Happy Halloween!

Our girls had a great time tonight! My husband and I each took a turn walking them through the neighborhood. They made quite a haul of candy. I am baking them a cake tonight and covering the icing with the candy and the rest we will pitch. I think the girls will be pleasantly surprised in the morning! Honestly, the girls enjoyed giving away the candy more than collecting it.
The funniest thing happened afterwards! I need to set it up first. Then horrid dentist the other day asked if the girls flossed and I said, "Nope". They gave us some free kid flossers in cool shapes and colors. The girls really took to it, so today I took them to Wal-Mart and we bought some new ones. They started asking if we flossed etc. We had an amazing discussion about flossing. SO, back to tonight. We finished our festivities and told them to go brush. They came running out with their new flossers and asked if we could have a flossing party. All four of us ended up sitting on the floor in a circle flossing together. Weird, but true! My husband said, "Well, I can honestly say that was the first party like that I have ever attended." I thought it was hilarious!!!
Happy Halloween!

Craziness has begun

My husband is now in BOLC III and already it is crazy. I was in the middle of making dinner tonight and he called and needed a ride with all his TA-50 gear. So, I had to leave dinner laying on the counters and run get his gear. He is only two days in and already scheduled to work till at least 6 on Saturday. I am not taking it real well yet. The past few weeks were so wonderful! Hopefully, they will at least issue some form of a schedule and we can settle into our new routine.
Other than that, school is going well! We are very excited because in December both girls are able to participate in Upwards sports! Our oldest will be in basketball and the youngest will be in a mini-cheer squad. I think they will be very cute! We are also gearing up for our first Halloween living in a neighborhood where kids will actually be coming to our door! The girls are having a lot of trouble understanding why we are giving candy away! They keep looking at our bowl of give away candy asking why we giving it to other kids. Pretty cute stuff!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Wild Cheetah and her brave tamer

Trauma at the dentist

The girls and I had our routine dental cleanings today. My husband came to help me out. We each had one in separate rooms while they had their exams. Luckily, all of us are cavity free and have no problems to speak of!!! However, I made a mistake and cannot decide if I am more mad at myself or at the office staff. On the paperwork I was filling out for the girls, there was a question that asked "Nervous problems?" I thought, "Oh, I don't need to check that. Our girls LOVE coming to the dentist and yes, they have selective mutism, but it's not an issue when they are just having teeth polished." It all started with the x-ray lady. She wanted our 5 year old to do bite wings and she just couldn't. She has a very small mouth and every time she tried to bite it pushed forward, or the bite wing "bit" her tongue. She was literally gagging trying so hard to do this and the lady was fussing at her. Finally, they gave up. In case you are wondering, no, I was not remaining silent. I was politely advocating for my daughter saying she had never had bite wings done...blah,blah,blah, sensitive gag reflex etc... We moved on (without x-rays) to the cleaning. It is all sunshine and smiles. I am thinking this is so good! Then the lady tells her it is time for a polish. She asked if she wanted mint, cinnamon or cherry toothpaste. Our daughter shook her head because she does not LIKE these flavors. Last time this happened she threw up. The lady picks cherry and our poor girl is tearing up already. The lady starts cleaning and our baby is laying there tears SILENTLY coming down. The lady told her that 5 was too old to be fussing at the dentist. I was FURIOUS! I never did say anything except I hoped that my daughter did not puke on her. Our daughter effectively went mute for the next hour. Our independent child clung to me and would not speak or even grunt. Eventually she came out of it and was fine, but does not want to go back to the dentist. Now, I am undecided who I am more mad at. Myself for not listing the nervous problem or the "family" dentistry place who does not seem all that sensitive to the needs of families. What do you think? Look to the poll on the side.

Rock Climb

The top photo was the girls being rock ballerinas! It was very cute to watch. The rest are just shots from the day. But the one of the trees is a test. Our girls are there. They were within 20 feet of us wearing neon pink coats and yet we could barely see them there. It made me want to get more neonish clothing that is even brighter!
This morning we watched "Between the Lions". It had a segment on sea horses. It was very politely describing the mating ritual, there was no way kids could know. They said this was they "greeted" each other. The lady does a little show and then they grab tails. Later the female puts the eggs in the daddy's pouch and he raises the babies. It was very cute and endearing. Later in the day though our oldest says, "Hey Mommy! I have a great idea! Remember on TV this morning they were talking about sea horses and how in sea horses daddies keep the babies in their pouches? Well, in the morning, you could get up early and put on a little show for daddy just like them huh?" I was rolling! She had no idea why, but sometimes you just have to laugh at them/with them. It was hilarious!

