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.

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.

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK FOR A MOM

It's been a little crazy the past couple of days. All five of us are either helping with or attending VBS at our church this week. As usual, I am the kitchen staff (I have three good Middle School/High School helpers this year), Keith is a group guide for the first time (he has done games in the past), Caitlyn is a group guide for the 4th year and the two younger ones are, of course, attending.

This is an interesting year for Keith. Since it is Garrett's first year of being in an actual group rather than the Toddler Room, Shelly put him in Keith's group along with about 15 other 4-year-old boys. Hehe! Serves him right for always saying how "easy" my job is. He has been more exhausted than me chasing those little boys around, taking someone to the potty every 10 minutes, TRYING to get them to walk in a line (yeah, whatever), and not all want the same songbook. Which is actually quite amusing since none of them CAN READ! ; ) I am loving every minute of his experience.

So in God's great way of reminding us not to take pleasure in the trials of others, He put the idea into Shelly's head that I should make Rice Krispie treats for snack one day this year. Ha! I love eating Rice Krispie treats, but seriously dislike making them. If you've ever made them you know how much trouble it is to stir that sticky, messy mixture and then scrape it into a pan. Well, picture trying to make enough for 170 kids + 35 helpers. For obvious reasons I did not want to make these one batch at a time. I mean, I'd have been there for, I don't know, two days or something. So I decide to alter the recipe and make enough to use 3 family size boxes of Rice Krispies at a time. We have an industrial kitchen in our church with industrial-sized pots and pans so I think to myself how great it will be to make a lot of them at one time and only have to make a few batches. Mmmm-hmmmm. Not the best idea I've ever had. Let's just say that today I found out what it would be like to have to mix fast-hardening concrete by hand. NEVER TRY TO MAKE AN "INDUSTRIAL-SIZED" AMOUNT OF RICE KRISPIE TREATS. Seriously, it's a bad idea. Oh, and did I mention I still had to make 8 pans to have enough? And clean-up was loads of fun. Yeah. We aren't having Rice Krispie treats next year unless someone else is in charge of the kitchen and I'm in Maui. Like I said, God has His way of keeping us humble. (Thanks to all the men who stopped by the kitchen to help me mix, lift those ginormous pots and scrape today! You all have Servants' hearts and I appreciate you!)

So after VBS every single one of my kids wanted to bring a friend home. I couldn't take kids home with us today but I offered to pick them all up and take them to the park since Caitlyn and Luke had made plans to play tennis. I was going there anyway so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone so to speak. As it turned out I had to drive all over the county to pick up these kids. None of them, except Garrett's friend Wesley, lived anywhere near us or each other.

Now here's where it gets fun. We left Luke and Caitlyn at the tennis courts and the younger kids and I made our way to the playground. This park has one slide and it is an old metal one that barely has any sides on it at all. The steps are metal and steep and when you slide down it's like a rocket ship launch - it's FAST! There were 6 swings, a bouncy bench-type thing, and lots of climbing things (not one of our best parks, but it had tennis courts). So guess which thing the kids wanted play on. Yep, that's right, the old metal slide. I wasn't too concerned about the 2 girls, but Garrett and Wes scared me. Those two boys are peas in a pod. Neither one of them has any fear and they are typical rowdy, energetic, stunt-loving boys. Not a good combination. Both of them nearly fell over the side a couple of times and they both catapulted off the end of the slide several times landing flat on their backs or their bellies even though they went down on their bottoms (my rule).

As if that weren't enough my son, who has been the single most stubborn kid to potty train, finally started peeing in a toilet on Saturday. Well, he gets almost to the top of the slide, looks at me and starts to wiggle. I said, "Garrett, do you need to potty?" Of course he did, so I told him to come back down the steps and I'd take help him. The bathroom was clear up by the tennis courts which was a good three minute walk. I knew we didn't have that kind of time so I told him he'd have to pee on a tree. He's never done that and neither have I so it was quite an experience. Needless to say, I learned a lesson today which is: a little boy absolutely cannot pee on a tree without pulling his pants all the way down. I know this because I didn't want to expose Garrett's whole hiney in the middle of downtown Kokomo so I tried to help him pee while just pulling the top of his waistband and the top of his pull-up down just enough to get... well, you know. He peed on his shirt, his shorts, his shoes, my bag, my sleeve, and my feet (which were in flip-flops). I kept trying to get his you-know-what back in his pull-up but couldn't quite do that because he wasn't finished so I wasn't really sure what to do. I just knew I didn't want him to pee on me anymore. I'm sure if it were video-taped it would be hilarious, but at the time it wasn't all that funny. Thankfully there was no one else on the playground. I had put some diaper wipes in my bag though so that was a bonus.

After I got Garrett cleaned up and back over to where Wesley was playing I noticed Wes grabbing himself and I thought, "Oh, no! This isn't even my own child. What will I do?" Wes assured me he did not need to pee, but after about 20 minutes of him walking funny and grabbing himself I told the kids it was time to pack it in for the day. I took all the friends home, took my kids to McDonald's and came home and just sat on my bed for a while to reflect on my day.

It has been exhausting to say the least, but it has also been filled with joy and laughter and beautiful weather. I couldn't ask for a better day than this.