Kids' Entries (with no assistance)

70's Smiling Face Afro Dude

Bearded Pumpkin

Black Widow

Dracu-lantern

Mr. Bushy

Owl

Polar Bear with Big Cheeks Under the Bright Big Moon

 Spider

 Super Awesome Lego Jail

 Zombie

More Elijah-isms

Elijah went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's yesterday for a friend from school.  Elijah was hoping to help his friend open the gift that we got him. 

Elijah:  "I want to help T.J. open his monster trucks."
Liz:  "I don't think he'll open his presents in front of everyone."
Elijah:  "Will he open his presents behind everyone?"

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Lately, Elijah says the opposite of just about everything I suggest.  This morning he gave me a hard time about getting his coat on before school.

Liz:  "It's going to be nice out today so you can wear a light jacket." (meaning light-weight)
Elijah: "No, I want to wear a dark jacket. "

Seriously?!?

No More Snaggle Tooth!

Sienna's front tooth has been really wiggly for a few weeks now, but she hasn't let us try to pull it out.  Where is Aunt Tracy when we need her?!?   Her permanent tooth was starting to come in behind it, too. It looks like her mouth is growing which is creating spaces to get ready for her adult teeth to grow in (unlike Isabella's which are so crowded!).  She could make herself look like a beaver by putting her two middle teeth over her bottom lip.



Before...

  With a bribe of a bowl of ice cream and a lot of negotiation, Sienna finally let Mike pull her tooth out last night.  She can be just a tiny bit dramatic sometimes! 

Good-bye, snaggle tooth!



So proud!!

Sienna's little baby teeth are so funny because she used to grind her top teeth on her bottom front teeth when she was little. Thankfully, she has outgrown that habit, so her permanent teeth should be fine. She wrote the Tooth Fairy a cute letter. We've learned in the past that the Tooth Fairy who visits our house is named Petunia and her favorite color is periwinkle. There are many Tooth Fairies because there are so many kids who lose teeth that it's too big of a job for one fairy. Petunina is friends with Santa and E.A. Sterbunny (the Easter Bunny). Sienna wondered where the Tooth Fairy lived and she left Sienna a note saying that she lives near some of the other Tooth Fairies: Lily, Rose, Dahlia, Chrysanthemum and Zinnia! Sienna has happy to find her note and $1 next to her bed this morning! (Actually, she told me that she woke up at 4:00 and read the note then because she was so excited.) Silly girl!

Little Entrepreneurs

The weather was so beautiful today that the kiddos decided to set up a lemonade stand.  They sold lemonade (regular and raspberry) and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  They surprisingly got more customers than I thought they would on a Friday afternoon of vacation week.

Tigger, Hope, Isabella & Sienna

A customer!



Dr. Elijah came to buy some cookies!



These look good!



Hanging out with Thomas.

 



  



 

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Elijah-isms

Elijah has said some funny things over the past several months that I really want to remember!

"teleskin"=skeleton

"freemote"=remote

"Biting Queen"=Lightning McQueen (from Cars)

"Apunzel"=Rapunzel

"Friendem Docks"=Brendham Docks (from Thomas the Tank Engine)

"Top-on Hatt"=Sir Topham Hatt (also from Thomas the Tank Engine)

"caterpillow"=caterpillar

"Miss Chlorine"=Miss Noreen (Sienna's swimming teacher)

"Pirate Fruity"=Pirate Booty (snacks) 

Elijah finds that most tags on his shirt are itchy on his neck.  "Is the flag (tag) in the back?"

"Are we going to drop Adam down (pick him up) at his house?"

"Dada, your face is sparkly (scruffy)!"

"Trinkle trinkle (twinkle twinkle) traffic light"

Liz: "Do you want a Happy Meal?"
Elijah: "No, I want a sad meal."

After a battery fell out of his toy car, Elijah said, "My poor meatball-it fell out!" (Mike always says, "I lost my poor meatball," when he drops something)

"Mama, you put cream on my bum when it's sour (sore)-when it's
sour-y."

"Mama, I hope the Easter Bunny comes back and brings you an Easter basket. I will set a movie trap (booby trap) on him!"

Elijah: "Is that the dryer?" (pointing to the dryer)
Liz: "Yes."
Elijah: "That's the wetter." (pointing to the washing machine)

This one's my favorite!
We were sitting at the dinner table one night and Mike had his head tipped down for a minute. Elijah said, "Dada, what's that?" and touched Mike's bald spot on the top of his head. Then he said, "Your head is coming out your hair!"


Isabella-isms
Isabella has said a few funny things lately, too, that are worth remembering!

After hearing someone toot, Isabella said, "It wasn't me! Someone else just blew their fume!"

Isabella woke up at 12:30 one night and came downstairs when she heard the TV still on, and she said to me, "You should really go to bed or you're going to be grumpy in the morning. No offense!" (I guess I need to get more sleep!)

After eating a turkey meatball, she said, "These meatballs taste like the smell of Nana's bathroom." When I asked her what she meant, she said, "It's not a bad thing!" Huh?!?

Mystic Aquarium

After a quiet start to vacation week, we decided to head to the Mystic Aquarium today. Unfortunately, just about everyone in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts had the same idea!!! We've never been there when it's been so crowded, but we made the most of our visit. First we went to the 4-D Spongebob show which the kiddos thought was pretty funny!After checking out a Titanic exhibit, we spent some time at the sting ray touch tank.
Then we watched the playful beluga whales. These two were nipping at eachother and giving us a bit of a show.The underwater viewing area is really cool! We explored the rocks and watched the California sea lion show. Sienna bravely held a crab in the smaller touch tank. Elijah just splashed his hands in the freezing water and watched the other children touch/hold the various creatures. Isabella showed me a sea star. It was a beautiful day to spend at the aquarium (and spread some dandelion seeds)!

