New Hair

Lydia has been begging me for months to get bangs.  I made every excuse I could think of, explained why she wouldn't like them and what a pain it is to grow them out.  But she was determined.  I told her she couldn't until we got a coupon for a hair cut in the mail.  Well, the coupon came.  So I gave in and let my Little Stubborn get her bangs.  She was so persistent and I could tell she really wanted them, even after hearing the cons over and over. And it's only hair.  Her hair grows super fast, so I'm sure if she wants to grow them out, it won't be that big of a deal. I mean grow them out someday because for right now, she LOVES her bangs and is keeping them! I think they look better than I imagined, so that's good. I  like seeing her so happy.  One thing I didn't expect is her hair looks darker now that she has bangs.  People at church even asked me if we colored her hair. I guess it's because she's pulling hair forward so the part that saw the sun all summer is now underneath and the underneath part is now visible??? I don't know, but her hair looks a lot darker. 

 Here we go - the first cut.

 Doesn't she look cute?!!!

Katie also got a hair cut. She's been complaining forever that she needs a hair cut. I think it's been like a year since she got her hair cut last, maybe even longer. She cried every time I brushed her hair because it was so long, so it was time. I really didn't mean for the guy to go so short. I don't know how he interpreted "past her shoulders" to this, but I really, REALLY like it on her and I think it suits her.

Before: (Check it out, and actual decent SMILE in a photograph of Katie!!!)

 After: (these pics don't show off how cute it is. Once she wasn't so excited to get her hair cut, she went back to her normal "I refuse to smile for the camera" self. I've tried for a better shot and it's impossible. But it looks really cute irl.)

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Elizabeth wanted her ears pierced for her birthday.  I told her she could either have a party or she could get her ears pierced and a hair cut.  She chose the second option.  She hasn't dared to get her ears pierced for years.  I always say that my girls can get their ears pierced whenever they want (no set age), but they have to know it HURTS like crazy!!  I guess she finally decided beauty wins over pain.  So for her "party" we went to lunch and then to the mall to get her ears pierced.  I also let her pick out an extra pair of earrings for her birthday present.  She picked out opals.  I love opals and it seems Elizabeth does too.

Before:

 And after: (she didn't want too much off. She has a double crown and her hair sticks up if it's not weighted down by the length. Plus I just love the gorgeous color of her hair and it looks better when longer.)

 Before ears pierced:

 Nervous

  I don't know if this was when he actually did it, but this picture still makes me cringe. 

 The poor thing didn't realize how much it would hurt and she just sobbed. She's normally super tough and she was even surprised that she cried. I don't think I cried when Anna or Lydia got their ears pierced, but I cried right along with Elizabeth. It was such a heartbreaking cry. My poor sweet girl who was so excited and then bam, instant tears. She got 2 suckers and perked right up though. Phew, we're done with ear piercing! (We'll never pierce Katie's ears. She cries if I comb her hair. Imagine trying to deal with taking care of earrings on her. No way.)

After. She loves them! She picked "sparkly diamonds".  Look how happy she is.

She requested truffles for her birthday cake.  Anna and Lydia helped make them. 

Happy birthday to my sweet Elizabeth! She continues to live up to the meaning of her name, "happiness and sunshine"! She's such a sweetheart and I can't imagine life without her!

Renaissance Festival

Some nice friends of ours gave us 6 free tickets to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.  We've always wanted to go, but  as you've probably heard me say anything times 9 is expensive.  And RF tickets aren't cheap.  But with 6 free tickets, we decided to go.  I didn't realize what a big deal the RF is or how busy it would be.  We all had fun, but walked our feet off.  Katie was a trooper and walked the whole way!  She got really tired at the end and Michael carried her on his back to the car.  He's such an awesome big brother to her and takes such good care of her.  We call him the Pack Mule.  It's a good thing he can carry her because I can't.  The kids say the best part was buying souvenirs at the shops.  Kids after my own heart!!

Katie has always loved knights and loved this giant one.

 Watching a magic show.

 Watching Jousting.

 Nathan found something he was interested in!  The guy played 2 games at once (because it was busy) and beat them both.  Nathan had fun being challenged at chess for a change.

 You can see it start to go downhill from here.  But he was determined to the end!

 Waiting in line at Mermaid Cove (which was really lame).

 They got to ride a camel!!  That was the highlight of Katie's day.  She LOVED it!

  

 Here you can see Katie saying, "It's cool!"  She kept saying, "I loooove it!"

Michael and his friend came with us too, but they went off on their own so I didn't get any pictures of Michael.

Crazy Hat Day at school

Lydia likes to be unique and original (and non-conforming) and think outside of the box.  She said she wanted to wear a wig because it's "a hat of hair".  Elizabeth chose a wizard hat because she wanted to be original too and hoped no one else had a wizard hat.

Girls' Room

This was done ages ago, but since I posted Michael's and Caleb's room, I thought I would post the girls' room too.  This is mostly for my sister who wanted to see what I did (like a couple years ago) and who still complains that I've never shown her pictures.  Oops.  I didn't do much planning before doing their room like I did on the boys' rooms.  I've been slowly learning.  ;)  We already had 2 of the quilts for Katie and Lydia and I love them, so I decided to just get 2 more.  We painted the walls to match the quilt.  (And I love the walls btw too!  I love that color of yellow.  I couldn't have picked a better color with more planning.)  So the real change is that I wanted to personalize their space a little more.  All 4 of them share a room (and like it that way).  I wanted to make sure they each had a little more personal space.  So I painted and hung shelves for their "special" things... plus it could hold stuff like an alarm clock and book that would be close to their beds since they don't have room for a nightstand.  These pics are a bit old and a few things have changed, but here's the gist.  I also added their names in vinyl, some cute flower/butterfly decals, hanging butterflies, curtains, and a new bulletin board and light switch cover.  I like how it turned out.  Maybe some day they won't all be squished into one room, but I won't wish for that because that would mean Nathan and Michael are out of the house and I'm not ready for that.  And like I said, they like it so we'll just leave everything the way it is - no change allowed!  ;)

BEFORE:

 Katie and Anna's bed.  My sister made these quilts and they love them.  They still use them (and still love them), I just wanted something that matched.

 Katie's bed:

 Lydia and Elizabeth's bed:

 Elizabeth's bed:

AFTER:

I found the curtains at Kohls and everything else at Target.  I find it amazing that they match so well.

 The bulletin board I made at church.  I didn't realize we could pick what paper we wanted for it or I would have chosen something that matched their room better.  Oh well, it was still fun making it, it almost matches, and my girls like and use it.

 Name and shelves.  Lydia's looks crooked in this picture.  I promise it's not.  

Katie's favorite Backyardigans on her shelf.  Next to Celine, they're her favorite things in the whole world.  They go everywhere with her.