Virginia

Oh, Virginia we miss you so, but it was fun to come visit! We took the kids back to Richmond to visit old friends, go to the branch where we went to church, see the dental school and to eat at our favorite restaurants. It was wonderful to see everyone and to reminisce about dental school days.

After church we went to Maymont, a beautiful estate that is open to the public with gardens and animals.

I like this photo because I feel like a celebrity with my two children out for a stroll and the paparazzi caught us.

Another Sad Hair Tale

These little girls are some pretty freaky hair stylists! Eva just had hers done by her 4 year old friend that lives next door. This is her cute little haircut that had just grown back nicely after the 2nd hair cutting incident:

I wasn't worried after the second haircut thinking these girls had learned their lesson and wanted to have princess hair like we kept talking about. I guess it is too tempting knowing there are scissors within reach. One evening when I was working in the yard Eva was next door playing with her friend. I went to go pick her up at about 8:00 to get ready for bed. I walked up the stairs of their house after being invited in by my friend (Eva's friend's mom) and screamed when I saw this:

Those poor people bolted up the stairs thinking that one of the girls was hurt. That's how loud I screamed. I overreacted. But look at that! "What do we do now?" I thought. Check out how close she got it to her scalp. Man! Kelli, my hair-stylist friend, saved us. The next day she came over and did a great job:

So now she has a cool, spiky haircut that no other girls her age have! Just for laughs, check out the first two haircuts (all three have been in the last 7 months):

This was the first time right before she turned 3 in March. The girls were caught with scissors on the trampoline at the neighbor's house.

This one was in July I think and I was so bummed because her hair was getting pretty long. All I can do is laugh and be glad that Eva doesn't care one bit about it. I would feel bad if she did. Actually, it's nice to have low maintenance hair. And haven't we all wanted Halle Berry hair but never have dared to do it? Now I can have fun with short hair and not have to cut my own! Let me know if you have any cute ideas. Moms of little girls: hide your scissors!

Happy Father's Day to the Best Dads

These dads mean so much to my children and me. They teach, play, lead, and most of all they love. We love you! Love, Nicky, Eva and Charlie

Fun Getaway

McCall has become one of my very favorite places to go since I've become an Idahoan. Eric played in a dental golf tournament there on Friday, which meant we got to stay at the Shore Lodge for a great deal. We were there on a perfect day. It was 70 degrees and we pretty much had the lake to ourselves. It was much too cold to swim, but perfect for a kayak ride. After playing in the hot tub and in the kayaks, we rented some beach cruisers with a trailer and went to Icecream Alley. We had brought Eva's bike and she was insistent on riding it, especially after being in the trailer, and she really wanted to "pull Chawie." She was able to do some riding (we spared Charlie) and then we headed home for a not so peaceful drive. It is funny though, how they can both sleep through each other's crying. What a fun family getaway!

A Happy Mommy

As Mother's Day has been approaching, I have been thinking about the wonderful moms in my life. I am grateful for their sweet examples of motherhood, their guidance, their friendship and their love. They have inspired me to be the best mom that I can be and to enjoy these special times with my kids.

I am blessed to be Charlie and Eva's mom. I am still learning, but they are patient with me and remind me to live life simply, enjoying the present moment. I am blessed to have a wonderful man who has given me the best gift: a family. My heart feels joy every day when I am with you guys. I love you.

Eva Joy is 3!

Eva had fun celebrating her birthday with Grandma Christy, Grandpa Cole, Great Grandma Donna, Aunt Liss and Alaina! It was great to have them stay with us for the weekend. One of Eva's favorite things is going to see movies so we all went to the theater and saw Rango (which I don't really recommend) and then went and got pizza afterward. I spent my morning making this Ariel cake, which was fun to do, especially seeing Eva get excited about it and putting the sprinkles on it herself. It was hard work though! Eva was thrilled to get an Ariel barbie, Woody ("he's a cowboy doll," she says) and some pretty new dresses.

What a big girl she is getting to be. She likes to do art, ski, ride her bike, talk and sing to Charlie. We love you Eva and all of the spice you add to our lives. Happy Birthday!

P.S. The close up photos are pre-mullett days. I just love them and had to add that cute smile to her birthday post!

A sad, sad tale about a pony tail

Last week Eva was playing at the neighbor, Jonette's house next door and I was having a quiet moment with Charlie. That is why I found it strange to find Jonette on my doorstep, without Eva. She was laughing to herself and said, "I don't know whether to laugh or to cry, but Eva just cut her hair." And I just started sobbing. (A little dramatic, I know, but she's my little girl who doesn't have much hair anyway!) So I went over to find that Eva and her friends had a pair of scissors on the trampoline. Thank goodness it was only hair that was cut. Yikes! It wasn't as bad as I had envisioned, but check out the sweet mullett she gave herself:

Since there was nothing I could do, I decided to just laugh about it and be glad that she: 1) didn't seriously hurt herself, 2) she won't be going to school where kids will make fun of her, and 3)fsimply because she doesn't care one bit. Thank goodness Liss came to town 2 days later to fix the do. I didn't know whether to do a short pixie cut or to just let this one side that was cut catch up to the rest. Liss ended up cutting bangs and now we do a nice comb-over and part it on the opposite side with a big flower covering it up. You can hardly tell when it is all in place!