the Twins Continue to Amaze Us

Not content to play the Schoenhut piano, Sadie has taken to standing on it.

Sophie prefers standing on the desk.

Ben lost a tooth, but the Tooth Fairy didn't make it to our house on the first night. Ben was disappointed until I told him that the Tooth Fairy (hereafter called TF) always gave more money if he was too busy to get to a house on the first night. Ben was content, nay, happy about that, and secretly hoping TF would forget him again. I also mentioned that TF usually came about 10:30-11:00, so if he wasn't asleep, TF would pass on by. He does have trouble getting to sleep sometimes, so I coached him on how to count sheep. Bradford wasn't impressed with Ben's shepherding skills, however, so Ben had to go to sleep the conventional way. Fortunately, it was in time for TF, because Ben found $1.50 under his pillow the next morning, which he promptly spent at Walmart.

Just for the record... I take great delight in concocting amazing stories about Santa and the TF to tell my naive children. For instance, did you know that we had to sign up for a TF plan for each child when his first tooth was loose? Well, we did. We opted for the plan that pays $1 for each clean tooth, and TF leaves the first four teeth with us. Subsequent teeth are ground down and used to create new teeth for babies.

Um, anyway.

Grace has inherited my, um, storytelling genes. We found wet hair on the floor of the bathroom and thought maybe Bradford had cut his own hair. No. Neither Ben nor Nathaniel had, either.

"Gracie, did you cut your hair?"

"Yes."

We inwardly groaned and brought her into the bathroom to assess the damage, but there was no damage to be found.

"Grace, where did you cut your hair?"

"Here." (pointing to a spot on her head that was obviously not cut.)

And just the other day she made up a very believable tale about her brothers popping her birthday balloons and mommy not doing anything about it because she wouldn't get out of bed. Believable except that her birthday balloons are still intact, and mommy, although sometimes grudgingly, does get out of bed.

Nater went to the races with Grandpa last night and to church with them this morning. This quality time with Grandma and Grandpa was important--he actually cuddled with Grandma for the first time since he was a baby.

Tomorrow we go to the Labor Day Picnic. We're taking the babies so we have two good excuses to come home early to labor. Imagine that!

After that it is back to the grindstone for two more weeks of intense reading and math instruction, and then fall break. Plus a bunch of other things going on, so I promise I won't blog again for a long, long time. If curiosity gets the better of you and you simply must know what I or my children are doing, I'm willing to fill you in on the intricate details of our lives by email.