Girls night!

Yesterday, my girls and I got a little crazy. It started when my oldest said she wanted to dye her hair purple and I told her I'd help her. Then my younger daughter begged to get in on the action and I decided to join them in the hair dying fun.

We used semi-permanent color that will last about 8 weeks...not too harsh and not a major commitment if they hated it!

The girls picked bold colors, purple for Ms. College Girl and red for Miss High School. I went with boring brown but added some streaks of purple and red to my bangs to match my girls. We spent most of the evening coloring, timing, rinsing, styling, and laughing...in short, we had a blast.

Of course, we had to do bathroom mirror selfies!

Nervous but excited as they waited for the results.

We monopolized the bathroom for a couple of hours, ruined a few towels, and had the menfolk in the house all shaking their heads at our foolishness...female bonding at its best.

 The results for my girls? Great color that looks subtle in the shadows but boldly pops in the sunlight...a fresh new look just in time for spring!

Thanks girls, I loved doing this with you!!!!

Guess who's been accepted to college?

Yes, it's true! Our oldest son was accepted to Salem State University yesterday. He got the news when he checked his application status online, couldn't wait to tell me. When I found out, I dragged him straight over to the campus for this photo. Don't let the blase pose fool you...he's pretty darn proud of himself, even posted his own announcement on Facebook. As his totally biased Mama, let me brag...3.0 GPA, full acceptance, the strong possibility of playing college lacrosse for the Vikings. He isn't settled on a major yet but is thinking about Sports Management...or Engineering...or English. Not too shabby for a boy who didn't speak a word of English just 5 years ago. Sooo proud of my boy!

Spring Break...woohoo!

This is what a college student on Spring Break looks like...at least in our house. Our oldest is a freshman who has a love of hangin' at home when she's not hard at work hitting the books. For her very first Spring Break, she has chosen the following wild and crazy activities:

• chilling with our dogs while perusing her favorite cookbook
• cooking dinner for the fam two nights (count them--TWO nights) in a row...the food was great and the best part was that Mom had 2 nights off cooking detail!
• shopping and lunch with Mom at the mall...acting as Mom's very own personal shopper by helping her pick out work clothes
• volunteering in her former first grade classroom with the best teacher ever!

I know....it's not Daytona Beach, tequila slammers, or wet t-shirt contests but it seems to be just what this girl wants to be doing at this point. I'm one lucky Mom...

Don't be in a hurry to move out, sweetie. We'd all miss you too much...not to mention that yummy chicken enchilada casserole you made last night! It was the best...but not nearly as wonderful as you!

Breathing deeply and repeating the mantra in my head...IlovemykidsIlovemykidsIlovemykids

As I look back to my own teen years, I recall my mother saying that teens should be put in suspended animation when they hit puberty and not let out until age 18. As a teen, I remember feeling that my mother's assessment was harsh...but now that I have 5 children of my own between the ages of 16-18, I'm rethinking Mom's position. It seems to me now that Mom was overly optimistic re: the age of maturity. Anyone know where I can find a sleep pod that unlocks at age 21?

This is why they teach us Lamaze breathing during pregnancy. It's not for surviving labor and delivery at all. It's for surviving adolescence.