Just call her "Gappy!"

Did we all think we might die if Mimi didn't lose a tooth soon?  Well. . . no.  But did MIMI think she might die if she didn't lose a tooth soon?  Yes.  And that darn lower right tooth has been a teeny bit loose since October.  Even with all of Mimi's vigorous wigglings, that thing just wasn't getting any looser.  So, she decided drastic action was called for so she could lose it before school was out.  Monday night she brought me a spool of thread and said she wanted me to pull her tooth out.  I gave the usual warnings about it not being quite ready, but she said she just wanted me to pull really hard.  

I tied that string on, pulled really hard, and (in Mimi's words) "just made my tooth bleed."  But now it was loose.  Really loose.

 So, the next day, when I showed up at her kindergarten class to help with field day, she was complaining about how the pizza party pizza was hurting her tooth.  And we all know how well I deal with complaining.  My solution?  "Let's just go into the bathroom and pop that sucker out."  Which we did.

Two seconds of sobbing, 10 days (so far) of elation.  There are just so many cool things you can do with a hole in your smile.

Another Bella Interview

Lest anyone should think we are not thoroughly enjoying our jeep, we conducted our most recent Bella interview on location.

She must be tired.

I don't think we've been getting enough sleep around here lately.  Someone fell asleep like this.  We moved her so her hands wouldn't fall off before morning.

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to Make Coclit Cip Cooce by Naomi

 1. Ccolit cips (chocolate chips)
Bol (Bowl)
Spon (Spoon)
Musen (Machine)
Get bol and spon and coclit cips and flawr (flour) and milk and sugr (sugar) and str it turnt up (stir it turned up).

 2.  Do (dough)
Pan
Spoon
Get owt pan and str with scopr (scooper).  Dow (dough) is opt (out). Het (heat) up ovin (oven).

 3.  Put it in ovin for 15 minits (minutes).  Aftr, get it awt.  (Out).

Just in case any of you were looking for a good new recipe for chocolate chip cookies.  This looks like the one to try.

What I missed out on by not having an older sister

Scene:  Me in bathroom, little girls in my room.  Happy chatter from both girls.  Meowing from two-year old, followed by screaming from 9-month old.  

Me: [bursting in upon the scene, certain to find biting or blood or something violent]  What's going on in here?

Bella:  [from under the overturned laundry basket] I am the mama cat, and Maddie is my baby cat.

Me:  Baby cat?  Where is the baby cat?

 Oh, no wonder she's screaming.

I don't think two girls, even two very small girls, can comfortably fit under an overturned laundry basket.  Too bad, though.  It was a good idea.

And yet, I still love her.

Conversation with Bella this morning:

Me:  Bella, what are your plans for the day?
Bella:  I want to play.  With you.
M:  What should we play?
B:  I will be the princess, and you can be the wicked queen.
M:  The wicked queen?  Am I really wicked?
B:  Yes.  You are really wicked.  Here, I will go downstairs and get your wicked doughnut so you can be really really  wicked.

Apparently, the wicked doughnut?  Yep, it's a green stacking ring.  Who knew that's all it takes to be a super villain?

I Love Trash!

Anything dirty or dingy or dusty

 Anything ragged or rotten or rusty

 I love trash.

 Maybe we'll have to start calling her "Oscar."

At least this particular time she hadn't found a dirty diaper to unwrap.  Now that's a treasure.

Another thing I should never have to say

All you moms out there--Do you find yourself saying things you never thought you'd have to say?  Too often? Well, has anyone else had to say:

"The blue stuff I just poured into the toilet is for cleaning the toilet.  You should NOT dunk your head in the toilet and rub it around until all your hair is covered with cleaner.  You should also NOT dip your finger in the cleaner and give it a taste."  

 Actually, I didn't think I needed to say all that.  But I should have.  These pictures were taken after the call to poison control, a good hairwashing, and a cupful of milk.

I don't want to leave my neighborhood.

Lemonade stands are just the perfect way to kick off a summer, right?  They combine citrus and sugar and sunshine and standing outside, and there's no better way to earn some money.  So, the first warm, clear afternoon in May, we set up shop in the front yard.  

 We live on the main street in our neighborhood, which is just busy enough to keep the business flowing, but not so busy that I don't like the girls to be in the front yard.  Liv and Mimi stood on chairs and waved their sign frantically, earning every penny with sweat and hoarse yelling.

 Maddie and I calmly sat on a blanket, entertaining ourselves.  She had a cup; I had a book.  Every so often, I'd hear the timer go off and I'd pull another batch of cookies out of the oven.

 We sold eight dozen cookies (that's 96 cookies!) for a quarter a piece.  When the profits from lemonade were added in, the girls had made over $30, which they divided up among themselves and the neighbor who came over to help.

 I loved the older couples walking by, hand-in-hand, who decided to stop to humor an exuberant little girl.   I loved the teenagers driving home from school who paid for lemonade and cookies with change from the cupholders and then went home to tell their moms to come buy more cookies.  I loved the slow conversations on the front lawn and the dogs who good-naturedly allowed themselves to be enthusiastically mauled.

 I might have to be dragged from my home and neighborhood kicking and screaming.  I'm sure not going to go willingly.

New Family Photos

We met Denise, one of my old friends from Toledo, at a cute little farm in Michigan last weekend.  It was so fun to see her before we left the Midwest, and since she is an absolutely amazing talented photographer, she was so kind as to take some family photos of us.  These are a few of my favorites.

Didn't she do a fantastic job?  I love all the color.