And since I gave Tim such a hard time last week about joining my YOUR Gonna Miss This... Moment Carvival! I just have to mention that he did join in and so did many of his readers!! I just had to give credit where credit is due!! Hope to see you all back here tomorrow with your “Moments” posts ready to go!! :)
Pam
I have some very special books for my 4th giveaway! I was thrilled to find this first book just last week. http://rdehaus.blogspot.com/ had mentioned it on her blog.
I Love My Hair By: Natasha Anastasia Tarpley is the first book I am giving away in this post!
Of course, we had to have the book just by looking at the cover! This girl, looking so much like my girl…
Imagine our thrill at finding that the main character in the book also shares the same name as my daughter!! Spelled differently, “Keyana” rather than our Kiahna, but the same!!
Another part of the book I love, is when it says, “The beads click to the rhythm of my walk, Tap! Tap! Clicky-Clacky!”
There is one thing about having beads in your hair. You CAN hear her coming!
The book puts an all around positive spin on having hair that sometimes hurts bad enough to make you cry when you comb it, but says,
“Do you know why you’re so lucky to have this head of hair, Keyana?’ she asks.
I shake my head no.
‘Because it’s beautiful and you can wear it in any style you choose.’”
We love this new book, and we want you to have a copy too!!
And that’s not all… seems there is a companion version of the story too… same author… for little boys…
This is a book about a little boy’s first trip to the Barbershop, the fears, and the fun! No, his name isn’t Jadon. It’s Miles.
We don’t own this book yet ourselves, but when I went on to buy the first one, I had to get this one for the giveaway too! I promise we will try not to read it too many times before we ship it off to the lucky winner!!
Jadon has never been to the barbershop, in case you were wondering… I’ve always cut his hair… and there was that one time, James cut Jadon’s hair…
Yeah, he’s cute… but I think I like a little more hair than that!
If you are curious about Kiahna’s hair and how I do it, this post tells all about yarn braiding. And if you curious on how that process of redoing them is going. Still plugging away. I hope to be done in the beautiful colors of her swim suit, before we leave for vacation in 9 days!
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To win one of these books you need to leave a comment. In the comment you need to tell me which book you would like to win. IF YOU WANT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR BOTH BOOKS PLEASE LEAVE TWO COMMENTS.
There will be two separate drawings for each book. Also, after you tell me which book you would like to win, tell me a little bit about the lucky person you will be reading the book to!
Of course as with all of the give-a-way’s this week, if you tell others on your own blogs about my blogoversary give-a-way you may comment again for yet another name in the pot!
IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR YOU TO POST A NEW POST EVERY TIME I POST ANOTHER CONTEST! (but if you do I will love you dearly and rig all the drawings so you win , BONNIE)
If you have written about my give-a-way ONCE on your blog, YOU MAY ENTER EACH GIVEAWAY AN EXTRA TIME! Like Amy, Jodi, Laurel, Tonia, Nana Cheryl & Karina did.
This is the last give-a-way I have planned this week… boo-hoo… this has been so fun. (you are all welcome to copy and invite me over to play when you are celebrating!) The contest will be open until sometime, when I have time, on Friday to close the posts for comments and have the drawing and write the winner post. No prob! ;) So keep signing up if you haven’t already… here are links to them all (if rolling down the page is to tedious on your wrist!!) ;)
GIVEAWAY #3 Coffee& “Joy” Mug! (Coffee is optional, and I should have gotten a box of tea as the option! I will, if a non-coffee drinker wins! I’ll send you a box of my your favorite tea! If they sell it at my Wal-Mart!) (Thanks to my friend Lora for the huge hint on what to get her for her birthday TODAY!! ;)
GIVEAWAY #2 Super Simple 30 Minute Me
GIVEAWAY #1 The biggest Give-a-way! 6 items written by Beth Moore, and centered around her book, Praying God's Word .
There are 4 different ways that you can comment and be registered to win one of these 6 prizes!
1) Just leave me a comment.
2) Post about any or all of my give-a-ways on your blog and leave another comment to tell me! (you will have to leave a comment on each post for the extra entry!)
3) Ask me a question of any kind that you would like to hear answered in a future blog post.
4) Add yourself to my followers list (on the left sidebar) if you haven't already, and leave me a comment to tell me that! (if you already are leave me a comment telling me you are!)
Anonymous comments are fine, but if you don’t leave me anyway to identify you, and you don’t come back to see if you won, I will be so sad!
This is so much fun, and I am loving reading all your comments! You are in trouble, I could so get used to this!! ;)
NOW GO SIGN UP!!
Pam
It is time for a free therapy session… Where we tell all the things that absolutely DIDN’T Happen to us this week! (wink, wink).
