Weston's big hole...3/16/09

Well, today is class picture day at school and Weston has really been working on 2 lose teeth the past few days. We read a book called The Tooth Story and it was about a boy who loses his tooth the day before class pictures. I told Weston his class pictures would look so cool if he was missing his tooth! He agreed that a "holey smile" would be better than a "toothy grin." So, last night after story time, Chad and Weston worked on those teeth (the loser one in particular) for about an hour. They used dental floss, a tissue, and finally thread. The thread did the trick and out the one tooth came! He was so brave throughout the whole thing and didn't even cry! He talks a little funny now, and it is so cute! I couldn't be prouder! And as it turns out, the timing is pretty great (since I still don't have a working camera) that today is picture day and they also get the option of a single picture. I'll definitely be buying that one! These are the best i could do with my phone camera:o) Now all we have to do is work on the other one!

The note from the Tooth Fairy read:

Congratulations, Weston on losing your very first tooth! I will let you keep this one because the first one is pretty special. Smile!

Love,

The Tooth Fairy

*Attached was a dollar bill and his tooth.

Me...Through My Kids' Eyes

So, here is a little survey that i stole from my sister, Erin's blog.
*I made Ella answer first so she couldn't copy Weston's answers.*
1. What is something mom always says to you?
Weston-Be a good listener.
Ella-Daddy
2. What makes mom happy?
Weston-Me being a good listener.
Ella-Waffles
3. What makes mom sad?
Weston-When i'm not a good listener.
Ella-When me sad...and poop
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Weston-Chasing me up the stairs.
Ella-When you give me tickles and make me laugh.
5. What was your mom like as a child?
Weston-Maybe you liked cooking with Granny.
Ella-You cried and said "waaa, i want my mommy!" oh, and HAPPY!
6. How old is your mom?
Weston-28 and going to be 30, no, 29 on Saturday.
Ella-2
7. How tall is your mom?
Weston-10 feet tall (yikes!)
Ella-Big like Oscar (the Grouch) and Elmo (i can only imagine she means the size of the ones that we saw at Elmo's Green Thumb)
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Weston-Go sledding in the snow (we have about a foot of snow on the ground right now) or swimming in the pool in the summer. Taking pictures of us playing in the snow.
Ella-play my dollhouse and make hot cocoa, watch Georgie, Elmo, and the news, have a snack, play outside in the snow...
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Weston-Wash the dishes and clean the house (definitely my idea of a good time!:o)
Ella-Play games.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Weston-Us (not sure how to respond to that one)
Ella-Talking (or that one!)
11. What is your mom really good at?
Weston-Doing splashy cannonballs and going on the slide (on the playground). (what???)
Ella-Talking (perhaps i should talk less)
12. What is your mom not very good at?
Weston-Being mad because sometimes we are really really good listeners (insert shocked face!)
Ella-Being ugly (that's what i say to her when she's being rotten)
13. What does your mom do for a job?
Weston-To keep the house clean.
Ella-Do the dishes, clean up the foods (great, sounds like Mommy's really the maid!)
14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Weston-Chocolate
Ella-Mud (not sure what she's seen me eating??? maybe too much chocolate;o)
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Weston-When you help me clean my room for a little bit.
Ella-Daddy
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Weston-Tinkerbell (i love him for this one:o)5+
Ella-Kai-lan (not sure if that is actually her name or not, but that is what the kids call her)
17. What do you and your mom do together?
Weston-Do puzzles--sometimes! We dress up as pirates.
Ella-Play my dollhouse, drink hot cocoa, go the gym, go to MOPS, go to church, and play with Mommy
18. How are you and your mom the same?
Weston-Because we like to play together. I know the right answer for you and Ella. You're both "girrs!"
Ella-We like to play with my dollhouse (can you tell she loves her dollhouse?)
19. How are you and your mom different?
Weston-Because I'm a boy and you're a "gir."
Ella-Being ugly (??)
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Weston-Because you be nice to us.
Ella-CARROTS! (i think she has tourett's!)
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Weston-You like to play games with him.
Ella-Hug him and kiss him.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Weston-To a chocolate factory (do my kids know me or what?)
Ella-Go run! (good answer:o)

Wow! What have i learned from my kids this morning?? I guess i need to stop eating so much chocolate and clean the house less:o) Now, we're off to go play in the snow before it all melts and then head to the gym (my real favorite place to go) and run off some of the calories from those chocolate cupcakes that i made yesterday. i guess my kids really do know me afterall!

Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k Count Down

Oops, I did it again!

