Sometimes it's hard to be Queen

My little Mordecai

I'm currently reading The Other Queen, by Philippa Gregory. Historical fiction about Mary Queen of Scots. You know, things don't seem to be going well for her, either.

Ryan and I are also reading Peter and the Shadow Thieves, and Molly and Peter have just arrived at the Tower of London. Where I believe my dear friend Mary will be a guest soon. Molly tells Peter about the Bloody Tower and I ended up giving Ryan a little history lesson on Richard III, Queen Elizabeth I, and the song London Bridge is Falling Down, which is a sweet little nursery rhyme about the beheading of Anne Boleyn. All this to say, as far as queens go, there are others who have had it far worse.

Back here in the 21st century, Mike and I continue to tag team the job search. I spend a fair amount of time searching the job boards and Mike spends all of his time applying for those jobs, contacting people he knows at those companies, and driving around looking for help wanted signed to earn cash while we wait for the perfect job to come along. Or the not-so-perfect job to come along. Honestly people, we're flexible! And in my spare time I knit hats, do laundry (I keep forgetting that the warmer the weather, the dirtier the clothes. Apparently my boys have a pact with the neighbor kids and they are all digging a giant pit in my back yarn. Have you any idea what 5 small children look like after they've been digging for and hour and a half? Unrecognizable.), and I'm rediscovering the joys of Mike's Hard Lemonade.

And how are we surviving all of this? God. Seriously, God. He's apparently not quite ready to give us a job yet, but is continuing to provide us with very random ways to pay the bills and eat. Miraculous ways. Mike and I just look at each other in disbelief, unsure of how to react to anonymous gifts of cash and gift cards. I'm telling you, if you don't believe in God, come spend the day with me. We're becoming the Miracle on SE 137th Place. We pray and pray and pray, and somehow, some way, God takes care of us.

And now it's time for a new segment in my blog called Random Things This Week:

1. Ryan played Mordecai in the play of Esther at church this week. This was a much bigger part than he has ever had and, I have to say, he memorized his lines beautifully. Now if he can just work on delivering them with more inflection than a robot...above is a picture of my little pipsqueak, on the right, next to his buddies Ben (King Xerxes) and Paul (Haman).

2. On Monday Ryan turned 9 years old. We celebrated by taking the boys to see Star Trek after school. The monster on that ice planet was just about the freakiest thing I have ever seen.

3. Dear sweet Jane gave me more sock yarn this week. This time it was the beloved Pagewood Farms, one in purples, and one in springy greens. My friend Kristin will be getting some purple socks in the near future.

Lily Pad Socks for Leah

4. I've started on Leah's birthday socks. I had planned to do the Biological Clock socks from The Eclectic Sole, which has a strand of DNA down the sides. But this yarn is just to variegated to show it off. So instead I'm doing this sweet heart pattern down the leg, from last year's Stitch 'n Bitch calender. I LOVE the picot edge and the striping is perfect. I think these socks are going to be quite adorable when finished.

5. Mara was mean to me. Yesterday she called me at home and left a message telling me she ordered some new sock yarn that I would love. She strongly hinted it was cashmere. She had me seriously thinking about this luxurious new sock yarn and I was so excited to see what it was. The yarn is evil and I honestly truly with every fiber of my being can't understand how this yarn, by Austermann, sells enough to justify remaining in stock. She was sent the color card and, rightly so, thought it was so offensively atrocious, she decided to have some fun with me. I told her she has lost my trust forever. But this yarn, I must share with you because it is, in a word, horrific.

6. Eric has his first loose tooth and it is becoming quite wiggly. He has declared that he can only eat crunchy foods, in order to loosen it more. He refuses all soft and squishy foods because they are counter productive and do nothing to help him achieve his goal.

That's all I have for you. Random musings. This Monday, Memorial Day, we take Ryan and his buddies to see Night at the Museum II for his birthday party, after a chicken nugget lunch at our house. There has GOT to be a blog post waiting for me in that event.

I Killed The Tooth Fairy

Ryan just lost his 5th tooth. He is about to start 2nd grade and definitely has a 2nd grader's smile! His two front bottom teeth have completely come in, he has one top tooth 3/4 in and one just starting to poke through, and now he has a new hole.

The other day he was really working on this very loose 5th tooth and he asked me, point blank, if I was the Tooth Fairy. He wanted to know if I was the one to leave the money. Last March we had a similar discussion about Leprechauns, with disastrous results. So I tried everything. I tried to change the subject, I gave him the old "what to you think", I tried to focus on the loose tooth again....he wasn't buying it. He asked me, flat out, "are you the one who gives me the money"? So I told him the truth.

He really wasn't that bothered by it. When I explained that we can keep playing the game and he'll continue to get money for lost teeth, that seemed to settle things for him. Ryan was fine. I think he suspected the truth and was ready to hear it.

Not so for his father. Oh My Word. MIKE was the one to have a complete fit over this. He practically accused me of sabotaging Ryan's childhood. Why didn't I call him at work to discuss this?! Seriously? Ryan asks who the Tooth Fairy is and my response is "wait, let me call your dad"?!? I have been over this with Mike several times. Many more times than I have with Ryan. I have explained it in great detail. It's not as if I sat this kids down one day and said "it's time you knew the truth. We've been living a lie.....". Ryan really wanted to know. He was ready to know. I tried to distract him and get him to answer his own questions, but he would have none of it. He was ready for the truth.

