Happy Birthday Stephen

Yes, this post is about 2 weeks late but the last 2 weeks have been BUSY so since Tyler is not feeling well today, the house is clean I have time to do it now...

My middle son Stephen Blake Shelton turn the big 15 on September 22. We did not do a big birthday we just had a cake that my dear friend Kim made for him (every need a cake or catering she is the lady to call big or small she can do it) and then we let him pick where to eat on Sunday after church to go eat. When we go to the beach in a couple of weeks he will get the shopping spree that he wanted for his birthday (never knew the day would come when he would want to go shopping at Hollister or American Eagle) and hopefully getting his permit tomorrow. I do feel bad for not having a friend thing but I ask him and he didn't want to do anything.. Next year will be a bigger blast..





Stephen's due date was September 9th a day before Ryan's bday and on the day we were having Ryan's 2nd bday party at Discovery Zone in Greenville but he was nice enough to let his brother has his birthday and a couple of weeks to be a only child. He was induce on Sept 22nd and made his entrance into the world about 3:25 weighing in 9lbs 13oz and yes 23 in long.. His delivery was great he was just a happy healthy boy and the second time around was alot easier. Ryan took to his little brother and USE to love playing w/him. We had gone in w/ names of Tyler, Blake and Austin but not sure which 2 we were going to use.. The nurse said that with a big boy like he was he needed a big name so we went through all the names and she said Stephen and I said that was on the original list we will go with that so instead of going with one of the original names Stephen Scott Shelton (cool initials..lol) we went w/ Blake (never knew I would have another one to use the name Tyler for).. I will have to say Stephen was the baby that need attention and was impatient he has grown out of the needs attention still a little impatient..lol. He has always had his blonde curly hair he loves it at times and sometimes he hates. When he was little he looked like one of those cherub up angels it was to precious and I hated to cut it..

I split up with their dad when he was 2 and he almost got hit by a car when he was 3 and I think between that and the guilt of splitting up w/ his dad and him needing attention oh and the stitches he has had I have spoil him and he is all about his momma he has always been a mommas boy so we have more behavior issues with him cause I let him get away with alot but as he has grown up even though he is still immature in alot of ways he is mature in alot of others.. He has a speech problem (he can't get his words out as quick as his brain is trying to get them out) he has not use as a handicap he has embrace it and use humor so that people would not make fun of him but be his friend and he has become our funny man of the family it is hard to disciple him sometimes cause he makes me crack up. He is atlectic and loves sports, he might look like his mom and be a momma boy the 1 thing he did get from his dad is sports.. He can tell you all about any player from baseball or football and other sports he loves to watch, read and play sports.. He is a reader he has had a book in his hand since before he could even read he is the kid that if they give you a goal of 200 books by a certain date he will have 400 by that date. He is the sound of reasoning sometimes between Ryan and us mean parents he has common sense and book sense and knows how to use them. He is the most annoying little brother but he is the best big brother he takes the middle child role serious..lol. He is the best babysitter he loves kids and playing with them so that the kids love him too. He love girls when he was in K5 he had twin girlfriends (any little girl that would play with him on the play ground was his girlfriend) and has been a friend of girls every since. We are going through that stay of trying to teach him how to talk to girls this age now. He has alot of potential in alot of areas he just needs to be encourage to bring it out. He is unsure of himself at times and he can close up and not let people in until he is ready.. I always say when he grows up and mature he is going awesome (well he is now but you know what I mean). He is a lover of God, family (esp Tyler), sports, chicken nuggets, mac/cheese,girls and reading.. Happy Birthday to my baby I love ya..

The 2 girls he looks scared of are his cousin it was the first time seeing them in 5 yrs him and Jessie the one w/ brown hair are way to much alike and Oliva is so close to his age is starting to embrace the cousin relationship with her..lol. I wish scanner work so I could younger and ball pictures.

