Her WOMAN tooth is in!!

About a week ago Hailey was complaining that her tooth hurt. I looked at it and saw that the gums behind her front bottom teeth were swollen. We had a talk about brushing better, and I got some floss to make sure there wasn't anything stuck in there. When I went to floss her around her tooth I discovered the real problem, her tooth was lose. Why didn't I think of that before?! Well, because she is my little girl and she isn't supposed to be old enough to have a lose tooth.

Over the next week she kept wiggling it, but we didn't worry about it too much. There is no rushing these things, especially when Mom doesn't want it to happen. On Tuesday of this week she asked me to wiggle her tooth for her and see how lose it was. When I went to wiggle it I saw that her WOMAN tooth, that is what our hygienist calls them, had already come in behind her baby teeth. Well that wouldn't do. I told her to wiggle her tooth all day and that it was going to have to come out that night.

That evening we all gathered around to get Hailey's tooth out. I pulled out the pliers and went to work. (I pulled out Riley's first tooth this way too. I think we are going to have to make it a tradition.) She cried more about opening her mouth to let me put the pliers in then she did when I actually pulled the tooth. She didn't even realize it was out. Sydney and Carley, trying to be supportive little sisters, kept opening their mouths trying to convice me they had teeth that needed pulling too. I told Carley that she needed to grow some teeth before I could pull any out.

Hailey was really excited the next morning when she woke me up bright and early, well not so bright, it was too early to be bright, to show me the money the tooth fairy had left for her. My little girl is growing up.

Picking my kids nose

Yes, I have been picking my kids nose. With tweezers, no less. I guess when they decide to stick a googlie eye up their nose, and you have no desire to visit urgent care on a Saturday afternoon, these are the things you do. I'm really glad I was able to get it out. You are never going to live this down SYDNEY!!! Does that really surprise anyone?!!

First Day of Preschool

Sydney went to her first day of Preschool with out me today....and she LOVED it. She cried when I picked her up. --Isn't it supposed to be the other way around.-- She loved playing on the swings and seeing her friends again. She can't wait to go back. That is what we like to hear, even if it is for the toys. LOL!!

My PreSchool

About April of last year I got a letter from Hailey's preschool letting me know that the teacher was going to be retiring and they would no longer be offering a high school preschool. The preschool was set up as an advanced childhood development class for the high school students. Mrs. Bankhead had been teaching for, I think, 23 years and was wonderful!! Each preschool student had a high school student assigned to them as their teacher under the supervision of Mrs. Bankhead. The kids loved it. They loved their teachers, the one on one attention, and a field trip to the wild animal park or the zoo each semester. I loved it. I loved their teachers, I loved that it was only an hour and a half, and I loved that it was only $50.00. You couldn't beat it. It was the best.

I was really sad when I realized that Sydney wasn't going to get this same experience. I looked around at the other preschools in the area and quickly realized a couple things, 1. They all required that she be there for a minimum of three hours. Sydney is a Nov. baby. When she started preschool she would only be two. That felt like a long time for a two year old to be gone. 2. They were all at least triple the price. That just didn't fit into the budget. What to do!? After a little thinking and talking to friends at the park, I decided that I was going to be her preschool teacher. I have done Joy School before, I have worked in primary FOREVER, and I have been a Mom for 8 years. Hopefully through all these experiences I learned a thing or two about teaching 2-4 year olds the basics of a school setting. After making this decision I talked to Mrs. Bankhead and asked for advise, I talked to a kindergarten teacher in my home town, and I talked to my cousin Buffy who had run a preschool for the last five years. With all these words of advise and referrals to many resources I set out to find students and get my lesson plans together. To be quite honest I didn't have to "find" any students. Once you let the word out in a LDS community that you are going to be doing something like this it doesn't take long for people to sign up. When preschool started I had five students. I was so excited and a little nervous about how it would all work. The kids were wonderful. Soon we were up to our elbows, literally, in paint, glue, crayons, markers, and construction paper. We were singing songs about everything from the days of the week to Christmas. We learned how to hold pencils and scissors, how to write from left to right, and our shapes and our colors. Somewhere in the middle of all the chaos and learning I realized I LOVED what I was doing. I was always thinking about My Preschool and how I could make it better, how I could help my students learn better. I loved My Preschoolers too. I loved their cute little faces, the silly things they would bring to share, and how much they loved me back. One of the best days was near the beginning of Dec. when I had the kids do a worksheet where they had to use about four of the skills we had been working on all semester. They had to sit in their seats, they had to listen to directions, they had to find the color of marker I told them to, and they had to color the shape I told them to. All of them could do it. I was so excited I told everyone who would listen about it. I got a lot of strange looks that said, "AND...." It didn't impress too many people, but to me it was AMAZING!!

About the end of November I started to get a feeling that I needed to ask one of the other moms to take over in the new year. I would always push it away. Why would I want to do that?! I loved what I was doing. I had big plans, crafts, and ideas set up for the next semester. The day Ryan came home and let me know he had been laid off I finally saw the WHY. I don't know what is going to happen in the next few months, but I do know that My Preschoolers will be in capable hands and won't have to be jostled around in the middle of the semester. I know that their transition will be easier because they will start out with her after a break and will be excited to learn more. Even though I know the WHY, and know that My Preschoolers will be fine. I am going to miss them a lot. I already miss them. When Sydney first found out I wasn't going to be her teacher anymore, she cried. I wanted to cry too. I LOVE My Preshool, and My Preschoolers! Thank you to the parents for sharing their kids with me. A big thank you to the kids for coming to play. Riley, Annika, Rebecca, Shon, and Sydney.

