Today's Serenism is brought to you by: Hell's Kitchen.

This is what Seren's teacher emailed to me today: "I almost fell on the floor, she stayed in at recess with me and talked and talked, like Penny. She told me that her mom makes the best chicken in the world, perfect. Her daddy tries hard but his comes out just a little too spicy and hard. But she does not tell him because he makes great snacks and she does not want to hurt his feelings." 

Tonight's Penny thought is brought to you by: TheraFlu.

Mommy to Penny:  How was your day, Penny?
Penny: Ok, but I still have the Snots.

Morse code would be easier to understand...

Today is December 19, 2013 at 22:26 hours and it seems the felines are ignorant of the enemy hiding in plain sight.  Their eyes are boring into me as if they are no longer my allies.  For the life of me, I cannot figure what it is exactly, that they are trying to communicate as terms of their continued allegiance...

Yesterday's Serenism is brought to you by: Teacher's Pet?

Seren: Mommy, guess what? I called my own teacher 'Mommy' today, twice, by accident. I told her it's because she reminds me of you when she's grumpy.
Mommy: (flashes back to scenes where Homer strangles Bart in The Simpsons and tries to control self)

Tonight's Penny Thought is brought to by: I don't wanna ask...

Penny: Mommy, look at the picture I drew of you!  You're DEAD!
Mommy: Why did you draw me dead?
Penny: It will be when I have about 5 kids, one named Turd, another named Pee, and one named Turner.
Mommy: At least I'm skinny in your picture.

Ok, you asked for my kid's opinion...

It cracks me up when my children get letters from different places.  Today, Penny, my 4 year-old, got a letter from our health insurance company and it read:

"Dear Penelope A. Downs,

You may have been hearing about Healthcare Reform..."

At this point I just busted out laughing...I'm tempted to YouTube reading the letter to her, then sending it to the company...or make it go viral :)  She just got her shots last week, so I had anticipated that it was a survey for her to fill out and return, which I had every intention of asking her the survey questions and marking her answers.  They sent a survey to Xander for his previous appointment and now I regret not handing him the survey with a crayon while he's eating lunch and sending his opinion back.  One would think these companies would do themselves a favor and at least eliminate mailings for those under age or put it in care of their guardians. 

Tonight's Serenism is brought to you by: TMI child, T-M-I!!!

As part of our date night tonight, we made a trip to the store to get some goodies.  Predictably, a potty trip was involved.  So, I instructed the girls to go head to the restroom while I grabbed a basket and I would meet them there.  Once I was done, I decided to join them.

Evy was washing her hands at the sink when I entered.  I was trying to locate a clean(ish) empty stall when I notice that all but one was empty and I couldn't hear Seren or Penny.

Me:  Seren, are you and Penny sharing?
Seren: (hesitates) Ummm...yeah...but NOT the toilet. Ugh!
Me: Okay...
Seren: (in a low, quiet voice) Penny, we are never, EVER, sharing the toilet again, right?
Penny: Right.

In the dark...

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...
Me: (sleep disturbed, look over at crunching noise and see dark cat silhouette chewing on misplaced hanger) Pfffssssst!
Cat silhouette: (stops crunching, stares at me)
Me: Pffffsssssst!!!
Cat silhouette: (stares)
Me: (smacks pillow on floor near cat silhouette)
Cat silhouette: (disappears)
Me: (turn over, close eyes, snooz--)
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...
Me: (smacks pillow on floor again and listens...quiet...close eyes...)
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...
Me: (throws pillow at cat silhouette)
Cat silhouette: (gone)
Me: (reclaim pillow, turn over, close eyes...)
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...
Me: (suddenly sit up)
Cat silhouette: (stops crunching, stares...)
Me: (throws pillow, missing cat silhouette)
Cat silhouette: (runs down near foot of bed)
Me: (Sees cat silhouette #2, but thinks it's cat silhouette #1, throws shoe at #2)
Cat silhouette #2: (Jumps apprehensively, as if to say 'hey! what did I do???')
Me: (realizes cat silhouette #1 is gone, turn over, close eyes)
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...
Me: (sit up suddenly, toss pillow at cat silhouette)
Cat silhouette (runs to hide quickly under bed, whilst cat silhouette #2 looks on wondering if I'm about to throw a shoe at him again)
Me: (sees tail silhouette peeking out from under bed, holds it briefly, drags heavy cat silhouette out from under bed...EARL!!!)
Cat silhouette #2, Grimmy: (runs into master bathroom seeking safety)
Me: (tosses heavy Earl silouhette in close behind him and shuts door, gets in bed, closes eyes, can't sleep, realizes it's 5:30, posts experience on FB)
Good mornin'!

