HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's New Year's Eve at the Sheckles Paul house. We have family and friends here tonight. We are having Christmas with Mandy's side of the family, and 2 friends are here helping Mandy fix things. If you are any kind of friend with us, you really do know that when you come over, Mandy enrolls you in a project. If you are a project friend - just know that you are helping clear out the cobwebs in Mandy's brain. You know when you make a list and that helps get it out of your brain onto paper....but Mandy can't do most of the things she writes down so that's when she ropes my dad, Cindy, Laura... (and you) into fixing these things for her. You are all so important to us. We thank you over and over again after you leave by discussing how nice it would be to be able to do what ever you did for us.
Happenings in 2009 for the Sheckles Paul family. In no uncertain order.
***We stared using our full last name for the kids. Amanda has gone by Amanda Paul in school since she was attending. This year we realized that Sheckles wasn't being used. Mostly because of Laziness, but when Mandy became pregnant we changed that. There is no - hyphen in our name either. It is Sheckles Paul. The kids know this, and they think that everyone is a Sheckles Paul. Teri Sheckles Paul, Connie Sheckles Paul, Karley will say.... Im just a Sheckles.
*** Of course we had the quads. Time has flown by ... I realize this every day. Every day the babies change. Just this week, Harper couldn't crawl. The next day, he army crawled into the kitchen. If you've been here, that is quite a hike from the carpet. Kerry is the only baby not crawling. I hope she waits awhile. She is so cute when she rocks on her knees. The others really never rocked. Just started crawling. The babies are eating baby food and lots of table food. They play with each other now. Climbing on top of each other to get to mom or mommie, and laughing about it.
*** Bradley and Amanda have had straight A's on their report cards this year. They love reading, and really take in school. They get off the bus full of enthusiasm, and hunger. They are not big eaters. They do like the rest of us should and eat about 10 small meals a day. They got computers for Christmas and have been on them playing webkinz a whole lot. When they woke up Christmas morning they went downstairs before they got us up, and had seen almosts all their Christmas before we saw them. They are the best Big Sister and Big Brother anyone could ask for. They can change a dirty diaper like there's no tomorrow. They carry babies and put them to bed. I never dreamt that Mandy and I would need them so much in our every day caring for the babies, but we do. They are Rock Stars.
*** Mandy has invested her time into real estate again. My mandy is back wheeling and dealing. I love it when her brain goes full speed ahead. It drives me crazy in the same sense, but I know that she is happiest when she is as busy as she is now. She has been on the quest for a new bff, and it has been a fun process. Lots of new people coming and going from the house. Interesting to say the least. That's my Mandy !!
****We had Christmas eve with my family here this year. We had a talent show. I believe that all acts won some sort of prize for their category. Mandy and I sang a song with billy bob teeth in. Amanda danced, Bradley sang and danced..maggie and meredith sang and danced. Eric, Garrett and Alex played rock band. My dad did his shoe dance. Lisa and her stackers sang the twelve days of Christmas.
My aunt Lisa and I have decided that we will have Christmas eve every year at our house. It was full of spirit.
***If you are ever at home on Christmas day alone please come to our house. We had extra steaks this year and our door is always open. Plus you can help clean up the mess. hahaha
***We lost 2 people this year. My Grandpa Selke and my Uncle Phil. My uncle Phil was waiting on a liver transplant. His body was tired before he got there. He lived with my parents for 7 months this year . He gave them lots of company and lots to do with traveling around to all his doctor appointments.
Mom and I decided that the upside to loosing 2 people in 2009 was that we had 4 more and so we are still up 2!! What a brite side!
FOR 2010...Mandy and I will try to find the extra funds and time to take the family to the Grand Canyon. We want to spread Kerry's ashes. It is a trip Mandy has wanted to take for quite awhile, so that is my intention I am setting...to get her there. I also want to take the kids to Key West. So, If you have any connections in either place, hook me up. email me info...
Thank you to all our support over the past year in our journey with our much larger family. We are blessed to have such great family and friends. See you next year!! Love you all...amy

