Better than hair gel

I bet you're wondering what I'm talking about. I mean, what could be better than hair gel for making Nora's hair stay in a mohawk so easily? What new miracle magical hair product is out there? It's actually something quite simple, something you probably have around the house. My wonderful girls discovered it this morning while playing oh so quietly upstairs. My mommy radar starting going off so I went to check on them and first noticed the medicine like smell when I found them in Nora's room. I then noticed white splotches on their clothes, arms, and if you look closely, in Nora's hair. Yes, they found the Desitin and discovered its unique playing potential. We are still smelling it hours later. I don't think I'll be using it on my own hair anytime soon. But feel free to examine the possibilities yourself!

Flying High

We've had a few windy days around here and took advantage of the weather to fly some kites. The first time a friendly neighbor had an extra kite for Matthew to borrow. After seeing how well he could manage the kite, we made a purchase at the dollar store the next day. Our dollar store purchases didn't last quite as long as our friend's. I don't know if it was because the wind was stronger or because we had a rectangle kite as opposed to a triangle, but our kites suffered a quick demise. At least they were only a dollar!

It's a...

No, we're not having another baby...yet. But today I sure felt like a labor coach. My kids all seem to have difficulties with constipation although they drink plenty of fluids and eat plenty of foods rich in fiber. Corinne, being Corinne, definitely exaggerates the experience. Shortly after dinner tonight she headed upstairs into her bathroom to sit on the toilet. Matthew is busy cleaning up the toys while I'm busy cleaning up dinner. 15 minutes later I go upstairs to coach the kids through finishing cleaning up the toys. But it's only Matthew and Nora. Corinne is still in the bathroom. By now she hears me upstairs and desperately tells me I need to come in the bathroom with her. So I go in and Nora follows me in and closes the door. She has a thing with closing doors lately. Corinne definitely does not want Nora in there and yells for Nora to get out. But I'm not allowed out of the bathroom. 30 minutes have passed and she is sweating and hot so I help her remove her clothes (since she has to change into pajamas afterwards anyways). By now she's crying in between pushing episodes. I have to talk calmly and sweetly to her to relieve her aggravation and help her focus. Now Nora is crying for me to hold her so I leave to put Nora to bed and Corinne begins crying again for me to stay in the bathroom with her. 45 minutes have passed and I return to the bathroom and calm Corinne down again and help her focus. She begins pushing more intently now. I try hard not to laugh as her face turns a dark red and the veins bulge from her neck. There's just something funny about babies and kids pushing. Finally, after an hour, we have a .......... poop! All of the sudden all sadness and frustration just disappear. Congratulations Corinne! I only wish she had more to show for all of her efforts besides a wipe on the bottom, flush of the toilet, and a wash of the hands. Now I feel much more sympathy and empathy for those husbands and those who coach women through labor.

Happy Easter!

Here are a few pictures from our Easter egg hung with cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Strong's house.

Before and after

Here are some before and after pictures of our yards. Note that we are still not finished with the back. This is the before on the side of the house with the air conditioners.

After. We moved the block wall back about 20 feet and added cement so we could move the hot tub to the side of the house instead of in the middle of the back yard. We still don't know if it works yet but that is a project for a later date.



This is the before shot of the backyard before we moved in and the original placement of the hot tub. This is also before all the rain of this spring and the growth of a jungle of weeds. After shot of the cement we had extended across the back of the house and along both sides of the house. Also a grapefruit tree in the background.

Here we have across the back from left to right: orange tree, apple tree, lemon tree, apple tree, and a peach tree. We also have two sissoo trees on each end of the yard for morning and afternoon shade. There are 4 lantana shrubs between the trees along the back wall. We still want to put in grass in the middle and a rock border around the edge of the yard with a raised planter garden at the bottom right of the picture.

What the front of the house looked like when we bought it. Soon after a windstorm blew over that mesquite tree in the front so there were only 4 shrubs for a while. Our HOA requires 1 tree and 8 shrubs so we had to add some more plants to our front yard to meet standards.

After: a new mesquite tree, a palm, 2 orange jubilee, yellow lantana, and the already established ruellia and Texas sage. We also planted another mesquite and yellow lantana on the other side of the driveway.

Notice anything different?

Fridge/freezer before:

Fridge/freezer after.

This is what Jeremy and I accomplished (mostly Jeremy) one night after the kids went to bed. We didn't finish until 2 am, just in time for Corinne to wake up throwing up. Needless to say I didn't get any sleep that night.