Seeing you in my "Dreams"

Well, we are locked in and finally are going to do it.. It is going to be alot of changes around here like staying home and eating at home and exercising for the next year but Eric and I are going on a cruise next September. I thought he had been on one and didn't want to go on another one and I have never been on one so I had plan to go with some girlfriends last year but then when I found out he had not gone on one and he was a little hurt about it I cancel on that trip so we could have this experience for the first time together. On September 4th we will board Carnival new ship Dream together we are going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Isle Rochtan Belize for a 7 day cruise. All of this came out of the blue and sudden, Kim was looking at cruises and found this one and was telling us about it and was talking about canceling her spring break one to go on this one instead so with a meal out w/ our spouses we decided to make it a go. We are going with our friends the Monday's, Manley's and a girl I work with and her husband and a friend of Kim's that is also friends w/ Denise and then 2 couples from Maine that Kim knows. We will be leaving from Port Canvral and have our room at the Radission already for Friday night. Now the only thing left to do is to prepare finacially and body. With looking at the pictures of the boat and the seeing the confirmation that is the motivation I need to get back into my old summer clothes.. I am doing the biggest loser weight lost w/ 10 other people and who wins gets the $600 and that is a motivator too that is a good payment or our excursions. I can not wait to go and do this trip I have always "Dream" about. Last labor day I was sleeping in a tent in the woods at a lake with all the bugs and snakes next one I will be sleeping on a huge boat on the ocean with my door open listening to the sounds and smelling the the sea, eating all I want and seeing things I have never seen what a year make a difference..347 more days!!!!!!!!







Oh yeah, did I mention that I also have 2 kids going to Greece next year.. Pray for us as we go in this saving plan. I am not a homebody but I am going to learn how to be.. We have a beach trip in a month, Savannah in Feb with Kim & Scott and girls trip to Charleston in April other than that we are doing nothing until the cruise..

Happy Birthday Ryan

September 10th was my first born 17th birthday... I can't believe it sometimes that I have a child that old I still don't think it has hit me.... We celebrated his bday at Chief's with the his friend Zack Hewitt and his family and his friend Roger. We are sending him to the August Burn Red concert in Atlanta with 2 other boys in October giving him his ticket and spending money.

I was so excited when I found our I was pregnant was him. I had a great pregnancy expect for swollen beyond recognition feet and ankles and him being stubborn not wanting to come out.. His due date was September 4th but I was induced with him on September 10 he was 9lbs 3 oz and 21 1/2 in long. His name is Ryan Yates his dad and I could not come up w/ a boy name we both agree on and the girls names were Allison Yates or Samantha Ryan so we took the 2 middle names and named him. Yates is my mom maiden name and my grandmother died while I was pregnant with him so I wanted to honer her. Our first 4 weeks were heck and I wonder what was I doing but I found out he was starving my release glands did not work so he was never eating and I was hurting as soon as I gave him a bottle w/ formula in it he has slept through the night ever since... He was honestly the most perfect baby never cry unless something was wrong, he was always happy, would entertain himself for hours.From the time he could talk he was interested in cars and trucks when going down the highway he would say " biiiiiiiiig truck mommy" it would be in a deep low voice. He knew all the race car drivers by sponsors and # by the time he was 4 if it has anything to do w/ cars he can tell you about it for this reason I hate that we didn't name him the name I wanted to give to him Cam (a car part). He has try sports but by the end of elm school he realize that was not his calling. He is a wonderful artist well he can draw any kind of car or truck you want him to, he loves playingthe bass, acoustic guitar and wants to start I think it is called electric. He loves God and is not scare of dying cause he looks it as a win/win situation he dyes he gets to go home to his Savior, he can tell you anything you want to know about the bible. The kid is SMART but as most teenagers he does not apply himself he just gets by with what he can. I guess all those car games and his love has given him a need for speed and I pray for him every day when he is driving (I did this before he started driving alone).. He is not a big social kid, he doesn't care about the going ons of people around him. His thing if you are asking questions you are being nosey and it ain't your business. He is 17 now and I have to be honest our last 6 months have been the hardest on us. Me and Ryan have always been close but the last 6 months we have been at each other throats. I am praying it is a stage and maybe now he will grow out of it.. He will do anything for you and not complain, he can be the greatest friend an encourager. He has the world in his hands and my prayer is that God will use him to do work in His kingdom, he will put his all into his last 2 years of high school, he will continue to go on w/ his dreams even though they are not mine or what I would choose for him (he wants to go into automotive technology but I want him to go into Engineering (the kid has the brain to do it)). Right now he is taking automotive tech 1 and next year will be II then he will be certified to work in a shop. He goals for that is to work while he goes to NGU for Mass communications. He is taken a 12th grade Alg. If he will do after school classes for Spanish if they have it then next year he can leave school for his math and go to Wofford for college credits. He has always been a good kid never any partying, drinking, drugs or anything and he is NOT tempted to do those things and I stand up and applaud him for that, he know his Lord and he stands firm on his faith. I know that we will make it through this hard teenage years and one of these days we are going to laugh about everything. I just pray it soons... Happy Birthday to my first born baby boy Ryan Yates Shelton lover of God, youth group, Day6, Ready to Rise, hard core christian music, guitar, snickers, cars, video games, money, mission trips and food....

