Nathanael lost a tooth yesterday. Here was his letter, ALL in his own words, to the Tooth Fairy and her, really his, reply to him.

May 5, 2007
Dear Tooth Fairy,
I lost a tooth and I have a big hole! I can fit a straw through it. I like having a big hole in my mouth. Have you ever lost any teeth? Where do you live? I’m hoping to get some money for my tooth. How do you get to our house? In kindergarten we thought you rode on a motorcycle to our house (that was not noisy). My teacher, Mrs. Stein, she read a tooth fairy story about you riding a motorcycle. I think you look very very pretty. Do you live in a mansion? I know that I have a lot of questions. Are you ok with that? Do you have a computer? Do you have a husband? Do you have Valentine’s Day and Christmas, and Thanksgiving Day and Easter? We like doing that. Do you have an office? Do you make lots of money? Do you have lights in your home?
Please answer these questions, all of them. Thank You
Love,
Nathanael Nims

Dear Nathanael,
I’m so happy to hear that you lost your tooth without actually loosing it this time… searching around the ditch at your grandma’s house was a lot of work!
I’m also glad you are finding the hole in your teeth useful by inserting a straw there. It must be nice to be able to smile & drink through a straw at the same time!
You like to ask a lot of questions, don’t you? That’s great. It’s so important to ask a lot of questions in life. I’m afraid I can’t answer all of them though, because some tooth fairy things are very secret. When I was a young tooth fairy I did loose my baby teeth, just like you. Then my tooth fairy came and took each tooth to our tooth treasury where we keep all our prized tooth collections. That’s so funny that you thought I rode a motorcycle! Ha Ha .That seems like a crazy way for a fairy to get around, don’t you think? I love to fly. I have wonderful fairy wings that carry me from place to place and keep me safe from harm. Thank you for your compliment, I think you are a beautiful little boy. My house is not large by human standards, but it is beautiful and peaceful and I love it very much. I wish you could visit but I’m afraid no human could ever venture there, it’s a secret!
I do not have computer, though I enjoy using the computers at the people I visit’s homes. In fact, I’m typing this on your daddy’s computer right now! These keys sure are hard to push though. I have to jump from letter to letter! I’m not married. I am a young fairy. We have different holidays from you but we do like to celebrate the birth and resurrection of our savior Jesus. We don’t call it Christmas & Easter though. I don’t have an office, my work is done in homes like yours where I find children’s teeth and leave rewards in return. We tooth fairies make a good living collecting and trading teeth. Of course I have lights in my home, I especially like to use candles.
Thank you for the beautiful tooth.
God Bless You
Love
The Tooth Fairy

We spent Thursday evening in Santa Barbara as family at our friend’s, Casson and Anna, art gallery opening. http://galleryocho.com/ (There are some pictures.) Nathanael and Noah had fun time looking at the art in the gallery, eating chocolates, running around the fountain in the courtyard (which Noah fell into to…brrr.), eating chocolates, chasing other kids, and eating chocolates. After the opening, we decided to have dinner with friends at Chef Karim’s, a Moroccan restaurant. For those of you who have never experienced eating at a Moroccan restaurant there are usually a few key differences. They typically wash your hands at the table. You often sit on the floor or on cushions or benches around a low table. You eat with your hands. And there is usually….a belly dancer. Which brings me to the point of this post. We had just finished our appetizers when the belly dancer came out to entertain us whirling and snaking around the room with her scarves and finger cymbals. A happy and playful dancer, probably about 50, she kept asking Nathanael and Noah to dance with her. Each time the looked wide eyed and shook their heads no as if asking them if they wanted to kiss a cobra. Across the room a large party of about 20-30 decided to liven up the restaurant and got up to dance with the belly dancer. At which point the host came over and asked me to join them on the floor. I reluctantly got up and after a moment motioned for my crew to join me. Brent got up to get his groove on and, as most of you know, Noah was then only a step behind. Noah ran up and began to dance and smile with so much joy that people who were having fun started having even more fun watching him. That’s when Nathanael couldn’t take it anymore. Nathanael, a usually shy child in public places, marched onto the dance floor and started doing a Moroccan version of the Can-Can. (He had just learned the Can-Can in music class that day and earlier that afternoon he had been busy teaching Noah the kicks.) The belly dancer was so impressed with his moves that she grabbed his hands and led him into the center of the circle of people. Always the artist, he danced his Moroccan Can-Can with the seriousness of a first chair violinist in an orchestra. He kicked and shimmied as hard and fast as his little body would go. When the music ended the room broke out in applause and he looked confused trying to decide if he should be proud and smile, or be embarrassed. Of course we told him how wonderful he was and then ate our meal of lamb, rabbit, chicken, and beef which was very tasty and satisfying. But not nearly as satisfying as spending the evening smiling and laughing with people I love and watching our little artist create the Moroccan Can-Can.