Ryan's Tooth Fairy...

Wouldn't you know that Ryan lost her first tooth two days after she went to the dentist and the weekend before she started school. At least that's how I think that's when she lost it. My memory of the actual timeline of events is a little sketchy. Either way, I know we went to the dentist on a Wednesday, she lost her first tooth on a Friday and the tooth fairy came on Saturday!!! And she left Ryan one glittered dollar and a signed certificate of awesomeness for losing her first tooth, along with guidelines for taking care of her remaining teeth and letting her know that she'd be back each time Ryan lost a tooth. Let me tell you that Ryan is nothing, if not persistent and determined to lose all her teeth once that first one came out. She's since lost two more and wiggles the rest of her teeth daily to feel for anything that may bring her tooth fairy back for a visit. I don't know if it's a coincidence or karma, but the day I write this blog post about Ryan losing a tooth, I saw her brother Huntington putting his toothbrush in the toilet this morning and then into his mouth. After I vomited in MY own mouth, I took that toothbrush from him and decided that today was the day all three kids got new toothbrushes. Sadly, none of them will be safe from the possibility of Hunt and his toothbrush toilet dunks but at least I know they'll be safe for one night, as it's nearing midnight and he's already asleep. Here's hoping!!!

Also, since Britt turned three this past year, she too had her first visit to Dr. Brad and I couldn't have been prouder. She had no cavities and the hygienists told me she was such a big girl for them. She left me out front and followed them back, I went with them and got a picture of her in the chair and she was so excited to be a big girl that day. I hope her big girl"ness" continues for future dental appointments.

And then there's Huntington, who isn't really old enough to go to the dentist yet but I went ahead and posted a pic of him with his mouth wide open. He's practicing for his turn to meet Dr. Brad too.

























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Did I mention?

Did I mention that once school Ryan wanted a haircut. I'm really messed up on my chronological order of events and this post is no exception. I've been looking they pics on my phone and she clearly didn't get her haircut before school. But, most of the other events are correct so I'm gonna just leave them and all the pics up on this post. I'm gonna add some pics of Brittyn too because she also got a cut the same day Ryan did. Hers wasn't nearly as drastic as Ryan's was, but she wanted to be a big girl and get her hair cut too. So I obliged and had Mrs. Nancy trim her ends but keep her curls as much as possible. She was happy and felt like a big girl.She and I went to meet her teacher and also the substitute teacher that would be there while her teacher was home with her new baby. It was a rainy day and we got really wet but thankfully I don't have pictures of that, we just got the cute stuff; her with Mrs. Cowart and Ms. Dobbins and some of her classroom and her just being cute! She also got a haircut once school started because she said it was too long it got too tangled for her (that's the nice version). She chose the length of the cut with my approval and loved it in the end. I hope I have gotten all the memories of her first day at school written down and as accurate as possible!!!





























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Always room for one more...

There's always room for one more summer sendoff celebration. And Kylia B, as Ryan has recently began calling her, knows how to do it and do it right! She had the idea for us (herself, me and Jaren) to gather all the cousins and spend the night at a local hotel and just let the kids swim and play and eat pizza and swim more and eat more and not sleep the whole time before school started. She had one rule: there are NO RULES!
So, we spent the night at a hotel in town and did all the stuff the kids wanted to do and the kids were pretty set on not sleeping the whole night but thankfully they finally did and the next morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and the kids went home refreshed before school the next week and the grown ups went home and went back to being in a frenzy before school started. I'm sure all of us had a blast and we can't wait to do it again!





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My cheer dancer...

Ryan participated in a cheer dance class this summer at Trousdell Gymnastics center. She was really excited about shaking some Pom poms and jumping around to music. I don't know why I can't upload the video but maybe I'll try again later, for now just know that she's awesome in her dance and had a great time as a cheerleader over the summer!!!


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So not ready for this...

I've always told myself that if I could just get my kids past certain, simple benchmarks I'd consider myself a "good" parent. Things like crawling, walking, potty training, sleeping through the night were all admirable benchmarks that me and my kids would go through together. (At this point, I probably started this blog post more than 3 months ago, in an ill-fated effort to finish blogging 2013 before 2014 started, but that was not to be. So I had to think really hard about what the post was actually supposed to be about and I didn't remember until here.) However, no one could prepare me for when my firstborn started kindergarten and was at school for a FULL DAY!!! Half day pre-k was emotional enough but all day at school?, what parent does that to their child?!?!!! Alas, I bravely prepped Ryan for school, we got lunch boxes and backpacks, we got lunch supplies and classroom supplies, we got everything from pencils and paper to Clorox wipes and Kleenex tissues, I didn't realize all that kids had to bring to school these days!!! We laughed over first day of school outfits and whether or not she'd wear her hair up or down or with a bow or without (she settled for a bow worn half up half down). I even purchased a frame and spray painted the glass with chalkboard paint and wrote the cutesy "First day of Kindergarten" on it complete with the school year and other various data pertinent to Ryan and had her stand in front of it before we left the house, alone for a few clicks before sweet Brittyn photobombed us. She's just sweet that way. She kinda felt like it was her first day of school because she too picked out outfits and I packed a lunch for her to take to "Grandma's school" and she packed it in her own back pack. She will NOT be left out. I wish now I had made her her own chalkboard sign.

We finally made it to school and got in line to drop our baby off, we all walked as a family to her class and took a few more obligatory pictures outside her classroom door and with her cousin Amelia, who was in the classroom right beside her. I couldn't wait to pick her up when school got out, I had waited all day to hear all that she had done. She loved Ms. Dobbins (her substitute teacher, since her teacher Mrs. Cowart was still on maternity leave) and she had made lots of new friends and loved her new teacher and her lunch and tons of other things I can't remember because she spoke so fast with excitement. Overall it was a good day and she loved it and hasn't looked back. I honestly couldn't be more proud of her if I tried.
















































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Pioneer Day

I miss Pioneer Day at church. I remember when we were young that mom would dress us up if we would allow her and we'd go to the church and churn butter and make wax candles and eat deer meat and look at Indian arrows that were on display. Then we'd listen to tales of the Mormon pioneers and the sacrifices they made to make the trip to Utah. Inspiring, wish I'd listened better. But this year was the first year the girls have been able to go because Kylia and BB took them to Hosford to participate in their festivities. And let me tell ya, the Hosford ward knows how to honor the pioneer spirit!!! My girls out on their boots and our most pioneer chic dresses and did everything from pull sticks to rope tug of war to shooting and they had a blast doing it!!! So glad they were able to go!!!


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Pics on the beach...

So, we took some pics with Stacey Vowell this summer on the beach while we stayed in Panama City in August. I've decided that I like the beach a little bit more, so much so, in fact, that I also, with Kylia's help, drove my kids to Jacksonville in November to have my Christmas pictures done. But that's for another blog post, even though it's nearly December and I'm still posting about the summer. Anywhoooo...we had some crying pics and we had some laughing pics and we had some not listening pics and also some silly pics at the beach but it's amazing how all those components can actually make a great picture if you can click the camera quick enough! Thankfully, Stacey was patient and the kids weren't too irritable so we did get a few precious shots.














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