Missing Teeth, ThankLizzy Day, Nickles in Pockets, and School Triumphs

Well, things have been good these past couple of weeks. The girls continue to lose teeth. We worry that Adelle might not be able to eat anything but mashed bananas :) She certainly fits the old song "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth"...and several other ones as well! Lydia even lost another tooth. You'd think I wasn't taking care of my kids, but I know it is just the time for those baby teeth to pop out.



On another note, last Friday I decided to cook the 7.5 pound turkey breast that has been hanging out in the fridge defrosting. I decided if I was going to cook the turkey we were going to have all the sides that go along with it on special holidays. I even made homemade cranberry sauce. I had gotten the recipe from the Pioneer Woman blog. Love her! I declared it a holiday! We all sat around the table and savored every bite. It was really the first time I've made turkey for the whole family and it ended up being so moist and delicious! I thank my sister and her husband for giving us a meat thermometer. If I had just used the time of the package it would have been WAY overdone. It really was a sort of magical occasion and I could have sworn that it was Thanksgiving. Wes and I even did a little of Christmas shopping afterwards. We then all sat together for Toy Story 3. It was a very special day. I even picked up pumpkin pie and eggnog. Oh Heavens, it was good and I was so happy. I was teasing the family at dinner and said well aren't you going to say "Thank You". They already had but I was so engrossed in everything I'd missed it. They humored me and thanked me again. Wes then declared our little holiday "ThankLizzy Day". It may have to be a tradition each year :)



There has been the sound of coins jingling in a little girls pocket this week. Adelle has been having a hard time listening and wanting to follow directions. Wes was almost at his wits end. It was getting pretty frustrating at times. Inspired by a Bearenstein Bear book he decided to try a little experiment. Adelle gets 5 nickles a day and if she isn't listening she has to give us one of her nickles. At the end of the day if she has any nickles left she gets to keep them. Now, it may sound like we are paying Adelle to behave, but really I think it is helping her remember to listen when she hears those coins jingling and I believe it is helping her get into the habit of controlling her negative emotions and not arguing with us. It is working marvelously so far.

Speaking of marvelous things, the girls have done really great this past term. We had parent teacher conferences this week. We were a little worried about Lydia's grades at midterm because of some missed work and some forgetfulness on her part, but she really worked hard and got all B+ and A's. We are super proud of her. Adelle is doing really great as well. She is testing pretty high and her grades are wonderful. I love both of the girls teachers this year! We will have to find a way to celebrate the girls great grades soon. I'll have to keep you posted.