Dr. Daddy

We had lots of fun being Dan's "patients" in the student clinic this semester. Even though I tell all my friends in lower tri's to make sure their husband gets enough other patients so they don't have to go all the way down to the school once a week, it was actually kind of fun. It was fun the first time we went in when Jacey saw Dan in his white jacket and his stethoscope around his neck. She giggled and said, "Daddy, you look like a doctor." Everyone in the clinic was always so nice to us. Jacey is very outgoing, and would just find another patient sitting on a table waiting to be adjusted and tell them her full name and her life story. Broden hates it when I get adjusted, mainly because I can't hold him so he would get put into the arms of some stranger and scream for the whole adjustment. It was entertaining to see different classmates of Dan's come over, sure that they had the magic touch. The funniest one though was seeing Dan's staff doctor holding and bouncing Broden while trying to do a QA on me at the same time. That was probably the quickest and easiest QA Dan's ever had! We always had fun though. Jacey loved following Dan to get signatures from his staff doctor, and Dan learned that he always got his signatures a little easier and quicker if he had Jacey hand the chart to his staff doctor for him. She loves the "Nemo table" and I think she thinks it's just for her and Broden since there weren't usually other kids in there with us.

"Just a second Dad, I have to take this call.."

Kitchen Diva

It's not Christmas without making Christmas cookies, and it's just not the same to make cookies unless you're wearing 2 aprons over your princess dress, which is over your jeans! Every once in awhile I look at these pictures and wonder what people think about some of her outfits. I figure if your judging me by how she's dressed then you've never had a very independent 4-year-old girl with great fashion sense! :) I remember reading in a book a couple years ago that every parent of preschool age children should have a badge that says "I dressed myself today". At the time I thought, "Whatever, I will ALWAYS have control over what my kids wear." We do pretty good at regulating what she wears outside of the house, but every once in awhile when we get surprise visitors I feel the need to explain myself! Luckily, many of my friends have children the same age and (hopefully) don't think twice about it!

CONGRATULATIONS DAN!

Dan's too modest to make a big deal of this, but since he never touches the blog I claim the right to brag as much as I want! In the past couple months he has taken 2 HUGE exams. In September he took Part 1 of the Chiropractic National Board Exam and right after Thanksgiving he took his Clinic Entrance Exam so he can advance to the outpatient clinic at school. We are happy (no...estatic!) to report that he passed them both on the first time! I had full confidence in him, but it's still nice to get the results that you're hoping for! He's planning on taking Part 2 & 3 for his national boards together in March. It will be a lot of work and a crazy amount of studying, but it will at least let him have a little bit of a break in August while everyone else is busy with board reviews and boards once again. Then he'll take his final set of boards in the fall before graduation and the real world set in...... It's so exciting to get closer to the end, even if it is still a year away!

Happy Birthday Dan!

Dan hit the big 31 this year! Unfortunately his birthday fell on a school night, and those nights just aren't very exciting in our house. We still had fun getting ready for it though. Jacey helped me make the perfect chocolate cake, and was thrilled when I let her lick the bowl. She also had fun with the tradition that we borrowed from the Weed's to shop for a present. After we got him his real present, I took her to the dollar store and told her she could pick out 2 things in the whole store to give to Dad. (1 from Broden, and 1 from her) We very carefully searched the whole store for the perfect gift. She finally decided on a bat and ball, and a princess bouncy ball. She contemplated getting him the Spiderman ball, but then decided that he would probably prefer princesses instead. We had fun singing to him and watching him open presents. The next night Dan and I got to go out by ourselves, which is a rare treat! Happy Birthday Dan! We love you!

Halloween

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Jacey was a princess (of course!), Belle, to be exact. She loved her dress and acted the part. One of her favorite moments of the night was when I surprised her with the spray glitter I bought for her hair. She even wore her Belle high heels trick-or-treating. That was one of my more foolish moments as a mom. I didn't even stop to think that her feet might hurt after awhile. She was a trooper and didn't complain the whole time though. She was probably afraid we'd quit trick or treating if she did. The next day when I looked at her feet they were almost bleeding, and the only shoes she wore for the next couple days were her princess slippers. She had lots of fun trick-or-treating with her friend Nathan, and they held hands the whole night. Too cute...

Pumpkin Patch

It just wouldn't be fall in Dallas without a visit to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. This is one of things we have done every year since moving here, and we will miss it when we leave. We love taking fun pictures, letting Jacey play in all the inflatable toys, going on a hay ride, and then picking the PERFECT mini-pumpkin (50 cents is perfect- we save buying the big one for our trip to Wal-Mart!) Even better is the mild Texas weather that lets us have fun doing it! We were all actually really hot in these pictures, but I insisted that we wear kind of warm clothes. The fall pictures just aren't the same if you're wearing shorts and capris!

My cute busybee!

One of Jacey's favorite things this fall has definatly been BusyBee Preschool. I had wanted to participate in a preschool co-op this year. I talked to some other moms, we played around with a few ideas, but when it came down to it my friend Lisa discovered BusyBee Preschool. I love it! It ended up just being the two of us, so our "class" is only Jacey and her friend Caleb. Lisa and I each teach once a week, and I love how actively involved I get to be. I also love that the lesson plans are all made for us, right down to the books and crafts. I love that it's so value-based. It still teaches letters and numbers and all the normal preschool stuff, but it does it in a way that teaches values at the same time. (i.e. "I can be happy", "I can be grateful", "I can be giving" etc.) She has so much fun and feels very grown up, yet mom doesn't have to let go quite yet. It's a win-win situation for everyone! I would highly recommend it to anyone with preschool-age children!

Homecoming- Texas Style

There are some things that words just don't adequately describe. We've lived here for over 2 years now, and every fall I try to describe homecoming mums to my family and friends outside of Texas. I always get a polite chuckle as I describe them, but I know that they don't fully comprehend what a big deal they are. This year I resolved to take a picture to prove it. I was very excited when I was coming home one day and saw my neighbor coming up the stairs with all the materials to make a mum. We started talking about how extravagent (and expensive!) they are. They are a HUGE status symbol for high school girls. Some of them cost hundreds of dollars. Some have lights, others have music boxes, small stuffed animals, etc. Talk about pressure for the poor guy! How much you like your date determines how extravagent her mum is, so if they really like the girl they have to fork out the big bucks! The girls wear them to school on homecoming, and then to the game. Most wear overalls or jean jackets because they are so heavy that nothing else would hold them up. My neighbor was so nice to come over after she finished the mum for her son's girlfriend (it's cheaper to make them if you're creative enough!) and let me take a picture of it. Then, we went to the homecoming game and had a blast! Amazingly enough, our kids loved the game. One of the young women in our ward won homecoming queen, so that was fun. And- the best part of all... the only empty seats we could find in the whole stadium were right next to a couple of my young women from church! I was very grateful that they weren't "too cool" to sit by their YW leader, and even more grateful that Brianna let me take a picture of her wearing her mum. It's just not the same until you see someone wearing one! Oh...and if you thought the mums were crazy, you should see what the guys wear! Think wedding garter with all kinds of crazy things hanging from it, worn around their bicep......