Would you like to hang with us?

Aside from Elizabeth's hair ordeal, last week occurred without a hitch.  Most of our time away from school was spent relaxing and just "hanging out" at home.  The girls and I had some extra time on Saturday while Tim worked so we drove to Holland and attended an American Girl doll craft party at Michaels.  On our way into town we also stopped at Tractor Supply and the girls rode a cart pulled by a donkey which they thought was great.

Who cut your hair?

All summer long Tim and I trusted our daughters to play outside without our immediate supervision.  It was a win-win situation for all of us.  The girls loved having some freedom as much as we did.  Of course, there were times when we were out with them working in the yard or relaxing in the sun (guess who did which?), but for the most part we had established expectations for when the girls were playing outside unsupervised.  After all, as children both Tim and I remember leaving home and being gone for hours without adults around.  We were probably older than 5 and 7, but playing in our cul de sac without us seemed pretty harmless or so we thought...

Yesterday afternoon while I was inside and Tim was in our backyard shooting his bow, Elizabeth concocted a grand idea - a beauty salon in the garage complete with water bottle, comb, brush, hair ties and my scrapbooking scissors!  Apparently she hadn't learned her lesson earlier this summer when she and our neighbor girl cut each other's hair.  To open the salon Elizabeth asked Leah if she could cut her hair, but when Leah turned her down Elizabeth started snipping away at her own hair.  Thankfully she didn't injure her eye.  What was once chin length hair became about 2 inches long above her eyes.  When I found Elizabeth sitting in the garage with wet hair and bangs I lost it!  Tim was much calmer and became the hair detective since I was too worked up to be objective.  In the end, both girls lied about their part in the whole incident and spent the majority of the afternoon and evening in their rooms.  Ironically, Elizabeth is scheduled for a haircut in 3 days with school pictures 10 days away.  I'm hoping that her hair grows super fast and that our hairstylist can work her magic before then!

What happened to your leg?

The days since the beginning of the school year have become a blur.  Getting into a routine was very easy for our family and the days seem to have sped by.  One afternoon last week our schedule took a different path than I had planned.  While she was at daycare Elizabeth injured her leg on a trampoline.  After a short emergency room visit (complete with a set of x-rays) Elizabeth was sporting a new leg brace due to a good ankle sprain.  She was apprehensive about going to school the next day with the brace on and being asked the question, "What happened to your leg?" repeatedly.  However, by the end of the week she seemed used to the attention and her ankle started to heal quickly.  This past weekend our schedule didn't really provide much of a break.  On Saturday Leah attended a bowling birthday party and afterward we all celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday in Carson City.  Then on Sunday we were in Hudsonville for another birthday celebration in the afternoon.  I'm looking forward to unwinding a bit this weekend! 

How was the first day of school?

It is almost the end the first week of school for the 2010-2011 school year and all the hype of the beginning of school has come and gone.  Before school started this past weekend our next door neighbor (who is going into 8th grade) made a huge bus shaped cake for the all the kids in the cul de sac.  It was delicious and he did a fabulous job and only had a little help from his mom.  Tuesday, when the first day of school arrived, Leah literally jumped out of bed with excitement (not to be confused with the sugar rush she previously had from the cake) and was ready in lightning speed.  Elizabeth was ready early too so I took advantage of the extra time to take some pictures.  In between the strong gusts of wind I was able to take a few shots at home and then by our school sign.  We all had a great first day.  Elizabeth rode the bus for the first time and loved it.  Her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Price, said she was a sweetheart and listened well.  Leah had a fabulous day and was a big help for her second grade teacher, ME!  With a new principal and all of us in the same building I am looking forward to a wonderful year together. 

How old are you this year?

The last week of August was pretty relaxing.  I did some work on my classroom a few nights which helped me get organized before this week of professional development, but during the days the girls and I stayed home so they could play with their neighbor friends.  Saturday we had Elizabeth's 5th birthday party.  It was a Webkinz celebration in which she was given 5 more Webkinz to add to her collection.  It's hard to believe that my "baby" is 5!