New Haircut

It was that time again. Time for the boys hair cuts. And this time Emma and Jo wanted to 'help'. Sam and Nate would't let them touch their hair but daddy was willing to give it a try.

By the way he still has his head on!

Emma worked very hard.

From ALL angles.

And Jo was a big helper with the vacum cleaner.

Wouldn't you just trust that smile?

I had to do 'some' touch ups on Fil's new hairdo but other that that they did great.

The Steiger sisters hair salon is open for business (at your own risk).

New hair do Idea

What I love (and sometimes do not love) about Jo's hair is that there is no such thing as the same hairdo for her. She really only has the same hairdo twice. The possibilities are endless (just think braids can go in every direction and pattern).

There are many places where you can get inspired including the TV. Can you guess what movie I watched last night?

Hair Stuff

This post is for all of you who asked me about hair product but I did not get back to you (sorry).

I am still in love with Carol's Daughter products. I wrote about it here and believe it or not I am only about half way through the products from when I bought them back in October last year.


I got a ton of snaps (and bead are on the way) from Snapaholics.

Jordan's hair is in excellent condition. Her hair is not dry and feels nice to the touch.

She has tons of hair and I do a 'do' once a week. That lasts for about a week. I might touch it up every once in a while but other then that it stays like that.

As for skin products I make my own lotion or anything that is natural. I try to stay away from perfume lotions etc.

Cornrows

I finally found the courage to try cornrows on my little girl. I have to admit this hair style had to grow on me. If you would have asked me last year I would tell you that I didn't like it at all. Now I cannot wait for next week to try a new style. I looked around on 'how to' do cornrows and I was scared to try. I found a great web site where they sell beads and snaps called Snapaholics and they have videos on 'how to; and it helped me a lot. I bought a ton of snaps and I cannot wait to get some beads as well.

Many people ask if Jo likes it when I do her hair and have to tell them that she is less then thrilled (she hates it). If Fil is around and talks to her when I do her hair she does much better then when I do it on my own. She will just have to learn to love the hair God blessed her with. I do her hair once a week and I am sure when I get better at cornrows it will stay even longer.

I still use Carol's Daughter products and I love it. Jo's hair looks and feels great. I have so many people ask me what I use that at this point I carry an index card with all the products we use and give it to people when they ask.

I am still here

I am slowly recovering from my sickness. It took me a long time to get better and I am not still 100 % but doing great. No fever and I am so glad for that. We had a slow week last week in our household as I was trying to get back on track after the holidays. We finished our first semester with school right before Christmas (18 weeks) and started again after two weeks vacation. (For all of you homeschoolers out there:"do not panic". I just like to finish school early so I start early as well. ) I was also wondering if any of you have any homeschooling related questions. If you do just leave a comment and I will try to answer. This is our fourth year homeschooling and if I can do it anybody can.

Jo is growing like a weed. She grew 1 1/2 inches since her last dr. visit ( 3months ago) That explains why she skipped a size in clothes. She is changing before our eyes. The big improvement lately is that Jo comes to me for comfort. She hadn't done that before. No when she gets hurt she comes to me for hugs and kisses.

Miss Tina Turner you better watch out. This little diva has got some hair.
Jordan was peaking out of the front door watching Fil shoveling the front stairs. She looked so cute. It also happened that I had not done her hair that morning. So that is why her hair is out of control.

Here she is pointing at daddy on the front porch. We got some good snow the last few days. Our church on Sunday got canceled so the kids enjoyed plenty of snow outside most of the day.

Jo's New Hair DO

Last night after the girls bath I was looking at Jo's hair thinking: 'here we go again'. I was not sure what hair do I should do so while I was waiting on the boys to get done so I started twirling Jo's hair.

Fil was wondering what I was up to and after five minutes he told me it looks great and if I was planning on doing all of her hair.

First I was thinking I will do only the front but as you can see I ended up doing all of her hair and let me tell you that girl has lots of hair.

Just in case you are wondering it took me about half an hour.

Sam was all complementary when he saw Jo's new hair do and he said I did a great job and this is the best hair do I have ever done for her (thanks Sam).

Since Jordan has so much hair I am happy to report that as of this morning it is still looking good. I am sure it would look better if I used something but this was my first time so I did not want to over do it.

Jo playing 'pick a boo'.

What a cutie.

New Hair Pruducts

I have not written about Jo's hair in a long time. I have been using all kinds of products trying to find what will work best for my little girl with so much hair.

