Reflections from our Snow Week 2011

It was soooo good to see the sun come out today!

I honestly don't know how people live with all this white stuff for more than a few days at a time.



Now that it is thankfully melting away, I have a few reflections on our snow week:

1. I don't like it when "the weather IS the news".

2. As much as we desperately needed some quality family time, 4 days of staring at each other is plenty.




3. In that time we actually did more than staring. We completed many puzzles, played lots of games, watched too many movies, painted, and left no hiding place unused during hide-n-seek.

4. Which is why is it is good that it actually SNOWED Friday. Ice is so overrated.

5. We are simply not equipped. The city of Dallas doesn't own a single snow plow. 5-6 inches on top of ice can really wreak havoc.



6. It is possible for momma to do the splitz. Right there on the sidewalk. Without even stretching! Who knew? Well, now Jerry and the girls do after witnessing my slip into the splitz. Ouch!

7. But back to the snow itself. Boy was I thankful for it. Lily lost her third tooth Thursday and was awaiting a tooth fairy visit that night. When she stumbled into our room early Friday morning, she was so disappointed to see her tooth remained and no prize was left. I am not sure how I got my thoughts about me so quickly, but I found myself muttering something about how her wings would have gotten damaged by all the snow. Snow? Lily was off to the back window and the tooth fairy was off the hook. Whew!

8. Though Lily had one less tooth, she sure did plenty of eating. We all did actually. I think I may have broken my own record for number of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners cooked in a row for my family.

9. These cheeks are even cuter when they're pink.



10. The hill by the library makes for good sledding. We were thrilled to run into some good friends who had a real, authentic, actual sled. You know, the kind made of wood with metal rails. Why did they have such a thing? Their Dad grew up in PA. And they were kind enough to share it!



11. Sometimes Daddy makes a better sled mate! Crash!





12. It is possible to sweat in below freezing temperatures.



13. We weren't alone in our "sled-maid" idea. Other sled substitutes seen on the hill were: ice chest lids, sheets of insulation, cardboard boxes, and pool intertubes.

14. Lily had great fun on a little pink one.






15. While my other one, dressed in pink, was more comfortable at the library's park rather than the library's hill.


That's okay, Jade. Momma's not too sure about all this white stuff either.

What's your take on it?

2 down, 18 to go

At least this one came out at home...and with just the swipe of a toothbrush.




Daddy missed the event again, but got to play tooth fairy when he got home.

And since there were no complaints of bears this morning, I think he has found himself yet another role around here.

Tooth Fairy Spoils

Playing tooth fairy was very fun.  More fun than playing Santa in a way, to me at least.  I guess because it all happens so fast.  One day she is freaking out over her tooth becoming loose, then a few weeks later in the halls of a dance studio, in the midst of Jade’s tight crisis no less….she looks up at me in excitement with a bloody smile and the culprit in her hand.

Then I got to roam the aisles of Target just before closing trying to find the perfect gift…One that seemed suitable for my five year old baby who had just lost her very first tooth.

It seems like just yesterday that we were “ooh”ing and “aah”ing over this very tooth as it came in,  how could it have already served its purpose and have its permanent replacement standing by?

FIVE is just passing by way too quickly.  With Pre-K graduation this week and Kindergarten and SIX coming by fall, when I arrived at Target I was feeling a bit sentimental. 

I came upon a necklace with FIVE little gems on it…perfect, requested a new FIVE dollar bill in my change…the one with the purple 5s on it (she thinks anything pink or purple was made especially for her), and managed to grab a pack of real Hubba Bubba pink bubble gum as they flashed the lights at the Target store.

I originally had my eye on a tooth pillow, but knew she’d probably want to sleep with it or even on it.  I opted against that for fear of waking her up during tooth retrieval/gift placement.  I got this cute little pewter tooth box instead.

Not sure what I was thinking though because the lid is really loud.

So I ended up going in to her room twice, once to grab the box and again to deliver the goods.  Jade stirred, but Lily was out.

Only until about 6:40 the next morning when she came bopping into our room shouting about the tooth fairy’s visit.  She didn’t even know what the gum was!  Poor child, she has been limited to whatever kind lives in the bottom of my purse…usually mint and ALWAYS sugar-free.

I got the cutest video of her describing the whole tooth fairy experience…but I shot it vertically and can’t get it to rotate.  Dern laundry pile that I was trying to keep out of the frame.  It is also interrupted by Jerry’s phone ringing to alert him that his breakfast meeting would be a no show…too bad Jerry had already left…and also left his phone at home!  

Jade was actually the funniest though as she described the bear.  The bear that came in her room TWICE that night.

