Yep, she did it AGAIN!

Another unauthorized haircut in our house. You remember this post? At least this time, Joey is off the hook.

Joey asked Hubby if he could have scissors to cut some paper.

Joey: "Dad, can I have the scissors to cut paper, please?"

Hubby: "Yes, but what do we cut with scissors?"

Joey: "Just paper."

Hubby: "Do we cut our clothes?"

Joey: "No."

Hubby: "Do we cut hair?"

Joey: "No."

Hubby: "Okay. You can have the scissors. TO. CUT. PAPER."

Hubby gave the scissors to Joey. Joey cut the paper he wanted to cut, put the scissors down, and left the room.

Enter Gracie, who has seen Tangled about a kajillion times.

Before

What you don't see is that her hair in the back is quite a bit longer - about halfway down her back.

After

You notice how lopsided it is in the second picture? What you don't see is the mounds of hair that I brushed off her shoulders, the huge pile of hair in the kitchen, and the rat-tail she'd left in the back. We took her out to get a professional haircut the next day to clean it up.

I think she looks a bit too pleased with herself.

And here it is, after the "fix." Cute? Yes. Easier? Yes. But I still miss the long hair!

Gracie's birthday

Gracie's birthday is a few days after Christmas, and a few days before New Year's. Making the day stand out on its own is challenging, but I give it my best shot.

Behold, the princess cake. Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart!

Here's the Birthday Girl, being sung to. Notice the big smile on her face? LOVED the attention. That's the difference between being the first child and the fourth, I guess.

No activity at our house would be complete without LEGOs in there, somewhere. We have an embarrassingly large collection of LEGOs. Now, we've even got a LEGO game.

It's called Creationary, and the boys got it for Christmas. They love it. Me? I'm just not very good at building. So I keep score. Uncle Jeff and Shannon graciously offered to play with the kids so I wouldn't have to embarrass myself.

You look maaahvelous!

She found my mascara. Thank goodness it wasn't waterproof.

What a great kid!

Just stopping in a minute to brag about Adam, my oldest. Here's a picture of him, kneading dough for homemade bagels. We counted that for science & math that day. They turned out so yummy! 

And here he is, with his sister. He dotes on her, plays with her, carries her around the house, reads to her. She adores him. I hope they'll always be so close. 

Two little things...

This is something I never did with my first child. But hey, it was her birthday, and I needed to do the dishes. I didn't have time to pick out matching pants, so she's wearing yellow with pink. By the time you're on your fourth child, you kinda chill out about your kids being in perfectly matched clothes all the time. (You thought I was talking about the frosting, didn't you?) 

Yes, that's a hospital bracelet on Joey's wrist. He went to bed, like normal, at about 8:30. At 10:30, he was awake and SCREAMING; his belly was distended, he couldn't sit or bend. Hubby and I tried to console him, but to no avail. We called our ped's after-hours line, and they advised us to take Joey to the ER, based on his abdominal distention. By midnight, we were in triage, and by the time we saw a doctor at 2am, Joey was fine, all on his own. He just needed to pass a little (a lot of) gas. 

The moral of my story? Kids will humble you. Just when you think you have all the answers and you've got a pretty good bead on things, they throw you a curve ball. 

Odds & Ends

Here are some snapshots out of our life from the past couple weeks. 

That's Luke, putting together one of the Lego sets he got for Christmas. You'll also notice the Magic Cabin crown on his head. He's such a ham!

And here's Adam, putting together one of his Lego sets. It's HUGE. He just finished it (with some help from Hubby) this afternoon. That's the homeschool cabinet in the background, in case you're wondering why we keep books at the kitchen table. 

Every year, I get together with a friend from high school to make Christmas cookies. We get our kids together and make a big mess. The kids decorate a few cookies (and eat a lot of dough) and I get a playdate with one of my favorite people. I love our little tradition! I wish I could find a link to the book I take my Christmas cookie recipe from: it's the best! 

