Tooth Fairy and the Tooth Rat come for a visit

Did many of you make a double take after reading the title?  Were many of you wondering, what in the world is a tooth rat?  Yeah, me too, about ten years ago when I was first told about the Tooth Rat by my loving and crazy husband.  It seems, when he and his siblings were little, and they lost a tooth, the Tooth Rat would come and leave money for them, and if you caught the rat, you got to keep all of his money.  At the time, we did not have any children, but the debate began nonetheless, Tooth Fairy vs. Tooth Rat; I of course was on the Tooth Fairy team, thinking how disgusting and disturbing it must have been as a child to think a rat would come into your room, feel around under your pillow, steal your tooth, and leave a little money behind (the only part that wasn't disturbing was the money).  Over my dead body were we having a Tooth Rat!  Rich of course had an opposite view, having fond memories of trying to find the Tooth Rat and all of his money, he thought the Tooth Rat was an obvious choice; to be honest, to him, it was the only choice.  How would our debate end?  Well, we were about to find out, because yesterday a little after one in the afternoon, this little boy lost his first tooth.  

We will miss this little tooth; it was Braden's first tooth to appear, and his first baby tooth we bid farewell. 

So who should come on such a momentous occasion?  Would it be the rat or the fairy?  

Well, let's check the evidence and see what we find:

Exhibit A:

 

remnants of pixie dust, possibly left behind by a certain Tooth Fairy

Exhibit B:

cheese crumbs, left behind perhaps by a Tooth Rat

Using my detective eye, I would say a compromise was made in the Maseda house last night; it appears that both the Tooth Fairy and the Tooth Rat visited a certain boy last night, bringing an end to a long debate, and bringing a toothless boy more money than he had hoped for, $1 from the Tooth Fairy and $1 from the Tooth Rat.  It seems that they both also left brand new toothbrushes for all of the children of the house; I guess it pays to compromise!

 

Brooke's Birthday Celebrations

This year Brooke had a couple celebrations for her birthday.  We started out the official day with pancakes, a special tray, a lit candle, and some birthday song singing.  Later that day, we headed to Wal-mart, so she could spend some of her birthday money she had gotten from her Granddaddy and Great Grandmama (burning a hole in her pocket); she selected a Barbie and a Barbie horse.  After her careful selections had been made, we went to the park for a picnic and playtime; once it was dark, and we were the only crazy people still left at the park, we headed home.  Once home, Brooke opened a couple presents, and we ate chocolate ice cream sandwiches. 

Brooke's second celebration took place this past Saturday at my mama's house.  In attendance were Mama, Grandmama, Otis, Elizabeth, Braden, Brooke, Emma, Colton, Rich, and I.  We ate pizza, cake, and ice cream, opened presents, took tons of pictures, and watched the kids dance.  Brooke had combined the money she got from my mama and the gift card she got from Grandpa and Grandma Maseda and bought a CD boombox and a Michael Jackson CD (Thriller).  She was very proud of her purchase and wanted to show us some of her smooth dancing skills, and we happily obliged, and of course all of the other Maseda cuties had to get in on the act!  I do mean ALL of the cuties!  We discoverd that Colton is definitely going to be able to keep up with his siblings in the shake your booty category!

Here are the pictures from the festivities:

As an afterthought, I would like to say, that I am glad Brooke decided to go the family party route again this year; it makes it sooooooooo much easier!  She says she prefers it for two reasons:

1) She loves her family and
2) She gets to spend more time with her family. 

Sounds good to me!

Murphy's Law, take 5995

Murphy's Law states,

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

Anyone else sometimes have the desire to tell Murphy where he can place his precious law?!

Yesterday, I was in Kroger trying to take full advantage of the AWESOME sales they were having!  All was going well, had my list ready of everything I needed; I was busily checking my coupons and counting out cans of diced tomatoes, three of my cuties were sitting in the car attached to the cart, and then Murphy and his law intervened.  I was placing one of my last cans in the cart when I heard, "Ma'am, your daughter's nose is bleeding." 

Bleeding?! 

That would be an understatement! 

 It was gushing, pouring, spewing profusely! 

I think you get the point.

Well, after quickly assessing the situation, and saying a quick prayer for patience and strength in my head, I rummaged in my diaper bag for some wipes. 

No wipes?!!!

Are you serious?!!!

I always have wipes!

Why of all days do I not have wipes?!!

That darn Murphy and his law!

About this time, a kind and sympathetic man came walking down the aisle and saw my predicament; at this point I was thinking I would just have to sacrifice a diaper and place it on her nose, but my kindly benefactor handed me a paper towel.

Hallelujah! 

Do you hear the angels singing?

Well, maybe humming; the paper towel still didn't prove big enough to clean up all of the blood, but it was a start.  Luckily, LaNae (my saintly friend) and I were shopping together on this fateful day, and she just happened to have napkins in her purse.

What is that?  I think the angels are starting to sing!

Well, I finally got her cleaned up, realized that I would probably be kissing her blood stained clothes goodbye, and proceeded to finish shopping. 

Mr. Murphy can write all the laws he wants, but it's not going to get me or my little fighter down.

