Let's talk about hair

Sometimes I get the feeling like Hb's hair just isn't growing...
but then I remember we started out like this:

So, really this is something:

I am learning not to focus on length, but hair health. Her hair is coming in even (her bald patches are filled in), her hair is thick and I think, pretty healthy. I get asked a lot how I'm learning to fix her hair and that sort of thing. I read a lot of blogs. The ones I follow the most are on my blogroll. Those girls are GOOD at doing natural, curly hair. When I see a lady's hair or her child's hair and
I like it, I ask about their hair routine. We've even got a routine of our own.

We make our own deep conditioner (a mix of shea, coconut oil, aloe vera, honey, EVOO, and a good conditioner) and do that every two weeks or so, and typically our big "doing hair day" is Friday. We wash, usually just with conditioner, and style on that day. Since Hb's hair is so short, I have to restyle during the week, but it helps knowing I have a plan and I stick with the same hairstyle I put in on our "hair day." Her hair is too short for me to do elaborate braids and stuff, so we stick to what is easy. There's nothing that pulls my trigger more than spending an hour fixing her hair, only to have it covered in sand, dog hair, or just come undone b/c she's a typical two year who loves rolling around on the floor. I'm not willing to give up on the above typical two year old fun things, so we stick to easy-to-maintain styles.

The above is funny now, but it sho wasn't then.
Do you know how hard it is to get all those little hairs out? Makes me shudder to think about it.

We love free hair...hair that's not put into a typical protective style like braids or twist, etc. They're easy and I can do them over again during the week. They fit her sassy personality.

Look how long her hair really is! Those curls really shrink up, don't they?

The above is one of my favorite things to do with her hair. Two strand twists. They are easy and cute. After having them in overnight or even three to four days, we take them out and get another cute twist out hairstyle:

I love that I get to love my little girl by loving her hair. It's such a special thing in her ethnic culture and I really feel honored that I get to participate in it. Here's to natural hair!!!

V is for Victory!

Let's just say the tenants have moved out...as far as I know. Mice are the kinds of things you think you've gotten rid of only to find out they've brought a few friends to sleep over, too. For now, I'm thinking positively about the subject.

I hate mice, part deux

I HATE mice.

It seems to never fail, every Fall we get a couple new tenants. They are just terrible little creatures. Violators. Thieves. Sneaksters. Mannerless (They will poo ANYwhere). Why must they get under my skin like they do?! I mean, I have the smarts and means to set a D-Con trap and stop the vermin dead in his tracks, yet after one glimpse of the disgusting creature run across the floor and into a gap between the dishwasher and cabinet, all my confidence goes down the drain. I'm ridiculous enough to stand thusly (see above) to finish loading the dishwasher. Sheesh. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have a promising report that the D-Con has done its job.

watch me spin

That Hannah, she so crazy, but we're the ones spinning her on the floor, soooo...

Kung Fu Party

Rewind to August 2nd and Zeke turned four! He requested a Kung Fu Panda party with "just boys and Hannah" at Pittman Park. It was so fun. We had fun cut-out masks, a Pinata, and my sister made amazing Furious Five cupcakes and panda cake-pops. They were precious. I'll have to post those later...I managed not to get a shot of them. Whoopsy.

This pic is my favorite. It cracks me up. He's not wearing a shirt because Kung Fu Panda doesn't. If one thing's for sure, this kid will not slack on costume authenticity.

Little Tigress

Candy frenzy

Hi-Ya!!!

Gotcha Day!

Happy Gotcha' Day Zeke!

Remembering four years ago
The excitement riding down I-85
The unknown...
What would his eyes look like,
What size would he be,
What does his cry sound like,
What shade is his skin,
What is his name...
Noah?
Jeremiah?
Ezekiel.
One look at him and any preexisting idea melted away...
the questions,
the way in which we'd imagined him,
the uncertainties.
Fudgesicle brown skin,
saucer sized eyes, alive and Dove dark chocolate brown,
chubby little cheeks, a strong neck that wanted to know.
The names we'd already created for him seemed to fit already...
Look-at-dem-mize
Phu-Zeke
Maxi-mize.
Remembering the mind-blowing joy, the roller coaster of
emotion, the heart-pounding nerves, the gut-wrenching
realization that life would
never be the same.
Remembering the privilege of adoption and
the joy it gives.

