Last week Rene lost her third tooth. Another bottom one. It was really hard on her - she was very afraid and once it got jiggly - hanging forward loose, she stopped eating, drinking, swallowing, and talking because she was so afraid of making her tooth move. I couldn't even get her to drink using a straw. Thankfully it only took about two days for it to come out after stopped drinking and eating. Poor girl. Here's a picture of her showing off her missing tooth, with the PlayStation controller in her hands - a common sight, as she is on a PlayStation kick. (Mom, she is wearing this outfit as a Powerpuff Girl costume. The Powerpuff girls wear solid color tunics. The three kids do a lot of pretend play as Powerpuffs - Rene is Bubbles, Corrina is Blossom, and Hank gets to be Buttercup - a lot of running around and chasing).


This week is Catholic Schools Week and Rene was selected to bring up the gifts (bread and wine) at Mass yesterday. We had to take her out of swimming lessons a little early, but we thought it was worth it. She was a little nervous, but very proud, and she got to sit with her teacher for the remainder of Mass. Corrina fell asleep during Mass(!) and missed the whole thing!

Today school is cancelled due to snow (and impending ice/freezing rain). Last night Corrina and Rene were playing so nicely together (they were playing school and having "show and tell") that we let them stay up late - 10:30! It was such fun to just be able to sit and watch them entertain each other. This morning they picked up where they left off and have opened a school for all their animals. Here's a picture of Corrina with one of the "students".

The second picture is Hank drawing with Daddy. Last night he asked Tony to draw him pictures - mostly of trains, and to "Write Hank's name. N. K. Hank." (He spells his name N. K.) Yesterday while all us girls were at swimming lessons and mass, Tony took Hank to a Train Expo - they had a great time and Tony bought HAnk a little toy train that he has played with non-stop.
Last picture is Hank checking out Corrina's crazy hairdo in the bathtub.

OUr last bit of news is that we have made reservations to go to Splash Lagoon on Thursday and Friday, Feb 5 & 6. Splash Lagoon is an indoor water park up at Erie, PA (two hour drive from Pittsburgh). The cheapest way for us to go was to get a room at the adjoining Comfort Inn - only $119 for a Thursday night stay and that includes 4 admissions to the waterpark - tickets good Thursday and Friday, and we'll only have to pay $19 for the fifth ticket. (Regular price admission is $40!) The kids are so excited - you can't even imagine. Rene has been saving all her money for the past YEAR - every dollar she gets, she says "I'm saving this for Splash Lagoon")