Hair and There

A week ago tonight I was feeling frustrated.

I was frustrated because I was bored and tired with doing the same few hairstyles on Katelee all the time. I like to do her hair. She (amazingly!) loves having me do her hair. But I was stuck in a rut. The next morning was her dance recital, and I wanted to do something a bit special with her hair. So I went online and googled "little girl hairstyles."

And a new hobby was created! :) There are so many fun hairstyles out there to try!!

I have given myself a one-month challenge.

The rules of my personal challenge are basically this:

• Try a new hairstyle on Katelee each day for one month - no repeats!
• Do not use the same two tired hairstyles I was using all the time (1. plain ol' piggy tails and 2. pulling up the top middle into a ponytail.) There is absolutely nothing wrong with these hairstyles. They look great on her and they are cute and easy. But, the purpose of my challenge is to expand my hairstyling repertoire, so for this month only they are banned from Katelee's head. :)

Katelee is loving this challenge! She's told her school teacher, her friends, everyone! about our new hairstyle challenge because she is so excited. I love doing her hair, because it gives me a few special moments with her each day. I also LOVE seeing the look on her face when she looks in the mirror to see a new hairstyle - she's such a girly girl.

I realize that this may not interest a lot of you out there, but I'm determined to document each and everyone of my 30 new hairstyles this month so that I can refer to them in the future when I need a hair-do idea. And maybe it will give some mom out there a new idea or two, also. Below are the pics and short descriptions for Week One.

Many of my hairstyles this week have come from a fabulous blog I've discovered called Adopt a 'Do. They have video tutorials you can watch. They are also an 'adoption' family. They are pretty much awesome. I recommend checking out this blog if you want some hairstyle ideas.

Also, what are your favorite hairstyles for your little girl?? I'd love to have you share!

Day Seven

Katelee calls these 'princess braids.' Part the top down the middle. Take a small square of hair about an inch back from the forehead, and braid back on each side of the part. Repeat once again, about another inch back. Gather the braids loosely in a pony tail. Straighten remaining hair. This hairstyle is FAST and EASY!

Day Six

This is one of my favorites I tried this week, because it was so fast and easy and yet looks complicated. However, it was a busy day and I didn't have time to wash Katelee's hair. With the hairspray and curl left over from yesterday's hairstyle, this turned out a little fuzzy. It was still cute, but I'm excited to try it again sometime on smooth, wet hair.

Part top hair in the middle, put a flip on each side, rubberband hair off and flip all the way down to create a "chain," pull hair into a pony, flip and continue to rubberband and flip all the way down.

Day Five

This may be my new favorite hairstyle ever. Katelee loved, loved, LOVED it. She also loved all the compliments she got at church. :) The hairstyle is three horizontal twists. The top and the bottom twist to the right and are secured together into a piggy tail. The middle twists to the left and forms it's own piggy tail. I curled the piggytails into ringlets. This is NOT a quick hairdo, but I think it was worth it. :)

Day Four

This day was a QUICKIE hairdo. I kept the same zigzag part from the day before and pulled the hair into a side ponytail and added a flower clip. Why didn't I ever do this before? I think it's so cute!

Day Three

I created a zigzag part down the middle to form two ponytails, then made ponytail "braids" going down each side and put ringlets in the ends.

Day Two

Start by braiding an 'outie' french braid down the top-middle. Braid two regular braids on the two sides, and pull everything into a pony tail. Split the pony tail hair into five equal parts and braid each part. Take the five braids and loop them over and secure with another ponytail. I left the ends loose and fluffed them and added a flower clip. These pictures didn't turn out well, hopefully you can see them okay. I think the dark middle one shows the style best, if you can see it...

Day One

I parted the hair on the side on top. Divide each side into three horizontal parts and create three twists going back on each side. Pull the hair in back into two pigtails, wrapping the hair around into buns. I left the ends loose and fluffed them. Perfect for cute out-of-the-face dance recital hair!

Ramblings...

