Triebenbach Adventures

Christmas

2012-01-16T14:11:00.002-06:00

Christmas day was in interesting day to say the least. We all got up and Autumn was SO excited to get a trophy from Santa (her something shiny). Then she went through her stocking to find some very large chocolate coins wrapped in shiny gold foil. We at our traditional coffee cake and then opened presents. It was lots of fun, she was so excited not only to open her own presents but also to watch Kurt and me open ours. She totally gets the "giving spirit" part of this holiday. After that I took some things downstairs, tripped and broke my ankle. Oh happy day!

Muddy dinosaurs from Dinosaur Train (they get clean in warm water)

Aunt Jane (my sister not my aunt) has GREAT taste!

I see somping!!

Let's play your game Mommy

Or we could play my game

Look closely and you can see the break. I broke my navicular bone if you wanted to know :)

waiting in the ER room. Took 4 hours to get this far and another one to get seen and splinted!

(a week later) Autumn was in heaven when the nurse asked her to help put my cast on. She also picked the red color I now have.

She even signed it for me. After the first 'A' we decided she should probably write a little smaller.

Sesame Street:Song: I Love My Hair

2011-12-26T11:57:00.000-06:00

We've watched this quite a few times this morning. :)

Quick Catch Up

2011-12-07T14:33:00.000-06:00

Iron Man Pumpkin

It's been a while since I put anything up here, we've been BUSY lately.

Making pumpkin soup

Need more goop please

Reading with Grandma P

Making rolls for Thanksgiving dinner

Now for the sweet potatoes

The bestest birthday cake

Safety goggles

REAL tools!!!!

The three trouble makers.

Great Grandpa Crosby

2011-10-26T13:42:00.001-06:00

We were in Kansas City over the weekend and had a great time! We spent the day with Great Grandpa at his house. Autumn explored the backyards of the neighborhood and found some great bird feathers and sticks and rocks. She had fun playing with Grandpa's pattern blocks. She pretended they were a birthday cake and we had to take turns blowing out the candles and singing Happy Birthday. She also discovered that one of his chairs goes WAY up and you have to work hard to keep from sliding off of it. I'll put more pictures in another post, I just wanted to get these up.

It's your birthday Grandpa

These sticks are your present for your collection

I'll take a piece of cake, thanks

WOW this chair goes high

Renaissance Festival

2011-09-24T16:05:00.001-06:00

Today we went to the Renaissance Festival. It is Pirate weekend this weekend and Autumn wore her pirate costume, she had a lot of fun and got a lot of compliments.

Let's be off me hearties

He's pretty good at that.

Pirates can belly dance too

Come on fella, you need to sit down a bit

Owls are very cool

She's really really big

Elephants are good pirate transportation

Snake or parrot.....hmmmmmm

This pirate needs some food

This way me hearties

A good pirate can entertain the crew

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My Sunday

2011-09-05T11:33:00.000-06:00

Here is a summary of yesterday:

Drag home from church because the coffee never did kick in. Make lunch for Autumn and then crash on a bed and attempt to take a nap. Autumn and Shadow are making lots of noise, ignore and try to sleep anyway. Kurt comes in and needs help getting a chicken bone from Shadow: forget nap, ain't gonna happen. Get bone away from dog and make myself lunch. Discover the dishwasher needs to be emptied, ignore it.

Try to get a couple of things done on the computer, end up turning on a game for Autumn to play instead. Get Kurt to help Autumn so I can go start laundry. Get all the laundry downstairs and start to sort, can't find any laundry baskets. Go on a hunt and have to empty them of all the things that don't belong and put them all away. Back in the laundry room open the washer to put a load in only to discover there is already a load in there. Open the dryer to put wet sheets and only to discover there is a load in there as well. Apparently I actually started laundry yesterday! Fold dry sheets, put wet sheets in dryer, toss load of clothes in washer. Take hamper back upstairs with intention of setting timer to remind me to go check laundry. Get upstairs and have to take the dog outside, help Autumn with some thing or other, answer a question for Kurt......discover it's supper time, so I start supper only to hear "i don't want that" "i don't like that" give up and make popcorn. Get Autumn in her pjs, read a couple of books, sit at the piano and play through a few tunes, take a shower and head to bed.....oh, wait.....there's wet laundry in the washer....fold dry sheets toss clothes in dryer head back upstairs. I think I want some ice cream, discover the dishwasher still needs to be emptied.......Throw up my hands and go to bed.

And yet at the end of the day, the spontaneous hugs, the singing shows on the deck, the "special rock just for you mommy" and snuggling at bedtime......it's totally worth it!

Definitely worth seeing the neighbors faces when your child is singing at the top of her lungs on the deck "every dinosaur poops"

Now what was I going to do yesterday? mend a costume for Autumn, work on some prep for school, go for a walk (by myself!) and play a game with Kurt and Autumn. :P Good thing today is a holiday!

Furry

2011-09-02T14:09:00.000-06:00

Wednesday evening Autumn and I took Shadow for a walk. A half mile into our mile and a half walk we met Furry. Autumn decided he needed to come home with us so she carried him all the way home and then we put him on our tree in the front yard where he can have a new home.

Autumn's Story

2011-08-20T20:31:00.000-06:00

Autumn has told me her story a few times now and the more she tells it the more it is the same each time so I thought I'd let you all read what she has been telling me :)

Once in a time there was a little girl with a green cape, a cookie boy, and 3 little pigs. One day the little girl was going to her grandma’s house with soup cause she was sick and then Rexy knocked on the door of the 1^st pigs house and said “little pig let me eat you” and the pig said “not by my hairy chin” and he jumped out the chimney and ran with the cookie boy to his brother’s house. Then the spinosaurus ate the grandma and when the green girl came in she said “grandma what big eyes you have” and the spinosaurus said “the better to see you with” and the girl said “grandma what a big nose you have” and she said “so I can smell the soup”. Then Rexy knocked on the 2^nd little pigs house and said “little pig let me eat you” and the pig said “not by my hairy chinny chin” and then Rexy roared and stomped the door down but the brothers ran through the window and went to their brother’s house made out of bricks. The cookie boy kept running saying “running running can’t catch me” and there was a cow and a duck and a dog and a old grandma and old grandpa chasing him. He runed and runed to a river where there was no boats. Then the little girl said “grandma what a big spine you have” and the spinosaurus said “so I can eat you up” and he gulped her right down to his tummy. She found her grandma in there and they jumped and yelled “HELLLLPP” till a tree man came and told the spinosaurus that he can’t eat people and he’d just have to throw them up.

so he did and the little green girl gave her grandma and the tree man the soup. Then the Teratops saw the cookie boy and said “I can help you get over the river” but the cookie boy said “nope you’ll eat me” and the teratops said “no I promise” and so the cookie boy jumped on the teratps’ back and the went into the water. The cookie boy said “I don’t want to go under” and the teratops said then jump on my frill so you are taller. The cookie boy did and then Rexy said to the little pig “little pig let me eat you” and the pigs said “not on our chinny hairs” and Rexy tried to stomp the house but the bricks was too strong. So he climbed in the chimney but the pigs were making soup in there and he fall in and got burned so he jumped out the window and ran away. A End (wait what happened to the cookie?) Oh, the cookie jumped on the teratops frill and fell onto his horn where he was stuck.