I love the blog world and I did look around for any suggestions when it comes to hair care. A few weeks ago I ordered, for the first time, hair products from Carol's Daughter and I will have to say I love their products. However I did my research on other people's blogs and I asked a lot of questions. So here their are my new hair products: Tui Herbal Shampoo

Tui Hair Smoothie

Black - Vanilla Leave in Conditioner

Hair milk

Mango Melange Shea Souffle

I wash Jo's hair once a week and here is a picture of our daily products we use (only once a day and it depends what hair style she is wearing). You can see

Suave Detangler (cheap at Target and it works great)

Hair Milk (from Carol's Daughter)

Kick for Curls (Blended Beauty)

Satin Style (Blended Beauty)

For Jo's skin I use a goat milk lotion I found in our grocery store and Mango Melange Shea Souffle from Carol's Daughter. Love them both.

My little girl has a lots of hair.

Let me know if you have any questions. I will try my best to answer them.

Hair Stuff

We have been home for over two months now and I had some good and bad experiences with Jordan's hair. I did a lot of research before we went to get Jo so I though that maybe some of you would be interested what I learned along the way.

First of all when we were in Ethiopia I asked the nannies what they used for Jo's hair. They told me all they use is Johnson's baby shampoo and oil. Yes they oil babies hair. I use baby oil sometimes as moisturizer and it works great. I have also used olive oil and I use that on her skin as well.
I did order the Blended Beauty sample packet before we left and that is what I used the most so far. I love this company. Their products are all natural and Jordan's hair looks great. I got many compliments on her hair. I will have to say that the sample jars are small and I ran out of most of the items already. I will probably order the bigger size since I like it so much. The only problem was that I had to read and research what each product was used for. I have never dealt with black hair before so I had to go to the company web site and read the "instructions" on what and when to do.

This week I got a sample packet from Andrea by Curls. Their sizes are much bigger. It includes shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer. I only used them once and I love the smell. However, I don't think I used enough of the conditioner since I had a hard time brushing Jo's hair that night. This is the baby line from Curls and it is all natural as well.
I also tried conditioner and moisturizer by Just for Me! I got it at Target and it was cheap. I like the conditioner but I did not like the moisturizer at all. I do not think these are all natural products so I will keep looking for a good detangler.
I also tried a detangler by Johnson and Johnson and it doesn't work on Jo's hair. It smells nice.
I still like dr. Bronners shampoo I got for our hair problems (lice). It is all natural and I use is on all the kids.

Now when it comes to styling. I use this hair brush I got in Ethiopia and Ouchless hair bands. You can get a pack at Target for one dollar.
I am not experienced with the styling thing yet. I believe there are three types of hair styles I am comfortable with at this point.
The first one would be all natural. Just let it shine. Well it looks great however it is the biggest pain ever at the end of the day.

The next one is the most work in the morning but it pays off at the end of the day. To my surprise Jo will sit on her changing table busily playing with some toy while I struggle to make it look good. I do get a lot of compliments with this hair do. I even got stopped by an African American mom with her daughter and she asked me how I did that. She also complimented me on Jo's hair. Yes this girl is all first class when it comes to hair products.
Finally this is the easiest hair do for me. It does the job and even though some hair will get loose at the end of the day this is a style you will see most. She looks cute.

I love this video of a short history when it comes to black hair. I saw it first on Penelope's blog and I learned how important it is to take care of Jo's hair. I still have a lot to learn about styling but I do want to learn and teach her as well. Oh the joy of parenthood.

Awana Grand Prix

This Saturday we had a Grand Prix going on at the boy's Awana club. The boys and dad have been looking forward to this for a long time. They all worked hard on their cars this past week. This is Nate's car.

And this is Sam's. Sam drew up his own design. He did a great job.
Here is Sam and his friend Joshua.
Nate and Sarah.
Sam was enjoying the whole race. Even though the boys didn't win anything this year they came very close. They had a great time with dad and grandpa. The girls did some shopping this morning and they joined the boys in the afternoon for the finals.
Emma and grandma.


Jordan and Dad. She is doing better and better everyday. It is amazing to see her making progress everyday.
Few days ago we all went to the mall and grandpa took everybody on the marry go round.

Emma. I love taking pictures of my girls. (and boys as well)
By they way I love my Blended Beauty products for Jordan's hair. It saved my life. She still doesn't like ut when I touch her hair but this makes her hair look so beautiful and I have no problem to combing it.