I Gots Me a Homey

My homegirl, S, is amazing. R. pointed out to me that she is loyal to me no matter what. We have our tough times, even though she is so young, but we are bonded.

She teaches me that I am lovable.

Last year her kindergarden teacher mentioned to me that she saw that S. looks up to me and idolizes me. May I be worthy of such blind love.

Pulling Teeth

Well, not exactly pulling. Truth is, while I don't mind if my kids (yes, *my* kids - not just any kids) barf all over me in the middle of the night, or in customs and immigration just as we depart for a 30 + hour journey, I really just can't take loose teeth.

S's tooth has been loose for weeks. At least it seems that way to me :-) She kept showing me and saying she wished it would come out. Teacher Blanca, the remarkable, dear-hearted soul who runs our happy little school, is reputed to be very good with loose teeth, so I told S. that we would talk to Teacher Blanca this morning.

But last night during dinner, after a terrible homework episode (which I must admit was just as terrible because of me as it was because of her), the tooth fell out during dinner.

UGH!

She's overjoyed. I am glad she is happy and that her father held out his hand to receive the tooth from her cherub's mouth :-)

Two Wheels

We started with a bang. Took off the training wheels on both the kids' bikes and off they went! Steering is a bit of an issue, but they are doing great. We ran around with them for almost two hours - until it was too dark to stay out any longer. We had a great time.

S. is reading everything in sight. She's sitting next to me now reading! I am using the new MacBook Pro R. gave me. Its a nice machine. Tomorrow I'll buy the upgrade to Snow Leopard. I think I like this Mac business :-) Gonna figure out skype tomorrow and try to get the kids skyping with Nudrat in Pakistan.

I'm In My Fours

Yesterday S. came home and announced that the father of one of her friends turned 40. "He's in his 40's," she said.

Z. was right on queue. He said, "I am in my fours!."

Time To Bash

Its been busy. And I've been down. Actually, I've been down since about February. But that's a post for a different blog...

Suffice to say, I have been considering not doing a big Thanksgiving this year. I've done a big bash every year since I met R. This will be our 20th Thanksgiving together. Anyway, I've thought I couldn't do it this year, but then I read Ezra's post and I kicked myself in my own ass. What a wuss I would be not to get into the cheer of it.

Besides, its a tradition and my children need this in their lives.

When I was in Dallas the last time, I was pregnant w/ Z and S was not quite 18 months, I went out to Forth Worth and saw an exhibit of photographs of the photographer's wife with her three sisters - there was one photo for each year over a 20 or 25 year period. The women always stood in the same order and the shot was just of them - the background was not important nor prominent. It was very powerful. The captions of each photo described a bit of what was happening at each point in time. I want to do that kind of project with S & Z.

So, in honor of Ezra I will bash on Thanksgiving and photograph S & Z specifically for the record book. I'll share it here.

UPDATE:

Here's a link about the exhibit I saw at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art. The Photographer was Nicholas Nixon and the exhibit is The Brown Sisters.

Mommy Is Too Hard To Break

Z. said over dinner two nights ago. Little did he know that all he had to do was touch me with his four-year-old hand and I would have dissolved completely. I'd had the worst of days.

But Tuesday is behind me and Friday upon me. Busy weekend of cooking and friends should do the trick. As I said to E. I have somehow managed to pull myself slightly back from the edge of my balcony over the abyss.

Tough week, but it could have been tougher.

Rescue

As a family we watched the first Chilean Miner emerge from the ground and exit the rescue capsule. I am truly in awe of so many things; the greatness of God, the technology available, the engineers who designed the rescue, the government who put their full force behind the effort, the resolve of everyone involved. My heart swells with respect for this achievement.

And, too, of course, the courage of the miners themselves to work together to ration what little they had and support each other through an endurance test unlike any other.

So many extraordinary people - what a blessing to us all. What amazing examples of who we all could be.

S & Z cried as the first man came out and hugged his son.