Happy 5th of July

I missed the fireworks last night because my tummy hurt. I could hear them, but didn't go outside in the backyard with everyone else to see them.

Some other news: Steve has braces. He got them on last week. He's going to have oral surgery next Monday (the 9th) at the periodontist (gum doctor) as part of the process. He is having a procedure called "wilkodontics" and is supposed to wear the braces anywhere from 6-12 months. Then he'll be done. Julie didn't like the braces at first - and when I touched them to try to ease her mind, she pushed my hand away from Steve's mouth.

Also on the oral front: Caleb lost his first tooth this week. He was eating corn on the cob Monday evening for dinner and it made a crack sound. It's been loose for a while, so Steve and Caleb went into a back room (because the sound made me ill) and Steve pulled it. He put it in a Ziploc bag under his pillow that night and, according to him, God (not the tooth fairy) gave him a dollar for it. He says he doesn't believe in fairies. Spoilsport. As soon as he wakes up, I'll take a picture of him and post it. He's very cute. The dentist told us that we need to take him to the orthodontist this summer to get a consultation. We're going to be dropping a chunk of change on teeth, I think.

We're in Clovis right now. We came Sunday afternoon after Pastor Chuck's 20th anniversary celebration at the church. We had a fun time, even though Julie had been diagnosed with the coxsackie virus the day before. Hand, foot, and mouth disease. She had a fever, rash, and blisters in her throat. Sunday her fever broke, so after the lunch at church (where she stayed in her own stroller the whole time so as to not infect anything at church), we packed up and headed here for a few days. She seems to be doing very well now. In fact, she's running around (literally) with a plastic sheep saying, "Animal. Animal." It sounds like "am-mul."

You can see my pink hair here. It's *much* brighter in person.

Here's Toothless.