Family update

Well, I went in for a regular appointment today, and a month ago the doc told me I would leave this appointment with the 'reveal' scheduled.  As we chatted, I asked when I would be finding out...his reply, "Schedule it, then come back and see me in a month."  So, I went to set up the appointments before I left the office and lo and behold, there was an opening for TOMORROW with the sonographer.  Sooooo, if peanut cooperates, we'll know the gender of our family bookend tomorrow shortly after 1 PM.  Oh, and if you missed it, we're having our #3.  I'm 17 weeks and a handful of days, with a due date of July 31st.

Both of the kids want a baby brother.  Some friends insist that the fact that they BOTH want a brother MUST mean I'm having a girl.  Others say that kids are pretty accurate (Kellen was with Tatum!).  My office co-workers did the string and pencil trick over my belly today and it went in a circle, which apparently means a girl.

Who knows?

But, we'll find out tomorrow (at least if peanut is cooperative).

In other news, we're gearing up for Tatum's third birthday party this weekend.  After asking her repeatedly who she wanted to come to her party, we settled on her very consistent answer, and are going with a low-key party with three friends plus Kellen.  So as I type, the kids are picking up stray toys, book, articles of clothing, and other miscellaneous stuff from around the house in preparation for the carpet cleaning which will commence tomorrow (preparations made courtesy of Matthew...he's desperate to get the carpets cleaned and stretched).  I'm hopeful for a nice day so we can go out in the backyard, but since our weather has had the equivalent of bipolar mood swings lately, I'm not banking on that and have back-up indoor activities ready to go.  I went and picked out princess party gear yesterday (instead of going home after our department closed down due to inclement weather).  I now have pink and purple princess plates, napkins, cups, goody bags, and a purple Happy Birthday tiara for the birthday princess.

Speaking of inclement weather, we had SNOW yesterday!  And enough of it for the kids to have a snowball fight.  No snow angels or snowmen, much to Aunt Boo's dismay, I'm sure, but they had fun outside nonetheless.  Even if their fun only lasted for as long as it took for the snow to make their gloves wet.  Which, in case you're wondering, is about five minutes.  And then all schools (at least the ones I'm concerned with) didn't open up as scheduled this morning.  Tatum's daycare opened at 9:35, Kellen's school started at 9:50, and TAMU opened at 10.

In case you're wondering, snow day + cold night + delayed school startings = ONE LAZY MORNING at the Hapes household.  And it was VERY nice.

Rough day for the Kellen-bellen

It appears that today has just been an all-around rough day for the Kellen man. 

First, he forgot his backpack this morning.  And remembered it as I was dropping him off.  I mean literally...the door was open, he was out of the car, looked back for his backpack and it wasn't there.

He actually said he had a good day at school...no tallies, but also told me he went to the safe place twice during the day because he was so sad.  Apparently he missed me very much today.  Oh yeah, and his grandparents, too.

In the car after school and Kids Klub and we're headed to get Tatum.  He proceeds to make a string of bad choices that end up making Mommy very upset.  I threaten dinner and then bed.  Mommy asks him to help Daddy with a project: he argues.  Repeatedly.  And then proceeds to get Daddy upset as well.  After blowing all of the chances Mommy gave him, he's made the choice.  Dinner and bed.

During dinner, he finishes his piece of pizza and asks for more.  There is no more.  So Mommy gives him breadsticks, and he proceeds to bite his cheek on said breadsticks.

Oh, and to top it all off, he reminds me that today was spring picture day.  Yes, Mommy completely forgot about spring picture day.  And he proceeds to tell me how sad he was when he remembered about picture day after getting to school because everyone was dressed so nicely and he was in his everyday clothes.  And he didn't have a backpack with him get to his extra clothes to change clothes!

Oh the horror.  There's only so many times one can apologize for being a terribly forgetful Mommy.  I'm not sure I'm at that limit yet, though, as he's still terribly sad about it.  And don't forget embarrassed.  He was apparently oh-so-embarrassed because he had to sit on the white steps in his everyday clothes.

