If I can brace myself for the stinky socks hiding under the beds and thirty-second-toot-tag…

(Explanation:  One boy toots and approximately thirty seconds later another one feels as though he’s been ”tagged” to toot…and then thirty seconds later…yeah you get it.  Four boys, remember?  And NO I’m not feeding them sugar free ice cream.  Far from it.)

Anyway, if I can get over the hidden stinky socks and thirty-second-toot-tag…I love getting my boys all snuggled into their blankets at night and reading a chapter of our latest read-aloud book.

They love it.  They beg for it.  They actually hurry up and get their teeth brushed so that we’ll have time for it.

One of our favorite books…one that they ask for over and over…is this one:

Kingdom Parables was a gift from a grandparent a few years ago and the boys just LOVE it.  The author re-wrote several different parables of Jesus using animals as characters and understandable situations that kids can relate to.  Then, the actual Biblical account is written at the end of each “story” so kids and parents can discuss the “real version”…and so that we can talk about how to apply Jesus’ teaching to our lives.

I love this book…and wanted to let you know about it in case you’ve never seen it before.  Kingdom Parables…check it out. 

The beauty of this book and it’s stories overshadows the effect of Thirty-Second-Toot-Tag.  That’s why I keep going back for more.  That and the fact that even though my boys’ room smells like a boys’ room…there’s nothing much better than our nightly snuggle time.

So, what are your favorite read-aloud books?
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.

Continuing on from yesterday’s post please welcome again Cheryl from Moms in Need of Mercy as she guests posts more about cutting little boys’ hair!
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As moms in need of mercy in all walks of life, when we can find ways of doing things ourselves instead of paying someone else to do them for us, we can save lots of money. Replacing a $10 haircut a month with one at home will save $120 dollars a year–and that’s just for one son. How’s that for inspiring!

When we talk about cutting our sons’ hair ourselves, I find clippers less intimidating and more forgiving than scissors. Stick the guard on (I use a longer one for the top and front, a shorter one for the back and sides), slide it carefully through the hair, blend with scissors, voila–you have a fairly decent haircut. But since my friend Liz is the trained cosmetologist and I am just the amateur, let’s go with what she says when it comes to clipper cuts!

Whereas with a scissor cut, you start with damp hair; with a clipper cut, the hair needs to be perfectly dry.

In Liz’s professional opinion, using a guard higher than a number four (or a half-inch) is just about worthless. She says the clippers will miss so many hairs that you might as well just use your scissors and follow those angles that we talked about in yesterday’s post.

So plug those clippers in, and let’s get to work!

So we work around the head this way and wind up with that “dog at the groomer’s” look. Wonderful, isn’t it? Depending on how your son is behaving that day, you could stop there, or do the right thing and finish it. :) Making everything even is the art and science of blending, which comes later.

The next step is to blend the sides and back by pulling the hair straight out and cutting it parallel to the shape of the head, as the pictures below illustrate.

Remember how I promised to show you how I give my boys’ haircuts…and then just at the moment I had my long-haired boys all lined up for haircuts and pictures…my camera batteries died?  While we’re waiting for my boys’ hair to grow back for the photo op, Cheryl from Moms in Need of Mercy offered to guest post on this subject for us!  And she got her PROFESSIONAL cosmetologist to help us out!   

Eventually I’ll be able to show you a video tutorial of how I cut my boys’ hair…but in the meantime…this picture tutorial from Cheryl is awesome!!
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When thinking about giving your son a haircut, do you:
a) shudder at the thought of what it might look like if you did it yourself,
b) reach for your scissors with a glint in your eye,
c) reach for your phone to make an appointment for him,
d) wish you knew more of what you were doing, so you weren’t just “winging” it (come to think of it, he kind of looks like he has wings when you’re done)

Haircuts, even for boys, are expensive. As often as their hair grows, this adds up to some serious cash. But if you know how to cut your son’s hair at home, and you know how to do it right, both of you will be pleased. He’ll be pleased at the result, and you’ll be pleased with how much you’re saving by doing it yourself.

If you’ve ever wanted professional lessons on how to cut his hair by yourself, my friend Liz–a licensed cosmetologist–agreed to show me (and you) the tricks of the trade.  Normally, these lessons would cost you a partial cosmetology school tuition, but we are bringing them to you free! Now go pour yourself an ice water on me, and let’s get to work!

As you can see from the above picture, cutting hair successfully is all about the angles. To begin, you may want to start with the neckline. (Liz thought that beginners may want to start at the top. This way, you can set the top length as your guide and blend down from it, rather than having to cut everything again if it doesn’t blend properly when you get to the top last).

But let’s say you start at the neckline. Working on the back of the head, starting from the area of the top of the ear down, use your water bottle ($1 at the Dollar Store/Walmart/Target) to spray the hair down and cut at a 45-degree angle, slanting toward the neckline. You will hold the hair according to this angle and cut along your fingers, as you can see in these pictures.

Once you have worked your way across the back of the head, you can use your scissors to carefully go straight across to form the base of the neckline. As you can see Liz demonstrating, you want to make sure to hold the hair down firmly so you cut it evenly.
Liz says if you are right or left-eye dominant, it could make your haircut slant. So when you finish the neckline, get eye level with it and check that it does not slant. If it does, correct it!

Just as your child’s patience has about reached its limit, you will reach the top. Reassure him that you’re almost done and you’ll give him a reward for sitting so nicely (or not so nicely!) when you’re finished. Take the hair from the center of the top of the head, lift it up, and cut it straight across. If the very front of the forehead looks too choppy when you’re done, you can point-cut it. This is where you will use the point of your scissors to cut small points in the hairline (you don’t want it to look like candy-corn) :)

If your son has cowlicks at the top of their head (mine do), you can leave the hair longer here to compensate. The extra weight will help prevent it from sticking straight up. To accomplish this, you will want to angle the hair slightly toward the front.

Now you’re just about done! The only thing left is to check the cut to make sure it’s even. You should be able to run your fingers through the hair, pull up various sections, and have the lengths line up evenly (angling in places, but with no long hairs jutting out). It should be well blended. Correct any mistakes you find, and try again in another 3-4 weeks, depending on how quickly your son’s hair grows!

Click here to see how to give a clipper cut as well as how to properly use clippers to help take out some of the bulk in a standard haircut.
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.