This Might Make You Itchy

Hi friends! Happy Thursday! 

The weekend is around the corner now. 

Can I get an amen?

So I'm back with a story that I wanted to document but I do have some hesitation sharing. 

I hesitate because it's one of those things that people don't talk about.

You know, those things that seem to happen, and are totally normal, but for some reason, people associate them with shame or embarrassment, or they just don't want anyone to know that it happened to them?

Well, this is one of those things. 

And I hate those things.

I wish everyone shared those type of things so that #1, people would feel more comfortable sharing their experiences, and #2 so that we can arm each other with the knowledge of how to handle these things when they happen to you. 

So that you know you are normal, and not gross, or weird, and it is just one of those things. 

So anyway, here we go. 

Recently this last month, someone in the Hass House contracted a case of head lice.

Any guesses who it was? 

I'll give you a hint.

It wasn't the bald one. Ha!

It was this one.

(And yes her hat says Vicious Dolls. It is her softball team name and I dislike it very much, but let's move on.)

One night when I was tucking Claire into bed, she said: "My head is itchy."

{{{Insert all the bug eye emoji faces right here. }}}

Claire is not one to complain.

 Ever. 

So when she says something hurts, or itches, you better believe I take her seriously.

 I grabbed her head and immediately started looking through her hair and scalp for lice. 

I didn't see anything. 

 I got a rat tail comb from the girls' bathroom so I could really get in there, and still, I didn't see anything.

I told Mr. H and he said that she had told him the same thing and he didn't see anything either. He said it's dry out and her scalp is probably just dry. 

Nope. 

I wasn't buying it.

 I knew. 

I knew that it just wasn't like Claire to say something like that.

But I didn't see anything, so I let it go. 

The thing is, the day before at softball practice she couldn't get her helmet on correctly. The coach told her to borrow someone else's. I wasn't there to see this or I would have never let her put someone else's helmet on but she did. 

She didn't even end up using this girl's helmet either so she only had it on her head long enough to put it on and take it off.

A couple of days later, Monday morning rolls around and I had Claire sit down so I could braid her hair for school. 

That's when I saw them.

Those creepy little crawly lice on my baby girl's head! 

I know, you're already getting itchy ------- I'm sorry about that!

I hadn't ever seen lice before, and I did hair for 17 years.  A quick google search confirmed it. She had lice.

This is not a picture of Claire, of course, I had no time for that, but to give you an idea, this is what it looks like on blonde hair.

And now I'm getting itchy again.

My heart sank for her. 

Of all days for this to happen, Claire had a 4th-grade field trip planned that she had been looking forward to forever. I felt awful that I was going to have to tell her she couldn't go.

I went into my bathroom and called Mr. Hass to tell him Claire had lice. 

I was whispering because I didn't want the girls to hear me and I was afraid she was going to freak out when I told her. I mean, I was freaking out! 

My hands were shaking, my heart was thumping, and I had no idea what to do first.

After some deep breaths and a whole lot of "You can do this!" pep talks to myself, I ended up buying a lice removal kit at Wal-greens right after taking Hannah to school. I read through the steps to complete and then I saw this:

I was going to have to pick them out one by one??????????

WHAT???!!!!!

I thought there was just some special solution that you put on the hair while wearing your safety gloves and then they all die and fall out with a good shampoo and we can live happily ever after! 

Nope.

No that is not how it works. 

I honestly didn't think I had the stomach for this. I was itching all over and panicked that these were on her HEAD! 

I was also fearful that they were going to start jumping onto my head! Do they jump? Can lice jump?!!

Another quick google search told me that no, head lice do not jump or fly. So there's that. 

I was super thankful for all of the years I had sectioned people's hair off into four quadrants to apply their root color. The application process for the lice killing solution started out just like a root touch up and I started to feel like maybe I could do this.

I sat Claire down in the kitchen where I had good lighting to see all of these horrible awful things and I got to work. 

There were actually not that many lice that I pulled from her hair that looked like the first picture above. Most of what I had to remove was the nits or eggs and they are so small it is really hard to even see them if you don't know what to look for. They are about the size of a poppy seed or even smaller and a white'ish color. Some were darker and I think those were closer to being full hatched lice.

Two and a half hours later, we were done. 

And I'll tell you, it wasn't as horrible as I was anticipating.

I mean, it wasn't fun by any means, and my back was killing me from hunching over her head for that long.

I think once the solution went on her hair for 10 minutes and all of the lice were dead, I started to feel like I could breathe again and that they were no longer going to jump onto my head even though Google told me they wouldn't. 