Considering the events of the day, I don't think an early bedtime is all that bad.  Let's put an end to this bad day for my Kellen-bellen.

Surely tomorrow will be better for him, right?

What a morning...

Here we were, out the door ON TIME - 7:18 AM. I was able to get Tatum to school in time for Kellen to come into daycare with me so he could properly say "Bye" to her for the day. I was able to talk with her teacher for a bit, get Kellen and I back in the car, and head to his school. Made it there with no problems, sent him off with an "I love you and have a GREAT day today!"

And then to the office....where I realize that I have made it to work with ZERO make up on. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. Completely bare faced.

Oh my.

No, I don't wear make-up on the weekends, or even wear much of it during the week. But let's just say that my face hasn't taken on the radiance of pregnancy quite yet.

My poor co-workers. My poor students. A little bit of powder and lip gloss (applied both to my lips and eyelids - and no, I don't know if that's ok to do or not) and we'll see if I can make it through the day without wondering ALL DAY LONG how horrid I look! Oh well!

Silly songs...

'Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. When you see a crocodile, don't forget to row faster.' - Tatum, as sung during her bath last night.


Yes, my kids are hilarious!

I know no one.

According to Tatum, that is.  She's watching Yo Gabba Gabba, and has repeatedly asked me, "Who is that?"  My continual response, "I don't know, baby."

The last time she asked, and I responded in my usual way, she retorted in an exasperated manner and stated, "You don't know ANYONE, Mommy!"

Cinderella

Is Tatum's favorite movie.  During our mommy-daughter afternoon yesterday, we watched it twice.  We're watching it again now while she's having her lunch snack before nap.

Some observations:

Tatum: That cat is NOT nice.  But the doggy is nice.  But not the cat.  He's a MEAN cat.

Tatum: I want to help fix Cinderella's dress.
Me: Sweetie, I don't think that you can.
Tatum: 'Cause I'm not in the movie, huh?

Christmas Count-down calendar

I'm not calling this an Advent calendar, although that's where I got the idea, because I'm not following all of the Advent rules.  So, the original idea for this came from my crafty blogging friend Kendra, from this post she did last year.  Yes, I've been thinking about doing this for a year.  So a few weeks ago, I started collecting our finished toilet paper rolls and asked that Maw Maw and Paw Paw do the same...and then I kept our paper towel rolls as well.

And today, I started and completed the project.  In my opinion, it's not nearly as cute as Kendra's, but hey...I happen to like it!  (And by the way, if you agree that it isn't as cute, you don't have to post a comment to that effect...but you're welcome to tell me if you like mine or make additional suggestions about activities to include, even though I've filled out the days...I can always add activities and scripture to days throughout the month!!).

So here is a photo journal of the project!

Phase one...wrapping the individual rolls...3 per color of wrapping paper.

Laying them out in the pattern....

Beginning the assembly.  My first attempt was failed and this was actually the back-up, which worked much better.  Ribbon was used to tie the rolls together, with the edges of the ribbon sticking out on alternating sides.

Assembly is complete, and it's now hanging, with the use of a zip-tie.  (Matt's gonna wonder where all of his long zip ties have gone, because they're coming in handy for a variety of projects now-a-days).

Close up so that you can see the ties and wrapping paper.

Dates are now on the individual rolls.  Thank GOODNESS for sticker numbers!  And an even bigger thank GOODNESS for ones that I already had in my existing supply!!!

Now there are "to-do" items in each of the dates, corresponding with things that already exist on our calendar and I tried to think ahead (i.e., the Christmas farm we want to go to is ONLY open on the weekends, etc...).

So there it is...our Christmas count-down.  And yes, we do have another one that you move the numbers along and we'll be using that one, too.  You know, once I get it out of the Christmas decoration box.  I can't remember which day I put "put out Christmas decorations" on....