Homegrown Tomatoes

Especially this time of year I have to agree with the Bluedogs when they say, "There's only two things that money can't buy; That's true love and homegrown tomatoes" and apparently I'm not the only one in our house in agreement.

The tomato bandit runs into the den and says, "Mmmm, I'm jus' eatin' my peach." Nope, that's not a peach, but God bless you for eating an entire tomato like one.

And speaking of the deliciousness of homegrown tomatoes, I have been eating lots of my Grandmother's tomato salad and I'm going to share how we make it. For most of you this will be amusing, the recipe, that is, because 8 in 10 of you will think this recipe sounds gross. I see friends posting their favorite recipes, so I will do thusly in this tomato themed post.

To make one such delicious tomato salad you peel and dice 3 tomatoes being careful to not lose any juice on your counter or down your dish drain; place in a bowl and salt them a tad. Next add one chopped boiled egg, a dollap of Duke's mayonnaise, and stir together. Just before you're about dig in, crush 6 or so Ritz crackers over the slurry...don't crush too many or they'll soak up all the precious tomato mayo juice. Pepper and devour.

Delicious. I don't care what you say!

Up her nose

I used to love to listen to one of Sinbad's comedic stories where his daughter shoved an entire box of raisins into her nose. It was so funny and at the same time made me shudder to think of all those raisins up that small snout! Flash forward a handful of years in a house on Brown Rd. Look at that sweet little face...she's so cute and cuddly, kind of like Curious George...

...why does one think it's a good idea to put things up their nose? "Hmmm, look at this piece of string. This looks like it'd be a perfect fit for my nasal passage. I'll just try that out and see if it fits. Wow, that really itches up there and it sure makes me sneeze alot."

I turn to look at Hb and how is the first thought that comes to mind is, has she put something up her nose? One quick look and the boxful of raisin story comes back and I laugh a good laugh as I pull the string out, with tweezers, a string that felt like it kept coming and coming and coming. I wish you could've seen Hb's face as I pulled it out. Hilarious.

I mean, its not like a shoe string long size piece of string, but when it's shoved up a tiny person's nose, it ain't no sewing thread.

Bunkbed birthday

The Zekester did indeed turn four this week and for months he's been asking for a bunk bed...I might have planted that seed there. I always wanted bunk beds growing up, especially the ones like Willis and Arnold had on Diff'rent Strokes which were perpendicular to one another. So, Sunday afternoon Zeke's bed "went to the doctor to get fixed", a half truth which alleviated his tears as he did not understand why daddy was taking his bed away.

There was nothing but smiles the next day when he walked into his room to find one super fun bunkbed loft. (The people we bought it from built it as a bunkbed, but set it up as a loft to maximize space since we don't HAVE to have room for two yet.) He climbed up top and exclaimed, "I'm so up here and the carpet is so down there!"

He started out on the top bunk, but thirty minutes after we put him to bed he was boo-hooing that he was scared to be up so high. Off came the couch cushions and he slept on them underneath the top bunk. Nevertheless he and Hb, too, think they are great fun and they make such a cool fort. He's happy and so is 8 year old Katie.

Happy Birthday Zeke!

How is my three year old four?! This kids is something else. He brings a smile to my face, warms my heart, is such a sweetie, is highly emotional...I don't know anyone like that around here..., is always in character and I mean ALWAYS, has an adorable laugh and a tender heart....I mean I could go on and on. I'm feeling especially blessed today thinking of how God let me be his mama.

A long time coming

Yes, this has been a long time coming. Two and half years or more, actually. It's a poem I wrote, you see, and I've been nervous to put something I wrote, you know something that was intentional and from the depths of my hearts, onto the blog. But my friends, the time has come. I think it'll be good for me and it's been on my heart to do it for over a year and I've just shied away from it, so here goes...

Be

If I was a doctor would You love me all the same?

A teacher, preacher, executive,

Would You give me any other name?

If I moved across the ocean blue to spread Your name’s great fame,

Or settled in a safe suburban town to stand upon Your claims,

Would You love me deeper, longer, truer,

Or compare me, remind me that I must be a doer?

No dear Father, Your word speaks loud and true to my heart,

I’m not what I say or do,

But what I am in You, I’m written on Your heart.

I am a shining star,

A beacon of light,

Your glory rests upon my head.

You’ve sealed me in and hold me tight, never to leave my side.

In day, in night, when I don’t measure up,

When I’m weighty with humility,

You lift me up in the palm of Your hand,

Breathe life and hope into this dry and weary land.

