The Christmas Haircut

I knew this day was coming, I just didn't think it would be when Cece was 2 years old. Yes, I cut another girl's hair when I was at the baby sitter's (I DO think I was a little older). Yes, it IS Christmas Eve, Eve (the day before Christmas Eve). Yes, the girls were ornery this morning and yes I knew it had been way too quiet for way too long.

I was on the phone talking to my Mom when Cece came into the kitchen snipping her golden locks. I think I caught out of the corner of my eye her hair swinging to the ground like magic feathers so beautifully. Oh the horror! My child gave herself half of a mullet the day before Christmas Eve. I said it.

These are the things you read about - that happen to OTHER people. And now, I have that child...My sister-in-law joked, that it was better at half a mullet then a whole one! Indeed!

It didn't really look that bad from the front, but I'm afraid there will be people beside us eventually noticing the lopsided haircut. I can only usher people to the front of us for so long. Alternatively, I thought about a nice hat. Really though. You can only wear a hat for so long. It was useless! The solutions going through my head were only temporary.

Thankfully, I have a compassionate hair stylist-friend who took pity on us and cut Cece's hair this afternoon. She just got up from a nap in this picture (hence the dazed look). It really is a cute little haircut and now she gets to use gel on a regular basis!

On the bright side, this makes for an eventful story to tell now and when she is older. Let it be known that this child is the cause of my grey hair.

Merry Christmas to all. May you and your families be well, travel safe, and have good hair for all your family pictures. God bless you into the next year.

Halloween Hair

Last year, in my infinite wisdom, I bought costumes on sale post-Halloween for this year. Now that was thinking. Except I didn't anticipate a larger than normal two-year-old who wears three-year-old clothes and has since last summer. Mistake one.

Mistake two was something I should have thought about. I bought a queen dress and I thought Pearl could be Rapunzel. I could make a wig. That seemed simple. The more I think about it, the more I really should have run the other way. Pearl, with long hair? Many of you may remember that Pearl has pulled out portions of her hair since she was a small child. I think we are through that stage but really, why did I think this particular child would play a character with mile long hair?

I got two skeins for yarn and materials for a crown. The night before her preschool party I was measuring and cutting, measuring and cutting, measuring and cutting. You get the idea. Then I ran out of yarn. So, at 7:30pm on a Sunday night Pearl and I made a run to Wal Mart (Gasp! Now THAT was scary!). Home I came and it was more measuring and cutting. Fast forward to the point that I have this yarned wig of terror put together. Not great but for the effort, but I thought to myself, "This kid is wearing this."

We were getting ready for the costume party and Pearl announces that she doesn't want to wear the wig. I said, "Um, the wig kind of makes the costume. Who will you be without the wig?"

"Rapunzel" she remarked in a matter of fact kind of way.

"How will people know?" I asked.

"I'm a princess" she said.

I love the simplicity of being 4. It's just the way it is. Whenever anyone asked her what she was, she said "Rapunzel". Of course I was tailing her, saying "-With a haircut." Because I'm not bitter.

I'm going to say it again. I'm not bitter. I just can't talk about it and every time I see a piece of yellow yarn, I die a little inside. I'm not sure what to do with all this 42" yarn. I might have to throw it away soon to get past this little episode...

None the less, we went trick-or-treating at Bethany Manor again this year and loved seeing the residents. What a great thing. I hope you all had a happy and safe beggar's night. Now, onto thanksgiving. I'm hoping it's a yarn free zone.

Fall Baking is BACK!!

Oh dear fall weather baking how I've missed you! Like I would for a dear old friend, I spent some quality time resuming my relationship with baking this afternoon. I made some baked Apple Oatmeal cookies and not only do they taste like apple crisp in the form of a cookie, as a complete bonus, my house smells fantastic! I remember feeling like this recipe was healthy but I'm afraid to say that 3 sticks of butter may not be so healthy. Did I mention they are delicious? People, room temperature butter is your friend and really makes all the difference (in case you were wondering). What yummy fall goodness in a cookie. *Sigh*

Here is the recipe so you can create a fall utopia right in your very own kitchen.

