The haircut that left me still in shock!

Yup, that's right! Evelynn actually elected to have her haircut short. I think this was spurred on by all of the sweet compliments her little sister got after her haircut, but maybe she was just ready for a change. She had worked up to the idea for a few weeks, and kept telling me, "It will be easier to brush my hair when I cut it short." or "My hair will look like grandma's!" Anywho, my hairstylist put her to the test, and the girl knew what she wanted. Afterward, she did ask if she would curl it for her. Here are the results:

Just so you know, I left the room while the hair was being cut (it was a little emotional for this momma), and my jaw must have dropped to the floor when she came and found me! Really? Where did my baby go?!

How cute is this though?

So, I still do a double take when I walk in the room, but it is certainly growing on me.

Those of you who know Evelynn well, don't you think it fits her personality pretty well?
Let me know what you think...but don't tell her unless you have something nice to say!

Happy 29th, Brad!

Evelynn was so excited to celebrate Brad's birthday party this year, and of course she chose a theme (because it wouldn't be a party without a theme apparently). So, she went with the pirate theme, and slaved away making pirates, a boat, treasure on top of a mountain, etc. to go with the banner we found at Dollar Tree (I love that place). We had a pirate hat in the dress-up bin (courtesy of a previous white elephant gift), and voila, the perfect family birthday party! Evelynn helped me turn our cherry pie into a pirate, and the girls loved giving Daddy his gifts. Evelynn chose "a mug for Daddy's coffee" and Lyla just knew Daddy would want a bouncy ball with glitter and a pretend fish inside. Mommy gave Daddy something he's been wishing for, for a
v-e-r-y--l-o-n-g time!
Happy Birthday, sweetie! You are so loved!

Too Late?

No, I am not posting these pictures late, we are just late in actually doing our gingerbread house! Oh well, I think it is was just as fun to do on January 3rd, as it would have been in December! Evelynn was super proud of her accomplishment, though as you can see, she started eating on in right away!

Christmas 2011

As with many of you, there are just too many great Christmas pictures to share! Here are just a handful of my favorites!

The girls in front of our own Christmas tree this year. I had so much fun getting the ornaments out with Evelynn this year. She asked so many questions, and I was able to share with her some of the memories that are associated with the different ornaments. I hope this continues to be a treasured tradition.

My silly girls!

We went the Woods' the weekend before Christmas to share in a double celebration. Les turned 60 years old and he was kind enough to share his big day with Jesus too! Here he is reading the Christmas story to the kids before we opened our gifts. This is another tradition I love.

While I certainly have many many more pictures I could share, this one is FANTASTIC! Brad and I gave the girls a wooden kitchen for Christmas and had it setting up in the playroom on Christmas morning. The look on Lyla's face is priceless! She kept leaving the living room (where we were opening gifts) to go play with the kitchen.

The Haircut!

I was the bad mom who forgot the camera when I took Lyla in for her first haricut. I know, I know...but I tried to make up for it when we got home! She did SO WELL! As a matter of fact, she sat so still, that the hairdresser used a flat iron to flip her hair out a little. It kind of freaked me out though, she looked a little too grown up!

Imaginary Play!

We have this bonus room in our rental right now that is serving as a wonderful shared play space (and storage for all of our stuff!). One of my favorite things to do is peek in on my girls and see what they are up to. One day, I peeked in and saw this! I know what you are thinking, and it probably is what I was thinking too! But alas, those are only play scissors that came with a doctor's kit, and no actual hair was hurt during the process! I love the attention to detail, the flour sack towel draped, Evelynn's high heels, oh, I love these girls!

Lyla's Second Birthday

I hate to admit it, but Lyla's birthday was such a bust! I vow to NEVER celebrate her birthday on Thanksgiving again. No one feels like eating cupcakes after such a big meal and everything seemed rushed and like an afterthought. However, I recognize that she is only two, and really could care less...at least this year!

Not really sure what is going on here, but both are super excited to eat their turkey cupcakes. Unfortunately, they had melted and looked more like turkey blobs by this time. Again, thankfully, she didn't seem to mind that my effort had gone to ruin.

"Happy Birthday to you!"

I think someone else must have taken the pictures of the girls in their cute turkey outfits, but you can sort of see it here. My mom made these, with bows to match, and the girls both looked adorable for Thanksgiving! Thanks, Mom!

Lyla received lots of fun gifts, but that baby was definitely an instant favorite. She also is wearing her new K-State cheerleading outfit....hopefully it will bring us luck for the Cotton Bowl!

Halloween 2011

Halloween was a little crazy this year. We usually participate in Trunk or Treat at our church, but since the move...we honestly didn't have anywhere to go! The girls and I headed to KC to visit the grandparents while Brad headed back to OKC to work on the house. As with all things involving repair, it took longer than normal, and thankfully I packed costumes - just in case. Anyway, my wiggle-worms were a little anxious for the first official trick or treating experience...so my picture didn't turn out that great!

You will recognize Lyla as the cow she was for our Chick-fil-a night (how how I miss Christian Chicken!!) and Rapunzel probably looks familiar to you as well (look back at her birthday party!)

Grandma Woods was very sick, so Lyla rushed back home so she could play clown bride to....

Papa Woods! I love how Lyla is staring at him from the door!

KSU, who knew?

So, I finally have my computer all set up and loaded all of my pictures. It was actually disappointing to see how little I have documented of the last few months of my life...it truly has been a blur. However, I didn't want to not share the few pictures that I did take. This particular picture has a story. I won the little KSU bikini on ebay (out of season, at a steal!) long before we knew we were headed back to Manhattan. As a matter of fact, the day we got it in the mail was the day after we accepted the position in Manhattan. It's times like these that I always have to stop and laugh, I love God's sense of humor!