A jewel in a mountain of paperwork

Sometimes, buried in a mountain of end-of-the-school-year paperwork, you find a jewel that makes your whole day.



I don't know if her teacher assigned her to write poetry about her mom. I don't even think I care. It is just so sweet. =) Here is the poem complete with artistic rendintion:

The Sweet Spot

My sister asked me today if I've given up blogging. I really haven't, but you sure wouldn't be able to tell that by looking at my recent blog activity. Hubby is watching the SeaChickens play, so I guess tonight is the night for my first blog post of 2011.

I found myself wondering the other day if I've hit a parenting sweet spot. I've always known that I'm not a "baby stage" parent. I just don't love the baby stage. I love the child, of course, and I love the new baby smell, but I don't love the spit up, I don't love the diapers, I don't love the back ache from carrying the kid in a car seat, I don't love the middle of the night crying, I don't love the nursing, I don't love giving them baths, I don't love being trapped by a sleeping child's schedule...and I could go on and on. It is amazing I had 3 lovely children given how much I don't love the baby stage.

I don't think the toddler stage is really my stage either. I don't really care for tantrums at the library, or the constant buckling and unbucking of car seats. It is cute when they learn to talk, but then go through that talking all the time phase where you constantly have to go "uhuh, yep, sure, uhuh, really?" I've been known to say "mommy seriously needs a break from all the talking".

So, when the kids got out of school for winter Holidays, I wasn't sure that 2 weeks of all the kids at home together was going to be tons of fun. But it was; it was tons of fun. We really had a good time. We went to the movies a couple of times (yea for $5 movies at Factoria), we went to Barnes and Noble a time or two, we went to the park to go scootering, we hung out together. I don't think I had noticed that the Big Guy was turning into a kid that could hang out, but it was sure noticeable that it was finally happening. No more "mom will stay behind with the Big Guy while Dad goes out to have fun with the older girls".

I remember my pediatrician warning me that the terrible twos for little boys runs about 1.5 years. Here we are...the Big Guy is 4 years old in 3 months...and we've gotten past it. I know everyone's experience is different. Some little boys don't have the tantrum-filled 2/3 year old behavior. But my little boy did and I was unprepared (although warned) for how much patience I would need. But now...SWEET SPOT!!!

Hopefully there is such a thing as a sweet spot and it isn't just a fairytale land in my head. Or, maybe even better would be that the Sweet Spot lasts for the rest of our lives. That's not too much to hope for right? Who doesn't love the constant drama of the teenage years?

Let's just capture this "sweet spot" in time with some pics:
Sweetness -- the leader of the pack

Spunky Girl -- the life of the party

The Big Guy -- the newcomer to the hang-out crew

A Child's Psyche

This morning, as I walked my girls down to the bus stop, my Spunky Girl said "I lie to myself".

"What do you mean?" said I
"sometimes I lie to myself so I don't get so hyper" replied she
"hyper about what?" further inquired I
"like going to the cabin" said she
"like what kind of a lie" said I, still a bit confused
"like there will be no snow at the cabin" said she
"Of course there is snow at the cabin" broke in her older sister (who thinks life is a big candy shop)
"Yep, there is snow there honey" said I
"I know" she said "but I tell myself there isn't any snow so I won't get too excited"

The whole conversation made me realize how much nature plays a strong part in who we are and less of that nurture stuff.
Spunky Girl doesn't have life experiences that teach her not to trust that good things are coming, and yet she still keeps herself in check from getting too excited about them.


Sweetness, her older sister who thinks that life is all candy candy candy, can't imagine a world where anything bad happens. "Of course life is going to be awesome" she thinks.


I think perhaps it is too early to tell how the Big Guy, who I think I might start calling Cave-man, will react to life. I think he expects life to lay itself at his feet "right now"! Anything else will just be unacceptable.

Maybe someday, a high priced therapist will conclude that Spunky Girl puts up walls around herself to protect herself because of some trauma she experienced in her young life...but I will know better. And come on, doesn't mom always know better?

Thanks Mo Williams

Spunky girl had a hard time with reading this year. Her kindergarten class offered her a tutor and we worked hard every day on reading, but it was a challenge. One of the things that makes it the most challening is that children know they can't seem to get something that their classmates are succeeding at. They know they are in the last reading group. They know some of their classmates are reading chapter books. And that knowledge makes them feel bad about it and makes trying harder.

