Odds and (No-More Split) Ends

This is a post in which I update family (and interested friends) on several unrelated, random goings-on. And I add pictures. (And maybe too many parentheticals?)

Lyndsay finally got her hair cut and is happy. It has been a long torturous journey. So many times she has gotten her hair cut, but hated it (though to my fairly distinguished eye it looked exactly the same) She was going to cut it right before going to Youth Conference a few weeks ago, and I told her maybe that wasn't the best idea. She may not have been satisfied with her hair, but at least she was confident about doing it. What if (yet another exactly-the-same) hair cut ruined what would otherwise have been a great weekend? Thankfully, she took her old mom's advice.

Now, admittedly, she was in fantastic hands this time. The woman for whom she nannies the triplets, was (in her former life) a hair stylist at a very swanky L.A. salon--you know the kind (or at least you've heard of them) where people drop $100 for a cut. Yikes. (If I ask for gold highlights, are they 14k?) But anyway, this wonderful Karin (pronounced not like Karen, but like Carinne, accent on the second syllable) that Lyns works for, is hip to Lyndsay's hair and her feelings as a 14 year old girl, and when Lyndsay happened to approach the subject one day ("Karin, when you see me, do you ever imagine something you'd like to do to my hair?" To which Karin replied, 'Every single day!') And so she was on.

Lyndsay turned her long flowing locks over to her beloved friend and employer and let her do whatever she wanted. And it was perfect. And finally, (finally!) Lyns is overjoyed with satisfaction and happiness. And everywhere she goes, people talk about her hair. And who doesn't love that?

Of course, I think she'd be beautiful bald.

And now, onto my Aiden. Who is now the cutest little "brainiac" ever. Did you know he's in the Chess Club at school? (love these Magnet programs for gifted kids!) Did you know that I can no longer beat him? Very rarely does anyone in this house beat him. I would be humiliated, except that I'm so darn proud of him, and I think it's so cute that when I place my fingers on a piece in anticipation of a move, he'll lovingly guide me with, "I wouldn't do that, Mom," and then point out how if I do, he'll have me in checkmate in 3 turns. I've actually learned some cool chess moves from him, but I stopped even having a shot at winning several weeks ago.

And besides the Chess Club, he's all on his own decided to join the orchestra and play the cello. Remember that performance I took the kids to last winter? The one where that boy showed up to sit next to my daughter, and I laughed at them eating dessert with braces, and there were all those little kids playing the cello? Well, Aiden does. And it so impressed him, that when given the opportunity to learn, he jumped at it. He got his very own, specially-sized cello last week. He comes home from his cello class at school and faithfully teaches me everything he learns (because I've always wanted to play the cello too) and then he practices dutifully each day. It's adorable. And he's so proud that he can already read notes, thanks to all those dumb piano lessons his mom made him take!

Speaking of Aiden, his 9th birthday is Wednesday, but that's the day I will be driving the kids (in my new van!) to AZ to spend Thanksgiving with their dad. So, the celebration took place on Saturday night. Sorry to let you all down, but Aiden's cake was not special this year. It was, however, delicious. Seriously delicious. He wanted my carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and I was more than happy to oblige. (And when I apologized that all I had in the house were pink candles, he replied in typical agreeable Aiden fashion, "No problem. Pink is a manly color.") Each of the kids invited one friend over for dinner (Aiden's fave, baked mac and cheese, a la Linda McCartney) and a movie (Indiana Jones' latest) and cake to celebrate little Aiden. I took him to Target to pick out a watch, which he loves, and Lyndsay bought him (well, all of us) Subway sandwiches for lunch to honor him. We got him a nice wooden chess board for his gift, and his friend gave him some Legos and a really fun board game, which I will devote an entire blog post to (maybe) tomorrow. I LOVE fun family games, and this one is a hit. Happy Birthday, my boy! Love that kid. More on him on Wednesday, in a memory lane photo jog.

Oh, but here's a cake I did last week for a friend's son's birthday. A bowling alley birthday party. Thus, the bowling alley cake.

And here's a few random shots of all the kids just hanging out on a Sunday recently. (minus Conor who was in bed.)

And here's my van! Thank you, Sara! Thank you, Julia! Thank you, Yair and Eran from Israel!