I Hav a Lus Twoth

Well, if she wasn't old already, she sure is now.

Bethelle has a loose tooth. I found a paper just now with the above title written on it. On the reverse was a rendition of the route the bus will take to school. Apparently, it will drive through the "forist" then past the park, and finally arrive at school.

The school hosted an open house today. I'm concerned that she won't learn anything. There are a lot of toys in that room. And the curriculum consists of learning shapes and letter sounds. But not all of the letter sounds. Certainly no consonant blends (per the teacher's syllabus). And shapes? Shapes?

What am I doing? I'm so confused. Is this really the correct place for her? If she can write, "I hav a lus twoth," what is she going to do in that class? I am doubting myself.

Precious Time

We're now down to five days until Kindergarten. Everytime Bethelle comes close to me, I grab her, and hug her. And maybe it lasts a bit longer than usual. And I get a little sad. And if it's still morning, I think, "at this time next week, she won't be here." Of course, she'll be home by 11:30 every day, but I feel like she'll be so ... gone.

I've always had misgivings about our public education system; how it's organized and run. But I know that I want her to be part of a classroom, and we live in a great school district. Am I feeling a tiny part of how it feels to watch a child go off to college? Is it that kind of sadness? Or is it because there's something wrong with entrusting your beautiful child to a stranger who gets their marching orders from government, unions, and lobbyists?

I don't know. I hope I figure it out soon.

Reasons to Go

Me: Bethelle, what am I going to do without you when you go to school?

Bethelle: Mooooooommm...

Me: Maybe you should just stay home. You don't really have to go to school yet. Don't you want to just stay with me? You can start school later.

Bethelle: But Mom! I want to learn and read.

Rigby interjects: Hev'ny Fadder (Heavenly Father) want her go to school!

How can you argue with that? Off she goes. Eleven days.

Bouncing and Voting as a Family

Cousin Asher had a birthday party, complete with bounce house and a pinata.

Tuesday was election day. It seemed to have gone OK. Just primaries, mostly. I am committed to teaching liberty to my children, so we dressed up and made an occasion out of filling in the ballot and dropping it off. "I voted" stickers for everyone!

We went to Nick's work that afternoon to get him and play in Seattle. I can't get enough pictures of this cutie!And speaking of voting, the president was in town that very day. Campaigning. For the opposition. On my dime. But that's another story. A small plane flew through off-limits airspace around the president and two fighter jets were dispatched from Portland to intercept. The plane was harmless, of course, but I got to experience two sonic booms.

Finally, a picture of the sky just after Air Force One passed through it. An interesting conclusion to our day of discussing liberty, freedom, and the constitution.

Not much to the picture, I know, but it makes me think about... things.

Shiners

If this blog is my garden, it seems that my flowers are black and blue lately.

By the way, Curie is fine. The open slot in her tongue had closed by the next morning, but I babied her for a few days anyway... just when she thought baby food was behind her. Now her injury is just a line on her tongue and all was well.

Then Rigby rolled over in bed while sleeping at Grandma's house. He hit the corner of Uncle Kyle's desk with the bridge of his nose. It goose-egged almost instantly and has now settled into two beautiful black eyes.

I love that this picture captures how he most often looks. He's wearing a Lightning McQueen PJ shirt, a cape, and holding a shield that Bethelle patched up for him. You can bet that there is a foam sword in an elongated pocket in his jeans.

A Bug Bite

I am sick to my stomach typing this, but it must be said.

This morning when Curie woke up, she called for me as usual. I began making her bottle, as usual. Then she started screaming. Unusual.

I went into her room with the bottle. The light in her room had burned out the night before, so it was still a bit dark in her room. She was in my arms before I realized that her mouth was full of blood.

As I calmed her and held her, I got to a clean, wet washcloth to blot her mouth. She was screaming and choking and blood (shiver) was getting on our clothes and splattering on the floor. Mouths heal quickly, and hers was no exception. The bleeding subsided and she took her bottle.

As the morning went on, she was extra cuddly and occasionally weepy. She didn't eat much breakfast. She cried when she got tired. Also unusual for her. She never did let me have a good look at whatever cheek or lip had been hurt.

After the nap, she seemed 98% better, so I was not worried. I did see a little canker-looking spot on the inside of one cheek. I picked up Nick at the ferry, then dropped him and the big kids off at swimming lessons. I left them the car and Curie and I strollered home. That's when I saw it.

She looked up at me in the stroller with her mouth open. There was a line the length of her four teeth across her tongue. Are you sitting down? It was more than a line. It was a gash. A slot in her tongue. I could see the inside on her tongue. The slash is deep and terrible. I feel terrible.

I called the on-call doctor. She listened, then said that tongues are only sutured in the worst of cases. She thinks that this just needs time. The cut will heal (quickly) from the outside, in. She just needs a few days. I am to feed her soft, mushy foods without salt or vinegar - like you would feed yourself with a tongue injury. She will probably have a scar. I can deal with that.

I can't believe that my poor baby went through this. I am mortified that I didn't know the damage for 10 hours. My comfort is that she is behaving like she's happy and healthy, though she is not sticking out her tongue for anything. Her cries and babbles seem to be the same sounds she has always made.

My theory is that she was standing, holding onto her crib rail waiting for me, slipped, and hit her chin on the rail, tongue out. She was standing again when I got to her. There was no blood in the bed, so I know that I got there quickly. She and I are both in recovery.

A Soiled Book is Rarely Dusty

I would love to add the best children's books to our collection, but what are they?

I especially love books like The Carrot Seed, which is simply written, teaches a deeper lesson, but is still a cute story.

Do you have a favorite to read with your kids or grandkids? What is it?

