"Something weird" and other randomnicity

Yesterday Zachary hollered up the stairs with this announcement: "Something weird just happened to me!" Given our week, we assumed the worst. Fortunately, when he came upstairs, this is what we saw:

Zach had been using his teeth to pry a stopper out of a bouncy ball and his loose tooth just popped out. The weird thing? The tooth is missing. We think maybe he swallowed it. Any thoughts on how to alert the tooth fairy? He'll probably write her a note.

In other Zachary news, we had a parental first: grounding. Sad, huh? The kid's not quite seven! Happily, extended bedroom confinement did wonders for his attitude and behavior. Plus he read for several hours, played constructively by himself (this never happens), and thought that being released early to help out around the house was a fine idea!

Tyler was encouraged to wear purple to school on Tuesday. His wardrobe is devoid of this hue, so Garry had the brilliant idea to spray paint Ty's hair purple. Tyler was the most popular boy at school on Tuesday, and Dad got a heaping mound of Cool Points. The paint washed right out during bath time but left a purple ring around the tub.

Tyler is convinced our baby is a girl. He frequently prays for her health and well being...specifically, that she "won't die after just two days." We have pinpointed the origin of his concern on this front, and have encouraged him to just pray for the baby to be healthy and strong instead. This is a good compromise in his mind.

Perhaps the best part of the soccer season for the boys is playing with friends while the other brother has a game. Climbing trees is especially popular. Tyler scaled this one about thirty seconds after we arrived at the park one evening.

Ever since we moved in, our kitchen's Lazy Susan cupboard has been driving me insane. Thanks to advice from a friend, I finally rearranged our cupboards so that the Lazy Susan is (1) not used as much, and (2) contains rotating-friendly items on its shelves. Two days in, I haven't cursed it once. This is major progress. In other organizational news, I have decided that until I feel well, we are not using the dining room. All meals will happen at the kitchen island. Keeping one surface clean is about all I can handle. Plus, front door guests can't see the kitchen!

Although having a break from yard work since July has been wonderful, I have been strongly hinting to Garry that I'd like to complete our flagstone patio before the snow comes. We are running out of time, so yesterday we got started. I wasn't very helpful with all the heavy stones, but I tried. Garry had fun with his leaf blower, Tyler helped out with little rocks, and Gavin wandered about all bundled for the 39-degree weather. We made decent progress....until the pouring rain arrived. We still have a lot of work to do...

Because it has {suddenly} been so cold, we have all been a little chilly in the house at night. It was time to bust out the winter pajamas the other day, so Tyler got to fish around in the crawl space one day for clothing boxes. Zachary's jammies from last year didn't fit (big surprise) and only two threadbare pairs in Tyler's size had survived Zachary's use. So the boys got some new jammies -- "sliders" (the kind with feet) and Superman. What fun.

Also on the cold weather front: the boys have outgrown their winter coats. Tyler wore his to a birthday party on Saturday, despite it being very short in the arms. He commented to the birthday boy: "My coat is too small, but I'm getting a new one in the mail. It is orange." Unfortunately Zach destroyed the size 4/5 coat he had at Tyler's age, so we do have to replace it. Are we really ready for a Colorado winter???? My guess is not.