Notice Anything Different About This Girl?

December 18, 2013 

Wednesday afternoon, I checked her out of school early and we paid a visit to the eye doctor and got contacts! She is so excited and for once cannot stop thanking me. It took her a really long time to get those buggers in the first time but every time after has gone a little faster. {I feel her pain. I have had to learn to put in 3 different types of contacts all of which took me an obscene amount of time to get the hang of!}

She played a futsal {one type of indoor soccer} game last night and said that they really helped. She did okay scoring 1 of the 2 goals their team made to propel them to victory. {of course the other team only had 3 members show up and we lent them a couple of girls, so it was really more like a scrimmage}

She went back to the eye doc this morning so he could check the fit. Everything looked great so we ordered a year supply. He recommends the dailies for kids her age so I shelled out the dollars and told her that we were taking back her Christmas presents. I was kidding, a little bit.

I think she looks fantastic with or without glasses but she seems to be thrilled to pieces about the contacts. And it is nice to get some Mom currency I might be able to use later. ;)

O Christmas Tree

It feels like Christmas is rushing me this year. Maybe because Thanksgiving was so late? So we tried to get started on the Christmas decorations last Sunday. We successfully got the tree up and decorated but it took the rest of the week to get the other things out.

I love this tree. It's super skinny and fits perfectly in my small living room. We may have more ornaments than a tree of this size can accommodate but what can you do? We can't leave any off! We do try and balance them out so the tree doesn't fall over!

Snow Day!

Winter may not be officially here yet, but don't tell that to these 3! It snowed all day yesterday and this morning before church the girls were planning all the fun they could accomplish in the snow this afternoon.

  Miss Bea only lasted about 20 minutes (and went through 3 pairs of mittens) before she wanted to come in and have hot chocolate.

 Pooh Bear and the Boss had plans to build a snow house but unfortunately the snow is not the building kind. As the Boss said, "We tried to build a house and then a snowman but the snow wouldn't work. But it was perfect for making snow angels!"

It is supposed to warm up this week and melt it all away. While it was so beautiful outside this morning on the way to church, honestly, if it melts it won't make me sad at all.

Flash Back

I am making baby books for all the girls for Christmas {finally} and have been going through all the old photos. Here are a few I found tonight...

Sara and Ella back when it was just Sara and Ella...

Baby Anna

And then there were 3...

Ella and Sara...

Baby Sara {feels like forever ago}...

The Loose, Not Loose Tooth

October 8, 2013

Recently the Boss' front tooth had started to wiggle. Mark tried to pull it out several times, but it was still too stuck in her mouth. So, we told her to wiggle it more, but no matter how much she wiggled it with her tongue it would not come out. The new adult tooth started growing in but it was really far behind the baby tooth and it only made the back of the tooth loose, not the front. The front was stuck tight. I eventually made an appointment with the dentist to see what he thought we should do, let it do it's own thing or take it out? It had begun to bother her when she ate and she really wanted it out so, I would be happy if he suggested taking it out. He did indeed suggest removing it {hello, insurance payment}, so his assistant went about preparing the Boss for the tooth’s removal.

The kids love this dentist. He is really good with kids AND they have TVs in the ceiling that you can watch and listen on headphones, that last part was a big seller for the girls. 

The Boss has her headphones on watching Dora completely unconcerned with what is going on around her. The tooth is still pretty well attached and they have to give her something to numb her mouth up. They tell her that she will feel a little pinch {liars}. I hold her hands nice and tight so she can't hurt herself more than they already are going to. That really was the worst part, the pinch. It took a little bit of elbow grease but the dentist got the tooth out {he had to use something called an elevator, which I can imagine it's function, and I was really glad that they had numbed her little mouth}.

After it was all said and done, she was mad 1. at the girl that pinched her because "she pinched her really hard!" and 2. because she couldn't go to school until she could feel her mouth well enough to eat a snack. But she got a great prize from the prize chest at the dentist office and they sent her tooth home in a neat tooth holder necklace.

At our house the Tooth Fairy pays double for teeth that have to be removed by the dentist. I think she feels the "pinch" is worth the extra $$.

Super Hero

This is what my sweet kindergartner does while she is supposed to be "having a quiet time" {which is my mom code for "I would love it if you took a nap, but I know you won't, so will you please give your mother a few minutes of peace and quiet? Thanks."}....

dress up as a super hero. 

And not just any super hero but The Predicate!

