The Barber Shop

I had decided to let Dylan's hair grow indefinitely to see just what it would do. Would there be curls? Would it stand up in funny places? There were so many possibilities with that red mop of his. But after months of letting it grow (no curls, no cowlicks, just long) I finally gave in and let him get a "real" haircut. Neither of my kids have ever had a real haircut before, I've always just trimmed it up in the bathroom. But we haven't had very good luck with Dylan's haircuts. 

Except when we shaved a mohawk in it.

That was awesome.

So Grandma Carol, Grandma Charlene and Grandpa Yo-Yo (aka Dave) took Dylan to the barber a couple weeks ago. He started out okay, but ended up getting a little nervous, so always to the rescue, Yo-Yo sat in the chair with him. Now my little guy looks nice and cleaned up. But he's still a demon.  And I still love him!!

a thank you to teachers

although you're not their mother,

you care for them each day.

you cuddle, sing and read to them,

and watch them as they play.

you see each new accomplishment

and help them grow and learn.

you understand their language

and listen with concern.

they come to you for comfort,

and you kiss away their tears.

they proudly show their work to you,

and you give the loudest cheers.

no, you are not their mother,

but your role is just as strong.

you nurture them and keep them safe,

though maybe not for long.

you know someday the time will come

when you will have to part,

but know each child you've cared for

has you forever in their heart.

-author unknown (and tweaked a little by me for dylan's teacher)

A Few of My Favorite Things...

The walls are closing in.  I've been home for 12 days and I'm starting to really get cabin fever. My head is spinning with projects I want to do, errands I want to run, places I want to go.  But the walls are closing in.  Lucky for me, I have some of my favorite things on those walls.  So instead of feeling sorry for myself, I'm trying to look at this as a vacation. An opportunity to appreciate the things around me.  Things that make me smile.

a butterfly on my bathroom door / a girl and a house on my bedroom door

silhouettes i made for fathers day / our vows i lettered for our 5th anniversary

a bouquet of paper flowers (i'm not good at keeping real ones alive)

a family of hand prints - for no specific reason

a spring gallery of art masterpieces

a collection of 'K's in kaitlyn's room / nice little cubbies in dylan's room

a funny little sign in dylan's room that really says it all

I Want This!

Spending too much time in bed leads to spending too much time playing on the internet, looking at random blogs.  This is my favorite one today. I have a link to this blog - Made by Joel - and I highly suggest you check it out.  How awesome is it too find a craft blog made by a dad?! I want to make this for the kids (who am I kidding, I want it for myself!)  He even has templates for add-ons to his paper city, like a helicopter and vehicles.  I just think this would be so cute to have the kids color and make it their own.

Seeing Stars

Are your friggin' kidding me? How awesome is this peach pie my mother-in-law made?  The picture doesn't really do it justice, but there are different size star cutouts of dough on the top, covered with delicious, crunchy sugar! I wish I would have taken an 'after' picture, because about 5 minutes after taking this picture, there was approximately 1/4 of the pie that had mysteriously disappeared! 

Kaitlyn's Playdate with Gracie

Kaitlyn is at a playdate with Gracie today and they are at the Railroad Park for the summer concert series.  I think my surgery is spoiling these kids! What are they going to do when mom is back up-and-at-em?  I'm really going to have to step up my game!

Dylan's Playdate with Jack

Dylan is at his first playdate without Mom or Dad, and he has taken to Jack's drums pretty well! Let's just hope he doesn't like it TOO much. We are not getting drums.  Ever.

Oh, there you are Peter!

We had family movie night tonight.  We gathered together in our room, with Dan and Dylan on the "Big Bed", and Kaitlyn and I on the twin bed we brought in for me to sleep in while I'm still healing up from surgery.  Because the kids (mostly Dylan) are still so obsessed with Peter Pan, we decided to rent Hook.  We popped popcorn.  We ate string cheese.  We cheered for Peter and the Lost Boys and explained parts that needed explaining.  They loved it.  We loved it.  This is one of those nights that you want to have more of. 

A Pain in the Back (ha ha)

So I know this is supposed to be more of a website about the kids, but oh well, I'm taking a turn.  For those of you who don't know, I had surgery on May 10th to remove some of the spinal hardware that had been in my back since my injury in 1999.  The doctors were able to remove everything but eight hooks that were too embedded with overgrown bone for them to be removed.  The picture below is what was removed.  I think I'm going to make a robot out of it!

And for those of you that have a sick sense of morbid curiosity like I do, I thought maybe I'd share a picture of the incision with you.  It's a little icky, so viewer discretion is advised...