Tooth #8 - Gone

Briana came downstairs Monday afternoon saying that the tooth right next to her upper front tooth on the right side was super loose. I could tell she had been working on it awhile upstairs. I couldn't get a grip on her tooth and asked if she could pull it herself. Within 3 seconds, she popped it out and it landed on the kitchen floor. I grabbed it and stuck it in a ziploc bag. Briana couldn't have been more excited. She kept yelling "Tooth #8"!

My sweet little 6 year old with a tiny mouth (anatomically that is - heh) is getting all these big teeth in now. I am sure her mouth will eventually grow into her teeth. Ok, I hope her mouth will eventually grow into her teeth. :D

And the tooth fairy made her eighth appearance last night.

I don't think Bri has anymore loose teeth now. Let's hope there is a losing tooth lull for a while!

Crafts - Buying and Making

You might remember reading my post last year about visiting my old high school craft show. It was around the same time last year that I went with Kathy and Chani. It is still surreal to walk about the halls. I had some really good times and not so good times walking down those halls. Lots of memories. Love that my daughter has been able to walk those halls with me.

This year (yesterday), Briana and I went to the show with my close friend Carole and her son Guy.

Briana once again got a fudge cone...

Seriously, my daughter ate her way through the show. Dips, jams, jellies, fudge, nuts, chips, pretzels - you name it - she sampled it. And she still managed to eat a slice of pizza for lunch afterward. I swear she is either going through a growth spurt or she has a hollow leg. She believes it is option number 2.

 Look at my girl on the school bleachers...

Quick blurry shot of the gym. It was completely filled with vendors as well as all the upstairs hallways and the cafeteria...

We ran into a woman vendor that was selling adorable stuffed bears. I totally remember her from last year. She looks for the little kids and yells out "Want to hug a bear?" Ugh. Of course, Bri ran over, squeezed it tightly and wanted it immediately. Just like last year. But Bri really, really, REALLY doesn't need one more stuffed bear.

So Bri tried "her maneuver" on me. One she is getting quite good at. I have termed it "Daddy Eyes." (Because Daddy falls for it about 95% of the time.) You know the look - like when Puss In Boots gives that cute, sad face to Shrek. Or like the eyes you see on a Precious Moments doll. Briana proceeds to get up close to me, look up and blink at me a few times and then pushes out her little bottom lip. Quite adorable, but it didn't work (at least with this item).

I said to her "Don't you give me those Daddy eyes!" Everyone with in an ear shot started laughing. Because I am sure at one time or another, their kids have tried this particular maneuver. I am sure I did it on my parents as well.

We moved on and still ended up buying way too much stuff. Bri ended up with some hair clips, a smelly soap, a magnet, a jar of raspberry preserves and way too much fudge.

I totally love this kid.

Being silly on the stairs...

What a fun morning/early afternoon!!!

Now for the making craft part of my post.

Briana is officially on vacation from school for all of Thanksgiving week!

To celebrate, I took her over to her favorite art center Friday afternoon after school to make a turkey craft...

We were very excited when Daddy got home from his business trip to Maine early enough to join us...

Miss B holding her turkey masterpiece...

It's officially Thanksgiving week, ya'll! Gobble, gobble!!

1st Grade Performance and Art Fair

Tuesday evening, Briana's school hosted a PTA Art Fair and Kindergarten/1st Grade Performance. It was ingenious because the performance brought in tons of parents for the art fair and PTA meeting. At $30 a pop for a "Pop Art" picture that the kids made in art class, the school made some money. And we found out that the cut that the school made from the Boosterthon was $25,000. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Briana had told me about her "Pop Art" cat that she made in class and was so excited we were going to buy it. It is pretty stinkin' cute. It is now hanging in the sink area of her bathroom. I was actually wanting a picture to put in there and just couldn't find one I liked. This fit the bill perfectly!

For a few weeks, she kept singing a song that she learned in music class about a "Turkey Named T" - now I know it is called "Hip Hop Turkeys" and it is so cute. At the bottom of this post, you can see the kids perform it as well as the private song performance Bri gave me over the weekend.

Here she is ready for the program...

After shopping at the art fair, we dropped Bri off at her classroom and I took a pic of the turkey she made...

This is the new principal of our school. So far, I really like him...

Bri's class was the first 1st grade class to file in, so I got a few good shots of Bri. But somehow her class ended up in the back row even though they were the first to come in. It was really hard to see her, but I enjoyed the songs anyway...

The "Thankful For The USA" song required streamers...

Adorable "Hip Hop Turkeys" song...

Here are the videos from the evening and Bri's performance for me on the weekend. Cute stuff!

Enjoy...

Perfect Sunday

We experienced a picture perfect Sunday yesterday. The leaves were beautiful, the temperature was cool and breezy and the sun was shining. I enjoyed sitting out on my back porch. So beautiful...

Miss B joined me for a little while and we had some cute conversations. Like this one about landforms and plateaus (which she has been learning about in school)...

