My Mixed Chick...*Updated at Bottom**

So the subject of hair care has been in my life since Vivi came home.

As an infant she had what we fondly referred to as the "Babyhawk".

Which adding a bow, quickly turned into... The Pebbles Flintstone.

However, bed head has always been a problem,
then...
and now.

But the bad part was that "bed head" was quickly becoming "mid afternoon head" and "Good grief, I have to do her hair again before Bible study Head". In the unfortunate event that we had to go anywhere after her first morning "do" had been done, we were dealing with a bad case of Ragamuffin. So off I went to purchase some expensive stuff online for African American girls, and it just didn't do the trick.
Until now...

We have discovered this amazing product. I bought this 3 step set which includes shampooing, deep conditioner that I comb throughout and then rinse, and leave-in curl conditioner that I scrunch her hair with.

So we went from this:aww...poor baby.
(This was actually how she looked at a waterpark one morning, I did nothing to it in the hopes it would just get wet. Not so much.)

To This:
That is what I call miracle potion!

Now if only we could tame her personality for the "low" price of $39.33...

Check out the website: Mixed Chicks.

Ok, so I emailed the company to tell them about how we love the products and sent them a link to this blog so they could see the before and after shots, and this is the email I got this afternoon:

"Hi Laurie, Your blog is amazing. I absolutely love it! We are going to twitter about it. She is so cute and the product has done wonders for her curls! I am going to send you a nice package with a cute shirt for her and product too. You should have it early next week. Thanks for sharing that! -Wendi"

Do ya'll see how not only is the product great, but the company is too?!
I will post a photo of Vivi in her t-shirt once it arrives. Thank you, Mixed Chicks!

summer reading program

We have been busy working on summer reading programs over the past month. We are filling out logs for Half Price Books , Borders, and the library. The kids have enjoyed their coupons for free food and their free books for completing their logs. It has been a lot of fun. And Half Price gives a $3 gift card for every log turned in. Score!

For Isaac, I am particularly interested in preparing him for kindergarten. So I downloaded a reading chart off of http://www.printablebehaviorcharts.com/ and we put a sticker on for each book he reads to me, typically level one books. After he reads 10 books, he earns a $5 gift coin from target which are sold in packs of 5. He has already read 11 books, so I need to go purchase these giftcoins today to give him his first one. He told me he wants to buy gum. That is easy enough! After he reads his book, he opens this K-2nd grade journal, writes the title down and picks out one page of the book to copy. Then he has to draw a picture of what the story was about. This is helping his handwriting skills and reading comprehension. We have really enjoyed doing this together.The next thing we are working on is a list of counting 1 to 100, to help him count and recognize those numbers and sight words from the Kindergarten Dolch Word List.

And finally, I purchased a Summer Skills workbook from B & N that is for kids going into 1st grade. He finished his kindergarten Brain Quest workbook during his year in Pre-K so we have moved up to a 1st grade workbook. That has been fun for me to see all the things he knows that I didn't even know he knew! That's a tongue twister. :)

So amidst the water parks, icecream, trips, Chuck E Cheese, and playgroups we have done this summer, we are using our stay at home days to read, write, and learn. I have heard that Kindergarten is like the new 1st grade as far as what they want the kids to do and know, so giving Isaac a good kick start should only help continue his joy for school and learning. Come August, I will begin my countdown with Back to School posts...so you can look forward to that!

Highlights of our Weekend

We spent our 4th of July weekend in Houston with all of Billy's family.

Activities included...

Swimming with Aunt Beth

Biking with Padre

(Check out the cool bikes the kids got from their grandparents!)

Legos with Aunt Vicki

And Incredible Pizza with everyone!

Aunt Virginia made this yummy icecream cake and gave the kids little party favor boxes with hand painted masks that she did herself!

Thank you to our family for a wonderful weekend!

We were loved on and well fed for 3 days.

Can't wait to be with everyone again soon!

Have a great Independence Day!

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend.

See you back here next week!

We Are Officially Approved!!!

I had to measure the kids for a last minute addition to our homestudy.

Now Vivi asks every morning if i will measure her, "Did I grown?" she asks.

After pulling the tape to her head I look at it and say,

"ViviNana Pote...Practically Perfect in Every Way." She smiles.

But on to the reason for this post...as of yesterday, we are approved to adopt a newborn through Generations! Woohoo! They sent the invoice of the first $4,500 so we are praying our support comes rolling in.

Isaac continues to enjoy his time with his grandparents. You can view the adventures he has been having on the blog his Nana set up HERE.

Last night I called and he was out of the camper racing bikes with some other kids. He came to the phone and I said, "Isaac, I miss you so much." He replied with, "I miss you too Mom, but you will be on your way. Gotta go. Bye" Sheesh. I guess you can tell he is having a blast!

Vivi and Mommy went to the waterpark!

We have tried to stay busy this week so we won't miss our Isaac too much.
Yesterday it was 3 hours at a small waterpark in a neighboring town.

Loving the slide.

Then she entered a watermelon eating contest.

She didn't win, but she hung in to the end!