Labor Day Weekend

This labor day weekend we went camping w/ our good friends Scott & Kim Hewitt and thier kids to lake Hartwell Coneross Campground. They in there big camper and us in our tents.. Scott & Eric left earlier on Friday than Kim and I with all the kids so by the time we got there they basically had our homes for the weekend set up. We had plan on all 5 of us sleeping in 1 tent but we took an extra one just in case and the one we thought was bigger enough wasn't so the 1st one was Ryan & Stephen and they slept on cots and the 2nd 1 was mine, Eric's & Tyler's and the 3 of us slept on a queen blow us matteress just like home..lol






Saturday we rented a boat from 11-7 so we got up and packed lunches and got everything together and spent the day out of the lake. We went out on a tour of the lake and in a boat that went like 10 miles an hour. I believe they had a governer on it or something. People were passing us left and right. But we had a blast and alot of laughs from the "slowness" of the boat, Scott trying to flood and then he conconvice the kids it would go faster if they all moved to the back w/ us, the spider over Kim's head esp when she has a "fetish" of spider (she meant fear), Ryan trying taking driving the boat so serious and like it was a speed boat, "Ryan, TYler could drive this boat" and Tyler makeing sure that the lake does not have a drought problem. The adults, the kids and Captain Scott





We stop after lunch and let the kids jump off and swim around and I don't pictures of this cause lake girl decided she was going to jump into and swim well this boat had a ladder but guess what just like the speed of the boat the ladder was broken too sooooooooo it took alot to get back onto the boat. Then we stop again at a loading dock and the kids jump off the boat the dock and had a good time swimming, Tyler finally got in and so did Kim.. I figure out how to climb back up using the dock and the boat but Kim swam to shore and walked back..

Stephen & Tyler jumping in, Kim after her walk back and "how do we get back up"




Clemson had a home game this is how you tailgate..


My sweet baby after a long day


On Sunday we invite Ree & Sean Davis and their kids and Ginger & Tim Darwin and their kids and Kim sister Denise & Doug down to cook out w/ us. They all got there around 1 and sat around and talk, the kids played some games, Austin fish, and we took the kids over to the beah part to go swimming. The day was filled w/ good friends and good food..










At night we played Mexican Trian which is Tyler favorite thing now, Rumbix Cube and just chilled out. The older boy's played Xbox in Kim's camper.






Kim thought this was funny... she can't decide if a redneck thing or a blonde thing.. But YES I did shave my legs via solo cup w/ help from Stephen rinising out and fillng back up.. The bathhouse I didn't feel like walking back up to and I didn't want to mess Kim's bathroom up so I did it like this..



Tyler and Eric sleeping. He fell asleep early on Sunday night so on Monday he was up by 7 but mommy wasn't ready so by 8 I told him he had to go back to bed and he finally did.


Don't see this often but the boys work together to take down their tent.


We had a great time and we even made it even though I heard there was a snake near our tent Saturday afternoon and while I was showering my husband and Scott were kiling it and then they killed a mamma scoprion and its babies so 2 thinks that freak me out I still slept out in the tent and would do it again.. But next year for labor day us adults we will be on cruise... It will be a long way from sleeping in a tent and walking up to a bathhouse to begin on a boat that with everything at your finger tips... Dream, I will see you in my dreams...............