Eight Inches=Big Difference

Meghan has had long hair since she was a baby.  She had shoulder-length hair for her first birthday...I took several inches off the back or her hair to remove a "tail" when she was just 15 months old, and it was still past her shoulders.

It was August of 2010 when Meghan had her first big haircut, meaning more than a few inches or trim.  We had to cut off six inches in order for her hair to make using the bathroom easier.  She was just three (nearly four) years old.

For the past few months, Meghan has been asking to have short hair.  She has said she wants to look like me, which I take as quite the compliment.

In my opinion if we were going to cut off bunches of hair again, we should let it be long enough to donate for wigs.  The shortest amount required was eight inches.  I thought we'd need to wait until the fall, but this morning we had hair appointments with Deb...

I'm not sure if we look alike, but the new cut is cute...even if eight inches takes a lot of getting used to.  I'm definitely looking forward to her hair not being knotted every time she goes outside to play.

Hair has been a big enough part of Meghan that this blog even has a "hair" category.  

(Derek and I are attending a wedding today, so it is a rare day that I am wearing contact lenses.)

The First Fire

We had our first fire of the season.

Esther snatched the graham cracker from my hand and ate it.

 Meghan roasted her own marshmallow for the first time.

 When asked to smile, Evan likes to be goofy.

 YUM.

 YUM!

 YUM!

ICK!

  She finished the entire graham cracker in a short amount of time.

Well, all of the graham cracker except what was on her...and me.

Strawberries!

The strawberry farm we enjoy was open for picking on Derek's Friday off, so we went on a comfortably cool morning.  (Oh-so-different than last year when I was pregnant.  It was HOT and HUMID that day.)

It was really a bit too early in the season for easy picking, but we still brought home over five pounds of berries.  (Much less than previous years.)   The effort was much, but they just needed a couple more days.

Meghan asked if she could wear my bandanna.  I happily said yes.  (She rarely sees me in it now, but there was a period of a few years where I wore one nearly all the time...when I was a child, I disliked my mom's red bandanna she wore on the farm.  Hopefully Meghan will continue to think it's "cute.")

 I tried my hand at freezer jam this year.  (Linked to the other blog.)  Previously I canned strawberry jam (once) but Derek didn't prefer the cooked taste.  The freezer jam is super easy, takes less sugar, and makes a great sandwich!  We're all happy!  We only made one batch.  We'll be giving a jar to Meghan's teacher, preschool director, and classroom aide this year.  We still have plenty left over, plus more berries in the freezer to make more.

The Local Gardens...

A couple weeks ago a friend of ours invited us to join them at the local gardens.  We had not been there before but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  :)  You can read about our day and see a few pictures at today's post over at This Simple Home.

Dorie also wrote about it on her blog These Grace Filled Days.

Grass Fun

There was a delay with mowing the yard due to some lawnmower problems.  However, Derek is very handy and was able fix it enough to mow again.  With the delay in mowing, the yard had a lot of clippings, so we raked them.  Then we put them over the fence for the neighbor's cows.

Our neighbor lent us their wagon which helped a lot. We used the wagon and wheelbarrow at the same time.

Everyone was working hard while Esther slept during her morning nap.  

 See that blue sky?  We were all comfortable with the temperature and low humidity!  Yippee!

  The wagon holds about four piles of grass and two children nicely.

The children worked hard!  I was impressed at how helpful they really were.  We were all ready for lunch by noon.  I think we all enjoyed our time working together.  I thought it was quite fun.

Oh, yes!  We made strawberry jam today after picking strawberries yesterday.  But that is another post...

Some Days...

...Are Like That

Evan's right arm is completely clean.  His tongue is not.

 Esther has found the kitty food.  Lucy does not prefer to share.

 Adorable.

Beep Beep BEEP

So a while ago Meghan asked me if the fire truck was going to come.  It's a rather amusing story, though, for a few minutes, it was rather intense.

You can read the whole story here at This Simple Home.


Does anyone else call their child "Goose?"

Race Day

Like many other schools, Meghan's preschool has a fundraiser each year called The Race for Education.  This year, she participated!  Actually, we all did in one form or another.

Below, you can see that Meghan had her friend, M, with her for the race.  They completed four or five laps, I think.  A lot of it was running, though you can't tell from the pictures.

 Evan also decided he wanted to race.  I took the first lap.  Derek also took two with him, though I suspect Derek was able to just walk while Evan ran.  I actually ran a tad bit, as you can see below.

