One more gone...

Aren't' kids usually excited to pull their teeth out!!!

Madi has had this tooth very loose for the last few WEEKS and would not pull the dang thing out. Well, Sunday morning it was seriously only hanging by a thread, I told her to try to get it out before we went to church so she wouldn't bleed all over the place. No such luck...she wouldn't pull it out and she wouldn't let me near it. So the minute we sit down in church, what happens??? She got the tooth out! One benefit to waiting so long and having it barely hanging on...no blood.

So it is finally out. This is only her second tooth to come out and she has quite a few loose ones, but I have a feeling each tooth will take a VERY long time to come out! We need to just pull them out while she is sleeping. Goofy girl!

She thought it was funny to make herself look like Nanny McPhee

Finally out!!!

Now we get to look forward to those big ugly grown up teeth that are way too big for little kids faces! Yay!

Brent Repelling

Brent just sent me some pictures of him repelling off the US Bank building today. He said it was great. They only got to do it for a couple hours before they were called to a major extrication on the freeway...he sent me pictures from that too, but I don't think I will post them!
Look at that stud...
It would have been fun to be there to watch him....but really it was nice to just hear from him when it was all done and know that it all went as planned.
Is it any wonder why he loves his job?????

Soccer

Madi's Game

Madi had a lot of fun in her game today. I love watching her and her hands when she is kicking the ball, or thinking about kicking the ball. She cracks me up...she thinks so hard about what to do! Love it!

I thought this was great! Um, how ya gonna catch it Madi if you can't see the ball!

Cassi's game


She did awesome during the practice before hand. I thought we were doing awesome and she would play for sure! Then the game started, and she flipped out. I don't get it! But she did end up playing.....
If this counts!!!

Isn't Madi such a great sister. Cassi drug her around the whole field. It was pretty funny. I was very proud of Madi for being willing to go with her.

We finally talked her into going out there without Madi. She still acted weird, she would be all excited about it, like in the above picture, then the whistle would blow and she would run towards me. The coaches came up with a fun way to get her to score goals. The whistle would blow, Cassi would run to the goal, and then the other kids on the team would kick it to her, and she would kick it in. She she did get to score 2 goals! I don't know how she will be next game. There seems to be no rhyme or reason...oh well, I guess one game at a time!

School Carnival

I posted WAY too many pictures for a dumb little school carnival, but oh well.

Last night was Madi's school carnival and the girls had such a good time!

Although, Dad and Elsie were ready to go home a lot sooner then Madi and Cassi were!

Elsie played in the duck pond...you pick a duck out, then you win prizes based on what is on the bottom of the duck. Well, I was a little worried how Elsie would act when the lady took the duck away from her...to see what prize she would get...she wasn't very happy...
Luckily, she won a good prize...a duck!
Elsie, practicing walking with her foot braces. She just loves to walk! I am sure we won;t be able to stop her once she learns to do it herself.Then the Fire Dept turned on the water...and the girls, along with every kid there, got soaking wet!
Lots of fun!

US Bank Rescue Training

The US Bank building is the tallest building in Idaho. 252 ft tall. It has it's windows washed twice a year. The window washers were in town and wanted to know how the Fire Department would rescue them if something went wrong. So The Technical Rescue Team got to go and repel and practice their skills on the side of the US Bank building today. Brent gets to do it tomorrow. I can't even tell you how excited he is to do this! I wish I could go and take picts of him doing it...but we have a full day of soccer...bummer!

I asked Brent MANY questions as we watched the training...first question, why did he turn himself upside down??? Well, the rescuer has what is called a Pick off strap. and he turns inverted so he can reach up and hook it to the victim. Looks like fun, right???
I just love seeing firemen in such compromising positions!

They are lowered down after they are all hooked together. The used a 200 ft rope. I know you are thinking...um, the building is 252 ft...well, Brent tells me that they use the shorter rope so they can practice passing a knot through their lowering system, in case the need arises that they need a rope longer then their longest rope, they can tie two together and know how to pass the knot through without complications. Fun huh...
And they made it down all safe and sound! Hopefully everything goes just as smoothly when Brent does it tomorrow!!!

Here is a piece the news did http://www.ktvb.com/video/

What is funny is this makes me nervous for him cause it is scary to think of what could go wrong...but in actuality, when he is diving for the Dive Team and dives to 100 ft. that is much more dangerous...I am just glad that he knows what he is doing!

