tooth fairy

Brooke's wiggly tooth had been wiggling for DAYS! (At least 30, haha.). She was talking to Papa after her soccer game and I couldn't believe how much that tooth seemed as thought it was going to fall out.  I made a comment about needing to get the tooth out before she swallowed it, and she wanted Kevin to pull it as soon as we got in the car.  She was giddy with excitement, and had total faith in her Daddy.

I adore the video, but will attempt to put it into words!  Kevin tried pulling it out with his bare hand, but it was too slippery.  He grabbed a small piece of napkin to get a better grip, and he quickly pulled it out.  Brooke said a tiny "ouch", and then Kevin asked if her tooth was still in.  She felt the area with her tongue and then her face lit up.  The tooth was OUT and she loved seeing it on that tiny little napkin scrap.  It started bleeding, which scared her a little bit, but she drank some water and was good to go.

Look at that face! She was delighted :)

We met Papa at Slim Chickens for lunch, and she was excited to show him her new gap. Grandma wasn't feeling well or she would have been there as well.  They have come to almost every soccer game, and the kids love seeing them on the sidelines.

This girl is growing up right before our eyes!  She was excited to put the tooth in her cute tooth fairy pillow, and was even more excited that she left a sparkly $2 bill and a note.

I have a feeling that this is going to become a frequent occurrence because she has two more that are slightly loose.  We love you, sweet girl.

cavity

Maybe this is weird to blog about, but it was a big deal to me, so i'm going to!  I had my first cavity of my life and I was really upset about it.  I was pretty proud of the fact that I had never had a cavity, and it was always a great factoid when you play "Never Have I Ever" and games of that nature, haha. Well, last year my dentist commented that I was getting some straining on my bottom wisdom teeth.  When I asked what I should do differently, she recommended just brushing better on those teeth, but it was strange because I've never had that problem before.  

I tried to double my efforts on those teeth, but at my last cleaning, the dentist informed me that it had turned into a cavity on one tooth.  At first I didn't believe her because this was all uncharted territory for me and I thought I would have had dental pain or something. (And I also don't really love the dentist, but I continue to go out of convenience.)  Anyway, she showed me with her instruments that there were definitely spots where it was sticking into my tooth, so we scheduled the filling a few weeks out.  

I had Colby with me during the appointment, and he was such a good boy :) He watched a bit, but I'm glad he was distracted when the dentist gave me the injection which was WAY more painful than I anticipated.  The rest of the process wasn't too terrible, but the numbness didn't wear off for nearly 8 hours!  After it wore off, I was sure that something was wrong because it felt like a big crater in my tooth.  I went back to have it checked out and all was fine, so I just had to get used to this new normal. 

And that is the story of my first cavity.  The dentist took this picture to show me how big the cavity actually was :(

spring break

I was so grateful that Brooke was feeling better since we had all been looking forward to Spring Break!  We started the week with a lunch date at Panera and a trip to Town Park.  Brooke kept messing with her loose tooth during lunch, which was cracking me up. 

The weather wasn't very Spring-ish, but we still had lots of fun.  We met a girl at the park who brought her bunny (so strange, in my opinion), but she was great about letting other people hold it.

Since Town Park is connected to Katherine Rose Park via a walking path, we ventured over. The entire grassy area was covered in dandelions, so you better believe we made our share of wishes.

Then Colby decided to try the yellow dandelions, which was of course, hilarious.  I encouraged him for a minute, but then explained that those flowers wouldn't lose their petals so easily, haha.

After spending some time at Katherine Rose, we headed back to Town Park and played at the rock amphitheater.  Brooke had her dance festival here a few years ago, and they love playing on the rocks and dancing on the performance area.

On day two of Spring Break, the sun was shining and temperatures were a BIT warmer.  The kids wanted to go for a scooter ride, so that's exactly what we did. Followed by popsicles, of course :)

We also met Grandma over at the lake to dig our toes in the sand.

And build a castle or two...

Day three started with a train ride on the Ft Worth Mini Train with the Sturgills.  I gave myself an extra 20 minutes to get there in case there was traffic, but I wasn't expecting the madness that ensued. The Mini Train uses the same entrance as the Ft Worth Zoo, and since it was Spring Break, everyone and their mom was heading to the zoo and I waited nearly an hour to even turn into the parking lot.  I couldn't believe it and my kids were losing their minds.  We missed the 11 AM departure, but thankfully Miss Danielle and her kids were patient in waiting for us to finally arrive.  We picnicked first, then rode the train after.  I also brought chocolate chip cookies for dessert, which we enjoyed after the train ride and hopefully eased the annoyance of our late arrival :)

Matching sunnies...

When we left Ft Worth, I decided to take the scenic route home and take the kids to River Legacy Park. Brooke has missed these fun parks while she's been in school, so I wanted to make the most of her time off.  The park was really busy, but the kids still had fun and the sun was glorious!

