Its Days Are Numbered

E had a regular dental checkup on Monday, during which our hygienist noticed that the gum line over one tooth was a bit bruised looking. She asked me if he had hit his mouth or poked the gum or anything at all to cause it. Not to my knowledge. We asked E all the same questions. No, he said. As the exam progressed, the dentist informed me that we should expect E to start losing his baby teeth any time now. Our hygienist, who happens to be a family friend, chided me accordingly for the rest of the visit.

Tuesday, I noticed that the gum in question looked a bit swollen.

Tuesday evening, we were at a cookout. E walked over and put his head on my shoulder, after a couple minutes of which I noticed that he was bleeding from his mouth, and that the blood was mixing with his saliva and that it was now running down my arm as well as his face.

What happened?! I exclaimed

I hit myself with the empty, plastic baby swing. He replied

Upon investigation, we found this:



Turns out that tooth that had just a little bit of something strange going on while at the dentist on Monday is now quite loose. I checked with our dentist this morning and he informed me that it is not surprising.

That tooth's days were already numbered. Said he.

What's the current going Tooth Fairy rate per tooth these days, anyway?

Back to the Bonfire

A lot has gone on since I abandoned this space. The most important being that my depression finally became so deep, so dark, so desperate that even I finally recognized what was happening to myself and my family. So, I found a decent doctor and got on medicine that works well to overcome the genetic infinite sadness that I inherited from my Grandmother. So, I'm a lot better, nearly whole. And my family unit is much better, and feels very whole, which is vital as the years of expensive infertility treatments added quite a lot to my depression and my family didn't feel whole and I didn't feel whole and the whole thing was really falling to pieces around me as I struggled to keep them glued back together.

Now Chris, and E, and I are the glue that holds everything else around us together. In a very good, very happy way.

See? Glue.

Along with becoming happy and whole, I started my own company! A little copy writing business that I love very much, and that is growing all the time. For the many friends who have been wondering where I am and why I never answer the phone and rarely return calls, here is the answer:

Chris made the logo; I love it! I have intentions of having that little inkwell tattooed above my elbow.

Which proves that I did NOT turn into a medicated zombie, and that I am indeed still my regular, fiery, The Flaming Maiden: Nicole! self. I turned 30, and my Mom gave me this for my birthday present:

That, my lovelies, is a tattoo on my right shoulder. It is a large (to me) fiery lion. As a matter of fact, it is THE fiery lion that pulls a fiery chariot that carries a fiery Prince, WHO, it turns out, is in fact my very fiery son.

He has learned how to ride a bike this Spring.

Though I don't have as much time as of late, we do still craft. I am currently working on lots of socks, and an afghan for Chris that is a tiny bit like one his mother made him when he was a boy. It rained Sunday, so E and I had time to hole up in the art studio.

I tried to make a pincushion from scrap fabric. I need to reopen it and add some stuffing-- the bottom is rather poky.

Chris's Granny has recently been in the hospital, and very on our minds and in our prayers (she is recovering). A combination of that, and a giant pickle jar induced me to come up with this:

I used a piece of a quilt top that I inherited from Granny's old sewing stash, then I sewed it- wait for it--- using zigzag stitch all around the edges to a piece of-wait for it--- that sort of grippy shelf paper! Do you know what I'm talking about? The shelf liner that keeps the rims of glasses from chipping? Only I have very pretty grippy shelf liner! So now we have a very pretty kitchen grippy for opening jars! And it pretties up the giant pickle jar too!
As an added bonus, Chris informed me that his Mama used to have a quilted jar lid cover that she used on giant pickle jars. Mine is grippy to make it easier to open jars, but it's the same concept. Folks, that's like two sweet things for Chris in one!

Also, he gets to eat the pickles. Unfortunately, we are crazy for giant pickle jars and Ezra and I need Chris to eat two of these jars of pickles as quickly as possible. I hope he's up to the challenge. To be fair, Chris started it. He uses a giant pickle jar to store corks for the miniatures that he carves. I have one giant pickle jar that I store ribbons in (it's so pretty!), and recently had a reason why I need another, though I can't remember just at this moment what it is. Yarn, maybe? Ezra wants one to fill with "pricklies" that he collects on his bike rides around the neighborhood. They are some sort of large, prickly seed pod that falls off, I think it's a ginko tree, maybe. Anyway, he collects them and wants a jar to store them in. He also has plans to grow one of these trees in our yard so that we will have a never ending supply of pricklies. I think we should start it growing in a pot so that it can grow into a sapling before we plant it in the yard so that it doesn't get cut down by the lawnmower.

