Another One Bites the Dust

Because one lost tooth deserves another, Camryn can now claim two lost teeth on her record. Except this one she legit lost. As in probably swallowed. Somewhere between coming home from school and eating a snack on the couch is as best as she can pinpoint when it happened. Cushions, clothes, and floor were checked. We believe she swallowed it, but made it very clear to her that she did not need to dig through anything (talkin’ about you, poop) in order to claim her tooth fairy gift. Instead, Jacob helped her write this note to the fairy, which worked very well!

She has joined the ranks of all the other kids who are wishing for their two front (bottom) teeth for Christmas!

First Grade Musical

Camryn had her very politically correct Holiday Concert last week, and she rocked it!

{Her class. Cam said she was very nervous before it started, but then forgot to be nervous after she started singing.}

{Waiting for the curtain draw. She burned through a handful of outfits before settling on this festive yet nondenominational holiday garb.}

{Happily, she is on the short side so she was positioned front and center on the stage, which made it very easy for us to see her!}

{And look at Joey--the orange-haired spectacle--standing next to Camryn. He was very animated. Dabbing, shimmying, and shaking as if in a whole-body heave the entire performance except for the one time when his teacher had to pull him off stage so that she could tighten up his loose britches. Camryn acted as if nothing crazy was happening directly to her left, but I believe she would have decked him like she would her brothers if he dabbed her in the face!}

I am so sad to be done with first-grade muscials. They really are the best!

Jacob is 11!

Lots of celebrating for this guy! 

{Jacob planned all of his meals for the day, beginning with a donut breakfast! Not pictured: McDonald's for lunch and Trader Joe's orange chicken for dinner.}

{Caleb came through yet again with a Hawkeye cake. And Jacob learned at Thanksgiving that he can lick his fingers and pinch out the candle flame, so he gave it another try on his birthday. Except that he ended up burning his fingers. Twice. Oops!}

We celebrated once more with the grandparents over the weekend!

{Jacob has worn that Santa hat every day in December. And tonight was no exception!}

{Oh my!}

{Same cake. Round two. Happily, no one wanted cake on Jacob's actual birthday, so we reused it for the family party. No shame!}

And at some point between now and his 12th birthday, we will have a birthday party with his friends. It's the neverending birthday!

Mother Daughter Extravaganza

On Friday, m'lady and I attended the school's Mother/Daughter event. It featured a hot chocolate bar and a gingerbread house construction activity. And I must say, that after becoming armpits deep in frosting and gum drops, a hot chocolate bar was not exactly the kind of bar I was hoping for! 

{Camryn had fun decorating the house that I hastily constructed. I have no idea how many times our house collapsed before it finally kind of stayed together. I believe that the combination of Camryn's saliva and hardened frosting was key. The directions said to let dry for several hours. But when there are only two hours to build and decorate the house, one must not pay attention to such major details. Our finished product reflected our decision to fly through the process.}

{Voila! Camryn's masterpiece. Ain't it a beaut?!}

{More importantly, Camryn had a blast running around with so many of her friends while I was sweating at the lunch table cursing this satanic project. I didn't realize just how much of a peanut Camryn is compared with her pals!}

{Camryn elected to leave her house at school. At this point one of the walls had completely collapsed leaving a nicely modern, yet structurally unsound open-air concept house.}

I have officially decided to sign up for next year's Mother/Daughter committee in which I plan to host a mimosa brunch with absolutely no crafts, and maybe no kids...

Sunday Funday

A throwback from a few Sundays ago...

Caleb promised Jacob a Bears game this season so with only a few home games left and temperatures in the 50s, he finally pulled the trigger on a game. And because the rest of us don't have that on our bucket list, we split up for equally fun--but different--days in the City!

{Cheap seats in the endzone for the win! From all accounts, their tickets were in the shady and windy side of the stadium--but with a view of the city, so there's that. Luckily, Caleb's parents were in town for the game, so Grandma saved the day by purchasing a blanket! Jacob got a Khalil Mack jersey as an early birthday gift and found this larger-than-life bobble head to grab a photo with!}

I took the others to the Museum of Science and Industry to burn time between drop off and pick up at the game.

