TOOTH UPDATE

I took Garrett to the dentist Monday and that is definitely not his permanent tooth coming in... but it's not part of the baby tooth either. It is a mesiodens, or middle tooth, that will need to be pulled. No problem. Garrett didn't freak out at the mention of pulling that tooth. He didn't even freak out when Dr. Jarrell said she'd likely have to pull the top front tooth next to it as well because pulling the mesiodens would knock that other front tooth out anyway. He DID freak out at the mention of a pediatric dentist or oral surgeon doing it though. He said, "No way! I want HER [Dr. Jarrell] to do it." Dr. Jarrell said we could take him to one of the other dental specialists if we wanted it out right away or she can pull it in a couple of months when it has erupted a little more. We are going to wait and let her do it. There is no risk of damaging any other teeth by waiting so we will honor Garrett's wishes and let her do it once the tooth has come in enough to get a hold of it. He seems kind of excited at the prospect of getting "laughing gas." lol. not sure exactly what he thinks that means, but as long as he's not worried about it, I see no reason to fully explain the whole process. ;)

FIRST LOST TOOTH!

Garrett lost his first tooth today. It's been loose for about 3 months. When I took him to the dentist for his routine cleaning, Dr. Jarrell said she didn't see a permanent tooth in the x-ray so she felt pretty certain he had bumped his face on something and knocked the tooth loose. She also said it probably wouldn't fall out anytime soon and that when it did, it would be a blank hole for quite a while. Well, the tooth fell out much sooner than she expected and there IS something there trying to come in (or something that broke off the baby tooth, not sure), but it doesn't look right. So Monday I am going to run him into the office and have her take a look at it. Whatever that is that's in there is really skinny and very sharp. I've never seen anything quite like it before and am hoping it is nothing to be concerned about or that she has to do anything with. Garrett freaks out about this kind of stuff. It's funny, because he is a really tough kid. It takes a lot to make him cry, but the mere mention of going to the doctor or dentist literally makes his head spin and he has a major meltdown. Grrrr. In the meantime, we are just going to put that lost tooth underneath his pillow and let him be thrilled that the Toothfairy came and brought him a dollar! (our Toothfairy isn't rich so she hasn't kept up with the Joneses - lol!)

TOO BUSY TO BLOG

Yep, that's what I said. I"m too busy to blog. What ever made me think I would actually have time for this? I must've been having a crazy moment. But I am going to try to do better about keeping this up. We'll see how it goes. Another school year is almost over and I can't even believe it. It seems like we just started and now we're ending. :( I am sad to see my two groups of preschoolers leave this year. I've had two fantastically fun classes filled with sweet kids. I must admit the afternoon class was a BIT more challenging than the morning class, but we did have fun and I love all those kids dearly. My afternoon class consisted of 7 boys and 4 girls. 'Nuf said. I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions from even that tiny bit of information. :D

Last weekend was Western High School's Jr.-Sr. Prom. So for the third time in five months, Caitlyn had to find the perfect dress and the perfect hairstyle. And yes, she went with Aaron because they are still together (10 months today in fact as I was just informed a few minutes ago that today is their "10-monthiversary." what the heck??). And as always, they looked gorgeous and, more importantly, they had a wonderful time at the dance even though Caitlyn had to be on a bus at 7:45 a.m. the morning after prom for an all-day cheerleading stunt clinic. You can view more prom pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/scrapnfor3/WESTERNPROM09?
authkey=Gv1sRgCOGoxfW0l8CkTg# [just copy & paste that entire link]

Oh, and speaking of the cheer stunt clinic, there's more news to share: Caitlyn made JV Cheerleading! She has wanted to do this for a long time and is super excited about the coming year. The girls have just started getting their cheer camp outfits and practicing a few things for camp so she is getting really pumped about it. I'm excited for her as well because I know how much she wanted to do this.

