PIERCED!

Husband #1 and I have always agreed that when Double A asks to get her ears pierced, we will go ahead. She has been asking for about two months or so and we finally found the time to get over there. Husband #1 got some numbing gel from the hospital and we put that on her earlobes before we left the house. Our hope was it would not hurt nearly as much if the ear lobes were numb first.

I love this picture because you can see the grimace on Double A's face but even better is the matching grimace on her daddy's face! I guess he was feeling her pain.

She did a great job! She held her Daddy's hand and a stuffed animal they have there. She grimaced with each ear but no sounds or crying. She even had a small audience of two other little girls observing to see if it was something they wanted to do. I did explain to their mother that her ears were numb so it may not be the best example of how it would really happen. I have heard that you can get the gel at the drugstore for numbing. She is being very responsible with cleaning them, and turning them and so far so good. She selected her own earrings and went with her birth stone...the peridot.

She seems so grown up sometimes and the earrings don't help. She finishes Kindergarten next week and has informed me in 5 school days she will be a first grader!

Mad at me

So, the other day Double A was very mad at me. She has a habit of speaking in a very nasty tone of voice to her brother and she got in trouble for it. When I explained this was unacceptable and blah blah (which is likely what she heard) I asked if she understood. She then said "yes" in the same nasty tone to me. Obviously she did not understand so she had to go to her room. She was mad and stomped and banged around in there. I ignored it. Then the "hate notes" started to appear in the hall outside her door.

There were a few more similar to this one where I was drawn with a big X through me, usually with an angry face. She was always drawn with a big smile and heart around her. (I blurred out where she wrote BumbleBee's name. I am not sure why he was really even included except maybe he was not in trouble??)

Sometimes we are truly frightened by her attitude, behavior, tone and eye rolling. She is only 6 and a half and already she often acts like a young teen. It scares us mightily.

Mockingbird

Double A had her dance recital Friday night. It was about as I expected. The teacher is big into getting them to understand "creative concepts" when I think they are a bit young for that aspect of dance just yet. As one would expect, the actual dance steps instruction part was not as high on the list with this other emphasis. Now, Double A has taken dance before from a completely opposite dance instructor...all precision and emphasis on learning the routine, no silliness tolerated while dancing. Apparently Double A remembered this previous instruction, or she was just one of the oldest kids, but she was all about doing the right steps (as right as she could get them) and not goofing around and being silly. She had fun and enjoyed herself. She insisted she have her hair "in a bun" so that is how we did it. She was very cute and has no stage fright.

This picture shows Double A with two of her Kindergarten classmates. She is concentrating so hard!After the performance while taking a bow on stage. She was also one of the tallest kids in her dance class...even taller than the ones her own age.BumbleBee was very excited to see his sister dance on stage and kept clapping for her. Of course, he wanted me to take his picture, also.

Questions

So, a few questions today with a couple of side notes.

First: what color are her eyes??? They were always very blue like her daddy but now they seem to be changing. She claims they are green and to be honest, they do look a little more like mine in this picture.

Sidenote: This was her "West Virginia" look - one scraggly loose tooth right in the middle of her mouth. Lovely. She refused to pull it even with the bribe of getting her ears pierced. Finally I had to hold her down while her daddy grabbed it and it popped right out. Crazy girl. This is her afterwards...so much lovelier! Hee hee!:

Second: What is this thing??!!: We found it on the back porch dried up and dead. The picture did not come out too clearly but it is about as long as my finger. It really looked like a fish as far as the scales and such but there were no fins or anything and really, where would a fish come from to get on our back porch? It didn't really seem to be a baby snake based on the weird body shape and lack of snake like head. We still don't know...anyone??

Third: Why was it snowing in April and when will it be warm again? I couldn't bring myself to take pictures and admit it was pretty. But Monday had LOTS of snow...big pretty flakes which turned into ice pellets by afternoon. None of it stuck, thank goodness. Still...it was April 6th!! However, as my mom likes to tell me, the year we lived in Chicago there was a blizzard on April 5th (her birthday). I guess some unsticky snow is better than a blizzard. I need warm weather because my kids are outgrowing their pants and I don't want to buy more now!!

