That girl was on fire.
And then. . . . .
it happened.

Sitting on the hard aluminum bleacher seat, I could see the ball as it propelled through the air, just missing her head, landing onto her chest, and then BAM! ricocheting onto her jaw. Her jaw jiving upwards, knocking the lower tooth into the upper. . .
and then. . . .

She clasped her hand over her mouth.
Uuuuuhhhh.
She turned toward me, eyes wide, as she she sprinted off of the soccer field.

She hopped into the players box, and then exiting out in a panic. Her mouth was still cupped by her hands as if she was going to throw up any minute.

I could see blood trickling out from under her lip.

“What happened? Are you okay? Does it hurt?” I was trying not to make a scene. Everyone was staring. Oh God. Please don’t cry too hard. Please be okay.

She removed her hand from her mouth, and slowly reached in and retrieved a part of her tooth.
She was full fledged crying now, as she looked at the broken pieces of her pearly whites in her hand.
Her face fell. And she was scared. I could tell.

“It’ll be okay. Don’t worry. We’ll fix it. I’ll take you to the dentist tomorrow. Promise.”

And then she cried a little harder. More of a whimper with little moans.
We jogged to the bathroom, and she peered into the mirror and removed more shards of her broken tooth.

“Oh no mommy! This is going to cost so much money to fix.”
“Don’t worry Bells. We have insurance. And anyway, I’d pay a million dollars to see you smile. Don’t worry.”

She wiped her tears and I asked her if she wanted to go home or watch the rest of the game in the stands.
She looked up at me . . . eyes bulging ” I think I want to go back in and play.”

And I let her.
Because that is the one thing I want my children to learn.
Always face your fears.

– – – – – – – – – – – – –

IF. . . . .your not in crazy dyer danger.
AND IF. . . .its under supervision. ADULT SUPERVISION. Because baby supervision would be stupid.
AND IF. . .your not bleeding too badly. A little blood, okay. A lot of blood. Bad.

Yup.
That’s my kiddo.
I should have known.  The weekend was going too well. Shelbi, Bella, and Soledad all had basketball games where they played like champs. I had just said,  “it looks like Bella is playing soccer like she is on the basketball court.”

Aggressive.
Fast.
All in your face.

Yup.
All in her face.
With her broken tooth, to prove it.
And now. . .
It’s been soups and soft foods for her all week
Which she has been completely tickled pink about.

We had Orecchiette with 3 Cheese from the Puglian Cookbook.
Then Indian Curried Lentil Soup.
Then we had Potato Fagioli. Which is my made up name for Pasta Fagioli with potatoes substituted for pasta.

She brought the soup to school two days in a row.
And ate it for dinner until it was all gone.
Her best friend bragged to his mom about how good it looked.

Now.
This soup was totes worth breaking a tooth for.

Potato Fagioli ( Thick Vegetable Soup with Potatoes, Tomatoes, and Ground Turkey )
Oh man. This soup is so good. You know what it tastes like? It tastes like Olive Garden’s Pasta Fagioli, only in my opinion, better:) We paired it with French bread, cut in half, buttered and sprinkled with garlic powder and a tad bit of salt. Put it in the oven on 350 for 15 minutes and YUM! And Oh! Bella is a huge salad eater, so we had a spinach salad on the side with a rasberry vinagrette.  I think I’m making it again next week.

Ingredients:

2 TB Olive Oil
1 Large Onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 pound ground turkey
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 – 15 oz. can red kidney beans
3 red skinned potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 bag (8 oz.) of frozen zucchini, chopped
1 TB Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
32 oz. water

Directions:

1. In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat oil on medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and cook until soft. About 8 minutes. Add garlic. Cook for 2 minutes longer.

2. Add ground turkey, and cook until browned.

3. Add tomatoes, beans, zucchini, vinegar, salt, oregano, basil, black pepper, bay leaves, thyme, potatoes, and water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, and simmer for 1 hour.  Adjust seasonings. Serve. Serves about 8.