The famous Tooth Bag!

"The Tooth Fairy" By Josie

It's official...Josie lost that first wiggly tooth and I'm well aware that this is a yet another sign that I'm old.

We had to run across the street to show Ben, Abby, Michele & Bob immediately because she knew they would want to see her new smile.

"She's about this small," she says as she holds up her thumb and forefinger to about two inches tall. When Bob tried to translate that to "If she's only this big, how can she carry a quarter?" Josie quickly corrected him, "She's not 'this big', she's 'this small. Geez..."

Before going to bed I heard a much more detailed description:

"She's just beautiful, you know. She has the prettiest fairy clothes and she has peach skin and these teeny tiny slippers that have little bitty ribbons but not the bumpy kind, the shiny kind. She has long long hair but you can't see it all because she wears a pony tail so the hair doesn't blow in her face when she flies. She flies fast, you know. I have to be careful not to squish her when she gives me my quarter. She is really strong because she can carry quarters without dropping them. I think she's going to show my tooth to all of her fairy friends and it will live in the forest and they will climb on my tooth like it's a rock in Oh-semitee. They like to have lots of rocks to climb so they take everyone's tooths when they come out."

Ben told her it's pretty small so it's probably worth about twenty five cents and Josie agreed that sounds about right. She held onto it all night and carefully put it under her pillow. She wanted to skip dinner but I told her the Tooth Fairy might be scared away by her growling belly if she didn't eat. She quickly scarfed down her dinner and couldn't wait to get in bed tonight.

These simple milestones seem so incredible to me. I love the delight and wonder I see in her eyes as she uses her imagination to try to create an image of the Tooth Fairy. I want to hold on to these magical moments forever.

The Gardener

I've been informed (by The Gardener) that I didn't show enough pictures of my Gardener helping me with our treasure. And truly, she IS my favorite part of the entire process so she should be center stage!

This afternoon she told me that plants like to hear singing and watch some dancing so she provided the free therapy session:

Winter Garden Diary

1 September: Seeds Sown


5 September: Sprouts!


2 October: (most) Seeds Flourishing


19 October: Transplant Starter Plants to the Ground (Nail biting worry: will they make it?)


26 October: One Week's Progress in the Ground (so far, so good!)


1 November: Looking Healthy 61 Days Post Seed Sowing!




Clearly, Josie's seeing signs of Fall in Fresno:
"Look, Mom! Our oranges are orangin' up!"

Halloween: Pumpkin Patch & Trick or Treat

Josie's class went to the Cobb Pumpkin Patch for Halloween and her dad was able to go along. He was in charge of Josie & Grace and it seems the girls kept him on his toes.



Josie's class seemed to have a great time, even if it did turn chilly this week.


No more kitties, no more brides...we've moved on to cheerleader this year. Oh my.