1St Day of School

 

School started and we were all excited!!  The kids were actually more excited than I thought they would be.  I knew I was going to be ecstatic, but the kids were ready too.  Mackenzie had no problem adjusting.  She was super happy to see the kids when we picked them up and even screamed when she saw each of them!  It was really cute.  They all had a great first week and loved being with their friends.  Everyone except Damon really liked school.  We have a lot to be grateful for because the kids school experience is so much more normal than most kids this year.  They don't have to wear masks and not a whole lot has changed.  The biggest complaint they have is that they are not letting the kids play basketball or football at recess (heaven forbid they all touch the same ball, meanwhile they can all touch the same play equipment).  It has been so great to be in a routine and have a quiet house during the day.  Mackenzie is rather sticky to me.  She doesn't leave my side much!  

Damon's 9th Birthday

Damon wanted some friends to come over on his actual birthday so we made it happen.  A few boys were able to come hangout and open presents with him.  We played a few games and had fun with a lot of LOUD and crazy boys!!  

He wanted a Dallas Cowboys football cake, and I did the best I could!  He seemed please with it.  We did rootbeer floats with his friends so I thought I got out of a cake, but we celebrated with some family friends, so he got cake too!

I guess the frosting was good!

That was some BLUE cake.  Both Kyler and Damon asked me if I burnt the cake when they saw it out of the over.  No boys, it's just dark blue!

 

He had a great day!

Radley playing the balloon game, trying to keep 3 balloons in the air for as long as possible.  The boys all thought they would be so good at this game.  I think the longest anyone was able to do it was 13 seconds!!

Playing chopstick games!

So excited about presents

Here are the boys and Bentley playing a game with chopsticks.

This one they had to roll and apple with their nose across the room.  It was pretty funny to watch.

Mackenzie's Tooth, or lack thereof

Our baby girl forever changed while we were at Oma and Papa Dude's. I was on the phone trying to register the older kids for school and could hear her playing on the stairs. I told myself as soon as I got off the phone I was going to go her her so she wouldn't get hurt... Well, my phone call lasted literally 30 seconds too long because Oma brought her to me screaming and bleeding. Her lip was busted, but I needed to check her teeth. Low and behold her front tooth was not in the right place. I knew we needed to go see a dentist immediately.

We called on dentist and they weren't helpful, so we called a pediatric dentist and were told to bring her in about 3 hours later.  I knew that wouldn't work so I hung up the phone and drove to the office anyway.  Papa Dude came with us and Oma and Zadi took the other kids to Target.  I figured if I showed up at the office and both of us were covered in blood they wouldn't turn us away.

Thankfully by the time we got there she was pretty calm and sat in my lap watching Frozen in the waiting room while the dentist finished with another patient.  After showing them a picture of what her tooth looked like, they let us go back next.  He examined her and told me the tooth had to be pulled and couldn't be put back in place without a lot of work and no guarantees.  So we took an x-ray to make sure the permanent tooth pocket wasn't damaged.  It was just fine so then he numbed her with some gel.  After that we strapped her in the papoose to get some shot to numb it.  We took her out and waited a few minutes for the meds to kick in then put her back to pull the tooth.  It came out really easy, but it was so hard to watch and listen to her scream.  I felt horrible. 

It did make me feel better when the dentist told me the same thing happened to his daughter and she was without a tooth for a long time too.  He showed me some pictures and she was still a cute little girl.  They were really good with Mackenzie and made the process easier than it could have been.  We left with 3 toys even though they weren't giving prizes away because of COVID.  It makes me really guilty and sad that she will be without a front tooth for a long time, but it could have been way worse with broken bones and head lacerations so I need to be counting my blessings. 

She really bounced back quickly and was jumping off the couch by the evening.  I'm just glad that she's so little she doesn't know to be self-conscious of it and still smiles just as big as before!    
 

 

Yep, it was pretty nasty!

Getting her all strapped down to do shots & then again to pull the tooth.

The dentist in position to pull it.  It was really hard to stand there and watch, but I couldn't walk away and leave her alone.  It was pretty heartbreaking listening to her scream.

An ice cream sandwich really helped to cheer her up!

I actually sat down and read a book to her, that's how bad I felt because I hate reading books.

Don't mind the blood on her shirt because that ice cream was good!

Talking to Dad and telling him all about it.  Next time he needs to be around for the emergency!

She really did bounce back really quickly.

Believe it or not that bump and scrape on her forehead came from the day before at the zoo.

Pretty good idea of what her smile will look like for the next 7 years!  It has taken a while to get use to, but it really does fit her personality really well.

The Pool & Monkey

It's still hard to believe it was too cold to go swimming while we were in Missouri, but it was! With highs in the 70s, I was not about to get in the water, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They were cold and didn't last long, but they still went. There are some pretty funny videos of the kid jumping in trying to make a perfect splash. 

They all had fun hiding and being scared of Papa Dude's monkey. They played with that thing for hours hiding it in all kinds of places and trying to scare one another.

 

 

I'm not quite sure how many times they tried to get this sequence just right, but here are a few attempts!

Damon trying to make a small splash is hilarious!!

Bentley had a little bit of trouble getting the hang of the words and the jump!

As close to perfect at they could get!

St. Louis Zoo

We had a great time at the zoo. The weather was perfect!! I have never been that comfortable at the zoo. The kids did great and loved seeing the animals. Kyler brought his iPod to take 1000 pictures, keeping him busy. Mackenzie LOVED seeing everything. They were disappointed when the lions and tigers were not out, but they saw 5 cheetahs, an elephant, zebras, polar bears, gorillas, penguins, giraffes, etc, etc, etc.!  All the adults had to wear masks (I wasn't super compliant with it😬), but thankfully it wasn't too hot so it wasn't miserable.  The kids all ended up with a stuffed animal to take home at the end.  It was a good day.

 

In case you don't know some animal sounds...