A tooth and two birthdays…

"Other than a dimple in a cute little chin, What’s more adorable than a toothless grin?"
-Azu Espezia

We had our first visit from the Tooth Fairy this week when Ashlyn lost her first tooth.  It happened after we put the kids to bed; all of a sudden Ashlyn came running downstairs with a big green on her face and a tiny tooth in her hands.  She already has a second one loose which means this Christmas it may be an appropriate time for “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.”

Isla was sick this week but it’s a good thing she has a loving big brother to take care of her.

This week was an eventful one.  A tooth and two birthdays.  The first birthday was Grandma Wolfe.  She came over on her actual birthday because Ashlyn had made a card for her at school.  The Wolfe clan came over in force later in the week for a steak dinner to celebrate.  Happy birthday Grandma!

It was also Cousin Ben’s birthday.  Isla didn’t get to go because she was sick, but James and Ashlyn went and had a great time with their cousin.  I think James ate around 15 donut holes.  Ben was glad they were there and gave James a big hug when it was time to leave.

And finally, as Halloween draws closer it was time to carve the family pumpkin.  Ashlyn chose a silly face this year and while I put the finishing touches on the on the big pumpkin Ashlyn and Isla painted their own little pumpkins.  The weather forecast showing rain all next weekend but we’ll hope that old maxim about Texas weather holds true.

A sick dog and a fire truck…

"A house is not a home until it has a dog."
-Gerald Durrell

We were hoping to take the kids to the Dallas Arboretum this weekend but instead we spent our days keeping our eyes on a dog who had something surgically removed from his stomach.  In his defense, we don’t think he ate the string that got stuck on purpose, he probably got it on his tongue eating something else off the floor and ended up eating the whole thing.  Poor dog.  He’ll live though, and that’s what’s important.

Still, we did manage to find a few ways to entertain the kids.  Ashlyn wanted to show off a magic trick she learned at school which took the form of mixing primary colors and turning them into secondary colors.  James thought it was cool, and it was nice to see Ashlyn excited about science.

We also made it out to the open house put on by the Bedford Fire Department.  We didn’t get a lot of time out there since we got a call from the vet shortly after we arrived letting us know we could go pick Rusty.  It was enough time though for the kids to have some fun, eat a hot dog, and watch a helicopter fly away.  Not a bad list for such a short visit.

The rest of the weekend was spent finding anything we could to keep the kids occupied.  It kind of worked.

Ashlyn turns 6…

"I haven't taken my Christmas lights down. They look so nice on the pumpkin."
-Winston Spear

Ashlyn’s actual birthday this year was a little anticlimactic after the weekend full of birthday parties.  Since her birthday fell on a school day we weren’t able to take her anywhere fun but we did take her for a banana split right after school and she had another batch of presents waiting for her when she got home.

Fall is here and with it come the pumpkins.  Lots of pumpkins.  We’re fortunate to have some great pumpkin patches nearby and we visited one this weekend.  The kids played, looked at pumpkins, saw some animals, posed for pictures, and picked hay out of their pants.  All in all, it was a good outing.

And because we didn’t have more pictures this week (was a busy week) here’s a random picture of the kids playing together and tearing up the house.

It was a weekend of parties…

"Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It's all about the memories."
-Buddy Valastro

This was a weekend of birthday parties for Ashlyn as she nears her 6th birthday.  This marked the first year that Ashlyn wanted a party at a location with her friends (instead of the house like last year) and so we invited some of her kindergarten and Montessori school friends out to Southlake Gymnastics for some fun.  The kids had a great time running around the gym and eating pizza.  After all the excitement James crashed in record time.

We didn’t have time to open presents there so we took them home to open them.  The presents were perfect for Ashlyn, we have a string of pictures of her with a shocked and surprised expression on her face.  She has a lot of thank you letters to write now.

The party with the family was a lot of fun as always.  Isla got to play with her cousin, the kids jumped on the trampoline and bounce house, and there was yet more cake to eat.  This year it was a Miles from Tomorrowland themed party.

There was also an opportunity for a space themed photo booth.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one.