Haircut Hallelujah

Camille and Miriam have both been asking for a haircut for a couple of weeks now. So today was finally the day, and we took before and after photos. Just to get the makeover feel. So, this is Miriam BEFORE. Watch out Hollywood! :)

Camille brandishing long tresses. BEFORE.

Wow! I just love how this turned out! She felt like she was walking on air to be so pampered.

This is Miriam with our friend Sharli, at the salon. Sharli did such a nice job. Miriam talked non-stop the whole time. No surprise there. :)

Showing off the new looks. AFTER. :)

Proof of Injury

Here are my biggest, best helpers, both down a limb! Oh Man! Ugh! But they are cute.
And still helpful. Camille mastered pancake flipping with her left hand this morning.

Ketchup Blog

It has been a busy few days! And that hasn't stopped yet, so there will not be pictures until I have more time. (Right now I am blogging and browning hamburger for dinner. Multi-tasking.) We have all the children home from school for the summer! Yeah and Finally! Jacob started his job at the Webelos scout camp this morning. I am so happy to be driving him up the canyon every morning, because I can hear the water and see the trees and be happy for a few minutes before I return to the city. (Check in later this summer to see a mom tired of making the drive... we are fickle creatures.) We bought the summer toy--a trampoline. I am pretty excited, as it has taken me a long time to convince Nathan that it will be okay. So, NO BODY CAN BUST THEIR BODIES ON THIS TRAMPOLINE!!!! (Just saying.) But it is fun to have a toy with such wide age appeal. I jumped on it last night and realized that is probably the first time since I was about 16. Many things have changed since then! :)

News flash: Seth bit his tongue while jumping as I type the last bit. Popsicles have been applied. Full recovery expected.

Anyway, now I have to go, the washer is beeping for attention and my house is so yucky that I don't want to talk about it. And, yes, I will have the Relief Society reports in soon too... run, run, run!

False Alarm and Nocturnal Activity

So, everyone can join me in the Dance of Joy as Ethan and Leslie are both fine today!! The fevers seem to be a thing of the past, but I have them both home today to make sure. At any rate, it isn't swine flu to be such a pansy little virus. (Wa-Hoo!)

On other subjects, Camille (who has been having a lot of blog time lately) fell out of her bunk bed at about 3 a.m. last night and broke her right arm. We took her for x-rays this morning, but she still needs to see a specialist who will decide about casting. She is rather bummed to have to start the summer with a broken arm, but at least she doesn't face lots of yucky reports for school writing with her left hand.

I am dazed from my nocturnal care-giving activities, so later when I can find my brain, I will attempt something clever, but these are the updates, deal with it people. :)

Just one more thing...

Well, having made it through the busy-ness of the 2nd to the last week of school, we are now FINALLY on the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL! Just a few more parties, movies, awards assemblies, talent shows, year book days left. But wait! (As one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books says) That is not all, oh, no, that is not all! We learned yesterday that a sweet girl in our neighborhood has the swine flu, and today, I have two kids down with fevers!!! Please, No! It will just be what it will be, but YUCK! Poor Leslie is ache-y and wiped out completely. Ethan has the higher fever, but he is just ORNERY! He wants to go outside and play, he wants to play with friends. What he doesn't want to do is stay around here. (I think he runs on the premise that when you feel down, friends help!) I am waiting on instructions from my doctor's office whether to take them in or keep them home. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide how to keep everyone else well, Nathan is installing trim in a home across the valley, and Jacob is supposed to start his summer job on Friday! We haven't always been the home that gets every goofy disease, but lately (the last 3 years or so) we really have been. It might have something to do with the kids being in 2 different schools just increases our chances, sheer numbers, I'm not sure what. We have had a summer disease every year we have been in this house. Chicken pox was first, last summer was hand, foot and mouth, why would I think swine flu would pass us by? Why didn't it just start here? So, we'll see, I'll keep you all posted.

Camille's Band Concert

This morning we were able to attend Camille's spring concert. The hat is for a piece they played called Hoe Down. She was a bit embarassed as she was the only one to remember her hat, so the teacher pointed her out. She is also the only trumpet, so we could hear her. Good job, Sweetie!

Memorial Day

It was obvious Memorial Day morning that my kids expected a holiday. Nathan had a full schedule painting for money (which we always need), so it was up to me to come through. We all packed the sunscreen, the picnic, extra diapers and seven children into the suburban and headed for Temple Square. When we arrived, excited to get going, we discovered Ethan didn't have any shoes. Ugh! We decided to just see how far we could get, but knew that it might affect our plans.

This is everyone, fresh for our adventure. The kids have been watching old episodes of Gilligan's Island lately, and Jacob bought the white hat for his "little buddy".

We ran into some sister missionaries. Ethan was entertaining them showing them all the ways he could wear his hat. They even told him he looked like Gilligan, which made him happy. Then they asked me if we were going to the children's exhibit at the Church History Museum. I replied that we had originally planned to, but Gilligan forgot his shoes. One sweet sister said, "Just tell them the pioneers came without shoes too!" So with that in mind, we did visit the museum and had a nice time. I sat Seth in front of the table with the blocks that the kids can use pretending to build a temple. He only stayed a minute, then returned to the "hospital" section, took a reflex hammer out of the little doctor kit, and returned to the blocks, hammering each one into place. He knows you can't build without a hammer!

As we were running down, and our parking time was running out, we headed back to the car. Waiting on the street corner for a light, I started to tell the children what to expect next. "Okay kids, now here's the plan..." and a gentleman crossing the street toward us exclaimed, "The plan is, not to lose any of these kids!" Yes, kind sir, that is the ultimate plan. I want all of them always!!!