Tonight's Serenism is...Presidential!

Evy: Wow, we've lived in our place almost 6 years!
Penny: I remember when we moved here!
Mommy: Penny, you are 4, you were practically born here.
Seren: I remember when we moved here and I was born in the White House!
Mommy and Evy say: Seren...
Seren: Ok, not THE White House, but, remember the place that was white where we used to live before we moved here???

A date night picture story...

I'm on a date with my two older daughters, Evy, age 9, and Seren, age 6.  Both are trying to avoid the camera, then Evy gets brain freeze.  Seren wonders what her problem is, then starts shooting the frosty beverage at her.

Sunday's Serenism is brought to you by: Honesty, it's always the best policy.

We were driving in a parking lot when Penny pointed out a man and said: That looks just like Daddy!
Mommy: No, your Daddy is cuter.
Seren: No, he's not.
Mommy: No?  When I was a young girl, I thought my Daddy was the cutest man ever!
Seren: Well, our dad isn't cute because he burps and snores like a PIG!

I told Mike about this later and he informed me that there was a story behind this one.  He was burping the ABC's the other day and completely grossed Seren out so much she had to leave the room for fear she'd puke, lol!

Earl vs. Flypaper: Flypaper 1, Earl 0

When I got home, Mike told me about Earl's terrible day yesterday.  Apparently, when Mike saw Earl, Earl was running down the hallway, with the flypaper strip along his back, in the place where a skunk stripe would be.  Earl's tail was stuck to his head and Earl's cheek got stuck to his shoulder when he tried to take the tape off his back. 

Mike helped him out and took the flypaper off, but Earl was stuck with the residue until I got home.  I used my makeup remover to remove most of it and gave him a bath.  He feels better now, even though he still has small patches where it wouldn't come off (mostly where he wouldn't let me wash it off).  The poor lil guy was beginning to get depressed by the time I got home and helped him.  He'd been trying to remove the icky stuff all afternoon and pulled out a good amount of fur on his back legs.  I didn't notice until after I gave him a bath that his butt was almost bald! Lol

But, that was Earl's bad day, one where he was attacked by flypaper, sticky, then given a bath, and almost shaved (that did come up as an option if the bath didn't work, lol!). Poor Earl...

Yesterday's Serenism is brought to you by: Anger Management...

So, Seren, my 6 year old, screamed a tantrum at me when I told her 'no'.  I sent her to stand in the corner until she was done, then had her come over to me so we could talk about it.

Me: Seren, was screaming an appropriate response when I told you no?
Seren: No...
Me: What would have been an appropriate response?
Seren: To go ask Daddy.
Me: No, that is not an appropriate response.  Try again.
Seren: Ask you again?
Me: That would be appropriate, but what would be an appropriate response if I still said no?
Seren:  Ask Daddy, you know, if he's available...
Mommy (briefly lowers head in hands in exasperation and stifles a laugh at the same time): How about taking no for an answer, Seren?

On a side note:  We send the girls to stand in the corner so often when they are screaming that Xander automatically puts himself in the corner when he is crying and screaming :)

We are on a roll tonight!

Tonight's Penny thought is brought to you by: Sugar and spice and everything nice...

We were at the bakery section of Bel Air, choosing a goodie for the girls for being good this week. 
As we were considering the cakes in the refrigerator section, Penny pointed to a round cake positioned above all of the others and announced with a gasp of surprise for all in the store to hear: LOOK!  BUTT CAKE!!!

Mommy: BUNDT cake, Penny.  (Thinks to self, I'm so glad she no longer asks for arse cream).

Tonight's Serenism is brought to you by: Charmin and Glade.

Family in the kitchen hears grunting from the other side of the house.
Mommy: (joking) Seren, are you pooping?
Seren: YES!
Daddy: Seren, close the bathroom door!
Seren: But I CAN'T!
Daddy: Evy, please go close the bathroom door...and turn on the fan!
Evy: (goes to close bathroom door) OH, SEREN!!!  That STINKS!!!