Autumn's New Room

2011-08-13T19:57:00.000-06:00

The switch took a few days. One night to move everything out of the downstairs room, one day to paint said room, one day for a friend to help move the heavy stuff up and down, one day to get the new spare room mostly set up. :)

A work in process...

Autumn has officially moved downstairs. She's been sleeping downstairs in the "guest room" for almost a month and a half and we finally got it painted the way she wanted and her things moved down. We can't put the dinosaurs on the walls yet because the paint has to cure. Who knew? (I sure didn't). So it's all done except for the decorating. Autumn picked the colors and the curtains. We were at Target one day and she picked the green curtains. They are almost a perfect match for the wall, I just need to hem them. :)

My New Room

See the Grandmas by my pillow?

Reading Corner

A Rainy Day

2011-08-13T19:23:00.000-06:00

We had a good storm the other day and when the rain calmed down a little Autumn and Shadow went outside to play and get wet. They found a great mud puddle in the drive way and watched stick boats float down the gutter.

They were both soaking wet by the time they came in, and both muddy as well. Autumn thought it was funny that she took a shower in the rain and then had to take a bath to get all the mud off. :)

Autumn "in" the Ray Tank

2011-08-13T19:04:00.000-06:00

Autumn had so much fun sitting in the bubble that let her be "in" the tank with the rays!

Sea Live Aquarium

2011-08-01T13:31:00.001-06:00

Autumn and I went to the aquarium at the Mall of America today. As a teacher I get a free membership and discounted family membership so I take advantage of that offer and we go as often as we can. This spring they remodeled and I really love what they've done with the new exhibits and rearranging the old ones. She had so much fun when we got to the end we started all over again. :)

Looking in the ray tank

In the bubble of the ray tank. You can be "inside" with the rays.

The touch tank with chocolate chip sea stars

Pacific Nettles

Conversation with a sea turtle

Inside a Megalodon's mouth (a dinosaur shark)

A baby horseshoe crab (around since the dinosaurs)

Oh, yes, we can work dinosaurs into just about any activity. :)

Little Fish

2011-07-31T20:41:00.000-06:00

Here is my little fish

The New Piano

2011-07-31T19:26:00.000-06:00

Kurt and Autumn have been giving the new piano a good workout. I'll have to wait till my OT and I get my finger back in working order. :(

Trip to Michigan 2011

2011-07-28T15:48:00.000-06:00

Once again we made it to Michigan for a week of relaxing and recharging. This year we were lucky enough to go with my parents (they came with us when Autumn was about 1 1/2 years old). Autumn really enjoyed being able to live in her swimming suit. Here are a random selection of pictures from our trip.

Letter to People Wanting to Touch Chocolate Hair

2011-07-27T11:03:00.000-06:00

I follow a blog called "Chocolate Hair, Vanilla Care". I love this woman and her tips and tricks and advice and..... She posted a letter that she wrote that says what I've always wanted to say but so much more eloquently!

http://www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com/2011/07/open-letter-to-people-regarding.html#more

Someone posted a comment under her letter to the effect of "when people ask me what my hair feels like I tell them 'It feels like HAIR, what else would it feel like?'"

I have to agree with the mom who wrote this letter, we do teach our children that they have their own personal space and they don't have to put up with touch they don't like, but I can't tell you how many times complete STRANGERS come up and touch Autumn's hair all the while talking to me! Still working on helping Autumn tell people not to touch her hair without asking first. But really, why should I have to hang a sign around her neck saying "please ask before touching me!" ? There are people she doesn't mind touching her hair and they know who they are. :) This summer we went on vacation to Michigan and a neighbor asked Autumn "can I feel your hair sweetheart?" Autumn said "yes" and the woman (a grandmother) got down at eye level and complimented Autumn on how soft and curly it was. I was so thrilled that someone had not only asked first but asked Autumn instead of me! Thanks Mrs Nemier (I know I just botched that spelling!)

Pics of our vacation and daily life coming soon, I've been a busy mama this summer!

Easter Egg Hunting

2011-05-06T12:49:00.001-06:00

On Easter we spent the morning at church so we hunted eggs after naps. It was so nice outside Autumn went barefoot (so did I). The next week we had SNOW falling from the sky!! Crazy weather lately.

The Easter Princess

2011-04-26T13:43:00.001-06:00

Autumn and I went Easter Dress shopping a week ago and she picked out this very pretty yellow dress that also came with a hat and gloves. She fell in love with the gloves.

Hand Crafted Beads

2011-03-28T13:24:00.000-06:00

Here are a few beads I've created for Autumn, don't have a great picture of the snowman beads, she isn't the most motionless child I've ever seen. :) I'm going to be making beads and selling them as part of our adoption fund-raising efforts. If you have something special you want please let me know. I'll post pictures as I make things and can certainly make more of anything I've already figured out. I believe Iron-Man is next on Autumn's agenda, Easter eggs are my next thought. I'm going to work on a tiger stripe something since she likes tigers. I figured I can do just about any animal stripe, I'm playing with the spotted animal prints. Most sports balls are completely do-able and pony beads are very easy.

Holidays are fun to try to work out, Autumn wanted Candy Canes. Well I could NOT figure out how to make those into beads, I was trying for a peppermint candy but didn't get it figured out, which is how we ended up with these pony beads instead. I think I have the swirled candy figured out now. Acorns for fall sound like fun and I'm going to give those a shot. It really is limited by imagination.

These are the snowmen that you can hardly see and I can't find the good picture I took. But she has 6 snowmen hanging from the top of her head and then the candy cane pony beads on the smaller box braids.

Use the "contact me" form on here to let me know what you want me to make. Prices will depend on what you want and how many of them. I will always let you know the price before I start.

A Soapbox Moment part 2

2011-03-21T19:42:00.001-06:00

So that last post leads to this one: Unbelievable things people have said to me over the course of the adoption process and after we brought Autumn home. (I'm leaving out the things I said inside my head because most of the time the thoughts aren't very appropriate or just overly sarcastic)

Is she your real child? (YES she is!)
She's beautiful but don't you wish you could have one that looks like you? (not really this is the child God created for us, why would I change that?)
Where is her real mother? (excuse me??!!!?!?! standing right in front of you!)
Why did you adopt her? (that was God's plan)
Couldn't you have your own children? (um....she is my own child!)
Do you know anything about her real parents? (yes, I have blonde hair and blue eyes....)
Does she know who her real mom is? (yes, it's me!)
Does she call you mom? (i can't even dignify that with a response--out loud anyway)
When did you get her?
Why did you wait so long to have kids?
Why didn't her real mom want her? (oh PLEASE don't ask that question around her birth mom, how insensitive can you get?! Of course her birth mom wanted her, and it's none of your business why she chose this option for her daughter)
Why didn't you adopt a white baby? (oh, I'm so not going there)
Oh my goodness what do you do with her hair? I'd never be able to figure that stuff out!
Does she know she's adopted? (nope, it's a state secret.....of course she knows, she even knows she grew in her birth mom's tummy because Mommy's tummy is broken)
Didn't you know that Asian babies are cheaper? (in what reality?!?!)
What did she cost? (about the same that your baby cost)

Oh and this list just keeps going! (pause to once again say the Serenity Prayer....)

