Another Haircut!

Ella got her hair cut! I had always said that I would cut her hair short right before Kindergarten, but..... After a long semester in classes, I looked at her and realized that she had not had her hair trimmed since December (I had done her bangs). It was REALLY long! She and I talked about it and decided that she would let it grow just a bit longer so that she could donate her hair to Locks of Love. It finally got long enough and off went 10 inches! She really seems to understand what we are doing with the hair (we visited the website and saw pictures of girls who had lost their hair and pictures of wigs, etc...)



I am not sure that I would choose to cut it quite this short again, but it does look cute on her! In fact, her first comment was, "I didn't know it would look so cute!". She is loving the freedom of hardly having to do her hair in the morning and I am missing hair to braid! Her hair grows fast however and I am sure that it will be to her shoulders (at least) by Christmas.

Ella's Room

Here is my little sweet girl, all dressed up and ready for a picnic. She begged me to take her picture in the garden and I obliged.

With all the summer activities I am really struggling to get things done! I am the Mom Taxi for much of the day and the sun and heat really wear me out. Not a lot of blogging getting done, obviously! (or much of anything else, really!)

We did finish Ella's room and I just realized that I never posted about that! We completed it before summer started and other than refinishing the dresser, painting the bookcase and labeling the bins (I am tired thinking about it) The room itself is done! I can't find "before" pics of the kids room when they shared it, in fact, I can't find my camera at all right now. Ugh.. don't get me started!

Here are the pics of the finished room... I was going to paint the bookcase a shade darker than her walls in the same tone pink, but now I am thinking that there is an awful lot of pink going on in there (I am wishing that we had painted it a soft blue, but oh well) So, now I am thinking that the bookcase should be white. Any opinions?

This is her room as you walk in the door... I went from the right of the room and around for these shots, to help you get a better sense of the space.

This is her doll house to the right of the door as you walk in. At first we had it on the opposite wall but it was way to chaotic to look at when you entered the room. I just noticed the picture frame on the wall that is wood colored, I am going to paint it white.

This is her bed and her name over it. It was really hard to decide what to put up in her room. We still had all of the decor from her nursery, but it felt too babyish (I am saddened by that) But the frames went up, one has her cross stitched birth announcement that I designed and stitched. One has her hand print (that will most likely change, later) and the other had a photo of her feet, we put in a recent portrait of her instead, but I don't like the dark background in it. It will do, until I find something else. I would like to make a pressed flower picture with her, and I am hoping that we can collect some wild flowers during our vacation for this purpose.

A straight on shot of her bed, with the closet behind me. I used her crib comforter on the foot of the bed to add some color and pattern, and it is perfect for napping under.

Her dresser, which we are going to repaint in a sour cream white to match the other furniture. We are going to change the trim from blue to the mint green that you see on the pillow on her bed. I found the angel at a little shop in town and just loved it, so did Ella.

The kitchen and doll area. I wish that there was a way for it to be neater, but there just isn't. I also wish that the kitchen was pastel (Ella does too) but when Santa brought it, he thought that we were going to have it in the family room forever.

The bookshelf. Perfect for toys, collectibles and of course, books. White? Pink? Green? My Aunt Trudy and I created the floral arch for Andy's and my wedding. I had thought that I would have a pretty living room some day to hang it in, but our living room is NOT the place for this. It seemed to fit perfectly in Ella's room. There are lots of dolls packed away that were mine that are collectible and I think that they might find their way to this space, someday. (the ugly air freshener is gone too) ...And the bins will get labeled before summer is over.. they will, they will, they will.

Well, there it is.. her new (very pink) room. Now, to finish up the furniture and move on to the bar in the family room!!!! (and the cabinet, and the trim, and the baseboards, and.....)

Wishing I could post more often...

I keep thinking that I will post, but I have SO many things to fill my day! Most of them involve school or trying to play catch up with the house and then chill out with the kids. The other night when Andy and Gavin went to piano, I really wanted to do all of the dishes so that Andy wouldn't have to, but .... Ella asked me to play with her, and so we did some "activities" together. I bought a workbook program for each of the kids when they were toddlers and it introduces shapes, colors and lots of other concepts. It has songs, rhymes, games and sticker pages and set comes with a CD and a craft. Ella has really almost outgrown the program but we haven't gotten through all of the books just yet, so we are still doing them. Now, she is such a big girl and gets the concepts so quickly and has a much longer attention span that we did an ENTIRE book in one sitting! She loved it! Then we made a sock puppet together and had it do silly things! We listened to some music and danced together and before I knew it, the time was up and she was off to bed. Needless to say, I did not get the dishes done, but I had a great time with my girl! Thankfully, Andy realizes what was more important and wasn't the least bit upset. He did the dishes and I conked out on the couch, exhausted.

This weekend I am working on my final paper for my Psych of Ed class...it is going to be tough and I have to do really well (read "A") on it, because I expect it of myself. After Dream Dinners this morning, I came home to an empty house (Andy took the kids to his parent's house for the day) and I read the article and began my note cards for my paper. I don't feel like I got much done, but I am sure that it is more than I think. (It usually is!) I will let thoughts roll around in my brain tonight and get up in the morning and continue with my note cards. This is a technique that I used in college doing my under grad work and it seems to help. I write all of my thoughts, quotes, questions and answers on cards and then organize them into the order that they will fit into my paper. Then I sit at the computer and type up the paper, using my cards as the meat of it so that all I really have to type is the filler and more of my thoughts. I got the intro, the closing and the first section figured out in cards, so I have 3 more sections to get to. I am hoping to have the cards done by tomorrow night! I want to have the paper written by the end of Thanksgiving weekend.... only thing about that is that we are having work done on the family room that weekend!

We decided that our Christmas gift to ourselves will be the lighting in our family room. We have wanted it for a while and now that we have lived here for a few years, I think we really know what we want. We have a great electrician that is a good guy, a hard worker and gives us a low price.. plus he lets Andy work with him which helps Andy learn and gets the work done faster (less money). I am really excited about the project and wanted it done before the holidays, BUT realized that it had to get done before we decorated or everything would be covered in dust! So...it will be done and the next weekend we will have the electrical done in Gavin's room. The closet system is now in, and then Andy will paint the trim...it is moving along, but it is a slow process! I am impatient and I want it all done NOW!!!!

I am nervous about the holidays, I know that they are going to sneak up on me because I cannot devote even so much as a thought towards them right now. School takes all precedent....My last day is December 9th and everything is due then... I have several short journal entries, the last two sections of my TPA (Teaching Performance Assessment) which is a BIG project, a 3 page write up and my big final. That doesn't sound like much, but I also have readings for class next week and the week after.. and on Monday, I present my Math lesson. I feel like I can handle it, but not much else...this season may be on the simple side.. no Christmas cards, not as much decorating, and because of money...there won't be many gifts. I will enjoy the gift of family and time....oh, and sleep!