Hair Stuff

So I know probably most of you stop by my blog for the craftiness I post here, but y'all know me... I rarely can stay on topic.

I have always had this little pipe dream of going to cosmetology school. I still think it would be fun eventually. I love the idea of helping others find a little joy in the way they feel about their appearance.

Anyways, with that said, I'm always messing around with the girls' hair (we love to find new hairstyles to try online... our favorite is Cute Girls Hairstyles!) and my own. But I have worn my hair slap out with the flat iron and curling iron and other stuff.

I'm trying to do some things to help it be healthy again.

The other night, I tried out one of those home recipes for deep conditioning your hair (that I've seen 14,000 of pinned on pinterest).

This was my hair before:

And this was after (washing twice- it was still pretty greasy after one washing): 

I was pretty impressed with how smooth it made the ends of my hair and how SOFT my hair felt! I definitely recommend it. I was looking for something to add shine back into my hair, but I think it will take some time of taking better care of it for that to really happen. 

Some other things I'm doing:

• weaning my hair/scalp from such frequent washings; no, I'm not crazy. It's actually bad for the balance of your scalp to put a detergent on it frequently. It starts over producing oils, which ends up being not so good for your hair. I picked up some Suave dry shampoo recommended to me (it's only $2.50 and it's worth the experiment) to help me ease my hair into not being washed quite as much (And for the record, I still shower every day- just don't wash my hair with shampoo every day!)
• using Coconut oil rubbed into the ends of my hair; I have too many friends to count that swear by this! 
• laying off of the dang flat iron/curling iron! I'm addicted to it... I need intervention. :)

Anyways, that's my random hair update. What's your best hair tip you've ever tried out? 

Lately....

Just some randomness from lately.

Did I mention this happened? 

Yeah. When scissors attack. *sigh* I guess every kid does it once? Right? 

We repaired it with a little bob cut. It's cute, but she was working hard at growing her hair out. Bless her. I couldn't get too mad because she was so sad. She told me, "I just wanted to look cute, mama." 

As if she needed help in that department. 

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The kids have been working hard all week to get ready for a yard sale. 

They've had a lot of requests lately for different items, and so in an effort to teach them the value of a buck and how hard it is to work for something you want, we decided to assist them in running a yard sale & lemonade stand. They cleaned out their rooms, organized stuff, helped make signs, put it all out... the whole bit. I was pretty impressed with how hard they worked. 

Emerson made this sign for the lemonade stand. Oh my gosh, can you stand the adorableness? "Spakling" lemonade?! I'm framing this for my kitchen. (Thanks for the idea, Donnie!)

While we were outside, making some moolah, the littlest one enjoyed some daddy time:

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This evening, I had a little mommy-daughter time with this chick:

We've had some little bumps along the way lately... just growing up stuff (on both of our parts) I guess. It was so nice to get out with just her and giggle and enjoy her. I love seeing her relaxed and happy and just being my little girl. 

While we were out, we saw this awesome double rainbow. I love seeing rainbows. I saw one the day of my dad's memorial service and it's such a sweet reminder of God's faithfulness, even through pain.

Our big purpose for going out was for Em to spend her yard sale cash. She's been asking for this beautiful doll and this was so fun for her to be able to purchase it herself. 

Oh and speaking of money, the Tooth Fairy has been dropping off lots lately at our house. I liked the extra touch of the pink sparkly nail polish this time. So did Em. ;) 

Summer Journals

When I was a little girl, my grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, little brother, and I loaded up in a shiny white Cadillac and drove from Georgia to California. We saw the Grand Canyon, ate fancy jello with whipped cream on top in a restaurant with table cloths (the things that impress a 5 year old are fairly simple!), went inside of a giant teepee, stayed in quite a few hotels, and had all sorts of adventures.

I remember a lot of that trip, and part of it is because every night, my mom and I sat down and jotted down my impressions of the day in a little green journal with a shiny gold lock & key.

This summer, we may not being going on any major road trip adventures like that, but we are having *our* sort of adventures, every day.

I want my kids to remember them. I want to help them cultivate a sense of the small and the big, to soak in the details of the day, to push their sense of expressing their hearts, to spend some time in a little simple reflection at the end of the day. 

So we have summer journals this year. They are simple composition books with a little space for drawing and doodling. The two little girls have just drawing books as that's how they express themselves.

This isn't to be an academic duty as much as a heart and soul discipline, but it definitely helps keep up their writing and storytelling abilities as well. :) 

We don't do it every night. Some days I give them a specific question to answer. Other days I just tell them to write about their day or something they saw. Sometimes it's something we are thankful for. One morning I set up a sign and their journals with crayons with their breakfast and told them to write/draw about their dreams. 

I think this is something that we will treasure, and maybe not even if the actual journals themselves survive, the act of gathering together their thoughts and taking note of the day is a gift that will.

Daddy/Daughter date

Shaun took Emerson out for a date this last weekend. I can't tell you how much it means to ME that he does this.

He's going to be a busy fella over the next few years with all these girls of ours. :) 

 Someone in particular was not happy that she wasn't included on this particular date. 

It can be really dramatic in our home some most days. 

In which she struggles with balancing time.

 The spring time is always extra busy for us. We have a lot of family birthdays during the spring, and add in our annual Missions Conference at church, spring break, Easter, end of the year field trips and parties, and I begin to believe we'll never just have a regular day at home.