See? Whole.

Waxing Poetic

So, with a little over 24 hours to go before my baby officially starts Kindergarten, it seems I'm starting to feel the weight of the situation. So, I'm waxing poetic.

Kindergarten. Goodbye baby.
Time to live your life,
to find your own path.
Time for me to find mine.

____________

The journey ahead of you seems incredible
to you.
It seems incredibly intimidating
to me.

What I'm Thinking About

As far as the current crisis goes: I don't want to talk about it. Hopefully it will be wrapped up soon, and I'll let you know once that happens, but for now- I just don't want to talk about it. I'm thinking about it enough as it is.

What I am thinking about right now is the upcoming summer. More specifically, what exactly Ezra and I are going to do with it. I must admit, I am partially dreading it-- in that Ezra is such a whir of energy and activity these days that the whole thing sounds exhausting. Simultaneously, I am really really looking forward to it. He's been in full-time school this year, and I miss him a lot. I miss really being a stay-at-home Mom, guiding him and learning with him. So, in the name of channeling his energy and giving him some time to learn on his own terms, I am looking into summer Unschooling and trying to plan out some ideas, at least to get us started.

I don't yet know much about Unschooling, other than that, on a daily basis, you follow the child's lead. That means that whatever Ezra is interested in, I will find activities and lessons to enrich his interest. I really like this idea. I feel like it will keep us busy and happy, and give both of us guidance on how to spend our time, without taking over all of our time.

Right now, Ezra is excited about summer swimming, so I'm thinking I will start with a "unit" on water. We will probably visit the local resevoire, and the park with the fountains for playing. Of course, the local pool is on the schedule for much of the summer, but I'm going to enroll him in swim lessons too. I'm thinking this interest in water might be turned into an interest in water ecosystems, so I'm working on finding a good creek or pond where we can chase frogs. If anybody has any suggestions for that, please let me know! Along with a "unit" on water ecosystems, we'll probably include some fishing days because Ezra LOVES fishing. Hopefully, our planned beach vacation will add a lot to the water "unit". Of course, we'll use a LOT of books to help us learn, which will help strengthen his reading skills.

Ezra's other current interest is math. That's not really my strong point, particularly where coming up with fun outings and activities to enhance his math interest goes. The way we do math now is just to find geometry in the world around us, and to use mathematical concepts as we go along (how many of x are there, categorize them, what if we took away y number of them). I would really like to build a unit on math that would include lots of outings. I'm sure I can come up with lots of crafts for a math "unit", but right now I'm coming up short on outing ideas. I have time though, so I'm sure it will work out.

We will also be expanding our food garden this year. Ezra is determined that we should grow corn, so a "unit" on plants and food will form from that, and with the harvesting of the corn, I envision a history lesson on Native Americans.

I know this sounds like a lot of planning for something called "Unschooling" and it probably is. But I'm a planner and need a bit of a framework to work from, or else we'll end up doing nothing at all the entire summer. I'm basically getting my framework together now, so that I can refer to it this summer. I think that will help us stay busy but remain plenty flexible. And as his interests change and he finds new interests from each subject, I think having a framework will help me to adapt.

For more information on Unschooling, check out This Vintage Chica's site on Unschooling: http://vintagechica.typepad.com/summerunschool/. I'll be following along with her all summer, and sharing our experience here.

Gratis

Last week, Ezra's teacher had his reading level assessed, and they found that he is quite advanced. In order to accommodate this, a couple teachers in the building will be working together to give Ezra the curriculum he needs, while balancing the much harder work with the fact that he is still a little guy. It's truly amazing that these teachers are going out of their way to help our family. As a show of gratitude, I gave them these:

These vases are so easy to make. Just hot glue colored pebbles at random. Of course, I had to include purple pebbles and purple flowers, as purple is the favored color of both myself and my kiddo. They were well recieved, but of course flowers are a small thanks for getting my child the help he needs at the very beginning of his academic career. These teachers deserve an award, and of course when I gave them the flowers, they both got teary and said "I'm just doing my job!" Indeed.

