My Little Jill-o-Lantern

Friday night, Stefan and I went to a movie leaving the girls in Faron's ever-capable hands. Lexi apparently lost a tooth while we were gone. She didn't realize it when it happened...nor did he. I'm guessing she swallowed it. Lexi informed me of the loss on Saturday. Could it be that she was testing the theory of the Tooth Fairy, or did she really not notice? Who knows. Anyway, once I was enlightened I told her to write a note to the Tooth Fairy. She typed it out on the computer and it went something like this:

Dear Tooth Fairy,

I swallowed my tooth. Can you still give me money? If so, can you make it $10?

Your Friend,
Lexi

Nah, she doesn't ask for much...really! So Saturday passed and the tooth fairy never came. Why? Stefan and I blamed it on the fact that Lexi didn't put out her special tooth pillow with a pocket for the treasure. So, last night was the night. The tooth fairy came, but Lexi did not receive her $10. She got $1. That'll teach her to be demanding!

Flash forward to this afternoon.

I returned home from school, got the report from my mom that Abby had been good (thank God!) and after she left, Lexi informed me that she had discovered another loose tooth and that she hadn't been wiggling it at all(I do think thou dost protest too much, dear Lexi). So she showed me and this tooth was ready to come out too. Lexi persisted to "not wiggle" the tooth and after a few short moments it fell out.

Now Lexi has a very toothless grin. She is missing 3 out of 4 of her front teeth on the top. The one she does have is only halfway grown in in the year that has passed since the baby tooth vacated the spot. Another is just barely breaking the gums, so it'll be at least another year before that gap is filled.

I told Lexi tonight at dinner that I would not be able to look at her without giggling for quite a while. It's such a sight to see. She seemed to think that would be funny...my giggling, that is.

So, my dear Tooth Fairy, I do apologize that we couldn't have saved you a trip. It looks like you'll be returning again tonight--the second night in a row. You might as well add us to your frequent flyer list.

Abby's too tired for monsters

With the time change and the fact that it's getting dark at 6 p.m., Abby has developed a fear of the dark. Not only is she afraid of the dark, but she thinks that monsters are looming everywhere. Here's a video.

Abbyism

Last night, I took the time to go through the girls' closets and remove the outgrown items (some of which could go directly from Lexi's closet to Abby's) and rearrange the closets for the new seasons. We were in Abby's room and I was giving outgrown items to Stefan to box up, the girls were dancing and everyone was getting along...until, Stefan realized the door was locked. In most cases, this is no big deal since the doors NORMALLY lock from the inside, but we turned Abby's doorknob around to lock from the outside because she would never go to sleep by constantly trying to escape. We were locked in. We didn't have a "key" and we were in trouble. Stefan tried to no avail to unlock it with whatever we could find, but that was not working. I started feeling light-headed. The claustrophobia was kicking in. Finally, I spotted a plastic hanger with a thick, unbendable metal hook that I hoped had a long enough part that screwed into the plastic to reach the mechanism to release the lock. I ripped it apart hoping that it would work because otherwise, we'd have to call for someone to come rescue us. It took some finagling, but he finally got the door open. Thank you, Abby, for just about giving Mommy a heart attack.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was loads of fun this year although at first glance I didn't think it would be. Let me start at the beginning...err the middle because the beginning is actually quite boring.

Barbara and Dennis were here when I got home from school. They had been watching the ghouls until Stefan and I could get home. We had dinner together and all seemed well. Abby was a hoot putting on a show (aka spinning in circles and demanding we clap when she stopped). This went on for quite awhile until it was time to start getting ready for Trick-or-Treating.



I began by putting Abby's Jo Jo hat on which she seemed to enjoy. Then I put the costume on. Again she seemed to enjoy it, that is until moments later she wanted it "hoff". When I wouldn't remove it, she pitched an ever-living fit. She was screaming hysterically and hating us all. Stefan handled her by taking her outside (where the screams were still heard) while I got Lexi dressed as a hula girl.

Finally, we set out for the door to door panhandling...err trick-or-treating, but Abby didn't want anything to do with it. She insisted on being held by Stefan and continued to pout through the first block.







Even meeting up with Katelynn (Abby's friend from around the bend) didn't warm Abby's spirits.





We continued to a few more houses while Stefan had to "help" Abby trick-or-treat.



Finally, Abby spotted a neighbor with a dog and she wanted down. Once she was down, that was the end of it. She decided she was a big girl and would do the task on her own. She'd go to the door, say, "Ticky twee," receive her loot and say "Take ooo" as she examined her new prize on the way back to us. This amused Stefan, Barbara, and me and we got a good laugh for many more houses to come.



At the houses that just left out their candy to avoid the incessant doorbell ringing, Abby would take one piece and watch it fall into her bag, take another, then another, then... you get the point. About halfway through the night, she was so into the fun that she would say, "I want moe times!" At that point, enduring the tantrum earlier in the evening was pushed to the backs of all of our minds.

Here are the girls at the end of the night.





The end.

Silliness at the Playground

We stole the opportunity to take the girls to the playground on a day with phenomenal weather. Here are some pics.

Lexi's 7th Birthday

Lexi's Birthday fell on a Thursday this year. We woke her in the morning and she was quite insistent on wearing her favorite dress so she could be fancy. Nana, who was volunteering at her school that day anyway, brought cupcakes for the class to celebrate since Stefan was at work and I was at school all day. Nana to the rescue!!!!

Later Nana, Papaw, Uncle Faron, Stefan, Abby and I took her to her favorite restaurant, Viva Mexico. She scarfed down on her usual dinner of a cheese quesadilla and mexican queso with chips. Afterward, we all caravaned back to the house for a Carvel ice cream cake.








Friday was spent making the tower of cupcakes Lexi wanted for her party that weekend. This took all night, because I actually ended up burning a cake with my silicon bakeware because I didn't know how to adjust the cooking times for the dishes. Oh well, we had enough mix and were still able to produce the tower that Lexi wanted.



Saturday we had her party for her friends at Lexi's favorite playground. Madison, Carolyn, Savannah, Mikey, Ian and Riley all came. Lexi had a blast. We served hot dogs and of course cake/cupcakes.









When the kids were tuckered out, we returned home with a tagalong, Lexi's best friend Savannah who was going to stay the night. This was Lexi's first sleep over with a non-relative and the girls played like crazy. They were very well-behaved and I'm happy that Lexi was able to host her first sleepover. She had a blast!