Disney On Ice!

Our kids had their first Disney experience on Thursday night. We took them to Disney On Ice, and they LOVED it.
At first it was a little loud for them. Here's pictures of them both with their fingers in their ears! It didn't take long for them to get used to it though, and once all the characters came out, they were hooked.

The main theme of the show was the Incredibles, so Ashlyn kept asking for Mickey Mouse the whole time. She couldn't understand why he left!

We definitely loved the show, but I do wonder how the people in front of us felt. My girls are not quiet kids, so they were laughing and talking (very loudly) during the whole program, and Ashlyn doesn't sit still, so she kicked the boy in front of us in the head a couple times, and then a little while later she was singing her ABCs at the top of her lungs. I caught a few glances back to us. (Oops...he,he,he)

We were so lucky to have 2 open seats right next to us, so Kim and Abigail got to come sit with us. Yeah! That made the show even better.

We'll definitely be going back (of course, we're settling for this 'cause there's no way we're making it out to Florida any time soon....sorry, Travis.)

For Michelle

Hey, Michelle. Remember this?

I found this the other day, and I thought it would be fun to post.

Good times...

(For more background info behind this collage, visit Michelle's blog.)

Corn Cob Cruelty

My poor baby. We had corn on the cob tonight (which Jaclyn LOVES and gets very excited about), so of course, Ashlyn wanted to be included in this fantastic event. Unfortunately, it's a little hard for a 2 year old to eat corn on the cob with one front tooth! Can we be any more insensitive! Of course, she had no idea, she just had fun trying. Sweet thing.

Full Speed Ahead

O.k., so we had some time to get used to the new school year, and our new schedules. That was nice. This week, however, is like, WHAM!, time to start everything else...and all at once! Whew!

First of all, we kicked off our MOPS year today. Yeah! We've been planning for so long that I was soooo ready to just get it started! I think everything went great...no major screw-ups on my part (that's always nice). I really think the year is going to be a good one, and God has already worked within our steering team, so I really feel that His hand is in it. It's His group, and I am His servant. I know if my attitude is right that He will use me to bring others closer to Him. So, I'm praying that I will serve Him wholeheartedly, and that my pride will not get in the way!

Another major thing that we kicked off this week is City High Volleyball! Craig's been having practices, but his first tournament was last Saturday and the first game tonight. Go City High!

Our church is also starting a Wednesday night Family night this week, so we're excited to see how that goes. We're a little bummed that Jaclyn won't have Cubbies anymore (she really loved it last year), but our church is really trying to promote families learning about God together, so I'm excited to try it. They will have kids programs at the same time they're having a parenting class, and then everyone meets together at the end for some family worship. I'm sure it will be great.

I also thought I would just throw in a picture of Ashlyn on her new bike, complete with a helmet...she needs all the protection she can get!

She looks like such a big girl for only being 2 1/2!

So, the year is definitely now underway. I'll just try to hang on and enjoy the ride.

My Girl

This girl at this stage.

The missing tooth and the shirt say it all.

Ashlyn's doing really well now. I had to take her back to the dentist on Wednesday 'cause she fell at her gymnastics playgroup and her mouth started bleeding heavily again. But, everything was fine, so now I'm just trying to get her to slow down and avoid another fall, so her mouth has a chance to heal. She's quite a character, that's for sure.

I also thought I would put a little blurb on here about Ashlyn's current favorite game. She LOVES her ABCs, and right now we have to play this game every time we're outside. I have to write the alphabet on our driveway and then say "jump to letter R," and she'll jump over there as fast as she can. She loves it! Very cute.

So, that's the current situation around here.

What a blessing these girls are to me.

Check out this video of Ashlyn singing Hallelujah/Praise Ye the Lord

Glad It's Over

O.k., so we had a pretty rough morning...but it could've been worse, I guess. (At least they're not removing her arm or something!) So, we got to the Pediatric Dentist this morning at 8 AM, and it was a battle from the beginning. The Dentist had to come in and actually force the little x-ray thingy into her mouth (Ashlyn wouldn't open up...and the nurses were too nice), but she got one good picture, so that was all she needed. Turns out that Ashlyn broke her tooth in 2 places, so there was no way that baby could stay in there. And then the other 3 around it are pretty bruised, so we'll have to watch those closely for discoloration.

(The whole time she's trying to talk through things with me, Ashlyn is climbing all over the dentist chair...up and down, back and forth, standing up and trying to jump off of it...typical Ashlyn antics.)

So, the Dentist's suggestion was to numb her up real good and get it out as quickly as possible. (Evidently laughing gas, etc. doesn't always work well with little ones.) The hardest part was that since Ashlyn is such a mover and a fighter...and she's only 2, we had to wrap her in this thing to restrain her (basically a straight jacket)...which of course she hated. So, as soon as she was put in that thing she screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked, thrashed around, anything she could do to get out. You probably get the picture, but it was pretty traumatic for both of us. The Dentist reassured me that she wasn't in pain (she numbed her up as much as an adult, just in case), but Ashlyn just hated being restrained. We really didn't have any other choice though, there was no way I could have held her down. Anyway, the tooth is out. I'm just so sad that for about 5 years now, she won't have a tooth. But, again, there are worse things to be missing.

She'll still be cute, sweet, energetic, little Ashlyn.

Bruiser's Back

Well, "Bruiser", occasionally known as Ashlyn, has made another appearance. Poor, poor baby. We were going on a walk last night and Ashlyn was going full speed ahead on her little trike, when she hit a spot in the sidewalk that was raised up quite a bit. Of course, the trike stopped, but Ashlyn went over the top and landed mouth first on the cement. So, her nose, mouth, and chin are completely scraped up...but the worst part is her tooth.

She cracked one of her front teeth, and you should've seen the blood! So, we called Jeremy, a friend who is also a dentist, and he gave us some instructions and then saw her in his office this morning (even though it was closed for Labor Day...what a huge help he was!). The tooth is cracked all the way through, but it's still dangling there, so we go to a Pediatric Dentist in the morning, and they'll probably have to remove it. The only thing is that she's so young, so they can't remove the roots yet or else it might affect her adult tooth, so I'll have to let you know what they decide. She could be toothless for 4 years now...that'll really improve her speech! (She already has trouble pronouncing her words...in case some of you didn't know that.)

Here she is: (She was actually smiling in this picture)

This picture doesn't do it justice, cause I couldn't pull up her lip enough, but you can at least see the crack.