Congrats, Grads!

The Minis are growing up! *sniff*

Yesterday Fresh graduated from nursery, and Chick graduated from kindergarten. Way to go, guys! We're very proud of both of you!

Congrats grads! Let the summer begin!

p.s. Speaking of summer, Gymboree is having a super sale on shorts and tanks for $4.99 and under!

First Ceili & Pin Curl Results

The Ceili (pronounced "kaylee") was a blast! Chicky was so cute and did a great job!

I was worried about her hair, but the curls came out great and lasted all day and night (even after coming home and riding bikes with a helmet, she went to bed curly).

Chicky got lots of compliments on her dancing and her hair (some people thought it was a wig).

Way to go, Chicky! We're so proud!

p.s. Next year I'm buying a wig (that was a LOT of work).

Wish Chicky Luck (and, how to make Irish Pin Curls)

Tomorrow is her first Ceili (Irish dance recital). She went to bed with over 80 curlers in her hair (poor little thing!).

Since Chicky is a beginner who has not yet competed in a feis (pronounced "fesh"), we haven't purchased a wig (which is what most Irish dancers wear). So, in the tradition of Irish dance, we attempted to make our own pin curls.

I'm not sure if our technique will work, but after surveying some been-there-done-that moms, here is the system we used:

1. Start with dry hair.


2. Part hair as close to the way it will be worn as possible (in our case, she will be wearing a headband, so I just went with her natural part).


3. Use spike rollers, thin bendy rollers, or the smallest sponge rollers you can find (what we did).


4. Have a comb, styling gel or setting lotion, and a cup of water ready.


5. Gather a tiny section of hair (as small as a dime on the scalp), and dip the comb in the water.


6. Comb the piece of hair to make it damp, and then put a tiny dot of setting lotion or gel on your fingers and smooth it down the piece of hair.


7. Hold the tip of the piece of hair on the curler and roll it up vertically. Clip it tightly to the scalp, but not so tight that it hurts.


8. Repeat until the entire head is completed.
   Note: This process takes about an hour. I gave her a quick stretching break every 15 curlers. :)


9. When complete, spray the entire head with a generous amount of hairspray.


10. Blow dry until you cannot find any damp pieces (pay special attention to those near the nape of the neck).


11. Let her sleep on it. Some girls like to wear a hair net or pair of underpants on their head to keep the curlers from falling out. Chicky did not want anything over her curlers, so I'm crossing my fingers that they stay in.
    
12. In the morning, spray the whole head with more hairspray and blowdry.


13. Remove the curlers, starting at the bottom near the neck, and work upward.

Fingers crossed that this process worked! I will post an "after" picture tomorrow. We did a trial run earlier in the week (without the blow drying) and found that some curls were still damp and fell right out.

Chicky was a very good sport, but I can see this process getting old quickly. If she sticks with Irish dancing we'll be sure to purchase a wig next season.

Slainte!

Still Recovering from Easter

Pardon my absenteeism. This post was supposed to be here yesterday, but blogspot kept crashing on me. Hmm.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great Easter. We're still recovering from the weekend, 3 days later.

Saturday went by in a whirlwind, and before I knew it, it was 11 something at night and I was still hemming Freshy's suit. By the time my head hit the pillow I was completely wiped and drifted quickly into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, I was awoken just as quickly by Fresharinski jumping on my belly to inform me that the Easter bunny was hopping around downstairs.

"He is weally big and makes a lot of thumps, you know, Mommy. I keep hearing him thumping."

After an hour or so I managed to convince him that he should get back into his own bed just in case the Easter bunny were to check on how many kids live here. I told him if the bunny didn't see two kids, he might only fill one basket.

Okay, so maybe it was slightly mean to imply that a big bunny would be creeping around our house after I already knew his imagination runs wild. What can I say? Desperate times call for desperate measures. Little man was back in his bed in no time, and Mommy was fast asleep. That is, until, Fresh thought he heard the bunny again.

And again.

And again.

Finally, around 5 a.m., I gave up and did what any good parent would do. I scrambled for the remote and put on the first show that vaguely resembled kid TV (remember, it was barely 5 a.m.).

At 6:30 I let him wake Chicky. Unlike Freshy, she loves her sleep and it took a bit to wake her.

We had a great Easter, despite the lack of sleep, and both kids were thrilled to celebrate the day.

The Easter bunny brought Freshy a little crocodile and Chicky an Eaglet (in her purse).

We had gorgeous weather and enjoyed an outdoor Easter egg hunt and time with the fam.

Happy Spring!

Thank goodness the next holiday is MOTHER'S DAY!!! WOO HOO!!!

Removing Easter Egg Dye from Hands

Happy Easter Saturday! The Easter preparations are underway.

After enjoying a morning at the park, the Minis were thrilled to come home and dye Easter eggs. Unfortunately, Freshy has not mastered using an egg dipper, and resorted to sticking his hands in the cup. The results:

If only he were wearing green tomorrow. Unfortunately, I didn't think this look would work with his seersucker suit and watermelon tie.

To clean his hands I first tried antibacterial foaming handwash. It made zero difference (actually, they looked a bit brighter green!).

Second, I tried dish detergent, and his hands still looked like they belonged to a mutant Smurf Hulk boy (and this was after some serious scrubbing):

Lastly, I made a thick paste with baking soda, and it worked great. There is still a slight tint in the hard-to-scrub crevices, but I'm hoping a bath will finish it off:

Thankfully, Chicky is a much neater egg-dipper. Now, if only baking soda would remove the "learning-to-ride-a-bike-with-no-training-wheels" marks:

Have a wonderful Easter!

What I Meant to Say Wednesday

The doorbell just rang. It was our neighbor, Steve. He brought us these:

What I said:

Thank you so much! That was so nice of you!

What I meant to say:

MARRY ME!!!!!!

Pillow Sham Project

Freshy's bed has a hand made tractor quilt. The person that made it for him gave me a TON of left over fabric. I am going to attempt to make some sort of a quilted pillow sham, and maybe a throw pillow or two.

This is the tutorial I am going to attempt to follow:
Pretty Patchwork Pillow Sham Tutorial

I will post pictures as I go. Wish me luck (I'll be sure to need it)!