Brooklynn's 1st lost tooth!

Can you see the excitement?! I've been worried she was going to swallow this tooth. It has been so loose, but she wouldn't let us touch it. This evening on the way home from the pumpkin patch Matt and I listened to Braeden trying to coax Brooklynn into letting me pull her tooth. When we got home she actually let Braeden try to pull it, but I wiggled it and it fell out!

When Brooklynn started talking about the tooth fairy, Braeden pulled me aside and said, "When you figure Santa out, you figure it all out like the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, and the boogie man" (Who told him about the boogie man?-Grandmama?) He smiled and played the game--Thank You Lord!

Fall is here!

The pumpkin patch has become our families favorite outing of the year. We always go on one of the first cool days of fall. We check the kids out of school and go late afternoon. It's great, because the school groups are gone, but the families haven't come yet. We basically had the place to ourselves. The cool weather is so refreshing--it was 57 at the p.p. --yesterday the high was in the low 80's. Self-Timer--couldn't believe it. We never get everyone looking and smiling at the same time. You may see this again on our Christmas card--this is a rare event!

Barrett said he was an African lady and would carry his pumpkin--you can tell it didn't last long-notice Matt's hand.

We found our pumpkins!



Braeden's too cool to pose for a picture--I just have to catch him!

On the other hand, Brooklynn can strike a pose at any moment.

Confessions of a sick girl!

I am only confessing my rule breaking so you can enjoy the deal I got today!
For those who don't know I was diagnosed on Sunday with the flu. I was told not to leave the house for 5 days. That really wasn't a problem until today. I felt a little better, and Snow White was released today. I had already reserved my copy at Toys R Us and I didn't want to miss out on my free $5 gift card. So I broke the rules and went to Toys R Us! For those of you who are starting to worry(Chad Emerson)--I didn't breath on anyone, touch anything besides my movie or infect others, I had also stayed in bed all day--I got a lot of paperwork done--you should be proud!

I have to share my deal. The Snow White DVD/BlueRay combo (you get both) is on sale at Toys R Us for 19.99 (says 29.99 on case) - $10 coupon (www.snowwhiteoffer.com) makes it $9.99 then you get a free $5.00 gift card. The only thing is you can't use the gift card on that purchase. I got that one for my sister--mine I had already pd $5.00 so tonight I owed $5 and used the gift card from the 1st movie so I got it for just the tax tonight. Just like any coupons, you pay the tax from the original amount--since our tax is 10% I had to pay $2.00 for my movie.

The gift card was not advertised. You were only to get it if you pre-ordered, but for some reason it was giving them to everyone. It's worth a try---Ours only had a few left. A good deal will always make you feel better.

Another Braeden Milestone

This one is for the scrapbook!

When the kids ask about Santa I always ask, "What do you think?" Matt and I don't want them to look back and say we lied to them about Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc..., but we do want them to enjoy their childhood as much as we did with these fun imaginary characters, so our answer to Santa questions is always, "What do you think?" The kids play off each other and have come up with some great answers and fun stories when answering this question. But this past week Brooklynn caught me off gaurd with her questions. We were getting ready for school, rushed as usual, and as I was pulling her hair up she asked if Elves with pointy ears were real? I quickly said no, and went on with the hair. Braeden said, "Wait a minute, what about the ones that live with Santa." His voice was timid and very unsure of himself. I said, "What do you think?" Brooklynn made up some great story with the elves only living at the North Pole and on and on she went. Braeden never said a word.

Tonight on the way home from church, for some reason, elves came up again. Braeden's immediate response was, "elves aren't real and neither is Santa". Brooklynn and Barrett asked me if this was true--my answer, "What do you think?" Braeden tried to explain to them how this could not be possible, but Brooklynn was already answering my question and giving her explanation. Luckily, we were almost home and I kept Braeden in the car for a few minutes. He asked if Santa was real, I gave him my question one last time. He replied with a "no--it would be impossible" I told him he was right, but talked about how fun it is to pretend. He wasn't upset, but felt proud for figuring this out. We talked about all the shows he watches, Star Wars being the favorite right now, and how it feels like they are real, but he knows they really aren't. He agreed that he enjoys thinking that they are real, and he decided he would play the game with us and pretend that Santa is real. The true test of him keeping our secret will come in the heat of the moment when he is angry with his brother or sister.

Look at Braeden

Braeden's teacher told him last Wed. that she thought he needed glasses. I thought he just wasn't paying attention, but we scheduled an eye exam and sure enough--he needed glasses. He is far-sided so he only needs them to read. We'll see how long we keep this first pair. The eye Dr was showing us all the different frames, she recommended the $136.00 ones, we went with the $9.00 ones, and they look great. He is so excited about going to school on Monday and showing off his glasses.
Grandmama--we had to post a picture, because he can't wait to show you.

Remembering Old Times

Ashley, Do you remember this?

In Junior High & High School I would take a coloring book on all of our road trips. Everyone would color a page,sign it and date it. I found it tonight when I was organizing the kids coloring stuff. Matt and I got a kick out of seeing everyone's pages.

For my facebook friends--I'll post everyone's pictures later so you can enjoy the stroll down memory lane too: Anthony Buttrum, Heather Allison, Leigh Best, Elizabeth Garner, Susie Smith, Sara Shock, and the list goes on. I have to say, Ashley's were the best!

Second week is the worst, but Barrett is always good for a laugh!

Braeden had the flu this weekend. It was short lived and not too bad--thank the good Lord, but we have already gotten off the little bit of routine we had established. He was well enough to go back this morning, but I couldn't deal with 2 crying kids getting ready for school so I let him go back to sleep while I took Brooklynn. When Braeden was a Kindergartener he would cry and scream until we walked in the building, but he didn't want his friends to see him crying. He would do the silent tear cry, which is a lot harder on the heart strings. Brooklynn has no shame! She screamed and cried all the way to her seat. When I got her to let go of my leg and stop crying, the first step I made to the door she screamed at the top of her lungs and I could hear her all the way to the car!
Then I went back home for Braeden. He cried the whole time getting dressed, all the way to school and to the door. When we stepped in the door he quit crying and was fine! On our way out, Barrett and I saw Brooklynn in the hallway. She was bouncy, smiling and happy as can be. She ran up gave me a hug and said, see you later and bounded down the hallway. At least I could go home without the crying and screaming in my head all day.

On the way to the car, Barrett was talking 90 mph (that's all he's been doing for the past week) and was asking about all the cars in the parking lot. As we were getting into our car he asked what kind of car was next to us. I told him I didn't know, but it was gold. He said, "not the color the kind of car, like ours is Dave Ramsey". I said what kind of car do we have. He said, "You know the Dave Ramsey." I laughed and of course he got mad at me for laughing. He is so funny, but can't stand to be laughed at. Oh Well, I can always count on Barrett to lift my spirits even if he doesn't mean to.