Curly Sue's Transformation

Michael and I had talked about getting Christine's hair cut some time to donate to Locks of Love. She has gorgeous hair. It's thick, wavy, basically everything mine wasn't as a child. I envied girls with her kind of hair.
Mine was very fine - which translates into limp and flat. It would never hold curl, my mother even tried getting it permed a few times, and within weeks, it was back to it's former limp, blah self. Anyway, back to Christine.
One day I decided to tell her about Locks of Love, why it is needed, how they get the hair, etc. I asked if she wanted to do it, and without hesitation, she said yes. I told her that we would talk about it again later with her dad, thinking that she would change her mind. I talked with Michael some more about it and we decided that if she wanted to do it, she could. A few days later, I brought it up again, and she was still on board.
I asked if she wanted me to call Jackie (the magician for my hair) and get her an appointment, and she said she wanted it done before Christmas. I called and got it set up and let Christine know that if she changed her mind before the appointment, she didn't have to go through with it. Every day, the answer was still the same.
The big day came, my friend took the other kids, and Christine and I headed for the salon. Here's our girl's transformation.


In the waiting room, here is the front before the deed.


and the back


Jackie checked her hair to be sure that it was suitable for donation.


Measuring (this is where I thought I might change my mind!)


Because her hair is so thick, she had enough for two donations!


Look at all of that hair!


Christine has always had curly hair, but with it being so long, most of it was weighted down. It's back!


Again with thickness, this is how much of her hair was taken out for thinning (so it wouldn't look like a big bush on her cute face).


Jackie straightened it to be sure that she hadn't missed any stragglers.


Jackie the Master with the finished product.


Christine had a bath last night, and this was her hair in the morning, all over the place!


Cutie Pie

She loves her hair, and so do we. I think I'll miss some of the things I used to be able to do with her hair, but I am so proud that she wanted to do this. After all, for her, it's just hair, and it will grow back. For someone else, it's a way to help them feel good about themselves at such a difficult time in their life.

It's still about Emma

She seems to occupy most of our attention. This mark isn't anything new, in fact it is there quite regularly. The difference this time is that we have family pictures on Saturday. By now, it is a lovely shade of green with some yellow and a stripe down the middle. Hopefully someday she'll learn to run looking forward and not to the side.

A view from the front


and from the side, it got much bigger than this
This, by the way, is from running into the corner of a wall.

A Special Time to be Emma's Mom

One of the many reasons I have to be proud to be Emma's mom.

Last night, Michael and I were busily making dinner for the missionaries. We were running short on time and as a bonus to us, the girls were playing quietly in their room. We noticed how nice they were playing and how helpful it was to us to not have them in the kitchen. We should have known. We've been down this street before (not this particular street, but we are quite familiar with Emma's antics). Here is the play by play of what happened next.

Christine: (with a smirk on her face) Mom, Emma just peed in our trash can!
Michael and Michelle: What?!
Christine: She really peed in our trash can!
Michael: For real, or just pretending?
Christine: For real Dad, she really peed.
Michelle: Are you sure she really peed, she didn't just pretend?
Christine: She took her pants off and everything.

Side note: I have an awful habit of underestimating how much time things take. We were really cutting it short to get dinner on the table on time with both of us in the kitchen. I did not have time for this. Also at this time, Jacob decided that he couldn't wait any longer to eat. He had already finished a sippy cup of juice and was ready for his peas. NOW. Back to our story.

I ran back to their room to see if Christine was right. Sure enough. I don't know why I doubted her. At this point, I didn't know whether to beat Emma or laugh. It is kind of funny. I left their room in disgust while Michael handled the situation. I really have been blessed with a great husband.

In Emma's defense, she said Christine told her to do it. Christine said she didn't, and either scenario wouldn't surprise me much. I'm very excited to share this story again in about 13 years. We're very proud.