SK Turns Two

On July 17th, Shelby Kate turned two. We celebrated our special girl for an entire week! It's not easy coordinating a summer birthday. So our week consisted of three birthday parties. Fun!

We had a small get together on her actual birthday. We, along with my mother, took Shelby to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Our waitress arranged for everyone to sing Happy Birthday. Along with that, she brought Shelby a very yummy dessert, Coca-Cola chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream!

Celebrating with the Panko Family
Care Bear Themed Birthday Party




Happy 2nd Birthday Shelby Kate!


Game, Pin the heart on Luv-A-Lot Bear!


A singer....


a dancer....


and a Magician??



Thanks to my sister Diane for bringing this awesome bounce house! The kids had a blast.


A growing family!
This is three quarters of the Panko grandchildren!


Celebrating with the Thompson Family

Birthday Girl

Two years ago today, we were holding a new baby girl in our arms. We had the perfect name for you, Shelby Kate! You were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Thank you God for blessing us with a healthy baby girl!

Your first few moments of life!




Mimi and your aunts were so excited to meet you!

You are so full of energy these days.

You love dress up! You try on at least 5 pair of shoes a day (mine, yours, and Will's).

You certainly love taking off your clothes and running around the house naked! You're going to hate me for saying so, but it's the honest truth.

Your favorite cartoon is Dora (Deedo) and you watch her every day.

Your best friend is your brother, Will. I hope we can still say that 10 years from now!

You are able to sing Happy Birthday, Rock-a-bye Baby, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Your favorite animals are the Care Bears.

You love brushing your teeth (two or three times daily).

You do not like to be messy and will cry if your clothes get dirty. You are constantly wiping your hands while eating at the table.

Your favorite foods are cheese, salad, mac 'n cheese, dumplins, ham, chips, crackers, ice cream, and yogurt smoothies (what we call yo yo's). Every time you see a McDonald's, you immediately say, "Mommy, ice cream and sprite......please!" I love it when you say please.

You have very good manners. Always saying bless you, please, thank you, and you're welcome.

You love taking baths.

You love to go swimming.

You love your bunky and hope to take it everywhere we go.

You love giving hugs and kisses and telling us you love us "much".

Shelby, you have brought so much joy into this family. You are loved by all. You are certainly the sweetest little girl I know. Mommy, Daddy, and Will love you very much. Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Shelby!

Taking Shape

Our house is taking shape! We have brick and mortar going up this week. The sheet rock was delivered yesterday afternoon and will be going up today. It's a busy place and coming along so well!

There's never a dull moment with these two around. They love exploring! Here they are climbing the rocks at our neighbors place.


We finally have pig tails and can hardly believe our sweet angel is turning two tomorrow!

Making Memories

We had our first bon fire at QR was on Saturday night! We made S'mores, and they were yummy! My sister and her family joined us for the fun. It was nice evening beside the fire. Blake even took the kids on a hunt to find the bear that has been living in our back yard (haha!). He had them scared in their pants!

We stumbled across a blackberry bush last week and it's growing along the fence in our backyard. I, too, grew up having a blackberry bush in our yard! I picked a lot of blackberries back in the days. Will and Shelby are going to have a lot of childhood memories on QR, and I can't wait!

Pirate Party for C & K

Aunt Heather hosted a great pirate birthday party for Coleman and Keenan early this week. They turned 5 years old last week. Will and Shelby both had a great time at the party. Even though Shelby busted her lip on the playground! We had a party at the park, followed by a few hours at Paradise Cove water park. All the kids had a wonderful time. Will really misses being around his best cousins, C & K. They were inseparable the first 3 years of their life! We sure miss having them around all the time.

Shelby busted her lip at the park. Mommy was so upset she got nausea! I couldn't tell you who was more upset, her or me. Thank goodness Shelby's a tough girl. Her crying lasted about 15 minutes and she was ready to play again.

Windows & Doors

We have fast, hard working carpenters! Our windows and exterior doors were delivered at 7am this morning and all installed before NOON! It's amazing to watch how hard these men work. We are very excited to watch our house grow.

We have several crews out working today. The city is running pipes for water. The electrician is close to being finished with wiring the entire house. The carpenters finished installing all windows and exterior doors throughout the entire house and were working in the basement when I left.

The weather is extremely hot this week! I could only stand outside for a short while. I was out there yesterday for no more than 20 minutes and got about 50 chigger bites! I have never loved clear nail polish so much in my life. It's great for itch relief! I will definitely be investing in some bug repellent before I go out there again!

As of right now, we're still hoping for a late August/early September closing. It's hard to believe the time is so close. Our brick was installed last week and we're hoping masonry begins today or tomorrow.

Looking out Shelby's window


Window view from the breakfast room


Master bath


Front door