The neighbors have way more leaves than we do. Right now the house is empty and we can just keep raking the leaves into piles for the boys.

I love this picture. The leaves in the air falling around Ozzy are so cool.

Jaren showing off his moves.

Another great one of  Oz. I like this pic so much that I might have Bry post process it and hang it on the wall.

Jaren lost his first tooth Wed Nov 4th. The tooth fairy brought him $1 and a coupon for a free David’s Ice (he has a small infatuation for the place.) He keeps putting everything through the hole in his mouth to see if it “fits” in the crack. He also keeps telling me things like, “Mom, its my first piece of candy with a lost tooth; Mom, its my first time seeing Grandma with a lost tooth; Mom, its my first time going to a parade with my lost tooth; etc..” Its pretty entertaining.

first tooth lost and so proud!

I have been running around trying to figure out this CVS coupon thing. I know people are getting a TON of stuff for very cheap, but all of this printing/planning of items is driving me crazy!!  Plus, it does not make sense for me to spend money for things I do not need right now. Our house has a storage issue, so even if I could buy 50 boxes of diapers for $30.00, I would have nowhere to store it.  I do not eat half of the stuff that is on sale…where are the coupons and sales for healthy things?  Buy one get one free lettuce???  Never seen one. Anyway, I have a plan and I am heading to CVS and will let ya’ll know if 1. I bought things I will use and 2. If i really saved any money.

Victoria lost her tooth today (David, if you are reading this, unread that part because it is a surprise )  She looks like a hill billy and can’t say any words with an “s”.  She has two missing on the bottom and one missing on the top. Add that toothless grin to the fact she has not washed her hair in two days and people are probably assuming she came off the streets.  But she is so cute and funny to listen to.  The tooth was hanging in her mouth as we walked through the grocery store and I had to beg her not to pull it in there so blood would not drip everywhere. When she got home she asked Micah if he would like to pull it out for her. I cringed because I am CERTAIN he would not be gentle.  But, he ran away and said “that is so gross, get away”.  So of course Victoria started chasing him, saying she was going to catch him and touch him with her tooth.  He was screaming like a little girl.  It was the opposite of what I thought would ever happen, so I could not stop laughing. 

Victoria came home with a new story that she wrote in her journal about her “buthr got his hed buz”.  His hair looks really cute buzzed. You can see his face and he looks a lot cleaner, but somehow it has made him more wild.

Caden lost his FIRST tooth yesterday morning, right before school!  He was so excited and was showing all the kids and the parents at the bus stop.  The tooth fairy did remember to come to our house last night and left him $3.00 under his pillow!  Again, shouts of excitement this morning as he showed us his money!

My daughter Amelia lost a tooth yesterday.  Her first.  Now my favorite passtime is getting her to say “She sells sea shells by the sea shore.”  It is SO cute.  She does not, however, appreciate this and keeps telling me to “Shtop ith.”  What other reason did I have a child than to give me the belly giggles?  Now, I have to go, I’m going to bribe her with M & M’s to say “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

We had a great time last night at Phil Welch Stadium here in St. Joe as our church converged on the ballfield to celebrate “McCarthy Baptist Church Night” at the Mustangs game. Despite the incredible humidity, everyone seemed to have a blast–I know my family did. A few of the highlights from the evening were:

Some of the guys from our worship choir sang the National Anthem, while parachutists from the Navy dropped onto the field with the American flag.

Jack Flook threw out the first pitch. Yesterday was Jack and Un-Ae’s 31st anniversary, and Jack had flowers for her and the game announcer wished them a “Happy Anniversary” between innings.

Stephen and Crystina Goss participated in a between innings game. Stephen was blindfolded and had to feel the faces of several women, including his wife, and when he thought he found her, give her a kiss on the cheek. Fortunately for him, Stephen found his wife!

Ryan Beck, our Student Pastor, participated, ironically, in a between innings game that was sponsored by a local casino. Probably thanks to divine intervention, he did not win.

To top it all off, Kelsie, my daughter, lost her first tooth in the 5th inning. She was very excited.

Katie and Caleb sharing a sno-cone.

My session for yesterday had to reschedule, but I didn’t want to miss out on another opportunity to show Marie (of Marie Seals Photography ) Hightower Falls. The place might look familiar. This is where I went for Matt & Kendrah’s engagement session last year. It’s a really beautiful events place. I have to admit, my favorite part is that it’s got so many neat little nooks and crannies to take pictures, but it’s not wicked far from a bathroom. When you hang with a lot of newly potty trained peoples, you learn to appreciate such things.

Ash was my go to model of the day. Dharma was in an adolescent mood, and the other two needed naps. Plus there’s a creek and everyone knows little boys with new boots for puddle jumping like creeks, too. So off we went.

Marie discovered all the new little baby frogs. I’m so proud Ash actually held one, and put it down gently. My kids tend to be a bit squeamish.

About now is when I noticed something wrong with his mouth. At first I thought he had decided to eat something. Yeah. I know. Five’s a bit old for eating dirt, but I hang with the babies and get used to the idea.

This is his first lost tooth. We never found it. And it just makes me want to cuddle him and stunt his growth, and wail, “Where did my baby go?”

I’ve got time, I suppose, before he takes off in whatever car, truck, motorcycle or lawnmower he gets his hand on. It hurts a little somewhere. Dharma turns 11 this month. Wow. Wait until I dig up her chubby baby pics. Yep. Have to scan those ones. She was born before digital cameras were affordable.

