Thankful for the trees

I love living in South Carolina! If nothing else I love the fall weather and the changing leaves... it makes me so happy

And that Matthew has plenty of space to run and play

And that when we get home from running around like crazy, we get to make cookies! The type with M&Ms and Kit Kats from the Halloween bucket in them!

Oh yea, they were that good

Made Matthew so happy that he put on his new hat and mittens and did a little jig!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Holidays and Juicing

Hey busy ladies, how do you prepare the looming holiday season?  Do you take it one holiday at a time, or are you already planning ahead for them all?  What’s your best kept secret for surviving this fast approaching holiday season? On top of the holidays my son will be turning 4! It’s hard to imagine, he will no longer be classified as a toddler. I am struggling with an idea for his birthday party, it will be too cold and dreary for an outside soirée and the bounce house thing is used for everything plus they cost an arm and a leg so I am looking into other options. If you have had a successful indoor party to entertain 10 four year olds let me know!

So in preparation for the holidays I decided to go on a juice fast, just to kick start a healthy eating habit during all these temptations. In 3 days I lost 6lbs! It wasn’t the best tasting I must admit however it wasn’t horrible. I am not condoning not eating and defiantly do not juice if you are pregnant or breast feeding because you need more calories for your wee one. First you might ask why…. why would anyone want to do a juice feast for heavens sake? The answer is “to jump start your health journey” especially if you are not well, or you have low energy which is mine and most mommies issue. Drinking juiced vegetables will give your body incredible, easily absorbed nutrition that it has most likely been craving for many years. I know that some of the weight lost is water weight and I am not expecting it to stay off but it’s a great kick off for healthy eating.

On that note, I suggest that all of my friends read the book Skinny Bitch. Don’t be put off by the title. It’s a great quick read that will open your eyes to the food industry and how they push horrible food products on us to fatten their pockets and our bellies. You may not agree with everything in the book but it will surely get you thinking and perhaps make a few easy changes in your pantry.

Below are some juicing recipes. I know it’s hard to spend a lot of money on fruit and vegetables but think about it, do you blink when spending $4 at Starbucks or going out for lunch at work? Do you scoff and dropping $20+ at Target on crap you don’t really need, yet we will him and haw at spending money on something that is good for us and keeps us around longer and more energetic for our kids?  Plus if your kids see you eating healthy it’s likely that they will want to follow and a lot of these recipes can be altered to be more kid friendly. That’s just my two cents…

Refreshing cleansing juice
2 pears
4 stalks celery
2 cucumbers
Juice in juicer and drink throughout the day
Green lemonade
4-8 leaves of romaine lettuce and/or kale
2 large apples
2 lemons
Optional (carrot)
Stir in agave nectar for sweetness if needed. You can also add a carrot if you want to cut the astringent flavor more. Drink this and your skin will be glowing!
Carrots & green juice
2-4 carrots
4-8 leaves romaine, spinach and/or kale
2 apples (optional to cut astringent taste)
Carrots are great because they contain natural sugars that your body will crave during a fast.

Tropical Enzyme Booster JuiceIngredients:
1/2 pineapple, small
1small papaya
1 small mango

Rejuvenating Veggie Juice

Ingredients:
4 medium carrots
1 large beet
3 stalks of celery
2 large kale leaves
1 inch piece ginger

Power Cleanser Juice

Ingredients:
4 medium carrots
1 large beet
10 sprigs of parsley
4 inch piece of cucumber

Tomato Vegetable Juice

Ingredients:
2 medium carrots
1 small beet
10 sprigs of parsley
2 tomatoes
2 stalks of celery
1 clove of garlic
1/2 onion, small

Carrot and Beet Juice

Ingredients:
4 medium carrots
1 large beet

Apple, Pear, Lemon, Lime and Ginger Cleanser Juice

Ingredients:
3 medium organic apples
3 large organic pears
1/2 small organic lime
1/2 small organic lemon
1 inch piece of fresh organic ginger

Monday Update:

Since my mom moved up at the beginning of August,  I (we) have been making major headway in all the projects I have lined up around the house but didn’t have the guts or the know how to complete on my own.

