The Poop Deck

Puzzle mania! Our first puzzle done! We are so proud! Mac joined in the celebration, too! He tried to put a few pieces together!
Is this not the cutest picture ever! Konner drew it in Sunday School. He's not much for arts and crafts, so I treasure the ones I do get.
Beautiful Kylie with several gaps in her mouth
Kade and Konner. Can you tell which brother lost his first tooth?





Kade lost his first tooth this week. He's 6 3/4, so he's actually a little early losing his teeth in our family. Kathleen reminded me that she was eight when she lost her first tooth. Bless her heart, Kathleen remembered to get a dollar under Kade's pillow last night. We give a dollar for the first tooth and a quarter thereafter. She had to go up to the other tooth fairy conspirator (Keri Lynn) to borrow money since I was in the shower! That made it a lot of fun this morning when Kade came out with his loot.

"Mom, is there such thing as a tooth fairy?"

(I remember having this conversation with Kylie just last week.)

Kade is younger, though, and I go back to the usual modus operendum, "Well, who do you think put that dollar under your pillow?"

"Did YOU?"

"Nope," I can say in all honesty.

"I know! DADDY did!"

"Nope."

"Then, who?"

"Hmmm. I wonder . . . ."

"I bet it was Daddy!"

"He'll be awake in a few minutes. Go ahead and ask him," I say with confidence.

Kade is terribly pleased, nonetheless. A whole dollar! It's burning a hole in his pocket. Can I take him out RIGHT NOW to go get something at Dollar Tree? Kylie pipes up that she wants to go, too, since she still has her tooth fairy money.

On the way to the library this afternoon for our usual Thursday Library Run, Kristofer talked about his tooth fairy experiences -- how he had seen Daddy sneak into his room and put the money under his pillow, how he knew that Keri Lynn was the one who had written an apologetic note from the tooth fairy when I had forgotten another time. He hadn't said anything at all this whole time because he enjoyed keeping the secret and he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings! So sweet.

We finished our first puzzle a few weeks ago and I finally laminated it last week. I'd like to have a wall of laminated puzzles down in the basement rec room (when we get it finished anyway!) So, the first one is ready! We were all excited to break out the second puzzle. I was happily putting pieces together yesterday when a very disgusting, large, slimy, brown roach crawled out of the table and along its edge right where I usually sit! I summoned Kristofer to kill it but it escaped into a crevice and no matter how hard he tried to bang it out it wouldn't budge. I decided I wouldn't be doing any puzzle work for a while. Gross! Gross! Gross!

And as if I didn't have enough gross things going on in my house, Kody has been doing his business pretty regularly (when we can't catch him on time) in the dining room and now out on the deck. I guess you could officially call it a "poop deck".

Anyway, his last poop on the deck was extra disgusting. I refused to deal with it. The kids kept saying, "Mom, the poop is still on the deck."

And I kept saying, "You mean it hasn't disappeared all by itself yet?"

Finally, Kristofer had mercy on me and cleaned it up. He had to bring up the mop and bucket and everything. Kristofer deserves a huge crown in heaven for cleaning up poop and killing disgusting creatures for his mom. What a kid!

Kody is doing better with his nipping problem. I think he's just getting used to us. He loves to be with everyone. One of the main reasons we picked a Labrador is because they are typically social. He tolerates quite a bit of kid abuse. Konner is forever trying to ride him like a horse and both of the little boys keep crawling into his crate with him, and they all stick fingers into his crate. I keep telling them that the crate is his "Safe Place" and have finally had to resort to The Boo-Boo Stick to keep them out. When Kody is out of his crate, he's ready to play. The kids chase him around the house which he greatly enjoys, but he also loves to get a toy and play keep away. Keva especially will grab onto his tail or his back end and hang on for dear life.

I think I'm getting used to Kody, too. I'm feeling more relaxed and not so TIRED. It's been like having a newborn in a lot of ways -- getting used to an extra feeding schedule, cleaning up poop and pee, keeping an eye on him when he's awake, etc. Kathleen declared that Kody is her favorite dog EVER! Kylie says, "I'm glad we've finally got a dog!" It is fun, even though our house doesn't smell as good as it did before. Then again, our house has never been exactly approved by Good Housekeeping.

I'd like to take this opportunity to send out a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ginny today! Hope you have an extra special one and maybe I'll even CALL you to wish you happy birthday. Wouldn't that be something!