Today, my girl is four years old. She alternates between her girly and tomboyish sides, but the other day she wanted to be extra fancy. That meant layering every necklace she owns over her pajamas, including one with Christmas lights that blink on and off. Plus fairy wings and a charm bracelet.
She also asked me to take a picture of her “stinky feet.” Ha! See that smile?
Man, we love that girl. She’s turning out to be someone pretty amazing. Happy birthday, kiddo.
I couldn’t bear to be sitting at my computer yesterday, endlessly refreshing news sites. I went out for a run — in the rain, and in silence — and felt marginally better. I played with the kids, we ate dinner as a family, and August, feverish and miserable, slept in our bed, kicking me and Brandon all night.
This morning, the kids and I arranged our longest train track yet, and we built a forest of Playmobil trees. The forest needs a gingerbread house, according to Eleanor. I tried to recount the story of Hansel and Gretel to E a few weeks ago, and I couldn’t remember all of the details. Brandon jumped in, filling in some of my gaps, but then I remembered our old book of fairy tales (my mother’s book, given to her by her parents on her second birthday). I found it and read the story to Eleanor, verbatim, not remembering how grim(m) it was. We read it once and she has been referencing it since.
From witches and terrible stepmothers to worse, much worse, it sometimes feels like the world is filled with too much evil. There is so much goodness out there though, too. Far more goodness. For that, and for quotidian family moments, I’m grateful.
I had some photos taken over the weekend by my photography teacher, Arnold Klein. He likes to experiment with lighting and processing techniques and he needs willing subjects, so I took him up his offer to photograph us.
He is still selecting photos and editing them, but here’s one of his favorites. It’s fun to see yourself through someone else’s lens (literally). I came in with my coat on after running out to feed my parking meter, and we took a couple of shots with my coat collar popped.
I was doing my best to smize there.
Let’s say you get the chance to talk to Jessica Alba. You’d probably talk to her about some of her movie roles, right? I talked to her about bubble bath. Specifically, how her Honest Bubble Bath (she co-founded the company) was the only one that didn’t irritate my kids’ skin.
Look, there I am (with long hair) at Alt Summit, talking to her about me giving baths to my children! She was riveted, no doubt.
Ah, but it’s true about the bubble bath. We’ve been using Honest for a good six months now. Everything they make is natural and non-toxic, and I’m happy to be working with them today to share what has worked for us when it comes to bath time.
We like Honest’s shampoo and body wash, and the conditioner has helped me avoid this dreaded scenario with Eleanor. I use a little spray conditioner on her hair sometimes too, to help comb it and tame static. The whole family uses Honest’s face and body lotion, and I like to bundle everything into a monthly package to save a little, but everything is available individually too.
Sometimes I even add lotion to August’s hair to style it up a bit. He doesn’t like to be fussed over, but the result is too cute. Although, I’ve got to say that nothing beats his bedhead!
(I kind of want to figure out how to get my hair to do that.)
If you’re curious about Honest, check out their free trial. Also, Making it Lovely readers can enjoy $5 off a bundle subscription using the code Lovely$5off. Limited to first-time buyers and expires April 25, 2013.
