A Big, Long Day: Preschool, Doctor, Dance/Gym, and First Hair Cut...and of course, Lots of Pictures!

Homeschooling didn't happen today. We left the house at 9:00 this morning and didn't return home until 4:00 this afternoon. It's pretty evident that we were just worn out from our day and much too tired to attempt any additional learning other than watching a couple videos this evening.

After I dropped Rebekah off at preschool I took Joshua for a check-up with the ENT. His ears look great, even better than the last visit, so we are hoping that this spring and summer we are out of the woods from any colds and ear infections. We'll see what happens this fall, but we are continuing the dairy-free diet as well.

On our way back to the preschool to pick up Rebekah we stopped by Hobby Lobby for some palm branches. I am leading praise/worship music for the preschoolers/kindergarteners on Sunday mornings every four weeks, and my turn is Palm Sunday. We are going to sing some songs about the significance of the holiday, and I thought it would be fun for the kids to wave palm branches during a song or two.

After the three of us had lunch at our favorite fast-food joint, Chick-fil-A, we headed over to The Little Gym for Rebekah's dance/gym class. Rebekah absolutely loves this class! I had thought about taking a break this summer from it since she's going to take survival swim lessons that will be pretty intense for a few weeks, but she loves the class so much we decided to give it a try. I had my camera with me so I tried to get a few shots through the window. Do keep in mind they were taken through a window, so they are not as clear as they should be and have some glare, some worse than others.


Mrs. Nancy got the girls to look at me for a pic.


Practicing one of their steps. They are holding stuffed animals b/c it was supposed to be "Bring a Friend Day". Mrs. Nancy was out last week, so we didn't get the memo. Next week they get to bring a friend, so if you'd like your daughter to come let me know and the first person who responds can be Rebekah's visiting friend next week.


Joshua and his little friend watch the girls dance. Usually he gives her kisses, but I couldn't get a good pic when they hugged the one time today. Joshua refused to kiss on command.


Some sort of free dancing they were doing.


Rebekah LOVES to twirl!


Following dance they go into the gym for the second half of class with Mr. Keith.


Rebekah has amazed me with how well she does on the balance beam. She zooms along it with no problem! Here Mr. Keith is working on a routine with her. (Sorry for the glare due to all the windows!)





Following Rebekah's class we headed over to Tiki Cuts for Joshua to get his first hair cut. I have not been wanting to have it cut because I didn't want his curls cut, but it has been looking pretty shaggy in the front, and Darrin has been patiently waiting for me to take Joshua to have it cut. I wanted it to look nice for Easter, so off we went to have it trimmed.

Tiki Cuts is a privately owned business just for children's hair cuts. The beautician's hours are limited, so we were forced to go when Joshua should be going down for a nap, but it was worth it. (Rebekah went to the same place for her first real hair cut.) The place is so cute with an island theme. It is located in a pool/spa building, but as you enter the place you walk through hanging wooden strings into the island room. She has toys set up for children to entertain themselves, including a puppet show stage, adirondack chairs, and videos while children have their hair cut. Smaller children and toddlers can sit in the seat made with a small Power Wheels Jeep.

Before


During





After





And since we were there early and there was time before the next appointment I asked her to go on ahead and trim Rebekah's hair to add in layers that I had cut out when I cut her hair. I really like the layers now, and I think they add a little more fullness. While I'm at it here are a couple of pics.

Before


After


Obviously, after such a long and busy day we crashed when we got home. Joshua struggled going down for a nap, but he finally got some rest while Rebekah and I curled up on the couch and watched a video.

Update on Haircut

I just have to say that I did a quick conditioning rinse of Rebekah's hair after I cut it, and the curls on the ends really bounced back in! I was afraid she had lost of a lot of those tighter curls, but they are returning. Yay! It's taking me a while to get used to the length because since the curls tightened it looks even a little shorter. At least it will grow, and her hair is much like mine in that it grows quickly.

Haircut #2

Rebekah has always gotten lots of compliments on her gorgeous curls. I sure can't take credit for them because my hair is straight as a stick. Rebekah gets her curls from her Daddy and his side of the family. You can see how much her hair resembles her Aunt Donise's here.

Although she still gets all kinds of compliments on her hair it was starting to get out of control. It has been difficult to detangle in the tub due to its length, and it has been over a year since we had it trimmed. She has only had her hair cut that one time other than when I trimmed her bangs when she was 15 months old.

After reading a book called Curly Girl I decided to tackle cutting Rebekah's hair myself. I started to try to follow as closely to the instructions as possible, but I had a hard time getting it to look even, so I veered from the directions a bit and just did the best I could. The main thing was that I cut it dry because wet curly hair is not the same length as it is dry. Each strand of curls has a different spring, thus if it's pulled straight down and trimmed it will not be even after it dries.

It took me so much longer than it would at a salon, so Rebekah got really fidgety, but overall I think it turned out pretty good. It is a much healthier length, although we lost a lot of corkscrew curls. I really hope they will bounce back in now that she has lost a lot of weight off of it.

Rebekah really wanted me to cut her hair short like one of her little friends, Olivia, at church who has short curly hair. The funny thing is that Olivia wants long hair like Rebekah. I wasn't going to cut Rebekah's hair short, but I like this length even though it is more than I originally had planned.

Here are some BEFORE and AFTER mugshots.

BEFORE





AFTER



Look at all the hair I cut!