I Finished a Project

I have long To Do lists that Shelly makes fun of me for all the time. Yes, I write down everything, from the mundane, like empty dishwasher, to the great projects that will never happen, like address all greeting cards for a whole year. A few weeks ago, I actually got a project crossed off my dream list.

Ashley and Daniel now have their very own tooth fairy pillows. We had seen cute ones at stores, but I wanted them to have one like mine. My Godmother, Betty, made it in the shape of a tooth and it has my name on the front pocket. Ashley has been using it for the last year for the first 7 teeth she has lost.

A few months ago, the kids picked out fabric, last month I had their names monogrammed on the fabric, and then this month, I found a Saturday and cut and sewed them together.

After borrowing a sewing machine from Pat, my MIL, I took about 30 minutes just trying to remember how to thread the stupid thing. Then, the thread ran out in the bobbin. That was another 30 minutes. After many practice attempts on scrap material, I went for it and stitched their pillows together. It was lots of trial and error, but the kids and I were really excited to have them done.

It was during this process that I realized I didn't make one for Birdie, but she doesn't even have all her teeth yet. Maybe, in a few years, I could get good at this type of thing and make her an even better one. Nope, probably not really going to happen.

**Edit**

My mom asked me to post a picture of my tooth pillow made by my Godmother, Betty. Here it is.

End of Year

We are in the middle of End of the School Year activites over at our house. Ashley had her dance recital earlier this month and was simply beautiful.

The hula costume is Ballet and the fishing outfit is her Tap

Her last soccer game was a few weeks ago. I must say it was her best game yet! Very aggressive, stayed with the ball and scored 2 goals.

Daniel has his Fun Day at school last week marking the end of his time as a "Purple Friend". In preschool 4's he will get assigned a new color classroom - he's hoping for Blue or Red.

Daniel and his Purple Friends' teacher



Did I mention that the Finale at Ashley's recital was a Mother/Daughter Dance? It was loads of fun.

One more week to go and then Ashley will also be out for the Summer.

That's a Daddy for you

We were having a nice family dinner tonight with chopped beef made from the brisket the guys smoked while at the ranch, ranch style beans and peas & carrots. Ashley and Daniel were giving us trouble eating the ranch style beans, but wolfing everything else (including the pickles). Brian, being the Daddy he is, decided to make an appeal they just couldn't refuse. It began with the virtues of beans (lot of protein, etc), then he asked them if they knew what happened when the beans made it past your stomach, what it caused....GAS. (Oh, yes, he went there!) And how does gas get out of your out of your body???? Ashley guessed it right off the bat - Toots! (yes, that's what we call it in our house). Yeah! I've been fighting potty talk for years and now Brian is welcoming it at the table.

So after the kids ate all their beans (and Ashley had seconds!), Daniel was in the shower trying to toot on Laurie, making the sounds with his mouth and laughing. The best part was putting Laurie to bed. So, Brian and I are climbing the stairs behind her, she sees Daddy, moves her bottom in his face and says "TOOT!" Then laughs at us. HELP! He has created monsters. Its going to be a long day if the beans actually kick in and I'm stuck listening to them make noises all day.

Of course, Brian loves it! He is very proud of himself.

Holiday Weekend

We spent the Holiday weekend at the Ranch. Visit my posts about it at the SBR Blog at http://silverbelleranch.blogspot.com/

The Babies

Leah and I took the "Babies" to Chuck E Cheese yesterday. She has a great post with video you just have to see of the two kids. See it here http://david-leah.blogspot.com/

BTW, we need a new name for the "Babies" since Megan is here and should be called the Baby. Any suggestions for Alex and Laurie?

Magazine Excitement

I'm such a dork! Yes, I admit it. Today when I got the mail, I actually smiled when I saw that my Summer edition of Food & Family magazine was here. It is a free quarterly Kraft recipe magazine that I absolutely love. When I get it, I can sit down and plan out meals for several weeks, including desserts, due to all their great ideas. If you don't get it - it is a must. Just go to Kraft.com and sign up.

