Dear Toot(h) Fairy

Shhhhh. Don't move! Did you feel that? A draft. Asa left the garage door open again? No, wait... it's an open window, I think.

Look closer...





Keep going .....









Stay with me here ...













There! There it is! Ariella lost her first tooth.

And boy was she delighted. She had been anticipating this for a long time. Asa gave her tips about how to do it faster, but she soon found out Asa hadn't tried any of these methods. They are actually methods he would like to see others try, just to see what happens.

Ariella is way too smart for that. Instead she came to Dad for help. She may have been better off with Asa's advice.

She anticipated the tooth fairy so much, that she wrote a letter about two weeks before losing her tooth. Below is a scanned image of the letter. It may be hard to read so I typed it out below.

Mrs. Toot (sic) Fairy,

I am going to lose a tooth tomorrow or the next day or the next day. I hope you put something under my pillow. I hope you put gum or money under my pillow, both probably.

Ariella. You can call me Arianna if you want.

So next time you see Ariella, and you are not sure whether to smile at her or kick a field goal, tell her how grown up she is now that she is missing a tooth. And ask her what the toot fairy brought her. Call her Arianna for extra points.

When Pigs Fly!

When pigs fly, the garage will be cleaned, the yard will be manicured, and all of the laundry and housework will be done.  Oh yeah, we will have pleanty of money to pay all of the bills, enjoy some family time and even help those less fortunate.

Well, pigs didn't exactly fly, but swine flu.  Get it? swine (pigs) flu (flew).

It all started with Ariella coming down with a low-grade.  For a couple of days she wasn't herself.  She got over the aches rather quickly but still complained of headaches and stomach aches.  One day later Asa wakes up announcing he wasn't feeling well and that his chest hurt.  This is where Cassandra swings into action and gives him a hit of Albuterol-some leftover from an underlying asthma issue about three years ago.  When he spiked a fever, it was time to call Dr. Erickson.  Given Asa's history, Erickson decided to have him brought in--through the back door!  Asa feels like a patient with clout when he gets to come in the back door.  Dr Erickson had him tested. Comfirmed.  Swine flu.  Probably what Ariella had as well.  And Malachi came down with it not long after that.

The great thing is that our kids pray every day.  They pray for health.  Divine health.  Asa has taken it upon himself to pray for anyone who gets sick in our family.  I know God hears and answers these prayers.  Although Malachi coughs and hacks, it appears that the worst is behind us.

Cassandra and I? we are doing our best to keep this flu at bay.  However it's funny that we attribute any small case of indigestion, or headache, or not wanting to wash dishes to the swine flu.  But its probably more a case of FDR's assessment in his inagural address "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

So the garage didn't get cleaned, that's my bad!  The yard is not exactly manicured-that's me again, but Cassandra does a fantastic job keeping the house clean and the laundry going.  However, aside from that we can't help but realize just how blessed we truly are.  Thinking about it, the garage-- it gets cleaned from time to time, but like Malachi pointed out one day Americans are crazy, they are the only ones that keep their very valuable cars outside in their driveway and their worthless junk in their garage.   Aint that the truth? The yard?  That too is underutilized right now anyway from all of the rain we've been getting.  It will get its cut soon enough.  As far as the bills getting paid, God has been faithful.  And we still manage to sneak away on occasion to see our loved ones.  Only the good Lord knows how he's helped us help others, but He has.

So spread the word.  Pigs flew already.  Now quit making excuses and begin enjoying the blessings of TODAY!