TV Yoga

Autumn practicing the plank while watching tv. That's how we roll around here.

7/27

Fourth of July

Today we decided to stay home and lie low, so we had a fancy party with a metal folding table and a plastic pool.

The kids thought that the colored Kool-aid ice cubes were the best thing ever.

Good food.

Calvin is obsessed with pulling out the seeds. Even if it's seedless watermelon.

 Autumn having a flower moment.

And then the stuffed animals came to the party.

After a relaxing day at home, our neighbors came by and invited us to come watch fireworks with them. We went to their house and half a dozen families that we love were there. The kids played with sparklers, LED balloons, and their friends. We had popsicles at 10pm. It was the perfect way to end the day.

Before and After

We decided that we needed some summertime changes around here. So this is what we went with:

Before:

After:

 Before:

After:

 I usually cut everybody's hair. I get out all of the stuff, drag the boy kicking and screaming, fight him for an hour, and then spend forever sweeping up the floors and giving him a bath to get off every miniscule piece of hair. Andy is much easier--we avoid the kicking and screaming--but it's still the prep and cleanup. My favorite present is when he just goes to the barber and has it done (although he always gets it military short. I like controlling the length, so I guess it's a toss up whether I want to do his or not).

Autumn pulls out her hair a million times a day. I do it over and over again, but she seems to like feeling like a wild jungle girl with hair covering her face and sweat pasting it to her neck. She needed a change. And Calvin has looked unkempt for a month.

I had heard about this place from many people, so I finally decided to give it a try. I called them and they fit me in within a few hours. It was amazing. First of all, they were punctual. We didn't have to wait forever with the kids getting agitated. And then they got to choose which fun chair to sit in:

 (Pink Car)

 (Blue Car. Although he wanted the airplane the kid next to him was sitting in.)

Calvin's cut took 15 minutes. The girl's took about 20. That was it. No hour of fighting--they got to pick a cartoon to watch and the stylists chatted with them the whole time. When they were done, they got to pick a balloon and a sucker. I paid the best $13/ea I've ever spent in my life, and let the kids play on the slide while I happily watched somebody else sweep up all of the hair. 

I mean, what's not to love about this place?

I was happy. They were happy. They look adorable. Win, win, win.

Also, we had the most rain today that I've seen here in years. It was coming down in thick sheets that I could barely see through while driving, all the way from the south part of the valley up to the point of the mountain (locals will know what that means). I like to think that the storm followed us back from Seattle. You're welcome, Utah.

7/5

Reading!

Tonight Calvin read his first book cover to cover. I was so proud of him that I squealed loud enough to wake the neighbors. He was so proud of himself that he laughed until he had tears streaming down his face. He read the entire book. Word for Word. Not bad for a four year old. I hope that there are many more to come.

Random

I'm posting random pictures to procrastinate creating real posts. Taken 6/21.

Autumn came into the bathroom while I was putting on my makeup, and she kept begging me to put some on her. Here she is with some intense eyeliner/mascara eyes. She looks so different to me. I like the sweetness of her face without it, but she went around stroking her face saying, "oh, I'm so pretty." I'm sure I'm teaching her many bad things about valuing herself as a woman.

Calvin fancies himself a disco dancer. Everywhere we go, he shakes his hips and strikes a pose.

 After dancing, he succumbs to sheer exhaustion.

That's all.