Do you know that my daughter HEARS these questions?!?! Honestly people, THINK before you speak!!!! I have no problem talking about our experience with adoption, actually I love talking about it but not to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that is just being nosy. If you really want to know about adoption and have some serious questions about the process itself, I'm happy to sit and talk to you. But please don't ask stupid questions when my daughter is standing right there, she's going to hear enough of these from her peers as she gets older, she shouldn't have to hear it from the adults she respects (or even adults she doesn't know), adults are supposed to have a little more care for children's feelings than that. On the other hand I work with lots of families and see how they talk about their own children right in front of them! Unbelievable!!!!

Our daughter is an amazing gift from God, her birth mom is also a wonderful gift from God, she is a very important part of our family. I can't even begin to imagine the emotions she went through before and after Autumn's birth and every time she sees Autumn; but I do know that the same stupid questions that hurt me and my daughter also hurt her birth mom. I would not trade Autumn for anything in this world, and no, I don't wish she looked like me. I love the way she looks, she is a beautiful little girl, inside and out. I enjoy learning about how to care for her hair and all the fun things we can do with it. I love the joy she has of life and every little thing about the world around her. Autumn loves God and talks to him as if she were talking to a friend, she knows that Jesus lives in her heart and that the angels sleep with her and keep her and her friends safe at night. I think that she even talks to her angel sister and her angel grandmothers from comments she has made.She is so creative and imaginative and smart and adventurous (sometimes a little to much for my taste, there are days I cover my eyes and pray), she is curious and caring, she is very musically talented and I can't wait to see where her talents and interests take her in life. Why would I want to miss even a second of any of that?!

A Soapbox Moment part 1

2011-03-21T19:13:00.001-06:00

A few days ago I was at a party and all of us mom's were talking about our kids (because what mom doesn't?) I mentioned in the course of this casual conversation that I can't have kids and honestly, I'm not looking for stupid platitudes and "empathy" from someone who's never been there. It has taken me YEARS to be able to say that casually, and accept that it is part of who I am. So I thought I'd share some of the unbelievable things people have said in the past:

It just wasn't meant to be
These things happen for a reason
Maybe you weren't trying hard enough
You just need to relax
If you'd adopt then you could get pregnant (WHAT!?!?! um....I have adopted...)
You can have mine, they are driving me crazy
Oh, parenting is such hard work
You are so lucky, my husband just has to look at me and I get pregnant
Did you try the backseat of a car?

and on and on it goes! Here's the thing......try listening to what you are about to say before you say it. If these are the direction you are headed please just keep your mouth shut. Or rather try "I'm so sorry, that must be hard". And don't say "i know just how you must feel" if you've never been where I am because you actually have NO idea how I feel. I have come to terms with the broken parts of my body but that doesn't mean that I still feel sad or grieve and that these things can't hurt me anymore. Do I feel little pangs of sadness and jealousy when friends and family are getting pregnant around me? Of course, but I'm also thrilled for them and can't wait to meet their new little one! (ok now I'm off to say the Serenity prayer a few times)

The Clean Up

2011-03-01T08:37:00.000-06:00

When we made pizza last week I had the misfortune of picking up the bag of flour and having it rip and then fall onto the floor. Autumn thought it was the funniest thing, that Mommy made such a mess. As I was standing there still in shock she came over to me, patten my hip (about as high as she could reach) and while sighing and shaking her head said "it happens Mommy". Then she promptly wanted to clean it up. She actually did a pretty good job with that large broom.

Making Pizza

2011-02-22T14:07:00.000-06:00

Saturday Autumn and I made pizza for supper. Autumn is a fabulous dough kneader, she especially likes to punch punch punch the dough.

After the dough "grew" and we punched it down and it "grew" again we spread it on the pan and then added toppings. She's very artistic about it (I made the line of circle meat) and if a mushroom was too close to another mushroom she'd pick one up and move it till it had a good spot.

Bunch of Clowns

2011-02-10T13:42:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures of the clowns at Grandma and Grandpa Triebenbach's 50th Anniversary celebration

Cousins

2011-02-08T15:42:00.002-06:00

Cute cousins! We went to Osakis for my in-laws 50th anniversary and Autumn had a wonderful time playing with her cousin and regaling her grandparents with numerous stories.

Autumn was practicing her texting skills on her cousin's phone. Unfortunately I think she's a natural!

Grandpa and his girls!

Birthdays, Cats, and Dinosaurs.....oh my

2011-02-08T14:50:00.000-06:00

For Kurt's birthday we had some friends over to eat Chili, Potato soup, Egg Drop soup, and watch the Timberwolves on TV. Autumn was very excited about the whole thing, especially the cake.

Autumn and Nero get along sometimes, other times he merely tolerates her. This time though, he was more than willing to let her cuddle.

This was taken at the zoo.

Here is my paleontologist. She got these fossil dinos from her cousin for Christmas and I finally hit on the brilliant idea of putting black beans in a tub and letting her "dig" for them. It's her new favorite thing to do while I'm cooking.

Snowbound Fun

2010-12-17T14:56:00.005-06:00

During our blizzard we spent Saturday cuddling with a very sick little girl. On Sunday she was much better so we sat down and made some ornaments. A few we sent off and a couple we kept as family ornaments. I think we'll make this a yearly tradition. That ornament I'm holding is the snowman one (at the bottom) that we made with thumb prints. I painted Autumn's thumb and then guided her thumb to where we wanted it. So afterwards she wanted to paint my thumb and said "I have to help you mommy" so she'd paint and stamp and paint and stamp until we'd covered one of the ornaments, it's the white one below, turned out gorgeous! The gold one was an idea I saw somewhere and what we did was write our last name and the year around the top and then write fun activities or milestones from the past year on it.

The Aftermath

2010-12-16T13:46:00.006-06:00

To see these in any kind of chronological order you'll need to start from the bottom up, I never remember how these things post.

This is from the first big snow we had on the morning of Autumn's birthday party. Kurt shoveled half the drive way and then came inside to look at our savings and see what could be moved around to be able to buy a snow blower.

We got 22 inches of snow last Saturday, this is our front porch after the final clearing (of course today there are 4 more inches on it). Next is the results of the second plow pass, not quite as bad as the first. One of our neighbors helped Kurt clear that one out.

