Not much

Ryan stayed home sick on Monday. He was bored and left to his own devices, which isn't generally a good thing. Alas, he once again decided his bangs were too long and proceeded to 'trim' (I don't know that cutting hair to the root is a trim...) a goodly portion off, smack dab front and center. Once discovered, he had to sit down for a patch up hair cut. Oh, his beautiful hair! If you know hair trimmers then you will understand that I when I tried to salvage it with a 4 comb and a 6 comb that that is rather longish for a boy's cut, but that wasn't going to get the job done. And so I took the 2 comb and buzzed it all off. Really, he needed it shorter, but I was merciful. He was so disappointed. 'Please, mom, don't cut off my hair. I look stupid. Couldn't we just comb over my other hair to hide where I cut it?' When asked did he remember doing this before he looked genuinely surprised and said, 'Oh, I forgot that.'

I didn't get an after picture, but there is one below. To finish the hair cut story I have to tell about the next day. So, Tuesday morning I cajole and marshal my troops out the back door and wave them off since they walk to school on their own. Ryan was being reluctant and Alex left him in the alley. Unbeknownst to me, Ryan just hung out in the alley for 30 minutes. He finally came back inside. Once he did I was surprised and asked him why he was home. 'Everyone is going to laugh at me.' He broke down in tears and pleaded, 'Please, Mom. Don't make me go!'
Of course I did and when he got home he said that it was OK and then informed me that everyone had laughed at another girl in class (he never said why) but that he didn't laugh at her. There you have it. A bad moment for Ryan equals empathy for another child.
Below is my crew watching SpongeBob Squarepants. The boys DO watch Elmo with sister, but it is nice that all of them can watch something together and laugh.

'It's Autumn time, It's Autumn time, the leaves are falling down.'

A beautiful view out the windows and down the street. There was a pleasant little rain yesterday evening and so Macey and I got our rain gear on and splashed in the street. She was so cute in her galoshes, raincoat, and bright green umbrella. The neighbor came out and enjoyed watching us play in the rain.

Of course our mighty Oak trees will loose their leaves and their acorns, so there is work coming on. But hard work is character building, and with 3 children in our house, character building is essential!