The BIG Haircut

*****WARNING THE FOLLOWING MAY CAUSE SOME SHOCK, including but not limited to: JAW DROPPING TO THE FLOOR, EYES POPPING OUT OF YOUR HEAD, MAYBE SOME TEARS or just LOST OF ALL WORDS******

About a month ago the girls said they wanted to get their hair cut. This all started when a little girl they know from Pre-school got her haircut into a bob. It did look really cute but that would be drastically different for my girls. I let it go but they kept saying they wanted their hair cut. I could see Sean CRINGE every time it was mentioned. Finally Sean and I talked and agreed to have it cut to their shoulders. I made an appointment with the girl that cuts my hair and today was the day.

I took them and it was harder than I thought. Abby was first. As I watched the first 8 inches of hair fall to the floor I thought I was going to burst into tears (As I am typing this I am getting all teary eyed). I had to hold it together so they wouldn't think something was wrong. Not to mention I was a little worried about Abby going through with it, considering the last time she had her hair trimmed she freaked out and would only sit on my lap. We talked all week about being a "big girl". I watched as Abby sat on the chair with a smile on her face the entire time. She was soooo excited. I was then worried Emma would chicken out when she saw all the hair on the floor.

Well as the pictures show they both did it and now they have "SHORT" hair. It is going to take some getting used to.

ABBY
BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER: sorry I don't have a better picture will post more soon.

EMMA

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

"This is what Fall is all about"

.... as said by Emma while having fun in the leaves. Couldn't of said it better!!!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL...as my girls have been saying all week.

Pop Culture Influence

My girls are big fans of Miley Cyrus. It all started about 2 years ago. During bath time while one was in the tub the other would lay on my bed and watch the Disney channel....then they would switch. At that time Hannah Montana would always be on. So the girls quickly became fans. We have seen every episode; seen the Concert Movie in 3D and now own it; seen the newest Hannah Montana movie at the movies and also own it; have just about all the songs downloaded; and own the dolls, the guitars and pocketbooks. They know all the words and love to sing Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus.

Their newest favorite Miley Cyrus song is "Party in the USA". The song is catchy and the girls know all the words. We often show them the videos of her songs and Taylor Swift on YOUTUBE. So last week they saw the video for "Party in the USA". I was not watching but overheard them talking about how SHORT Miley Cyrus' shorts were. I also heard Sean say, "I'm gonna call Billy Ray (her dad) and talk to him about those shorts." Then earlier this week I saw the video and realized it is not age appropriate for my girls. There are a lot of short shorts and skimpy clothes, as well as boarder line sleazy dancing.

So now to my point. Not even a 4 year old is immune to the pop culture influences. Today Abby had on capris and pushed them all the way up (as far as she could) and said she had on shorts like Miley Cyrus in "Party in the USA". Then a few minutes later she put on her black boots...these are the boots I bought to go with her Pirate costume for Halloween. She has walked around ALL day like this (only in the house of course). And yes, there are pictures:

They are not the best pictures....she didn't want me to take her picture.

Oh, by the way Miley Cyrus' performance of this song from the Teen Choiceawards is even worse (she swings on a pole...every father's nightmare).

*** it is hard to tell but I have posted the links to both videos above - click on "Party in the USA" and just above on "Miley Cyrus' performance of this song from Teen Choice awards" to see the videos. For what ever reason my BLOG does not highlight the link very well.

"Some" Pig

Well not just "some" pig, it is actually 173 lbs worth of pig. Myself and another friend split a pig...my friend's dad raises pigs and cows. The pig was about 400 lbs total. Last year this time we got 1/3 of a 1/2 of a cow. The meat was so fresh and tender. Sean LOVED the steaks...he fixed them every weekend until they were gone. So this time we got a pig and are due to get more "cow" in January.

Sean picked our piggy meat up from the butcher on Saturday and this is the way it came packaged.

I had cleared one shelf in the stand up freezer we have in the basement. Well it definitely took more than one shelf. Look at the picture....everything that is wrapped in the white freezer paper is our pig.

Needless to say we will be eating a lot of pork in the near future. Seems like alot but it was definitely CHEAPER than buying pork in the grocery store. I figured it cost $1.90 per pound. That is a deal, can't buy any kind of pork product for that price. Here is a sample of what we got:

1 large ham

13 ham slices

26 pork chops

12 lbs of sausage

13 lbs of bacon - this makes me and Abby very happy

1 rack of baby back ribs that is as long as my freezer is deep

3 pkgs of ribs

lots of hock....found out that is for soup...guess I'll be making some soup

several roasts, loins and shoulders...at this point not really sure what is different about them

6 lbs of scrapple...going to divide that up among friends

2 lbs of liver pudding....for my father

So on Sunday Sean made beer braised pork, minus the beer (beef broth instead) along with sweat potatoes. It was delicious...the meat just fell apart and melted in your mouth.