"Fireproof"

My husband and I had a date today and saw the movie "Fireproof". If you have not seen this yet, GO. Now. If you missed it then PLEASE rent it and/or buy it when it comes to DVD. It is the best movie. This movie can save marriages. It is incredible. It is by the same people who made "Facing the Giants" except it is MUCH better! We had a really great time together and were sad the date ended so soon. He starts his new class Wednesday and we will have a whole new schedule. I think we are all feeling the nerves, so it was great to just relax today. Tomorrow is rock climbing day so stay tuned for some photos!

Chore Chart

After a series of difficult mornings we made some changes for our girls. One was dietary. We had been giving them high fiber breakfast bars, but they had more sugar than their normal breakfast. We switched back to mini wheats and whole grain toasts etc. Immediately we saw some positive changes. I also wanted to make them a chore chart so that they have complete responsibility for getting themselves ready in the mornings. I asked my husband to help me and he came up with this AWESOME idea of creating a chore chart with THEM on it! So we took photos of them doing all the things we want them to do each morning. Now, all I do is at eight o'clock say, "Please check your chart." We turn the TV off and they go look at their pictures and do it all by themselves. It has been fun and awesome! Let me know if you try this with your kids.

God and Horses

I woke up this morning to two girls coming in and out of our room. EARLY. So, after telling them what their punishment for the day was, they settled down. Later the youngest tells me that she had two dreams last night. In one dream she saw her friend Reagan from preschool and she said, "Hi Reagan!" The other dream she saw some horses and they were being chased by a "cover thingy" (not sure what this is exactly). She said the thing chasing was not scary. It was God and he was just trying to play tag with the horses. Is that not an awesome mental image? So often we picture God as a dictator, or magician or loving Father or Omnipresent and the list literally goes A-Z, but have you ever just thought of God having fun and doing something totally random like playing tag with horses? Made me smile. I hope it does you too.
Contrary to my negative thoughts at 5:40 a.m., the day has gone really well. The girls have had so much fun playing today. They have played some cool games that they made up. One game involved spinning in circles and singing, "Hello Johnny Appleseed!" A second game involved them informing the other they were moving away. The one who was staying would say,"ok, well I love you and will cry for you. So, come give me and hug and kiss and go please." It was very funny to listen to. The best game they created required a set of fairy wings, multiple notebooks, various writing utensils and some imagination. They ran around with their equipment (wings on, of course) and pretended they were at the zoo. Every time they saw an animal, they had to write the letter it started with and/or try to spell the whole name. Our youngest (who is hard for me to teach) LOVED having Sissy teach her to write! It was so educational and they thought it was fun AND they created it without any help from us! We were busy doing laundry and stuff. So, if you are bored right now, maybe you oughta try it out! =)

Fun in the big city

The girls had their doctor appointments today. We decided to head up there early and go explore. My friend had told me about a kid friendly coffee shop. We went there and it was really cool! We did some window shopping and hit a mall. My husband treated us all to some Auntie Anne's pretzels. After their appointments we went to a sports store and then found a neat little shopping center. We ate an exceedingly late lunch and did some shopping. We bought some items to allow the girls to actually do rock climbing with my hubby. I know what you are thinking... "Oh dread! That means she will post MORE pictures!" Yep. You bet! But not until at least Saturday! For now, all I have is a funny story from Bible Study tonight. At our group, the kids just stay with us and play and sometimes listen. Our girls were quietly coloring and a man was sharing from his recent mission trip to India. He asked if we could all pray. He was praying and the oldest said, "will he ever stop so I can get a snack?" Another man started praying and she looks up and says, "Mommy! I think everyone has fallen asleep!" I was silently laughing my head off! I thought it was great!

