Completing the look

I was at school yesterday for a parenting class (Parenting with Love and Logic, highly recommend it) and when it was over, checked to see if Sophie's class was still eating lunch. They were, and she waved me over excitedly when she saw me come in. It was hard to hear her over the din of her classmates, well at least the girls, all trying to tell me the same thing....she lost her other front tooth that morning in the bathroom. It was hilarious to hear them all tell the story....she was wiggling it, it fell out into the sink, Maeghan picked it up and gave it back to her, then went and knocked on the teacher's stall to tell her what had happened. A trip to the clinic and one tooth necklace later she was all set. Of course, each of her classmates had to show me their own mouths and the story of how and when they lost their front teeth. I had forgotten what a right of passage it is, kind of like getting glasses or braces.

So here she is in all her glory. I made angel hair pasta for dinner last night so she could slurp away. Michael and Emily both insist they have loose teeth too.


With the big tooth necklace from school. Have to keep that tooth safe until you get off the bus!



Posing by the new lamp that we got to go in her new room. When it's on the whole room is cast in a pink glow...I told Terry it's like something you would have in college.

We are getting ready to change the kids rooms all around. All three of them will switch rooms, and Michael and Emily are not only moving to beds, they will now each have their own room. We hope this ends the hour long party they stage each night before falling asleep. Sophie wants pink for her room, and since Emily's new room could stand to be painted, it will be pink too. Michael's will be a light khaki. Here's Terry last night painting a swatch of pink on the wall to check it out. You can see where the border covered the original mint green, we painted it yellow when we were expecting Sophie. Terry was able to peel that border right off, which was a huge relief for him. However, this pink is too bright, in the light of day it's overpowering. The girls think it's fine, luckily it's not a decision for them to make!

Fang or Here come the Chiclets

Sophie has lost and regained her bottom center teeth, not a big surprise there. Her top two center teeth have been lose for awhile, and she lost one of them on Friday. It was really bothering her at school, so she asked the PE teacher to pull it out. Apparently, he is the expert tooth puller, and many a kid has asked him to do the honors. I am glad she finally lost it, because it was sticking out so far, her lips could barely close over it. Plus the lisping, which is really kind of cute. I never realized how losing baby teeth would change her whole face. Her mouth makes room for the new teeth, which are much larger and never as white as the baby teeth. Hence, chiclets. So now she has one center top tooth left, but there is so much room around it, she looks like she only had one tooth to begin with. A picture tells the story better than I ever could.....


Attractive, right? Luckily that remaining tooth should be gone in a few days. I think the open gap will be cute...until the chiclets arrive!

Our club's consignment sale was this weekend and this was the first time I was a coordinator. It went very well, and I made over $700.00. Terry was a huge help, and many thanks go to Donna for staying with the kids all weekend. We had over 10,000 items for sale, and over 550 people shopped in the 4 hours we were open on Saturday. It was a lot of work, and I was very nervous about how it would all come together. What I forgot was that even though it was the first time I was a coordinator, most of the sellers are experienced, and that made all the difference. Set up moved right along, and we were done in record time. My best find was a Black and Decker tool bench for Michael, which is $99.00 new. I paid $15.00 for his, and it has all the parts and is in great shape. He and the girls have been fighting over it, I mean playing with it, all day. I am looking forward to helping to coordinate our next one in August. These pictures are during the sellers shopping time on Friday night after setup. You can get an idea of just how much stuff we had!






Word to Peg, does that dance floor look familiar??

And here's a fun video of bathtime. Michael and Emily had to move to our tub, they outgrew the smaller one, and it's easier to give a bath together. Terry took this video of their "snowball fight", and pointed out that they each keep their own washcloth throughout the whole thing, which is pretty funny.

We're on the train!

So my little ones have reached a milestone, which I thought would never arrive. They are, for all intents and purposes.....drum roll please....POTTY TRAINED! This week they wore pants for the first time to school and out running errands. Still in diapers for nap and nighttime, but this is definitely a HUGE step in the right direction. And as you can see from these videos, they love their undies.....

What's a little vomit between friends?

I am blessed in many things, not the least of which is the friends that I have. My preschool friends, or as we were nicknamed, The Mafia, met when our 7 year olds were 2. We bonded through the kid's milestones, and our own struggles and successes. This group has never failed me, and they know how much I value their friendship.