This is a different neighbor who came to help us with the initial clearing of the driveway. What you can see is about half the driveway after I shoveled to a level that Kurt could blow out. The neighbor worked for about half an hour before he was able to make that blower sized path through the berm.

Here are some of the drifts after the snow and wind finally subsided.

This is as far as I could open the front door.

Where is the fence?!

Autumn's climber. On Tuesday she got to stay home with Kurt (long story involving sub-zero temps and flat tires) so they went outside to play. Autumn had fun walking the drifts around the perimeter of the yard. Then she and Kurt climbed to the top of this thing and then jumped off, dived off, fell backwards off, and cannon balled off into the snow.

Birthday

2010-12-15T15:00:00.004-06:00

Yup, she turned 4! I told her she couldn't have her birthday and get older but she had it anyway. It was very snowy (which she wanted for her birthday) and a couple of her friends came. She had a great time and that is all that counts. Oh, did I mention that she had a super hero party and her friends came dressed up as super heroes?

Decorating the Tree

2010-12-13T13:46:00.006-06:00

We managed to finally get enough lights for the tree. We put the tree up and discovered that we had no lights. We haven't been able to put this tree up for so long that we probably got rid of the lights. We went and bought a couple of strings.....the tree is a bit bigger than we thought. We managed to cover the bottom 1/3! Luckily the lights were on sale so we bought a couple more strings so now we have enough. Autumn had a grand time "decrating" the tree. We learned about what fragile means and now she uses that word a lot, any time I ask her to be careful when carrying something (fragile or not) she says "this is fragile, gotta be careful".

Autumn decorating the tree

Adoption Funding

2010-12-02T21:29:00.002-06:00

As you can see to the right of the post we are starting to work on funding this adoption. We have a good chunk put aside already but since the cost of adoption isn't covered by medical insurance it's an expensive and lengthy process. The first of many steps is this box to your right. A number of other families I've talked with have used this system for collecting donations. We are looking into grants as well, many of which are.....matching funds where you have to ask for donations first.....you can see where I'm going. Every avenue we've turned down and peered down has involved asking for money from family and friends. This is WAY out of my comfort zone but is apparently where God is leading us. So I'm done fighting with Him and negotiating with Him and bargaining with Him and am ready to walk on this path he's leading us down. But I'm sure He'll have to drag me parts of the way. :) We are looking at other options, one is a fair trade coffee company that is all for raising funds for adoption and the orphanage in Ethiopia where the founder adopted his daughters from. More on that as I get it figured out. We don't want anyone to feel obligated to give money, we know its tight for pretty much everyone. The families I've talked to have said similar things: "we aren't comfortable asking for money..." but also that they were pleasantly surprised how many of their family and friends wanted to help but didn't know how. So here I am, getting out of the boat to walk across the waves and grasp His hand. At the very least we are asking for prayer support from everyone, it's amazing but you really can feel when many people are praying for you, it's all warm and "snuggly" as Autumn would say.

Buddy!

2010-11-24T07:59:00.002-06:00

We have been waiting for 2 weeks to see Buddy the Dinosaur from Dinosaur Train at the Mall of America. It was a lot of build up of anticipation for a couple of minutes of thrilling hugs and dancing with Buddy.

Snowasarus Rex

2010-11-22T21:31:00.005-06:00

We had our first snow over Veteran's Day weekend. It was heavy and wet (Autumn and Kurt came in soaking) and perfect to build snowmen. First Autumn and Kurt trekked all around the yard putting the last few yard pieces away for the winter (we got caught a bit unawares). Then they built a snowman. The next day we added a snowasarus rex and a little bitty snow kitty.

Toy Room Painted and New Hair

2010-11-22T20:59:00.006-06:00

Tried a new hair accent this weekend. I read about it on my list and thought I'd give it a go. Autumn loves it, I need to do a bit of tweaking next time but I like it too. This time I used a variegated yarn but a solid color might look better, don't know until I try.

We got the toy room painted (and by we I mean a friend and I) with a bit of help from Autumn.

Fun video clips

2010-11-10T08:13:00.005-06:00

Here's the pumpkin soup video plus one about her new favorite (this week anyway) movie. Anything to get dirty and slimy, that's my girl!

Halloween

2010-11-09T13:52:00.006-06:00

Autumn had the best time going Trick-or-Treating with her friend Bella. Shortly after we started Bella wasn't feeling well so she went home and we kept going. They were a good team though, because Bella is a bit shy and Autumn is definitely NOT! :) From the moment we stepped outside Autumn was bouncing around like she'd already eaten half a pumpkin full of sugar. She was just so darn excited. Every person we met she said "Happy Halloween". I'm not sure she walked the whole way around the block. As soon as a door opened she shouted "trick treats" or "happy Halloween" or "please" or some combination of those words. She loved all the costumes especially the ghosts and vampires. She was so polite and said "kee-koo" most times. I worked hard to curtail the immediate grab and stuff when the door opened, and then we'd get to a house where they said "help yourself sweetie" ARUGH! Ah, well, it's a learning process. She had to keep saying "no, I BatMAN" when they'd ask, "are you batgirl?". I had a fun time making the costume, even though it gave me fits in places. I really had a great time watching her share her excitement and joy of the moment with everyone she met. What a loving and joyful child she is.

Carving the pumpkin was a great adventure. There are two jobs, the carver and the supervisor/pulp destroyer. When she was very little we'd strip Autumn down to her diaper and let her sit on the table and play with the pulp. She still likes to do that as you can see below.

Ok, couldn't get the video to load, I'll try it tonight.

Eyeballs Anyone?

2010-10-28T08:04:00.004-06:00

I made fun "forked eyeballs" to take as dessert for our church supper last night. They were a huge hit, I probably could have made a double batch and still not had enough! Autumn thought they were very cool and had fun helping to dip the donuts in the chocolate.

And then there are my two very mature "children". These are ping pong balls that we found in a dollar bin at the party store. Autumn and Kurt have way too much fun with them!

Comments

2010-10-19T09:02:00.001-06:00

You may notice that now if you want to leave a comment you have to go through a security hoop. I had to do this because I was getting a lot of spam and other not so nice things in my comment's section. So now I can monitor comments before they go onto the blog. Sorry about the extra step but I felt it needed to be done.

James Brown or Batman?

