Little Girl Hair

So I have this little girl that I love. 

Her hair is crazy all over the place. 

I can't stand the thought of cutting it yet. 

I have dreams of her having long luscious curly locks. 

Whether or not that dream will come true has yet to be determined. 

But while we wait on that dream, I have been experimenting with fun, cute little hairdos for my girl. I am not artistic. I am not creative. I have yet to do braids, but I have set lofty goals for myself. I am determined that my girl will be cute and sport more than a ponytail or "hair in the face" do'. I also have these things called glasses to work around. It's not like I can take them off. I have to make sure her do's are compatible with her glasses as well. It does throw a wrench in the whole process but they do her good, and I am just being vain if I want to take them off to create a different hairstyle (in all seriousness I would NEVER do that).

I have a few tools at my disposal, some are used more often than others. Here is what I use:

• comb
• Suave hair detangler (though I am sure water would work just fine)
• hair thingys (everyone has their own term for these)
• hairspray (only used sparingly with some styles depending on the day's activities) 

 

Here is a sampling of my explorations with her hair:

It's The Little Things

Ok, I'm gonna attempt a little creativity here. Been stewing on this for a while and it may be really really bad, but I don't really care. Here goes:

It's The Little Things...

Snuggles first thing in the morning, burrowing your face into my neck while you work on waking up.

It's The Little Things...

Opening my eyes in the morning to your little face as close as it can get saying, "Time to wake up!"

It's The Little Things...

Reaching your arms out to me because I'm your favorite person in the world.

It's The Little Things...

Eagerly asking when it will be time to do our school time every day.

It's The Little Things...

Listening to the two of you playing together in your room, the hallway, or wherever it may be that you have settled with whatever toy you may be sharing at the moment.

It's The Little Things...

Coming to me with the same book every single day with a "Mommy, will you read to me?"

It's The Little Things...

Helping you pick out your shirts every day because you aren't quite tall enough to reach them in the closet.

It's The Little Things...

Going to the dog run together to give our giant dog some exercise. While we are there you squish all the bugs you see. What a weird little hobby

It's The Little Things...

Running through the splash pad together. Racing around each jet of water . Grabbing you and running through water while we laugh and scream.

It's The Little Things...

Pizza Night. Not the normal go out to pizza night. Pizza night where you get all the ingredients at the store, bring it back to your home, and make pizza as a family with a one year old and a 4 year old. You love it. You stir the sauce; you sprinkle the cheese; you pick out your own toppings; you ACTUALLY EAT DINNER!!!

It's The Little Things...

When you, the 4 year old takes my phone on said pizza night and insists on taking a hundred pictures of me making pizza. Most of them are blurry and have a finger in the way.

It's The Little Things...

Arguing over who gets to sit on my lap in the evenings as we settle down from our day. I wish my lap was big enough for the two of you. Always.

It's The Little Things...

I love you. Every bit of you. The cute parts and the frustrating parts. I eagerly anticipate the people you will become, and at the same time dread it completely as it will mean my babies are grown and don't need me the way you do now.

It's The Little Things...

I treasure these days filled with toy cars, books, make-believe, and silliness. I know they will pass all too soon, never to be seen again.

It's The Little Things...

You are a gift. You are a blessing. You are beautiful. You are loved

Grace....It's a way to live

Homeschooling

This year, in an attempt to spend more quality time with my kids, I am homeschooling John for Pre-K. Our transition into our new home, new state, and new normal has taken a while but I decided it was time. Time for school to start. I have been planning and preparing the past week or so and today was the day. Better late than never right?

Having taught this age for 5 years I feel like I have a decent enough grasp on what needs to be taught this year that I wanted to give it a go. I don't plan on homeschooling forever, but the next few years I would like to give it a shot, and John is definitely excited to be able to do school from home. I have also gotten the kids involved in our local MOPS and BSF, thanks to a wonderful friend in the area. I know how important socialization is for kids and I didn't want my homeschooling desire to delay him in that area. We enjoyed our first week this week at both BSF and MOPS. Well, most of us at least, and I am praying Ella does better next time! :(

I have compiled a big binder of plans and activities as well as an assortment of games and books to tie it all together. I will add to the binder as the year goes on, but so far so good. John quite enjoyed his first day of school activities.

ps... I love Pinterest, it has been a great help in this area. Lots of great ideas. You know what they say: "Teachers beg, borrow, and steal!"

 

Healthy Healthy Healthy!

