My favorite Christmas memory! 2011

A certain little girl in the house has wanted her own surfboard, sooooooo bad. I, the ever-charming mother, had convinced her that she would not be able to have one this year. Maybe this summer, 

but not for Christmas.

So she opened all the gifts under the tree for her. . . nothing exciting. Fun, cute things, but not one "big gift". In her words, "I kept thinking maybe the next box is a digital camera or a Kindle Fire."

After all the gifts were opened I suggested the girls open the curtains for me. . . 

There it was! Then she made these faces, that I am sure will melt my heart all the days of my life. 
Quietly I begged, "Please, please no more growing up!"

She quickly popped my bubble by saying, "Only like 9 more of these, before I'm off to college!" Can you hear the brakes of my heart screeching to a halt. 

We spent the afternoon at our beach! Because for this year we have a place to call "our beach". 

Daddy and I savored the sight .

In addition to the above moment: Shayli got a boogie board, which was behind the other curtain.

Colin found that Santa ate the cookies we set out for him. Casarah loved her Tinker Bell makeup set.

 But still this is moment that stole my heart:

Christmas 2011, xoxxxoxxoxox! *sigh*

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating the birth of our Savior! He alone is enough to fill my heart 

with contentment, hope, and joy. Yet He generously has given me so much more.

Happy Birthday Jesus! 

Love, Blujeanmama & the Fabfour

Planning a new hair cut.

It's time to get a new haircut. Yesterday, I was watching "What Not To Wear", when Stacy London said something to the effect of:

Your hair should be viewed like an accessory. It should change as you and your life change.

I appreciate this mentality toward hair. I don't ever want to be caught in mom jeans or a time warped hair-do. Seeing how my life has changed dramatically over the last six months, I'm ready for a new do.

I try to plan my haircuts out because I like to try new things, and I do not like ruts. I remember as a little girl thumbing through the dated hair cut books from behind the counter at Super Cuts or Fantastic Sams. How was I supposed to decide? It always resulted in "just a trim." I wonder now, if my mother staged it that way in order to savor the long golden brown locks of my childhood.

Today it's different though, I'm armed with the internet. Google images has a plethora of haircuts in all lengths, shapes, and sizes. 

Here's how the plan goes down:

1. Establish your face shape.

Long ago, maybe as a teenager reading all those magazines, I established my face shape:

I have an oval-shaped face. Yours?

Go HERE for a little more explanation and guidance.

2. Search through images online for hairstyles you love. Make sure the match up with your face shape. 

Type in the search engine "hair", "hair cuts", or "medium length hair cuts". Be specific to whatever you are looking for. you can also use use Pinterest as a resource and create a "Hair" board.  Pull off the images of the hair cut you want. Below is a sheet I used in the past, for a shorter haircut I had.

3. Print off the sheet and take it into your hair stylist. 

This way you rid the last minute, "What exactly do I want for a hair cut?" panic that can ensue.

Here's the plan I'm going with this time:

Medium length A-line bob.

With bangs.

Color: Chestnut brown.

And that friends, is how I make a plan! 

Pinned it, did it!

DID IT!

Here is this week's pin:

Click HERE or HERE

I have to admit I was skeptical that this idea would work. Roll your hair in a dress sock? And get a beautiful, loose, wavy curl? Who thinks to do this stuff? I don't know, but it did work! I did it using my 9 yr. old's long dark mane and it worked.

Here she is before bed:

Here she is the next morning:

You do have to unroll the hair and play with the curls a bit, long hair with minimal layers is a must.
The results were pretty and she wore them to the Christmas tea that we attended with Grandma.

Tween Reads.

Over the summer, in an effort to keep my oldest daughter reading I picked her up a book that she wanted from Target. The book's cover reminded me of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, for that matter so did the title Dork Diaries. Beyond skimming the back and buying it, I did not think much more about the book. 

A day or two into the read, my daughter approached me and said, "Mom, I don't think I should read this book." I asked, "Really, why not?" She answered, "I don't think I am supposed to read the things its saying." How bad could it be I wondered:

Seriously, "skanks"? "You little #@$%&"!? I mean I understand, I wasn't buying a classic work of literature. But I just wonder why? Why would you write like this for a tween audience? 

The above illustration reflects how I felt that author Rachel Renee Russell had no discernment in her words. Further, how I felt at Aladdin Paperbacks and their editors. 

On the other hand, I was grateful to see my daughter's discernment in her reading. It was a moment of reinforced trustworthiness. I don't hover over her every decision. I don't read every book she reads. So I am grateful that she had the sense to stop reading the book.

It reminded my of a previous post I made about this book:

The post was entitled: "I was going to read. . ."

It also reminds me that as parents we live by example, we demonstrate how to have discernment. We don't just lecture, tell, or shout the rules at our children. But we demonstrate it, when we ourselves put a book down. They watch, they learn, and copy a lot of what they see. Knowing this, helps me to look carefully at the words I say, the things I do, and the investment of example that I make into their lives. 

We returned the book. And headed out to buy something different. We didn't go to a major retailer like before, instead we went to Harvest Christian Bookstore. Walking through the door, I felt like she really could buy any book in her section. I had the assurance that other's had been thoughtful and careful about the books that lined their shelves. Here is what we walked away with:  

Nicole O'dell's:

Tony Abbott's:

She loved both these books! The top one by Nancy O'dell had a mature topic, but allowed for her to make a choice, then based on her choice she turned to a certain page to see how the scenario played out.  She liked it so much that Scenarios 2: All That Glitters is on her Christmas list. 

The second book, Fire Girl, was about a little girl who was burned in a fire. It taught her about compassion toward others and extending a hand of friendship to others who look different than us. She was  very moved by this book. 

Previous posts on Tween Parenting:

Tween Fashion Statement

Gwyneth Au-natural

Tween Room

Up and coming articles:

Makeup101