Losing teeth all over the place

Lauren lost her first tooth in July.

She pulled it herself when it was literally hanging from a thread.

I pulled the next [very loose] one out after much struggle and many tears.

The tooth fairy brought her an extra dollar for this one. For....bravery? A guilty conscience?  

Her teeth are so compacted that there wasn't room for the new ones to grow in, so last week on a trip to the dentist office she had the other 2 front teeth extracted.
 
 Now she's 4 teeth short and $5 rich.

With love

 

This is my wonderful mother-in-law and today is her birthday! She is the mother of 7 children and grandmother of 14 grandchildren. As you can see from this picture, she LOVES children. They are all going crazy and she is perfectly content.  She knows how to nurture, encourage, teach, and love children and I am so grateful to learn from her example. I also love that our birthdays are just one day apart and feel a special bond to my fellow September girl. I couldn't ask for a more supportive and loving mother-in-law and and can't wait to spend time with her in London soon.

Architecture

Since we leave for London, Barcelona, and Madrid in just a few weeks (ahhh!), I decided to learn a little more about architecture. I took a great architecture class my freshman year of college and learned a lot of things that I promptly forgot. I've been reading that we will see buildings that are more than 700 years old and I want to have an appreciation for their construction and design by learning more about the different architectural movements. I'm sure it will just be cursory overview, but hopefully it will help me more appreciate the things we see.

(And suggestions of what to do/see/eat on this trip are most welcome)

C*stco

Here is a little story for you...

This summer the C*stco car wash cracked our windshield from bottom to top.

We drove in with a perfect windshield and came out with a crack through the center.

I was ticked.

J was the one driving it at the time and he let the attendant know and filled out an accident report.

A few weeks later we got a call from corporate saying that we were the only claim that day and it was not their fault.

Seriously?

So we went ahead and replaced the windshiled ourselves.

Well, I have a pretty savvy sister, who has learned that its worth a shot to let companies know when you are dissatisfied with their customer service.

So I thought, what the heck?

I drafted a letter stating what had happened and that we were dissatisfied with the way C*stco handled it.

I mean it's C*stco. You can return anything there.

We are loyal customers to them and we felt burned.

I sent one copy to the store, filed one online, and mailed one to the corporate office.

Within 3 days I got a response from corporate saying they would contact the branch manager.

A day after that he called me.

During the call he let me know that his specific warehouse would take care of the incident, since corporate didn't understand that hot windshields where we live will crack when sprayed with cold water.

And a week after dropping off the receipt for the replacement windshield, I got a check for the exact amount of the windshield.

Lessons learned:

C*stco is a stand up business.

Customer service and perception really matter to big companies.

Two 44 cent stamps paid huge dividends.

Labor Day

Yes, Labor Day weekend was 10 days ago, but we had a great one.
J got us on board to accompany my parents on the first 4 days of their 10 day tour of the South. (Sans children thanks to D&C and their EXCELLENT tending.) My little [big] brother also got to come along with us and we loved having him there. The main purpose of the trip was to attend the BYU v. Ole Miss opening football game, but along the route we had a great time eating, sightseeing and discovering the South.

We started out from the airport crammed in a Toyota Corolla clown car. [We are not small people. I am the {shortest} sibling in my family. And I am not short. So it was especially cramped.] The prospect of driving for 7+ hours in that auto seemed daunting, but once my Mom got all the luggage situated in the trunk we managed just fine. 

The highlights of the trip were the BYU game with a 1 point win, seeing the tailgating at Ole Miss, viewing Civil Rights sights like Medgar Evers home, the Hotel Lorraine where MLK was killed, and the National Civil Rights museum, eating AWESOME southern food, running with my Dad, driving through rich and poor neighborhoods and seeing the downtown areas of Jaskson, Memphis, and Nashville, touring the Grand Ole Opry, and, most importantly, spending time with my wonderful parents, brother, and husband.



I didn't take a single picture of the trip, but relied on my Mom and Andy's photographic skills, so you can check out pictures and more information on our trip HERE.

It was our 2nd official trip without children and while we loved every second of being away, we appreciated being together even more when we returned.

Being a school Mom

So I've only been the Mom of a school kid for 19 school days, but I'm feeling worn out!

(Imagine how my kid feels)

First, this school stuff is EVERY day. I knew that in my mind, but after picking up, dropping off, doing homework, packing a lunch, etc. I'm feeling tired. And there is no end in sight. The school schedule rules.

Second, what do you do with all of the stuff they send home? I'm used to an art project a week from preschool that I put up on the wall, but every day she comes home with multiple worksheets, fliers, fundraisers, notes, books to read, a homework packet, etc. Any best practices for handling all of this paper??? (I can't imagine the volume of this stuff with more than 1 kid)

Third, I have abandoned the illusion that Moms with kids in school have a whole free day to themselves. First, I have my other two girls to attend to, and second, I spend most of the day time hours doing my chores, shopping, and tasks so that I'll be free after school to help with piano and homework and have a little time to play with the girls together. Having  kids in school doesn't mean a picnic for the Mother.

Fourth, before having a school girl, the afternoon hours between 3 and 6 often dragged on. I'd spend the morning with the girls doing an activity, attending a class, or visiting a park and then we'd eat lunch, they'd have some down time while I got my chores done. After that they'd play some more, but by 4:00 we were all out of ideas of things to do and there was still daylight left. Now I feel like the hours from 3-6 move like lightening as the girls have a little time to play, we make and eat dinner, and get things done. Boring afternoons are over. (Not to mention what you do if they are involved in after school sports/dance/piano/gym/activities.)

Fifth, it's goodbye to my carefree days of being in charge of the daily schedule (or lack thereof).  I am now a subject of the school district.  You think that for a girl who loves structure and routine I'd be happy to accept this externally imposed regimen, but I'm missing those carefree days of planning my own schedule.

That said, I feel like I made the best of the first 5 years and thoroughly enjoyed planning out our days and having adventures together. The adventures will continue, but now I've got to learn to march to the beat of the school drum.