As summer comes to a close, I still often think about clearing out Danny's side of the garage. Frown. I am almost there! There are just a couple of large items to move/get rid of. We have an ottoman for sale should anyone need a place to put their feet up...it's a really fine leather ottoman and we will make you one heck of a deal ;) I am finally done with the dresser and it looks wonderful (if I do say so myself).

Rather unfortunately, the lovely knobs I ordered are just not going to work. They are too large for the top drawers and overall, honestly, they are just not the right style for the dresser. It pains me to say I am returning them! Frown again. Ebay here I come. I know what I need now, and as soon as I get them we will have a children's dresser/changing table for sale...any takers?

Chaos stories of the week:

1. Cece decided to feed the fish all on her own today. In our house we encourage independence but this was a bit much for me. Without supervision, she dumped one half can of fish food in the fish tank for two goldfish. I then proceed to completely drain and clean the tank while two unamused and disappointed fish watched me from a small jar. There were many deep breaths sighed (not good sighs) while cleaning up this mess.

2. You heard the story of Cece jamming a raisin up her nose. Pearl just had to give it a try on Friday. I am pleased to say that I was calm and collected and the situation was resolved in a timely and relaxed fashion. We also had a very intense talk about the ramifications (pun intended) about shoving things up one's nose.

This week, fall will be starting and we are looking forward to hay rides and many trips to the apple orchard. Ah! Beautiful! Enjoy the beauty of the season, no matter what is going on in your life.

Manic Mondays

I'm starting to wonder if I should be afraid of Mondays. I always thought people were just grouchy for no reason and we should all look forward to what the week has to offer but the last couple of Mondays have been interesting to say the least.

Last Monday I gave the girls baths and pulled Cece out first. I got her dressed and my 2 year old proceeded to have a snack in the kitchen. As I was cleaning Pearl up, Cece came in and said in a small trembling voice, "I have a raisin up my nose and I can't get it out!"

Oh geez. Enter Psycho Mom. Here is a small piece of what was going on in my head: I can't even see it! Can my fingers fit in her little nostrils? Should I call First Nurse? Should I take her to the emergency room? How am I going to get Pearl out of the tub with a raisin in Cece's nose? Hey at least it's edible! What if we leave it there? So much for being calm. We needed to get that raisin out.

I tried to look at it (yes, I flung her upside down) while trying to ask calmly (I was actually shouting the question I'm sure), "WHICH NOSTRIL IS IT IN!!??"

She pointed to the right nostril, meanwhile Pearl is yelling, "I WANT TO SEE IT!!"

I said "I can't see it so neither can you!"

Although I think a small animal could fit up my nose, my daughter got the tiniest nostrils on the planet, I'm sure. I tried getting my fingers in her nose to get it out with no success. Then, the tweezers. I think that scared her. Long story short, she snuffed it out in the end, out of fear (I think). Whew!~

Insert 1 week.

Today, after Cece ripped my fragile and failing phone in half, I decided we should make some salsa. We went out to the garden to harvest the first of our jalapenos and some roma tomatoes. The girls helped and it was nice. After I washed and cut up the veggies they put them in the bowl. You know where this is headed.

Pearl grabbed the jalapeno. I didn't think about it. Nor did I think about the fact that I had just touched fire myself, until I wiped my eye. I wanted to put my head in a bucket of ice but I don't think that would have helped. My entire face was BURNING. Think. Think. It was about this time that Pearl started crying that her mouth was hurting. I couldn't see as it felt like my eye was blowing up bigger than The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I had to get this mess cleaned up fast so I could help her. With my good eye I Googled "jalepeno + eyes". Milk. Milk solves a multitude of problems. God bless cows.

Half gallon of milk doused on my face and in my eye and in Pearl's mouth, we were nearly back to normal. It took another half bag of tortilla chips before she really felt good again.

Ok, I will say it now: Down With Mondays!

A Real Floater

We've been having a great summer and Pearl especially has had a lot of "firsts" this summer. This was the first summer that she hastaken swimming lessons by herself (without a parent in the water). She took the lessons at the Roland Pool and the lessons were taught by perky teens who make everything sound exciting and fun. If everything that came out of their mouths were notated in a book, exclamation points would become like an endangered species from overuse. Joking aside, they were very good and enthusiasm was just what the kids needed.

