My curly girl

The other day, I was thinking how cute it would be to curl D's hair; she's three and a half, and she loves playing dress-up, getting her toenails painted, all that jazz. First, I checked if she was interested, and she was. So, the next time we happened to be at Dollarama, we picked up some foam rollers for her hair. I may have overestimated how many we'd need. They come in packs of eight, and I bought five. We barely cracked the second pack.

D is not always the most patient kid when it comes to her hair, so I wanted to put the odds in my favour. I watched a how-to video to get some tips, and then set her up in front of my laptop with an episode of her beloved Madeline. She had wet hair (not washed or conditioned, just wet) from the bath which I blow-dried a little, then I carefully parted it and got to work. Her hair is so much more cooperative when it's a bit damp, I must say. I used eleven rollers in total, being mindful of leaving them loose enough so she could sleep on them comfortably. It took maybe twenty minutes.

This was a very low-risk trial run. I was nervous that she might wake up in the night if the rollers were uncomfortable, or if she tried to change out of her nightgown and got her head stuck (I did warn her against trying this). I figured if she had any trouble, I'd just pull the rollers out. It's not like we were going anywhere in the morning, and we hadn't curled her hair for a special occasion. D slept well and was up at 6:30, earlier than I'd prefer. After breakfast, we took the rollers out, bottom-to-top, and I finger-combed the curls out. Her hair is cut straight across, and the lack of layers made it easy to curl the hair, but with a result of extreme sideways volume. She wouldn't let me pin pieces back from her face, but later in the day she compromised with a ponytail.

For the first little while, she was running and bouncing around, presumably because she liked the feeling of the curls. She enjoyed the results enough that she's going to let me do her hair like this for Easter Sunday.

That is a lot of hair!

Super pleased with her bouncy curls

M gets in on the fanciness

Partying like it's 7:39 am

Resurrection Eggs

In an effort to keep our Easter celebrations related to Christ's death and resurrection, we're attempting something new this year. New to us, anyway. There are many variations on this activity, as I discovered when I searched the relevant terms to find out what to put in the eggs. The basic idea is that, for the 8-12 days leading up to Easter, you open an egg with your kids, and inside it is a small object representing some aspect of the Easter story, along with a Bible verse relating to it. I tried to use as many items as I could from around the house, and the remainder came from Dollarama. As for the eggs, I bought them on sale post-Easter last year. We opened the first one after dinner today, and appropriately enough, D had coloured a picture of the Triumphal Entry today that she got from Sunday school. Or Wednesday school, I guess, since it's from the child care for my ladies' Bible study today.

Day 1-Leaf [from Dollarama rose]: John 12:13 “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”

Day 2-Silver coins: Matthew 26: 14-15 “Then one of the twelve disciples, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him.”

Day 3-Bread [piece of cracker]: Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. “Take and eat it,” He said, “This is My body.”

Day 4-String [yarn tied like a scourge]: Mark 15:15 “Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed Him over to be crucified.” 

Day 5-Thorns [also from Dollarama rose]: Mathew 27:29 “Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, and put a stick on His right hand; then they knelt before Him and made fun of Him. “Long live the King, of the Jews!” they said.”

Day 6-Purple cloth [a small snippet from a bigger corduroy piece]: Mark 15:17 “They put a purple robe on Jesus…”

Day 7-Cross [made from toothpicks]: John 19:17-18a “He went out, carrying His cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull,” as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha.”) There they crucified Him.”

Day 8- Sponge [a piece cut from a bigger sponge]: Matthew 27:48 “One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make Him drink it.”

Day 9-Rock: Matthew 27:59-60 “Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, and placed it in his own new tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.”

Day 10-Nails [a couple of Hubby's finishing nails]: John 20:25b “Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the scars of the nails in His hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in His side, I will not believe.”

Day 11-Spices [peppercorns]: Mark 16:1 “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.”

Day 12-Empty: Matthew 28:6 “He is not here. He has risen just as He said.”

Finishing for Frances

My friend Mary showed up to our Wednesday Bible study with several bags full of yarn and unfinished projects; I'd been expecting these, as her mother-in-law Nancy had told me she'd be sending them soon. Nancy's mom passed away recently, and she left behind some knitting that was nearly done. Nancy asked me if I'd have a look at the pieces and see if I could finish them, and I agreed. 

The items were all baby clothes, mostly intended for little girls who hadn't yet materialized (this being a family where the grandkids are almost exclusively boys!). Beautiful, intricate patterns that she most likely had memorized, knit in fine pastel acrylics.When I laid the work out on my dining room table, I counted seven pieces to be finished, and I had no idea how long it would take. It's Friday now, and I have so far finished a pink dress and an ivory sweater. I'll need to get a few notions (a zipper, some ribbon, and lots of buttons), and each item will be carefully hand-washed and dried once it's done. 

This isn't something I'd normally do, but for some reason I felt drawn to it. I'm honoured to be able to finish the knitting of a woman who raised a wonderful family, even though I never knew her. And the timing couldn't be better: just a few weeks ago, her granddaughter gave birth to her third child and first girl. Little Lauren Audrey, I have a gift for you from your great-grandma Frances.