A Holiday, A First Haircut, and Another Big Life Lesson

Monday was a big day for the twins. Fenley had his umpteenth haircut (I really have lost count but I think we are somewhere in the 7-9 times range for his unbelievable and fabulous tressles). On the other hand, sweet, little Mary Elinor has lasted almost 26 months without a single haircut. Monday was a big milestone for her personally...her first little haircut!! She did not have a confused mullet like Baby Bear but rather a full on mullet that was starting to get a few wandering eyes in public. I just could not bring myself to cut what little tiny amount of hair she had accumulated.

I finally talked myself into it {rather Gita swore to me at Bear's first haircut, if we cut her hair, then it would grow in properly}. We dragged her up to our local kids cuts place and Fenley showed her the ropes. Mary Ellie had a blast watching Fenley and was a cool customer when it came to her turn. She is kind of known for her stellar dramatic performances that will someday win her an Oscar but she was thrilled to do what "Fenny" was doing and sat there without one little tear. Mommy wanted to cry a little but I choked back the tears because the mullet was killing me! Voila....Mary Ellie looks adorable! She has a tenny, tiny, little bob thing working and she looks pretty darn cute.

Pre-haircut with the mullet and looks a little too comfortable driving the monster truck with her rattail

Mamie waiting her turn and watching Fenny go first

Really not sure about the polyester cape thing but trying to go with the flow for Gita

Dum Dum basket in one hand + one sucker in the mouth = READY TO CUT MULLET

Daddy came! (Okay, let me explain about Fenley's longalls and why they are open which is a twofold answer: 1. They were hemmed a long time ago because he was short...he has grown since which pulls the buttons. I need to cut stitching and let the hem out 2. We are sooooo over snap buttons in the crotch because now that he is going to the big-boy potty, these are just not condusive to our life. Get ready for your hand-me-downs, Bear!) Fenley is cute even if the pants are short and the pants bust open with every move.

"I get you! I get you! I get out!" is what Fenley and I say to each other after a little game of chase and tickling follows. I got you, sweet boy! I never, ever want to let go either.

How cute is her haircut!?!
 Daddy and Mamie after the big 'do

Mommy gets a quick picture with her little girl. Mary Ellie is so proud of herself for getting this haircut. It was very endearing to watch. She smiled and was a little bashful at the attention. And today during a walk around the neighborhood, I caught her kind of swishing her hair a little. My heart melted a little to watch my only little girl get a little fancy for a moment. {Mamie is not a fancy, fancy girl. We do not own princess anything in this house, I buy her pink but I like it more than she does, but she is a navy Mary Jane girl. No frills, no fuss, no other colors...just a good sturdy shoe/girl with a little hair flippin' occassionally!}

Ah! I am a little obsessed with the hair, I know that. But she can atleast look back and see how adorable it was from all angles.

She's BAAACCCCKKKK.......navy Mary Jane, that is. {The cute outfits from Music Class and haircut photo op discarded after naps for some reason} Mary Ellie dressed herself to go to the park. I have heard this day was coming. She is usually agreeable with what I pick out but when there is no need to argue.... why argue? Mary Ellie put on her pink coat {thank you, Gigi, from Costco last year...thankfully it still fits}, her polka dot jammy pants, an Old Navy pink tutu {thank you, Angie! also from last year...also still fits}, the only socks she owns {white with a ruffle} and good old Navy Mary Jane. I did really, really try to get her into her sneakers and leave her proper school shoes resting in the closet on the holiday Monday but no, NMJ, had to go to the park!

In retrospect, not sure why we let our 13 month old slide down this huge slide but Mary Ellie did show Bear how to do it and the parents decided this was good enough for them?

Bear about to slide with his Daddy

Um, yes, we did let Fenley go to the park in his navy sneakers, Santa Claus jammies {thanks Poppy and Tammy} and hand-me down pull-over {also from last year and BIG THANKS, Lauren, who is so kind to always give Fenley and Bear her triplets' clothes}. If you are sensing a theme, we are grateful little church mice to all our kind friends and family giving the children clothes! I love childrens' clothing because it is cute and I know my days are numbered picking out their clothes but we are SO grateful to our friends and family that pass things our way and I do not want any of them to ever feel otherwise because as you can tell...we really do use it in the most interesting and chic ways.
All the chatter about clothes and all my work planning a little trunk show for next week, keeps sending my brain back to a bible study topic last week. The goal II "to love the Lord with all my strength" brought up the topics of being healthy, exercising not for looks but to be healthy and use your body as God created, AND it came up about what we put on our backs. A bright girl in bible study brought up Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry

    ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I like this and I keep coming back to it over and over planning this precious trunk show and the mailbox full of Spring Catalogs. So, guess what I did Monday? I did not worry how they looked and they certainly did not care how they looked. If I got strange looks from other parents, then....well, fine, so be it! The twins were happy being them and wearing just what they wanted. Santa Claus is totally fine a month after Christmas AND there is apparently no bad time for a tutu and Navy Mary Jane. I have so much to learn from my children. Thank you God, for the big lessons that little people teach me everyday.

PS  Speaking of catalogs:
Dear Gary and Elaine,
Do you think Land of Nod could incorporate the theme pictured below into their next catalog and the push-Radio Flyer's multi-uses because our Bear loves to climb in it and just sit {if you read the blog often enough, you will also sense a theme to Bear's favorite activities: climbing into objects Pottery Barn Kids and Land of Nod probably never fathomed} AND Mamie just discovered the "sitting duck" and decided she could push him around in the wagon. Do you think a catalog could work with this idea? Have your people call our people. ;)

funny enough: re-looking at this picture: Cousin Aiden's hand-me-down jammies on Bear, and Fenley's pajama pants are from yours truly but the mismatched top was a birthday gift from, Carly, at school. We really must fake pulling it together when we leave the house or we just never have it together most of the time by looking at our pictures and I never realized it! Maybe Land of Nod will not be calling anytime soon!

Bear decided on the last shot to stand and show how much fun he was having. If you are a detail-oriented person, then you may have already noticed the tiny hand on his shoulder trying to put him back in his original place.