Glamor Shots by Leah...not to be confused with Deb.

Hallie got some make up, a boa, bracelets, a crown and more at her party yesterday. The girls were asking all day if they could put the make up on. As we were getting jammies on and I was taking their hair out I thought it would be funny to see how poofy we could get their hair. Claire announced, "I look like George Washington." We were laughing so hard I had tears.
I finally decided to let them play with the make up and turned it into a little glamor photo shoot. It was hilarious and the girls had a blast. Probably not as fun as I had though.

"Real" School!

I remember last year when we started the joy school Hallie was extremely disappointed when she found out she wasn't going to a school like Claire. She did have a lot of fun but initially felt jipped cause it wasn't "real" school!

We had so much fun this morning getting ready for her first day. With Claire having gone to school for a few years I totally forgot to take pictures. But with me forgetting Claire's until after school and it being Hallie's first day of "real" school I took a few more! ;)

Doesn't she look so grown up? I love the pictures and what a good sport she was. When we got to the car she said, "Do I take my backpack off?" "Do I put my lunch on the ground?" She was so funny.
This was one of the conversations in the car:
"Mom I have a crush."
"Really? Who do you have a crush on?"
"I have a crush on Josh."
"Oh, Josh who?"
"Josh on High School Musical "(I think she meant Troy) Note: she has never seen the movie! ;)
"Oh you do? What does it mean to have a crush?"
"It means....I don't know what it means."
Then she said, "Mom are you going to my school?" I told her yes we were going to school. Then she calmly told me it wasn't the way to her school.

After getting to school (it turns out I did know the way!) her teacher Mrs. Annette had a project for them to start on. I was totally worried that Hallie was going to be sad and clingy and that she would cry. Much to my surprise she sat right down and started coloring. Audrey and I gave her kisses and said goodbye and she was as happy as a clam. As I left I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes. She is a big girl. And a sweet one at that! I love you, Hallie!

Off to School

You are thinking one of two things:

1. When did Leah start baking? OR

2. What a cool mom to make those awesome cupcakes for the girls...slate, chalk and all.

Well, unfortunately neither are true. I wish I could claim I am that creative when it comes to the kitchen but I can't. I just have awesome friends. My sweet friend Cindy came over the night before school to wish the girls luck and give them a treat. How sweet is that? The girls LOVED them and got busy eating...not before I took a picture, of course!

I talked to Jana during the day and she asked if I got some cute pictures of Claire on her first day. My reply? "Oh no, I didn't take any pictures." I am a on a roll, right? Anyway, I took some as she came off the bus. Second best I guess. :)

Claire had a great first day. She told me she got to see her K teacher in the halls and wave. She also said she got lots of compliments from her teacher. She was complimented in front of the class for cleaning up her work before circle time and throughout the day. I am excited her teacher is so positive. We had a little problem when she left her lunch on the front seat and I noticed before I got home. I realized it and turned around. I took it to her class with Hallie and Audrey and Claire looked up with big alligator tears in her eyes. She had been very concerned. Claire came over and gave me, Hallie, and Audrey big hugs and kisses. It was precious. She quickly wiped her eyes before any tears spilled over. She is so sweet!

After school her and Hallie played wonderfully. They are back to how they usually play together. It's like they savor the time the get to play so they are much more pleasant. Man the last few weeks have been ROUGH for those two.

I will be posting again since Hallie's first day is tomorrow! :) Lucky you!

Sweet Audrey

I can't get over how much Audrey talks and how old she is getting. You'll have to bear with me for this post so I can tell about her and the fun things she is saying. I know my family will appreciate it!

Audrey's new things:

If I am busy she will come up to me and say my name a few times. If I don't answer quickly (and I mean QUICKLY) she will then shout, "Mom...ANSWER ME Mom!!" The first time she did it I was dying.

When something is exciting she yells, "Oh my GOSH!!!" That one gets me every time. She is WAY too young to be saying that.

She goes around the house saying who she misses. "I misses Cora." I misses Sienna." It's adorable.

If someone shuts the door and she is on the other side she will find me and cry, "Claire nock the door." What she is trying to say is, "Claire locked the door."

She loves to call from her room at bedtime to me, "Love you Mom." Night night Mom." I LOVE YOU...MOM!" One night it was so cute I answered her back from my room. Boy was that a mistake. She said it about 50 more times and would not stop!

Any insect, spider, or bug is an "itsy bitsy spider!"  She is constantly running around the house yelling, "itsy bitsy spider, Mom." itsy bitsy spider, Claire."

She has been in a hugging phase lately and will just randomly come up to me or Zeb and hug our legs. It is darling and we take as many hugs as we can get.

Her personality is so much fun. She is so intense and is starting to enter the tantrum phase. Yeah for me, right? I'm just glad she is so much fun to be around. I love you, Audrey!

I came into my room the other day with Audrey singing to the Island Princess Barbie. It was so cute I had to post it!

