Rolling in 2015

Ive done it again...neglected the blog for a good 9 months. Over summer break I made an effort to catch up on some scrapbooking and realized that after 4-5 years of also neglecting that, I had forgotten all the little details of the pictures. Thankfully 4-5 years ago I was better at blogging so I was able to look back and read about the pictures I was scapbooking. Thats when I realized I needed to do better. I have a horrible memory and without current scrapbooks and blog posts, all I have left is my imagination which in some cases is better than the real deal, but not very realistic or fair to my kids. So here I am again...trying to play catch up on several months of events. School starts for me again in a week so better get it done now while I have the time. 

So lets start with...

 January

Brylee finally lost her first tooth after the permanent one got tired of waiting and started growing in behind it. Chalk another kid up for future orthodontic work. Luckily the tooth fairy remembered to reimburse her for this one on night one. She has been a little unreliable lately, but Brylee would have been super upset if she didnt come for her first lost tooth. (That reminds me...Alissa is still waiting for the tooth fairy to come for her after 3 days...or has it been 4? When will the madness end!?) 

And Zack lost tooth #5 this month too. Hes a pro. 

February

Brylee's first time going to the schools Father Daughter Dinner Dance. The girls always look forward to their date with Dad. Details have already escaped me, but Im pretty sure they had a good time. 

March

This was a rough one. Alissa had been struggling to see for a while and we knew it but she kept on denying it. We finally bit the bullet and dragged her (literally) in to the Ophthalmologist who confirmed glasses were in order.  After a lot of coaxing and indecision we finally got her to choose a pair of frames. The next struggle was actually getting her to put them on. She didnt want anyone to see, so she went to her room and tried them on for the first time in private. Sure that she looked "ugly" she refused to wear them in front of us. Madi tried to make her feel better by putting on hers. We tried to get a picture but all there was was tears. Madi was really good at trying to cheer her up and make her smile for the pictures. It took several efforst to even get her to keep her hands from covering the glasses up. After a while, Madi started trying to mimic Alissas sad and angry faces since Alissa wasnt budging on a smile.

I love this one. Their faces say it all... 

 Is that a smile behind that foot? Better use a bigger body part to cover it up...

After a long night, Alissa finally started to keep her glasses on...but only if we tried not to look. We pulled up some pictures of famous and beautiful people with glasses to try to prove to her that they are in style and dont make you "ugly and nerdy". She was sure she was the exception to that. It didnt matter what we did or said, she still didnt want to go to school the next morning. I couldnt get her to ride the bus because she thought she would get made fun of and didnt want people to stare. I debated letting her have a mental health day at home but knew she would never want to go to school no matter how many days I let her avoid it. I finally got her in the car and drove her to school with tears in her eyes. She kept making comments about how horrible and ugly she felt and she was sure no one would want to be her friend anymore. Making her get out of the car when she felt that insecure and in emotional pain was one of the hardest mom moments I ever had. I went home and balled my eyes out and sent her teachers another email about the situation. It was a long day waiting for her to get back home and see how she was, but when she did she was totally fine. Most kids didnt even say anything to her about her glasses and a couple friends told her they were cute. After a few days I was finally able to get a picture with a smile. So glad that was finally over. 

In happier March news...Brylee and Zack both lost another tooth. This wasnt so traumatic. Brylee was so happy she got to be big like her brother.

March also brought some crazy dress days at school. This is Brylee's version of mismatched day.

And with the addition of our new dark woods floors, I was feeling like things were a little too dark brown in our house, so we repainted the whole main floor to cheer things up. Funny how one home improvement leads to another....and another.  

Madi started High School Track and after the first meet was bumped up to Varsity as a freshman! 

After a crazy and busy month I got to take a little vacation. It was so fun to go on a Utah ski trip with this girl. 

And get to see my BFF again. Skiing and friends...thats what I call a good vacation. And I love my kids, but it was a nice break with just us big girls. :)