Has anyone seen this tooth?

Will has had 4 loose teeth for quite a while now. His top front teeth are just barely loose and the the bottom 2 teeth next to his middle teeth (does that make sense) have also been loose. He lost his bottom front teeth last summer and not much has happened since...until today! The tooth on the left has been getting more loose every day. This morning it was there at breakfast; then he went to wash his hands a few hours later and it noticed it was gone! We haven't been able to find it so he wrote a letter to the tooth fairy saying he lost a tooth and he drew a picture of it so the tooth fairy knows that he really did lose a tooth. Hopefully she remembers tonight to leave him a little present under his pillow. She had a hard time remembering last summer!

Anyway, I think he looks pretty cute with the missing tooth. But you can judge for yourself!

P.S. As a side note for those who are wondering--I have 9 days left to D-day. Other than feeling humongous and hot all the time, I feel fine. There's not really anything to report. But once there is, believe me, you'll know!

Happy Birthday, Hallie!

Well, it's official. Hallie has been counting down to this for a few weeks now! And it has finally arrived. Yesterday was Hallie's 5th birthday. That morning she was sitting on the couch watching cartoons when she looked up and said, "I'm 5 now!"--like she had just realized it at that moment. Super cute!

We had a birthday party for her Saturday afternoon. She invited only girls because it was a princess party. We had Emma Thomas, Sarah Brock, Hannah and Laura Porter, Lana Smith, Jessica Gomillion, Catherine Tew, and Jessica Price (plus William, Hallie, and Gracie). Total that's 11 kids, which was a few more than I had planned on even though I was the one to hand out all the invitations. Can I use the excuse that I'm 2 weeks away from having a baby for my lack of proper planning?

The girls started out coloring princess pictures and putting glitter all over them. Then the girls all danced to princess music while Tony and I got pizza ready. After eating pizza the girls danced a little more while we cleaned up, then we opened presents. Hallie could not wait! She got a lot of fun princess stuff from all of her friends. After we opened presents we sang "Happy Birthday" and blew out the candles. As she blew out the candles, Hallie wished that she could have fun if she got a pony. I'm sure if she ever does get a pony it would be a ton of fun, but I told her not to count on ever actually getting one.

After the cake and ice cream (Kathy made her the cutest princess cake) the girls all played while they waited their turn for me to paint their fingernails. Once everyone's nails were either pink or red, it was time to go home. But somewhere in the middle of all that Hallie said, "This has been the best day ever!" That's all I wanted to hear!

After all the friends were gone we cleaned up and rested for a while before taking her to the mall so she could get some jewelry from Claire's. Of course, I had to let Gracie get something too so there wouldn't be constant fighting. This is one of the times I have had to realize that Hallie and I have very different taste. She didn't like anything I pointed to. It made me very afraid for the next 13 years. I hope I'm up for it! I also have to say sorry to my mom because I know she and I were the same way. I hope I didn't make your life too miserable, Mom!

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Hallie! I love you so much! I couldn't imagine my life without you!

Rain, rain go away...

On Saturday we wanted to go swimming at the YMCA. So we all put our suits on, drove down to the Apalachee YMCA, got in, went potty, took off our flip flops, went to get in the pool and right as the kids put their feet in the lifeguard blows the whistle. He heard lightening from some clouds like 10 miles south of us, but because of it we all had to stay out of the pool for 1/2 hour. Bummer! The kids were so disappointed. I was too. It's been hot lately and the pool sounded so good.

So we took the kids home and set up the spinkler in the backyard. After a while it made a big mud puddle. Tony hooked the spinkler up in the tree and set a couple of slides under it to make a water slide. While Will and Hallie went down the slide Gracie played in the mud and got mud up to her elbows and almost to her knees, but she couldn't be happier. By the way, it did rain eventually, 3 hours later and only for 5 minutes.

(Here's a little glimpse into Will's personality. In the last picture it looks like Will was running away, but he wasn't. He posed like that.)

If only mini golfing was so easy...

We were watching our family movies on Sunday and I fell in love with this one. My kids are so cute I can hardly stand it!

We recorded the kids mini golfing last March. Even though it was just 3 months ago I feel like they've all grown so much, especially Gracie. They just don't stay little for long (sniff, sniff).

Practice makes perfect

We went back to Disney World this weekend (before the blackout dates started). But the day before we left, the kids were practicing waiting in line and going on rides. Here's a little clip!

