To The Dentist

Maybe I am just a little behind, because this is the first time I have taken my kids to the dentist. I remember going to a fun dentist in Utah that was specifically for kids, so I tried to find a good one for the kids that would be similarly enjoyable...as enjoyable as possible when at a dentist.

SO - boy did I do a good job. The waiting room had video games all along the wall, plasma screens playing kid DVDs and toys toys toys! Then, when they call you back, they had Aisy and Mikey get their pictures taken of their big smiles. After that they take them to the colorful chairs, and of course the aids are all wearing fun character scrubs. We practiced all month with me being the "dentist" and having them say "AHHHH" and I would check out their teeth and help them brush. But, before the lay down and open wide, they showed the kids all the tools they would be using and what those tools did, then they showed them the new toothbrush, toothbrush cover, flosser, and little timer, then they got to choose their flavor and now it was time to clean those teeth!!

They lay the seat back and there is a movie screen above each seat and the kids have headphones to listen to the movie. I sat by Aisy to help her stay calm and they both did so well with the cleaning.

Then Dr. Wade came to see them and drew a little kite and wrote "Good Job" on the pictures that were taken earlier and had them lay back again and he counted their teeth and told them they did such a great job and then said they could both have 2 prizes from the prize box. One because God made only 1 of them and another for being so happy!

Wow, a christian doctor, praise the lord! (as my brother jeff would say) I really was so happy with my choice and the kids are excited to go back, can't ask for much more than that.

I really need to get out more!

I Guess I totally Missed My Era, thanks for encouraging me to find out Ash! - I must be a sucker for the tight jeans, colorful make-up and frizzy hair. Although I did love those aerobic outfits, I'll have to post the one I had as a kid!

You Belong in 1980

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Happy Birthday Aislynn & Other Summer Fun

This Saturday, September 6, 2008 - we celebrated Aislynn's 2nd Birthday at a nearby Des Moines Park with my next of kin, fellow law school students and their families! I actually invited more people who weren't married and didn't have kids, but they are closest thing to family, as I see them every day and depend on them for alot of different things. So, here's the birthday girl on part of the new-age jungle gym they have here. No more woodchips or tire swings, this place was high tech.

This is Sami Craven (3), Maggie McCullough (4), and Michael (3) on the cool play structure.

This is McKenzie Craven (9 mos) in the Shark ball pit, it didn't really go with the princess party theme, but it only cost $5 and I thought it looked cool, so we set it up!

Here are Mikey and Sami eating their cupcakes. Nothing like loading the kids up on sugar and letting them run it off. We had a lunch and then the kids just played on the swings, jungle gym and slide. I bought a bouncy house, but it hardly got used because of the lure of the jungle gym and open grass to run around in.

Miss Aislynn had cupcake all over her face most of the day, wouldn't let me do her hair today, (which was unusual) and she also wouldn't wear shoes, so her feet were extremely dirty. When it came time to open presents, Aisy was too interested in playing and didn't open a single one. I guess she really takes the "it's her party and she'll do what she wants to" attitude. Overall, it was about 3 hours of fun with friends, Matt, Rick, Miguel, and Megan were also there -- these are the "uncles and aunt" we've adopted. They are great people and make my law school life bearable. Luke and Linda Craven are the parents of Sami and Kenzie, Dave and Katie McCullough are Maggie's parents. Not too many people are married with kids in law school, so it's nice to have a couple of friends who know the particular parent struggles.

Some more Aisy -it's her day, so why not a few more pics of my pretty princess? She's only 2 once, thank goodness because that "terrible" saying might apply here!

But those big puppy dog eyes sure do make it hard to give timeouts or do anything besides kiss and cuddle my little chub. Her new saying when she pees in her diaper is "I poop myself mommy". We tried potty training at the beginning of August, but she is NOT ready for that. She just was hit and miss and didn't mind having pee running down her legs, so we will wait maybe until Christmas break to undertake that feat again.

This was our other summer fun - we had the chance to spend a couple days with Brynn and Caden when they came to visit Iowa. We went to the Library and watched a movie, then we went to the Burger King play place, the park, the pool, and finally spent time jumping on the tramp. They had so much fun and love to see their cousins. The age differences worked just perfect because Brynn and Caden were good helpers with Mikey and Aisy.

