The Tooth Fairy writes with a pen

Ta da! It came out! The tooth came out! I was in class last night and during my break I checked my cell phone and noticed that I had a voice mail from my sister-in-law who was caring for the girls for me. Lo and behold, Emily's tooth came out. After calling to get the details I found out that Emily had had enough of the worrying about this tooth and just got up enough guts to ask her aunt to pull the tooth out. The tooth was more than ready to come out so it was a painless experience for her but not without some anxiety at first. So with tissue in hand, Aunt Amy was the hero and got the tooth out. Now Emily's ready to eat all those hard, crunchy foods that she's stayed away from for nearly a week.

Last night we had her tooth in a glass of salt water sitting on the window sil for the Tooth Fairy to exchange with money and Emily stated to her daddy that she wanted to leave the Tooth Fairy a note. Not a big deal. Emily wrote a note to her telling her that she wanted to see her and that her name was Emily (in case she didn't know). She even drew a heart shaped smiley face complete with teeth that looked like Emily's mouth. I'll scan it and post it fore you to view tomorrow. It's too precious.

So the "Tooth Fairy" replied that she was sorry Emily couldn't see her but that she was excited to see her baby teeth falling out to make room for her big girl teeth and to have fun with it and not be scared. Emily woke up this morning while I was in the shower and came trotting into the bathroom and opened up the shower door so that I could see this repsonse and read it to her. Thankfully she let me finish my shower but before we left for school she observed the note and realized that the repsonse was written in pencil just like Emily's note. I agreed with her and then Emily said, "But I thought the Tooth Fairy's wand turned into a pen?" I think I might have had a deer in the headlights kind of face but quickly tried to play it off with an "oh well" type of response so as not to give myself, errrrrrr I mean the Tooth Fairy away.

Apparantly next time I try to do anything sneaky, I should get all of Emily's input first so I don't screw it up.

I'm not a church skipper!

So I got into the office this morning after having a long motivational talk with myself to heave my rear end out of bed this morning when all I wanted to do was hunker down for about 12 more hours of sleep and had a nice email from my Pastor saying that he missed us in church yesterday. I thought that was nice of him to notice that we weren't there. THEN....about 1/2 hour later, my boss walks in and makes some statement about Pastor's message in church yesterday and did I just skip and stay home? Yeah right!

Actually, Tony, the girls and I were in Kalamazoo yesterday which seems to be our home away from home lately for my godson's baptism. Ethen Gerlas Latimer is his name and he is such a beautiful, wonderful, loveable little boy. He did amazing during the service yesterday. The child stayed awake for almost the entire service and didn't make a peep during it either. He's an angel. And guess what? Right before we were getting ready to leave to hit the road back to Midland, Ethan so lovingly baptized me in spit up not once, but twice. Isn't that thoughtful? Hee hee hee. I don't mind. I even volunteered to change his super stinky poopy diaper. Can you tell I'm out of diaper stages at home? I bet you can.

Enjoy the picture of T.H.E. & M. with baby Ethan at the church. It was such a blessed time with the added bonus of Ethan's Grandma Proskow and Uncle Rick playing and singing along with Daddy, Kirk performing an amazing poem that he wrote for Ethan in front of the entire congregation. Not a dry eye was left in that place. If you want to hear the poem, go to http://www.kineticaffect.com/ and check it out.

And the Oscar goes to......

Let me tell you, Emily better become an actress some day so that she can bring me an Oscar or whatever else award you can receive for a leading dramatic role. This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows our little girl. She is so funny, but certainly wears the title "drama queen" with pride at times and today was a shining moment. Too bad that it happened at school!

So I get this call near the lunch hour from her morning Kindergarten teacher explaining that as the kids were walking down to the lunch room with lunch boxes in hand, a little boy who was in front of Emily turned around and accidentally bumped into her which in turn caused her lunch box to some how bump into her lower lip. This apparently caused one of her bottom teeth to become loose. So needless to say, the tears started rolling and panic set in because that's just what happens for Emily when a tooth becomes loose.

Keep in mind, the child has already lost two teeth and nothing was done to warrant this type of a reaction or behavior from her. Just ask my brother-in-law Eric, who as a police officer & detective, had to use his training and skills in hostage negotiations with her just to get permission to get a small wiggle check when her first tooth became loose. Emily is one who immediately jumps to the worst possible conclusion with situations. So unless you consistently work with her to focus on the good and realistic things, she'll most certainly be focused on what terrible thing COULD happen.

I informed her teacher that this is the way Emily is and she shouldn't be concerned but just to lovingly support her and try to get her mind off of this dreaded loose tooth. She understood and thanked me for my time and I thought that would be the end of it. Wrong!

