More teeth stories...

Jake's teeth are skiwampus.  He has a permanent tooth that was damaged before it even grew in.  He has also lost 10 teeth, but there was only room for 7 of the permanent teeth to come back in.  So, we started some orthodontic work.  He got the spacers and impressions for an appliance and then was a few days away from getting it put in when he tripped and knocked all 3 permanent bottom teeth loose.  We rushed to see our dentist and were glad to find out that he didn't need a splint because they were still in the right place, but we won't know for a month or so if they are damaged at the root.  I absolutely hate this kind of thing.  "Hate" isn't even a word that I like to use, but I hate to have "permanent" things damaged...especially teeth.  I know that it could be much worse, and I am just glad that he has teeth in his head, but I feel bad that his brand new clean slate teeth are not so brand new anymore. 
This new appliance has been tough.  He isn't supposed to chew with the teeth he knocked loose and the appliance has so many wires pokey things that his mouth is just sore.  We can't understand much of what he says because the wires on the roof of his mouth make his tongue do crazy things.  I hope it gets better soon.  Between my hearing loss and his garbled speech, he spends a lot of time repeating himself to me.
I hope things work out in the long run for him and with the right amount of money, these teeth can be straight and pretty...right?

 

Conversation in the back yard...

Me:  Nate, did you eat some berries?

Nate:  No.

Me: Are you sure? 

Nate:  No!  I didn't eat the bewies!

Car Ride

A lot of our car rides home from Logan end up like this.

Locked Doors: A Cautionary Tale

A while ago, Mike was out of town and I took the kids to Jake's flag football game.  

The game went well and the kids had fun watching him play.

Then, we got in the car to get home.  I started talking to the kids about the things they need to do when we got home...it was a school night so I was coaching them on speed and no crazy behavior.

We pulled into the garage and I got Jason out of the car seat.  I went to the back of the car and took out the camera and could see that Jake was messing around in the front seat.  I heard the doors lock just as I had slammed the back hatch shut.  Jake, trying to be silly, had locked the doors and Nate was still in there.  So were the only car keys.  I got mad...then I called Mike.

He called our neighbor over and asked him to try and break in.

I took these pictures because I thought we were getting it open and all would be well.  It wasn't the case.
We could not get the lock to lift.  We tried to talk Nate into lifting it on his door but he was strapped in and couldn't reach it.  Kelly and Jamison tried for an hour and couldn't get it unlocked.  We called a lock smith and he worked on it for 15 minutes and wasn't having any luck either.  By this time, I was starting to fall apart.  Nate had been happy to be entertained by the crazy faces Allie and Jake were pulling at him from outside the car, but it had started to get old.  He tried to get out of the car seat and only succeeded in getting his arms so tangled and twisted that he was hurting and completely stuck.  So he started to cry.  I was getting pretty upset.  I was mad at Jake for monkeying around and locking the doors in the first place, and I was mad at myself for being mad at him.  I was feeling terrible for Nate and wondering if we were going to have to break a window or something.  I was mad at myself for not having a spare key and just really upset that this was all happening.  Then, click, the horn started honking and the doors were unlocked and I was able to get my boy out.
I was so happy to have him out that I hugged the locksmith...then hugged him again.  (Just so you know, he's got to be around 90 years old and he's hilarious).  When I asked him what I owed him for coming out to our house so late in the evening he told me that the hug was payment enough.  Then he told me I had to buy a spare key.  They are crazy expensive for a Pilot, but I can't let this happen again, so I'll have to go get a key.
I think Jake has learned his lesson.  It was a hard one to learn.
One of the good things to come of it though was that right away, Jake suggested that we pray to know what to do.   Allie, Jake and I gathered together outside the car and prayed that we'd be able to get Nate out.  It didn't happen as soon as we would have liked, but I don't think Nate has ever sat in his car seat that long without complaint.  He really only got upset the last 5 minutes or so.  That was a blessing.
We prayed in gratitude when we were back in the house and on our way to bed.  Things ended up being okay in the long run and I hope the kids remember this experience.

Tri School Trot

The kids had their annual fund raiser for the school and got to run around at the high school.  

 Allie was so good to let Nate join her in her laps.

Carson and Jake were planning on taking it seriously this year.  They wanted to run their hardest.  Jake even made me get a pedometer for him so he could monitor his every footstep.
I took these pictures at the beginning of the race with the sport mode on my camera.  I'll spare you the first few, but I have to share these last ones.  The kids all started out the same, but these 3 boys (Jake's friends from the neighborhood) were quick to pull ahead of him and take off first.  The intensity of their faces cracks me up.

Funky Teeth

These pictures are old.  I am catching up on a lot of things and had to add these.  Jason's teeth came into his mouth in such a funny way that I had to write about it.  First, he got just one bottom tooth.  The other kids got both bottom teeth within days of each other, so they just had 2 teeth for a while.  Jason's first bottom tooth came in and then almost a month later, the other one came in. 

In fact, the next tooth that came was the one directly above the bottom tooth.  So he had those 2 chompers, one above and one below, until the other 4 came in all at the same time.  It was so funny to me.

Just so you know, no children were hurt while taking these pictures.  He was unhappy for sure, but who can blame him?

2 Crazy Boys Behind the Wheel

A Sunday Drive

When Mike and I were first married, we stored the old car in the shop down in Orem.  We came home on a weekend to get it and my dad went with us.  He came prepared to work on the car for hours.  Mike kept telling him that it would just start up...no complaints from the '52.  My dad was used to all his junkers and just couldn't imagine it.  He couldn't wipe the smile off his face when the car started right up.  It's just always been so good.  This year things were different.  It was broken down all summer.  We got it out for the summer and Mike barely made it home.  He worked on it when he could, but just couldn't get it going.  Then, a few weeks ago, it just started up and seemed just fine.  So we hopped in and took a ride.

We love driving around our beautiful Cache Valley.

The kids love driving without car seats.  It makes me a nervous wreck though.  We take the back roads and try to be careful, but man it seems so wrong to have children frolicking in the back seat.  

We love the old car!  I'm glad Mike was able to get it running again!

Sleep

I love that Jake has always been such a good sleeper.  He goes to bed quietly, reads, and then falls asleep fast.  Such a great thing when compared to Allie and Nate.  Thanks Jake boy!

When she is supposed to be sleeping...

I've told you before that Allie is a total night owl.  She has a hard time falling asleep every night.  If given free reign, she would stay up well past midnight and then ask when the party is going to start.  I give her "sleepy vitamins" (melatonin) when I think of it, but most nights I just send her to bed, tuck her in, and think that should do it.  Then, hours later, I find that she is still messing around in her room.  What does she do, you ask?

She plays with her dolls and makes horrible messes in her room.

She colors elaborate paper "quilts".

This one is getting laminated with tape.

 She lines up stuffed animals and gives them name tags.

 She makes purses, complete with cell phones and wallets with cash in them.

She makes cute books.

Written by Allie
My great mom

My Mom is nice because she helps me.

and because she loves me because she comforts me.
The end.

What Mom wouldn't love to read a book like that?

She is a cute girl, but man...GO TO SLEEP!!!