Ouch! and a Milestone

It has been a busy few days in our house. First, over the weekend, we managed to get a picture of the girls together, where they both look sincerely happy. These are always my favorite pictures...no special occasion...no forced smiles...no crying.


Then, on Monday, Grace discovered her first loose tooth and it has been VERY EXCITING. It is hard to see in the picture, but if you look at the bottom left, you can see her pushing on the said tooth. In case you are wondering, Grace is hoping she might get $2 so that she can give Faith a quarter, save two quarters so she can buy Papa a soda when we go to DC, give two quarters for the child her class sponsors in India and put 3 quarters in her bank. She asked if I knew when the tooth would come out, and expressed her frustration when I couldn't give her an exact date, explaining that she really needs the money. Finally, she is hoping that it will come out at school, because if it does, you get to go see Mrs. Nipp, and she will give you a special box for your lost tooth. We will certainly keep you posted on the loose tooth.


On to Baby Faith. No, her face is not dirty in this picture. Those marks are all scrapes. When I got to school Monday, this is how I found her and it caused me to draw in a breath. Apparently on the way to art, Faith and Autumn tripped over each other and fell, with Faith using her face to break the fall. As described by Faith, here are more details: "Autumn and I bumped each other and I falled down on my face. Autumn's nose bleeded a lot and we both were crying. They said they would call my mama, but they gived me a wet paper towel and I was ok." I am thrilled that this comes right before we are having Easter pictures taken.

Me, You and a Sled for Two

We woke up to a couple of inches of snow on Sunday, so we promised the girls that we would go and get some sleds and go sledding on President's Day. Sure enough, as soon as we woke up on Monday, we bundled up and took our sleds to the hill behind Falcon Stadium. It was a nice day, which was causing the snow to melt rapidly, but we got in a few runs anyway. The hill is actually pretty big, but by the time we were finished, both Grace and Faith were going down the hill by themselves. We knew it was time to go when Faith was asking Ryan to carry her up the hill and complaining that her bottom was wet. All in all, a lot of fun for the Struck Family.

We Love #20, Part I

Grace has been in Basketball since January, and she really likes it. Here are some of her favorite things about being on the team: boys that will do what she tells them to, her #20 jersey, making baskets, running really fast, and picking out snack when it is our turn to provide snacks after the game. I think we can agree that these are things most WNBA players are concerned with.

The game on Saturday was the first one that Ryan was able to attend, and he is a much better basketball parent than I am. He is able to keep track of her Game Stats, while I just can recall how smart and fast and cute she is. Perhaps this is also because he wasn't trying to pay attention to the game, take pictures and keep Baby Faith off the court by himself. This is much easier for two parents.

Anyway, here are her stats for this week's game: 1 basket, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Does anyone else believe this qualifies her for the MVP Award? (which does not exist, because they are 6 and we are just happy when everyone gets to play, and no one leaves crying).

More Christmas Presents

We had an extra Christmas with Ryan, which was thrilling to the girls. Grace liked the jersey and Faith liked this Beanie Baby from Grammie. Faith was concerned that Mommy didn't have as many presents to open as everyone else, but it was fun for me to just have my whole family in the same room again. On a side note, does the picture of Faith remind anyone else of Lenny from "Of Mice and Men"?