{She had to get this book at the most recent book fair. I tried to explain to her that it was a grammar book but she would not believe me. Maybe she knows that my grammar is atrocious and wanted to give her mom a little help. Now if only one of my children could help me in the spelling department!}

She's dressed as the green and yellow hero girl...The Predicate! Heck, I don't even know what that is! And people say they never use math in real life. I assure you that I have never in my actual life needed to know what a predicate is. And it definitely doesn't help me know how much the glorious boots I want from Nordstroms are if they go on sale for 28% off. {answer = probably still too expensive}

School Photos 2013

Here are the annual school photos. Beware, serious cuteness ahead.

Drama - 7th Grade

Pooh Bear - 5th Grade

The Boss - Kindergarten

Halloween 2013

We began the day with the annual Elementary Halloween Costume Parade. It is always fun to see what some kids come up with and their parents go along with. This was The Boss' first year participating in the parade and I think you can tell how very excited she was.

She found one of her sister's old jaguar costume and immediately decided that was what she wanted to be for Halloween. Awesome. One costume complete and $0 spent. 

Pooh Bear decided that she wanted to be a pioneer this year and wanted to wear the pioneer dress from when I went on trek. It's a little too big but nothing a few dozen safety pins can't fix. Costume #2 done and $0 spent. Now I am on a roll. This first picture is right at the beginning of the parade, she's a happy, hopeful pioneer here.

Her good friend broke her ankle in the first weeks of school playing soccer at recess and had to have surgery and pins put in to fix the damage. It has been very hard on PB. She keeps telling me how nice it will be when her friend can run and play again. So, here the pioneer is pushing a wheel chair instead of pulling a hand cart. The second photo was taken at the end of the parade, or her version of Marin's Cove, not so happy.

And then finally, it was time to go trick-or-treating for real. The Boss was certain that trick-or-treating would never come. 

Drama was not allowed to dress up for school this year (it's not allowed at the Junior High). But she wanted to go trick-or-treating with her friend who was dressing as a "capital person" from the Hunger Games. We did our best at "capital person" but since she hasn't seen the movie (it's PG13) and I have only seen it once, we just went for garish and over the top.

Happy Halloween!

The Last Pre-school Halloween Party. Ever.

If possible, I may have become even more dramatic since I last blogged. I guess it's not the last pre-school Halloween party ever, ever. But for us, we will never have another, and now I have just made myself super sad. Sigh.

How about some adorable {as she called herself this am after makeup application} pictures of Bea to cheer us all up, hu?

  As you can see, she decided to be a ladybug this year.

Luckily, I bought this red coat on clearance a couple of years back. Who knew it would come in handy this year as a Halloween costume? 

Here are a few of the creepy spoils the kids collected on their trick-or-treat expedition around Ms. Cathies neighborhood.

PS - You can look forward to a lot more fabulous posts, such as this one, for the next year-ish. Now that Grandma and Grandpa Van Horn are knee deep serving a mission, I have decided this is probably the best/easiest way to keep them updated on our families awesomeness and general cuteness. Their email server will probably thank me for not delivering 8000+ pictures to their inbox. 

Grandma Tina's Zoo

Okay, it's not really "Grandma Tina's" Zoo. It is the Tautphaus Park Zoo, but try explaining that to a 5 and 4 year old.

Waiting for the cousins to arrive.

Cousins really are the best friend a girl could have.

The ball python was out this morning. Pooh Bear was brave and gave her a couple of pats... 

Drama, also brave, touching the python...

 The Boss bravely taking a turn with one crooked finger...

 And .4 seconds later crying....

The petting zoo, where the girls brushed the goats...

It was a perfect zoo day, overcast, not too hot and most of the animals were out showing off for the kids.

And we had to take a picture with all of the cousins riding the tiger. When the Wisconsin cousins come in a couple of weeks the cousins won't all fit on the tiger's back!

Outstanding

A little while ago Drama received an invitation to the Lehi Council PTA Recognition Luncheon. Awesome. We didn't really know what that ment. The invite said that they were honoring her as a student. Super awesome, right?

with her invite

Today was the luncheon and what I didn't realize was that Drama was choosen out of all the students at her school to be recognized! One student from each of the schools in Lehi was choosen out of the student body to be recognized at the luncheon. There are 1200+ students at Drama's school and she was nominated by her teacher and selected by her principal! Super awesome.

She went to the front of the room to receive her certificate where Mr. Melville, her principal, had a whole bunch of great things to say about her.

with the teacher and librarian, who were also honored by Mr. Melville

We are super proud of this kid that loves to volunteer for everything, help her teachers or anyone else that looks like they might need someone to help. She's a great friend and student and is growing up way to fast!

with Mr. Melville, the principal at her school

Congratulations Drama, you really are an Outstanding Student and now you have a framed certificate to prove it!