3rd Time's a Charm . . . Right?

Getting braces off as an adult is JUST as exciting as getting them off in 7th grade!

My teeth had fallen far from where they were over time.  The left picture is my teeth in 8th grade, about 6 months after getting my braces off.  The right, is where they went after a few months of a broken fixed retainer I had for almost 15 YEARS, after having braces AGAIN for a month and a half or so to fix a leveling issue.

That memory muscle stuff . . . is totally true for my teeth.  They REALLY want to be somewhere else.

Here is a picture at the beginning of the third round of braces

(well 2nd FULL round . . . I like to say 3 for pity sake:) 

But now I am done and will have 3 retainers to try to keep these babies in place!

My teeth drama/obsession:)

Choir

Gwen LOVES singing.

She always asks if she can be in our church choir.

Her elementary school held a "choir club" for about six weeks.

She was pretty excited to join and to perform!

Good job Gwen!

Preschool Field Trip

Austin is involved in a neighborhood playgroup/preschool type thing twice a week 

with some friends in the neighborhood.

This week, one of the mom's organized a field trip to the fire station!

The firemen showed the kids the trucks, what kind of equipment goes into 

them and let them get inside one!

They turned on the sirens and light too!

So fun and educational!

Skipping School

 Today was a free day at the Hogle Zoo!

The kids were going to get out of school for some reason by noon anyway, so I decided to be a fun mom and have them stay home so we could go to the zoo in the morning.

My sister Lisa and her kids came with us.

It actually didn't seem too busy in the morning.

After we ate around 11 or 11:30 though, it was really crazy.

Luckily, we had already seen most everything, so we only had to deal with 

the crazy crowds for a short time.

Austin really liked watching the gorilla.

We saw a massive sized turtle, cool birds, and lot of other animals that were really fun to watch.

The lions were not there this time though, so that was sad.

There also weren't  any zebras.

Maybe next time.

Guys and Dolls

Abby's junior high is doing a musical production of Guys and Dolls this year.

Abby really wanted to try out.  She actually has shown interest in doing something like this for years!

To try out, she had to sing 16 measures of a song from a musical.  She would also need to learn a dance at the audition, and then perform it.

Abby chose "Let it Go" from Frozen. 

Her choir teacher told her that Frozen music counts as musical music.

She practiced A LOT!

Ben helped her pick out the best 16 measures for her to sing,  and edited the music for her.

Try outs were last Wednesday.  Call backs were Thursday.

She tried out, but was not on the call back list.
Abby thinks about 180 kids tried out.
The choir teacher announced that only around 60 kids would be needed.

Today, Saturday, was the day the school would put out the list of those who made it.

Abby's name was on the list!!!!

She does not have a lead role . . . but who cares!  

And usually I don't think 7th graders have lead roles anyway.

I'm so excited for her to have this fun experience!

Basketball

Both Abby and Halle wanted to play basketball this year.

This is Halle's first year.

Abby last played when she was in 3rd grade, so it's kind of like her first year too.

Abby's team didn't win any games this season.
It was frustrating, but they tried so hard each game and had a good attitude anyway!
Abby showed a lot of improvement throughout the season, and became a pretty aggressive player.

Halle's team won every game they played.
It was fun to see Halle play and good for her to see that she likes to
play other sports (besides soccer) too!

They both want to play again next year!

Cousin Fun

For Christmas, our kids got some new sleds!

But unfortunately, not accommodating weather to use them.

Finally it snowed . . . and there was no school . . . and cousins were staying at our house!