Halloween 2011

Halloween was a big, last minute, success this year!  I had decided that we were going to just dig into the dress up box and pull out a few of the many costumes that we have.  Nothing creative had come to mind.

After school on Halloween, Gracie Claire and I were walking down the hallway towards my classroom and our sweet music teacher asked Gracie Claire what she was going to be for Halloween.  I explained the whole dress up box thing and then Miss Adler told us that one of the easiest costumes she ever made was a chicken costume.  She told us about the rubber gloves for feet and the boa for the feathers.  DING!  I loved it!  So, we rushed home, picked up the little sisters, and headed to Hobby Lobby for some quick shopping!  We got the rubber gloves, boas, and a few other things to make these costumes some of the cutest ever!  I loved the way they turned out.  I have the 3 cutest little chicks ever!!!  We had a blast trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and even got a fun little boo in.  :)  (Nothing horrific or torturous for those of you who might think that it's wrong to get booed...I would never allow my girls to experience anything that would damage them.)

Our 3 Little Chickies

Are they not the cutest chickens you've ever seen?!

Giggling ensued after the initial "BOO!"

They're sweeter than any of the candy they collected that night!  Love my little chickies!!!!

The Extraction

Ah, yes.  We're in that time of life with our 6 year old that comes with loose, wobbly, hanging on by a thread, makes everyone who sees it gag, teeth.  As a 1st grade teacher, I am accustomed to this part of life as I see these gross little things almost everyday.  I've pulled out my fair share of teeth of children who don't belong to me.  What can I say?  Maybe it's a teacher perk.  Don't be jealous that you don't have those kinds of perks at your job.  ;)  Anyway, our sweet 6 year old lost her first tooth in July.  It went fairly smoothly, there were no tears, and she was excited at the outcome.  The second tooth was not as charming of an experience.  I'll let the pictures do the talking...

 It started out pretty smoothly.  I said it wasn't ready, but Paul (the tooth pulling expert who has never pulled a tooth before) thought it was.  So, we gave it a try.  Daddy couldn't get a "grip" on it.  So, it became Mommy's turn to try...

 I became the bad guy fairly quickly as I'm to one who twisted it and made it actually ready to come out.  The rest of the pictures are pretty self-explanatory...

 Total horror! :)

 The sisters did their best to be comforting and calming to their big sister...lol!!!

 Daddy, who is easily swayed, agreed to stop trying.  I, on the other hand, was now determined to yank that sucker out!  Notice the grip I had on my poor baby's head.  The tooth yanking had taken me over...

You'll be happy to know that I stopped torturing our sweet girl and we waited to extract.  By the time she got home from school the next day, the thing was hanging by a gummy thread, and Daddy got to pull his first tooth.  It was so quick, there was not even one tear.  As you can see, I might not be the first choice when the next wobbler comes along. 

Showing off the extra space in her mouth. :)

Molly's Big Day

We celebrated my Molly's birthday last weekend and had a great time being together as a family.  I might be a little hesitant to say that I didn't plan a big party for her or invite a bunch of people over, but instead we went, just the five of us, to the zoo.  She had a blast and we loved just hanging out together without all of the hubbub of a party!  She felt special and she was celebrated...goal accomplished!

The morning of her birthday, she was woken up by her sisters and they all came down and piled on our bed.  Paul took her to get donuts, the breakfast of birthday champions, and they brought it home for all of us to eat together. 



After breakfast we took some time to get ready and then Molly opened her presents.  You might see a small theme from the pile of gifts.  The Mollinator is a tiny bit obsessed with all things "Derla", as she calls Dora.  Get ready from this point on for some picture overload.  I just can't help it.  :)

 Do you not want to just squeeze her?!

After opening presents, the big girl snuggled down with her Daddy and big sister to do a little light reading.  ;)  Her sisters presents to her were some books.  Gracie Claire specifically picked Dora books out for her at our school book fair. 

After getting all bundled up, it was chilly all day and we loved it, we headed to the zoo.  We've been to our zoo so many times that we pretty much have a route that we take every time we're there.  We start at the monkey house, go see the elephants, giraffes, and hippos, head to see the big cats, then on to Texas Wild, and end with the MOLA.  We have one of the best zoos right in our backyard and the girls (and Paul and I) never get tired of going.  I didn't take as many pictures at the zoo, but the animals were so active!  We watched the lion roar (amazing!), heard the howler monkey howl, and watched the hippos walk around (which never happens.)  We had the best time together!

We headed to church as soon as we left the zoo.  After church, my parents invited us over for hot dogs and birthday cake and, of course, presents.  Molly loved being sung to, blowing out the candles, and opening more presents! 

 By this point in the day, who needed pants?! :)

We had the best time celebrating our big girl!  I can't believe my baby is a big, 3 year old girl.  I love every second of watching her grow and we are so blessed that she is ours!  Happy Birthday Molly Joy!