Fun with Novocaine

Emma recently had a trip to the dentist to have some cavities taken care of, which she's never had to do before. Like me, she hated being numb for hours much more than the pain that set in after it wore off. But she soon discovered it wasn't all bad. After all, she could do some pretty cool stuff with her face. Like this:

A smile without Novocaine:

A smile with Novocaine:

A pout without Novocaine:

A pout with Novocaine:

She was so funny about it! We would just be going about our business, and she would come up to me (or Sariah, or Katherine) with a serious face until she had my full attention and then just smile as big as she could. It made me crack up every time. The pout was funny, too. She asked me to do something, and I said no. Her usual response to this is to pout, so she gave that a try. It didn't quite work. It looked so funny! Maybe you had to be there. :)

A Christmas Post?!

Holy cow! I can't believe it's almost a month past Christmas, and I don't have a Christmas post yet! Wait, let me clarify: It's just the fact that it's a month past Christmas that I can't believe. The part about me not having a post yet is, sadly, quite easy to believe. Anyway, it feels kind of mandatory to post about Christmas, even if it is a month overdue, so here goes. :)



My kids, being in year-round school, are on B-track this year. This means that they were home from Thanksgiving to January 5th. That's roughly six weeks, folks. Six weeks. Of having all three of my very non-compatible children at home. All day, every day. For SIX WEEKS! Much of the time I felt the need to chant in my head "I love my kids. I love my kids. I love my kids." Or sometimes, "They'll outgrow it. They'll outgrow it. They'll outgrow it." Occasionally even, "I must let them back in the house. I must let them back in the house. Must I let them back in the house?" You know - the usual stuff. But we did have some fun, too. We made some fun little foam gingerbread house thingamadealies, and we went and saw the light display at a nearby park, and I think my personal favorite was making and decorating sugar cookies ( The word "decorating" here means heaping on gobs of frosting and then dumping on half a bottle of sprinkles. Particularly for Katherine.) Good, messy, yummy fun.

And of course the big day was lots of fun. The girls have been asking for a Wii since last Christmas. There's no way we could buy one so, lucky for them, Santa decided that they were just nice enough this year (69 percent nice, to be exact.) that he would bring them one. But there was a catch. 69 percent nice is cutting it kind of close, so they had to earn it. Santa had one of his elves prepare a treasure hunt made up of little riddles that they had to solve to find where it was hidden. I think he let them off awfully easy. I think he should have made them clean the toilets for a month or something, to make up for that 31 percent that they were lacking. But this is Santa we're talking about here. He's kinda known for letting the kiddos off easy. What a push-over.

I just found the clue cards for the treasure hunt, so I guess I could post them, eh? :)

Clue 1. According to Santa, you've been 69% nice. You do what you should (when you're asked more than twice). So no coal for you! You'll get what you want. But to earn it, you'll have to go on a jaunt. Santa asked me, Elf 71, to make up a hunt that's a challenge, but fun. So get on your marks (but please do not run), here is the first, it's clue number 1: Where do you go when you need a fix? When it's only 3 and dinner's at 6? (This one led to # 2 which was hidden - a little too well - in the fridge)

Clue 2. You found it! Great job! Now go take a seat and look where you put your food when you eat. (Under the dining room table)

Clue 3. Look, and clue #4 you'll find near things for your feet when you're going outside. (By the shoe rack at the front door)

Clue 4. Now put on a pair. No, we're not going far. You'll find the next clue when the front door's ajar. (Out on the front porch, in the bitter cold and wind. And it took a while to find. Maybe they earned it after all :). )

Clue 5. Run back inside! Hurry be quick! What does your mom give you when you're feeling sick? (The drawers in the kitchen where we keep the meds)

Clue 6. We're getting close! You're almost there! Look where you find something warm to wear. (Coat closet)

Clue 7. Before your last clue, I must give a warning: If you want what you want next Christmas morning, be kind to your sisters! Obey Mom and Dad! Help without whining -it'll make your folks glad! Don't wait to be asked to clean up your room, or wipe off the table, or sweep with the broom. Nothing takes away nice points like a tantrum or fight, so try to be loving instead of just...right! Okay, are you ready? Do you want the last clue? Will you remember the things I've asked you to do? Then go to the door and open it wide. Your presents are waiting where you go for a ride. (In the van.)