2010-10-18T09:36:00.005-06:00

Autumn's Batman costume may not be ready for her to wear but her animals are all ready for trick-or-treating. I have to tell you that I really love e-bay. These, even with shipping, were CHEAP! There are others of the same characters on there that were NOT cheap but since these were listed as used we could indulge. :)

Here we have Autumn and Kurt doing a pretty good impression of James Brown

Pumpkins in the (h)air

2010-10-18T09:17:00.004-06:00

I'm on a list for parents who are helping each other out with advice and "I'd never do this again's" and product reviews, etc for skin and hair care for kids with mixed or African heritage. A while ago someone posted pictures of some homemade beads. I recently attempted this myself and here is the result. I may never get these out of Autumn's hair! We were making bread this weekend. I ended up making 8 loaves. Each recipe made two loaves and I ended up making one twice since after we made the first batch Autumn decided that we had made them for her teachers at church. So.......They got some yummy pumpkin zucchini bread and so did we. We also made pumpkin banana and pumpkin cranberry breads. Do you sense a theme here? I have a pumpkin gingerbread loaf I want to try next. Autumn loves to help bake but she rarely eats her creations, even though I now use an egg replacer when doing all baking. She sure loves the dough though. However, breads are one thing she will bake and eat, so I'm stocking up!

Bonding

2010-10-11T13:52:00.004-06:00

A bit of Daddy - Daughter bonding time. Autumn and Kurt had a grand time building a track first in the kitchen and then down the stairs. It was a very hot day a couple of days ago, I'm lucky I got Autumn to put shorts on. For a while there she was happy to run around au natrual. :)

New Addition

2010-10-08T07:30:00.002-06:00

We have a new addition. Meet Skeletor. We put him up in the yard yesterday and Autumn spent a lot of time talking to him and for him. It was so funny. These pictures show her talking for him and he was talking to me, telling me how chilly he was and that he wanted chocolate and that he would cook my supper for me. When she was talking to him I didn't catch half of what she said but apparently his responses were hilarious because she would laugh and laugh.

Robot Autumn

2010-10-04T10:02:00.004-06:00

Autumn discovered that she could be a robot. She was watching a cartoon recently in which all the robots broke down but continued to say "all systems A-OK" In the other pictures she is attempting to mail herself to grandma. When that failed she decided she was a present and Kurt and I took turns "giving" her to each other. She is such a kook!

And Awaaaaaay We Go!

2010-10-04T09:42:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends and Family and any complete strangers who are reading this :)

We are starting the process for another adoption. We are very excited, nervous, worried, scared, impatient,.....well any of those feelings you get when you find out you are pregnant. The differences being that we need to SAVE money and we have no idea of the timeline. Could be 2 years could be 3 months. We've started a change jar that every piece of loose change is going into. We've cut many things out of our daily lives in order to be able to save more. We bought a house in order to have more room to grow as a family (I know, not much on the saving end there). We are taking each step as our savings allows. When we get through the home study part then we can start applying for grants and looking for other sources of funding.

We are going to try our darnedest not to take out a loan. Initially we had talked about that possibility and even checked with the Dave Ramsey foundation to make sure that was OK -- we are taking the Financial Peace University course (where they tend to frown on adding to your debt rather than taking away from it) and were told that the plan we had in place to pay it all off was a good one so not something to shy away from.

But since we recently had to add to our debt due to repairs on the house..........we are trying to stay away from that possibility. Any mileage money I get will go into our fund, any bonuses we get will go into our fund, any birthday/Christmas money will go into our fund.......you start to see the picture. We ask for your prayers that God provides what we need when we need it. We ask for prayers that God puts the people in our path who can help us reach this goal. And we ask for prayers that once again we are following God's plan and not our plan, patience and peace.

A Moving Dune

2010-09-20T10:16:00.003-06:00

By the time we got back to this sign on the way out the sand was covering up the DO NOT RUN line and it was hard to make out the "return climb is extremely exhausting" line.

Sand dunes are constantly in motion due to weather and land shifts and wave action. These dunes move 1-2 feet a year, I know, doesn't sound like much but look at these pictures. We were there in mid-late August. And the benches you see here were completely uncovered and usable not two weeks before.

This one was the least buried of all the benches we saw. We could only find the boardwalk in one place, way out at the end of the walk and then only for maybe 30-40 feet.

Couple of fun Vidoes

2010-09-20T10:01:00.004-06:00

Here are a couple of videos from our trip, one of Autumn racing down the dune and one of her washing windows.

Rest of our Trip

2010-09-20T09:28:00.012-06:00

We found a boat in the back shed that my brother built when he was probably 5 or so. Autumn had a great time pulling it around.

Here's a few pictures of daily life at our brown house. We borrowed a motor boat from the neighbors for a boat ride one day. Very exciting stuff! We went "fast fast way out to the blue".

Autumn helped wash the windows. They were pretty dirty on the outsides and after we cleaned we could see much better.

One day we drove M22 all the way up to the top of the peninsula and back down the other side. We were a bit worried on the northbound trip and being on the windward side it was pretty blustery and windy. When we rounded the top (stopping at the lighthouse there) and headed south along the lee side it was a completely different planet! You can see Autumn playing in Sutton's Bay and below that was about an hour before at our lunch at Peterson Park......completely different

Many days we hung out at our beach just playing in the water, digging in the sand, pulling fun and interesting things off the beach after winds blew them up. We found a towel, a bucket, a yard stick, some kind of handle for a boat rope, lots of drift wood and other things.

What a Cutie!

2010-09-15T14:13:00.003-06:00

We interrupt this vacation log to bring you this picture of Autumn. It was snapped by someone from our church while we were all waiting at the staging area for the Burnsville Fire Muster Parade on Sunday the 12th.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

2010-09-14T14:18:00.008-06:00

As is tradition we went to climb Sleeping Bear Dunes. Autumn looked at it from the car and thought she'd died and gone to heaven. She was so eager to get out of the car and climb and play in her big sandbox that she got tangled up in her seatbelts. As you can see below she was half way up before we were even at the foot. She ran all the way up without stopping, I swear it only took her 2 minutes. We walked across the top for a while but didn't attempt the 1.5 mile trek to Lake Michigan on the other side. "Why not?" you say? because a 1.5 mile hike is easy and fun, but when you do it across dunes......it takes hours.

Do you see what we found in the sand?

When we ran all the way down to the bottom we played in the sand for a while. Autumn had fun buryign our feet. Somehow Kurt really doesn't look much shorter!

Wipe Out!

See my footprints mom?

Two days before we were going to leave Autumn wanted to go to the big sandbox again. So we took her, I hadn't planned to climb the dratted thing again. She went half way up and down and half way up and down and played at the bottome (repeat a couple dozen times). The next time I looked up (and it couldn't have been more than 3-4 min) She was at the top!!!! Well, of course she couldn't hear me yelling to come down. So up I went after her, I couldn't trust her not to take off over the other hills on the top of the dunes. We stayed at the top for a bit, met people who were going further over when they past us. Autumn met a new friend who was all in pink and when she saw Autumn's "Boney" (fossil rex) she had to stop and talk dinosaurs with Autumn. They are about a month apart and I'm glad they understood each other because her grandparents and I only caught about 1 word in 8. Eventually we ran back down and headed home to have a picnic on the dock.