We now have a header in the bedroom and I also switched out some photographs for these great mirrors I found.

I painted the half bath from a poop brown to a high gloss beige, boring right. BUT then I had the idea to wallpaper the ceiling and my mom was kind enough to implement said idea and voila major impact! Plus I utilized a painting that I couldn’t find a home for from my mother in law that adds some class to an otherwise unclassy room.



Poop brown-fitting I suppose



Not poop brown- but sorta meh



And then BAM!



and then smack you with some class



On to the dining room: I had this photo from Sara’s House as inspiration; I like the idea of mixing patterns and being fun in the dining room instead of so stuffy and traditional. I had looked at many wallpaper books and wavered back and forth in ideas. I initially wanted to do grass cloth wallpaper but the sticker shock steered me clear of that thought. I found this wallpaper which is perfect, it has the teal that I love and a punch of coral and although it is formal it is still very high energy. I am still searching for the right fabric to use on my chair seats and my mom is still working on the settee that will go in here but for now I am very happy with the outcome of the dining room.

Some other household items that I can check off my wish list is:

The Galileo Thermometer- I gift from my Dad

This great House Rules print- There is a plethora to choose from but I just thought these fit us the best.

The new door in the bonus room: which is repurposed from the dining room. It made no sense to me to close off the kitchen from the dining room with a glass door so we removed it and brought it upstairs to the bonus room. It makes it feel a smidge bigger since there is not this big block of a door anymore.

Fall is here Fall is here and lookie what we made! I love this banner. I got the idea from Pinterset and made a replica. I love it and for under $10 think it makes great impact on the room.

Here is a photo of the front yard décor. I just love what a couple of barrels of straw can add and of course the mums! How can anyone not love this time of year?! We are holding a pumpkin decorating party for the kiddos this year so there will be more decorating and fall fun photos to come!

There was also an addition and subtraction to our family.

Two weeks ago I was out with ,as my husband has dubbed, my spontaneous friend, and we made a quick trip to the SPCA just to see what was there. BIG mistake. Of course I found a friend that needed to be mine and after a few phone calls, a night to think about it and a second ticking by slower than the last class of the last day of school day at work I went back with my son and picked up our new dog, Barley. He is a mini long haired dachshund mix and is just a super chill lovey dog. He gets along great with our other dog Shelby and with a few tiresome nights of potty training and kennel cough behind us we seem to be in the clear.

Sadly, over the weekend we had to say good bye to the best cat ever. Angelo, aka memow left us on Saturday. He was an old man, whose arthritis and weight loss on top of his recent incontinence made it clear that it was time. Which isn’t really that easy right, I mean how do you ever really know that it is time. I called my mom over to the house to get her opinion and after calling the vet and holding back the tears as long as I could I called Matthew over to talk to him. He was in the back yard picking weeds flowers for me, I sat on the deck stairs and asked him to sit with me, he asked if I was crying and when I told him yes, he handed me the flowers and told me they would make me feel better. CRY harder. I told him that his kitty was sick and that I needed to take him to see God. I know he didn’t understand but he sat there quiet with me for a moment. Then I took him inside and as my mom and husband were already surrounding Memow, I sat Matthew in front of him and told him to give kitty big hugs and to soft him, as he says instead of petting. After we had a big group hug with Memow in the middle we left for the vet but not before we gave him as many treats and grass eating time as he wanted. My mom stayed with Matthew and when Mike and I returned Matthew said to me calmly that he didn’t have a kitty and that of course induced more tears. Then about an hour later he came to me and asked if his kitty felt better now. What a sweet little heart he has. We will miss Angelo. He was my first pet as an adult, he went through college, and many moves with me. He was my first baby and I hope that he knows what a blessing he was to us.

Labor Day and laziness

It is already September and this weekend is Labor day weekend which I have been told and have recently come to realize myself is one of those wake-up wholly crap where did the year go new year’s resolutions check time to rev up for the holidays and let go of the summer.

