SoCal family and a 5th missing tooth...

... I do not have any pictiures yet, but Will lost his fifth tooth today. According to him, A kindergartener accidentally kicked Will in the mouth, knocking the last top front tooth loose. Will said he didn;t realize it was gone until he felt his mouth, They did find the tooth, though and the Tooth Fairy will make yet another stop at the Guthrie house. No pliers required this time.

As for me, I am now at my parent's house for three weeks of scrappy events. We had family dinner last night so G.G., Uncle Joe, Aunt Gina and Brandon were over to Mom and Dad's for tacos. We showed Will's latest literary creation "Pirates" to everyone. Here is G.G., enjoying it.

Here are some photos of my nephew Brandon, whom I haven't seen since October and he's grwon like a weed since then.



Brandon was in good spirits and was quick to show us - and tell us - his alphabet letters. He knows all of our family member's names, from "onny" (Rodney) and "ki-cuh" (Jessica) to "zin" (Xan) and "wull" (Will). He loves looking at photos of everypne. He'll be two in June.

Will's congratulatory dinner...

Will was able to chose to eat at the restaurant of his choice, his reward for earning straight A's. Last time he chose Denny's, one of his favorite places to eat, but one that rates low on his parents' list of eating establishments. So when he said he wanted to "eat Chinese food where our legs go in the hole under the table" I was a bit surprised. Not every 6-year-old would choose Yamato's Japanese cuisine. McDonalds would cry if they heard. However, our Japanese waitress was "very proud" of his cultured choice. And we are very proud of his scholastic achievements. Way to go, Will!

Will loses another tooth!

This time it's a top front one. The baby tooth was hanging in here by a thread and starting to turn gray, so we brought out the pliers Sunday night and pulled it out before Will even knew it had happened. The Tooth Fairy came, of course, leaving behind a dollar.
Monday night Xan said, "Will got money."
I said, "Yes, he did."
"I want money."
"Well, when you start losing teeth, the Tooth Fairy will come and bring you money."
"Dad not cut it out."
"No, Dad won't cut your tooth out."
This was a true statment since Xan was worried about the pliers being used. Pliers don't cut. :)

Back to reality...

Sorry I haven’t been blogging lately, but for those of you who didn’t know, I was on the Ultimate Scrapbook Cruise, put on my Scrap Map. I had been planning (and paying for, thanks to the monthly payment plan!) the trip for the past year and a half. It combined the best of cruising with some of the best scrapbooking instructors in the country. Needless to say, I was pretty close to heaven on Earth. It was a great trip that really recharged my batteries and got me ready for the busy month I have ahead.

The best part: I entered the ScrapMap paper crafting contest, all 110 on board had the chance to vote for their favorite design of the 44 entries, and my entry won! I get to cruise on the Ultimate Scrapbook Cruise next year for FREE!!!! I am so excited! If you would like to see photos from my trip, please visit my scrap blog: www.jessicaguthrie.blogspot.com.
Rodney isn’t as excited by my win. Well, he is happy for me, but he was home with the kids for a week, so he is a bit burnt out. Hopefully by next year, he will have gone on another hunting trip and be recharged himself. I brought him home a portrait of me for his desk (lucky guy! LOL!) and a wooden writing pen from the Grand Cayman Turtle Farm. He loves pens and I was actually able to find one with his name already printed on it! Usually those personalized items go right from “Robin” to “Roger,” completely skipping over “Rodney.” So I was thrilled and he seemed to like it, too.


As for the boys, I was never able to find anything I thought they would really enjoy and appreciate. If you haven’t seen their play room lately, it looks like a tornado went through it, with all of their new Christmas toys scattered everywhere. So, at the airport on the way home, I invested in a Transformer watch for Will and SpongeBob sunglasses for Xan. Both were very well received at the airport.

Something else fun at the airport: We saw baseball star Manny Ramirez. Rodney was surprised by how small he was in person.
While I was gone, Will’s report card came home. Straight A’s yet again. He got an A- in math – he said it was because he rushes through his work. We need to work on that. So, one night this week he will get to choose a restaurant to eat at. I haven’t asked him yet, but I am sure it will be Denny’s (groan…). He was also very busy putting some of my old scrapbook supplies to good use last week, creating all sorts of great paper crafts.
Xan is more verbal than ever and gives his Dad a run for his money. While I was gone, Rodney said that Xan declared that Optimus Prime came to his school and farted on the playground. Exciting times at the preschool, I guess. Some friends of ours thought it over and thought that maybe a semi truck stopped nearby and the air brake went off. With that child, you never know.
I will be heading off to California for three weeks of scrap work, so I will try to post some family news to this blog as much as I can. Stay tuned!

Double the fun....

We want to send out a big congrats to Rodney's cousin Amber, her husband Justin and new big brother Aidan - Amber delivered twin boys Landon Wade and Lucas Wyatt Jan. 2 in Illinois. Landon weighed 5 lbs 13 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. Lucas weighed 4 lbs 13 oz and was 18 inches long. Mom and babies are doing great, and should be coming home today. Grandma Mary says to keep the prayers coming! Best of luck to you guys ... especially when it comes to getting sleep!

New Year Update...

... despite the fit of tears during play practice, Xan performed perfectly for the real thing last Sunday. Meanwhile, Rodney and I were in the middle of our 17 hour drive back home to Pensacola. Here's a shot of the St. Louis Arch we drove right by.

The night before we had opened up gft swith Rodney's extended family - it ONLY took 2.5 hours! :) Here are some photos from that night.






While the kids are away, the parents will play! Whie the kids spent an extra week in Illinois with Rodney's family, Rodney and I rang in the New Year four nights in a row. It sounds a lot crazier than it was. We did kareoke twice, had a poker game at our house once and watched the Pensacola Pelican (think Times Square Ball) drop over at our friend Tyler's house, Four nights out in a row and we will probably need a full week to recover I am sure...









Plus, Rodney's best friend, Jesse, is leaving for officer's training this week, so we had a farewell party for him to go to. Good luck, AZ! We'll miss you.

The boys got back around 9 p.m. last night, escorted by Grandma Peggy and Aunt Sam. There wasn't school yet today, so we went to the Naval Aviation Museum on NAS Pensacola in the morning. Very interesting place.

This is the first plane ever purchased by the Navy. It was bought in 1911 from Glen Curtis because the Wright Brother's plane design didnlt have fixed wings.


Will loved this aircraft carrier model, stared at it for quite awhile. He especially loved the seasick sailor thowing up over the rail (he's pointing it out to you.)

And then, while Rodney and I worked, the boys and the Illinois gals headed to the beach. They had a great time in the 75-degree weather.