Saturday, March 16, 2024

Grandma's Birthday

 Great-Grandma Doris turned 92 on Friday!

She got her hair done to celebrate & Aunt Tara & her friend Carla came up to visit & spend the weekend. We had cake & she got lots of flowers! 


Aunt Holly bought trick candles (maybe!) they kept re-lighting. 


It just tickled me to death that she was sneaking tastes of the frosting. 





Saturday, March 9, 2024

Lost tooth

Leah finally lost her first tooth two days before her 7th birthday! 

It was helped along some by her bonking her chin with her knee whist jumping off the swings on the playground. She worried mightily about if for the whole 21 hours it was loose. She was especially concerned that it would come out during swim lessons and be lost in the water (which didn’t happen!)

This is what she looked like every time I tried to get a picture of the loose tooth (very alarmed!)


Waiting for swim lesson (still alarmed!):


It came out during lunch - of soft foods! I kept trying to get her to bite into an apple but she wasn’t having it. 

We had a hard time trying to get a picture of the gap, too! She’s still talking a little funny, but enjoying drinking out of a straw!



Thursday, February 22, 2024

Teeth

Leah had a filling and James had to get a chipped tooth fixed back-to-back at the dentist. We had to wait a while to be seen! 


She had opinions about the chairs in the lobby & I made a video (youtube uploaded this as a "short" so I hope this works!): 

All in all, she did a better job with this filling than her first one - I think the cavity wasn't quite as bad & she's older & more mature!


James chipped one of his front teeth on the playground at school goofing around. I was surprised that the temporary fix was only $75 - the dentist did warn us that it would probably fall out "a few times" before he could get a crown as an adult (which will be more invasive/expensive). 


I didn't think it was terribly noticeable.  

But James said it felt weird / was sharp on his tongue: 



All fixed!


Saturday, February 3, 2024

Happy Birthday, Sam

Sam had a birthday! We took the kids to HuHot, which they liked & he got a free meal. Leah tried new foods - like baby corn & water chestnuts. She was not particularly a fan :P  But it was fun. Sam's folks are keeping the kids this weekend so we can go out & maybe watch a movie. 

Leah & James & I decorated cupcakes: 


Grandma Mary gave us red sprinkles made with vegetable juice instead of red 40 & I tried out a stencil trick with parchment paper from tiktok. The kids were disappointed there weren't 42 candles. 


And then I made a draft of these, back from his 39th birthday in the old house! It was easier to blow out the one candle. 





Monday, January 29, 2024

Tent

Leah made a VERY LARGE tent/fort with the queen air mattress for a floor & the couch and credenza as walls in the living room.





 She even slept in it Saturday night. And, yes, she had seen the new episodes of Bluey.

Here the first thing that came up when I searched the blog for "tent": https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2014/08/play-tent.html  (2014!!)

And this is a too-small tent built by James during remote schooling times: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2020/05/homeschool-week-8.html

Smoky Mountain Trip

Here's another post from a while ago that was sitting in the drafts folder! James went on a big Smoky Mountain science trip with the 5th grade. Here is the very long line of kids & parents waiting to check them in at the admin building. They chartered big nice busses & drove overnight so the kids could sleep & arrive at their destination in TN in the AM.  


They happened to meet up with Sam's coworker at drop-off, whose son was also going on the trip & they were accidentally twins: 

And then at the 11th hour, James found out his friend would be able to come after all - he'd been 1st on the waitlist until the morning of the trip & found out at school that day that he'd be able to go. The teachers who were on the trip uploaded a bunch (and I mean a BUNCH) of photos every night. We stalked through them & here are few!










Look at all the science they are doing! 

I think he had a good time! 


Thursday, January 25, 2024

Beetlejuice (the musical)

Sam took the big kids to the Fabulous Fox Theater in St Louis to see Beetlejuice (the musical). They prepared by listening to the soundtrack over and over. (Last year! I think I was waiting on Sam to make some comments about it for the blog, but I've given up.) 




They dressed up (a teeny bit). James reports that other people in the audience were wearing Beetlejuice costumes & suits. 



How cool! 



Monday, January 22, 2024

Snow Day

Actually an ice day. CPS is closed & MU went remote & even the library closed. James has been out sliding around. Amelie is working on a paper for English. Sam is working from home. Leah is marathon watching TV as she has RSV and is puny. 

Here’s some pictures from earlier in the month when we did get some snow - just an inch or two, though! They'd predicted maybe up to 8 inches in advance of the front. It was a slushy mess!


But that didn't stop them from using the trampoline (See James throwing snowballs over the net). 




They did get across to the park where there was maybe almost enough for a few sled runs!