We got through the entire collection of Bob learning-to-read books (which are great) during the school year, but then found the jump into books available at the library a bit of a challenge. There are definitely books there for "beginning readers" but they still seemed a bit above her abilities. Often there was a lot of words on each page. Spunky girl would look at the 20 words on the page and not even want to try, much less read the whole book. Enter Mo Williams.

Mo Williams writes the Elephant and Piggie books and they are AWESOME. They are always about two friends, an elephant and a pig, and a conversation they have. Because the book is just a conversation, there is often only a handful of words on each page. The author tells the story not only with the conversation, but with the expressions on the faces and the different type faces he uses. Spunky girl can tell from the type-face if the character is yelling or giggling or sad. I Love That. She really enjoys being able to express what the character is feeling. And the characters are funny little buggers...just like her.

Spunky Girl has read 3 of the 7 books so far and she gains confidence every time she does. She'll tell people "I read this book and I read two other ones too". She is willing to read the book to other people and enjoys telling them the story. It makes my heart happy to see her delight in reading.


So, thank you Mo Williams, wherever you are. This grateful mom's got a kiss on the cheek waiting for ya...

Its been ages

It has been ages since I last posted. I think blogging feeds upon itself. The more I blog, the more I can think of things I want to write about. But here I find myself...sitting at my computer...with plenty of time to write...and no inspiration. Clearly I've been gone too long.

So, while I wait for inspiration to strike, I'll update you on my kids.


Sweetness turns 8 tomorrow. She is definitely working on a new phase of life. The "tweens" run from 8 - 12 years of age and I feel an eagerness in her to begin the phase. We allowed her to pierce her ears for her birthday. She assured me last year that EVERY OTHER CHILD IN THE UNIVERSE had their ears pierced. I wonder how many children she's met from distant planets. My guess is not many. I'm sure she would have said something about the encounter. She loves to talk and tell me about the things her friends have said. If I dare suggest that perhaps she shouldn't believe everything she hears at school, she is barely able to cover her obvious impression that her mom is so not "in the know". Despite the new glimpes of attitude, she is still a beautiful child in looks and in heart. She's become empathetic to how I can be pulled in a zillion directions at once and wants to help. If only that willingness to help wasn't followed by a "Mom, how do I...?"

Spunky Girl is 6 now. She has the cutest freckles in the whole wide world and they rest below her stunning hazel eyes. Sometimes I just stare at her in wonder, but usually I'm too busy trying to corral her to just stare. =) She is still the snuggliest thing ever. She loves to come into my bed in the morning and sleep together for the last half hour; she isn't content unless both of my arms are wrapped around her (which of course means that one of my arms is likely losing all blood flow). She is always giggling about something, and usually something inappropriate. It is hard not to encourage her, though, when she's so darn impish. Hubby and I just cross our fingers and hope that she doesn't ascribe whatever objectional things she's saying to us. Then we can pass it off with a "where do kids these days hear this stuff?".

The Big Guy is 3. He's my little man, my cry-baby, my sweet son, and my joy. Three goods to one bad...that's not too horrible, right? We're trying to potty train him right now. It is a big ole pain in the butt. He's stubborn like a mule (whoops, 3 goods to 2 bad) and so it is very hard not to turn potty training into a power struggle. It does melt my heart when he says "just like a big boy, right?". Yeah buddy, just like a big boy. He stopped taking naps about 5 months ago, but I really need a few quiet minutes a day so I still put him down for a half hour. He kicks the wall the entire time, just so I'm clear that he's waiting for me to come get him. I suppose that is smart, though, because I suspect if he was quiet I would be tempted to leave him up there a little longer. There's nothing like one of his hugs and his whisper "I really love you mommy". It definitely makes up for him coloring on my sofa with green marker, or hiding the drinking cups in the toilet, or getting into my lipstick.


I sent my girls off to overnight Girl Scout camp at the end of June. I can get stressed by all the people needing my attention at once, so I was excited for them to have an adventure and for me to have some quiet(er) time with the Big Guy. It turns out I missed them like crazy. It was so quiet in the house that even the Big Guy whispered when he talked to me...and I could hear him just fine. I complain about not having a nanosecond to myself but then it was a huge culture shock to be down to one child. I had to keep myself busy to not think about how uneasy I felt about them being gone. There is an irony there...that I crave alone time and then have to keep busy during my (sorta) alone time till my girls came back. I guess the lesson is just to find the treasured moments in every day.