Tonight's Serenism is brought to you by: Dog, please eat my homework!

I asked Seren to do her homework without my assistance this week, which means she would have to do most of it by herself, then I would review it and help her with the hard parts tonight.  I have uploaded a picture of Seren's homework.  I get the impression that she isn't excited to do it...

Last night's Serenism is brought to you by: Mr. Potatohead

Seren does not like to eat potatoes, unless they come in the form of a French Fry.  However, when we served her with both mashed potatoes and rice at last night's dinner and gave her chopsticks, she ate every bite for the first time ever!

Moral of the story:  If we want Seren to eat her potatoes, give her chopsticks.

Every Girl's Crazy About a Sharp Dressed Man

It's been a few days since I last posted, so I figured I'd post some cute pictures of Xander and Penny.

You know your child is becoming a teenager when they can no longer identify what is in front of their nose...

Evy:  Mom, I'm out of toilet paper.  Where do I find more rolls?
Me: They're in my closet; you cant' miss them.
Evy (returning from closet): I can't find them.
Me: Go back and look again; they're right in front of you.
Evy (returns from closet again): I still can't find the toilet paper...
Me: Really???

Picture taken at her vantage point.

Tonight's Serenism is brought to you by: Good vs. Evil

Seren: Mommy, are mangoes healthy?
Mommy: Let's think about this...did Jehovah make mangoes?
Seren: Yes!  But, Satan made pizza because it's not good for you.

Mommy: *sigh* Child...Satan made donuts too...(joking...she knows he made neither)

I need a beer

Getting Seren to do her homework is akin to herding a honey bee to it's hive when it's intent on smelling flowers.

Please mop that up

Last night's Penny Thought is brought to you by: please mop that up.

Penny sits in Xander's bed at bedtime and says: This is my bed.
Mike: Penny, you took a nap in Xander's bed today, but Xander likes to sleep there, so you have to give it back to Xander.
Penny: But, Daddy, I dripped drool in it.

Today's Penny Thought is brought to you by: red light means stop.

Mommy: (freaks out on the passenger's side of the car) Mike!  It's a red light!  Aren't you going to stop???
Mike: (makes a hard stop behind the line) My foot was on the pedal and I was about to brake when you freaked out.
Mommy:  It's a good thing I freaked out when I did then because that was a hard stop as it was.
Penny: You're slipping, Daddy.

I *love* my 3 year old!

Yesterday's Penny Thought

Penny:  Daddy is wearing his night-gown pants.

Translation: Daddy is wearing his sweatpants.

Anniversary Weekend

This weekend was our anniversary weekend, so I took Thursday and Friday off work to be home with the family.  We've been married 15 years.

While I was home, we went to the mall with the kids on Thursday and ran errands Friday (mostly oil changes and car stuff).  Saturday we had someone watch the kids and we went and saw Iron Man 3.  Then we had a nice seafood dinner.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

Today's Penny Thought is brought to you by: arachnophobia.

Penny: Mommy, there's a spider web!!!
Mommy: It's pretty neat, huh?
Penny: No, I just break them.
Mommy: Don't do that.  Spider webs catch flies, then spiders eat flies, and flies don't land in our food.
Penny: AND tarantulas catch AND they have poison!
Mommy asks Daddy: What has she been watching???
Daddy: Some documentary about poisonous tarantulas in the Amazon...

This is how we do it

Mommy: Evy, are you done with the laundry? Evy: Yes! Wait, are you going to post pictures of this on Facebook? Please don't, I'll be so embarrassed! Mommy: Why? You seem so proud of the work you did... Evy: I'm embarrassed that you're posting a picture of me with only one earring in! Mommy: You're not embarrassed about the pictures of the laundry you "did" (didn't) do? You should be, child.

Tonight's Serenism is brought to you by: Spring (late summer, actually) cleaning:

Mommy: (throws away seemingly insignificant necklace of thread with clear, flat bead).
Seren: Mommy! That's one of my favorite necklaces; don't throw it away!
Mommy: Don't worry, I'm keeping all of your very special necklaces, but I'm getting rid of the ones that really aren't that special.
Seren: (pleads) Mommy, that IS a special necklace...it helps me to see the lines on my own skin! (Like a magnifying glass)
Mommy: Ok, we'll get it from the garbage can...

