the elusive tooth #6

Brooke is losing teeth like nobody's business, haha!  She had commented during breakfast that another tooth was loose, but I wan't expecting it to fall out THAT day.  But I guess that's what happened with the last tooth, so I should have been prepared!  The funniest part was that she didn't even realize that her tooth had fallen out!

They had just done some sort of experiment with crushed-up oreos and pudding, and then Mrs. Farwell let them eat their experiment.  Her face was messy, so she went to the bathroom to clean up.  It wasn't until she looked in the mirror that she noticed her missing tooth.  So, she either swallowed it, or maybe it fell out and she didn't notice?  I really have no idea how either of those scenarios is possible, but the tooth was, indeed, missing.

She came right home and wrote the tooth fairy a note explaining why her tooth wouldn't be under her pillow :) Luckily, the tooth fairy still found her and left a note and a crisp $1 bill.  My girl is now sporting a very toothless grin, but I love how happy it makes her!

Kinley's baptism

My sweet niece, Kinley, was baptized on her 8th birthday!  She asked me to give the talk on baptism, which I was honored to do.  I practiced by talk to Brooke and Colby, and when I asked them what they thought, Brooke responded with, "I think it was really good, but probably only the adults will understand it."  Yikes, that wasn't what I was going for, haha.  It was only 3.5 minutes, so I didn't think it was too long or too complicated, but I revised it a bit.  I practiced with Kevin that night and he said it was great, but suggested that I try to read it less and maybe that would drag it out an extra minute.

I knew that I would get emotional at the end when I spoke to Kinley about what a special girl she was and about how much her Heavenly Father loved her, but I wasn't expecting the emotions within 10 seconds of speaking.  As I tried to get through my opening comments, Melanie was also emotional and even Kinley was choking back the tears. There was such a special spirit there, and I have no doubt that it is because of the special girl that Kinley is.  She really has such a pure and gentle heart, and I appreciate her example to Brooke and Colby.  

Papa gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, and then it was time to watch the baptism.  My kids were right up at the glass to get a good look, and I'm so glad that they watched their cousin taking such an important step.  Brooke will be 8 before I know it, and she has told us on multiple occasions that she only wants our immediate family at her baptism because she doesn't want people looking at her.  I hope she changes her mind because there are a lot of people who love her and would want to be part of her special day.

Can you tell how much Brookie loves her cousin?

These sweet girls are definitely best buddies and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I made sure to get a few with Colby as well because he gets left out of the "girl pictures" pretty frequently!

After the baptism, we headed over to the Peacock's house for a family dinner and birthday party.  Kinley had a few other cousins there as well, and the kids all played really well together while the adults chatted.  It's great living close to family, and we loved celebrating such a milestone birthday for this sweet girl!

open house

Brooke was SO excited to show us around at Open House and had been telling us for a week about everything they were doing in preparation. Grandma and Papa joined us as well, so we all had the classroom tour together.  Since we went towards the end of Open House, Brooke was the only student  giving the tour.  I was a little disappointed that her teacher, Mrs. Farwell, didn't take the opportunity to come into the classroom and talk to us about Brooke, but all the teachers were greeting at their doors, so maybe the point was for the student to guide their own tour.

Everything was very patriotic in nature, but my favorite thing was her book about our national symbols. 

She was pretty concerned about Colby obeying all of her classroom rules, so I did have to remind her a few times to worry about herself and the tour rather than barking orders at him.  But I guess that could have been expected from my rule-follower daughter to her brother that doesn't always want to listen to her, haha.

While she explained stations, she felt a need to tell us about each student in each group, and the groups they used to be in :)  She has a pretty great memory!

Papa was especially into Brooke's explanations and kept asking her clarifying questions :)  It's so nice having grandparents close by to attend these school events.

Brooke really loves her teacher and although I don't love the lack of face time I have with her, I think Brooke is doing really well in class and is learning and growing every day. 

As we walked down the halls, we took a moment to stop and admire this beautiful new wall display.  The PTA does an amazing job decorating throughout the school!  To celebrate the upcoming 100th day of school (in February), they sent home a kindness chart in which the students will set a goal to complete 100 acts of kindness.   When their charts are complete, they return them to school and their name is added to one of the hanging hearts.  I love this idea and feel strongly about the importance of being mindful and aware of the kindness we can spread throughout our school, community, and world.  I talk to my kids quite frequently about filling people's buckets with kind deeds, but this initiative is really going to help remind the students about having this at the forefront of their minds.  (Colby also made his own chart to track his kind deeds, haha.)

We're proud of you, Buggy, and loved the guided tour!

quick trip to houston

Jeffrey sent me a message at the end of December stating that he was flying to Houston in two weeks, and that if I wanted to prove my love, I could drive 4 hours to see him for one night :) I, of course, wanted to see him, so thankfully it all worked out!

We went back and forth about driving down on Friday night and spending Saturday at NASA until Jeffrey was done with his conference, but in the end, we just drove down Saturday morning. The kids did great on the drive, and especially loved our pit stop at Buc-ee's.  Brooke had a rare spoiled moment and declared that she wasn't leaving the store since I wouldn't buy her even a small toy, but I walked away and she had enough sense to follow me.  That really was completely out of character for her, so I guess even grateful and well-mannered kids have spoiled moments, right? 

