Cute haircut

Ellie's been wanting to cut her hair all year long, but we've stalled since we needed to be able to put it into a bun for her ballet performance. Now that swim season is almost here, I had to agree with her, so we had it chopped off today.
Here's the before and after:


She had the requisite ten inches to donate to Locks of Love, so hopefully this nice thick hair will look good on someone else too.

I'm a little biased, but I think she looks beautiful either way.

Field trip season

Ellie and I had a good time at Wheeler Farm today, but we're both grateful that we don't live on a stinky farm.

Keeping busy

I finally got around to hanging some pictures today. I was going to surprise Rob when he got home, but let's face it, he's not big on surprises, and I'm just not that patient. Hanging pictures in a grid is not easy, especially when you have to jerry-rig some scaffolding. While I was up there Joey said, "Um, Mom, is that safe?" I told him not to tell my grandma about it, but that yes, I was being careful. It feels good to cross that project off my list. 

While dad's away...

The girls have been "sleeping over" in our room. On Monday they were so excited about this that they had their pajamas on by four in the afternoon. The boys have felt a little left out, so I promised a movie night/sleepover on Friday night. I even got them some new summer jammies, which the girls have been wearing since 2:00 p.m. 

I didn't get my daily photo yesterday or Wednesday, but if I had taken one, it would have been from the driver's seat. We had chess club, soccer practices, ballet, piano lessons, young women's, scouts and a leadership training meeting. Throw in trips to Costco and Albertson's, plus laundry, dishes, homework and piano practice and you know why I wasn't really in picture taking mode. One week down, and one to go.

Entered to win

I'm hoping to win a madsen cargo bike in this contest. I love the idea of running errands on a bike, although I might have to move if I really want to put it into practice—I'm not sure I can handle the hills even without the extra weight! Thanks for the link Shawn!

Dinner options

It's not like we never exercise the cereal option when Photo Scrooge is home, it's just that when he's gone I don't even feel guilty about it. I even tended Mikey today, so I could have ordered yummy Hagermann's sandwiches, but I figured that three out of four kids would just as soon eat cereal, and Robbie opted for leftover Café Rio burrito. Just keeping it real so Rob doesn't miss us too much.

A near perfect afternoon

Rob left for Prague and Budapest this morning, and will be gone for two weeks. :(  Luckily we had a busy and fun day planned. After kickboxing, we picked up some bagels and some friends and went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was beautiful, the weather couldn't have been better, and it was so fun to hang out with Julie & Liza. The only reason I added "near" in the title is because I forgot to put sunscreen on any of us, so we're all a little pink now. A small price to pay.

The best part? While I was rushing the girls to find sandals and get out the door, Ellie was really mad and threw out this statement in retaliation: "You are SUCH a BORING MOM!" Later tonight, the girls were still talking about what a great day it was, and Ellie said "Mom, I guess you're not such a boring mom after all." 

Prima donnas in training

If I add six photos today does it make up for all the daily photos I've missed this week? I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites from Ellie's performance. Here's Ellie with her little shadow, just before leaving for Kingsbury Hall:

She is the baby swan right in the middle, in front of Rothbart—she danced beautifully, and loved every minute of it! Luckily they only banned flash photography, and I didn't use one.

They let the girls in Act I watch the rest of the first half, so I caught Ellie for a quick photo during the intermission:



Thanks to everyone in Ellie's cheering section!



Ainsley is the second prima donna in training. Only promises of a treat kept her from twirling in the aisle the entire time.


Two very happy girls!

Peter Anders Stringham

On the Marsh side, the boy cousins are outnumbered, so when I told Robbie and Joey their new cousin was a boy, they went into party mode. And, as you can see, baby Pete already has the "rock on" sign down, so he's a welcome addition to the party.

General Conference Sunday

Our kitchen had been demolished before the October conference, so we were all happy to resume our tradition of crepes and conference bingo this morning. Conference was great, as usual—I especially loved Elder Bednar's talk, and the one just after, with the concept of spiritual home improvement. Hopefully that process won't be quite as traumatic as the physical remodeling!

Sunset

Fun to play around with depth of field tonight. I wish they'd bury all power lines though.

Fancy Nancys

This morning Ainsley said, "Mom, these pants are posh. That means fancy."