Valentines day...the rivalry continues.

I used to not make a big deal out of Valentines day. Then I had kids, and those kids started going to school. Suddenly Valentines day started to mean something. We have always made hand made Valentines for the kids to hand out at school.  Nothing overly fancy. Just something simple that the kids can do themselves. A few years back I decided that it would be fun if we made valentines to give to everyone in our immediate family. We made fancy Valentine pockets to put our valentines in. I made some home made valentines for the kids...daddy came home with helium balloons. And so the rivalry began.

This year when February hit the kids started asking me how I planned to out do dad this year. I told them that it wasn't worth trying, Dad is always going to be cooler than me. They agreed with that, and reminded me how last year all I got them were some Valentines pencils that I had picked up from our ward's Sweetheart Dinner the week before. Dad on the other hand bought them stuffed animals, chocolate and a gift certificate to Beaners to get their hair cut. In my defense I was 9 months pregnant and scheduled to be induced the very next day. I think I qualified for a year off.

While I played into there teasing and taunting, I secretly had a plan. I bought the girls some super sappy valentines cards and wrote super sappy messages about how proud I am of them and all that they are and all that they do, and how much I love them. Then I hid them among the Valentines that they would be handing out at school. I also spent the past few nights creating miniature stuffed animals. They turned out amazing!

I left them out on the kitchen table to be found in the morning. Daddy bought the big girls potted mini roses and chocolate. James got an angry bird pillow with chocolate and Ella a new super comfy blanket and pillow. 

The kids loved everything, and I think it's fair to say that I redeemed myself this year.

Going Shampoo-less

So the other day I saw a post of Facebook about not shampooing your hair. Instead you use Baking Soda as a wash and Apple Cider Vinegar as a conditioner (can't find the link for the life of me). I've read about this method before and thought about trying it, but I was a skeptic, and it sounded complicated...finding that perfect balance of baking soda and apple cider vinegar. At the time, I wasn't up for the challenge. But when I read this post the other day, it was so simple. Just put baking soda on your wet hair. Massage into scalp. Rinse. Put 1tbsp apple cider vinegar in a cup of water and poor over hair. Let sit for a minute or so. Rinse. Done.
 I haven't been happy with my hair for awhile now. I keep switching my shampoo, trying to find something that leaves my hair feeling soft and looking great, but just when I find one, a couple of weeks later, I'm right back to where I was before. I know some swear by salon grade shampoo, but I am just not willing to pay the prices. So when I saw this post I thought, what the heck, the next time I shower, I'll give it a try.
Now I generally only wash my hair every 4 or 5 days, keep that in mind. If you are use to washing your hair more frequently than this, you are likely to have a very different experience. I stepped into the shower, wet my hair, applied about 1/4 cup baking soda (I have A LOT of hair) massaged it in to the roots. Rinsed. Dipped the ends of my hair in the cup of water and apple cider vinegar and let soak for a bit and then dumped the remainder over my head, and let it sit while I finished washing the rest of me. Then I rinsed. I always let my hair dry naturally. I have dead straight hair that doesn't do anything but hang there and I am never in that big of a hurry to go somewhere that I need to have it dry right away. When my hair was completely dry, I was amazed! I can't remember the last time my hair felt this soft! I had read the warning about the "Transition Stage" and how you should be prepared for crappy hair for awhile, but that so isn't the case for me. It is a little more static-y than usual, so I plan on looking into what kind of solutions there are for that. But other than that, I am amazed. So far so good. I plan to keep at this. Imagine the savings!
In my searching for the post that inspired me to just do it, I came across this FB group called No Poo (no shampoo) & Low Poo Hair Care Group, which led me to this website, coderedhat.com. The website has tonnes of info about this method and other treatments to go along with it. So I'll file it away so that if I ever come across any problems, I can check back for what possible solutions there may be.