Skewing the Dental Stats and a trip to Mount Vernon

Joshua has had the dubious honor of being in the most minute percentile. He will be 9 in less than a month and it was only yesterday that he lost his first top tooth. The poor kid has only lost his two bottom teeth until now and it was starting to get a little worrisome. Each time we'd go to the dentist, he would tell us Joshua was in the 1% of kids that age who still had baby teeth there. And the number kept getting smaller.

Yeah, he said I could take a picture and then he did this. Little turkey!

Isn't he adorable?! I think he looks so cute. Unfortunately, I think it makes him look a few years younger. Poor kid.

And on to today's adventure! The weather was beautiful today. We finally had a day that was not brutally hot and not rainy. We decided we could not stay inside, and we could hit the pool on one of those other brutally hot days. So we went to Mount Vernon. We have season passes, but we still hadn't seen everything. Today I wanted to see the 16 Sided Barn, and that was our goal.

The girls got to shell dried beans. It was so cute. They didn't want to stop. Why can't they be that excited to help at home?!

Today was fantastic because they were running the horses at 10:30 and we were there at the right time. Callie was so happy to get to pet the horse. His name is Mikey.

Marian also petted the horse, but I'm not sure Joshua got close enough to.

This is the 16 sided barn. Why is this cool, you ask? Well, here is your history lesson. George Washington decided there had to be a better way to thresh the wheat than by smacking it with poles. He was losing 20% of the crop with this method. So he built this barn and it is circular. He essentially made it an indoor arena for the horses, and they would toss the wheat on the second story and run the horses around the perimeter, and the wheat would fall through the cracks in the boards to the area below to be collected. GW calculated that his grain loss dropped to 7% with this method. I thought it was very cool!

Here are the 2 horses trotting around on the wheat. We got to sit in the center of the barn and watch them work. It was pretty neat! GW was a brilliant man. That's why I love Mt Vernon. You learn all kinds of fascinating things!

Here is Cool Callie!

Marian is cool too! They were so funny with their wheat stalks.

The 16 Sided Barn is waaaay far away and requires a bit of a hike to get to. That is why we never did it before. Here's Dan and Rylee, strolling on their merry way!

We stopped by the wharf and it was so funny, seeing all 4 bottoms in the air! I couldn't resist.

Joshua was too distracted by all the trash in the water to turn all the way around. Silly man.

Of course, at the end we stopped by the kids area. You can see the blur that is Marian as she violently wrangles with the stuffed animals. Delaney was adorable with the house; she was very concerned about the bedding and bed in the baby's room. Rylee just pulled all the doll furniture out of the dining room and tried to crawl in it. So we distracted her with the wall that lights up when you push buttons.

Yep, she liked it a lot!!

So, a very successful day with a shocking lack of complaining! Yay!

Today's Stories

Since moving and having Callie and Delaney now share a room, it has been difficult to get them to bed. Mainly because Delaney doesn't want to go to bed and she runs around and plays instead of lying down in bed. It has gotten a little better. That is due to several factors: We have been here a few weeks now and its not all new, we prevent a nap at all costs, we give Delaney a little Melatonin before bedtime, and the girls are adjusting to having to share.

The other night I came in to check on them and I found this:

This was so sweet! I love my little girls!

Today, Rylee learned to do something new!

Yep, she found the bottom step and up she went!

And she kept going. She's on the top step!

Whew! The ground is so far away!

Heh heh heh! She's so pleased with herself right now. And she climbed up it over and over and over. The getting down is still a problem. Fortunately, the only way she's getting down right now is by Mom (as opposed to falling!).

And today, I finally unpacked some toys. The kids were thrilled. Callie was especially pleased to see some of her favorite things.

She is too cute!

Callie, why are you sitting in there?

Oh, Rylee tries to steal all the toys! So we have blockaded her out.

I have the best husband. After dinner tonight, he took all the kids but Rylee out for a walk. They had a marvelous time. What made this so special, you ask? It was extra special because it was pouring down rain! They all got to walk and run and play in the rain, and they finally had an excuse to use their umbrellas.

Despite the umbrellas, they all returned sopping wet. And very happy!

Okay, Joshua actually used his umbrella and wasn't too wet. Dan had taken them to check out the creek and it was very cool.

Delaney did not want to come back in the house! She wanted to stay out and play. So she did!

What we've been up to

I feel like I have neglected my blog. I have neglected a lot of things. I have the excuse of having been busy, and that whole move thing. I think I'm going to milk the move excuse for a long, long time. Probably until I unpack the last box, which at this rate, will me sometime after we move again. Sigh. Last week Callie and Delaney had to get physicals for school. I knew it was going to include shots, but I managed to redirect Callie and evade her every time she asked if it would. I'm so glad I did! She was clueless right up until the nurse pulled out the needle and I hugged her and said, I'm so sorry, but you are getting a shot now. Oh, the drama and screeching and howling. I was worried that Delaney would be scared off by this, and she was a bit distressed and she cried as I put her on the table. As soon as I told her it would be over in the count of 5, she started to giggle and count with me. There was a very brief eye-widening and accompanying cry, then it was all over and she was over it. So it all went much better than I had anticipated. Except I got to push Rylee in the stroller AND carry Callie out to the car.

All was well until 2am that night when Delaney woke up screaming that her leg hurt. I snuggled her and rubbed some of my useful essential oils on it and she fell asleep. The next morning, it was all swollen up and she was hobbling around. It didn't seem to bother her, so I didn't worry too much about it. We went to the pool to see if it would circulate out the swelling, but it didn't.

