Mama Fasha

Fun with Retro Camera

2012-01-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

I have an Android smartphone, hence I do not have "Instagram" or "Histamatic" (or whatever that is called). I do have "Retro Camera" and it's all sorts of awesome. You choose from 5 or 6 different cameras with their different styles of photos. All sorts of awesome. I haven't uploaded all of the awesome photos I've taken with it but here are a few from Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncles.

Ian, my nephew Rhyen and Connor

Mark and Leah, looking like Jessa Duggar

My uncle has a backyard railroad and these houses are from it. I wanted the Monster Giant Child effect :)

Ian, Rhyen and Connor

After 800 photos, I got one of him smiling!

And here are a few more from Christmas and waiting for Samson at LAX.

I love the Poloroid camera on here, plus I love that each camera gives you a black and white option.

Ok this is my regular phone camera, but he looks like one of the Rice Krispy elves so I just had to add it.

This was just a few moments before Samson's plane landed. I just love these expressions!

Meet Samson

2012-01-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

We picked him up from the airport on Saturday. He'll be 5 months old this Sunday. He's a Great Pyrenees and thoroughly fluffy. He is currently sacked out in the dirt in the backyard so he's not really looking very white at the moment. He's also an incredible drool machine so he's *really* not looking very white at the moment. But he's been a wonderfully lovely addition to the family so far. I'm looking forward to him assisting with our "backyard farm" activities in the near future. If you want your own Samson I suggest checking out the Shock Family Farms, that's where he came from.

WIWW

2012-01-11T12:05:00.001-08:00

First WIWW for 2012, not to mention a few months. Top: Temperley for Target from 2008? Skirt: strapless dress from WalMart 2010. AND I can't get this to flip. SO there.

Linked to The Pleated Poppy

First book review of the year!

2012-01-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading "Sugar Nation" by Jeff O'Connell. At first I thought it was just going to be this little book telling me what I already know: everyone eats way too much sugar y'all. And then I thought it was going to be telling me how to not eat so much sugar in a way that would make me want to go along with it.

Well.... it did do that, but in a really unexpected way. Basically this book is about Mr. O'Connell's life after being diagnosed as "prediabetic". It boils down to this: everyone eats way too much sugar y'all and we're all madly careening towards diabetes. And the experts won't tell you that. Nor will they very willingly tell you that diabetes can totally be avoided or reversed if you have it, by.... ready? Lifestyle changes. Diet and exercise. Low CARB not low FAT (which is, crazily, the reverse of what the American Diabetes Association guidelines state). Fat doesn't make you fat, carbs do. This guy basically proved it in that he improved his cardio capacity by eating fats and cutting carbs drastically. No plaque or anything. And, he got his blood sugars totally under control. (he also talks about reactive hypoglycemia which is what was shooting him towards prediabetes and which is something that even experts say millions of people suffer from and don't even know it).

Diabetes "causes", not "is the result of", heart disease, obesity, some cancers, arthritis, ED, PCOS and a host of other fun fun things (like blindness and amputations). It's even being studied to see if it is the actual cause of Alzheimers (and it's starting to look like it is) And it is completely avoidable.

My own father was diagnosed with diabetes and he implemented lifestyle changes right away. He lost 50 pounds, and started walking 3 miles a day. He eats the right foods. And now he no longer needs his diabetes medication. So, it's totally realistic that diabetes can be reversed.

Read this book, it will change your life. Your pancreas (and eyes, limbs and heart) will thank you.

I have already scheduled physicals for four members of my family where I will specifically be asking for tests for insulin sensitivity. And we're all going to drastically change the way we eat anyway. I, with occasional indulgences, feed my family with healthy foods. But reading this I see that I have also been duped into thinking some foods were healthy when they were not. That's gonna change. Because even if none of us (please God) have this or show to be on our way, I am not going to let us "get" there either. Bible reading for today: Genesis 13-15, Matthew 5: 1-26, Proverbs 5

New Year's Goals, thus far

2012-01-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

So we all know that to post how you're doing on your New Year's Resolutions 4 days into the New Year is not only premature bragging but usually also a guarantee that you won't continue. Oh well.

We have, as a family, begun reading through the Bible. Our pastor puts out a nice little guide to reading through the Bible in one year and we've started with that. I can usually get to, oh, February and then I get behind and then I just stop. But this year is different and every evening, usually when I am making dinner, Mark has begun reading, and usually I'll finish it up. So that is part of my goal of growing closer to the Lord and bringing my children with me.

We have read: Genesis 1-9, Matthew 1-3, Proverbs 1-3. And then I read a chapter from Little Pilgrim's Progress (an easier to understand version of Pilgrim's Progress) and with the boys at night I read the Little Boys Storybook Bible and go through the "Man of God" section with them. I'm not sure I really am digging the Little Boys Storybook Bible as it's not only reeeeeeeeally casual but it also is a little silly, ie: having Noah's sons act like young boys even when it's mentioning their wives! But it is getting them to think a little differently about the stories so I'm going to try it a little longer. And the Man of God parts are good.

So, if you'd like to follow our reading, tonight is Genesis 10-12, Matthew 4 and Proverbs 4. We read the King James Version.

Favorite Photo Friday

2011-12-30T14:14:00.000-08:00

Ben (13), Brandon (20), Melanie (20, Brandon's girlfriend), David (21), Lisa (21, David's girlfriend), Leah (15), Ian (6) and Connor (4). Christmas night 2011

The only thing that would have made this photo truly perfect is if Jacob had been able to be here to be in it. My big prayer for next year is that he will be and that God will keep him in his hands until then.

I'm linking up to Favorite Photo Friday:

New Year's Goals

2011-12-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

Resolutions just never seem to work out for me so I'm calling them goals. Same thing. Nothing too fancy this year but if I accomplish even half of them, it'll be a major major life enhancer for all of us.

1) Grow closer to God

2) Become more faithful in my study of His Word (which of course will enable #1 that much faster)

3) Stop swearing. I know it is totally ridiculous to say "I'm a Christian" when I can, at times, usually when I am lividly angry, sound like a sailor on leave. And yes, the whole 'lividly angry' bit goes totally against my Christian faith. See why I need #1 and #2?

4 )Be more faithful in disciplining according to the Bible and not so much along the "because I'm the Mom" route.

5) Complete the garden boxes (meaning adding 6 more) and really study up on how to get the most bang for my buck when it comes to growing food. Goal is to provide at least 80% of all our vegetable produce.

6) Get citrus trees, another apple and at least two apricot trees and maybe two more grapevines. And pay attention to how to grow them. I tend to stick things in the ground and hope for the best. Eventually these will provide our fruits.

7) Get or build the chicken coop and get the chicks for it. Plant prairie grasses for them to nosh on (and to improve the soil). Starting with layers only and then, if we're really brave, raise some broilers. I don't want to buy conventionally raised chicken any more and organically raised is too expensive for the amount of chicken we eat.

8) Find a supplier for pork and sides of beef. I'd love to raise a hog here and I *think* we'd have just enough room even for two, but I'm fairly sure we're not zoned for it. Not to mention finding a butcher. Definitely no room for a steer, but we *do* live smack in the middle of a suburban neighborhood after all.

9) And everyone's goal: become debt free. We really do live paycheck to paycheck and we really do not need to. I need to eliminate alot of the things we don't need, reduce the things we do and basically just be smarter about how we spend our money. I already shop thrift stores and garage sales, I've done that for decades and I shop the cheapest grocery stores (and have done forever). We live super close to the kids school and our church (same campus actually) and so that has drastically reduced my gas costs, we have Boost mobile for our smart phones and that has drastically reduced our cell phone costs, so we're on the way but there is soooooooooooooo much more I know we can do. And will do, like it or not.

10) Re-learn how to sew and teach Leah how to. I learned once, in high school. However I never continued to practice (hey! alot like like the piano!) and I want to, plus sewing machines look really complicated now so I need a major refresher course.

I think 10 is a good start to the year. I hope next year at this time I'll be able to look back and see these accomplished or well on their way.

What are YOURS for the New Year?

Christmas Photos

2011-12-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

For once I didn't take photos while the kids were opening their presents, I just enjoyed watching them. Of course I got some photos *later*. All 4 younger kids got new bikes and helmets for Christmas. Ben got a R/C helicopter and Connor and Ian got R/C cars. (amongst other things). It was a very nice Christmas.

Happiness

2011-12-14T09:35:00.001-08:00

Feeling a little extra lovey for my little guys.

The Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

It's always fun trying to get a photo of all of them and this year I only have 4 kids to photograph and yet.....

How do the Duggars do it? (actually I saw the episode where they were taking family photos. It looked very similar to what I went through only their camera guy didn't use swear words or threaten the lives of any of the children).

So, Leah turned 15 a couple of weeks ago.....

2011-12-01T14:04:00.001-08:00

And now I'm posting the photos:

Finally! One withOUT the little brothers!

Love

2011-10-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

Arbonne Giveaway!

2011-10-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Whoo! Giveaways rock don't they? I love 'em. So, I'm having one!

Arbonne is a Swiss formulated skin care, cosmetics and wellness line (produced right here in the good ol'USA and sold only through independent consultants like me). It's botanically based and vegan certified. (That means no artificial chemicals or road-kill. I am so not kidding about road-kill.)

My giveaway is for a travel pack of amazingly awesome FC5 products. FC5 is formulated using kiwi, strawberry, pumpkin, carrot and mango extracts. (FC5 stands for Fresh Cell 5, the five ingredients I listed above.) The FC5 line has been clinically proven to STOP the aging process. Cool right? Right! The travel pack consists of 6 products, all 2oz, so they're TSA friendly as well as being awesome for you: Nourishing Daily Shampoo, Nourishing Daily Conditioner, Invigorating Body Cleanser, Conditioning Body Moisture, Ultra-Hydrating Hand Creme and the Cooling Foot Creme.

Now, how to enter? Easy!

1.) "Like" my facebook page and leave a comment on this post for 1 entry
2.) Visit my webpage and leave a comment in the guest book (very important or I won't know you've been there) for 1 entry
3.) Order ANYTHING and receive 10 entries and my undying love.

Our Holiday 2011 products are available now and there are some really really awesome items available, including 3 different fragrances!

Giveaway ends on October 31st!

So, Yeah....

2011-09-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

Just a normal, nice, brotherly photo.....

What's for lunch this week....

2011-09-28T09:47:00.001-07:00

Ian's lunch, baby carrots, grapes and oranges in the top tier, mini whole wheat pitas with lettuce and ham and turkey bottom tier. If you look closely at the top tier you'll see where it got burned by the dishwasher's heating element *the day after I bought it*. That same week the dishwasher also ate the lid from one of my EasyLunchBoxes and a reusable straw.

