Belated Father's Day

I am a little late...but I wanted to say that I have the greatest dad. Dad thank you for always being there for my and challenging me to be a better version of myself. Thank you for introducing me to a love of literature and art and for always encouraging me to question so I could find what I truely believed to be true. I love you so much. Thank you for being an amazing dad!

The First Haircut

Well today was the day. Last Thursday I broke down and made Ethan an appointment to get his haircut (I could not be the first one to do it, I had pay someone else to). When Ethan was born he had a full head of golden blonde hair (see below). We used to put it in a little faux hawk (not too different than Chris's hair).


As he got older it started to fall out and when it grew in it came in very light blonde with some curl to it. I love the curls and did not want to cut them, but I also did not want him to look like a little girl or have a mullet. So this week when he was running around the curls where "bouncing" and his hair started to resemble a mullet, I made the call to Little Patty. Little Patty is mine and Chris's hairstylist.

This is Ethan before, fresh out of the bath and combed his hair straight. It is pretty long.

Here is a couple of more before pictures with the curls in all their glory (can you tell I love curly hair?). Although in this picture below Chris and I can't help but notice that there is a strong resemblance to Dwight from The Office. See how Ethan's hair is split down the middle of his forehead, that is how Dwight Schrute wears his hair. It is time for a haircut!


The Haircut begins...


Handsome Boy!! Little Patty did an awesome job. She is great. Ethan did not want to go to just her for a picture though, I think he was still a little traumatized about the whole process. :)


For being such a good boy we all went and got bagels (one of his favorite foods). The best part, he no longer has hair in his eyes, doesn't look like Dwight Schrute and still has a little bit of his curls left. He is just too cute for me.

In God We Trust

Last weekend I went to my first woman's retreat through my church. I must admit I was not so excited to go. It is nothing personal, but I have just never been good at doing new things, or doing things where I don't know what to expect. Some of you might be shocked to find that I am really a shy person; a total introvert. I try very hard to come across outgoing and confident, but it is all a big cover-up (now the truth is out there). With the probing of some friends and Chris I went. I am glad I did I had a wonderful time getting to know some other woman in the church and getting to hear great speakers talk about God and the worship was fantastic (I love praise music).

The theme was "In God We Trust;" yes just like on US currency. We touched upon all facets of this phrase such as learning and remembering to trust in God in all areas of our lives, not worrying and fretting, knowing that God is bigger than any problem and even talking about how as a country we have this phrase on our money, but as a country we aren't exactly holding fast that statement. I was not overly moved, but it take me take a step back and evaluate my life and the desires that I have. Chris and I have struggled for the last year or so with our living situation. We have a condo we bought at the height of the market and now we can't sell and it is quickly getting too small (or so we feel). We would love to move and have tried to create our own ways to do that and nothing has seemed to work out. Going to the retreat reminded me that God is bigger than my living situation and that it is all in his timing. So pray for us that we can continue to seek God's heart and will for our living situation; at this point we don't have a peace about any of the options and not even about the option of stay here. And frankly that is frustrating most of the time. We are trying to seeking God's guidance for what his will for our family is.
Also when you go about your day, try and remember that this country was founded on "In God We Trust." Trust in God, he is bigger than any problem you may be facing.

The Countdown Begins...

well it really began about a month or two ago, but that is neither here nor there. I am talking about the countdown until I am off for the summer and get to hangout with these two guys all day long.


They are wonderful.

This year has been harder than others for me, for lots of reasons. The main reason is probably that last school year I only worked a total of four month. Four months versus 10 1/2 months makes a huge difference. My job duties changed this year from last year. Now I case manage about 40-45 students (it varies day to day; lots of transition) and also work at a middle school two days a week. There is a lot of responsibility. The current budget cuts in California education are not exactly helping morale either. There are lots of reasons; but the best is all those things make me that much more excited to hang out with Ethan and Chris all summer.

So how much time do I have left, you ask...3 days with students and 7 days left of work. YEAH!!

Updating

I have been slacking a bit when it comes to blogging. There have been lots of things going lately and we have all been super busy. We have all been pretty tired lately with everything going on. In fact Ethan took a three hour long nap today and still went to bed at 7:30; I just hope he does awake at 5am. Here is hoping.

So what has been going on the last few weeks.
Memorial Day weekend, for about the last 5-7 years, has been boys weekend. Chris and a bunch of his guy friends from Point Loma Nazarene University get together and go on a vacation of sorts. While daddy was gone mom and Ethan had Auntie Sami come to visit. She brought one her new friends from college. We had a great time. See Ethan's face. He had a great time.

Since I have lived in San Diego for almost ten years now, I rarely do the whole tourist thing. So with Sam here we did some of those things. We mainly walked around Coronado Island. I love it there, it is so beautiful. We also checked out Little Italy, the art district. I left me camera in the car. oops. However I did get a blank canvases when I was there I think this summer I want to get some of our family photos screened onto them. That will be one of summer projects.

Speaking of summer projects. I am started the big count down to the end of the school year. This year has been pretty draining and I am so ready for a break. I have a little less than two weeks with students and a little less than three weeks overall until my last day for the year. I can not wait to be home with Ethan. We have big plans: go to the zoo, wild animal park, meet baby Madison, hang out with grandparents, go visit Aunt Sam in Santa Barbara, hang out with Auntie Emma and Uncle Walt, see Aunt Jolene and Uncle David when they visit from Korea...the list goes on and I am afraid that the list might have more things on it than time that I have off. What to do.

The other big project that has been going on in the DuFour house is Chris's new T-Shirt company. It is a pretty awesome concept that is big for the whole family. I am so proud of him and creative ability, as well as his drive. I have another blog posting in mind to share more info about the company, but I am too tired right now. So the best I can do today is this go link to check it out www.crossyourheartclothing.com. We (I can saw we, I am can to be overseeing PR) are still in the planning stages for the most part but things are getting up and running quickly.