Toothless little boy.

Oh my!!! There's just something about your "baby" losing one of their top teeth!!! Pierce has already lost 4 teeth, but they have all been bottom ones. His top teeth have been loose for quite some time, but those teeth are slow to come out!! It's funny how they kind of separate further and further apart, I swear you could drive a bus between the space he's had between his front two teeth ;) So tonight as it was practically flapping in the wind, I said it's time for that sucker to come out. Of course I wimped out and cried for daddy to come do it ;)

He was soooo proud!!!!

I just can't believe he'll have grown up teeth in that smile before long. The other front one is quite loose as well, so it wont be long before they are both gone.As we were shooting pics away, this one had to jump in and show off....
Here comes the toothless wonder to photo bomb her pic....They are nuts!!!
P.S., it's snowed today around 4 inches!!! Tomorrow will be snow day #14 for us. Pray for me. The vodka has been hidden. Again...I kid, I kid......maybe.

Low Key Weekend (other than our Kung Fu Star)

Something unusual this weekend.......we've all been at home, and it's been very low key!!! Seems like most of our weekends are full of activities, or one of us traveling, so this switch in pace has been very welcome.

Friday night Pierce had his first testing in karate! Our little Chuck Norris, showed his skills. It was actually quite cute, and we see lots of improvement from when he first started. All the parents are behind the glass looking in, so pics are a little hard to see....

Palm strike.
The round kick.
And bowing to his instructor. Next Friday he will get an award for moving on. Since starting karate he's taking an interest in how he eats and exercising "to keep my heart strong" Oh, and of course he cant wait to break wood and go all Kung Fu on bad guys ;-)
We went to church today and lunch at Cracker Barrel, YUM!! We also worked on Pierce's Valentines for his class, CUTE!
I let him pick out each one for the students, something interesting I noticed. Whenever I told him it was for a girl, he ALWAYS picked the one with the hearts (these are spiderman cards albeit) I asked him why he did that, "because girls like those kinds of things" Funny, how quickly they realize these things ;-)
Miss thang of course changes her clothes 1900 times a day. This is outfit # 678. I can't help but think of the belly shirts we used to wear in the 90's when I see this. Bad, bad trend.
And this might be the perfect picture of the weekend. Rico taking a nap today. Like I said, low key!!!
Now getting ready to watch the Super Bowl......GO STEELERS!!!!

VERY PROUD of our boy...

Ever feel like you might bust a button or two because your so proud?? Of course you do!! All parents do!!!

We are very proud of our boy, he's been doing so well in school. He's been reading up a storm, and his math skills are already about better than mine ;)

His school also hands out awards for when children excel in a certain area, then they are handed out in front of the school and it's a whole thing. Well, Pierce received the "Leader of the Month Award, for outstanding leadership in all areas" Of course I think he's wonderful, but it's nice to see that others notice his good behavior, and that he's doing so well in school. Couldn't be prouder!!

There was a little celebration with ice cream and lots of hugs!!!! And I may have lost a button or two....;-)

Hope's first day of school!!!!!!

Today was a big day at the Bush's. My 3 year old sassy-frass of a daughter started pre-school today. She was sooooo excited. She woke up and said "I finally start school today!!" How could I be sad when she was so ready to go?? She picked out her outfit today, and was chomping to get out the door, of course I said "first we take pictures" Let me tell you, I didn't tell her to pose, I just said "smile pretty" but this was Hope's moment to shine, and well....

She struck a pose....

And another....
And yet another.....I just love her fun personality, she's a light!!!
Mommy tried to get a cute one of us ;)
Her school is at a church, twice a week. Broadway ELC (early learning center)
I asked her if she wanted to hold my hand "no mommy, I walk in" Soooo independent.
Then she sat right down to work a puzzle, and she already has a friend, Mya.
I walked out the door, and the tears began. I didn't see that coming, I guess I thought since she's so excited I would be okay, but she's my baby, so I cried. I haven't been alone in 6 years, this is weird for me, but when I picked her up, she was even more excited "when can I go back to school, how many sleeps" SHE LOVED IT. Warms my heart.

Also, a note about Paul. He's had to miss many firsts, because of either illness or work, and today it was because of work. I just want to say thanks to him, for working so hard so I can be a stay at home mom, and have the honor to experience all these first myself. I love Rico.

Some people knew me when I looked like this....

This hair was epic. It was the stuff dreams were made of in the 80's and 90's, and I my friends knew how to rock the big hair. Notice, it doesn't even all fit in the picture? WOW.

I'm fortunate enough to still keep in contact with some of my high school friends, and this weekend I came home to see my family, friends and attend an Alumni event at the CAI basketball game. Now I graduated from Graceland, which is no longer around since they merged with CAI, but a lot of the old G-land peeps could be found this weekend at CAI. I went with my sister, and her best friend from high school also came. It was a merging of the class of 87, and class of 93. Thanks goodness, the hair has changed since those days.....

