My Fix

Well it's here folks. I am talking about the week of VBS. This is the week that I get my teaching fix for the year. It's the week where I can pour out all my creative juices in curriculum and room decor. It's the week where I get to exercise all the classroom management techniques I learned in 8 years in education before becoming a mom (although I must say that I've been known to whip out a few of those techniques on the home front.) I love this week because I get to be all teachery and by the time I am exhausted the week is over. It's a nice shot in the hip as it were.

It's also the week where I remember why I don't teach while having babies at home. Getting up super early and getting myself and my two girls ready and out the door by 8:00 is no easy task. Not to mention prepping all the items you'll need for the next day's lesson. The good news? No papers to grade when you get home and no parents to call! Whoot!

Today was room prep day. I spent the majority of the day up at the church with my partner preparing our room. The theme this year revolves around cowboys, barns, animals, etc, etc, etc. Here is a picture of our story corner.

 I was quite pleased with the way it came out. The bales of hay are made from empty diaper boxes that are covered in shredded construction paper. (We couldn't use real hay because of allergy issues.) It will be a ton of fun teaching a lesson while slapping stray hands away from the sheep and keeping rogue boys from attempting to climb the ladder (tongue planted firmly in cheek). Enjoy the look now, I am sure once the kids arrive, it will never be the same!

Taming of the Doo

Today I am writing about Claire's hair. Oh, my sweet Claire, your locks are out of control. Anyone remember this?  Obviously before Claire was born, I knew this was going to be an issue. And then there was this. Even with very little hair, the problems were starting to unveil themselves.

Now that my beautiful girl is 3, I am shocked to find that Claire's hair (much like its owner) has mood swings. There are times when it will lay flat against her head with small adorable wisps flirting around her ears.

But all it takes is a nap or a good nights sleep to transform her mane into this:

It is mornings like these when I determine the only way to go is pig tails.

Which are cuteness to the extreme if you ask me. I just love this look on her, but can I tell you how hard this is to accomplish? Good gracious, it's hard. It's like trying to comb out hair on an alligator (if they had hair). Trying to get the two pig tails even and centered is almost impossible with a child who is writhing on the floor and attempting pirouettes when forced to stand. And still, somehow I manage to get the hair up. But you know what happens? Invariably, Claire will tire of the pig tails mid-way through the day's events. So she pulls them out (usually when I am nowhere near a comb or extra hair accessories for repair purposes) and ends up looking like this.

Lovely.

And then there is the nightly Farrah Fawcett doo.

This style usually follows a 30 minute wrestle session with Daddy.

Oh so many phases of hair. If only I knew which phase I'd be faced with from day to day I could prepare myself. But alas, I cannot. I am really looking forward to the day when all her locks are long enough to accomplish the basic pony tail. Oh won't that day be nice?

Her hair does cause me headaches from time to time, but whether with hair perfectly groomed, or styled in wolverine fashion, she is beautiful and we are blessed to have her. Down to the very last strand!

When There's No Time To Blog . . .

It is only the 6th day of June and already this month has me overwhelmed with its business. Right now I should be prepping for VBS, but instead I have been drawn to my poor neglected blog. But with no time to write anything of substance, I will defalt to the easy way out. When there is no time to blog, I post pics. Enjoy!

We took a family trip to the Fort Worth Zoo!!

And Claire got her first close up experience with birds.

When all is quiet, it usually means trouble is brewing, but this time, I found the girls reading together. 

Soooo sweet!

On Memorial Day, we ventured out for a day at the beach and had a blast! Poor Sarah was dressed in what has to be the most cumbersome swimsuit on the market. 

I felt sorry for her, but honestly she approaches every event with such reckless abandon, I was fearful of how she would handle the ocean. It is a little too vast for me to be comfortable with her in just a swim suit. This kid has so much foam in her suit, I would bet that the entire family could have used her as a flotation device!

Claire absolutely loved the beach! She spent most of her time running up and down the coast. 

Great exercise!!

And Sarah has begun her early attempts at a smile on cue. And, of course, the resulting grin is quite comical. ($20 goes to the reader who can tell me what we had for dinner based on the remnants on her face!)

Wow, that one is almost a genuine smile! But I think the one below is my favorite "attempt" by Sarah. 

Looks like she is in so much pain.