Hoots and Howls at the Zoo

Alright, I'm skipping over a lot of blogs missed and decided to get the Halloween ones out there before it gets TOO far into November.  I plan to do a few Halloween posts in the next few days.  Then perhaps I'll go back in time and post that which was not posted.

Halloween was a fun adventure at our house.

One event we decided to go to was Hoots and Howls at the zoo.  It was fun.  The girls got their faces painted, caricatures drawn of them, a hay ride (that possibly moved slower than an old lady in a Jazzy...not to knock old ladies in a Jazzy), a kid's maze, and just seeing the animals. 

The face paints were AWESOME.  It was definitely the highlight for the girls.

 I'm not even sure I can tell what the animal in the background is....but my little animals sure are cute!

 Molly ALWAYS loves the carousel.

 Eden did the maze twice because she took a wrong turn the first time and needed to prove to herself that she could do it flawless the second time around.

 "Hello!"

 The kids ZONKED after all was said and done.

Who Knew That After a Trip to the Dentist You'd End Up With Glasses...

The dentist

*sigh*

Leila LOVES the dentist.

She observes with great passion.

Doesn't keep her eyes off what's happening.

She is fearless.

Good thing she was the one with four cavities.  Not Eden.

(Not that we rejoice over FOUR cavities...)

Eden HATES the dentist.

Anxiety, fear, terrible distrust...for that dumb x-ray machine.

Thank goodness she's got amazing teeth and no cavities.

We went to the family dentist nearby not too long ago.  We had been been a few times before without too much issue.  But Eden had learned that putting those x-ray things in your teeth is a little painful and uncomfortable.  Apparently it was painful enough that she remembered it and had severe anxiety over it.

It was like she TRIED to open her mouth but her mouth just wouldn't open.  At least not wide enough for the dental assistant to get it in there.

They told her she didn't need to get the x-rays this time (she'd HAVE to next time) but then Eden had more fear of "What if there IS a cavity and I get a toothache and the pain is even WORSE?!"  It was a horrible experience with her tossing back and forth on if she could do the x-rays or not.  So much that they told us to take her a pediatric dentist so she didn't end up with such a bad experience at the dentist that she never wanted to return again.  The pediatric dentists are used to children and make it all much more enjoyable.

Then Leila's turn came.  She had a cavity the last time we went....and it fell out.  They had put it in a second time, and it fell out a second time.  They felt that the cavity was starting to get larger since it keeps falling out and doesn't do any good.  So , they recommended that I also take her to a pediatric dentist because they didn't want to numb up her small mouth.  They'd rather they do it.

I set up an appointment with the pediatric dentist.

And bribed Eden.

Glasses.

She's been BEGGING me for glasses that LOOK real but don't have real glass in them.  I took Eden to the eye doctor with me a while ago and found out that Claire's is the place to go for children who WANT glasses (and don't need them) without paying the price of glasses.

We looked at Claire's to make sure they had what we wanted, then I made a deal.

The day before the dentist, Eden was a nervous wreck.  She's randomly think about the dentist and burst into tears or shaking.  Someone would bring up the dentist and she's start getting really defensive and upset and cry.

The next day I took her in early to get a small tour of the dentist office and to take her time getting used to everyone.

Leila was thrilled to be there.

It took some time and a few dental assistants, but she did a complete check up, even with x-rays.  She didn't even try.  It took a bit of time and convincing, but she did it.

Leila was a champ.

A champ with four cavities.

We had to schedule a different time to go in with Leila for her appointment.  I told her that she gets a "bravery reward" as well if she does an awesome job.  She wants to go out to eat.  That's no surprise.  That girl LOVES going out to eat.  I warned her that she wouldn't be able to eat for a while after she went to the dentist, she's OK with that.

And now Eden wears her glasses everywhere with pride.

Mom's Date with Leila

Leila's my little ball of fun.  She loves silliness, food, candy, jumping, spinning, books, and time with mom.  This called for a mommy/daughter date.

We kept it simple and went to Zona Rosa.  We walked around at a few different shops.  Went to the bookstore and read a bunch of children's books together.  Then went out to Cold Stone for some ice cream.  Probably her favorite part of the night was when we got home SUPER late, everyone else was already asleep in bed (but she wasn't) and I cuddled with her in her bed until she fell asleep.  She's my cuddly child as well.  I love my Leila!

A little extra about Leila:

She's extremely interested in dentists and doctors

She prefers people over toys

She's got a good sense of humor and a great laugh

She really detail oriented

She's quite stylish and knows what she thinks is cute and not cute

She loves to help and give and share

She's a big tease

She has an extra sense about people and chooses wisely who she trusts

She's shy at first, very NOT shy later

Molly's First Haircut

Molly's hair was starting to grow really long in the back that was uncontrollably and permanently tangled.  So, I decided to take some scissors and be off with it.

She sat very nicely as I cut it off.

Since I've had to find other places that needed extra trim that I missed and made uneven.  Granted, it's still FAR from perfect, but its actually cute and it is much less tangled.

Best Friends

These two have become awesome friends these last few weeks.  

Its been AMAZING.

(Note:  I hesitate to write this post because I'm afraid it will be cursed and the friendship bond will be gone)

They of course have their spouts of unhappiness...but really...they've been the best of friends.

They are as different as different can be.  And for a while it was a struggle.  But something recently clicked and its been quite awesome.  It has been a blast!

I love my girls.

One Thing I Love About Homeschooling

I've discovered something I love about homeschooling.

Those "change of plans" days where my regular day turns out to be a super-rainy-so-we-go-out-and-spend-hours-exploring-worms(-and-splashing-in-puddles) day.  

After all, today was a science day...and we are learning about invertebrates.

My girls are into worms ever since the rainy season has hit.

It's a no brainer.  Worms it is.

In those few hours, we observed worms size and how they move, collected over a dozen worms and made our own worm farm so we can see how they dig tunnels underground, read a book on worms, and researched if worms drown and why they come out when it rains.

Not to mention that they also were able to get super dirty and wet...and were able to take a much needed bath after.

We discovered that worms can live under water for hours if not days without drowning, theories are that worms come out because it is their only safe time to travel out of ground, they dig tunnels by eating dirt and pooping it out the end, and that Leila is the queen of worm collecting...especially the tiny ones that other's fat little fingers can't grab.

Here are a few pictures...and don't judge my kids' lack of apparel... 

We took breaks in between our worm exploration to do a few other things like take a bath, eat food, do other necessary school work, clean up, and we also have some friends over to video tape the girls for a campaign going on for the new Mormon movie.  (If I can figure out how to explain it all and put things up on my blog then I can show you what I'm talking about.  Right now I'm working on the basics of what is going on....like learning what a "hashtag" is and "trending" in the internet world.)

Paint and Pictures

Its been a long time coming...but we got around to painting and printing out some pictures to hang on our walls.  We still have a severe lack of color, but we do have plans to get some color in the room.

We painted everything grey and this wall we painted ombre stripes with five different grays.  We really love the wall, but the second color down is too close in color to the third color, so we are going to lighten it up and re-do that stripe.

 Here are the pictures we hung on the wall...which does add color to the room, its the ONLY color in the room.

Tyson also found these antique windows and tv stand that we are excited for.  Its more colorless items that we love...we just have a love for white and grey.  But color will come...