Question

Brother Bear had a internet chat last night with his Cousin Bear. They were giggling and talking and having and absolute blast. At one point, Brother Bear ran out of the computer room to fetch something he wanted to show his Cousin Bear.

Later that evening, I returned to the computer room and found this:

Here's my question: Am I being invaded or protected?

With all the books, games, movies and lego creations around here, I should know the answer. But, honestly, unless they are Luke, Leia, Hans, Yoda or Darth Vader, THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE TO ME.

This is my life, Cyberbears.

Seven!

Seven!

Oh my heaven!

When did you get old enough to be SEVEN YEARS? I just can't believe it! Now, I wasn't quite lucid when they brought you into this world, so someone had to give me photographic evidence of the moment you entered this world:

I guess I'll have to trust it...

Brother Bear, It seems like yesterday that we brought you home all tiny and soft and placed you in this cradle hand-made by your grandparent bears:

And now, now you are a BOY cub. There's no more baby cub left.

You've grown so much over the past year.

Not as much physically, but in character.

You grew in courage, facing an uncomfortable surgery you didn't want.

You grew in strength, managing the post-op pain and rehab.

You grew in maturity, learning the ropes at school and on the playground.

You grew in compassion, finding ways to give to others with what little you have.

You grew in humor, learning how to tell jokes and master a well timed physical pratfall.

These are stats the doctor won't measure at your 7 year checkup. But rest assured, we've observed them. We cherish them.

We love you.

Our first.

Our boy.

Happy Birthday Brother Bear!

Head first into trouble

These two bear cubs are going to make their Mama Bears' fur go grey. Not that any of you would know because, well, there are treatments for that condition. But know that, underneath all the treatment, it's full on grey 'cause of these two-twos.

But you know what? They are worth every penny we might spend on treatment!

Sales Cub of the Year

How

can

you

say

no?

I certainly can't.

Looks like we'll be eating LOTS of popcorn this year..

Downhill slide

I'm a runner bear. (Those of you who know me well just said a collective, "duh!?!"). Anyway, I'm currently training for my 13th marathon and (most days) loving it.

As a marathon running bear, I sometimes battle something called ITBS. It's no big deal if you know what the symptoms are, and keep them in check. After 12 marathons, I know the symptoms well. I also know that, for me, the key to keeping ITBS at bay is stretching.

Thus, every day after my run, I take a moment to do some simple yoga poses that help stretch my IT Band. Now, normally when I do yoga I'm in yoga pants which tend to cover your legs. But when I'm doing these particular stretches, I'm still in my running shorts.

So the other day, I was in a quiet corner of the gym dutifully stretching and enjoying a nice "downward facing dog" pose. Whilst there, I got a hairbrained idea to take a look at my legs, instead of the floor as I normally do.

Bad idea.

When I looked at my legs, I let out an audible cry. For this is what I saw:

(I have been assured that no elephants were injured during the taking of this picture)

Okay. So maybe I exaggerated a little. That's what I felt like I saw. here's what I really saw:

(Rest assured, no Mama Bears were injured during the taking of this picture. A stunt camera-bear was employed)

But seriously, look at those knees. Do you see now why I gasped? Apparently the elasticity of my leg skin has a lifetime warranty of 37.5 years. WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME? I want my money back! Goes to show that you just don't realize how valuable skin elasticity really is until you NO LONGER HAVE IT!

I'm currently researching (read: google searching 'til my eyes turn red) knee skin lifts. Until then it's bermudas, capris and long pants for me. (I'm now realizing why culottes were all the fashion craze amongst the Mama Bears when I was a cub). I'm contemplating bringing the burqa to main street fashion.

Sigh. They really mean it when they call it the "downhill slide" don't they?

************************************

Author's Post Script:

• It's not often that I get a chance to google search "elephant knee/leg pictures", "downward facing dog", "culottes" and "burqa" in one day. Let's just say that I might have wasted valuable Mama Bear time clicking and giggling today.
• I still can't believe I posted a picture of my nekked legs for all you Cyber Bears to see. Go easy with your comments please. Can't you see I'm fragile?
• I'm pretty sure that after this post, I've officially landed myself on some sort of government blog-watch list. Consider yourself warned.

I want my Hillbilly baby back!

Thanks to a mom/teacher bear known for her love of pulling teeth (why someone would love that, I have no earthly idea), Brother Bear's "tooth that just wouldn't come looth" was wrestled free last night at church. It wasn't without drama, or more blood than any of us would have preferred, but a visit from the tooth fairy seems to have eased all the pain!

I'm glad that the choking hazard is now gone from his mouth. However, I'm watching my precious baby shrink away with each subsequent tooth. I must admit that while the new smile is pretty darn cute, looking at it also makes me a little weepy. It's nothing but big teeth, braces and smelly socks from here on out.

So tonight, I cuddled him extra hard while I had the chance. It's my right as a Mama Bear! Right?

Hillbilly hello!

Alternately titled, "The tooth that just wouldn't come looth"...

Brother Bear has a loose tooth that has been hanging by a thread - literally - since Friday. I was certain that our corn on the cob with dinner on Friday would do the trick. Nope. This is one stubborn tooth.

Oh, and did I mention that I refuse to be a part of ripping a tooth from my sweet, innocent bear cub's mouth?

So, we wiggle and we wait and we wiggle some more. And we might also giggle a little every time we try to have a conversation with this:

Does anyone hear banjo music?

Accessorizing

"It's what all the ladies who lunch are wearing now, dahling!"