For the past few months, Nia has been experiencing loose-tooth envy.  The way she tells it, every one of her friends either has a loose tooth or proudly sports a holey smile.  She would ask us why she didn’t have one yet.  When will she?  Can I push on them and make them loose?  She would also routinely think she finally had one and ask us to check to see if she was right.  We would touch the suspected tooth and respond with disappointing news.  Nope.  Not yet.

That all changed last week.  She finally felt her first real wobble!  She was so excited as I picked her up from after-school.  She came running down the hall holding the prized pearly white between her two tiny fingers, “I have a loost toof mommy!”

Now, she’s constantly asking us about it and preparing for the big day -

“When it will be ready to fall out?”
“What she can do to help make it fall out?
“Can we pull it yet?”
“Why will that hurt?”
“It hurts now.”
“Will it bleed?”
“After it falls out I will have 19 teeth.”
“If I don’t brush my teeth will it fall out faster?”
“I can’t eat that because my tooth might get lost in it and then the tooth fairy won’t come.”

Which leads to the big payoff -

“The tooth fairy is going to bring me two dollars.”

We have no idea where she got that dollar amount.  To me, you can’t put a price on something so precious.  Our baby girl is growing up so quickly.

Now on to worrying about how the tooth fairy will make the “exchange” without waking up the princess.  Sometimes I’m in awe about how our parents pulled it all off.

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TJ lost his first tooth today. It’s been loose for the last week and it finally came out at lunch time today.

Halloween was a blast.

The boys dressed up as Army guys and even let me paint their faces and looked pretty tough.

We ended up going to a party and trick-or-treated in the ritzy neighborhood (although the candy was the same as our neighbors give out). It was fun to see the people giving out the candy dressed up too. There was a witch, the Joker (Dark Knight) and a 70’s chick with a rockin’ fro.

Monkey Boy lost his first tooth the day before Halloween so DH carved his pumpkin with a missing tooth too.

I’ve found a new hiding place for the candy that I hope Monkey Boy won’t find out about too soon. That child would eat candy until he slipped into a diabetic coma if we let him.

All in all we had a great time. I think next year we’ll host a party of our own.

How was your Halloween?

At least, I think. Someone more knowledgeable in the dental arts will have to confirm that math for me.

Oh well, this is really about the pictures, not the math.

Chloe recently lost her first upper tooth. Let the games begin:

There’s one more, perhaps the best one (but perhaps not…that’s all interpretation) over here.

On Tuesday evening we had the Session of our church come to our house for dinner and their monthly meeting. It has turned into an annual September event. It’s fun, if not a little stressful. Isaac and Hannah both enjoy it. Isaac especially. He’s just a little extrovert, feeding off the energy of all of the people. This year was especially exciting for the Boy as he was a man on a mission: Must Get This Tooth Out!

He had a very loose tooth. It was barely hanging on. And it was bugging him. The elders who sat at the table with him were all so very encouraging and excited for him (all but one were moms themselves). Finally, he gave up on eating and just went in to the bathroom mirror and focused. With a little help from his dad, he emerged 10 minutes later with a cat-who-swallowed-the-canary smirk. The women at the table feigned breathless anticipation as they awaited the announcement . . . “YES! My tooth came out!” Hand raised, thumb and forefinger pinching the tiny tooth between them. Huge, wide, grin. It’s the grin that gets you. It’s gotten me every time since.

I received a call yesterday from Andy’s school.  He lost his first tooth!  It had been hanging by a thread for a few weeks, so the news was no big suprise.  He was over the moon.   Thank goodness we are entering into a long weekend and we will have 3 days to spend the $5 the tooth fairy left him.  The cash was burning a hole in is pocket this morning.    

Enjoy the long weekend!!

Thursday: Kaylynn went potty in the potty for the first time, she is now totally potty trained. (I still put diapers on her at nap and bed times, but she’s keeping those dry)

Saturday: Ryan lost her first tooth.

This morning (Wednesday): Rob felt the baby kick for the first time!

June 12.  An exciting event at our house!

Micheline has lost her 4th tooth. She came to me yesterday with a rubber band around it and said, “Mom, pull on this,” and tried to put my hand on the rubber band. I squeamishly declined the offer and suggested she finish off the job herself since it was just barely hanging. 10 minutes later she appeared with the tooth in hand and happily announced that she thought the tooth fairy should bring her $10.00. After all, she had to do all the work herself. “I just twisted and twisted it around and around, Mom, until it came out!”

Needless to say, the tooth fairy is getting old and forgetful. She forgot to come last night, so Micheline took a quarter and a dime from my change cup. I told her if she would be patient, the tooth fairy would probably come tonight and bring her a dollar. She informed me that the tooth fairy clearly needed helpers. After all, if she was late, she obviously couldn’t be keeping up with the job.

This isn’t the first time the tooth fairy has been late to our house. Sometimes she has come while the kids are eating breakfast. With one of Caleb’s teeth (which in my defense he never told me he lost–he pulled it out at school) she didn’t come for two whole weeks. He finally came to me and asked why she never showed up. I guess that lazy fairy was off on a vacation to Hawaii. What a slacker…I guess she needs to find new helpers as I clearly am not keeping up with the job either.