new technology

post by mandy
just when i figured out how to post videos from my new phone i got a "drum roll please" a moment. a fancified phone. can u stand it? if you know me at all me and technology are like oil and water. so i guess in 2015 i will learn how to post videos on here with it. amy and i had about 52 people friend us on facebook! thanks. it's just so much easier to do it that way. i do have a bone to pick with facebook. we have had 2 friends die and their accounts have stayed active on facebook. i was sooooooo bothered by this. I got so creeped out that your life stops in time on that page and then people would try to friend you and they would think you were ignoring them but you were really dead and didn't get the request and so on and on and on and on and on. OMG. i get on my own nerves. anyway i was bothered for about 18 hours over this and even lost sleep. i was going to get up in the middle of the night and deactivate my FB account because if i died i woudn't want my page still on there or people to think i was still alive when i wasn't. i really think facebook should address this serious issue. maybe it's only a serious issue in my crazy little mind. to make matters even worse amy and i had just seen the movie "up in the air" and i am commitment phobic queen and ryan bingham talks about our backpacks being too full. then i decided being on facebook was really too much of a commitment for me. just like blogging. now nothing against you as a reader this is totally "my shit" but i have quit blogging like ummmmmm drum roll please.... 68 times. because it's tooooo much commitment for me. so back to the phone. i got the new phone so i could facebook more efficiently. and as soon as i get it i'm gonna deactiveate my facebook account?????? are you serious mandy??? have you lost your mind? WTF. see that was also a part in the movie. once he got his 10 million flight miles he got the fancy card from american airlines. after he got it he really didn't want it or need it. yep been there done that with the black card from american express. whoop deeee fucking do!!!!! "up in the air" is a must see.

will the real stalkers please stand up, please stand up

post by mandy
amy and are both on facebook. please add us as a friend on there. we update and post to that many times per day!!! :)

quad table

Tillie and Harper

Hillbilly baby gate

being silly

Here's manda sitting in a little baby seat.
here's me goofing around in glasses. amy and i play this
game where we will trick each other and show
up random places with glasses on. like one of us will
go to bed and the other one will come in and turn on the
light and we will have glasses on laying in bed. Neither of us really wear glasses.

bradley had been bugging amy to buy him a freddie mask. i told him if he could fake cry and produce fake tears i'd buy it for him. so he turned to amy and said, "smack me" he never got the mask. no tears fell on his cheeks

manda and bradley mixing cookies. this is how the sheckles do it!!!! :)

Bradley Playing the guitar

"I have a little song, it's not very long tulip tulip now it's all gone"

I'm back

post by mandy

i bet you thought i moved to florida! i really am still here. Bradley loves to cook. we call him and amanda counter monkeys. they really climb on top of the counters. here's a pic of him cooking. one night last week we were singing phantom of the opera into this candleobera. oh however the hell u spell it.

quad table

I have been bragging around on my facebook about my new quad table, but haven't blogged about it. My dad fulfilled my wish on a quad feeding table. I don't have a picture of it to post for you , but I promise to get one asap. A quad feeding table is a table that has 4 seats set into it and all 4 babies can sit together and play or eat. They love it. They like to play at it more than eat right now. They are just getting into the swing of eating. Kennedy loves to eat and try new foods, Tillie is right behind her. Kerry spits everything out, and Harper doesn't know what his tongue is doing.
Tillie is now officially crawling. She is sitting up without support. Kennedy is trying to crawl, but it is more like a leap frog. Kerry can get there, but not real fast, like an inchworm. Harper just lays on the floor like a blob. He looks like he's swimming with no destination in site.

As for our families, Teri just bought a new house. She accepted the offer today. She will be selling her house. It is a 5 bedroom 3 story house in Ben Davis Schools. Reply to my blog if you are looking to buy a house. A big house on the WEST SIIIIDE.
My mom has been nursing her brother for the past 6 months. He was living in Florida and came to live with my mom to get a new liver. He is failing this week and we will probably lose him soon. My mom is definitely someone you want on your team. She has been my uncle Phil's savior. You are in my thoughts mom as this week approaches and all these decisions need to be made.

Amanda has her 8th birthday coming this weekend. She has invited her whole class to a party. We don't have many rsvp's, Im hoping people are just being irresponsible with that. She has a fun party planned. We are going today to buy her party games and favors.

Bradley has a friend from pre school here today. They are out playing football, and I am amazed at the friendship they have been able to savor.

Mandy is napping with the babies right now, I am getting ready to make potato soup and clean the house. The colts are on the tv, it is a good sunday here.
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