Less than productive but still an awesome day!

Woke up bright and early at 7 AM, thanks to my barnyard animal alarm app (gotta love smart phones!). Waking up to a rooster crowing is one way to start your day. Of course not long after that, I heard Grayson cooing away in his crib. It's moments like that, that I lament my job... Don't get me wrong, I am so very thankful, in this economy to have a job and be able to provide for my family, but I would definitely rather be with my baby. If I could just work half as much as I do now, I'd be happy. BUT, it was a particularly slow day today and after I got all my responsibilities taken care of, I was able to leave before lunch! I love surprising my family.

I wish that I could be better at managing all my daily chores and playing with Grayson. I just love sitting on his floor and watching him, it's so amazing to see him learn new things every day. Yesterday we worked on sharing, today we are working on what together and apart means. He will pick up a block and so will I, I will say "together" and he places his block to mine and we interlock them. Then I'll say "apart" and he pulls his block from mine. We do this about 100 times before he gets bored and moves on to something else. We are also learning the sign for "more", he hasn't quite picked up on that one yet. I should be doing laundry, dusting, cleaning out the litter box, vacuuming, dishes, etc. But my husband works nights so he has to sleep during the day so I can't get anything done on our bedroom until he gets up. Grayson is very heavy and I already have back problems so even with the Moby Wrap I find it hard to do things around the house with him attached to me and he won't let me walk away to do anything. I know that a lot of people would tell me that I just need to let him cry "just let him cry it out, he'll learn to entertain himself and you can get things done". Well I'm not doing that, I believe in attachment parenting and I am not interested in breaking my childs heart just so that I can fold laundry. I do not believe that you can spoil a baby with love, only with things.

Obviously I have found time to post in my blog(s) so clearly I can not prioritize well either :-/ So now the baby is napping (well, he is laying down but not sleeping) and I am in my parents room making up rebus puzzles with Gabe (my nephew) and wondering why I can't seem to get it all done *queue the light bulb labeled "LAZY"* I just wish that my husband could find a job working days (and for more pay so that I could work less *wink,wink*) so that I could get more done in the areas that I need to get them done in. Time management is one thing that I definitely need to pray about.

How can I do laundry with this face looking back at me?

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Went to church with the whole fam this morning, it was a wonderful sermon. It is so very important to support pray for our missionaries. Everyone needs to remember that. It was so nice to be able to sit in church with my husband and our little one... Even though Grayson tends to sleep through the whole sermon. But he's not even a year old, so we let it slide :-P I brought my Kindle with me today instead of my actual bible. I find it hard to flip through the pages while holding Grayson, plus he grabs and tears any piece of paper he can get his hands on at the moment! So I tried the Kindle today and it worked great! It was lighter and easier to stuff in the diaper bag, I was able to locate the verses easily and the print was large enough that my husband and I could both read it. I think that I will be doing this from now on. Or at least until Grayson is out of the grab-and-destroy phase. 

After church we came home, Duck fixed our lunch while I fed and played with Grayson and we all sat at the table and ate together, which I loved. We rarely all get to eat lunch together as a family. After lunch, Duck went off to bed so that I can be well rested for work tonight. Then Grayson and I played in his room for a while, we are working on our signing and communications skills. Today we worked more on what I call "the sharing game". When he picks up a toy, I will ask him if I can see it and when he hands it to me I tell him "thank you" and hand it back to him. He actually likes this game and will play it for several minutes before becoming distracted with the next shiny object. Most of the family went to Aldi for some minor grocery shopping so I stayed here so that Grayson could lay down for a nap. So my 9 year old nephew Gabe and I are hanging out in the dining room as I blog and he plays quietly with his toys. I laid Grayson down for his mid-afternoon nap, but he seemed to have a gas bubble (poor baby). Once we got it to realease (out of both ends, mind you) he settled right down, nestled in my arms and drifted off. *le sigh* I will miss these days of being able to rock him to sleep.

Anywho, now it's time to talk about my DIY shampoo experience *drum roll please*. So I used it in the shower the night before last. It smelled amazing! And I will need to mention that it does NOT lather like you are expecting. It lathered slightly, but I think the dirtier your hair is, the less it will lather and my hair was super oily since I had not washed it in 3 days. I was expecting it not to lather though, I have used organic shampoos before and they do not lather very much either. We have grown so used to associating a rich lather with being super clean and although a rich lather DOES make your hair super clean, it also super strips your hair of it's natural oils which are imperitive to hair health. So is used the shampoo as I would any other shampoo (wet air, apply shampoo to head, wash hair, and rinse) and my hair felt clean, but not squeaky clean. Which was good because if your hair is squeaky clean, usually it's because it's been stripped. I waited for it to dry and my results were eh. My hair is very oily, fine/thin and a little limp all by itself. My hair when it was dry still looked oily and limp, it felt a little heavy like I had actually added more oil to it (there is oil in the shampoo, btw). I may need to try again and use less product, more water and scrub my hair for longer. My hair may also need to go though the transition period of ditching traditional shampoos and SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate), the detergent used in shampoos to strip your hair. 

I will give it another shot, but should probably clarify my hair first to rid it of build up and oil. I will use a baking soda shampoo (1 tablespoon baking soda in 1 C of water) and follow with a conditioning ACV rinse (1 tablespoon APPLE CIDER VINEGAR per 1 C of water). That will clean my hair of any product (shampoo/conditioner) build up and give the other shampoo the opportunity to work on good, clean hair. I will give it 4 weeks and see how I like it. That will give my hair time to transition, I wear my hair up in protective hairstyles most of the time anyway, so greasy hair is nary a problem for me. Oh well, we'll see how it goes.

