Baby Hairs!!!

A few months ago we discovered that Tater had a few spots where she was missing some hair. After a trip to the Dr, our suspicions were confirmed that it was Alopecia Areata. We put on a happy face for Tater and the kids, and tried to assure them that not every person with Alopecia will lose all their hair.
However, in the privacy of my own room, I was DEVASTATED! How could this be?!?! I have always been told that there are no indications that Alopecia is genetic. How could this have happened?!?! Even the Dr said he'd never seen a mother and daughter with the same condition.
I know that growing up with Alopecia literally made me who I am. I think it's made me more tolerant of other people; Understanding that there may be things that make them the way they are. I've tried to keep it in mind that there are worse things in the world, and that this too shall pass. I think it's made me a strong and confident woman.
HOWEVER!!!!!!!... It is NEVER something I would wish on my child. I think I was always a little disillusioned into thinking that if I had it, my kids would never have to have it. But, I guess I was wrong. Tater was almost exactly the same age I was when I discovered my first spots.
For a few months we watched her, covered her spots with other hair, and down played our emotions around the kids. And... Woo hoo! WE HAVE BABY HAIRS!!!

We're not necessarily out of the woods yet. She could always have more spots pop up. But for now, all is well, and we're all LOVING these baby hairs!

Like Mother-- Like Daughter

This pic says it all!

They were actually taken months apart, which almost makes it funnier. Hilarious!

I'm Spoiled!

The girls disappeared into my bedroom for an hour the other day. When they came out, they had create a "spa" for me... Complete with flower petals on the bed and in the bath, and jammies with a robe and slippers. They also made a box with paper hearts in it that listed things they love about me. *melt* Such sweet girls!

Papa's B-day

Having Papa (my dad) in Africa on his birthday is hard. How do we possibly tell him, when he's on the other side of the world, how much he means to us? It's pretty hard!
So, this year I had each of the kids take a big letter from P*A*P*A, and color it however they wanted to. Then, we took pictures of each of them with their letter, and put them together in one big picture. We figured he would be able to print it and keep it all year long to remember how much we love and miss him.
I just LOVE how it turned out...

I also wrote a message to him on Facebook that got LOTS of responses. I thought that was pretty cool... even though dad has yet to come to the dark side (Facebook). Mom allowed him to peak over her shoulder so he could see it, and he wrote me a very sweet note in response.
Here's a screenshot of the message I wrote, and the responses. It's obvious how many lives he has touched. I'm proud he's my "Papa". Love you, dad! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ladies' Lunch

Today I had to drive Chandler to his zero hour jazz band class. I can usually run the carpool and still get back just in time to take the girls to school. However, today there was a TON of construction, and it took an extra long time to drop off the carpool. So, I called home and told Shelby that she and the girls would have to just walk to school today.

We literally live down the street from the school, so it's not like it's a big deal for them to walk. But, when I got home, I got a text from Laree Fuller that said Tater was sad because she didn't get to tell me goodbye. I told her to tell her I love her, but I knew that with Eric having left early this morning for a business trip to Minneapolis, and me not making it back to send her off, this was gonna throw off Tater's whole day. So, I decided to go to the school and have lunch with all 3 girls.

I knew this would be extra fun because they weren't expecting it. So, I bought some cookies for them to share with their friends, and headed to and hour and a half of cafeteria madness with my girlies.

It was actually really fun... being silly with them and their friends. We even got shushed by the principal once for being too rowdy. Awesome! :)

I took a picture with each girl and sent them to Eric just to make him jealous. I think it worked!

Here are the pics...

I LOVE my girls! I think it made my day as much as it made theirs. :)

Record high!

I've been conducting our ward choir for over a year now. It's a fun gig. In the last year, our numbers have been slowly getting bigger. So much so, that we recently had to move practice locations because we didn't have enough good places for people to sit.
Today, we hit a record high... 31 people!!! It was so AWESOME!!! They sound fabulous, and I'm excited for our next time to sing in sacrament meeting.
Good times!

Academic Spying!

Technology is AMAZING! I was just able to link in with a phone app called "Infinite Campus". It literally shows me every grade on every assignment, and an up-to-the-minute look at my kid's grades. Maybe I'd have done a little better in school growing up if I knew my mom and dad could look in on my grades at any moment!

Not that I have anything to worry about with my kids… They're all great students. However, I'm hoping this knowledge will help me feel a little more connected to what they are (and sometimes aren't) doing in class.

Here's a screen shot of what ways I can spy on my kids. Awesome!...