Last Friday was the annual 4th Grade Pioneer Day at Northwestern Elementary School. That was a really fun day for Claire and I was able to go and spend the whole morning with her. My mother made a cute pioneer dress and bonnet for Claire which thrilled her. There was so much for the kids to do that day. They learned how to weave, do tin punching, candle dipping, corn shuckin' the old fashioned way, and square dancing. Now that was funny to see. The last thing those 4th grade boys and girls wanted to do was hold hands with each other so they could dance. Hilarious, I tell you! But in all actuality, I was very impressed with their mad square dancing skills. Those kids really knew what they were doing. ;) They also got to make funnel cakes, juste bracelets and they sewed their own pin cushions stuffed with saw dust. There were many other activities for them to enjoy as well. As I was passing a little girl in the hallway, I heard her exclaim, "This is the best day of my life!" For more Pioneer Day pics, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/scrapnfor3/4THGRADEPIONEERDAY?
authkey=Gv1sRgCMvdrqTCquvgpAE# [again, copy & paste the entire link]

This week has been extremely busy so it's no wonder time seems to fly. I don't feel like I can catch my breath sometimes. Garrett is playing T-ball right now and he really loves it. It's so funny to watch those little guys though because sometimes they just forget they are supposed to be playing ball and it ends up looking more like a Ladies Aide Society Meeting - haha!


Caitlyn is getting ready to start KIVO (which is a travel volleyball league - gotta keep improving those skills if you wanna play varsity!). Caitlyn is smack dab in the middle of track season too and Claire has just tried out for NES Entertainers which is a select choir of 4th, 5th & 6th graders. I'm really hoping she makes it since she's not really into sports too much. I'd love to see her find some extracurricular activity that she enjoys. Well, that's all for now. I'll be back again soon with more updates - that is, if I can keep up with them myself! I sure hope summer doesn't fly by. But I have a feeling it will.

BEDTIME STORIES

So... I wasn't thrilled with the selection of movies at the Red Box this last time, but it was spring break and we weren't going anywhere until the end of the week, there were reruns on TV and the kids wanted to rent a movie. This was actually the only movie available that all 3 kids could watch and MIGHT actually be interested in so I got it. I was pretty sure it would be dumb. I like Adam Sandler for the most part, but he definitely has starred in a couple of movies that I just didn't like at all. In fact, I either hate his movies or love them. There has never been an in-between for me as far as his movies go.

Bedtime Stories pleasantly surprised me though. Not that it was a really good movie in any way, but it was cute. The story line was pretty lame, but Sandler played a lovable character that you find yourself rooting for. The kids in the movie were kinda cute too and actually had some more thoughtful insight into a few things than the adult main character did, reminding him what "true heroism" should be. There was no cussing (although I wish they hadn't thrown God's name around), no terrible name-calling (except for "Sir Butt-Kiss" which I have to admit, made me laugh) and no sex scenes. While this movie does have it's faults (lying & greed happen to be 2 of the biggees here), it wasn't horrible to sit through and I didn't fall asleep like I did when we saw Over the Hedge. In all, I can say I might even watch this one again some time. In a few months... or next year. And we might even add it to our DVD collection. :P

TIME TO PLAY "CATCH-UP"

So... I know it's been way too long since I've blogged. It's been way too long since I've done a lot of things actually, but what can I say? Life just goes by so much faster than I ever wish for it to. I'm thinking I may just post a few pictures to catch you up. I know. That's taking the lazy way out, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. KWIM? :)

So that photo up there ^ is the first family picture we've had taken since Garrett was born (it was taken in December of last year). Yikes! How terrible is that? I had to beg Keith to get that one taken and I even resorted to using the "it's the only thing your mom has been asking for for Christmas" line. But it was true and it worked, so whatever it takes.

Also in December, Caitlyn & Aaron went to Northwestern's Christmas Dance - Caitlyn's first high school formal. They were very cute-looking and had a great time. Too bad we had to take out a loan to pay for Caitlyn's hair, nails, shoes and accessories - haha!


They also went to Western's Winter Formal in February. We were smart enough to borrow a dress this time and she did her own hair. :) I decided she will have to do her own hair from now on unless it's for Prom. Luckily, she's okay with that.

I can't even post any pics from Christmas because guess what? I haven't even loaded them onto the computer yet. I need to get that done sometime soon or at least put them on a CD.

Garrett went on his first deer hunt this past winter. Keith had been out several times and hadn't shot anything. He had resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to get a deer this year so he finally told Garrett he'd take him along since he'd been pestering him about it all season. When he told me he was going to take Garrett I laughed and said, "This will probably be the day you shoot one then." Garrett can't sit quietly for very long so Keith was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen. Well, that little trip just goes to prove that God really IS in control of ALL things because Keith did shoot a deer even with Garrett standing on top of him jumping up and down with his fingers in his ears yelling, "Shoot Daddy! Shoot!" Haha! Good times for them. Garrett was SO EXCITED!