So, a few months ago, i accidentally dropped my "good" camera (kodak easyshare with the 10x zoom) that i got after weston was born. it fell from the counter to the floor and now it no longer works. i was pretty upset, but thankfully chad bought me a cybershot last christmas (to throw in my purse), so i could still take pictures of the kids. well, valentine's day night after returning from the tobacco company with our dinner club, i stepped out of the suburban with my purse in hand and heard an all too familiar sound...oh yes, that was my sony cybershot hitting the pavement! i quickly scooped it up before chad noticed and casually walked inside. since the battery died at dinner, i would have to wait until morning to assess the damage. cut to sunday morning before church...after charging the battery all night, i anxiously inserted it into my camera and turned it on. a flashing E:61:10 message flashed on the screen and everything was out of focus. button to take picture does not work. taking battery out and in does not work. turning on and off does not work. read the manual. initialize camera. does not work. google error message and problem with camera. several people with this problem suggest banging the crap out of it until the error message goes away and it starts to work properly again. i bang with all my might for half an hour turning on and off in between bangs. nothing is working!! i am so sad:o(!!!! will try and take it to best buy tomorrow. i'll keep you posted...

The First Snow of the Year!

Today we got our first snow of the year! They cancelled school, so we headed outside to soak up the fun! i was really glad to find out that the snowsuit i bought ella last year and never got to use, still fit her. she also fit in her light up princess boots from grandma bo that she scored on clearance last winter for $5.00! great deal, grandma! anyway, as you can see, we all had a blast even though it snowed the whole time we were outside. what a fun way to spend a tuesday!!

Ella throwing her first snowball.

Poor girl looked like the kid from A Christmas Story!

so, we couldn't find our sleds (i think they might still be at daniel and beth's from like 3 winters ago), so i went up in granny's attic looking for some. and guess what i found??? oh yes, girls, big green! this was the sled we always fought over as young girls because it had the "oh so cool" handbrakes! ella and weston fought over it as well today and weston even mastered the art of braking at the end of the hill to spin out. thanks gran!

SNOWWWWWWWW!!!!!

Landon breaking the sled with his big booty!

Ready, set, go!

WINNER! Mom's such a daredevil! She beat weston 3 times!

We tried pushing Landon down the hill in the baby sled, but he was too fat! it just stuck in the snow!

Poor Ella's hands got so cold! I ran in to get her more gloves, but when i came back, she was in tears!

Snow bunnies!

Mom and ella flying down the hill!

Mom let Landon crawl around in the snow...

He loved it!

Landon sledding to his death...

Ta-da! This is our grand snow creation. It was a joint effort and is the first snowman that ella ever made.

Our Weekend Trip to Massanutten...

Jason hooked us up with a free 2 bedroom condo and free lift tickets to go skiing at Massanutten this past weekend, so mom agreed to watch the kiddos. off we went! i am not the best skiier, but a few years ago chad bought me all of the ski gear i needed to hit the slopes. this time around, i felt more confident and even conquered the blue square slope before heading in for lunch. after lunch, was a little different...i mastered my snow plow! i never fell at all the first half of the day, but after lunch (i knew i should've past on the chips and salsa) i fell once and then lost all confidence! poor brooke hung with me the rest of the day, so chad could ski with jason. now, chad is light years above the rest of us, so i felt bad that he never got to go skiing wide open down the black diamond slopes. he was a real trooper though, and didn't make me look like too much of an idiot;o) all in all, we had an awesome time and even had some energy left over to whip the guys in a couple games of spades (they did beat us once). boys, we are still due for a rematch!

Before we hit the slopes...literally!

At the mid-way station...

the natural skiier...

Out on the slopes...Brooke wanted me to mention that she did not fall in this picture, but merely sat on the ground (on purpose) to pose. Her "pie a la mode" fall came much later in the day;o)

Jason and Brooke waiting for our food!

At the lodge for some lunch...the guys behind us yelled in our ears the whole time and were super obnoxious!

Those guys sure don't last long! I think it was only 9:30 or so when i took this.

Back in the City...December 26th

So, for Christmas this year, i surprised Chad with a day trip to NYC. Our flight from Richmond left at 6am on the 26th and we got home around midnight! It was a really long and exhausting day, but we had such a great time together! We started our day back at The Today Show with Lester Holt, Natalie Moralis, and the blond chick who's name i can't remember. We stayed briefly there and then moved on to Times Square, Central Park, Bryant Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the MET, Chinatown, and Rockefellar Center. We walked so many miles that day, that we both fell asleep in the cab on the ride to JFK! It was a great way to spend the day after Christmas:o)

Times Square...

St. Patrick's Cathedral was amazing, but the light was all wrong for my camera.

Sitting on a pew at St. Patrick's resting our tired feet!

In front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art about to go by our tickets. I really enjoyed seeing all of the guns and weapons from Medieval Times. The armor was amazing!

I made it to Bryant Park! Maybe one day, i'll actually be there for fashion week:o)

Project Runway headquarters!

Chad with the Chrysler building in the background.

Me on Fifth Avenue.

I wanted to see the tree in Rockefellar Center at night all lit up, but it was so incredibly crowded, that this is as close as we got! We didn't even get to go down and see the angels!

We love our new swingset!

Arrrrgh, matey!

Climbing high...to no where! i'm not sure why the rope ladder doesn't lead to the fort.

Weston loves the slide too! it's super fast!

Weston's an expert at the climbing wall, and today ella learned how to scale it in no time!