Long time, no update

Such is life...it's been crazy around here.  The kind of crazy that you wake up every day and pray for the strength to get through the day, but hey, God is good.  He's still the same God He was yesterday and will be tomorrow, despite the craziness that's going on today.  The question is really, "What will I learn and allow God to show me in the midst of and from the craziness?"

That's a million dollar question, now isn't it?

At any rate, I have a lot to be thankful for, and have been blessed by those around me who love and are caring for me, and am creating a detailed list JUST SO THAT I DON'T FORGET IT!  And I'm choosing to thank God for all of the ways that I'm seeing Him move in my life.

Today the kids and I went out to purchase the gifts for the child we adopted for Christmas from the Angel Tree from church and the two kids we chose to buy from from the office adoption list (their mom was killed in a car accident about a week and a half ago in a car accident and her older daughter is one of my students).  We talked about why we choose to give gifts at Christmas - it's to show God's love to others, just like God showed His love to us by sending Jesus to earth for us.  They had a good time picking out the presents for the children and, for the most part, didn't ask for things for themselves!

Hapes hilarity - of the Tatum kind

We're on day 2 of being home, and Tatum is still running a slight fever.  Nothing too bad, but elevated enough to let us know that her body is trying to fight something.  Well, she certainly still has her spunk, and I'll demonstrate by listing things that she's done to, shall we say, keep me on my toes.

• I've realized that she can't totally be left on her own to use to potty, and wipe.  Wanna' know how I realized it?  I went in to check on her just in the nick of time, as she was looking down at a toilet FULL of wipes.  She had pulled out wipes from the container and managed to pull about 1/8 of the container, empying it, and deposit said wipes into the toilet. Luckily, I caught her before she flushed.

• We were exchanging kisses and she arranged my head so that she could kiss me on the hair.  "Mommy, your hair is messy. You didn't fix your hair."  Me, "Yes I did, Tatum.  I fixed it this morning."  Her, "Let me see," moving my head around for closer inspection, "No it's not."  Apparently, my hair is not fixed to her standards.  What a shame, considering that I actually got a shower today, unlike yesterday. (Don't judge).

• We had finished watching The Jungle Book shortly before she was scheduled to lay down for a nap.  I needed to vacuum, but hadn't dared to so while she was in the midst of any movie, lest I anger the child, 'cause you're princess when you're sick.  Or in her case, even when you aren't.  She was finishing her snack of Cheerios and water, sitting in the recliner, listening to the music that plays during the menu options while I was vacuuming, and I see her lips moving.  I stopped the vacuum and asked what she needed.  "I can't hear the MUSIC!  Are you DONE?"  No darling, but for both your sake and mine, I sure wish I was.

• In our one hour attempt to get her to lay down and actually go to sleep for her nap, during one of the times she came to the gate by her door she looked at me and said, "I laid down and closed my eyes.  That was a good nap, right?"

To be continued.....

So what is it THIS time?

Tatum has diarrhea and was running a fever yesterday afternoon/evening, yet the mere mention of the fact that she's "sick" makes her insane.  So here I am again, at home, working to clear my schedule and disinfect the house.  At least I don't have to go to the store and stock up on supplies again, right?  On the other hand, I feel like I just did this, didn't I, only it was with Kellen?  Oh, the joys of parenting and the cycles of neverending chores that must be completed.  Including dealing with sick kiddos.

The poor thing.

We have begun our movie marathon, and it's starting with Bolt, one of her all-time favorites.  I'm guessing Cinderella and Enchanted are in the cards for us today as well, and possibly multiple times for each.

I have my temperature and "symptom" sheet started, and so far she's only had one 'bout' this morning.  We'll see how the rest of the day progresses, but I may be going to the store not for cleaning supplies but for additional pull-ups instead.  I'm not going with her undies with this type of symptom going on here...Can you blame me?

Well, she's saying she's hungry, so I'm off to make her some toast.  Whatever it takes to make her feel better!

Success!

Yesterday I successfully completed my first triathlon sprint.  Probably my first and only, but that's beside the point.  In case you're wondering, "success" was defined by me for the purposes of this event as completing without injury, and a sunburn didn't count as an injury.  Neither did a jolt to my pride.  More on that later.