Left to Right....Sharolyn, me, Lyndsay, Jo and Amy.
Another great weekend!! Thanks mom and dad for keeping the kiddos for me so I could go out.

The latest in these parts.....

**Well, I guess I spoke too soon about the van. On Tuesday, Hope and I were running errands and at the post office, the van quit working again!!! The same exact thing it did on Sunday. For the love of pete. Had it towed again, and found out that the alternator is bad and needs to be replaced. Oh the joys of an older vehicle, but I'm still grateful for that van.

**I haven't mentioned that Hope starts school next week!!! Funny, how different things are with her than Pierce. I never sent Pierce to pre-school at all, I just did it all myself, but Hope is a social creature and wants to go. I'm excited and she's excited. She asks me almost everyday, "can I start school today?" It's just a couple days a week, just enough for both of us ;) Also, I want to document that she has starting speaking sometimes in a southern accent. Only a few months and the South is taking her in. It's pretty cute!

**We have reached snow day 11.5!!! I've never seen anything like it, but as you can see the kids don't mind....

Oh and just wanted to add these pics of my sleeping babes. It tugs at my heart that they still sleep with a "lovie" This would be Pierce's "buddy" (part 2) the original is hidden away, ha!
And well Hope sleeps with just about anything and everything. She always has her "blankie" but usually other things accompany her. Whatever her mood is. Last night it was her cell phone. She's a lot like me I guess, tee hee.
So, that's the latest here. Supposed to head back to Indiana again this weekend, pray that the ol' vehicle gets us there and back in one piece!!

A really unexpected weekend.

The last time I blogged, I said I wasn't sure what our weekend would hold. Originally there was plans to come home and go to a game and out with some friends, and see family etc.... The snow that we all got cancelled the Friday night game and I just decided to postpone my trip another weekend. The sad thing was that my sister was having a birthday party for Nathan (her youngest) and I was going to miss that, but I really didn't think we could swing me going two weekends back to back. Fast forward to Saturday, Paul and I were talking and he told me "just go on and go" WHA?? See, I don't 'fly by the seat of my pants' very well. I get all jittery and hivey, and act like a crazy lady. But by golly, I decided, 'what the hay' let's do it!!!! Paul had plans to go to Nashville Saturday night, so I would be flying solo with the kiddies. After some serious pit sweating and hauling booty we made to Indiana about 3:30. Sweet. Also my nephew, Cody would be playing a game Saturday night and this gave me a chance to go root my nephew on!!

First stop we made was Cracker Barrel. Yummy!!!

Then it was on to root on the Borden Braves take down the Henryville. Kids were mostly happy, as long we provided the salt/sugar combo all night.
Pierce even managed to cheer on for a while.
Now I didn't get any shots of the game. For one, my camera doesn't work too well from any distance, and second I was too busy having mini strokes. You see this game was a NAIL BITER. Oh.my.word. Borden won by 1 point, and this was a last minute, "Hoosiers" movie kinda moment. We were all jumping up and down, screaming, hugging strangers, actin' straight a fool, I'm serious, I believe I aged a few years. Sooooo exciting. Oh, and that #34 coming in there, is my nephew Cody, who by the way scored 18 points!!! HOLLA!!!
Jo asked if we would like to spend the night with her this time. Kids LOVED that. Woke up Sunday morning and played x-box most of the morning with Nathan!! What fun!!
Insert a b-day party for sweet Nathan, who is now 12 years old.
I remember the day Jo gave birth, I was working at Cracker Barrel, and brought her a piece of chocolate cake. Funny the stuff you remember!! Nathan's always been a sweet, laid back loving kid. Now he's almost a teen!!! *tear*
So, par-tay was over, and I have loaded up the van and we're ready to head back to Bowling Green. I go to turn over the key and 'click, click, click' It was dead as a dead can be. My dad comes out to look at it and says "I'm sure it's the battery" Okay, not bad, right? He jumps it, I go to follow him to Sears, and my van would go no more than 5 mph, and was smelling hot, and it died again. My dad wasn't sure what the deal was, so we had it towed. So, I was not getting home. Pierce would miss school, and I was stuck wondering what in the world is wrong with my vehicle, and how much is this gonna cost!!!

Fast forward to Monday, van was seen and turns out it was just the battery!! Shew!!! Thank goodness, I was at my parents when this happened and not on the expressway in between Indiana and Bowling Green. Thanks goodness it was just the battery and thank goodness for my dad helping his daughter out!!! (again) ;)

A bonus to unexpectedly staying another day?? Getting a chance to see your BFF. Thanks Tracey for meeting me and the kids at Chick Fil A today ;) Here's to next weekend going a little more smoothly!!!