Crazy Busy

I keep thinking I'm going to be more consistent with the blog, but alas, I am not. It has been a wee bit insane around here though. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! That and I never seem to be in the mood to download the pictures from the camera. So here are a ton of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Marian and her very best friend Adrian had a sleepover on Friday. Since we'll be moving away and ripping apart 2 very best friends, I decided it would be okay for them to have a sleepover. It went well. They are posing with the pillowcase Marian made at her Achievement Day Activity. She gave it to Adrian after she made it. So cute!

Saturday morning we went on a walk to the park. It mostly went well. Rylee LOVES the swings and is convinced she is a big girl and likes to swing like one.

I have no idea why Callie was grumpy, but she frequently is, so it is par for the course.

I did let Callie have a birthday party. It was after school Monday and went fairly well. As well as total pandemonium can be, which means it went, and Callie loved it and I survived.

We enlisted child labor to get some work done. We haven't got a ladder, so Dan can't get on the roof. He boosted Marian and Callie up so they could help clear the leaves from the gutters. They were very happy to assist!

Marian's class had their end of year picnic today. They served tacos for a Mexican Fiesta theme. I came to hang out with her for that.

I also volunteered to help with crafts in the afternoon. Somehow I got assigned to the room making paper plate & bean maracas. Wow, was that noisy!

And tonight we all went back to the school to see the band perform. Joshua has been playing the trumpet this year and he did a great job! Delaney did not want to sit in her chair. She did want to pose for me though.

Rylee was not a good sitter either. Fortunately, Adrian;s family was a row ahead and across the aisle. It worked out marvelously, as their 2 year old was strapped in her stroller and had a lot of fun playing with Rylee. The other girl would drop her program and Rylee would run over and pick it up and hand it back. 30 seconds later it was tossed out again and Rylee would run over and pick it up. It was endless entertainment for them both!

There's my boy with his trumpet! (Okay, he's playing Aunt Miranda's coronet.) I was really impressed with the band. They played some great music and sounded impressive.

So, that is what I have been doing in between endless loads of laundry and sorting and purging of the house. Tomorrow we'll make our last foray into DC and the packers come on Thursday, they load the truck on Friday and we drive away on Monday. Whew!

Birthdays

Callie and I had birthdays! She got to celebrate hers a few days early. Then she got to choose a place to go for dinner on her actual birthday. (She chose Wendy's.) In addition, she is going to get to have a birthday party with friends over. I'm still not sure how I feel about that!

Dan thinks this is so fun to do. He loves the photo features on his new toy and we now have a host of funky pictures. Believe me, this was the best!

This was Callie, reveling in her birthday celebrations- all attention on her, cake on her face, and loot in her hands!

This is what I did on MY birthday!

And then I had a nice little celebration at home. I can't believe I'm getting so old.

Dental fun

My brother wants to be a dentist. I need him to hurry up because I'm tired of paying the dentist, thanks to dreadful genes that gave me dreadful teeth. I thought I couldn't get any more cavities because every tooth already has a filling in it and I DO brush religiously. I do! I promise. Apparently it takes more than good care to have perfect teeth. And it is possible to get cavities between your fillings and under your fillings. So not cool.

I knew I needed a filling. I knew it 2 years ago when I refused to go back to get it filled. Hey, I was pregnant and everything made me gag. Having someone's hands in my mouth was not a good idea. And then our dentist quit taking our insurance without mentioning it until after I took the kids in for their semi-annual cleaning. So I didn't go back. Then my tooth started to hurt. It has been hurting for a while.

I finally went in today to get it filled. The dentist was nice and even believed me that I need extra numbing stuff. She numbed my entire face and it stayed numb for hours! It was awesome! I never felt any pain at all. Well, no pain till I paid. $193. $193 for ONE filling! One filling, I say! And this is after insurance. Insurance will pay $90 of the $293 bill. Is that a bit steep, or have I just been away from the dentist so long I don't know what's reasonable anymore?

Poor babies

A few weeks ago, Marian told me she thought she was growing a new tooth. Hmmmm... it was a large puffy spot just above one of her baby molars. I, being the diligent mom that I am, did nothing. It didn't go away. Didn't seem to hurt either, but it didn't leave. I decided I ought to do something about it before we moved. To be honest, the kid has missed so much school, I really really didn't want to have her miss any more. I didn't think I should wait, since it would be several months before I could get to a dentist once we leave here, so I made an appointment. The dentist confirmed my suspicions and deflated Marian's theory. She had an abscess that went all the way to the root of her tooth. Yikes. In addition to needing that tooth removed, she had 3 other cavities that needed to be filled. Double yikes!

I sucked it up and took her to the "fun dentist" and yesterday ($850 pre-insurance!!) she got some good drugs and "wacky gas" and had a marvelous experience. She doesn't think they ever gave her a shot and she loved the feeling that she was flying. That makes me happy. I'm glad she won't be a dentist-hater like me. She was pretty loopy when she was done though and slept most of the hour drive home.

Sacked out within 5 minutes of leaving.

Such a sweetie, and check out those eyelashes!

There's the gap where she's toothless. Its a tooth that would have fallen out when she was about 12. She got to keep it in a little case, but she doesn't like to touch it because it feels gross to her. I suppose the tooth fairy really needs to get moving and bring her something special for it. She was such a trouper. The dental assistant said to get her a milkshake on "Doctor's orders" and Marian was thrilled. Once she figured out how to suck through the non-numb side of her mouth, she guzzled the entire thing.

Later that afternoon, I dragged all the kids to the library for 20 minutes while prospective tenants came to look at our house. Shortly after we got home, Rylee felt warm, really warm. Then she puked all over the kitchen floor, and the living room floor. Dinner was late.

Here's my roasty-toasty baby, who fell asleep after 20 minutes of crying. She was so pathetic.

When it's 105 degrees outside 3 days in a row