I disinfected every brush, comb, hair clip and tool in this house. I stripped Claire's sheets, bedding, mattress pad and more. I vacuumed every surface of this house and made Mr. H thoroughly clean and vacuum the couch cushions and anywhere else her head might have touched. 

I took her softball helmet out into the backyard and doused that thing with lice-killing spray like it was on fire. 

And then I did it again just to be safe.

Claire ended up making it to her field trip for about 2 hours once her hair was back to it's normal and healthy state. She missed the bus ride so I had to bring her and pick her up. Luckily it was just down the street from home.

Fighting lice on a Monday absolutely wore me out. 

I was barely recovering by Friday that week when Claire came home from school and said her tummy felt like it did on the cruise. (She threw up on the cruise due to seasickness.) Once again, this kid doesn't usually complain and I knew what was coming.

 She went to bed and I started disinfecting the house, spraying Lysol on everything, feeding everyone else elderberry syrup, probiotics, and vitamin C, and diffusing all the essential oils in preparation to battle the stomach flu. She woke up a few hours later and got sick. 

All. Over. The. Place. 

Thank goodness Mr. H was home to help me tackle it all. 

Nobody else got sick and I am so thankful. She felt better the next day but the poor girl was 0 for 2 that week. She was a trooper though and didn't complain once. 

I hope you aren't itchy all day now. 

Just wanted to share that it happens. 

Lice is highly contagious and so common among kids. 

I am so thankful that it is also very treatable. 

Don't share helmets, my friends.

The End.

Claire is 7, Winterball is Done & I Blogged Again!

Here I am blogging again!

Can you believe it?!!

Me neither!!

So, Claire's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year.  She wanted to open her gifts before school so here she is at 6am...

 She found my hiding spot and peeked at the majority of her gifts this year.  She randomly mentioned one night at dinner how she'd like some Frozen Legos.  I got her some Frozen Legos, but she hadn't mentioned she wanted any so I thought that would be a great surprise.  It was weird that she mentioned this, so we asked her if she had looked at her presents.  She promised she hadn't, but I knew she had.  Earlier in the week she was counting up some of the birthday money she has received and she pulled a crumpled up five dollar bill from her backpack.  I asked where she got that and she said, "Oh, Peyton gave it to me."  A friend from her class.  I told her that it was very nice but that she cannot accept that and to return it to Peyton the next day.  The next day I asked if she returned it and she said she had. But... a couple days later she was once again counting her money and I saw that same crumpled up five dollar bill!  So I asked her if that was the same bill she was supposed to return to Peyton?  The same bill that she said she did return to Peyton?  And she very shamefully lowered her head and muttered  a "Yessss".  I was so disappointed in her.  She went to her room and Mr. Hass and I both had a very serious talk with her about the importance of honesty and telling the truth.  It was the second time this week she was caught in a lie, and after talking to her I think we made her feel pretty bad and I don't think she will want to lie again anytime soon.  And if she does, Lord help me!  

Mr. H and I got Claire a set of Clementine books for her birthday and last night Mr. H was reading to her and there was a part in the story about how Clementine's friend was telling her how there is usually one easy child and one hard to handle child in each family and Claire said, "Yeah, like us huh Dad because that is Hannah, she's the hard one for you guys."    Ohhhhh Claire.  Insert all the laughing face emojiis right here.

 After presents and cinnamon rolls for breakfast I dropped the girls off at school and headed to work for a couple hours.  I finished work in time to swing home a few minutes before I had to pick them up and shove some lunch in my face.  Just as I sat down to eat, the girl's school was calling my phone.  The school nurse said that Claire had gotten hit in the nose and it was bleeding and there was blood in her hair and on her clothes and that she needed me to come down there.  I felt so bad and the first thing I said to the nurse was "Oh noooo, but it's her birthday!!!" I grabbed my keys and rushed down to school.  Good thing it's only 3 minutes away by car.  When I got there she was in the nurse's bathroom by herself, trying to stop crying, and with shaky hands attempting to wipe the blood off of her nose and face.  My poor baby.  I gave her a big hug and told her she was okay, and then I helped her wipe off the rest of the blood.  Poor girl had it in her hair and on her new shoes and all over her shirt.  When we got home she finally said that she was just walking fast on the playground and bonked into another boy's head.  He cried too but didn't have to go the the nurse.  She wanted ice when we got home but there was no bruising or swelling and she was fine, thank goodness.  

This happened right before the bell rang so the girls got to come home about ten minutes early.  Then it was homework, snacks, and time to change and bundle up for their first tournament game down at the softball fields.

