Fixed!

New cuts for both girls!  Sarah was quite pleased that she was still able to donate her hair and was able to get the same cut as Leila.  I'm thrilled that brushing their hair now takes seconds instead of many minutes.

The movers came on Thursday and we are almost completely packed.  It's hard to believe we are moving again.

Cut short

Leila and Sarah woke up on Saturday morning with long hair.

But by the end of the day, Sarah's hair looked like this...

I'm not going to lie.  I may have freaked out a tiny bit.

She had toothpaste in her hair and a certain someone (not Sarah) chopped off about 7 inches of hair to get it out.

The girls and I have been growing our hair out so we can donate it.  I've been doing that every 2 or 3 years since 1999.  Leila and Sarah have never donated before so they were excited about it.  We'd talked about a friend's daughter who has alopecia and how they can use donated hair to make wigs.

Imagine my shock to find a large chunk of the about-to-be-donated hair in the trash can.  It's just hair, I know.  It'll grow back... (in another 18 months!)

Sarah asked me if they can put her hair back or make it grow back faster.  I'm pretty sure that every victim of a bad haircut wishes that was possible.  

So now I'm scrambling to find a stylist and have Sarah's hair "fixed" before the movers come on Thursday.  The movers come on Thursday.  The movers come on Thursday.  Oh, yes... this will be a fun week!

Twins Mystify Me

I have been doing this "twin thing" for almost 4 years now but they still mystify me. Perhaps at some point it will get old and I'll no longer be fascinated by their unique bond. Or maybe not. It's uncanny how they finish each others' sentences and make the same expressions at the same times. It just never ceases to amuse me.
I took Leila & Sarah to Cartoon Cuts to get their first real haircuts. Of course Sarah went first since she is always brave for her cautious sister. They had their hair washed by a giant elephant (you should have heard them describing that to everyone afterward) and cut by a sweet stylist. When the stylist saw Sarah's hair she agreed that we needed to go short. No 3-year old deserves a mullet. So she cut a cute bob and that was that. And when Leila saw it she immediately changed her mind about keeping her hair long and wanted the exact same cut as her sister. I was a little surprised because even I wanted them to have long hair and Leila had been adamant about not getting hers cut.

But after they were both finished and I saw how adorable they looked, I was totally ok with both girls getting their hair chopped off.
As we left the salon and headed back out into the mall we had shoppers stop to gawk at the girls. They love the attention (I don't) so I snuck around corner, out of sight, and let them pose while I snapped a few pictures with my phone. Then we sent the pictures to Daddy and waited for a reaction. (He loved their new 'dos so it's all good!)

When we got home the girls wanted me to take more pictures. I took two quick pictures on my phone so they could see their new haircuts and when I showed them, they couldn't tell who was who! My own daughters can't tell each other apart in photos. Should I be worried? Should I laugh? Am I damaging them by letting them have the same haircut?
What I find the most interesting is that in both photos the girls are making the same faces. I often notice that they have similar reactions to situations and sometimes I giggle when they both smirk the same way or share the same silly smile. Oddly enough, it still entertains me when Nathan and Ryan do the same things too. It hasn't gotten old yet! I guess this is why strangers stop us when we're out in public. Twins are mystifying, even to me.

Chop Chop

Leila and Sarah had a mini fashion show last week as we dug through piles of clothing to sell and donate. It was the perfect opportunity for them to try on each and every article of clothing that they've worn in the last 2 years. And then it was a chance for them to exclaim "Oooh! It's pretty! Let's keep it!"
Fortunately I was able to purge a great deal of (adorable) clothing. Many of these cute dresses went to another set of identical twin girls from our local multiples club. Ironically their parents own the house across the street from us and they rent it out too. I enjoyed meeting the sweet girls who will wear my girls' outgrown clothing.
Sarah has always been into making these weird faces and posing in odd positions. And now that she's taking ballet classes she strikes these little ballerina poses that just crack me up!
I wish that Jason had his computer so he could see these crazy girls. Hopefully his trunk of personal items will arrive next week. (Finally!!!)
See what I mean about Sarah?
As I looked at these pictures I realized one thing: my daughters are adorable! Ok, actually I realized two things. They are adorable and they need haircuts.

