Disco Elves

I had so much fun making the ElfYourself video yesterday that I made another one today. After all, Dean needed to get in on the action. The kids helped me and laughed as hard as I did.

Once again, Merry Christmas from the silly Shupes.

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Dancing Elves

The holidays are upon us and we are in the Christmas spirit at the Shupe house. Just check out the video below. Merry Christmas everyone!

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They're Magically Delicious!

Cold Cereal is a staple in our house. While I would love to say I make my children a hot breakfast every morning, that is just not reality here. Cold cereal, in various varieties, is breakfast most mornings and on Sunday evening it is usually the snack of choice and on crazy nights when Dean and I are both running around, it often becomes dinner. So when Kristina arrived here from Russia and did not like cold cereal, we were thrown for a loop. We had to scramble to try to find things she could eat for breakfast when everyone is rushing around trying to get out the door by 7:30 am. Muffins, granola bars, fried eggs (when time permitted) and apple pastries have all been offered at breakfast with mixed results. But this past Sunday, for whatever reason, Kristina decided to try Lucky Charms. And apparently, those frosted marshmallows were a hit.

She thought I was crazy for taking this picture of her, but this was truly a milestone!

And, in keeping with my attempt to celebrate the abundance in my life over the past week (and yes, I have slacked a bit on my posts), today I choose to say thank you for the abundance of food in my life. It is a basic need but one that I think we sometimes take for granted. You can talk about rising food prices all you want but the truth is, we have plenty to eat and can usually get what we need when we need it. And if you doubt me, next time you visit a store, just look at the number of varieties of cold cereal available to you. If that isn't abundance, I don't know what is.

More Thanksgiving

Today I spent some time organizing my photos on my computer. I have over 11,000 (yes, 11,000) photos on my computer and they are getting out of hand. In the midst of the photo organization, my computer locked up and after shutting it down to reboot, would not restart. I thought I was going to meltdown. But after a few minutes, my Mac decided to come back to life (needless to say, I'm backing everything up tomorrow). And as a result of my organization efforts today, it is easier for me to share photos like these with you today.


In keeping with my efforts to recognize the abundance in my life, I want to say how grateful I am for an amazing childhood. It seems that a childhood like mine is harder and harder to come by in today's world and too few kids get to just be kids. So I am grateful that I got to be a kid. No one can top the memories I have of Kelton summers, of playing with cousins, of reading books for hours on end, of just hanging out without a care in the world.


There is nothing like good clean Kelton dirt for a kid. I swear my immune system is stronger for it. I think Dr. Mitch Moffitt, known for eating a bucket of dirt daily as a kid, would back me on that one.


Man, we had a good time. My parents and grandparents are largely responsible for that and so I'll sing their praises in the next few days. Thanks for the memories.

Adjusting my attitude...

I'm having one of those days. You know, one of those days when the universe seems aligned against you? So in an effort to adjust my attitude I thought I would share this quote with you. I found it while reading a talk from Thomas S. Monson from October's General Conference.

Both abundance and lack (of abundance) exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present---love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us (happiness)---the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

So, on that note, I am going to try to focus on abundance over the next few days. Thanksgiving is, after all, only a little over a week away. So I'll start with today. Today I am grateful for a husband who is patient through my moods, loves his kids, takes good care of all of us and still loves me even when I post pictures like this.


Really, could I ask for anything more? (Don't you think he bears a striking resemblance to Ruprecht in this photo? "He's going to love Oklahoma's wide open spaces. He likes to run and run and run."--Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)


I do love this guy.

My Brother, the Rock Star

My baby brother is a rock star. Really, he is. He has played for a band called Broke City for a while now. They've had their ups and downs in their quest for fame and fortune but they seem to be on an upswing. They recently competed in the Global Battle of the Bands. They first won the Northwest's regional competition and then went on to the national competition in Anaheim, CA. The good news is that they won this competition which means an all expense paid trip to London in December to represent the USA in the final global competition.

Hey, Gooch, we are proud of you. Good luck in December!

And to think I can say I knew you when.


If you want to check out more about Robert and his band, go to this website: www.brokecitymusic.com

School Yard Casualty

It's been a busy day. When I awoke this morning, the most significant part of my day was going to be voting. Well, Sidney woke up sick. Not a big deal--she's pretty low maintenance when she is sick. But not long after arriving home from voting, I got a phone call that Spencer was in the school nurse's office. He appeared to have sprained his ankle and the nurse thought I should get it xrayed.

How did this happen? Spencer was playing Steal the Flag and as he lunged for the flag, he fell, twisted his ankle and then was tackled by his buddies who conveniently fell on the ankle. I have to admit, I thought maybe he was overreacting. But when the nurse moved him to my car in a wheelchair, I decided maybe I should take him to the doctor. And when the doctor touched his foot and ankle and I could see a true grimace of pain on his face, I repented of doubting him. And when we went for xrays on crutches at the doctor's orders, I was pretty sure we were facing not a sprain but a broken ankle.

Happy news--no broken ankle/foot. But Spencer is on orders to keep weight off his foot and wear a splint for the next two or three days. Is he milking the injury? A little. He convinced Sidney to sleep on the floor in his bedroom tonight in case he needs help in the night to get a drink or needs her to hand him his crutches. She has acted as his personal nurse most of the day in spite of feeling a bit under the weather herself. I'm sure there will be some excitement at school tomorrow when Spencer comes on crutches. But don't we all need some extra attention once in a while? Especially when we are the middle child. And especially when you have a major sprain. So if you would like, send him your condolences. I'm sure it will speed his recovery and let him know he's loved.