Waiting...

This morning Brent and I went down-town with the two little girls. We went because the Fire Department was doing tech training...'rescuing' off the side of the US bank building. Brent will be doing this tomorrow, and since I have all the girls and soccer games tomorrow, I won't be able to get down to take picts of him, so we went and took picts of the guys who did it today. Anyway...while we were waiting for them to get all set up we took a little walk around.
Cassi really wanted to run in the water...
Elsie didn't have any interest in it!
Cassi loved the statues and climbed all over them...
Elsie was just fine to stay back and watch Cassi.
Elsie has been doing really well with her foot braces. We finally found some shoes big enough to fit over the braces, too bad we couldn't find anything that wasn't so bright in color!
The girls were very good. It was a fun morning.

All aboard the TUTU train!

Madi and Cassi are so good with Elsie. They always include her in everything that they do.

This morning Cassi was all dressed up in her ballerina outfit and she wanted Elsie dressed up too, so they could ride the TUTU train. They just walk with Elsie back and forth in the kitchen, and Elsie has a huge smile on her face the whole time! I couldn't resist taking pictures. The pictures aren't that great cause they wouldn't stop for me to take a good picture.

I do have to give Madi credit...she was playing this with Elsie all day yesterday, and I feel bad that I didn't take picts then. (In my defense, I am not sure Madi would let me take pictures of her dressed up in a TUTU anyway!) But the point is, my two big girls are so sweet to include Elsie is all that they do! Elsie will never be left behind!!! I just love my girlies!!!

Tree house?

Whats BETTER than a new BBQ???

Hmmm...the packaging!

More Soccer

Well, it didn't go quite as planned. Again Cassi had a very hard time. I don't get it. She isn't like this at all!!! She did, at the end, when one of the team members left, and another got hurt, they HAD to have another player, so she actually stepped in bounds. Her coach took her and and she actually kicked the ball, played a little bit....then, out she came with tears in her eyes! I am thinking of maybe having some of her team-mates over to play, so she feels more comfortable with them. Any suggestions???
Madi and Cassi's games were at the same time today. So I missed the first half of Madi's game, but she was rocking it when I saw her. Her kicks are getting so powerful. She is getting so good and loving Dad as her coach!

Merry Christmas!

I have been trying to get Brent to get a new BBQ for years!!! Every birthday I say...go get one. Every Chrsistmas I say...go get one. Fathers Day...go get one! But for this man to spend money...especially on himself...that doesn't happen! The BBQ he has been using since we were married wasn't very good to start with. It wasn't bad, and did the job, but it is nothing compared to this monster! I am glad he finally did it. (Plus, it takes care of my Christmas present this year for him...besides giving him a baby Boy!!!) He made some yummy steaks for us tonight and I can't wait to see what else he will do for us! You deserve it baby!

This is our old BBQ in front of our new one...new problem...now we need a bigger patio!!!

Never Forget

I remember laying in bed with my brand new born baby, Madi, thinking that the world was going to end. I remember hearing of the brave firemen who were running in as everyone else was running out. I remember watching in disbelief when the towers fell. This day is a day that I am sure no one will forget.

New shoes for Elsie

Elsie got some more 'Helpers' today. She had her feet molded last week, and her braces got finished today. What are these for??? Well, hopefully they will make things easier for Elsie to walk. Elsie has flat feet, which wouldn't usually be a problem if she didn't have her muscle tone issues. Her feet were beginning to 'fan' out. It is hard to explain, but it was doing not good things for her feet, and eventually her knees and hips would be out of whack. These will also help her from 'toe walking'. The Achilles tendon gets really tight, forcing many kids with Cerebral Palsy to walk on their toes. She doesn't do it a lot, but has been doing it more and more, so this should help reduce that also.

I was worried about getting these because I thought it would mess up the progress she has made...but so far, so good. She loves them! She loves the sound they make when they hit the ground. I think she can tell that they are helping in her balance too. Anyway, we are supposed to put them on for a few hours more and more each day until she is wearing them all day. We just have to make sure they aren't rubbing her in any weird ways. We will have to get her some bigger, lots bigger sized shoes to fit over these, but it isn't necessary for her to wear shoes on them all the time.

Anyway, doesn't she look cute in them!