Purple Belt

On Saturday Ashley tested for her next belt in her karate school. She was so excited to do the testing and not nervous at all which surprised me. Since I had to work John texted me when she was about to do her sparring so I could get there in time to see her break her boards and her belt ceremony. I didn't want to miss anything so I headed out a little early and was able to catch her doing her last few katas and see her spar with 5 separate opponents. It's amazing to see how much she has learned and to see how skilled she has become. We also figured out why she doesn't fight as strong when doing her test sparring. She usually is up against one of her senseis and seems intimidated. Well Saturday she was up against another student who is a black belt and about her size. She fought so hard and so well - we were so proud! Then after the katas and sparring was over they lined up to break their boards. When she tested for her green belt she only had to break one board but for her purple belt she had to break two. They had the option to break one at a time or both at the same time. She opted to break one at a time. The first one she broke with her foot and the second she broke with her fist. She's one strong girl! Once all the boards were broken it was time for the belt ceremony. All the kids take off their existing belts and then the Senseis call them up one at a time to put their new belt on and give them their certificate. I love when Ashley gets her new belts, she always has such a grin of acheivement on her face!

Busy Tooth Fairy

If anyone out there is missing the Tooth Fairy that would be because she's been quite busy with Ashley and Jack over the past week and a half. On Valentine's Day we went to a friend's daughter's birthday party. They had a bounce house which the kids dove into right away. Well as is to be expected the kids got a little rowdy and Jack wound up getting bonked in the chin by another child. Normally this would not be a problem, however he had a loose tooth on the bottom. It wasn't quite loose enough to be ready to come out, but the collision between Jack and the other child caused it to come almost completely out. It was not a pretty site and we felt so bad for him, especially because he was supposed to be going to Ninja Nite with his sister later that day. We gave him some ibuprofen for the pain and headed home. When we got almost home he piped up from the back seat that he was feeling fine and wanted to go to Ninja Nite. So we took the kids and checked with Sensei (the teacher/owner) and he said it was fine that he would keep an eye on Jack and his loose tooth. Especially because there was yet another bounce house. When we went to pick up the kids sure enough Jack had lost his tooth. Sensei wrapped it up for us and we put it under Jack's pillow that night for the Tooth Fairy.

Now that a little over a week has passed Ashley was complaining that her mouth was bothering her a little bit. We figured it was because she has been a little congested but I figured why not check her mouth anyway because she said she had a loose tooth. When I looked in I found that two of her permanent molars were growing in, pushing out the baby ones and they weren't budging. That would explain her discomfort. So Tuesday morning I called the dentist to see if she could go in and have them checked out and see if we could let nature take it's course or if they needed to be pulled. Sure enough they needed to be pulled. Poor kid had to have both of them taken out but was quite the trooper. Daddy took her and said she did really well. Ashley told me that there were other kids at the dentist who were afraid so the dentist had them watch him pull Ashley's teeth and she said she didn't flinch, scream or cry - only curled her toes so the other kids couldn't see. So as a treat we took her to IHOP last night for pancakes (it also helped that they were having free pancakes so we all got a treat). So when we got home and the kids went to bed Ashley put her newly extracted teeth under her pillow for another Tooth Fairy visit.

Hopefully this will be it for a while, but we'll see. If you notice the Tooth Fairy missing again let us know.

Tradition Continues

While driving home on Monday after getting Ashley from karate Ashley and I were talking and goofing off a little as we always do. It was a little extra because Jack had fallen asleep in the back seat. After we entered our development she stopped and I asked her what was going on, if she was ok because I found it odd she just stopped. She said "I'm doing what Grandpa says you're supposed to do." It didn't hit me at first but then I realized, she had her hands folded in her lap and was looking out her window. What possessed her to do that I have no idea, but it made me smile.

It's gone!

