Tricky Teeth

Sweet sisters reading together!

When my girls were babies I would hear other moms talk about how their kids would be up all night crying while they were teething. We never had a minutes trouble when Anna Claire and Lizzie got their baby teeth. Let me say that pay back has been exponential as baby teeth come out and big teeth come in. Lizzie has only lost her bottom two teeth and spent more than a few minutes crying tonight because everyone else in her class has lost more than her. Anna Claire's teeth have been interesting! She lost the bottom two in first grade and their replacements came right in - no big deal! She lost one front tooth back in December and their is no replacement in sight - seriously! She also lost two more bottom teeth and no big teeth in sight for them either. Imagine my surprise in August when her other big tooth just started coming in and she had not even lost the one it's suppose to replace. This may seem trivial but we have spent the last SIX weeks trying to get the baby tooth out before the big tooth covered it completely. Blood, sweat and tears. FINALLY tonight Russ was able to pull it out!!! She wrote the tooth fairy a note that she should get more than $1 because it was so much trouble. I disagree - I think Russ should get the extra money for his patience and diligence!

Where does it come from?

Anna Claire writes stories all the time and today was no exception. We bought some new wide-ruled paper at WalMart today and as soon as we got home she went to her room to write. Tonight as we were having family time on the couch she wanted Russ to read her story aloud to me and Lizzie. The story is about a girl named Ellen who has trouble paying attention in school. Ellen also has about 6 siblings and the best part - her last name is Willderbqu. It's a combination word with "Wilder" and "Barbecue." Russ almost fell off the couch laughing!

We also had an interesting discussion about Jews and Gentiles.
Anna Claire: "Now who's the good ones and who's the bad? We're Gentiles so we must be good."
Lizzie: "It's not good or bad - it's just where they're from. God loves us all."
I love Lizzie's ability to see through the confusion and get straight to the point!

First Day...

This morning I dropped off the girls at school! Anna Claire is in 3rd and Lizzie is in 2nd. They walked into school as old pros - no problems!
When they were little I couldn't wait until the first day of Mother's Day Out after what seemed like an eternally long summer. Even when they started Kindergarten I was so excited. But this year my emotions were so mixed! Excited about what the year holds but sad because I will miss my girls! We've had a great summer together and they are much more fun to be around. I will admit that not taking them to the grocery store is appealing!
Only 4 hours and 30 minutes till I get to hear about their day!

Funny Little Girl

Hunta has been gone to Ecuador and just got back home yesterday. The girls spent the afternoon at her house while Russ and I went to a meeting at church. Of course she brought them back gifts and their favorite is a stuffed doll that looks like an Ecuadorian girl. When we picked them up from her house last night Anna Claire introduced Russ and me to "Lydia Jessica Josifina ." Lydia Jessica is her first name and it is preferred that we call her Lydia Jessica. Then Anna Claire said,"She lives in Italy but speaks Mexican." To which my mom said, "I thought she could live in Ecuador." Lizzie also got a doll and her name is Lydia too but she goes by Lillie.

This morning Anna Claire came into the room where my desk is and said, "You know what kind of curtains you should put in here. Red leather! Now that would be a show and I like a show." I hope she's never in charge of color schemes. Let's leave that to Lizzie!

Family Olympics

Dressing Competition



Driveway Dash

We are loving the Olympics! I remember being almost 7 and seeing Mary Lou score a perfect 10 on the vault. Our girls have embraced the fabulous five and they call them by first names. I love it! Russ and I decided to have our own family Olympics. We came up with different events for our family to compete in. I hope you love my spreadsheet! We have had lots of fun! We have to finish up this weekend! Go USA!

Family Olympics

 Event                                    Russ                             Melanie               Anna Claire                         Lizzie

Dressing Competition	29.46 – Silver	26.45 - Gold	31.63 - Bronze	36.40
Ice Breaker Game	Silver	Gold		Bronze
Best Split	20 in	19 in – Bronze	12 in – Silver	2 in - Gold
Driveway Dash	9.43s –Bronze	9.7s	7.37sec – Gold	7.83sec – Silver
Obstacle Course at the Park
Freestyle – 25m swim	Gold	Bronze	Silver
Backstroke – 25m swim		Silver	Gold	Bronze
Butterfly – 25m swim	Silver		Gold	Bronze
19 step dash	7.53 sec	6.7 sec - Bronze	4.64 sec - Gold	5.0 sec – Silver
6 lap dash	44.48 sec - Bronze	45.66 sec	36.83 sec - Gold	38.53 sec – Silver
Breath-holding	Gold		Bronze	Silver
Chocolate Milk drinking contest	9.01 sec - Silver	7.51 sec - Gold	31.99 sec	22.22 sec - Bronze
Standing Jump
Backyard Obstacle Course

Piano Recital

Our girls have been wanting to take piano lessions for about a year and I found out our church offers lessons. We signed up for the summer as a trial run. My prediction was that one would hate it and the other would love it. I was wrong because they have both LOVED it and have practiced all summer. We have a great teacher who recognizes their differences. Anna Claire rushed through songs and her goal is to play them as fast as possible. Lizzie hates to play the wrong note so it takes her forever to get through a new song because she doesn't want to mess up. Our teacher let them play a concert for our family last Thursday night and they were so cute! They even played a duet!
Lizzie went to great lengths to be very rainbow for the concert. From her headband to her rainbow watch and rainbow, glitter shoes!

Beach Bound

We sent the girls to the beach with their cousins and grandparents for a few days while Russ and I had some time at home! We did crazy things like having dinner in a cool part of our city that is a 30 minute drive from our house - they didn't even have a kids menu. And we took an after-work bike ride at a nearby state park. After a few days we drove to the beach to spend time with our family. We had a great time with everyone! The beach had lots of seaweed but we had a pool nearby to swim in. A fun trip with lots of memories for our girls!