This was at the Dysart park before we went to the pool, not sure exactly what it was, Caden says it is some canon of sort and I believe him because he is so smart and a great reader.

This was on the way into the pool, Bryn and Caden helped with Aisy so much. They made sure she was safe crossing the road and couldn't believe how much she was talking. Bryn kept saying, "I just love her little voice". Bryn and Mikey splashed in the pool together most of the time and Caden swam in the deeper water and did flips and canon balls. He is a great swimmer. Aisy went down the little frog slide once, but didn't really want to be in the water that much.

I will also have to post a little bit about our yellowstone trip and tell my bear story, but that will have to wait until next time.

Best Summer, EVER!

Well, it would be hard to beat the fun in the sun, every day at the pool with Rochelle, Brynn and Caden, that made up our last summer, but I think the kids just LOVED having their "looney Meg", as she has been affectionately nicknamed, here for the summer.

It was probably a big eye-opener to marriage and young children, and a great birth control method, for her to live at our house this summer. (probably remarked how she didn't want her marriage or children to be...like I used to do before I realized how little control I have in all that)She pampered us, cooked, did laundry, took the kids to see wondrous things like the "Holy" Mammoth (Mikey couldn't understand the whooly concept), Pool days, Zoo days - we had an elephant mom and baby visit our small zoo and they do camel rides and a new baby giraffe was born this last month too!

They often mixed up the mom and meg and just called her mom, which was appropriate since whenever we were out in public with me, meg and the kids people would think they were hers anyway. Our duplex neighbors moved in a month after we did and thought that Justin had two women and that Mikey was my kid and Aislynn was Meg's because they just couldn't fathom that Aislynn was mine when she looked so much like her aunt. It's a good thing I was the one who gave birth or else I might have been questioning it too!

Meg also helped with our spanish instruction. I have yet to convince Buck to speak spanish to the kids full-time and in fact, I probably speak more spanish to them than he does, but Megan is a secondary education Spanish Teacher major, so she taught lots of vocabulary to the kids. Mikey's favorite is Gato = Cat and Aisy mostly likes elephante = elephant, because she doesn't pay very much attention and I think that's all she remembers. Mikey also likes to say Adios Che and we used the "Muzzy" spanish teaching DVDs that are put out by the BBC - not that great but the kids liked them and they would copy what was being said on the TV. We'll see how the whole spanish thing comes along. Mikey has a great memory for the vocab, but sissy doesn't seem too interested.

Anyway, we will miss having Meg here. Justin will miss his nightly wheel of fortune partner, as I am no competition and I think Meg was ahead on the W/L record. But, I'm sure she's enjoying the single life again, being able to take a shower whenever she feels like it or leave without packing the whole house. Yet there is just something about the big hugs and kisses these little ones offer to readily and being able to see their excitement about everyday life that reminds me why they are so wonderful.

Of course, with the end of summer, comes the beginning of school for me and part-time daycare for the kids. Mikey has moved up to the pre-school class and Aisy is in the 2 year old "Explorer" class. I really like the daycare they are at. They are flexible with my schedule but more importantly they have the same teachers move up with the kids, so Aisy's teachers are in the new room too. They also do many great activities and have lesson plans and structure that help the kids thrive.

Their first day was only 2 hrs, since I only have one class on Mondays, so we started off the day by going to the zoo - yes, those are harnesses - the only way to travel with two toddlers who won't stay in a stroller.

Mikey with his Nemo backpack and all the school supplies he gets to use now that he is in the pre-school class, like markers and scissors and the lined alphabet pad. His favorite friends are Max and Jayla.
Aislynn doesn't like to pose for pictures, she's just too much of a busy body with her own agenda. I think she is soooo much like her dad because whatever she wants to do is the most important thing and don't even try to redirect her. She also has a nemo backpack because she wants everything the same as her brother...sound a bit like me, second child syndrome.

(But I can capture a fleeting moment of pure emotion every now and again as seen in the picture below - we were trying for a good 2 yr old pic but I got this instead)