Just Pictures

I thought I'd add just some pictures for more Ricks' family fun!

This is Hallie and Will at Animal Kingdom outside the River Rapids ride. Obviously they didn't mind getting soaked.

Will loves dinosaurs, so naturally he loved the Dino town in Animal Kingdom. Here he is in front of a T-Rex, or as he would say, "the king of the dinosaurs."

Again at Animal Kingdom. They had a petting zoo which they all loved. But if you look behind Will, Hallie especially loves the goats. She even tried to kiss the goat, but I was able to stop her before too many germs were passed. Has anyone heard of "goat flu?" I hope not.

Gracie and Hallie in their sunglasses on the carousel in the Magic Kingdom. We bought all three kids a pair of sunglasses on Monday as a souvenir. Gracie lost hers on Wednesday while I was rushing to get to the Lion King show on time. The whole way there she was saying, "Mom....Mom!" I thought she wanted a drink or something so I told her to wait until we got there. Then as I got her out of the stroller she said,"Are we going back for my glasses now?" She had dropped them and I wouldn't listen to her to stop and pick them up. I was so mad at myself, but I learned my lesson. So I went to put her prescription glasses on and I couldn't find them either. My nephew had thrown them out of the stroller on our way to Lion King. So we lost both her glasses in 15 minutes. I was pretty bummed. But miraculously they both turned up at the lost and found the next morning! The prescription glasses had been stepped on but they were fixable. So at the end of the week we had all three pairs of sunglasses and 1 of 2 pairs of Gracie's glasses (we did lose the other pair in the house somewhere on Sunday morning right before we left, but it could have been worse).

It's all so magical...

Well, it's been a week now since we've been back, but I have computer issues. But while my computer is acting semi-normal I better get this posted. We spent 8 days in Orlando starting May 2. Tony's brother, Matt, and his family flew out to Orlando and we all stayed in this great house for 8 days.

We checked in on Saturday afternoon and went swimming in our own private pool. Then Sunday we tried to go to church, but had some direction issues and never found the church. But it's the thought that counts, right? But then Monday we headed off to Disney World where we spent the next 6 days.

We started with the Magic Kingdom. I know it sounds corny, but it really is magic. I remember going to Disneyland with all my girlfriends as our senior trip in high school. We all walked into the gates and said, "This really is the happiest place on earth!" That's exactly how I felt 10 years later (wow, has it really been 10 years!). Everything about each Disney park is impressive and magical.

Anyway, we did all we could at the Magic Kingdom on Monday, then spent Tuesday in Epoct. We met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy but our camera had run out of battery and we weren't able to get pictures. Wednesday we went to Animal Kindgom. Being 26 weeks pregnant I couldn't do 90% of the rides there, and Gracie was too small so I took her and my 2-year-old nephew to the Lion King show. It was amazing. We also saw "Finding Nemo: The Musical" which as equally impressive. Thursday we went to Hollywood Studios. That day was especially hot so we didn't end up staying for too long.

Friday was my nephew's birthday so he got to choose which park to go back to. With hardly any help from us he picked Magic Kingdom. So we went back and did all we weren't able to do the first day and a few of the things we wanted to do again. Hallie, Graice and their cousin Jaxine even got to meet Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for those fathers who should know, but don't), Cinderella, and Belle. Will and Hallie both LOVED Splash Mountain. I didn't think my kids were quite old enough to like roller coasters, but I was dead wrong. Gracie, on the other hand, didn't really like the kiddie coaster she went on in Toon Town. At least one of my kids is like me.

Saturday we went back to Hollywood Studios since we didn't spend much time there on Thursday. Hollywood Studios has Will's favorite thing of all: Lights, Motors, Action. It's a stunt show with cars that chase each other, spin, and fly off jumps. There's also a big explosion at the end. Will said it was his favorite thing from the whole week. Hallie's was Splash Mountain. Tony's favorite was doing Splash Mountain with Will and Hallie, because of how much they enjoyed getting soaked. Gracie didn't really have a favorite, but her and I had a great time going on all the small rides together.

We planned on going to the temple one morning but found out it was closed after my brother and sister-in-law drove out there and couldn't get in. So now we have to go back to Orlando in June so I can go to the temple one more time before the baby's born. And while we're there we might as well go to Disney World again. We now have seasons passes, so we have a year to go back as much as we want.