Monday, April 06, 2009

Out of the House

I raked all of the leaves out of the front yard and bushes to prepare for the spring and Don played in the driveway with the kids. Catherine got a new bike this year and was getting lessons on how to ride it and Liam was tooling around on her old tricycle. Then Liam got bored so Don put him up in a tree. Then of course Catherine had to go in the tree too. At least everyone had a good time. Except mom. Raking stinks.

Liam in a tree

Catherine in a tree

Too much Wii?


Question:


How do you know that Nintendo has too great a role in your children's lives?

Answer:

Your daughter tells you that she wants to name her future children Rosalina, Yoshi, and Toadette.

A Lost Tooth at Last

Catherine has been dying for a tooth to fall out ever since she had seen Gavin's quickly emptying mouth. "When will my teeth fall out mom? When?" is all I would hear from Catherine on a daily basis. She would come to me with her whole hand in her mouth with her fingers on her teeth trying to demonstrate their wiggliness. Sadly it was just her vivid imagination.

Then last week when she came to me claiming for about the 100th time that she had a loose tooth, I gave her the "sure, sure whatever". But then I checked, and saints be praised - a wiggly tooth in the bottom row. (Oh no. I hate teeth, the thought of pulling them out and blood, ewww. I am sure it has nothing to do with the forcible removal of half the teeth in my mouth by a sadistic orthodontist.) Aunt Kate came over and had a go at trying to force it out while I retched in the background, but alas, little tooth was just not ready. This was a job for Aunt Jen, the tooth specialist.

This Sunday when everyone got together for our typical Sunday afternoon of food and games Catherine stepped into the powder room with Aunt Jen and several seconds later the sounds of screaming and elation could be heard simultaneously. Catherine was happy her tooth was out but when I cringed at the blood she went crazy with hysterics. (Leave it to mom to ruin the situation.) After calming down Catherine was more than happy to show off her prize tooth and also the new hole in her smile.

007

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New Chairs

Well, they are sort of new. Newly refurbished anyway. At 3 hours apiece I will really be appreciative if Liam is good from now on and decides to stay away from sharp objects.

They were indeed a chore. The obsessive compulsive genes that I inherited from my mother demanded that I take apart each chair and get all of the material pulled just right and all of the cord stapled on so they looked as close to perfect as humanly possible. Liam did try to help with the electric stapler but I was not too keen on that idea.

Here is the before. Nasty, worn down padding...

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And here is the after...

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Ahhhh, just look at that nice poofy seat. A treat for the butt to be sure. And another project under the belt.