Matt and I took the kids to Conroe Saturday and dropped them off with Maw Maw, Paw Paw and Aunt Boo for their weekend retreat.  (Sidenote: I'm sure fun was had by ALL during this retreat, which included a trip to a pumpkin patch and a birthday party at a skating rink).  He and I then made our way to the race packet pick-up and I proceeded to go through the check-in.  I looked over my packet and tried to verify that all numbers for all equipment pieces were in order and that I had everything else I needed for the race.  We headed out, left the mall, stopped at another store, and during this time I had been reading the packet material and realized I had a white swim cap, which designated me in the women 30-39 age group.  While that in and of itself is correct, I had signed up to race as a newbie, which meant that I was planning to swim the shorter distance, and not the full swim, which the age bracket I was designated in was supposed to be swimming.  I should have had a green swim cap.

Houston, we had a problem!

I quickly called one of the girls I had been training with, who had picked her packet up a couple hours earlier.  She had the correct color swim cap - green.

So we turned around and headed back to the mall, determined to correct the registration issue.  I felt comfortable that I could handle the newbie swim, but NOT the full swim.  Luckily, when I went back, they didn't give me any problems.  One gentleman asked if I wanted a green cap and I quickly corrected him, laughingly saying "Oh no, I NEED a green cap."  He thought that was pretty funny, too.  A chat with the laptop lady - AKA the registration lady - took care of officially correcting me as well.  A few minutes in there and I was fully corrected as a newbie for registration purposes. 

Whew!

Back on the road and Matt and I were enjoying each others company so much that we missed the turn to my friends house via the directions he provided, so we took the long route there.  I'm trying to remember the last time he and I had some quality and quantity time together and I'm coming up blank, so it was obviously much needed.  We finally got to the Murdock Manor much later than we had originally anticipated, and then there were some slight grill-lighting, propane issues that had to be addressed and resolved.  Once those issues were taken care of, dinner was finished and was fabulous!  Sam and Krissy went all out...bread with dipping sauce, cheese and pepperoni for appetizers, steak, and pasta with two kinds of homemade sauces.  Oh my goodness...it was delicious!  And then Sam topped it off with homemade canoli's, although I was so stuffed with everything else that I couldn't even finish it off!  We watched the triathlon episode of Scrubs while eating our dessert, feeling full as ticks, then went to bed.  I certainly carbo-loaded adequately!

We tried to leave their house by 5 AM the next morning, and had plans to meet the girls by 5:30...we didn't quite make it.  I'm not sure if we left later than we wanted to, or if it simply took longer than we thought to get from their house to the race, but we finally got there at about 6 AM.  We unloaded the bike, gear and got my body markings - race number on my forearms and my age on my calf, then headed to the transition area to set up.  We found the girls fairly easily, then just hung out until racetime.

Since we were the newbies, our wave was the last to go, so we made it in the water shortly after 8:15AM.  The water was cool, but not as cold as I was anticipating.  What I had been told about, but couldn't really plan for, were the people kicking me...so I treaded water and held out in the back of the pack.  In retrospect, since I'm not the greatest of swimmers anyway, that probably wasn't the best of plans.  I never did make that time back up.  I was one of the last people to get out of the water and pretty much brought up the rear for the rest of the race. 

Which leads me to that jolt to my pride statement....

So I'm out of the water, get to the transition area, and I pretty much have it all to myself.  I look up and see Matt filming and wonder to myself why on earth he's trying to film me in the horror that is me attempting to change clothes without the world seeing anything.  He must have read my mind, because I think at that precise moment he quit filming.  Me actually trying to change clothes was a rookie mistake...I should have just pulled the dry clothes on OVER my swimsuit and ridden my bike in that, but oh well.  I get my clothes on - WITHOUT anyone seeing anything, mind you, and head out of the transition area. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, that wasn't the jolt to the pride story)  Then on my bike I go...then I realize I didn't have my sunglasses, that they're still in my purse, in the car.

