risk factors of having long hair.

it’s funny..  the moment i actually get a second to myself, to sit down and to type anything of substance, the first place my mind immediately goes to is my hair and the caution that seems to flow constantly with it.

sometime i will no doubt update the world (or me and the two people who might still cruise over to this corner of the www to see what we are up to) on the goings on of our summer thus far.  i will regale the tale of the cold/allergy fit 4 of the 5 of us had (still not sure which it was really, it was just snotty, head poundlingly bad), our latest adventures, some funny stories, some cute pics.  ya know.  life stuff.

but right now is all about my hair.

the last time i had hair this long was when i had lynn.  if you do the math right, it was 8 and 1/2 years ago (okay..  a wee bit more.).  it was highlighted, split-ended, and long!!  i loved it.  loved it until she figured out how to grab a fist-full of it while she nursed, then it wasn’t so fun anymore.  yes, the hair-pulling and the summer heat, heat from the season itself, lugging around my hunk-o-chunk of a baby, and my hair, all pushed me to that breaking point to cut it off.

so here we are again,  long hair.

it gets stuck in my armpit, or between my arm and body.  i will attempt to move my head only to have it jerked back into it’s original position due to the fact that my hair is pinned by my own body!

then there is a similar quandary at bedtime, or at least the time i should be sleeping..  it gets pinned there too.  most unpleasant.

peyton has taken to tugging on it recently.  not to hurt in any way, she just twirls her own out of habit.  i can see why my hair might be enticing to her twirling-prone fingers.

but when she desires a shoulder ride has to be the worst for my hair and scalp!  that is the most uncomfortable of hair being pinned situations.

then there are the times when i am the cause of my own pain and torture.  do you remove hair from your clothing?  i hope you do.  i do.  there are times when i think i am innocently removing a fallen out strand only to find that it is just a solitary hair, still very much attached to my scalp.  it’s just so darn long!! 

then there is the grossest.

wiping small people when they are in need of such assistance in the bathroom.  that is where much caution needs to be taken.  one impulsive move can mean that the end of my locks end up in potty water.

see gross.

but you should know, I am not even playing with considering to think about contemplating the pondering of getting my hair chopped.  I am loving it’s longness immensely.

(hope you enjoyed my shallow post.  it is a poor attempt at humor, i know.  but give me a break!  it’s been a while.)

Saving on something.

Yesterday, I took the girls to get haircuts, two haircuts.

Lynn and Ashley.

I first convinced Ashley to cut it much like she had it cut right after Peyton was born.  There was so much less drama in the house when it was short like that.

I loved it.

She loved it.

We needed a change.

I was worried that once summer hit, and the windows in the house were open, letting in all that warm, fresh air, it would be letting out the wailing a screaming of the daily task of brushing and fixing hair.  I was worried I would get the state called on me because neighbors would be worried about the welfare of my children.

Ashley was a little hesitant about the idea, but once I showed her how I thought we should get it cut, Lynn piped-up, “I want my hair like that too!!  It’s cute!”  That was more than enough to convince little sis that it was cute.

And they are cute..

It looks like we will now be saving money on shampoo, conditioner, and Kleenex.

Oh, and I will be saving my sanity too.

P.S.  As I was thinking about this little photo shoot, I was remembering what Lynn said to me when I was fixing her hair.  I told her that I needed to “tease” it a bit.  She said, “You mean you are going to say mean things to my hair?”  Silly girl..

New do..

I saw this here a long while ago..


I thought to myself, "Self.. your little sweeties will NEVER let you do their hair that way.. dream on."
Then I saw it on little Kysa at a baby shower and KNEW I had to bribe one of them into it.
Yesterday, Ashley, who is always a sweetie, was in an even sweeter mood, and let me have full control in the hair styling arena that day..
So, I went for it.
The only moment of tears was when Lynn got all excited for the nearing of the end, to see the finished project..
"Your're going to have little messy buns!! How cute!"
Then the tears commenced... "NO!!! I don't want them to be messy!"
"They are supposed to be messy.."
"MOM!! Lynn said my hair is messy!!!"
Oh my..
It did turn out cute, if I do say so myself..
Lynn even asked for me to do it to her hair.. her long, long, LONG, hair. This is also the girl who wants to brush her own hair and wear only a headband.. trying to talk her into a side pony is pushing it.
Part of the way through the process, she began to cry.
"WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS?!"
This morning, after seeing Ashley's hair after a night of slumbering on it, Lynn said, "I think we should cut my hair so it can be like Ash's.."
Lynn cut her hair?! GASP!
We'll see how long that thought sticks around...
I had to include this one of Ash and Pey.. too cute!

A monster is born..

So I need to let Christie know, that by creating me into a hair monster, it has set off a chain of events that have led to irreparable consequences..
Ashley is now a hair-obsessor too..
I have photographic evidence(s)..
This is what I found during bedtime preparations..I found this one, already put to bed in the corner, beautified as well..
As you can see, no baby or creature is left out.. their "FurReal" pets get posh treatment as well.

