Say Cheese!

While putting up the Christmas decorations today (yay!), we somehow got on the topic of snow — which took us back to the first time my hubby took our unnamed daughter sledding.

She must have been around five or six, and she had her first loose tooth (it will soon become clear why I associate those two events).  And that front tooth was really, really loose — at that nasty point where it was just hanging by a thread, but she refused to pull it.

It just so happened, that day was the first big snowfall of the winter, and while I was at work, he bundled her up, and strapped her on her brand new disc sled (the kind you can’t steer, but can go really, really fast).

Let me preface this story by referring to a previous post about how accident prone my hubby is.

And a little more background:  This is Kansas, and we’re a little challenged when it comes to good sledding hills where we live, so Topher adopted the role of sled dog and towed our giggling daughter diligently through the deep new snow.

They were having a blast!  She’d scream “Faster”, and Topher, the sled dog, would sprint faster.  This went on and on for a while, until “the incident”.

Topher got to spinning in circles while she was at the end of the rope, speeding up around him.  The dizzier he got, the more speed she built up.

Until she let go.

The kid went sailing toward the house at mach 2 … right into the trash can, face first.

That’s their story.  All I got was a phone call right before I left work.  I pick up the phone and hear Topher saying “Now when you get home don’t freak out.  It’s not that bad.”

Let’s just say, “not freaking out” isn’t what happened next.

I hurried home to find my little girl with a massive goose egg over her right eye and a missing front tooth. Not the best look, especially when (ready for this?) this was Saturday and school pictures were on Monday.

It does get worse though.

Sunday night, I put her hair in rollers to prepare for picture day and hoping her cute hair would distract from her new black eye and missing tooth. After I was done I was on the phone telling my mom I should have made an appointment to get my daughter a haircut before pictures, but I didn’t have time.

The next morning, I got up and went into the bathroom to get ready and something caught my eye. In the trash can were way more dark curls than any parent wants to unexpectedly see. Oh Please No, I thought while running into my daughter’s bedroom.

But Oh Yes, she did. She chopped off her beautiful dark curls all around her forehead.  She had heard me on the phone and decided to cut her own hair!

How was I going to salvage this? So here she was in her pretty pink dress and patent leather shoes — with her big black eye, missing tooth AND her Edward Scissorhands haircut.

Needless to say, I bought the least expensive picture package, and when I dropped her off at the teacher’s door I saw the horrified look on her face as she said “oh my!”

Oh my indeed, I thought as I walked back to my car hoping CPS wouldn’t be calling for an explanation. Also for months after this happened, it seemed like anytime we were out somewhere public, my daughter would loudly ask “Hey, dad remember when you gave me a black eye and knocked my tooth out?” causing everyone to turn and gawk.

I would like to say this was the only accident that happened while my hubby and daughter where home by themselves, but sadly there were several more — but those are for another day.

Speaking of pictures, here is my latest completed project. It is an antique desk with carving on both sides. I stained the top of it a dark walnut and painted the bottom with turquoise chalkpaint, distressed it, glazed it and coated it with clear wax. It’s a great size and has wonderful old hardware. I will be listing it on craigslist tomorrow for $125.

Before:  In classic Shanna style, I forgot to take a before picture.  Luckily, I found this one.  It’s the upside down desk on top of the other yet-to-be-completed desk.

After:  And right-side-up.