 Holding hands!

 Taking a break.

 Laughing...probably at Evan.

 In between Evan's three laps, he ran in the grass by the building.

 Here they come...

It was a lot of fun for the children.  We also bid on a few items at the silent auction that the classes put together or were donated by businesses or individuals in the community.  One of my favorite items was a day with the preschool director at the local hands-on museum.  We didn't win the bid though.  :)  Meghan would have loved that!

Record Breaker...

THE FIRST TOOTH!

Meghan was 13 months.  Evan was closer to normal at 9 months.  Esther is doing everything much faster than the two of them.  Remember how she rolled at 11 weeks (and it was NOT a fluke)?  I'm a little frightened to think what will come next as my baby is growing up.

(And no, that is not a new picture.  I just really like it.)

A Little Crazy...

Life in our home seems to have become a bit crazy.

Esther is now six months.  Read all about it here and see lots of cute pictures.  Not only is she very mobile, but I forgot to mention that she is doing really well eating.  In addition to the regular baby food at each meal, she has also eaten real green beans, meatballs, and pork chops.

 Evan drew his first self-portrait, totally unprompted by his mom or anyone else!

 Lucy, now six years old, isn't as afraid of everyone as she used to be.  If you come to visit, she may not hide upstairs the whole time!  Lucy and Esther have a love-hate relationship.  You can guess about who feels which emotion, though Lucy tolerates Esther's grabs well.

 Multi-tasking isn't for me.  I really don't care to eat baby rice with my applesauce.  Esther was able to try my homemade applesauce's adult version that night.

 Esther loves the bookshelf.  She crawls to it daily to find something to eat.  (When she can open the fridge maybe she'll have a new destination.)  I'm proud of her early love for books.

Meghan is in her final month of preschool!!!  OH MY!

She is also playing on her first organized team.  Below you see her batting.  What you might not see as easily is the tee from which she hit the ball.  She has a nice team and patient coaches.  Derek happens to be one of them.  Thankfully, the kids have gotten the hang of the games.

Before her second game, she put on her tall (not quite knee-high) socks and pulled her uniform pants up a bit to show the sock.  Then she announced, "Now I'm a real tee ball player!"  (Obviously she has seen a few Mets games on television.)

Derek has his first softball game tonight.  He only plays once a week, and obviously, his games take a backseat to Meghan's.  He gets to work in Arizona for a day later this month, too.  (May I just say how thankful I am that he didn't need to travel back in the Screaming Days?  He may not have returned!)  

Me...Well, I've been enjoying a few good books recently.  (Loving Trenton Lee Stewart's newest book right now.  YOU should read them, but if you have a child who can handle reading a few hundred pages, give these books to him or her!  SO GOOD! You know I share a lot of those at This Simple Home, right?  Oh, I just listened to Little Women again...and can't wait to read the autobiography of Louisa May Alcott soon!)  Occasionally finding an evening to get out for a good walk, and trust me, I need the exercise!  Enjoying my new blog, but now that the weather is nice finding it a bit harder to find time to edit photos (mostly for the name watermark) and write.  Part of that may have to do with a few computer issues and the laundry piles...or the insane nights of Derek arriving home, the family gobbling dinner together, and heading out the door to Meghan's games with dishes left all over, unwashed/rinsed.  Arriving home ready for bed myself, though three little ones come first.  Evan is more interested in crafts these days, so I've been trying to do a bit more with the children on that end, too.

I'll just leave you with one last thought.  

This has been a problem more than once this week...He does not want to wait to be taught how to properly clean the toilet, but has a fascination with the toilet brush.  Could be worse!

Esther at Six Months

Esther turned 6 months a week or two ago.  Even before that she was rather mobile.  Below you can see that she made her way to the door stop in the living room, removed it, and proceeded to eat it.  This seems oddly familiar, though Esther's early mobility throws this mama a bit off at times.

Esther not only is basically crawling, but she is also sitting up.  (She rolled at 11 weeks...this is no surprise.)  Esther's crawling uses her arms and legs (and up on "all fours"), but it is not quite as fast as a regular crawl yet.  She does not sit up for long though, and prefers to be on her belly moving around.

 Her best smiles often include a crinkle of the nose.  Her smiles are still gummy, but we can feel the teeth below...

 At six months, Esther still tastes really good!