This past Tuesday afternoon while Jack was home with John after school he was snacking. While snacking his loose tooth finally came out. Ever since we discovered his loose tooth we've been anxiously waiting for it to come out. I also had been watching extra close as it got looser and looser because I was afraid of him losing it in his sleep and swallowing it since it was a bottom tooth. I know that you cannot pull them prematurely because it will cause a lot of bleeding, so I try my best to let the loose teeth run their course and come out when they're ready. I remember Ashley's first loose bottom tooth it was very loose one night and when she woke up in the morning it was out and no where to be found. After searching her bed, pillow, covers, stuffed animals and everything else where it possibly could have fallen John and I concluded that she swallowed it. We left a note for the tooth fairy that evening and she was still able to cash in.

Jack was very excited to see me when I got home from work to show me the new found hole in his mouth. He also informed me that Ashley had helped him wrap his tooth in a napkin and put it under his pillow. I thought that was so sweet and then found that Ashley had also loaned him her Tooth Fairy pillow to put it in. Ashley got an extra hug that night for being such a great big sister. Although I had explained the Tooth Fairy concept to Jack previously when we discovered his tooth was loose Ashley gave him step by step information as they wrapped his tooth and put it under his pillow. These are the moments I know I will treasure as they continue to grow and the memories of them fighting will hopefully fade.

I was woken up the following morning to a very excited 5 year old staring me in the face with a big grin holding a dollar in one hand and a Tooth Fairy pillow in the other. Later that day Jack says to me "Mommy, I think I have another loose tooth!" Not sure if I like this idea ....

Loose Tooth

We have hit another milestone in the life of Jack. I meant to post this earlier but just never got to sit down to do so. Last week Jack discovered he had a loose tooth. He didn't quite understand it or know why he had it. He also wasn't very happy about it because it hurt when he bit into things now. I felt bad for him because he was just getting over a sinus infection that really tuckered him out. I told him about the Tooth Fairy and how once his tooth comes out we'll put it under his pillow and the Tooth Fairy will come and leave him money for his tooth. Once he heard that he was perfectly ok with having a loose tooth. He was so funny because as soon as I finished telling him his response was "Money? So I can buy things?!"

The camera was still in John's truck which he took to work today so I had to improvise with my phone.

Congratulations Ashley!

When John checked the mail on Thursday there was a letter from the Seminole County Schools for us. Inside was the letter we've been waiting for since December. It was our letter of notification that Ashley has been selected to attend Sanford Middle Magnet School. Ashley had gone to the open house with John back in October and came home so excited, practically begging for us to put in an application for her. It is a science and math magnet school. Ashley wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up and the school has special classes guided for this as well as other science and math professions. One of the science classrooms has two tanks that are stocked with fish that the kids have to take care of and learn about.

We were excited to share the news with her so we sat her down and told her we had received a letter. At first we were going to try to pull the "I'm sorry Ashley" trick and then surprise her with telling her the wonderful news. But as soon as I showed her the envelope she says to us "I know, I got in" so matter of fact. It turned out that her school was notified as well and the guidance counselor had told her that day at lunch. So our moment was a bit ruined but she is still very excited to have gotten into the school she was really hoping for.

Is Nana on the airplane?

Yesterday on my drive between getting children Jack and I were having our normal conversation of how his day was at school. When we were driving through one of the developments I cut through on the way to get Ashley an airplane flew overhead. Jack asked if that was our airplane which I told him it belonged to the airport. He then asked me, is Nana on the airplane? I told him no, she was home at her house. He said to me "I wish Nana was on the airplane and could come to my house. Can she come on Tuesday?" I said to him we'd have to talk to Nana and see and maybe one Tuesday she could come. He then says "How about we can go to Nana's house on Tuesday and then Nana can come to our house and she can come to Show and Tell on Friday." I told him we could try, but we could not do that this week but I'm sure Nana would love to come to Show and Tell one Friday. Maybe she can come when the week's letter is "N" and she could be his Show and Tell. Of course I get a boisterous "Ya!" out of the back seat with that suggestion. Now we just have to work out the travel arrangements I guess.