My Sunbeam and Her First Talk

December 28, 2008 Last day of nursery for Sydney.

OOH!!

Last Sunday was Sydney's first day in Primary as a Sunbeam!! Sydney was sad all week. She kept telling me she was going to nursery not primary. She did not want to move up from nursery. She was perfectly happy in there with the treats and the toys. I was a little surprised that she wasn't more excited. I never anticipated that this would be such a hard move for her. She is my tough girl who can do anything. She even cried and clung to me when I dropped her off last week. For any of you who know my children very well this is very unusual behavior for our family. Usually they barely wave at me as they run off to play with or sit by their friends. By the end of church she was completely happy and didn't want to leave primary. Our primary leaders are so smart. They give the sunbeams a little beanie baby to hold and keep quiet to help them sit still and be quiet themselves. For Sydney this is the stuff of genius!! She loves babies and stuffed animals. She cried at the end of primary last week because she had to leave her baby lamb there. What a tough day!! It was wonderful this week though. She couldn't wait to get there so she could hold her baby lamb again. Back to my tough girl who can handle anything....

January 4, 2009 First day of Sunbeams for Sydney.

....speaking of handling anything, today Hailey was supposed to give a talk in primary. Admittedly I did not prepare her as much as I usually do. I usually work on it with them so it is in their own words and have them practice it a few times so they are comfortable with it. Well this week I dropped the ball and Ryan did the talk this morning with a little help from Hailey. She didn't get to go over it and was a little nervous about it. I thought it would be fine. This is where mistake number two comes in. I was thinking it would be fine because it wouldn't have phased Riley. Well, Hailey isn't Riley. My first clue that everything may not go as planned was when she refused to sit up front. Instead she wanted me to hold her. When it came time for her to give the talk she clung to me and Ryan had to pull her off and push her up the isle. When they got to the front she planted her feet a few feet away from the podium, folded her arms, and wouldn't move. Ryan tried bribing, coxing, anything he could think of, she wouldn't move. At this point I got a brilliant idea. I walked up to the font and asked her if she wanted Sydney to help her. She said she would do it if Sydney helped. Sydney was happy to help. Good, things seemed to be looking up. Well then Hailey refused to do the talking, she only wanted to hold up the pictures. Sydney my new little sunbeam who cried the week before because she didn't want to go to primary was supposed to give a talk the second week she was there, YEAH RIGHT!! At this point I was willing to try anything so I held Sydney up, she is about 6 inches too short for the podium even with the little step stool, and started whispering in her ear. She did beautifully!! She held onto the mike with one little hand and her beanie baby with the other. Hailey held up the pictures and Sydney gave the talk. What team work, and what a nice little sister to be willing to help her big sister. Who knew Sydney would be giving a talk her second week in primary. I guess it goes to show she really is my girl who can handle anything, as long as she has a beanie baby to hold!!

Sweet Sisters!!

Oh The Things They Say

Sydney sitting at dinner,
"When I am a mommy I will make my kids ice cream for dinner."
Mom, me, "Oh, really. What will you give them for dessert?"
"Take (cake)"

Ryan, "I can't stop thinking about that job!"
Hailey, "Just shake your head, Daddy, and it will fall out!"

CARLEY

My Sweet Little Helper

Carley is my sweet little helper. Regardless of what I am doing she always wants to be a part of it. Whenever I say that I have to go do something she always follows me saying, "I hep you Mommy, I hep you." She especially loves to do the laundry. I think this is because she gets to push buttons. I have to put the washer and dryer on child lock after we get them started so she doesn't mess up the cycles. I love having a little shadow so willing to be beside me and be my little helper. I hope she never grows out of it. She melts my heart. Tender moments!!!

Cute Piggies

Sometime during Christmas break, when we were all sick and stuck at home, I decided to see if Carley's hair was long enough to put into piggies. We were REALLY bored!! Well it was long enough and here are the cute picts. to prove it. She was so cute, but oh so sick.

The Best Presents!!

December was a fun baby month for us.

On Dec. 19 Becky and Weston welcomed their sweet little boy to the world. Holland was born at 12:10 pm he weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long. He has a little bit of dark hair and is so cute!! We can't wait to meet him. Riley is so excited that he has another BOY cousin.

Becky if I ever have another baby I want to look as gorgeous as you when it is all over!!

On Dec. 31 Brittany and Kreg welcomed their sweet little girl to the world. Tessa was born at 7:12 pm she weighed 7lb 8oz and was 20 inches long. She has a lot of dark hair and is beautiful. We can't wait to meet her. The girls are excited about their new little GIRL cousin (the girls still outnumber the boys).





Brittany I need to know the secret for growing baby hair. My kids have all been baled. Poor Hailey didn't have any hair until she was about 3!

Holland and Tessa were definitely the best presents we got this year!!