Haircuts: Authorized and Unauthorized

It happens to most parents, right? Tell me it happens to most parents!! That thing that my kids would never do, Silje did. And I should have know it would happen .... because she's Silje. And Silje is proving more and more often how very "spirited" she is (that's what "They" call it, right?).

She's very good with the scissors - she holds them correctly, cuts pretty nice lines, only uses them while sitting in her chair, and until a few days ago she also only used them on paper. Safe. I guess my definition of "safe" should have included more than the potential for injury, because her butchered hair would argue it was anything but safe during those few crucial moments.

So now we will spend the summer watching her locks grow back out. And since she cut them so short that people don't even notice the new-do, I'm thinking the growing out stage is going to look a lot worse than her coif does now. *sigh* Here we go.

The Bang Cut: I'd better stock up on more sunblock!



The After-Thought Cut: This part wasn't noticed until bedtime when I was pulling out her pony-tail and pulled with it a handful of her hair detached from her head, but still hanging in the pony. That's snipped hair on the lower left.

Three days later Marin got her first "official" - and Authorized - haircut at our neighbor's in-home salon. She was very still through the whole thing, which was good to see since earlier in the morning when she found out she was getting her "hair cut at Lucy's house" she was bouncing off the bed and walls squealing in excitement!

Look at that long hair! Marin's hair grows faster than any of ours - I've cut her hair probably three times more often than either Ailey's or Silje's.

Tennille gave Marin a little "twist" on top to hold back the the longer bangs she's growing out. Marin felt very stylish!

Toys R Silje

The girls and I are heading to Toys R Us to get a gift for a birthday party Ailey is going to and, in classic Higgins-girls'-style, they are all talking at once about Where are we going? and What are we doing? and I do my best to work in an answer with each question.

Of course, they can't hear my answer the first few times so it's a couple minutes before Silje hears me say "We're going to Toys R Us". And it's again a couple minutes before I hear, and then understand, what she is saying in reply.

She says "Mom, that thing you just said starts with Silje!" I'm confused - who wouldn't be, huh?! So she keeps repeating herself, that what I just said "is an S that starts with Silje", just like her name. I'm still wondering WHAT I said that starts with an S, but she is persistent and finally I get it.

Toys R eS. With an S for Silje!

At first I tried to correct her. "No, Toys R US." But she isn't having it. She insists I definitely said "Toys R S", and her excitement definitely makes me want to just agree with her.

So you should too, of course. The next time you need a toy for a birthday party, just head on over to Toys R S and think of Silje while you're there!

Mother's Day at Fort Warden

On Mother's Day this year we took a ferry ride over to the penninsula, had lunch in Port Townsend, and flew a kite at Fort Warden before heading back home that evening (along with everyone else, of course - busy ferry lanes!). It wasn't warm, but it didn't rain, and after this dreary winter that is all we can ask for!

Life has changed considerably for us in the last year. A 6-year-old and two potty-trained 3-year-olds are much easier to take places than they were a year ago. The girls still have fun pulling two parents in three different directions, but they get back into one line with less physical and mental effort on our part than they used to. They are no less energetic, loud, stubborn or crazy either, but perhaps Andy and I have gone just crazy enough that we don't notice as much anymore..?

To all you special women in our lives: Happy belated Mother's Day!



A Sunny Day at the Beach ... Finally!

After a seriously drab winter (I think I could count the days the sun shone from October to April on one hand), I find that we Washingtonians are celebrating each ray of sun even more than usual. No matter the temperature, no matter the wind, if the sun is shining we are cheering!

Over Memorial weekend we went down to the Mukilteo beach. The Lighthouse is now open for tours, and since only Ailey and I have visited there once (when she was 2-years-old and in a body cast on my hip), we thought it was high time.

On the narrow walk around the top of the Lighthouse.

Rock throwing.

Did you know that Silje is a professional rock collector? Yes, she has quite the horde on our front porch from all our trips to the bus stop. Even at the beach -- never mind the bucket, rocks go in the pocket!

It wasn't warm, but it was oh-so-nice to be outside. We even got some pink in our cheeks. We're crossing our fingers that the sun keeps visiting more and more often!

Cinderella and the Fairies

One of Ailey's homework assignments was to read a book to an adult and change the story creating her own ending. She started reading a simple version of Cinderella, and when we got to the page where the clock strikes midnight I stopped her and told her to finish the story a new way, the way she wanted it to end.

She told the following: (with, yes, some rephrasing on my part - a video camera would have been nice at the moment!)

.... When the clock struck midnight, Cinderella and the Prince went inside, and walking around Cinderella found some Fairies. She talked to the Fairies for a while, then realized the Prince was no where to be seen. So Cinderella left the Fairies and went looking for him. She found him in the ballroom dancing with one of Cinderella's step-sisters. The step-sister was falling in love with the Prince, but the Prince wasn't falling in love with her. (Poor girl!)

When the Prince saw Cinderella he came up to her and said "I want to show you something", and he took her into the garden where he pointed out the Fairies home. "These are my friends," he said. "Oh," said Cinderella, "I have little friends too. They are mice." And the Fairies said, "We know some mice named Jack and Gus." And Cinderella was so excited and told them that Jack and Gus were her mice friends.

Then the Prince asked Cinderella to dance again. And after they danced he said he thought it was time for all the ladies to go home. But he told Cinderella she didn't need to go home. She would stay at the castle and marry him. Cinderella said "yes".

.... And they lived happily ever after.

Elementary school is fun. :)