Tooth Trouble

On Friday Cullen came home from school with a new look. When he went to school all of his teeth were white, when he came home from school his top front baby tooth was was dark gray.  I was at cross country practice but Nick noticed it right away.  Cullen begged Nick not to tell me because he knew I would take him to the dentist....  I walked in from cross country and noticed.

I think my exact words were, "You have until Monday to get that tooth out.  If it's not out Monday you are going to the dentist."

Five minutes later the tooth was out.  The tooth has been loose for some time, but Cullen didn't want to pull it out.  Once the tooth was out I noticed that his adult tooth was pushing the baby one out and that tooth is all white.  So the dentist in me (without a dental degree) decided that no trip was need to the dentist.  His baby tooth was filled with blood- I think that's what made it appear so dark.

The following day (Saturday) Cullen and Geremu were screwing around and then I heard Geremu yelling at Cullen.  "That hurt soooo bad. Sooooo BAAAAADDDDD"

I'm still upstairs and I can hear Cullen gasp, "Geremu you're bleeding."

Before I can even make it downstairs I hear Cullen saying, "Aren't you happy I did that?  I knocked your tooth out!  You can thank me Geremu!"

Geremu's mouth accidentally hit Cullen's knee and Geremu's baby tooth was knocked out.

Nasuuna was disappointed she didn't lose a tooth this weekend- she has a wiggler that she has been working on for some time but it just isn't quite ready to come out.

Livin' a Dream

Every Sunday night during the school year is hair night.  I spend a LOT of time combing out Nasuuna's hair, deep conditioning it, and getting it ready for the next week.  Sometimes we leave it natural, other times we put a style in.  I love the hair time we have together and Nasuuna likes being fresh, clean and "bootiful" which is the end result.

Yesterday when I was combing and cutting knots out she said to me, "Mom, you ever think you be livin' a dream?"  I wasn't really sure what she meant by this so I asked her to explain it to me.  "Somedays I just think I be living a dream.  I go up norf (north) and swim, I see Granny Bird and Pop.  I make pizza with my Gramma...  This not be like Uganda... I think I be dreaming."  

This conversation went on for awhile and she preceded to tell me that a lot of the stuff we did this summer just seemed like a dream because it was so different then when she lived in Uganda.  

I realize as she gets older she will start to forget parts of her time in Uganda.  She really doesn't like to talk about her past, she has been very guarded about it actually.  But with certain people and during certain times she will talk...  Hair time always seems to be one of those times.  There is very little eye contact and the conversation just flows.  We have learned a lot about and from each other during hair time.   Someday I hope Nasuuna will forget about all the hair pulling/detangling and remember and appreciate the conversations and time spent together.  

Happy Birthday Gere!

Today is Geremu's 7th Birthday!

I don't know anyone that embraces life with more love and enthusiasm.  Life is one big adventure for our curious boy who loves a good party.  Geremu is that child that can go to a playground not knowing anyone and by the time we leave everyone knows his name.  He is generous and giving and often worries about others but never wants others to worry about him.

When he born his loved ones were amazed that he was alive.  So they named him Geremu, which translates as "amazing."  This kid is nothing short of just that!

First Day of School

My conversation with Nasuuna's this morning...
Nasuuna what grade are you going in?
   "2"
Nope, 1st remember that.  What's your teachers name?
   "I don't bemember"
Mrs. Korb.  Do you remember where your room is?
   "Nope"
What's your name?
   "Nasuuna"
No, your last name?
   "I be a German"

Her answers are equal parts charming and terrifying.  She is my only kid that was not nervous this morning.  Cullen killed himself laughing as we had our above conversation.  

I'd post a back to school picture for you but I'm not sure any of my neighbors captured the kids and I chasing the bus down this morning.  Apparently because of construction that was just started recently the bus can't stop where it usually does...  And I didn't get the memo.  As Cullen got on the bus he turned around and said to me still out of breath, "Don't worry Mom, I'll walk her to her classroom.  I remember where it is."

Thank God for Cullen!

I'd also like to report that I unintentionally sent one of my kids to school with an "activated carbon moisture and odor absorbent" packet in their new lunch box that says, "DO NOT EAT" on it. The good news is, "I couldn't open dis treat so I not eat it."

Overall it was a pretty great 1st day with a few hiccups just to keep me on my toes.

School Days... Start Tomorrow

Tomorrow the 2013-2014 school year begins for the kids.  That means getting back to a schedule and some sort of a routine.  As much as I have LOVED spending tons of time with my kids this summer I'm ready for school as are they.  This year Cullen will be entering the 3rd grade and Geremu & Nasuuna will be in 1st grade.  However if you ask Nasuuna she would tell you she is going in 2nd grade because "I already do 1 grade."  Which is true, but that 1 grade was called Kindergarten.

This year I'm going to attempt to get back into the habit of blogging.  I really do want a record for the kids of what they were up to as they grow-up and blogging has been my "baby book" of sorts for them.    I really fell off the bandwagon shortly after Nasuuna came home.  We were busy and life was hard...  So when something had to go, blogging was dumped for my sanity. 

This past summer was Ah-mazing, the kids are at great ages (I think I say this every year) and we spent lots of time together.  Life doesn't feel so cRaZy anymore.  After Nasuuna had been home for about 6 months I really felt like we were making headway on her attachment...  Which we were through baby-steps   This summer she has grown leaps and bounds.  Proving just how far we had yet to go when we look back.  More on this in a future post.

Cullen's First Communion

This weekend we celebrated Cullen's First Communion!  Some of the grandparents and cousins came into town from both sides of the family for the big day.  