And that is the real issue here. I cannot look my kids in the eye and lie to them. I'm fine with leading them along the primrose path and allowing them their childhood fantasies. But when I'm asked point blank if I am really the Tooth Fairy, I feel convicted to tell the truth. I don't ever want Ryan to feel that I've lied to him. I've caught him lying a few times lately, which just furthers my point. I have been lecturing him on the evils of lying. I need to walk the walk.

According to Mike, he would have no problem saying the words "yes, the Tooth Fairy is real". Big talk for the man who was not there and did not have to make that decision Nyahhhhh.

So now Mike is convinced that I'm out for blood and that Santa is next on the chopping block. I am NOT willingly trying to destroy their childhood dreams. But at some point all kids figure it out. I distinctly remember a time when I believed in Santa. I can remember lying in my bed listening for reindeer. And at some point I stopped believing. I have no recollection of the event. No trauma. Apparently I was ready to grow out of it.

Am I looking forward to the Santa talk? Absolutely not. In fact, I think my answer will be "let's ask your father"!

The Quintessential 1st Grader

Does this face not just scream "I'm in the 1st grade?!"

Ryan yanked the other front tooth out this morning. Emily, the neighbor girl and Ryan's partner in crime lost her 2nd front tooth the other day and that was unacceptable to Ryan. Ryan is 3 weeks older than Emily so his teeth should be falling out first. I honestly think that tooth could have stayed in there another week or so, but Ryan twisted and pulled and pushed until it finally came out this morning--blood and all. There is no sign of his permanent teeth yet, which makes me happy. I want to look at this jack-o-lantern grin as long as I can.


This is how so many of Ryan and Emily's interactions begin. One hears the other in the back yard and they just can't resist. Ryan and Eric have a chair permanently placed along the fence and Emily brings a stepstool to her side. They giggle and chat until they convince the parents to let one of them hop the fence. We have a great relationship with the whole family and we feel so blessed to have them next door.

It just tickles me to no end that this is the kind of relationship Emily and Ryan have. These are the kinds of pictures I want to show them when they graduate from High School. I wish I had a crystal ball to see what the future holds for them. But at the same time, it is so much fun to see it all unfold. I wonder what Emily will think of me as her mother-in-law?

Big Day

It 's an exciting day here! Ryan's top front tooth came out today. It's been ready for the last couple of days, just hanging by a thread. We've tried pulling it several times, but it just wasn't quite ready. When Ryan got in the van this afternoon after the bus dropped him off, he flashed me a big jack-o-lantern smile--he had pulled his tooth out himself at lunch time! In the school office they gave him the special tooth-shaped necklace to hold his tooth for the rest of the day. I think he must have popped a few buttons off his shirt striding into class after lunch. This is the 3rd tooth has has lost and it is exciting each time.

If I have to be honest, I think I get more excited about loose teeth than Ryan does (and he gets pretty excited!). I'm not sure what it is. The mark of a true 1st grader? The 7 year old boy face? Am I nostaligic for when I lost my first few teeth?

It's the mark of a child who is growing up, but is still a little kid. This is the only time in his life that he will have the trademark snaggletooth jack-o-lantern smile (unless he plays hockey....) and I'm reveling in it. Once those permanent front teeth grow in he will have a big kid face and there will be a part of my baby that will be gone forever.








As I was taking his picture this afternoon Ryan actually asked me if the tooth fairy will put the money under his pillow, or if I will. Didn't we just go through this??!? Do you really want the answer to this question? Eric was jumping around and I wanted to take a couple more pictures, so I was able to avoid the subject in the jumble of things. For now.


I got "Itty Bitty Hats" in the mail yesterday. It is THE knitting book of 2006. I think I got the last copy. But it was truly a must-have. I've been waiting for it for over a month. The first Amazon Marketplace order never came and, after 3 weeks, I emailed the seller only to find out that it was out of stock and they never planned to send it or the email informing me I was out of luck. They received a less than satisfactory review. However, the next Amazon Marketplace seller was quite professional and now that it's in my hot little hands I am all in a tizzy to get started.

The problem is the hat I want to make uses my size 6 circular needles and my size 6 double pointed needles. These are by far my most used needles, which you can tell just by looking at them. The circular needles are all dented from a very bad experience with bobbles, and the wooden double pointed needles have a lovely patina on them from years of use. I recently lost one of the double pointed, which irritates me to no end... I really need about 3 sets of each. My size 6 needles are currently being used for this horrid frog hat that I am sorry I ever started. It started out easy enough, but the pattern calls for a crown on the top. I have used 2 kinds of needles and started that stupid crown about 5 times. The directions are less than helpful. When my new book came I got all excited until I realized that the blasted frog hat was using my size 6 needles. So I very reluctantly decided to finish the stupid thing. About half way through the crown I realized that it wasn't looking anything like the picture. The crown on the hat the cute baby in the picture is wearing is standing up, nice and regal. My crown is flopping all over the frog head like it is made of wet noodles and I'm too annoyed to come up with a way to make it work. I hate the frog hat. I'm not sure what annoys me more--the fact that I've wasted a skein of yarn or an entire evening of knitting was for nothing.