You know those little yellow diamond "Baby on Board" signs that people hang in their car windows? I think I need a personalized one that states "Cake on Board." When I deliver a cake, I drive slow. I don't want to have to make any sudden stops, so I slow down EXTRA early. I take curves and turns at an incredibly slow speed. I drive like a blind and nervous old lady. You would too, if you had a precious and fairly fragile cake on board that you had spent HOURS creating. :) The trouble is, other drivers don't know that I'm driving with a tiered cake. They just think I'm annoying. And I don't blame them. Which is why I need a large, bright sign to help them understand. And why I need to be more patient with other drivers when I'm in a hurry. You just never know what they might be transporting. :) By the way, the cake I delivered today was extra cute - take a look at it here.

We recently received the supply list for Katelee's kindergarten next year. So this is my first experience with public school, therefore maybe I'm just clueless. But I was shocked! Her supply list is a full page long and will cost anywhere from $60 - $80, I'm estimating. Really?? Is this normal??

Tomorrow is Katelee's last day of school. I'm sad. And excited. And happy. And a little nervous about keeping her busy this summer. I'd like to take her out on Wednesday for a little fun celebrating the "First Day of Summer." It's raining here. Any great (indoor) ideas from you fun moms out there?

Videos of the Dance Recital

For grandparents, other family members, and any friends who care, here are some movie clips of Katelee's dance recital. I love watching them - so precious! The only dance I don't have a recording for is the Pony Dance. I thought I had the video camera recording until the dance ended and the camera powered off . . . Oops!

If my recording skills seem to be lacking, just keep in mind that I was trying to record with one hand and take pictures with the other hand at the same time! :)

Also, this is the first time I had Katelee wear her dance leotard without a shirt underneath - and I PROMISE I feed her! She looked so thin in this leotard - you can see her ribs and her belly button poking out! Ha ha ha! We like to call her our skinny-winny around here. :)

DANCE RECITAL!

Katelee performed in her first ever dance recital this week. She LOVED it!

Our little dancer, ready to go to the recital!

Beautiful.

Katelee loved that I put a little make-up on her for the performance. She has asked for make-up every day since. :)

Katelee and her sweet teacher, Miss Muffie. Miss Muffie really is amazing! Katelee loves her and can't wait to see her again in the fall.

Some of the little dancers, warming up before dancing.

The girls did six dances for us.

This was the 'costume' for the swan dance.

The class and Miss Muffie

Performing the swan dance

Performing the 'pony dance.' Can you tell they are riding ponies?

The third ballet dance they performed was one where they pretended to be little rag dolls. Very cute.

Ta Da!

Singing in the Rain was my favorite dance!

Katelee prefers tap dance to ballet, though she loves both. I think it's that she loves the sound of the shoes. So do I.

Is my hair wet?

I guess it stopped raining?

The Lollipop Dance

Peek-a-boo

I think that little girls dancing in a dance recital may be the cutest thing in the world!

Miss Muffie gave each girl an "I Heart Dance" visor and a real lollipop. Katelee was thrilled!

Then we gathered for a minute to watch Gene Kelly's fabulous tap number from Singing in the Rain.

So. Fun.

And adorable.

I am really excited to be in the recital/program stage of parenting! I am so proud of Katelee!

30

Well, I'm officially in my thirties.

My birthday was great, thanks to everyone! :) I had a fun day.

Here are a few pictures we took having fun that day.

Playing checkers in the library. Katelee won. :)

Outside the Denver Art Museum. Which closes surprisingly early. Which is why we took pictures outside - we didn't get to go in. ;( Another day, hopefully!

The evening was topped off with dinner at Olive Garden with Gerald and Katelee.

So fun!

Life With Katelee

Life with Katelee is always an adventure.

