To Be or Not To Be

Over the past couple of years, Noah has gotten very involved in theatre.  He has been in several high school and community plays and has made quite a name for himself.  Here are a couple of the recent local press features he has received!  We are SO proud of him!

From the NE MS Daily Journal, Feb. 16, 2012

From the NE MS Daily Journal, Mar. 29, 2012

Support local theatre and the arts in your schools!

Debt Update March 2012

As a recap, in July of 2010, Tommy and I took a class at church called "Common Cents". It was basically a starter course on budgeting, etc. At the end of the class, we were given Dave Ramsey's book, Total Money Makeover.

And although we are not "gazelle intense", we have worked hard to get our crazy debt paid down.  Below is an update of how we are doing.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, this has honestly changed our lives!

August 1, 2010 Total Debt Balance
(excluding the house)
$41,704.45

March 31, 2012 Total Debt Balance
(excluding the house)
$21,495.25

In 20 months, we have paid off $20,209.20 in real debt and we are almost half way done! The awesome thing is that as we continue to snowball, the debt goes away faster and faster.  Yay!

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful Spring and that the pollen doesn't have your allergies all crazy like mine!

Up in the Air

A couple of weeks ago, we took advantage of a beautiful January afternoon to do a little kite flying at the park.  The only pictures are from my iPhone and the lens was dirty at that, but you can still see how something so simple was fun for both the 4 year old and the 15 year old!  What a rare treat!

My beautiful family!

Our awesome kites - ordered from Into the Wind

Noah showing off his mad kite flying skills.

Daddy and AnnaLauren

AnnaLauren was convinced she could catch it!

One day I will actually be in the pictures, lol!  Hope you are having some beautiful days - wherever you may be - and that you are making the most of them!

XOXO,

Sock Bun Curls

A litle while back on Pinterest, I saw a link for an awesome tutorial from Kristen Duke Photography on doing sock buns and sock bun curls.  You can find it here.

I was absolutely convinced that it wouldn't work, but it totally did!  It was super easy and great for little girlies to look fancy.  You should try it!

You start with a sock - preferably a clean one.  I like the ones that are a little bit longer.  For an adult, you might want to use a men's dress sock. 

Cut off the foot portion so it looks like this.

Roll up the sock until it looks like a donut (doughnut?)

Now, gather the tools you will need - a brush or comb, one or two ponytail holders (elastics, whatever you call them) and your sock bun donut.  Do this right after bath time or spritz dry hair with water until it is fully damp but not saturated.

Pull the hair up into either one very high pony tail or two high pigtails.  You just want it to be comfortable for sleeping.

Pull the ponytail straight up and through the sock bun donut, letting the ends of the hair hang out.  Tuck the ends back up under the donut and begin rolling it down the hair. 

It does not have to be perfect, but it should look something like this when you are done.

AnnaLauren in a single sock bun

AnnaLauren in double sock buns. 

FYI, use a dark sock and drop these down low for great Princess Leia hair for Halloween!

Sometimes double sock buns will make you feel all sassy!

Now go to sleep and have sweet dreams.  When you wake up, just unroll.

And right after taking it down in the morning!  Gorgeous curls with no heat!

I retwist some of the curls with my fingers, add a hair bow and give her a quick spritz with hair spray.  We are out the door in minutes!

I am terrible and don't have a picture of a fresh hairdo, but here is one from Christmas.  After hours of playing, she still has great movement with absolutely no hair spray!

So now go cut up some socks and have awesome hair in the morning! 

Or, if you have dirty hair, just wear the bun today!