Another annual family tradition is to go to the local children's museum at Christmastime. This is a picture of Gracie at lunch during our visit. Right now, this picture is also the wallpaper on my Mac. Every time I sit down at the computer with Gracie on my lap, she squeals with laughter looking at her own picture. She's growing up SO FAST! 

Another pair of the baby shoes I've made. I have a purple pair made from just the purple fabric you see in these shoes, and I have another pair in progress, with denim toe pieces and that dot fabric for the heels. Too cute! 

Cute cute cute!

I just had to post this picture. Gracie discovered the Christmas bells on the side door, and I took a quick pic of her. It almost looks like she's saying, "I see you taking that picture. I'm so cute!" 

Pictures of last weekend

Joey, after he insisted he needed a band-aid on his nose:

Adam, in his Cub Scout uniform: 

Luke roasting a marshmallow at the cookout: 

Grace, practicing her Bambi eyes: 

Guess who's still awake?

She really doesn't want me to get any sewing or decluttering done. At least she's a happy girl, right? 

Notice the castle paint still on the walls...sigh. 

Craft table - during

Yeah, yeah. I've been working on the craft table. And Cory's been painting the trim, and prepping the walls for paint. But it's not done yet. See? Look! 

And even worse, my mess is spreading! See?! LOOK!! 

You want to know why it's not done? Here, look at my wonderful husband: 

Yeah, that's him. About 5 minutes ago. Wave to the nice people, honey. 

So, do you notice that little lump next to Cory, on the bed? Here. Take a closer look:

Yep. It's Gracie. She's a sweet little darling. But have I mentioned that she likes to be held? ALL THE TIME? So during the day, I school the kids, clean the house, wash the dishes, and do the *mountains* of laundry that we produce. All while holding a chubby (read: heavy) 8-month-old. If I need two hands, I give her to hubby. (If he's home, which he hasn't been lately - job interviews and other such details. Ha *insert eye roll* ha.) So if he wants to paint, it's got to work into Gracie's schedule, and the job interview schedule, and the grass-mowing, landscaping schedule. And if I want to get any crafting done (and hence clear my table) then I have to do it at night, after Gracie is sleeping. (Otherwise I run the risk of sewing my fingers, since I'd be using the sewing machine with one hand while jiggling a chubby baby. Kinda distracting, that jiggling.) 

So I'm giving myself another week. We'll see how far I can get. 

Random pictures

Here are just a few little things. Not enough for a whole post in themselves, but together they tell a story.

Here is a picture of the boys having a sack race at Vacation Bible School last week. I think Joey's bag is bigger than he is! 

Here are some almost-lovely bagels that I made using a recipe from Tammy's Recipes. They were yummy, though they're not too pretty. I learned that if you put ugly bagels in the water to boil, you get ugly bagels out of the water. Live and learn! They were much tastier and much cheaper than store-bought bagels. Try them! 

This is why you don't give a two-year-old Oreos. 

Since Grace has finally stopped chewing on her feet, I decided to paint her toes! So cute! (And no, I didn't make that quilt, though it's my very very favorite.) 

And this is what Joey's toes look like after a hard day of play. Summer's not all bad, eh? 

Gracie

I have to share with you the cutest, most adorable little girl EVER! This is my daughter Grace - isn't she perfect? 

Gracie was born in December, eight days late. Was she worth the wait? I think so! Her brothers adore her, her father loves her, and, being the first girl in the extended family in a loooong time, I know she's going to be spoiled to pieces (especially by Grandma.) 

One of the great pleasures in life is to have a baby. I love her adorable little fat rolls, the cute noises that she makes all day, the smell of her hair, snuggling up to her at night, waking up to her smiling, happy little face in the morning. I'm soaking it all up while it lasts, because I feel that her babyhood is slipping away from me so quickly. She had her first solid food today: mashed bananas. That feels like such a big step. I just wish I could hold on to this day, and that she wouldn't get any bigger.