"Ok! We are going to do bobs! Do as many bobs as your age! I'm 16 and I'm going to do 16 bobs!"

Just wow.

Pearl needs that extra encouragement. To say that she was not crazy about going off the diving board is a gross understatement. On day 2 of classes, they mentioned it and she shut down in the fetal position (literally). On day 3 she finally warmed up to the idea. I wish I could say it was smooth sailing from there but honestly it was like Jekyll and Hyde preschool swimming time...

Some days she liked it. Here is a picture of one of the good days:

How about that thumbs up? It was mostly thumbs up and Pearl is really a good swimmer - except for the fact that she doesn't want to put her head under water. Which is kind of a small problem for swimming. But I understand that one of her aunts successfully completed an entire summer of administering swimming lessons as a life guard without putting her head under water so I have hope. She really is a strong swimmer with her arms and legs, it's just that one little issue of putting her head under water.

Danny and I took turns taking her to lessons in the evening and it was all hunky dory until one fateful evening when I was casually sitting at home with Cece and the home phone rang. As luck would have it, I was engaged in conversation on my cell phone. I didn't answer. Then my cell rang. I should have known something was up. Still, I thought I would call Danny back as soon as I got off the phone. About 10 minutes early, Danny and Pearl arrived home and he put her right in the tub - I was still on the phone. I've never been accused of not having anything to say. As soon as the bath began, I had to get off the phone to get the story.

Apparently as the kids were swimming, an unwelcome guest became apparent in the pool...a floater. You know what I'm saying. My first thought was a specific scene from the movie Caddyshack:

http://youtu.be/Th_aBzrV37M

Rather unfortunately, it was not so solid and was definitely not a Baby Ruth (as I heard it). Fortunately the pool was only shut down for a day and lessons were on for the next night. Funny story to tell as long as I was not the one swimming in the poo. Er um I mean pool.

Last Saturday, while Danny was working, Mom took the kids and it was time to put the smack down on the kid's dresser (the eternal project). Yeah, I did it. I sanded.

And I sweated and sweated more...then I rested...It was ooooooo hot hot!

And then I painted...

Then 5 hours later, because it was so hot and humid, the paint had not dried and I abandoned all hope of finishing the project that

weekend. The Boone County Fair is happening this week and my little mock 4-H project will not be done. Boo.

On a bright note, the kids and I had another stellar summer afternoon. They are so content to swing on their swing set and Run through the sprinkler (we gave up on the inflatable pool that wouldn't hold an elf). Do you remember being happy to just swing? Simple joys. Ah yeah.

Doesn't this picture of Pearl hold the essence of summer? Can't you smell the essence of damp swimming suits and feel a trace of grass on your feet from running through the lawn?

After a great afternoon, I capped off the day by running a 5K with a co-worker during Midnight Madness in hot humid temperatures...I know, really? Hot, humid, running? Whaaaa? Not sane. Did not train. Need I say more? I can proudly say I did it in less than 34 minutes and I can still walk (not great, but not bad for not training).

It's a busy week of fun and work. Pearl has swimming lessons every night and there are deals to be done at work. Work hard, play hard right? It's off to the fair this weekend (I hear fair food calling my name!). There is more fun to be had as another summer slips through our fingers.

Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice everyone! Last week was such a beautiful (and almost cold) week! This summer is starting off gang busters! Yesterday we fit as many summer activities into one day as we could.

We started the day off by going to Pearl's Vacation Bible School Program. She attended vacation bible school at a church which was not in town so we didn't feel too badly at her performance. Danny was on "mancation" with his friends camping in Eastern Iowa, so I invited my parents to come and see Pearl (and help corral Cece in church). My Mom was giving Pearl the infamous "don't pick your nose in front of church" speech on the way and apparently it didn't work...I was so proud of my little girl itching her head furiously as if she had not bathed in a week (I gave her a bath the day before), giving the occasional pick of the nose, and gently pealing off the applique off the front of her shirt (which she successfully completed before sitting down). That's my girl.

