Because It's Fun To Surprise The Ma

I declare; it's a conspiracy against the Ma. First, the Pencil. Then, the Red "Bloody" Goatee, and now hiding in the cabinets and shouting "boo" when I went to put the cereal away. Yes, that oxygen tank, it-a-does come in handy.

And At This Bus Stop, Folks, There's A Crazy Lady With A Camera

The troops and I walked to the bus stop to surprise and welcome Pa home today. After standing by the road for fifteen minutes, we had quite the conversation about Rush Hour and Why Public Transportation Is A Grand Thing.

And here's the Pa, stepping off the bus. Looks like he's glad to see us, or maybe he's just happy about wearing his jeans and tennis shoes.

Well I Hadn't Found THIS Toy Drawer Yet!

Digging around in the kitchen:

Doing a nice squat; wouldn't it be nice if *I* could pull off that stance AND be able to stand up without blacking out or falling over:

And because she is Too Cute in this jumpsuit, I included another picture for overkill:

Well This Seems Like A Fabulous Idea

Sister Susie likes to crawl around with a pencil in her mouth. Good grief, this parenting gig is no good for the blood pressure.

Oh, but that's not fun enough! Campers explains to her that while she has the pencil in her mouth, she might as well try to write with it! Yes, that is a Good Big Brother Influence.

Kitty Cats Say "Raarrrr"

Went to story hour this morning, where the boys had Craft Time. I figure they need to glue, color, and staple at least once a year, and the Kind Folks at the library might as well be the ones to head that up.

Speaking of the library employees, our Story Time Lady is quite enchanting. ("Enchanting...your mother was enchanting.")

But maybe not so much the Door Nazi. She greeted us, and then barked out something about name tags. Good idea, I thought. So then she hustles right up to me and snarls, "Did you SIGN IN???!!??" So I explained that no, I didn't sign in because with two talkative squidgets and a squawker in the stroller, it is a bit difficult for a newbie like me to even know the Rules, let alone follow them. So she shadowed me all the way outside the room, and pointed at a sign up sheet on the wall. I added Campers and Ziggy's names, because really, that is who the story hour was for. "No no no, that is not good enough," she barked - - - she must have aaalllllll the names. So I added Sister Susie and walked in the door, again. Nope!!! I was corralled back out, and she pointed sharply at each of us counting "One! Two! Three! Four! I need FOUR names!!!" Oh yes, of course, you need my name. So then I read the instructions on top of the list which said that they must have an accurate person count so that they could abide by the Maximum Room Occupancy Limits.

And I really, really tried not to smirk.

I saw that my family of four put the room to "full," and I KID YOU NOT, the Door Nazi hurriedly shot up a Story Time Closed Ha Ha You Losers sign in place of the name sheet. And true to form, the next couple of moms and kids were turned away from Entering That Door.

Yeah, that went over well.

And there was space for them, of course.

And at that moment I wanted to call our good friend V at our olden days library, and have a nice chuckle over Your Typical Library Employee, who has spent way too much time sniffing book fumes and not enough time chilling out.

So there were lots of Kitty Cats at the library this morning, and one of them went "Rarrrrrrr." And for once, she didn't belong to me.

So I Chickened Out

Oh relax, there was no Tooth Fairy.

But there was a box for the tooth:

And I did stop by the store to pick up a treat:

And here's the happy boy to prove it, complete with grease stains and banana sticker on his shirt, and cinnamon sugar on his face. Klahs-see.

And I am still reveling in seeing my Big Baby Boy minus a tooth. One down, nineteen to go. I wonder how many of you will still be reading when my fourth child loses her last baby tooth? You are some faithful crowd, that's one thing I know for sure.

The wonder! The excitement! The never-ending drama!

And just to let you know, I am still holding out for the chicken.

For the record, it took six days for the tooth to move from 'wobbly' to 'out.' Leave it to a boy to beat my two week guess by ramming his head into another kid's body. All in the name of fun, of course.

It Made Me Gasp, It Did

So Zig had been saying for about two hours this morning that he wanted to "lose a tooth" so that he could "get some gum like Campers."

And then I found him like this, which my Freaked Out Mom Brain instantly translated to "The Crazy Goof Went And Knocked His Bloody Tooth Out!!!"

And then I realized it was just his vitamin, which I assume he not only ate, but dragged that wet Fred Flinstone back out of his mouth in order to make his very own red goatee.

That artificial red coloring, it will do a number on a mother, yes it will.

Voila! It's Out!

While we were at the playground today, we met a Mama and her two boys, and were all having the nicest time chatting and playing and chasing and hollering and blowing off steam.

Three of the boys went down the slide at the same time, crashing into one another (because that's fun for them), and I heard Campers holler across the playground "Mom! My tooth fell out!!"

I glanced at the mom beside me, and honestly, she had the Total Look Of Dread on her face, like "Oh no here comes a trip to the emergency room and a lawsuit--my son has just knocked out this kid's tooth."

But as I ran to the slide (well golly, I sure am getting my exercise these days!) I reassured her that all was normal and that the tooth was about to come out anyway.

Campers was all-aglow about losing his tooth, and said he "liked the taste of the blood." In all his post-Halloween gore, he delighted in chasing the other boys around being Bloody Scary Man. There was no time to find a water fountain to rinse out the blood, no sirree.

Girls do not do these things, I am certain of it.

Here's the Gag Me With A Spoon picture:



And because the tooth got bumped out by another kid's body, it was temporarily lost in the big pile of fresh wood chips. I thought for sure that this was my answer to the Tooth Fairy Ordeal and What To Do With The Tooth Now question. But the mom of the Tooth Knocker Outer quickly found the tooth, much to my amazement, and gladly let ME pick it up off the ground.

And here's the prize:

And the toothless grin, goodness sakes, will someone let me know how I got a six-year-old in my house??

I guess I need to head out and find a chicken, eh?

Just Needed A Place With No Walls

No kidding, Campers and I ran to the park this afternoon--we had that much cooped up energy. (The babes got a swift ride in the double stroller.) Course, we had to call in for a couple of oxygen tanks, but at least we burned a calorie or two in the trip.

Here the boys are, running towards the playground:

And Zig, who likes to spin and spin and spin, even past the point where I am too dizzy to watch:

And rock:

And I just thought this was a nice shot of the tree, and the ghost child in the blue swing, and the two boys who made it to the playground much sooner than me. You see, I was still gasping for air. But I could take pictures, yes I could.

Basket O Fun

Yep, those toys are still in boxes.

And now the dirty laundry is all over the floor.

They were being "cars".