her ear and only had relief when she was sitting up. It was 12:45 AM, so we got dressed and headed to the ER with her. The two sleepers were left in the capable hands of Grammy and Peepaw. She did indeed have an ear infection and was given drops and a perscription. The next morning Shedd woke up with pink eye! Amazing I know. He got some drops and thought he was well on his way to getting better.
He missed out on seeing Mom's side of the family because he didn't want to share his pink eye with Baby Will or anyone else. He opted for a trip to Grandma Sue's and I'm sure she took good care of him. We had a good time with Mom's side of the family, but we missed lots of people (Denise, Doug, Jenny, Joey, Amanda, Jason, Gabby, Zachary we missed you lots!)
Saturday night Shedd felt really bad, so it was on with ER trip #2 for the Shedds. He was told he had a virus and to keep doing what he was doing (this wasn't working). He went to the doctor here Monday and was told that he had bronchitis. He got a shot, a prescription and some cough medicine. He's feeling a bit better now.
Hopefully after all this the Shedds are getting better. We'll see! It was an exciting time.