Chopped.

I finally broke down and chopped my little man's hair yesterday. His baby curls had gone from adorable to a bit out of control, so out came the clippers.

Before the chop. Curls everywhere .

One last run of the fingers through his long hair.

And done! A new little man has emerged. Just in time to become a big brother in a few more weeks!

Happenings.

We've been busy bees lately. BUT today is Mr. V's last day of school!!!! I'm ready for things to slow down just a bit. He's back teaching summer school in less than two weeks, so we'll savor whatever we can get. 

In the meantime, some snapshots of life: 

Ezra napping with his "ammer." More beloved than anything soft and cuddly.

Lots of dress up and Princess play. Typically their parents have died and they are now lost in the woods looking for help. They love tragedy.

Lots of drawing and painting. Sorry nature. We love you, but we sure go through a lot of trees with how much art the kiddos do. We recycle most of it. I promise.

And we finally managed to plant somewhat of a garden. It's pants optional gardening for the under 3 crowd around here. 

Happy last day of school!!!!

Little Blind Babe

Well, it was an unexpectedly eventful weekend. Friday morning I sent the children out to play for a few minutes while I finished making our shopping lists for errands. Within 2 minutes Lucy was screaming and crying and running back inside with her hands over one of her eyes. At first I thought one of her siblings had hurt her or that she had bonked her face on something; however, after talking with everyone they explained that something had fallen out of the tree they were playing under and into Lucy's eye. I couldn't see anything in the eye, but I tried to flush it, put a few drops in, and she spent the afternoon resting. 

By the time Marty got home she was still complaining of pain, not opening her eyes, and not letting us leave her side. Our girls can be drama queens, so we weren't sure how seriously she was injured. Marty gave her a Priesthood blessing, we finished our Friday night tradition of pizza, gave her pain meds, and put everyone to bed.

The night was a bit fitful for her, and when we woke up in the morning her eye was more swollen and still weepy. Not good signs. 

We ate breakfast and threw our morning plans out the window to get Lucy and Marty to the hospital. A few hours later I got the report: poor baby girl had to have her eye numbed and a green bit of something from the tree removed from her eye. Whatever it was had lodged itself way up under her lid and caused a nasty corneal abrasion. Luckily her sight was not bothered by the ordeal, and she was brave through the whole process. 

She briefly opened her eyes for an hour or so while the eye was numb, but then clamped them shut when the pain came back. For over 48 hours she had refused to open her eyes. Finally, today around noon she decided to join the world of sight again. I feel blessed that this was all temporary and that we are getting our little girl back. After a little more ointment to administer and a checkup on her healing this week, we will be able to put this all behind us.

I'm grateful for healthy bodies that have the ability to heal and skilled and gentle Doctors that take care of my children when I cannot. We are feeling blessed.

Homemade.

We don't keep many toys around. It helps with mess, keeps things simple, and forces the children to be more creative. Today they created their own water table from a rain-filled bucket trailer near the barn. The making of "fairy soup" was the game. Gotta love country kids.

Sisters

I love watching my two girls grow up--and grow to be best friends. Of course there are days where multiple cat fights break out and they argue over who will be wearing what. But for the most part they spend their days creating elaborate story lines to act out, working on their hair together, dressing up their dolls and stuffed animals, and just being so much FUN! Sisters rock.