Catch up

OK, I have been behind in our blog for quite sometime. I'm sure I missed some events even though I tried to write them down and I know I still have a few I didn't get to, but I tried. One of my friends joked that she would have a ton to read once I posted everything. I laughed and said that yes, she was right. It's even more funny because I laugh when other people do this. So, enjoy reading and catching up on what we've been up to over the last few months. I think I'm only missing two more blogs and I will get to them as soon as I can...hopefully tonight or tomorrow!

The tooth is OUT

Riley has had a tooth loose for at least 6 months. It was so loose I had tried to pull it several times but Riley never REALLY gave me a chance. The tooth had moved over to the right so far it looked like she was missing a tooth anyway. But no, it was still there. Riley had to eat on the side of her mouth and everything, but she still wouldn't let me pull it. We tried holding her down (Doug holding her arms and legs) and pulling it, but she still wouldn't open her mouth. We saw the dentist for her annual check-up on October 8th and the tooth was still hanging there...and I mean hanging. It had moved in front of her other tooth a little and was a little sideways. She looked like a snaggle tooth. Well, I thought the dentist would pull it, but they were too busy. So, they gave me some gel to help numb the area and hopefully put her at ease so I could pull it. finally on Friday the 9th I got my chance. I convinced her that I needed to try so she let me put the gel on there. I almost popped it out putting the gel on, but not quite. Once it was numb she was still freaking out a little and wouldn't let me get a good grip on the tooth. She finally agreed to let me "wiggle" it. I went in to wiggle and got a good enough grip that it popped out. She didn't even know I had it out until I told her. She was SO happy and said it didn't even hurt at all and that it wasn't even a big deal. Hopefully the next tooth won't be such a problem and won't be in her mouth as long when it's clear it needs to come out. It shouldn't be too long until we get to try that out as all 3 of her other top front teeth are loose.

Riley's Baptism Pics

It is hard to believe Riley is turning 8...as are several of her friends. I still remember them all when they were tiny. In our church, the age of 8 is significant. This is the age they are baptized a member as they have reached the age of accountability. Riley has been looking forward to this as several of her church friends (and classmates) have already hit this age this year. Now, it was her turn. I had been looking since early spring for a dress for her to wear. It's hard to find a white dress with sleeves that is not too expensive (at least I had a hard time) but then I might be picky. My mom has a friend who runs a costume rental shop that also rents wedding dresses and such. Well, the wedding dress part was being sold or gotten rid of so she was able to bring down some dresses (flower girl type) for Riley to try on. We found one and my mom could get it for like $25 and it could be hemmed. It wasn't Riley's favorite because the sleeves were too puffy but it looked good on her and it was the right price. I had this idea in my head to take pics of her in the dress outside so I could use it for her announcements. I racked my brain on where to take the pics. One morning when I was running, I found the place. I took her to a butterfly garden that sits in between two towns (Winter Garden and Oakland) and right off bike trail. I had to borrow a camera since my lens was broken and couldn't be fixed when I needed it. I'm so lucky to have a friend who was willing to let me borrow their NICE camera for these pics. It was fun taking the pics and I was lucky and got some shots I really like and that let her personality come through.

13th Anniversary

Doug and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary on September 21st. Due to our schedules and the kids activities, we opted for a different celebration. A day after our anniversary we went and played golf together at one of the courses at Disney. We really enjoyed just walking and talking and hitting golf balls. Then, after a great morning, we went to lunch at a new restaurant on property. It was good but the food was a little different. The view from the restaurant was awesome however and more than made up for the food being a little different. Then, it was time to head home for the kids to get out of school. All in all it was an AWESOME day. I feel very lucky to be married to such a great guy!

Computer and Camera Hiccups

Since the end of July, both our computer and our camera have had hiccups. Our computer had something weird happen and windows disappeared. Consequently, it wouldn't boot up or anything. We called our trusty friend who always helps us with these problems and he thought it would be easy to fix. Turned out it wasn't. He said he could see all our files there but couldn't get them to come up so he took our computer to the shop. This was right about the time I was going away for my girls trip. When the computer returned (while I was gone) it worked great BUT all our files were lost. That meant all our pictures were lost. This had happened before so you think I would learned to back things up and I had started, but I was barely into the file. Oh well. Live and learn (again). Luckily, because of this blog, I was able to recover some pics so all is not lost.

Shortly after that, my lens on my computer topped working. I couldn't get it to move to zoom in or out. I asked a friend and found a shop to take it to for repair. The shop thought it would be a simple and not too expensive fix and only take about 2 days, but they were wrong. Once they actually had a chance to really look at the lens, they realized it was more serious and would be more costly to repair and would take 5 weeks minimum. It is still currently sitting there as I try and figure out what to do. Luckily, I have a friend whose camera I was able to borrow for some pics I wanted to take. I have also figured out that my regular Nikon lens will work on my digital camera, just not as well as my real digital lens. I will figure out what to do soon.

School Projects

Every month Riley gets two projects for school. One is a math book with fun word problems for the kids to work on and the other is a book report. While a lot of work, they are fun. For September, Riley had to read a book, design a new cover and then do a report (written) and presentation (oral) for the class. This turned out to be fun as she read several books before she picked one. She did a great job and got an A. For October, she has to read a book, do a written report and her oral report has to be done as a character from the book. This should be fun. She needs to find a book so she can get to work!

Activities

School is in full swing and so are the girls. The past two years the start of school has also meant the start of dance, soccer and cheer leading. This year was different, it's just dance. Doug and I decided last year that if Riley was going to dance several days a week then that would be all she would be doing. She would be starting Activity Days at church after she turned 8 and we really wanted to be sure her grades stayed up. She missed cheer, but hasn't missed soccer (at least not that she has mentioned). She really wanted to focus on dance this year and she is. She is there several days a week and LOVES it. She doesn't always get everything, but she really tries and practices different things at home frequently (that has never happened before). If there was anything else she would like to do it would be golf lessons. Unfortunately, they are the same time as dance. Doug could take her out to practice but it hasn't happened yet. Now that we are having better weather maybe we can work it into the day. Kamryn would be playing soccer, but mom was a slacker and forgot to go and register. Our YMCA has registration on one night and if you don't go then you pay an extra $20 for a late fee. I'm not willing to pay that so she'll have to wait for spring. I'm hoping in the spring she'll be old enough to play for South Lake Soccer which does everything on Friday nights. At least I could probably work that into my schedule better. Kamryn is dancing though. She has classes some of the same days as Riley which works out well for us. So for now, it's pretty much just dance...at least until spring.