Braces Be Gone!!

Today was a BIG day for Emily. She has been counting down to this day for a long time. Today her braces were removed!! Emily has worn braces for 22 months, and she was so excited about having them removed.

This is Emily on the day her braces were put on in 2006:

Once her braces were removed, the tech installed a permanent retainer on her lower teeth, and made a mold for her top retainer (which will only be worn when sleeping). We'll pick up the top retainer next week.

The dental staff presented Emily with balloons and a large cup filled with sticky, chewy candy (the kind that was on the "no-no" list during braces). Emily also decided to spend all of her nickels (wooden tokens) today. She has been saving these little tokens since her braces were installed, but she had never spent any, so today was the day. She "bought" a CD stereo, two $10 movie booklets, and a $10 Claire's gift card.

I love Emily's "post-braces" smile!! :-)

Little Monkeys

Just a cute pic of two of our little monkeys - taken at a birthday party earlier this week.

Terrific Tuesday

Our church has a summer program called Terrific Tuesdays, where the kids go on outings, have play dates, etc. On the first Tuesday, the girls went to a local lake for a picnic and hike. Today, the group went to a local play center, where they did bumper boats and mini golf (with a picnic lunch in between). I went along to take a few photos, and ended up staying the entire time (I have just a little sunburn). :-) We're all looking forward to the next outing -- climbing a rock wall!!

Vacation Bible School

Our church had VBS last week....this year's theme was "Outrigger Island". The kids really enjoyed the theme because they were able to dress Hawaiian style. Randy and I worked in crafts. where we helped the kids make flower leis, paper plate turtles, coffee filter jellyfish, pinwheels, and friendship bracelets. The kids brought in pennies for a mission trip. The boys and girls competed to see who could bring in the most pennies...the grand total was well over 500 pounds of pennies (which was over $900 worth). The boys lagged behind in penny count all week until the final day of VBS, when they brought in over 200 pounds to win. All of the money donated will be used for an upcoming mission trip to the Ukraine in August.
On Sunday, we topped off the week of VBS with a carnival. We had lots of free food and games, and it was a fun way to end the week.

Father's Day

A dad with his three girls...nothing sweeter. :-) I am so thankful for Randy. He is a great husband and father. He works hard all day to provide for his family, but still takes time to play with the kids when he comes home. It helps that he's still a kid at heart, and loves to have fun.

For Father's Day, we collectively bought Randy a small tv for his office last month...but of course we needed to give him something else on the actual day. He's hard to buy for, so we asked him to pick out a few things, and this is what he came up with. Claire gave him some new house shoes, Ally gave him a bunch of supplies to clean the car, and Emily gave him a new Wii game. After church on Sunday, he chose Lin's Garden for lunch...and then Red Lobster as a bonus yesterday. Spoiled rotten!! LOL

A Tooth and A Treat

A pic of C with her new smile (minus the tooth pulled by the anesthesiologist). Love those toothless kid smiles! '-)

We came home today to find a sweet treat at our front door. Some good friends sent C a candy/cookie bouquet and a 'get well' balloon. C was SO excited and immediately called our friends to say thank you.

Eye Surgery 101

With all of the surgeries our family has experienced in the last year, I almost feel like we could teach a class in surgery...not a good thing!

Claire joined the ranks of patients this week by having surgery on her eyes. We've been patching and trying to encourage a very lazy eye to cooperate for the last year or so. Her eye muscle was just too strong though, so we finally gave in to surgery.

Claire was pretty scared the night before, so we prayed together. Our prayers were answered because she was so brave on surgery day. When they called her name, Claire marched into the pre-op area (armed with her polar bear Blizzard, and her blankie). She charmed the OR staff - especially the anesthesiologist. The nurse gave Claire a little stuffed dolphin, which was quickly given the name of Flippy (both stuffed animals accompanied Claire into the OR).

The anesthesiologist asked us several questions prior to surgery...one question being about any loose teeth he needed to be aware of. Claire showed him her very loose, front tooth. The man just smiled knowingly and said that the tooth might come out when he removed the air tube.

After the surgery, we were taken to the recovery room to wait for Claire. The anesthesiologist paid us a post-op visit, and handed me a small lidded cup. Yes indeed...it was the tooth! He pulled it while Claire was asleep.....so sweet!! The tooth fairy was pretty generous since the tooth came out during surgery. '-)

Kung Fu Panda

At the advice of friends and an online adoption group, we took the girls to see "Kung Fu Panda" early this week. It was a cute movie, and we all enjoyed it. In the photo, Claire and Ally are practicing their kung fu skills in front of the movie sign.

Concerts and a New Car

This week has been a whirlwind of activities! This is shareholder's week at dh's company, so there are lots of people in town for that. One of the little perks we get as employees is being able to attend a free concert or two during the week.

