Hair

I am the mother of three girls. Do you know how much shampoo and conditioner I go through? When it was just me, a bottle of shampoo and conditioner lasted for months.
I got my first perm in highschool. My mother told me it would be easy-wash or wet it, pick it out and go. No hair dryer, no curling iron. She was right. It was sooo easy. When I was in the army my hair was usually short. I was always in hot climates and had a hat on all day. Short hair-no muss, no fuss. I grew my hair long after I met Don. He asked me to. It was long until Miss Maggie was learning to stand and pull herself up and used my long hair to steady herself. I cut it again.
The main thought here is simplicity. I couldn't do anything with my hair. I never really learned how. With 3 girls I learned a few things. I can do ponytails, braids (simple ones, not french braids), and buns and pigtails. Now we are into coloring our hair. I bought my first box of hair color about 7 years ago. It was a strawberry blonde. Nothing drastic as my natural color is strawberry blonde (or was). I liked it. I tried auburn too but again it wasn't very drastic.
A few years ago Allie was sick. It was the last couple days of Christmas break and she was really feeling bad. I bought a can of Funky Cherry mousse to color her hair with. It said it would wash out in 8-10 washes. She loved it, it made her feel better and it looked cute. Oh, it lasted about 3 months!!
Over the last couple of weeks, the girls have been playing with their hair. First we tried the non permanent colors. They worked on my two blondie girls but not Allie. I had to use my Colorsilks on Allie. For about a week I had three strawberry blonde beauties. Mag and Chrissy are back to normal. Allie's has faded but looks great.
Today Maggie is now very blonde. I bought her Ultra Sun Blonde. Her natural strawberry highlights still show though. It looks really cute. She is very excited.
I don't think the girls are obsessed with their hair but it has been an interesting couple of weeks. Don just says "looks nice" then rolls his eyes. I guess hair crazy is better than boy crazy!!

Allie vs the Catcher

What do you get when you run into a catcher at full speed? A trip to the emergency room!
Tonight my Allie ran full speed into the catcher while trying to score from 2nd base. Allie went one way and the catcher went the other way. He dropped the ball and she scored. However, her left arm hit his catcher's helmet and it bruised and swelled up fairly quickly thus resulting in a trip to the ER.
After being examined by the doctor and an xray, it turns out there was no fracture but it is bruised and right now there's a good size lump. Motrin and a couple days rest is all the doctor ordered. She plays again Friday but we'll see.
Allie plays hard whether it is soccer, basketball or softball. She always runs at full speed and believe me she is fast. I have seen her "bounce" off opposing soccer players and land several feet backwards only to get back up and start running again. Oh a few times she has been carried off the field by the coach but she is usually back in the game in no time. Tonight was different. She hit that catcher hard and I was scared that her skinny arm was broken! My friend Joe is an ER nurse at the local hospital. He was there when we got there and he was her nurse. Joe is a big guy:6-5 and about 275 lb. My girls think he's great and I'm sure Allie felt better to have him there. I know I did.
Trips to the ER are never fun and they are certainly a mother's worse nightmare. I have had my share and I'm sure tonight won't be my last however, the outcomes have always been good. Oh, a few stitches, some xrays and one trip for a concussion (the worst one). I am thankful that I have healthy and mostly careful children!!

Day Off

I am off from work today. No Giant Eagle. No Wendy's. I slept in until 8:30! Now, that is late for me. Even when I am off I have to get up with the girls for school or I hear Don leaving. The kids are on summer break and Don is off. I don't think we have all been home together since Christmas! What to do, what to do?!
Mag just brought me my coffee. When I finish blogging I will take a nice hot shower. The only thing on the agenda is softball. The big girls have a doubleheader starting at 6. Chrissy has a game at 6:30.

I guess I'll continue this fantasy for a little longer. Once the girls are all up the noise level will increase. The washer and dryer will kick into gear. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted!

Pictures

The lovely ladies after Allie's recital.

Allie at the piano during her recital.

Maggie and her baritone. She is going back to trumpet for 8th grade band.

End of the School Year.

School gets out this Thursday! You know the girls are excited but I'm just as happy. No more frantic searches for socks and sneakers. No more fighting over hairbrushes or t-shirts that belong to someone else or who used up all of the hot water. No more I'm up! or 5 more minutes!
No more "Oh I forgot about that math homework ", or "Where are my library books"?
Mornings will be less hectic but nights! Why can't I stay up all hours of the night, I'm on vacation. Why do we have to come in now?

Well, you get my point. I love school vacation for alot of different reasons but by the 4th of July, I'm counting the days until they go back!