Great.

Anyway, on the bike, here I go, heading out for a 15 mile bike ride.  A little bit into it an older gentleman passes me, then a motorcycle comes up behind me, comes beside me, and then says to me, "You know you're the last one, right?"  Inside my head I'm thinking, 'Gee thanks, buddy...I needed THAT right now.'  I just looked at him.  He continues, "You aren't going to let that 72 year old guy beat you, are you?  You know, the one that just passed you?"  Did you feel that hit?  Because I certainly did.  Let me just note that it wasn't coming across as nice, these comments he was making.  If he was going for motivating, he was certainly missing his mark.

So I looked at him and said, "I'm not worried about BEATING anyone.  My goal is simply to finish."  And then I smiled at him and kept right on cycling.  I was determined to NOT let that comment persuade me to quit.  And you know what, a few more miles into the cycle I wasn't the last one anymore...and he rode by me and told me so.  And he also made a point of telling me every so often how good I was doing, too.

As I was finishing the bike portion, it was ever-so-obvious that the "non-newbies", oh heck, who am I kidding, and many of the "newbies" had been done for quite some time, as the race and surrounding area was clearing out, but folks were very gracious to the steady gal on the bike, number 444, and certainly cheered her on!  It was quite nice.  There were a few of us hitting the run at the same time ('cause remember, I said I wasn't last anymore), and we wound around the lake that really tempted me to jump back in it and around the neighborhood for a "quick 3 miles".  HA! I think the exact words out of my mouth were 'smooth like butter' as I started that run and I don't exactly know where those came from...

All-in-all, I finished the race in about 2 hours 15 minutes.  Whoop!

Kids say...cont.

Kellen to me, after Tatum was being particularly...herself, or shall we say challenging, "It must be difficult to be the Mommy somedays." {Buddy, you have NO idea}

After taking Tatum's booster seat off of the table, since she no longer wants to sit in it, Kellen informed me that we needed to keep it in case he has a baby brother someday.  Because, he's ..."wanted a baby brother since forever."  Really?  'Cause I'm fairly certain that your FIRST request was for a sister.  And that request was granted buddy.

So Tatum is now ill...running a fever that disqualifies her from attending school for at least tomorrow and had a few bouts of diarrhea today.  As I was getting her ready for bed, she was desperate to give her Kellen a night-night hug and kiss.  Unfortunately, I had to tell her I couldn't let her do that because she was sick.  "I'm not sick!" she screamed repeatedly.  "I'm not supposed to be sick! I need to give Kellen a night night hug and kiss!"  Me, "But you can't, because you're running a fever and you're sick."  Her, "No I'm NOT!  I'm not sick!"

Quotable quotes

'Cause I think my kids are that funny, interesting and sometimes say the darndest things....

"Life is good." - Kellen, as said to me on our way to church this morning.  This was after detailing the beautiful day outside, the fact that we hadn't been outside playing in our backyard on our swingset much lately because of all of the rain.  Why did it have to rain so much Mommy, 'cause it had been raining for like a thousand years or something.

"Darn-it [emphasized by slamming both fists on the table], I am NOT naughty!" - Tatum, at lunchtime today while not sitting as she was supposed to be.  Sidenote:  Mommy had not actually called her naughty. 

And I'm not sure why I can't think of additional ones, because they consistently crack me up at every turn.  I MUST find ways to document them better, because they're pricess, and my memory does not remember everything it hears....it simply remembers something funny was said, and if you're lucky, it might remember the topic of the funny comment.

Shout it out...

Well, we're trying to do something of the sort with the recent illnesses in the house.  Kellen is home today and he doesn't feel well.  Perhaps I should say that he didn't feel well.  He seems to be feeling much better, which is GREAT!  He was running a low-grade fever this morning and had a variety of symptoms that assured me he wasn't faking, so I spent some time clearing my calendar, made arrangements for a conference call on the item that couldn't be put off, then got the Tatum-tot ready for school.  I apparently had too many irons in the fire, as I made it to school with Tatum but no lunch for her.  Ug.  I corrected that small oversight, then Kellen and I made a quick trip to the store to stock up on a variety of antibacterial cleaning supplies so that I could attempt to clean EVERYTHING possible in the house today.  Unfortunately, I didn't expect my conference call(s) to last as long as they did.  But you have to do what you have to do, right?

