Today Kaylee came home and said she and some friends at school were starting a club--- The Best Friends Butterfly Catching Club. Sounds fun:)

Fresh Faces Contest

If you want to see a few pics from Kaylee's photo session -- go to www.uniquelyyouphoto.com/blog/.

vegetarian or just animal lover?

A few days ago, I went to Sam's with the two little girls. We were shopping and sampling the food ( our favorite part), when we walked by the meat section. They had a couple rows of rotisserie chicken cooking in the back. Lauren noticed right away and said, "Mommy- they are cooking the chickens". She said it very sad and I could tell it upset her a little. Being the sensitive mom I am, I said "That's ok, we eat chicken all the time -- it's good". She didn't really say anything, but I could tell she was thinking about it.
Well then tonight, I had Dan grill some chicken breasts and she was outside. She asked, "What are you cooking -Daddy?" Dan told her it was chicken and she got very upset and said, "I am not eating chicken!" And Dan being the sensitive Dad he is said " You eat chicken all the time-- you like McDonalds chicken nuggets- right?" She had to think awhile and then said "Well, I'm NOT eating it!" He did say that was ok, but we'll see what happens from here on out.
You see, we have chickens and have raised them from the time the were itty bitty little chicks. They all have names and Lauren LOVES them, as she loves all animals. But right now, the chickens are her favorite. So I guess we'll see if this will keep her from eating chicken forever or just if she's thinking about it.
Either way it's pretty cute.

12 years!!

Aug. 16th, 1996-- Friday evening @ 6:30, Dan and I were married!! It was such a fun wedding. We danced the night away! 12 years and 4 kids later, here we are. Wow!! It doesn't seem possible.
I will never forget the first time I met Dan. It was in the dorm cafeteria and he was bald!! Not bald, going bald, but bald, shaved his head bald. He was training for a marathon and decided "hey, what the heck". Needless to say, he didn't look great bald, more like a cancer patient. The memory I have of him was that he was kind of weird, but funny wierd. At the time, I was dating someone seriously and thought little of the encounter. As things went, my boyfriend and I broke up and Dan and I became friends. Somehow he became the person I confided in about my heartbreak and we spent a lot of time together. People started asking about us and my response was "NO!-- he's like my brother, we are just friends". After awhile things changed for him. I will never forget hanging out with a good friend of mine and her telling me-- Dan told me that you are the one he is going to marry. What?!! Eventually, he told me how he felt and I wasn't sure what I felt. But Dan was patient, pursued me and eventually our great friendship developed and I fell in love with my best friend.
We have had a busy up and down 12 years, stressful at times, we've yelled and cried and laughed and had fun.
So for our anniversary we had wanted to get away to a B & B for a few days, catch up with each other, relax and enjoy each other.... But work, kids, school and stuff got in the way. However, at the last minute, Dan arranged for us to have a night in a hotel in Lincoln. We didn't travel or go anywhere special, but it was awesome. It was soooo nice to get away, just the two of us. Since we have had kids, I think we have done that maybe once!! That is so sad. And the date nights have been few and far between. It was so nice to be together and remember why we married each other and to renew the "us" in our family. Wow!!
I just think it is soo vital! I have seen so many marriages struggling and fighting and ending. It is so sad and we think it could never happen to us. But if we don't take the time for just us, it could so easily happen.
Anyway, I've remembered that yes I do love my husband and even like him a lot. He is wonderful and we are going to try to do this more often. I want us to be a priority. It was a great celebration of 12 years!