In You there is no measuring stick of who and do and go,

But only love, mercy, and grace

To be, and see, and know.

If I would just remember these truths all the time and not let the annoyances of life fluster and frazzle me. Ah, but life does happen and when it does I am anything but the child adopted and grafted into a good Father's perfect love. But isn't that glorious, too, that I can be reminded to just stand back up. I've had to remind myself of that a lot lately; get back up. It's the last part of our armor...remembering to stand (Eph 6:13). My identity is not about what I do, it's about whose I am. I will try to remember that today.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. You're a real trooper.

Beach time!

I don't know whether its the +100 degree heat index or what, but I just don't know what to say these days! We're sizzling over here! And wouldn't you know the pool pump and pool vacuum decided to go out just when we needed them the most. However, on a happier note, we did steal away to Wild Dunes in June with my family and it was fun times.
Here's a glimpse into that fun time...

Now that's a Christmas in July miracle...everyone is smiling and at the camera, too!

Twinkle toes cracks us up.

Some boys conveniently dug a huge hole the previous day and my sister found a long board and Oila! A pirate ship complete with a plank is birthed. That hole brought many hours of fun to my kids.

Kids R Funny

Jessie and Woody are back! For a limited time only of course, because about ten minutes after this picture Jessie pee'd in her shiny red boots. Well then.

 

She's at it again! Climbing and hanging around!

 

 Kick hard little fishy! Z's been really into swimming in the pool sans swimmies and with his big eyes wide open under the water. We got to get some goggles for the man-cub!

I wondered why Z wanted his belt outside with him one morning, but just thought he'd put it on as his Superman belt or something. As I poked my head out the back door for my routine kid-check I noticed the little fellow found a smooth stone and wedged it under the strap. He'd just begun to whirl his belt in the air three feet from the glass door when I yell out, "STOP!" And then I actually asked "What are you doing?" His response, "I'm David and I'm gonna shite Go-why-ush." Funny  little character we've got on our hands. I love that kid.

Oh say what a May!

Oh May, how I miss your cooler mornings and pleasant afternoons. In May we...

...swung from vines. We saw a lot of Tarzan. You like that orange and pink loin cloth don't you? He has a brown one, too. Characters and costumes are still a daily routine ranging from Tarzan to Larry the Cucumber and any one in between. Make a good solid impression on him and he may pretend to be YOU one afternoon, you just never know.

The brave little lassie doing what she do best

My sister friend, coined BBB by my kiddos, got married to Mr. BBB and the event was more fun than I had always imagined it being. From glowing rings to full moons, the event was a happy one to say the least.

And Hb was the flower girl and a pretty one at that. She was so pleased with the princess she transformed into. I love this picture. At the rehearsal she was hamming it up with everyone and I breathed a sigh of relief that perhaps she would make it down the isle in one piece on the big day. Then the big day came and she clammed up tighter than, well, a clam. Luckily she did make it down, but I was begging, I mean, motioning her down at the other end of the isle. At the reception she put a grip on Chris and me that rivaled the Jaws of Life.

i.e Jaws of Life

Z on the other hand might have enjoyed himself more than the Bride and Groom. He was posing with the life size Justin Bieber cut-out and dancin' with all the available ladies all night long.

Mr. Dashing himself, the hat was his idea fyi.

Hannah was dedicated at our home church on Mother's Day (what beautiful timing) since, maybe you've heard, she's an official MIZE! Woo hoo!

Get this...the white dress she has on is the actual dress she wore to her first dedication way back in August 2008. The day we brought Hb home from Greenwood, her birthmother wanted to have her dedicated to the Lord and to us and this is the dress she wore in that service. It has her birthmother's monogram, my monogram, and Hb's birthname monogrammed on the hem of it. What an amazing thing that the dress still fit her and she was able to wear it again.
I LOVED that.

Mother's Day with my mom and all her babies. Just to clarify... some are my cousins, but the way my mom rolls, if you're her niece, nephew, or one of her kid's friends, you're like a pseudo grandchild. By the way, Chris wear'd your face go?

Remember that feat of strength?

And then we went to the lake. Here's Z with one of his heroes, cousin Charlie.

Happy to be swimming in the lake! Summer heat, maybe you're not so bad after all. If it means long days at the lake, mornings and afternoons in the pool, and weeks to the beach, bring it on with your 100 degree heat!