Beware! The Tooth Fairy Cometh!

Cedric has had a loose tooth for about a week. It has really been bothering him. This past weekend we tried several times to take it out but no luck.

Then tonight while I was making dinner and he ran into the kitchen holding his tooth. He was so excited. He gave me a big gap tooth smile showing it off (the black around his eye is from pirate eye patch face paint that wont wash off).

Alissa made him a little pouch (my wife is crafty) and he put his tooth in and is sleeping on it waiting for the tooth fairy to come and give him some money.

Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones

I have Celiac Disease.

This means that my body is Gluten Intolerant and has trouble processing Gluten which is in Wheat, Barley,  Rye, and Oats. I found out a couple years ago when my dad was diagnosed with it.

Since it is a hereditary trait we have kept the boys away from gluten as well. Being gluten free is not easy, but it has gotten easier over the past year or so thanks to new labeling requirements.

Anyway, Alissa got some GF Ice Cream Cones from a friend and tonight we had Cones for dessert. This was the first time the boys had Cones before. Usually we just get ice cream in bowls.

They were real good. I could not tell that they were GF which is pretty amazing.

Now I just need to find out if any local ice cream shops will let me bring my own cones.

I love summer!

Haircut Time

My kids love going to the barber. I know some kids have a problem going to get their haircut, but I have been lucky. I took Cedric to watch me getting my haircut several times before it was actually his turn to get a haircut.

The guys at Longview Barber Shop in Clintonville are awesome with kids and definitely have a ton of experience cutting kids hair. Saturday mornings are usually packed with Dad’s and kids getting cuts.

After our cuts we would go home and play haircut and give each other haircuts using various toys as cutters and scissors.  This of course led to him playing haircut by himself. Which of course led to him finding a real pair of scissors and attempting to cut his hair and then I had to take him to get his head shaved at the barber to try and hide the damage.

He mostly has outgrown this, but he still cuts his own hair from time to time. Heath has started doing the same thing, but not quite as much as Cedric did. From time to time they cut each others hair.

After Cedric’s latest  foray into the barber world I decided that if I was going to have to get his head shaved again, I might as well do it myself. I ran out to Target and picked up a clipper set.

The boys had fun playing barber with me out in the front yard. Only one small nick on Heath’s ear. I think I will call it a success, but I will not be hanging out my barber poll anytime soon.

Rainy Day Blues

So you had big plans for the day. Maybe you were heading to the Clippers game morning. Maybe you just wanted to take the kids to the park and let them run wild.

The real question is what to do now that mother nature canceled your plans.

Here are some ideas:

1) Recycled crafts – Get a box and start saving up crafty things (toilet paper rolls, buttons, and pull it out and let the kids get creative. One possible ideas if they need a little direction: Discovery Bottles. Get an empty water or soda bottle clean it out and peel off the lable. Put small toys or other items (Popsicle sticks, buttons, pennies, etc) in the bottle then put rice in the bottle to cover the items – about half to 2/3 full. Then glue the top on and let it dry. Kids will have fun shaking the bottle and playing games like eye spy.

2) Take the kids to the Mall – All the big malls have great play ares where kids can run out a little of their energy.

3) Let them Play the Rain – If it isn’t too cold out just let the kids go out and play. Kids need to get dirty and wet – it is part of childhood and it all washes off.

Impromptu Crafting

I was helping Alissa stock some items up in the sales area and noticed the kids were quiet. This is usually a bad sign.

I ran to the play area at the store and the boys had apparently decided to raid the craft cupboard (they figured out the child locks about 1 hour after I installed them) and had set themselves up on the craft table to make some art.

It was nice to see them getting along doing something like this without supervision.