Basketball season is in full swing. The kids are having a great time. Alayna doesn't look terrified the whole game and Ashton plays hard. That boy wants the ball so much you can almost taste it. He is constantly running up and down the court and positioning himself for rebounds. One of the highlights for him is having another boy named Ashton on his team.

Yes, we had a week of crazy storm weather. No, we didn't hide inside the whole time. We took advantage of the dry times and went walking down to the barranca to check out the water level. While on one of our walks we found butterflies trying to dry out. They couldn't fly because they were all wet and it was about to rain again, so we moved them from the sidewalk to the a sheltered spot. The kids were so happy to save the butterflies. Ashton and Alayna also really wanted to splash in puddles so we let them. OI! I mean, really? Ashton had so much fun he was sitting in the water. Yeah, they had to defrost after that. Gotta love the rain here in So Cal!

Basketball season has started. Both kids are playing and have had two games thus far. Alayna, who plays at eight in the morning on Saturdays (wrong, I know) looks scared and nervous through most of the game. Ashton, on the other hand, is loving it. He has scored in both games and plays hard.

Ashton finally got through the books of the old testament. He had to memorize the books (just the book title, not the whole books) for AWANA and he finally did it. It took a l-o-n-g time so we are excited to be past it. On the plus side, we listened to The Books Of The Old Testament song so much that Alayna pretty much has it memorized too so when it is her turn to say them she should have no problem.

So, here is the story of this tooth...

Tuesdays we do lunch at Grandma Maggie's with her and Uncle Jeremy. We stopped for gas on the way and while we waited for our 25 gallon tank to fill (and that can take awhile, let me tell you) I looked at Alayna's loose tooth... yeah loose, but not enough. I told her that it wasn't ready and probably wouldn't be out before Christmas. Fast-forward 2 hours. After lunch we are all sitting in Grandma's living room playing video games. Grandma, Uncle, Ashton and I (Tiffany) are playing Tetris on the N64 while Alayna is playing on her Gameboy. Ashton just got out so the "adults" we left in the game and we were all talking smack. Alayna says, "mom, my tooth came out." To which I reply, "Don't lie to me." I thought she was helping Grandma and Uncle by trying to distract me. "no, seriously." She replies. "Whatever." I answer back. "Look," she says... and sure enough in her hand is a tiny little white tooth. We were all busy playing and she wanted to play a different game but the one in her gameboy was stuck so she tried to remove it using her teeth. I told her it was a good thing that wasn't an adult tooth and that is why we don't use our teeth... but at least now she can sing... "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

After Two days of learning to ride without training wheels, Alayna finally got it. She is trying to ride on grass and dirt now is is mastering the art of long distance riding without putting her feet down. She is doing really well and we are so proud of her. She was scared at first but wasn't about to let that bike be the boss. She's the boss of that bike, she's fabulous, and she'sa rock star... and she'll even tell you that.

Ashton and Alayna on Grandma Maggie's bike. Cadette is making sure the kids stay safe.