H, H and H (Helen's Half-bday and Hair)

Yes, my oldest child turned 8 1/2 today...Yall know we like to celebrate some HALF bdays around here...so she said she wanted her nails painted (no manicure..just a polish which is just a couple of bucks)...so we wrapped it around getting George's hair cut..which used to be torture..but he doesn't cry anymore for Ms. Shelby which is a TRUE miracle: The big girls enjoyed a "nail polish" :

And, well...LL enjoyed "stealing" suckers the ENTIRE TIME:
You see...this place has a tower of suckers...and LL likes to yell "SUCKER" really loud and can sneak a sucker faster than anything you've ever seen...This is WHERE and HOW I kept finding her:

But as she stole sucker after sucker....I had fun chatting with the AA stylists there about LL's hair....They get a kick out of her VERY TIGHT SPIRAL CURLS:

I get asked all the time, "How do you get her hair to curl like that??" And, I say: "It's just what her hair does!! " She has the tightest, tiniest, silkiest spiral curls all over her head...Her hair is about 6 inches long on top now...and her hair in the back can touch her shoulders now...but you'd never know that from HOW TIGHT those curls are:

I always say that her hair looks like it has tiny little worms all over it...The ladies at the shop say that it will take her until about age 4 to have her hair "heavy" enough and long enough to look like she has some hair!! And, her hair is still "filling in" in spots too...It's growing like crazy...but it really doesn't even knot that badly cause it's only REALLY thick on her Mohawk area!!! And, the ladies there say I'm doin a great job on it...so that's all I need to know!! :)

So, WHAT am I using these days: I've gotten several emails on this lately...So I thought it must be time for a "hair update"......Well...I use a ton of different things...My favorite is Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercream, but it is too expensive and I'm out of it and can't buy it again until it goes on sale in December...BUT I really do like a lot of other, cheaper stuff too... Right now..I'm spraying it every morning with a water bottle full of water and Pantene Conditioner mixed together in it (Pantene for Women of Color conditioner)!! This forms her curls and is more moisturizing than JUST plain water (got this tip from Jodi at http://www.talkissheep.blogspot.com/ :) THEN..I apply Pantene Daily Moisturizing Cream... I think Jodi said this is too oily for her girl's head...but LL's hair just soaks it right up..I think the tighter the curl, the more oil it needs (just in my experience so far). NOTHING is too oily for her hair...Her hair will soak in anything in minutes!! Her hair is SO tight after apply any product that I take the top of it and put it in a soft, loose pony tail and let it dry that way...This extends the root and makes her hair appear "bigger" and "more loose" on top!! Just a trick I discovered!!! :) So, I will then reapply stuff at least one or two times through out the day!! I have everything on the market in my cabinet and just use different daily moisturizing stuff each time. I'll always end the day with putting something on her hair before she goes to bed (like coconut oil, olive oil, even Vaseline)..She then sleeps on a satin pillowcase which helps too!! How do i get her to sit still to do her hair?? Well, my silly little nut plays in the sink water the entire time..As long as she has water to play with...she'll sit forever...but yes, a big mess to clean up daily afterwards! :)

Now...HOW DO YOU MESS UP THE HAIR INSTANTLY???? Take them swimming:

Yes, I watch my money go right down the drain when we go swimming....but OH, SHE LOVES IT!! Thanks Honeycutts for inviting us to swim tonight at your pool!! We all had a great time!! (The Honeycutts are another local agci family on the waitlist and better known in my blog world as my "bowling alley" family!! :) The kids say they are ready to move to your neighborhood!! :)

So, happy 1/2 bday Sissy, Happy Hair Do'in, and Happy Wednesday to you all, kj