I'll leave you with one last picture of my kiddos, taken after picking strawberries. Note that, as always, Spunky Girl just has to be a little different and holds her bag of strawberrries on her head.

The Monkey on my Back

I haven't got enough time. I know it is an excuse, but it feels real. It feels like life moves at the speed of light and the only chance I have of keeping up is by operating on a dead-run, doing everything myself. Asking someone else to help out or do something themselves, regardless of whether that is the kids or hubby, slows down my progress.

This is a problem, though, because I can see that it is unsustainable. Not only is my burnout entirely predictable, but it isn't in anyone's best interest. My kids will not learn to be self-suficient, capeable people by me doing everything for them. They will not learn to use their brains to solve their own issues, they will not learn time management, they will not learn how the world really works. My hubby will not feel like a respected co-parent if I display to him through my actions that I can do everything better and faster than him.

For example, I help Sweetness (my 7 year old) pick out her clothes every morning, monitor her progress as she gets ready for school, and get her lunch and her backpack packed and ready for school. If I try to have her get dressed entirely on her own, without my assistance, she'll come down in something entirely inappropriate for the day (like a dress on gym day) or she'll be up in her room for 20 minutes trying to figure out what to wear and will eventually come down to me saying "I can't find my...". At that point, we're running late and I have to rush through whatever task I'm working on and go up and pick out an outfit anyway (or continue to let her do it herself, but resign myself to driving her to school because she missed the bus). I usually decide that it is just easier to pick out the outfit and have it lying on her bed when she goes up to get dressed. But the result is that I have a 2nd grader who doesn't really know how to quickly get dressed. I'm serious. It took her several MINUTES to inside out a pair of jeans. It was pure torture watching her. And that was just one step of the getting ready process...she still had to find a shirt, socks, etc.

Example #2: Spunky Girl (age 5) wanted breakfast when I was trying to get Sweetness to dress independently, so I asked her to get her own cereal. She was able to get the box down from the pantry, but managed to spill it all over the floor trying to pour the cereal into the bowl. It cost me more time to help her get that fixed than it would have to just pour her cereal myself. But I still have to let her do things herself because otherwise she'll never get any better at it.

Example #3: It is time to potty train the Big Guy...but the thought of adding potty training accidents and battle-of-wills contests into my already stressful days makes me want to crawl into a corner and cry. The thought of no more diaper changes should make that worth it, but to me the thought of adding more work into my exhausting days is worse than the thought of continuing diaper changes. But it is in his best interest to start potty training so I gotta find the personal strength to get started.

So I'm starting to work on this a little bit now with the thought of really ramping it up during the summer. Right now we are starting the conversation about personal responsibilities and I'm mentally preparing myself for things taking longer and requiring more work from me...for a bit. This summer the girls are going to get a crash course in self-sufficiency. They'll be figuring out what responsibilities they need to complete (like getting dressed, personal hygeine, chores) before they can enjoy fun summer time activities. And the Big Guy? Well... one thing at a time.

***I borrowed the non-Lisa photos from fotosearch...all royalty free of course!

This one's for the Girl Scouts...

Today was my first Daisy Girl Scout troop field trip. We had so much fun! We went to the Camp River Ranch, which is in Carnation by the Tolt River. It is a 425 acre property owned by the Girl Scouts. They host activities there (like the "help it grow" activity we joined today), as well as day camps, over-night camps, troop and family camping, hiking, and more. Today the weather was sunny and beautiful...just perfect.

Here we are, just after we arrived at the camp.

The camp staff started out the festivities with some story time. Our girls were great! They all sat quietly and listened. I must figure out the trick the staff used to capture their attention and hold it through 2 stories.

After story time, it was time for our troop to have "tea". Lemonade, cookies, carrots and cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches was hosted by a troop of Junior Girl Scouts. Most of our girls skipped the cucumber sandwiches, but at least they did it politely!

The Junior Girl Scouts then taught our girls a bunch of songs and played games with them.
The girls loved it and joined right in.

Next it was time for our girls to make their concrete stepping stones.
They collected pieces of nature and also used some colored glass to create a design in their pans.

After that, they were allowed to help mix the concrete and spread it into their pans.

It was a little messy, so some handwashing was next on the agenda.


