shuckers

So I thought I would have more time to blog once my kids were all in school, turns out while the mice are away the cat likes to play.

And work and earn money.

So, I wanted to recap the what happened around here over the last summer.  So if the "cat" does stay home long enough....I may upload my little blog & print a blog book for my coffee table.  Gracious~I don't want to forget all the highlights of the summer of twenty-eleven. 

So for starters....Open up and say ahhhh.   

Jack had to get an expander fall of 2010, because apparently his mouth is NOT big enough.  This is a hereditary thing so lucky us, two down, two to go. 

It was pretty unhandy esp since the way it is attached to the back teeth, would not allow him to put his teeth together.  There was a gap, as you see modeled in the above picture.  :(  I don't think he thought much of it at first.  He was pretty excited to be starting orthodontics.  But as time went on he became self conscious and looking back as last years school picture shows he was very embarrassed of his smile that didn't close.  :(  When I asked why he closed his lips for his school picture he explained he hates how his teeth don't go together.  It was also hard for him to pronounce words correctly & harder to eat. 

But in February of this last year, the expander came out.  Braces went on the bottom and then later this summer braces on the top.  Yeah, for expander's that did the job & come out!!! 

And we also celebrated another thing with Jack....

He turned 9! on June 15th.  We let him invite 2 friends over and they did this:

A 72 foot slip and slide, good ol' dad made for them.  With water and baby soap to make sure it was nice and slippery.  My cousin scored the construction plastic...so it was FREE to us.  It offered several hours of fun for the afternoon.      

What a blast (for them)

Some of us caught the view from the porch and pool.  :)

After the water and fun....we had one of Jack's favorite lunches.  Hot dogs & hamburgers, Doritos, chips and pop.  Yep.   

After lunch we Donovan made a treasure hunt for them.

The last card invited them to come in for snow cones.  And a giant chocolate chip cookie "birthday cake"

I love this boy.  He makes our life so much fun.  He adds a lot of humor to our family.  While he strong will amazes & confuses me I know just where he got it. 

And then we end each birthday with a naked measurement.  No, not really it was just before bed and I realized that we had not marked his height on our door growth chart....he DOES have shorts on....just not that you can see.  Opps.  So he's at 4' 8" already he has grown since June! He gained another 1/2 inch since then!!!  He's growing so fast. 

Quote of the day:  Although caution it's rated PG-13 for language. 

Suzy loves to say "OH SHUCKERS!" when something doesn't go right.

  She adds the "er" to Shucks. 

 She's tricky like that.

She gets that from me.

 

So last night she starts starts rhyming things with "Shuckers"

Which was o.k.

Until she replaced the "sh" with an "f"

That pretty much was a show stopper at supper last night.  We all stopped and stared at her.  Poor thing.  So innocent, so sweet. 

We were all taken back and just stared at her. 

Until Jack pipes up and say, "No no you don't say that...that's a bad word" In a very authoritative voice.

To which she quickly realized it must have been severe that it stopped the world around the supper table last night.  She instantly got big tears in her eyes. 

Talk about Awkward & Awesome.   But mostly just awkward. 

1 down.....3 to go.

Don't know if you remember...but back in December of 2008...but this little lady got braces on. I wrote about it here.

So one year and 3 months made a big difference on her little mouth.

The expander that she started with, we used to expand her upper palate...turning a key to widen it every night for about a month. Then when there was enough room her teeth started coming down & growing in. Then we had some straightening to do. I take that back...the ortho did. He put braces on...and wah la.......

Here she is today. The last day with braces. Waiting in the waiting room for them to come off. Lookin' pretty happy isn't she??

Now please...if you need a closer look at those pretty teeth...click on the picture~it will enlarge it for you. LOVE the new set of whites. Love that her bite lines up and her teeth are straight allowing her to chew off things now.

Here she is with the retainer in on the top....that will only have to be worn at night to make sure it's a good fit. She also has a retainer that is cemented in the bottom. 4 little brackets had to stay on some of the back teeth~Because the Dr. said...if he takes those brackets off-for sure those teeth would come out too. She has some very very loose teeth, ready to grow in her permanent teeth.

Here she is...braces free. SO awesome for her!!! We celebrated by letting her pick somewhere to go out to eat. She picked Wendy's! So we went in....and sat down for an extra bonus! It's so seldom that we go into a fast food restaurant. Even less that we eat out. (well except for Suzy-I guess...Shhhh...Don't tell the other kids) So they were very excited. William said as we were picking a seat. "WOW! Dad thank you so much for letting us come in to eat in here."