Tuesday night, the entertainment was Lifehouse and Taylor Swift. The girls really wanted to watch Taylor perform, so we braved the crowds and long lines. The wait was worth it though, as both Taylor and Lifehouse put on a great show. We were running late and didn't have time to stop at the ATM (& we only had $13 cash), but the company came through in another way for us. All of the food at the concession stands was $1, so we were able to feed the whole family with hot dogs and sodas (yes, very healthy stuff! LOL).

The Wednesday night concerts were by the American Rejects (know nothing about them), and Journey. I would have loved to have seen Journey, but we just didn't have the time to go (nor the energy).

On Thursday night, the performers were Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Our girls LOVE Carrie, so once again we agreed to brave the crowds...and crowds there were! Since the concerts are free, there were tons of people wanting in (the public can get in after all of the employees). We had to pass through security and show an employee badge before entering...I thought we would be crushed before we made it through. This evening's concert was outdoors in the Razorback stadium, so it wasn't quite as comfortable as the previous night (which was held indoors at Bud Walton Arena). We enjoyed Carrie's performance, but were really impressed with Keith Urban. Neither dh nor I were big fans previously, but we both admitted he put on a great show (and he can really play the guitar). He even climbed into the audience and gave his guitar to a fan.

Our final bit of news for this week is that we bought a new auto. Our girls are SO excited...it's almost a little embarrassing! :-) We've been driving one of our cars since '94 and the other since '00. We just don't like having a car payment, so we always try to just wait until we can save enough to buy a vehicle outright. I really dislike the color of our new car, but this was the only one we could find within a 120 mile radius that had the features we wanted. Claire suggested that maybe we could paint it with a can of spray paint! lol Ummm, that's ok dear, mom will put up with it the way it is. :-)

Whew! So busy that I haven't had time to post. We've been busy with end of the year school activities and getting prepared for another round of surgery.

Randy's eye surgery (vitrectomy) was Friday. We had to leave for the hospital at 4:30 a.m., so mom came to wake the kids up and get them off to school. I took along a few scrapbook supplies, thinking I could keep myself entertained in the waiting room. Didn't work out as I had planned. I ended up just sitting there, people watching, and talking to a few other "loners" (note to self...next time bring along a companion for the waiting room!). After being there for 5-1/2 hours, the doctor came out, plopped down into a chair next to me and began drawing a picture of Randy's eye. (This doctor always brings along his colored pencils and is always drawing.) We are thankful that the surgery went well, and the doctor thinks the Randy's retina will flatten back down with time.

Monday was our last day of school...yippee!!!!!! We are SO proud of the girls. Em made the A honor roll again. Unfortunately, we missed the awards ceremony as we were at the hospital. Ally's award ceremony was in the afternoon, so I was able to make it there in time for that. She made the A/B honor roll (was only 2 points from all A's). I know she worked hard for those grades, so we're very happy for her. Ally also received a "president's award". She cracked us up though when she rushed home to tell daddy that her certificate was signed by George Washington!!! (Instead, it was George W. Bush) Claire made all A's...but they didn't have any type of program for her grade. She was disappointed, and told us that we shouldn't have made her work so hard since it wasn't "necessary" (meaning since she didn't get an award). :-)

In other school news, Emily was nominated by all four of her core teachers to participate in pre-AP classes for next year....way to go Emily!!!

Emily also tried out for next year's band. The band director told the students that there are only 5 flute chairs, but there seems to be at least 50 kids who want to play flute so he HIGHLY suggested they play a different instrument. That was challenge enough for Emily, so she immediately signed up for flute tryouts. The director required a written report from the students stating why they wanted to play the flute, and what their approach to practicing would be. On tryout day, Emily blew into the flute, but didn't make a sound....disappointed, she returned to her classroom thinking she'd play the clarinet instead. When the announcement was made over the intercom, she received the good news that she had nabbed one of the 5 flute seats! WOOHOO kiddo!!

Science Fairs and Fairy Tales

So much going on here that I can't remember what I still need to post, so I'll just cut right to the two most recent events I have photos for. :-)

Allyson participated in the first science fair at her school last week. It was completely voluntary, but the science teacher offered a 100% test grade to her students who entered, so we strongly encouraged Ally to do a project. In the end, Ally was thrilled because she won 4th place (honorable mention) out of 37 entrants (a bonus because we weren't expecting anything other than that test grade!). Woohoo...way to go Ally!

