Staying cool

The warm weather made it to the North country. Warm and humid I should say. Temperatures are in the nineties and it is so humid that when you are outside for a few minutes you start sweating like crazy. It is that kind of weather that not even a trip to the beach is appealing. So we purchased a kiddie pool for $6.99 and enjoyed the warm temperatures by our house. Each time it got too hot for us all we had to do was to run inside where the AC is getting a workout. Jo wasn't so sure about the pool at first but she had a blast at the end. Here is Emma in a bucket that was to keep feet clean before you enter the pool.



After I pulled out our new slip and slide for $2.50 (end of the season sale) and here you can see that each child has their own slip & slide style.


Emma looks more like on a runway:
For Nate it is always so dramatic.
And Sam is Sam.
There were a few collisions. Mostly between Sam and Emma.



Our miss Sunshine.

At the end of the day I pulled out the sprinkler. I think between the pool, the slip&slide and the sprinkler we got the backyard watered very well. I have no idea how Sam came up with this one but he was in his own world. When I asked him what he was up to he told me that he was fighting alien pirates and I did not investigate any further. I love his imagination.
I guess we will continue tomorrow since the temperatures are going up as well as humidity.

Sunday Reflections

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

John 1:12-13

Cooking with Mom

My sweet little girl is everywhere! She is exploring our house all the time. But at the end of the day it is fun to hang out with mom and since I was busy cooking dinner Jo got her own equipment to cook up something good as well. Yep she is a girl. She had fun with that bowl and a spatula for a long time.

Skin care

Since I sat down and wrote about my experience with Jo's hair so far I though I may as well write about skin care. I had no idea black skin requires extra care as well. Few day after we got Jordan I noticed her skin was getting very dry. I asked the nurse at the TH home about it and she said they lotion kids at least once a day. Ooops. I didn't bring anything with me but we got by until we came home. I started using Aquaphor at first but after reading a few articles, and since we do use it everyday, I wanted to go the most natural way as possible. Since then I switched to coconut oil and believe it or not I do use olive oil as well. I do make my own lotion and it is all natural so I use it once in awhile. We made it our routine that after bath time that I put lotion on Jo. Since I already 'buttered' her up I do all the kids as well. Their skin looks great by the way. I do Jo's face more often usually in the morning and before she goes to bed.

If any of you are using any good natural skin products I would love to hear from you.

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.

Baseball Game

Last Saturday we made it to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Eastern League AA Affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays game. We go every year and this time we went with friends from our church. As you can see the boys are very excited. I know we live in Red Sox nation but we cannot afford to go to a Red Sox game. So we enjoy our AA league game. It works for the boys and I have to say I do enjoy going to baseball games (I am not sure about football games and I am still recovering from my visits to Bronco games when we lived in Denver).
Anyway it was a rainy day on Saturday. Great for the grass but not so good for a baseball game. We spent first 1st hour trying to stay dry and watching rolling and unrolling a cover on the field. After several hours of rain delays the game was finally played.
It was Jo's first baseball outing and she did great. She loved strolling around in her jogger and she turned a few heads. Yes she is very cute. So is Emma.
Here she is ready for a nap. Can you tell she is comfortable?
We won some gift certificates to a local restaurant. Here is Fil with Emma on Jumbotron receiving the certificates. It started to rain after that again. However we got free tickets out of this game for Monday nights game. That is where the boys are heading tonight. I am staying home and relaxing (editing pictures and trying to catch up with my blog). They will have a great time and I will have to deal with only 2 sleepy kids tomorrow.

Sunday Reflections

For I am the LORD, your God,

who takes hold of your right hand

and says to you,

Do not fear;

I will help you.

Isaiah 41:13