Mommy Kinlee Salon Day

Kinlee likes to give things names. Events. Situations. Lots of things.

If we go to lunch, it’s Mommy Kinlee Lunch.

If Braska’s with us, it’s a Mommy Girls Lunch.

When she wants to sit on my lap for a while, she asks for a Mommy Kinlee Moment.

If Daddy takes her to Lowe’s,  it’s a Daddy Kinlee Trip.

When we went to Wal Mart this morning, it was an All Family Trip.

And the list goes on…

Today was Mommy Kinlee Salon Day. 

I was going to get my hair done, and she came along because she wanted a cut for herself, too.

I got to go first because she can get her haircut done during my processing. So she waited patiently (with Netflix on her Nabi, of course) in the chair next to mine.

When it was her turn, she was all smiles.  (Which is nice.  We tend to see A LOT of attitude lately, more than smiles.)

My big-girl 4-year-old bug.  My kindergartener.  Hard to believe.

She is like a little pro when she’s in there. Loves it.  She really likes the whole process, except the shampooing.  The super chic sinks there aren’t the most comfy for her, so she prefers just a spray to wet it down.  And she knows. She’ll speak up and let you know what’s supposed to happen.

She gets very serious about watching everything that Jessica is doing, but she does sometimes crack a smile.

Of course, we had to pause to pose together. 

The after…  she prefers no blow dry, thank you.  It’s far too hot for her liking.

Her couple inches of trim was pretty uneventful, but the other 90 minutes when she was just waiting for me was the real challenge.  And she did great, not the recently-typical whining, none of the rolling eyes and attitude-laden tone.  She was pleased to do her Fooz Kids Math or English on the Nabi or watch Martha Speaks.

It was a pretty nice outing.  And that’s a good thing.  So since it’s not always the way things go, I wanted to document it.  So I can look back next time I get the growl and scoff along with the “Oh my goodness, Mom.  That is not at all what I want to do. Can we talk about other options?”

No joke.  Verbatim quote.

I’m glad to have these little peeks at the fun 4-year-old days.

Photo sneak

A girl just can’t get a fair photo with certain brother-in-laws around.  Nothing is sacred. Even an attempt at taking a picture of my first freehand rhinestone Bears shirt. I’m a bling girl, yes I am.  And this is way more sparkly than the picture shows.  But it might be because of the goofball dimming my aura or something. 

*sigh* little brothers….

Family Bears Day

It’s that time again!!! FOOOOOOTBALLLLL!

Braska reporting: Uncle Ethon and Auntie Cheryl have “the ticket” this year, so we’re going to their house for Bears on Sunday after church.  This was our first week, and we got ALL dressed for it!


And Kinlee got excited!

Mommy and I practiced our cheer poses with her, but we didn’t jump this time.

We won! So yay Bears!  Bear down, Chicago Bears!

Back on the streets

After a little over 2 months off due to low-calorie eating plan to jump start the healthy lifestyle plan, today was my return to the streets to pick up with C25K plan.

Yep. I'm a planner.

I backed up a little in the sequence to make sure I could handle it. But with almost 20 lbs less of me hitting the pavement, seems to be very doable to jump back in. I managed well and it felt very good.

Now off to the shower and on with the rest of a busy day of school volunteer time and dentist appointments.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today it’s Papa Beagle’s birthday…  So we made him a movie.

Hope you had a really great birthday Papa!

Doing our chores

Braska reporting: Daddy sometimes has us help with the dishes. He calls it matching, but I know that it’s really what’s supposed to be called chores. I’ve heard of those, and Mommy sometimes give us “jobs” but they’re probably chores, too.

We’re good at matching the spoons and forks in the right spots.  It’s a very serious job, so we have to concentrate.


But every chore is more fun when you stop and smile sometimes!

Kinlee’s Pumpkin Plant

Toward the end of school last year, Kinlee came home from school with a tiny egg carton cup with a sprout in it. It was a pumpkin plant just starting.

Since I kill just about every plant of which I have had custody, we took it directly to Grandma C’s house.  They planted it in the back yard.

In about 4-6 weeks, it was a full-blown plant, and it had the first flower.

In July, the plant continued to grow. It was pretty amazing to see it get bigger so quickly.  Several flowers came and went, but finally we saw the first little pumpkin.



The plant was bigger than Kinlee in no time.


The pumpkin kept growing. And by early August, though still green, it was getting to look like a “real pumpkin.” 


As every good gardener should, Kinlee watered her plant when playing at Grandma C’s.  It’s turning orange, and that pleased her.  But do you see the size of that thing.  ALL of that green that’s below Kinlee’s shoulder height is that one little sprout of a plant grown BIG.


It’s neat to watch this grow.  It’s neat to think of the symbolism of the seed that was  planted, the sprout that was cared for and then re-planted in the right place, and the way that a little sprout put in the right environment can thrive more quickly than I can imagine. 

It’s a lot like the little sprout that brought that sprout home.  And we’re thankful for people like Mrs. S, who helped her plant that pumpkin seed while at school last year, and contributed to the planting of innumerable seeds of potential.