(I have changed my comment format so that anyone can add a comment, with or without a google ID. Please tell me your favorite children's story!)

Added 8/10/10:

This has been an interesting web experiment. I posted this same query on facebook and got 10 responses, vs one on this blog. I get a lot of hits here, but I guess you've got to use facebook for that many responses. If you're curious, here is the list:

• The Bugg books by Stephen Cosgrove. They are so fun and he is a northwest writer. We have read them to all of the little kids for years.
• The "Serendiptiy Books" by Stephen Cosgrove. Link attached:
  stephencosgrove.com/books.htm
  
  I love "The Lambaroo" about a lamb adopted by kangaroos and how he wants to fit in and be like them, but then learns to accept himself
• the giving tree... classic
• Tumble Bumble is one of our favorites
• My 2 favorites are The Runaway Bunny and The Flying White HotDog. Both excellent stories and illustrations.
• Oops, just looked at the second book and it's actually called Legend of the Flying Hotdog by Celeste White.
• The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash, by Steven Kellog, The Frog and Toad stories. My fave!!
• I Love You Stinky Face. It's about a parent's unconditional love. Adorable!!
• The boy who ate America - my kids love it. I also love Robert Munsch books - you can find a lot of consequences in his stories if you look. There is also a series of books call Help Me Be Good but it tends to be a little negative - I try to discuss it with my kids in more positive terms as we read them.

Staycation Ocean Shores

Next stop: Ocean Shores. It's just a couple hours in a direction that we never go.

We always do a little of this on any vay-cay (or stay-cay).

Nick and Josh with skim boards. Josh was actually pretty good. Nick and Casey started to get the hang of it, but then they were all called back into the fold for some parent-duty.
You can drive right on the beach here! Just stay where it's a little wet.
Don't be fooled if you think the pictures make it look cold and windy. It was actually very, very cold and windy.

Curie was really happy and had a ball in the sand. She didn't seem to notice the cold.
And where has Bethelle been in all these pictures? In the car with a fever. At least we didn't have to worry about her keeping warm.
She did eventually venture out to play with Joee in the dunes.
We kept a big fire going on the beach. It helped a lot and we got to roast some ashy hotdogs. Who needs a microwave?
Here's the whole group of adventurers! We all agreed that we'd like to do this again someday... in about 20 years!

(Keep reading... many more posts from today follow!)

Staycation Seattle Center

Have you ever been to this?

It's right by this.
We went, and it was awesome! The fountains all spray and stop in fun inpredictablilty (apparently not a word, but suits my use). The kids ran and screamed and had a ball. Some of the adults did too.
And just past the Key Arena there is a great kiddie pool or two.

Does everyone think their kids are as cute as I think mine are? I lose sleep just thinking about them.
Bethelle and her assigned best friend and cousin (see previous post), Joee. Don't they remind you of Tinkerbell?
Nick. Show-off.
Yeah. Show-off. I wouldn't post this picture if they weren't egging me to take it. They know I have a blog!
Taking the monorail into downtown.
And our new favorite pizza place, MOD Pizza in Seattle. If you come from out of town, I will take you here. It was sooo good!

(I hope you have time on your hands, because I have made about seven-thousand posts today.)

Staycation Children's Museum

Next in line for our staycation was a trip to the Seattle Center for lunch and the Children's Museum.

Why have I not been here before? This was so much fun for all the kids.

Trish and I have our children in pairs. This is Curie with her assigned best friend and cousin, Allie.
Rigby loved the stream and waterfall activities. Mom doesn't usually let me make messes inside...
And do you love his painting? I do! It's not just a sloppy mess, you know? Rigby likes order and straight lines, so this is exactly HIM! Anyone know where I can get a nice frame?
What a great place! Costumes?!
Rigby took the shopping very seriously. He made many healthy choices, and he picked up all the strawberries.
When they were done, I was their checker.
Next was a Mexican restaurant where we sat and ordered food from our 3-foot waiters and chefs.
And last, but not at all least, the couple who got this whole crazy mess going in the first place!

(Keep reading... lots of posts today!)

Staycation Weenie Roast

Nick's brother, Casey, flew in from Arizona...
And his brother, Kyle, just got back from Rexburg, ID...
So the whole fam got together for a four-day, three-night staycation. Day number one kicked off the event with a weenie roast at Trisha's house. Now, I've got to say that the term, "weenie roast" was never used in my home growing up. It's pretty comical. And what's even more funny is when those who use the term do so with a straight face.

Smoke follows beauty.
The s'mores were awesome. Now we tuck-in for some slumber parties and rest for a big tomorrow.

(keep reading, two more posts today!)

Curls

I can safely say that it has been years since she slept in curlers, so it must be documented.
The Shirley Temple look was darling, but I really loved it when they began to wilt a bit, giving her long, curly tresses.
You're so beautiful, Bethelle!

(keep reading... I made another post today!)

Exploring our Island

We've had a few really hot days recently. I know mid-90 degrees is not that hot to my readers in Arizona, but you have to understand that most houses around here do not have AC. Our only relief is to go out. Either to a store or, even better, to the beach.

This is a local spot that was recommended to us. It was cozy and rocky, but you can't really find sand in many places in the sound. And you can't play skip-sand.
Many of you know that we are considering a long-distance move in the near future. Maybe a land-locked move. As I sat on this beach and took in my lovely views, I saw a bald eagle in the sky. This is not a completely uncommon occurrence here, but still a majestic surprise. I will miss all this so much if we go. I am doubting my ability to stay away.
Despite the sun setting, the heat was still burning.

I know, I know. Cheeseburgers. I'm working on it.

I didn't alter this picture at all. And my camera is an antique. Look at that sky!

The end.