I'm trying to find the balance between the things we have to do and the things we need to do. I often confuse the two and find myself overwhelmed because I feel like I no longer own my own time.

And then I become resentful of everyone around me. Being an introvert in a family of six seems contradictory to my existence at times.

But I have to remind myself of perspective... I'm not a victim of circumstances. I have the ability to say no and to choose wisely.

It feels like a very slippery slope right now, because my knee-jerk reaction when our lives are filled with lots of busy-ness is to hide and push away. But I think that there is a way to get what I need and be fulfilled with peace and solace in the One who created those things. And that is the Truth that He promises us.

That is the good news, and what I need to hold onto.

4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. 

(source) 

And the things that I wish to do with my time,  instead of running around like a crazy woman? 

Among them, to spend some time on my front porch (in my new hammock!) reading through a pile of library books. 

And to spend more real time with my little shadows, instead of shuffling them around. 

I don't really want to keep my house cleaner per se, but it is a need. I'm hoping to balance & plan my time more wisely with this app (basically a new interpretation of my SHE file.) 

You can download this app in the iTunes store. It's really awesome. You can set timers on it, have reminders for different chores, and sort out all of your different cleaning zones. Everything's customizable. The great thing about it is that it makes the job feel less overwhelming. 

Anyways, so that's what's on my mind this morning. :)

Fun news!

It's been one of those "just put out the next fire" kind of days here. 

There was one moment where I had a sick kid in the tub, a new-to-the-big-potty kid on the toilet, and two kids banging on the door asking for glue sticks, and an armful of bed linens and a comforter in my hands on the way to the washer. It was a bit overwhelming. 

But, as I type this, it's ten minutes til bedtime and I think I can make it. Then it'll be Downton Abbey and a little scrappy time! :)

This has been a fun perk to my day, though. My favorite place on the web has gotten a makeover! You should at least just click on the link and check it out. It's got a slick new message board, a fun live chat option, lots of fun visuals, and a brand new designer gallery! I am loving it! 

And to top it all off, Noel is introducing something that's been long awaited!

Click here to find out all the details, but if you want this month's kit to be a part of the subscription, you need to sign up before the 23rd! Being a subscriber has a lot of great perks, so go check it out!

Speaking of this month's kit.... I'm in love! 

Here's a couple of little sneaky peeks at some layouts I made with it. 

Teaching youth

I've been teaching the senior high girls at our church for a couple of years now.

Those creatures that are intimidating, confusing, amazing, and humbling.

My own youth pastor made a tremendous impact on me. A tremendous  impact on my understanding of the Gospel. God used him in such sweet way in my life. He showed me, through mr. jeff, a small glimpse into what Jesus looked like.

I never thought I'd end up working with teens myself. Even as a teen, they scared me. But for some reason, mostly because of my own inadequacies I suspect, God has chosen to use me for the time being  in a small part in their lives. And the funny thing is, along the way, I really love those girls a whole lot.

(us, a year ago, at a Christmas party... several of those girls are gone now to college!) 

I pray that I'm able to share the Gospel with them, to show Jesus to them, like mr. jeff did with me...and that all of the junk of me is washed away.

Dear Diary...

As soon as I could cobble a few letters together to make phonetically spelled words (I once wrote a note for a "pnut buddr" sandwich), I journaled. I have stacks of journals from my young girlhood.

Reading back through them, if I had lapsed for a time in writing, I would always feel the need to apologize to my diary. Or sometimes, in despair of being consistent and with a new resolve to write every day, I would just start a brand new journal.

I remember always writing with the feeling of someone reading over my shoulder... not feeling completely private. I often read books that were written as if it was someone's journal (one of my favorite types of vehicles for telling a story!), but I think that influenced me into thinking someone would some day read my ever so intimate thoughts about which boy I had a crush on.

Now here we go, I actually do have a place where someone reads my thoughts. I'm much more inhibited on what I share on here because I'm alwaysalwaysalways too self aware of that audience. I wish I could break through that barrier sometimes, but the judging voices in my head are way louder than the quiet voice of freedom.

Anyways, all that popped into my head as I went to click on the "Compose Post" button, because it seems as if the span of time gets longer and longer in between posts, and I feel this compulsion to apologize. It's silly.

:)

Since I apparently have spent my words for the evening with my blathering, I figured I'd post a few pics for you guys of a peek into our home right now.

Our suitcase full of Christmas books. Usually I do the whole wrap up the books and then unwrap one each night thing, but I didn't this year. It's okay. We probably don't need the mess and the fighting over it each night right now anyways.

In love with this EP and wish it were longer. 

I saw this fun idea on Pinterest and am so glad I did it.

Before:

I have a prettier cake stand that I'll be using here after Christmas time, but right now it's serving a decorative purpose on my mantle. :) Still, this small solution has made dish washing time just a little more pleasant, and we can all always use that! 

In preparation for my December Daily, I needed to reorganize my craft bag as well. I mean, wow. 

Before; 

After:

And here's my December Daily, just started! I'll share more as I fill up the insides. :) I used the Mistletoe and Holly kit from NoelMignon. You can see my video review of it here! 

We've been reading Christmas stories and our Jesse Tree devotional at night. My friend Carrie wrote her own Jesse Tree devotional for little kids, and it's really good. Perfect for the 1st grade and under crowd at our home! 

I let the kids go to town on our Christmas tree. It's quite overloaded with decorations. Just the way we like it. ;)