Doodle has lost his tooth. I mean, it came out of his mouth, and it is lost. Gone. Poof.
I think we may be jinxed in the lost tooth department.
My first tooth was washed down my grandparents’ sink when I tried to clean the bloody thing. Carman’s first loose tooth was pulled out with a piece of string, shot across the floor and was never found. Sudoku swallowed hers when she was eating lunch. (Marathon has never mentioned losing a lost tooth, but for whatever reason, our kids are following in my steps. Hopefully Rosebud will buck the trend some day.)
A couple of nights ago, while Marathon was playing with Doodle and Rosebud, Rosebud bumped Doodle’s mouth and out came the tooth. Doodle feels certain he didn’t swallow it, but we’ve looked and looked and can’t find that tiny baby tooth.
Marathon sent the Tooth Fairy an email, explaining the situation. Doodle was delighted when he found some dinero under his pillow this morning.
Later he got a twinkle in his eye as he speculated about finding his tooth, then putting it under his pillow, as if he had lost a 2nd tooth. With eyebrows rising and falling he said, “Maybe the Tooth Fairy will give me more money!”
But no. We’re not going to trick the Tooth Fairy. Anyway, I’m pretty sure she has x-ray vision, you know.
We’ve been dancing frequently lately. We’ve been contra-dancing as a family, and Marathon and I have given swing dance a try too. Contra dance offers a family friendly setting. No dance partner or experience necessary. Lots of fun for people 9-ish and up. Since the caller goes through the steps before each dance, contra-dance seems like a great way to begin dancing.
Swing dance is great for couples. The basic swing step is easy, but there are all these complicated twists and moves that can be integrated with (or used instead of) the basic swing step. Lots of room for creativity and learning with your partner.
Next dance to learn: the shim sham. Frankie Manning makes this look so very fun.
My third-born, Doodle, is about to lose his first tooth! It is uncomfortably loose. And he has 3 other slighly loose teeth that will follow the first one before too long.
I took this photo yesterday because it may be the last one I get with his baby teeth. Time is ticking quickly, folks. I can’t believe he’s at this stage already.
After gleefully spinning in circles with his little sister to the pre-programmed music on the keyboard, Doodle said, “Mama, do you think Rosebud and I will always be best friends forever?”
These photos are a couple of weeks old. But better late than never, right? We’ve had more snow this winter than we’ve had in the last 7 years combined.
When commenter and fellow Ralph Moody fan Gregg Green wrote and offered me copies of a couple of personal letters from Moody, I jumped at the offer. At age 8, Green had become a fan of Little Britches and Moody’s books. Being a fellow Maine resident and an ambitious young lad, he penned a letter to Ralph Moody. To his delight, he received a personal response. The two became sort of pen pals, exchanging a few letters and Christmas cards.
And lucky me…Gregg found this blog and has given me permission to share some items with you. Here is a word from Gregg:
…I have a couple of letters and a picture that Mr. Moody sent back in the late 60’s. The typed letter was a response to the first letter I ever sent him, and the handwritten letter came with the photo a year or so later. We corresponded for a few years after that, trading Christmas cards and such, but unfortunately I never did have the good fortune to meet him. The scans came out really well and you are welcome to use them on your website if you would like…
So, here they are, friends. That Moody took the time to write to a young boy…well, it says a lot. Clicking on the photo and letters will enlarge them. If you’re on dial-up and don’t want to wait for the letters to load, I’ve typed them out. Here’s the typed letter, and here’s the hand-written one. Enjoy!
Happy belated Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and Groundhog Day. The ol’ blog grew terribly cold, right along with the weather. And while the blog grew cold, our little drawer organizing business continued to grow (we’re just thrilled); we had snow; Sudoku and I continued to follow Sheena and gawk at her creative wraps, just to name a few.
To help me get motivated about blogging again, I changed the theme - again. Pretty sparce looking, huh? I like it. Gregg Green, commenter on one of my Ralph Moody posts, gave me an even better reason to blog again. I have some treasures he sent me that need to be shared. They are for you fellow Ralph Moody/Little Britches/Bud fans. The next post is for you! Stay tuned.
