The Lake - One Year Later

Lauren, 2010:

Lauren, 2011:

Brenden and Lauren, 2010:

Brenden and Lauren, 2011:

Oh my gosh, slow down kids! You're getting heavy and my arms are tired!

Hair!

I cannot think of a clever name for this post, so I'm going for the obvious. There have been a few stories involving hair around these parts lately, one for each kiddo and they both happened yesterday. I think the chemicals in my brain were especially off for some reason.

I've braided Lauren's hair before. I even tried french braiding the top of it to keep it out of her face at night. I had never tried a full french braid and, for some reason, I decided that yesterday was the day to do it.

I sat Lauren on her changing table, handed her the basket of bows and barrettes to occupy her, and got started. It took five minutes, there was no screaming, and somehow she had enough hair. Voila'!

I was feeling mighty proud of myself! I even managed to talk Tim into getting Red Robin (Yummm!) for dinner that night. Afterwards, we planned on stopping to get both of my guys haircuts. Unfortunately, the line was crazy long and there was no way that the now screaming Lauren was going to let us do that. I had an "ah ha!" moment. I'll just cut his hair at home again! It's summer and who cares if it's short?

Welcome to my salon! (No, I am not strangling him. Although it does look like it.)

I set up my station outside with a stool and the dog clippers. Yes, dog clippers. I'm klassy like that. Everything was going great until I took the guard off to trim around his ears and on his neck. I saw a stray hair sticking out and thought, "Oh, I'll just get that really fast." At that exact moment, Brenden decided to lean his head back to look at me. BBZZZTTT!! Oh no....

Do not stare directly at the patch of blindingly white skin that is now so obvious on the back of my son's head. Doing so may cause damage to your sight and/or cause extreme amounts of embarrassment.

Will I trim his hair again? Most definitely. Did I learn my lesson about stray hairs and no guard? You betcha!

Wordless Wednesday

A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog it in its pocket.

~ Allen Marshall Beck

Memorial Day Weekend

Camping. Bugs. Boat rides. Seadoos. Throwing rocks. Sunscreen. Sunburns. Smores. Campfires. Beer. Mud. Tents. Fun. Water guns. Family. Friends.

Remembering the brave men and women who have given all they have for our freedom. Thank you.

Brenden Interviews - Part Two

1. What is something Daddy always says to you?
Play games and take a nap.

2. What makes Daddy happy?
The color blue.

3. What makes Daddy sad?
Hitting.

4. How does your daddy make you laugh?
Tickling.

5. What was your daddy like as a child?
He was big. (He doesn't get this question.)

6. How old is your daddy ?
3

7. How tall is your daddy ?
He's big!

8. What is his favorite thing to do?
Work

9. What does your daddy do when you are not home?
Goes to work.

10.When Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?
...

11. What is your daddy really good at doing?
Not hitting.

12. What is your daddy not good at doing?
Tickling.

13.What does your daddy do for a job?
He types.

14.What is your daddy 's favorite food?
Cocoa Puffs

15.What makes you proud of your daddy ?
He runs fast.

16. If your daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?
Alpha Pig (Super Why)

17. What do you and your daddy do together?
Run

18. How are you and your daddy the same?
Both big

19. How are you and your daddy different?
Small and big

20. How do you know your daddy loves you?
He's happy.

21. What does your daddy like most about your mommy?
Runs fast. (He's on a running kick I guess!)

22. Where is your Daddy 's favorite place to go?
Work

~~~~~

To read Brenden Interviews - Part One, click here.

Happy Birthday, Karen!

A very very happy birthday to grandma Karen! We love you!

Brenden's School Performance

When we enrolled Brenden in Preschool, one of the things I was most looking forward to was the end of the year performance. Brenden is quite the entertainer at home and I was curious to see how he would act on stage.

We were joined by grandma and grandpa Warehime, grandma and grandpa Kelly, and uncle Justin and aunt Meredith. Brenden was so excited! When we told him he couldn't go on stage immediately he started crying, which worried me a little. What if he was one of those kids that got on stage and froze! I should have known better.

He had a blast! And every song that they performed was absolutely adorable. Lauren had a blast, too! She stood in the middle of the aisle, doing a boppy little dance and clapping and yelling for all the kids. I think she wanted to climb up there, too. Great...two performers in my house!

At the end they had a slideshow for all of the graduating pre-k kids. I was almost bawling and they weren't even my own! Then they had them walk down the aisle and handed out diplomas. The whole thing was great.

I'm so impressed with the school as a whole. I feel so lucky that I happened across them in my search for a decently priced, nearby school. I cannot wait for Brenden to start back in September. I know he'll miss it!