Day 76

Today was crazy busy. First, I took my kids to the dentist to have their teeth cleaned. (After a multi-day battle with the insurance that probably gave me an ulcer.) They both behaved exceptionally well and sat still for both x-rays and cleanings. Chloe, apparently, has something called a "cross-bite" and will definitely need braces once she has all of her permanent teeth. Bradley is looking good, so far. Neither have any cavities and we are doing great with their brushing and flossing. W00t! We go back in six months instead of a year this time.

After we were done at the dentist's office, we stopped by Target for a snack and some quick shopping because we needed to get Lexi and Alec so they could go with us to take Zeke to the vet (for fun). After that, we took Zeke back home, packed a picnic dinner, and headed to a local park. We spent about 3 hours just hanging out at the park. The kids had a fantastic time, and they got to burn a whole lot of energy. Mike met us there after he got off of work so he could watch them play for a while and then went for a long walk with us.

Before we left the kids just had to roll down the big ol' hill. They rolled down several times, and were covered in grass stains, stray weeds, pollen, and dirt by the time they were done. But, it was completely worth it because they were just so darn happy. When we got home they showered, read a couple of books, and crashed for the night. I can't believe this week is over half way over!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (Which, by the way, Bradley thinks is "Patrick's birthday." Patrick from Sponge Bob. )

Day 75

Ever since Saturday night, Bradley has been playing with the shopping bag from my sister's birthday present. He is wearing it as a backpack and has little treasures and such in it. I hope he doesn't decide he needs a designer backpack - although this one is rather nice. But, the reason he says he loves it is "all the great letters all over it." So perhaps he is more of a Signature style kind of guy? Lord help us!

Day 74

Yeah for not having to go to work this week! Just one of the many reasons I love being a teacher. We get to spend quality time together and get a taste of what our summer break will be like. Today the kids helped make their own fruit salad for lunch. They use their own little safety knives (you can get yours HERE from my fabulous Pampered Chef consultant), which they love. We compared the sizes of the seeds in the various fruits and talked about the different weights and shapes of each one. We weighed them with our kitchen scale to see if our guesses about which weighed more were right. I think that cooking with your kids provides one of the best ways to teach math - they have fun and don't even realize how much they are learning (and, of course, you can't eat worksheets!). Just look how proud they are! I think I'll let them help make dinner, too.

Day 73

Had to get a couple of things from Wal-mart this afternoon so I brought the kids with me but boy was Chloe ever in a bad mood. Just one of those moments where she was not following directions, was making poor choices, and knew it - so she was being rude to her brother and to me.

I used to like taking pictures of the kids when they were crying as babies, not because I'm cruel, but because those big fat tears and huge mouths are just part of growing up. I don't ever want to relive the hell of colic, but I want the kids to see pictures of themselves even when they weren't prepped and prettied for photos. This picture is kind of like that. So when Chloe is dealing with her own hellion daughter, I can just pull this out and smile.

Day 72

My sister's birthday was Thursday, so we got together today to celebrate. Lexi, Chloe, and I went shopping together this morning and bought her a new Coach bag (large signature Brooke in black/silver) and treated ourselves to some new things, too. (New Easter clothes for me, Bradley, and Mike - Chloe got an adorable dress from one of my friends so she is already set.)

Everyone came to our house for dinner and the kids ran around and had a great time together, as usual. We adults kept ourselves busy trying to rule on Rock Band, which (of course) we did. Well, sometimes. Then, after all the kids were in bed Erin, Lexi, and I watched Mama Mia! because I had never seen it and it's Erin's favorite movie.

Another spectacular day with the family. I was going to add "and no one got hurt," but that's not true. Chloe was holding a toy in her mouth (obviously against the rules), as captured accidentally in the photo below.


Then, Alec went to grab the toy and when he pulled it out, well, there was much blood. Chloe's very looose tooth became an extremely loose and dangling tooth. Note the look of fear in her eyes in the photo below.


After she rinsed her mouth out for a while, my sister covered the tooth with a tissue and simply twisted it right on out of there. Gross, yes. But, no more icky tooth ready to fall out any moment.


Let's hope the Tooth Fairy remembers to come tonight! (Yes, her teeth are coming in all kinds of crooked - the kids go to the dentist on Wednesday, so we'll find out then what she thinks.)

Day 71

Today is Friday and the start of our Spring Break! We don't go back to school until March 22nd, so I hope we get a lot done and have a fantastic time off. This evening we had a picnic outside on the patio since it was so nice out (a bit chilly, but still pleasant) and Mike was working late. The kids each found a shape in their popcorn (like finding cloud animals, only edible).

Chloe was first - she found her Moose and made a big scene of marching the moose to his demise as he was gobbled up by the "moose-eating monster from Not Texas." (That's a scary place, you know.) Bradley really wanted to find an animal shape, too, but was not having much success. Then, he found this one and proclaimed that it was an Octopus - but I realized that he was only partially right. It's totally an Octorok! I bet you've never found an Octorok before, huh? (And no, I didn't know it's name but I knew it was that crazy little rock spitting thing from Zelda. Mike told me the name right away, though, when he saw the picture.)

I think our break is off to a great start!

Day 70

Today was the Spring Open House at the kids' school and many of the 5th graders were selected to be Living History Statues - they each had a character to play and had to deliver a speech when their "button" was pressed. Lexi was Louisa May Alcott and she did a great job!

I got to tour Chloe's classroom (and the set-up was too cute), but I didn't get ANY pictures of it. I feel really bad, but I was also chasing Bradley around and trying to keep Chloe from over-exploring her room. I still don't have a single picture of her with her teacher - I have got to get that done before the school year is over!