All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

It finally happened! It took over two months but Lexie finally lost her first tooth! We were eating tacos Monday night and Lexie said her tooth hurt. I looked in her mouth, saw that her tooth was barely hanging on and their was some blood. So I twisted her tooth a little and it came out! Lexie was so excited!



I had to go to a school meeting that night so Daddy helped her put the tooth in her special pillow. (It's actually the same pillow I used when I was a kid.) She also wrote the tooth fairy a note that said "Dear tooth Fairy I lost my first tooth today and it is a bottom one I lost it by eating a taco! Love - Lexie PS if you would give me something for my tooth right now it would be a Foohy" (A "foohy" is a type of eraser that a bunch of kids at school have - they look like monkey heads.)

Lexie woke the next morning to discover that the Tooth Fairy had taken her tooth and left some special gifts for her. In the pillow, where the tooth used to be was a $1 coin. The Tooth Fairy also left a Cheetah Girls muscial toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste and a note.
The note said "Dear Lexie - Congratulations on losing your first tooth - it's a beautiful tooth! I can tell you've been taking great care of it. I hope you enjoy the new toothbrush and toothpaste I'm leaving for you. Sorry I didn't give you a Foohy but maybe you can use this special coin to buy one for yourself (or you can save it for something else). I have a feeling I'll be visiting you again real soon! Until then, keep brushing and flossing! Love - The Tooth Fairy" The Tooth Fairy also accidently left some of her fairy dust all around the pillow and gifts! Lexie was very excited about everything and didn't seem disappointed at all that she didn't get a Foohy. She was very curious though about how the Tooth Fairy gets in the house and what she does with the teeth she collects. :)

Then yesterday Lexie ran into my bathroom in the morning with her finger in her mouth. There was blood all over the tip of her finger and all around her other loose tooth. This tooth was a little harder to get out but after a few twists it did come out. Lexie left it in her pillow last night and woke up this morning to find a $1 coin and more fairy dust!

Lexie told me on the way to school yesterday that she thinks that the Tooth Fairy uses all the teeth she collects in her wand instead of batteries. (How cute is that?!) She also decided not to save her money but instead she plans to use her $2 to buy a Foohy. I just think it's funny that our little girl can sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" this Christmas. :)

Winter Fun

Now that winter is really here I don't know about you but I don't feel like doing much of anything! I always feel so cold - even when I'm inside! My favorite place to be right now is bundled up in a thick blanket - reading, watching TV or watching a movie. It is WAY too cold to do much of anything else!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE going sledding with Lexie - it's actually one of my favorite things to do in the winter but lately it's been too cold to do even that! But one cold day late last month Lexie and I managed to brave the cold weather and build a snowman! Last year I bought a snowman kit that had everything you needed to make a snowman except the snow and the sticks for the arms and this was the first time we used it. Lexie and I had so much fun - Lexie even tried to make a dog on the right side of the snowman. The face is on the right, the tail is on the left, closest to the snowman. (Don't tell her I said this but I kindof think it looks like an armadillo.) :)

Ever since Lexie was 2 we've been making Gingerbread houses together as a family every December. This year I bought a gingerbread train kit instead. So on the same day we built the snowman, the 3 of us put the train together. We were so focused on doing it, I almost forgot to take pictures!
It was just as much fun as the gingerbread house and it was nice to do something a little different. Lexie even decided to name the train "The Polar Express" and make a sign for it.

The Cheetah Girls ROCK!

On December 2nd I took Lexie to her first concert - The Cheetah Girls - One World Tour. She was so excited! I was upstairs getting ready and when I came downstairs I discovered Lexie making a "poster" for the concert.
It was sooo cute - she actually ended up making 2 posters, one for me and one for her. :) We got to the Palace early so there weren't that many cars but Lexie couldn't believe all these people were going to see the Cheetah Girls. She thought there must be some other event going on. I assured her that the Cheetah Girls were it!

We had GREAT seats - 4th row on the right side of the stage! (Thanks to a business contact of Dave's who gave him the tickets!) I made sure to let Lexie know that normally you don't get to sit this close for a concert. In fact, I've never sat that close so it was pretty cool for me too!
When the opening act - The Clique Girlz - started Lexie just kindof sat in her seat and stared at them. Lexie and I had never heard of this group - Lexie said they looked like 3 Hannah Montanas. :) I also thought they seemed like a female version of the Jonas Brothers - since they look like sisters.

Anyway, by the time the Cheetah Girls came to the stage Lexie was warmed up and ready to rock!
She stood up most of the concert, danced around, sang and screamed...at least I think she screamed - I actually had ear plugs in my ears so I couldn't hear her (but she looked like she was screaming). :) Lexie wore ear plugs too - I think it would've been WAY too loud without them, especially sitting that close and having all those screaming girls around us. (I know, I know, I guess I'm getting old.)

