Last week at a glance...

Where to start... a lot happened this week and unfortunately I hadn't taken the time to update my blog until now.  So, it's going to be a lot... I'll try to be brief. : )

The challenge is how to organize all the stuff?  I think I'll sort by child and not chronologically.

But, I want to start with saying I'm really bummed that I can't get my "Blessed" video to work for everyone.  I guess the good thing is I am able to view it, but would have liked others to see why I feel so blessed.  Maybe I'll figure out a way to share.  The issue with YouTube is because of copyright stuff with the song I guess.  Not sure how to get around that.  And, the video is too long for me to just upload to this blog and I'm also not able to upload it to Facebook because of the length.  I'll keep trying...

Rachel
New Friend: Rachel met a new friend in school, which I'm very happy about!  I'm happy that she's able to make friends at her new school.  I really didn't have a concern with her personality, but you still just worry.  Her new friend is Ella... and Ella actually lives very close to us, which is so nice.  They ride the same bus home, too.  We invited Ella over after school on Thursday, and of course, Rachel was excited about it all week!  She was so excited about it that when she left for school on Thursday I reminded her that she had to pay attention in school even though I knew she was very excited to get home.  I could totally see her being distracted by her excitement.... and, she probably was, but I guess that's okay!

So, Ella got dropped off by our bus stop and the girls got to play and play for about two hours.  They had a blast.  It was nice for me to get to know Ella a little more, too.  She's a very sweet girl and I think Rachel and her are going to have a lot of fun over the next several years!  I'm so very excited about this friendship. Also, love that her Mom is so nice... I'm excited to be making a new friend, too. : )

[two very excited girls!]

Clues: Rachel got to bring her first thing to school for "Clues" on Friday.  They are asked to bring something in a box and write three clues about it.  Then the other kids in the class have to try to get guess what it is.  I think it's a very good idea and probably a lot of fun for the kids.  After looking around the house Rachel decided to take her Nutcracker.  Kind of a weird item to choose, especially this time of year, but I wasn't going to discourage her and let her take whatever she wanted.

Her three clues were:

1) It's made of wood

2) You see it a lot around Christmas time

3) Her grandma got it for her when they went to see The Nutcracker

I think she said her friend Ella actually guessed it.

Here is Rachel with her box before school... very excited, which I think you can tell.  She also did some advertising for her Aunt Sheri who sells Scentsy.  It's in a Scentsy box... she was excited about that, too! I'm sure she did some plugging for Scentsy to kids in her class.  I'm kind of addicted to Scentsy stuff, so Rachel hears me talk about it a lot. : )

Tooth #2: Rachel also left on Friday with a very loose tooth!!!  I told her if it didn't fall out in school that day it would for sure fall out sometime over the weekend.  Well, I was right.  When she came running off the bus, she was missing her second tooth... and had a huge smile on her face!  She was so excited!  It fell out on the bus ride home while she was showing someone how loose it was.  I can't imagine how many people she showed throughout the day!

The tooth fairy had a hard time removing the tooth from under her pillow, so Mr. tooth fairy had to help. This being a parent thing is so hard sometimes!  I was so afraid I was going to forget to leave the money and take the tooth and then when I did remember I was so afraid I was going to wake her up in the process.  But, all went well. : )

[tooth just hanging there in the morning...]

[tooth gone!]

Eli
Friend: Eli also had a friend over on Tuesday morning before school.  His friend's name is also Eli, so it's so hard to have a conversation with them.  They both look at me when I say "Eli."  The other Eli was in my Eli's class the last two years and is in his 4K class this year, too.  They are pretty good friends and have a lot of fun playing together.  They also both take the bus and are on the same bus, so works out really well.  They both can hop on the bus here, which makes it so nice.  Didn't get a picture of them, but will the next time.