So that's it for now. I'll be back later to update some more. But as I'm sitting here typing, I'm thinking the practical thing to do will be to just pick up right where we are! :)

FEAST DAY AT LITTLE SCHOOL!

Yesterday was the day of our annual Feast at Little School. It is such a fun day for the children. They get to dress up as Native Americans and all of us teachers dress like Pilgrims. Well, not really. We wear black pants and white blouses so we really resemble your basic restaurant server-type, but we tell the children we are the Pilgrims and since they're 4- and 5-year-olds they pretty much don't know the difference. It works for us so why change?


But anyway, we move all of our little tables and chairs into fellowship hall and set them up with colorful placemats, tiny plates, spoons and tiny plastic cups. It's so cute.

We are all in our classrooms for the first hour of school. During that time we do our usual opening circle times and then each class gets to whip up a culinary delight to be served at the Feast. The 5-year-old class makes mashed potatoes (instant of course, but you have to start somewhere), and the 4-year-old classes prepare the batter for Mrs. Dikeman to make the corn cakes (Jiffy corn muffin mix but again, you have to start small) and all the classes make their own butter to use on the corn cakes. It's amazing what a clean plastic peanut butter jar, some heavy whipping cream and a marble can do! You should try it sometime, it's delicious and fun. They also get some time to play with some special Native American themed items which is a lot of fun for them.




Once it is time for the Feast, all the children put on the necklaces and headbands they made then they head out on a little "hunt." They aren't really hunting anything but they"re very quiet in the hallway as they are looking for deer. All the classes gather together in fellowship hall and Mrs. Dikeman tells them a little about our history and how we celebrate Thanksgiving to honor God and to thank him for all the blessings we receive from him. She also teaches them a little bit about Squanto and how he and his people helped the Pilgrims learn to farm and hunt and fish, as well as a little about the homes the Pilgrims built and the longhouses that the Indians in our area lived in. They also get a mini nutrition lesson when Mrs. Dikeman holds up various fall vegetables and asks them to help her identify them. This year we also taught them a little song about an Indian who is hunting for deer.

On the menu this year: roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, raw carrots, dressing, and corn cakes & butter. We've tried serving pumpkin fluff and applesauce in the past but found that the children just really didn't eat it. One thing that is certain though is that every year the unanimous favorite Feast food is CORN CAKES. The children can't ever get enough of them!

Oh yeah, we had special visitors this year too. One of the little girls in our morning session has am uncle who trains bird dogs so she and her dad brought in a couple of live pheasants and a couple of live quail for the children to see and learn a little bit about. That was pretty cool although I had forgotten my camera so I didn't get a picture. Pheasants make a pretty strange sound. It actually sounds like someone with a dry cough. I thought it was kinda weird but I learned something new which was kinda cool.

A bit of a sad note, this will be my last time to have a child of my own at Little School on Feast Day. I will always enjoy the Feast, but it will never be as special as it has been for the past 8 years. I have gotten great joy out of watching all my children have fun at their Feasts and I will miss that.

HALLOWEEN 2008

Really quick - just a few photos I took of the kiddos this Halloween:

Caitlyn - Pirate Princess

Claire - Bumblebee

Garrett - Knight in Shining Armor

Aaron & Caitlyn - Pirates

What a bunch of Q-tees

We met our posse at the Longshores again this year and trick-or-treated in beautiful downtown Green Acres ;) Mike hooked the hay wagon up to the 4-wheeler and loaded it up with all the little cuties. Then our very own Sarah Palin drove them around so they could trick-or-treat without getting sore feet and tired legs. It was rough, let me tell ya - lol! The older girls, Caitlyn and Sam and Claire and Abby kind of went out on their own this year so in reality, we have absolutely no idea what they did but, oh well. They didn't disappear or eat any poisoned candy so it all worked out fine. After trick-or-treating we all met back at Mike and Connie's for some delicious chili and all sorts of other yummy foods. Loved that Halloween was on Friday this year so no one had to hurry home. We ate, we sat around and talked and we laughed A LOT. It was a super fun time with our friends. How many kids were there you ask? I don't actually know... I lost count somewhere around 25 or so. ;)