After the post-church hot dog/sundae lunch, we headed home for naps. The girls took good long naps, during which I made some progress on my dresser project. Hopefully next week I will have some pictures and good headway to document!

When naps were done, I offered to inflate their pool so they could run around in the back yard and have a little summer fun. I inflated it and it was not nearly as big as the picture on the front of the box. Seriously. Were these children the size of smurfs? Or are my children XXL? The picture on the box shows three fairly large kids in the pool. My two barely fit...

Finally, we got a call from my cousin to come and enjoy a bon fire. I'm sorry, what's that? Smores? We are IN! I could eat complete meals of smores. I dream smores. Smores are almost the entire reason I camp. Love it. It was a perfect summer day, right up until it started storming. Still lovely and we had such a blast. We are so ready for the 4th of July and everything the holiday has to offer.

Happy Summer Solstice y'all (a week late)!

Back from the dead

Well, I feel like I've come back from the dead. I'm back up and around after that completely evil sinus infection. I mean evil. I am not comparing myself to Jesus, but I assume he felt something like I did on Friday during the resurrection: "What day is it and who made this mess?"

As my head became more and more clear this past weekend I got a chance to look around and see what a mess we had been living in. My nearly two weeks of "relaxing" or, as I call it, being sick was over. Time to get to it...so it was scrub floors, clean crayon off furniture and walls, do piles of laundry and - oh yeah - there goes the apple juice, commence floor scrubbing again. How does that happen?

It's been a good weekend. I'm pacing myself with the house cleaning and I feel like I'm almost back in good working order (with my usual "to do" list in hand). No yard work or dresser restoration to report but I'm satisfied with a "good health" report. I even worked out this morning.

I felt like I haven't been a parent to my girls much this summer so Friday we made little cars out of boxes for them to sit in. Pearl had a great time painting it, I had a great time painting Cece's and Cece had a great time getting paint all over (see picture). "Why?" you ask. Because. I had boxes, paint and children. What else would I do? Isn't it worth the looks on their faces?? Bwah ha ha. I think Cece looks like that because she doesn't like to sit anywhere. Ever.

Today we had a play date/picnic at the park today with a friend and got stuck in the bathroom during a storm. It took some major convincing to coerce Pearl into running to the car in the rain (it was quite a haul - really). We did it and we made yet some more memories. My best friend in high school's mom used to always say "Go make some memories!" as we headed out the door. Yes, please. I think I will. Enjoy the week friends. Make some memories.

It's June what?? This week has been a blur. A blur of a nasty cold complete with a sinus infection. I don't know what is happening but this is the first time that I've had a fever for 6 days straight. Miserable. It was "hello sinus infection, fever, body aches" and "goodbye energy, scent, taste, and any sense of normal activity". Uff da.

I have a confession to make: It is an unspoken rule at our house that I don't cook on the weekends (unless I want to). I have another confession to make: I love McDonalds french fries. I don't mean the kind of love that I could eat for supper every now and again, I mean the kind of love where I wish it would rain french fries and I could bury my head in a pile of them (a perfect fastfood meal would be McDonalds french fries married with a Culver's Cheeseburger and capped off with some Culver yogurt - in case you were wondering)...ok, now that we've got that out of the way...About every 6-8 weeks I allow our family to eat at McDonalds and since I was close to death this weekend I allowed it for lack of energy to do anything else. It was bad. There I was not able to taste ANYTHING eating a 1000 calorie meal. Oh FOR SHAME. You better believe I was not in my right mind and had no amount of energy to correct the situation.

As I sat there hanging my head (yet still eating my value meal), the thought that I was having is that this was my big chance to eat all the completely nutritious food that is sooo good for me yet disgusting to eat. What about beets? What about greek yogurt? This was my big chance. I think I need to make, then freeze an ubber nutritious meal such as this, should this event ever happen again.