Cute right? eBay!

I've used this for him since last year but it's so cute I wanted to take a picture of it.

Ian's again: whole wheat mini pita with lettuce and ham. A squished silcone heart with cheez-it's, oranges and BabyBel cheese in the shape of a bunny. This works well in place of hard-boiled eggs. This one looks a little mangled but I've gotten the technique down since then.

Ben and Leah got the same lunch: turkey, ham and lettuce roll ups (I used garlic and herb flavored Laughing Cow cheese for the spread), oranges, baby carrots and grapes.

Showing how to eat an orange.

Linking to: What's For Lunch Wednesdays

Garden Update--- it's been awhile!

2011-09-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't posted anything in a few weeks, mainly because the garden seemed to be an overall "fail". Plenty of green leaves and no veggies. However lately things seem to be taking a great big turn for the better. Every other day we are harvesting a handful or two of purple bush beans (the kentucky wonder pole beans just are not producing for me. I've never had a problem with them before!) We've had one yellow squash but now we have several growing and looking good. I have three tomatoes growing on one plant and we've harvested all of about 7, but it's like they've decided to grow *now*. I have actual melons growing though I don't know if they are the moon and stars watermelons or the sakura sweet melons. I guess I'll find out when they get bigger. I have no idea if there are any potatoes under all the green leaves. Oh yes and the jalapenos are starting to produce nicely.

The corn was an absolute fail. I pulled up all the pumpkin and watermelon that was growing in the boys' garden as they were just turning brown and not producing anything. I planted peas and they are starting to come up now. I pulled up some of the sunflowers and planted radishes and pulled up the spent edamame plants and planted Japanese mustard.

If you look closely there are to bees inside this eggplant blossom.

Royal burgundy bush beans. They turn green when cooked.

Connor showing off his harvests.

Morning glories.

Yellow squashes growing.

Melon!!!!

The flowers on the scarlet runner bean plants.

Connor with the apple tree.

Linking up to Homestead Revival and Garden Tuesday.

I thought he was a little too quiet....

2011-09-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

cough

2011-09-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

So, I have a really bad cold and being on the internet isn't very pleasant. It actually hurts to sit up and be here. But since I know SO MANY of you are missing me, I'd thought I'd just tell you what's up.

So. Now you know.

Only fun thing, I got a new (ish) car on Friday: a 2008 Honda Odyssey. Good bye old Expedition! I am so far loving this car, even whilst being sick. The remote sliding doors were seriously like 90% of the reason we got it :) But it's awesome all the way around.

If you want to make me feel better, dash off and buy the September clip of the month before it's gone! It's so pretty and affordable and it's only here for the month of September!

*achoo!*

Clip of the Month

2011-09-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

Lilla Rose is featuring a new flexi-clip each month. The one for September is really so pretty! Click here to visit my website and see more about this clip and all of the Lilla Rose flexi-clips.

Look for a Lilla Rose giveaway soon, your chance to earn free Lilla Rose accessories by hosting a virtual party, as well as an Arbonne giveaway. Watch this space, as they say :)

Did you know they made bi-focals for 6 year olds?

2011-09-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well. Now you do!

Ian got reading glasses today, clear on top (no prescription on top) and prescription on the bottom. The hope is this will correct any focusing problems before his brain decides to go near-sighted. As someone who has worn glasses for most of my life, I really hope this works for him!

And yes, he's utterly adorable in them.

I really do not know what is happening here.

Bento giveaway

2011-09-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

All Things for Sale is this really cool bento supply website and they are hosting a truly cool giveaway: a 2 tier bento box, lunch bag and drink bottle, in the CUTEST animal motif. I seriously want one. Seriously. A lot.

So, I entered their giveaway and you can too! Just go here: giveaway and enter. They make it pretty painless to do.

And if you win it and don't really want it, it's ok to send it to me :)

My last baby's first day of school

2011-08-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

Connor's first day of K-4 was yesterday. He was very excited about the whole experience until it was time to line up to leave and he saw me again and then... he burst into tears and couldn't get to me fast enough. His teacher said "Um, he was definitely ready to leave."

So, Mommy got a lot of cuddle time in and he sobbed that "It was very boring" and "I missed you Mommy and it took a long time for you to get me."

So yeah he shattered my heart, as little boys tend to do to their Mamas.

However, I didn't get any photos of *that*, I only got photos of super cute excited boy:

There's always next week!

Spiffy!!

2011-08-31T21:25:00.000-07:00

Please visit the very beautiful blog of this very beautiful woman. I am one of her blog sponsors!

Wait, actually I'm *two* of them because I have both businesses sponsoring. WHOOHOO!

"Use your imagination!" I said....

2011-08-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

So, Connor was playing Lego Star Wars (on xbox) and I said to him "You've played long enough, it's not good for your mind. Now you need to use your imagination, draw or play with your other toys."

He said "Ok"

Then he brought me the broken handle to my measuring cup and asked if he could use it. "Sure" I said. Then he showed me a nail from the junk drawer and asked if he could use it. "Sure" I said, though I really don't know why I said it.

Then I heard tapping.

Then I saw this face right here:

Then I said "Oh let Mommy see what you did"

Then I saw this:

(That would be two nails nailed into the cushion of my couch)

Then I saw this face:

Yeah.

Back to Bentos

2011-08-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

As the school year has officially started, I am back to officially making lunches again. Yesterday's lunch was fail from the start: I wanted to copy these really cute Perry the Platapus sandwiches from Susan Yeun, but the faces fell off. Then no one apparently, had any time to actually eat their lunch, and Leah's was dropped so, yeah, fail.

The lunch for today was better, more compact and efficient except that apparently the hard boiled egg "scented" everything in Ian's lunch, therefore he couldn't eat his grapes because, in his words "They smelled.... oh yeah, so bad." Accompanied by a furious waving of his hands in front of his nose.

*fail*

But here are the photos of Ian and Leah's lunches anyway. Ben's was basically the same, but in place of egg were Trader Joe's corn puffs. Ben and Leah also got an extra container of cheez-its and Leah had a packet of soy sauce for her egg. Tomorrow? Leftover pizza. There.

turkey sandwich, whole wheat bread, shaped hard-boiled egg and grapes.

same with Leah's but with the addition of carrots. She actually did eat all of her lunch today, though I apparently didn't put *enough* hot sauce in her sandwich. But really, who eats hot sauce on turkey sandwiches?

Linking up to Bento Lunch.net

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

I love the first day of school because I love the new, fresh clothes and the shiny school supplies and freshly sharpened pencils and new backpacks and lunch boxes. I dread the first day of school because I miss the kids!

Today is Ian's first day of first grade and his first day staying all day at school. I am expecting a tired boy when I pick him up!

Ben, looking like a short man! Connor *had* to jump into the photo. I can't ever get him to pose but when someone else is having a picture made, he's there. Not his first day today either.

Ian, looking fierce for some reason!

Totally placating me. She really didn't want her picture taken.

Ian at his own desk, he was excited by this.

His hook with his spiffy backpack (Lands End!).

Connor's first day of preschool is Tuesday, then I'll really lose it!

A little nothing....

2011-08-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have updated my blog, I've had this blog for about 5 years now, and I just figured out how to make different pages. Yeah. So, there's a page for the books I've read so far this year (I haven't read anything since I reviewed my friends' book in July. It's been magazines and blogs for the past couple of weeks. Anyone have a good book suggestion? Anyone?). There's also a page for the family photos and a little blurb about them and then a page for more info about myself along with more info on Arbonne and it's products. And it cleaned up my sidebar a wee bit too. Now there's ads and blog lovin'.

So please, if you have a chance, check them out! Meanwhile I'm baking chocolate cupcakes for Ian's party tomorrow and praying that his friends will be here since NO ONE RSVP'D. Pray for us!

Have a lovely weekend!

And now we are 6

2011-08-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ian turns 6 years old today!! How could this be possible? HOW?! My sweet, brilliant, funny, thoughtful, imaginative boy can't possibly be 6 years old already? Where did those years go? How can he be starting 1st grade? How can he not still be my tiny snuggly baby?? And how is it possible to love him even more every single day? We are so incredibly blessed to have him and I never take that for granted not even for a second.

Ian in the hospital

17 months

today with his surprise breakfast happy birthday cupcake.

He is lounging today in pajamas, enjoying his Hero Factory figures, Lego Star Wars, Trio blocks and Nerf Gun. Life is sweet when you're six years old!

Garden Update

2011-08-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well right now there isn't much to post. Things look pretty much the same as they did last week, except the sunflowers in the other garden are opening up, so now I have pretty flowers in two different views. Nothing harvested. Lots of blossoms on the pumpkins, watermelons, eggplants, yellow squash, absolutely nothing resembling actual fruit though.

Good look at the weeds growing up through my little bridges. Also I am using a broken camera tripod for the scarlet runner beans. Whatever works right? I still love the way the pole beans look climbing up that fence. The potatoes are very leafy, I hope there are actual spuds under that soil!

Couldn't resist some cuteness here! My big boy turns 6 years old tomorrow!

4 of 5 kittens that our cat had, despite my best efforts to keep her isolated. But they are the cutest little things ever.

Linking to Homestead Revival and Garden Tuesday at An Oregon Cottage.

Back to School Shopping is.....

2011-08-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Done! (insert "oh yeah" dance here). Thanks to Wal-Mart for the cheap supplies and Target for the good clothes (polo shirts and dockers for the boys, modest tees and cardigans for Leah. She already had plenty of skirts).

Of course shopping for 4 kids gets expensive and tiring really quick so it's nice to sit and relax for lunch and maybe get a little deal at the same time. Want a good deal like I got? Go here and print these awesome Quiznos coupons. They'll feed your tired hungry back-to-schoolers and won't break your bank.

mmmmmm Chili's!

2011-08-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

I love Chili's, love the beef fajitas (and I don't care that it's just a chain--that's a nod to any MST3K fans out there--yes I'm a geek) and really who doesn't enjoy a good awesome blossom every now and again? Know what else is really yummy? Free. Free is pretty much always a good thing and if you sign up for Chili's email deals, you can get a free chips and queso coupon! How yummy is THAT? (hurry though this offer ends August 30th)

Now please excuse me while I go grab me some chips!

FDA: if I am lucky, this will be a compensated post

Garden Update #7? 8?

2011-08-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

This week I didn't photograph the whole garden, just interesting or producing things. I have a lot of green, not a lot of produce. I think we shall see no corn. I have stalks. I have husks. And it looks like corn. But I do not think any actual corn is growing in them. So, next year I'll do things differently!

Edamame!

I love seeing the pole beans twining around the fence posts.

