My Big Girl

I can't believe how big H is getting. It seems like just yesterday she was "failing to thrive." Then, Friday night she went and lost her first tooth! Well, let me yank out her first tooth! We don't do the Tooth Fairy at our house. We don't put our teeth under our pillows and hope for money. Not out of any malice against the tooth fairy. We just don't do it.

Funny story... Haroon let the kids watch Hellboy 2. In the film, the "tooth fairies" are actually terrifying. So, If you asked my kids if the tooth fairy came into their room while they were sleeping, they'd freak out and probably scream!!

In lieu of money under their pillows for teeth, we let the kids pick out a toy or some such item they want that's about $10 when they lose their first tooth. In the long run, our kids are not getting as much as everyone else, but they don't seem to notice!!

Hafsa picked out a shoe decorating kit. It came with puffy paint, glitter, sequins, fabric pens, stencils and stamps... I was actually quite impressed with the quality and variety. I figured she'd go for a Barbie. Nope, my girl likes to do her own thing. Marches to the beat of her own drum, etc. (I wonder where that could possibly come from?!) I figured painting and markering her shoes would be a better pastime than the ceiling, bed frame, toy kitchen, floor, table, every available surface drawing she's been doing lately. She pretends she doesn't do it, but they boys would never write anything they didn't have to and I doesn't know how to write yet. And I know *I* didn't do it, and I'm pretty sure Haroon didn't write on the ceiling!! Do they make dry erase paint?!

Well. The blogging continues. Until it stops, I guess. Thanks for reading this far down.

Beef Savings Fund or Who Knows a Good Boarding Preschool?!

So, many of you know about my "job" as a ticket buyer. The strangest job acquired through the longest possible six degrees of Kevin Bacon type thing. It is great. I do minimal work for some nice cha-ching!! The only downside is that it is unpredictable. Before the holidays, for example, business was booming. Before that, however, it could be less than once a week I'd get to go. So that money really can't be budgeted. It can, however, be spent with reckless abandon!! Like last night, when we piled all the kids in the van and went to Texas Roadhouse. Or, as the kids call it, the "throw your peanuts on the floor restaurant!"

The kids love this place. Haroon likes the giant steaks. I like to not have to cook dinner, so really it's a win-win-win situation! The only problem is that the boys are growing. Not kidding, they are eating machines. They both put away massive amounts of steak last night. I am considering opening a savings account for their food. Because I am pretty sure this eat-till-there-are-no-crumbs-left-on-the-table thing is not going to end anytime soon! But for now, they are adorable young boys. For proof, here are some photos of them doing the line dancing with the waitresses. They were nice to them and I could hear them telling them the steps. It was sweet when they all gave the boys high fives at the end!! Y spent the rest of the meal sure they were going to start dancing again and he would miss it somehow. He kept saying "I think they're dancing." "I think they're starting!" etc... boy was he happy when they danced again!

It's crazy how much more I like the kids when they're back in school! It must sound awful, but 18 days of 4 kids constantly bickering was enough to make me wish the kids attended boarding school!! Yes, boarding preschool. Boarding kindergarten. The kids seem happier too. They seem to love routines, which is unfortunate for them, as I am completely incapable of creating or maintaining one. But... that's topic for a whole different post on a different day!!