Toothless Grin

On Saturday, February 16th, Trevor took another step towards manhood!   He officially lost his first tooth!   It had been loose for quite some time and the adult tooth was already coming in behind it, but he finally took the bull or tooth, by the horns and pulled it out!

Let me replay this one for a moment.   We were on the way to Walmart which is all of 2 miles from our house.  I was returning a quick phone call to Rick since he was in Wisconsin and Trevor asked me for a Kleenex.   No big deal, he asks for them all the time.   Next thing I know, I am going 55mph, talking to Rick and Trevor lets out the most horrifying scream ever!   Tears are coming down his face instantly, the scream is more shrill than ever, and he is yelling, "Help me MOM!!   Agh...it's bleeding, Mom!"   And the screams continue!   I am laughing hysterically as I tell Rick what is going on (and at this point I am yelling too because Trevor is so loud that I have to yell over his screams.)  I let Rick go and tried to talk Trevor through putting the Kleenex in his mouth/on his tooth until we got to the parking lot.

Thankfully, Ethan was in the van as well and spoke from experience and told him that it would be ok and that it wouldn't bleed much.   He talked him through wrapping the tooth up so he didn't lose it because the Tooth Fairy liked to give EXTRA money for the first tooth you lose.   Trevor calmed down and once we were parked in the lot, I went back by him, gave him some water and looked at his toothless grin!

By the time we walked into Walmart, he was all smiles and made sure to tell anyone that we knew that he lost his tooth!  And in a small town you are guaranteed to see at least 3-4 people that you know as you are walking through a store ;).   I was so thankful that he lost it because otherwise I was positive he was gong to lose it during his wrestling tournament the next day.  Can you imagine that screaming scene in the middle of a wrestling match?

Once we got home he was perfectly fine smiling for a picture and told me that his tooth felt much better now that it was out!   Congratulations on loosing that first tooth, Trevor!

P.S.   As a continuation of the story, Trevor was sure to put the tooth under his pillow that night and was thrilled to find 2 dollars under his pillow!   Simple pleasures are so wonderful at this age...

1st Time on Skates

Tonight was one of those nights where you don't think it'll be anything special because there's nothing planned.  Just school work, reading, showers and then bedtime.  Well, tonight was anything but routine.  Through a series of texts and phone calls with my good friend, Tammi, it was brought to my attention that the skating rink was open tonight for a benefit.  My kids have never skated before in their lives, why on earth, when Rick is out of town, would I decide to take 3 boys to skate by myself?  Well, because it sounded better than the alternative of sitting at home, being crabby at my kids, and listening to the eventual fighting/whining that would occur as everyone got tired, AND....we all needed a fun night out!

So, in addition to going skating, I made an executive decision and we also went out to McDonald's for dinner.  And that in itself is quite a treat for us!  The boys were asking, "Who are you and where is our mom?", when I told them we were going to do not just one of the things but both!  And low 'n behold, the Williams joined us for dinner at the extravagant restaurant.  Sorry, Chad, for throwing a wrench into things for you tonight... I hope you weren't planning on a nice home cooked meal from your wife tonight :)

After the laughs from the kids at dinner we ventured over to the skating rink and then the real laughter began.  The kids had a blast!  And Tammi and I, who kept our street shoes on for safety reasons (neither of us wanted to be carted off by the EMT after falling on our butts and breaking something), laughed so hard at the entire situation.  Kids falling left and right, our kids hanging on to the side rails or "walkers" for dear life, and just the thought of us having on skates was enough to make my cheeks hurt from laughing/smiling so much.

Thank you, Williams Family, for the super fun, silly and fantastic impromptu night out.  We will definitely have to do it again sometime. 

  

Step 1:   The skates are on                                      Skates on, now how do I get up, Mom?

 

       

       Ethan is up and moving...                                           Trevor is up... and smiling!

                

Chloe is....up, I think.  And Tammi is laughing!             Ethan trying to figure out if he likes it or not

   

Both boys laughing as they try to keep                    Chloe is makin' her way around the floor
     their balance.  So funny

     Cody is moving and concentrating!                    Trev going on his own with the "walker"

   

     Oooohh.    Get the legs under ya, Ethan                       Going together again.....

 

Ethan's friend & classmate, Anna, was there too!

                                                                                               Chloe just watching & Ethan with no help

 

Me & my boys.... picture op taken advantage of ;)

 



 Cody getting down for the Limbo

 

Samantha made it through, too! 

 

Cooper getting walking around during Limbo time

    

The whole gang... Samantha, Cody, Cooper, Chloe, Ethan, Trevor

 

Look Mom... No assistance!  I am doing it!

 

The Leading Ladies for the night...  Thanks for the fun, Tammi! 

 

i wanted those oranges

Yes, this is me, Cooper.  I FINALLY figured out how to climb up these darn kitchen chairs!  It took me For. Ever.   But now, I know that the little bar on the bottom of the chairs is a great little step stool to boost me up to the top of the chair.  And then.... when I stand up on the chair, I can actually climb up on the table!  SCORE!!  Mom used to say to my brothers, "Make sure you push your stuff to the middle of the table.  Cooper can reach the edges but not the middle yet."  Well, I showed them on January 26, 2013.  My brothers, yes, both of them, were NOT sharing the oranges with me.  So, after they left (and pushed the oranges in the middle of the table like they were taught), I snuck real quietly, into the kitchen, pulled out the chair, and  up up up I climbed.  I was just going to sit on the chair, but then figured, why not just sit next to the bowl.  It was much easier than making sure I was balanced on the chair.  I am getting bigger and stronger, but I still need to make sure I don't fall off because that floor is really hard!

I made it up onto the table and boy were those oranges good!  Juicy and mmm - mmmm - good!
It only took a couple of minutes (well, maybe seconds) for mom to realize that it was way too quiet in the kitchen and when she poked her head around, this is what she saw!  Ha Ha Ha Mama - I figured it out! 

I (Mom) couldn't help but laughing and figured, I am already laughing at him so I might as well grab the camera and document this amazing milestone that our child accomplished.  Man oh man we are in trouble with this one!

Hey Grandpa D.... Look at Me!

While my parents were here visiting/helping my dad had some time taking care of Cooper while my mom and I helped out at school one morning.  During that time, they played a fun game of basketball in our sun room and since then, Cooper Can. Not. Get. Enough. Basketball!  He wants to play every day and it makes me laugh because before that time with my dad it was kind of hit or miss if Cooper enjoyed the hoop.  Now, there is NO DOUBT that he loves to shoot some hoops and is so silly while doing it. 

Grandpa, these pictures are from yesterday... I was shootin' like a mad-man!  Dunks.  Swishes.  Bank Shots.  You name it and I couldn't miss!  Thanks for making basketball fun, Grandpa.... I miss our games of jump, jump, jump.... shoot!  

Love, Cooper