The "other" child

I feel bad, so I am creating a blog to talk about our "other" child.  Rhyan Rebecca has gotten very little time or space on this blog.  We don't love her any less - it's just that she is only 4 and it seems that less "blog worthy" things happen to 4 year olds.  (no losing teeth, no Kindergarten, etc)

She is in pre-school, loves her teachers and is now the "oldest" one at daycare.  She is 4 going on 20 and upsets her dad most days by the clothes that she chooses to wear.  We LOVE her too.  

Who Am I?

Olivia has been celebrating Catholic Schools week at St. Anne's this week.  They have had some fun activities and needed to dress up as different things such as; Thursday (a historical character) and Friday (a teacher).  I had to be pretty creative, but we came up with some cute costumes and she was excited both days to go to school and show her classmates.  

Just in case you are confused by the pictures: Indian girl: Sacajawea

Some of the other activities for the week were: a white elephant sale (still don't know what she purchased - we'll see when I get home), a spelling bee, and sledding with hot chocolate.  Great Fun!!

The spelling bee - Kindergarten vs. 1st grade (a little unfair - I know)  Olivia was #17 out of 19 kids so I was getting more and more nervous as the time went on.  Not because I was nervous that she wouldn't spell it right, but because I didn't want her to feel bad if she go it wrong.

They started with a practice round - Olivia's word "yes"  ----- her spelling "you"  close, but no cigar - she is still in however because it is the "practice" round.  

Next was the "actual" spelling bee - Olivia's word "she" ------ her spelling "him" well, what can I say, we need to work on spelling.  Anyway, I was proud that she tried (and actually spelled two words - even though they weren't the right ones) and she seemed proud of herself.  Not at all sad that she got out.  It probably helped that most of the kids in her class were already sitting in the audience because they spelled their words wrong too. 

The winner: a 1st grader (of course) who won with the word "cold" 

 

And it's OUT!!

How long does it take a mom to pull a kid's tooth?  Well, if you are mom Fritz - it may take you up to 3 1/2 hours.  Yeah, you read it right - 3 1/2 hours - and that's in one day - I am not counting the number of hours I spent days before this.  

5 pm - 

mom says - "let's get this thing out so we can eat supper."

)livia says - "no, I'm scared, can we just do it tomorrow, I don't want to do it, I want dad, I can't breath, cough-cough-cough, I'm sick, I'll just work on it later, etc.

6 pm - 

mom says - "just let me gently twist it, it's just hanging there"

Olivia says - see above - plus, I'm so hungry, I'm tired, this is boring, I just want to lay down, can I take a bath?, I promise I'll pull it out in the morning, etc.

7 pm - 

mom says - "OMG Olivia, I don't want to spend all night standing here looking at your loose tooth.  When you breath it is almost falling out." (yeah, getting a little frustrated here)

Olivia says - "all of the above, MOM, you're being mean, I don't think I can do it, heavy breathing, ARGH, I just want to go to bed, please can we stop, etc.

7:30 pm - dad arrives

mom says - "oh good, now dad can hold you down and I can pull it out"

Olivia says - "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

7:45 - dad sits down in front of Olivia, starts talking to her and next thing you know he flips it with his finger - she doesn't feel a thing - and it OUT!!

WOW!!  - If only I would have thought of that - enough said!

Ice Fishing

Craig finally has someone to take ice fishing!!  And the girls can even last more than a couple of minutes, although I think we realized that we need somewhere with a bathroom!  

The girls think it is great out on the ice and always want to go spend time with dad - I should be thankful right - time alone!!  I just don't know what to do when I get it - I feel lost!!  

Olivia's thoughts about dad's latest ice fishing expedition - "I don't know why dad is even going, he usually just catches weeds anyway."  Oh, the minds and mouths of children:)

PeaceMaker

Just wanted to let you all know that Olivia was voted "Peace Maker" of the month for December at St. Anne's.  This is an award voted on by teachers and students.  Miss May said that Olivia does a great job always listening to teachers and standing up for her classmates when they need a friend.  

We are so proud of her ------ but are still wondering if she uses all of her "peace making" genes up while she is at school and that is why there is very little "peace" between her and her sister at home:)

Santa Came!!

Wow!  Did Santa's Elves work hard this year!!  Let's just say that one of Santa's elves came up with the bright idea of giving the girls a dollhouse for Christmas this year.  The elf's idea for this dollhouse was not small - she wanted it to be a BIG dollhouse.  Oh, did I mention, the elf came up with this idea the Sunday before Christmas:)  

Well, needless to say Santa's other elf was a little skeptical about having the time to build this hugh dollhouse in time - he had other things on his plate - like training athletes!  But, the other elf wouldn't back down, so the elves (elf) got right to work and whipped that dollhouse out in no time.  He did a great job and it turned out great!  

The elf that came up with the idea was so thankful and appreciative..........and happy!!  She also didn't forget to mention that we wouldn't have wanted to get it done much earlier because it would have been too hard to keep it a secret for that long - the boy elf didn't agree, but was glad that it was done.  

With a little help and donations from friends, the dollhouse was decorated beautifully and made the elf a little jealous that she didn't have one like this when she was little - but she can play with it now:)

The girls got many other wonderful things from Santa and other family and friends - they were so excited that he came here and ate ALL the cookies that had been left out for him!  We (the elves) are just thankful they still believe and didn't figure out what Craig was really doing in the garage for so many hours in the freezing cold weather so close to Christmas!

Happy New Year!!

Christmas Eve 2008

This was probably one of the best Christmas's we have had since the girls were born.  They are both to the age where they can stay awake and not be crabby by the end of the night, yet they are still really excited about everything Christmas.  Once again, both girls got too many gifts, but all were much appreciated and have already been used a ton!  In the last few days we have played many bingo and dominoes games, combed barbie hair, colored, played guitar and sang, and much-much more.  We are very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.