Royal Burgundy bush bean

First two jalapenos. Possibly the only jalapenos.

I canned 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce but we've already eaten three of them!

Linking up to Homestead Revival, An Oregon Cottage and Smockity Frocks.

Lip Service

2011-08-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I talked about our hands and how they are often neglected in our skin care/sunscreen routine. Well another oft-neglected body part is our lips.

Yes most of us wear lipstick or lip gloss but a very important component to remember is sunscreen. A very high percentage of skin cancers are actually found on the lips!

Arbonne has a botanically based lip saver with an spf of 30 for only $8. For those who don't like to wear lip gloss or color on the lips it's great because it's more like chapstick, but more moisturizing.

Say good-bye to sun-chapped lips and hello to maximum preventative care with Lip Saver, SPF 30. It's blended with targeted antioxidant ingredients that refresh, rejuvenate and soothe as it protects and benefits all skin types. ( 0.24 oz./7 g
You can find this at my site: or for more info, email me at: kyamaguchi@myabonne.com

WIWW: welcome to Frumpville

2011-07-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

tee shirt: thrift store, skirt eBay (Target brand though)

I am posting this week's WIWW as a lesson in how not to dress. I am in a constant battle against frumpiness and this week I lost! But this is actually good as it will help me step it up a notch for next week!

tee shirt: Target, skirt: yard sale (50 cents!)

tee: Target (one of my favorite shirts) capris: yard sale (25 cents!)

Linked to The Pleated Poppy.

Garden update and attack of the mushrooms

2011-07-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

Bob supervising the watering.

As an aside I am typing this out at 10:31 pm and it is currently 80 degrees. Just to give y'all an idea of how hot it's been lately!

this is crazy corn. Only these two kernels formed. Our rabbit loved it :)

4x4 bed of pole beans, bush beans, salvia and cucumbers. (or yellow squash, can't remember)

better shot of the climbing pole beans

4x4 beds of (on left) tomatoes, blue salvia, orange bell peppers and bush beans (on right) potatoes

This is the puny box from recent weeks. I transplanted a pumpkin and a moon and stars watermelon tonight, also are lemon cucumbers, sakura melon and edamame

edamame on left, scarlet runner beans on right

pole beans (starting to twine around the fence) sunflowers, jalapenos and eggplant

Boys' garden, pumpkin on left, 'moon and stars' watermelons on right. I pulled one pumpkin (actually the second I've transplanted now) and one watermelon out tonight and moved them to another box

sunflowers, cucumbers, pineapple sage and morning glories on left. corn, pole beans and yellow squash on right. watermelons and spearmint in front. Smokey the cat in the background

OK! These are the mushrooms that are invading my planter boxes. They grow in these clumps in the beds. This photo is of the clumps that I dug out and tossed today. They grow taller and get little caps on them, I've also seen them turn white and 'ghostly'. I have them in 3 boxes. I have NO IDEA WHY. These beds have full drainage and full sun. Now then if they are edible, I'd be happy but I don't know what they are!

Onto something pretty. I canned 8 half-pints of strawberry freezer jam :)

And 4 quarts of pickles. First time making pickles.

Linking to Homestead Revival, Smockity Frocks , Garden Tuesday and Farmgirl Fridays.

"The Order of the Blood" Book Review

2011-07-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

"The Order of the Blood" is a book written by two friends of mine, Nicole Vlachos and Lane Morris. It's always tricky to review something that your friend has done because, well, what if it's horrible? What if they don't have any talent and you're all nervous because you don't want to hurt their feelings?

Happily I didn't have to worry about this because Nicole and Lane are very good, very talented writers! Whew! (of course I knew this going in because I have read other stories they have written,but still...)

"The Order of the Blood" is good old Gothic vampirism. No one turns into bats, but no one sparkles either. It's a well written, interesting story with interesting characters.

Ok I lied about the awkward bit because this coming up is awkward. Deep breath. There are three main characters: Ian; a new vampire who is still dealing with that huge change and hanging on to bits of his humanity. Gideon; a centuries old vampire who doesn't give a hoot about his old humanity and very much enjoys all that being a vampire entails, and Robin; a very human human who loves both Ian and Gideon. Now comes the awkward part: I thoroughly hated Ian and Robin. Loathed them in very big ways. Gideon? I loved Gideon. Loved. Him. (this will not shock Lane or Nicole). And, well, things really did not go the way I wanted for him in anyway whatsoever and that made me loathe the other two even more.

However! Even with this major point of fact with me I *still* found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable book. And I think that is a big testimony to the talent of these two writers: I can hate two of their major characters and still 100% enjoy and recommend their book. They write a really good, engaging story with well written characters. Even if things didn't go my way.

So, please go here and buy this book. You'll be glad you did.

All Hands on Deck!

2011-07-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

Doing all this work in the garden has made me realize the importance of sunscreen. Not only on my face (and back of my neck) but on an oft neglected part of the body: the hands.

Your hands get a LOT of exposure to the sun and they are one of the things that can age you the most. You might have a forehead as smooth as a baby's bottom (which is a really silly saying because I've seen some really dimpled rears. But you get the drift) but if your hands are veiny and splotched, you're gonna look old. Period. And even those who go with the 'aging gracefully' idea, you know you still don't want your hands to look a mess.

So! It's really important to apply sunscreen to the backs of your hands and one with anti-aging properties, like Arbonne's Revelage hand cream is even better, *plus* it has skin brightening ingredients (NOT BLEACH) to fade existing sun spots.

Here's the scoop: Item#: 4556

Revelage Age Spot Brightening Hand Therapy with SPF 30
This rich protection hand therapy shields skin against UV damage with SPF 30 to prevent further signs of aging, skin discoloration and age spots. Leaves hands feeling smooth and looking more youthful. ( 2.5 fl.oz. )
Price: $37.50

This you can get from me here. Regular sunscreen you can get at most drugstores, I recommend Target because it's my favorite store in the world.

The Return of WIWW

2011-07-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

I'm back after months of neglect on the WIWW front. Of course I had barely gotten into the swing of it when I moved and then once here it's been all about the garden. But! I wanted to get back into this because, especially with school out, I've been seriously lacking in the "getting dressed up" or even, "getting dressed decently" area.

Now then, after all the above gab, I only have one photo and it's not that great as I am still trying to figure out where the best place to take photos. But! I *am* trying :)

Dress: WalMart, tee underneath: Target.

Linked to The Pleated Poppy.

Please visit my other website! Mention you're visiting from The Pleated Poppy and get deluxe samples!

Garden Update #8

2011-07-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Corn!

The first tomato!

What a difference a week makes! I am seeing a lot of progress in the garden this week, plus we have had our first harvest :) I did get the artichoke plant moved but I think it was way too late for it. I had someone watering for me for three days while I was with my Mom in San Diego (update, she is finally home! Doing much better :) ) and I think my waterer didn't realize it was a plant because it was all shriveled up. I transplanted it anyway and am remaining hopeful. The potatoes really needed more hilling but I may be too late with them as well as one of the plants is flowering.

Potato Blossoms

tiny flower buds on the edamame

flowers on the royal burgundy bush beans

Linking up to Homestead Revival, Smockity Frocks and Tuesday Garden Party

V is for Victory number 7

2011-07-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

The nice thing about these garden party link ups is that I update here more often, it's the easiest record keeping yet!

Nothing added this week, and things are still not done that I want, ie the artichoke is still in the ground and not in a raised bed or container and the potatoes still don't have another box added on so I can hill them higher. I did transplant one of the pumpkins from the little boys' garden and will get more soil and containers and transplant more of them plus the watermelons because very soon it's going to be overcrowded in their garden box.

Pineapple sage, sunflowers, morning glories, spearmint, watermelon, corn, pole beans and yellow squash.

You can see the new growth pushing out the drowned leaves on the apple tree.

The boys' garden of pumpkins and 'moon and stars' watermelon.

The potatoes!

This very impressive box is planted with edamame, satsuka melon and lemon cucumbers.

scarlet runner beans, edamame and in the lower right corner, a transplanted pumpkin (photo taken prior to watering)

pole beans starting to shimmy up the trellis, bush beans, blue salvia and yellow squash.

pole beans, jalapenos, bush beans, sunfloweers and, along the right lower side, the tiniest eggplants STILL. And again, they are making blossoms. But they still are getting NO BIGGER.

tomatoes, bush beans, blue salvia and orange bell peppers

starting to red up!

Not from my garden but my sweet husband brought these home from work this morning. So pretty to wake up to! And see the vase? My clever hubby made that from a water bottle, so he could put the whole thing in the cup holder of his car for the ride home!

Linking up to: Homestead Revival's Barn Hop, An Oregon Cottage's Tuesday Garden Party and Smockity Frocks' Frugal Gardening 101

Fabulous Product Specials at Arbonne

2011-07-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

There are some awesome product specials for this summer! Check these out:

Remember that Arbonne's products are pure, botanically based products that are vegan certified (so no nasty animal by-products). There is something for all ages including wellness (vitamins, supplements and protein shakes) and skin care. (plus it helps me help my family :) ). Check out the product specials, ask me for a sample or for more info!

Victory Garden update number 6

2011-07-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from these updates for the last two weeks, as we had a family emergency involving my Mom and I've been preoccupied, or gone to the hospital (last two weekends spent in San Diego, which could be worse I suppose. My Mom said I was using her as my excuse for the beach and my favorite Mexican restaurant. So not true! ..... though the rolled tacos are delicious!)

All that is new is we added a new 4x4 box and my nicely growing potato plant disappeared. Not the container it was in, the actual plant just vanished into thin air. Not even a trace of the leaves could be found in the remaining soil. So weird!! Oh and the corn is starting to look like a corn plant now and that's exciting.

I got this strawberry planter at a yard sale for $1! I just put the plants in a few days ago.

Pineapple sage, sunflowers, morning glories, corn, pole beans, squash, spearmint, watermelon and the space where the potato plant was!

The grapevine and it's trellis. It's leafing out nicely but no fruit yet.

The formerly drowned apple tree is making a comeback with lots and lots of new leaves! Still looks straggly though.

The blackberry plants, the artichoke (still awaiting transplanting to a container) the avocado tree (which is also straggly looking but has a ton of leaf buds and some new leaves!), the little boys' garden of pumpkins and 'moon and stars' watermelon.

Box 1, upper left: pole beans, royal burgundy bush beans, squash and watermelon. Box 2: upper right: pole beans, royal burgundy bush beans, eggplants, jalapenos (one of which has two peppers on it!) and sunflowers. Box 3: middle left: scarlet runner beans and edamame. Box 4: middle right: tomatoes (3 so far), bell peppers (one growing), royal burgundy bush beans, blue salvia. Box 5: lower left: just planted edamame, satsuka melon and lemon cucumbers. Box 6: lower right: potatoes! I'm going to put another 4x4 box on top of these so I can keep hilling them up.

