Another one bites the dust....

Christian doesn't mess around when it comes to loose teeth. If it's the slightest bit loose, he's going to pull it. We tell him all the time to stop wiggling his teeth, but goes for it anyway. He lost tooth #7 this past weekend. That's a big deal because he is now the official front runner in his tooth pulling competition with Abby. The were tied on Saturday and he pulled (get it??) into the lead on Saturday night. The best part about the whole thing was that he asked if the tooth fairy could bring something for McKenna, since she has never lost any teeth.

The World According to McKenna

She took her skirt off in Target today because it was itching! No worries, she had tights on. But still!

She insists on getting herself dressed everyday. She usually chooses red pants, a red shirt, red sock and a red hair bow because it "matches." This is what she does with every color under the rainbow. Black on black on black. Or her favorite...pink on pink on pink.

She wants her own iphone. She's been begging for one for 2 days now.

"Mom, take a picture of me saying ballet."

And it's not uncommon for her to change her clothes during the middle of the day to a "twirling" dress so she can dance.

Case in point:

Watching her dance all around the room while jumping over Will is pretty much typical of the kind of day I have every day.

Blessed.

Tree pictures....

Words for Wednesday

Ballet Parent Night!!

 Ryan and I got to attend "parent night" at ballet. I was so excited to finally get to go into McKenna's class and see what she's been doing (parents don't get to go into the classroom ever...which I understand but I hate sitting in the waiting room having no clue what she's doing). Unfortunately McKenna was in a grumpy mood that night and although she listened and did everything her teacher asked, she barely cracked a smile. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that there was a room full of parents there.

The class lasts 45 minutes and during that time McKenna raised her hand three times and this is what she had to say:

1. Miss Barb, Lilly isn't staying on her spot.

(Nice of her to tattle on Lily, while Lily's mom is in the room).

2. Miss Barb, I'm hungry.

(Ok, the class is only 45 minutes what in the world! She ate before she came for Heaven's Sake).

 3. Miss Barb, is it time to go yet. I'm tired.

(Glad to see our daughter has such an awesome attitude about ballet).

Having McKenna in ballet this fall has certainly been interesting. I only intended for her to take ballet for about 2 months. She's only 3 and I didn't think it was worth the financial investment at this age. She just needed something special to do since Christian was going to Kindergarten, it helped her to have something special of her own to talk about. 

Four months later, she's still in ballet. 

Despite her bad attitude on parent night, she really loves it and is actually really good at it.

I was shocked when her teacher said "releve" and McKenna hopped up on her toes and knew exactly what she was doing.  Her favorite song right now is "We Need a little Christmas." She has the dance her teacher taught her memorized and dances around our house all the time.

So it looks like we might have a real little dancer in the making!

Our FAVORITE Christmas Game!!!!

You've got to try this!!!

Alright, let me explain our FAVORITE Christmas game! We've played it twice already this year and we're planning on playing it one more time.

It's best when played with at least four people. Perfect for large groups of adults or kids.

Supplies: 

1 dice, 1 prize wrapped in several layers of boxes, 1 large adult sized pair of mittens or ski gloves.

Prepartion:

1. Find a small prize and wrap it really well with lots of tape! I usually use a little canister of M&Ms or a pack of gum. 

2. Put the wrapped prize inside a small box, then wrap the box really well with lots of tape.

3. Then put that box inside another box and wrap that box really well with lots of tape.

4. Depending upon the "skill" of the players, you can decide how may layers of wrapped boxes you want to have. I usually do three layers for kids and more for adults.

The Game:

1. Have everyone sit in a circle.

2.Choose a number on the dice. I'll use the #3 as an example.

3. Put the present and the mittens in the middle of the circle.

4. Anytime anyone rolls a #3 they have to put on the mittens and then try to unwrap the present.

5. They continue to unwrap the present until someone else in the circle rolls a #3. When someone else rolls a #3 then they have to pass the gloves and the present to that person.

6. The rest of the players continue to roll the dice and try to get a #3 so they can have a turn unwrapping the present.

7. Whoever unwraps the final present is the WINNER!!

This game is hilarious and evokes lots of laughter and controlled chaos. Just don't make it too hard for kids. If they're having a hard time getting the present unwrapped, then change up the rules and have them just wear one glove/mitten.

Cousins! Cousins!! Cousins!!

 

Drum roll please.......

for the first time in history all 11 Brinkley cousins were together in one spot!!!

Tons more pictures coming soon.

Walking...not quite

(9 months)

Daddy's been practicing with him and he's actually getting pretty good! It won't be long!