Either way, here is my Sunday hairdo- A sock bun with braided accent and some homemade decorative pins (the big pin was a gift): 

Well that's it for me, folks. I hope everyone has a blessed rest of their weekend and I'll see you see I see you. Thanks for reading! God bless!

Scripture of the day: Matthew 4:20 NIV "At once they left their nets and followed him."

Makin' 'Poo

No, not THAT kind of poo! SHAMpoo!

In my daily struggle to reduce my carbon footprint to the size of a gnat turd, I am always trying to come up with ways of living more naturally and cost effective. I am one of the cheapest people on the planet and if I can save a buck, I will. I have been reading a lot of articles lately about the dangers of traditional shampoos. Articles like this one: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/shampoo022105.cfm and this one http://www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=580. Pretty scary. Now I don't think that everyone who uses a brand name, non organic shampoo is going to get cancer and die. It just makes you think about what you put on your body. Here's a general rule of thumb for living more naturally: If you can't eat it, don't put it on your body. Plain and simple. Why do so many people try to live a healthy lifestyle, but still put chemicals, toxins, and pesticides all over their bodies? This includes cosmetics, lotions, etc. Today I had an epiphany... Why should I spend so much money on an organic shampoo/conditioner if I can make it myself? I won't! Understand that making your own organic shampoo may still cost a little more than a $1 bottle of dollar store shampoo or Suave, but not by much. It will still be cheaper than buying a bottle of an organic brand. Also note that I did not invent this recipe, I found it online here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Shampoo/step2/STIMULATE/ There are other recipes on this site, this is just the one I went with because I like the smell of peppermint, plus I have seborrheic dermatitis and the tea tree oil is really good for it :-). I altered the recipe slightly based on what works best for my type hair. I also have fairly long (tailbone length) fine/thin virgin hair that I work VERY hard to take good care of as naturally as I can. Enough rambling, here we go!



What you will need:

1/4 cup distilled water

1/4 cup liquid Castile Soap (I went with Dr. Bronner's unscented, but you can use whatever kind you want)

1 tsp grapeseed oil

1/8 tsp peppermint essential oil

1/8 tsp tea tree essential oil

2 measuring cups

1 1/8 tsp measuring spoon

1 1 tsp measuring spoon

something to mix the solution with (I used a fork)

a squeeze bottle or dispenser of some kind

WARNING!!! Essentials oils can be extremely dangerous if used improperly. Use with caution and be sure to keep them away from children and pets!!!



Pour 1/4 cup distilled water in one measuring cup, then pour 1/4 cup liquid Castile Soap in the other. IN THE CUP WITH THE CASTILE SOAP add grapeseed, peppermint and tea tree oils. Mix well. It will become cloudy at this point, this is normal. I also used slightly less than 1/4 cup of soap because my hair is so thin and fine that even the smallest amounts of soap can weigh it down and make it look greasy. Now add the distilled water to the soap/oil mixture and mix well. Pour mixture into your bottle/dispenser (you may need to use a funnel). Ta da! DIY 'poo!

I have not used this shampoo yet as it is not a wash day for me. I only wash my hair twice a week and tomorrow is my wash day. I can't wait to try it! I am a little concerned that the oils will weigh my hair down and cause it to look greasy, but I will be sure to rinse very well and if it looks weighed down, I will add some more distilled water to the mixture. It's all trial and error and hopefully it will make my hair and scalp happy. If this recipe just doesn't work for my hair, I will try a baking soda recipe and see how that works out. Baking soda shampoo would be the cheapest of all recipes!*jumps up and down* I will talk about my experience with my new 'poo in my next post.

Everything has a beginning...

Day 1, my first post on this blog *applause* we will see if I can keep up with this one better than any other my other blogs. Cross your fingers and join me on a mystical, magical journey.

This blog is a peek into my crazy life. If you read my profile then you know I live in an old 1930's farm house with 9 other people, 5 dogs and 4 cats. Lets's review: In my house lives me (duh), my husband Duck, my son Grayson, my sister Jennifer, my brother-in-law Jim, my nephew Gabe, my brother Daniel, my mom, my dad, and my grandmother. In this house there are also 3 Great Danes (Dior, Deuce and Daisy), one Rat Terrier (Sophie), one medium size mixed breed dog (Allie), and 4 cats (Angel, Chaps, Trooper and Chance). Did ya get all that? Can you keep up? I hope so, because I sure as heck can't!

We all live together because in a nutshell, we all need each other. Families should stick together through thick and thin and my family is like glue. We are stickier than sap on a windshield! I know it seems weird and crazy to some people, and this arrangement is certainly not for everyone. You have to be able to get along with your family (most of the time at least) and be able to sacrifice privacy and a little bit of your sanity to make it work. We all love each other, we work together and solve household issues as a team all while maintaining bonds and relationships with not only each other, but with God as well.

God is at the head of our household, we turn to Him for guidance and answers first and foremost, we strive to walk in His light and in His image. Always attempting to please Him in everything we do. Do we ever fall short? Every day, be we use these shortcomings as examples an reasons to try harder tomorrow.

As you read along, you will see that this blog is just a window into my world. I need an outlet and a place to share our blessings and even let out some frustrations. My mission is to show others that life is what you make of it. God should come first in your life, and after Him comes family. Without God and without Family, we are nothing. This is my life, it is crazy but it's mine and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I welcome you to join me, share your stories and input, laugh, cry, and anything else. Thank you for reading :-)






Here we are! A Zombie, a zombie hunter and a baby. Doesn't Grayson look just a little too happy to be hanging out with a Zombie? Should I be concerned? Don't worry, this was taken on Halloween. This is not everyday attire.