The tomato on the "celebrity" tomato plant.

That's it for this week. I am linking up to Homestead Revival, Smockity Frocks and Tuesday Garden Party and new to me and a really nice blog Women Living Well (will link as each goes live).

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a lovely July 4th and remembered to take a moment to thank those who made it possible for us to have the freedoms that the USA enjoys.

new Vision Forum series

2011-06-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Click here for more info, it looks like a great series of CDs!

"Beside Still Waters" book review

2011-06-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, straight up, I have to be honest here. I am not a fan of Amish fiction. I do not go out of my way to read it, and when confronted with rows of it in the local Christian book store, tend to turn and walk the other way. SO, when I had the opportunity to review a book about a young Amish woman, at first I thought, "Um, no" but then I looked at the synopsis again and decided it just might be different. And I am glad that I did that, because this particular work of Amish fiction is really really good.

"Beside Still Waters" by Tricia Goyer is about a young woman named Marianna, who was born the same night that her older sisters were killed in a tragic accident (Ok, all accidents where someone dies are considered tragic, I don't know why I qualified it as such!). That event informs the rest of her life, who she becomes as a person and daughter and how she thinks of herself and her place in the world. She tends to live her life trying to be three girls in one, living the life that she wants to have as well as the life that she thinks her sisters would have led or that her parents wanted for them.

She has her life pretty well thought out when her parents decide that they want to leave the Amish community she has grown up in in Indiana and move to a new, smaller community in Montana (OH and I mistakenly believed that this book was set in the 1800's west. A lot of this type of fiction is, and this book is set right now in our times and that made a difference for me too). She is torn, as she has a young man that she loves and who has shown her his intentions towards her and she loves the comfort and security of her community. Here she knows what to expect and just how she should go on with her life. She absolutely does not want to leave for anywhere "strange". However her duty as the 'perfect' daughter compels her to go with her parents, making a deal with them that she will only stay for 6 months and then return to Indiana.

Naturally as soon as she steps foot in Montana she meets a wonderful reason to perhaps question her set plan for her life! But I won't spoil any more of the story now. Suffice it to say, it's sweet.

I also really loved the way that Ms. Goyer was mindful of Amish ways and beliefs while bringing in a born again Christian character to show them the personal relationship that is possible with God. She does this (through this character) in the gentlest, sweetest way imaginable and I really appreciated that. What she writes is absolutely true but you never ever feel that she is bashing anyone's beliefs. Just showing them a different way.

I very much enjoyed this book and I am very glad that I got the opportunity to read it. It is a gentle, sweet book, not cloying or preachy. I really liked the character of Marianna (and let me tell you, I've been highly annoyed by female protagonists of late so it was refreshing to read one that I actually *liked*). Even her "conflict" is thought out and not full of angst. I absolutely recommend this book!!

(I am a compensated reviewer for Mom Central)

V is for Victory update #5

2011-06-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well a lot is popping up around here these days and we're all pretty excited about it. Remember last week when I was thinking I'd need to move and replant two of my boxes due to not so great sun? Nothing was coming up? WELL, those beans that weren't even showing the slightest little sprout are now about 3 inches high. Maybe 4! And the other side, that had one little sprout? Again all about 3-4 inches high. Hysterical. Also amusing is they are all the same size now.

My eggplants all had pretty blossoms on them that wilted in the 98 degree heat yesterday and I never got a photo. Of course the plants themselves are teeny so I don't know how they'd support the fruits yet anyway. I noticed today that the jalepeno seeds I'd planted are coming up now too.

Finally got the grape unwound from the stake and up on a trellis. Of course we have a very strong wind that comes in from the west and so it's always blowing half of the plant to the left and I'm always back out there trying to fix it. I've tied bread twist ties to some of the larger vines and it seems to be helping it stay where it should.

My potato bed? Has little green leaves now all over! WhooooHooo! and the one I planted first in a bucket? HUGE leaves now! So I need more soil for both.

Ian and Connor had a cute sandbox that I wanted to move over here. My eldest somehow didn't get the memo and threw away the top to it before I could stop him (and it was irretrievable). I didn't want to use it with no top so we've converted it to a planter. We divided the dirt down the middle and the boys planted pumpkins on one side and "moon and stars" watermelon on the other. Once it was all planted I remembered that I hadn't drilled drainage holes in it! But a testimony to the dry heat we have is that I found two watermelon sproutlings today so obviously that water is not sitting there for long! No rotting seeds!

I also made myself a worm composter out of an old plastic tote. The last I checked the worms were alive still but now there is so much dumped on there I don't want to dig around. I got the worms from the fishing department at Wal-Mart (redworms) and it cost me a whopping $5.12. Everything else I already had on hand.

I finally moved the apple tree (I say this like *I* dug it up) to a big container and set it in the back yard. It still looks fairly drowned but today I noticed new growth on some of the branches so I'm still very hopeful for it!

OK now to the photos!

My little farmer boys with their own garden bed.

clockwise from top: pineapple sage, sunflowers, morning glories and cucumber, pole beans, corn, squash. Oh and mushrooms. Mushrooms keep popping up. I don't know what kind they are so I tossed them in the worm composter.

sorry for the weird angle: upper right is the potato, top and bottom are the watermelons and left is the spearmint.

The boys garden, the blackberry, avocado, artichoke and grape on its trellis.

The still drowned looking apple tree.

These were the non growing boxes of last week! The top has pole beans and royal burgundy bush beans, cucumber and watermelon (and one blue salvia). The bottom I planted on Saturday and it has two wilty red salvias, scarlet runner beans and edamame (I don't have the variety in front of me right now)

Top box has pole beans (the one that had only one sprout last week) jalapenos, blue salvia, sunflowers and the eggplants.
Middle box has tomatoes (two tomatoes so far), orange peppers, blue salvia and the purple bush beans. The basil has yet to make an appearance.
Bottom box has the finally sprouting potatoes!

Linking to:

And the Frugal Gardening series at Smockity Frocks.

Eclectic Reads

2011-06-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

So, right in line with my last post about my seasonal thinking is my reading list. Going by the titles you can't really tell the content (truly a book by it's cover) but in the last two weeks I've read a 900 page country living encyclopedia (second time through), a book about backyard homesteading, a book about raising Christian daughters, a book about a witch who meets up with a vampire and a book about a Chinese American daughter who runs away to the People's Republic of China in 1958 and her Mom who follows her back to bring her back to America. (Dreams of Joy, really good. Sequel to 'Shanghai Girls', both by Lisa See).

Coming up? A book about an Amish woman in Montana back in the 1800's, another sustainable living book and a book about vampires, written by two friends of mine.

So. At least I can't be pigeonholed!

Seasonal thinking

2011-06-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

My thinking tends to be cyclical, or seasonal, or just plain scattered. In the winter I am obsessively waiting for "What I Wore Wednesdays" so that I can see what everyone is wearing and how much cuter they are than me.

Now it's gardens, gardening and sustainable living. This happens every year about this time and while I still wanna see clothes, that's on the back burner, just like in the winter I still think about gardens just not as obsessively. Of course right now it's a little more intense because we've finally got our own place and I am much more likely to want to do important things here than in a rental somewhere. So I'm getting these beds in, and planting fruit trees and vines and thinking of rain barrels and composting so I can get it all in and done and be ready to go when winter comes around and I can look at cute people with their cute clothes.

Though today I had sort of a revelation on backyard chickens. I want them but I am the laziest person alive and I do NOT want to get up at dawn just to let them out. So unless I find a cheap and effective automatic door opener, the chickies will have to wait!

"V" is for Victory--garden update #4

2011-06-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

Not much *new* this week. We added one more blackberry bush and bought two blueberry bushes. My husband got one planted and then tweaked out his already really bad ankle and that was it for the digging. I can haul and lift but I can't wield the pick-axe and the shovel in this hard clay like my husband can. So, also, the grapevine is still on the pole and not trellissed. I have, however, decided that I am going to do it up rather like the vineyards do, so maybe it's just as well we hadn't done anything with it yet.

My little apple tree in the front yard is not doing well at all and I am going to move it to a container and set it in the back yard. We'll get something else for the front. Also I think I may have to move one set of my garden beds. I have three that get good sun for a long time and two that I just realized today don't get but maybe 4 hours of full sun and then they are quickly shaded. One is empty and will be easy to move but the other is full of soil and planted. None of the seeds have come up yet, but the salvia that I transplanted last week seems happy there. Speaking of salvias, my pineapple sage seems to be biting it big time, so I need to get it transplanted soon!

These are the beds that get the good sun, only I didn't get out to photograph them in it today. The bed on the right has pole beans (that I finally saw one little sprout today!), jalapenos (with blossoms!), sunflowers (sprouting!) and eggplants. Still don't know if I planted any bush beans there, nothing is up yet. The box on the right has basil seeds, bush beans seeds, orange bell peppers, blue salvias and tomatoes. And look what I found on one of the tomato plants today!

A wee little Roma! Whoo!

These are the blackberries on our new bush that I thought were goners two days ago. They have plumped back up nicely!

Barrel on left: pineapple sage, one teeny swiss chard, tall sunflowers, radish sprouts, no lettuce, morning glories and one cucumber sprout! Barrel on right: pole beans, corn, yellow squash, still no calendula. Big black pot in middle: potato plant that is GROWING. Finally. My bed of potatoes still looks exactly the same as previous weeks. Little pots in front have watermelon (one is coming up!) and spearmint.

Here you see proof that we live in the desert! Counterclockwise from upper right: grapevine, avocado tree, artichoke (in the corner), two black berries and one blue berry. The other blueberry, still awaiting planting, was situated too close to the bunny cage and he happily stripped it of leaves! But I can't blame him, he probably thought it was set there as a nice treat for a good little bunny :) And the cane is still good so it'll still be planted.

That's it for this week. Please check out the lovely gardens that some lovely people are growing here: and HERE at Smockity Frocks.

BlogHer Book Club book reviews

2011-06-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

As is evident by the growing list on my sidebar, I like to read. A lot. So I was thrilled to be able to become a reviewer for BlogHer's new book club. I've read three books for them so far and the last two are up now so please read!
(I am compensated by BlogHer for these reviews)

The review for "Girl in Translation" is HERE. And the review for "A Jane Austen Education" is HERE.

I'm not the only lucky reviewers, so please be sure to check out the other reviews on BlogHer Book Club.

V is for Victory part 3, feeling productive!

