Bling

My talented sis-in-law Krishel did Lauren's hair similar to the photos on her blog. Lauren wanted her hair purple for school. But because of school rules she cannot have distracting hair and purple is distracting. When we heard about bling Lauren was thrilled. She could have purple and get away with it! Check her out on her blog she is doing a give away. www.nickandkrish.blogspot.com

Burnt Crispy Fried

Why is that I can get my kids lathered in sunblock every 2 hours, but I never think about me? I am burnt again. I endured 3 soccer games in the sun 2 weeks ago... then i endured a week of burnt arms.
Today it is my arms, neck, chest, cheeks, nose, forehead.... I am already hurting... Can you say SKIN CANCER? I cannot keep my skin soothed by aloe. Oh! How am I going to sleep? Doh!

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty
Lauren was Flora in the school play.
She did AWESOME! She remembered all her lines.
Sang out loud when her mic stopped working.
She smiled at the audience, giggled behind the scenes,
changed costume quickly, remembered all her ques.
She was BRiLLiANT!!!!!!!!
She helped save Princess Aurora, baked a cake with magic,
rescued Prince Phillip, helped defeat Malificent and her goons,
and loved every minute of it!
I am so proud of her. She was MAGiCAL!

Boot Camp Day 3

Boot Camp Day 3
So I am not too sore today. I go again tomorrow. I am not looking forward to it. It ranks up there with the root canal I had the Friday before my trip to Hawaii.

Boot Camp

Boot Camp

I don't know what I was thinking.. Oh wait I remember... that I have sat on the couch long enough. My BFF Alese called asking me to join her crusade to loose weight and keep it off. And guess what that means? EXERCISE:( Well I am so sore today. And I know that I will be sorer tomorrow. The damn tredmill said that I had only burned 400 calories. It lies. It has to. I don't want to go back. However, I don't want to stay FAT.
Inspiration:
My darling cousin Ashley Karras did this awesome documentary on the Death March of Bataan, which took place during World War II. It is called "The Inheritance of War". For most of you who were like me I didnt know what the Death March of Bataan was about. Basically, during World War II these 400 men surrendered to the Japanese army after months of fighting. The Japanese soldiers viewed these men as dogs and treated them worse. It was a surreal experience watching video, photos, and hearing the American soldiers talk about being torchured, starved, beaten or killed. You can read the newspaper article on it at this web site. http://www.standard.net/live/news/166233/

I watched it Sunday with my family. It is awesome. In it one of the survivors talks about while he was marching he would set small goals of survival for himself. Small goals like making it through that day.

I don't want to compare my struggle with my weight to the struggle these men experienced daily to survive. But in reality for me it is a big enough struggle. I am not going to focus on a big picture or great rewards at the end of this boot camp. I am going to make it through today- Tuesday, Day 2 of Boot Camp. I am sore but ibuprofen helps. Tomorrow will be Day 3 and I will deal with it when it gets here.

And yes Alese might have to drag me by my ear on Day 4 for our next work out. But I will be better for it.
Thank You Alese.

Hawaii

So in December Paul told me that he wanted to go to Hawaii.
My response.
No No No.
Money is so tight during the holiday season
let alone how the economy was slumping.
Ya right! What was he thinking?

But the man is persistent.

So we booked the trip. $2000 for hotel, car, airfare.
What a steal.....!
We had too much fun. A TROPICAL get away.
When we arrived in Maui, we went strait to
the Paki Maui to find out they over booked,
and we have been upgraded to the Ka'anapali Shores!
This newer resort had 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, & a spa.
We were thrilled.
We went on the took the Road to Hana,
making several stops along the way.
We saw a sea turtle in the surf, it would poke its head out of the water.
We watched huge waves crash in to the lava rock along the shore line.
It would make this loud boom, amazing!
I collected sea shells from among the tide pools,
and spied on black crabs trying to camouflage themselves on the black lava rocks.
Our favorite stop was the Waianapanapa Stake Park.
The black sand beach was amazing, the caves, the folk lore, and
the rocks along the shore were spectacular.
We snorkeled, we hiked, we swam, we tanned, we took lots of pictures.
We enjoyed every tropical minute of it all.
Our favorite place to hang out was Lahina or the beach.
We went for a whale watch and had many spectacular whale sitings.
I am so glad Paul doesn't listen to me all the time... or we wouldn't have gone.

Home Made Laundry Soap

So Alese my BFF asked me not too long ago if I wanted to make homemade laundry soap. My response, "Why?".  Why seems to be everyone's response as well. 

Why? Well it is very very cheap to make. I think we figured about 70 cents a load. 

Alese found a website with the recipe. We went to Albertson's and found the 20 Mule Team Borax ($4) and the Fels-Naptha ($1.09). Kents had the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda ($4). Apparently there is a difference between washing and baking soda. The first 6 gallons of soap cost $9. The next 6 will cost us $1.09 for the Fels-Naptha. Baking time is 20 minutes and requires only a measuring cup, medium sauce pan, spoon, & 5 gallon bucket. When washing your clothes you use only a 1/2 cup of the soap. 

I love it. 

It doesnt really have a smell, it smells like soap. We store it in 1 gallon ice cream buckets. You can find the recipe at this website: www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm

Happy Washing :)

Blogging

So I suck at Blogging. I think that pictures should be included in my blog. However, I cannot figure out Windows Vista and cannot get my pictures on the PC. I will try to be better though, because I know you all want to know what is going on in my world!