My sweet, feisty fighter (a.ka. Emma) and I say,

"Bring it on Murphy, a little bloody nose isn't enough to get me down, not for long!"

(notice the optimism, there was nothing little about the blood)

"Mr. Murphy, I hope you are paying attention! 
 Look at that face, if I was you, I would be afraid, very afraid!"

My Baaaaby, My Baaaby, What Happened to my Baaaby?

Awww, my sweet baby, my sweet, beautiful Brooke. 

My baaaaby, my baaaby, what happened to my BAAAABY?!!!!

How did my sweet baby go from this

to this!

Where does the time go? 

My baby is no longer a baby, but a big five year old, and I am so proud of the little lady she has become!  Already Brooke has charm, class, grace, and style.  She has a tender and giving heart, showing love to her family and all those around her, a wonderful laugh, a vast vocabulary, and a ferocious desire to learn! Brooke is beautiful, on the inside and the outside, and I feel honored to be her mother and be the one who gets to watch her grow from the special little lady she is now into the amazing woman she will become!

My Breakfast Date

This morning, after Rich had left for church meetings, and before the other three cuties woke up, I got to have a breakfast date with my sweet, vivacious, unique, personality packed, beautiful Emma. Emma laughed, talked, and made faces to keep me entertained; I was so grateful that we were able to find some special mommy daughter time in our day, it was a rare treat!

New Beginnings

(Rich and Braden 2003)

As a new year begins, many contemplate on the things they are going to change and habits they hope to adopt . It is a time of new beginnings for many, a time to look to the future and all of the possibilities that holds. When I hear the title New Beginnings I look to the past, to a time when life began anew for me, a time when the sun seemed to start shining a little brighter, a time when the birds' songs started sounded a little sweeter, a time when I felt truly alive again, and everything seemed right with the world, the day, I became a mother. As I counted each one of Braden's precious toes, kissed his sweet fingertips, and became mesmerized as I stared at his sweet innocent face, I knew it was a new beginning for me and him. After losing Spencer, though I had tried to be strong, had continued to look to Heavenly Father and Jesus for both guidance and strength, part of me had died along with him. I didn't laugh as loud, as long, or as much; I didn't embrace life with the same fervor that I always had, and I didn't trust as easily as I always had. I still lived life, trying to enjoy the little moments, but something always seemed to be missing; when Braden was born, the puzzle was complete. Having Braden was my new beginning; it was a dream fulfilled, a reawakening of my spirit, and the first step on my path of motherhood. Since that day, I have laughed more, smiled more, and enjoyed life more than I ever had before. It was a new beginning to the life I have now, a life I treasure every single day!

Shake it Boy!

Here is Braden putting his new CD boombox to full use. Most kids his age ask for Transformers, Legos, Nerf Guns, etc., but not Braden; Braden wanted a boombox and some music, so he can dance and jam in his room. Santa I guess decided he wasn't too bad this year, because almost every day since Christmas we have heard music (typical of our house anyway): Alvin and the Chipmunks, Kid Bopz 16, and Kid Bopz Gold coming from that long awaited for boom box (which he has decorated already with Alvin and the Chipmunks stickers). I of course, LOVE to dance, so I am in full support of the bootie shaking!

I say,

"Shake it Boy!"

My Think

I wonder what Brooke is thinking in her little think right now.  With Brooke, it could be anything; the only thing I do know is that knowing her, it is something imaginative. 

Christmas 2009

For Christmas this year we celebrated in South Carolina and in Georgia.  On the 22nd we celebrated at Mama's house, and on the 23rd we celebrated at Grandmama's house; on the 24th we headed home, so we could do our traditional things and wake up in our house Christmas morning.  Here are some pictures (half taken with my sister's camera and half taken with mine):

Name Something You Love...

about your mama. 

Occasionally we play this game where everyone goes around the table taking turns saying something they love about everyone in the family, which as you can imagine can get quite interesting at times; I can't think of a time I haven't ended up laughing at some point. 

In fact, a few days ago I decided to write down some of the things the cuties love about me, the ones that can speak that is.

First up is  handsome, cool man (as he likes to be called) Braden.

Braden says he loves me because I:

*am silly

*have the best laugh

*am the best dancer

*am the best cook, like Princess and the Frog

*am a hot mama 

(very amusing I know, especially that last one)

Next up is sassy yet sweet Brooke. 

Brooke says she loves me because I:

*am sweet

*give her hugs and kisses

*am the best dancer

*am crazy and silly

*do nice things for her

*am the best of all the rest, the Queen the grand supreme. 

I guess I should explain Brooke's last comment.  Whenever I do something for the cuties: pour them juice, get something for them, put a movie in, wash their clothes, etc., I make them repeat after me as follows,

"Thanks Mom, you're the best, of the all the rest, the Queen, the Grand Supreme!" 

Hey, I have to get my entertainment and comedic relief from somewhere, might as well be from my children; a little confidence builder thrown in there for good measure couldn't hurt! 

Well, last but not least is crazy, sweet Emma.

When Emma was asked what she loved about me, she replied,

"You're cute." 

Short, simple, and to the point, I'll take it!