Donuts for the Tooth Fairy

Wow, what a special day for Olivia!!!! She lost her first tooth!!!! I'm so happy, excited, and sad all at the same time. I'm so happy that she's going through another "rite of passage" but sad because it's another reminder that she's growing up. She is so excited and can't wait to see what the Tooth Fairy brings her. Al and I can't seem to agree on how much the 1st tooth is worth but we'll have to decide soon! =) Here's a picture of Ms. Olivia Grace minus one bottom tooth.

Losing her tooth was kind of a funny story - she had a piece of her book bag in her mouth and her BFF Raeva pulled it ALONG with her tooth. She said she wanted to cry but didn't because it hurt and I think the blood kind of freaked her out. LOL Oh, and Ms. Chure came to the rescue at school and found the teenie, weenie tooth on the gym floor!

Today was also Donuts for Dad at THA. The kids were *sssssooo excited* that their Daddy was going to school with them this morning. They love Daddy so much! I do too - I don't tell you enough Al that you are the best father, husband and best friend I could have ever asked for. We heart you! =)

No Way!!!

You guys will NEVER believe what I found in Cooper's bookbag yesterday! Want take a stab at it?

*waiting patiently*

Ok, let me just tell you because you won't EVER guess.......

He won TERRIFIC KID for the month of November in his class!!! Can you believe that? This given to a kid that the teacher is *constantly* telling me he's misbehaving and bullying other kids! I just don't get his teacher anymore. I'm stoked that he WON though! He was sssoo proud of his certificate too.

I love my little man!

Oh, and Olivia has her first ever loose tooth!!!!

I love her!

Olivia is the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful daughter in the whole world! Yesterday before I could even walk in the door, she ran up to me, gave me a huge hug and said "Happy Birthday Mommy, I love you!" It was great! And to make it even better, Cooper copied Sissy and gave me the same big hug and told me happy birthday. Olivia was so proud of herself because she made me a card. I have to say, it's the best card I've *ever* received. I plan on keeping it until I die. =)

Tell me one thing sweeter than a 5 year old's big, sloppy, super sweet handwriting?

Olivia is sweet, but she's also the most clever little girl! She followed that birthday card up with her Christmas list for Santa!

Olivia being silly - I love her so much!

It's My Birthday

Today is my 31st birthday - woo hoo! I've had a great day...Al and the kids gave me a new pair of tennis shoes (which are much, much needed). They are pink and white so I do believe Al has been spending too much time around Olivia Grace! =) I love them! All the girls at the office gave me some moolah so I have a few dollars to actually spend on my self. I'm really looking forward to that. I saw some cute shirts at the store the other day when Mom took me shopping (thanks Mama!) that I think I want to go back and get. Thanks to everyone for the Happy Birthday wishes!

In other news - Cooper's class had a Pilgrim celebration today. Here's a picture of his class all dressed up. He's the one in the front on the left. Don't they all look super cute?

What do you think?

I am not cut off to be a professional photographer - so I give props to your hubby Aron! I tried my hardest to get a cute picture of the kids *together* (that being the magic word) in matching PJs this year for Christmas. It took me all of 5 seconds to get absolutely frustrated with them. I did get ONE cute picture. So I guess it wasn't all a complete failure. =)

Is this one Christmas card worthy? I LOVE Cooper's smile in this one. Olivia's isn't great, but she refuses to smile where she shows her teeth these days. I like how she's holding her Santa for you to see "Splash Greetings" clearly. I don't know....I'm not sold on this yet but I really dread trying this again!

The kids got a candy cane from Wal-Mart over the weekend.....this is all they have done with them - well, other than fight each other with them - is make them into a heart. You know, the more pictures I take of that carpet in my living room, the more I hate it. For the record - Al picked it out, not me. =)

Olivia's face is so cute here but check out Cooper cheesing.

Let me know what you all think of the first pic....you know I have to get my Christmas cards made up soon!

The Pictures say it all....

I think the pictures say enough here. I'm stressed......

It doesn't show up well, but that marker took FOREVER to get off.

Yeap, that's about how it is these days.......

Madagascar 2

Al and I took the kids to see Madagascar 2 - it was cute.....not as funny as the first one, but that's how sequels go right? The kids really enjoyed it - between the two of them, they each drank an entire drink and ate a LARGE popcorn. Yikes!!! There are some really cute movies coming out before the end of the year -

Bolt - this one looks funny - it's about a dog that's a super hero on TV and thinks he's one in real life too.

Bedtime Stories - this is with Adam Sandler....looks cute but I'm not sure it's for a family with small kids like ours.

Marley and Me - this is with Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. I'm guessing it's based loosely on the book "Bad Dog, Marley!" and my kids LOVE that book.

There's also another one about a mouse that saves a Princess but I can't think of the name. It looks really cute too.

So I recommend checking out some movies with your family this year......it's really cheap in our little town so I love when they get family movies. Our entire trip to the movies with a family of 4 costs us $16. You CAN NOT get 4 movie tickets, 3 drinks and a large popcorn for that price in Flo-town!

Slow days...but it's been nice.....

Not much has been going on here - so that's why I haven't been posting much lately. We're in our routine for now and enjoying it. Al and I have finally gotten Cooper back to getting to sleep on time and not staying up half the night. AND we have been limiting TV for the kids and their behaviour has IMPROVED greatly. There are days they don't even *ask* to watch TV (which I thought would NEVER, EVER happen). We don't allow anything but Noggin at this point (unless it's Mommy/Daddy approved) - I really think some of the issues we were having with Cooper stemmed from over-stimulation he was getting from watching TV and then staying up so late. So far it seems to be working wonders for him. It's actually really nice because we find ourselves doing more with the kids or finding that the kids are spending more time together playing or fighting....or both! =)

Here are the wild ones at Kyan's 4th birthday party last week. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing Kelly and Kyan again!

Halloween Fun!

Can I tell ya'll how HAPPY I am that Halloween is finally *over*? =) You should see the MASSIVE mountain of candy my two kids got! Lucky for me, I was able to stash some away for stockings at Christmas - and they haven't even noticed that the mountain got a little smaller. Ha ha! They had a blast though - it was pure torture to get the kids to wait until after 6pm to start trick or treating. They were wild when we finally did let them loose. After hitting some houses on our road, we headed over to our church and participated in "Trunk or Treat" - more candy for the kids! Our final trip was to Grandma's house for the annual Griggs Family Halloween party. There was a hayride, kids games, and you got it - MORE CANDY!!!! It was really fun and when we left, the kids crashed in the car before we hit the highway.

Olivia sporting Jay's "Joe Dirt" wig - she thought it really made her look like Sleeping Beauty. Gotta love mullets! =)

Our niece Loren - she was the cutest fairy at the party!

Our nephew Rooney....oh, I mean Louis. How cute is that costume?

Cooper before we headed out to trick or treat.....the pumpkin (aka Pumpky) is almost as big as he is! I added a black eye to his costume that night - he looked so cute!

Olivia and Cooper - Halloween 2008