An example from today....I had a commitment with Terry this morning which would run past the time the twins get out of preschool. I had my sitter coming, but asked Kathleen if she could pick them up at school and bring them home to meet the sitter. Of course, no problem. Then I ran short on time this morning and called to see if she could bring them to school as well. Again, no problem. So, after being able to shower and get ready in peace, Terry and I were on our way. About 20 minutes from home, I realized I didn't have my cell phone. No big deal, what could happen?

Here's what happened...at 10:30 Michael threw up at school. Of course they tried me at home and on my cell, no answer. So then they called Kathleen, who was out running errands. She immediately went to school, got both kids and brought them to my house. Michael proceeded to throw up twice more in her car. She gave him a bath and put clean clothes on him, and settled him on the couch. Then she fed Emily lunch. Then the sitter arrived. The sitter was a little nervous about putting Michael down for a nap, but Kathleen assured her he was old enough and would not choke if he threw up again. At 2pm on our way home, I called her to see how it went. She nonchalantly told me all this, no big deal. Of course, I felt awful since she has been home with her own sick kids all week, and needed this day to run errands. But really, it was no big deal, she assured me. And you know what, I know that it wasn't for her.

I am so fortunate to have people like Kathleen in my life. To have friends who will take care of your vomiting child.....that's an amazing gift in my book!

Here's Michael and Emily enjoying the Bear Cave before the "incident". What amazes me is he looks totally fine, who could have known he's be so sick in just an hour?

Happy New Year...a bit late.....

Happy 2009! It's been awhile since I have posted, not really sure why. Maybe just nothing of huge importance to say?? I had a lovely birthday at Jay and Arlene's, and it was nice to celebrate their engagement with them. Here's a shot of the Gould ladies. We missed Donna, she had left before these pics were taken.


From the left, G Grandma Yoko, Sophie, Arlene, Kylie. On the couch, yours truely holding Emily, Blair and Pam.


And the men, Terry, Michael, Jay, Gerry and Jake.


Emily with big cousin Blair. Emily is so much like Blair when she was her age, I think they look a lot alike too. Em certainly didn't get my poker straight hair!

Jake giving Michael one of the many piggy back rides of the night. The kids all had a blast playing Wii bowling, and I enjoyed it too. I was even sore the next day, it's that realistic. Or maybe I'm just that out of shape.....


Sophie and Emily taking the candles off the cake after everyone sang Happy Birthday. It's tradition to lick any icing off too.

In other news the kids are all back at school. Sophie is very excited as her teacher shared that she will become a mother in July 09. I told Mrs. Woodhouse she will be a wonderful mother; her classroom full of curious 7 year olds has prepared her well. She has the patience of a saint. I found out over the break that Sophie did not get into the gifted program that she was being tested for. It's shocking as a parent when someone tells you your child has failed in any way, of course you think there must be some mistake, etc. Terry put it into perspective when he reminded me that "she's in first grade, it's not like this will affect her college choices." So true. However, her teacher advised me to follow up with the program leaders about it. She was very surprised Soph didn't qualify. There was such a discrepancy in her test scores that she (and I) feel the testing may not have adequately been administed to overcome her hearing loss. They were to make sure they wore the FM system for any verbal testing, and I am not sure that happened. Plus, I have no idea what the tests even were, they did send home the results, but who knows what all those initials stand for? It's almost like they want to to remain a big secret. Even the classroom teachers have no idea how the kids are tested. Ok, enough of that soapbox...

Michael has a new skill which is coming in handy. He can now get himself in and out of his crib, with the rail up. This morning Sophie called to me at 7am. I went into her room to find Michael in her bed. He had taken off his pj's and diaper, used the potty and put on underwear. He even showed me how he had put the wet diaper in the diaper champ. This is a very good thing! We are still on the potty train, but the end is in sight, which is so nice.

I am busy managing our club's consignment sale, which is Valentine's Weekend. After that is over, we are going to move the twins into their own rooms, and move Sophie back to the bonus room. This will involve a lot of pink and blue paint, a lot of furnitrue moving, a lot of cleaning out of drawers, and probably a weekend at Nana's for the twins. All three of them are looking forward to it. I am too. It will be nice for each of them to have their own room; hopefully it will end the parties that the twins have before settling down each night.