Zoe's Hair

If you recall the Charlotte incident, you remember that Claire and I took Zoe's braids out last week. I was planning to put extensions in Friday and Saturday, but the cousins came over Friday (which was very fun!) and Zoe chose to go with Jason Saturday instead of work on her hair - which was fine with me. I told her that she and I could wake up early Sunday morning and I would do her hair since she wanted something done before church.

I knew we had to do something "quick." But, since I've only done oh . . . you know, one hair style on the girls (extensions) I don't have a lot of options in my back pocket. I was going to divide her hair up in six big sections, put really thick braids in them and then put that in one big braid. 

But, that didn't work. Too much hair in each section. So, I divided up the sections some more and put in fairly thick braids/extensions. The only problem was that more sections meant more time. The clock was ticking closer and closer to 8:30a, when we needed to leave for church. 

But, thankfully we finished in time. It took me 1.5 hours, which compared to the 7-9 hours for full extensions, seemed "fast!"

Here is the view from the top on Monday.

And the back. Zoe took the initiative to put the braids in two pig tails and it turned out SO CUTE!

I seriously LOVE it!

When I started this 'do' I planned to have it be temporary (last only a few days). But, now I hope we can keep it looking good for a few weeks. 

I'm thankful God's grace extends to the details of figuring out what to do with my daughter's hair on a random Sunday morning!

A Good Weekend & Good Monday So Far

I am so thankful for the enjoyable and restful weekend we had. It wasn't without many issues but that is our new normal. And it is okay. 

On Saturday afternoon Jason took the girls to Des Moines to look at a car for his mom at the exact same time as the boys slept. Jackpot for me! Now, don't get me wrong . . . I love my girls. Their difficult pasts just make life challenging right now. Even during rest time during the week, I still have to be on alert.

So, two hours with no one needing mom on Saturday felt like I won the lottery. You better believe I did some organizing during that time. I organized the extra toys in the basement (that we have put away until a later date), put some in the garage sale bin and all around tidied up. After Jason and the girls got home, Jason took all the kids on a bike ride to the soccer fields/park off of Hwy 30. I made soup and then took off for a run (my body still hurts - it has been a couple months since I last ran!). I ran to where Jason and the kids were - down at the river by the bridge on Hwy 30. The kids were having a blast throwing rocks in the water. Zoe rode her bike home with me while I ran and the others came later.

Even though there were some difficult behaviors that needed addressed on Saturday, doing some organizing and going running made me feel so incredibly normal. A normal I haven't felt in a long time. I am so thankful for it, even now.

Sunday we all napped. It felt wonderful to get that extra rest!

Claire shared her left over ice cream on from Saturday on her own initiative with the boys. So sweet.

Sunday afternoon we went to the school park. Jason just started showing Zoe how to dribble a basketball last week and she is really starting to get the hang of it. The girl is all muscle so I would guess that she has some pretty good athletic ability.

 Jason loves to let the boys dunk the ball and then hang from the rim!

Monday, March 12th.
The kids hooked the bike trailer up to the boys' trikes. It was hilarious to watch Abram peddling down the sidewalk with the bike trailer on his trike!

And then I hooked it to Zoe's bike. She had fun carting the boys up and down the sidewalk and then to the park when we all went.

Work of the Heavens

A must-read post for anyone adopting or interested in adoption. Here is an excerpt:

Dear one, it is not the shoes and skin and hair and food you need to devote the most energy toward: It is their heart. No matter what age your child comes to you, abandonment runs deep and the wounds are severe. Broken biological attachment breaks something in our children, and it is the work of the heavens to fuse it back together.

Your child will come to you scared and alone and ashamed and insecure. At best. 

Read on for the rest of what Jen Hatmaker has to say.