I have been working in the the kitchen a lot recently to make our family healthier. So far, I have not been wildly successful, especially with my kids, since their favorite foods are anything that comes out of a box. I won't lie either, if you give me the choice between something healthy and Pasta Roni, I will probably choose Pasta Roni. Love that stuff. Anyways, I wanted to make sure I remembered two pretty successful attempts at being healthy.

First Attempt: Zucchini Lasagna.

I LOVE pasta, and so it took a while for me to wrap my head around the fact that I would be making a classic pasta dish without the pasta. But then I had this giant zucchini in my house and I HAD to try it out. The recipe was right, I didn't even miss the pasta, It was good! Here is the link where I found this on Pinterest:
http://www.recipebyphoto.com/zucchini-pasta-lasagna/

My kids were not super wild about the dish, but then again, getting them to eat dinner is like pulling teeth, so maybe I shouldn't read into it too much. My hubby and I on the other hand, loved it.

My second success has been my favorite success. 

SMOOOOOTHIIIIEEEESSSSS!!!!!! (In my very best Cameron Diaz impression from What Happens In Vegas. On a side not, if you haven't seen this movie, you should.)

I made smoothies. Very simple. Find some fruit and yogurt in the kitchen, blend it all up, and VOILA! Yummy smoothies. My creations so far have involved: Kale (gotta throw in the greens), bananas, grapes, plain greek yogurt, water, and most importantly, frozen strawberries. I used the frozen strawberries in place of ice. Yum yum. I think it was well-received:

Bats Love Shopping Too

Had a great weekend visiting with family again this past weekend. Squeezing 4 adults and 2 children in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment is quite an experience! You really get to know each other. All was fun and spirits remained high despite the close quarters.

We decided to make a trip to Park City while family was here so we could go to the outlet mall there, because who doesn't love outlet malls?! First of all, I think it is crazy that leaves are changing at the beginning of September. It seems way too early. However, as early as it may be, I will never stop enjoying Fall. I think it will always be my favorite time of year. I get nostalgic when I see the reds, oranges, and yellows of fall. I think of road trips taken in college through the country roads of Nebraska. I think of my senior year in high school when my friend and I anxiously waited for the colors of fall to get our senior pictures taken. I love Fall.

Another fun (kind of) thing about our trip to Park City was the bats! We found bats at the mall. As freaked out as I was, I did my best to be excited for my son's benefit who was enthralled. Now, the bats were not doing anything offensive, they were just hanging out on a wall, but still, I wish I would have been smart enough to snap a picture, but I missed out. Shopping was fun, bats were interesting, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Park City, trains, Farmington, pizza, more trains, and lots of fun.

Contentedness

Contentedness... Is that a word? Well I just made it one. Second Question: Is it possible to be content? We live in a society where we always want more. We can never have enough. When we think we have it all, we don't. There is always something else we want to do or have.

Take me, for example. I am living my dream. I have everything I have ever wanted. We have shelter, food, and family. I have two beautiful children that I have the wonderful blessing of spending every day with. I am so happy. I am so content...or am I? I have everything I want until I hear one of our wonderful neighbors talking on the phone (on speaker I may add) at 2 am on the stairs right next to our bedroom. I have everything I want until I drive by a beautiful house in a wonderful neighborhood. I am content until I pass by some really cute clothes or shoes or something else that just simply isn't in the budget right now. Why isn't it ever enough. I have so much that I am emotionally overflowing. My heart is full. We are in a better place than we have been in 5 years. OUR ENTIRE MARRIAGE!!!!!

Am I content? Really content? In some ways I say no, not really. I am a selfish person. I want a nicer place to live, I want nicer clothes, I want more. But why? Why do I want more? I DO have nice things. My kids are well-dressed (unless of course my son dressed himself then he is guaranteed to be in a ratty shirt he won't take off, shorts, and his cowboy boots). Our fridge and pantry has plenty of food. Am I content? Mostly, I say yes. I can sit myself down and remind myself of all I have. If I were to count my blessings, it would take a LONG time. Yes, I can whine and wish. I am sinful. But mostly, I have everything I will ever need. My life is full of joy and love.

We all have our days. Bad days. Selfish days. Impatient days. It is such a good thing we don't go through life ourselves. It isn't up to us. Our Savior is there to pick us up, brush us off, and give us the fresh start we need every day. Every day is new, and YES, we can be content, if we choose to be. But I believe it MUST be a choice. It has to be a conscious decision

I am choosing to be content. Things will always come up to challenge that contentedness, but that is ok. I will have days where it is harder to be content, and that is ok too.