First Lost Tooth

Olive lost her first tooth!  She was complaining that her tooth hurt when she was eating snack.  I told her it was probably loose.  Ten minutes later she had a whole in her smile.  Hannah lost her first tooth in kindergarten so Olive has been waiting awhile.  On the night before Olive's last day of kindergarten Olive said, "Mom, I don't think it is going to happen for me."  I agreed it probably would not.  But her wait is over and she is very happy to be in the toothless club.  Her other bottom tooth is now loose so I think it is going to be a big year for the tooth fairy!

First Lost Tooth

First lost tooth!  It was not loose at all.  She was playing around with a hair band in her mouth and it popped the tooth out!  We can already see the new one.  The tooth fairy delivered a tiny note and a silver dollar.

Front Tooth

On her half birthday, Hannah lost her front tooth!  It actually began wiggling on her REAL birthday in March.  Yeah.  And her other front tooth is wiggly.  And two on the bottom.  This girl is in no hurry to lose teeth.  It is crazy they didn't fall out when she had the scooter accident.  And now I'm off to take more pictures of toothless Hannah because her adult tooth is already growing in. :(

Star of the Week

Hannah was star of the week for her class.  It was a big assignment.  She was randomly selected on a Friday, then we had to bring the following to school on Monday:

• pictures of her
• items that represent her
• completed "Star of the Week" form
• pictures of her doing things with Sparkle the stuffed moose
• 5 sentences describing what she did with Sparkle the stuffed moose
• items to go in an estimation jar (not anything that we want to keep because items will be passed out to the class)

We took Sparkle to Lakeside Nature Center and met up with Grandma and Grandpa.

We also took him to the zoo for Nikita the Polar Bear's 9th birthday.  The girls were really excited about it until they realized Nikita would be eating the cupcakes and not them.  It was still a beautiful day at the zoo.  A lot of people had the same idea as us and we randomly ran into two people we knew.  I love it when KC feels like a small town.

baby penguin

And on the last day with Sparkle, Hannah lost another tooth!  She is now up to six.

And then on Friday she gave a presentation to the class talking about the pictures and items she chose.

Her Star of the Week form says

• Age: 6 1/2
• A word that describes me: helpful
• My favorite food is: macaroni
• My favorite color is: pink
• My favorite sport: soccer
• When I grow up: teacher
• One thing I dislike is: tornadoes
• My family members are: Mama, Dada, Olive, Rosa
• These are my hobbies: nature walks, drawing, biking, swimming, running, building circuits

Then (yes, there is more) the class listed adjectives to describe Hannah and her teacher wrote them on a page.  Each classmate wrote at least 5 sentences about why they liked Hannah and it was all put into a book with the adjectives sheet as the cover.  It was really cute to hear the kids describe her.  I want her new nickname to be "big brain," but Hannah doesn't think it is as funny as I do.

Hannah's back cover to her book

Olive made a page for Hannah's book, too.  The numbers are showing that Hannah always divides the cookies so it is fair.

Aunt Peggy's Holiday Survey

Steve's Aunt Peggy sent us a holiday survey that looked like fun. I made Steve do it in hopes of getting in the holiday spirit and finding out some more about his Christmas memories. As you'll see, he doesn't have many. It was a lost cause.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate for both of us.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or sit them under the tree?
S- It was about 50/50. Santa did a little of both.
M- Mom always said Santa doesn’t have time to wrap. You know, he travels all over the world. I think he has enough on his plate.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white

4. Do you hang mistletoe? no

5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon as we can after Thanksgiving. Usually it doesn't happen until the first weekend in December.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding desserts?)
S- Turkey
M- Lasagna? Oops. That's not a holiday dish. Yeah, I don't really love traditional holiday food. Turkey is okay I guess.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
S- Drinking extra water Christmas Eve to make myself wake up in the middle of the night and sneak peaks.
M- Justin always woke up first. He would wake up the rest of the family. We'd wait at the top of the stairs until everyone was ready. Then we'd all go in the living room at the same time.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
S- I don't remember.
M- I was probably in third or fourth grade. We were in the car when I asked my mom point blank. She told me and I was crushed. But then I remembered that at least the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny were real and I said something about that. More bad news.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
S- I don't remember.
M- Yes. Usually it is a gag gift.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have our old ornaments from when we were little plus new ones that kids have given me. This year I bought some new blue and silver ornaments. There are disco balls. :)

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
S- Not a fan.
M- Love it. I remember not letting Justin and Marissa play in the snow in the front yard because I wanted to keep it perfect. Some might call me a perfectionist.... But seriously. How can you not love snow? It's beautiful.

12. Can you ice skate?
S- I tried it once. Not a fan.
M- Not very well, but it was fun.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
S- The Atari was really good. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
M- One year it was a She-Ra sleeping bag. One time a pink and purple ten-speed bike. One time a stereo.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
S- Fudge.
M- Being around my immediate family and playing lots of board games. Seeing extended family that I don't usually see.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
S- The aforementioned fudge.
M- Scotcheroos that Grandpa makes.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
S- Are you kidding me? Can this go on any longer? Oh, I do have one. Beating Charlie at chess.
M- Going to the Christmas Eve service at the church I grew up in and singing Silent Night. Also, it's a new tradition, but the white elephant exchange with the Meneelys/Schads is very fun. I have some really good presents for Uncle Dennis this year. :)

17. What tops your tree? Silver star. Our first Christmas together it was a star made of tin foil.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?
S- Giving. Don't give me any gifts, thanks.
M- Giving. Especially to kids.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
S- That one with the drums that's not Little Drummer Boy.
M- Silent Night, but White Christmas is a close second. And all the songs off the Mixed Nuts soundtrack are Meneely favorites.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
S- Fudge.
M- Mostly yuck unless they are the new flavored kind.