This is her puffy leg the end of the second day. It got a red hot spot, which worried me a bit. I was a little annoyed, since I called the pediatrician and had to wait over 2 hours for a call back. They told me at the call back that there were no more appointments for that day. Grrrr, I bet there would have been one 2 hours earlier! No matter, I took her in on the third day, just to document that she had had a reaction.

Isn't Delaney adorable?!

Such a silly girl. She hobbled around on the leg, but it never slowed her down after the first day. It is about all better now. (Oh, it was 3 inches larger in diameter than the other leg when the doctor measured it.)

Here is my handsome man in his official photo. He had to go in and get a model shot for his file or something. Okay, fine, its not a "model" shot. Models get their faces powdered. Dan just had to stand there and look rugged. I think he does this quite admirably!

Saturday we did something different! We went to the 4-H Fair! The kids weren't sure about going, and Joshua complained a lot, but they had some neat experiences. They got to see baby chicks hatch and they could even hold a new chick! Callie loved the animals and was so happy to pet the bunnies too. They also got to see and touch horses, a new baby calf, and pigs.

They got to "milk" this cow and Marian thought it was the most fun thing ever. I had to drag her away to give the other kids a turn.

We got to go on a Tractor Ride ($2 a person, so fairly cheap). And it was a pretty lengthy ride. The kids enjoyed it, although Callie told me she would have had more fun on the carnival rides. I said for the price, no way was that happening!

Here's Rylee, feeling left out as we drove away on our Tractor Ride.

Marian had a good time on the little kiddie tractors as well. All the kids thought these were great, except Joshua, who refused to have any more fun. It was a good time, and for a grand total of $20 spent to do it, it was worth it. Plus, that cost includes our giant bag of delicious Kettle Korn! And no, there isn't any left.... urp!

I had to take this picture. Rylee suddenly grew up. Overnight she went from tiny baby to little girl! Here, she has fallen asleep after Dan took her out for a late night walk. Dan loves living near the 7-11 so he can walk over and get a Slurpee whenever the mood strikes.

And speaking of Rylee........

She is too cute for words. She cracks me up with her big grin, and she is (almost) always ready to grin!

Uh-oh, now she's ready for trouble. She is a funny kid and she does like to laugh and smile with you.

Joshua is doing his hideous Nanny McPhee face. He FINALLY has that loose top tooth and he does this with it all the time. I wish it would just fall out already. Ick! Oh, I actually took this picture to show his new haircut. He wanted it short like Dan's, and I would not have gone quite so short, but Dan started the haircut and I got to finish it and even the fade.

This kid... I don't even know what to say! She woke up at 4am this morning and did not go back to sleep. I just let her watch her PBS shows on the computer and I stayed in bed. However, she conked out after a fun morning at the park. She is so sound asleep, her thumb isn't even in her mouth. And to be honest, this is about how I feel right now too.

Getting Political

I don't know where some of you stand on Prop 8 or on the Mormon Bachelor Pad blog, but I really recommend you visit the link on the right side (kinda towards the bottom) for a great post on the Prop 8 topic written by them. I'd steal it, but that would be.... um.... stealing!

Why I love my kids!

The children have been especially fun lately. I'm not sure if it is the new house and all the fun that it entails, or if it is that Rylee is in a great new phase, but there have been some giggle-worthy moments lately. Let me give you some examples......

Marian found an extra large plastic bag and made it into a "jacket" which she then wore all afternoon. She was particularly thrilled to see how handy it was at dinnertime, when she spilled food on herself. She wore it until she and Callie had a big fight and the "jacket" was damaged and the ensuing fisticuffs result in the loss of her treasure.

Rylee has had a marvelous time exploring all the new things. I am now quaking at the thought of how to set up the house, now that she is delighted to pull books and DVDs from their shelves and she revels in the destruction once the mess is made. This is where I found her the other night. I was checking email and I heard her fussing. When I got up to see why she was upset, I had to laugh. And grab the camera.

Delaney herself is a hoot. She cracks me up and you never know what is going to come out of her mouth. I really need to keep a notebook and pen in my pocket and write this stuff down. She was running around wearing nothing but her striped underwear and socks on her hand, babbling some hysterical monologue and I couldn't resist. She didn't cooperate for a picture, but believe me, she was a riot!

The fun new thing is to race circuits around the living room and kitchen. The kids had made it more of a race track with Rylee's ride-on toy, an Marian was giving Rylee a ride. It made them both very happy, since the kids are not suppose to be on Rylee's toy. Marian got away with it because she was sharing it with her sister, and they were both having fun.

When her feet came off the floor and kicked, I nearly cried with laughter. She was really trying to get something in the very back and had a little difficulty.

She had more trouble getting out!

Marian thought it would be funny to put Rylee on her head. For some reason, Rylee loved it. She had a great time, but Marian got tired pretty quickly, and needed help to get her off. You may see that Marian has lost her right side top tooth. That makes 7 teeth out for her!

Joshua also likes to put Rylee on his head. She enjoys it a little, but prefers to be able to sit on shoulders so she can grab hair.

And this young man has only lost 2 teeth so far, but is working on #3. It grosses me out, but he has been doing this all day today. Eeeeewwwwww.

(Oh Mom, I solved the visible wires problem by hanging the quilt on the wall there! It is perfect!)

And this I just love. Callie is suddenly afraid of the dark. So I leave her closet light on. In the interest of space in her room, the kids' bookshelf is in there, and this is usually how I find her once she is suppose to be in bed.