Sarah has always had major hair issues from her cowlick and from her incessant hair twirling. She's been nearly bald before. Recently she developed a scary sort of mullet. Her hair is thin, stringy, and falling out in clumps. So it was time for a big chop chop.
These are the last pictures of my sweet girls with long hair. Tomorrow I'll post the after pictures!

The Calm Before the Storm

It's starting to hit me that this time (this chaotic time) is actually the calm before the storm.

I was going to title this post "100 Reasons I Hate Living in the South" but I don't want to get hate mail. Instead, I will just say that I can't WAIT to move! I am definitely not cut out for living down here. The heat, the humidity... the BUGS! I found a scorpion in my bedroom this morning. I almost stepped on it barefoot. That would have been great, right?

Instead of being negative, I'm going to focus on the positive. The positive side of finding the scorpion? My dad is here so I just called him in and he took care of it for me. I love my dad!

The kids have dubbed my dad "Granddad with No Hair" because, ever since I was in high school, my dad shaves his head bald. The boys are having a blast with their granddad because he takes them down to the lake behind our house at least once a day, usually twice. They burn off so much energy! It's a huge help to me.

My goal while my dad is here has been to cook my freezer meals. So far I have 16 meals in the freezer and another 18 that I'm going to finish in the next 2-3 days. I'm considering this part of my nesting since I have this overwhelming urge to fill the freezer and be ready to enjoy my babymoon. I am so proud of myself! All this cooking and still no working dishwasher...

I finished dying diapers last week, including a set of prefolds for a friend. I've got stacks of diapers sitting in my dining room and plans to sort through the newborn diapers in the next few days. I have been procrastinating with the baby preparations, just as I did with the girls. I'm just afraid to get too excited just yet, until I'm holding them in my arms.

Today I hit 35 weeks. My weight gain is up 70 lbs now and I finally hit 200 lbs. Because of the babies' positions I think I look smaller than I did with the girls. I'll have to compare pictures next week.

The boys are starting to get back into the homeschooling routine although having my dad here has thrown us off a bit. Next week we'll really get down to business. M is in first grade this year and J is in kindergarten.

As a result of the haircutting fiasco from last week, I finally decided to cut the girls' hair. I trimmed Sarah's stray strands and cut several inches of of Leila's so that she no longer has that layered look. Her hair was down to the middle of her back but now it's up at her shoulders. I think it looks cute even though I'm sad to cut it. (It's not crooked but L's head was turned at an angle in the last picture here.)

Before

After

Today my waterlily bloomed in our koi pond. It is the most beautiful sight! It's huge bud was closed when we woke up but then opened into this gorgeous flower. It closed up again this evening. It reminds me of my grandmother (who gave me the waterlily) and all of her koi ponds. She is my inspiration when I want to create things.

One of THOSE weeks

Yes, it's another of our typical crazy weeks. Where to start? Oh, I guess we'll start with the fact that the realtor never called. That was disappointment #1. Then Jason tried to call and get information on our next duty station assignment and couldn't find out anything yet. That was disappointment #2.

Then on Monday afternoon, this sweet, innocent boy decided to play barber shop.

(Which I'm pretty sure was THIS boy's idea, and not Joshua's!)

Matthew got a little trim of the bangs which left him looking a little goofy.

Leila got a little off the top which left her with a cute little bald patch.

But Sarah, poor Sarah, got it the worst. Because Sarah already twirls her hair and it falls out in chunks, she was already pretty bald.

Joshua decided to even things out and cut off the few long locks she had that were hanging down in the back. My little girl now sports a rat tail!

Jason wants me to cut Sarah's hair off so she will stop twirling and it will grow back thicker. My mom wants me to cut Leila's hair too so that Sarah doesn't feel bad. And me? Well, I just want to super glue the cut hair back on her head and call it a day.

Yesterday was a better day than Monday. Matthew did a great job at OT and everyone was in a good mood. If only we hadn't had ANOTHER cracked windshield, it would have been great. (Did I tell you all about the windshield in Jason's SUV that somehow cracked in 4 places when I was at Home Depot one night?) Needless to say, I'm not thrilled about having to repair (or replace) another windshield. And in the van it's probably going to cost an arm and a leg.

Maybe I could trade Joshua's barber skills for a free windshield?