Johnny Appleseed

Today as I was doing home-school with the oldest we read the biography of Johnny Appleseed. It was supposed to last two days, but we were so into it we read the whole book in one sitting. Even I was really impressed with the story and learned a lot from it. Like Johnny's real name was Johnny Chapman and he was born in 1774. One of the statements from the biography read, "...he was born two years before the United States." Our daughter was extremely fascinated by that. Later in the day she asked, "Daddy, are you older even than the United States AND Johnny Appleseed?" Pretty cute stuff!
We spent around 3 hours hiking and exploring nature together today. We saw many deer and even 3 horses! Some of these photos really made me cry. Our girls are turning into kids. I am so unprepared for this. I am also so thankful that our kids are home with us. We get to tickle them in the middle of the day, read stories that are not just for bed and spend an afternoon looking at the rings on tree stumps and feeling different pine cones and leaves. I may get frustrated at different things, but I am SO thankful that God has allowed us all this time together and for me to be where I want to be. At home being a wife and mother. I absolutely LOVE MY FAMILY!

Best Boy

My husband is really sad. Last night he wanted to run to Wal-Mart to pick up some cool whip. I had made a pumpkin pie and he said it was illegal to eat it without cool whip. He said, "Girls, who wants to go with Daddy somewhere fun?" They did not want to go. They actually cried. He came in all sad. He said he thought they'd be his little girls for longer than that. Used to, they'd squeal and come running in full of all the things that happened in Wal-Mart, now they come in and want to go ring doorbells of their friends. It really is sad. It makes me SO ready for another baby. Today our youngest, the REAL daddy's girl, came home and said, "Do you know who my best boy is?" I thought she'd say Daddy. Nope. "Reagan at school. We like to run and laugh with each other all the time. We like giggling together and we both like to do funny things." It was cute, but also very sad. Where have our little girls gone? Sigh.

Oh my word.

We went to go check on our girls and this is what we saw. Tell me. Does it get ANY cuter than that??????

1 hand or 2?

Funny conversation took place today between my husband and our oldest daughter. We were riding around with the windows down and he saw her sticking her hand out the window. Now, we have had many conversations about this and the danger of getting your hand stuck. He said, "Daughter, don't do that. You might get your hand cut off." Her reply? "Well that would be fine because I don't really use my right hand. I am leftie so I could still write and stuff without it. I don't mind Daddy." How can you argue with that? I tell ya, this kid can convince us we are wrong. If she is not a lawyer or something where you are ALWAYS convincing others how WRONG they are and how RIGHT you are, I don't know what she'll be. She is VERY good at arguing and in such a way that you are just stumped and not quite sure what to say in response. Very cute kid!

Feeling like Fall

After weeks of 80 degree weather, fall is here. Brrrrrr. We needed jackets today. After church we went outside to play. The girls had SOOOOO much fun! Once, I looked up and there were 16 kids in the street! I only knew a few of them. The girls were just in the mix. The ages of the whole group were 4-16. Then this poor guy without kids decided to leave the neighborhood. I think it took him 5 minutes just to maneuver past all the kiddos! At one point, the kids were starting to play a game that I was not sure I wanted our girls to play. I was just getting ready to call them home when they switched gears. This group of kids starts collecting mud, flowers, rocks and bugs and mixing them into a drainage ditch filled with old rain water. They were making Triple Check Spaghetti. No one was quite sure WHAT it was, just that they WERE making it! =) It was cute. Later the new kids came out and our girls got a chance to play with them. After we came in, we had homemade cole slaw and pulled pork BBQ. My hubby loved it! The girls and I ate other stuff, but I did enjoy making it for him. I love new recipes!

More Photos!!!

Sorry, we just cannot resist a few more photos. Today was a beautiful fall day here. We went for a hike and collected some things for the youngest's preschool class. We also hit a few garage sales. The girls got a huge bag of ponies for $2. They were very excited and played with them most all day. We ran into Ms. Rhonda (the famous preschool teacher). She just so happened to be eating at the same place we were. It was our first time there. Anyhow, the youngest says, "Why does my teacher follow us every where we go?" The other blooper of the day was the oldest. She was talking to her Daddy about the fire trucks we made at Home Depot a few weeks ago. As we strolled through a crowded parking lot, she shouts, "Hey! Next time we go to Hoe Depot maybe we can...." It was funny to us adults! That is all our news. I am sorry we have been so dull here, but hey, the pictures are great! =)