On Monday we had pork won tons...yet again thanks to Sean and they were very yummy. Sean even made homemade won tons.
On Monday Abby and I went to the Farm with school and I saw these little fellows...made me think twice about eating the pork!!!!!

And this BIG fellow weighs almost 500lbs and is only 1 year old.

I'll keep you posted on your pork eating adventures.

OUCH!

For Emma's birthday she wanted her ears pierced. (She had them done when she was 1 year old but one fell out and we couldn't get it back in.) We explained that it was a big responsibility and she had to take care of them. I explained what would happen and she still wanted them pierced...yes I told her it would hurt. So the weekend before her birthday she got them done. Of COURSE there are pictures.

This is the "I'm SOOOOO excited and happy to get my ears pierced" picture.

This is the "okay I will count to 3 then do it....1, 2, SHOOT". Hey what happened to #3???

This would be the "OUCH, that really hurt" picture.

Yes, I felt a little bad....but look at the next one.

This is less than five minutes later. Notice the smile???

Yes, she was fine. As we walked through the mall she looked in every store front window and mirror to get a glimpse of her ears.

She had done really good. She reminds me about cleaning them and turning them. They look really cute. She has to keep them in until Thanksgiving then we can change them.

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Fairy Makeover Party

As you know Emma turned 6 on Saturday and we celebrated in full Fairy STYLE. We had a Fairy Makeover Party. What is a Fairy Makeover Party you ask????

Well it all starts with an invitation inviting 6 friends (all girls of course). The invitation read:

In the Enchanted Kingdom of Parkville

there lives a Fairy named

Emma

that is turning 6 years old.

Emma would like to invite you to her Fairy Makeover Party.

Still not sure??? Well here it is in pictures:

This was out front of the house. A sign at the beginning of the walkway and an archway leading to the door. The flowers are made out of tissue paper.

Inside in the living room were the Fairy makeover "stations". The first was the "Fairy nail painting and tattoos", next was the "Fairy face painting", then "Fairy Wands & Fairy Wings".

I painted the girls nails and Sean painted their faces (he did an excellent job) and my friend, Julie, assisted with the wands. After all was complete each girl got their FAIRY WINGS.

Then I decorated the sun room in pink and green.

The girls played "Fairy Freeze"...just like musical chairs. The girls stood on a paper leaf (made by my wonderful husband) then danced and moved while the music was playing. When the music stopped the girls had to find leaf (obviously less leaves than girls). The one without a leaf had to sit. Then we played "Stick the star on Tinkerbell" and colored Fairy coloring pages.

I think all had fun including the Birthday Fairy, herself....Ms. Emma and her sister.

Sean decided he wanted to make Emma's birthday cake for the Family Party (followed the Fairy Party). He wanted to use fondant but I explained how expensive it is to buy it. So he decided to MAKE it himself. He made a batch several days before the party and did a test cake....a smaller version of the final cake. It seemed as though the making and preparing of the fondant was quite tedious, including the coloring of the fondant (by the way he went to the gym the next morning to work out with pink hands!!!) I had flour/corn starch all over my dinning room table and FLOOR. It was MESSY. Then the night before the party he made the icing for the actual BIRTHDAY cake. He colored some of the icing so he could make flowers. This time his hands went from purple to pink. 1 1/2 hours before the party he was ready to put the fondant on the cake. He rolled it out just like he did for the test cake however the icing kept sticking to the table and the rolling pin. After several outburst of slight disappointment and anger he cleaned up, put the icing back in the frig so he could face paint 7 darling faces. After the face painting was complete he went back to tackle the icing. He had decided that he couldn't let the icing BEAT him. After several more attempts and more mess he yelled, "I'm the MAN!!" Yes there were several parents and 7 girls under 10 in the other room. HE WON!!!! Here is the process and result:


This picture shows all the pretty flowers ready to go on the cake. The cake has a layer of regular icing...this is not the fondant.

After a week of preparing everything went off without a hitch. I love planning fun parties for my girls. I'm always looking for fun, creative and not so expensive ideas. Ready to plan the next one....May 2010.