7 Quick Takes - Make Overs

1.  I got a new haircut and color!

Because it's so different I've been feeling a bit like I went into the witness protection program.  Even close friends do not recognize me until I start talking to them.  My kids were a bit shell shocked over the make-over, but now they are used to it.  I love the shorter cut and bangs, it's so much easier to take care of in the summer, especially with all the swimming.  I've never had my hair so black before (channeling my inner Hallie...or maybe Katie Perry)?  Either way, I'm enjoying the new look.

2.  Princess decided to get a new do this week too:

New, shoulder length haircut!

She loves going to Aunt Lesley's to get her hair cut.  Her favorite part is when her Aunt sprays "sparkles" on her hair when she's done.  She has been asking to get her hair cut shorter for awhile now, but I've been trying to convince her that having long hair is fun.  Truth be told, Princess hates me to fix, style, braid, (whatever) her hair.  When she was 2, we had to have her hair cut in a really short bob thanks to Game Boy taking the scissors to it.  I was upset because her hair was just starting to get long enough and thick enough to fix at the time.  However, the bob was really cute on her and Doug loved it because he was washing her hair all salon style in the bathroom sink (the girl has no idea how blessed she is to have him as her Daddy).

3.  The older boys have been gone this past week to church camp, they come home today.  Having two less kids around makes the house seem a bit quieter, we're looking forward to them coming home.  This year we didn't get to do drop off or pick up at the camp.  The church decided to take a bus because there were so many kids from our church attending.  The camp is a little over an hour's drive north of us.  It was more convenient to not make the drive, but as a mom I admit to missing making sure they were settled in at drop off (and making sure they didn't leave anything behind at pick-up).  Firstborn was gone less than 24 hours when this occurred:

Shattered Gerbil Habitat!

Toddler Boy decided to pull the gerbil aquarium off the stand, which then shattered.  Followed by pandemonium as we rushed to put the dogs outside before they decided to eat one of Firstborn's beloved pets.  Then we had to catch the two gerbils, who were running/hopping around the living room.  (Disclaimer:  neither Toddler Boy or the gerbils were harmed in this incident).  Of course, this happened after the pet store down the street closed so Doug had to make a late night Wal-Mart run to purchase a new 10 gallon aquarium.  The whole thing made for an exciting Sunday night!

4.  Princess got to spend the night at Grandma's house with her cousin this past week.  They had a "girl's night" sleepover, complete with nail polish and everything.  My mom raised only daughters and she is such a good "girl mom", she knows how to pamper them!  I'm afraid Princess and I will never instill an appreciation of the more feminine things of life in my boy saturated household.  My apologies to my future daughters-in-law...

5.  I've been spending time pulling our curriculum together for the upcoming homeschool year.  Princess will "officially" join us as a kindergartner, and we'll also be doing grades 8/6/3.  I only list grades as a reference point, because homeschooling is so flexible there is a "range" of classroom work.  Since my oldest will be in high school (yikes!) next year I've been working towards my middle schoolers becoming more independent in their studies.  As for myself, I'm working on transcripts and becoming more organized and intentional on what homework I keep for their records.  As always, surrounding it all in prayers!

6.  Game Boy and I went to visit my Aunt Chris while Princess was at Grandma's.  She's a teacher, and over the summer she taught a kindergarten class and they used tablets.  Thanks to switching cable companies, we're receiving an additional Kindle Fire for our household.  I'm planning to incorporate some educational apps and wanted to see what worked for her kids.  If any of you have any advise of educational apps your kids love, please comment away!

Of course, no trip to Aunt Chris' would be complete without a visit to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, yum!!  Aunt Chris and Uncle Ron introduced me to Ted Drewes when I spent a weekend with them one summer when I was a teenager.  That, and Fortel's Pizza Den.  This may be dating me, but I also recall her showing me something calling a "compact disc", (at the time that cassette tapes were popular).  They were too expensive then, but she swore that this was the direction music technology was heading.  She predicted that eventually the price would come down enough and nobody would even use cassette tapes anymore...prophetic, anyone?

7.  Hats off to all of you bloggers who took up Jen's 7 days of blogging challenge.  You have been keeping me busy reading, love it!  I did not take up the challenge, I know full well that I do not have the ability/time to blog daily (I like reading other blogs too much)!  However, I knew when I started this blog that I didn't have alot of time to devote to it, and I'm ok with that.  For now, I am just trying to capture some memories for my family and keep up with the laundry too.  Blogging is only something I do in my spare time, which I never seem to have enough.  I have to live my "real, off-line life" intentionally first, before I commit any additional time to my poor, neglected blog.  Maybe someday blogging will become less of a hobby and I'll be able to incorporate it more into my life, like many of my favorite bloggers have done.  Baby steps...

Have an awesome weekend and click over to Conversion Diary to see more Quick Takes!!