What we've been up to...

Potty training is serious business around this house, can't you tell.We really are trying to get Tirza potty trained, and when SHE wants to she does great. Unfortunately, most of the time it really isn't worth it for her to take the time so the war continues... she won the battle today. For example the time she was standing right beside her potty and wet her cute little panties. It just hasn't quite clicked yet, right?
Making cookies... the girls love to help in the kitchen. So here we are making some cookies, that turned out chewy for those of you who don't like my cakey chocolate chip cookies. Okay so they came from a package that Grandma sent the girls for Christmas but I still "made" not cakey cookies. The real test is going to be how my cookies turn out when we get to Lisbon:)

Sahara also got special paint to make window stickers out of from Grandma. Sahara and Bria have had lots of fun making really cute window stickers.

Flying

On Saturday Mark and I got to go flying. Mark won a "flight" at our Valentine's Gala and he was so excited! I wasn't sure about both parents heading up in a little plane but he convinced me to go and our good friends offered to keep the girls for us so I decided to brave it. I had so much fun, it was actually really relaxing. The only scary part was when our pilot let Mark fly. Mark was thrilled! He let him hold the reigns for a long time.
This is the shadow of our plane as we were landing.

It's really hard to see but that is the street we live on. We could see it really good from the plane but the picture didn't turn out that well.

Meme

I got tagged by my sister in law, Melanie, and I am very excited about it. This is my first meme, I am a real blogger now!!! So for my first Meme I am supposed to blog 6 quirky things about myself... hold on here we go...

1. I love pizza, with a passion. I could eat it everyday, much to the dismay of my husband. Order it, pizza buffet, $5 pizza, french bread pizza... but there is one catch. I don't like much on my pizza- the perfect pizza for me has lots of sauce, lots of cheese and some pineapples. Sometimes black olives or tomatoes are okay, I have even learn to enjoy a mushroom every now and then. Meat is really just a distraction from the good part. Canadian bacon is alright with the pineapple but is has to be real crisp Canadian bacon and not just ham and definitely NOT bacon! Very important stuff here people.

2. I hate losing things. Now I know that no ones likes to lose something but I really hate it. It ruins my day, week, possible even month depending on the item lost. I become obsessed with finding the lost thing! Really my family can attest to how silly it can become... I make everyone stop what they are doing and help me search, even through the trash if I think there is a possibility, even if it's slight, that the item may have been thrown away. If you want to show me love, find a lost item for me:)

3. I can not spell to save my life. Really spell check is the best thing that has happened to me and my communication skills. And yet there are some words that I have spelled wrong for so long I have just decided that I will spell them my way. For example: tomarrow... that's how we say it so I have decided that is how I will spell it. It's not up for discussion, tomarrow! Again my helpful family could give you several other examples.

4. I have no hometown. When someone asks me where I am from I still don't know what to say. And I have never answered that question in less then 5 minutes. Now I know a lot of my readers are MKs like I am so this seems normal to you, but let me tell you friends it's apparently NOT. Here in the South it's a one word answer for everyone else. They have a state or a city that automatically rolls off their tongue, they don't even have to think about it. Some people have lived in the same city their whole life- it's unimaginable to me. It's as foreign to me as growing up in Africa is to them.

5. I love warm weather and hate the cold. Now I know this isn't so much quirky but the reason, beyond the obvious, is that I have no internal heating. Most people can throw on a coat, put an extra blanket on the bed and be fine. Not me, I have to have a heater of some sorts. I freeze going from the car to the house and it takes me forever to warm back up. This was Mark's idea because he has to deal with me putting my freezing cold feet on him every single night to warm them up. Luckily for me he is an unusually warm person... we are a match made in heaven:)

6. I had to get help with these last 2, so this is Mark's suggestion... I have a genetic disability that causes me to laugh hysterically when someone falls down. The more dramatic the fall the harder I laugh. I know you think I am cold hearted, it's not that and it's not just me that laughs- it's genetic. My mom, my grandma and various other family member do it too.

So there you go, I have completed my first meme... whew that was hard work! Now I am supposed to pass the meme along so I tag Kara, Letha, Heidi and Tess.

My Troopers

We made our brave trek back to the dentist today and Sahara and Bria did great! Really great! Bria was first up and she was very nervous, lots of tears but she did exactly as she was told. Turns out that her little cavities were very little so she didn't even have to have a shot. They just numbed it with gel stuff and got her taken care of. The worst part was waiting!
Sahara was actually really excited about the whole adventure, she wasn't nervous at all. The nurse was surprised at how unaffected she was, kind of like she had the gas but she didn't:) She had quite a procedure done... she did have the numbing shot and then they worked on her little tooth with all kinds of special tools. She proudly came out with her new silver tooth ready to go!
What she didn't like was the numb feeling once she was done, she wanted it to go away as soon as we left the dentist office. Bria is all done, YEAH! and Sahara goes back in a couple weeks for one more little cavity to be filled- she's not worried about it... what's a little filling after you've gotten a silver tooth:) *I couldn't get Bria to pose for a picture, she didn't think this day was fun and therefore did not want a reminder of it!

Valentines Gala 2008

This is Mark and I at the Valentine's Gala. This was the second time we have done this at Northbrook, it was so much fun! The whole evening is to raise money for missions. We all get dressed up, which is something we don't do much at NB:), have a very nice dinner, a silent auction, dancing and great fellowship.

The girls had a great night too. They got to have a sleepover with their friend, Sophie. We picked Tirza up when our evening was over but the big girls got to stay the whole night. They had a blast! They had pizza, made cookies, ate popcorn and watched movies- what more could a girl want:)

The Dentist

So this morning we took Sahara and Bria to the dentist for the first time. (I know we should have taken them way before now, but the dentist is not cheap and we are not wealthy!) They both did great! They got their teeth checked out, cleaned and a fluoride treatment. Sounds fun, right!? Then they called me in for the bad news... Bria has 3, yes 3 cavities that have to be taken care of. Sahara has 2, but don't breath any sighs of that's not that bad yet. One of Sahara's is major and she has to have some special procedure ending with a stainless steel cap. So we still have 3 big trips back to the dentist ahead of us... We'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a sweet day and get to love on all your loved ones!

Tornadoes and the Flu

We have had a hard week but not nearly as hard as some in our area. On Tuesday night our town and surrounding area was hard hit by tornadoes. Specifically one that devastated Jackson. It came about a half a mile from our house, we are very thankful to have NO damage here. Our old house was not so lucky, we haven't been able to get in the neighborhood to see the front of it but we can see trees down and there is a blue tarp over a hole in the roof above where the girls room was. The street you had to turn on to get to the old house is destroyed, complete houses missing.
Also on Tuesday night the girls and I started coming down with the FLU, no fun. We are still recovering... we can't seem to shake the nasty cough. But at least today we are all out of bed and moving around a little. We won't be going anywhere for a couple more days but compared to last week we are feeling much better.

Toothless Wonder

Sahara lost 2 more teeth this weekend. Her smile is starting to look really funny:) She is totally obsessed with getting her teeth out. If she feels any hint of wiggle she twists and pulls until she gets the tooth out. Saturday, before anyone else was awake, she was in the bathroom getting her tooth out... she woke us all out with the announcment. Then Sunday night she would not rest until she got the next one out. She is very proud of herself. And our very kind tooth fairy (Fairy Violet) has been leaving Sahara gum, per Sahara's request, instead of money. In Saharaland sugarfree gum is worth MUCH more than $$$.

Happy Birthday Umma!

We love you and hope that you have a very wonderful day!!!