King tooth

Speaking of wide eyes...wow...is that a silver crown in my 6 year old's mouth?!? The boy got a baby root canal! AND two fillings...AND a crown...holy moly. And he was a total trooper...did I mention that? Because of his age and the procedure, he understandably got a bit of laughing gas... Here are his comments on the way home: Coop: Mom you know what happened to me? My brain went to sleep and then my body got all wiggly...because when your brain goes to sleep it can't tell your muscles what to do. Me: Hahaha, yeah buddy that's pretty much what happens...so did you feel the shot they gave you? Coop: No, I was too busy smelling the peaches (laughing gas flavor he picked) that I didn't even notice! Me: Coop, do you know that your silver tooth is called a "crown"? Coop: Well that makes sense because it is the king of all the teeth now.

Observing

I just love profile pictures of my children. I'm not sure what it is that attracts me but their profiles seem to enhance their innocence somehow. Their eyes always seem to be wide open...taking life in I suppose. Their features are still soft; still "childlike". I guess I'm catching them experiencing life and I feel as though I have captured a bit of their wonder and amazement. I feel special to be a participant...even if only through my lens.

"To those who can dream there is no such place as faraway."

-author unknown

09/09/09 & 39

What a lovely evening with friends and family.

Thank you all.

Me and my brother and sister.

Coop and Grammy K reviewing Cooper's photos.

A nice one of Tex.

And good old Pop Pop. Love you all. Love 39. Love life.

More catching up

On Tuesday Cooper started Kindergarten. Absolutely no pictures were allowed...the most he would consent to was a photo of his backpack. Sigh. We have made it through week one with almost no tears. Day one was a gallant show of bravery on his part (and I suppose mine too if truth be told). He was scared no doubt about it, but wasn't going to let it show if it killed him. Day 3 he was having so much fun that he thought he'd try "after school care" which was fine until it was only him and one other girl left...that's when the aid said the "Where is my mommy? When is my mommy coming?" questions started. When I walked in at 4:45 there were definitely some red welled eyes that were clearly showing relief more than worry at that point.

Catch up

So...very quickly...

last weekend me and the boys and my parents went to Pittsburgh...

we went to the zoo...

the Aquarium...

the Science Museum

the USS Requin...

where Cooper asked me what this was...

and my mom got this great photo.

Then we visited my father's 101 year old Aunt...remember her?

Then we ended our trip with a ride up the Incline to check out the view.

Corn & Tomatoes

Tomato sandwiches, tomato salad, tomatoes on bread, tomatoes on...well...just about everything this time of year if you live where we do. Then there is the corn. I have now frozen approximately 28 lbs of corn. Might sound like a lot but when I think of all the bags of corn I buy throughout the winter for all my soups and stews and muffins etc, I have a feeling none will go to waste.

What's he smiling about?

Okay now it's just getting weird...they're dropping like fli...teeth? Really? Hello?! It's CORN ON THE COB SEASON!! Why can't all children loose EVERY one of their front teeth in January? And if that were not bad enough...soon I am going to need to borrow money from Cooper to make the mortgage payment...

So glad you understand

Ah yes blog, it has been a while. Don't take it personally...it's not you. Really. The hours just turn into days, turn into weeks, you get the picture. Between work (we broke another record), the boys (we lost another tooth), the house (framing starts next week), summer (huh, did somebody say summer...is it summer?) and school (yes SCHOOL) starting...well please understand. But see blog, you will understand because you are like a good good friend or maybe like a dog (if I liked dogs)...you're just here, willing to listen to me go on and on about nothing and you don't seem to mind if I neglect you for days (weeks?). You don't even need fed unless of course you count PP&L and Verizon and Firefox and Norton and yeah okay lets not GO there okay.

Recurring question

What is something that you can't do

that you would like to learn how to do?

Duncan: jump off the diving board.

Cooper: tell time. The beautiful difference of two amazing boys.

