Tori, Where Are You??

This post is for my friend, Tori.  I miss her and was wondering what's up with the Sirons!!  I hope she posts soon :)

A Lost Tooth (Finally)

Braden hadn't lost a tooth yet, but his "big teeth" were too impatient to wait, so they have started to come up behind his "baby teeth." We are trying to avoid too much orthodontic work, so we encouraged him to wiggle that tooth as much as possible. It was the loosest tooth I've ever seen, but it must have been the most stubborn, too! We finally decided that it needed to come out and we weren't going to pay our dentist $$$$ to have them both pulled. Daddy put on his "Dr." hat and went to work on that little tooth. It took us around an hour to pull it out, but once it was gone, we were all happy! Now, it looks like it may be the same fate for that neighboring tooth. Dr. Dad may have to work on that one next!

Daddy "googled" how to pull a tooth and came up with this dental floss idea.  He tied a slipknot and used the ends to pull out the tooth.  This is try #3.  It didn't come out here!

Still in there, but SO LOOSE!

Daddy tying a knot yet again...

"Want me to try these pliers??"  Yes, he did try using them, but it wasn't as successful as you'd think!

Bribing him to let us keep working on it!

Finally that tiny, little tooth came out!  YAY!

A small hole, but the "big" tooth is already more than half way in!

St. Mary's Preschool

This year, we decided to try our church's preschool for Kendall. I like the idea of a morning preschool, so this was a great opportunity to switch to St. Mary's. Right now, she goes half days on MWF, but we'll see what happens as the year goes on. She may want to spend more time at school, but this Momma likes having her home while she can!

Kendall holding the bag we made for her school.  I was pretty proud of my iron-on skillz :)

I can hardly handle this sassiness!

She was so ready to go!

This is outside her class on the first day of class (as opposed to the preview day she attended on Friday).  She looks a lot happier here than she did when I picked her up.  She was super frowny since she had to go home...I took that as a good thing!

1st Grade...Bring it on!

So, hard to believe, but Braden is a 1st grader already! He was excited to go back to school, so of course I was excited for him! We went school supply shopping, got everything labeled, and waited for the first day to arrive! Gearing up for 1st grade is so much less stressful than that Kindergarten year!!

Already looking so big!

That backpack is still almost the same size as him :)

Avery wanted to put something on, so she found Braden's karate belt!

Never too big for a picture with his Momma!

or his Daddy!

In the gym on the first day!  Ready to be a Goshen Gator again!

Vandalia Lake, Here We Come!

We've been saying for years that we needed to get my parents out to Jaycie and Randy's Dad's lakehouse in Vandalia. It finally worked! We found a weekend that everyone was free and planned a dual family outing. It was so much fun! We camped in Mimi and Papa's trailer and rode around in their boat. The Rodgers' stayed in the house and trolled around in their boat as well. We ate (lots), swam some, sat around a "magical" fire, wake-boarded, tubed, and skied. We are so blessed to have such hospitable friends and fun parents to hang out with! We should make this an annual event!!

Kendall looks excited, but she was scared of pretty much everything the entire weekend!

Papa helping Olivia swim around.

Enjoying a snack on the dock.

Getting some snuggles from Kendall Grace.

Daddy's turn!

Water time for Avery, me, and Olivia!

The whole "kid crew!"

Mommies and babies (well...some of them are bigger now, but they'll always be our babies!)

Sunday was unseasonably cool and windy, so the kids enjoyed a "picnic" packed by Mimi in her sewing basket :)

The boys playing "Wizard's Chess" in the camper.

Papa was Avery's shadow.  She was fearless...good thing he was there as she was climbing the stairs!

Jaycie and Randy enjoying some sunshine and checking through some 500+ pictures!

Jack hanging out in the camper...the boys' favorite hangout since the girls weren't there :)

Fro-Yo and Teeball!

To finally end our teeball season, we met at Twist (a frozen yogurt place) to have a treat and receive our medals. The kids had a blast, but since Kendall doesn't love ice cream, we told her it was yogurt (which she does like), but she still didn't eat much, so I had to suffer through and eat it (with the help of Avery). When we were done with snacks and the Coach/Daddies had done their duty, we headed home. Kendall was VERY disappointed with the "party" and let everyone know as she cried all the way home ;)

The boys did like their treats!

Avery chillin' in her stroller...as usual!

Coach Dustin giving Olivia her medal!

Sporty Spice :)

Double Trouble for sure!

Hello Zoo (again)!

We had fantastic weather the week before the kids had to go back to school, so we headed out to the zoo (along with almost everyone in the STL area!). We visited the sharks and stingrays first since we weren't able to do it the last time we went. We toured the rest of the zoo and were home by late afternoon. Hopefully the next visit will be with Daddy since he hasn't gone recently!

Braden, Jackson, and Olivia.  Hmm...where's Kendall?

Oh, here's Kendall putting on a brave face after crying for 20 minutes while we stood in line.

Some stingrays.

Kendall "smiling" as best she can since Jaycie is keeping her safe from those super-dangerous sharks!

Braden in the penguin house.

Who knows who they are looking at!  Hmm...where's Kendall?

Oh, here she is...hiding in the stroller in case a scary penguin wants to splash her!

On the carousel!

Grr...

My baby :)

Everyone loves a giant metal bug...even Kendall!

Mascoutah Homecoming!!

On Saturday, Jaycie called us up and invited us to the Mascoutah Homecoming.  Our family isn't from there, but who are we to pass up cold beer and fun rides for the kids??  Now, we wished for cooler weather, but alas it was not to be.  We enjoyed ourselves anyway and had a great time walking around, people watching, and visiting.  I'm sure we'll be back in the future!!

The "Big Kid" crew

It was so humid my lens was fogged up!

Cutie Patootie BFFs!

Braden and Jackson.  Someone's excited or just really intense.

Kendall was VERY afraid of this ride after the fact.  The others rode it 2 more times!

Kendall enjoyed the elephants with Olivia

Braden trying out his strength

Jaycie and me with our drinks and our strollers :)

The boys ride the bumper cars

Baby girls and their snacks!!

Kendall and Olivia enjoy the motorcycles...much more Kendall's speed!

Our happy family :)

My "hot" hubby.  Take that any way you'd like :)

They HAD to have the green car!

Avery enjoyed being a spectator.

The boys were serious about shooting Kendall and Olivia as they "drove" the cars.

The adult crew :)