I, personally, think Elf 71 should keep his (or her) day job, but the girls really had a lot of fun. Alas, I don't think they have taken that warning to heart, though. :)

Well, I think that's enough of my rambling about the distant past. Now what you really came here for: The photos!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Rockin' Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Katherine-isms

I was just posting something over on my Katherine-isms site and noticed that I'm the only one that's been there, and it occurred to me that maybe some of you didn't realize that I had a separate blog for Katherine-isms now. I have a link to it in my blog roll over on the right hand side, if you want to take a gander. Or here is a link , if you prefer. :)

Trick or Treat!

I can't believe that Halloween has already come and gone! As usual, it was lots of fun to get the girls all dressed up and go trick-or-treating. Fortunately, Katherine got all of her artwork cleaned up in time - I was really not looking to enforcing that particular consequence if she didn't get it done. The weather was nearly perfect. It was really nice and warm. The only drawback was that we got sprinkled on for a little while, but even that was not a big deal - just a very light sprinkle. Poor Emma had woken up during the night before Halloween with a fever and a headache, so she had to stay home from school and miss whatever festivities were going on there, and she still was feverish about an hour before the trunk-or-treat started. So, I gave her some Motrin and by the time it was time to go she was as good as new (Hooray for Motrin!). That kept her going until we were done making the rounds, but it wore off right at the end when we stopped to trick-or-treat at Aunt Wendy's house, where she zonked out on the couch. But, she ended up with a giant sack full of candy, so it was all worth it....at least from a kid perspective.

Play Ball!

Emma decided not to play soccer this year and, since it was Katherine's first year playing, I was kinda glad. It's hard for two parents to be in three places at once. As it was, I think I only made it to one whole game of Sariah's. It's been a lot of fun this season, though. It is so fun (and hilarious) to watch the teams in Katherine's age group play soccer! There were a couple of little girls that would get the ball and just keep on running way beyond the field until one of the coaches was able to catch up and get them back to the game. Katherine mostly just followed the other players around, admiring their long hair, or their shoes, or their uniforms. I think she was starting to catch on to the game a bit just as the season ended, though. She has had a wonderful coach who, as far as I can tell, must have infinite patience. Four-year-old girls are not the easiest creatures to deal with. :)

Sariah has had a good coach, too. She is really quite tough on the players, but in a good way. I was a little concerned at first, because she made it quite clear from the get-go that she was not going to go easy on them. But she makes it fun for them and I think all the hard work has paid off. I think Sariah has really improved and is not as timid as she used to be. The coach won't let her play goalie yet, though, which is kind of frustrating for Sariah (it's her favorite position), so we're going to have to work on those dives and drop kicks in the off-season....in the snow....and the rain...and the mud...Or maybe we'll just wait until the spring season starts. :P

Graffiti

I remember Emma going through a coloring-on-the-wall phase when she was about 2 1/2. She had received some bath crayons for Christmas, and she figured that since it was okay to draw on the wall in the bath, it must be perfectly acceptable to draw on any other wall in the house. But it was okay...she was only 2 1/2 and her confusion was understandable. We made it clear the drawing on the wall was a big no-no, and the problem was quickly resolved. Katherine, however, has no such excuse. She is 4 1/2 years old. She has no reason to believe that it is acceptable to draw on the wall (and carpet, and toys). And yet, that doesn't seem to deter her in the least. The first time she did this, I corrected her, she apologized and promised never to do it again. The second time, I put her in time out for longer than usual, and took her crayons away. And she apologized and promised never to do it again. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find even more artwork later, as I am sure that there are enough crayons between couch cushions, under beds, and in dresser drawers to keep our ward's nursery stocked until the next generation. But I was a little surprised. And angry. And frustrated. Spankingly so, in fact. So, she got a swat, and I took away the crayons she had found. So, she apologized and promised never to do it again. So, imagine my surprise when I caught her in the act of coloring on yet another wall. When she saw that she had been caught, she said, "Mom, I just want a spank." Okay. To each his (or her) own. So, I obliged and then sent her to her room....where she found some more crayons. Grrrr! Time for the big guns: No trick-or-treating unless she has scrubbed all of the crayon off from the walls, and if she draws on the walls again I get her candy. She apologized and promised never to do it again. I let her use one crayon to color a picture a little later, and I asked her if she was going to draw on the walls again. She shrugged. *sigh* I asked, "Katherine, did you like getting spanked?" She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then replied, "Yeah...I kinda did." Huh. Who knew?