updated statuses

Awhile back, someone asked me if I was recording all of my Facebook status updates as a way to keeping up with all of our memories, so I started keeping some of them here on my blog. All of them start with "Jacinda Shanks....."


& Chris are taking our birthday girl to see Toy Story 3! (Wish us luck on getting to stay for the whole movie!) (6/24/10)

is glad Ellie enjoyed her 2nd birthday. A birthday cake from a favorite babysitter, nice nap, watching Handy Manny, Pooh, & Mickey, going to see Toy Story 3, package in the mail from Grammer & Pappy, sisters sang to her over the phone, new baby doll & stroller, got to stay up late playing. She's so special to us! (6/24/10)

is looking forward to having all my babies back home SOON! :) (6/26/10)

my girls are coming home TODAY! ♥ (6/26/10)

is happy to have all 5 of us back together in one place again! ♥ (6/26/10)

enjoyed receiving a $10 gift card from the manager at Pei Wei tonight. (6/27/10)

loves that my daughter asked me last night if they would be able to sleep in this morning! (and they all 3 did sleep in pretty well!) I have trained them well! :)
(6/28/10)

‎"Get Her. Out. Of This. Room!" -quote by Katie to Gracie while trying to clean the playroom. I'm sure it's easy to figure out who "her" is! (6/28/10)

think a lot of people would have enjoyed the free entertainment that was me & Gracie screaming like little girls while trying to capture a roach. Based on some things I've seen lately, I think I will fire my exterminator! (6/28/10)

Ellie knew we had doughnuts, but I'd told her no. She kept sneaking closer to the box even as I kept moving it. I even found her hands stuck inside the box with the top closed. Chris & I started talking, thus not paying attention. I noticed it was quiet and wondered where she'd gone. I looked behind me to find her stil...l at the table with the box top wide open. Chris started getting on to her, and we both walked over to her as she stuck her hand inside her mouth, obviously trying to take something out of her full mouth. Looking inside the box, this is what we found!!!! Several doughnuts w/bites out of them! This is after I found her helping herself to vanilla wafers earlier in the day! (6/28/10)

is excited about my brother, his wife, and 2 nieces coming today! (6/29/10)

so Katie asked if she could watch t.v. I said, "yes," thinking I like a little Disney Channel from time to time. When the t.v. came on, it was on the World Cup. You'd have thought it was Christmastime, she was so excited. She is now sitting here watching ESPN like it's her favorite channel. (6/29/10)

is listening to happy squealing & playing from 4 little girl cousins....the 5th has been put to bed. (6/29/10)

wonders what mischief 5 little girls will get into tomorrow? I do know that a script for "Toy Story 4" has been written and costumes were being assembled when it was time for bed. We'll see where this goes from there...... (6/30/10)

is heading to NASA today with Josh, Beth, Ann Elise, Morgan, Gracie, & Katie. Chris & Ellie will be staying here due to the fact that she has decided to run fever due to an ear infection which is due to a virus. Oh! Can't forget that she threw up on him, too. I look forward to seeing NASA but have to admit the ide...a of staying home on a rainy, gray day is kinda tempting, too....... (7/2/10)

rowed the boat home from NASA, almost literally. NASA itself was a bit underwhelming. Maybe it was the weather making the day a bit off, but I am still glad we got to do together. I did take offense at the employee saying, "Cheaaaap" when we declined to pay $5 for a light saber. Of course, she denied saying it, but... I'm pretty sure my ears worked correctly. (7/2/10)

has had a truly wonderful time visiting with my brother & his family the past 4 days. The kids love playing together, and the adults have enjoyed visiting as well. I'm thankful for this time and pray they return home to Nashville safely. (7/2/10)

