Be Grateful

Many years ago I participated in an activity on Thanksgiving where I had to write down something I was thankful for. I had to write at least one thing per letter of the alphabet. It was a great activity and I've tried to do it every year since then. This year I decided to write it down instead of just thinking about it in my head so.........These are a few of my grateful things.....

This group tops my list!!!

A - Atonement & Allred Dental

B - Brothers, I have 3 of the best!

C - Christ - enough said

D - Dad - world's greatest!

E - Eternity - it's going to be fun

F - Family & Friends - the best of each!

G - Grandparents - I have the best of these also!!

H - House to live in - hmmm, ready for a bigger one

I - In-laws, they are a wild and crazy bunch

J - Jeff - Hard working, happy, husband!

K - Kids - even though I already mentioned them. They rock!

L - Lauren - sweet, sweet girl

M - Maddie & my mom...yep, the best!

N - Neighbors - we have great ones!

O - Oranges - the chocolate ones you get at Christmas...yummy!

P - Parker - my favorite boy!! and Patients - the Allred Dental kind

Q - Quilts - handmade with love by grandma & mom

R - Resurrection - excited to be back pain free

S - Staci - Best Beautician Ever!! She works miracles

T - Temples - Families are Forever

U - Underwear - clothes would be so uncomfortable without them!?

V - mini Van - she's a beauty and I love her

W - Women - so many have influenced my life

X - X-rays - to see teeth, broken bones, etc. Makes life easier

Y - Yesterday - lessons learned from the past

Z - Zippers - clothes wouldn't stay on without them

Dad

Happy Birthday to the World's GREATEST Dad!!

I love you way more than lots!!

oh how this picture makes me laugh!!

100 Dresses

Maddie and I belong to a mother-daughter book club. It is WONDERFUL and we have a lot of fun. Last months reading was The Hundred Dresses. We recommend this book to any young girl. It is a good read and has a great lesson in it. When we met to discuss the book, we were asked to wear dresses. Maddie had the bright idea that she wanted to wear........

My prom dress from 1993. Fushia? What was

I thinking? Sequins? What was I thinking?

All those ruffles? What was I thinking?

It was the style at the time!!

We crafted and drew 100 dresses on the tablecloth

and created our own dresses out of tissue paper

Ate a lite dinner

The girls & their tissue paper dresses

Silly bunch of girls

...and finally, me in 1993.

Please don't laugh or mock me

It was a stylish dress and my very

talented mother made it with her

own two hands. I loved that dress!!!

The story of the not so loose tooth

One morning while getting ready for school, I asked Lauren to put her shoes on. They were tied very tightly so she did as any 6 year old would do. She used her very strong teeth to help her untie the knots so she could put them on. WELL......her teeth weren't as strong as she thought and she started screaming very loudly. I ran to see what had happened and she told me that she hurt her tooth and needed to be taken to Dad's Office to get it fixed. I convinced her to let me take a quick look and I discovered that it was only a little bit loose and then I tried to convince her that she could go to school and be just fine. Lauren was insistent that it hurt badly and only dad could fix it the right way. So, I took Maddie to school and whisked Lauren to Jeff's office. Thankfully he didn't have a patient and was able to rescue Lauren in her hour of need!!

So sad Lauren

Taking an x-ray

Jeff discovered that the permanent tooth

was close to coming in so he decided that

it would be best to just pull the baby tooth

Getting numb before the shot

One last look at Lauren's final moments of

a mouth full of baby teeth.... A "growing up"

milestone is just seconds away..sniff, sniff

Holding on to dad's hand for support

Yes, Jeff can hold Lauren's hand and pull a tooth

at the same time. He's very talented!!

There was an ear-piercing scream followed

by lots of tears followed by a great big bear

hug from Dad. Trauma over, Lauren survived

(whew)

Because there was still blood in her mouth

Lauren wouldn't take the cotton roll out so I

could get a picture of her toothless smile

I had to wait until later that night.

Isn't she cute???