2011-05-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today I bought the soil to fill another of my 4x4 beds. I also bought a good sized artichoke plant, which I have been really wanting, and another blackberry bush, one that has green berries and flowers on it! For a cheapo price too! Whoo! Also got a small spearmint plant, I love me some spearmint in my iced tea!

Two days ago I planted one 4x4 bed with 4 tomato plants (gallon sized for 99 cents at Home Depot!), 2 blue salvia plants, two orange bell pepper plants, then in the corners basil seed and in the middle purple bush bean seeds.

I also planted another bed with 4 eggplants, 2 jalapeno plants (one has a blossom now!), jalapeno seeds, sunflowers (Ian and I couldn't tell him no) and two full rows of pole beans. Yay!! Got the grapevine and blackberry bush planted too. In the half-barrels I added an extra blue salvia and a pineapple sage that I will transplant tomorrow. Also planted cucumber seeds there, as the lettuce is not happening. I have one swiss chard plant coming up and it's adorable a teensy replica of what it will be. The pineapple sage is so cool; I had always heard that the leaves smelled like pineapple but never experienced it, it's just really yummy smelling! Anyway this leaves only one more empty bed, as tomorrow I'll be filling and planting another one. I haven't seen any progress with my bed of potatoes, but I have seen actual real leaves on the potato I planted first, in a 5 gallon bucket so there is hope still!

To add to my productive feeling, I started my compost pile and fed the corn thinnings to our dwarf bunny, who himself is now a useful member of the family since I'll have his droppings to add. Plus he's cute and so happy to finally have a yard to run around in instead of his cage at the old house. Then today we hit Sam's Club and I bought several packages of frozen chicken, some hamburger that I divided up and put in the freezer, some spaghetti and such (last month I bought 50 pounds of popcorn and 50 pounds of rice) amongst other things, so other than smallish needs like milk (I don't have room to freeze it nor do I care for the way it tastes one defrosted, I am sure that's just me), I shouldn't have to go to the grocery store for a month! I am very happy about this, especially now that my beloved Super Target is no longer convienent for me.

Now, enough talking, on to the photos for this week!

This is the Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans, the sweet corn and the yellow squash. The calendula is just barely making an appearance now.

Clockwise from top: the pineapple sage (will be transplanted), some radish sprouts, blue sage (will be transplanted), swiss chard, morning glory and sunflower in the middle.

The two small pots have watermelon that each little boy planted, these will have to be transplanted once they grow. The bigger pot has the potato plant. The teeny plant next to the others is the spearmint that I just bought but haven't planted yet.

The grapevine looks great but needs to be trellessed. I am thinking left over chicken wire should work?

The photo above shows the avocado tree, and the newest blackberry bush. Something has been munching out on my avocado leaves but I can't find the culprit.

foreground: new artichoke plant. background: blackberry bush.

far row where it looks empty is actually two full rows of Kentucky Wonder pole beans. The middle has one eggplant and two jalapenos. Also planted are seeds for more jalapenos and some sunflowers. The last row is eggplant and I think I might have planted bush beans and already forgotten it. Guess I'll find out soon enough!

The little blossom on the jalapeno. Aww!

This box has a tomato in each corner, with basil seeds next to each. Blue sage in between in the first and last row. These plants are *not* liking the winds we have here at all. In between the tomato plants going the other direction are orange bell pepper plants. In the middle where it looks empty are two rows (four plants) of Royal Burgundy bush beans. The empty looking box in the back is the potato box where things look pretty much as they did last week!

I love this time of year when the prospect of what could be is so exciting, when you look at all these seeds and little plants and envision meals and rows of pretty glass preserves all lined up! It's almost more fun than the harvest!
Linking to : and

(smockityfrocks)

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is not a lengthy post, this is just me saying thank you to my Dad, my Uncle Tom, my Father-In-Law, my Step-Grandpa, my BirthFather, my Great-Uncle Charles, and my cousins David and Steven for serving our country in the Army, Air Force and Navy, some for a few years, some for their whole careers, some in wartime and some in peace. Thank you, because I love this country, I love that I live here, I love that it's a hard-won free country and I love the men who I named above.

And though he is not a vetern of the Armed Forces, I want to thank my Husband, who for 16 years, fought crime hourly to protect and keep citizens free from fear in their own city, as a police officer. Thank you Honey, I love you!!

V is for Victory part 2

2011-05-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

linking up to:

and Smockity Frocks Frugal Moms Gardening

We're on about week three or so of what I have now. I added a 4x4 bed of potatoes yesterday, I've never attempted to grow potatoes before but I had a few organic potatoes that were going to seed so I thought now was a good time to try it out! Still haven't been able to get more soil and seed for the other beds and I'm going crazy waiting!!

This is the corn, beans, yellow squash and calendula from last week. The little black bucket between the two planters contains one potato plant that I planted about 4 days ago.

This is the lettuce, chard, sunflowers and morning glories. The lettuce doesn't seem to be coming up at all, the chard is. I don't know though if I have lettuce or morning glories emerging! I also planted a little bit of radish as I only want the sprouts and not the plant.

This is the potato bed. I have about twelve or thirteen pieces of sprouting potato in there! Hopefully some of them come up!

The avocado tree and apple tree both have new growth on them which is so exciting! I am still thinking the apple tree might be transplanted as the front yard gets too much water for it. But it seems to be coming back and like I said, I can see new growth so for now, it stays as is. I'm also hoping to get my compost bin started in the next few days too, I'm building it with pallets based on a post I saw on one of Smockity Frocks link ups.

The Class of 2023

2011-05-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Somehow I survived watching my baby graduate from Kindergarten last night, but it was really rough. But he was so cute and so proud as he led his class into the auditorium! And after they were handed their diplomas, they were given roses to take to their Moms. So sweet and so cute! They had a little program of several songs and poems that just slayed me. I can't believe this year is over and now he's a first grader!!

sniffle Kindergartner no more....

2011-05-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today was Ian's last day of Kindergarten. He graduates on Sunday but this was still sniffle inducing. I will be a sobbing mess on Sunday.

He received two awards today, the Honor Roll (for the fourth consecutive quarter, yes he's awesome ;) ) and the Eagle Award for Diligence. Again, awesome.

And as he left school today? He was wondering why he didn't have his First Grade books yet! *sigh* I remember those days of actually being *excited* about school!

Receiving his awards from the Prinicipal.

No, not proud or anything!

With his best buddy.

My Goal and Inspiration for the garden

2011-05-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Check out "The Prudent Homemaker"'s edible landscape. *This* is my goal for this back yard: beauty, function and food. And seeing as my backyard is dirt and weeds, I am starting from scratch, which is really a blessing. I will have a patch of actual lawn for the kids, but I want everything else to be food, but, you know, in a pretty way. And being that I am ever so patient, I want my yard to look like hers.... yesterday.

Check out the rest of her site too, she has really great ideas for stocking up your pantry and growing as much of your own food as possible.

I have been kicking around the idea of chickens for a couple of years, we are allowed to have them here in Los Angeles, but I *know* I wouldn't be able to wring their feathery little necks and eat them. But then I'd feel foolish for having them around and *buying* chicken. We had chickens when I was growing up and always had tons of eggs but we never at the chickens themselves. We had a nasty ol'mean rooster that finally keeled over, but the neighbors stewed him and ate him, not us. The rest just died and were buried. I think my Mom had bad flashbacks about her Grandma and killing chickens. I'm not sure, but I've heard stories.

So, barring eating the chickens, I aim to grow all (or most) of our fruits and veggies. I have a couple sources for purchasing organically grown beef, but these are online and I'm sure I can find *somewhere* locally to do this. I'm excited that I finally have my own house again, not a rental, so I can really do up my plans! We're not leaving here for a loooong time so I want to have this be a nice little producing "farm" in the middle of this big ol' desert.

"V" is for Victory 2011

2011-05-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

And so begins the 2011 edition of our victory garden. Having just moved in last month means that I have six empty 4x4 planter boxes waiting for soil and seeds. However, I haven't been utterly idle, and I had two whiskey half-barrels mostly filled with soil that I filled up and planted in, plus two fruit trees bought and planted!

little avocado tree

lettuce, swiss chard, sunflowers and morning glory

corn, pole beans, yellow squash and calendula

apple tree in the front yard

Our backyard reveals the desert in which we live LOL. But I am so happy to see the sprouting plants coming up! I'll be adding more boxes every week. My goal, as it is at the beginning of each year, is to grow all of our produce for the year! I don't know if I'll acheive that this year or not but it's well worth the effort to find out!

Linked up here: Smockity Frocks and here:

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

2011-05-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband and family gave me a wonderful day of total relaxation, accompanied with jewelry, meals that I didn't have to cook, Coldstone ice cream and a family photo (even though not *all* of the kids were there but that does happen once they start to grow up and have lives!)

The reasons I get to have a Mother's Day at all :)

Found photos

2011-05-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

I found these today from a trip to Vegas in 2006. It's not that long ago but everyone looks so young and little!

Ben, Mark, Ian (sleeping), David, Leah and Brandon

Jake, David, Ben, Mark, Leah, Ian and Brandon

I like this photo because I look GOOD, but I don't like that Ian was cut out of the shot and that like the one above, it's not *everyone*. Because apparently I couldn't have asked someone to take a photo of all of us and also, couldn't have told my husband to step back a few paces to get Ian's stroller in. But still, I like these photos a lot! I wish I still looked that good (totally time to get the hair re-done)

Happy Birthday Connor!!!!!

2011-05-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

My sweet angel baby turns 4 years old today! My last baby, where did the time go? Even he said, yesterday "Can you believe I'm going to be 4 tomorrow? How did *that* happen?". I keep asking myself the same thing! And then when I was cutting his and his brothers' hair last night he said "I have to look adorable for my birthday" (unprovoked comment) and to his brothers: "You have to look nice for my birthday".

Tomorrow we'll have the celebration, his presents are all wrapped and waiting. We cherish this guy so much, every day with him is sweeter than the last.

11 days old

Today in his "FOUR!" shirt.

With his big brother (you can see the beginnings of my garden and orchard in the background)

4 Super Awesomely Cool Mother's Day gifts

2011-04-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

Even if you are the mother you're buying for! All of Arbonne's products are botanically based, with no added fragrances or unnecessary chemicals. Plus they are vegan certified so you know Fluffy never enters into the equation at all! And we have a 45 day money back guarantee so you really can't go wrong! Enjoy!

Stylish Mom

Arbonne Cosmetics Mint Latte Eye Shadow Palette

Café–inspired shades provide expert mix and matchability to create gorgeous, earthy eyes in smooth blendable powder. Hues: Moss, Suede, Chocolate and Linen.