Their last game was on Hannah's birthday and she has really started to connect the dots with her batting and she wanted to hit a homerun on her birthday so bad.  She never had a chance to in that game, and before this game she said,"I'm gonna hit a homerun today!"  And sure enough, her first at bat, the very first pitch,and she hit her very first homerun!!!!  It went straight to left center, and we were jumping and cheering so loud for her!!! The look on her face as she rounded those bases was absolutely priceless!!!  I'll never forget it.  

 She was the star of the game.  She had two more awesome hits after that homerun, and a total of 5 RBI's!  Way to go Hannah!!!

It was a fun game because, well, because we won, because Hannah hit a homerun, and because the girls had friends on the other team too.  Payton is the same age as Claire and they met last season when their big sisters were on the same team.  These two discovered they share a birthday so they call each other their twin.  Payton's parents brought doughnuts since it was her birthday for their team and Claire and Hannah were lucky enough to get one too.  The twins on their birthday...

 And Hannah had fun getting to play against her old teammate Jayden, Payton's older sister, just days apart from Hannah too.

 I just love the friendships and the memories that we are getting to watch these girls make on the softball field!

 After the big game Grandma and Geeps and Noah and Aunt E came over for In N Out and I made PW's chocolate sheet cake for dessert.

Another night that week the girls received a very special delivery package... on ice!!!...

 chocolate covered strawberries and brownie cake pop bites from Don & Kaylen!!!

 They made their night!!!! Thanks Don & Kaylen!  You guys are the best!

 On Friday Hannah received the Academic Excellence award for reading, so proud!

I've joked with Mr. H that at least our girls are playing softball because the softball fields seem to be the only place in town where it gets cold enough for me to wear some of my Fall layers.  The girls played Tuesday and Thursday night this week and it was chilly.

 They had an 8am game on Saturday for the end of the season tournament and they won, so they played again at 3pm for the Semi Finals and lost.  They had so much fun this year and had such wonderful coaches.  They wanted to stick around and watch some of the older girls Championship games so we didn't get home from the softball fields until 7pm that night!  It was a long day and a long week. 

We were supposed to have family pictures yesterday and Hannah came down with a fever.  I knew she had been fighting a cold and I'm sure after the busy week and three late nights on the softball field it just finally got to her.  So we laid around all day and rested.  And I got to watch like 8 episodes of Gilmore Girls which made me very happy.  ;) 

 Today Hannah's fever was gone and I was antsy to get out of the house so I took the girls to lunch at Panera.  This picture of Claire just cracks me up because it is so Claire. I posted it on instagram and wrote 
'Maybe it was the sunshine.  Maybe it was her new mermaid tulle dress.  Maybe it was the cookie... but I think it's safe to say her first day of Thanksgiving Break was pretty damn good.' 
I love how relaxed this kid always is.  And I love how she doesn't care what other people think in the slightest.  I hope she always hangs on to that.

After lunch in Target waiting for Hannah to try on some stuff.  I took them to spend some of their birthday money and they had a blast.  Looking at this photo it's crazy to see my dark hair and those two blondies next to me.  

After all our shopping I needed wine.  We came home and watched Rookie of the Year.  I had a few laughs remembering some lines from that one.

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving this week!  

I'm off to sneak in a little spa time.

Alright and maybe some more wine.  ;)

Shopping with those two wore me out!!!

 PS- Thanks so much to everyone for still reading this ole blog!  I was so excited to read your comments and to know that people really do still want to read my blog! Makes me want to try and keep up with it even more! :)

Logan's Candy Cane Tour

Thursday night last week we met up with Hannah's Brownie troop and their families, along with several other troops, to tour Logan's Candies.

The tour started outside ...

 And through the window they all watched the owner as he began to mold what would turn into hundreds of candy canes on that surface right in front of the window.  We watched the candy through the window as it cooked and boiled in a hot pot.  Then he laid it out on the surface and began to shape it.  He broke the candy mold into two pieces and then colored one of the pieces red.  

 We got to watch it begin to take shape as they added stripes to the candy.

 Then inside on the counter he started to work smaller pieces of the candy off and he passed them down the line to his wife and other employees.  Each of them had a job that helped the candy canes take their shape.

 They made little peppermints and we all got to taste them while they were still warm.  

Then each of the kids got to take a candy cane and shape it into anything they wanted while it was warm.

 It was a neat tour and the kids loved it!
A fun outing to kick off the holiday season.  

The next morning  before school...

 We were all so proud of Claire who received the Kids With Character Award at the morning assembly!

