Well, at least I'm not worried about his fine motor skills....

This past weekend Wes and I finally broke down and bought furniture for our screened porch. Just in time to enjoy sitting outside in the sweltering heat! Whatever...at least it is no longer the place for bags of trash and the pool towels that are still wet.

In true Shealy fashion we found some great 50% off deals at World Market - anything to make Wes feel better about spending more than $20 at a time! Of course, the downside is that you have to put all the furniture together yourself, but Wes didn't mind. He was just happy to have scored his deal. He spent Saturday and some of Sunday putting together our new stuff while Noah "helped". (Meaning, he watched and tried to mimic exactly what Wes was doing with every tool.) Finally it was all finished and we enjoyed a moment sitting outside before the heat drove us back in.

At one point Sunday morning we could not find Noah, and after looking for a few minutes we found him outside on the porch.



If you look closely you will see that he is in possession of an Allen wrench and is removing the bolts from the furniture. And is quite proud of himself from the looks of it. He declared that he was "helping" and "doing it all by myself". So, a word of caution to those of you that may spend any time on our porch. Examine the furniture closely before you sit on it...you never know when all the bolts may be missing.

Thomas, Live!

Last week my friend Julie called and informed me that Thomas and Friends Live was coming to Charlotte and did Noah and I want to come up and see it with her. Of course, I didn't have to twist Noah's arm and before I knew it, Tuesday rolled around, and we were off to Charlotte to see Julie, Devin, their dog Maggie, and, most importantly, a live stage performance of Thomas!

Here is Noah as we were leaving Julie's - trains in hand, ready to go, and very excited!

After a parking misadventure - suffice it to say that is seems Julie and I will never outgrow our ability to attract disaster and mayhem - we headed in to see the show. Noah held my hand the whole way, grinning and talking about seeing his most favorite little blue train.

And when we got there he was not disappointed. This is a 3 year old's paradise....

And this is what he looked like as he watched.....

Please ignore whatever is going on with my chin in this picture and focus on how cute Noah looks!

He loved the show and sat the whole time just mesmerized. He clapped and sang and laughed and every time a new train would come out he would scream excitedly, "It's James!" or "It's Gordon!" When it was over he was a little sad, and as we filed out of the arena he kept turning around to yell, "Bye Thomas!"

We had such a good time seeing the trains!

To top it all off, we got to stay at Julie's house and play with Maggie the doggie which Noah just loved. We spent the next morning lounging with Maggie while we watched our Disney cartoons. Noah kept petting her and saying, "She's so cute. I love Maggie."

Please notice Noah's souvenir Thomas shirt which he has insisted on sleeping in every night since we went.

I think it was his perfect trip!

Magic Beans

For the last several weeks we have had The Funk. I call it that because it is somewhere between a cold and a flu and a general feeling of ickiness. Noah got it first, then passed it to me, who then passed it to Wes. We have been doing a lot of this lately....

This week we are finally emerging from The Funk and joining the healthy world again. Actually, Noah has been over it for a week or so now and Wes only had it a few days. I was hit the hardest and actually broke down and went to the doctor on Monday, begging for anything she could give me to rid me of The Funk. I must have looked exceedingly pathetic because she prescribed me an antibiotic and a cough syrup that she assured me would knock me out completely for a good night's rest (score!). Of course, my good mood about the medicine only lasted as far as the Publix pharmacy counter.

Let me just tell you that I didn't know a good thing when I had it. Military insurance...awesome. Regular old insurance with a high deductible? Not so awesome. I won't tell you what I spent on that medicine, but suffice it to say that I could have had a very nice new pair of designer jeans. Or several pairs of shoes....sigh. Anyway, when I told me sister what I had spent on my miracle drugs she put it best when she said, "What is that stuff, f&%$ing magic beans?!"

Magic beans indeed. I laughed until I examined the pamphlet that came with my medicine. The column where there is a description of the medicine says it all.

See, even the pharmacist knew what that stuff was! Well, liquid gold or magic beans or whatever you want to call it, at least I am finally feeling better. It was worth it...although I would probably rather have had the designer jeans!