Stitches for the Frist Time

We have had our first experience with a child getting stitches. The "incident" happened while we were having some friends over for dinner. I heard Claire screaming and I thought that her friends had been chasing her again. Girls ALWAYS have to scream when a boy chase them...it's a rule isn't it? Anyway, I learned quickly that she was hurt and saw a big gash inside her lip. She had been playing with a pole ( a wooden dowel ) and jumped off the bed with it. She fell on it and ended up biting her lip. She didn't bite through but after a few hours the hole was very large and was soon exposed. So I told Zeb I thought I should take her to the ER.Sure enough she needed 2 stitches. Apparently if the cut is inside the mouth they don't stitch it but if you can see it on the outside they will most likely stitch it. When the nurse practitioner told Claire this she freaked out a little. After I explained that they would numb it with a shot that would sting a little and that she wouldn't feel the stitches she was better. We said a little prayer together and they came to stitch it. She was so brave and only whimpered a little after 3 shots in her lip. I probably would have cried. I am a wuss. She did so good. She even laughed after the shots were done and said, "That tickled." What a good sport.
Here she is with the cut closed up.
Just a little swollen! Not too bad. The stitches will dissolve and within a few days she should be able to eat normal things. But hey, who wouldn't want to eat popsicles and yogurt as long as they could?
She asked if she could keep her hospital bracelet to remember when she is older because in her words, "I probably won't remember when I got stitches."
I love you, Claire. Way to be brave today!

New Favorite Thing

We bought Claire, "Barbie as The Island Princess" for her Birthday. After looking at the DVD menu we found there is an "Island Karaoke Club." The girls LOVE it and after watching the movie they will sing along with the songs. Several times I have come into the room to them singing their hearts out. Claire has taken note of the singers that use vibrato and likes to match their voices. It is so CUTE!
Enjoy!

The Tipping Dilemma

Leah said that I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I would write about something which I believe warrants discussion. It seems that I see more and more establishments placing a line for a tip on their receipts. I don't have a concern about how much I should tip at a restaurant, but for those of you that don't know, the minimum (barring an asinine move on the part of your server) is 15%. However, that is definitely the minimum, where the service is a little less than mediocre. The situation that I have a hard time with is the salon. And now for a story...

Two weeks ago I went to the salon to get my hair cut. I'll admit, it was Great Clips, but how hard is it to cut my hair. The standard cut is $12.00, but in all honesty it's worth a little less than that. So this woman starts cutting my hair and half way through the cut asks if I want to keep my side burns. For those of you that know me well, you know that it's genetically impossible for me to grow facial hair (with the exception of a sweet Mexi-stache). So naturally I want to preserve any sign of what might be considered facial hair, which includes side burns. So I told the lady to leave the burns. After considerable instructing on my part the haircut was coming to an end and sure enough the clippers take a nose dive for the side burns and "zip", the right side is gone. My first question is who would intentionally make their hair look like that. It is so WT. Of course I can't have the right side burn gone and leave the left, so I just keep my mouth shut. So as I'm sitting there wondering if I had been misunderstood when I said, "I'd like you to leave my side burns," the clippers take a bizarre arching angle towards my face. With the left hand the stylist flips her comb into my right eyebrow and with the right hand continues the ominous arc. Sure enough, "zip" she trims my eyebrow. I know that this is a family site, but who in the H#*! trims a man's eyebrows without even asking? I didn't know what to do. And of course at this point she has to do the other side or it will look stupid. Honestly, what do you say to that? Seriously, these stylists have complete power over us once we're in the chair. They could hold us hostage in those chairs if they wanted to.
Stylist: "Hold still and give me all your money or I'll knick the crap out of the side of your head." So you give them all your money and then they take your sideburns and eyebrows, but your just happy to get out of there with your life and a little hair left. And then you have to walk to register with that person where they guilt you into giving them a tip.

What do you do? You know that these places are sweat shops where the owner rents a cutting station out to the stylist. In order to pay the rent the stylist has to hold over 200 people hostage each day. Not to mention the fact that while your being held hostage the stylist is bearing her soul to you. "I have twenty children and I'm a single mom. My husband died of a horrible disease that he contracted while helping starving children in Ethiopia."

So there you are with the pen poised to fill out the tip amount and everyone in the salon is waiting for the reaction of the stylist. If the tip is too low the stylist will refuse to make eye contact, which is a signal to all the other stylists to give you the evil eye as you walk from the store. On the other hand, if you leave a good tip, the stylist gives you a coy smile and thanks you for falling prey to her sinister plan. After which you feel like a total yuppy and you have to walk from the building with your tail between your legs.

So my question is, how much do you tip someone that has held you hostage? Should there really even be any tip line on these receipts?

For those of you who don't think my concerns are valid, here is a pitiful picture of me trying to be optimistic after my last haircut.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are purely that of the author. The author does not truly believe that all stylists are terrorists so please do not take offense. By reading this blog you consent to refrain from being offended by the comments made in this post, regardless of whether you, or someone you know is a stylist. Photos may be slightly altered for effect.