Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle

2 months.  That's how long Ben's tooth has been loose.  It was December 3rd when he came home from school with a wiggler.  (I could tell you how I remember that but I would then have to admit to becoming everything that I make fun of my mom for.)  We thought for sure he would lose it before we went to Disneyland.  But he didn't.  When he boarded the plane with all of his teeth we figured there was no way he was coming home with the same smile.  But he did.  And so we thought maybe the Tooth Fairy might get to visit the same night as Santa.  But she didn't.  And when he started the new year with a full set of chompers, I figured that he would just be taking his baby teeth to college with him.  Because who has a wiggly tooth for 6 weeks?!?!  By the time his birthday rolled around, he had another one and I was shocked every time he got through a meal.  His teeth were not connected at the bottom and I kind of thought a sneeze or a stiff breeze might be all it took to get them out.

But still, they stayed in his mouth.  And to be honest, I was a little scared of what would happen when they did come out.  Ben is traumatized by hang nails.  And small splinters.  And getting his nails trimmed.  And, well, pretty much anything.  I figured a bleeding mouth (quite possibly the most serious issue he's had to date) would push him over the edge.

But guess what?  On Saturday during "quiet time", while he lay in bed after "resting his eyes" he wiggled it right out!  And there was no blood.  And there were no tears.  And he came down stairs with a big ol' smile.

 He decided that he had held onto his tooth for so long that he wanted to keep it for a little longer so he rushed upstairs to write a note:

 (Can I have my tooth, Tooth Fairy, please?!?!)

 

Of course, the Tooth Fairy obliged,

And left him 2 Gold Doubloons for his effort.  (Side note:  the Tooth Fairy wanted to give out two dollar bills for first lost teeth but the bank didn't have any, so Gold Doubloon's it is...)

 
When he woke up, he couldn't be happier.  And his lone front tooth couldn't be crookeder.  (I'm pretty sure that's a word).

So now, we wait again.  He keeps telling me how if you lose a tooth at school you get to put it in a necklace shaped like a tooth so I thought maybe he was just waiting for a chance at that.  But no.  He came home today and still had the snaggle tooth.  I'm sure it will only be a matter of months...

Our biggest issues now are one, that Abby's teeth are all as firm as can be.  And we don't do well with the whole one-kid-gets-something-the-other-one-doesn't in this house.  Everyday she announces that she has a loose tooth and everyday I have to tell her she's crazy.  (I try not to phrase it like that but I can only take so many phantom loose teeth).  Our second problem is that Robbie mentioned something about the Tooth Fairy keeping all your teeth until your last one falls out and then giving them all back to your parents.  WHAT?!?!?  I don't keep things.  Especially not teeth.  Except I guess I do now.  Awesome.

So here's hoping that Ben's smile straightens out, Abby's teeth start wiggling and no one finds out that I am hoarding teeth.  Because that could really ruin my reputation.

Six? Already?

Exciting news, people.  I'm sitting down.  Finally.  You see, tomorrow my babies are turning six (unbelievable, I know...more on that later) and so today we had a birthday party.  And for me, birthday party planning is kind of like a decathlon.  It is a multi event process that takes days.

This year, we moved from our traditional birthday blowout, to a calmer, kids only party.  By calmer, I mean 21 five year olds, but that is a big change from the 65 or so people we had last year.  Hey, at least I only have to do this once a year, right?  We decided to invite their whole class, so first things first, we had to make invitations.  For the first time, the kids decided that they wanted different themes (actually, I just wasn't able to brainwash them in to the kind of birthday party I wanted) so we went with a Minnie Mouse/Ninjago party.  Abby invited all of the girls and Ben invited the boys.  They were very excited to help me make the invitations.

 Now, to many people, inviting an entire kindergarten class to your house might be a bit overwhelming but I figured I could handle it.  My biggest fear was that no one would come.  In fact I might have had a little panic attack about it last Friday.  I mean they had had their invitations for over 24 hours and NO ONE had RSVP'd.  No one.  And I kept picturing me sitting here with tons of food and two devastated kids with no one at their party.  I might have Googled to find out if that ever happened.  Don't do that.  People have horror stories, I tell you.  Turns out that just because I like to RSVP as soon as I open an invitation (because otherwise you forget, right?) not everyone else does.  Go figure.  Luckily, I worried for nothing because by Monday the RSVPs were coming in fast and furious.  Phew.

Once the invitations were done, I moved on to making accessories for the party goers.  I had planned to make Minnie ear headbands for the girls.  I bought some headbands, but I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to pull it off.  Then I remembered that I do Disney Day at school every year and make Mickey hats for everyone.  I just added a bow and wah la!  Minnie!

 For the boys, of course I made nun chucks...

 Then I made everything we would need for our games, Pin the Nun Chucks on the Ninja

(Robbie made the Ninja)

And pin the Bow on the Minnie...

Don't laugh at my Minnie.  It took me a long time.

Ben had a plan to wear one of the ninja outfits that Santa brought him, so of course Abby needed a little something too...

We made cookies (Ninjas and Minnies, of course) to go in with the favors...

 And salt dough for a painting project...

The final step was to make the cakes.

We didn't make the huge cakes that we have in the past but I was really happy with how they turned out.  I had one little issue with the ears on Abby's cake, but Robbie made some pancakes and problem solved!  He can be so smart sometimes.  Please don't tell him I said that.  It will come back to haunt me.

By this morning, the craft room was full of everything we needed...

 We got everything all set up

Got dressed

 And then all there was to do was wait for everyone to show up.

And show up they did.  Twenty one of them.  The parents looked a little worried for me as they dropped their kids off and the first 15 minutes were a little bit crazy as the kids all saw each other for the first time in two days and were doing some sort of "boys against girls" game upstairs but as soon as we got started with the organized activities, things couldn't have gone better.

First up?  Painting salt dough ninjas and Minnies.  Some paint, glitter and googly eyes and everyone was happy.

And they turned out so cute!

When it was time for the "Pin the" games, everyone sat and watched quietly.

 And by that I mean they screamed like crazy people at their blindfolded friends...

 We followed up the games with a snack (no quicker way to quiet a room full of kids), presents, and cake.

The kids had fun, I had fun and it was an all around great day!

Tonight, I kissed my five year olds for the last time and I am preparing for my annual meltdown as I cry myself to sleep over the fact that five has left this house for good.  And while I know that six will be fun, I can't believe all that has happened in the last year.  They learned to read and ride bikes, they started kindergarten, we took our first real family vacation and so much more.  I will never forget watching them swim this summer as they jumped off the dock for 9 straight hours and how exciting it was when they started skiing.  I am constantly amazed at what they are capable of and the things they say never cease to surprise me.  I have no clue where the last six years have gone.  I can't believe we are one third of the way through this crazy adventure.  I love the little people they are.  I love how at times they are so so different and at other times they are eerily the same (I can't for the life of me figure out how in the middle of the night, in different rooms, they always roll over at the same time...so weird).  I love that even though they both plan to go to college, they think they will still live here because the evenings are the time we get to spend together.  I love that I still get snuggles and that they still cry when they are sad or scared or hurt or tired or...I love that they still need me even though they are getting more independent each day.  I am so thankful that I was chosen to be their mama.

And tomorrow, I will have six year olds!!!!!!