The Talens' Tales

That's right. Joash's mouth and the coffee table have met. And it was not the most pleasant meeting for Joash. Bur that is what happens when you try to make a bridge from the couch to the coffee table out a couch cushion. We are so thankful our dentist squeezed us in this morning. We were quite concerned that his two front teeth were pushed back, but after the dentist had a good look at this brave boy's mouth, he declared all is well. Just sore and bruised, but all the teeth are firmly in place. Joash also has a small chip out of the corner of one tooth, but nothing to be concerned about, especially since he has only baby teeth yet. So, we will be living on a diet of soft foods and Popsicles for the next few days. We are very thankful this looks much worse than it is.

 Mom: Mataya, I know I am late for this interview. M(ataya): Yeah, Mom. I have been trying to tell you that we need to do this for days now. Mom: I know. I guess I was caught up in getting ready for our move and Opa's 60th birthday party and Story Hour at Coffee Break that is sort of slipped my mind. But I am here now, so how are you? M: I am doing great. I know I have been a little crabby lately, but I am getting 2 more molars, so I just can't help it. Mom: I know. But you certainly are teething in a funny order. The rest of the teeth should be a breeze now. What have you been doing lately? M: Well sometime I like to work on my standing and walking. I can do it, but I am not really in a rush to stop crawling yet. And I keep learning lots of new words, but I get a frustrated when you still don't understand me.  Mom: I am trying my best. But sometimes things just sound all the same. Any new experiences this past month? M: I have gone for a few tractor rides...

For the past few days, this is where you will find my kids. They like to sit in this cupboard and close and open the doors. They talk about, play with some toys, but mostly just close the door, sit in semi-darkness, open the door again and laugh.  I love seeing them have fun together. Today Joash actually asked Mataya to come and play with him.\ In other news, Mataya is working hard at learning to walk! Hopefully I will get some video of this up soon.

Going against what society sees as normal is difficult. Doing that as an African American woman in the mid 1840's was nearly impossible. But in A Light in the Wilderness , Jane Kirkpatrick tells the remarkable tale of a woman who did just that. Based on the the actual events of the life of Letitia Carson, Kirkpatrick weaves a fantastic tale of a journey of a woman from slave to an independent land holder in the Oregon territory. Letitia was granted her freedom when her master died. She starts to earn money and soon buys a cow. She become quite the business woman selling milk and butter and soon finds herself in the company of Davey Carson, an Irish immigrant. Eventually, he asks her to come west with him to Oregon. While they fight to make it through the treacherous journey and start a life for themselves in the unclaimed lands of the west, Letitia is constantly trying to prove her worth to those around her and to herself. Can she be the one to break the stereotypes and set...

Can you believe it? This guy is in Pre-K. Today was his first day and from the sounds of it, he had a really good time. His favourite things to do were playing with the tractor and the sand table. His teachers said he did great and drop off was no problem. By the time I picked him up, I think he was hungry. He cried because he didn't want to leave his indoor shoes at school. So, hopefully Thursday will be a bit better in that department. But overall, it was a great first day of school. And mom and Mataya had a fun time running errands with just the two of us.

I think it is very safe for me to say that my kids two favourite things are being outside and books. The weather has been on the rainy side as of late, but we still try to sneak out when things are not too wet. Mataya's new favorite thing to do is ride on the yellow car. She get a bit grin when she sits on it and she is able to push herself backwards, and often ends up going in circles because she has the steering wheel turned just a bit. And she likes to make the horn beep.  Joash enjoys the same things outside as always like playing in the sandbox or with water. (He can now turn the hose on by himself.) He also likes to ride down the small hill in our drive way on the yellow car or his tricycle. Still no real interest in riding the tricycle or a bike completely by himself. Maybe next summer. When it is too rainy, we often spend a lot of time reading books. The hardest part now is getting the kids to take turns picking which book to read, as they have different tastes right ...