Update...

The tooth came out at lunch today while my son was at Kindergarten! Woo-hoo!

My husband reminded me about the rest of the tooth history:
- Tooth 1 for my little boy came out in a wrestling match with big sister. (It was already loose but it does sort of sum up the level of activity in our house.)
- Tooth 2 he pulled out by himself with dental floss. (Shudder.)
- I think that if this isn't tooth 3, then tooth 3 also came out in some sort of food. And of course, today's came out while he was chomping on ice at lunch. (See - he must take after me with the ice-chomping.)

Oh - and another update is that my daughter made 3 runs at her kickball game today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, baaaaabbbbyyyy......!
Up to bat 3 times, on base 3 times, and 3 runs. That's my girl!

Mom Stuff

So I've finally come to realize the (rather obvious) fact that I'm not necessarily a good mom or a bad mom - I'm just a woman who is able to do some "mom things" well - but other "mom things" just aren't my cup of tea. Last week I took my eldest to a Sara Bareilles concert here in town. She was playing at the rodeo, thus the cowgirl hats in the picture over yonder. We had a great time. I'm also having a great time cheering her on with her kickball. (Kudos to my husband, who thought it would be a good sport for her - he was right on target with that idea.)

So I'll give myself some credit for the role I've played in introducing my kids to lots of different kinds of music, art, literature and we're even finally getting some athletics into our lives. Good for us. I've got that down.

I absolutely do not have some of the other mom stuff down and probably never will. Case in point: loose teeth. I appear to be physically and emotionally incapable of pulling out my children's teeth. My mom had it down to a fine art. I didn't like it very much, but she was able to loop that dental floss like an expert and pull those teeth right out. Loop. Tug. Yank. Pop. Tooth Fairy. Simple as pie.

Me? Not so much.

When my daughter had her first loose tooth (in preschool - she was little, my kids got their teeth early and starting losing them early), we were visiting my parents in Waco and my mom and brother were mortified that I'd let her tooth get that loose without pulling it out. Apparently it could be a choking hazard at night. (I'm good at feeling the mom guilt too...have I mentioned that mom skill??) So my mom pulled my daughter's first tooth. And maybe some of her others also. I'm not sure. I know one of her teeth just came out in a corn dog. My mom is also the only one who ever clipped my babies' fingernails because for some reason that just freaked me out and I couldn't do it.

My son has lost a few teeth already, although he's such a little man that he generally just takes care of it himself. He pulled his first or second one out by himself. With dental floss...before his dad could even get upstairs with the video camera.

Tonight he has another loose tooth and it's really loose. He asked me to pull it. Bless his little heart. All I could manage to do was to sort-of, kind-of wiggle it. I was able to loop the dental floss around his tooth (although for the life of me, I have no idea how my mom is able to do that cool little lasso thing with the floss) but he had to pull. And...I couldn't even watch while he tugged on his tooth. I was feeling faint just sitting next to him on his bed while he worked on his tooth.

So, to sum up:
- music, literature, cheering at kickball, having fun, and even handling regular and non-regular medical emergencies with my kids is right up my alley
- pulling teeth and clipping baby nails intimidates me beyond all reason

There's probably some deep psychological reason for this, but I don't think I want to know what it is.

Why are there so many songs....

...about rainbows?


I've always loved that song. Honestly.


I meant to update my posting from the 25th with this picture because, after I left the bakery on the day of the huge hailstorm - I saw this gorgeous rainbow and snapped a picture with my Blackberry as I was finally going home.

The biblical story of the rainbow is one which means a lot to me, although I interpret it slightly differently than I was taught in Sunday School. (To those of you who know me well, this shouldn't surprise you in the least.) I was never very comfortable with the idea that God would choose to destroy the world because He'd given up on humanity. Not that I'd really blame Him, of course - we haven't inspired much hope in that regard - HOWEVER...that doesn't fit my idea of God. I mean, really - what's the point of a God who loses his temper and patience just like I did during my last 48 hours in Disney World? You might as well have a middle-aged, stressed out Mom as an all-knowing, all-seeing deity if that's going to be His reaction. It just doesn't seem to mesh with my faith.

In my heart, the rainbow represents the idea that even when things are completely stormy and we are in the darkest place ever, we only need to let a little bit of light into our hearts and we will then be blessed with the most beautiful sight in the world. Rainbows are even more stunning against dark clouds because they are luminescent. So even when my life is very dark, the little ribbon of love that comes through is that much more beautiful.

And...who wouldn't smile at a rainbow? I absolutely gasped aloud with joy when I saw this one. Just try to not have a spiritual revelation or at least an overwhelming sense of peace/love/joy when you look at a rainbow - I dare you. :)

Oh - I also dare you to interpret Bible stories in your own way. You might be pleasantly surprised with the messages you find!