With multiple potty breaks and a stop for lunch, it took about 5 hours to get to our hotel.  We relaxed for maybe 30 minutes, then hopped back in the car to pick Jeffrey up.  The kids were super excited to see him and were high-energy the whole way drive out to the beach.  (Thankfully, Jeffrey is a fun uncle, so he played right along with them.)  In my research about Houston and Galveston, I came across reviews for a place called the Kemah Boardwalk.  They had several food options and a ferris wheel, so I was sold, haha.  I knew the kids would LOVE riding the ferris wheel at night, and the whole evening ended up being super fun.

Can you tell they were excited about being with Jeffrey?  The real fun hadn't even started yet, but Brooke and Colby were happy little campers.

We watched an amazing street performer before settling on a pizza place for dinner.  The restaurant was attached to an arcade, so I let the kids roam while we waited for our dinner.  Spending hours in the car had made them both a little kooky, haha.  Being near NASA, the whole arcade had a space-inspired motif, which definitely added to the fun.

After dinner (which was super yummy), we headed back over to play a few games.  I normally dislike arcade games, but since we were spending time with Jeffrey, it seemed like the perfect thing to do together. I intended to buy $5 in tokens, but swiped my credit card not realizing that it automatically charged $10 to your card.  I felt like 50 tokens was a lot, but they were sure gone in a hurry.  I challenged Jeffrey to the basketball game, and his reply was something along the lines of, "There is NO possible way that you will beat me."  Well, guess who the winner was??  It was me!  He went first and since we didn't realize that there was a second round after the first round ended, he wasted probably 5 seconds or so when he could have been shooting. But I will definitely never let him live this down, even though I had that slight advantage.  I made some comment to Brooke about asking Jeffrey who won, and she said, "Isn't that kind of rubbing it in?"  Haha, yes, my girl, it most definitely is.  And yes, I've taught you not to do that!

When our tokens were gone, Jeffrey treated us to the ferris wheel ride.  Colby had originally wanted to go with Kevin, but made a last minute request to ride with Uncle Jeffrey.  Brooke also wanted to ride with Jeffrey, but when she realized that she would have to sit on the other side by herself, she opted to ride with Kevin and I.

She was slightly terrified for a good portion of the ride, but was finally able to relax and enjoy it a bit.

I was alone on my side, and I was even a little apprehensive of the height and the dark night sky, haha. But I liked the artsy picture Kevin took :)

On our drive back to Jeffrey's hotel, we stopped at Target to get a few things on the list Madi sent him.  Again, the kids had fun with Jeffrey as he goofed around with them inside the store.  By the time we left, it was nearly 11 and poor Jeffrey was exhausted.  Jet lag is no joke, and he had only been in Houston for like 3 days after 27 hours of flights.

We only had 5 hours together, but it was 5 hours well spent!  I love my little brother so much and I'm grateful that we had this small time to reconnect and strengthen bonds with him. I wish we lived closer so that we could spend more time together, but I don't know if that will happen any time soon. For now, we will take what we can get!

On Sunday, we ventured back out to Galveston to check out the beach.  It was a chilly and windy day, but still a fun outing.  As we drove along the coastline, Brooke spotted a dolphin statue that she instantly loved.  Kevin is a total sweetheart and went out of his way so she could have a picture with it, and thankfully Brooke appreciated her Daddy's efforts.

This view, of my littles ready to embark on an adventure, brings so much peace to my soul.  I think we all have a bit of the ocean in our bones.

Many shells were collected, mud was flung, and castles were built.

Kevin and I didn't get our toes in the sand, but we enjoyed watching the littles run and play together. 

The beach was nearly empty, which made the whole experience more private and intimate, and I loved the tiny details that both amazed and excited the kids.

Although our time at the beach was short, I know those memories will last forever.  Especially since I have these pictures to document our adventure.  The drive back seemed to take longer than it should have, but I took a nice nap, so I can't complain too much :)  This weekend was perfect and I'm grateful that it all worked out the way that it did. Until next time, Uncle Jeffrey (and Houston)!

the tooth fairy returns

The night before Brooke lost tooth #5, she had commented that it was feeling loose.  I don't even remember wiggling it because it was the first she even called attention to it.  On the way to school the next day, she expressed concern that she would lose her tooth at school.  I assured her that it probably wouldn't come out at school, but that she could have Daddy look at it at night if she wanted.

Fast forward to school pick-up, and Brooke rushed out to me with the BIGGEST smile on her cute little face.  She was practically shouting that her tooth came out when she wasn't even doing anything!  They had just walked into the classroom where they wait for their name to be called, and it just came out.  She said she sat down, remembered that she had a pack of tissues in her backpack, and wrapped it up carefully.  I was surprised that she handled it so well, especially since she was concerned about it!  I asked her why she didn't just tell one of the teachers, and she said, "It's fine, Mom. I just took care of it myself."  I love/hate that she is growing up so quickly. But I absolutely love that big toothy smile :)