Valentine's Day

This V-day really has me thinking a lot about Ezra. About him as a changing person, about my relationship with him, about ways that I can use this holiday to help him find the joy of giving (I know, that's supposed to be a Christmas thing). And a lot about this little family of mine, and the intimacy that we enjoy. While it is hard to give up the idea of another child, I really love my little family and the dynamic we have.

Of course, every holiday is an excuse for some great crafting. Ezra made valentines for his Aunt Regan and his Daddy. He helped me put together the valentines for his classmates. And, he made felted soap (from The Little Travelers tutorial) to give to each of his teachers.

You start with wool roving. I got mine at a fiber festival a couple years ago and have managed to keep the moths out:

Isn't it lovely? Though I realized after taking this picture that this particular roving is a wool/silk blend. I wasn't going to waste it on soap, so we used my turquoise and purple all alpaca wool roving, which worked well as the soaps we used are purple.

You fill a bowl with warm water and add a little all natural soap- The Little Travelers suggests Dr. Bronner's and of course I was thrilled to oblige! Then you wrap each bar of soap (all natural bar soap works best, though we used glycerin), dunk it in the sudsy water and basically just wash your hands with it until the wool felts nicely. Young children will need help with this, though Ezra really loved it. It was a great way to fill an hour and get wet and sudsy!

You end up with something like this:

Let them dry a few days on parchment paper, then wrap them in butcher paper, parchment paper, or wax paper. The heart stickers I intended to use to hold the little packages closed wouldn't stick to the parchment paper, so I tied each with a little yarn bow. Ezra was very excited to give them out today.

Of course, I had to steal some time late one night to make some Valentine's home decor:

And the scrap bird fabric from the baby quilt decided where it wants to be.

Snow Week Craft Recap

Tuesday: Fannie the Squirrel feeders out of cardboard tubes, peanut butter, and bird seed.

Wednesday: Snowball fight and work for Mommy

Thursday: Cardboard tube kaleidoscope (Have the child decorate the tube. Then have the child use a cheese grater to grate a bit of crayon onto some parchment paper or wax paper. Fold paper over, and iron on very low, allowing the wax to melt inside the paper just slightly. It will cool very quickly. Then, put the colored part over one end of the tube and secure with a rubber band. Produce bands work well. Ta-da!)

Friday: Footprint snowman t-shirt

I'm running out of ideas and we might get more snow next week! Luckily, I have to work all weekend, so Daddy will be in charge of child-entertainment!

Snow Day Redux

Well, I guess somebody at the top got the message that last week's snow day didn't turn out too well. We got a do-over, and boy oh boy have we been snowed and iced in! We're going on day four of cooped up, but yesterday even the men-folk were home, so in the name of getting the kids out to play, a snow-ball fight ensued amongst children and adults alike. Yesterday was a great day, the kind of day that makes you really love the place you live.

The men-folk returned to work today, though the women and children were still mostly iced in. Today was fairly calm and peaceful. I fell on the ice and hurt my arm, but I don't think it's broken, though it hurts like the devil. Luckily, Mr. TFM and I both suffer bouts of carpel-tunnel syndrome (WoW), so I had a wrist brace handy. While I could have done without the injury, I have to admit that I love shoveling snow. When you've been cooped up for a couple days, shoveling snow really takes the anxious right out of a person. I shoveled all the snow I could reasonably shovel, up until I realized my wrist was really too hurt to go on. I will sleep the pure sleep of the clean-conscienced, worn-out.

Onto the photos!

That tree is seriously encased in ice. The tree damage to this neighborhood's old trees would make the Lorax mad at Mother Nature. I did NOT edit out the background on the above photo; it's really that white out.

That tree is entirely encased in ice. We've gone way above and beyond raising a tree-hugger. We're raising a tree-licker. The adult behind the tree is throwing snowballs. I'm telling you, it's a great neighborhood. It was a great day.

Praise The Lord and Pass the Ammunition

On MLK Day, we were also gifted with a snow day:

Ezra made snow angels all the way around the block:

I hope lots of people encountered them and smiled:

I sure did.

