September 18

Amy lost her first two teeth! Miraculously, the tooth fairy even found us when we were in a hotel. For Amy’s first tooth she wrote herself a note to remember to put it under her pillow (Put [picture of tooth] undr pilo).

We attended a family wedding this past weekend, thus the slightly delayed sending of this update. (Also, due to the request of one of my favorite readers I will now go back to writing on Sunday instead of Saturday). The  whole trip went quite well, despite times when the girls had to wait for food and they were up past their bedtime. Given that, I am especially impressed with them. For the wedding itself there were three hungry kids (two of them mine) and if it wasn’t for Sarah having some dietary restrictions I wouldn’t have brought any food with me. Luckily, since I needed to bring a few items for her anyway I chose to throw some extra snacks in my bag and they saved us all from at least two melt-downs. Always, always, always bring snacks. 

Amy makes new friends wherever she goes and she was quick to become best friends with her cousin. She was in tears when they had to say goodbye. She was also in tears on Friday because she was missing school for our trip. She was upset about missing her friends and missing math class!

An excellent rest stop between Pittsburgh and VA along route 522 is the Virginia Farm Market. They have apples and pumpkins and cider doughnuts. They have a sandy area with a ropes course. They have a large wooden train. They have steps. They have flags. They have an old tractor. They have bathrooms. This was a highlight of our drive both directions.

One morning last week Sarah’s bus was slightly late and she was getting worried, as was I. When it arrived, Sarah said, “Hallelujah!"

Another sweet moment was when I was talking to a friend who was sad. Sarah snuggled up on my lap and kept giving me huge hugs. In general, she has been a bit snugglier than usual, especially when I say I am cold. She wants to help me get warm by giving me big snuggles. She also likes to have me pretend to be Olivia, our cat, rubbing against her face to say “hello and I love you.” Sarah then pets my head and back.

We have caught three mice (alive) in a week now that I have a new trap that the mice can’t outsmart. Our previous traps were either solid dark plastic or so opaque that I couldn’t see well. I used to be so scared of setting the mice free. I think this was because I couldn’t see what was happening. The new trap is larger and see-through and I’m not scared at all. I feel like there is some profound life lesson in this about seeing clearly what one is up against and then whatever it is isn’t so scary, even if it is something you don’t want in your life.

Now to free a mouse, far from my home.