Claire's class had a Fairy Tale Museum last week as well. Each child was asked to dress up and write a short paragraph about their character. When other students came to view their "display" and "push their button", the fairy tale character came *alive* and read their paragraph. We suggested that Claire dress as Snow White, but then couldn't find the costume. (The girls have lots of dress-up things, but this costume seemed to be in hiding.) Claire then decided to dress as Rapunzel. We had a dress that worked, but she needed long hair so I ordered a wig online. We waited and waited, but the wig didn't arrive on time...so it was mom to the rescue. :-) The night before the museum, I frantically cut the legs off a pair of tights, cut long pieces of yarn, and sewed them onto the base (tights). We then braided the "hair" and Claire instantly became Rapunzel! Not a bad job if I do say so myself! LOL By the way, the real wig arrived the following afternoon...a little too late. :-(

Chapman Tragedy

I just read that the youngest daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman died yesterday in a horrible accident. Apparently, her older brother was driving the family car, and accidentally hit the 5 year old.
This is just a sad, sad story. My heart aches for this family - I don't have words to express my sadness for them. Everyone please pray for this precious family. Here is the link to the news article.

North to Alaska!

Randy went to Alaska last week on business (poor guy!). I was more than a little bummed that I wasn't able to go along as well. :-( I have a "secret obsession" with the Discovery show "Deadliest Catch"...and would have LOVED to visit Dutch Harbor, and to see the crab boats. OK, so my secret is out...but surely I'm not the only woman who likes this show..right?
Randy did have some down time, and was able to get a few pictures for us. Check out the price of watermelons!

The Alaska pipeline....much smaller than I pictured in my mind.

Silver Dollar City

Our kids just love going to Silver Dollar City. They love the rides...we love the fact that the park is close enough to drive up and back in the same day. Since the park has added new rides, it's even more enjoyable. Our first trip this year was during World Fest, where they had performers from around the world. We waited in a LONG line, but we were finally able to get good seats to watch the "Feet of Fire" from Ireland. Lots of great dancers there. We then waited in another long line to watch the acrobats from China. Those guys were truly amazing! The only problem was that the show was just too short!
We visited SDC again this past weekend, along with Emily's school choir. Since the weather was warmer, the water rides were up and running. Since I tend to look like a drowned rat when I'm wet, I opted out of the "wet" rides...that meant that dad had to ride with the girls. After only one ride, the girls looked like they had bathed with their clothes on. The girls had a great time though, and had pretty much dried off by the time we left at the end of the day.
We're already looking forward to Kid's Fest this summer.

Music??

Does the music on my blog bug anyone? I know that I've opened several blogs (even my own) lately and find myself immediately turning my speakers down. Sometimes, the music really bugs me....guess I can't read and listen at the same time! :-)

China Earthquake

I'm sure everyone is aware of the horrible earthquake in China. Such a sad, sad thing. It just breaks my heart to hear of the loss of life in this tragedy.
If you are interested in helping in the recovery efforts, I would love to offer a suggestion. Half the Sky is an organization that is already established in China to help the orphanages. They are getting daily updates on the damage, as well as current needs of the orphanages. You can go to their website (here) to read the updates. Should you choose to make a donation, you can click on the button on their website. Also, if you happen to be an employee of Ford Motors, your donation will be matched by your company!! (Note: I am NOT affiliated with this agency in any way...I just appreciate all they do for the orphanages.)

Tired

I mentioned in the previous post about how BUSY we are this month. This photo proves it. Claire has never been one to take naps...I'd say she's taken less than 10 naps total since coming home in 2002. (Believe me, a nap is something I would have LOVED for her to do, but it just never happened...even at the daycare they could only get her to "rest", but never nap.)
This is how I found Claire last night a few minutes after her bath...at only 6:45 p.m. She was completely zonked out, with all three of her blankies surrounding her.

Month of May

I think the month of May is quickly becoming my least favorite month of the year.:-( While I love the fact that May means the end of school is near, I dislike all of the "busy-ness" that comes during the month. We have SOOOO much going on this month: children's choir performance at church, field trips, school choir performances, field trips, piano recitals, field trips, school band tryouts, book fairs, school plays, fun and field day, an eye surgery for dh, dentist appointments x4, orthodontist appointments, doctor appointments x2, lab work dates, oh and another field trip or two thrown in for good measure. I'm sure there are a few other things on the calendar as well, but I've just forgotten them. :-(
No wonder I'm so tired. :-O
OK, enough complaining....headed off to video a school performance now. whoosh!

No Video

Well, I haven't had any luck uploading a video from the recital. :-( I'll keep working on it - hopefully, I'll get it to work soon.
On a different note, Emily is going to sing a duet with Randy at church on Father's Day. They've chosen a song and have begun practicing. I took a short video of their practice, and HOPE to post it on the blog as well. Fingers and toes crossed!

Recital

Emily and Allyson had their first piano recital last night. The girls have only been taking piano lessons since September of '07, but they've learned so much! After all 24 students had performed, the teacher awarded prizes in four categories (practice time, scales, workbook, and memory). Since our girls are the newest students, we really didn't expect them to win anything...but we were all pleasantly surprised to hear their names called! Emily won first place in both scales and memory; and second place in workbook. Allyson won second place in workbook; and third place in scales. I'm going to *try* to upload a short video of their performance if I can figure out how (w/o using YouTube).