Ellie's 'First' Haircut...

I have to preface this by saying that this was not actually Ellie's "first" haircut, as I've given her several haircuts over the years.  But this was the first time she had it professionally cut.  It was easy for me to do it myself when she was younger, but now that her hair is getting longer and thicker, it was time for someone who actually knows what they're doing to step in and take over.  Ellie has never wanted to go to a salon, and has heavily protested when I've tried to convince her otherwise.  So I tried taking her with me the last couple of times when I got my hair cut.  She enjoyed watching me sit in the chair with the big cape, but never would change her mind about having it done to her.  And if there's one thing I've learned about Ellie, it's that she's not going to let anyone convince her to do something that she doesn't want to do, and when she's ready, she'll decide to do it on her own.  So this week she finally told me that she was ready to visit Miss Wendy at the salon.  Her hair had grown very unevenly and had lots of split ends, so I told Wendy just to give her a little stacked bob.  I knew she wouldn't mind her hair being short.  She seldom will let me put it in a ponytail, and lately she hasn't even wanted as much as a hair clip...she just likes it all down in her face.  So at least now it will have a little shape to it.  Here is her "before" picture.  She is ready to go!

 She hardly paid any attention to the hair cut--she was busy watching "Ice Age". 

The finished product:

A few inches shorter, and looking cute!

It looks uneven here because she has it tucked behind her ear on one side.  It turned out really nice though, and looks much healthier.  She sure is getting to be such a big girl.  

Goooaaalll....

Okay, so Mason didn't score any goals today, but he was so excited to play his first soccer game ever!  The league is through the city, but his coach (and former school teacher) decided to hand-pick all the participants from Mason's school and put them on one team together.  So most of Mason's soccer teammates are also his classmates from school, which makes it lots of fun for him.  He had been hoping to get the chance to be goal-keeper, but he turned out to be a little surprised when his coach actually assigned him this position the first half of the game.  He was really concentrating:

He did a great job!  He stopped quite a few balls, and no one scored on him the whole time he was goal-keeper.

Still young enough to think it's cool to stop and pose for a picture during the game  :)

They ended up losing their first game 2-1.  But he had lots of fun playing, and we're looking forward to the next 2 months of Saturday morning soccer!

A Table From Trash...

I'm definitely not the most creative person, but lately Pinterest has inspired me to boldly channel my inner crafter.  Over the summer I made a fancy framed chalk board for our dining room, and I made each child a fabric covered cork board on which to display their artwork in their rooms.   I didn't have tons of confidence in how these projects would turn out, but the final results were surprisingly pretty darn good!  So after trying my hand at these smaller crafts, I decided to venture out and try something on a slightly larger scale.  And when I saw the stack of wood pallets laying by the dumpster at Matthew's school, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  Pinterest has an infinite number of ideas regarding things you can do with wood pallets, and I had been wanting to make a small table to go out in our screened-in sun room, which serves as a playroom for the kids.  When the weather is mild, they often like to eat out there, but we never have a table big enough for all of us.  So a couple of these pallets were just what I needed.  This is what they looked like when I saved them from the dumpster (I did not actually dig them out of the dumpster...that would be gross.  They were just stacked beside the dumpster.) I swiped a few boards from this one to fill in the empty slots on the other one I actually used for the table top.

Then I got a 4x4, which Matthew cut into fourths, to make the legs of the table and attach it to the bottom pallet.  I decided to use casters on the bottom, allowing it to roll if we needed it to.  Then I sanded it, stained it, and sealed it.  It's definitely not the quality of something from a furniture store, but I think it will serve its purpose for eating outside...or the other purposes Ellie has already made for it (a pretend doctor table, a stage for singing, etc.) And best of all, the only materials I had to buy were the casters, the 4x4 used for the legs, and a refill of stain when the stuff I already had ran out...totaling around $20.

Now all we need is some cooler weather so we can eat outside!

First Day of Second Grade...

This morning we resumed our daily walk down the street to Johnson Elementary--Mason's first day of second grade.

 Mason's new teacher, Ms. Dominguez: 

 Ready for 2nd grade:

So proud of you, Mason!

She Swings...

Ellie mastered this feat earlier this summer, but every day she perfects it more and more.  She loves being able to swing all by herself now!  Starting out is hard work:

Gotta pull back and get those little legs pumpin': 

Getting higher! (as Mollie looks on with envy.)

Success!!

Reptiles...

Last weekend we got to help our good friend, Brandt, celebrate his 10th birthday.  He had a reptile themed party, and a woman from the community brought lots of different animals out for the kids to get an up-close look at.  Ellie has no fear of any type of critter, and she spent a great deal of time sitting next to the plastic boxes that were housing these animals, anxiously waiting for the woman to open them up so she could pet them.  One of her favorites was Cal, the 160-pound tortoise.  Amazingly, he can carry a person on his back up to 200 pounds without even breaking a sweat.  He probably didn't even notice little Ellie catching a ride.  

She also liked the snakes:

Having a staring contest with the big lizard.  At one point she got so close to his face that he started licking her hair.  

Mason, on the other hand, wasn't as sure about these creatures.  He prefers to watch from a distance:

 In an attempt to not look like a 'fraidy cat in front of his buddies, he's going to pretend to help hold this thing.  But look closely--he's not really touching it. Well played, Mason...well played. 

I tried to be brave while holding this 35-pound Burmese Python:

But it kept curling its head around right in my face, and I wasn't too sure I wanted a kiss from this:

  

Summer Bike Rides....

Aside from lots of swimming this summer, we've spent many days going on family bike rides.  It's been more fun for Ellie this summer too, as she can now ride her own bike with training wheels (which she inherited from Mason), after several years of being pulled in the bike trailer.  She is a different kind of rider than Mason was though.  I remember the first day I took him on a ride on this same bike several years ago.  It was the day after his 3rd birthday.  He rode and rode and rode on that cool December day, never seeming to get tired.  When he finally decided he was ready to head home, we had gone 2 1/2 miles!  Ellie, on the other hand, rides at a more laid-back pace.  She rides for pure leisure, and definitely not a distance rider.  At any point in our ride, it's not uncommon for her to stop right in the middle of any given street and declare, "I'm done riding now."  It doesn't matter if we're a half a mile from home...when she's done, she's done.  She sure looks like a big girl riding her bike though.  I managed to snap a few pictures of her while we were out riding one day.  And no, taking pictures while riding a bike myself was no easy task.

 Ellie's "new" wheels:

Mason with his new bike that he bought for himself last winter with his own Christmas money:

Ooops...I think Daddy forgot to buckle her into the bike trailer.  Here is Mollie trying a little trick riding: