Today Mama was running errands, so Daddy was home with Drew and Will with the simple goal of not having anyone get seriously injured on his watch. It was close, but I think I accomplished the goal...barely.

It was an unusually warm day, so we were taking advantage of the change in weather to practice a little baseball in the backyard. Drew and Will took turns working on their batting, Will off the tee and Drew some nice and easy coach pitch. All proper safety precautions were being followed with Will a good distance behind me, near the fence, when I pitched to Drew. Other than being directly behind me, it couldn't have been any safer for Will other than to not play with us. Sure enough, Drew hits a line drive, which would have hit the fence on the fly (he has never hit one over...yet), except for the fact that the ball hit Will right in the mouth. I saw it all in slow motion...the ball went straight for Will, a million to one shot, Will reacted but just not quick enough, the ball hit him squarely in the mouth and dropped to his feet, depleting all of its energy in the four year old's face.

Understandably, Will instantly began screaming. I rushed to him and attempted to comfort him while I assessed the situation. Only a trace of blood, no lacerations and all his teeth in tact (one had just recently started to become loose)...good signs. I scooped Will up and took him inside while explaining to the very concerned Drew that he had done nothing wrong and asked him to pick everything up outside.

Inside, I held Will on the couch but he was inconsolable. I then asked if he wanted a cup of water out of the hope that it would distract him rather than out of concern for his hydration. Success, the water calmed him down. After two cups, he was still red-faced but, otherwise, calm. We watched TV for a while until Mama came home. I related the story to her in abbreviated, sometimes spelling, don't alarm the kids, parent mode...with emphasis on the no tooth loss part which I implied was an indicator that the whole incident was not too big a deal and that Daddy hadn't messed up too bad.

Mama, asked Will to open his mouth so she could check the damage. Sure enough, there was a huge gaping hole where one little boy's tooth was formerly located. [Shoot!] I swear it was there when I checked outside. Now, not only did I allow my child to get his tooth knocked out, but I'm also some dangerous combination of blind and an idiot.

Later in the evening, Mama was helping Will write a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining why he still wanted his statutory fee but was unable to provide the requisite chattel in exchange...or, maybe something with a little less legalese. Mama told Will that if she thought it would help and knew where to look, she would go outside and search for his tooth. She asked if he spit the tooth out or swallowed it. Will said that when he was inside he spit out a rock. When further prompted, Will explained, while very cutely demonstrating, that he "quietly" leaned over and spit a rock out on the carpet (apparently while Daddy was getting one of the cups of water).

Mama grabbed a flashlight and started the, surely impossible and likely futile, task of looking for Will's tooth in the carpet in front of the couch. But, just a few minutes later, in the folds of the couch...one baby central incisor! The previously loose tooth that got knocked out in the yard, then possibly spit out in the house, was found by Mama and that night was taken away by the Tooth Fairy. Another Danz Family story ends happily ever after.

Today I traveled to Pittsburg County and the city of McAlester where I ran into Lady Liberty again. This bronze beauty completes my Lady Trifecta! See my prior Lady Justice and Lady Liberty.

Joey our cat relaxing while I work on the computer.

Apparently, getting your photo taken isn't all that exciting.

I made beer bread today from a recipe a friend gave me. It turned out awesome! And, it couldn't be any easier to make:

Ingredients:

• Stick of butter
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• ½ cup sugar
• Can of beer

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use part of a stick of butter to grease a bread pan.
3. Combine flour, sugar and beer in a bowl.
4. Stir mixture and then pour into the bread pan.
5. Put it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
6. Take it out of the oven.
7. Melt remaining stick of butter and pour/brush over top of bread.
8. Put back in oven and bake for additional 15 minutes.