---------------------

For those who have heard tidbits and are confused, yes the day was partially ruined by a Golden Retriever, now called "Cujo" who barreled out of an open garage and attacked Ezra. Ezra is fine-- thank God for over sized puffy winter coats. The dog had no interest in me, even though I made myself as threatening as possible by kicking it and yelling for help. I guess this dog doesn't have children, or it would have known not to mess with a Mommy. The owner is obviously an idiot, and did not seem to comprehend just how bad the situation was or could have been. He obviously also does not have children, or he would have also known not to mess with a Mommy.

I guess he will find out soon, as Animal Control is labeling this an "Aggressive Dog Investigation" and just as soon as the idiot returns from wherever he's been for the past couple days, he will find a large man with a gun knocking on his door. The large men with guns have already knocked on my door twice because of this, and even though I'm the one who called them and my son is the victim, even I am intimidated by them. Did I mention they have guns? Also, they have rabies poles. They have informed me that they also have the ability to hit the idiot with a pretty severe fine, and the number that was quoted to me made me break out into a cold sweat.

Yes, I witnessed the guy let the dog out of a frontal door unleashed AND unattended. Yes, I want the dog gone, and (God help my immortal soul), I have to admit that I want to get one good last kick in before it goes. I am scared, and very very angry. However, I also do not want some freaking fight with one of my neighbors. Therein lies the problem. Ezra is not the only person that this dog has terrified. Many of the neighbors feel that this is the last straw as they are tired of being terrorized by a ninety-pound dog and an owner who insists that "Jake just thinks he's a Cocker Spaniel".

So, if you happen to see an angry mob carrying torches and yelling "Get the Monster!", please just stay inside. And now that you've read this and been brought up to date, please scroll back up and ponder the beauty of a little boy making snow angels in 1/2 inch of snow. It's important to focus on the beauty in life, and do our best to let go of the ugly. Snow angels.

This Changes Everything

Ezra has been working on learning to read. He's been working very, very hard. So far, we've still been able to get away with spelling some things in front of him. But just now, he picked up a toy from his train set, looked at it, and said "Mommy! This says Toys R Us!".
It'sway imetay otay earnlay igpay Atinlay.


(Also, Alicia over at Posit Gets Cozy has put up a link to the legal copy of the Inaugural poem. You can get it here.

Several pictures for our far away loved ones. We love you and are missing you today.

No particular order. Jennie doing her best to ignore Spike.

Ezra and Kenley love Spike

Lootz!

Santa came through with a big boy ball popper!

We let him open the monster on Christmas Eve. Oogely was big hit!

Taken the day after Thanksgiving

You've Met Your Match, Mr. Monster Under the Bed

Beware the Oogely Oogely Monster! He throws his arms and legs at people!
A few weeks ago I asked Ezra to draw me a monster. I was awarded with this:


And decided to make it for him as a Christmas gift.


I also framed his drawing (we'll hang it over his bed, I have the perfect place in mind), and made a simple pillowcase with monster-themed flannel. You can see it a little just over Oogely's head. The great thing about Oogely is that those long, long arms are attached with large snaps. They can be removed and thrown -- get this-- at people!

I made this monster out of flannel instead of felt so that he can thrown into the washer. Big. Fat. Mistake. I should have followed the instructions (see prior post for link) and used felt. Because I used flannel, the whole thing had to be sewn inside out, then turned right side out. Ack! Hopefully it will pay off and Ezra will love Mr. Oogely so much that he needs a good cleaning occasionally. Next time, I'm using felt and sewing it from the outside. Dirt be damned.

Mr. Oogely is about to get wrapped up for Christmas, so for those who talk to my kiddo, please don't mention it until after Christmas morning!

Have a great Holiday! I will probably be away from the blog for a bit as we not only have Christmas, but also a dear friend's birthday and my own birthday this weekend. *Shout out to all the Christmas babies!* Happy Holidays and Happy Birthdays!

It Takes A Sick Kid . . .

. . . To get a sick Mommy to rest. As today is the last day before Winter Break, I got out early to run errands. That came to a screeching halt when I got a call from the school that Ezra is sick. I had to pick him up early. Now he's crabby and will only rest if I lie down with him. Ah, the wisdom of the young.

Of course, today is the day that every delivery company imaginable is ringing my doorbell.