MOMS Club Spring Party

Today we had our annual MOMS Club Spring Party. As always, the kiddos participated in an egg hunt. Here's Elijah with his friends, Alexander and Bennie.Since Isabella still has to take it easy, she was the designated face painter. She got pretty good at painting unicorns with colorful manes! She took her job very seriously!Elijah took a break from bike riding and drew with chalk with his friend, Anna. Somehow Elijah always manages to get covered in dirt from head to toe at this party. He went straight into the tub when we got home.Isabella helped to keep the little guys busy after her bigger friends left. Sienna is in the background on her bike. I didn't get any pictures of her because she was off playing or riding her bike the whole time!

Good-bye Tonsils and Adenoids!

As far as we know, Isabella hasn't had tons of cases of strep throat, but she's also pretty tough and she doesn't complain about pain very often. We knew that Isabella had large tonsils (that touched her uvula on one side), she snored and woke up several times each night, and she had sore throats and difficulty swallowing. When she had a sore throat and cough in early March and the sound of her voice changed, I e-mailed our pediatrician about a possible tonsillectomy. Mike had his tonsils out when he was little, so I knew it wasn't out of the question for Isabella. The pediatrician said that they don't usually recommend tonsillectomies unless the child has four cases of strep throat over the course of six months. She said it can be concerning, though, if the child has large tonsils and his/her voice quality changes. When Isabella had a sore throat and still had large tonsils a month later, I decided to take her to the ENT. We were able to get into the doctor our pediatrician referred us to within a week and a half. Isabella was so brave when he placed the endoscope up her nose and determined that her adenoids filled almost 70% of her nasal cavity. The combination of large adenoids and tonsils made Isabella a good candidate for surgery to have both removed. We were hoping to have the surgery over Isabella's April Vacation from school this week, but the doctor is away on vacation. Rather than wait until later in the spring when Isabella would potentially miss two weeks of school, the doctor was able to squeeze her in last week (five days after her initial appointment!). Although Isabella was nervous about the surgery, I think she was relieved to have it behind her sooner rather than later. Plus, we knew she would feel so much better once she recovered from the surgery.

Isabella kept herself busy watching "Aladdin" while she waited to be taken to surgery with Hamot Harry (her bear) by her side.The Child Life Specialist did a great job explaining everything that was going to happen, and Isabella was able to decorate her mask (for the sedation gas) with stickers and choose the scent that they would put inside the mask. Who knew that they would smear scented chapstick inside the mask?!? Isabella chose bubble gum, but now I think she regrets that decision because she associates the smell with the feeling of being sedated (which she really didn't like). The surgery took about an hour, and the doctor said that it went well and as planned. Although, he mentioned that her tonsils were "rotten." I found that to be an alarming choice of words, but he explained that it looked like the tonsils had been infected numerous times and they wouldn't have gotten smaller on their own. I'm guessing that Isabella has had several (or many?) cases of strep or tonsillitis, but we didn't know! Hopefully, she'll have some relief once she's healed! When she came out of surgery, Isabella needed a bit of oxygen to keep her oxygen saturation level up before she woke up fully from the anesthesia.
Mike got Sienna on the bus in the morning and dropped Elijah off with a friend (thanks, Kim!!) before he sat in traffic for almost two hours on his way to the hospital. Thankfully, he made it in time to see Isabella have her first popsicle as she was transferred from the recovery room to her room for the night. Movin' on up-to the sixth floor!
Once she got settled, she tried her first few bites of Jello.Isabella nibbled another popsicle while she snuggled with her new giraffe, Ginny, and watched a movie. Taking a much needed nap! Sweet girl!The Child Life Specialist stopped in several times with a variety of movies and activities. Isabella learned how to make lanyard/gimp bracelets (after I re-learned how to do them and taught her), and I read part of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to her. She really wanted to check out the playroom, but she felt dizzy every time she stood up because of her pain medication. She finally rallied enough to take a stroll down the hall before bedtime. She clearly didn't feel well, but Isabella got through several games of Guess Who? and Connect Four before we headed back to her room.The following morning Isabella enjoyed her first cup of ice cream for breakfast! This was what she was waiting for, but I think she would have foregone the whole experience and skipped the ice cream. She was definitely in more pain than either of us expected, but she was a trooper!Isabella enjoyed more ice cream when we got home, and she managed to smile for the camera even though she didn't really feel like it! Several of her friends visited her after school and brought her get well cards and goodies. Sienna was only a tiny bit jealous!! The first few days were rough, but she's doing much better now that it's been over a week. She's finally eating pasta and more of a variety of soft foods. Now that she's feeling better, I have to be the bad guy who won't let her run around or wrestle with Sienna and Elijah. She'll have a follow-up appointment with the ENT on Monday at which time she should get the green light to resume all of her normal activities!

Sienna's New 'Do

Sienna was long overdue for a haircut!! We also need to pull out that crazy loose tooth!!
Here's the new 'do!!
She finally has her "Sienna hair" back!! :)

Lunch at "Old McDonald's"

Elijah and his friend, "Little Sarah", sit on "Old McDonald's" lap (aka Ronald McDonald)Even though Sarah is a few months older than Elijah, he refers to her as "Little Sarah" because Isabella has a friend named, Sarah, too! It's very logical!