It was a great concert! My favorite part was when the girls sang above the stage, each in their own individual chandelier chair.
There was also a cool part where the girls gatherered together and sat and sang while a slide show was going - they were so close to us!
Lexie loved it all, especially when her favorite Cheetah girl came over and sang right in front of us and even waved to us.
But her favorite part of all was at the end when they sang "One World" while standing on these columns which were raised out of the stage and then confetti was dropped on us. Lexie was so tired at the end but I could still tell she had a GREAT time! We both agreed, the Cheetah Girls definately rocked!

Our Fall

Since I've started working I haven't blogged very much so I thought I'd take the time to tell you about what we've done this fall and show you some pics too.

For Dave's Birthday in September we visited an apple orchard near our house. We went on a hay ride,


walked through a corn maze,

and fed the animals.


As you can see, it was a beautiful Fall day and we had a lot of fun.

At the beginning of October Lexie got her first loose tooth - actually two of them - her 2 bottom front teeth. She is very excited and can't wait for one of them to fall out. The one on her left side is getting pretty loose so hopefully it will happen soon!

Towards the end of October Dave and I went to the Michigan v. Michigan State game. It was cold but it was still a fun day.




Next came pumpkin carving which we did one night right after Lexie took a shower - notice the wet hair and pjs. (This is the "before" picture.)
Lexie even got to help carve this year but it was Mommy's job to get all the yuckie stuff out of the pumpkin first.


We were really happy with how the pumpkins both turned out.


October ended with one of Lexie's favorite holidays, Halloween. Can anyone guess what Lexie decided to be? That's right, Hannah Montana! All we had to buy was the wig & microphone, the rest came from her closet!

For the 2nd year in a row we had my parents, my sister & her family, and my sister's sister-in-law's family come over to eat and go trick-or-treating. Here are the 3 girls - Hannah Montana, Daphne (from Scooby Doo) and Princess Madalyn - aren't they so cute!?
It was a lot of fun trick or treating, especially because the weather was so amazing. It was in the 70s most of the day so Lexie didn't even have to wear a coat!
My niece Madalyn is now 2 and she had so much fun trying to keep up with the big girls!

In the end, the girls came home with over 100 goodies in their bags!



The last big thing for us this fall was the election on November 4th. Dave and I have spent the last few months watching all the campaign news on CNN and Fox News. We were very excited for November 4th to finally arrive and we were glued to CNN all night watching the election coverage. As I watched Barack Obama's speech I was so moved, I felt I was listening to a historic speech, one that will be remembered and quoted in history books.

Dave and I are so happy with the choice of Barack Obama as our next president. This is the first time in a long time that the person we voted for actually won! :) We both feel very hopeful about the future of this country under the direction of President-Elect Obama! Congratulations to him and to this country!

With winter almost here, we look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and also to the new year. We continue to pray that God adds to our family and that we have patience while we wait for His perfect timing.

Happy Anniverary to Us!

Last weekend Dave and I celebrated our 9th anniversary!!! As usual we went away for the weekend, just the two of us. Dave always does all the planning for it - picks the location, makes all the reservations, etc. All I have to do is pack and find someone to watch Lexie and Sandy for the weekend. This year he chose one of our favorite spots - Mackinac Island.

The timing of our anniversary weekend is great because Dave is always just getting done with budgets. This means that the couple of weeks before our anniversary are especially busy for him - lots of late nights, some out-of-town trips, etc. So this special weekend is a nice time for us to relax and reconnect. This year I appreciated it even more because with me working and Lexie's nightly homework I feel like I never have enough time to do everything, let alone spend quality time with Dave. So this weekend came at just the right time for both of us.

We packed so much into so little time, it's hard to include everything. So I thought I'd share some pictures and a list of 10 of my favorite memories from the trip:

1. That first view of the island (especially the Grand Hotel) from the ferry
2. Sleeping in until 9am two days in a row!
3. Walking hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm everywhere with Dave

4. Riding bikes around the island - over 8 miles!



5. Eating ice cream after our bike ride - YUM!!!

6. Stopping at the "Somewhere in Time" site - I love that movie!

7. Taking our "secret" path to the Grand Hotel


8. Making friends with a horse that Dave named "Honey-pie Pony"
9. Watching how scared Dave was walking up the stairs to see the Arch Rock

10. Enjoying the beautiful Fall colors



But I think my favorite thing of all about the weekend was that I got to spend 48 hours alone with Dave. It was so nice having no schedule to keep, no place to be, just doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Oh and we got to eat whatever we wanted too!!! :)