Hair Tutorial ~Titanic Updo.

[This is a repost from an old blog- my hair is straight now, so it doesn't look quite the same as it did now. Never-the-less... 'ere you go ;) ]


This style came about on a busy Sunday morning when I had less then 5 minutes to do my hair, but it needed to look really nice, and that most quickly. So, I experimented…and from that simple experiement I received so many compliments that I thought I’d share how to do this style with you!
The accessories ^ (just as a note, I found everything shown at either Rite-Aid or Walmart… And if you can’t find “fancy” barrettes, just plain ones will do the job just as well. )

Start by brushing out your hair ^
Gather the top half of your hair into a barrette, making sure that it is smooth on top.

Now, (this part is a bit tricky if you have layered hair) gather all your hair into your hand and twist it, starting at the top and working down until you have a “rope” of hair.. Don’t try to secure it, just hold on to the end and don’t let it untwist…

Now, bring your hair up and twist it around, underneath the large barrette…this part is a bit tricky and will take a few tries… but basically just make sure it is smooth…remember, bobby pins fix a multitude of sins.

Secure with the 4 clips – Just clip the “rosette” at all four corners. In spite of the feeling that it won’t stay, it will if you get the clips in well enough. Now, I usually use several bobby pins to secure it even more, but that’s totally up to you. If you are going to be dancing or moving around a lot, I do suggest at least two or three bobby pins.

And then of course, our friend the hairspray. :laughing:

And that my friends, is it. It’s a simple and pretty way to put up your hair, and I’m getting quite attracted to it. I imagine it would look especially lovely in curly hair! If you wouldn’t mind, send me pictures if you do your hair this way! I’d love to see them!

~*~

Supercalifragilisticexpicalidocious!

I Want To Be...


`~*~ Mary Poppins~*~`

My sister and I recently re-watched 'Mary Poppins' - it had been years since I'd seen it.
I was a little afraid it would have lost some of it's charm, since I'm not four now.
But it didn't! It's still as beautiful and magical as it was ten years ago.

As far as I can make out, the rules for being Mary Poppins consist of...

~Being Practically Perfect in Every Way :important:
~ Carrying about a talking umbrella :very important:~Making friends of Chimney sweeps [more about this, later]
~Turning families upside-down. [the goal is for people to say things about you like this...
'It's that woman, Mary Poppins. From the moment she stepped into this house, things began to happen to me!'
~And most importantly - never be afraid to jump into chalk pictures.

'Ello, Guv'ner!'

Okay, I have to admit this. I'm totally in love with Bert. I'd climb any chimney he was up, and maybe - just maybe... dance on the rooftops. Call me a Disney freak - which I'm not - but the fact remains.

::Adoring sigh::

If I'm to be Mary Poppins, I'm going to just have to marry Bert. And that's all there is too it.

::recovers:: Alright, maybe not, but he is the 'andsomest chimney sweep 'I ever seen ;)

The following clip is the most artistic part of the film, if not the most well-known. See if you agree with me, that this is. truly. amazing.




This must be cut short, for Daddy wants the computer - having a shared computer has a few downsides - but it's beautiful outside, so I won't complain!

And now, in Bert's own words...
'Goodbye, Mary Poppins, don't stay away too long'



[By the way, Come Dance With Me now has it's own page on facebook - make sure you check it out!]

.On My Mind.

*~*
Actually, just some of what is 'on my mind.' I have a habit of thinking in somewhat random and completely non-related sentence-fragments, which seems to have a bad effect on people. *headdesk* reaction, as a matter of fact.
*Ahem*
Anyway... :smiles:

* ~* Mothers*~*


I have the best mother in the world.
[1983, Mother's senior photo. Isn't she gorgeous?]


I know, I know, you thought it was *your* mother, but it's not, it's mine. So there. :nods:

G.K. Chesterton described what a mother is perfectly -

I have always loved G.K. Chesterton’s words, “To be Queen Elizabeth within a
definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours, and holidays; to be Whitely
within a certain area, providing toys, boots, cakes and books; to be Aristotle
within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can
imagine how this can exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow
it. How can it be a large career to tell other people about the Rule of Three,
and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be
broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone?
No, a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it
is minute.”

Happy Mother's Day, Mama. I Love you.

*~*Multi-tasking?*~*
About a year ago, I ran across this article by Alex and Brett Harris:

"Christians Can't Multitask".

At the time, I was very un-impressed with the idea, but, upon re-visited the article today, I realized that it was not only true, but a needed wake-up call.

"Not afraid of the potential of technology, we need to recognize its dangers and
set up structural helps and limits to keep it in its place. We should love to
use media and technology as tools for God's glory, but even more than that, we
should desire to live wisely. "

Multi-tasking is everywhere, and it's becoming very prevalent in technology. Not only is it a bad idea, but sometimes it's point-blank rude. Ever seen two people at a restaurant, eating together, but both talking on their cellphones? Or how about the person who texts while they're on the phone with you, breaking both your train of thought *and* your eardrum? ;)

This is the result of Multi-tasking. Our parents didn't warn us because it never occured to them it could be an issue. But it's an issue, and I fore-see it becoming mean, bad and ugly as time goes on. Be warned.


*~*Tangled*~*
I watched 'Tangled' last week, for the first time. Even though I'm NOT a Disney fan, I have to say... it was adorable.

Flynn: 'No, no, no, no, no. This is bad, this is very bad. They just can't get my nose right!'

