the tooth fairy was here!

at 4:45 this morning i discovered (thank you, gracie) that the tooth fairy seems to be more exciting at the moment than christmas! she came running in, woke me up, and shoved the five dollar bill in my face. i finally had to explain to her that as exciting as the moment was, i had a few more minutes to sleep. i closed my eyes for a few short seconds... and then the alarm went off. ok, so it was probably more than a few seconds, but who's accurately counting at 4:45 am?

anyway, when she went in to get dressed, gracie discovered that the tooth fairy left her a note! what?!?!? left a note? apparently the tooth fairy wanted to make sure that gracie understood that each tooth will not net her an additional $5.00. what will the tooth fairy leave next, you ask? not sure. depends what's in her wallet, i guess. maybe the tooth fairy should stash some cash for the occasional unexpected loss of a tooth... that would make for a smart tooth fairy.

oh, and in case you're wondering... millie and mollie didn't scare off the tooth fairy. they didn't even bark... i don't even think they moved. some guard dogs.

p.s. i found cale examining his smile in the mirror earlier, and when i asked what he might be doing he said "lookin' for any loosed teeth"!

oh, glorious day!

what a big day this has been! six years (pretty much to the week, if you can believe it) in the making. my baby lost her first tooth today! when she was 11 weeks old, i took her to our old pediatrician and told him i thought she was teething. he, with his many years of child wisdom and me as a first-time mom, dismissed the notion. guess who was right? it's ok. that was my first lesson in paying attention to the "mama knower". you know the whole "it's my child, i know when it's something"! well, that was it for me. anyway, back to the girl... she lost her tooth! ok, let's be honest for a moment... she "lost" it with the help of miss karla. i was really rooting for her to get it out herself, but it just wasn't happenin'. poppy offered to get his pliers yesterday, but she ever so politely turned him down. can't imagine why? miss karla offered "jelly" so she wouldn't feel much of it... gracie hopped in the chair. there were a few tears, but so worth it. she is beside herself with excitement. gracie now joins the ranks of the kindergarteners who've finally lost a tooth! she's not the only one anymore!!!

awww... she is so cute. dang. i know that's my baby, but she is so stinkin' cute! i'll have to let you know what the tooth fairy brings... the real one. she's coming to our house. apparently she's going to leave money. the tooth fairy was given a suggestion of $5 and one for $20... thanks lulu. yeah, thanks a lot.

in case you don't know, gracie met the tooth fairy at school. the real tooth fairy. the r-e-a-l one. just making sure you get it. that's how gracie explained "the meeting" to me. apparently she's real and she wears a big puffy blue dress and she has real wings!

good luck, tooth fairy, getting past millie and mollie.

cale's just on here 'cause he talked me into it. he'd like to lose a tooth just because he wants 100 shiny coins.

i think the tooth fairy can handle that one!

awww... i just thought this was cute. and gracie actually wanted to pose with him. normally she screams 'cause he's near her... had to take advantage of the opportunity!

saturday night dinner

last night i decided it was time (again) for some good home cookin'. nothin' like a little fried chicken (ok, so they were chicken fingers), mashed potatoes, and gravy... homemade gravy.

i love to cook. i love to cook just about anything. it was a 2 1/2 hour meal preparation, but well worth it... if you don't mind that i say so myself! frying chicken "fingers", some good country music in the background, a nice glass of wine, and a little 2-steppin' with the kiddos mid-batches. now that's my kind of saturday night fun!

we sort of snacked our way to the dinner table. little nibbles here and there... and there and here... as i was cooking. yum.

what was the best part, you might ask? yeah, that gravy. it was as good as it looks. that has to be the best gravy i've ever made. let me pause for a moment and thank the best mother-in-law ever for teaching me to make the best gravy ever! thank you. i thank you, my husband thanks you, and my children thank you... oh, and the doggies, too! y'all come over sometime and i'll fix you some, too!

spring break 2011

i remember when i was little and how exciting spring break was. just being out of school was something to look forward to, any spring break activities were a bonus! my favorite times... curled up in a chair with a nancy drew book.

this week was gracie's spring break. she has played with friends, had a trip to the zoo (where she bumped into cale and lily... twice!), and topped the week off with girls' day out.

what does one do for our special "girls' day out"? this is spring break... we can't do just anything. it needs to be memorable. what exactly is memorable to a couple of six year olds?

• bowling? no... gracie doesn't bowl (which, by the way, is another story in itself).
• movies? nothing good out.
• painting the living room? "that's no fun, mom"!
• painting... pottery? yes!!!!

we worked very hard at painting our ceramics. gracie painted a cat, a dog, and a trivet. jordan picked a baseball, a fish, and also a trivet. mama painted a little plate. it was tedious... for me, anyway. they slapped the paint on and were ready to go. not me. it had to be perfect. i wanted to make it pretty and special. just so you know... it's so not as easy as it looks. back to the girls... as soon as they were done, they declared that they were star-ving! so...

we headed for lunch at an old soda fountain! so fun, and the food was yummy! we had such a great time.

this is the first of many fantastic times with the girls!