Point Betsie

2010-08-25T09:59:00.004-06:00

After going grocery shopping a bit south of Glen Lake in Benzie we went home a different route up M22. We wanted to see a couple of the lighthouses. We stopped at the Frankfort light house the the parking lot was PACKED and the breakfront was closed to foot traffic due to high winds and waves. So we looked at it from the car. We also stopped at Point Betsie. There was a fee to climb the light tower and Autumn was too short to do it anyway, so maybe next time. The waves here were fun to run from. The colors were unbelievable, the pictures just don't quite do it justice. I keep trying to find yarn in these colors to weave something, no such luck yet.

On the Road

2010-08-25T09:36:00.004-06:00

This was a place we stopped on the UP to have lunch, the 'beach' was a bit flooded, it was high tide. You can see the path to the beach in one of the pictures below. This rest stop had huge rocks, quite a number of them. Autumn of course, had to climb every single one. It was a long lunch break. :) It's nice on a multi-day trip to have places were you can stop, stretch your legs, and also have amazing scenery. Much better than your average interstate rest area!

Glen Lake Part 1

2010-08-23T19:10:00.009-06:00

And we're off! We are headed to Michigan for a week of rest, relaxation, and battery recharging. Someone is going to have to drag me away. Ended up taking Nero with us as he had a bit of a mental breakdown during our short hop to Nebraska. If we had another cat or something he probably would have been just fine but a fish for company just isn't enough. He and Autumn enjoyed the backseat views. (this is going to be in parts otherwise it would be a VERY LONG post!)

Autumn loves to read maps. She will spread them out on the floor and pour over them for a long time. So when we got an updated Wisconsin map she got the old one to "help navigate".

We stopped for lunch in Wisconsin and Autumn was determined to get this pump to work. It took Daddy's height and muscles to really get it going. All her weight did nothing but lift her feet off the ground. :)

We got to The Mackinac Bridge our second day, going out it was foggy and when we came back it was cloudy and rainy so this is the best shot we got. Tried to get one of

Autumn and the bridge but when I got good ones of the bridge all I'd get was the back of her head or her backside and when I got good ones of Autumn the bridge was mostly hidden. oh well :)

Two wiped out kiddos. We are almost to our destination and they decided to rest up so they could play later.

Tree Climbing

2010-08-11T13:33:00.005-06:00

Autumn climbing this gigantic tree. She probably could have gone up and down and over and through and around this tree for more than the hour we gave her. :) turn up your volume, Autumn has some good comments.

Big Tree

2010-08-11T08:19:00.007-06:00

Since Autumn was born we've come to this tree once a year and taken pictures. It sure takes longer to hike there than we remember each year. When we first started our walk Autumn took one look at all the trees and said "Oh, the forest, we have to recsue grandma and grandpa" (she seems to think they are lost in the forest, no idea why, but she is always wanting to recsue them from the forest). So she took off at a run to find them. We walked and walked and walked and....... Using a makeshift "tripod" and with a running jump up the tree Kurt managed to take some good pictures of the three of us. As you can see behind us in the zoomed out shot, this tree has not made it through the latest batch of storms unscathed. The two huge trunks that stood up in the back are now lying on the ground behind this bohemeth. You can kind of see one in the bottom left corner. It was still a lot of fun to climb it and accidentally slide down it. Wonder what it will look like next summer?

the videos wouldn't load I'll try them again another time.

Dino Dress and Large Friends

2010-08-10T13:52:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago we went to the Mall of America to meet some of the Backyardigans and as a bonus also got to give a kiss to Ming-Ming. We had to wait in line for about half an hour as we got there right at the end of the first time slot. That didn't seem to bother Autumn at all, she waited so patiently I couldn't believe it was my daugher! When our turn came Autumn zipped over and hugged Tyrone, Pablo, and Uniqua about a dozen times bouncing back and forth between then. It was the funniest thing to watch. That same day Autumn won a build a bear when we walked through the door of that store to get a gift for a friend. How lucky was her day?!?!

This is the other dress I made for Autumn. I had to borrow a friend's sewing machine to finish it since mine is kaput! ARUGH. She loves it and that's what matters.

Construction Projects

2010-06-28T14:11:00.006-06:00

The past two weekends have seen a couple of construction projects take place. Grandma and Grandpa Petersen came to visit the new house over Father's Day weekend. We celebrated with a very yummy new chicken recipe and ice cream cake and by building a climber for their favorite little adventuress. Then this past weekend Grandma and Grandpa Triebenbach came to visit the new house and Daddy and Grandpa built shelves in the garage. It made for a very noisy and pointless nap time. Autumn was in 7th Heaven having grandparents two weekends in a row!!!! Autumn, of course had to have her hand in both projects. The headphones Autumn is wearing are some I managed to dig out of a box somewhere. The saw inside the garage was too much for her little ears.

This climber has already been a: pirate ship, volcano, safe place from hot lava (that comes from the volcanoes across the street in the gravel pit), dinosaur cave, puppy house, tent, mountain top, car, bus, fire truck, and I'm sure more that I am forgetting. All in 2 weeks, what an imagination Autumn has!

New Dress

2010-06-10T19:46:00.003-06:00

Here is the first new dress I made for Autumn, it's called a pillowcase dress and instead of making it out of a vintage pillowcase I made it out of some dinosaur fabric I found. She loves having a dinosaur dress. I also included a picture of the new Rexy. In a couple of the pictures you can see a fun hairstyle I tried out last Sunday, it's called Zulu Knots or sometimes called Bantu Knots. It was easy and quick and lots of fun. She got lots of compliments at church. Some kids can keep this style in for up to a week but with Autumn's hair type it didn't last overnight, even with her satin pillowcase. Her hair just isn't kinky enough to stay in a style like that. But that's ok, it was fun while it lasted. Her hair must be 6-8 inches long at a guess, I didn't measure it with a ruler but it reaches her shoulder blades in the back! If she wears it in an afro you can't tell, the curls just pull up tight. It's amazing. I really love playing with her hair, so it's a good thing that she likes having it done in fun and zany styles.

Other One Papa

2010-06-04T13:17:00.004-06:00

We went to Kansas City over Memorial Weekend. There'll be other pictures posted in a bit but these deserved their own spot I thought. Autumn is totally in love with her Great Grandpa also known as her Other One Papa. I believe I'll be framing the one of them facing the camera!!!! We had a picnic at one of my aunt's houses and Autumn was just in awe of Grandpa's white hair. We visited his house on Sunday and went to church with him. He lives in a retirement village in Lee's Summit and the church is held in one of the buildings on that campus. It is filled with grandmas and grandpas and Autumn was in heaven. We've been there before and a few of the folks there remembered Autumn. It isn't very often that little ones attend their church.

Got some good snuggles in with Great Grandpa, he's a fabulous snuggler!

Autumn was showing Great Grandpa that she can now buckle her seat belt all by her self, all of the different buckles. (thank goodness she can't undo them herself yet!)

