Brace Face!

We had promised braces for Rylee's 16th birthday...and even did her first ortho consultation that very day. 

But HOLY SMOKES was I unprepared for the cost! 

To get the best deal and make the most informed decision, we decided to get several consultations (5 to be exact). I wanted to weigh the pros/cons, benefits and costs of each. I had saved up a good chunk of money for a down payment, but it didn't seem like enough, so we decided to wait for our tax return as well.

It was hard for Rylee to be patient. She was SO EXCITED to get them on!

The consultation process took weeks and a lot of getting out of school (poor kid), but it was good. By our 5th consult, we felt like experts..or that we could make a good decision about treatment at least. We narrowed it down to 2 doctors and had a final consult with each, about the nitty-gritty...money.

We had anticipated the cost of a cleaning, but had to pay for fillings and sealants too. Lucky us. (Another big bill I didn't think about when promising braces.)

After getting a recommendation from our dentist, we decided to go with Dr. Kelson. He was the one Rylee liked the very best and he was willing to work with us on cost. We paid in full, to avoid adding money to our already-tight monthly bottom-line. Whew!

It took 3+ months to get here... but here she is, all decked out in her new tin grin.

Here are "BEFORE" pictures...stay tuned for the "AFTER"(in approximately 20 months).

Moral of the story:  Assume it's going to cost you more than you think, expect there will be unexpected costs and 5 consultations is A LOT..you could probably get away with 4 and be just fine. :)

St. Patrick's Day

For my St. Patrick's decor, I was just going to flip over my heart banner and glue shamrocks onto the other side, but the shamrocks were a little bigger and hung over the edge. This would have been fine for St. Patrick's Day, but not for Valentine's Day. (I didn't want to see the edges of the shamrocks peeking out when showing the heart side). Sooo.. I cut up more book pages and made a separate banner.

Same idea, but if it ain't broke..don't try and fix it, right? :)

I truly feel BLESSED..not lucky.

I had a bunch of gold coins from different occasions (primary sharing time, Chinese New Year's party, etc.), so I incorporated them into the decor..you know, like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You can find the printable sign here.

My kids forgot to set out milk, so I guess the naughty leprechaun passed us by. No green milk here...which is fine with me. :) 

We celebrated Grandpa Waite's birthday that evening, with pies/treats galore.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Primary Beanbags

At the beginning of the year, my presidency and I decided to have a teacher in-service in Primary.

I wanted to give the teachers something they could use in their classes. Using some of the fabric I inherited from Grandma Ison, I decided to make beanbags. Lots and lots of beanbags. (I think I ended up making around 30!)

I also gave them a handout of ideas on how to use the beanbags during class time.

We can't thank our teachers enough. I hope they know how much we love and appreciate them. They make our Primary great!

FHE

An idea for a FHE had been stirring around in my head for weeks. I knew it would take a while, probably longer than a usual FHE, so when the kids had a Monday off of school we decided to do it.

When borrowing Karen's Cricut a while back, I cut each person's name out of colored cardstock. I also gathered a box full of magazines, glue and scissors and then we got to work.

We ripped, snipped and glued anything that we loved or represented us in some way.

My plan was to have a lesson about us being individual and unique children of God, but we ended up just sharing our posters and talking about why we chose what we chose. It was more fun, than spiritual, but still worth the time and effort.

We also noticed that the placement of our pictures kinda matched our personalities as well... random and scattered or lined up and planned out. 

Jason and I shared a posterboard...we had to be creative and edit quite a bit to make everything fit.

I'd like to have a follow up FHE or do something with our posters. Any suggestions?

Sweethearts Dance

I guess the trend of the day, is to have all-day dates...before going to the dance in the evening. So the Sweethearts date started in the morning, with the girls making a big breakfast for all the guys.

After breakfast, the group went to a glow-in-the-dark miniature golf place. Then they separated to get ready for the dance...

Rylee's friend Maddie offered to do her hair and make-up.

Rylee called her friend Eliza, at the last minute, to ask to borrow a clutch.

We went to Trinity Peterson's house for pictures.

The WHOLE group.

The guys.

The girls.

Kaylie/Sam, Madi/Brayden, Paige/Taylor, Riley/Warren & Rylee/Kyle.

Next was dinner at Paige's house.

On the menu: strawberry spinach salad, spiral ham, party potatoes, green beans, delicious Great Harvest rolls and sparkling cider.

After the dance, the couples came over to our house for dessert... brownie sundaes! Yum.

It was fun to hang out with this group. I liked getting to know them just a little better, as the night progressed.

They goofed off, talked and played games 'til 12. 

Around midnight, the party came to a close and they went home... before they turned into pumpkins! :)

He said...

Many days past.... no answer from Kyle. Then one evening, as we were watching t.v. as a family, the doorbell rang. When Treyson and Abree opened it, they discovered some balloons, a stuffed turtle and a note.

"Sorry I was as slow as a turtle to answer... So good luck! -Kyle (better get poppin)" :)

Rylee popped the balloons and found her answer... YES!

Awesome.

Rylee & Kyle Ruby

 FUN times!