Sugar Bugs

Just a few days ago, Sweet Pea went to the dentist. I woke up that morning remembering that I almost scheduled her appointment for 8:10am. I would have been crazy to have done that. I got a more reasonable time at 4:00pm. I brushed her teeth twice before we left just to be sure that they were clean. My husband was unable to watch Cocoa so she came along for the ride. I asked her several times to be good and to listen to mommy. So on the way I stopped at the bank and Sweet Pea said, "This isn't the dentist. I want to go to the dentist. I don't want to be late." The entire day I kept telling her that we didn't want to be late and sure enough here she is reminding me. Anyways, we make it to the dentist office and again I remind Cocoa to be good and for Sweet Pea not to be scared of the dentist. She had seen him last year for her very first dentist visit when she was three. The dentist apparently left the practice he was with to start his own and I thought since he was still covered by our plan that it would be a good idea to go to the same person. Last year though she was really shy and I'm sure scared. She had to sit in my lap and lean back so the dentist could count her teeth. So this new office was pretty cool. It had a play room for the kids to hang out in. I had to fill out paperwork and keep an eye on both girls when Sweet Pea said she had to go potty. Of course I do remember asking her to go before we left the house and I was sure she did but here we were having to go to the bathroom and I still had to fill out that paperwork and keep an eye on Cocoa. We came out of the restroom and the dental assistant was already looking for us. (Good service!) Now since Sweet Pea is only four, I thought it best for me to be with her and of course Cocoa had to come along too since I wasn't leaving her in the playroom by herself. So we got to the room, which was a little small, and took our spot in the corner. Sweet Pea looked so little sitting in that big dental chair. While I finished filling out the paperwork and keeping an eye on Cocoa, the assistant got to work on cleaning Sweet Pea's teeth. She even got to watch Finding Nemo on a TV screen mounted on the ceiling. They didn't have that when I was a kid. Cocoa was concerned the whole time about her big sister. I think it was the sound of the brush cleaning her teeth that might have made her concerned. It was very cute of Cocoa to be concerned. I had to keep telling her that Sweet Pea was OK all the while still trying to finish that paperwork and answer questions the assistant had. While cleaning her teeth, the assistant asked if Sweet Pea brushed teeth twice a day. She says yes (thankfully since we mostly only get to it once a day) and the assistant asked if she flossed her teeth. She says yes and then says no. The assistant goes on to describe the "Sugar Bugs" that get stuck in between your teeth and that it's important to have mommy help you floss. (Information noted for further use). Before you knew it, the assistant was done and I gave the OK to take x-rays. I didn't think they would need to do that yet since she's still young but since she sucks on her fingers still I thought it might be a good idea. She was SO GOOD!!!!! She sat very still and did what the assistant told her to do. I was SO proud. The lady thought Sweet Pea was so cute and adorable. So the assistant says to us that she's all done with the pictures and is going to go develop them and get the dentist. That's when cute, adorable little Sweet Pea says, "Last time there was this guy and he was scary. I was scared." (Of course she was referring to the dentist she saw last year who is set to come in her room soon.) The assistant and I assured her that he wasn't scary and shortly she returned with and loaded the x-rays on to the screen. Then a few short seconds later, the dentist arrives and says, "I'm not scary, I'm just silly." He goes on to ask her how old she is and she answers without me having to answer for her. He explains that he has a daughter her age. She even looks at him and shows him which two fingers she likes to suck on. At that same time, Cocoa puts her fingers in her mouth to do as her big sister does. (I can only deal with one child sucking on there fingers I don't need two. I got lucky when I took the pacifier away from Cocoa. It hasn't been an issue. Except every once in awhile I see her copy her sister. Not good!) So he checks he teeth and informs us that there are NO CAVITIES! YEAH!!! (Mommy's been doing a good job at brushing her teeth! Good job mommy!) He goes on to explain what would happen if Sweet Pea doesn't stop sucking on her fingers. At this point, she looks a little scared. Maybe the thought of having something metal placed in her mouth till she stops doesn't sound so good. So, we check out the x-rays and there are Sweet Pea's adult teeth hiding behind her baby teeth. It was weird to see. She's still my baby and the thought of her starting to lose those baby teeth and get big girl, adult teeth is difficult. They grow so fast. So the dentist is all done and the assistant asks if we want fluoride and I said, "Why not." I'm instructed that there is to be no hot liquid, brushing or flossing for 4-6 hours. (Hot liquid? Who gives their four year old hot liquid?) In the process Sweet Pea asks the assistant if she has two children. The assistant seemed surprised by the question and says, "That's a really grown up question to ask." I then chime in and say that the dentist mentioned that he had a daughter her age. Then she understood where the question came from (I guess. Kids do say the darnedest things.) So, for the first checkup in over a year (apparently you're suppose to do this every six months) things were good. But as we ride the elevator down to the ground floor, Cocoa starts to scream because she wants to push the buttons again. As we exit the elevator I told her how good she was up till that moment. I still stop at Starbucks on the way home and get the girls chocolate milk for being so good. Now I get to look forward to taking Cocoa to her first appointment. I have decided she won't go until she's three, like her big sister did. I have a hard time getting her to open her mouth for me to brush her teeth. I can't see her opening her mouth for a complete stranger.

