小兔子 - Our Latest Temporary Pet

Meet 小兔子.
Translation: Little Rabbit.
(That was his/her official name during the 45 minutes we had it.)

Dallas discovered this baby bunny all alone nibbling on his garden. He and Lin-Ley were soon bringing it up to our bedroom in a butterfly net for my inspection.

Of course, "Can we keep it?" came up several times.

小兔子 was released (unharmed) (and quite loved already) near a nice grassy, wooded area. There are carrots waiting in case he/she decides to visit again. However, Dallas warns that 小兔子 should not visit his garden again....

Tooth Fairy Double Whammy

It all started with an apple....
Lin-Ley has had a loose front, top tooth for weeks and weeks. She refuses to let me pull it. This morning on the way to school she was eating an apple and I heard a "crack". She was silent for a few moments then announced that her tooth was very loose. Later, upon inspection, I discovered it was her bottom tooth that had not even been loose before the apple did its magic.
Tru discovered his first loose tooth last weekend. He has been excited but was not considering letting me pull it. Until tonight....

Two kids, two teeth, double the loot.

















Lin-Ley went first and bravely allowed me to pull her tooth so that Tru could see that it "does not hurt". She was genuinely excited (and surprised) when it finally popped out.
Tru was not having anything to do with it! After some "the Tooth Fairy will come tonight" coaxing he finally opened his mouth. After three attempts the tooth was out. Then we howled and cried for ten minutes afterward because of the residual blood.

Here is Tru's cute little mouth with its first missing tooth.

Lin-Ley wrote notes for each of them to leave for the Tooth Fairy. She wrote Tru's note and had him sign his name to it.

Not only did she write notes but she left an extra piece of paper with each one so that the Tooth Fairy would write a note back to them!

Not to be outdone, Five-O recently lost a tooth as well.

Of course, for some reason, we still have her tooth too.

Lin-Ley wrote this note to the Tooth Fairy on Five-O's behalf. A few days later the Tooth Fairy found time to stop by our house and leave Five-O a new dog toy. The kids were thrilled to learn that the Tooth Fairy made stops for dogs too.


















Speaking of teeth... In February I chaperoned a field trip with Tru's school to the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore.
There, to my surprise, was President George Washington's teeth. That's right, the teeth of the first president of the United States. And here they are:

Note: George Washington's teeth were NOT wooden. They were made out of rhino and elephant ivory.
Did you know?
When George Washington became our president he only had one tooth in his mouth.
When he left office he had a mouth full of teeth. (See above.)

And now you know....

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Oh, a blessed three day weekend. With no plans or engagements. Literally nothing planned. How long has it been?

The holiday was in full force right after school on Friday.

There was swinging,

then everyone got a ride on the John Deere.

On Saturday it was time to garden.

Getting as dirty as possible is a must for our kids.

The potatoes were growing quite nicely so they decided to plant sweet potatoes as well.

Then, in the sweltering heat, there were many races across the field,

as well as other games such as Hula Hoop Toss.

To get everyone cooled down Dallas cut a cold, sweet watermelon.

On Sunday we even got a break from Chinese School so Tru had some time to work on his basketball skills.

Somehow, between all the fun, Lin-Ley managed to read seventeen books over the long weekend.







Unfortunately, Dallas had to work on Memorial Day.  So, the kids and I had to find something fun do.  I took them to Toys R Us to spend some gifts cards they had received at Christmas.  As we were about the leave the kids pointing out our "swarm of bees".  When I looked over toward our cherry tree (which is scheduled to be removed soon) I saw the swarm.  It was not bees but what was it?  It was coming out of the damaged branch that looks as if it will fall any day.  I wanted Dallas to see the activity so I took a quick video.  I am not sure how long this lasted but the kids and I watched it for at least ten minutes.