Anyway, with the assistance of some caffeine, delivered by an incredibly thoughtful friend, I feel like I have been fairly productive today...I have kept the laundry going, cleaned the kitchen (counters, including moving items and cleaning backboards); swept and mopped the floors; cleaned the trashcan exterior; and ran the dishwasher twice; cleaned the stove; and dishwasher exterior.  I disinfected the kids bathroom, including a VERY thorough cleaning of the toilet - ALL of the toilet, including behind it.  Sidenote: Daddy needs to chat with Kellen about aiming.  'Nough said.  I changed the linens in both of the kids rooms and disinfected the mattress and bed frame in Kellen's room.  In case you're wondering, I lysol'ed the loveseat, then put a clean sheet on it and he's been camped out there for the day...his own little "set-up" and he loves it.

Luckily, I like the citrus smell of the cleaner I bought, and I have really put a dent in it so far!  Hopefully I'll knock out whatever germs are floating around in this house...and hopefully they haven't already spread.

I'm not through yet, so wish me luck!  And stay healthy yourself!

Progress Report

We've made it through the first six weeks for Kellen, and Daddy and I had the parent-teacher conference today. Considering that he had come home with a few "Needs Improvement" on his weekly progress charts, we weren't surprised that he had some of those on his report card for behavior-related issues. Shocked, we were not.

It was; however, nice to know that when tested, he was at a 2nd grade reading level. And he is performing at an Excellent (Note: 95-100) level for mathematics for what is expected right now. And for the remainder of his Academics, he scored nothing below a "S" on his report card. In addition, he's getting some additional challenge practice for reading because he's reading at such a high level (teacher's aide pulling him and one other kid from his class and another from one other class out and working with them in a small group at their level) three times a week for about 45 minutes each time. In addition, he's getting "Enrichment" activities, which was explained to us as activities for students early-identified as those who most likely would be testing into GT.

All-in-all, I'm thrilled with how he's doing academically! Now, if we can simply try and pinpoint and improve on some of his behavioral issues, we'll be in better shape. Which is not to say we aren't in good shape now, it's simply to say that there is room for improvement.

So, our action plan is that for the next couple of weeks is that we'll be receiving a daily email letting us know if Kellen started the day with a positive or negative attitude. We're going to try and see if we can identify the "why" on his beginning-of-the-day attitude to see if 1) I need to change the morning routine; 2) he needs to get more sleep; 3) Daddy needs to commute more; 4) we need to scale back on some of the extracurricular activities; or 5) some combination of all of the above. If we can make progress in one area, that will be good enough for me!

Moving on....
Sparks.
Kellen is doing wonderfully at Sparks. He is FABULOUS at memorizing scripture. We went through a lesson tonight and the scripture was the first part of one, and he already knew the entire thing. It's amazing what he's learning from listening to the Sparks CD at night! So, just to see what he knew, I asked him the scriptures through the remainder of the book, and he knew all of them with the exception of 2, but knew those 2 with the one or two word reminder to start things off. His goal is to finish the book out this week - I suggested that we shoot for the end of the month.

I have gone through the book and made index cards with all of the scriptures on them in flash card style so that we can continue to go over them even after he finishes the book. Plus, it's helpful for me, even though I have no problem saying that Kellen has these verses down much better than I do!

Growing pains

In case you were wondering, growing pains are very real....and poor Kellen certainly had his share of them tonight. He's going through yet another growth spurt (I feel like he JUST did this!) and was in terrible pain tonight, complaining about his knee joints hurting. He was almost inconsolable before bedtime. Poor guy!

