Houston, We Have a Problem

For the record, I'd just like to state that getting an uninterrupted (full) night's sleep is an absolute game changer!  By some modern miracle, Isaac stayed in his bed all night long last night, and so did everyone else.  It was amazing.  I don't think I woke up once until morning.  And when I did, I woke up on my own before my alarm even went off, because I was actually rested!  Sleep is such a treasure.

YESTERDAY, however, was a different story.  Isaac interrupted my sleep all night long, and when it came time to get everyone up and moving for the day it was an exercise in exasperility.  Which I know isn't even a word, but it should be.  Hahaha.  Here's a snippet of my morning via text exchange with Scott...

ME:  Jane's hair is on another level and she's refusing to go to school

 (Legit -- the worst this rat's nest has ever been.  And it's been bad before.  See here and here.)

SCOTT:  I think she is really embarrassed by it

ME:  I think so too
ME:  But she's foiling my plans for the day again
ME:  And don't even get me started on Isaac

SCOTT:  I'm really sorry babe

ME:  He yelled at me to leave him alone when I went to go wake him up

SCOTT:  Yikes

ME:  And when I told him he had to get up and get ready for school, he yelled "I don't care" as I was walking out the door.
ME:  😳
ME:  Threenager indeed

SCOTT:  Hahahaha

ME:  Meanwhile, I just dropped Alex off, because when I brought him and Sophie earlier he realized he forgot to bring his backpack
ME:  I wonder what this school thinks of our family

SCOTT:  Hahaha
SCOTT:  His teacher thinks he's amazing
SCOTT:  So it's all good there
SCOTT:  Grace dropped off yet?

ME:  Yes
ME:  She didn't want to be late so she made me drop her off before Alex
ME: {Insert eye rolling emoji}


Those kids!  After dropping Isaac off at preschool, I realized there was no way I could get Jane to school without detangling her hair, so I naively thought to myself that I'd get it done right quick and then check her into school late.  Oh Jessica.  You idealistic little lamb.  Hahahahaha.  In reality, it took over 3 1/2 hours to get her hair presentable, and by that point, it was almost time for kids to start coming home from school anyway, so I didn't bother checking her in.

Since I know I can't be the only one who loves a good before and after, I present the following pictures of the process:

The Front View

The Back View

The Side

And a Close-up

(It was on another level.)

 One hour in, I was about a third of the way done.  I ended up having to use straight sunflower oil to work through that matted mess.  (I tried conditioner first, but it just wasn't doing the trick.)

 3 1/2 hours later, her hair was finally brush-able!  It was also soaked through with oil and in desperate need of a good shampoo and 3 minute miracle.

 (There is no water in her hair -- that is all oil.)

The After Front View!

 (Post shampoo/conditioner and blow out.)

And the After Back View!

Is that a dramatic difference, or what???

Whew!  It was quite the day's work.  It's been a LONG time since Jane's hair has gotten so bad, and if you'll recall, the last time it DID happen, I threatened her with a pixie cut if I ever had to comb through a rat's nest again.  But, after hearing her cry and tell me that it wasn't her fault, because Sophie threw slime in her hair, and Grace teased it all over for a video that they never ended up making, I decided to throw her a bone and give her one more chance.  I really do think that Grace's tease job set the stage for her hair's prolific blooming over the course of Thanksgiving week, and there's just no way Jane could have worked through it on her own.  It also didn't help that she was sick half the time and lolling about on the couch for the majority of her break.   NEXT time it happens (IF there's a next time -- and let's really hope there's not), I am going to have to make her get a shorter haircut.  And that is now written in stone.  Hahaha.

(Speaking of hair cuts, I got mine cut today for the first time since before we moved.  It was way past due.)

To close tonight's post, I have to insert a screen shot from Grace's slideshow presentation of what she wants for Christmas this year.  She's nothing if not persistent.  Hahahahaha.  {For those who don't know, Grace has been asking for a dog since she was probably 3 or 4.}

1.  dog

Well obviously I want a dog -- I know neither of you want a dog -- but like it is pretty much all I want for Christmas -- I know that we are going to Indiana after Christmas -- to solve this problem -- if I were to get a dog -- Santa can just get me a cage with like a bed leash and collar in it -- dogs cost money -- but like -- literally we can ditch the vet unless the dog is like sick -- but if it has like a legit disease we can just put it down -- also -- I can pay for the food and toys and stuff like the -- I make enough in a month from babysitting and allowance -- please consider it.

