Leah Loses her First Tooth!

Leah has had a wiggly tooth since sometime in December, and yesterday morning after all three kids had a sleepover on Joseph's bunk bed she decided it was too wiggly and pulled out her first tooth!  Leah is very matter of fact and full of manners lately, with many pleases and wanting to help.  Both girls have wanted to do more cooking (which was jump started by all of us watching master chef junior together a few times), so Jay and the girls made pizzas last night and the ladies also tossed together a salad.  Even Joseph tried the salad at dinner (which is unheard of) and I quite enjoyed a slice of the artichoke, mushroom, tomato and olive pizza. (the girls get their pizza taste from me, and their love for making it from Jay).  After dinner and a night of playing Leah tucked her tooth under her pillow and was pleased to find $2 in it's place this morning.  Hannah noticed how fair the tooth fairy is by giving Leah the same amount that she got for her first tooth a few weeks ago.  That tooth fairy sure is smart!

The Story of How Bear Bear lost his Arm

Bear has been with Leah since she was born....I'm not sure how he was selected from the many other stuffed animals but Bear (or more affectionately referred to by Leah at times as Bear Bear) has been Leah's sleep pal and comfort toy and Bunny has been Hannah's.  As you can see, Bear is in pretty rough shape after 5 years of cuddling and traveling, and last fall Leah asked (in tears) if I could fix Bears arm.  Previously I had already repaired a broken leg and a broken arm, but this time all Leah had was a paw so we decided it didn't make sense to sew the paw onto Bear's side.  I didn't think to ask how his arm had fallen off because it had been barely hanging on for the past few months, but over Christmas Leah told the story of how Bear lost his arm in a freak accident at the Barbie mansion with the elevator.  Makes perfect sense, and this picture seemed fitting for the story.