Friday, March 18, 2016

Surprise!

My parents arrived on Monday to spend a week with us and be here for Baylie's baptism. Yesterday my sister, Tiffani, and her kids arrived for Baylie's baptism. Baylie had no idea they were coming. My sister and I about blew it a million times, but we managed to keep it a secret from these girls. What a fun reunion! (My sister's twins are six months older than Baylie.) See the video HERE.

Today we had lunch with Baylie at her school. It was so much fun for her to show off her cousins to her friends. (We ate with Jalen yesterday.)
We had a fun afternoon at the park. (More pictures later - these are just the ones on my phone).
Tomorrow is the big day!


UPDATE: Here are more pictures at the park.

 
Fun day!

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Diary of a Hair Day - A New Hope

In the ongoing saga that is my effort to do a good job with Baylie's hair we have reached a new crossroads. Her hair requires more intensive care now than before and we needed to step up our regimen. Fortunately, I made a new friend who has been an excellent source of information for me. Her hair type is very much like Baylie's and she has big beautiful hair. Thanks to her, we now go through a daily, weekly, and monthly ritual with Baylie's hair. The instructions below are all from her with some minor modifications of my own.

Daily
Hair that is well moisturized does not need to be wet daily…If hair seems dry, spritz with a small amount of water (I use water mixed with coconut oil) and seal in the moisture with a very small amount of shea butter mixture. (Note: Little girls that play hard may still need to have the leaves and pine needles rinsed out of their hair on a regular basis...)
I purchased the unrefined shea butter on Amazon and made the following mix.
Shea Hair Butter
½ cup shea butter
1 Tbs coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
(I used almond because I love the smell)
5 drops essential oil (I used lavendar)

This goes a long way in hair and also on skin. I whip it up in the food processor and this is what the finished product looks like.
Weekly (we do this on Saturdays)
I divide her hair into four sections and work on a section at a time with each step. She spends a lot of time in and out of the shower and the whole process takes a couple of hours.
1. As needed for strength and moisture, pretreat the hair with a protein treatment (we use ApHogee Curlific Texture Treatment) and sit under hood dryer with a plastic cap for 15-20 minutes
2. Shampoo (we are currently using Tea Tree Tingle, but we also like Kinky Kurly)
3. Condition (we are currently using Tea Tree Tingle) and sit under hood dryer with plastic cap for another 15-20 minutes
3. Rinse out conditioner with cold water
(Never use hot water on the hair as it will cause damage. Use warm water when washing and always rinse with the coolest water possible.)
4. Spritz with ApHogee reconstructor
5. Add some shea butter and style
6. Seal in all that goodness with an oil
Note: If I am doing a style in her hair, I go ahead and add detangler while styling. Our detangler of choice is Kinky Kurly. I've been keeping her hair in an afro for the past month because I'm trying to recondition it after having it in extensions for too long. We'll be doing a hairstyle this week (a bun - her choice) in preparation for her baptism.

Once or Twice a Month
1. Protein Treatment (ApHogee Curlific Texture Treatment) – 10-15 minutes w/ plastic cap
2. Shampoo twice (Tea Tree Tingle)
3. Deep Conditioner – 10-15 minutes w/ plastic cap under heat
4. Rinse out
5. Leave in conditioner (ApHogee reconstructor)
Deep Conditioner (you could actually eat it!)
1 banana
½ avocado
2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs coconut oil

This is what the finished product looks like.
Baylie's hair has never been healthier. We are both really happy with the results. I am especially grateful to see my little girl being proud of her natural hair.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Batchelors Got Talent

We love our kids' elementary school. It is a fantastic, supportive environment. Each year they do a talent show and this year our kids decided to participate.Actually, Baylie wanted to participate last year, but I wasn't sure she was ready since I wasn't sure what the talent show was like. This year I learned that they welcome any and all students. In fact, they had 52 numbers with over 200 kids. That's about half the student body. 

Baylie and one of her classmates decided to sing "Fight Song" while her classmates' brother played the piano. They were so cute. They had actions planned out and were VERY enthusiastic. Of course, once they got on stage, they were a little more nervous and the actions became a little more subdued, but they did great and they were so excited about it.
Jalen's talent was beat boxing. He was scared from the beginning and during rehearsals I had to bribe him with iPad time. On the night of the performance, it took him forever to go on stage and I thought he was going to back out. He finally came out (a little like Charlie Chaplin) and then I was afraid he wasn't going to actually start his performance. I was ready to head down to the stage when he finally got going. It wasn't at all what we practiced, but it was cute.
We were very proud of both of our performers. We went to Sonic for some milkshakes to celebrate.

Baylie Video (missing the first part)
Jalen Video
Final Curtain (now Jalen's into it!)

Batchelors Basketballin'

We decided to try a new sport so this winter the kids played basketball.We participated in the program at a local Baptist church. It was great because the church is so close to our house. Plus we loved how positive the program was. They didn't even keep score and it was all about learning and sportsmanship. The kids had a great time - although Jalen did start praying like a Baptist for awhile.

The best part was the way they announced the teams. They posted a huge picture of each player up on the wall. Then with flashing lights and smoke, they announced the players and had them run out on the floor. It was awesome and the kids felt like superstars. I have a video of it somewhere. Hopefully I can find it - even though it turned out too dark to see much.
Baylie really enjoyed playing. She got better and better each week.
Passing
Running
Shooting
Posing
She was able to play with her best friend, Charlie. They are also in the same class at school.
Charlie's mom was one of their coaches. These girls are going to miss each other so much when we all move this summer.
Jalen also loved basketball, although we weren't always sure he knew what sport he was playing.
Sitting on the bench (and talking to Nick Fury on his special walkie talkie wristband).
Defense
Dribbling
Throwing It In
Running (flying??)
Shooting and celebrating
London Bridges?
It was a great season. I especially enjoyed that it was inside so we were never too hot or cold and practice/games never got rained out.
Below are some short video clips.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year the kids informed me that it's a "tradition" that I make them suckers and set up the table so that when they wake up on Valentine's morning,  it's waiting for them. They mentioned it several times.
So I climbed up into the attic and dug through the boxes to find the sucker molds. And they were very excited that the tradition continued.
For my Valentine's present, David took me on a mini-treasure hunt and at each spot he had written something about how that spot reminded him of me and why he loved me. (Plus there were chocolates at each stop. Yay!) It was incredibly romantic and personal. I was surprised. I'm not a very mushy person, but I loved it.

And for part 2 of my Valentines, check THIS out. How cool is it that my husband can compose and sing me my own personal Valentine?! I'm pretty sure this was my favorite Valentines Day ever.