Valentine's 2013

Mom found some Valentine's ideas on Pinterest this year and let the kids each pick some to use.  E liked the Pop Rocks idea even though she had no idea what they are.  Ben chose Star Wars Lego and then they both used the Bee Mine idea with Burt's Bees for the teachers.  The kids worked hard to sign all of their valentines and were so excited to share them with friends.

An ice cream float with cherry 7-up - Yum!

A wild eyed Ben with Jake and Drew showing off a Lego creation

 

Ben and Holden enjoying valentine treats

Ben's valentine monkey mask

Ben got to have a party on the 13th.  The school gets so crowded at party time that they have to spread them over a couple of days.  Mom got to join Ben and had fun watching him interact with his friends.  He got to do several crafts, eat fun treats and enjoy some free time.  He is now a huge fan of ice cream floats.  The kids exchanged valentines before the party and enjoyed a pizza lunch afterward.  So much fun!  Mom also got a chance to hear some nice things about Ben from Mrs. B which is always a sweet treat.

Happy Meal lunch and iced cookies for E's class!

One happy valentine!

Elizabeth's party was on Valentine's Day.  Mom joined her while the class enjoyed a Happy Meal lunch and special iced cookies.  They exchanged valentines at another time during the day and got lots of fun treats.  We had a nice visit with her friends Jake and Landon and had a really special lunch together.

Look, Ma! No Tooth!

 

Mom got a text from Ben's teacher just before lunch on the day after Valentine's.  "New smile headed your way!"  She also sent the above picture.  His back tooth started coming in a couple of weeks before and the front tooth just got more and more wiggly each day.  It started "flopping around" at school that morning and Ben decided he was going to have the nurse help him pull it.  Wow!  Mom was so excited she could hardly stay away from the school until pickup time and was also relieved that the nurse pulled and took care of everything.  

Mom and Dad had a new tooth pillow ready for Ben when he got home to put his tooth in for the tooth fairy that night.  She came and Ben is now trying to see what else might be wiggly enough to come out soon. 

Interview with E: Four Years Old

What is your name?

Elizabeth

How old are you?

Four (shows fingers)

What can you do now that you're four?

Shuffle step

Tell me how you celebrated your birthday.

It was good.  I bounced.

How tall are you now?

523 (shows height with hand)

What is your favorite color?

Pink!

What is your favorite TV show?

Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins

What is your favorite movie?

Toy Story and Cinderella

What is your favorite book?

Pop Goes the Weasel ???

What is your favorite outfit?

A Doc McStuffins outfit that we haven't bought yet.....hmm.....

What makes you happy?

Petting a dog

What makes you sad?

Bad words

What is your favorite song?

Jesus Loves Me and The Bible Song

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Doctor and Mommy

What is your favorite food?

Chicken Nuggets

What is your favorite fruit?

Peaches

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Pop Tart

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Pancakes

What is your favorite snack?

Fruit snacks

What is your favorite cereal?

Corn Pops

What is your favorite drink?

Water and milk

What is your favorite part of school?

Going outside

What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Play alot

What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas

What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

Puppies

Who are your friends?

Mikah

What is your favorite animal?

Puppies!

E’s 4 Year Old Checkup: The Shots Heard ‘Round the World

Mom told Elizabeth that it was time for her checkup to see how much she had grown this year.  Dad was able to join us (thank goodness!) and Elizabeth did really well getting weighed, measured and checked out.  Everything looked good.  We asked the doctor a few questions and were ready to leave with no concerns.  We knew that shots were coming at the end.  After the doctor left, Mom quickly started to tell E that she needed to get medicine to stay healthy and they were going to be shots that gave her a pinch in the leg.  We told the story of Ben’s experience and how worried he was but that he just gritted his teeth and closed his eyes and didn’t even make a peep.  Elizabeth practiced the face and we let her know we would be by her side the whole time.  It is a good thing there wasn’t much more time before the nurse returned or Mom would have started gloating about this wonderful teaching moment and planning how she would tell Ben what a great example he was. . . . .

