Dear Tooth Fairy,

Tip of the day: One should never tease a child about pulling a loose tooth with pliers. One day, that child may have to see what the dentist uses.

a poem by Eli

He made it up while taking a bath and wrote it down when he got out of the tub.

SOAP

I put soap on the ceilings

I put soap on the wall.

I put soap on the beds

I put soap in the hall.

I put soap on the pillows

I put soap on our beach ball.

I put soap on the light bulbs

so they didn't work at all!

the end

Heading South for Spring Break

Some people head to beaches for spring break, but if you live in Fargo/Moorhead (or Siberiasted as it translates into a little-known ancient dialect of Norwegian) then spending the week in Iowa during March is just like being somewhere tropical. We have enjoyed 70* temps, four different parks in three days, and some St. Patrick's Day fun with friends. And in F/M, our yard still lies beneath 5 feet of snow. We (or me, Joel) may not be returning...potential homebuyers are welcome to present offers for our Moorhead estate. Included in the contract will be the Permasnow, something nobody told me about prior to relocating. Apparently it is "normal" to have snow on the ground for 9 months out of the year...

parent-teacher conferences

Noah's self portrait Yesterday we were told by both boys' teachers that in 20 some years of teaching each age group, they had never had a child like ours. Hmm.....

Noah: struggles socially, but he does seek out other (quiet) children to play with. He is a good listener and a nice friend. However, he pretty much refuses to talk to the teachers, and he doesn't like to be noticed. He knows all of the shapes, colors, numbers, letters and letter sounds. After bribing him with pop a couple of weeks ago, I also found out what I suspected; he knows A LOT of sight words. Unfortunately, as his teachers have noticed, he can be quite stubborn if he doesn't want to do something, and so far, that is his approach to reading. We have a meeting with the school's Early Intervention Service next week to see if there is something more to his behavior or if it really is just a social thing. We were pleased to hear that he has made some progress over the year!

Eli: has used his year in first grade becoming more social which was the main goal. He is the only kid in his class who got 100% on the latest reading/comprehension test. He is currently reading 181 words per minute at the highest first grade tested level while the next closest child is at 122 wpm. His teacher is amazed by his writing: capitalizing the right words, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. She was also surprised to hear that he had no previous knowledge of how to count money. As we were leaving the school, the music teacher invited us into her room. Eli played the 4 songs that Grandma Connie taught him on the keyboard and one on the xylophone. New goal: working on athleticism.

We are VERY proud of our boys!!!

seven

Newt-ritious Snack

Noah LOVES his monthly "Your Big Backyard" magazine. He's been waiting for a week to make this snack (sorry the picture is sideways. I'm to lazy to fix it). He ate the whole entire thing too.

Yep, Dad's gone for a few days and we have pop with our pizza!!!! Don't worry Joel, Eli still loves you the most. I know this because I overheard a bath conversation between my children last night.

E: Noah, who do I love more, mom or dad?

N: Dad

E: you're right

Me: (laughing) hey, I can hear you. That doesn't make me feel very good.

E: I don't know what to tell you about that.

Me: I have two kids and I love you both the same.

E: I love Dad as much as all the dots of gas on the sun, and I love you as much as the Universe.