Ears and Games

We've had a busy weekend. On Friday we took Samantha to get her ears pierced. She has been bugging us for a while to get it done and we finally decided to let her get them pierced. We gave her a pair of Mickey birthstone earrings that we bought at Disney for her birthday and told her she could get them pierced. For the next 3 days, she talked about it incessantly. She went to a friend's house after PE on Friday and when I picked her up, that was ALL she was talking about. We got them pierced before dinner and finally had to tell her at dinner to STOP TALKING ABOUT HER EARS!!

Saturday was Samantha and Michael's first game in their Upward league - Michael playing basketball and Samantha cheerleading. The day started with a Mommy boo-boo. I tried to be a good Mommy, knowing that Michael would feel left-out if the star he earned at practice wasn't ironed on. I went to the league web site that instructed me to iron the star onto his jersey. Against, my better judgement, I followed their directions and melted his polyester jersey. Luckily they are reversible and he was wearing the other color this week, so no one could see.

But, Michael played his first game and had a good time - he was surprisingly "not aggressive" so we'll work on that a little, but he did score the first basket for his team. Michael earned a star for his jersey for "Sportsmanship". This, along with a replacement of his first star, will be ironed onto his T-shirt, which is cotton.

Samantha was cheering during his game - the cheerleading teams rotate games and just cheer for everyone. We are still trying to figure out how this child that can be really loud when we want her to be quiet decides to be really quiet during the one time she gets to be loud. I kept holding my hand to her ear to get her to cheer louder. She earned a star for Spirit to put on her Megaphone.

This is a neat league - it is organized through a local church and has over 300 kids playing basketball and cheering. I'm glad we found it for the kids, and expect many a Saturday to now be spent at the gym - at least they have a concession stand with hot dogs!

Michael's about to lose his first tooth - scheduled for Jan 31st!

Well, Michael is about to lose his first tooth. Unfortunately, its going to be "assited" by the dentist. I was looking in his mouth earlier this week and noticed that he had a permanent tooth coming in behind his lower baby teeth.

Turns out it has come almost completely in - and didn't TOUCH the baby tooth it was supposed to knock out. And, it has not chance of touching the baby tooth it was supposed to knock out.

So, the dentist needs to take it out to give the permanent tooth a chance to move to where it belongs.

Guess its time to start the SECOND orthodontic savings account, huh?

Busy Holiday Season!

This Christmas season was very busy. I had grand plans for teaching the kids about Christmas around the world and the Christmas Story. That lasted 1 day, for after that, the stomach bug started its way through the house. That took the week to clear out and then we were scrambling around to finish getting ready for Christmas - presents to be wrapped, cookies to be baked, and meals to be planned.






On Christmas Eve, we had a nice dinner at home (our annual plans with friends had to be postponed due to conflicts). Emma opened up a new nightgown to match Samantha and Michael's (she had matching ones last year too, so I purchased this last year knowing she would have outgrown last year's jammies). The kids were tucked into bed after listening to the Christmas Story and leaving out milk and cookies for Santa.






Lo and Behold, Santa visited that night. He left an assortment of toys the older kids wanted, and some Dora toys and an art easel for Emma. All in all, the toys were a big hit with the kids. They all exclaimed they had a great Christmas, and the looks on Emma's face told us the same.




After Christmas breakfast, we packed up and headed to Williamsport, PA to visit with Mike's dad for a couple of days. The kids had a fun time opening presents with Oma and Opa and playing with Opa's trains (always a hit). We headed home a little early because it appeared the Emma and Michael were both fighting a cold.


After a day back at home, we headed out again, this time to Roanoke, VA to visit with my parents, siblings, and nephews (notice no nieces in the mix). The kids again had a great time sharing presents. I enjoyed seeing the boys open their fleece blankets that I made for them. And, after I agonized over what to do for my one nephew that I coudn't find fleece for, it turns out that the tie-dyed print I chose was perfect for him!!




The visit ended on a rough note, as it turns out that I would be spending Sun morning in the ER with Emma with an ear infection. Of course, it was Sunday AND New Years Eve, so that limited my Doctor choices. The first Urgent Care I went to didn't treat children (huh!?) but that worked out for the best as the ER had "no waiting" and the Urgent Care had a room full. As I expected after Emma spiked a 103.5 fever, she was diagnosed with an ear infection and given antibiotics. They began to take effect quickly.

Happy 2007!

I have so much to update about right now but need to get back into the swing of things before I do so. In short, I'll share shortly with you about:
- Christmas in Williamsport
- Christmas in Roanoke
- Our New Years trip to Walt Disney World!

For now, Happy New Year to everyone and I'll share more soon (including photos!)