 Her pre-shot smiles

The nurse came in and Elizabeth was nervous, but followed the instructions to lie down and hold hands with Mom and Dad and that something cold would be coming first.  That was the first crack in her armor.  She does not like cold things to be on her skin!  She started whining and then before we all knew it the shots came one, two, three………. Blood curdling screaming and messy crying ensued.  Each shot getting louder results than the first and the nurse’s eyes bigger with each one.  The nurse let her know how sorry she was that it hurt and told her to cuddle Mom and Dad and get some hugs to feel better.  Well, she evidently didn’t realize how mad Elizabeth was at Mom and Dad.  “NOOOOO!” Elizabeth screamed.  The nurse looked confused.  Mom and Dad let the nurse know that she just needed a moment and all would be okay.  We tried to comfort Elizabeth and worked at picking her up to hug but she would not have any part of it.  She finally sat up enough so she could spit on and yell at Dad about this injustice that she had just endured.  She was determined to just leave without her pants as she was surely not going to be touched on her legs any more, but Mom convinced her to get back into her clothes carefully so we could press toward the goal – ice cream.  We even collected ourselves enough to give the nurse a smile and a “have a good night!” on our way out.  The nurse looked relieved and was likely glad there was no more screaming and that we were leaving.  It isn’t good PR for a doctor’s office to have a child scream like they are having their legs sawed off when convincing other patients to hold still.  

Elizabeth was still a little grouchy on the way home, but looked forward to getting home so she could eat her sucker.  She enjoyed her sucker at home and we thought we were going to dinner and ice cream next.  Well, she had removed her pants again at a restroom break and let us know that she would not be wearing pants in the car, but would put them on in the restaurant.  That wasn’t a good answer so it took a while to decide that ice cream was worth wearing pants.  By the time we got out, it was getting later so we decided to go for one stop – the new Dairy Queen.  Both kids found something they liked on the menu and were looking forward to a treat.  We agreed that they could even get a Blizzard.  They had never had a Blizzard before so we did our best to explain.  Ben was sold on the concept and eagerly ordered.  E finally decided on M&Ms.  Well, part of the experience is that the nice young man that makes the Blizzard turns it upside down when handing it to you to show you how thick it is.  Elizabeth thought he was dumping it out or something and lost it again.  “I am not eating that!  I need a new one!”  We apologized to the nice young man and let him know it was way beyond his scope to fix this and proceeded to try to get to the car.  On the way out, Elizabeth managed to shove the Blizzard into Mom’s pants and the Blizzard was promptly confiscated.  She whimpered all the way home about her ruined ice cream, but realized eventually that she was the only one not enjoying ice cream.  When reality set in, she magically became compliant and admitted later that she did actually like the ice cream after she tried it.  Longest.  Day.  Ever.  

The good news is that the next scheduled shots aren’t until 11.  Maybe by then she will realize that Ben’s method of closing his eyes is better.

The Harlem Globetrotters

On a whim we got tickets to go see the Harlem Globetrotters when they came to Tulsa.  Both kids had been asking to go to a KU game and since that didn’t work out this year, we thought they might enjoy this.  Ben was their target audience.  He loved their jokes and elementary humor.  He loved the amazing stunts and ball handling skills and he loved cheering against the other team.  The other team is called Global Select now.  Not sure when that happened, but Mom and Dad were a little disappointed there were no Washington Generals.  Ben did struggle to realize that the Harlem Globetrotters were likely to win.  They were down by a lot and were ready for a huge comeback and Ben was just beside himself with the “backwards” score.  But then as they regained their lead, he was playing the part of super fan again and jumping out of his seat cheering.  Elizabeth was tired and probably could have enjoyed a shorter version of the game, but she also really loved it.  She tells some of the happenings in great detail like when they switched the ball for a helium balloon and it floated to the ceiling.  There is also some story that she tells about when one player used a flute, but we have figured out we think she means when he stole the ref’s whistle.  Our whim paid off this time.  The kids are both fans!  Guess we are turning into a sports family!

