Expensive Teeth

Both Shea and Reese now have very expensive mouths! Let me explain...

Shea takes after her Mommy and Daddy! It was determined early on that she would require orthodontics because of her crowded mouth. We started though, earlier than we ever anticipated...but know it was the right thing to do for Shea! Last spring, she started with spacers for a few weeks and then got her expander (which she wore for several months!). She got her braces ON July 7, 2010. She was such a trooper! During this time, she decided to enter the t-shirt contest (for who would have a chance to be featured as the design on Dr. Sigoda's shirts that he gives all his patience)...and her drawing was chosen as the winner! She was so excited! After nine months, she got her braces OFF March 2, 2011! So, now Shea has completed Phase 1 (which is hopefully all she'll have to have!) of orthodontics! She looks like such a big girl! She now has a mouth full of very straight teeth...and room enough for the other permanent teeth to come in when it's time! We are so proud of her!

Shea's design on the shirts!

Beautiful smile...and tie dye retainers!

Several years ago, through regular xrays, our pediatric dentist found what appeared to be a supernumerary in Reese's mouth. He referred us to an oral surgeon, Dr. Craig, who has been monitoring Reese's supernumerary growth through xrays every 6 months for the past three years! At our last appointment, he determined that the time was right to have it surgically removed. We scheduled the surgery, explained it all to Reese and had it removed! He was so brave and handled the whole situation so well! Apparently, the tooth was lodged an 1/8 of an inch into the bone of his hard palate. They cut the palate behind the front teeth, pull it back, chip away at the bone until they can remove it from it's socket, pull the skin back over the palate and make "mattress stiches" between the teeth. He handled the pain very well, enjoyed the "soft" diet for the first day (out of a whole week!) and was excited to take the tooth to school for "Show and Tell" and then leave it for the Tooth Fairy (he got $5!...but we think she should have left US some $$ as well!). He's doing great now and we hope to not have to repeat this adventure again (though the doc said that it is a possibility and not uncommon!!!!!).

Before surgery, in the waiting room

Getting prepped

After surgery...a little swollen...and still a little loopy!

The diet for a whole week...pureed foods!

The SUPERNUMERARY!!!!!

Family mini-Vacation

After the TMEA concert in San Antonio, Shea and I moved our luggage to the La Cantera hotel with Ben and Reese and had a mini-vacation for the weekend! It was so nice to be away, just the four of us to enjoy our time together! We visited the Alamo, walked around the Riverwalk, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe', hiked around the nature trails at our hotel, hung out at El Mercado for a whole afternoon to do some shopping and eating (and drinking) and more shopping. The kids even had their first Characature done...they got a real kick out of that! Sunday, we woke, ate breakfast at Starbucks in the hotel, hiked around the nature trails some more and headed out. We stopped by the San Marcos Outlet Mall on our way back home to do some more shopping. We finally made it home about 7pm. Although we were exhausted from a full weekend, we had a precious time together!

The Alamo

Hard Rock Cafe- San Antonio

Ben and the kids listening to the singer in the streets of El Mercado

The kids gave the mechanical bull a try...

The kids had a man draw their characature. They thought it was great!

Dinner in El Mercado. The bakery and the restaurant are open 24 hours a day!

Hiking at the trails at the hotel

EHC at TMEA in SA

The Eddins Honors Choir has been working diligently all school year to prepare for their concert in San Antonio as they were one of only four elementary school choirs invited to perform at the Texas Music Educators Association conference. They had a "pre-TMEA" concert at Boyd just a few nights before, but their other two "pre-TMEA" concerts were cancelled due to icy weather. Fortunately, the weather only delayed their San Antonio trip rather than cancelling it all together. The kids were all very eager and excited to leave on Thursday at 10am. After stopping for lunch in Waco and then dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse in San Antonio, we finally arrived at the Embassy Suites Hotel where we would stay the night. We got checked in and then the kids had a quick rehearsal before turning in for the night. Our little room had a great time together! The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, got pretty for the concert and headed to the Convention Center for the TMEA concert. The kids did a fab.u.lous job and the audience was very impressed! The kids seemed to have a great time and we were all so proud of them! After the concert, some headed back home to McKinney, but Ben and Reese met us up there for the concert and we stayed in San Antonio to make a weekend vacation out of it! Great times for sure!!!

Shea waiting in the cafeteria with other EHC members...ready to go!

Roomies on the bus (above) & late night snack in the hotel (below)

Me and my girl!

The EHC at the hotel before their concert

Neighbors and Friends

SNOW!

So, after several days of being stuck in the house because of the ice, we awoke to several inches of powdery snow!!! The beautiful sight was welcomed by all and we didn't waist any time putting on our snow gear and heading outside. We made snow angels in the front yard and then headed to the golf course to sled with friends. It was beautiful...and cold! What fun!

The Great Ice Storm of 2011

Well, apparently we are experiencing what will surely be come known as "The Great Ice Storm of 2011"! We've been stuck in the house now for three days!!! We were expecting a pretty good storm and some very cold temps...so, we stocked up on firewood, groceries and hot cocoa! Good thing we did! Sure enough, Monday night/Tuesday early morning about 4:30am, I awoke to pelting ice on the windows and sideways winds. By 5:30am, there was a call that McKinney ISD was closed for the day. It iced and snowed throughout the day on Tuesday, so by early evening there was another call that there would be no school on Wednesday either. And so, it has continued to go...every night for the past three nights, we've received the call that there would be no school. In fact, we just got the call moments ago that school will be cancelled tomorrow as well. As eager as we are to get back to our "regular" activities, it's been fun hanging out as a family all this time stuck in the house! We've played Monopoly (twice), watched movies, read, cooked/baked, Reese built Legos, Shea got out her microscope and conducted experiments, we've had on-going fires in the fireplace and prepared more cups of hot cocoa than I can count. We also lost power twice on Wednesday, continue to have a fozen pipe in Shea's bathroom, and were without television for an entire day. We've missed choir practices and EHC's first performance, 3rd grade MAP testing and Fitnessgram and piano lessons. It's certainly been a week we won't soon forget!

End of day 1. Kids and the dogs snuggled up on the sofa.

Day 2. Reese built this Star Wars Lego ship all by himself.

Day 3. Another game of Monopoly. Reese keeps winning!

Day 2. How many cups of hot cocoa have I prepared? Too many to count!!!

Day 3. Snuggle puppies. Even they are getting restless at times!