She may be onto something.  Ever since that morning they have been waking up super early…today it was 6:20.  And with each day I am feeling Grizzlier and Grizzlier.  GRRRrrrrrrrrr!

May Day! May Day!

I only typed it twice, not thrice...so no real alarm necessary.

Rejoicing that May is nearly over and summer on its way!

May is always busy for us, mainly due to family birthdays and mother's day...but this one has really thrown me for a loop.

You know it is bad when your friend posts simple messages to you on FB like, "Kerry, are you still alive & kicking?" And then later follows up with a voicemail commenting that she's glad to hear my voice on the recording or she may have forgotten what it sounded like. So sorry Rachelle! I would be calling you now instead of blogging...not liking that you are an hour ahead!

We've celebrated 3 of the 4 family birthdays that fall in May...one more to go this weekend.  Memmy, or Grand Memmy as she is known to our girls, will be 98 on Friday.  She was born the year the Titanic sank...oh how things have changed during her lifetime.

Lily's ballet rehearsal/recital/pictures all went well.  The only hiccup was on mommy's part...pulled into the parking lot downtown with roughly a minute to spare prior to her rehearsal, and found a $10 cash lot was the only visible option for parking.  Pulled right into a spot as the attendant followed me to my car waiting for payment.  Dug and dug and dug some more only to find I had not a single bill on me.  Left the lot in search of a coin meter...thanking God for the coins on the bottom of mama's purse.  Fed the meter what I thought would be plenty of sticky, gummy, fuzzy coins from the bottomless pit of my bag...only to get inside and learn the rehearsal was running an hour behind.  Returned to an expired meter but thankfully no ticket.

Now Jade's recital is upon us.  Different school, different venue.  I am just trying to get past the tight requirements...as in the tights she must wear for pics and recital.  Two colors of tights! No costume change, just "ballet pink" ones for ballet and "light toast" for tap.  And get this we are supposed to layer them on top of each other for an easy change.  Um. Okay.  It is like really hot here already.  Never heard of such a thing.  Also, they strongly recommend buying two pairs of each color in case of runners.  That would be $60 worth of tights.  Seriously?  Do they not know of 99 cent clear nail polish? However the real issue with tights is that I can't find Leo's light toast tights in Jade's size.  I could give you a play by play run down on how I have spent 2.5 hours hunting for said tights between yesterday and today, but by the look on Jerry's face after I gave him my play by play, I will go ahead and spare you.  Even he was shocked though by the news that one lady had me try an intermediate size 7/8 on Jade...she told me just to roll them up at the waist.  She's 2 folks.  TWO.  And she is a tall two, but she does have a crotch to get past on the way to her waist.  Can you say elephant syndrome?  I should have taken a picture, but I was too flustered at the moment to find the humor in it.

So, all I know is that she will be attending the two upcoming dress rehearsals, picture day and recital in full makeup and costume...but if I can't find the dern tights they want in a size that fits, they may have to rename her Good Ship Lollipop number to something from Dumbo!

We are also preparing for Lily's Pre-K graduation.  She modeled her red cap and gown for us this evening.  So stinkin' cute.  I am trying to get over the fact that she will be showcasing one less tooth in all the pictures we take on that occasion.  Yes, today Lily lost her first tooth!  Exactly a month from the day that she realized it was loose. That bloody event coincided with Jade's tight dilemma this afternoon.  Good Lord.

Well, I am off to play tooth fairy! More on all that soon...hopefully tomorrow!

I am soooooo not ready for this!

Lily came out of her room crying this morning. Big. real. tears.

My mind raced. Did she have a bad dream? Did she wet the bed? Did she fall down the ladder from her bunk?

When she got her sobs under control she told me that she thought she had an owie on her tooth.

Okay. I can deal with "teeth owies", so I thought.

I took a look.

No owies in sight.

I questioned her further...I don't see anything Lily, which tooth hurts?

She points to the bottom left center....the very first tooth her sweet baby gums had bore. Back when she was way too young and nursing was still way too difficult. Ugh! How quickly my mind returns to those days.

Okay, back on track.

This one, Lily?

In a terrified voice, she confesses that when she touches it, it WIGGLES.

Oh my goodness. I hold her tight. My baby CANNOT already be losing a tooth.

And then the squeamish part of me starts to gross out envisioning the process.

How long will it take? Will there be strings and doorknobs involved? Lots of blood?

Calm my heart.

Then I remember the adorable tooth pillow I spied a while back at a gift shop. Yes! It is no longer a splurge or an unnecessary item. I NEED it now.

My baby girl has a loose tooth! Retail therapy is in order!