"Her hair glows! I didn't see that coming!"
"Eugene!"
"Her hair glows!!"
"Eugene!!"
..."What?!"
"It doesn't just glow."
*Flynn looks at Pascal*
"Why is he smiling at me?!"

Speaking this movie, some of the young people have choreographed a dance to one of the pieces from 'Tangled"...

...the Kingdom Dance





So. Exciting.

In other news, I've been a terrible blogger, I've been living outside, I have a horrible sunburn from mowing our 3 acre lawn, I'm sick [which is why I'm not attending Church services this morning :( ] and Mummy and I are attending an International Folk Costume Dance this weekend.

*runs out of breath from run-on sentence*

Life is wonderful!

~ Literary Ball ~

~*~ Finally... I've been working on this post for quite a while! ~*~ This April, our family hosted our first Homeschool Alumni event and English Country Dance. Did we know what we were doing? Certainly not. Was it worth it? Absolutly yes. :) It was wonderful to see good friends again... The ball was focused around a Literary theme - and every attendent came as a book character. Some of the attending heros and heroines included: Emily Elisabeth (with Clifford in attendance), Horatious Hornblower, Alan Breck, Maid Marion, Pippi Longstocking, Jimmy Olson, Rebecca (from Sunnybrook farm), Mr. Knightly, Amy Dorrit and Alice (from Wonderland)... ... as well as many more. I wish we had room to list them all here!

The worst problem with the entire weekend was - it all went so fast! . So, Friday night came, and so did the dancers. And so we danced... and danced... The detail on the costumes was amazing, esp. when you realize that many of the costumes were handmade...

One of our new favorite warm-up/mixer dances is now the infamous "Broom Dance." Ladies line up on one side, and gentlemen on the left. If a lady is holding the broom, two gentlemen come up to her, and she must pick one of them to dance down the middle with. The one left then has two girls come up to him, he must pick, and etc. The guy's antics eventually got very amusing, as did the 'competition'...

(That's my 10 year old sister - what a choice! :) )

Someone caught a lot of this dance on video...

We danced until 12, and stopped just in time to prevent being turned into pumpkins. O_o One would not want that to happen! The rest of the weekend was spent in our sprawling ranch house, with wonderful fellowship and wonderful friends!

Glimpses of the weekend...

~Sitting in the kitchen floor until 3:30 in the morning, discussing everything from the characters of Les Miserables to the ethics of propoganda.

~ Music. Anyone who's ever spent any time with our group knows that music is inseperable from us. :)

~ Discussions. Somewhat heated ones. Always very polite, but occasionally heated. :)~ Those last few moments, before everyone leaves, are always precious. Much as I do hate goodbyes, I would never miss those last conversations and hugs. :)

Last minute hugs with my dear friends, Eva (r) and Melanie (l).

Looking back, I can see what we need to change. How to work it better. But I also realize - and cannot express how thankful I am - that the wonderful memories we made will be very hard for me to forget. That when you do your very best, God allows the best to fall into place, better then you ever dreamed.

Blessings,

Kate~*

(All photo credits go to Brandon P. and Christopher L. Thank you for all your work!)

I was...

... at the Literary ball!

I loved my dress. Making my dress. Dancing the night away. Every moment was unforgettable - and wonderful fun!

And Jane Eyre is still one of my most favorite characters - although I don't believe I made a very good Jane. I'm not a bit morbid enough. ::smiles::

(A more complete article is following soon...)

"Might I sign your Autograph book? (Wordless Wendsdays)

Rain... ♥

Rain beating against the windows is such a lovely sound, isn't it? Rain makes me want to sip a cup of tea. Curl up with a good book. Play the piano. Go jump in the mud puddles. Waltz with my sister. Laugh with a good friend. Read over old letters...

For some reason, I get very emotional when it rains. A bit clingy and generally acting like some love-lorn heroine from other days. Which is odd, because I'm generally rather mattter-of-fact and intrepid, emotionally.

But today it's raining. Today I'm not going to try to be intrepid, but I'm going to try to at least be pleasant. (Which I've not been... eek!) This evening I'm going to pretend I'm a long-lost heroine who's writing her adventures, and skip through the day. Laugh when there's no reason to do so, just because.

When one is feeling depressed, a very hard run in the rain, complete with jumping of mud puddles, does wonders for a person. The mud-puddle-jumping part is the most important. ;) Go have a lovely day... and enjoy the...

Rain ♥

Les Miserables

This winter, I read - all 1200 pages of - Les Miserables.

It was Horrendous. Awe-Inspiring. Terrific. Depressing. Invigorating. It was a book that I will never forget.


How do you even tell the story of Les Miserables? There is no single plot, no single story. It's all interwoven together, in one tale of humanity - humanity at it's worst, and it's best.

It is a story of Mankind's misery, and of glorious redemption.

There are plenty of faults in the story. There are plenty of chapters where I realize that, although the book is written by a believer in God, he is not a Christian. That he is a faulty man, like all of us.

But still...

Read the book once, and you will never forget it. Never forget the glorious characters of Jean Valjean, Cosette, Marius, Eponine, Enjolras...

Even Javert. I happen to like Javert. Because, even though he does cause Jean Valjean every bit of trouble he possibly can...

... he believes what he is doing is right. He believes in duty, and he's a 'Miserable', just as Valjean is. Just something for thought.

So yes. I am a 'Miz" fan. Is it a perfect book? No. Is it a work of art. Beyond a doubt -

yes.

"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."
~Victor Hugo