Funny how even handwashing can be fun when you are allowed to do it outside and splash a little...

We had a few moments before our next activity started, so the camp director took the girls on a little hike. The girls loved the freedom to run around a bit and the Tolt River was beautiful!



The girls were given some time to explore the cabins used for overnight camping. A raccoon visited a nearby tree during their exploration, so the girls experienced some animal sightings too (they also saw dear in the meadow).

Now it was time for our gardening adventures. The girls planted cucumbers and beans.
They watered their seeds and also did some weeding in other areas. If the girls go back for any activities in the summer, they will get opportunities to see their stepping stones and eat some of their produce.

The last activity was playing games. The game leader found us a nice spot in the shade and led the girls in a bunch of running-around games. We chaperones were already getting tired, so it was time to tire the girls out!

One final Girl Scout circle with all the girls and it was time to go home!


If anyone has interest in seeing all the pictures, let me know and I'll post them on a share site for all to view.

Car Conversations

We are driving down the road (with elderly guests in the car, of course!) and Sweetness asks "Mom, what does that sign say with the funny purple letters?"

Me: "uh...it says Lovers".

Sweetness: "Oh, what do they have there?"

Me: "I guess some stuff for people in love"

Sweetness: "like what?"

Me: "stuff with lots of hearts on it, I suppose"

Sweetness: "we should go there the next time we need to get a wedding present"

Me: "Well, that's an...idea"

Spunky Girl: "Do they have dummy heads?"

You can always count on Spunky Girl to come up with something completely non-sensical and a little bit asinine to change the direction of a conversation. Sometimes I love her for that.

I learned something new

The title of this blog post makes it sound like learning something new is a rare occurance for me...it's not...it is just that I rarely find such a striking moment to discover a whole new facet of one of my children.

I took my three kids to the memorial service for my Great-grandma Bea on Saturday. I expected I might have a few questions to answer about the service, but I was surprised by Spunky Girl's reaction. She seemed fine on the way to the service. She asked a few questions about death. We talked a bit about what a coffin is...she wanted to look inside (of course). I gave my usual speech to the kids about what behavior is appropriate during the service. She gave me the "we know, mom" response.

When the service started, she burst into tears. She crawled up into my lap, buried her face into my shirt, and just bawled. Spunky Girl isn't a quiet crier. She gets a high pitch hiccup-y wail that goes on as she cries, and her body shakes. It seemed like 5 minutes went by (but was probably more like 1 minute), and she pulled herself together. We were good for a bit, and then she started bawling again. By the time the service was over, she had such red puffy eyes.

I was surprised. I guess I would have expected Sweetness to be the one crying. She was much closer to Grandma Bea, as Grandma would often cling to Sweetness when we visited the Care Center. Spunky Girl and the Big Guy would usually just run around and play.

After the service, Spunky Girl was really thoughtful about the memorial. My Grandpa Jim died last year and now she realized that he didn't have a funeral. Actually, he did, but the Big Guy threw up all over everything on the way to the service so we didn't get to attend. I knew when Spunky Girl was talking about Grandpa Jim that she was processing death on a larger scale than just Grandma Bea.

I think I've learned that Spunky Girl has more powerful emotional swings than Sweetness does. I don't think Grandma's death is harder or will be harder for Spunky Girl than Sweetness, but I think that she feels things stronger in the moment. Im glad to learn that now...and hopefully I can remember than when we are in the midst of histronics and be more understanding and loving.

I'll leave you with a picture of my dear Great-Grandma Bea Hatfield. She was loving and funny and friendly. I'll always remember her, dressed in her white keds and ready to go for a walk on the beach.

Boy am I in trouble

All kids are unique and special...but when I describe my kids as "unique" and "special" I am usually making a derisive comment. I don't know why it is easier for me to complain openly about my children than it is for me to brag openly about them...but it is...so here goes:

My Spunky Girl is going to be a handful. For some reason, that girl cannot keep her clothes on. When she was a little bit younger, I'd find myself getting weird looks at Costco and turn around to find her NAKED. At 4 years of age, she routinely asked people "do you want to see my bottom?". At 5 years of age, I have to keep asking her to stopping pulling her shirt above her nipples.

