Happy Haircut

Every time, literally every time I cut Parker's hair I vow that the next time I'll take him to a salon and let someone do it that actually knows what they're doing.  And then a few weeks pass and he needs another haircut and I think that it will just be easier if I do it, and hey, I'll save some money, and oooh! maybe we can go out for ice cream with the money I just saved.  Anyway, I figured that I'd had a pretty good five year run and it would be good to see how a professional does it so I can take notes.

I knew that it would not be a happy, fun day at the salon. Parker does not like getting his hair cut.  He's not necessarily scared of the clippers or scissors, it's more that he doesn't like the itchiness of the cut hair on his skin.  We've tried lots of things to alleviate the problem, but nothing works with 100% efficiency.  So, I bribed him with a Happy Meal if he got his haircut at a salon.  We made it through the parking lot and to the door of Great Clips before he lost it.  Tears, screams, falling to the ground.  It was not pretty.  Finally he sat in the chair, but was still crying so I had him sit on my lap.  Once the stylist started cutting his hair he did a great job!  No more tears and he held so still.  I was hoping to take a picture of his first real haircut while it was happening, but it was a little difficult with him sitting on my lap.

But here are some after photos!  Yay McDonalds!

Playing in the Snow

A few weeks ago we headed up to the hills to play in the snow.  I love that we can enjoy beautiful, warm weather here almost year round, but when we want to build a snowman we can be playing in the powder in just 45 minutes.

Parker loved the snow and especially sledding.  Kate was not really a fan.  She didn't like walking or even standing on the snow, I think because it made her unstable, so I had to hold her or have her sit on my lap almost the whole time.  Parker is kind of a timid guy and Kate is so easy going, I actually thought their reactions to the snow would be the opposite.

It might surprise you to know that the population in Southern California is quite dense and in this land of eternal sunshine, opportunities to play in the snow are few and far between.  As a result, the mountain was packed. There wasn't really a destination or a parking lot or anything- people just parked on the side of the road and hiked back into the mountains a bit. Luckily we got there early enough to get a parking spot, but as we were driving home the highway was backed up for miles.

We're Moving!

Again.  People, it's just too much.  In our eight years of marriage, this will be our seventh move.  Parker has never lived in a home longer than 16 months.  I hate moving.  I hate that it turns me into a mean mom and a ball of nerves.  But, we're getting kicked out, so what can you do?  Our landlord is selling the townhouse we're living in, and although they did offer to sell it to us, we're going to continue to rent at a different location.  One thing that makes it a bit easier is that we're moving into a house!  With a yard!  And no shared walls!  And a driiiiiiiveway! Paul finally has an excuse to be mad at me for throwing away his yardwork parachute shants (pants that zip off into shorts) all those years ago.

Before I start the ghastly task of packing all our belongings into cardboard boxes, we made a movie so we can remember the wonderful 16 months we lived here. It's a long one; I tried to go slow to avoid the feeling of seasickness.