How could I argue with that???

Xander's Warranty is Almost Out

I love the age Xander is at.  I always say that babies are like new cars and should be traded in every two years.  In my opinion, Xander has less than 4 months left on his "warranty".  He did something really cute tonight.  He was taking a bath and attempted to escape.  He wound up straddling the edge of the tub, butt naked.  His Baby bottom was so cute, I had to smack it a little.  He began to pretend it was his rocking horse, so I told him "Giddy-up!" While smacking his little bottom.  When I stopped, he smacked his own little bottom and said, "Giddy-up!"

It's moments like these that remind me why I had so many children to begin with and why I would love to have more just like him.  The problem is, I would probably wind up having more "Serens".  I love that child, but I only want one of her. :)

1st Grade Homework Fail

Classifying Leaves...one leaf in the assignment resembles one of the leaves in the other pictures.  I'll let you decide which leaf the assignment resembles.

Guilty...

A Serenism I overheard today:

Seren says to Penny as they are getting dressed in the bathroom: "I'm sorry about farting so much, Penny." The apology must have been inspired by the angelic white dress she was putting on for the meeting today

I try to have confidence...

...that my first grader is getting a good education.  Now I wonder...

Tonight's Penny Thought is brought to you by: Bubba's BBQ

We went to a BBQ place this evening and they had a wall filled with funny signs.  In amongst them was this one.  Penny said: "Mommy, that sign says, 'NO BOYS'!  That means Daddy and Xander!"

Last night's Serenism is brought to you by Psalm 26:2.

I was explaining the use of "heart" and "kidneys" and the implications of each to Seren...

Mommy:  Seren, do you know what the heart does?
Seren: It beats and helps us stay alive.
Mommy: And when it beats, what is it pushing through our bodies so we can stay alive?
Seren: Air!
Mommy: Air...ok, and what else?
Seren: And blood!  The heart pushes the blood, which carries the air from our own gills, I mean lungs, through our body...
Mommy thinks to self: (how many sci-fies has she been watching???)

Just after I explained how the kidneys work, Seren went on to explain how red cells and white cells in the blood work. 

This is my 6 year-old.  I'm not looking forward to her becoming a teenager. *sigh*

Last night's Serenism is brought to you by: A lesson in rats.

Seren: What do rats eat?
Mommy: Everything.
Seren: So, they're like pigs?
Daddy: Yes, but rats build nests instead.
Mommy: That's why we call your room a rats' nest.
Seren: No, Mommy, my room is a pigs' sty!
Mommy and Daddy (in unison): Clean your room, kid!

Tonight's Penny Thought is brought to you by: Dem Bones...

Penny was looking in the mirror, sticking her tongue out, saw her uvula and exclaimed: I saw my heart!!!

Mommy: It's shaped like a heart, Penny, but it isn't your heart.  Here, let me show you...(takes Penny's arm, locates pulse, has Penny feel it).  Do you feel that?

Penny: Yup!

Mommy (has Penny put her hand on her heart): Do you feel that?

Penny: Yup!  And there's bones!

Mommy: That's to protect the heart.

Penny:  The heart has arms and bones to protect it!  (Then matter-of-factly) But when ants get in there, well, that's NOT good.

Mommy: *sigh* 

Tonight's Penny Thought is brought to you by: Birds and Bees

Penny says to neighbor:  Did you know?  I'm just like XanderMan, only without the pointy thing!

9 year old versus our 6 year old

Daddy says to Evy:  Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?
Evy:  Of course, it's a pound of gold!
Seren: Neither one; they're both the same.
Evy: I still say the pound of gold is heavier.

The Bermuda Triangle

I am sure you are all familiar with the concept of The Bermuda Triangle.  For those of you who may not be familiar with it, let me explain the concept as I know it. 

The Bermuda Triangle is a place that is supposed to be relatively uncharted because once someone enters it, they can never leave.  So, it is said it is out in the middle of the ocean somewhere, where people were known to have gone by plane or boat, but never returned.  One could say that the TV show "Lost" is based upon such a place.

Well, as parents of relatively small children, we seem to stumble upon our own areas of The Bermuda Triangle, or black holes in the time/space continuum, locally.  I am not entirely sure whether these black holes will disappear as my children get older or whether they really do exist. 

