A Banner Day!

I took my 4 kids to the dentist today by myself (my husband didn't even come along like last time) and it was so much better than 6 months ago!  Don't think I didn't try to change pediatric dentists after that February visit, but the one I tried switching to that is super close to my house and several of my friends use and love, well, the insurance would only cover 90% of that dentist and they cover 100% at our other place, plus the new dentist I tried calling was pretty weird about my trying to schedule my 4 kids all at the same time.  It all gave me new appreciation for the old dentist that doesn't bat an eye about bringing all 4 of my kids at the same time!  

And then today went really well.  Thankfully!  I was dreading it.  I'm glad my older kids were really mature about going off into the x-ray room without me, so I could stay back with the 2 younger ones in the exam room.  We had a good assembly line going - one kid getting cleaned by the hygienist, one off getting x-rays, and one getting looked at by the dentist.  We just cycled them through in age order, oldest to youngest.

And, no cavities!!!  When you take 4 kids to the dentist and you leave without anyone requiring any sort of follow-up appointment, it is a banner day, indeed!

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Also exciting:

My husband and I have been joking with each other for a while that I ought to teach our older daughter to do the younger one's hair since Little Girl's hair takes so long.  And today was a good first step!  I began taking out the 3 year old's many tiny braids while the girls played in the playroom and after about 15 minutes of braid removal and I still wasn't done, my 7 year old asked, "Why does it take so long?"  So, I was all, "Here you try.  You'll see.  It's harder than it looks to get all these little braids out."  

And sure enough, she gained new respect for the process!  And she enjoyed helping me, so now I need to get two of those metal rat-tailed combs and maybe we can take out braids in half the time - one of us on each side of Little Girl's head!

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I made this ice cream cake for my daughter's birthday last weekend and it was really yummy and so easy!  The recipe is definitely going into my recipe hall of fame!

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We still have one more week before school starts, but I'm excited to say as of today, all 4 kids have everything they need to go back to school!  They already had a lot of clothes and it's so warm here for August through October that our fall wardrobes are pretty much the same as summer, but gathering the backpacks, lunchboxes, thermoses, shoes, and socks seemed like a lot.  Just getting shoes for all 4 kids is a feat!

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Of course I'm picky about their shoes.  They wear pretty much the same pair of shoes to school every day, so I want them to be good sturdy shoes.  For my boys I like sneakers with a lot of navy rather than white accents because the white gets dirty looking so fast.  And for my girls I like a daintier sneaker-type of shoe because they wear a lot of dresses and skirts, but still need to be able to run and play on the playground.  Needless to say, I had to go to several different stores and even order several pairs over the Internet, sending back the ones we didn't like.

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Then there is the complication that my children have just worn sandals and Crocs all summer, so every shoe they tried on they would complain felt "too tight" when really the shoes fit, the kids just need to get used to a confining shoe again!

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And I'll have to get used to washing and matching up socks all over again.  Just the thought of 8 dirty socks each day, 56 kid socks to deal with every week, is enough to make me wish it was always summer!

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Happy Friday, Friends!

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