Lil'Nathan has lost a top tooth. Mary was a little irked b/c he lost it after she went to bed and the tooth fairy came that night. "I've never seen a top tooth out!" she lamented.

We went to a homeschool group field day on Friday, but for some reason it was really just a park day--no field day games. The kids were sorely disappointed... until they spotted another group doing field day. Lil'Nathan went up to them and asked if he could join. After he'd done two rounds of tug-o-war, Mary decided she wanted to play, too. So she did. They got to do a relay race and several potato sack races. One of the older kids adopted Lil'Nathan (or was it the other way around?) and played a couple games of catch with him. Mary bonded with a little girl her own age and her mother and helped with all the set-ups. The group was another homeschool group, a Christian one based on the north shore. We are eligible to join, if we want to. :) Very nice group of people, and really not all that far away. No further than the other groups we are in, anyway.

I made gingerbread tonight. I love gingerbread. It's so very yummy. I already ate too much. I'll likely have more. Maybe I should brush my teeth, then I'm less likely to sneak.

Uncle Johnathan left after a one-week visit. Mary sobbed for 45 mins. The kids were so crabby and grumpy I was ready to scream. The weather was cold and wet so there was no throwing them outside. If, after two weeks of grandparents in July/Aug, the weather is dreary and wet when they leave... I am going with them. (Or at least to work with Nathan!)

Our puny little garden is growing. We planted 4 pumpkin seeds, but not one sprouted. All 7 of the sunflowers are going strong, as are 3 bean plants, 8 sugar snap peas, 4 spinaches, 1 lettuce, 3 morning glories, and a handful of flowers that Lil'Nathan dumped in the corner under the rain gutter. We had high hopes for the pumpkin, but never even bothered with zuchinni. Despite all the jokes about not being able to find enough uses or friends for abundant zuchinni plants, I've never been able to grow one. Well, two years ago we had a plant that gave us about 6 little zuchs, but then it succumbed to squash bugs (or at least to my remedy for squash bugs. Killed the bugs... and the plant. Oops).

After much, and I do mean much, running around and backtracking, Nathan finally has his badges in place for the next part of his residency. He finished his time at the fabrication department on Fri and tomorrow starts at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. This is supposed to be the most "boring and useless" part of the residency, as advised by a former resident. It'll be 8 weeks of pulling devices off the shelf and fitting them to patients. No real interaction and no real thinking required. After this it'll be 8 weeks in Burlington and 8 weeks in Waltham--there, finally, working in pediatrics. Then back to Boston for the duration of the residency at Children's Hospital Boston. The good part about Beth Israel is that he can take the train into the city. No more driving. No more tunnel.

Ummm. Good gingerbread. :)