Trying Teeth

I had to take Camille to the dentist today for 2 fillings.  I think that it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.  Well, besides being pregnant with her and having her.  And her sister.  At the same time.  Oh, and pregnancy and childbirth with her brother too.  Putting her in a chair, even with headphones and a My Little Pony movie going, then watching as they numbed her mouth and gave her shot after shot (the cavity was down to a nerve), then watching as they drilled it all out while she screamed ow ow ow!  One tooth was so far gone that they had to put a crown on it.  She was so strong and brave.

Lessons learned:
1.  Floss your kids' teeth.  I never flossed growing up and I never had cavities.  I also ate tons of candy.  But, flossing in this case would have probably saved her poor little teeth.  This is a big "duh" moment for me.
2.  God is merciful to us.  I've had some trying times this week and He has helped me every time.  Even though my trials were temporary or silly, he helped me through them.  He was also merciful to Camille and to me today.  I asked her when we were done if this was the hardest thing she's ever had to do and she just kind of shrugged.  Which leads me to number 3...
3.  Trials and pain are usually not forever.  When I thought more about it, my real biggest trial in terms of worrying about my kids/kids being ill or in pain was when Grace was in the NICU for 2 weeks.  Or when both girls had RSV and Grace had it so bad she had to be hospitalized.  Or when Clark was circumcised and almost passed out when I chose to watch the procedure.  While these things were happening, I never thought that they would be over.  I mean, I guess I understood that my kids would heal, but my anxiety held me in the moment.  I am thankful somewhat for those trials (I'm not asking for more!) because they truly brought me closer to God.  In my prayers, through the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and through the realization that I am His child.  He feels for me when I am in pain the same way that I feel for my kids.  Even further, in the same way that I put my kids in situations that are painful- like going to the dentist to right a wrong, our Father in Heaven puts me in situations that are painful to right a wrong or make me stronger.  It hurts a little to think of, but it's true, I know.
4.  Telling Camille that she has a crown on her tooth like a princess crown does not make things all better.

I've Been Everywhere, Boy.

visited 33 states (66%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

I haven't done too much international travel (Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Hong Kong) but I have been to a lot of the US, thanks to a lot of road trips.  Good times, good memories.  Although, I'm glad that I don't have to travel across country with my kids.  Also, I think that Alaska and Hawaii should be next on my list, don't you?

If a Tree Falls in the Forest and There's No One There to Hear it Does it Make a Sound?

I read an interesting blog post last week by the mom of Design Mom.  She is the mother of at least 2 kids that are blog famous, and a slew of kids that seem to have their stuff more together than the average person.  Anyway, in her blog she quotes her diary as a mother in 1973 talking about how no one is noticing how good of a job she is doing as a mother.  She talks about how painting and cake decorating and things on the side were not enough to help her feel "fulfilled" and that she needed some fans to praise her homemaking talents and empathize with her when things went wrong.  She goes on to say that blogs are making of homemaking because they create a fan base, fun, and support group.  I guess that I must blog for these reasons- I don't know what it is in many of us that thinks that others desire to read about our kids potty training.  Or the cute dress that we made, or the bad day that we had, or our vacation stories.  But, we do want to hear about it.  I know I'm not the only one that spends an hour a day or more reading blogs and keeping up with people that I know and that I do not know.

  Can you believe how color coordinated we are with each other and the party decor?  Kismet, I tell you. (sorry about the wind hair)

But, blogs are not enough.  One of my biggest fans and my bestest friend moved away 2 weeks ago, and I find that I am quite lonely.  At first I just tried to pretend that she was on vacation, but yesterday the horrible reality hit- I do not have this amazing, supportive, wonderful person to share my daily life with any more!  Hopefully this doesn't sound like too much of a eulogy, but Andrea was my go-to person in all ways.  I could talk about anything- and she would listen and have a solution.  All of those mundane things that I care about but maybe my husband didn't (husbands are awfully supportive, but they just don't get it sometimes, do they?) were cares that my friend had too -or at least she pretended that she did- just so she could support me.  I learned to love fuchsia from her.  I learned to take more risks with dressing, parenting, emotions, my relationship with God, my relationship with Paul, and my life, from her.  I could ask her (or not even ask- she would just volunteer when I needed it- she's that good) to watch  my kids at a moment's notice and she would be game- or if not game, willing to pretend that she was just to help me.  And she's fun, smart, insightful, a wonderful mom and wife, and different enough from me that I was constantly learning new things from her.  Oh, and did I mention that our husbands worked at the same work and they were great pals and our kids were all great pals with each other?  We'll always be great friends- but I miss the daily interactions.  And I wish that I could move to Boston to help her as she transitions too.  Oh blah!

Oven TV

Since we don't watch TV on Sundays the kids turned to the next best thing- watching the biscuits bake in the oven.  This held their attention for 7 minutes.  Quite a bit shorter than with normal tv, but amusing (to me) nonetheless.

Allowance

We just started giving Camille and Grace allowance.  It's not very much- they just get 25 cents every day if they clean their room and do whatever other chores I say to do which is usually helping to unload the dishwasher and help with Clark.  If they actually cleaned their rooms every day then they would get about 8 dollars a month, but they are completely unable to do it.  Cleaning their room is just too hard or too boring.

But, Camille was able to save up 6 dollars.  And today when we were eating dinner, she asked if that was enough to take us all out to get ice cream.  She didn't have enough to go to Weinerschnitzel, so she decided to take us to McDonald's instead.

$6 in front of Mickey D's

$.58 inside Mickey D's

A happy family and some proud parents.  We love our Camille.



U2

Two years ago in preparation for my 30th birthday I decided to buy myself tickets to a U2 concert.  Even though I hardly ever listen to anything other than children's tunes these days, I have always loved U2, so it seemed like the perfect time to go.  In an attempt to pamper myself further (I was turning 30, you see, and thought I should do something grand), I bought tickets for the show in Chicago.

Paul later talked some sense into me, and as they opened up a second show in Anaheim, we decided to get tickets there and sell the ones in Chicago. 

Then Bono hurt his back, so the show was rescheduled to the next year.  Then we didn't actually have to sell back the Chicago tickets.  We just had to wait another year to go in Anaheim.

The day of the concert my mom came to watch the kids.  Since this was Paul's first ever concert (not counting symphonic performances) I thought I'd take pity on him and get actual seats instead of being in the pit. When we were about to leave I went to get the tickets out of the drawer that they had been sitting in for 2 years.  Imagine my craziness when I discovered that they were our old Chicago tickets.  I couldn't find the Anaheim tickets anywhere and I was extremely frantic until Paul realized that he had purchased the Anaheim tickets and actually had an e-ticket e-mail sitting around in his inbox for 2 years.  We finally got on our way and got there early enough to get dinner with a flood of other fans. 

Then we found our way to our seats.

 And watched Lenny Kravitz perform.  Yes, that is Lenny way down there.  Maybe next time I'll figure out how to use my camera.

U2 taking the stage

A terrible picture of an awesome show.

We really had a great time.  The 360 tour is pretty much the best way to see a concert.  Just about every seat is a great seat.  And, it was an amazing experience for me to see U2 live.  Hearing the songs that have been so meaningful to me was really moving.  It was fun to be there with Paul- who regretted that he didn't bring his earplugs (too loud!) and we both regretted having to stay up past 11pm.  Yes- this proves that I am too old for the concert life- and may even have been when I was 30 instead of 31.