About 1/2 hour later I get another call from the school and this time it's from one of the secretaries who has Emily in the office all upset and unwilling to eat her lunch. She wanted to know if they should continue to try to get Emily to eat and I told her no, that it would do no good. If there's one thing with Em, it's that when the child's mind is made up, it's like trying to move a mountain to get her to change her mind. She also said that Emily was upset and wanted to go home and she wondered if it would help if I talked with Emily to help calm her down. I had no problem with this but here's where I have a confession to make. And anyone who is in my family that is about to read this, quit laughing now. This next trait of Emily comes straight from me and I cannot deny it at all. I knew that the moment she got on the phone and heard my voice, that the situation would become even more dramatic with eyes full of tears, whining, labored breathing and anything else you can think of in a dramatic "girl" moment. And Emily didn't fail me this time either. She immediately began crying saying that she wanted to leave school this instant and that she didn't want to eat because of this tooth. One of the funniest lines from her went something like this after I explained and reminded her that she's already lost two teeth and knows the drill, "But mommy, this is the first time my tooth was loose at school without you with me!" And then my reply went something like this, "That's right but you also know that your tooth is not going to fall out of your mouth today."

I got her to take some deep breaths to calm down and also to agree that finishing out her day at school would be just fine and I'd come and pick her up. She only agreed after giving one last ditch attempt by asking me to call her at school between that moment and the end of the day. I told her no, that I would be there waiting for her when the bell rang and assured her that her afternoon teacher would take good care of her and that she should have fun and not focus on her tooth anymore.

Of course as a parent you wonder if you are doing the right thing in dealing with your child and I feel confident there. But then there's another thought that makes you wonder if you've done anything to fuel the behavior. All in all, at the moment of dealing with issues like today, it stresses a parent out. But it also doesn't take me long to sit back and just laugh. This child is so adorable. I am certainly blessed and she definitely does her part to keep my life interesting. No dull moments here!

I'll be sure to keep you posted on the status of this tooth but I may have to call in reinforcements to check on this tooth because I have a feeling she's going to keep her mouth guarded like Fort Knox! You think I'm kidding? You should see for yourself.

New beginnings

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've been able to post a blog! Ooops! I guess the title of our blog is proving right, we're very busy these days.

School has begun and the girls are into their regular routines now and doing really well. Emily is loving Kindergarten so much. She gets to do so many things throughout her day that it amazes me. They have gym and Spanish class along two times a week along with a chance to visit the school's library every day. This is all added on top of what they are doing in their classrooms. I love dropping her off and even having the opportunity every now and again to pick her up and hear what she's willing to tell me about her day. I laugh at her comments sometimes because often she'll tell me that she's done so much in school, that she just can remember what to tell me. I am so thankful for the staff there too. Since 3 out of the 4 teachers/paraprofessionals had me as a student at this age, it's funny to listen to them say that she is definitely "a little Heather." And they've all reassured me that when they say that, it's a good thing! :) Emily's extended day teacher is someone that I used to go to church with and is only a couple of years older than me. Emily looks to her as a 2nd mother and I couldn't be more happy. If Emily has a hard time or sad moment, she's comfortable going to her teacher to help her out so that by the time I see her, the issue is already being dealt with. It's just so nice to have such peace when I leave her there every day.

Maddie is so funny when it comes to school. She is SO excited that school has finally begun for her and she wishes that she could go every day like her big sister. She has no fear or reservations going into her classroom and I'm sure it helps that she's got 1 cousin(Nick) and two almost-cousins (Danial & Colin) there as well. She truly is our Tigger with all the energy and enthusiasm that she displays and it shows the most with school. She goes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and at the end of class time on Monday, her teacher told the class that on their next school day, it would be picture day. This just added to Maddie's excitement. But since she still hasn't quite grasped the yesterday, today, tomorrow concept, yesterday was a tough morning for her. She thought that she got to go to school yesterday and that it would be her picture day. She just broke down into tears when I explained that she had to wait another day. Although it made getting out of the house difficult, it was so precious to know how excited she was. So this morning was one for the record books on good behavior for Maddie. The child woke up, ate her breakfast so fast that I doubted her and didn't make a peep when I had to put her hair up. Now I can't wait to get the pictures back because I'm sure they will be adorable.

Not only has school begun for the girls, but it has also begun for me. I've got my ethics class this semester and it's very interesting. It's hard though since this subject focuses on the gray area so there's no black or white answer. Having interesting subject material helps make this 3 hour class go by fast and I love that. It helps that I have a really good professor too.

Tony's getting all geared up for the start of middle school football too. He's really enjoying coaching at Central Middle School along side Dan TerBurgh. Today is a scrimmage against Northeast which is Central's biggest rival so I'm sure everyone is excited. This is to prepare the boys for their first game that starts next week. Tony's figuring out that it's not easy being a coach and that you've got more time invested than just at practice and the games. He's a natural though and from what I've heard, the boys on his team love him.

I think that's got us all caught up for now! Enjoy the picture from Emily's first day of school that has Maddie in it. Hopefully it brings a smile to your face.