Ok, gotta run and start my meal planning.

TRACTOR!!

If you've spent any time in a car with Daniel, you've heard the word - "TRACTOR" when you least expect it - yelled at the top of his lungs. It can be quite jolting if you don't spot the tractor first and anticipate the vocalization. What even Aunt Shelly didn't realize is that the boy can tell the difference between the brands of tractors. After he yells "TRACTOR", he will yell - John Deere, New Holland, or his absolute favorite KUBOTA!

We also count tractors, dump trucks and school buses on the way to and from preschool. We can usually average about 5 tractors and 14 dump trucks, but our highest count for school buses in one drive is 37!

Yelling out "Tractor" is such a common occurrence in our car, that Brian and I have gotten in on the act. Yesterday, Birdie yelled it also! Course, there wasn't a real tractor, but construction trucks. I guess for a 21 month old we should call that close enough.

So everytime you see a tractor - think of Daniel and yell "Tractor!"

Sharks in the Water

Have I mentioned that Ashley and Daniel both made the Sharks Swim Team for Summer? After the first three weeks of practice, they had their time trials last week. Both kids did really well in my opinion, swimming freestyle and backstroke 25m across the pool. They placed closer to the bottom of the pack rather then the top, but that just gives the more room to improve. Believe it or not, but after all my worrying about Ashley swimming, she beat Daniel's time, by a lot. His time was not reflective of the way I've seen him swim, so I'm hoping for lots of improvement by the first meet in June. Oh, and both kids had better times in backstroke than freestyle, which by looking at the time sheets, that was a little backwards.

I'm really happy they are out there swimming every day - yes, did I mention that we are on our 4th week of Monday thru Friday swim practice? We missed 2 practices that conflicted with dance, but Ashley's even been swimming then going straight to soccer practice on Wednesdays. And they don't practice at the same time, so in the first week, we were there for 2 hours a day, now it's down to 1 hour a day due to combining of age groups.

So after time trials, the team got split into three teams to compete. The kids are on the Red Shark Team and get fitted for their swim suits today. Talk about excited. Don't you know, Ashley is trying to accessorize her swim suit by asking for a matching swim cap. Wait till she finds out that her pink goggles clash with her red swim suit! Did you know boys don't wear speedo swimsuits any more? I'm not sure these are any better. They fit like speedos but are long like shorts. Good thing he's only 4.

Daniel is one of only 2 four year old boys on the Red Team, so this year really is setting him up to excel next year as a 5 year old but still competing in 6 & under.

Let's go Red Sharks!

The Time has Come...

I always said I wanted to wait until Ashley begged me herself to get her ears pierced. That's exactly what she did this morning at breakfast, beg to get them pierced TODAY. Not that surprising since most of her good friends in her kindergarten class wear earrings. But with Ashley, there's always a twist you don't expect. I asked her why she wanted to get her ears pierced now. She said, "I promised my friends I would get them pierced today!" Huh? That's her reasoning for wanting to get them done - because she promised her 6 yr old friends? I reminded her that it would hurt, to which she said, "I'll be brave." Ok, that's not working, so I brought Brian into this discussion. He told her they stick needles in your ears. She gave some explanation about how that's not really what they do. Wow, can't fool her.

Brian and I haven't discussed it further, so I don't know what the answer is besides the fact that it isn't going to happen today. We have dance rehersal for the recital on Sunday. I would prefer to wait another few weeks till summer and see if she still has any interest in getting it done. This might just be a playground discussion fueling her momentary desire.

Finally, while I'm posting... Ashley changed Laurie's diaper for the first time last night. She did a great job. The funny thing, I went to change Laurie's diaper this morning and noticed Ashley put it on backwards! But it stayed on! Much better than my first diapering job. My cousin Teel and I changed our little (at the time) cousin Christopher, but when he got up and walked off, the diaper fell down. Oops. So Ashley get major kudos for her success.