Free Gift! Receive a free mini FC5™ Ultra–Hydrating Hand Crème and Cooling Foot Crème with every qualifying Mother's Day purchase!

#1127; $48 (48 RV)

Glamour Mom

Arbonne Cosmetics Spring Sky Collection

Give her a captivating look with spring sky hues and these essential beauty accessories. Includes Arbonne Limited-Edition Makeup Bag, Travel Brush Set, four eye shadows (Snow, Ocean, Lilac and Blue Slate) and instructions on how to achieve a beautiful Spring Sky Smoky Eye look.

Free Gift! Receive a free mini FC5™ Ultra–Hydrating Hand Crème and Cooling Foot Crème with every qualifying Mother's Day purchase!

#1128; $75 (75 RV)

Active Mom

Arbonne Essentials™ On–the–Go Gift Set

Treat her to this deluxe set of nutrition on the go. It includes Chocolate Protein Shake Mix (10–pack), Vanilla Protein Shake Mix (10–pack), Protein Shaker Cup, plus a complimentary Sport Bag and Pedometer.

Free Gift! Receive a free mini FC5™ Ultra–Hydrating Hand Crème and Cooling Foot Crème with every qualifying Mother's Day purchase!

#1999; $55 (24 RV)

Timeless Mom

RE9 Advanced™ Be Pampered Duo

Spoil her with this pairing of RE9 Advanced products for smooth, radiant-looking skin. This anti-aging duo includes the RE9 Advanced Age–Defying Neck Cream and Cellular Renewal Masque.

Free Gift! Receive a free mini FC5™ Ultra–Hydrating Hand Crème and Cooling Foot Crème with every qualifying Mother's Day purchase!

#1129; $88 (88 RV)

To purchase click here!

Linked to

Easter and a milestone birthday

2011-04-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Ben turned 13 last weekend! 13! A teen! My baby! Ack! He had a baseball game and then had his three best friends over. We had intended on taking them paintballing but timewise it was a wash so we just had it here. No paintballs though. We started with water pistols and then moved to Nerf guns. They had an EPIC Nerf gun battle that lasted for hours, then they were presented with their goody bags filled with a giant Hershey bar, slim jims, airheads, gum, plastic bubbles, paratroopers, mazes, super high bouncy balls... boys are pretty easy to please :) He had a cookies n'cream ice cream cake with sparkler candles. A good day indeed!

For Easter, after a truly awesome service (there is just no one better than our Pastor Chappell) we had an egg hunt *in* the house as the winds were so high it made outside no fun at all. Very simple baskets this year, a bunny for each kid (varying flavors), some bubbles, a wind up toy, gummy bunnies and peeps. Simple but everyone liked them. I had had visions of getting a family photo outside of the new house after church but only half of my family made it to church, the other half are sick (and I had to get up and leave twice in the middle of service thanks to the lingering hacking cough.) But here are photos anyway, from Ben's day and from yesterday:

I'm baaaaaaaaaack!

2011-04-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sort of anyway. We moved the essentials into the new house on April 9 and the internet finally dropped in yesterday. However, we are STILL cleaning out and moving from the old house because I was brilliant and thought I'd get it done just fine using our trailer and not using UHaul. Add to that an attack of bronchitis that is on week 2 now and really, not much is getting done. So... to keep you amused and to know that I am not ignoring anyone here is a link to Total Beauty's top pick awards where the editors chose Arbonne's Cellular Renewal Masque as a top pick. After you read that you'll want some so you can go to my site and either purchase some (right now there is a great deal for the masque and the neck cream together for $88, normally the neck cream alone is $85) or you can request that I send you a sample!

Now excuse me whilst I go cough up what's left of my lungs.

Friends of Mine

2011-04-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

I had to use a Duran Duran song title for my blog post because if it weren't for them I'd never have "met" these friends of mine; Lane Morris and Nicole Vlachos, the two EXTREMELY talented ladies who wrote this book right here:

Many moons ago when the internets were a different world, they wrote amazing stories on their own forum. One of those stories made it into the hands of a brilliant publishing house and now it's a real!live!book! and I for one am anxiously awaiting it's release. You can pre-order it from Barnes and Noble for an extremely reasonable price. If you like Vampires (ok listen, if you love Twilight, then totally be prepared to have your socks blown off. These ladies, they know from vampires. Trust me on this), politics, eugenics and hickies (Lane's description) then you will LOVE this book. If you like witty, smart, gorgeous authors, then you will LOVE this book. Promise!

Another Bento

2011-03-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

You know me with fits and starts. I go from not making any bentos to two days in a row! Woo! Ian was so tickled with his bento yesterday that he really wanted another, so today he gets one in this cute little deer tomo tomo bento.

He has 1/2 a ham and spinach on whole wheat bread sandwich, Mickey Mouse shaped cheddar cheese (score! these come already cut out!) and 2 strawberry creme flavored Hello Panda cookies.

Ben and Leah got basically the same thing in their Easy Lunch Boxes the only addition was half a Kashi cereal bar, more Pandas, full sandwich and strawberries.

Several Bento Bloggers are having a "Bento 4 Japan" auction on eBay. Please check it out, all proceeds will go to victims of the tsunami and earthquake.

Bento Pasta-bilities

2011-03-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Lame title, couldn't think of a better one, forgive me! It's been quite awhile since I've made bentos for the kids lunches: Ben and Leah have been having Thermos' full of soups or lasagnas or spaghetti so they'd stay warm with the cold weather we've had. Ian doesn't really require a full lunch at school as he's out at noon and I generally send him with a drink and snack: either apple or banana or a Clif Kids Z-bar or something like that. But I wanted to do something different today (and I am a little tired of filling up Thermos' before school so they stay hot. I don't actually *like* the smell of chicken and dumpling soup at 7am). So while as usual my bentos really don't look like anyone elses (I am still in awe of those bento making Mama's on my blog roll) I went ahead and made some. Leah and Ben's are in the Easy Lunch Boxes and Ian's is in the Diego bento from Tupperware that I posted about something like 3 years ago when I first started saying anything about them at all. I didn't take a photo of the outside as I've posted that before.

Ben and Leah have leftover whole grain spaghetti (the *pasta* from the title!), with leftover sauteed chicken, asparagus, Japanese mustard greens, collard greens, leek and shallots in the main compartment. Oranges, strawberries and string cheese in the other two:

Ian has ham and spinach on multi-grain bread with string cheese and grapes.

Go here to see really GOOD looking bentos!

Top of the WIWW mornin'

2011-03-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

This week's WIWW is only from St. Patrick's Day. The kids had Spring Break but we all wore green anyway. And we have a goodly amount of Irish in our genes so we *had* too, right? But to be honest, no corned beef or cabbage, or even potatoes. Green milk, and green milkshakes were the extent. Oh and green (vanilla) pudding. On green plates. With green grapes. But THAT was it. :)

Cardigan: Target clearance $7.98, tank top, Walmart $3 about 3 years ago, skinny jeans, Target clearance $12, necklace Lia Sophia from a garage sale, $10 , earrings: Etsy, shoes Old Navy about 3 years ago, $5

Linking up to The Pleated Poppy, Jewelscapes, Momma Go Round and No Model Lady.

Please visit my skin care site. Leave me a message saying you're from WIWW and I will send you BONUS samples! Your skin will thank you!

Ay Batter Batter!

2011-03-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

Opening day of baseball was yesterday. It was 40 degrees and freezing. But they were still excited for it, even though their teeth were chattering!

Happy Spring Everyone! I'm joining up with Debbie's Newbie Linky Party, please check out the great new blogs!

WIWW #6, getting there!

2011-03-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

I still haven't matched my 7 days of outfits posts but I got three this week!

Wednesday: Top, thrift store $1.99, necklace: Jewelscapes, belt: Have a Cute Day's Kjerstin's closet sale, skirt, same denim one as always, shoes Target clearance, a touch too small :(

Thursday: Baseball practice. Skirt too short! Dress: Target Clearance $7.98, Cardigan Target Clearance, belt: Downeast Basics sale $6 (xo belt). Hair, stilllllllllll growwwwwwwing out. Ugh.

Friday: Top from the same closet sale as the belt, same denim skirt as always.

Linking up to The Pleated Poppy, Jewelscapes, No Model Lady.

Please visit my Arbonne skin care site. Leave a message telling me you're from WIWW and I will send you a free 3 day sample of our pure, safe and beneficial skin care PLUS bonus samples! Your skin will thank you for it!

hehehehehee

2011-03-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Remember my post from last month (of course you do, you all are constantly awaiting new posts from me and remember every thing I write!) about hoping hoping hoping to buy a house?

Tomorrow I am signing papers and giving them (most) of the down payment! Whoo!! But really until it's really really happened and I have the keys and no one has said "oops, just kidding" I won't believe it!

And it's the very first house I looked at and wanted and it's 5 minutes from church and school and it's a 4 bedroom (yeah ok a 5 bedroom would have been best but this is ok too!) and the only downside is the mortage is going to be higher than I wanted but I don't care, it's the house I wanted and it looks like we're getting it!

WHOOOHOOOO!!

Shooooooooooes!

2011-03-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

I'm a girl, therefore I love shoes. Really do. I have a few pair, never had Imelda Marcos tendencies, but I love 'em. I have some AWESOME black high heeled boots that I haven't worn in about, oh, 5 years or so. (I think I last wore them when I was pregnant with Ian for one last go at looking hot.) I have some super cute flat heeled boots (one piratey pair :ARRR!). I have some oh so cute flats that only ever really go to church because they aren't that substantial for the grocery store. I love me some heels and I can quite happily go about my day in them.

However.

Lately, I've needed some every day shoes. Now I keep seeing all manner of adorable flats in everyone's WIWWs but these never seem to materialize for me or work in the ways I want. The following are 3 pairs of shoes I've recently aquired and one that is on order. Tell me if you notice a pattern:

?!

I'm not sure when I went there, but I'm there now. I wear skirts 6 days out of 7, pair number three are too cloddy for skirts, but very comfortable. Pair number 4 I just ordered ($17!). All of my oh so adorable shoes are sitting in the shoe cubby very confused, lemme tell ya. Is this the final symptom of Momitis? Finally giving up the cute for the comfy (and not ugly, just not adorable. Or tall.)?

*sigh*

WIWW # 6 two is better than one

2011-03-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

Or nothing. At least I got two days in this week!

Monday: Tee shirt: Thrift Store, $1, skinny jeans that I hate: Target Clearance Rack $12

necklace: custom made Boleyn "Y" necklace: Wendy Brandes Jewelry I need to polish this up!

