birthday girls

We have started a tradition with Shayne's parents that instead of trying to guess what to buy the grandkids for their birthdays, they just take them shopping. This time, they happened to be here the weekend of Grandma's birthday, so we went to dinner on the Riverwalk, then came home for cake and ice cream.

Bethany and I had been to the pet store the day before to get some things for Sparky. She loves to look at all the little critters. I saw the cutest fish tank, and suggested the idea to G & G. We now have a pet Beta. Grandpa named him Betty.
Shayne's mom's birthday is the same date as my Grandad's, and it is my Grandparent's anniversary.

working with shapes

I guess this is what you would call 'rectangular art'. All the Kindergarteners made these last week, and I thought they turned out really cute!

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, here is Anna's representation...

waiting to see the big guy...

The month of December went by so fast. We were half-way through the season before we even tried to set a time to visit Santa at the mall and have the annual picture taken. We decided to wait until school was out and brave the week of last-minute shoppers. It did make the anticipation a little bit greater, as it was only 3 days before Christmas. (This also works to the parental advantage, because Santa doesn't always have time to re-do orders for last minute surprise requests.)

I decided to take pictures of the wait...

10:10 a.m. eager, smiling faces

10:24 a.m. wiggly, bored... and, I think I'm the oldest kid in line

10:39 a.m. this is taking forever!

10:51 a.m. almost there

10:57 a.m. we're next

10:58 a.m. who's going to sit where?

10:59 a.m. and we're done

You might ask "where is the picture of the girls ON his lap?" Well, since it's 3 weeks after, and I've already packed everything up, I can't seem to find them. Maybe I'll remember to show them to you next year.

drama for the drama queens

The girls received AMC gift cards for Christmas, so last night I took them to see the movie Bolt. Because we had the gift cards, it was particularly exciting for them to each get their own snack pack. (We usually have to share one bag of popcorn.)

The movie was very entertaining - I picked it because it seemed most appropriate for all ages involved. It was fun, in particular, to watch Bethany. There were only 2 or 3 other families in the small theater, so she was able to move around and interject comments as she felt necessary.

Again, all 3 girls were most impressed with the snack stash in their own laps, so most of the movie, they were still. As the end of the movie drew near, it got a bit intense.

Katie's always been the sensitive one who cries, even at the "oh, that's too bad" parts.

Anna's just recently overcome her aversion to the big screen and loud noises, but still gets a little tense.

But, when the intensity climaxed, you should have heard them! They were all crying, very loud, and yelling at the screen, cheering the hero on. If I would have been there without them, I might have gotten a little choked up, but with all the racket this time, it was all I could do to contain my laughter. We all survived (without getting rotten tomatoes thrown in our direction), and the movie had a very happy ending.

imaginary friends

The other day I was busy getting some things done around the house, and Bethany was playing, very content. I noticed that she kept talking "to herself" - this is not so uncommon, she oftens sings to herself, etc. When I walked into the room, I noticed she was being a bit more direct with her conversation. I said "Bethany, who are you talking to?". She said "My friend." I said "who is your friend?". She hesitated for less than 2 seconds and said "Kevin." I couldn't help but chuckle inside.

Both her sisters did the same thing about this age. Katie had 2 friends - Tiki and Gaga. Anna's friend was named Callie.

I love their BIG imaginations!

extraction

Anna's been asking me for 2 years when she was going to lose her first tooth. Katie started losing teeth in Kindergarten, but I told Anna we'd just have to wait and see. Well we waited and waited, and finally the two front bottom teeth started coming in. Problem is, they were behind the baby teeth, so the baby teeth weren't getting loose.

We had our regular check-up at the dentist at the beginning of December, and the dentist told us that if they didn't come out on their own by Christmas, she wanted to extract them. I never explained to Anna exactly what that meant, just that the dentist was going to help take them out. At the same visit, they said Katie had a similar problem with one of hers. When we left, I told them they were getting dental work for Christmas - not funny, mom!

A week or so later, Katie's came out. She'd been giving it a really good workover - pushing, pulling, flossing, etc.

Anna wasn't as fortunate. We went back the week after Christmas, and they were still not very loose, and the new ones were coming in strong. Our dentist does such a wonderful job of being discreet. Anna didn't even know she had a shot - the worst part to her was the taste of the numbing gel they put on before the shot. Dr. Schlepp had to really tug and pull to get them out. Anna laid there patiently and hardly flinched. (It helped that she was listening to her new mp3 player.) I was so proud of her, and so grateful to our dentist for making it a not-so-unpleasant experience. Afterwards, I took Anna for ice cream. Dr. Schlepp said that cool would sooth some of the discomfort as the numbness wore off. Don't have to tell me twice! Baskin-Robbins soothes the pain!

And of course, the Tooth Fairy made a visit later that night... in exchange for the two pulled teeth, Anna got two $1 Presidential Coins.

And in case you're looking for a dentist... Stafford Family Dental

got cookies?

Yes, it's that time of year again... Girl Scout Cookie Sales!

And, to make it just a bit more exciting and challenging, we have TWO girls selling this year.

Over the last few years, Katie has increased her sales by about 50 boxes each time. That would put her at 400 for 2009. It took some convincing, but she now agrees that since this really is a family effort, we would consider the 400 boxes a family goal. In order to earn the "initial order" patch, they each have to sell 150 boxes by the middle of this month. This will also earn them their "super sister sellers" patch (300 per family unit).

Katie LOVES selling, and especially enjoys telling people about the option to donate boxes to the soldiers. Anna is getting the hang of it, but is happy to let Katie do most of the talking when they're selling together. Shayne took them door-to-door on Saturday - they were gone almost 2 hours! They've also hit up all the regular customers at church. Next on the list - Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles!

Thanks a bunch to everyone who has supported us so far. We are combining the girls order forms and splitting the total... as of today, we are at 187! Almost half way there!

wrong address, WAY wrong!

got a phone call earlier this week from 501 area code... usually let these go to voice mail, thanks to caller ID, but the last name was familiar, so I answered it; it was NOT the familiar name I thought it to be... it was a cheerful man with a strong southern accent calling to say that he had mistakenly received a Christmas card from us; he hadn't noticed the return address before he opened it, along with other cards, and then realized it was not addressed to his family... he noticed the contact information that I had included, and decided to call us to let us know that our friends would not be receiving their card... so as I'm grasping what's going on, he says he lives in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee - the card was addressed to friends in Mount Pleasant, Texas; he confirmed that the card was addressed correctly - street name, house number, zip code, etc., the only thing that could have been questionable was my handwriting - TX or TN... you'd think the USPS would have looked at the zip code before they looked at the state abbreviation, you'd think... anyway, if you ever mail something and it doesn't get to it's destination, check to see if there's a state with a similar abbreviation and same city name! (kinda scary)

AND, Merry Christmas to our (only) friends in Mt. Pleasant, TEXAS... sorry I'm out of pics or I'd send another! we'll catch you next year! (thank goodness we have our blogs!)

what IS his name?

so I pick up the kids and we're heading home from Grandma and Grandpa's... not a whole lot of options when it comes to radio stations between here and there, so I flip around a lot... start singing along to James Taylor's "You've Got A Friend" (I've always liked this song, I remember it was in our elementary school music book, and I sang it to all my babies as a lullaby)... after a while, Anna says "what IS his name?" It took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about, then a-ha, he repeats "you just call out my name" many times in the song. Good question Anna, funny, but good.

happy new year...

here I am... all alone at a B & B... I've had 36 hours without kids, and 12 without husband... it's been a peaceful, refreshing retreat... just me

I intended on getting some blog catch-up done, but I think I'm going to call it a night...