Trip to the dentist

I took all 3 kids to the dentist, today. Yes, even, Sophi went for her cleaning. It was funny because the dental assistant came out and asked if she could take J back by himself since she only had 1 vacant chair at the time. I was a little apprehensive but then J says "Mooooom, I can go by myself". So he went and had his xrays, cleaning, and fluoride treatment done all by himself. When the girls and I got back he had both hands behind his head with a pair of sunglasses on while the dentist checked his gums. It was hilarious, but I was holding Sophi and couldn't get a picture. He has all of his permanent 5 year molars and had them sealed today. His 2 front teeth are also loose and the dentist told me he would be losing them soon. Who would have thought I would have one getting them and one loosing them.
Now Tootie did a great job with her x rays, however, she did not like the dental chair, she did ask for sunglasses and I managed to non chalantly take this picture trying not to look like a nut. She did a great job but wanted me to hold her. So when Sophi was getting her teeth cleaned while in my lap, Toots forgot what she was doing and fell off the dental chair and face planted into the floor. She's fine! We found that Sophi had her canine's come in and are almost down. So that's her 4 front teeth and 2 bottom. She's a lagging a little behind but the dentist said that's normal and she should catch totally up in the next 6 months. Great! That means fussy bear will be around a little longer.

We played out a lot today. We grilled out for supper and I weeded all my flower bed and cleared some of the dead stuff out. 70-80's for the rest of the week. I can't wait to open my windows.

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away

Today, we had Pamps's funeral. I really feel blessed to have had 2 such wonderful grandpas. I loved both of them dearly and they were both special and unique in their own ways. My Grandpa Emmett was very generous, funny, and outgoing, My Grandpa Bud was very kind, always smiling and happy, and quiet with never a harsh word about anyone. I loved spending time with both of them and these past few months have been extremely difficult. But I know how blessed I have been to have two grandpas that loved their families dearly and were so close and I grew up spending time with them frequently. I have more memories than most people get to have with their grandparents and I wouldn't trade any of that. I was born into a wonderful family that I wouldn't trade for anything and I married into a wonderful family that I love dearly also. Not many people can say that so I guess you could say I have been blessed beyond measure!!!!

These are couple of my favorite scriptures that give me comfort in time of grief. Maybe you all can use them too!

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the naem of the Lord be praised" Job 1:21

"For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord" Romans 14:7-8

Hunting Easter Eggs

We took the kids to the Lake Easter Egg Hunt. I was worried because last time the kids only got a couple eggs. This time they were prepared. I had to take Soph and J so that J could compete in the 5-6 year old hunt and Eric took Tootie to the 3-4 hunt so I didn't get any pics of her. J was ready. They had 3 hidden tickets for each division in eggs. Luckily both the kids found an egg with a ticket. So Tootie got a giant purple bunny with a bag of hershey kisses around his neck and J got a bunny with a baseball, basket, candy, puzzle, and other toy. They were thrilled. J found about 18 eggs and Tootie 7. Which was really good for them. There were about 70 5-6 yr old and 40 3-4 yr olds and not a whole lot of eggs. So they did good and had a great time. We went out for breakfast and a few groceries after that. Well, I better work on my Grandpa's slideshow.

Oh and my favorite pick of the day is Eric brushing Tootie's hair. He brushed it for a good 5 minutes and actually asked her is he could. So cute but he didn't like me taking his picture!

Gone But Never Forgotten

I lost my Pampa Bud today. He was one of the sweetest men you could ever find. I loved him dearly and feel so blessed that I had the time and childhood with him that I did. My story that comes to mind is when I was 16, I brought a stray dog home. I was always bringing strays home but I loved this sweet little dog. Unfortunately, whenever we were at school and Mom and Dad at work, he would run into the golf course and chase around the golfers. Dad told me I needed to find a home for him since he wouldn't stay home. I called Mam and she said "No dogs, no more chewing up hoses, shoes, and all the stuff puppies do". So I asked to talk to Pamps and I cried and told him how much I loved this dog. He told me to bring him over and they'd keep him. He said not to worry that he would talk Mam into it. And he did. And we loved our "M" for years until he passed away a few years ago.