It was most upsetting to miss the traditional Scandinavian Days activities this weekend. How I enjoy our little town and all the people in it. It is such a wonderful place to live and it was pure torture to be so close and so far away from it. Finally, on Sunday, the array of drugs that I was issued started kicking in and I was able to go see the Scandinavian Days performance of "Little Women". What a great show! Kudos to all the performers - we are so lucky to have such a theater group in town. It was not only a lovely story but it offered a host of professional performers. The performers were both lively and believable. *Sigh* Just plain wonderful.

Well, today I was able to do a couple of loads of laundry, go to the play, and rest. I feel like things will be on the up and up this week. I just had homemade chicken noodle soup for supper (courtesy of Danny) and now, to relax with an old episode of Hee Haw on RFD TV. Love. It. A complete recipe for good health. Tomorrow I will start trying to figure out what happened to the first week of June...

The Cup is Half Full

Yesterday I bought a coffee in the afternoon. On the cup it said "Today is a cup half full kind of day."

It was! Danny gave me a day all to myself as a Valentine's Day gift and yesterday was the day to cash it in. Oh yes it was.

My day started out with me having a pep talk with myself on my way to Ames to garage sale. It went something like this: "It doesn't matter if you don't find anything you need today, this is a day to relax and just have a nice kid-free day."

I tried a few deep breaths (insert yoga breathing techniques). Make no mistake, my blood pressure was still elevated at the sheer anticipation of great deals awaiting me.

I went to the first sale and saw a friend there. At the first sale I spent $7 and ended up with a pair of twin sized sheets for the girls room, 2 pairs of girls sunglasses, a lamp for the girls room a doll high chair (which I had been looking for for 6 months!) and a small shelf! BAM! It was AWESOME!

On to the second sale, I saw my friend again and we decided to go to the rest of the garage sales together, so I climbed in her vehicle and it was twice the fun! LOVED IT! Two and a half hours later we had mostly filled up her vehicle...oh dear. Here are some of the highlights:
black spring short trench coat: FREE (woot woot!)
bed rail (so that Cece does not fall out of her bed): .50
brown sandals for Pearl: $2
new Terrasoles shoes (still in box) for me: $4
princess scooter (not pictured): $5
2 tutus: $2
signed book from Eric Carle: .25 (yes, it is really signed by the author!)

Weeeeeeeee! I think I'm still high from the deals I got!

After a stop, to buy me and the girls some clothes, it was off to Borders for some coffee and a book. Finally I rounded out the day seeing the movie, "Something Borrowed" with some friends.

I cannot explain how happy I was at the end of the day and how thankful I was to have a day which was fun and full of great friends! I LOVED IT! I will go ahead and say it was the most economical and most fantastic gift Danny has given me! After all of the fine treasures that I brought home, he may not give this very special gift ever again....poo.

The Record Book

We had a flood last August and among the many possessions that we lost was my 10 year 4-H record book. If you are not familiar with a 4-H record book, it is where you document your goals and progress of every project. I had pictures along with documentation - which I had hand written from the time I was 9 years old. It wasa lovely walk down memory lane every time I cracked the book open. If there is one thing that a flood forces you to do as a person, it really helps you disconnect from your possessions and evaluate all the "stuff" in your life. Even so, disconnecting myself from my record book was a hard one. Friends, blogging has become my new record book. Here is the latest on my dresser project:

The top is now all stripped as you can see (with the exception of the decoration on the top). Yesterday I made really good progress on one side and was able to start stripping the drawers. As I was working yesterday I thought to myself, "I'm really good at stripping!" That thought really went through my head. Then it went through my head again...Um good at stripping woodwork...

I'm getting closer! As a side note, I got a new lens for my camera and was

attempting to use it in these pictures (I fully realize the picture to the right is blurry). I'm not so good at manually focusing as you may have guessed. I just need some practice...preferably on subjects that hold still. My children do not. Just when I think I have them in focus, they move to the other side of the room or right next to me. It's not good practice. Well, it will be good practice after I know what I'm doing.

Dresser update: As with most projects that I do, if they are not done in a day my motivation starts to deflate. This is one of the primary reasons that 4-H was so good for me, it kept me accountable and I knew that all projects had to come to an end in the middle of July for the fair. Hopefully this blog will keep me going. Oh and remembering how cute it will be. It didn't seem so cute as I was scraping it over and over and over again last week.

