The Tooth Fairy

From the very beginning, our family has had an interesting relationship with the Tooth Fairy. The promise of one of her visits brings much excitement to the house, and occasionally some concern. The Tooth Fairy is not necessarily known for her reliability. Sometimes her memory is faulty. Generally she pulls through in the end though.

Our very first encounter with the Tooth Fairy came many years ago. When Fuller was in Kindergarten, after much crying over the blood and pain, he lost his first tooth. We had explained all about how fun it was to loose teeth and how the nice Tooth Fairy would bring him something in exchange for that tooth. He seemed interested. However, Fuller has always been the kind of kid who over thinks things. By the time bedtime rolled around he was quiet and tearful. He finally said that he didn't want the Tooth Fairy coming in his room while he was asleep, and could he please put his tooth under my pillow instead. We finally convinced him that it would be all right, and that he had nothing to worry about. When he finally fell into a nervous sleep, we made sure she came right away. In the morning he was thrilled with his crisp $1 bill, and I think a little relieved that he survived having a "stranger" come in his room while he was sleeping.

Since then she has made many trips to our house. She even took a detour to Grandma and Grandpa's house once when a tooth came out during a sleep over. She's also received many little notes from us over the years. We've had to write her notes because teeth have been lost before we can get them safely under the pillow. And every now again the boys have each had trouble with wanting to let a tooth go. They have each at some point written to her, asking if they can please keep their tooth (but still get money of course.) I'm not really sure why they've wanted to keep some teeth but been happy to let others go, but we have a very nice Tooth Fairy and she honors all requests. Well, except for the ones asking her to raise her rates.

Track Season

Seventh grade track season has come and gone. Fuller has continued to try different events and figure out which best suit him. This year he tried discus, shot put, running on a 4X400 relay team, and running the 1500.

He decided discus wasn't his thing. His best distance was 46'8". Although he admits he never really practiced that event, so he could have improved that with some effort. His best shot put distance for the season was 25'11".

His main event that he's done well at the last two seasons was the 1500. He's definitely more of a distance runner than a sprinter. He's got long legs and good stamina.

He showed great improvement during the season. At the first meet he ran it in 6:10, and by later in the season he ran a personal best of 5:32. He was disappointed with his 7th place finish at districts(since 1-6 got ribbons) but we were proud of him. He's decided to try cross country in the fall, so I'm sure his times next year will improve even more.

Competition

When we moved here 5 1/2 years ago, one of the things we promised to Fuller was that we would get a basketball hoop. There was no place to put one at our old house, and his excitement about getting one helped soften the blow of moving. Over the years that hoop has seen some serious play. As Fuller gets older, those games out in front of the house have gotten increasingly intense.


Rowan doesn't like to be left out, so when they play they make him the honorary referee. He has no real say in the game, which is a good thing since most of the time he doesn't even watch it.

There have been some fun pick up games with friends.


And they let Grayson be on a team when they need another player. He's getting to be pretty good so no one complains about getting him.

It's great when there are friends around to make the games more exciting,

but the real competition is between father and son.

Paul knows that his days of being able to beat Fuller are numbered. And those numbers are rapidly dwindling.


So for now, Paul likes to show that he's still got "it"

And teach the boy a thing or two.

Sewing, sewing , sewing

All of the rainy Spring weather has given me plenty of time indoors to work on some sewing projects.
I made some new Spring place mats.


An apron for an end of the year teacher gift.


Some tote bags, also for gifts




And some baby shoes for a baby shower.

Hopefully now that I'm caught up on inside projects, the weather will start to cooperate with getting outdoor projects done.

Easter Weekend

Eggs were colored






Eggs were hunted for

and Rowan lucked out and found two prize tickets this year.


The Easter Bunny came (even for the non believers).


And we had a wonderful afternoon visiting with Grandma and Grandpa and eating Grandma's fabulous cooking.

Pinewood Derby

This week was the annual cub scout pinewood derby. Going into our fifth year of participating, I have very mixed feelings about this event. Part of me thinks they should just get rid of it and have a dad's contest. Last year pinewood derby night was not a good night for our family. Grayson's car came in last in every single race. The were tears, and constant requests to go home. So going in to this year I was a bit nervous. I talked to Grayson a lot about how it was "just for fun"(yeah right!) and that we were going to be happy with however we did.

When we got there we realized his car was overweight. So, bye-bye paint job! Paul had to scrape and scrape hunks of that car off until it was finally light enough.

Grayson had lots of people there to cheer him on! Grandma and Grandpa haven't missed a pinewood derby yet!

Rowan was his biggest fan! He also provided my favorite moment of the evening. In their first test run down the track Grayson's car came in first and Rowan jumped and cheered with all his might! He was so excited for Grayson. (Then he of course had to be shy and embarrassed when he realized everyone was smiling and laughing about his reaction.)

There were some great cars this year, and the racing felt intense.

And when all was said and done, we had done ok. Third place!

Grayson was pretty happy about his trophy, but on the way out he commented that he really wished he would have come in last so he could have taken home the tire shaped cake(which was the consolation prize for the car that came in last.) Maybe next year we'll just slap some wheels on a block of wood so we can win that!

My Peeps

I like these guys much more than the marshmallow kind! Directions can be found here.