Catch Up

Sorry everyone. My laptop got a serious virus...Stupid facebook. Those of you who have facebook accounts, never open a video link through a private message.

We made some homeade playdough on Sunday and the kids made some Easter bunnies out of clay and Toots made sharks. They loved making their own clay and then getting to play with it.

J's new hobby is farming rice on the dining room table and Tootie now has to sleep in a Tutu! Sophi bug can climb up the stairs in less than 10 seconds so I have to be on my A game with the baby gate.

Mom and Gig came over today and watched the kids while I had a doctor's appointment. They all had a ball. They had a few practice Easter egg hunts.

I think we got it

Well Nichole suggested that we had water voles and Grandpa suggested a form of rats. I believe they are right the water vole is commonly known as a water rat. Check out the pic in the middle of this page on this link. Wow! Now it says they are protected by National Wildlife. They are not protected on my lawn!!

http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th1m.htm

Ground Hog Vs. Mole

So Buddy stood for hours outside my kitchen window yesterday waiting as this mole dug a run in the yard. By gosh, he dug that sucker out at the right time and killed it. This is the 3 one of these in a month I have found in the yard. These things have to weigh at least 5-6 lbs. He seems too big to be a mole. My grandma mentioned it may be a ground hog but I can't say I have ever seen one around here and do they make runs in the yard? If so, I have a total groundhog infestation! Eric will be spraying for grubs next weekend. If you guys know what this is, email me!

The Day Before the First Day of Spring

Yesterday was gorgeous. Probably 65 in the sun. The kids wanted to play outside. Poor Soph tries so hard to keep up. You'll see her crawling as fast as she can to keep up with J and C on their motorcycles. We went for a 4 mile walk. I strolled the girls while J rode his bike. About halfway thru he said "Mom, I can't go any further". I made him hop back on and he made the rest of the way. We had to stop and rest for him a few times and then he cut thru the trees and waited for the girls and I in the driveway.
Mom, Cindy, and Gig are headed to Kentucky to see the great aunts and uncles. I wanted to go so bad but Eric has a management retreat Sunday and Soph got a fever yesterday. I felt so bad since we had went for that long walk but I had no idea. I lifted her out of her chair after supper and realized she felt hot. So temp taken and 103 so into the bathtub she went, motrin, cold rag to chew on and cold bottle of juice. Temp down to 100 then bedtime. She was really cranky for my baby who is never cranky. Rash on her chest=virus. I'm sure her immune system is low since she is teething so hard right now and just got a virus. She was back to low grade fever today which I'm sure is her teeth.
I'm taking Toots to dance in the morning while Eric takes J to the church Easter egg hunt. Then heading over to IL to visit my grandpa in the hospital. Then lunch with Nichole and back for a quiet Saturday evening...I hope

Happy St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day. We all wore our green, today, except Tootie who told me this morning "I not wear green, I don't like it". I even told her a leprechaun would pinch her but she didn't care. Back to reality. I didn't care for the 46 degree weather when we got off of the plane on Monday night. I caught up on laundry and took J to school and got groceries, today.

On Saturday, we went to Animal Kingdom. I was a little disappointed and it was packed so we did a few animal tours but not really any rides. We were back at the resort by 3pm and I laid out by the pool for an hour while Eric and the kids took a nap. Then we went to the Fantasmic show which was magical. Mickey fought all the villains and won and he came out driving a boat with all the princes, princesses, and heroes on it. There were fireworks and a dragon and they set the river on fire during the dragon scene. We all loved every minute of it. Then, some guy gave Eric fast passes to the Haunted Hollywood Hotel ride. I thought this was a roller coaster. Well Toots met the 44in mark and so I thought great. Well, we went thru 2 haunted rooms before they put a bunch of us on an elevator. I then knew we were not on a roller coaster. This elevator threw us out into a twilight zone scenario and then out the building so we could see how far up we were and then back into the elevator where it dropped us 15 stories and we free falled. They took our picture right as we first started to fall and everyone was screaming except my 2 kids who had this boring look on their face like nothing was happening. After the ride, these 2 women told us they thought we were crazy but how amazed they were that the kids never made a peep. They asked how many times they had been on it, when I said none; they were shocked and amazed. We bought that picture by the way. I'll have to take a snapshot tomorrow and if it turns out post it.