The Heat

Ben’s basketball team is named The Heat.  He plays with friends from school in a church league.  There are 8 games on Saturdays in January and February and then the season is over.  It is perfect.  The boys have advanced leaps and bounds since they started practicing last November.  Many couldn’t get the ball up to the goal and most are now making layups fairly regularly.  The coaches are wonderful.  So sweet with the kids and knowing what next step to take as the boys are getting better.  It has been so fun to watch.  Ben is pretty intense about winning although we say the number one rule is to respect coach and number two to have fun.  He does both of those, but is very score conscious.  They have won every half except for one.  They keep the score by half and start at zero again after half time.  Gives everyone a second chance.  They also get to shoot unguarded free throws or layups before each half that count as one point toward their score.  Then everyone gets a better chance at contributing.  Ben has made several layups and says he is in the official score book now.  He has also attempted shots in games and come really close.  The best part is watching him hustle.  When it is time to get to the other end of the court, he runs like a monster is chasing him.  He prides himself in getting there first.  He also loves to slide when trying to steal or rebound.  This puts him on the floor quite a bit.  Not sure why this is required in his mind, but it makes things entertaining for sure.  We got to eat with the team after a recent game and it was fun to see the boys get to just goof off together and not have to sit still.  Hopefully they will remain friends and enjoy another season next year. 

Elizabeth's Birthday Bonanza

Elizabeth’s class had four birthdays in one weekend.  Luckily (or not) they were all at different times so they didn’t compete with each other.  Elizabeth had planned a Bounce U party with a Tinkerbell theme.  A week or so before she somehow forgot the Tinkerbell part and thought it was going to be Jayhawks or princess.  She was persuaded by the fun treats we had already bought and got back on board with Tinkerbell.  Her party was on her real birthday on a Sunday so she was the last party of the weekend.  Mom was a little worried the kids would be super tired by then.  They were getting there, but powered through the party with excitement so it went really well. 

Earlier in the weekend, we had been at Bounce U, Little Gym and on the Fun Bus.  Elizabeth loves her friends in a regular context, but when she has a parent along and it is a different location than normal, she tends to be a wall flower.  She bounced a little at the first party while Mom partially climbed in with her.  She only did the slide on the Fun Bus and just watched most of the time.  She enjoyed Little Gym a lot, but needed someone nearby her side to hold her hand or watch her do the activities.  

Elizabeth and friend, Coop, at one of the many birthdays.

We decided we would all just join in at her party so she was sure to have a good time and it really worked!  We went on the big slide together and bounced and bounced and bounced!  It was a great time!  We headed to the party room later on for cake and the attention of the birthday song did her in.  She buried her head in Mom’s lap and time seemed to freeze.  Mom had to decide how to take care of blowing out the candle.  It was quite a predicament.  Mom eventually bargained with Elizabeth that she needed to pick her head up and watch Mom blow out the candle.  Can you imagine the pictures we got?  Once Elizabeth got to move to the birthday throne for presents, she did pretty well.  She was removed enough from her subjects that she could enjoy looking at her gifts.  Our house now looks like the girl aisle in the toy section.  She apparently let all the boys know that she likes princesses and Tinkerbell and they delivered.  It is almost embarrassing how generous her sweet friends were.  She is very blessed!

One of our major accomplishments of being four is getting to take two gummy vitamins instead of one.  She loudly asks each night – How many vitamins do I get now?  (You get two.)  Why do I get two vitamins?  (Because you are such a big four year old now!)  I get two because I am four!!!  There will certainly be other victories, but that has been the most meaningful to her so far.  She keeps us entertained!

We celebrated the next weekend with extended family at IHOP.  This girl loves some breakfast so we thought that would be a fun place to go.  It was an adventure getting 12 people a table on a busy Saturday morning, but we did it!  Elizabeth wanted the Create a Face Pancake which she devoured the entire thing proving her love for breakfast.  She enjoyed being the birthday girl again with more family and couldn’t wait to get to the presents.  She was spoiled again and actually relished the opening and mildly enjoyed the attention.  There was no singing or candle, so that probably helped some.  Thank you all for blessing us and our sweet E.  She is so so big!