Tuesday: Cardigan: Isaac Mizrahi for Target, clearance, 3 years ago $5, tee: shirt Target, clearance $2, skirt, JCrew brown corduroy, worn before in WIWW

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy

Jewelscapes

Thrifty LA Life

Please visit my Arbonne skin care site. I have products to make you healthy, wealthy and wise! And if you leave me a message and tell me that you're coming in from a WIWW link I will send you bonus samples! Thank you!

I love "found" photos

2011-03-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

But they make me miss my babies!

(Connor at 7 months in 2007)

(I just got my laptop fixed and it has like 2 years of photos on it and the most recent was 2008)

Ian in 2007. (20 months or so) This was for a profile pic. He loved loved loved Backyardigans for about a year and then he dumped them and would never look at them again. Fickle boy!

Writer's Block

2011-03-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Either that or my brain has finally just shorted out. Nothing is working up there! I've done a lot of reading, all in 10 or 15 minute increments. I am constantly driving. Three round trips to one school, two trips to another, every day, for a total of, really and honestly: 80 miles a day. Just taking kids to and from school. That is 20 miles short of my husband's commute to work!

Then every single day every.single.day, there is somewhere else I have to take a kid to, and that is with only two children in an extra-curricular program, which happens to be at the same school. The other is for my eldest, who has a program that he's required to do and that is every day but Thursday. Add all of that to all of the things ALL of us Moms out there do every day and my brain finally just gave up the ghost. It's all over now LOL

I know, cry me a river right? But I just do not have anything to write (and long time readers will know I say this a lot. It's a good excuse for blank posts!) so...

Anyway y'all, check out my Arbonne site, lots of things to make you healthy (new and updated wellness products), wealthy (fantastic business opportunity!) and wise (Omega-3's that are vegan certified!). Sign my guestbook, request samples! Besides it'll give me something to do, if not write about :)

Getting Healthy in the New Year part 3

2011-03-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

These are super yummy (think chocolate pudding), complete nutritionally, fabulous for scurrying out the door and are the ready-to-drink version of the protein shakes I lost 13 pounds using. Plus, they are vegan certified!

Item#: 2071

Chocolate Protein Shakes (17 RV)

Shake up your daily routine with a delicious chocolate shake that delivers 20 grams of vegan protein, plus 20 essential vitamins and minerals per serving.* *Item is subject to an additional $3 shipping and handling charge. ( 12-pk; 11 fl. oz./330 mL each )

Price: $34.00

Get 'em here!

The bond of love between mama and baby

2011-03-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

I think this sums it up, don't you? Taken on Connor's 1st Birthday. One picture is worth a thousand words. And a thousand words couldn't ever fully describe how I feel about my little man.

WIWW # 5?

2011-03-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

One day only for this week. Kids have been home off and on with various minor illnesses, I've been lazy (what a surprise that is!) and haven't dressed up much or taken photos of it. But I got Monday, so that's something!

Details: Monday, took the kids to school, went to lunch with a lovely friend from church, then to grocery shopping and baseball tryouts. I was glad I wore the tights because it was icy cold at tryouts!

Sweater, Target clearance, $4.97, worn in WIWW previously. Skirt Merona (Target), thrift store, worn previously in WIWW. Shoes: Target, Madsyn $24.99, they are a wedge shoe. Tights, Target. Bracelets: fresh water pearls, from my Mom 15 years or so ago, heart shaped silly band from my little boys for Valentine's Day. Necklace, one I have been coveting from Jewelscapes. LOVE IT!!

Linking up with Pleated Poppy, No Model Lady, Jewelscapes, Thrifty LA Life (on Friday)

Please visit my skin care site: leave me a message in my guest book telling me you're from the WIWW blogs and I will send you a 4 day skin care sample plus bonus samples. Your skin will thank you!

Reading is fundamental:

2011-02-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

And it prevents you from doing a lot of other things!

I received a Nook Color for my birthday, and though I didn't really want one, and protested that I prefer an actual book with actual paper pages, I have to admit I've enjoyed it quite a bit. I know I wouldn't like the regular Nook or Kindle, but I like this one because it also has web surfing capabilities so it's rather like an iPad. Plus magazines are no fun in black and white. I am disappointed that not everything Barnes and Noble offers is available on it (ie I can't get all the varied mazagines that I enjoy), it still is pretty cool. I have several readers for Ian on it and just finished reading "Pride and Prejudice" on it. I have downloaded "Shades of Grey" by Jasper Fforde and "Emma" by Jane Austen. Haven't decided which one I'll read first.

However, it does keep one from much posting :)

Oh and I have added my reading list to my sidebar (there on the right, just above the Amazon.com widget). I've listed the books I've already read this year and the ones I have coming up. As you can see I'm a Jasper Fforde fan. The first couple Thursday Next books (the Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book) are the best, the last one (Thursday Next, first amongst sequels) only good in the last 1/3 but still very enjoyable. The one I have waiting is not a Thursday Next series, or a Nursery Crime (the last two on the list there) so it should be interesting to see how it is. There is a new Thursday Next book due out next month, I think.

What are YOU reading? Any suggestions?

Sick and Tired

2011-02-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

I am in the first stages of a cold, the stage I hate worse. I just want it to hit and get it over with! And it's going to be a sinusy type of cold, so I'm all disoriented feeling. Add to that the fact that my glasses make me disoriented and it's a wonder I'm not falling over constantly. I'll be very glad when my eyes are done being goopy so I can put my contacts back in! I don't know if it's just me, or if it's because of this oncoming cold but when my eyes are like this, it makes me feel tired. So. Tired. If I could sleep I would but that is impossible (see all the kids in the sidebar? That's why I don't sleep).

Then there are all the other things making me sick and tired:

1)Waiting for the IRS to deposit our tax refund and being freaked out that I might have given them the wrong account number and some one else will be gifted. I know that didn't happen, but sometimes I am given over to irrational fears and this is one of those times. Though if it doesn't show tomorrow then I *will* be in a full-blown actual panic.

2)Scheduling. I'm not good at it and I have much that I need to prioritize and *do*. Bible study on Tuesday mornings just started and for once I get to be there. And on Monday mornings some of the local Arbonne District Managers have a meeting that I, while not a DM yet, want to attend, but so far, for the last month, haven't been able to. And now my husband will be home in the mornings and at work in the afternoon/evenings. That actually doesn't make things easier because I don't want to do things outside the home if he is at home, though he can and will watch Connor for me.

3) Home buying. My credit is in the "greatly sucketh" category but prices are so low and when that refund drops in, we'll have something to put down. I don't want to rent this house anymore, and I want to be closer to our church and the kids school (which is on the same property). I could use with less driving and the savings in gas will be significant. But of course I'm worried about the "greatly sucketh" credit hindering us. And I want to be out of here by May.

4) My business. The products are phenomenal and *work*. Really really work really really well, right away. They are awesome. And the income opportunity is also phenomenal. But I can't schedule a presentation or party to save my life. I lack confidence, that's the main thing. I see women out and about that just *seem* like they would love to see and try these products but I lack the nerve to go up to them and start talking. So that pretty much keeps me from doing anything else with it. But come November I'm going to be having an income decrease and an outgo increase and so I need to get this thing kickin'. But I know that if I could just get "one" presentation (party) that things would really GO. So I'm frustrated there.

5) Completely superficial and shallow issues that I won't detail here. For now. But it's enough to drag me down. *sigh*

What's really important

2011-02-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Ian made the Honor Roll for the second quarter in a row!!

giving me the "I Love You" sign while waiting to take his seat.

Heehehehe! I love this kid!

Is it Wednesday again already?

2011-02-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

Only two photos this week. Last week/end was really just a series of laziness and minor crisises so there's not a lot to show this week. Today I'm in my glasses because the last 3 days I've had red goopy eyes so it's probably time to change out my contacts :-p. Also I had a birthday on Thursday and today, I look twice my age (I turned 42). Today is worn-out Mom day and I'm not fighting it!

This is me today. sweater is from a garage sale, cost $0.50, tank from Wal Mart, cost $3.00, skirt is thrift store, cost $1.99. Even the cat is looking slightly appalled.

This was Monday. Kept all the kids home from school, so no skirts, just pants. These are now the only pants that I own because my other two pairs of jeans ripped in the rear. One of them whilst I was shopping at Barnes and Noble. Yeah I was thrilled! Fortunately I had a long tee on and could cover it until I could make my escape!

This top is from Wal Mart, $7 and the pants are Old Navy, 3 years ago on my birthday. They're 2 sizes too big now :)

Yesterday I did have on something cute but alas, I didn't get a photo of it!

Linking to The Pleated Poppy. Go there for seriously cute outfits!

WIWW # 3 a whole week!

2011-02-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

I managed to take a photo every single day this week. Of course today, for whatever reason, my camera wouldn't flash and the photos were too dark to mess with. But you're not really missing anything anyway today!

Now on with the show:

Monday, Gap sweater from a thrift store $.99, Lucky Brand denim skirt from WIWW #1, knee socks from Target $5, uncomfortable blue shoes from Target, clearance $4.98. Copper locket from Jewelscapes. LOVE IT!

Friday, the kids had no school so Yay! Jeans day! Top: Converse One Star on clearance at Target for $4. 98, jeans Gap Long and Lean from the same ebay lot that the Lucky Brand Skirt came from. Necklaces: top with blue beads from WalMart, in a pack with the silver stud earrings for $3, long princess necklace from QVC 3 years ago.

Saturday, with guest stars: Me: striped top Temperley for Target eons ago, pink vest, Target clearance, $7, same jeans as above, Converse One Stars, hand me downs from my 17 year old son. Guest stars, Ben and Ian :)

Sunday: church. Dress Target clearance $9.99, jacket, Target brand, thrift store $2.99, necklace: Target for my birthday last year. Shoes you can't see, pointy toed black flats from Payless

Monday: Same jacket as Sunday, top from thrift store $.99, corduroy skirt, J Crew from ebay $11, knee boots, Etienne Aigner, $29 from Burlington Coat Factory, same as in my first WWIW, necklace, J Crew ebay, part of dress lot, probably came to $2

Tuesday, Bible study and never ever to be worn again: sweater, thrift store $2.99, top, Banana Republic from ebay lot, about $2, skirt, $1.99 thrift store, same boots, locket from Jewelscapes.

                                         Linking to The Pleated Poppy
                                                                  Jewelscapes
                                                             Thrifty LA Life (on Friday)

Linky Party

2011-01-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

Debbie has a Newbie Link party every Monday, a fun way to get to know new blogs. Now then, I'm not a new blog, as I've been here for about 4 1/2, 5 years. However I definitely fall into her other category of "Less than 100 followers". So, here I am :)

Click on the above button and check out not only the new blogs linked up but Debbie's blog. She's a ton of fun and has the sweetest, most encouraging personality. It's hard to leave her blog without a smile on your face!

