Our Poor Hannah

Hannah's class, along with ten other classes, have a major performance this next week. It's huge! They've been practicing for about the last month and half, have to wear coordinating clothes, have costumes, all have parts. This last week the law had been laid down that if they didn't have their clothes, they wouldn't be allowed to perform. Hannah has everything that was required of her.

Hannah spent the night at my parents house last night and my Mom called early this morning to tell me of the rough night Hannah had had. She was grinding her teeth (something she hasn't done in a LONG time), crying in her sleep, and even up crying with my Mom off and on. In her excitement of having Gramma pick her up from school, she had forgotten whether or not her teacher told them to take their clothes home to wear to school on Monday for dress rehearsal. She literally lost a whole night's sleep because she was afraid she'd not be allowed to perform. Long story short, she ended up coming home a lot sooner than anticipated and has literally sat in the recliner or laid on the couch all day. I'm not sure if she's tired from having not slept all night long, or is fighting something. We'll see in the morning.

Thank goodness for teachers who give out their personal email addresses because I was able to email her teacher and just make sure she wasn't supposed to have brought her clothes home. I wanted to know ahead of time incase we needed to adjust our time Monday morning to get to school early to have her change. Her teacher actually called this afternoon and reassured that all was well and no she wasn't supposed to have brought her clothes home yesterday.

But Poor Hannah (and poor Gramma!), she had such a rough night and was so upset. She normally has anxieties and nerves leading up to important things - karate tournaments, past performances, so in all honesty, I am surprised she's not had any worries up to this point. Please keep her in your prayers over the next several days. Their performances are Monday - Thursday.

An Afternoon Trip to Disneyland

It's been a couple of weeks since we've had any time to go to Disneyland, between being busy and all the rain we've been getting, this afternoon was a success in getting to go. We went with friends and had a great afternoon/evening. Hannah will be going off track in two weeks, therefore things will be slowing down and we're looking forward to being able to go at least a few times while she's off.Years and years ago, you used to be able to go up into Sleeping Beauty's Castle. But it closed shortly after 9/11 due to a couple of different reasons found throughout the internet. But they finally re-opened the castle in December when Sleeping Beauty was re-released out on DVD and Blue Ray. Every time we've attempted to enter the castle, the line has been long. But today, we were able to just walk in! And all the girls enjoyed taking turns reading the story with each picture and looking at the newly redone dioramas. The Redwood Creek Challenge Trail has got to be one of my children's most favorite things to do at California Adventure. Hannah loves this zip line and it's always a must do...no matter how long the wait. Throughout the entrance of Bugs Land, there are these cute tractor seat benches. All four of the girls ran from one to the other sitting in order of their grade level. They were a crack up!We had a good trip with nice weather. While it was cloudy, there was no rain and there was no need for sweatshirts. The parks were busy, and wait times for rides were lengthy, but we made the best of trip and managed to still get a lot done!

We Have Fish!

For Hannah's fifth birthday, she was given a fish tank by Uncle Robbie, Auntie, and her cousins. We set it up and filled it with fish and kept filling it up with fish for a few years. But for the last year and half, maybe two years, we've not had any fish, we've kept the tank set up and filled with water, but haven't had fish.

Two weeks ago, I emptied the tank, cleaned it out really good, replaced parts that needed replacing, etc. I then filled the tank with water, put in the chemicals to treat the tap water, and the tank has been sitting beautifully clean for the last two weeks.

Last night, after dinner, we went to PetSmart for fish. Hannah was so excited to be getting fish for the tank. Very excited. We got home and put the fish into the tank and the girls both wanted to stay up and watch them! When I picked her up from school this afternoon, it's the first thing she asked about. Usually the first thing she asks is "What's for dinner?" but not today, it was "how are the fish?" Needless to say, the girls are happy to have a 'pet' once again.

Our Sweethearts

This picture was taken four years ago. Rachel was 5 months old, and Hannah was 4 1/2 years old. Hannah, in this picture, is the very age that Rachel is now!!! I can't believe it!And here they are today...Rachel 4 1/2 years old, and Hannah on the brink of turning 9 in just two months!!

Valentine's Party

Elementary school parties, if they're allowed parties, are so different from that of Rachel's preschool parties. These days, elementary schools have to meet a certain amount of instructional time, therefore the days of partying all day long are long gone.

As the Room Mom, I wanted to something special for Hannah's class. So this afternoon, I brought in homemade Valentine cookies and fruit punch. Nothing big and fancy, but the kids all appreciated the treat. The kids also used this time to finish passing out Valentines. Last week, they made these giant heart envelopes and the teacher stapled them to the wall for easy Valentine delivery. They were all very cute and all different.

Dental Check Up

Both the girls had dental check ups today. Rachel's was this morning, and Hannah's was this afternoon. After the outcome of Rachel's appointment, I must say I was anxious for Hannah's results. I was praying all afternoon that she'd have no cavities. A mother can only take so much humiliation in a day.

They did a few normal X-rays, and then they did a full facial xray, which was totally cool to see done, not to mention how amazing the films were to see afterwards. Hannah had to stand up, and then this machine circled her head a full 360 degrees taking a full xray of her teeth! Wow! She then the cleaning and vitamin foam and then the exam from the dentist. Overall, her check up was great. Dentist gave a few tips on getting a couple areas cleaned better, the usual 'you need to floss lecture', and then we talked about the Xrays. The dentist started going over Hannah's teeth on the Xray, showing me which were still baby teeth, and showing me the adult teeth coming in beneath.

As she continued with the full facial xray, she herself was surprised, and this is where I became totally overwhelmed, when she said Hannah was missing not one permanent tooth, not two permanent teeth, but Hannah is missing THREE permanent teeth!!!! There are no adult teeth in the spots where they should be. The dentist reassured me that surprisingly missing teeth is common, and they just work with it. Sometimes because there is no adult tooth pressing its way and pushing that baby tooth out, then a lot of times the baby tooth doesn't fall out. Sometimes with the help of braces, they just squish everything together and make it work. Sometimes, if the baby tooth does fall out and there is nothing there to replace it, then they insert an implant. But for now, we're going to take extra special care of those baby teeth that don't have adult ones. We'll be going back in a couple of months to have some sealant placed on the teeth that need it replaced.

The other concern was some bottom adult teeth that are coming up at an angle. There is the potential problem for them to push a tooth out of the way, etc, etc. Our dentist suggested that we see the Orthodontist, and have them take a look at the xray to see if it warrants any action sooner, rather than later, etc.

Overall, her check up was good. Hannah said her appointment was 'fun', not how I would describe a trip to the dentist, but I'm glad she enjoyed it and it didn't stress her out. So we'll be back in a May for sealant, and then back in 6 months for a cleaning.