If you haven’t been checking in on McKMamma this past week… then I am not sure where you have been! You missed witnessing God’s Miraculous Healing of little Stellan for the SECOND time in his wee little life! McKMamma is the lovely host of this blog carnival, and this is where you go to link up, and to read 100’s more Not Me Monday posts.
I have not been more lazy in the past week than I have been in years, while at home anyway. Nope.
We are not all dragging, dragging, dragging today… because we got on a go to bed after midnight, and wake up about 9 am schedule… I would never allow that to happen or be a part of that. I know better.
I’d never be thinking of climbing back into bed, skipping Jadon’s preschool, skipping grocery shopping..No.
I haven’t been avoiding meal making, and getting by on left-overs, & cold meat and cheese… Nope. Not me.
I didn’t serve my family hash brown potatoes from a bag that said, “best if used by 4/7/2007”… No that would be disgusting.
Didn’t let my house, and my children run amuck while I played with my pictures from the year, caught up on my blog, and wrote. Not Me.
I was not awarded A Fabulous Blog Award by Gayle @ The White House. The award doesn’t require that I list 5 addictions… and I didn’t know immediately that my list would include being with my kids, and taking pictures of them… blogging…. writing… talking… and coffee. Nope. I am not addicted to anything.
Because, I sure didn’t take 455 pictures in October, or 437 in November… and I didn’t take 550 pictures at Christmas. (James took some)… so see… I really didn’t!
I didn’t use my Christmas money to buy myself a Cannon Rebel… because a new-better camera would only my the picture addiction, I don’t have, worse! No Way, Not Me!
I didn’t pull all of Kiahna’s yarn braids out this week… some of the braids had not been in for at least three months… And she didn’t look completely adorable in her real hair…
The undoing, washing, parting, and temporary braiding didn’t take us 3 hours… she was not hiding from me under the table when I wanted to take this picture of her… Nope. Not Kiahna.
We are not working on new yarn braids already… because her hair is not already getting fuzzy… after only a couple days. Nope.
She didn’t throw up three times one night last week. No.
I was not sure that James must have had a high temperature or acquired Mad Cow Disease or done something awful… because he was being so helpful, cleaning, and working around the house. Nope. Not James. I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief that perhaps he didn’t commit a felony, wasn’t trying to ease some bad news on me, and wasn’t dying, when I finally realized his ulterior motive for all the work… Nope.
Leah and Zach didn’t have a blast snow skiing last Sunday-Tuesday. Nope.
Leah didn’t put on a pair of her friend’s boots under her formal dress at the Junior High dance…
Her friend was not completely grossed out when the boots were all sweaty after the dance… Nope. Not Leah.
We did not get TP-ed AGAIN… in January.. in rain… Nope. Not us.
I did not tell Zach that it was all his fault… if he was not so darn cute… because it sure hasn’t been HIS friends every time… and they haven’t been girls every time either… Nope.
Anyway… James, Zach and two of James friends did not chase down the TPers… nope. They didn’t do anything stupid or dangerous… teenagers don’t do those things. Not My Kid.
My blog is not in process of getting a complete make-over! And I am not excited about that! Nope. Not. Me.
Pam
So, time to catch you up on the many activities of this busy house!!
Basketball season began this week...
Zach is starting on his 8th grade team this year. I am working with my camera, trying figure out how to get the best pictures... They have had two games so far. Won one and lost one.
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I finally finished my kitchen cabinets!!!!! It's only taken me two and a half months! It has been the topic of many a Tackle it Tuesday Post!
AFTER, FINISHED!! DONE!! WHOO-HOO!!!!
There is a hope of new countertop coming soon! A friend has offered to purchase and install one for us!
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It happened again. I was sure that my electric bill was late and overdue. I got the bill yesterday. When I opened it, it showed a credit! Someone has paid my bill! Over two months worth!!
ARE YOU PRAISING GOD WITH ME!!??!!!!!!!!!!
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My child who was struggling a few days ago, seems to think that the situation is resolved... I doubt it. But, we'll keep walking through and prayin...
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I plan on visiting a new preschool with Kiahna next week. She is doing pretty well. Believing for miracles.
Meanwhile, we are working on redoing her hair. It has never been such a long process for me. One braid at a time. I am not even going to tell you how long some of these braids have been in... uhg.
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I can't make any promises on how much time I'll be having to blog this next week. My sister's wedding is next Saturday... so besides, Thanksgiving, 2 basketball games, helping her move, finishing these braids, oh and let's not forget taking some time to just be quiet... yeah... I may see you next week... or maybe not! But, the week after, I hope that I will have lots of great moments to share with you all!!
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I thank you all for your amazing support and encouraging comments (and e-mails, phone calls, etc) You are all such a blessing to me.
Pam
Blogging and Braiding
Hope you join the fun & stay
it’s so fun to play.
I’ve sent a special invitation to all the people from the Adoption Hair and Skin Care Yahoo Group, to come and see Kiahna’s finished hair. And to learn more about yarn braiding. I plan to make this all about Kiahna’s hair today!
To play along with Haiku Friday go here and join the fun!
I learned about yarn braids last spring from another adoptive mom on the group. She has created a video that I watched and learned from.
To Watch Katie O's videos on how to yarn braid click this link.
If you really want to know how to do this you have to watch Katie’s videos. If you’ve watched the videos, I am going to give you a few of my own tips. Things I like and don’t like about yarn braiding.
Kiahna has had yarn braids in since I learned to do them. I just LOVE them. No other hair style I have done for her has ever stayed this long, gotten this many complements, or was this simple!
Here are some pictures of styles I put in Kiahna’s hair before I learned to yarn braid.
The only negative I would say about them is the amount of time they take to put in. But, in comparison to how long they stay nice, how long any other style in this type of hair would take, I think it is very comparable.
The BIGGEST positive I have found with them is how easy they are to take out!! For the most part they slip out for me like removing a glove. Just pull at the top and they slide out with very little resistance. It takes me minutes to remove these, when it would take me hours to remove some of these above styles.
One way I have learned to manage the time it takes to put them in, is to take only a few braids out at a time and redo them slowly over a matter of weeks. This style she has in now has been in process for almost 2 weeks. I even moved the parts this time.
This pictures shows the hair in process. The braids below the part are about 4 weeks old and ready to come out. The braids above are finished.
Because I was moving the parts this time, I always was left with a little hair undone. I would just braid the hair that was undone and then undo it the next time I was ready to work on her hair. Here is a braid that is all hair, along side a yarn braid.
You can see that there is quite a difference. Kiahna is almost 4 years old (her birthday is next Friday!). She has very fine, thin hair, that I have never cut. If you look at the pictures that were above, putting beads in her hair, when it was only hair, looked really sad.
Katie mentions in the video these things I am about to mention, but I didn’t do them very well at first, so I want to point them out again. The keys to having them look good seem to be the GEL, the START, and getting all the little ends TUCKED into the yarn.
I purchased the gel that Katie recommends on the video, Curly Q Princess Glaze. I used to use the Jamaican Mango and Lime spray, but they started putting some unnatural ingredients in it. I have switched to using Black Earth protective mist as a detangler and daily moisturizer. Steph at SNAPAHOLICS used to have it on her site, but I don’t see it on there today. Steph? Both of these products can be found online in many stores.
Don’t skimp on the gel. Make sure that the hair is good and saturated with it before you braid with yarn, it really helps keep those fuzzies tucked in. This gel has really went far for us. This is the first bottle I bought back in May, very worth the hair styles we’ve gotten out of it!
The biggest questions I get about Kiahna’s hair when we are out in public are how long it took, and how many there are. Today I counted 100 braids in Kiahna’s hair! I have done it with less and with more. More made it look like a little plenty hair for a 3 year old. Less comes out much faster, because you used a bigger section of hair. When I did it with 140 braids in her hair it lasted 6-7 weeks!!
This post shows pictures of her hair in 140 braids. I did redo the parts after 3 weeks, but looking at them at this link now, I think it wasn't necessary.
Here are pictures of my first attempt at yarn braids. There were only about 40-50 braids that time. Also, the yarn I purchased was too thick. I now use just plain Red Heart Wal-Mart yarn. I also noticed that the small skew of yarn is a smaller gauge than the large skew of yarn. I buy the small skew that is lighter weight.
Make sure you get that start good and tight like Katie says. The yarn slipping down out of the hair is the first sign of hair needing redone. That is unless you didn’t get those ends tucked in good. This post is another one of my first attempts, and you can see the hair sticking out of the braids badly. You can also see what happens if you use metallic beads that haven’t been sprayed with a protectant. Not happy.
To wash yarn braids, I put a squirt of shampoo/conditioner with water in bottles like this…
Then just spray on her hair and rinse. Someone on the yahoo group put it like this. “Think Sweater”. Gently wash, no Woolite please!! LOL!!
Kiahna has a terry cloth swim suit cover with a hood that has been a great thing to put on after her hair is washed. The hair stays wet for a long time, the terry cloth catches the drips very nicely. Many people recommend washing it early in the day so it is dry before sleeping.
We try to sleep with this hair cover on, when we can find it, and when we remember…
Putting beads in yarn hair is so easy. Slide on the beads and then tie a knot in the end! I have put some football beads in Kiahna’s yarn this time! She is ready for her brother’s first game tonight! Most of the beads I have gotten from Steph at SNAPAHOLICS, along with the HUGE ballies, which she is out of right now, but I hope she gets in again soon! I love those!
