More Fun than a Barrel of Monkeys

I got to take Rylee and Delaney to the dentist this week. The only thing that would have been more fun would have been trying to wrangle all 5 children there! Fortunately, I have learned some skills. I took the 2 youngest while the big kids were in school. I went myself the next day while the 2 little girls were at preschool. And I have scheduled the 3 older kids later this month when they have a random day off school, but the little girls still have preschool. See, I am smart!

I also thought I was really smart because we talked about going to the dentist. I told the girls what to expect, and we acted it out, and they seemed excited and ready for it. And they were, right up till we walked into the office. Then Delaney clung to me like a spider monkey and whimpered enough that Rylee decided maybe she should be afraid as well.

I got Delaney into the chair and had to hold her hand while they got the x-rays.

After the x-rays, she decided this wasn't so bad!

Then they started the cleaning. She was rocking the shades, but was not pleased about the scrape-scrape nor did she like the icky stuff they brushed her teeth with. There was more drama than I expected. I should have expected it. Really, I should.

After the cleaning, she was happier, and she loved having her teeth "painted" with flouride.

And then it was over. And she got a cute bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss. Oh, and she got a prize out of the prize bucket!

Yes, I did say that Rylee also had an appointment. No pictures of her because she was terrified after seeing Delaney freak out. I had to sit on the chair with her on my lap. I got to spend Rylee's check up laying head down in the dentist chair, holding onto Rylee and trying to soothe her. Fun stuff, I tell you, fun stuff!

Fun with pictures

Dan likes to take pictures with his iPad. Unfortunately, he likes to use the warp feature and I get surprise pictures on the computer like this:

I wouldn't mind so much, if there was a normal original to go with it. But no.

All you get is the fun-mirror picture. Which, as you can see, is oh-so-flattering!

On the plus side, it gives such joy to the children. And to Dan.

And it occasionally produces pictures that probably are better than the original!

Lazy Sunday

It is a Lazy Sunday afternoon. I'm all sleepy from a lovely nap and debating the merits of making Macaroni and cheese vs popcorn for dinner. This means I have no leftover brain power for an exciting post today. So you get pictures.

We went to a fantastic fun park this week. It was so much fun that I was incredibly sore the next day from trying out the great equipment myself. The kids had a blast and even Joshua never complained he was bored. You may notice that my children do not use playground equipment quite the way most other children do.

Fun Times!

My brother was kind enough to drive his family down to visit us over the weekend. I cannot even tell you how excited my children were to see their cousins. I am really glad that Andy arrived before bedtime, so that the kids were not up all night bouncing off the walls. They only did that till well after they should have been asleep! On the plus side, we did learn that it is possible to cram 15 people into our little house. This was a good trip for that- short and sweet. The downside is that it was a short visit. Callie cried when they left.

Yep, Delaney was THIS excited! Just kidding. She was being silly for me and laughed and laughed and laughed over this picture. I may need to set it as my desktop screensaver!

Matthew really was happy to hang out and play with his cousins. Delaney was so sad though, because he was more interested in playing with Callie.

Aaron had a very good time running around with Marian, and anyone else who would play.

Joshua wanted to pose with Charlotte. Such cute kids!

Callie wanted in on the photo action. Charlotte is happy to be a star.

Me and my fabulous sister in law. Maybe next year they will stay for all of Mardi Gras!

A Birthday and a Haircut and Mardi Gras.... Oh My!

I'm sure this should be separate posts, but I have been lax and not posted all week. It has been a busy week and it has been fun. And someone had a birthday. Delaney said it was the very best day ever! The fact that it was Valentine's Day and there was candy and love everywhere may have helped.

She wanted a round chocolate cake with a heart on it. I was happy to make a simple cake and she was pleased with it. I believe the term "The Greatest Ever" was used. I love it that she is easy to please!

After blowing out the candle- we weren't fast enough to get the actual blow.

Devouring the delicious cake. Yummy!

Joshua thinks he is SO funny.

And well, he kinda is.

I love the look of sheer delight on her face as Delaney (and all her helpers!) opened the big box from Grandma and Grandpa.

Delaney had a great birthday and enjoyed her presents. She is such a sunny child and so easy to please!

Now, you may recall that a few months back, Delaney hacked into her hair. While I was able to take her to a salon and get it evened up a bit, she still had chunks in front that were shorter. I let it grow and finally decided it was time to give it some help.

This was suppose to be a "before" shot. I could not get a picture that showed the true chaos that was her shaggy hair. I do put a ponytail or two in it so its not horrid, but it was still pretty wild.

This is her "after" shot. It too does not convey the true look. The stylist did an amazing job of bobbing it in the back and it is super-cute! Delaney was marvelous and sat so very still for the 30 minutes it took to get it perfect. I asked her to even the front, but not trim it because I would like it to all grow the same length eventually. So the front is not as cute as the back. As we finished up and I was about to pay, the guy who runs the salon suggested that a girl as good as Delaney might need some pink in her hair. I was skeptical, but he assured me it would wash out. So, you can see she does have some lovely pink streaks in her hair. She loved it and so did I! (The pink was gone in 24 hours, after a fantastic time playing in the rain the next afternoon.)

It is Mardi Gras down here! Crazy stuff, I tell you, crazy stuff! On Friday, the base put on its own little Mardi Gras Parade and it was quite a lot of fun!

Callie was so sad that the horses were not going to be part of a pony ride; they were just for the parade.

There were some cute floats, and you can see that the Coast Guard didn't need to do anything to look cool. Everybody tossed beads and the kids had a blast cheering and grabbing them.

Here's Delaney making some noise. She shouted "Go, Parade, Go!" for most of the time. So cute.

Joshua taking a break from snagging beads.

Callie and her loot haul!

So, fun times have been had this week. And that doesn't even account for the cousins who came to play! I am a bad, bad person that I didn't take pictures till 10 minutes before they were leaving. We did squish 15 people into our little house, and it went surprisingly smoothly. I'm not sure we would survive more than a week like that, but a few nights was fine. And the kids were so sad to say goodbye to their cousins. I am so happy that we live close enough to my brother to make little visits like these possible!