A Window to his...Tonsils?

Finally!!!

Ethan has lost his first teeth! I pulled the two bottom ones out last night and even though he was super scared, he was so brave! I remember when I was young and my teeth got pulled out, how nervous I was. Once they were out, I remember thinking "why was I so scared?" Despite the times changing, feelings of tooth pulling hasn't. Now my sweet little boy has a "window" in his mouth.

The situation reminded me of a time when Ethan was about 3 years old. Patrick was playing around with him and started to pretend there was a monster in Ethan's room. Patrick told Ethan that he was going to go into his room to capture the vicious thing, which of course, led to the monster grabbing and pulling on Patrick. Ethan couldn't see into his room as Patrick was holding onto the door kicking it and whatnot to get the full effect. I guess Patrick has a little bit of talent for acting because Ethan believed that Patrick was really being attacked by a monster. Without hesitation, Ethan grabbed onto Patrick's arm and as scared as he was, he started yanking on Patrick to get him out of the room.

I often think about this story as I watch Ethan grow. He really has been brave in almost everything scary. Getting shots, blood drawn, teeth pulled, saving his daddy from monsters etc. etc. He knows what's about to happen and will always step up and get things done.

I love this kid...he rocks!

Kid Quote of the Week!

Me: "Be careful Ethan! You're gonna break your neck!"
Ethan: Are you kidding? That was Awesome!"

First Day of School!

First day of school already. The time is going by way too fast.

Raya in 7th Grade:

Malia in 4th Grade:

Ethan in 1st Grade:

And of course Carly, my little shadow...who kept insisting she was going into 1st grade:

Welcome 2011/2012 school year! We're ready for you!

Smile!

With teeth that looked like this:

We decided to get braces for Malia. She sported them for a little over a year:

Malia is now brace free, but not metal free:

The Orthodontist office gave her a small candy bar cake and sang a funny song about being able to eat gooy yummy sticky stuff now that her braces are gone. You can view that video on the DVD at the end of this book. It is titled "Malia's Braces Off".

The difference is amazing!

Summer Vacation 2011

I try to keep the kids busy during the summer with fun things to do. I don't always have my camera to document these activities, but I will do my best to add them to this post...so check back often so you can see what kind of fun things we've done this summer!

WATERFALL PARK...

ROLLERSKATING...

CHUCK E CHEESE (Where a Kid can be a Kid)!


(Dancing with Chuck himself!)

GYMNASTICS (Carly)













SWIMMING (These photos are from the 4th of July, but we swam a lot and the girls have the tan to prove it!)

GIRLS CAMP (Raya: Own post to come)

SILLY HAT MAKING WITH GRANDMA











OLD SACRAMENTO TRAIN RIDE & ICE CREAM FAMILY TRIP































PROMONTORY SPLASH PARK WITH FRIENDS



















LAKE FOR GRANDPA POINDEXTER'S BIRTHDAY

























FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY PARTY















CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR

The ride above was an actual ride that Michael Jackson himself owned and operated on his Neverland Ranch. There were many rides that were previously owned by Michael Jackson at the fair this year.

SUNSPLASH WATER PARK












HANGING OUT WITH COUSIN ANTHONY



MAKING MESSES



SILLY FACES



FIXING THINGS



THROWING TANTRUMS



SAYING GOODBYE TO A REALLY GOOD FRIEND:


MARINE WORLD SIX FLAGS

(The kids all sat in the "Splash Zone" and got soaked by Souka the Killer Whale)

The dolphin show was amazing. We got splashed but not too bad by them.

We went with the Miller's and their family. Kristine Miller's mom bought Carly this Sea Lion because she couldn't go on most of the rides the other kids were going on.

This is a roller coaster called "Medusa". Malia enjoyed going on it with Ethan Miller as well as many other "crazy" rides. Raya chose to hang out with the 6 year olds and was really helpful with them. We had a blast and ended up only spending $35 the entire day and $30 of it was for dinner at the local Carl's Jr. across the street. Thanks to the Millers for getting us into the park for free!

We had a blas this summer. We tried to keep busy but there were many days of lounging around the house doing nothing. Hopefully next year we will have grass and our trampoline up for the kids to enjoy being outside a little more. I was getting annoyed with all the dirt that was tracked in this summer.

We are now ready for school to start!