See how I did these on this post. I guess if you click that post you also get to see what her hair was like on the 4th of July! One of my favorite ways we have done it!
See the little footballs in there!?! They are removable, just hooked to the pony tail holder and some yarn I braided up all on it’s own.
She’s ready to go, wondering where her cheerleading skirt is (uh, honey, that’s too small)
If you are here from the Adoption Hair and Skin Care Yahoo Group and have any questions I hope you ask! And I hope you leave me a comment letting me know you were here! I also hope you let me know (or the whole group know) when you’ve tried this out and let us see your creations!
If you are not here from the Adoption group and you are actually still reading this, I love you and I am sure you are just sick of hearing about Kiahna’s hair!
Good Morning! It is extremely hard for me to be “wordless on Wednesdays”, but it is extremely GOOD for my family and my house! LOL! Today finds me full of words I would love to type out, but with the need to monitor my time. Right now it is 8:30 am. It may take me all day to get this post published, but I am going to steal away type a few moments at a time!
I have a babysitting job one day a week. Olivia hasn’t come for awhile because of our busy summer schedule. There was plenty of family that wanted to watch her in the summertime anyway. But, today she is back! Jadon and Kiahna love her and are having so much fun playing with her toys!
Okay, I cheated and put that other post up about the movie Fireproof before finishing this one. It needed it’s own post. It stirred me up.
Kiahna received her scholarship last night. I forgot my camera. The lady that was in charge told me she’d send me an e-mail with the pictures in it. I haven’t gotten them yet. Kiahna did really well, she walked up to these strangers who were sponsoring the scholarship, in honor of their grandson, and gave them her home-made thank you card, sat on the man’s lap, and smiled for the pictures. THIS, coming from my girl who has been known to walk up to people and tell them that she doesn’t like them and wants them to leave. Ahem… yes… so VERY good!
Okay, raise of hands… you know I worked on that hair more before last night… who knew I would?!? There are certain things that drive me crazy about myself, one is my perfectionism about Kiahna’s hair! I like it to look nice. I don’t want to anyone to think that I don’t know how to care for her hair or that I don’t care about it! It still wasn’t “done” but I did put about 4 hours into it yesterday. Today I worked more, and with some luck, we may be done tomorrow, in time for HAIRKU Friday! Look for a post all about hair tomorrow!
I believe one of the reasons Kiahna is so cooperative with her hair being done is the one on one time with me. Apparently, she still didn’t get enough of my time yesterday though. This morning before the kids left for school, I came downstairs to get something and realized that the computer had been turned off. I went ahead and turned it back on, so that it would be ready for me when I was ready to sit down after the kids left. It wouldn’t come on. I checked and someone had unplugged every plug from the power strip. Strange. When I went to bed, everyone was asleep, accept Zach who was finishing up talking to his friends (who he never sees) on MSN, and Kiahna. She had had a late nap and was having trouble falling asleep. But, she was in bed.
No one knew anything about the computer being all unplugged. Seems that my darling little daughter came downstairs, in the dark and unplugged mommy’s computer! I am really trying to keep balance and not spend too much time on here, but I guess she isn’t satisfied.
James came home with the professional pictures that the football team had done…
They were pretty good, the group one wasn’t very good, but this one is good. Things go pretty good with James for the most part. He pulls pretty hard on the reigns and wants to be independent. It is a hard age. I am again so thankful for my dad and his influence, and James respect for him.
I saw a book in that flier that I got yesterday called, The First Born Advantage, by Kevin Leman. Maybe I should read it to help MYSELF and to help me with James. Sigh…
Zach just has fun. Everything is all about the fun. Uhhhhhhhhhh…
Leah is loving middle school. Sixth grade is SOOOO much better than fifth grade, she says. We are headed to sixth grade back to school night tonight.
Lucas is very happy in his fourth grade class. I am pleased. I plan to volunteer in Lucas’ classroom after the little ones start preschool.
Jadon and Kiahna (and the dog) were all following me around today as I worked. I told them, why don’t you go play? Jadon said, “because we are kids, and kids are supposed to follow their mom’s”. Okay then. If you really want to, follow me upstairs to fill my coffee cup.
Okay so I have been saving these pictures… I have officially been added to the Gratitude Community Blogroll. I really want to have a heart and mind that is thankful. It is harder than I thought it would be after you pass the obvious… Sunday I went out walking with my camera… I want to share the pictures I took with you today…
…how many walks have I taken and never noticed how many butterflies there are… 100’s of them…
…don’t miss the bee in this one…
Savor the moment… peace…quiet… I took that video I posted yesterday on Sunday too. Lord, teach me to have a thankful heart.
Pam
