Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Tooth #3 & REAL SNOW

We have had some crazy winter weather this last week, which in Mississippi translates to a lot of ice and sleet and not much that counts as snow. And of course, a few days of forecasted snow that turned out to be a no show. So when the weather man called for some snow on Wednesday afternoon, we all rolled our eyes and honestly kind of brushed it off. Since I was already off of work on Wednesday but had a work lunch in Memphis, I swung by St. Agnes to check out Helen Grace at lunchtime. It was an early dismissal day anyway, and since I’m a weather-driving scaredy cat, I thought it better to be safe than sorry.

I met HG in the hallway as her class was headed to lunch, and we chatted as we walked back to my car. As she settled into her seat and I buckled my seat belt, she smiled really big and said, “Mama, look at my teeth!” Lo and behold, she had lost her top tooth today at school!!!!! She was eating a snack and chomped on something that felt weird- her tooth! It literally fell out in her mouth! She was so happy and proud of herself and her ziploc with her chocolate-covered tooth.

She wanted to show her daddy and grandparents in person rather than in a picture, so we stopped by John’s office and Grandma’s office to surprise them. When we got home, Granddaddy was waiting on us, so we showed him too and texted Spiffer. BIG celebrations ensued! Second tooth fairy visit in a week!

As we crossed over the Germantown Rd. bridge into Olive Branch, the snowflakes started falling. The further south we got, the bigger they got and stronger they fell. By the time we got home, HG said it looked like a blizzard. After showing off her new smile, we threw on our coats, put on our rainboots, and headed out for a romp in the snow.

Soon, the snow started to actually stick instead of blow around, and we were shocked. After a few minutes of frolicking, we came inside to warm up in front of the fire with a picnic, thanks to HG’s snacks and thoughtful gestures.

Around 4:30, we went back outside to enjoy the snow that had been continuously falling, and our neighbors were building a huge snowman. HG had fun playing with their kiddos and trying to add to the pile (or stand on top of it or knock it over). We later hit our backyard to enjoy the swing set, and then we headed over to another neighbor’s where HG tried out a sled and LOVED it! I was so surprised, but she didn’t hesitate a bit and squealed every time- even throwing herself down the hill on her tummy.

By nightfall, she was drenched and happy but would not concede that she was cold and hungry. I dragged her inside and into a warm bath around 6:30, literally kicking and screaming (and crying), but after warm pajamas, dinner, ice cream, hot chocolate, and her daddy’s homecoming, she was once again tickled pink and ready for the tooth fairy’s visit.

We ended the day on the high note with Helen Grace falling asleep mid-sentence to dreams of snow balls and flights of fairies. By the end of it, we probably had a little over four inches of wonderfully fluffy snow and lifelong memories- what an amazing day!

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Friday, February 20, 2015

First Snow of 2015

This past Monday was President’s Day, and Helen Grace was already out of school. It just so happened to SNOW (really mostly freezing rain with a teeny bit of snow) in the wee hours of the morning, so she was tickled pink to be able to play in the snow on her day off. She jumped in all the ‘puddles’ that the sleet/snow made, had a snowball fight with Mariella, and then we built ‘lovey’-size snowmen. Great day!

School was cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday (some roads and all parking lots were still too icy), but HG was over going out in the cold and was happy to play inside. She went back to school on Thursday, and then they cancelled it again on Friday due to more freezing rain. What a week of wild and cold weather!

Here are some pictures of our snow days…

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Valentine’s 2015

Valentine’s Day fell on a Saturday this year, which was so nice! John and I had our date night on Friday. We enjoyed steaks at Mesquite Chophouse and then went to see a movie, while HG spent the night with Grandma. Then we had a family dinner at Jason’s Deli on Saturday night. Helen Grace loved signing her own cards for her grandparents. This is such a fun and cute age for her to be a ‘real’ part of special days!

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Tooth Fairy #2

Helen Grace has had three loose teeth for weeks (both top two and the remaining bottom one). And when I mean loose, I mean you can see them move when she talks. We’ve offered her everything under the sun to bribe her into letting us pull them. The last two nights, she’s let me have one shot with each of the loosest two, but I haven’t been able to get a good grip. Tonight, as she was about to get in the shower, she was standing at my bathroom mirror wiggling the bottom one. All of a sudden, she screamed, “Mama, my tooth! My tooth fell out!” It had literally fallen out in her hand. We ran into the kitchen to show John, and we all screamed and hollered like we had won the lottery!

She wanted to write the Tooth Fairy a letter because she’s been dying to ask her some burning questions. She was too tired at this point in the night, so she asked me to write them down for her. Love her curiosity.

We still have the top wiggly teeth to go, but one down! And man, you can’t wipe the proud smile off her face for doing it all on her own. BIG GIRL.

2015-02-18 20.05.212015-02-18 20.05.242015-02-18 19.12.17-12015-02-18 22.03.31tooth fairy cam