For now, I might be better off documenting where we've been stuck in a "Bermuda Triangle" and try to avoid the area altogether.  I may as well start with our own front door at home.  I have to say that, on a good day, with 4 kids ages 9, 6, 3, and 1.5 years of age, it takes at least 20 minutes to get out the front door and into the minivan to go anywhere, assuming that we have dropped everything and headed straight out the door.  If all of us happen to be appropriately dressed to be seen in public, then half of the time is spent finding two matching shoes for Xander (my 1.5 year old) to wear.  He has about 5 pairs of shoes, but we can only find one half of each pair.  Some days I would call it good if I could find a mismatched pair, but I can only seem to locate the right-footed shoe of each.  Often the search is accompanied by the usual argument of who-is-not-to-wear-what or the quantity of toys to be brought to the van.  Sometimes this makes 20 minutes stretch into an hour.

Once we are in the van, it takes at least 10 minutes for a family of 6 to fasten their seat belts.  Honestly, I did not realize how complicated such a simple task could be.  I thought that Xander's situation would be the most complex as he has a 5 point harness, but he is usually long since buckled by the time the rest of the children are.  Evy, my 9 year-old, is usually buckled first and is kind enough to help Penny, my 3 year old, when her belt is twisted or stuck.  Seren, my 6 year old, seems to have the most challenges with the seat belt.  Even though Seren sits in the center of the van next to Xander, it seems that in order for her to buckle her seat belt as instructed, it requires of her to take a trip all of the way back to the van.  Next, she must go all of the way to the front and remove an item of interest that either Mike or I placed in the front for safe-keeping.  Then, the seatbelt requires her to bend over and look under the center seats to pick up any other items of interest, but not any garbage she may have left behind from a previous trip.  Last, but not least, as the seatbelt's last demand before submitting to the bucking process, Seren must remove any items of interest from Xander's hands, eliciting a perfect sacrificial scream of disappointment and ensuring the seatbelt's cooperation.  At that time, the seatbelt can finally be buckled.

Yesterday, all of the above happened and then some.  We had planned to spend the day in San Francisco, three hours away from Sacramento, since we were attending a company-paid Giants game in the evening.  Miraculously, we were all in the van and ready to go only 10 minutes after my targeted time of 9am.  We ventured on over to a gas station that also serves ready-to-order breakfast burritos as a planned stop to cover breakfast.  This took an hour, which was almost as planned.

Then, we left the gas station and just got on the freeway when Penny opened her cubby hole she sits next to, which proved to unleash an entire Pandora's Box of terrible smells.  This was NOT planned.  We pulled over at another gas station just a mile down the road to remove the smell, which Penny aptly said smelled like puke.  Although it was a cup of nasty stuff Penny had been stowing away for who knows how long, it was not puke, but it did almost conjure it when it was removed and cleaned.  Penny got some on her and needed to change her clothes.  This whole ordeal lasted an hour, then we were on our way again, two hours after we initially embarked on our trip. 

We were on interstate 80, well across Sacramento, when traffic came to a complete stop.  Bumper to bumper traffic as far as the eye could see, unusual for a Saturday.  After pulling up different traffic websites, the information showed that traffic was unusually heavy and slow on I-80 from Sacramento all of the way to San Francisco and we were stuck in it.  Then I heard the five most dreaded and commonly uttered words in such situations: "I need to go potty!"  That was when I suspected that Sacramento was a Bermuda Triangle.

We pulled off at the next exit and pulled up a different route to San Francisco via I-5.  This was not the most direct route (the most direct route was clogged, as Seren would say), but we had never taken it before.  It was a gorgeous drive along Sacramento's River and Delta, which tacked on another hour to our exit of Sacramento and took 3 hours in total.  Once we left, it took only another two hours to get to San Francisco.  We had to rearrange some plans we had for the day, but we got to the game ahead of time and enjoyed our evening.

We drove back from San Francisco uneventfully.  However, we were hoping we wouldn't hear those five dreaded words as we passed our original Bermuda Triangle, a Target store we stopped at on a previous visit.  We fondly remembered how we stopped for some supplies on that visit then headed to go on our merry way to a San Francisco beach.  We got to the van and as we pulled out onto the freeway, Evy said, "Wait!  I left my cell phone in the bathroom!"  We turned around, headed back, and Evy and I went in to claim her cell phone.  We headed back out on our way and as we were leaving the parking lot, Seren sang out: "I need to go potty!"  Back to Target we went, where all of the girls made one last trip.  Those five little words made one last attempt as we tried to leave the parking lot for the last time, but to no avail.  Mike and I were convinced we had to leave that Target if we were going to get anywhere that day.  We have avoided that location since.

