I finally gave in.

Jenalyn has wanted to have her hair cut "just like Alia's" since the beginning of summer. (Alia is a friend from church.) Problem is, I was so very attached to her long hair! So shiny and beautiful! I subscribe to a lot of hair blogs and I love love love fixing her hair. It's one of my favorite pastimes! But, I think she is old enough now that I need to let her find her own style (Within reason. I mean, she also wanted to dye it PINK!)

So I finally set the appointment and she has been counting down the days...with her abacus. The day finally arrived!
I took a ton of "before" pictures - I'll only post one now - she wasn't into it, so she has a goofy, fake smile in all of the pictures.
(*sigh* it's so pretty, right?)

She giggled non-stop while sitting up in the big chair. She was so excited!

The big snip! I might have shed a tear or two. I tried to be brave.

Her...very...last...little-girl-braid...Oh my!

And just like that, it was over:
My baby girl looks all grown up now! Doesn't she? She looks at least 3 years older, I swear! But oooh, I love it. It's so pretty! It lays so nicely and looks so healthy. Looks pretty with a clip too. I can still fix it and play with it, I'm sure. Maybe no more pony tails, but she was getting big for that anyway, right?

After the epic haircut we decided we didn't want to go home yet - so we had a little "mommy-daughter date."

We went shoe shopping (I can cross that off my back-to-school list):
(she also got a really cute pair of black boots.)

And then we went out for ice cream:

Hair salon, shoe shopping, and ice cream. Fun girls' day, right? We thought so!

Back-to-School Anxieties

...for me. Not the kids.

School starts in just over a week. This will be the first year having Jenalyn gone full days. ALL DAY, my sweet girl will be in someone else's care. YIKES! Besides that, Corbin will only be in preschool a couple days a week for a few hours at a time, who is going to entertain him while she's gone? The TV? Probably. *LOL*

It will also be our first year having to get up and out the door first thing in the morning (we did afternoon preschool and kindergarten). I was never on time when I was working...how am I going to get my 6-year-old up and ready and out the door, with the 4-year-old in tow, before 8:30 a.m. ... every morning? And we'll have to add a newborn to the mix in just about 8 weeks!

What if Jenalyn has forgotten everything she learned last year? What if I haven't done a good enough job working with her to keep it all fresh in her head? What if she's behind all the other kids when school starts again? What if she feels like she isn't as smart as the other kids? What if she doesn't make good friends? What if she sits by herself during lunch? What if she comes home crying....

I'll just die.

....AHHH! I'm going to drive myself batty. I have a week to pull myself together. Breathe, Cari. Just breathe.

Aspirations

(It has been a while since I blogged, and it's been even longer since a shared an updated picture of my kids. So here you go. Picture taken 7/4/10.)

I love to listen to my kids' conversations with each other. Today in the car I heard this:

Jenalyn: Corbin, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Corbin: A Tyrannosaurus Rex. And then a Superhero. And then a Paleontologist.

Corbin: What do you want to be when you grow up, Jenalyn?
Jenalyn: A veterinarian.
Corbin: What's a "veggietinarian?"
Jenalyn: They help animals.