The other day I laid the kids down over some long paper and drew their outlines. The girls then got to draw in their faces, their clothes, etc. Sweetness, my eldest child, drew herself in a lovely green t shirt and mid-length blue shorts. Spunky Girl drew herself in an off-shoulder shirt with some bicep high matching gloves & a pair of capri pants. Somehow she even managed to give her hips a sexy curve. She doesn't own any clothes like that, of course, but that is how she drew herself. She is just really body conscious...but not in a "look at myself in the mirror" kinda way (that would be Sweetness)...more in a "who can I get to look at me" kinda way.

If I pull my hair out with Spunky Girl's antics at 5 years old, how am I going to handle her when she's 16?

School Starts Today

The alarm clock rang at seven. It rang like it hasn't rung since early June. Lucky for me, I don't have to hear it. Sweetness has it in her room and she has the responsibility to get up, turn it off, and come wake up momma. It belongs on my "best of" motherhood list.

She jumped out of bed this morning and made her bed without being asked. I love it when they are excited for school. I'd love to post a picture of her dressed in her first-day-of-school clothes, but I forgot to take a picture. I also forgot to take a picture of her getting on the school bus. That probably won't make it into my "best of" motherhood list. I wish I had a picture of her face when the boy she doesn't like sat down next to her. The silent telepathy of "help me mom" works through the bus windows. "Bye honey" I yell "have a great first day" and turn my back on her pleading eyes.

We're back on a schedule. Tuesday schedules will be full:
7 am -- Sweetness up and getting ready for school
7:50 am -- walk sweetness to the bus stop (hope and pray that mom or hubby is around so I don't have to drag the other two kids down the hill with us)
9:20 -- get Spunky Girl and the Big Guy in the car for swim lessons
9:30 -- Spunky Girl's swim lessons
10 am -- the Big Guy's swim lessons
11 am -- early lunch for the 2 little kids
11:55 am -- walk Spunky Girl down to the bus stop
1:30 pm -- put the Big Guy down for a nap (please please please)
3:12 pm -- pick up Spunky Girl and Sweetness from the bus stop
4:20 pm -- get the kids in the car to head back to the pool for Sweetness' swim lessons
5 pm -- start dinner!

Should be a full day. I'm looking forward to it! Happy First Day of School!

Ch-ch-ch changes

My daughter Sweetness just turned 7 years old. I'm struck by the changes I see in her. She wants so badly to be grown up. The thing that I noticed first was the changes in her speech. She is trying out all sorts of new phrases and listening to herself to see how she sounds. You can see her pause after she tries out a new saying. Yesterday, she tried out "Say What????", just like she heard on Hannah Montana. Instead of her pulling off a cool, nonchalant, somewhat witty vibe, she sounded ackward and her giggling afterwards didn't help any.

The other day at the doctor's office, she went to get her customary sticker after her appointment. She perused the stickers and then decided to give hers to me. I asked her why she didn't want her sticker and she said "I'm just trying to be more grown up." I thought it was funny that she still liked the sticker well enough to spend some time picking one out, but then decided that it was too babyish to keep it.

She also is a lot more aware of privacy issues and her body. Instead of just giggling about her body, she is more emotionally upset at the idea of her privacy being violated. I bought her a book from American Girl called "The Care and Keeping of You" and thought we would read through it together. We got through a couple of pages and it was clear that the *last* thing she wanted to be doing was reading this book with her mom. We decided to read that book at a later time.

She even decided on her own to help me with the housework yesterday in preparation for a sleepover. She swept the bathroom floor, washed the bathroom mirror, and emptied my dishwasher...all without being asked. I'm not sure how I feel about her associating growing into a woman with doing housework, but I suppose that is a fact of life.

Caption: Spunky Girl, Sleepover friend, & Sweetness playing Martian Matter

Sweetness' desire to distance herself from childish things is great (& fascinating) but it causes extra problems for her sister. Spunky Girl, who is 5, already clamors for more attention and time from her older sister. For Sweetness to aspire to being an older girl means that she wants to have even less to do with her younger sister and playing the games that Spunky Girl wants to play. I have to constantly remind Sweetness to talk respectfully to her sister, even if she is telling her that she doesn't want to play with her.

I'm hoping that this comes in waves. I don't mind her trying to be older from time to time, but I want her to also go back to enjoying childish things too. I'm sure her sister wants that too!