Monday we hung out by the pool all day until it was time to go to the airport at 5pm then we had a great flight. The kids were zonked so never made a peep and Mark picked us up. We got home around 11pm. Fabulous, memorable trip that I am thrilled we took. Now back to reality.

Line of the Day

I forgot to tell you guys this. I told Tootie not to get too far ahead of me because she could get lost and she looked at me and shrugged her shoulders and said "I not lost, Mommy. I right here, Silly!" That's reassuring. LOL!

A Day After Disney

This is what Tootie looks like about 5pm every evening. It doesn't matter where she is at. She fell asleep in the stroller with her head between her feet.

The other pic is the kids in the actual chair of Captain Sparrow from the Pirates of the Carribean.

Day 6 at Disney

Today we all slept in until 9:00 am and it was awesome. We went to Epcot and Eric drove the Test Drive Track which is like a simulated Race Car/Roller Coaster. He loved it. Then J and I went on a simulated space shuttle. It was amazing. We sat in a cockpit with 4 of us. Tootie was too short for this one so she and Eric waited. J was the engineer and the Captain would tell him when he needed to push certain buttons. It really felt like we were on a spaceship. So anyway, he said "Oh my gosh, Mom, I can see the world". He told Eric later that he and Mom went to Mars for a little while but we're back now". It is so cute since everything right now is soooo real to him.

They are having the International Flower and Garden Festival. They had beautiful topiaries and a Pixie Hollow Garden.

We then visited all of the countries which I have to say that J said "these rides are boring". I want to go back to Magic Kingdom!

We ate dinner in Norway at the Askershus Restaurant with all the princesses.

We finished off the night with a fireworks display!

Disney Day 5

Today we started out at breakfast at the Wilderness Lodge and had a great breakfast. Then we headed to Hollywood Studios. We saw the Toy Story area which J loved. We waited in line to ride Toy Story Mania for 80 minutes. It was crazy, J said it was very worth it, though. We also saw a show of the "Little Mermaid" that Tootie loved. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant and the kids spotted Lightning and Mater which we had to get our pictures with. Then Tootie spotted the "Little Einsteins and Handy Manny" so we got to meet them. We went on a movie ride that was sooooo much fun. There was some gangster shooting and J said "Duck Duck" then there were snakes everywhere from the Indiana Jones scene and they were moving. J said "Get your hands in the car". It was hysterical. It is so magical because they are so excited. In their minds everything is so real.
We also went to an Indiana Jones stunt show where they did stunts and it was awesome. They had one of Harrison Ford and the Karen Allen, that played Marian, stunt doubles doing the stunts. We loved it! It poured all day but we were covered with ponchos and an extra piece of plastic over the stroller and still had an awesome day.
We ate dinner at Epcot at the Garden Grill which rotates thru a rain forest and ate with Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Mickey. Then we got to ride Soarin, which is Eric and I's favorite ride. It was a simulation of hang gliding. They put you in these chairs that raise very high and you have a huge projector, air, and movements and you feel like you are flying thru mountains and over the sea. It was amazing.

We also went thru a ride about how to use your imagination not just your mind. Figment the dragon led us thru and at the end the kids could conduct a song and jump on these squares to make a different sound. It was very cute. You will see Tootie has not put her new "Crush" the turtle doll down since then. She says "I Tootie and this is "Crush" Tootie's Turtle to everyone that will listen