Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Getting the Green Out of Blonde

Before and afters are my favorite...


There are times when being "green" is good, but not literally. My kids have spent a lot of time in the pool this summer but we've been a bit relaxed with making them shower afterward. Yesterday the kids went to their last pool party of the summer and my daughter's hair was alarmingly green when we got home!


We had a pool growing up and I remember sitting outside for dinner with ketchup on my hair as a means of getting the green out. Did any of you deal with this when you were younger?

I hadn't heard of anyone doing the ketchup trick any time in the last three decades {I'm dating myself here}, so I thought I'd check "the oracle", as my brother calls it - Google. The first link led me to a 2009 post from a beautician who listed treatments from $20 shampoos to home remedies. Well, I'm all about home remedies, especially if I already have the ingredients.

I gave my daughter the choice between dishwasher detergent and baking soda, or vinegar and lemon juice. She chose the later. I poured two tablespoons of vinegar into a mixing cup and squeezed two large lemons. We went outside and I just dipped her ponytail in.


I pulled it out after swooshing the hair around for about 10 seconds and the green looked to be gone! I thought I might be seeing things so I did as the post recommended and let the concoction sit in her hair - it ended up being for about 15 minutes in a shower cap while we read.

"Really, Mom?!"
Then she showered and check out the results!


I'm absolutely amazed that it not only took away the green completely, but restored her hair to her natural, beautiful color. Anyone reaching for some lemons?

What do you do to get the green out?

.molly

Monday, August 12, 2013

Avocado Lime Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Coconut Crust

When I read The Healthy Aperture blog post for an Avocado Lime Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Coconut Crust, I thought I might be having a dream with all my favorite foods. Actually, I don't LOVE coconut, but with all those other ingredients I knew I had to try this out.

Just a few days later, I got to try it out when my brother- and sister-in-law visited with their new baby, Lily. Isn't her smile the sweetest! 


Bridget was a little curious of who the new cutie-pie was, but she quickly warmed up and started bringing the "ba" toys and love. 


ANYway, back to the most amazing pie ever. The recipe is so simple: avocado, lime juice, a little sugar, nonfat Greek yogurt, coconut, dark chocolate, and coconut oil. It takes minutes to prepare, little clean-up, and the taste is totally amazing.



I would highly recommend making this delicious dessert some time very soon. Take advantage of summer's wonderful avocados while you still can.

enjoy.

.molly

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Random Acts of Kindness - Join Us!

Last Summer I found this post on Pinterest by Courtney DeFeo of "lil light o mine" and I was immediately inspired into action. But of course, because I'm slow on the blogging front, it took me until seeing Robyn's post of a similar fashion to remind me of what a great experience it was and actually blog about it. So here goes. 

The two posts I refer to are from two women who chose to demonstrate random acts of kindness, the first around Christmas time, the next on her birthday. After reading all of the wonderful things they {and others} did, my family and I were inspired to do the same thing.

So, in November of 2012, we set out to demonstrate a random act of kindness every day of the month. {It seems that many people get warm, fuzzy, and sweet around Christmastime. I like the idea of doing these things in March, or July, when it's not around a season of Thanksgiving. When will you be inspired?}

Here we go...

1. Shipped Halloween candy via Operation Shoebox to military overseas. An excellent way of getting rid of the Halloween candy, btw. 


2. Anonymously delivered homemade corn muffins to a friend. {Kids loved learning about the "ding-dong-ditch" technique!}

3. We made cards for someone sick. Daddy had just had his no-more-babies surgery {the kids had no clue what was up} so we made cards for him.

4. Delivered ham & cheese croissants to some homeless people at a park.

5. Made a bird seed ornament for the kid's school garden.

6. Anonymously chalked someone's driveway while they were out.



7. Opened the doors for people at the grocery store. The kids used their "magic" to open the doors. Made lots of smiles.

8. Went to the Dollar Tree and packaged up supplies for Operation Christmas Child.


9. Snuck into a house and cleaned the oven. {I actually haven't done this yet - we missed a day - but I plan to. Watch out! You know who you are... I think.}

10. Picked up trash at a local park. Very eye-opening for the kids to see where trash can end up if you don't throw it in a garbage can or recycle bin.


11. Thanked the Sunday school & Bible study teachers/childcare workers for all of the hard work.

12. Brought our baby to visit an eldery couple in the neighborhood who do not get out much. It's amazing how many of our kids' everyday nuances can bring such joy to people.



13. Babysat for a friend so she could run errands without her two kids.

14. Cookies to a friend, ding-dong-ditch style... The kids get such a kick! So suspenseful!


15. The kids showed extra love to our sweet dog who doesn't get much attention these days, now that we have three kids.

16. Made pillowcase dresses {patterns available} for Little Dresses for Africa.



The organization recently updated that they need donations of Sani-Panties. A huge problem in Africa is girls missing school because of their period. Please consider making some Sani-Panties and sending them on. They'd make a huge difference!

17. Surprised a friend with a peach pie!



18. Performed a puppet show for Daddy when he got home from work.

19. Kids wrote a letter to their Mimi telling her how much they love her.


Addresses blurred out on purpose
20. Left a dollar in a book at the library... Surprise!

21. Brought Ovaltine to an eldery neighbor who was ill and rapidly losing weight because he wouldn't eat anything but hot chocolate at the time. 



22. Wrote a note of Thanks to my next-door neighbor who often comes over to "watch" the baby while she naps so I can run out and get the kids at school without having to wake the baby.


23. We saw a military man in the grocery store and thanked him for protecting us. He gave the kids some cool Velcro patches!

24. Kids drew cards for all family members present and left them outside their door for them to see Thanksgiving morning.

25. Returned grocery carts to the store from the parking lot.

26. Delivered zucchini bread to a neighbor who just moved in.

27. Went through all our toys and clothes at home and made donations at the local Goodwill.

28. Rang the bell for a Salvation Army volunteer.



29. Brought a flower to our favorite grocery clerk at the grocery store.

30. Left oranges for our postman with drawings from the kids.

I'd love to plan with the kids and pick a bunch more things to do, then pick one day out of the month, or week, and spread some love! Will you join in??


.molly

Friday, August 2, 2013

Little Girl Dress from Scratch

A friend of mine has a little girl a few years older than my 4 year old and she recently gave us a few favorite hand-me-downs for enjoyment. One was a dress she had gotten from Old Navy that is very well-loved and terribly cute. I loved the style so much and wanted to figure out how to make it so that I could make one for my friend's daughter, just in a bigger size. 

Since it was July, here it is in patriotic fabric...




And I finally figured out how to do shirring. 


Yikes! Shirring was quite the learning curve! Now it's incredibly easy and I hope I can make it that way for you too.

Tutorial to follow next week.

enjoy.

.molly