Dentist: Eli had a follow-up dentist appointment on Friday.  He had a tooth that they thought had a very small cavity, so wanted us to come in to get it taken care of.  I had no idea what they were going to do and there was a chance they'd do nothing at all.  Wasn't sure how to prepare Eli for the visit.  My kids actually love the dentist, but if there was going to be a little bit of pain I wanted him to be at least warned.  Didn't want him to be surprised by it and then have a fear of the dentist from that point on.  His main concern when we went was whether or not they'd have boy toys this time.  The last time they were out of boy toys in their little prize bin.  I told him that if they didn't have boy toys this time we'd stop and get him something.

Well, as we were in the waiting room I mentioned to him that they might have to fix a tooth and to do that he might feel a small prick.  Told him they do that to give him medicine so that when they're working on his tooth it doesn't hurt.  As soon as I finished telling him that they called him back, so he really didn't have any time to question anything or be afraid to go back to the room.  I felt kind of bad doing that, but felt it was the best way to handle the situation.

He came back no more than 10 minutes later with his tooth fixed, a boy toy and a smile.  It wasn't bad at all.  I guess they were able to seal the tooth in a way that caused no pain at all to him.  So, no worries and he should continue to enjoy going to the dentist... whew! : )

Kate
Pig-tails: Kate's big news this week is that she had pig-tails in for the first time today!  She looked way too old with them, but I loved it.  Mike's been saying that he thought it was about time to try her hair in pig-tails and I wasn't sure if it'd fit.  Well, today I decided to try it out and it worked pretty well.  Some falls out in the back, but still pretty cute.  She looks so much older and so much like Rachel... especially when Rachel was younger.  Love it!!

I just had to take some pictures of her first pig-tails...

Other Stuff

Crock-pot Meals: I actually made two crock-pot meals last week, which I was very proud of!  The first one, Beef Stroganoff, was okay.  Won't make again.  I wasn't even sure if I'd like it, but thought I'd try something different.  I love Italian meals, but don't want to make things with noodles, sauce and some meat every time... although it wouldn't bother me. : )

The second one was, Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole, and I loved it!  Mike also liked it, so I'm sure I'll be making that again.

No plans yet for meals this week, but plan to try at least one new one.  I'm trying... I really am not a good cook and never have been.  I think it's mostly because I'm a picky eater myself and would be fine with just hot dogs, ham and cheese, pizza, spaghetti or fettucini alfredo every meal!

Parenthood: My favorite show was on Tuesday and I was looking forward to that for awhile!  That is the one show I like to watch every week.  Well, and American Idol, once it's on.  I try to actually sit and watch it when it's on and not have to watch On Demand or on the computer. Loved it and am so excited for this season.  I love the characters, the set and everything... great entertainment for me.

Visit from Good Friend: One of my good friends from high school and her family also stopped over on Saturday.  They were in town this weekend and were headed to the Little Farmer on Saturday.  I told them to stop by since we live so close to the Little Farmer.  I was so happy they did stop.  Was great to see them!  The kids had a blast and it was nice to just hang out.  Wish I could see them more...

My parents and sister and her kids also came over for lunch on Saturday.  Mike was going to be gone most of the day for work, so I thought I'd be nice to get together with them.  Gave the kids something to do, they just love playing with Abby and Ryan, and was also nice for me to hang out with my parents and sister.  It's always so much fun.  We always seem to eat way too much food... but, it's fun! : )

Stunned Birds: The birds around here have been absolutely nuts lately!  We've had at least ten birds run into the patio door each day and most of them have been just fine.  A few have been stunned over the last few days though.  Very sad to see.  The birds will just sit on the patio and look around.  They don't move or anything.  Just blink funny and look as if they have no idea where they are.  They usually end up flying way after about 15 minutes.  Here is a picture of one this morning.  I forgot it was out there and I let Maggie out.  She just looked at it like "why are you not moving?  aren't you afraid of me?"  She didn't do anything to do it... just stared at it.  It did end up flying away.

Okay, I guess that's all... very fun week!  And, after looking at the calendar tonight... this week will be full of more fun stuff! : )

Keep smiling!