TJ Lost His First Tooth!

Well, we have reached a momentous occassion here in the Balentine household - TJ is minus one tooth. The funniest thing is that this tooth was not even wiggly this morning, but somehow became just wiggly enough at school, that he got it out on his own. He said he was a little worried that I was going to be mad and tell him that that tooth was not supposed to come out :-)

Not that I am counting or anything, but TJ only has 29 more days of school. I only have 31...:-)

Um...Let's Give This Another Try (again)

OK, to say that it has been forever would be a major understatement. I will really try this time. At least one post a month...I think I should be able to handle that.

I just wanted to post some pictures of TJ from his recent trip to the dentist. He needed to get his first filling (not a milestone that I am that proud of). Because of the numbness on his bottom lip, he sucked and bit it quite frequently. These pictures show the result. He ended up staying home from school for 2 days because of how infected it had gotten.

The other marks around his lips are just ketchup. (we had just come from Burger King:-) )

Nice Christmas Pics and the Bean

Christmas is coming too fast!! Every time that I think I am done with my shopping, I think of someone else I have forgotten. I can't wait until Tuesday!
I am looking forward to 2 weeks without any kids (besides my own, that is) It has been a very trying year and I need this break. There is so much going on in some of these kids lives, it is simply unbelievable - the poverty, neglect, and various others. It can be really overwhelming.
Tonight my sister and I took TJ to the city to do some sightseeing. We took him to see the bean and to watch the ice skaters (he really wanted to go himself, but I was afraid we would both end up with broken bones)
Ok, well I just tried downloading pics from our night and it did not do it right. I will try again later...

The Gingerbread House

Well, I gave it my best try. I am just not a very artsy person. It definitely did not come out as planned. TJ had a great time doing it, and I guess that is what matters. (Notice the icing hanging from his lip.) He spent most of his time eating it off of the house. I included a picture of what the house looks like on the box - I claim false advertising. There is no way my house could come out like that with the materials that they gave me inside that box!!








One more week of school. I am so ready for Christmas vacation! Although, I am not ready for Christmas itself to be here. I still have many people to buy for. It just seems never-ending at times.

Thanks to everyone for their compliments about worship. I truly do give God all the glory. It is definitely where He wants me to be. And I have so much fun doing it.

TJ the Genius!!!

OK, I am little biased, but my boy is super smart!!! He is always sounding things out and asking what different things say. And now, last night, he "read" a story to me. Now I do realize that he memorized some of what it said. But, as a Kindergarten teacher, I recognized his use of some very good reading strategies - using his "reading finger", using the beginning sound of a word to help figure it out, and using the pictures to help him.

Alright, I am done bragging for now.

TJ's field trip

On Thursday I took the day off to chaperone TJ's field trip to Prairie State for a concert by Carol Peterson. She sings kids songs like "Sticky Bubble Gum" and "Stinky Cake". We had a good time. The two girls in the group are his "girlfriends" Kaliya and Nia. He could really get himself into trouble with that!!


This was taken just before we left the school.


Also, Ernest had his second Remicade treatment on Thursday and it went really well. He had to stay home the next day due to a terrible migraine (side effect), but now he is doing great!

Christmas is coming!

OK, I am not as obsessed with Christmas as Candi is :-), but I really do like this time of year a lot. TJ and I put the tree up today (after several failed attempts all weekend). It came out a little fuzzy and I am not sure why, but you get the idea.

Ernest already gave my my Christmas gift - a nano IPod!!! I have wanted one for a while and he was going to surprise me for Christmas, but I found out sooner than expected.

Here are a couple of pics of our dog, Remy. He looks totally mean in the first one, but I promise he is not at all. He was upset because we made him stay outside for TJ's birthday party and he did not get to meet all the people that came to his house. The second one is a more normal looking one of him.