HAIRCUT

One of the things Cynthia and I did while in Atlanta was to get Jess to cut our hair. I need to take a picture of Cynthia's new do (which is really cute I might add!) but I have several pictures of mine to share.

My haircut was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I wasn't sure how Robby would feel about it, so I didn't have Jess cut it as short as I would have liked.

BEFORE

AFTER

When Robby and I talked about my hair he was still a little disappointed that I had cut it again. He really likes it long (even though I wear it pulled up 98% of the time!) but he knows I have been itching for a change. He agreed that I should go ahead and cut it as short as I want (and hopes that I will want to grow it back out again!) So, I went out to the salon to see Jess today and she cut my hair. Again.

I still wasn't quite brave enough to go as short as I think I would like, but this is the shortest my hair has been since I was in middle school. (I'll have to find a picture of that horrible cut and share it-it's good for a laugh). I absolutely love my new "short" cut. Thank-You Jess for the awesome haircuts. Next time I'll try not to have you do it twice in one week!

By the way--Kimberly just pointed out that my hair looks like it's different colors in the pics. I didn't go all out and change my color-it's just the lighting.

Emotion Overload

Well, we have been home from Atlanta since Sunday evening and I am catching quite a bit of slack for not having posted anything at all about our trip. The thing is. . . I had intended on blogging during the trip and I do have so much I want to share, but I managed to find other things to do each evening. If I wasn't too tired to hold my eyes open I was giggling with Cynthia and Shannon or catching up with Jeff and Jess. On the way home I made some notes of things I want to be sure to share and I had every intention of sitting at the computer Sunday night to get started. BUT. . . Life happens and things rarely go as planned.

The drive home was not much fun. I think everyone in our car was suffering from the traditional physical and emotional exhaustion following such a trip (I know I was!). Conversation was light and traffic was heavy. There is nothing worse than being at a standstill on the interstate hundreds of miles from home. After a lot of stop-and-go our lethargy turned to excitement and the anticipation of being home refreshed our spirits. We called home and made dinner plans.

My husband agreed to meet us at Applebees, but (to make a long story short) miscommunication made for a long evening of waiting and wondering. We had called home at 7:15pm and by 8:30 I was convinced that something terrible had happened to my family. In reality, they were at the Applebees a few miles down the road wondering what was taking us so long. By 9 I was home (still hungry) and my emotions had hit a dangerous overload. After a quick and unexpected release of tears the kids ate Taco Bell and I went to bed. This was definitely not how I envisioned the evening going.

After being reminded (once again) that there are bigger problems in the world I have returned to a more lucid state of mind. So, over the next few days I will do my best to finish the posts from our trip and share some of the amazing things we experienced in Atlanta. It was definitely an experience I will not soon forget.

Big Mouth

Lindsay has "invented" a new afternoon snack. She takes 2 saltine crackers and covers them with peanut butter. Then she puts 2 pretzel sticks between them and presses them together to make a sandwich. It's pretty tasty (and you get your daily dose of sodium in one snack!)

She is so tickled with her culinary skills that she made one for everybody to try. Robby is at Lowe's tonight (big surprise huh) so Lindsay put his name on a Ziploc bag and made him a special snack for after work. When she brought it to show me she smiled and said "I gave Dad four pretzels because he has a big mouth and two wasn't enough!"

Don't Try This at Home

OK. First let me say that I was asked not to share the name of the child that this story is about. Apparently there is quite a bit of embarrassment involved. So I will simply refer to the guilty party as "Kiddo".

So. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth after a nice long nap in preparation for a trip to church. Garrett had Bible Drill, Lindsay Velocity and the older girls and I planned to work in the gym collecting shoe boxes. These afternoons present quite a challenge in our house. Cynthia and Kimberly have to fix their hair and change clothes at least 3 times, Lindsay can never find her vest, bag and book, Garrett doesn't want to turn off the TV until the last possible moment and I usually have to look for either my keys or my cellphone.

Amidst all the chaos Kiddo walked into the bathroom, face down and eyes on the floor. "Mom. I need your help." Kiddo mumbled never looking up. "How do you get bubblegum out of hair?"

To make a long story short Kiddo had decided to try something they had seen in a movie recently. I don't really remember the exact part, but apparently there is a scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where someone puts gum behind their ear to save it for later.

We had to cut some hair and the bright yellow gum refused to come off the back of Kiddo's ear, but we learned a valuable lesson about reality vs television. I laughed, but not too hard. After all, I was the one who watched A Christmas Story and decided to stick my tongue to the metal mailbox outside.

Just For Fun

Who Needs A Treadmill

The kids and I went hiking today. After walking around for almost an hour (climbing stairs made of railroad ties and descending steep hills, crossing the creek and throwing rocks into the pond) we started back to the car. We were talking about how nice it was to enjoy the sunny (although not too warm) day outdoors and get some much needed exercise when Lindsay decided to enlighten us. Lindsay was telling me that she wasn't even tired and then she said "You know what, Mom? This is just like walking on the treadmill except you don't stay in one place!"

Yep. It's hereditary!

Celebration Time!

I love Jess's dress. It definitely shows her personality!

I was trying to "help" Kimberly do the YMCA!

Aren't they a cute couple!

Kimberly in a DRESS! Isn't she a doll!