Milestone

For some time now, I've been telling Nate that I was pretty sure he was going to start losing teeth. He wasn't too sure that losing teeth was something he was interested in, but Christopher assured him that, once you pull out a tooth, another would grow in its place. Add to that fact the information that the tooth fairy brings money, and Nate was cool with the whole thing.

So when his tooth got pretty wiggly, I asked him if he wanted me to pull it out for him. Truthfully, the sight of a tooth just hanging on there at the end kind of gives me the willies, and I didn't want to get to that point. And when I asked if I could help Nate pull out his tooth, he didn't hesitate, and said, "Sure!"

Right there at 7-11, while A was in getting Slurpees, I just grabbed Nate's little tooth and gave it a quick yank, and we were all done.

Does he look traumatized?

For the record, the tooth fairy does not always bring ten bucks. That is only for the first tooth, and only after your friend Julie tells you that she gave Skyler ten bucks for her first, so you feel like it's only fair.

It's Getting Old

Goodbye, Princess

What a brave family and a strong little girl.

Aigner Family

Made Over

My poor boys. Their mom thinks that they should go see George for good haircuts. But George is so magical with the scissors that he is booked up way in advance. So their wish finally came true: I took them to Cookie Cutters for their haircuts.

Here they are before their cuts, looking like neglected little waifs. Please also note that Ro's glasses are somewhat ... askew. I'll address his issue with spectacles in a later post.




And here is Nate, getting his haircut at Cookie Cutters. See how still he is sitting? And how peaceful he looks? That's because his eyes are glazed over watching Scooby Doo.


I don't have an "after" picture of Ro, so for your viewing pleasure, I offer this picture of him snuggling with Kida.

Campin'

The boys had about a full week at home for summer vacation before it was time to head to camp. They are both at the University of Utah's Club U Camp, which starts at 8:00 in the morning. That's right, people. Kiki, Ro, and Newt have been there on time every day this week, and if you know our family, you realize that is nothing short of a miracle.


They've been to Hogle Zoo, Red Butte Gardens, and they'll be at the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum tomorrow. At camp, Ro has been learning about astronomy and Newt has been studying wild animals They both come home cheerful, but tired. I was worried that Ro would suffer from computer and video game withdrawal, but we all like camp so much that they are going to attend next week, too: Sand, Surf, and Sun!

Geekiness

44% Geek

I am very proud to say that I am 44% Geek. How geeky are you? Don't you think I should get extra Geek points just for posting a Geek quiz on my blog?

That Time Again

Do you get that sinking feeling at the end of the school year? The feeling that says you need to put together some kind of fabulous gift for your kids' teachers that will let them know how much you appreciated them, but without breaking the bank? Do you go to a place like Kathleen's blog for inspiration, then realize you are a complete and utter crafting failure and will never be able to handcraft something quite as lovely as she?

I have this old lazy fallback teacher gift that seemed to work out fine this year. Again. Even if it's a little lame, it looks good, and my friends, that is the magic of cellophane and ribbon. To duplicate this illusion, just buy one of those microwave popcorn buckets, add a soda or two, a few movie-sized candy boxes (but don't buy them at Blockbuster. Hit up the dollar store.), a gift card in a dollar amount of your choosing (since I had nine teachers, most got five bucks), wrap it in cellophane, and you're good to go.

Please note: the gorgeous table runner is courtesy of Brent Hall.

Nature's Alarm Clock

This little guy wakes me up at dawn every day (or at least, whatever time it actually is, but it feels like dawn). I get a little grumpy and close the windows, because he (or she) is a mighty noisy critter.

But look how cute! And furry! And that tail! I even feed him (or her, or the family of them) roasted peanuts from Costco because they are so dang cute.

Smarty Pants

It's the end of the school year, and you know what that means ... teacher gifts (more on those later), millions of papers coming home you don't want in your house, field day, and awards assemblies.

I asked Christopher what kind of awards they would be giving out at the assembly, and he said, "I don't know ... perfect attendance and stuff. Which I will never have." But he didn't know that they would also be giving out the Mr. Smarty Pants award, which is recognition of kids who score in the top 10% in the country on the IOWA test, which is one of those standardized tests that kids know and love.

Ro was just minding his own business, talking to his buddy Taylor, and looked genuinely shocked when they called his name. But I wasn't surprised. I've known for a long time that he's the smartest kid ever. And he's cute, too. And he's even moving into the handsome category.

A Bit of Adventure

This past weekend, instead of hiking the usual Tanner Park paths, we decided to just take a trail that led us straight up the mountain above Wasatch Boulevard. After all, since we first arrived in Utah, Nate has been requesting to climb "all the way to the top!" of a mountain.


We didn't quite make it to the very top of the mountain, but Anthony gave Nate a lift to the top of a Very Big Rock that offered us superb views of the valley to our west and the canyon to our east.






Charlie had to stay at the bottom of the rock since he's not much of a climber. He felt left out and sad, but he got over it, because there was lots of cool critter poop to sniff on the trail.


Wouldn't you know it? Nate was not completely thrilled with the high perch, and wanted me to hold him tightly the whole time we sat there admiring the views. He does look a little nervous, doesn't he?

Dog Heaven

I have always enjoyed a trip to the dog park. Despite the inevitable smells you encounter there, the surprises underfoot, and the wet dog smell that travels home in your car with you, it's always worth it. Charlie has such a great time and he's exhausted for days, and the boys get to meet lots of cool and unusual dog breeds.

But I was so surprised by the dog park, which is actually Tanner Park, here in Salt Lake. Fort Woof, which is the dog park in Fort Worth, was rated the #1 dog park in the country, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why. It's basically just a big, fenced-in field with water, a small obstacle course, and lots of people.

Tanner Park is a huge park down in a gully, with many paths and trees and a river. It is really a beautiful place to go on its own, but Charlie gets to swim and exercise, and the boys and I love the hiking and discovery aspects of finding new plants and getting a little workout.
I confess that Nate whined and cried the last time we went because he was forced to hike up a big hill to sit on our favorite bench and look out over the valley, but he was brave on the way back out, and Christopher didn't complain the whole time. Both boys left with green worms (they called them silkworms or inchworms) from the trees, and we always follow up a dog park trip with Slurpees.