My little fashion diva

Well- along with it being the first day of school yesterday; Kaylee also had a photo session. She won a local Fresh Faces contest and got to model for Sarah Ulrich-- a local photographer that is amazing. One and a half hours of posing, smiling, workin' it for the camera ... it was hard work I guess, b/c then the yawning and hiccuping and giggling started. We were down in the HayMarket and I'm hoping got some good shots. Kaylee was tired I think, because by the end was being quite a cheese ball:) It was fun and I can't wait to see some of the shots.

school days

The last official week of our summer was a crazy one-- seeing family, school shopping, haircuts, end of summer BBQ with friends and one last swim day. And today is the first day of school!! I can't believe it, the summer has just flown by. I'm sad, but also ready for some routine. Getting up in the mornings is going to take some adjusting. I took the kids to school today, so we were able to sleep a little later, but normally the bus will be here between 7:15 and 7:20, so everyone will need to be up before 7 am--yikes.
Last night was the kids open house. Kaylee (my shy one) was nervous about her teacher and new classroom, etc. She takes a bit to warm up to new people, so hopefully her and her teacher will bond. That makes all the difference for her. She does have some friends in her class, so that helps too.
David was excited about school, solely b/c his best friend Jon is finally in his same classroom. Jon lives a couple houses down from us and they have been best friends since the day we moved out here. He would spend every moment of the day with him if he could, and now he almost can! I only hope it doesn't cause problems in the classroom.
So now life is easy--Ha Ha!! Only two at home, but the trouble makers! We're excited for a new year.

happy birthday Daddy!

Birthday Banner for Daddy

cousins

This last weekend we went down to Kansas to see my parents and sister and her family. We hadn't been down there in quite some time so it was fun to catch up. The kids have been asking all summer-- when are we going to see our cousins??? The first day it rained ALL day. But they all had a blast. They played in the rain and in the garage fort.
Toward the end of the day, everyone was getting a little stir crazy, so Grandpa and Daddy got some stuff and we made homemade rootbeer , which was very entertaining. Rootbeer extract, water, sugar and dry ice!! The next day was nicer. We went to church, relaxed, watched some Olympics and played at the park. Wish they were all closer. Playing with the cousins is so much fun!

pepper is not good to eat!

The two little girls were outside while I was inside doing dishes. Lauren comes running in the house yelling-"Natalie threw up, Natalie threw up!" My immediate thought was --oh great, here we go with a string of sickness! I go outside to first find,that yes indeed, Natalie did throw up. But then I see Natalie with her mouth open, drooling and spitting and a mouth full of pepper. They had found some pepper and decided maybe it would be good to eat. I can't imagine having a taste and taking more, sooo.... she must have just dumped a bunch in all at once. Her mouth was full of pepper. She was crying, coughing and sputtering while I tried to wash out her mouth. My guess is that Lauren talked her little sister into it. I was just thankful that it happened outside and I didn't have to clean up any mess and that she wasn't sick. Fun times at the Shafer house!

Wow!! It has been a LONG time since I posted on this blog. I started gung-ho, then got caught up in the busyness of life. I love to read blogs and someone recently asked me why I don't have one. I said, "oh yeah, I do have one, maybe I should try again". So here I go.
I just can't believe the summer is pretty much over. We are trying to squeeze in as many summer things as we can-- swimming, sweet corn, watermelon... it will all be gone before we know it. I recently bought a little waterproof camera from Wal-Mart specifically to catch my little fishies in action. They turned out ok.
Natalie (my 2 year old) thinks she is a fish. Her older sister taught her how to go under water and now she would stay under there if she only had gills:) She took swimming lessons at the YMCA and really can move under water, however, the staying on top of the water is the hard part.
The other night, I had to work and Dan took the kids to a local pool with another family. Before I left, I had a bad feeling, but didn't want to say anything to my hubby in fear he would think I didn't trust him with the kids. Well, comes to find out, the whole motherly, womanly intuition thing is real. The lifeguard saved my 2 year old!!! Yes, it seems she decided to just get right in the deep end of the pool and unfortunately couldn't quite "swim" well enough to get to the side. I guess it caused a bit of a ruckus at the pool, but she was ok. Thank God. That is my all time biggest fear--losing a child to a drowning accident. We've had several kids in our area die this summer from drowning and it just terrifies me. God was watching over you little Natalie.