Thanksgiving 2011

We had Thanksgiving at my brother and sister in laws new house. Turns out the layout and big amount of space works out very well for large gatherings. Above, my brother and my cousin Josh show off the food.

My brother and his wonderful wife, Jana, and her two kids, Sarah and Sadie.

Sarah and Sadie striking a pose!

Grandma and Grandpa. I am so glad to have them living back home instead of spending holidays in Florida.

My other cousin Josh (aka Little Josh) and his half sister whom he brought because she was going to be all alone on Thanksgiving. He's a sweetie.

My cousin Josh's (aka Big Josh, as seen in the first picture) little boy, Jeremiah. I love this boy. I can pick him up and hold him and he just holds on to me and doesn't say a word. He'll be 2 in January.

Sydney and my brother's dog Lucy (the greatest dog in history) snuggling in the papasan chair. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great!

Kids in the Kitchen Part 2

We went back to the local bakery for another edition of Kids in the Kitchen. It was Thanksgiving themed this time and Sydney got to decorate a turkey cookie and a cupcake. She also learned an Italian dance, which is what she's doing above. The family that owns the bakery are Italians originally from New York and the woman who does the Kids in the Kitchen, Grammy, is awesome! She has the patience of a saint!

Sydney with her turkey cupcake. She had her friend Savanna with her this time (that's her to Sydney's right).

Here she is icing her turkey cookie (which she gave me this morning as part of my breakfast in bed, which also included ceral, coffee and a flower on the tray!) with the help of a volunteer dad. We're looking forward to the next one!

Sydney's dental work

Sydney FINALLY got her dental work done. The above picture is her new silver tooth. This all started several months ago when we took her to her regular dentist to get a filling. They used nitris, but to no avail. They suggested that she be sedated, something they didn't offer there. So, we made an appointment with a pedodontist, only to find out that one can't write prescriptions. ?? So, then we had to wait another month or so to get in with the other dentist in the office, just for an evaluation. It was then that he determined she needed a crown AND a filling. Sheesh. Fortunately for us, this was done through Chris's work and it was free. After consulting with another dentist friend, I found out this crowning thing on a child's tooth was not completely out of the ordinary, they don't custom make them, they just find one on a whole tray of them that fits best. It's a baby tooth, so it will come out eventually. So, after that consultation, we still had to wait a couple more months for him to have an opening at the office on THIS side of the bridge, (the only way we could get it for no charge.) So, I took the day off work, doped her up with valium before going, and set out. He said she did ok, she also got nitris in addition to the valium, and she was restrained. But it's done. And she doesn't have to go to the hospital. Thank God!

My bees

This is my latest craft project. At Sydney's school, when they get in trouble, they have to "move their bee." He has a home hive and moving it once loses 5 minutes of recess, twice is 10 minutes and the third time, all recess is lost. So we decided to use this idea at home. I found the bee and hive art online, printed them out and "laminated" them with shipping tape. I attached some old magents to the back with glue (which may not be working out so well) and then put it all on the fridge. Now, we aren't doing the 5 minute, 10 minute thing, they just serve as warnings that if she keeps it up, she's going to lose all privelages. Things that can get her bee moved are talking back to us, giving us attitude, telling us no, throwing fits, etc... She's pretty excited about this, so we'll see how long that lasts.

Halloween 2011

Sydney decided to be batgirl this year. They make a pink batgirl costume and I was certain she would want to wear that one, but she wanted the black one. We took her to Chris's brothers subdivision so she could trick or treat with her cousins. Addison was Taylor Swift and Hensleigh was a ladybug. You'd never know in the above picture that she'd been sick with a fever and a stomachache, huh?

The whole gang. They had fun, but these kids nowadays have no stamina! We were only about 30 minutes into it and they were asking if we were done yet because they're legs were tired. Geez!

The Saturday before Halloween, we took her to a trunk or treat that we've been going to now for the past 4 years at least. It's usually ON Halloween and since they moved it up this year, I think there were a lot more people showing up. My mother in law tried to meet us there and they turned her away and said there was nowhere to park. We got there about 40 minutes after that and there were plenty of places by then. Crazy!

My sweet little batgirl, flying through the air!