~ rag curls ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since reading the "Going to Town" 

chapter of Little House in the Big Woods

my girls have been curious about rag curls.

~ lela 'flashing' her rag curls ~

So last night, after a shower,

we cut an old pillowcase into 1" strips about 6" long.

Taking their wet, combed hair in good sized chunks to minimize tangling,

I rolled the end of the chunk over the strip, tucking the ends carefully,

continuing as far to the scalp as possible.

Then I tied a single half-hitch knot to gently secure the strip.

By rolling the hair over the strip, instead of under,

the knot was on top and easier to tie with wiggly children.

And particularly small or short locks of hair, I twisted the hair first before rolling.

~ liv ~

Each girl had about ten curls in two layers.

They said they were quite comfortable to sleep in!

In the morning, Lela was the first to awake 

and said "get these rags out of my hair!"

I was surprised at how tiny each little curl was!

Lela was not happy with her hair initially because it looked so different

and felt so different when she tried to twirl her hair.

But because of the high humidity here,

and their unfortunate genetics inherited from me

that dictate their hair to be perfectly straight at all times

despite all manner of curling and hair products,

the tight curls relaxed into pretty waves.

~ lela's hair within 2 hours ~

Lela was much happier with her hair like this

and even agreed to let me do rag curls again

after she realized what would happen with a little time.

~ laurel ~

Laurel is always a willing model when it comes to the camera

and she is definitely an excellent subject!

This is one photogenic little girl.  

~ summer freckles ~

We enjoyed breakfast outside this morning,

planning out our faery garden

for the 'competition' hosted by The Magic Onions!

(My girls don't know about the competition, 

and I decided to participate because I need the motivation!)

And of course, another peek at our girl.  

Her introduction post is slow in coming 

because she's difficult to photograph!

~ love how liv licks her lips when feeding the dog ~

We'll be sharing our progress on the faery garden soon!

In curly cuteness,

~carrie~

~ world breastfeeding week ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

August 1 through August 7 is 

World Breastfeeding Week

~ helping the new momma settle in to nurse 1 week old lela ~

Breastfeeding made me feel more capable as a new mother.

After the initial learning curve, it was easy and peaceful.

My husband was instrumental in my success.

~ lela, 2 months, nursing in the pouch sling ~

Nursing helps to soothe bumps and bruises 

in a way that a bandage cannot.

And nursing helped to transition a toddler 

into becoming a big sister.......

......of twins.

~ lela, 22 months, nurses during my birthing time to strengthen labor ~

For a momma of a not-quite 2 year old and newborn twins,

I don't know how I could have survived

without being able to nurse my three daughters.

It also helped me to bond with my twins,

something that especially mothers-of-multiples find challenging.

~ 10 day old liv and laurel cuddle after breastfeeding ~

Nursing helped Lela through the three-year old tantrums

and one severe case of gastroenteritis.  

~ 1 year old liv nurses in a ring sling ~

And nursing continues to offer Laurel and Olivia 

a peaceful, familiar time with Momma.

~ liv, age 3 ~

Our time breastfeeding is drawing to a close

but it has been a beautiful journey 

with my daughters.

~ carrie ~

~ new territory ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ sweet little wool beads nestled in a hand crafted bowl by my dad ~

I'm a little embarrassed to admit

that we've never done any wet felting!

So as soon as my order for wool roving came in,

(thanks baby cakes!)

we jumped right in!

Need some practice, but we finished with nine beads

that will soon make their appearance

as necklaces, perhaps!

~ even though i did major in biology, i still know how to count ~

The little ones lost interest and didn't really have the patience

that was required in the beginning 

when the beads needed to be handled slowly and carefully.

But Lela was very enthusiastic and her beads came out great.

Lela was particularly proud of her

variegated natural and purple bead.

  So, here's to new territory and lots of soapy, wet fun!

~carrie~