Our favorite activity of the week was on day four when we went to Country Critters Farm.  A friend had posted pictures earlier in the week, so I quickly asked for details since it looked like something my kids would love.  (One of the many benefits of Social Media!) It was $24 well spent!!  It wasn't very busy and they had a ton of activities.  The kids wanted to ride the ponies first...

They interacted with pigs, sheep, geese, chickens, horses, and goats.

The price of admission included 4 raffle-type tickets which could be used for the pony rides, the hay ride, and this fun tractor ride...

The kids loved playing in the bounce houses, on the tractor playground, on the saddle teeter totter, and racing their ducks down water-pump tracks. Everything was so well thought out and the property was beautiful.

We had been told earlier in the day that we couldn't touch the baby goats, but as we were making the rounds to say goodbye to all the animals, a different farm employee was letting people hold the goats.  You better believe we jumped all over that opportunity!  My kids were in HEAVEN, especially Brooke who has such a way with animals.  The first goat didn't want to sit on Colby's lap, so we had to find a little less rambunctious one, haha.

As Brooke held this cute goat, she looked up and said, "This is the cutest moment of my life."  It was incredibly sweet and made the whole outing totally worth it.  She loved everything about the encounter, even when the goat tried to nibble on her coat zipper.  We always joke about how the goats tried to nibble her diaper at the petting zoo when she was a toddler, so this just added to the nibbling stories, haha.  

We finally found the perfect goat for my buddy to hold  :)

And Brooke was even able to hold the rowdy one!

As we left Country Critters, the kids were already asking about when we could go back.  It really was such a fun experience and something I would definitely be willing to pay for again.

Brooke was asking for a baby goat as we drove home, but I assured her that I already had two little critters that kept me busy :). 

I'd say that Spring Break was a success! 

spirit week

We survived our first Spirit Week, haha!  Every single day was a dress-up day, and Brooke was pretty excited about it :)  It was also National Literacy Awareness, so they tried to tie all the Spirit days into reading.

Monday was Neon Day, and something about having BRIGHT minds. It was incredible windy that morning, so this expression really cracks me up.  

Tuesday was Sports Day, and Brooke wanted to wear both of her old soccer jerseys and both medals! I'm glad she is so proud of her soccer seasons, haha. We EXERCISE our minds when we are reading.

Wednesday was Tourist Day, because books can take you on adventures!  This bucket hat from Auntie Mel Mel looked like the perfect tourist hat to me, but Brooke changed her mind at the last minute and wanted the blue hat.  I still convinced her to take pictures in both, because hey, she looked adorable in both :)

She was especially excited that I let her take this old California map in her pink seashell bag.

Thursday was Book Character day, and Brooke dressed up as Fancy Nancy.  My friend from Arizona had posted a picture of her daughter dressed as Fancy Nancy and I thought it was genius!  When you have a girl that loves to wear dresses, jewelry, and a tiara headband, she will most definitely love the idea of being Fancy Nancy.

When I picked Brooke up from school that day (Thursday), she did not look well.  As soon as she was dismissed, she ran right over to hug me and asked if we could go home.  (We normally stay and play with friends for 30 minutes or so.)  I said of course, and asked if she was feeling sick.  I could feel the heat from her little head as she hugged me tightly.  She said yes, and when I asked her how long she had been feeling this way, she said ALL DAY.  I asked her why she didn't tell Mrs. Hickerson, and she admitted that she knew she would have to go to the nurse and she didn't know what they did there.  My poor baby!  I assured her that they would've only taken her temperature and then given me a call to let me know that she was ill.  I really hated that she had felt miserable all day and just sat in class.  I'm also surprised that her teacher didn't notice that she wasn't herself.  I knew the minute that I looked at her face that something wasn't right.

Anyway, we came home and Brooke changed into pajamas and climbed right into her bed and slept till nearly 7.  When she woke up, she had a low grade fever, so I emailed her teacher to let her know that Brooke was sick and wouldn't be at school the next day.  It was the Friday before Spring Break, so I wasn't all that concerned about her missing, but I was really hoping she wouldn't be sick all during the break!  Mrs. Hickerson emailed right back and let me know that they already had 4 kids out with confirmed flu cases, and Brooke had been one that was chosen to help her sanitize things in the classroom the day before.  On Friday morning, Mrs. Hickerson emailed me to check on Brooke, and let me know that she had a few more out with Strep and Flu, so basically her classroom needed some deep sanitation! Thankfully, that happened during Spring Break and Brooke was only sick through the weekend :)

So, she didn't participate in Friday's Spirit Day and I can't even remember what it was, haha.  But overall, it was a great week and we both enjoyed getting into the Spirit of the week :)