Anticipating Holiday Cheer

Once November starts, our family moves into holiday mode. We all love the colors, sights and smells of December. Today, looking forward to the season we started hyacinth and daffodil bulbs to be ready for Christmas.

I put Theo in charge, which he loved. He and Rosie scooped polished pebbles and placed a bulb in each glass. Theo watered them just enough, and we happily fussed over their placement in the windows.

My goal this year is to keep the holidays joyful and simple. Today is a promising start.

Update on the Gentian Dog

Remember the purple fiasco?

Besides greatly entertaining the kids and I and creating a multitude of violet spots from one end of our house to the other end of our mini-van, nothing seems to have happened. The dog still itches. It's off to the newest vet on my list in hopes of a new, effective solution forever banishing the yeasties.

Send Maggie your best yeast-free vibes. And vote for Bill this year when he comes up for sainthood.

What Would You Do?

From StuffWhitePeopleDo, a link to ABC New's Primetime "What Would You Do?"

A staged racist interaction in a TX bakery, and we get to see what people do. The scenario is extremely powerful and find I'm at a loss to write anything that might add value.

So watch it and show your kids, too.

November Lotion

All the cold and rain is drying out Rosie's knees, my cuticles, and Theo's elbows. Another batch of lotion to the rescue!

Over the summer I tried using honey in a batch. I didn't notice any improved moisturizing properties, but I did notice an irritating stickiness and an increased tendency for the dog to follow me around trying to lick me.

Back to a more conservative mix, here's what is on the stove today:

2 TBSP beeswax

3/4 c grapeseed oil

1/4 c jojoba oil

2 TBSP coconut oil

1 c olive oil

1 c water

6 drops sweet orange oil

6 drops rosemary oil

This recipe makes enough to fill my 16 oz pump, with about 4 ounces left over. First person to post in comments gets a sample. I love to share!

Here's a trick I've learned to getting the lotion into the containers: when the lotion is mixed and cooled, I spoon it all into a gallon size ziplock bag. Once I've zipped the bag, I cut a tiny corner off on side and easily squeeze the contents of the bag into the small hole of the receiving containers.

The Price of Stinginess

One of the things I really appreciate is a good hair cut. A good cut makes my curly/frizzy hair look great, is easy to manage and grows out well. I feel so much better about myself when I like the way my hair looks.

On the other hand, one of the things I really hate spending money on is haircuts. Somehow it just pains me to shell out $75 for these things. So I tend to go 6-8 months between shearings.

Herein lies my problem. The overall cut grows out well, but the bangs, well, they just grow. So rather than pay the $7 for the bimonthly bang trim, I often do it myself.

Remember the aforementioned curly/frizzy hair? It dries much shorter than it is wet and has liberal cowlicks around my face. So really, only a professional has any business working with it. As a punishment for my $7 stinginess this week, I am sporting a bang trim that comes half way up my forehead and is much shorter on the right side than the left.

I look like a hot mama from the back and a sneaky five year old from the front. But at least I can laugh at myself (month after month after month).

How about you? Do you cut your own hair? How much do you pay for a cut? When was the last time you had a really bad hair day? Have your kids whacked their own hair yet? Any volunteers to come over for tea and a trim in about 6 weeks?

Wanna Peek at my Bookmark Bars?

My internet browser, Safari, lets me keep my favorite websites in two places: the bookmark bar for the sites I use often and a bookmarks page for the bunches of important sites I must remember not to forget.

I'm guessing what's on our bookmark bars says plenty about us. You know - revealing information about age, profession, interests and values just waiting to be over interpreted.

Here's mine:

Draw3D - 10 minute drawing lessons I do most days with Rosie. Super fun!

SHG Multiply - Multiply site that is supposed to be great for connecting with other homeschoolers, except I never click to it.

Google Reader - all my favorite blogs via RSS feed (click here if you've not yet been introduced to the beauty of readers). I try really hard to only go here a few times a day. Sigh.

Source: Sara - yes, a link to my own blog so I can easily start a post and obsessively check for comments.

H@OH - the amazing History at Our House conference call program that the kids do. This gets us to the materials for the day, class notes and book recommendations. Used daily, at least.

Google Maps - 'cuz I gotta know how to get to park day, field trips and appointments. Clicked at least 3x a week

Wikipedia - 'cuz I gotta know. Used probably every other day.

Thesaurus - I use this almost every time I write a blog post since I figure y'all don't want to read the same few words over and over and over and over

SPL - Seattle Public Library. Gets many hits from me in a week.

What's your list?

more Adoption Awareness Month

ThirdMom wrote a lovely post about November. With college-age kids her thoughts on adoption are matured and clear.