It's a 4 Ring Circus!

reading nook

I came into the girls' room one morning to find a comforter "wall" over the bottom bunk bed.  I lifted the corner and found Josh & Delaney peacefully reading a cat encyclopedia together.  Buried in stuffed animals, I might add.

You can get a good idea for the new color in the girls' room from this picture.  It changes from a light blue in natural light to a lavender when the light is on in their room.  You can also see that Ryan finished painting the beds white, and it looks really great!

doctor's orders

My doctor has again informed me that I need to DE-stressssssssssssssssssssssss.  Turns out I wasn't allergic to any of the 20 or so things that people with burned-up eyelids normally are allergic to, so??  Long story short, I am back to slowly adding beauty products back into my life.  Next up, gotta go get my hair done!  And also, most if not all of my dermatological issues can point back to pent-up stress.  Either that or I am depressed and don't realize it.  :-D

So the doctor says I have to relax (and exercise and rest and all of the other stuff you're supposed to do), so I'm thinking that something like this is in order:

ASAP.

eww

Finally figured out what the icky smell was in the kids' bathroom.

I DO NOT GET PAID ENOUGH TO DO THIS JOB!!!

Carry on.

kitty snuggles

This is why scooping kitty litter is worth it.
(right?!?)

feelin' patchy

The test has begun -- in 48 hours I'll know if I have an allergy to one of my beauty potions.  (Please please please not hair dye!)

not ready for prime time

Delaney and I started taking piano lessons a few weeks ago.  The first day that we managed a duet together, we were so excited that I took a little video of it.  :-)

happy birthday to me

My new Fuze is charging up as we speak!

On a side note, I had a follow-up at the dermatologist today.  Of course my eyelids are perfectly healed now, but he noticed my zitty chin and gave me some Rx for that.  I go back next week for the patch test to see if I have any allergies.  He basically said I am free to put whatever on my face again in the meantime, but I am rather nervous.  If you had seen the eyelids in their 3rd-degree-burn looking glory, you'd understand why, but I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of it.  :-D  I also REALLY need to get my hair done, but am a bit nervous to do that before I find out if it's hair dye that I'm allergic to.  Can I last one more week?  We'll see.  I'll probably have to cave and at least use some eyeliner/mascara because I am not a big fan of the au natural look.  As most "G.R.I.T.S." girls understand, God gave us makeup for a reason!

whole lotta tights

Sadly, this is actually only a portion of the tights/leotards/etc that my girls' require.  I just had to document it.

gotta love craigslist

Ava got an early birthday present -- a new (to us) backyard playset.  She is in heaven!

my cutie tootie

Delaney and Ava made me pictures for my birthday last week.  That must've been fun for Ava, cuz she continued doing it each day for a few days after.  (Mind you, these were the days where I was gone from 2pm til about 9pm at Cub Scout Day Camp).  This particular night she brought me her picture and said, "This is you (the purple girl) and this is me growing up (the pink girl)."  You can see her little signature at the top, I love it.

working vacation?

So far the summer has been what I would call a "working vacation."   We've had various obligations, all good, mind you, culminating in my attending Cub Scout day camp as a den leader every day this week.  Let me tell ya, that will take it out of you!  I am at least heartened that it will be my last year of Scout camp (then Ryan gets to be the one to take Josh to summer camp!), until I realize that I have many years of girls' camp ahead of me . . . sigh.

What can I say, these kids are worth it!

After this week, we'll be getting back to home projects and summer chillin'.  Stay tuned for pictures of the girls' bedroom makeover!