Those Darn Barbie Animators!

Ellie absolutely loves the Barbie movies. Whenever we pick a movie, Barbie is always her first (and second) choice. This is our most recently acquired Barbie movie. Ellie usually identifies with the dark haired Barbies. In The Princess and the Pauper, her name is Erika. For days now Ellie has been begging me to do her hair like Erika.

The thing is, I am not a very good hair-doer. I struggle to get a decent looking ponytail. And those dang Barbie animators do some pretty tricky things with those Barbies' hair!

However, I just discovered this awesome website that gives step by step instructions on some super cute hair styles for little girls. After looking at the website for nearly an hour, I was inspired to start doing more with my girls' hair.

So today for church, I attempted to do Ellie's hair like Erika. Pardon me while I toot my own horn, but I think it turned out pretty darn good!

Especially considering the first time I have ever successfully french-braided any one's hair was Friday when I did this to Makayla's hair.

I tried to french braid her hair again for church, and it turned out waaaaay better.

Yay Me!!

Kindergarten Jitters

Kindergarten starts next week for Makayla, and our house is overflowing with anxiety and excitement.

Makayla is excited to the point of jumping up and down and clapping every time she looks out the window at her new school. (Yes we can see it from our front door. How convenient!) And I'm so nervous that every time I think about next Wednesday, tears well up in my eyes.

I will openly and honestly admit that I am totally overprotective of my children. I am that mother at the playground who hovers over her children to make sure they don't fall down and scrape a knee. I am the mother who instantly whips out the band aids at the sight of a hangnail; although I am getting better about not wasting band aids on non-blood injuries. I am the mother who would tie her children to her when out in public if I didn't think it would land me an interview with Child Protective Services. I'm just so paranoid about harm coming to my children that I overdo it a lot, I think. The thought of letting them get hurt, physically or emotionally, so they can learn and grow is agonizing to me.

When we were on vacation in July, we stopped at a park to let the girls run around and get out some energy. Makayla was playing with a little boy, having the time of her life. One of his friends came over and the two boys started saying mean things to her. She broke down in tears and buried her head in my stomach. I literally had to take Makayla and leave the park to keep myself from picking up a stick and beating the crap out of those little boys. I just can't handle the thought of someone being mean to my child.

See? Overprotective.

I'm so nervous because I know things like that will happen to her on the playground at school. But this time, I won't be there to save her. And I know some of you will say that it will be good for her to have those experiences to teach her about life blah, blah, blah. It doesn't matter. She's my baby. When she hurts, I hurt. It's that simple.

Another thing that keeps me awake at night is the fact that Makayla is my runner. She has run away from home, from church, from preschool, from birthday parties. I am terrified about her being overwhelmed by kindergarten and running away. Because that's what she does. She's been that way ever since she could walk. When a situation gets too intense for her or when she has simply had enough, she runs away. Yikes! I can't even think about this anymore. I can feel my ulcer wreaking havoc on my stomach!

I was discussing these things with a friend today. I told her my plan to walk Makayla to her classroom every day for the first little while until I knew for sure that she knew her way. Having a child who attended this school last year, she informed me that parents walking kids to their classrooms is highly discouraged. The teachers and administrators prefer that parents drop off their kids at the front door and allow the teachers and teachers' aides to guide the children to their classrooms. Fantastic! I definitely needed something else to worry about--whether or not someone took notice of my child among hundreds and guided her where she needs to be.

I know that I'm paranoid. And I know that I'm way too overprotective. I'm just not sure how to let things go. Any suggestions?

The Move

Well, I survived the move and lived to blog about it. I took a few pictures, but only 2 of them turned out. Oh well.

Makayla and Ellie love the deck and backyard. Their new favorite thing is to sit on a blanket on the deck and eat popsicles. They do it almost every day. They also love the neighbor boy upstairs, Hunter. The whole front of the apartment building is a parking lot so he rides his bike outside while the girls chase him around. Makayla frequently says to me, "Mom, can I please go outside and see my boyfriend?"

This is a view of the old apartment from the front steps of the new apartment. Did I mention that I just moved across the street? In some ways, it's a lot worse than moving across the country. That apartment is definitely as ghetto as it looks. In fact, when giving people directions to that apt I often said, "it's the ghetto blue one on the left." Funny enough, no one ever had a hard time finding us with that description. See the really nice townhouses in the background? That's where my friend Ann used to live. We used to make yummy snacks and watch Oprah together. Good times! I miss you Ann!

Anyway, we are loving the new place. Especially the new carpet and linoleum. And the extra closet space. And the cheaper laundry facilities. And the nicer kitchen appliances. And pretty much everything else.

What do I miss about the old place? NOT ONE THING!!

Growing Up: Kimberly at 7 months

Kimberly makes the funniest faces. I've only been lucky enough to catch it on camera a few times. My favorite face, one which is so fleeting I can never hope to capture it on film, is when she raises one eyebrow in a "What the heck!" kind of way. So hilarious!

I took her in for her 6 month check-up (one week before she turned 7 months). She weighed in at a whopping 15 pounds 6 ounces and measured 25 inches in length. That's about 15% for weight and 6% for height. What a shrimp!

(Obviously so pleased with herself)

This photo shows Kimberly's newest trick--pulling up on things. She has yet to pull up all the way to her feet, but I have a feeling it's not too far off. Today she also learned how to rock on her hands and knees. I seriously need to finish getting my apartment organized because pretty soon this little girl will be cruisin' and getting into everything!

Christmas in August

Christmas came early at my house this year, and it came in this form.

A lady from church was giving away her digital keyboard, and I am the lucky recipient.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this (probably have) or if people who know me just know this about me (I talk about it a lot), but I absolutely love playing the piano. I've loved it since I was four years old. I started loving it even more when I was eight and began taking lessons.

When I moved to college, I was sad about not having a piano. But I quickly found one that I could access 24/7.

Then I got married, and we didn't have the money to buy a piano. Four years into our marriage, someone offered me a piano that they didn't want to move across the country. I was so excited. Kasey was excited for me. Then his friend talked him into waiting until we had a house to get a piano using the argument "Do you really want to move this huge piano from apartment to apartment until you get a house? Probably not." That was a good enough argument for Kasey. Still no piano for me.

Several times Kasey brought up the subject of a keyboard. Being the snob that I was, I adamantly refused saying I would NEVER own an electric keyboard.

Well, it's been seven years. Since a house is nowhere in our foreseeable future, I am eating my words and now own an electric piano. And do you know what? It's not nearly as horrible as I thought it would be. In fact, I cried the first time I played it. That's just how happy I am to have a piano of my own that I can play whenever I want. And bonus! It has a place to plug in head phones so I can play after the girls go to bed.

Want to know the first thing I played on it?

The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. I thought it appropriate.

It Worked!

I lost 8 pounds in 3 days.

I had tons of help on Wednesday and Thursday (16 people in all). Thanks everyone!

Pictures coming as soon as I locate my camera, which I'm sure is somewhere in the mess still overrunning my living room.

The Perfect Antidote to Those 9 Extra Vacation Pounds

Moving. By myself. In 95 degree weather.

At least I'm hoping it works. (crossing fingers)