One evening recently I began making dinner only to have Katelee start begging to go to a restaurant. She begged and cried and threw an uncommonly big fit about wanting to go to a restaurant. We were not going to a restaurant. We were having spaghetti at home. So I invited her to visit Jennifer's restaurant. At first, she wasn't very willing to go along with my game, but she warmed up to the idea eventually. Katelee asked daddy to be her date at the kitchen table. I took their orders and brought the drinks. Then daddy slipped into the kitchen to help the cook while Katelee decorated the menus. I really wanted to show you Katelee's decorated menu - it's so cute - but it didn't scan very well. If you can see this, there is a picture of noodles and cup of juice and utensils, and then Katelee has written "The noodles at Jennifer's Restaurant." In the end, we had a delicious (and cheap!) dinner at Jennifer's Restaurant, and all agreed we'd like to do it again soon. :)

Also, Monday was a momentous day for Katelee! A big, BIG day! It's the day that she finally got the hang of pumping herself on the swing! HOORAY! This day has been several months coming, as we've worked and worked at helping her get the rhythm. At the park on Monday, though, it finally clicked! We were both SO excited!

In other news, today was parents' day at Katelee's preschool. We both were able to go, and we had a fabulous time! We listened to a story and some songs. Then the kids took us to the 'centers' to play with them. We dissolved some capsules into sea creatures; made an ocean scene out of crushed vanilla wafers, blue jello, and shark fruit snacks; played in the 'housekeeping' corner, watched Katelee practice her name, and more. It really was a ton of fun and made me want to go to preschool every day! The very end was show-and-tell time, and it happened to be Katelee's turn for show-and-tell. We were so proud to watch her tell everyone about her favorite blanky and puppy (the items she chose to bring today) and show them off to everyone.

I am so grateful for Katelee in our lives. I love her so much!

Mother's Day

Today I have been spoiled rotten. It's been a wonderful day, a day that has left me so grateful to be a mother. I love being Katelee's mommy. I'm the one she comes to when her Barbie's need a new hairstyle, when she has an ouchie, or when she has a burning question. And I love that. Being a mother is definitely the best job in the world, and I am so, so blessed to be a mother.

The day started out with Katelee playing quietly and letting me sleep late. We enjoyed breakfast together, and Katelee gave me her mother's day gift - a card, a new book, and some chocolates. Gerald and Katelee also cleaned out the car yesterday, and they cleaned off our patio and beautified it with flowers and a new screen. It was a beautiful day outside today, and we spent lots of time out there enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.

We attended church, of course, which was wonderful. After church, Gerald made dinner: grilled steak, mashed potatoes, rolls and green salad - YUM! I felt very spoiled! We ate outside on the patio and enjoyed laughing and talking together. Katelee was so funny today, and has had us laughing since we woke up! We were all cracking up over dinner as she entertained us with her silly version of "Baby Bumblebee."

We also called our mother's and enjoyed talking to each of them. The day ended with Gerald doing the dishes while I enjoyed reading one of my favorite books (Freckle Juice) aloud to Katelee and cuddling with her while she fell asleep.

What a beautiful day it has been. I feel spoiled rotten. And more committed than ever to being the best mom I can possibly be.

Happy Mother's Day to all you women out there!

P.S. Here is a short video of Katelee singing the Bumble Bee song. :)

SPRING PIANO RECITAL

Tonight was our spring piano recital. It was lovely! It's so rewarding to see the students perform and having their hard work pay off. I really love my job.

Katelee loves performing. Tonight was a special recital for her. She received an award for being in 5 piano recitals now. She also played a song that used both hands at the same time - a first for her! She did a fabulous job, and I am very proud of her. I also take the opportunity to perform at each piano recital; it keeps me practicing and learning new things, which is good for me. :)

Katelee, performing her song: Rockets and Sea Divers

I performed Clair de Lune, a new favorite song for me.

The cupcake collage I made for the recital.

Popcorn Tree

Katelee has a beautiful tree right outside her bedroom window that is in full bloom.

It reminds me of the Snow Queen from Anne of Green Gables. :)

Like Anne, Katelee has also named her tree. It is "Popcorn Tree."

Climbing into (it's not a very tall tree, which is why I didn't say climbing up) Popcorn Tree has become a must-do almost anytime we are outside.

Ah. Spring.