Dinosaurs

2010-06-04T12:59:00.002-06:00

Autumn has a bath towel that is a dinosaur and she loves to wear it. She wanted me to "cheese" her while she was wearing it (take her picture). So here you go. Also you can see my new studio and the first project on the cutting board. Rexy is getting a face lift, he'll now be teal corduroy. I've got him all cut out and am on to a couple of dresses for Autumn out of dinosaur fabric. We'll model those for you when they are finished.

A Tale of Two Potties

2010-06-04T12:53:00.003-06:00

We have worked on and off on potty training for a while now. Autumn would get excited about it and then quit. After about three rounds of this we backed off completely. We tried a little potty, potty seats, big potties. She'd go in public places (zoo, store, etc) but not at home, she'd go at home but not at daycare, she'd go at daycare but not at home. You get the picture. We started wearing panties on weekends and evenings (not daycare hours) and she's really excited to wear them. Then I found the golden ticket. I was at Unique (a thrift store) and found this "throne" for about $4. I've seen these things at craft fairs and antique stores for upwards of $50-$100!!!! I figured 4 dollars was a good deal. Autumn loves that she can have her magazines and her very own paper (TP). The first day I had this in the bathroom she sat on it for over half an hour! Now, she doesn't always want to sit on the potty but we are getting there, she really wants to wear those cute panties so I think we are finally READY!

A Date at the Zoo

2010-05-04T15:22:00.005-06:00

Autumn and Kurt went on a date to the zoo. From what I could get out of Autumn they had a great time. She lost her socks but some friend found them, they were pulled by a tractor, the moose were hiding, the cow kept pulling her head up and away, the baby goats were sleeping but the sheep's coat was big big big. And it goes on. The leopard was walking and walking and the bears were sleeping. The otters were swimming and playing and the water was off, hiding in the ground. Grandpa's favorite was tall on the hill (bison) and the camels were close to the fence and BIG and falling apart (shedding).

Yep, that's Autumn's giggle

Lawn Mower Repair

2010-04-28T07:23:00.003-06:00

We have a lawnmower that has stumped Jason and Kurt. It worked before and now it just doesn't want to do anything! Half our lawn is mowed, which really shows the difference in the grass length. Autumn took lots of lessons in lawn mower repair. Afterwards Jason and Autumn compared bike helmets. Granted Jason's is for a motorcycle but still.

Random Moments

2010-04-26T08:13:00.006-06:00

My first attempt at piggy-back braids. Lasted all week, must have done something right. Below you will see our 3 car garage. Tee hee hee

Autumn and Daddy doing some home decorating.

This is our Dinosaur Princess. Also the "volcano" behind our house. LOL

The stickers we put on Autumn's wall, and the hamper that is trying to eat her. We may have to get rid of the cannibalistic hamper.

Autumn's sense of rhythm is astounding. She's had this ability to pick out a rhythm since she was just tiny, I've always been amazed by her.

More Dinos!

2010-04-26T07:55:00.004-06:00

We went to the Children's Museum (again) to see the dinosaurs (again). They leave May 31 so we are going to have to go at least one more time. This time we went with some friends to meet Buddy. If you watch Dinosaur Train on PBS then you know who Buddy is. If not, check this out: http://pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain/ Jim Henson created a huge hit in our house with this one. A T-Rex adopted by Pteranodons and they all ride the train all over the various Dinosaur ages. Can it get any better?!?!

Good thing I did Autumn's hair in her "princess hairstyle" (her name for it) so that you could see her in the crowd of kids who wanted to say hi to Buddy!

Face painting is always a hit when we go to the museum.

Our Adventure at Nickelodeon Universe

2010-04-07T12:51:00.007-06:00

Here are some pictures of our trip to the amusement park. Autumn had the biggest smile on her face the whole time. She really wanted to ride the co-coasters (roller coasters) and was disappointed that she was too short. One of her favorite rides was the Wonder Pets Fly Boat which is in the video. She also loved the Barnyard Dash which is a mini roller coaster that goes in a large oval and whips you around the corners (i got to ride that one with her). Kurt and I took turns riding the ones she was tall enough for if accompanied by a chaperon. The nice thing about that is that if you are a chaperon you can ride for free. Autumn invited a friend along and the girls had a grand time on the rides. She loved that she could ride some of them "by myself". Now she's been asking me to measure her after every snack and meal to see if she's "tall-tall" and can ride the "big coasters", when she gains a couple more inches she can add about 3 rides to her repertoire. Autumn has been here once before with her Godfather. He taught her how to ride the fast rides with her hands in the air and lots of screaming. She has such a good time, our little adrenalin junkie! We are going on our second day of wearing her ride wrist band, she doesn't want to take it off, the turkey.

Gotcha!

2010-04-05T10:58:00.007-06:00

Today is Autumn's Gotcha Day. Three years ago today we finalized her adoption, one of the best days our our lives. This evening we are going to celebrate by taking her and a couple of her friends to the Nickelodeon Universe park at the Mall. She's apparently an adrenalin junkie so this should be fun for her, her Godfather took her about a month or so ago and she LOVED it. Here are some pictures from Easter. It was such an unusually beautiful Easter Sunday that the Easter Bunny hid the eggs outside. Have to take advantage of that up here, it usually snows!

Autumn got a puppy in her Easter Basket, not a real one but it will do for now.

Our nut took the stickers for the eggs and found a "better" use for them!

Do it myself Daddy!

It's a cute egg

Moving

2010-03-26T11:33:00.005-06:00

Most of these are Autumn's perspective of packing to move, she had the camera and I had no idea. Some are of her helping to pack, write contents on the boxes and so forth.

Our "mountain"

2010-03-25T12:03:00.003-06:00

Here is the "mountain" that was created when the folks came around and cleaned off all the roofs in our complex. Autumn and I had a grand time sliding down the side and then climbing back up the other side.

Dinos Dinos Dinos!

2010-03-18T12:53:00.006-06:00

The mommy Troodon (Troe-owe-don) is very protective of her young!

Autumn's new pet (if only she can convince Mommy and Daddy!)

Future Paleontoolabitz (that would be paleontologist), first she needs to grow into the goggles.

Autumn trying to ride the Troodon (Troe-owe-don).

New House

2010-03-15T07:25:00.003-06:00

Here's a picture of Autumn in front of our new house. We move in on the 27th of March. This will be the longest two weeks on record, here's a sample of my day:

"Guess what, Mom, my Grandma's coming my new house!!" (both grandmas) -- about 1,000,000,000 times a day

"I want my new house" -- about 2,000,000,000 times a day

"Guess what Mom, my Papa's coming my new house" -- about 1,000,000,000 times a day

"Is that my new house?" pointing to every single house we drive by on a daily basis

"we get the key now, my new house?" -- about 1,000,000 times a day

And the list goes on and on and on and on and ........

We went to see the house on Friday so she would know what it looks like, the yard looks so fun "ummmm, needs a swing, mom". There is a great climbing tree in the front yard, just Autumn's size "I climb tree?" "no not today, rain boots aren't good climbing shoes" "oh, lets go get my shoes".

