Mommy's Little Helper

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Hallelujah for Mixed Chicks

I was thinking that my first post of the new year would be something reflective, but I've had a breakthrough in the department of Ellison's hair and I had to share. There is this unspoken rule among black women...your hair has got to look good! Once you have a child it seems like you will neglect your own hair to be sure that every piece of your child's hair is in place. God has blessed us with a beautiful little girl with tons of hair to manage. I mean tons! When she had lice a few months ago, it took hours to get through each strand! 

Well, many of you know about the countless number of products I've tried for my little Ellison's hair. No matter what I do, it just seems like I can never quite figure out how to manage it well. She has a great head of hair but I began to worry a little as people called it wild, crazy etc. Nobody meant any harm in saying those things, but I was just thinking that a little girl wouldn't necesarrily want her hair to be called wild or crazy. Especically not Ellison who is in love with everything girlee. Over the past 2 years I would guess that I've spent a few hundred (YIKES) dollars on different prodcuts. Frizz Ease, Infusium Frizz Control, Carol's Daughter...and the list goes on and on. The issue is that her hair is a blend of mine and Ian's. Products for my hair weighed her hair down and products for Ian's type of hair dryed her hair out (which probably led to the lice outbreak mentioned earlier).

Well one night I was doing yet another web search and came across an ad for mixed chicks hair products. (http://www.mixedchicks.net). So I looked at the ads and thought "ok right" this is really going to work. Last week I ordered the trial versions thinking "why not." They arrived on New Year's Eve and yesterday morning we tried them out. Ellison sat patiently wondering what all the fuss was about (she could care less for the most part about her hair..which I love!!) Well I am please to announce that the products worked!!! I am emailing this picture in to the website to share our success story. The picture of her in the red dress is pre-mixed chicks and the pink shirt is after. 

So if you know of anyone with curly hair that is a little hard to manage tell them about mixed chicks. It's GREAT!!!

OK. There will be something more reflective next time. Happy New Year!

A pre christmas gift....

Yesterday I entered the world of breadmaking. Here is a my early gift from Santa brought to me courtesy of craigslist :-). 

Christmas Update

I'm really enjoying this season of Christmas. I always love this time of year but this year especially has been so much fun. We went to a Christmas tree farm and cut our tree down for the first time, we've been celebrating Advent and we've already watched quite a few Christmas movies. We went for our annual trip to visit Santa which turned out to be great as well. I've also finished up a large part of my shopping which brings gives me a big relief. Today I finally decided on a dress for Ellison's Christmas program. It's this Thursday night. She and I went out shopping last night for one and we had a great time together. She sang Christmas songs and loved having all of my attention. Although we went to 3 stores I couldn't find one that I loved. After I picked her up from school the 3 of us (Me, Jude and Ellison) went to Belk to get a dress that I'd spotted this weekend during our Santa visit. I can't wait to see her on the stage doing her little songs.  I am sad, however, that my parents won't be able to be in the audience. That is the one thing that stinks about this time of year. My brother lives in Colombia and my parents and sister are in SC and they are just far enough away that we don't see each other as often as we'd like. Thanks to the digital age, however, we can keep them in the loop on things. Well here are some pictures from December fun so far. Enjoy.  

Grateful

It really seems like there has been so much sadness all around lately. Don't get me wrong, I'm not living with an unawareness of all the sadness in the world at large, but there is something about sadness experienced by people who you know. In the past 2 weeks we've seen a lady who I was in small group with contract a flesh eating bacteria which required amputating her leg and she still continues to fight for her life, 2 friends have lost their fathers, one co-worker lost her mother and yet more sad news as one of our neighbors, a father of 3 children took his life on Saturday evening. In some of the cases mentioned above the families will have the hope of our God as they walk through these tragedies. In others they are not in relationship with the Lord and will not have the peace that can come from knowing him. 

This is the season of Advent. Advent comes from the latin word meaning "coming." It is a preparation for the coming of the Lord. The devotion from yesterday lead us to Isaiah 40:1-11. It's a consolation from the prophet and a reassurance that the the time of darkness will come to an end. "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Is. 40:3-5

I do love Advent and the way that it draws Christians back to the beauty of this season. As I think of these families and their sorrows, my heart breaks for them. I am reminded of the eternal hope that I -that we- have in Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the gift of Jesus and am praying for all those who will start this day without that hope. 

BTW I have been getting the Goshen devotions for Advent each day and they have been really good. If you would like to see what they are like here is a link. www.goshen.edu/devotions/Home

Check out the bling

We did it! Praise God for giving us the endurance and energy to finish. It was a great race. I had such a fun time listening to my tunes and chatting with Ian. There were times during the race that we would just sing aloud. The people around us were like "what is wrong with them." We didn't care. It kept us moving. It took us right at 2.5 hours to finish. I know the hubbie could have finished much faster, but he stuck with me and I needed it. During the race we talked about a marathon....talked about, just talked about. I can, however, understand the thrill of finishing something like that. When I was done with the 13.1 I really wanted to cry out of excitement and accomplishment. Overall, it was fantastic and I hope to be able to do another one and improve on my time. Here are my top 5 memories and some pictures of the running duo. 

Top 5 memories from the race:

5. It was cold! When we started it was right at 34 degrees. About 5 miles in we started to really warm up. 

4. Hills, Hills and a little mountain: The race had quite a bit of elevation to it. Every time we thought we were done, there came another one. 

3. Singing "Dream On" aloud while running a ginormous hill.

2. Hearing Ian go "Uh...Uh...and do the air drums while singing his music.

1. Crossing the finish line and feeling so much joy with what we had accomplished.  

Ready or Not

Tomorrow morning is the big race. I have so many emotions. I'm honestly mad at myself because I'm not as prepared as I should be. None the less, there is something to be said for finishing....I hope. I'm looking forward to lacing up early in the morning and joining thousands of other folks who are running too. As I go into the race, I really just want to finish. If I finish it in under 2:40 that will be a great bonus too. I'm off now to get some sleep. 5:30 is going to come early.

PS- I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night's post when the race is all said and done.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!