ENERGY

I have really been waiting for such a long time to gain back my ENERGY! I am usually a very energetic person. Sometimes, Jarett would get frustrated at the energy I would have because.....I would invite him to be a part of it. Boy, when we worked together we got so much accomplished.

Since we have adopted the girls, both of our energy levels has gone way down. I believe it was just the overwhelming feeling of having 5 children. The work involved was more than we both can handle or keep up. Both of my breaks (Fall and Winter) were full of other things, so this past Spring Break was awesome! I got to spend the whole time thinking and organizing things in the house. It has been at least a month of full organizing, throwing things out, and getting everyone involved with this. At the beginning of it, I was exhausted every day with the amount of work. Now (a month later), I am doing pretty well. Every weekend, I pick a project and complete it. Last night I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning. I got the front room completely cleaned, organized, and the way I want it. We have turned it into somewhat of a school room. All the kiddos have a cubby and some drawers. This is all the stuff we have had already. We just reused it for a better purpose.

This summer, I am planning on having our days be with at least one - 2 hours of school work. I am going to do crafts, cooking, and science projects with them as well. I really want the children to continue to stay in somewhat of a habit. Our summer days aren't as long as the traditional schedule. We get 7 weeks off, so I was hoping to keep them going. I am creating a calendar of events. I can't wait!

I really want my energy level to stay up. I haven't had it for so long, so now I am doing everything I can to keep it up. I have begun to work out and I am eating much more healthy. I am just hoping that my energy level stays up because I love it! :)

Yarn Braids

16.5 hours later and 2 very numb fingers, the girls have their yarn braids!

I do have to say that I LOVE THEM! The girls look so amazing with them. They walk around moving their braids as they walk. They are so excited to hair longer hair.

First, I started with Rita. We began on Friday night. I didn't really know how to part and was just winging it. :) Later on Saturday, I figured I was doing the braids way to small. So I got onto "You Tube" and watched some videos (during one of our breaks). I found out I was doing to many braids and my parts were to small. I kept going to keep it looking even in the back. But, in the front, I did the parts like what I had learned from the videos. That part was much easier and faster. :)

At around 6:00 pm, I started Racheal's hair. It definitely went faster with her hair because I believe it was the way I did the parts. The parts also make her hair easier to put into pig tails if she wants to. Now, I just have to find a swimming cap to fit their head and their hair. I really don't know if their hair won't last as long if they go swimming. Yes, my kiddos have begun to swim. I didn't allow the girls to go swimming today. I am going to have to find the caps for them.

Both girls were so amazing to sit there while I did this work. It was such an awesome bonding time for us. Rita actually keeps coming up to me today and kissing me. She says, "Mommy, you are the best at braids".

I am really anxious to see how their classmates react tomorrow (if they do at all). They are so excited to go to school tomorrow to show.

For the yarn experts: I have two questions
1. - What type of yarn do you use? On one of the videos I watched before beginning, the girl said she went to Walmart and just bought the yarn. So that's what I did, but found out that the yarn seems to shrink up as time went on. I braided Racheal's hair way longer than Rita's and they both seem to look about the same length. I am thinking it's because of the yarn that it shrunk up. I don't know, but if you have any ideas to make it longer, I would love to hear them. They both want really long braids (like to the middle of their back), but I am not sure how to do that. :)
2. What can I use to spray on their hair to keep it moist?

With twins, I am going to have to space their braiding days apart. My fingers and back can't take it, so I am thinking of doing one girl one weekend and the other the other weekend.

Here are some pictures of their hair: