The Most Expensive Candy Ever!

It's a riddle. Wanna guess what it is? 

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Milk Duds.

Why?

Because I chipped my tooth eating one on Saturday and spent $421 yesterday getting a crown.

Never eating one again.

I know, I know, how do you chip a tooth eating caramel? I don't know, but I did. And I had to wait til yesterday to call my dentist about it. I thought I'd get an evaluation of it this morning, and it wouldn't take long so I'd just take Liv. I grossly underestimated the damage to my tooth. The dentist said they need to file it down and put a temporary crown on it and we were there for 2 hours. Do you know how long that is in toddler time? I had brought a few things for Liv to occupy herself with, but she was mostly fascinated with the train that goes round and round the Dental Depot.

I just can't sing that places' praises enough. The people there played with my daughter, took her away at the appropriate time of getting shots in my mouth (we do have her first cleaning in a few weeks and I didn't want to scar her!), gave her snacks, answered her 100 questions, put temporary tattoos on her, let her help suction my mouth when appropriate, and even took her to the bathroom because she started to do the pee pee dance while I had a laser and 3 gloved hands in my mouth. And not only did they do these things but they acted like they were all excited and happy to do them. She got toys to take home and didn't want to leave. She didn't understand why the hygienist couldn't play with her all day!

I guess I could say for that much money they better babysit my child, but I am pretty sure it would cost that at any place and I wouldn't receive such stellar care, so I'm a lifelong customer as long as I'm in OKC! I'd share a picture with this post, but I doubt you want to see my half numbed face or janky smile. I'll have my permanent crown in a few weeks, and I think Liv may actually be excited for her first tooth cleaning in a few weeks! I'll probably never let her eat milk duds again either though! 

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday we celebrated by taking Ryan to Cattlemen's Steakhouse for lunch. I'm thankful he still loves our daughter even though after 10 days in TN she is now calling him daa-yuh-dee, instead of daddy (and grass is now gray-yus). It's amazing how many more syllables you can add to words after a brief stay in Henderson!

I Need A Point and Shoot

I am going to be super sad in a few months, when the memories start to fade in my mind and I look back on this post and realize I have hardly any pics of the past 10 days in TN. I really didn't want to lug the big camera everywhere we went and I have no phone that takes cool pics so I will just draw pics in paint where I need to fill in the gaps.

I got to see Celeste a lot more than usual which was wonderful. We drove to Oxford, MS one day (which I had never been too) for a little road trip. Such a cute town! We shopped in the square, met up with our high school friend Katie and her sons, ate lunch, and went to a park so they could play. Then we went and drove around Ole Miss's campus. I wanted to explore this building (and all the other antebellum homes in the town). It's so cool to me that these buildings are older than the civil war and people get to go to class in them! (I know that's not that cool if you live on the east coast) Next time we visit we will take the kids so they can play with Katie's kids and her new baby girl coming soon! On the drive home we passed this abandoned campus that I wanted to explore very badly. Maybe next time.

Then we picked up the kids and headed back to her house so they could play. Madeline showed Liv her little playhouse and we rode the golf cart around the yard about 100 times. Liv called it the gator.

Another day Celeste and I ate at the cupcake place in Henderson and let Liv tag along with us this time. I didn't realize all they served was chicken salad for lunch so Liv had a cupcake for lunch that day. Actually just the giant delicious wad of icing on a cupcake for lunch that day. Then we drove out to see Celeste's recently cleared lot where her house will stand one day. Then we went swimming at Ms. Spring's pool for the rest of the 100 degree 100% humidity day!

One night Poppa had a meeting so we declared "girls night" for Liv, Grammy, and me. We ate Besso's gelato then came home to put pj's on, build a tent in the living room, and watch the cartoon Alice in Wonderland while eating popcorn. Afterward a rousing game of Hands Down was played.

And look who was in Henderson while we were here on part of their epic road trip?! David's grandparents live down the road from my parents so we got to play one day and Alice and Liv were even in Bible class together on Sunday.

Grammy came up with lots of fun activities to do every day with Liv: playdoh, the park, Chick-a-saw, sand box, backyard parade with noise makers, sprinkler, tricycle, water guns, and we went swimming at Ms. Spring's house one day too. They also enjoyed the swing lots. (My daughter's skin color really makes her look adopted at this point of summer)

We drove out to Jessica's and Liv got to play with Aiden. It's a bit of a drive out there and Liv was fascinated by all the farm land. She kept saying "What are all the lines in the land mommy?" They had fun and jumped on the trampoline and played with toys. Liv found a stray cat to wrangle in the yard. They looked at the garden and Liv picked some peppers. Tamara and Brandon joined in for some fun in the pool and Liv was excited that she could touch and walk around! (It was like a 3 ft. deep pool) They were telling me how good the cupcakes were at this little place in Savannah so her mom was nice to drive there and pick up a bunch of flavors for us to try. (If you ever go there, get the turtle cheescake, delicious!) We didn't mean to stay all day but were having so much fun. Liv threw a fit when it was time to go and fell asleep on the drive home.

My cousin Eric and Aunt Brenda were in town for a few days from Michigan so Eric could get registered at Freed for the fall. My youngest cousin is now in college, just another thing to make me feel old! So Greg came up from MS to see them one night too. We just had a big family reunion in the driveway Friday night catching up and catching lightning bugs.

We also spent time visiting Pop. Liv enjoys exploring the grounds at Southern Oaks while Pop and I enjoy holding hands and listening to the birds chirp. (It's amazing what you can hear when you turn your hearing aids on!)

Liv's preferred method of travel while we were in TN: Poppa's shoulders.

And of course I wish I got pics of Liv's face when she is reunited with her daddy. I can't even draw something that awesome in paint so I won't try but it's priceless!

More About that Cat Wrangler

I mentioned this in the newsletter and had to share more pics from Memorial Day. Just check out how patient/terrified this little kitty is.

I don't think the feline saw the irony in the Hello Kitty shirt Liv chose for the day.

I think this one was named Spot by Noah and the spotted kitten was named Ninja. I am certain they are glad to be in a different home now away from this little girl's firm grip! Look at that fear!

Newsletter: 45 Months

Dear Olivia,

I just realized today that I forgot to write your newsletter, because we are in Tennessee having the time of our lives. Our trip won't make for a very good post though because I haven't been taking any pictures, but we sure are making memories! You have been having fun with cousins and Aunt Amy and Uncle Joe but mostly love spending time with Grammy and Poppa. Every now and then when we are doing something fun (like being at the lake at Chickasaw Park or going to get Gelato at Besso's) you sigh and say "I really wish daddy could be here for this." It's pretty sweet and I wish he could too, but he doesn't get as much vacation time with his job as I do with mine! I am so thankful we get to make these trips together though.

We have had some horrible storms and tornadoes in Oklahoma this month. While we have taken shelter, thankfully our family and home haven't been touched, but many others have and it's been hard to know how much to share with you. You seem to be blissfully unaware if I make you watch the ipad in the hallway with pillows, blankets, and water bottles while I stay close to the weather channel in the next room. If you start to notice it's thundering loudly, I'll come sit with you a bit until it passes. Your daddy has gone to help with the clean up and we have taken donations to places together and talked about helping others, but mostly I just leave you in the dark about how bad the storms have been because I don't want you to be fearful and scared anytime you start to hear raindrops or a rumble in the sky.

The storms kept the weather so cold Jenna's pool got a late start to opening season. It's still a bit too cold for me to get in, but you did not mind and thankfully Jenna didn't mind getting in with you. The smile on your face was 100% pure delight....or maybe it was hypothermia setting in. We got to swim at a friend's pool in TN today and you jumped in to me and even swam on your own using the pool noodle. I'm trying to avoid floaties this summer in hopes you will get better at swimming on your own and going under water. We've got a long way to go, but I'm looking forward to all the water fun we will have this summer.

Speaking of summer, we are already off to a fun start with visits from family, a trip to TN, church activities, pool fun, play dates, and the summer movie program starting. I really hope we aren't making your daddy jealous with all the fun we have been having during the day. I also hope you aren't getting spoiled to going so many places that you can't seem to find anything to do while we take it easy at home every now and then! Being that our house is still on the market though it has been nice to be able to leave it clean and get out and do things rather than clean up the toys everyday.

Some months you tend to test your limits with certain behaviors more than others and this seems to be one of those months. The potty talk is full on and instead of keeping it to yourself or your friends you've branched out to use filthy language in front of visitors, family members, and sadly even strangers at assisted living facilities. An elderly lady asked you the other day how old you were and you looked at her and said "Poop" in the sassiest tone possible. Thankfully I think she was a tad deaf and I quickly said you were 3. I can ignore the potty talk if it's around me, but I gotta draw the line at the innocent geriatrics! I pray that's as awful as your language ever gets too!

A few weeks ago some stray kittens showed up on Jenna's doorstep and I thought we would end up taking one home you were SOOO OBSESSED with them. Every moment we were there you had to at least be holding one, if not both of them. You were never afraid to pick them up, despite having never even been around kittens or even cats before. Thankfully I have a strong belief that cats are only fun on youtube videos, so I held firm and Jenna found homes for them. But for a few days you were truly the "cat wrangler!"

One afternoon I took you on a walk around the pond at Grammy and Poppa's house. I showed you the secret waterfall by the railroad tracks in the woods where I used to play. We ventured through weeds, trees, tick infested land and I'm sure poisonous plants to find the opening in the barbed wire fence to the horse field, sadly there were no horses out. We had a great chat as we walked hand in hand. I have always loved seeing how your little mind works and processes things and our conversations in the car, on walks, or at bedtime are often some of the most meaningful times for me as a mom and I hope they will be fond memories for you as a daughter too. I love you sweet girl!

Love,

Mama

It may not be politically correct

I've mentioned before how wee my sister is. She wears like a size 2 shoe and still shops in the girls section of clothing stores. So while it may not be appropriate in most situations, we felt her early birthday celebration could also celebrate the fact that she finally tipped the 100 pound mark on the scale thanks to the baby in her belly! It only took 34 years and a few months of pregnancy! Congrats Amy! (You still can't donate blood though, I think you've gotta be 110.)

We girls are pretty excited to welcome another girl into the family.

 I had fun celebrating with her even more as we looked for baby girl's room decor and registered at two stores the next day. And we looked through ALL the hand-me-downs I brought her from Liv. I'm glad I'll get to see those adorable outfits on another adorable little one!

When they weren't at softball games...

...they were having fun with me and Liv! We went to the zoo one day and met up with friends.



Rachel and Liv fed the giraffes.


And while the kids played at the spray grounds Joyce and Rachel went and discovered other animals. Then we met up later at the elephant show which I got no pics of.

The next day was the beginning of the Kids Summer Movie Program so they came with Liv and I to see Mirror, Mirror which wasn't really age appropriate for Liv but she watched it--mostly from the safety of my lap shielding her eyes during scary parts.

 Afterward there was a craft.

Then we headed to lunch at Texadelphia and a walk through Bricktown to see the Land Run Memorial.


I really love these statues. They are worth the walk.
Then we went to Pinkitzel.

I've been meaning to check it out with Liv, and today was the day!

Her cupcake was appropriately called "I Want Candy"

Not only do they have delicious cupcakes and awesome decor, but they also have a great gift shop.




It's next door to the old train station which I had also never been to, so we looked around in there and I decided I wanted to get married again (to Ryan) and have my wedding here.




So gorgeous! Then we waited to see a train but it never passed.

That night Oklahoma beat Tennessee in the championship softball game so the tournament was over and we headed to TN the next morning. Liv asked every 10 minutes if we were at the Rocky Tocky bridge yet. (meaning Rocky Top...meaning we sing that as we go over the bridge into TN over the Mississippi River). Anyway now we are are having more fun with family in TN! Stayed tuned for Amy's birthday 100 pounds party!