I think Tatum is going through one as well, although her growth spurt doesn't seem quite as painful as Kellen's. It will be interesting to see how much he's grown since his last growth spurt, which I believe was mid-summer...we'll measure him the next time he goes to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's to see....

Kids say the darndest things

And mine are no exception.

Today when I picked Tatum up and we were leaving her school, she stopped at the front desk to say, 'Bye' to her director, Ms. Nazneen.  After talking with her for a moment, Tatum asks, 'Are you brown?'

I laughed, put my hand over my mouth, and just looked at Tatum and Nazneen, who is, in fact Indian.

Nazneen just laughed, looked at me, and remarked, "You're going to have to get earmuffs, because that's just the type of child she is!"

My response was a very articulate, "Well...." 

Nazneed turned and answered Tatum laughing, "Yes, Tatum.  I AM brown!"

Everyone in earshot of that particular conversation probably got an ab workout as well.

At least we know she speaks the truth!

Lost a Tooth!

Now, while a picture IS worth a thousand words, I feel that I need to describe my tough-as-nails little boy, determined to lose his first tooth. I have had a slight delay in posting the pictures, because he wanted the experience to be a surprise for Daddy, and the losing of the tooth occured last Thursday night. The tooth started becoming earlier in the week - we noticed the permanent tooth coming in the weekend prior. Yup. You read all of that correctly, as in weekend before last.

So, on to the story. On Wednesday night he asked for some string to tie around his tooth so that he could put the string on a doorknob and slam the door shut to try and get the tooth out. I said, "No." Instead, I suggested that he simply wiggle his tooth using his fingers. So he did.

On Thursday night he again asked for some string. So I relented and gave him special tooth string, AKA dental floss. He asked me to help him wrap it around the tooth so he could pull. I did. He kept pulling up, and the string kept sliding off of the tooth. I reminded him that if he continued to pull up, that the string was going to keep sliding off of the tooth. He had an epiphany, and asked me to put the string UNDER the sides of the tooth, so that he could pull down and pop the tooth out. I did, and he started pulling down in a very determined, controlled fashion.

Sure enough, he popped that tooth right outta' his mouth!

The look of amazement on his face, then horror as he realized he was bleeding was priceless. Had I actually thought he was going to go through with it I would have been capturing the experience on video, but I really thought the pain would be too much for him! Silly mom, he sure proved me wrong!

We cleaned up the gums, rinsed his mouth out repeatedly, cleaned the tooth, then discussed the tooth fairy. He let me know that the tooth fairy brought small toys in exchange for teeth. Who knew? I told him that I thought he had to stay in bed so that the tooth fairy could use her fairy vision to double check that the tooth under the pillow matched the hole in his mouth.

At any rate, Kellen has lost his first tooth, and he did it in a Herculean way! Way to go, Kellen!

Reminder

I don't know about you guys, but I considering that I've been out of commission for almost three weeks now, I certainly need a reminder that I cannot do it all. So, I went through my old posts and am linking this Pursuit of Perfection post as a reminder to myself. I haven't been able to do much lately because of the bronchitis and getting over that...and it's showing, but I have to recognize my limitations, and realize what is REALLY important in life. And it's certainly not whether or not my kids can eat directly off of the floor.

Great ending

I picked Tatum up from school on Friday and headed home. As I pulled into the driveway and hit the garage door opener, Kellen ran out to inform me that I had to stay in the car. After persuading he and Daddy to let Tatum and I come inside to put an end to her screaming to get OUT of the car, and after promising to stay away from whatever surprise they were working on, they acquiesced and let us come inside.

A few moments later, I was shown the surprise.....a print out of a picture Daddy had taken on his phone, indicating that...

Kellen was chosen as the Junior Klub Kid of the Week!!!!

So, we scrapped any ideas we had about making dinner (it was going to be a somewhat 'fend-for-yourself night anyway), and decided to use some coupons we had and treat Kellen to CiCi's as a reward - but as a surprise!

He was thrilled, and even moreso when he was able to 'pay' for the entire family himself!

I'm so over-the-moon proud of him!!!