It's 4:14 AM and I'm blogging

All three kids are sick. Yes, all three vomiting on the same day. Lucky me. All day I've been doing laundry: washing sheets, pillow cases, mattress pads, pajamas, towels and the occasional unfortunate stuffed animal. I've scrubbed down walls and stain treated carpets and upholstry.

What are you supposed to do with the pillows? 5 pillows now have become soiled during this round of sickness. All soiled to the point that I think they need to be thrown away. I hate to send 5 pillows to the landfill. What a bulky waste! But what else do you do with them? Thank goodness that pillows are relatively cheap to replace. Oh, I know the nice ones are $20 each, but my kiddos like the flat ones and those are $5 each.

Sweetness, my eldest daughter, was the last to fall ill. She came to my bedside at 3:30 this morning to tell me she'd thrown up in her bed. She is at least composed enough to hang out by herself in the bathroom while I clean up the mess. She even washed the flecks out of her own hair...I'm so proud!

The Big Guy had been horrible all day, so I was almost glad when he threw up in his crib at 8 pm. Better to have a sick little boy than to have a that boy be a crying mess all day and have to wonder if that is just his personality.

Spunky Girl started us off on Saturday night by ralphing all over her bed and then again last night. She'd probably be better by now if I could just get her to stick to the BRAT diet and rest...but acts like she is fine during the days and bugs me to go do stuff. I know the slip n' slide was a poor choice, but at least it got the kid out of my hair for a few minutes.

I wonder if I should try to go back to bed now. I tried sleeping at 3:45, after getting the last round into the washer, but hubby is snoring and I can't fall back asleep. Hubby is snoring because he exhausted himself fishing all day and caught NOTHING. Why would you fish from 5:45am till 10pm if you were catching nothing? Doesn't sound fun to me, but I don't begrudge him his time away or his time to sleep off the fatigue afterwards. The guy never gets time away to go play, so I'm glad that worked out for him. I'm even more glad he'll be home tomorrow (which is actually today) to help with the sick kids!

More things I'm grateful for:
* that the kids are sick now instead of in 3 days when Hubby and I are supposed to leave for a kid-free anniversary inspired weekend
* that I have a washer and dryer in my house and that I have enough spare sheets to swap on clean ones while the dirty ones are washing
* that I can call my mom in an "emergency" to hang out with the little guy in the tub while I get his crib ready for another round
* that I can turn off all the alarm clocks in the house and let the household wake up on their own

...and with that, I'm going to go try to sleep again. Nighty night.

Haircut Mania

Yesterday was haircut day for Spunky Girl and I. Normally, I take the 3 kids in for haircuts and I go separately to a salon, but I buzzed the Big Guy's head myself last week and it doesn't look too bad. Yippee for me...$10 saved. Spunky Girl is home during the afternoons when I sneak out for a haircut, so it is convenient to bring her along and let Hot Daddy have the time to workout.

So off we go to get our hair cut. I had decided to cut off some length. I've been growing my hair out since I whacked it after Spunky Girl was born. In those 5 years, it has grown to about my shoulder blades. My intention was to keep growing it out, but my husband (ever-so-subtle) said "don't grow it out on my account. I like it shorter". Given that "hint", I thought I'd take 2 - 3 inches off. I really like Spunky Girl's current hair, so I wanted her hair trimmed and shaped into the same style she currently has.

I don't know what happened when we got to the hair salon...either we had a language communication problem or the hair stylists just decided to do what they wanted. Instead of chopping off a few inches into a straight-flippy hair style, my hair stylist trimmed it, layered the back, and brought out my curls. Does this look shorter, straight, and flippy to you? Yeah, it doesn't to me either.

I've had this happen to me before. I come in with fairly straight hair. The stylist gets my hair wet and sees that there is a lot of curl in the back...and decides that it would be fun to see it curly. Might be fun for them, but I already knew it was there and I'm trying to avoid it. Sheesh. It looks like a bad near-mullet I had entering high school.

The stylist doing Spunky Girl's hair thought it would be fun to give her a rocker hairdo. She trimmed a little and then spent a bunch of time flat ironing her hair to make it stick out. I actually think this is really cute, but there is no way I have time to flat iron that girl's hair. It isn't going to look anything like this when I try to do it. Couldn't they have just trimmed her hair like I tried to ask for? I think Spunky Girl was a tad disappointed when she saw what I was able to do to her hair this morning...definitely not as cute.

Oh well, new haircuts are just a few months away!