Sure! We like to spoil you - that meaning - we want the mess in the restaurant....not in the van.

And now get this....Jack starts his expander in JUNE! Yes that's right....1 down....3 to go.

And some day...you may think it's not as gross as you do now.

What a week! I needed a babysitter everyday except for this weekend....Thank goodness for friends and willing family members.


Monday....was the fieldtrip with Jack. Thanks Holly for babysitting for Suzy and William!


Tuesday...Orthodontist consultation for this girl.....
The poor thing has a lot of dental work in her future. We learned this week that she will need an expander for her upper palate because there is not enough room for her teeth, it also is affecting her breathing, and her bite. This trait came from her daddy, which... imagine that -her dad's mouth is not big enough. She will also need braces (short term) for her bottom teeth. So next week starts the appointments to prepare her mouth for the expander (which we will turn a key every day to "expand" her upper palate) and braces. December 16th is when the braces and expander will go in. That day could not come fast enough for her. Isabella is so excited about getting these on....and is already contemplating rainbow bands or pink?? Thanks Malaina for watching our 3 youngest.


And then on Wednesday we learned this guy needs glasses in a serious way.....



Jack is very farsighted. He needs glasses full time. We were beginning to notice his trouble with his eyesight, so we were not very surprised. Jack is so excited to get glasses....but so disappointed he has to wait 7-10 days for them to come in. Everyday he asks, "How many more days?" I also learned I needed help. Well-with my eyes... I have been having lots of migraines lately, so I had an exam also. My prescription has not changed in 2 years, but my focus mechanism is "almost shot" as my Doctor put it. The way to help this focus muscle is to relax it by wearing glasses or contacts. I was so excited to hopefully find a source for these migraines that have been slowing me down for years. I just don't function well when I feel like a knife is stabbing the center of my right eyeball. And really - I had 3 migraines last week alone. A record for me. So I opted for the contacts....which my Dr. had right in stock. Thanks Elsie for babysitting for Suzy and William and picking Isabella up from school.





Thursday this past week we met with Jack and Isabella's teachers for parent/teacher conferences. I've never worried about Isabella's conferences in the past....our son is a different story. And Jack is not a bad kid, he just loves to talk. He loves to tell stories. He just makes me nervous. Like...what is he going to say next kind of thing. He's not as shy as his older sibling...which keeps me humble most of the time. He also doesn't love to read...which I know is o.k. -Isabella does and it is totally to her advantage in school (I know there I go comparing our kids) But Jack's teacher said he is average-to above average in his reading level and he does not participate in class as much as she wishes he would. He is just a little reserved in class. WHAT!??? Are we really talking about the same kid?? Well, I was just sooooo thrilled there were no problems reported, I could've kissed and hugged her on the spot. Before going into the meet with Jack's teacher Donovan admitted to me, He's just a tad nervous about Jack's conference. Because he is the most strong willed of all our children. Trust me if you are going to battle with him, you better go and get some boots and a comfortable chair. He just takes you for a ride. He tries to talk you out of any and everything...and the chair is for the comfort, because as far as food he doesn't like....He will sit at the table for a very long time. Very long.


So enough about Jack....You know I love him...right??? He just tests me in ways I never thought would make me so angry.

Isabella's conference went so well. I am so happy with her teacher. She reported that Isabella is a great student, and that she is a good friend. Her grades are very good, and it's so nice that she is loving school so much. Thanks Malaina for watching all 4 of our kids so we could go meet with teachers. You are such a sweet young lady!


So with all this babysitting I needed I got to return the favor for another friend.....Look who we got to snuggle with....

O.k. So we didn't get the baby the whole time (he went to a wedding with his parents)...But we did get little cousin Karis for a couple of hours. His mama thought he would need to eat, and apparently I've run dry. After the wedding Lyndon and Krista stopped in to pick up Karis and we got to enjoy two-week old Jeremy while we chatted.

Oh seriously look at those big beautiful blue eyes!!! Jeremy you are so cute!

So it's 10:30...and lunches need to be packed, clothes need to be laid out, my bath needs to be taken, and here I still sit. Over and out friends.

Quote of the day:

At the dinner table last night Donovan and I kissed and I might have snacked on his neck just a little.

Jack: "I have to say that is really gross."