The modesty of a little girl

Afraid to show what she does not have, yet goes potty with the bathroom door wide open.

Last week's Serenism is brought to you by: Choo-Choo!

Seren sees a moving train and asks: Mommy, where is that train going?
Me: I don't know, Seren.
Seren: Well, it can't be California because it's already here.

Today's Serenism is Brought to You By: The Apprentice

Says Seren, Corporate Executive, Hardball Negotiator in training: Mommy, if you give me a quarter and a dime, I will give you my very own four pennies.

This evening's Penny Thought is brought to you by: My Book of Bible Stories.

So, we were at meeting and I was encouraging Penny to be quiet and still by opening up her Bible Stories book, turning to the pictures of Paradise, and pointing out each of the children in the pictures who look like my children. 

Mommy: There's Penny, Evy, Seren and Xander is on this other page...

Penny turns to a different page altogether, one where a woman is lying on her back and her mourning husband is cradling her head.  Penny says:  That's you, Mommy!  You're DEAD!

Penny flips over to another story, the one where Paul is shipwrecked on an island.  she points to a picture of a man with a cloth wrapped around his hips and says: AND this man is wearing a diaper!

Mommy: *sigh*

Tonight's Penny thought is brought to you by: Me, Myself, and I:

Penny (does something cute).
Mommy:  You're cute, Penny.
Penny: Me?
Mommy: No, the other you.
Penny: But, I'm the only one.
Mommy: Yes, you are.
Penny: I'm the only cute little girl!
Mommy (thinks of Seren, who was being a brat and Evy, who has been whiny): Yes, you are.
Penny (smiles with ear to ear grin): And, Mommy, you are MY servant!
Mommy: *sighs*

Tonight's Serenism is brought to you by: corporations and politics as we know it.

Seren says at dinner: Mommy, can I have the artichoke heart?
Mommy:  If you want to eat an artichoke heart, you have to eat the leaves first.
Penny: I want some artichoke!
Seren delegates all of the leaves she doesn't want to eat, which is the majority, to Penny to eat.
Once Penny eats all of the leaves, Mommy takes over to clean off the heart so Seren won't hurt herself with the 'choke' part and Penny can benefit from her hard labor.
Seren takes stock of what's leftover, which is half of the heart, and whines: This is ALL I get???
All the while, Evy sits and eats an entire artichoke on her own, leaves and heart, reaping the fruits of her labor in quiet enjoyment.

Seren will be an awesome executive for a corporation, Penny will make a fantastic employee (so far), and Evy might just be a successful sole proprietor.  Xander is still on the welfare program.  I will be happy when my term as Governor is over.

Evanese

We have Serenisms (life as Seren, my 6 year old, sees it), Penny Thoughts (the world according to Penny, my 3 year old), and now I'll post some Evanese (stuff that makes sense to my 9 year old).

While riding in the car with locked electric windows (so younger children can't play with them), Evy says to Mommy: "Could you scroll down my window?  I'd like some fresh air..."  Too much time on the computer?

Tonight's Serenism is Brought to you by Mommy, I have a surprise for you!

Seren: Mommy, I have a present for you. Me: (opens present and finds this picture). Seren: It's a picture of you, Mommy! Me: Am I smiling with my teeth? Seren: No, you're surprised! Me: Did I see a bug? Seren: No...Me: Am I surprised at how nice this picture is? Seren: No, Mommy, you're surprised that I CLEANED my room today! Me: Yes, Seren, I AM surprised!

Yesterday's Serenism was photographed!

Evy, Seren, and I went to the beauty parlor to get our hair done.  Seren found a bowl of Hershey's Kisses and took one, then hid it in her hand the entire time her hair was being shampooed, then cut.  She was still hiding it when I took pictures of her cute little haircut. 

The pictures show her, "I know something you don't" face.  Then I noticed chocolate dripping from her hand, which she had hidden behind her, during the photo shoot...