 The big guy on his big day...

 The cake was spectacular- mmmm...

 Future doubles partners?  Like mother, like daughter:)

 The party ended pretty early because everyone had a ways to travel to get home.  

The weather was awesome and the kids have been begging to go catch creatures.  They didn't really care what they caught they just want to try catching anything.  So we took them to a local park...

 And had some success catching tadpoles and turtles.

Today was the first day I think I have taken Geremu to catch something and he didn't fall in.  

The Cousins Visit

At the end of last week my sister Katie came to town so Johnny and Cullen could spend a little more time together before Katie's family headed back home to North Carolina.  Johnny came while Cullen was still in school.  Cullen spotted Johnny waiting for him while he was still on the bus, when he got off the bus he ran right into Johnny's waiting arms...

Katie has all boys, who don't like to shop.  So Katie decided to take Nasuuna out and spoil her.  Which of course lead to shadow dancing in her new outfit.

 Cullen spent one morning by himself with the cousins.  He wanted to take them to Lambeau Field, so to Green Bay we went...

 He had fun hanging with the boys...

Cullen even got the chance to introduce his cousins to our good friend Beth.  Which lead to everyone trying on the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl ring...

 The below picture just might be my favorite from the day...

 Cullen had a lot of fun on his day with the cousins.

 We are all looking forward to seeing them again in June!

Nasuuna's 6th Birthday

 Today we celebrated Nasuuna's 6th Birthday

For entertainment Geremu surprised us by preformed a stunt that involved the cake...

I've been prepping Nasuuna and asking her what it is she wants for her birthday and her standard response is, "Nofing, I got everything I want."  I am humbled to be a part of this girl's life.  

Long Easter Weekend

For our long Easter weekend we headed to my parents house.  My sister Katie had flown home from North Carolina with her boys and my sister Megan's family was in town from Minnesota.  It was great having most of the family together even if it was only for a little bit of time.

Nick took the older boys out for a little hiking fun...

They enjoyed it and came back filthy!

We decided to celebrate the "spring" birthdays while we were all together.

 Easter morning the kids all had fun hunting for their baskets.

 Before heading out to church.  

Since the kids were all clean and dressed nice I had to take a picture.

 Granny Bird and Pop with all the grandkids.

When we got back from church the bunny had visited again, eggs were all over the yard.  The kids lined up for instructions.  Each kids had a different color egg this year.  We had to make it fair for the little kids.

 And it's a good thing we did because the little kids did not jump the gun, look at them still standing nicely.

 We always have judged Katie's trips based off of how much she cries when it's time for her to head home.  If she cries a lot she had a lot of fun...  What I didn't anticipate was my own sensitive son Cullen crying when it was time for him to say good-bye to Johnny.   It was heartbreaking I tell ya.  The good news is we have found a little time later this week for the kids to get back together before the cousins head back to North Carolina.

10 Year Anniversary

To celebrate our 10 year anniversary on Friday we (Nick and I) headed up north with our 3 favorite people...

The weather was beautiful, it was in 20's with LOTS of snow!

   

The kids stayed busy sledding and building a fort...

They were hoping to surprise Uncle Corky with snowballs when he came over.  

But Corky had other plans...

When Corky beat a 5, 6, and 7 year old in the snowball fight he made sure everyone in the north woods knew...

The snow was really deep.  Below is what happens when you don't want to travel the road and don't want to put on your snowshoes...

We had to call for Nick's help a few times because the kids would literally get stuck in the snow.  If I was able to get them out it was without a boot (and once the sock went missing too)...

No boots or socks were lost, just temporarily missing.  

The kids had fun trying to break the ice on the river...

 Cullen made-up his own "live" version of Temple Run.  He also holds the record for the fastest time.  The tunnels were so small the adults had trouble getting through them.

Thanks to this good-lookin' guy...

 The last 10+ years of my life have been pretty fantastic.

And these little people are just the icing on the cake...

We like to party...

I must first start by wishing you all a very Happy St. Patty's Day!

We had an eventful weekend.  Cullen was down in the dumps at the end of last week with a pretty high fever.  So he spent most of the weekend laying low- recovering.  It's our first illness of the winter (knock on wood) so we really can't complain too much.  

We woke up on Saturday to a fresh layer of snow.  

So my child who loves to shovel (Geremu) was out at it again...
For hours.

We spent some time at the library and outside again in the afternoon.  

Nasuuna stayed busy making little snowmen and snowdonkeys...

So Geremu could run them over with his bike...

I went outside because "You need to see my snow donkey!"  When I looked in the garage the car was covered in snow.  I asked the kids what happened and they both busted up laughing.  They had taken snow into the garage and threw it all over Nick's car.  The amount of snow they had used was pretty inpressive- the windshield and hood of the car was completely covered with a good 4-5" of snow.

Saturday afternoon we begin celebrating St. Patty's Day early with some good friends.  Beth, Patrick, Erica and Curt came over for a green celebration.  This picture was taken a week ago but it has the kids with Patrick and Beth, they are so good to my kids and us.

 The kids woke-up today to find that someone/something had gotten into our house again and dropped...

Chocolate money!  The $10 bill was not dropped purposefully.   We were stunned when the kids woke us up holding the real money with the fake gold.  I think one of our guest from the day before dropped it in the kitchen.

To add to our weekend of celebrations we celebrated
Adisa's birthday today!

 This afternoon the kids swam and hung out together.

 Everyone was in bed early!

Bed Early = Successful Weekend