Piggy Tails..

Peyton has another first...
Piggy tails!
Okay, so there's not much hair there... the front doesn't quite look like pig tails are in there.. but, oh!.. hold on.. look behind those ears.... there they are!
So fun to have a little something different to do with the little hair we do have!

Picture a day..

Look at these two cuties!!
They are my "picture a day" for today..
Picture a day is just a way to document what seems to be those little everyday occurrences that take place, but sometimes end up meaning a lot. It helps us to remember the stages of our lives, the little things, the details. We usually take pictures of great or special events, and forget the day to day. This is what I am going to do to keep up my 2008 word "embrace", and carry it forward into 2009.. haven't really settled on a word for 2009.. do you have yours?
These two had such a fun night and day together. They kept asking me if they looked like sisters. When I said yes, they would ask me if they could pass for twins.. hmmm... close.
Sophie asked me to do her hair like I did Lynn's the other day.. I first made her promise she wouldn't go taking it out if she didn't like it :) and that she would show Lynn how not to cry while hair is being brushed and styled. She held true.. Lynn wanted hers done the same way.
I loved playing with Sophie's hair! Lynn's is so long and thick.. it's hard to get it to do what I want or to stay where I put it.. Sophie's did just what I told it to do..

Snipperoo...

Peyton needed her "Donald Trump-like stragglies" trimmed... it was really overdue. I had a hard time cutting her hair! She had lost so much of her beautiful dark hair, that I didn't want to cut what was left...
Now we won't have booger clad straggly hair in her eyes anymore!

My other kids...

I do tend to blog the most about Peyton, she is changing and growing the most, the fastest... but I do have two other girls...
My pet peeve:
Lynn and I actually tied!
I am getting much better at French Braiding...
She is such a natural, she loves her hand-me-downs... and those pink boots!
Ashley is just too silly... her favorite words are not good ones. I dread what comes out of her mouth when I am not present! She may not be able to keep her mouth shut, but she can keep her eyes shut!
A big shout-out to all those "Scentsy Girls"... thanks for coming!!! It was fun! For those of you you couldn't make it, I close my party Monday, and have catalogs... leave a comment if you are interested! I have one for you Randee :)

Just being a mom...

I am slowly adjusting to this new crazy schedule. Running kids here and there, doing homework (!?!), reading, keeping up on my own chores... and just trying to squeeze in enough fun. Some fun stuff going on...
Lynn is reading! I must admit they are only her sight words, but she knows them! It's happy and sad all at the same time, seeing her grow so much.
A week (?) ago, I French braided Lynn's hair for the first time! It turned out better than I thought. I just need to pull in more hair evenly... it was a little chunky. Now all I need is some practice... if only I could convince her to let me... maybe a yummy treat to occupy her.
She loved the waves the next day after we took out the braids.
Speaking of yummy treats...
The other day while getting Lynn, Peyton was not being her happy self. I was trying everything! Toys, books, songs... everything. I started to rummage for something that would be new and exciting. I came across a dum-dum from the bank in the cup holder. Bingo! Happy happy girl. It's bonuses all around for her, she gets a yummy, sticky, sweet treat, and she gets a bath after she's done. She loves those baths!
She also proved her Pitcher girl-ness at lunch the other day. We were all talking, and she was in her highchair, trying to get in her own word. She must have learned from two other examples, because she grabbed either side of her tray, threw her head back, and screamed! We all got quiet, and she looked at us with the most satisfied grin. Another squealer...
Merrill stuck Ashley's glasses on Pey the other night and it was like she was in a whole new world, everything being tinted blue... she's so fun!
And Ash...
The joys of a preschooler dressing herself...
I managed to convince her that it was slightly too warm for pants WITH the skirt, and the sweater would be much better on a cold day... isn't she darling though?
I went to Macey's case lot sale. Mom and Dad give us a gift card every year for Christmas to spend there on food storage. So I watch for the case lot sale to get the best deals. I went with Ash and Pey while Lynn was in school. I didn't want to carry my purse, cause hello, it's the CASE LOT SALE... a purse would just take up valuable cart space! So I stuck my gift card and debit card, just in case, in my back pocket. I had a thought, "You're gonna lose it there." I ignored it. Uh, guess what happened... I lost it. My debit card stayed in place, but that gift card, gone. I went back to the only place where I had bent down to pick up Peyton's toy and before I could get there, I saw a stock boy and asked him if he'd happened to see my gift card. He said no, but I told him where I was when I had bent over. He found it, thank heavens! But I will never ignore a simple thought like that again.
I got lots of good stuff... I came home to unpack it, I can stack it nicer if I unpack the cases, and I am so glad I did! 7 out of 24 cans of kidney beans were empty! So I got to take them back, to the amazement of the staff at Macey's, and exchange them for cans with beans in them.
While I got a lot of good stuff, I didn't get as much as I did last year with the same amount of money. That just goes to show where the economy is...
Let's not even get started on that.