I can't believe I forgot to post about the best thing last week. Ben and I went on a date! I had gotten Ben tickets to Trans-Siberian Orchestra for Christmas. The show was December 29 in Kansas City. I picked up our babysitter at 12:30, and after getting her all set with the kids, we were on our way.

Shortly after leaving home, Ben and I realized that we had both had small breakfasts and no lunch. After and not-so-quick trip through the DQ drive-thru (the guy in front of us took FOREVER!), we were on our way again.

Our lunch trip had really set us back, and getting parking was crazy by the time we got to the Sprint Center. We finally made it to our seats 10 minutes after the show was supposed to start, but they were 20 minutes late getting started. I had to kick someone out of my seat, but other than that, we were good.

After the show, we went to Red Lobster and spend all $50 in gift cards my sister had given us for Christmas. That was the yummiest, cheapest dinner I ever had. Put me right to sleep on the drive home. Romantic, I know.

When we got home, the kids were asleep, the house was cleaner that when I had left, and the babysitter had left notes on the instructions I had left for her so I would know how the kids did. I wish we could hire her more often! The kids loved her too.

Sydney finally lost another tooth on Thursday. Her teeth on the bottom are nearly grown in, so it was time. She has a bit of a lisp. It's pretty cute. She was messing with it while I was teaching a piano lesson on Thursday, and I had to wrap up the lesson a couple of minutes early because she had it bleeding so badly. She had basketball practice that night, and I decided she couldn't go with a paper towel stuffed in her mouth. I wrestled her to the ground, pinned her arms with my legs, and tickled her until she opened her mouth. I barely pulled and her tooth was out. She started screaming like I had pulled her arm off. I gave her some water and a pop-tart and all was well with the world.

We wrapped her tooth in a paper towel and placed it under her pillow pet. I was really tired that night and went right to sleep. Ben forgot about the tooth and came to bed. Zack woke up puking at 5:00 Friday morning. After I got him showered and dressed, I suddenly remembered the tooth. I grabbed a Sacagawea dollar and rushed in to Sydney's room. I felt around everywhere I could reach and couldn't find the tooth. I hoped Sydney would forget when she got up and give me some time to go swipe it.

No such luck. She started calling for me right away because she discovered her tooth was still in her bed. She had moved it under her pillow which was in the middle of her bed. I helped her find her dollar. She was puzzled, but okay. She took the tooth and the coin to school with her. I wrote a note from the Tooth Fairy and hid it in her bed, explaining how she couldn't find the tooth and would be back, but she was leaving the money anyway. We "found" it that night, and Sydney was satisfied. I managed to grab the tooth while I was cleaning up her puking mess that night.

As you have guessed, we had a stomach bug. Tansy got it Wednesday, Zack got it early Friday morning, followed shortly by me, then Tyler that afternoon, then Sydney about 8:00 that evening. It was short bug, but it was still totally disgusting.

I took Tyler's binkies away on Tuesday. I was going to do it on his first birthday later this month, but I felt like we were waiting for no reason, and he was ready. I think he sleeps better now than he did before. Such a big boy!