It's the GREAT Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

So a couple of years ago, my dad sent the girls two packets of pumpkin seeds to plant in our garden. Now finally a few years later we actually planted a garden and I figured we should give the seeds a chance.

Surprise, surprise! After a few weeks, we started to see the seedlings pop up out of the ground.
We lost a few watermelon plants along the next few weeks, I'm assuming to birds or other pests. But the pumpkin plant was spared and began to grow. We thought that it would be possible to actually get a pumpkin or two for Halloween out of it. We were trying to be optimistic.
As time past, the pumpkin plant kept growing and started to take over the area's where the watermelon plants that didn't make it were planted. I decided I would do the smart thing and write down the days to harvest for all our vegetables and fruits. So you can see to my surprise that when I read the pumpkin package I over looked one very important detail. Sure I understood that it takes 120 days to harvest. I'll have to see how long we can keep it on the plant before we have to take it off. It might be ready well before Halloween. The part I over looked was how big it could grow up to. Just a measly 100lbs! So as you can see the plant is thriving and there are even a couple of flowers blooming and appears there are more to come.













A HUNDRED POUNDS!
Let the count down to the great pumpkin begin!!!!!!
The girls are excited of course. Sweet Pea can't believe that we could have a great pumpkin growing in our garden. Cocoa, well, I'm sure she'll understand once she sees the pumpkin growing. It's amazing to see. The rest of the garden is coming along as well. There are pea's growing and probably ready to pick soon. I'm looking at harvesting the Bibb lettuce and maybe even some Romaine. YUMMY!!!

A castle built for the princesses

So one hot weekend, the princesses grandparents on my husbands side, came out to help build them a castle. Complete with swings (two of course), a slide, a steering wheel, and a look out tower with a periscope. It turned into a massive structure that even mommy and daddy can be on (swings included). There is still a little bit of work left to do but it's mostly complete. Sure enough though the princesses have already argued over the swings (even though there are two). One is set slightly higher for Sweet Pea and one lower for Cocoa. They swing back and forth, or at least Sweet Pea does. She's getting the hang of pumping her legs. While Cocoa, sweet sweet Cocoa, takes to laying on the swing on her belly. She's pretending she's flying like a bird. Of course they've argued over slide as well. Both want to go first and both want to take their time at the top and the bottom as well. It seems as though no matter what, they will always argue. Sad. Yes they do enjoy the castle very much. Even though the past few days have been so hot that we haven't even gone outside. Cooler days to come though. The slide gets pretty hot in the sun. So now when I have to mow the lawn, they have an extra place to play. But it doesn't mean they'll stay put. At least this takes the pressure off of mommy of having to drive them to the playground.