Our Weekend and Our First Visit from the Tooth Fairy

We have had some good family time the past two weekends. They are growing so fast, I hate to miss a second of it. And poor Joe misses out on so much with working as much as he does, I know it is even more important to him.

Last weekend Joe worked so Other Mama and I took the kids to the Zoo. I called her at 7:00 a.m. that Saturday morning hoping I was not waking her up and she said she would love to go, so off we went. It was a really good day and the kids loved looking at all the animals and playing on the playground.

This weekend we headed up to Birmingham for a day of fun and play. First we went to the McWayne Center and had an absolute blast. Even Joel enjoyed the exhibits and play time.
I forgot my camera so these were taken with Sheila's phone, but the kids kept moving so much it was hard to get a clear picture of them:





Around 4:30 we met my cousin Robert, his wife Bethany, and their daughter Annalise for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. Again we had a blast. The enviorment is so fun. There were disco balls and music and dancing. Joel and Annalise were so cute, they would get so excited every time the disco balls came on. After dinner we headed up to the Vulcan (a statue that sits on a hill looking over Birmingham.) We rode in a glass elevator to the top of the tower that the staute sits on and walked around the base of the statue. It was beautiful to look over Birmingham, but scary to be that high up at the same time.
This is a picture from the parking lot walking up to the tower:


This is a picture I found online of the actual statue:


Sunday morning I woke up with a horrible migraine so Joe got the kids ready and took them to church then they went to his parents for lunch and play. I was finally feeling better around 4:00 p.m. so I got up and got ready and was able to go with them to Awana.

This week is Dr. Seuss week at school. They get to dress up each day. Today was pajama day so each girl got to wear pjs and a robe to school. Why can't we have pj day at work?

Our big news from this weekend is that we received our very first visit from the tooth fairy last night. Friday night after dinner Josie told me she had some food in her teeth. I told her to go see her Daddy because I was changing Joel. Well the next morning I was getting their breakfast ready and Josie said, "Mommy, I can't eat until you get this out of my teeth." So I looked at her mouth and felt her tooth and I said, "Honey, there is not food in your teeth, it is loose." My heart sank because I know this means she really is growing up but she was so excited I couldn't bear to let her know I was sad. So we called all the grandparents and told them about her tooth being loose. Sunday morning it was really really wiggly from where she had played with it all day Saturday, and Joe asked if he could pull it and to our surprise she said yes. (We were scared it would come out at church or school and she would lose it.) It took Joe three times, but it came out. Poor Jolie, wanting to be like her big sister, kept telling us she had loose teeth too or that she had lost one as well. So last night the tooth fairy left Josie $5.00 in her tooth pillow for her very first tooth (from now on it will only be $1.00). Jolie had also put out her tooth pillow and the tooth fairy left her $0.75.

Mardi Gras Parade

This was a super busy weekend for us. Friday night Joe was supposed to take Josie out on a date, but he didn't feel well, so we just had a pizza and movie night in.










After we laid Joel down we taught the girls to play Uno. They loved it and did really good. Jolie won twice and Josie once.

The next morning we got all bundled up and met Quint, Sheila, Ansleigh, and Caden at Cracker Barrell for some breakfast then went to Main Street, Millbrook for the Mardi Gras Parade.












We racked up at the parade with about 3 bags of beans and tons of moonpies. The kids had a blast!

After the parade we headed to the Village Park where they had vendors and things for the kids to do. We let the kids do the pony ride and Josie & Caden did the bungee jump:








After the park we ran home for baths and to get all dolled up to go take pictures at the church for our church directory. We ended up with two really good pictures, a family one and one of the three kids.

Because we had gone to the parade I missed getting with my women's group to make goodies to sell for the Relay for Life Valentines Sale, so after pictures Josie and I headed to the store to buy stuff to make goodies. When we got home Jolie and Joel were sound asleep. Josie and I stayed up until around 9 p.m. making homemade cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered marshmellows, and princess trail mix.

Sunday Joe and Joel stayed home all day. I took the girls to church and then we helped with the Relay for Life valentine goody sale.






Around 2 we took some goody trays to the nursing home and then to Ms. Gertrude from our church. After visiting with Ms. Gertrude we ran home for dinner and then we were off to Awana.

