Sorry in advance for the scattered thoughts

3rd lost tooth:

It is a good thing this happened today because Ryan is traveling and I absolutely HATE pulling out teeth. I had to do one of his other teeth and I about threw up (I don't think I ever got over having to pull my own tooth out at school in 2nd grade)! Today he was eating a bagel after church and started freaking out. There was blood everywhere and it was hanging on by a thread. Ryan tried to pull it, but it wouldn’t come. He was pretty upset, along with me, but managed to pull himself together to eat samples at Costco :). Later in the day, Ryan reminded him that the tooth fairy would come and he opened his mouth and was ready to go. It came out pretty easily, but bled a lot. I think we’ll have a bit of time until the next tooth.

First basketball game today (from Ryan):

It was a blast. Reggie and I didn’t quite know what to expect. Herding cats pretty much sums it up. I’m the assistant coach and there were a lot of kids running in all different directions, all wanting a piece of the ball. After the first quarter they all started to get it. Reggie was hustling and trying to get the ball. He had a couple of opportunities to dribble but didn’t quite get a chance to take a shot. There are a few kids on his team that shoot whenever they have the ball. The highlight of the game is when Reggie got the ball, got spun around and started dribbling toward the wrong end of the court. He had a breakaway but he was going the wrong way. He finally figured it out, but by the time he did a girl stole the ball, continued dribbling to her basket and scored a basket. He didn’t really know what was going on at the time but after the game when I asked him what he did, he got a smile on his face and said “I know what I did.” This is great for him as he’s getting more aggressive and interested in team sports.

Walkathon and carnival

Last Sat. we had Reggie’s walkathon (thank you all who supported him-he raised over $120!). I ran with him, but at a steady pace. The younger kids have such a different running style, sprinting, then walking. He found his friends and they all ran away from me when I got close. Reggie did 17 laps in 1 hour which is over 4 miles! After that, we had some food and played some games and of course, picked out a prize.

Early wake-ups and chore chart

The daylight savings time change is killing us. Reggie was up at 5:15 on Sunday and 5:45 on Monday. We finally seem to be at about 6:30…they seem to have no problem staying up later!!!

We’ve been having some issues lately with attitudes and it has been very challenging to both Ryan and me. It is hard to have a positive attitude toward the kids when we are always asking them to pick up or do this or do that or telling them no all the time. It is exhausting. So, I decided last week to put together a chore/goal chart. They get money for chores and smiley faces for goals (no hitting/shoving, no gimmies, no negative talk/yelling, listening, happy attitude and manners). If they get a certain number of smiley faces, they get a reward. This week is an extra hour of t.v. I put myself on the list too, so we can all participate :o). Reggie was so excited about it that he called Ryan to tell him what we are doing (he’s out of town for a couple days). It has only been almost a week, and Reggie has definitely improved! I’m not sure it will be too successful with Ainsley (she doesn’t really care much about prizes and money), but this is the kind of thing that really motivates Reggie and he’s been more of a challenge, so I’m glad it is helping. Reggie earned $4.25 (he folded 36 pairs of socks, so he got $3.60 extra) and Ainsley $3 this week :o) and I’m sure will be very excited to collect.

Ryan at school (Ryan blogging):

I was able to work it into my schedule to go on the Pumpkin patch field trip with Ainsley. She was very excited to have me at a school event during the day! The kids got to play in the hay maze, corn box, and also got to pick out their own pumpkin. The weather had been terrible the day before, so we weren’t sure we’d get to go, but it was beautiful, although a bit muddy.

Then, last Monday, I took Ainsley to school to present a family tradition. A few years ago, we started doing Operation Christmas Child. They send shoe boxes full of toys/toothbrushes/books to children all over the world who may have never received a present. At first it was very difficult for the kids to go to the dollar store and not want something for themselves, but this year was much better and I hope we are teaching them the importance of giving and being thankful for all the things that we have. Ainsley was very excited, but also shy to have Daddy at her school. I felt very special to be there with her as I could tell she was happy to have me there. She helped me take all of the toys out of the box as I was telling the kids what they were for. It was cute and one little boy raised his hand and asked if he could have one of the toys. A good lesson learned as we had to explain to him and the other children that these gifts were for kids that were less fortunate.

Allergic to penicillin:

I noticed a rash on Reggie during his Halloween party at school, but thought it may have been from his costume. The next morning the rash looked a bit worse and as soon as I gave him his medicine it occurred to me that he may be having a reaction to amoxicillin. I called the pharmacist who said he should be seen, so on our way to Six Flags, we stopped to see the Dr. She asked if he’d ever had it before and honestly, I couldn’t remember. Since he’s never had an ear infection, there wouldn’t be much reason for it. His reactions was not typical (of course), but she was about 99% sure that it was from his medicine. Kind of a bummer….As I’m writing this, Ainsley is changing her babies….her baby has the fots (farts) and air in her boobs!

Making playdough cupcakes (thanks Kirsten!):

Playdate with friends: