Cut it out!

Here's an update on my life as I have been a little lax in writing lately. First, our High Priest party was a lot of fun. Thanks for all your suggestions. The house looked beautiful, especially with the greenery I brought in from our yard with flickering lanterns on each table. We ended up serving roast beef (Wegmans), mashed potatoes, fruit salad, green salad and rolls (all made by me.) The guests brought appetizers and desserts and, surprise, surprise, it all went well. The roast was a little tougher than mine, but, overall, it was a good dinner. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. And, as an added benefit, we fed the missionaries twice with the leftovers.

Last week, Spencer was sick. This week, the twins are sick. It started out as croup and morphed from there. After the third night of no sleep, I finally broke down and took them to the doctor because Courtney complained of an earache. They both have ear infections. Yes! I'm glad it's treatable.

Because of the sleepless night, I slept late yesterday and didn't have a chance to take a shower in the morning. So last night, in preparation for our ward Christmas Party (where Rachel was singing a solo for the first time,) I instructed Rachel to watch the kids and ran upstairs to take a two minute shower. While getting dressed, Spencer came in and asked me to help him build a cardboard boat. When I asked him how the twins were, he said, "Fine. They're cutting their hair." Those fatal words set me running down the stairs. I really began freaking out when I saw chunk after chunk of hair on the stairs. When the girls appeared, I was horrified! I picked up the scissors and began scolding them for cutting their hair and they both said "Pencer did it, Pencer did it." Sure enough, my boy, who so nonchalantly reported that the girls were cutting their hair, admitted he did it "because the girls were getting sick of their long hair." After Rachel (who was talking on the phone to a friend) was asked to come downstairs and see what happened, she began crying and screaming, saying "They have boy hair, they have boy hair!" That tells you how bad it really is! After sending Spencer to a time out for his own protection and shedding a few tears, I trimmed the girls' hair as best I could and we headed for the party. I generously offered the hair to Paul as a toupee for his bald spot but he was not amused. The party was fun and Rachel sang beautifully so at least the evening ended in a positive way

Today Paul took Caitlin and Courtney to the salon to have their hair professionally fixed but they don't look much different. The style options were very limited because their hair is so short. I spent the entire day Christmas shopping and I am exhausted. It sure gets expensive and extensive with four growing children. I need to empty the car (stuffed from bottom to top in shopping bags) but I just can't gather the energy. I'll just have to wake up early and get the stuff out then.

Good night! I am falling asleep at the keyboard and I'd much rather sleep in bed so see ya!