This coming weekend will be much more low key :)

Joel's First Bubble Bath

Joel loves bath time, and to him it doesn't matter if he is in there with his sisters or by himself, he just loves to play in the water. Last night I decided to put some bubbles in there and see what he would do. They never phased him. He not once played with them or even acknowledged their presence.

I know it looks like I sat here and kept snapping the same picture, but I didn't. I would take a picture and wait and go to take another one and he would say "Cheese" and do the same adorable grin. He was definitely "hamming it up" last night :)

Josie's First Slumber Party

We had a first in the Burdick household this weekend, and personally I look forward to many more of these- Josie had her first slumber party. Instead of a big party for her birthday we had a family dinner the Saturday before her birthday and then she invited three friends from church (and Jolie) to spend the night this past Friday night. One of the girls did not get to come so it turned out to be four little girls "partying" with Mr. Joe, Aunt Sheila, and me. We all had a blast and it turned out way better than I expected it to.

Friday afternoon I picked up the kids from school and dropped Joel off with Joe so we could go get their friends Jo (short for Josephine) and Catie. The girls were so excited to go pick up the girls. They had been telling everyone at MCDP they were going to get the girls. So we added two more car seats to the van and headed to Wetumpka to get Jo. After picking up Jo we headed back to Elmore to get Catie. By the time we got back to the house Aunt Sheila was there waiting to join in on the fun. The girls ran into the house to find goody bags made just for them. They each had their own bag that had bracelets, necklaces, leis, box of gummies, and butterfly straws. After playing for a few minutes we decided to make our pizzas. I though making our own bagel pizzas might be better than big pizzas. Jo told me she didn't like bagels so she made hers on bread. While the pizzas baked the girls changed into pajamas.
Josie with her pepperoni, olive, and mushroom bagel:

Jo made hers with pepperoni:

Catie also made a pepperoni bagel:

Jolie made a pepperoni, mushroom, and olive bagel:

Aunt Sheila made a pepperoni bagel and I made a pepperoni and mushroom bagel:



After eating dinner the girls fixed Aunt Sheila's and my hair while we let our sugar cookies bake. Jo and Josie worked on Aunt Sheila:

Catie and Jolie worked on my hair:


Catie and Jolie tried to work on Joe's hair too, but all they could do was brush it :)

Next it was time to decorate the sugar cookies:









Next on the agenda was getting their nails done. Each girl got their toenails and fingernails painted. Jo's are on the bottom left (silver glitter), then Jolie (green with polka dots), then Catie (purple glitter), and then Josie (pink with polka dots).


After getting their nails done they rolled out their sleeping bags and laid down to watch a movie with popcorn. Yes, they all did a lot of eating that night.



I was sitting on the couch above them and took an upside down picture of them all.
Jo:

Catie:

Josie:

Jolie:


It was around 10:00 p.m. when they finally started getting sleepy. Josie was actually the first one asleep, then Jo, and then Catie. Jolie had a hard time going to sleep and she actually ended up sleeping in her own bed instead of in the living room with all the other girls.

Aunt Sheila had to be at work at 6:00 a.m. the next morning so she got up and left early Saturday morning. The girls were all awake by about 5:30 - 6:00 a.m. We got up and I fixed them breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese grits, and fruit. Jo kept going on and on about how good the food was and I asked her if she wanted to come live with me. She said only on the days I don't have church-- sounded reasonable to me :) After breakfast we took "baby Joel" for a walk. They took turns pushing him in the stroller and we got to see two trains pass by.

Jo was the first to leave around 9:15 a.m. when her mom picked her up and Catie left around 9:45 a.m.

All in all I would say the slumber party was a huge success. Everyone was very well behaved and used their manners. I think and hope everyone had fun.

After everyone left, we just vegged and took naps. That afternoon we went to Pap-paw's house so that Joe could help him move some stuff. I took the kids for a ride on the golf cart while they worked.

The next morning we went to church and went home. The girls refused to take naps and were very ill so we ended up not going to Awana.

This coming up weekend will be a busy but fun one. It is a family tradition to go to the Millbrook Mardi Gras Parade with Quint & Sheila so we will do that, then I have to head to church to make chocolate treats with the SOS girls to sell for our Relay for Life Valentinues Sale, then that afternoon we have our church directory pictures.

In the meantime the season of Lent is fastly approaching so Joe and I will be in prayerful consideration about what we should give up in honor of Lent. Any suggestions would be appreciated, I would like to do something different this year.

Love to you all