She's been watching Hannah receive awards at these assemblies for a couple years now, and she was so thrilled to be getting her own.  

Way to go Clairey!!!

Claire Bear Turned 6!

November 17th was Claire's 6th!
The weekend before her birthday, Grandma Hass was here visiting so she got to help us keep Claire's eyes closed while she waited for us to bring her biggest present out...

 Claire has had a major growth spurt recently and had really outgrown her old bike!  She loves Monster High for some reason even though the girls don't watch that show, but she got a Monster High bike and she seems thrilled with it.  Later that afternoon we took the girls to see Scrooge the Musical and we all loved it.

We gave her the bike on Sunday, because on her actual birthday the girls had school so we thought it would be more fun to give it to her when she could hop on and take it for a spin.

That night we decorated outside her bedroom and at the bottom of the stairs with balloons and a birthday sign.

 The girls love that we do this, but it might not be the best thing because they wake up so darn early and it makes for a looooong day.  Claire was up around 5am and wanted to celebrate.

 She had a birthday cinnamon roll for breakfast and then it was off to school.

 She had a good day at school and Mr. H and I picked her up with a bouquet of Frozen balloons.  

Later that afternoon she had a fun visit with Gamma and Noah, and since it was a school night, and she was getting an award the next day early at school, and we had plans that Thursday night and for Disney on Saturday, we just had an easy dinner of  In-N-Out which she loves and cookies for dessert.

Happy Sixth Claire!
We are Crazy bout you.

First Day of School... Already

I can't believe it's time for school again.

This is the first year that I think I wasn't quite ready to get back to it.

Don't get me wrong, I mean, all Summer long I long for those short few hours I get to myself in the mornings when both the girls are in school.  But I hate the very early start time we have.  And as much as I love structure and routine, sometimes I hate it too.

And this Summer having our very own pool in our new house has been an absolute blast for us all.  We have enjoyed the pool/spa every single day.  And it's still HOT HOT HOT outside, and I think we'd all have loved it if Summer lasted just a little bit longer.

But alas, that is not the way it works.

So today Hannah started SECOND grade!!!

And Clairey is now in Kindergarten!!!

 Hannah has had a little bit of anxiety about returning back to school.  She's my type A kid who has some ocd tendencies and likes to always be prepared for what's coming her way.  She doesn't like the unknown and there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to starting a new school year.  But this morning after Mr. H and I walked her to her new classroom and found her desk, she was all smiles and totally ready to say goodbye to us.

 And sweet Claire Bear.  Bless her heart, she's just not a morning person.  I can't say I blame her one bit.  I'm not much of a morning person either until I've had at least one and a half cups of coffee runnin' through my veins.  But poor Claire isn't drinking the java yet, and 6am is darn early to be woken from her slumber.

 She just was not in the smiling mood by 7:30am either.

 That's ok.  I wasn't worried about her today one bit.  After loving TK, and already knowing who her teacher is (same one that Hannah had in Kindergarten), and having a handful of friends in her class from TK, she was more than ready to become a Kindergartner.  

 We drove this morning because I had to stay for a half hour in Claire's class and then had some errands to run, but from now on I think we'll be walking in the mornings.  The parking lot is always so crazy in the beginning of the year.

 Hannah had a handful of friends from her class last year in her class.  And a couple nights ago on a walk after dinner she met a little girl two houses up from us that is in her class too.  She was excited to see her and it was her first day at this school so Hannah said she ate lunch with her and she showed her where the restrooms were.  

 After we said goodbye to Hannah I took Claire to her classroom where the parents stayed and did a couple of projects with their kids.  Claire was squeezing my hand pretty hard until we got to her room, and then she saw some old friends, relaxed a bit during the projects we did, and when I left her she was sitting on the carpet chatting animatedly with a little girl from her TK class last year.  I left smiling.  I am happy and excited for this year for my girls.  I'm also very anxious for next year to get them both on the same school schedule.  Right now I drop them off at 7:45am, come back to pick up Claire at 11:30, and then back again to get Hannah at 1:57.  It's a lot of back and forth and that time in the morning alone goes So.  Darn.  Quick.  This morning I had time to run to Target and Trader Joe's and back to unload the car, and then it was time to go get Claire.  

Wanna see these cute new shoes I got at Target???

Swoon.
They're leopard.  
And they're so so so comfy.
They're gonna match everythinggggg. :)

I'm off to shower and plop on the couch with Mr. H.
We started a new show on Netflix.
Orange is the New Black.
We're diggin' it.
Peace Out.