All I want for Christmas...

Despite all my fears of not being ready Sam did indeed lose her first tooth. Not only did she lose her first tooth, but 2 days later she lost her second tooth. By lost, I mean lost. Gone. Never to be seen again.

Saturday, June 27th was a busy day for our family. We started the day by celebrating a friends 5th birthday party rollerskating in Santa Cruz. The girls started out with their wheels locked, but soon had to have them loosened to roll, and roll they did.

After the birthday party we headed to my sisters house for some fun in the sun, a little swimming in the pool, and a belated Father's Day celebration with my Dad. It was here, about halfway through the event, that I suddenly noticed a gap in Sam's smile. I had been watching those teeth like a hawk since we first noticed that there were 2 loose teeth, and yet somehow I missed the escape of that first tooth. She had been in the pool the entire time, so we are fairly certain that is where it was lost (we think when her and Riley crashed into one another on the rafts.) We donned swim goggles, and spent a good deal of time searching the bottom of the pool to no avail. Sam was distressed that the tooth fairy would not come because the tooth was gone. We assured her that the tooth fairy would find it for her.

Skip ahead to Monday, June 29th. I had a meeting to attend for my twins group GeminiCrickets, so off to my parents house they went for some more fun time in their pool. I got back just in time to pack them in the car and head to their afternoon swim lessons. I thought that the gap in Sam's mouth was a little bigger, but didn't have time to investigate. After lessons were over I had her do the obligatory open mouth presentation, and sure enough tooth number two was gone.

I HAD MISSED HER FIRST TWO TEETH. How could this happen? Not only ws I oblivious to her losing the teeth, but she was too. She had no idea they were gone until I mentioned it. I'm attaching an alarm to tooth number three! I will not miss another one.

In the end Sam dictated a letter to the tooth fairy, then she signed it, drew a picture of her mouth with arrows pointing to the 2 missing teeth, put it in an envelope along with a picture of her without her teeth. Then she tucked it under her pillow with one corner peeking out so the Tooth Fairy would know it was there. The Tooth Fairy will reciprocate.

My Amazing Girls

The title of this post could very well be written by any one of you substituting the "Girls" with an appropriate word of your choice such as boys, kids, spouse, dogs, cats, etc. Why use that title then? Because that's how I feel right this very minute.

As some of you know I stay home with the kids during the week, and work on the weekends. This means we don't get much family time together. The days I work I don't see the girls much, and i miss them terribly. This weekend I was able to work 3 nights which was great for the ol' checking account, but hard on the Mommy. This morning I was exhausted when I got home, so I got a quick hug, kiss, and cuddle from each of the girls, and then headed off to bed. Later today I was awoken by 2 kisses, 2 hugs, and 2 cuddles followed by requests to read with them. We spent the next 2 hours cuddled up in bed reading books. It was the best "Saturday morning" ever.

I'm sure that all of you can relate to the nice cozy feeling of being with your amazing "others" which is why I say, "Any of you could have written this."

Endings lead to new beginnings

Friday the girls "graduated" from preschool. I could stop right there since that was the end of a story. A story of growth, development, independence, and letting go while still hanging on. However, it is also the beginning of a new story, one that I'm sure will expand on the previous tale.

My girls did not go to daycare. They did not go to preschool at an early age. For a long time I was determined to homeschool them in order to maintain our own schedule, their individual learning curve, and yes, a bit of control over what they're exposed to on my part. This past year I made the decision to go back to school for my masters (I haven't yet, but that's another story.) In order to accomplish that the girls would have to attend school. I spent a short amount of time exploring preschools near our house (distance was a factor), and finally selected one that may not have been at the top of other people's list, but gave me the warm fuzzies. I was not let down. The teachers are enthusiastic and truly care about the kids and their development. To say they are fabulous is an understatement. More importantly, the girls loved it. We didn't have a transition period as I feared. My greatest threat the past 9 months has been, "If you don't do "blank" then you're not going to school today". Let me tell you, they would snap to, and do whatever it was that needed getting done whether it was getting dressed, finishing their lunch without playing around, or changing their attitude. Despite being in the same class they gained some independence from each other (and from me.) They learned many things this year, but the most important is their current love for school. I hope that it continues for a long time.

The new beginning starts in two weeks. Their new school hosts a summer school/camp for two weeks in the summer. We've decided to enroll the girls as they seem to be having a difficult time with the idea of actually leaving their beloved preschool and moving on. They want to take their teachers with them. The good thing is that I also get that warm, fuzzy feeling from their kindergarten teacher, so I'm hoping the transition goes well. After the summer program we have about a month and a half off, and then elementary school (yikes, elementary school) begins along with the rigid schedules, homework, and even more independence that I was dreading. I'm sure it will be fine. I'm also sure that I will cry the first day of school as they run off to begin a new life, one without me there at their side.