Oh, yes, and lets not forget the constant "my bed's coming my new house?" "my dinosaurs coming my new house?" "my (insert anything here) coming my new house?" trying to be very patient with all of this anxiety but my nerves are wearing a bit thin. :)

AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Celtic Battle Ready

2010-03-12T13:37:00.003-06:00

Autumn is ready for battle. It's not actually woad but woe was unto her when she popped out from around the curtain in the youth room last night and said "look at me mommy". Right in the middle of my parenting class where I was leading the lesson on don't say what you want to say and not reacting to a child's misbehavior. I didn't quite hit the nail on the head on that one, but I managed to save myself and turn my knee-jerk reaction into an empathetic response.

Packed

2010-03-11T12:24:00.002-06:00

One Autumn packed......check!

One Mommy packed.......check!

One Daddy packed......check!

The Hair Saga....the never ending quest....

2010-03-08T08:40:00.016-06:00

I have learned that no two heads of African American hair, or even African hair are the same, then you add in the bi-racial or multi-racial aspect and it's a completely different ball game. What one helpful person says they do to their hair or their child's hair might be OK or even totally wrong for another person's hair. It really is a game of experimentation.

I've been reading a lot about "black" hair. by the way nappy is not considered a nice word kinky is preferred when describing hair texture. I had no idea all the trauma that is associated with African American hair through the decades. I've always thought it was just hair, some is curly, some is straight, some is black/brown/red/blonde/, some is dry and frizzy, some is smooth and supple; you wash it, dry it, comb it, style it. I had no idea. Lucky for Autumn I love her hair just as it is and now that we've got the dry part figured out she'll be able to love it all her life too. I'm not a big one for chemicals and products so this has been quite an adventure and learning experience for me.

In my never-ending search for hair products that are healthy for Autumn's hair and do what they are supposed to do and not be too greasy but keep her hair moisturized and protected I have gone through.....well I'm not going to count it for you, it'd be embarrassing, lets just say a LOT....I may have hit on the magic combination (at least for now). I joined a list filled with parents who are in similar situations and we pick each other's brains. Here's what I've learned: there are many many products out there that are all natural, designed for different textures and curl types, and cost an arm and a leg. There's Blended Cutie, Curly Q, Taliah Waajid, Carol's Daughters, Jamaican Mango and Lime, Pure Africa, Mixed Chicks, Blended Beauty, and so many more my head spins. I just can't bring myself to pay $15-$40 a bottle for one product much less the 3 or 4 that her hair needs! I can't bring myself to spend $5 a bottle on shampoo or conditioner for myself! I've learned that you can make your own blend of things and buy all the ingredients for about what one bottle from these companies cost. Don't get me wrong, those products are fabulous and I've tried samples and they are really great but still, in this economy it's NUTS.

So here's what we use: a detangling comb, then the fine toothed comb, then the denman brush (and here's why!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=J96d3VZHJ3w ). For "goop" as Autumn calls it we use Hawai'ian Silkey which is a spray creme detangler/moisturizer and is fantastic. To do a quick spruce up after a nap or if we need it looking fresh for a picture or outing or something I use a mixture of sweet almond oil and water to just spritz on. Of course when I'm braiding it's a whole different story and I have a spray specifically designed for braids that we use during the week to keep the hair moisturized while it's in the braids and her scalp moisturized so it doesn't get dried out and itchy.

Did you know that I only wash Autumn's hair once a month! I can't go two days without washing mine but the oils in her hair work much differently than my own. If we wash her hair too often it dries out and BREAKS OFF!! Holy cow, the things I have learned. Though I've had so much fun in the learning it hasn't really been stressful. I do use a conditioner in her hair like shampoo once a week in her bath though to keep the frizz under control.

I was told that she should be wearing a satin sleep cap at bedtime. Right, it doesn't stay on her head. So I solved that problem by making a couple of satin pillowcases. She can still have her favorite characters since I use that fabric on the cuff of the case. Much easier to make than the hat.

All over the head braids take a lot of time for a little girl who can't sit still. we tend to just braid the back and then do something fun with the front. I'm getting better at the parting thing, they are more straight and even now. We get a snack of chocolate cereal (puppy chow) and a movie and try to sit. I can now get the back of her head braided and beaded in under an hour, wahoooo. Heaven help me when she asks for cornrows, we may have to head to a salon for the first one so I can see what it entails. Thankfully she loves the beads so we'll stick with what we know for now.

out with the old.....

2010-03-05T13:55:00.002-06:00

Autumn got a big bed for Christmas, she loves it. There's room for Mommy or Daddy to "seep wif me" at bedtime. She helped Daddy build it. Lately you'll find Spiderman sheets on the bed with a My Little Pony bedspread.

Rexy Hat

2010-03-05T13:39:00.005-06:00

My adventures in Autumn's hair........the continuing saga.......

I was having the hardest time figuring out what to do about Autumn's hair and winter hats. As long as she wears the hood on her coat it's not an issue, but put any other hat on her head (which she'd prefer to wear) and her hair turns dry almost instantly and frizzes out and BREAKS OFF! I recently joined one of those Internet lists for parents of adopted children with hair like Autumn's so we can all pick each other's brains and also discover that "I'm not the only one who is making these dumb mistakes". I heard from many parents that she should wear a satin lined hat. OK, I can get one of those. But they cost about $40!!!! I said to myself "I can make one cheaper than that" famous last words....... Autumn and I looked at hat patterns and hats that had no patterns. We found a dinosaur hat that she fell instantly in love with. It's made out of fleece and I had coupons for the fabric store. Bought the fabric, good thing I bought more than I needed, printed off the pattern (free, always a good thing) and went to work. Had the fleece cut out and then cut out the satin........forgot that satin has two different sides, re-cut one piece........discovered that anti-pill fleece has a right side and a wrong side, re-cut fleece.......was warned that I should cut the satin larger as it doesn't stretch like fleece........re-cut two pieces of satin..........started to sew, YAY!!!!! Had to figure out how to stretch the fleece to the satin, just like elastic right? NOT! After 4 1/2 hours Autumn had one "Resky" hat. NEVER AGAIN (at least until next winter)

But her hair stays nice and soft and curled when she wears this hat and she is the envy of all her friends (and her daddy who now wants a hat). Luckily for Kurt his hat doesn't need to be lined with satin so it should take me about 20 min and my hair will stay on my head where it belongs. Of course I already have thought on how to make this process simpler next time.......

Oh yes, satin is "sippy" (slippery) and the hat slid right off her head!!!.......back to the sewing machine to add chin ties. So who wants one of these beauties for next year?

Grandma Linda

2010-03-05T13:14:00.004-06:00

Early in January Grandma Linda came for a visit. We had a good time, Autumn was shy at first but warmed up quickly, the stuffed cat helped with that alot, also Grandma's willingness to sit and read books and build with blocks!