{Because it was the weekend before Thanksgiving coupled with the Bears game, we nearly had the museum to ourselves. That tree, tho!}

{Mason brought a plus one, and Camryn met up with her plus one at the museum. We have been to this museum so many times that my kiddos know where everything is and were able to take off in different directions leaving me fairly confident that we would meet up again. And we did!}

{I love going through the mirror maze. Camryn prefers to just look at herself in the mirror maze!}

We grabbed ice cream to go and headed back north to grab the game goers just as the game was getting out. It was the perfect day for everyone!

November Bits

We are blazing through December, but trying not to forget those moments that filled up our November.

{This is what our November first looked like. When Fall meets Winter.}

{Mason is trying his hand (or foot) at soccer. He played a few times several years ago, and asked to play indoor soccer this season. There is one game each Saturday and no practices, which is perfect for our commitment and interest level. And let's just say that he is having fun, and that is what counts!}

{Mason discovered an actual hole in his rotting tooth. And after he brushed out all of the food surrounding that tooth, I was able to confirm the hole.}

{Camryn and I bonded over Dancing With The Stars this season. I am not sure which I enjoyed more: Watching the dancers on TV, or watching the live dancer in my family room mimic all of the professionals' moves!}

{I have been subbing more days than not, and I am LOVING it! And this note crafted by one of my second-grade students in art class seems to confirm that I am doing a great job!}

{Camryn found my hair crimper circa 1986. Would you believe it still works? Same frizzy hair effect that I remember many decades ago!}

{Jacob's class has a new science curriculum this year, and they are doing the coolest science experiments (like that one time another fifth-grade class started their classroom on fire while working with nail polish remover. True story.) Jacob and his buddy dissected an owl pellet, and they were able to piece together the animal the owl ate!}

{My mom took the kids for their annual fused glass ornament making project at the local junior college. After Camryn completed her pieces, she helped everyone clean up!}

{Camryn's class held a Thanksgiving party. Cute little pilgrim!}

Yanked.

Today was the day that Mason had his rotten, broken molar pulled from his mouth. And while he was a bit anxious en route to the dentist, the laughing gas eased his nerves. We were in and out of the office in 15 minutes, and in his gassed state Mason told the dentist he was having so much fun that he wanted him to pull another tooth! All smiles for this kid!

{Pre-dentist. One last smile!}

{I found this picture on my phone. Mason must have snapped this on the car ride home.}

{And there it is in all its rotten glory.}

Mason wrote a note asking the Tooth Fairy if he could keep his tooth. Rest assured that Ms. Fairy has no interest hijacking that hot mess of a tooth! 

Florida: Day 5

We closed out our vacation with another picture perfect Florida day. And what better way to spend it than at the beach?!

{Camryn is more of a land animal when at the beach. I totally agree!}

{Filling her time with some tumbling moves.}

{Camryn dipped her legs in the Gulf, which made her dramatically cold. But a little sunshine and Mom's way-to-big-for-a-little-girl beach cover up was just what she needed to warm up!}

{The boys went "hunting" for shark teeth. They found a whole bunch, and after not wanting to participate nearly the entire time, Mason found a shark tooth on his first sift through and was hooked!}

{Peace out, Sharky's Pier. Until we meet again...}

One last dip in the pool, and it was time to head home.

{There is no better way to shuttle to the airport than on your own private tram complete with chin-up bars and fireman poles!}

This trip was just the break from routine that we all needed!

Florida: Day 4

Monday. And the first day where it might actually be possible to sweat! We got after it early with plans to see the chalk drawings one last time before heading to Siesta Key beach for the Sandcastle Competition. 

All of the artists were done, which gave us time to admire all of the finished pieces! Our favorites were the 3D drawings.

It's crazy how three dimensional some of these drawings looked. It was a total brain teaser!

We hit the road quickly thereafter so as to not miss another second of the "White Sand Beach" as the kids call Siesta Key.

{But first, a drawbridge. Something we don't see much of in Illinois.}

Then on to the Sandcastle Competition. The kids had taken in enough "art" at this point, so they hurried through the sculptures so that they could get their feet wet in the ocean on this warm and sunny day!

{The design, construction, and detail was quite impressive!}

Finally, time for the kids to make their way to the beach. The sand really is quite remarkable, and, happily, it was packed down enough this time that everyone was able to walk on it without it sucking them in like quicksand. 

{Sand angels? Yes, please!}

We spent the better part of the afternoon making sandcastles and sand turtles, burying each other in the sand, splashing in the water, boogie boarding in the waves, and watching dolphins swim by. This was the vacation we were expecting!