I have to say, my old boss Ken, once told me that as you get older the years go by faster. At the time I was in my late teens I didn’t feel but now I can surely feel that time is slipping fast. I don’t know what I used to do to occupy my time. Long gone are the lazy Saturdays and lounge all day maybe get dressed Sundays. Sleeping past 7am is a distant memory. Getting ready to go out with friends after 10 pm seems like a false reality. The way things are now is up and at’em when Matthew rises about 6:30-7:30 depending on if he thinks he has school or not. Weekdays are a blur with school, work, chores, and gym. The everyday mundane things that seem insurmountable at any given time but are really nothing to noteworthy when looking back at them. I can’t imagine life without Matthew, really, it is hard to recall what we did and what life was like before he was around only three and half years ago. I must have watched a lot of TV. And even though I am tired now I recall being lethargic then, like I was too overwhelmed to take anything else on, WTF was I thinking? I feel like superwoman sometimes with the amount of things that are on my plate and growing as Matthew does. He is getting ready to start a soccer league at the end of the month, SOCCER people, I still want to rock and nurse him and he is going to be on a team with other mother’s babies who I am sure are having the same ohmgee feelings.

Regardless I just wanted to post that indeed time flies. It is September and there only three months left in 2011. Have you done what you set out to accomplish this year?

I have given up on the drink cheaper coffee resolution as I prefer to spend my money on Starbucks then drink the work pot swill that is offered. I have however cut back on the amount of times I go and cut back on the caloric intake of which I order. That goes with my resolution to have shake weight arms. I still enjoy baking over cooking but at least I am giving it a try, when there is time of course. As far as keeping plants alive, well, I have replaced two dead ones but have kept many alive. And for this I am thankful. I have been more cognizant of my actions and thoughts and have been more aware of what I have rather than that of which I don’t in my goal to be more thankful for what I have.

Also this year, my mom and grammy moved closer which is fantastic. A big goal crossed of the list. I completed another 5k in record time for me. I took a few more classes towards completing my MBA. I threw one of my besties a baby shower and can’t wait to meet the bundle of joy in a month! I have tried, tried, tried again to give Matthew a sibling and will continue to do so, knowing that everything happens for a reason and that His timing doesn’t always match your timing. Another wise boss of mine told me to aim for happy instead of aiming for a different job. Just aim for happy. So today that is what I shall do.

A day in a life

 So this is a week or so late but here is a Sunday in my life about two weeks ago.

Matthew per usual, gets up Super early on the weekends, like in the 6 o'clock hour and runs in our room, jumps in our bed and wiggles around for a little bit until I get restless and we get up.

Since I am trying to cut the Starbucks drive thru I decided to try Via mocha which isn't too bad

Matthew is already wired, drawing pictures and pouncing around. (please disregard unspeakables)

For breakfast we decide on milkshakes. Really they are protein shakes but Matthew doesn't need to know that. Something I wish I would have know is that 5 minutes later, the entire cup of peanut butter, milk and protein powder was spilled on my sofa.

Its only been a half hour.

 I decide its time to stop neglecting my toes

Then I played with some fabric for my master bedroom drapes

Caught Matthew in his undies reading some books- how cute is he

I decided to go wake up my mom about 9:30 Sunday morning

We made pancakes for grammy and great grammy and watched some tv

Off to the grocery store about 11 ish

We also went to Lowes and dropped of some items at the Goodwill but alas I did not photograph those mindblowing tasks. We got pancake mix while at the grocery store and Matthew requested a 'pampake" for lunch too, I oblige but he didn't take one bite, instead he napped!!!!

Which gave me a chance to play with the paint chips I picked up at Lowes for a mini art project which went nowhere fast

I turned around to see the clump of fabric that will one day be the piano seat bench cover

I did manage to snag some more seashells from my moms house and made this vase, that I sell through Blessings Direct, a little more me with the added rocks and shells

Matthew never fell asleep. Daddy tried to take him swimming but it started lightning so no swimming just yet.

Its about 6pm and I have a little time to finish my paper for grad school while Mike finally does get Matthew in the pool. I just finished this class, A! 4.0 baby!!

Matthew was gifted with (2)  13 gallon trash bags full of Legos! I am more excited than he is but I bet once Uncle Al comes to visit he will understand the glory that is Legos

9ish and I start to iron, mostly Mikes clothes, for the week

One last glance at my freshly painted toes and Im off to nighty night