 And for a couple of weeks now, Doug and Bri have been working on a Lego project. They have several winter scene sets they are putting together. They worked on those for hours yesterday...

They decided to go gangsta on me for a minute...

They managed to pry themselves away from the Legos for a late afternoon movie - Wreck It Ralph...

It was sooo cute! I highly recommend it!

I love quiet weekends like the one we just had. They happen so rarely. It was the first weekend we have had in months where we didn't have anything scheduled. I need to try and make a few more of those. :D

Veterans Day

Thank you to all who have served our country!

"I Love Fashion" - By Briana

Briana wrote this pop up book in school. Her teacher had it ready for Doug and me to read on conference day. I absolutely love how she incorporated a flying panda, fashion and a magic princess into one story.

I love how this is a "East Meets West" type of story. LOL!

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Briana. She loves to make fashion. One day, she wanted to make a pretty dress, but she did not have enough silk to make it. I am that girl. I asked the panda to go to get some silk. She was a flying panda. Her name is Sparkles.

She went to the store and she tried to remember what kind of silk I asked her to get. She remembered I asked for silver, gold, rainbow and one more thing, I wanted royal blue. When she got home, she gave the silk to me. I began to make the dress. When I was done, my dress looked pretty. I tried it on.

It fit and I turned into a magic princess. The end."

Cutest story ever...

My 14 Year Old Fur Baby

My beautiful fur baby is 14 years old - or at least that is what I believe. And I think turning 14 years old is definitely worthy of a special blog post!

Asia was a stray when she walked in my backyard in September of 1999, so I have no previous information on her at all. When Doug and I first brought her to the vet, the doctor told us she believed Asia was most likely fall kitty and was probably around a year old. So whenever fall comes around, we know Asia is another year older.

We had a cancer scare with her over two years ago.

But since that tumor removal, she has been happy and healthy. The vet did clean her teeth last year and she also had a bit of scar tissue from the cancer surgery removed from her leg at the same time, but she hasn't had to have any procedures done this year, thank goodness.

I took her for her senior checkup on Wednesday and she is in really good health - her blood work looked great. My veterinarian retired a few months ago and I was so sad. This is the vet that I had taken Asia to from day one. A new doctor has now taken over the practice. I was a bit nervous seeing a new vet, but I really liked her. She was very nice and very gentle with Asia, so I think we will be able to create a nice, new relationship. Hopefully though, I won't need to bring Asia to see the vet again until her checkup next year!

Asia has definitely warmed up to Briana. Still not as much as to Doug and me, but she will hang with B at times. Well, that only took five years. ;)

Two years ago, I really thought I was losing Asia. Luckily, I found that lump (mast cell tumor) as soon as I did and got it removed. Hopefully, she will stay well and I will have a few more years with my furry girl.

Pink and Orange (With Tooth Update)

Not many people can pull off pink and orange, but my six year old seems to be able to do it amazingly well. :)

  

And whenever I ask her for pictures, I have to get through a lot of silly poses...

Before I get the "sweet smile" shot...

I picked Briana up a little early from school yesterday to take her to her dentist appointment.
When she entered the office, every technician, and the dentist as well, said how awesome B's pink sparkly sneakers were...

(By the way, she has no cavities and two new loose teeth. The tooth fairy will be visiting again soon!)

Fashionista, indeed.

And this morning, Bri dressed in gray and white. She had a little pink on the back pockets of her jeans, so she picked earrings with some pink in them and a pink necklace to "add a splash of pink." I don't think my gal can go anywhere if she doesn't have even a teeny tiny amount of pink on...

Happy Friday everyone!

I can't believe that Briana has only one more week of school and then is off for an entire week for Thanksgiving break. She is pretty pumped about it!

*** Update - Briana lost tooth number #7 at school today!

 

Appreciating Fall Leaves

I can't believe I am devoting an entire post to fall leaves, but I am. I absolutely love all the color we are experiencing in Georgia right now.

I lived in Florida until I was 13 and had never seen a fall colored leaf until I moved to Georgia. So I just can't help soaking in all the amazing color wherever I go.

This is the tree in front of my house...

This is a tree right in front of my kitty Asia's vet's office...

 In Georgia, the peak of fall color doesn't arrive until after Halloween - usually around the first week of November.

This is a picture of my church that I took yesterday with my iPhone...

As I was driving along today, I was trying to snap some photos through the car window with my phone...

Unfortunately, my cell phone pictures can't really capture how vibrant some of the trees really are.

In about a week or so, I am sure most of the color will be fading and the leaves will start to fall. Lots of the trees will be bare, which is a sure sign that winter is around the corner. There are so many evergreens (pines) in Georgia though, we still always have a lot of green around in the winter months. 

Fall is my favorite season. I am a bit sad that it will be leaving soon. I do enjoy winter though. Maybe Georgia will get a small blanket of snow at least once this winter. We had no snow at all last winter. I know my six year old would love to see a little snow this winter - at least to have a sled ride or to make a snowman. :D