Holiday Hoopla

We have had quite a successful week-long holiday this year!  I don't think I can ever go back to NOT having a whole week off for Thanksgiving.  Hahaha.  This year's festivities included anxiously waiting for the cousins to arrive; partying with the cousins like it was 1999; and sadly bidding the cousins adieu when they had to drive back home early Sunday morning.  The only thing that kept my kids from having a total meltdown was the news that we'll be going to visit THEM over Christmas break next month!

But let me back up.  Last Monday morning, Scott and I seized the day and got right down to the business of clearing out the rest of the junk in our garage!  Letting the kids have a freebie day of doing whatever they wanted was the perfect way to keep them out of our hair while we made several trips to the thrift store and one epic trip to the town dump.  And when I say epic, I really mean epic.  Hahahahaha.  

Tuesday was not quite as fun, as we put the kibosh on freebieville, and made the kids get to work cleaning the house and getting it ready for the cousins' arrival later that evening.  It's hard to decide who complained the most about this chore -- oh wait, no it isn't; it was definitely Ethan -- but everyone pulled it together and the house was ready JUST in time for Kristin and her crew to get here.  {The bonus room was the biggest project -- not only was it a mess, but it also involved finally putting together the shelving unit that I envisioned for the room at the beginning of the summer and then organizing it with all the books, games, and puzzles it was meant to hold.}

{This was apparently a group viewing of Jonah playing Fortnite.}

{A multi-player arm-wrestling match was also in order at some point during the week.}

It would probably be a bit tedious to do a day-by-day/play-by-play outline of our week, so suffice it to say that fun was had, several late (late) nights were experienced, lots of movies were watched, and many a round of Bananagrams was played.  Hahaha.  Throw in a  delicious Thanksgiving dinner plus a last minute music video thrown together and you have the recipe for the best week ever!  The only low notes came from sleep-deprived younger children and random sickness/fever with Jane and Alex.

 {Rolls and pies were prepped on Turkey Day Eve.}

{Hannah and Grace created a master-gram of everyone in the family's names.}

 {And since we have SO many "J" names, the girls had to convert an "I" in order to spell Scott's mom's name when they ran out of letters.  Hahahaha.}

 {This picture is the perfect representation -- one could almost call it a pie chart -- of which desserts are the most popular.  Hahahaha.  The French apple pie is always the first to go, the lemon merengue gets about half the love, and the pumpkin pie only ever loses a couple of its slices.}

 {Despite being a sold-out room and having to sit in the very front row, everyone still enjoyed watching "Ralph Breaks the Internet" on Friday afternoon.}

  {I always have to capture the moment when these two are snuggling instead of fighting.}

Knowing that Christmas is coming and we'll see the cousins again was enough to make the rest of Sunday palatable for my kids.  It also helped that we let them haul out the holly {metaphorically speaking} once we were home from church and then stepped back as the kids did an awesome job of bringing out all the Christmas boxes and putting up all the decorations (including the tree) while I accidentally fell asleep on the couch for a 3 hour nap.  What the bunnysauce???  I will say, it was kind of delightful to wake up and see everything already done (minus the clean up) and to hear Grace inform me that she had taken pictures of the process for me so that I'd be able to post them on the blog.  Hahahaha.  Oh Grace.  She's really growing up.  :)

 {Grace going with the artsy shot.}

 {Meet our kids' version of the Elf on the Shelf -- it's the Shushugana. And apparently he has a blog.  Hahahaha.  I'll be sure and let you know when that is up and running.{

 {Scott fell asleep at some point, too.}

 {That's me, passed out under the blanket.}

{Speaking of growing up, we kicked off our holiday week by informing Isaac that it's time to get potty trained.  Hahaha.  He was certainly enthusiastic about the paw patrol undies and the gummy bear treats I bought him for the ordeal, but that enthusiasm quickly waned when he realized he'd have to actually use the toilet.  Oh well!  Rome wasn't built in a day, people, right??  Now that he's had some time to get used to the idea, I think I'll try training in earnest starting on Friday.}

{Let the record show that he has not once used the bathroom, but he's eaten every. single. gummy bear.  Hahahaha.}

Well, that's all folks!  Stay tuned for more life-catching-up on the blog.  

{Grace and Sophie have gone to town with decorating their room for Christmas.}

 {Christmas cards from years past.}