Milestones

Life just keeps moving along. The house is getting done and we are preparing for the move. Among the chaos, Porter & Annie have hit major milestones. Porter finally looks like a first grader. His two front teeth have come out. The first one was loose forever and he would not pull it. Brett tied floss around it and the only way to get the floss out was to yank the tooth with it. Porter cried and was unset. After an hour I took him in his room. We made a deal that I would count to 5 then pull the floss. I got to two and reached up and yanked the floss. The tooth flipped out and Porter stopped crying. I felt I betrayed his trust but it was for his own good! When the next tooth was really loose, Porter pulled it himself. No more tricking him!
Now to Annie-she is finally potty trained. Well, sorta! It hasn't been the best timing with constant construction and moving but when is it a good time to potty train?! I was so tired of changing diapers. We've bought diapers for almost 9 years straight! Enough already! Annie hasn't caught on as quickly as the other kids. To her credit, I've been so distracted. We've been in and out of so many stores that I forget to have her go. There is no turning back. Hopefully, most the accidents are behind us! Annie had another almost milestone last week. She tripped while visiting Angela's house last Sunday. Her bottom tooth went through her bottom lip. It was a clean straight cut just under her lip. We went back and forth about stitches. Brett was in Twin, so I drove home with the kids to get his opinion. We taped up the cut and called it good. The inside of the lip bruised pretty bad but the outside has healed very nicely. Knock on wood-no kids with stitches, yet!
While these milestones might be good, it's just a reminder that kids grow and life moves. I came across this wonderful quote by Pres. Monson this week. I hope it touches your heart like it touched mine.

"You have a heritage; honor it.
You will meet temptation;
withstand it.
You know the truth; live it.
You possess a testimony; share it.”

Annie's Opera

Each night (okay-most nights) we sit in our, what we call, the "reading room". There is a fireplace in the middle of the room. This is where we have FHE, read scriptures, pray, etc. The song person always stands in front of the fireplace to lead. Lately, Annie has decided to sing a song every night before scriptures. She sings with such heart and gusto. She can sing a few songs with words but she prefers opera style. You know-loud, dramatic and no one understands what your singing. I got part of a song on video. Grace always wants to sing too but gets a little shy. Each night we go through singing time. Here is Annie's opening act. We'll see where she goes from here. Bravo!!