Okay, so anyone with answers, let me know!!

Mountain camping!

We had a great time camping in the Smoky Mountains last week for Spring Break. I was a little apprehensive as there was so much prep work, we have fairly young kids and let's face it...I am not that "outdoorsy." However, we had fantastic time!! We met my college roommate and her family there. We had campsites next to each other. We had a cabin and they have their own camper trailer. There were four adults and five kids ages 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Right behind the campsites was a rocky stream the kids loved playing in. There was no shortage of playmates and virtually no fighting amongst them. The cabin was small but clean and nice. The whole campground was nice, very natural with trees and streams and the bathrooms were very clean.

We went hiking, saw tons of awesome streams and rocks and even hiked all the way to a waterfall (1.3 miles one way). We were there a bit early in the season so not much was leafed out yet but it was still beautiful. We rode an aerial tram to the top of a mountain and then Double A ice skated for the first time ever and we went snow tubing (manufactured snow). We went to Dolly Parton's dinner show the Dixie Stampede. The kids loved it as it had horse riding and tricks and such.

We spent alot of time hanging out around the campfire grilling, eating smores and just having fun. The kids enjoyed the relatively free rein they had to run around the campground together. It was a very relaxing vacation. The kids stayed up late every night and had action packed days. The weather was lovely...a bit chilly at times but pretty clear and dry and warmed up nicely most days.

We all agreed it was a great time and are trying to come up with ideas for next year! It was even very affordable as family vacations go! All around AWESOME - GREAT friends and GREAT times.

roasting the perfect "mellow" even though there are so many different ideas on what constitutes "perfect" :)

crossing a stream/river on a fallen log because the footpath bridge was out

Double A's first time on skates and Husband #1's second time. He readily admits he is not the best skating teacher she could have! :)

Hiking the trail to the waterfall that you could walk behind!

All the kids at the Yogi Bear statue in the Jellystone campground where we stayed.

Our "rustic" cabin. It had four bunks, a toilet and sink (no shower), a kitchen sink, dorm fridge, coffee pot, and toaster

all the kids taking a break on a log on the hiking trail

Foreshadowing

Who knew when Double A got this pacifier as a 4 month old at Christmas that it would be a sign of things to come?

Double A has been rapidly losing teeth, as most 6 and a half year olds will do. However, our child refuses to wiggle her loose teeth. Her two front teeth have been loose since November. That would be at least 4 months, for those who are counting. The teeth get so loose that they shift positions and pretty much stick straight out. The teeth coming in are at least halfway grown in already. Double A now goes by several new nicknames such as Snaggletooth and Bucky Beaver. These pictures do not really show the detail of how the teeth poke out but it is very annoying. I feel like we should live in the Appalachians or something when I look at her teeth.

I finally called her dentist to see if they would pull them...or really just flick them out, they were so loose. They said it would be $100 per tooth and they really did not like to do that when there were no problems and the kid could get them out on their own. Well, once Husband #1 heard this he decided that was the night it was coming out! I got the lovely job of holding down a kicking and crying Double A while he wrapped dental floss around the tooth. All of a sudden she got very still and the tooth was out - FINALLY!! She claims it hurt but I think she was just surprised. It did bleed a fair amount but stopped quickly. I told him later he should have wrapped it around both teeth since she will likely never let us do that again.

So now we are down to one crazy snaggletooth. She says the next top front tooth is loose but I told her at the rate she goes she will be well over 7 years old before it falls out.

So, for those who are counting...this is her 5th lost tooth in a year's time span. The next one is hanging by a thread...

The Forever Stamp

So, I saw this on someone else's blog but thought I would mention it here...because, who knew??

This is the Forever Stamp:

The current price of postage is .42 cents. I mention this because who can keep up??? Anyway, this Forever stamp sells for .41 cents per stamp. These stamps will FOREVER be valid postage despite any future postage rate increases...such as the one coming on May 11 to .44 cents per stamp.

I say this is a good deal and where have I been?? Right now it is a small discount of one cent per stamp but coming in May (if I stock up now) it will be three cents off! I am purchasing several sheets everytime I go to the post office and figure they can last FOREVER!! :)

Consider this my helpful hint for the recession riddled economy.