I’m giving sourdough starter a try (again!) I’ve had limited success with sourdough in the past, and my dissatisfaction with our current bread situation is pressing me to try it again.
For a long time, I soaked my wheat Sally Fallon style before using the aid of my bread machine for the kneading and rising. Then I’d transfer the dough to bread pans for a final rising and bake. The process required several steps, but they were easy steps and the kids helped out a lot…until the non-stick coating started to peel away from the bread machine pan, so I decided to stop using it.
Then I started using a modified whole-wheat recipe from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes book, but for some reason the bread is rather dry and crumby. I can’t stand putting so much time and effort into making bread when I don’t really care to eat the finished product. So here I go with trying sour dough again.
Another motivator to get this started now is that I have a birthday coming up, a perfect excuse to try out a version of Wardeh’s healthy Chocolate Sourdough Cake. Doesn’t it look Dee-licious? I’ll be using whole wheat rather than spelt and sucanat instead of cane juice. Can’t wait to give it a try!
My kids won’t appreciate it — at least not for a while. But my aim is to become a Viola Ruffner to them.
Booker T. Washington credits Viola Ruffner for instilling in him the work ethic for which he is famous. Upon being freed from slavery, Washington held a few different manual labor jobs, primarily working in mines. Determined to do something better, he was hired as the houseboy of Viola Ruffner who was known for being able to keep only temporary help because of her high demands and expectations.
Washington lived with the Ruffners and worked for Viola for a year and a half, and in that time was instilled with a deep appreciation for hard work, a job well done, and honesty. He claims that after being in her charge, whenever he saw a broken gate, he wanted to mend it. When he saw trash, he wanted to pick it up. When he saw weeds, he wanted to pull them. (Now, I’m not really after that result with my kids - just some thoroughness in tasks around the house.)
Mrs. Ruffner encouraged Washington to further his education, was one of his benefactors, and he held her in extreme respect, calling her “one of the best friends I ever had.”
I want to be a Viola Ruffner for my kids. (They’ll cringe when they read this post, but they know I love them.) I’m terrible with follow-through on chores I give them to do, and I fear I’m letting them get away with half-baked work. My becoming a Viola Ruffner would be good for all of us.
But how am I going to become a Viola Ruffner? I think I should start with one task and hone it, hone it. I’m thinking of going for the jugular: kitchen clean-up. I have this rule in the house — whoever makes a meal shouldn’t have to clean up. (There is a lot of gray here, because in truth, many meals are partially prepared days in advance - bread, lacto-fermented items, etc. But the person assembling the meal doesn’t have to clean the dishes or put left-overs away.)
While it’s true that the kids are in the mode of handling clean up in the kitchen, it is almost never up to my standards, but I say nothing. Nothing. Isn’t that they’re doing it enough? Well, for a while that was enough. But now that the work routine is in place, the mechanics are lacking. Sorely lacking.
So now I’m thinking about inspections, checklists, points, etc. What incentive to give for them to get it right the first time. Speak to me, Viola!
What about you? Do you have a system for follow-up of daily chores? Do you spot check? Have a check list? Is it working for you?
I’m off to make a checklist of frequently neglected jobs associated with kitchen clean-up.
“At such moments I don’t think about all the misery, but about the beauty that still remains. This is where Mother and I differ greatly. Her advice in the face of melancholy is: ‘Think about all the suffering in the world and be thankful you’re not part of it.’ My advice is: ‘Go outside, to the country, enjoy the sun and all nature has to offer. Go outside and try to recapture the happiness within yourself; think of all the beauty in yourself and in everything around you and be happy.’
I don’t think Mother’s advice can be right, because what are you supposed to do if you become part of the suffering? You’d be completely lost. On the contrary, beauty remains, even in misfortune. If you just look for it, you discover more and more happiness and regain your balance. A person who’s happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery!”
– Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank, March 6, 1944
I read this quote a couple of months ago at Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project blog, and it keeps coming back to me.