Questions

I decided to take the day off and spend it with my boys...just me and them. I share with you my day... Why do we have a tongue? What is the heaviest thing in the world? Is there anything that can pull a tree out of the ground? Can we listen to Hits 1? Can we stop at the candy store? Are you going to swim with us? Are we going to spend the night? How long can you hold your breath? If I held my breath forever would I die? Can we take the back way? Is the pool going to be warm? Can you teach me how to jump off the diving board? Can anyone lift up a house? Are you strong enough to lift up a table? Are you strong enough to lift up Duncan? .... Yes. If everyone in the whole word died would the earth be brown? When will I be old enough to swim without my bathing suit? ...today Can I have a cookie? Can I have some skittles? Can I have a freeze pop? Can I have another cookie? Are you getting in? Will you blow up my floaties? Can you dive? Can you dive and swim under my legs? ...yup Will you catch me? Will I sink? Does my new truck float? ...no Do wasps sting? Are they deadly? Can you count to one hundred million thousand? Do we have to take a nap? Marco? Can I take pictures? How fast does your car go? What is the speed limit? Can I close my eyes? I am quite sure that this is just a small sampling but you get the point...what an awesome day.

#4

One week later...give or take, we are not completely sure. Said tooth has not been found. It was discovered missing sometime Sunday morning but its last known sighting seems to be blurry. It could have gone down with the Banana Split dinner or the popcorn dessert but then again it could have been swallowed in his sleep I suppose (does that really happen?). Either way...if you want a good laugh call Coop and ask him to say Mississippi.

Do you know what a fairy looks like?

Cooper: Mom, when you call the Tooth Fairy can I talk to her? Me: Oh sweetie the Tooth Fairy only talks to adults. Cooper: Why Mom? Oh I think I know...because adults can keep secrets. Me: You think so? Cooper: Yeah probably. Me: You might be right...but you know Coop, even though I have talked to the Tooth Fairy I have never actually seen the Tooth Fairy. Cooper: You haven't? Me: Nope...never...what do you think she looks like? Do you think she walks or flies? Cooper: Oh she flies...all fairies fly. Me: Yeah I guess you're right buddy...how big do you think she is? Cooper: About this big (holds his hands about 8" apart). Me: Really? What color wings do you think she has? Cooper: White...all fairies have white wings. And she might be made of all teeth because she has collected so many. I think she might have a special grabber to get the tooth from under the pillow. You know mom, you might not like this idea but maybe I could build a trap so that I could catch the Tooth Fairy so that I could look at her and then I would set her free. Me: Wow...how would you build a trap? Cooper: I could use a laser & when she went in the laser it would drop a net down and catch her. Mom maybe when you talk to her you could find out where she lives and then we could go and see her? Me: Where do you think she might live? Cooper: I think in a tree...that's where fairies live.

So I guess I'm just not Zen

Back in January I got myself this nifty Zen page a day calendar. It was however only nifty until I took it to the office and started tearing pages off. I must be totally honest when, on maybe day 7 I had to admit that I did not understand one single page. Not one. I thought...maybe I'm trying too hard or maybe I'm over analysing (I know, so totally not like me). Well I let go of trying to make "sense" of the calendar (yes I surprise you yet again) and decided to share my confusion with my coworkers. I can now say that the Zen calendar is pretty much pure entertainment for us and I have decided to share this entertainment with you all. So here goes: Wednesday February 11th "One day Chao-chou fell down in the snow, and called out, "Help me up! Help me up!" A monk came and lay down beside him. Chao-chou got up and went away." ~Zen Koan Sunday February 15th "Lie down as if dead. Or if very angry, stay angry. Stare without moving an eyelash. Or suck on something and become the sucking" ~Shiva, on centering Thursday July 16th "He who knows how to shave the razor, will know how to erase the eraser." So yeeaahh, umm, huh? Will more wine help these make sense? Or maybe I had to live through the 70's? And not be 5. I am actually rather surprised that this calendar was mass produced and thousands of people actually have this very calendar on their desks right this very minute! So all you hippies out there...is it just me?