Lost... and Found!

The tooth fairy will be making another visit to the Walter home tonight... Amanda lost another tooth! It's one of the top ones that she almost knocked out a year and a half ago, so it's amazing it has lasted this long. It's been loose for a while - more than 6 months - but apparently today while playing on the swings outside, she bumped it and it fell out.

After crawling around in the grass for a few minutes and Amanda finally deciding we could just leave the TF a note - we found it inside on the floor. It must have fallen into her shirt, and then come out when she ran inside to tell me. In case you couldn't guess, she is quite excited!! The grown up one probably won't be in for a while, since it still came out earlier... but it lasted longer than we thought it would!

Another milestone for Amanda - she started going to Awana a few weeks ago with a friend from dance class. You have to earn your book & vest by memorizing several things - the Sparks Motto, John 3:16, The Pledge of Allegiance (although she had learned this in preschool, they apparently don't do it in Kindergarten and we had to relearn it!), The Pledge to the Awana Flag, and the Sparks Theme Song. Anyway, she learned all of it in just 3 weeks and is now an official Sparky - again, she is quite excited!!

Amanda had a dentist appointment last week, and since Andrew was so nervous the last time he went, I thought that if he could come and see how good Sissy is, he would be more comfortable. After her cleaning was done, the assistant invited Andrew into the chair with Amanda and they all had a little party! She lifted the chair way up so they could "feed the fish" - it's a flatscreen TV with a screen-saver type fish tank. Then she was filling up their cups with the water and using "Mr. Thirsty" to drink it up. She even got Andrew to try Mr. Thirsty!! Here's hoping his next visit goes better than the last. :) I'm so glad I had my camera!

Feeding the Fish from way high up!

Trying out Mr. Thirsty... it wasn't as scary as he thought!

Here are a few more pictures from our recent adventures:

Andrew bonding with Uncle Lynn at lunch after church last week. They had quite a fun time coloring and playing together. (Mostly we took the pictures to make Grandpa jealous!!)

Practicing tumbling skills at the mall play area. Andrew is working on his somersaults, and Amanda was practicing handstands (with mommy's help!) and cartwheels. Is it bad that my kids say their favorite place to go is the mall??!!

By the way, Amanda's dance recital is coming up May 16 & 17 - be sure to let me know if you want tickets!!

Easter!

Just wanted to show off some of our Easter pictures. We had a very quick trip to Washington, which included getting to the Smith's at 11:30 pm Friday, then leaving at 11:30 am Saturday to spend the rest of the weekend at my mom's. Thanks again for hosting us - next time we'll stay longer

Once we got to Grandma & Papa's, it was time to relax, play, and dye Easter eggs!

Chris & Caitlin joined the rest of the family for church and dinner Saturday night... the first time we've seen both of them since the wedding!!

We took advantage of the fact that we were all dressed up (and coordinated!) to do a full on photo shoot before heading to church!!

Andrew looks through the deck at the dogs below,

while Lacey tries to figure out what he's doing!

Amanda gives us the full view of her new Easter dress!

Sunday morning we woke up to an Easter egg hunt and Easter baskets ... all the while trying to remind the kiddos that the reason we celebrate is because Christ rose again (or, according to Andrew... Jesus rose, died, then rose again!) ... not just the great presents and candy!

After breakfast we packed up and headed home - including a quick-ish stop at the Outlets.

It was a great trip, but way too quick! We look forward to this summer when we can visit for a longer period of time (or at least the kids and I will come visit) to catch up with everyone.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter, too!!

Tooth Update!

It's official... Amanda has lost her first tooth!! Although, technically she didn't loose it - Mommy pulled it out for her :) By what can only be considered a miracle, it was NOT one of those top teeth that she nearly knocked out a year a half ago!

Anyway, we wanted to share our exciting news with everyone!!

Hope you all have a Happy Easter :)