I realized that I did not have before and after pictures up close so I am posting those. I have gotten a little farther with the top and on the side but I still have a long way to go! I really need to rally (yes, I need a rally already)!

On the topic of drawer pulls. I originally envisioned dainty glass pulls. Since then I've found some beautiful mother of pearl pulls on ebay. Very unique. Simply stunning. Very unfortunately, there are only 8 of them and I fear I would not be able to find another 2. Boo. I will just keep searching for the perfect drawer pulls.

On a separate note, it's Mother's Day. Each year I think I grow to appreciate my Mother in different ways as I experience motherhood. I still can't fully wrap my mind around the things that she sacrificed and gave me as a mother.

One thing that I can't shake from my mind lately as I think about my Mom, is how compassionate she is. I have been thinking about my aunt Naomi and how my mother cared so deeply for her. My aunt had myotonic dystrophy and as she deteriorated, my mother stopped in to visit with her at her apartment and later, as the disease progressed, she regularly visited her in the nursing home to talk, to play games, to sing, to bring her a break in her day or take her out. I remember as a small child having to go to the nursing home every Saturday. Selfishly, I didn't like it. I didn't like being around all the elderly people. They were scary. I didn't understand the love of a sister. Now I understand. In retrospect I can understand how my mother was just loving her. All through my childhood, my Mother cared for various people in this way. I can only hope that some of her compassion has carried on to me.

I love my Mom. She is a rock who has always been there and taught me much about love and being a mother myself. Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and all you ladies who parent in any way - your pets, your friends, your children. We all are nurturing something in our lives.

PS
Just got the latest cd from Gretchen Parlato. Love it! If you like a contemporary jazz (Diana Krall - like), this will really give your ears a tickle.

After getting up and making banana bread pancakes (yummo - pancakes with body and some banana bursts), Danny was off to pick up my latest treasure. Who knew how great this day would turn out to be?

As many of you know I frequent garage sales, Craiglist, and ebay. I buy, I sell, I trade all at great prices. My latest Craigslist find is a dresser for the girls which was so pretty that I just couldn't resist. I sat for a few weeks seeing if someone else would snatch it up meanwhile I was just dreaming about the beautiful color that I could paint this dresser and the beautiful little gem knobs I could put on it. Yes, I had a vision for a dresser that was not mine. Finally last Wednesday I had to inquire as to if I could indeed make it mine.

I looked at the item and upon realizing that if I did not purchase it, it would be put in a garage sale, I committed to the buy - thus embarking on a refinishing project. The pictures did not do it justice. As I stood looking at it today, I thought, there really is no way around it: it needs to be refinished to be as adorable in real life as it is in my head.

The first call I made was to my Mom. The thing I had not thought about when making this purchase: my Mom would not be at my disposal to help with the project...oh dear. I said "Guess what Mom? I got us a project to do!"

Immediately she started quizzing me: "What kind of wood is it? Did you knock on it to make sure it is solid? Did you pay full price? Are the drawers sturdy?"

Silence. Fail on all accounts. And still I had a dresser to refinish. That was really the point right? Get on my team already Mamala! Though I am proud to report that after performing spot checks, as it turns out, I did ok. It is sturdy and good.

Have you ever driven by houses who have junk stacked in the garage and can't park? At this point, that happens to be half of our garage. My husband has given up on ever having his space back in the garage (we still have clutter from last fall's flood) and I am on a mission to get it back for him but I just have to do this one last thing (refinishing the dresser) before I do. So here I am. I spent a few hours this afternoon starting to strip the dresser. Here is a photo of the prize dresser which will reside in my girls' room. SQUEAL! It is sooooo perfect for their cute little bunk beds:


Here is a picture of me taken by my 4 year old :) I won't share the first one that she took, which was a nice photo of my patootie...
After scraping for about 2 1/2 hours, my arms hurt. We shall see if they still hurt tomorrow. I need to get this project off the ground.


PS I got my first sun burn of the season. Yowie.