Cut It All Off

We had quite the rainy week here.  We appreciate the rain for many reasons - it cools the days off somewhat, we don't have to use our sprinkler because we are bad about putting it out anyway, and it's feels refreshing in the heat of the summer.  (And it's been HOT on the non-rainy days - today Todd got a black trash bag out to pick up yard clippings.  He set it on our driveway for a few moments and when he went to open and fill it, it had melted shut.  It's that hot here.)  Earlier in the week, the rain gave the kids a moment outside with the umbrella.  We have one big umbrella and they all wanted to use it.  Each got an uninterrupted time singing, dancing, and playing in the rain.  They were out there for a good 20 minutes a piece.  Caroline liked to sing in the rain.  Henry mainly used the umbrella as a weapon.  Josiah walked and talked. 

Because of the rain, we've had puddles in our backyard.  Because of the puddles, we've been keeping Benson on a leash for most of the times he has gone out to do his business.  Yet he was getting tired of just doing business transactions; he wanted some free time outside.  One evening, he and I went out alone.  It wasn't raining, but the ground was still wet with puddles.  I sat on the picnic table.  Benson laid down and got to debarking a stick, his favorite past-time.  I didn't have him on a leash because I was trying to give him a little space since he hadn't had much at that point.  We were out there for quite a while.  It was quiet, peaceful.  We were totally chilling.  Then others started to come out and joined us. This perked Benson up.  It became clear that it wasn't good that he wasn't on a leash anymore.  He got to running laps in the backyard.  No big deal.  Then he stopped at a particularly muddy area.  He paused.  He looked back at me.  Then the dog lifted his front right paw-still staring at me, slapped it down in a puddle, and took off running.  It was on.  That was not a fun retrieval to get him back inside.  He got put on a leash after that.  It was pretty hilarious to watch him methodically slap his paw in the puddle though.

A few weeks back Todd did a DNA swab on Benson to see what he was.  (We've noticed that the SPCA writes "Shepherd" for all their puppies.)  The results came back this week and he turned out to be 51% American Staffordshire Terrier.  He also has a bit of Boxer, Shepherd, and Lab in him.  Reading up on the American Staffordshire Terrier, he should be a good loyal dog.  And he's a mutt, so he's healthy.

Since Josiah got a special late night last week, the other two kids were clamoring for their turn.  Henry stayed up late Monday night.  We stayed up til 10:00 and watched Dude Perfect videos followed by Preston Plays videos.  Dude Perfect videos are hilarious.  We all enjoy watching those.  Preston Plays is us literally watching a grown man play Minecraft and narrate everything he does in the game.  (He seriously doesn't stop talking the entire time and his videos are 20-60 minutes each.)  Henry really likes watching him.  Watching Preston gave us insight as to why the kids like to give us every detail of what they are doing when they play.  We often live in a play-by-play house.  I have told the kids more than once, "Get to the point.  I don't need every detail."  Sometimes a 'yes' or 'no' will suffice. 

Caroline's night was next.  She stayed up til 10:00 as well and instead of watching a princess movie as originally intended, she played games on my phone.  She is notorious for installing a game, playing it for a bit, uninstalling it, and finding a new game.  That was how her night went.  I was falling asleep next to her as she installed/uninstalled over and over.  It was not the most exciting of nights, but she said that she had a really good time.  She also chose to sleep on the couch over the cot, which was wise of her to sleep in comfort.  Benson, of course, woke us up at 5:30 a.m. so the next day was a little rough in the cranky department.  The kids want to make this staying up late/special night a monthly endeavor.  We'll see....

The kids have created new "games" this week.  One morning, before it rained, we had a tennis ball height competition.  We all had balls and we slammed them down as hard as possible to see whose could get the greatest height.  Basically Henry won every round unless he accidentally made his ball go horizontal.  I also started disqualifying him if he hit a window.  

The kids also played a modified version of their Security game.  They set up the iPad in a bedroom window looking out onto the street.  They airplayed it to the television downstairs.  One child, Security, was sitting in the living room watching the live feed.  The other two had to sneak by the camera without being caught by Security.  They had a lot of fun doing it, but they got caught every time.  I don't know if it was the time of day, but we could always see them crawl by through the fence slats.  After they had played many rounds, they had me sit on the couch to see if I could spot them.  I could.  Then they danced for me, shook their booties, Henry pretended to be a dog and did his business on the light pole.  They had a good time.  I think this game has staying power.

I do not get haircuts very often and with the quarantine my hair had gotten quite long.  Long hair can be beautiful -- just not on me.  Caroline mentioned that she wanted to be a hair stylist when she grows up, so I decided to let her get some experience under her belt.  I fashioned a cardstock "template" and let her go to work on my hair.  I was going for the wedge style.  For a while I held the template up, but after doing half the hair, she pulled the template off.  Then for the life of me I could not figure out how I had it on.  So for the other side of my hair I just held a sheet of cardstock and hoped it matched up.  I gave her a razor for the back of my hair.  She kept checking with me, "You want me to cut all of this?.....All of it?"  She did really well for seven.  She told Todd she wants to work for Great Clips. 

I am very happy with my cut.  No one else in the family likes it.  Comments consisted of:

"It looked better before."
"Maybe if you brush it it will look better."
"I liked it better before."
"You look like a street urchin."
"Are you going to use any product in it?"
The next morning I woke up.  It was 5:30 a.m. and the first words out of Josiah's mouth were, "I still don't like your hair."  And good morning to you, too.  You need some thick skin around here.