Tears from Hairven

So...my lovely, wonderful, spunky wife just cut her hair a little shorter that usual (see pictures above, in case you missed them). I will be upfront about my hair preference. "Long is never wrong" I just made that up! Seriously...that totally just happened! Copyright The Lancer 2009. OK, back on track. So I prefer her with long hair on her head (I know it is a guy thing. It may also be envy) but I fully support her desire for change and I absolutely think she and her hair look beautiful.

Now in the past when she has cut off the Courtney hair it has been quickly followed by tears, regret and my tongue bitten I told you so's. So I was fully prepared for this Wednesday night. I even called Autumn, her sister and personal stylist, to see how it went and to check Courtney's emotional status. Fortunately all was well and Courtney was very happy with the new do.

So when I heard sniffles yesterday, I was concerned. When I saw tears flowing in bed last night, I was very concerned. And when this afternoon I heard full on weeping and sobbing from the other room, I new the excitement of the short locks had worn off and the longing for a ponytail was the cause. I gathered my courage, psyched myself up and ran into the room prepared to assure her of her beauty and my fondness of her hair.

"What? You're not crying about your hair?...the book?...You have been crying for two days because of this book?..." Unbelievable! She loves the hair (as do I) and she loves the book although it has made her cry nonstop since opened it. Just when I think I have got her figured out...

Hair

So I did it again - I cut all my hair off last night. Thanks to my wonderfully talented sister Autumn it looks fabulous. Pictures will be coming soon I promise.
Thanks Autie

Random Catch-up Pics

Christmas Morning at the Giles. The boys are in their matching pajamas from Mamaw. We love them.

Our brand new frog tent from Christmas. The boys love playing in it!

Beck's latest war wound. With the flash it is not as prominant, but he has a huge line bruise across his cheek, and the inside corner of his eye is turning black. How did he get this you say? At the library of course - very dangerous place.

Thanksgiving

In an effort to give our boys an authentic and historical perspective on Thanksgiving, we took a new approach this year. To start with we adorned their heads with the most stereotypical hats possible (see picture to the left). Any history book will tell you that all Pilgrims wore hats with brims 4 inches wider than their shoulders and slapped a Big Tex belt buckle right in front. Beck decided, or it was decided for him, that he would represent the native American Indian. We went with this design of headdress after watching Peter Pans' Lost Boys get captured by the Indians. We were inspired by the "How did the red man get red" politically correct song. We went with two feathers to represent his age...oh shoot he is only 1 this year. Oops.

Anyway, once we were appropriately dressed, Courtney explained that we celebrate Thanksgiving because the Indians helped the first Pilgrims survive their first winter. Apparently they waited 8 months after winter to make sure they had really made it. Now that we were all confused the only thing left to do was to get the food ready. I took the boys out back, gave Nash a gun, he shot the Turkey, Beck plucked it, Courtney pulled out the innards and I deep fried it just as they did low those many years ago.

Just another holiday at the Giles house...

Adventure Man

Nash has been cracking us up lately. He is so cute! For his birthday he got a little explorere kit which had a backpack, water bottle, lantern, whistle, etc... Once we opened it he would not put it down. He wants to either "go exploring" or "go on an adventure". The other night he wanted to go exploring in the dark. So we packed his dinner, and sent him to his room to explore. So he went into his room, set out his meal, and ate by lantern light. We are so proud!

Cruise 2008

Lance and I just got back from our vacation to Mexico. We went on a 5 night cruise from Galveston with our friends Danielle and Cass. Five glorious days of no responsibility, no kids, no making meals, and no one calling out "mommy, mommy". Disclaimer - I love my kids and did miss them dearly, but I think that Lance and I are going to be better parents because we took the time out for ourselves. I will have to only hit the highlights of our cruise or this post would be too long to read. Needless to say we had a blast! We had so much fun with Danielle and Cass and laughed until it hurt everyday. What a rejuvinating week.

The four of us getting back on the ship after Cozumel, Mexico.

Formal night on the Ecstasy. Ok girls - check out the earrings. Aren't you impressed that I wore them.

The four of us at Chichen Itza.

Here we are ATVing in Cozumel. I know, I know I got over some fear and went out on an ATV. We went through the jungle on a very rocky path and had a great time.

Lance and I on the beach. I was thinking at this point that it was crazy that Thanksgiving was like three weeks away.
I will write more about the cruise in the coming days but I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped keeping our boys. We could not have gone without the help of Marilyn, Autumn & dean, and Gary and Linda. Thank you, thank you.

Halloween Party

Last Saturday night Lance and I went to a Halloween party. No kids allowed. We had a blast. The big thank you goes to my friend Tammi who made our costumes. Seriously she did them in one night. I wish I had that kind of talent. By the way this might be the first time I have worn a costume since Sing Song in college.