Keeps thinking about a very special friend who is about to have a fabulous week! Her husband returned home safely from Iraq last week and now they've surprised their children with a trip to Disney World! Thanks to Marcie Munoz from Off to Neverland Travel for helping put it all together in a short amount of time! (7/3/10)

is home with sweet Ellie this morning since she's still a bit warm. Chris & I were both supposed to teach class this morning which is always a dangerous plan with kids like ours! I'm sure my little babies were well taken care of by Leatha Bailey and Greg Schroeder ! (7/4/10)

what do you do when your in laws stop for a quick stopover on their way home from a trip and mention they'd like to nap? Leave the napping 2 year old who doesn't feel great with them and head to the pool with the 2 other girls who feel fine!!! :) Thanks!!! (7/4/10)

Is happy that Ellie's fever seems to be gone (and has had no Motrin all day). Gracie & Katie played with sparklers, enjoyed a little bit of fireworks from the front yard, and is now seeing some fireworks out our back window. (7/4/10)

has 1 child sleeping, 1 child having 'quiet time,' and 1 child off with a friend after playing at the beach club this morning. This means quiet time for me, too! :)
(7/6/10)

Was ready for bed awhile ago. However, Gracie-who will be 10 this month-found one of her favorite picture books earlier tonight while cleaning the playroom and asked me if I'd read her a bedtime story. Times like these are precious, so I just didn't think I could refuse. She's growing up so fast! (7/6/10)

-"When I woke up, I found my little self on the floor." quote from Katie (7/7/10)

Isn't feeling particularly confident of myself ever since Ellie pointed at a certain part of me and said, "Ewww!" (7/8/10)

Has a picnic packed & a destination on my phone's map....the girls & I are going exploring! (7/10/10)

Has had a fun day acting like a Houston tourist and is now enjoying an impromptu decision to attend the Astros vs Cardinals game...gotta love $7 tickets + kids got in FREE! Quite a walk up to the seats but great view once we got up here! (7/10/10)

had such a nice day: visited the Houston Arboretum, Discovery Green, and went to the Astros game. So blessed to have a family to share days like this with. Looking forward to worshiping with our church family tomorrow and beginning VBS tomorrow night. "Good 'ole Noah built an Ark......" (7/10/10)

had a weird experience tonight. As I was standing at the end of the aisle at church during VBS, ushering my 1st graders to their seats, I noticed a little blonde girl sitting a few rows in front of me, staring at me. I glanced at her & wondered who she was and why she was staring right at me like that. I then realiz...ed it was ELLIE! Seriously, when did my baby girl start growing up so quickly?! (7/11/10)

we were watching a sneak peek of "Kid In A Candy Store" on Food Network b/c our local Chocolate Bar is supposed to be on it at some point. A few minutes into it, Katie asked, "So where's the kid?" Gracie said it was just CALLED "Kid In A Candy Store." Katie was quiet for a minute then said, "so where's the kid?" (7/11/10)

after watching "The Bakery Bunch" on TLC, Gracie decided she needed cupcakes and proceeded to make them 85% by herself. They are baking now. Yum! (7/12/10)

Loves bonding with my girls, and believe me, Gracie & I bonded this morning while trying to kill a(nother!) large unwanted creature that found its way into our home. She was crying, we both were screaming, she had the shoe, I had the broom, she had the dustpan, I flushed. *shudder* She's such a trooper! Our adrenal...ine was HIGH! I'd rather bond over American Girl dolls though......... (7/14/10)

thinks the simple joys in life are often appreciated more by our children than us. I took the girls to Chick Fil A where they were giving away small samples of their 'cookies 'n cream milkshakes.' The PURE joy Ellie experienced while devouring those samples gave ME joy just in watching her. (7/14/10)

is blessed to have participated in MCOC's VBS yet again. A huge thanks goes out to so many, especially Jennifer Reinsch Schroeder for coordinating, directing, & dreaming up wonderful ideas for a great way to present a story to the audience! I know so many are appreciative of her hard work (along with many others!) (7/14/10)

Katie just got sent to time out because she was licking the inside of the butter tub. (7/16/10)