Where's the Tooth Fairy?

Joshua lost his third tooth yesterday and he was just as excited as with the first. Cousins were notified and the tooth was promptly placed in a tooth pillow that I used when I was a kid (He recently found this in my trunk and claimed it for himself along with a "Be Happy" needlepoint pillow I made in 3rd grade.).

Unfortunately, the tooth fairy was tired last night and was once again late to arrive. Joshua made this discovery when he awoke at 6:07 this morning and checked for his dollar. He had left a note requesting $100 so I think he was surprised to find his tooth and no money at all. The tooth fairy got busy and was able to make the exchange unseen while Joshua was in the bathroom. She's so quick!

With two loose top teeth and Noah trying to wiggle another one out, the tooth fairy needs to get it together.

Cousin Time

The latest photos of time spent with cousins...these are the moments of summer I love!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Reading: It's a Good Thing

From the kitchen this morning I heard the sweetest conversation between Noah and Joshua that negates all of the brother bickering I've been hearing of late. 

Together they were looking at a library book about space. First, I heard excitement over finding a picture of the star Betelgeuse - they had just heard detailed information about this star from a  Louis Giglio video we watched on YouTube last week. 

Next I heard this:

Noah: It's in a constellation. Do you know what a constellation is?

Joshua: No.

Noah: You know how we looked at the Big Dipper? That's a constellation.

Joshua replied with an understanding "oh."

They continued to pour over the pictures and text. They compared planets to each other and discussed dwarf planets. I think we've finally pushed through to the good place of no TV week. Okay, very limited TV week.

Summer Treat

Inspired by a friend on Facebook that was attempting to make "decent iced coffee" I wanted to give frozen frappuccino a try - again. I found the following recipe and did approximations in my Magic Bullet. It was delicious! I used half and half the first time and skim milk in the second one. The half and half was definitely creamier and more like Starbucks but it was still pretty good with skim milk. Take a moment to treat yourself with this refreshing beverage.

Frozen Frappuccino

• 1/2 cup of milk 
• 2 Tablespoons chocolate syrup
• 1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup of strong coffee, freshly brewed but cooled
• 1 cup of ice
• whipped cream (optional)
• chocolate shaving or chocolate syrup for garnishing (optional)

Put the milk, chocolate syrup sugar, coffee and crushed ice in a blender and mix until smooth. Pour into a glass and top with whipped cream and garnish with the chocolate syrup or shavings as you prefer. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

What Can We Do Now?

The newness of summer has worn away to the continuous refrain of "I'm bored" when the boys have more than 26 seconds of unoccupied time. Yet, when I make suggestions they are quickly snubbed and dubbed "the worst." Noah informed me that he would like to do something he has never done before. Lets see, 48 days until school starts. Third grade will be new.

Today was unusual in that none of the kids in the circle were available to play. The boys are so tired of each other that they apparently can't invent anything to do unless other kids are involved. Today was the ultimate in boredom though (It had to be because all I saw them do was build marble mazes, read, toss beanbags, kick stuffed animals up in the air and catch them, play video games, wrestle, play monopoly, watch tv, draw and play with Chino.) until the doorbell rang during dinner. It was music to their ears. They rushed to the door as Noah yelled, "Finally, the new neighbors are out!" After assuring their friends they would be out in a minute, they were back at the table to finish eating. I sat prepared to perform the Heimlich as my sharks shoveled in the rest of their curry shrimp - no chewing necessary when friends are waiting. So much for enjoying dinner as a family. It was probably boring anyway.  

What are we going to do tomorrow night Brain? Same thing we do every night Pinky...

The Bowlers

The boys have had a blast bowling their brains out in Elkhorn with the Kids Bowl Free program this summer. No turkeys yet but is that really possible unless you're Wii bowling? 

We have bowled with cousins or just the brothers. It is so enjoyable to do something with the boys and not have any complaints or fighting (Dare I say relaxing?). They love doing it and I truly love seeing them have so much fun. Today they upped the bowling challenge by playing the first game without the gutter rails. Joshua will be ready to join that bowling league before summer's end.

**Joshua came out of his room dressed like this and said these were his bowling clothes. I'm not sure what inspired this bowling look, but it cracked me up. 

Something New

Trying this new (to me) site for creating videos. Go to www.animoto.com to give it a try yourself. Thanks for sharing Jen!

The Future's So Bright...

Noah came in from outside and announced that he has three life goals. I waited anxiously to hear what amazing ways my 7 1/2 year old planned to contribute to society and this is what I got: 

Noah's Life Goals

1. Wipeout

2. Ninja Warrior

3. American Gladiator

He plans to compete on all of these shows. He then said that his "kid goal" was to complete an over 5,000 piece lego set. We couldn't be prouder.

Joshua, on the other hand, is making plans for when Rich and I are gone. He thinks that we have to die for his dream of having a convertible and a corn snake to come true. Every time we see a convertible he asks when we're going to get one. I finally just said never, in hopes of ending the discussion. Instead, this led to the "if you're dead" theory.  

He is right about the corn snake though, I would have to be dead to live with one. 

KidZui

For the past month my kids have been trying out a web browser for kids called KidZui. This is a free, downloadable web browser found at www.kidzui.com that only allows kids to access parent and teacher reviewed websites, games, videos and more. A unique log-in is set up for each child and parents receive weekly e-mails of what sites their kids are looking at the most. 

This has been perfect for my soon to be third grader who always wants to Google something. Now he can use KidZui to his hearts content like yesterday when he found endless amounts of information about black holes. He reported to me about his findings while I worked on something else. He loves being able to search independently and I like knowing he's not going to access unrelated or inappropriate sites. So much better than constantly reading over his shoulder.

Another KidZui plus is that it takes over the whole screen. This means that when your six year old uses your computer there isn't  the "accidental" opening of things or lost icons from the dock. There are extra benefits available with a KidZui membership, but there is plenty available without it. I would definitely recommend this for elementary age kids and younger.

What Would I Do Without My Older Brother?

I just heard this exchange...

Joshua: You crack me out.
Noah: It's up. You crack me up.

Silence

What's funny about this to me (besides the obvious) is that they were playing a video game and neither one was laughing. Maybe Joshua meant you crack me in because he was laughing so hard on the inside? It was nice that for once Noah corrected Joshua without being rude. Score one for video games - they distract you to the point of politeness.