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You are here: Home / Archives for Doodle

Doodle

Seventeen

Diary, Doodle

Dear Caroline, Today you are seventeen. Even as I type that, I can't wrap my mind around it. I spent all day yesterday thinking about where I was and what I was doing seventeen years ago. In the early morning hours of August 2, 2003, I woke up with stomach pains that I felt certain were the result of eating too much chicken spaghetti the night before. I laid in bed from 2:00 a.m. until Read More

Sixteen

Diary, Doodle

Dear Caroline, Today you are sixteen. Sweet sixteen. Except sweet isn't really your thing because you've always been a little more salty than sweet and I mean that in all the best ways. First thing this morning you'll go take your driver's test so you can go get your license on Monday morning and that's just one more step you'll take towards adulthood while I sit here and try to figure out Read More

Fifteen

Diary, Doodle

Dear Caroline, Today you are fifteen. What on earth? Later this morning we will brave the atrocity known as the DPS office and bring in seventy-eight different pieces of paperwork and sixty-four different forms of identification so that you can get your learner's permit and officially start getting behind the wheel of a car. Which is so weird considering that you looked just like this Read More

The first day of high school

Diary, Doodle

So this little nugget started high school yesterday. Untitled from Big Mama on Vimeo. Which is so weird since it feels like that video I filmed the night before she started Kindergarten was like two years ago. So much has changed, except the fact that she still brings her lunch to school every day. She has never one time fallen for my suggestion that she might like the cafeteria food if Read More

Fourteen

Diary, Doodle

Dear Caroline, Today you are fourteen. I don't even know how we got here so fast. The last fourteen years have been a whirlwind of pacifiers, diapers and sleepless nights that led to Finding Nemo lunch boxes, pigtails, and losing your first tooth that brought us to sleepovers, soccer games and braces on your teeth. Now here we are on the precipice of high school and although I keep trying to Read More

The last day of elementary school

Doodle

It's the night before fifth grade graduation and I'll just warn you that I'm awash in sentiment. It hit me when I went to pick up Caroline from school that this was my last day to wait in the elementary school carpool line. And I think more than anything I just can't believe how fast the years have gone. It really just feels like a few days ago that she was this little girl in a pink Read More

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Orange. Except not.

Capital P, Doodle

Wouldn't it be great if I already had a picture of Caroline in her costume? That would be perfect since it's, you know, Halloween and all. But today will be the first time she's actually worn her costume because she's officially reached the age where it's not cool to wear your costume to the Pumpkin Patch and have pictures taken. And we didn't do the neighborhood shopping center carnival Read More

The hunter

Doodle

So this is what happened here this weekend. Actually, it didn't happen here so much as it happened about an hour south of here. Either way, she's thrilled. And there will be deer steaks on the menu this week. Read More

The dimple

Doodle

This is the look Caroline gets on her face when she cracks up over something. Her whole face crinkles and that little dimple shows up. I'm happy to say I see it at least a few times every day. And it never fails to make my whole world brighter. Read More

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Who is Melanie?

Melanie ShankleMy name is Melanie and, in some strange twist of fate, I’m also known as Big Mama because I started this blog in July of 2006 when my daughter, Caroline, was not quite three years old and I was in the process of convincing her that BIG girls use the potty and BIG girls don’t have pacifiers, thus she thought BIG was the highest compliment in the land and began referring to me as BIG MAMA.Read More

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If this were the 1970s, I would invite you over fo If this were the 1970s, I would invite you over for some fondue and perhaps a salad made of jello for dessert and treat you to a slideshow of our vacation pictures on a Kodak carousel. ⁣
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However, it’s 2023 so I made this reel instead.
Perry on vacation is a whole mood. Wildlife expert Perry on vacation is a whole mood. Wildlife expert, map enthusiast, provider of any gear you might need. A man with a plan. ⁣
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Caroline and I agreed half the fun of the trip was watching him live his best life. The man, the myth, the legend.
There are moments in life when you know exactly wh There are moments in life when you know exactly when your dreams became a reality. ⁣
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One of mine was the day this girl was born. And it’s just gotten sweeter every day since. ⁣
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Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who have made a difference in the life of a child!💖
💫💕✨Today was a fairytale ✨💕💫 💫💕✨Today was a fairytale ✨💕💫
🌸 Happy Easter! 🌸⁣ ⁣ “Why do you look 🌸 Happy Easter! 🌸⁣
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“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” ⁣
Luke 24:4-6
The fish we caught today were all bigger than my h The fish we caught today were all bigger than my hat and, frankly, that’s hard to do.

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Melanie Shankle @bigmama ·

Well, that was anti-climatic.

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Melanie Shankle @bigmama ·

Wow, Georgia! What a comeback!!

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