Courtney has a loose tooth!!!

Courtney has lost her very first tooth!!!

Last week Courtney came to me complaining that her tooth hurt. When I checked it out and showed her that she had her first loose tooth, Courtney covered her eyes and began crying. "Oh No," I thought to myself," She must be terrified! But then Courtney looked up and me and smiled saying "I have a loose tooth? I'm so happy....I'm so happy I'm crying!"

She couldn't believe she was old enough to have her very own loose tooth. It was ready to come out a few days ago, but it took a while for her to get the courage up to ask for help in getting it out. She wanted it to come out by itself, but it was hurting too much.

Here's the before picture:

Courtney was very brave and sat on my lap and let Dad get out his pliers. I tried taking it out by pulling it out with thread, but that just never works. Teeth are too slippery. Dad is the best tooth puller in our house! He has sure hands, a tight grip, and they almost always come out on the first tug. Courtney's popped out with NO problem! She was so happy to get it over with...and so were we!

Here's Courtney afterwards (sorry there's still a little blood in her mouth) So happy that she gets to put a tooth under her pillow.

Lucky Courtney got a 2$ Canadian Coin. She loves it because it has both brass and silver colorings. (I didn't have any quarters on hand) So Courtney today finally got some quarters, but of course she gets to keep the canadian coin, too. She's on cloud nine!

Fish Heads, Fish Heads

Courtney & her cousin IVY at her 6th Birthday in the Park

Courtney cracks me up! The things she gets excited about! She is so unique!

A friend was generous enough to give us a freshly caught Salmon from the sea. It was beautiful, it was huge, and it was going to be very very tasty. We all love fish in our family, and Salmon is our favorite!

The fish was already gutted and cleaned, but the head was still on it. Scott would need to chop off the head, and filet it so I could marinade it and prepare it for dinner. Courtney was in the bath when she heard that Daddy was getting ready to chop off the fish's head. She was so excited, and was incredibly anxious that she not miss a single second of the action. She's usually the girl I pull out of the tub kicking and screaming after all the water is gone. But this time she was out and dressed in about 30 seconds and waiting at the table to watch the fish turn into filets.

I wonder what kind of naturalist Courtney will be when she grows up! She loves all animals alive and dead, and doesn't bat an eyelash when Scott kills our meat rabbits for dinner. I was 16 years old when I watched my sister, Mary Cate, catch her first fish. Mary and my brothers helped gut the fish while I hid in the motor home under my blankets shivering in fear. I didn't even want to LOOK at the fish till it was cooked and on my plate ready to be eaten. Even Angel thought the fish chopping was all great fun. I happily waited in the other room till it looked like a nice side of fish bought from the grocery store. When I see a dead fish, I want to puke. All my kids know that if any of their pet fish die, I won't even look at them. They have to flush them into the sewer system all by themselves. It took me a while to be able to eat the Rabbits that Scott grows for our family as well. I still have a hard time if people talk about it while we're eating.

I am posting this link to a weird, funny, macabre song about fish heads....follow it if you dare!

Fish Heads Fish heads YUMMY yummy Fish heads

Kids Creativity knows NO bounds!

Here Courtney is showing her creative gifts with bread dough. She loves to sculpt with it. In case you can't recognize her handiwork, she has created a "YOSHI" nintendo world figure...and now she's going to eat it!!!