Getting Healthy in the New Year

2011-01-28T13:37:00.000-08:00

A good way to start off is to gently and safely cleanse your body internally and then support your organs and digestive system. Also an excellent way to stay healthy.

Item#: 2055

Herbal Colon Cleanse

A robust blend of cleansing and detoxifying herbs plus beneficial microflora to support colon health. This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intdended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. ( 60 tablets/30-day supply )
Price: $24.00

Item#: 2082

7-Day Body Cleanse

Helps cleanse and detoxify the system and support the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Assists with the gentle elimination of toxins. This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intdended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. ( 7 bottles/1 fl. oz. each )

Price: $49.00

Item#: 2063

Digestion Plus
Each single-serving stick packet contains a mild-flavored powder that can be added to any cold or room temperature liquid. Provides prebiotics, probiotics and enzymes to help support optimal digestive health. This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intdended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. ( 30 stick packets/30-day supply )
Price: $49.00

All items are available at my site or by contacting me at kyamaguchi@myarbonne.com .Remember everything we offer is botanically based and vegan certified *and* comes with a full 45 day money back guarantee :)

I am officially that person

2011-01-27T12:38:00.001-08:00

My 5 year old has to tell me how to work the XBox.

*sigh*

WIWW--second attempt

2011-01-26T10:07:00.000-08:00

Ok so, I have attempted to take the photos of my outfits using my sort of full length mirror (and here I note, I never realized that the price of a mirror could directly relate to how it reflects, or photographs. Unless I really did buy a dark fun-house mirror after all!) and it really didn't ever turn out. Ever. Always too dark and always distorted. So. Gave that up. Tried the self timer, and that is the one photo I have up for this second installment. I just have to get a tripod.

So until I do that, here is what I have:

The sweater is from Target clearance racks, all of $4.98, the skirt (just past knee length) was $1.99 at a local thrift store (funnily enough, it's Target's Merona brand. I can't avoid that store no matter what I do!) The hair is grooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwing out very slowly. You'll see a lot of this wonderful non-style for a bit. This my short hair equivalent of a ponytail. I have a lot of bad hair days LOL

These shoes are from Target a little over a year ago. Also $4.98. Also not that comfortable. These were discussed on another bloggers WIWW a couple of weeks ago as she has the same uncomfortable shoes. I also have them in blue.

The earrings are soooo cute. I have them in this pink and in green and plan on getting them in blue too. So cute! This is the exact set I ordered here. And they're still available!

Thanks for stopping by:)Go here for some seriously cute WIWW ensembles! The Pleated Poppy :) And here, a new to me site: No Model Lady and also here: Jewelscapes. She has awesome jewelry for sale, I have a gorgeous vintage locket from her. And finally A Thrifty LA Life Kris always finds AMAZING items at her Goodwills!

Please visit my business site and ask for a free 3 day skin care sample! Your skin will thank you for it!

This is a good idea

2011-01-25T10:58:00.000-08:00

The very beautiful and gracious Tammy of a Mom in Red High Heels has posted a great idea on her blog today: Go here to read it. (This is would be a good idea even if she hadn't linked to my Arbonne business, but she did, so it's even better ;) )

Just so you know:

I am an independent consultant for Arbonne International. We sell pure, botanically based, vegan- certified Swiss skin care, cosmetics and nutritionals for the entire family.

We have skin care for babies, teens, anti-aging and men. We have a super Detox spa line. We have a full line of gorgeous cosmetics and for nutrtionals we have weight-loss (I lost 13 pounds last year using this line!), vitamins, and supplements.

I would be thrilled to send any one a 3 day sample of our fabulous skin care and if you are in driving distance of Los Angeles County (basically all of Southern California!) I would be thrilled to present our line in your home. Lots of fun, and everyone goes home with fabulous looking and feeling skin. Every order of $150 qualifies for a great hostess gift and every time your party reaches $250 you can purchase $100 worth of product for $20.

Please visit my site at http://www.prov356.myarbonne.com/ (listed above) for more info or to contact me.

Thanks again Tammy!

Get healthy in the New Year

2011-01-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

Then go here http://www.prov356.myarbonne.com/ then to the shop online tab to "what's new" for more info, or email me: kyamaguchi@myarbonne.com I am very excited about these products and remember, everything we sell is pure, safe, beneficial and vegan certified!

Apparently.....

2011-01-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

The thing for red jackets, short skirts and black knee boots started very early on.....

Age 3 1/2, somewhere near Paris, Arkansas. If I recall, that was a Winnie-the-Pooh jacket :)

Age 32, Santa Monica Beach, California. Jacket not courtesy of a bear of very little brain...

Brotherly love

2011-01-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

We dropped off the kids at school and as we were pulling out of the parking lot a small, sweet voice from the backseat says "Mom, I'm sad. I miss my brudder."

Aww, think I. "Which brother Sweetheart?" I ask.

"Ian. I miss him. I'm going to pray for him."

AWWWWWWW think I and I say "Sweetheart that is so nice. Jesus loves it when you do that, and that's going to make Ian feel so good."

Flash forward to the afternoon when Ian is now home with his little brother. Within 30 minutes the whining and the bickering and the not sharing has started.

"Connor" says I, " I thought you missed your brother Ian and were so sad!"

"Well" says the wise beyond his years 3 year old with just a hint of sarcasm "That's when he wasn't home. Now? Not so much."

Black and White Wednesdays

2011-01-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

You know, Wednesdays are BUSY here in the blogworld! Anyways today I'm linking up to Lisa's Long Road to China 's Black and White Wednesdays for the first time in a really long time. Go over there for more links and to see Lisa's adorable new daughter Reagan who they brought home from China 3 months ago (her other kids are adorable too).

I love this photo of Connor (runny nose and all), I think it shows his sweetness and his mischeviousness all at once. My Sweetheart :)

Is it the 11th already?

2011-01-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

My how time doth fly! Well, my computer was a sick puppy the past couple weeks, but I think the evil virus has been vanquished so here I am ;)

And now for a little randomness:

Target's Archer Farms dark chocolate hot chocolate mix is extremely yummy. I don't drink coffee, I drink hot chocolate, and this one is awesome.

It's cold here! I am qualified to whine because I live in the DESERT of Southern California, and we've had snow, ice, iced over windshields and locks and even a SNOW DAY from school. This is really not typical and my thin Los Angeleno blood doesn't know what to do! Luckily I have a lot of the above mentioned hot chocolate mix :)

Someone has written a book called "Wuthering Bites". I thought the whole Jane Austen vs. the zombies and "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" was bad enough but... now they've taken a wholly unreadable and dreary book (sorry WH lovers but I forced myself to finish that book and kept fervently wishing that Heathcliff would just end it already so he'd SHUT UP!), and made it even more ridiculous. Heathcliff: part vampire. ???!! How are you even that anyway?

And I am having a virtual Arbonne party over on Facebook, set for this Friday the 14th. You totally do not have to be on my Facebook to "attend". The link is https://secure.myarbonne.com/arbonne/prov356.nsf/p1/1?OpenDocument&shoppingcart=1 which is my site and the shop online section. I'm featuring our detox spa line, now is the perfect time to "manage the damage" of the hectic holiday season and destress your body. Every order, no matter the size, gets a gift from me. Any questions? email me: kyamaguchi@myarbonne.com

Anyway, I am hoping to get back in the swing of things now, hope everyone's New Year is starting off great!

The year in review

2010-12-31T15:03:00.000-08:00

I'm jumping into the blog carnival and posting the first sentence of each month of 2010. Should be interesting. Or boring. Depending on how you look at it :)

January 2010: Today is the 61st birthday of the best Mom in the world.
I think this is self-explanatory :)

February 2010: So today was my 41st birthday and it was very nice.
And it was. Much lobster was involved.

March 2010: Ok I'm actually shortening this one. It was about my new business site being up. I still want everyone to check it out :)

April 2010: California felt the rumblings of a 7.2 earthquake in Mexico yesterday but we didn't know about it until we turned on the news. Believe it or not, that post was about Easter.

May 2010: I was without internet for the past two weeks.... the upside of no internet access.

June 2010: Hello my lovelies! another post about having no internet :-p

July 2010: Apparently I can blog from my husband's Droid...

August 2010: A couple of weeks ago we spent 3 days at a local KOA.... I am discovering that I write *really* long sentences.

September 2010: Actually that is sort of a lame title but I couldn't whip up pithy today. A post about what my kids wear to school.

October 2010: Do you know how to set limits on your teen's texting? a post for LG and BlogHer

November 2010: We did! Wow! A short sentence! A post about Halloween.

December 2010: The greatest photo EVER! and it totally is.

Ok this was fun. And totally interesting right?? Go here for actual interesting blog recaps! Seriously it's fun, so join in!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hope your New Year is wonderful and fun!

Trying something new

2010-12-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

Well not completely new, after all, my vanity is well documented. However, so is my complete lack of style, as is my utter laziness. SO! Anyway!

I have been reading The Pleated Poppy's blog for some time now and thoroughly enjoying her "What I Wore Wednesday" (WIWW) posts and also really enjoying all the links (three new blogs are on my blog roll due to this). It's basically an accountability post for Moms who want to stop looking like me, er.. I mean, to stop wearing sweats and what have you. For me, I'm so over being the Mayor of Frumpville. Plus, I got new clothes for Christmas (I picked all of them out in early December and had to wait patiently until Christmas day. A big shout out goes to the Target Clearance rack, you'll see several of it's members in the upcoming weeks.) so now is my time to finally resign and move to Styletown. Or at least to its outlying cities.

Now then, I have exactly ONE photo for this week, not the entire weeks worth of clothes that I'm supposed to be posting. And this one was taken the day before the kids got out of school for Christmas vacation. And you'll see by my expression that this one photo took me 30 minutes to get due to trying out various camera angles (ie trying to actually GET A PHOTO at all). And I was way late picking up Ian so I was ashamed of my vanity then. The past week and a half have had cute outfits but none taken (good example: Christmas Eve. I wore a new shirt that Mark insisted I buy for the day: a teal blue ruffled neck tank top with my white cardigan, jeans and paisley blue and green shoes. Not.one.photo.was.taken. *sigh*). However, I decided finally to put it up and officially toss my hat into the WIWW ring because if I don't do it now, I never will.

So! Here it is:

Tee shirt: Target, probably still there, $12

denim skirt: from a lot of clothes from eBay two years ago. This is the same skirt that I lamented at the end of summer as being 2 sizes too big. It still is, I just wear it around my hips now. Oh and it's Lucky Brand.

boots: Etienne Aigner from Burlington Coat Factory, last year. $29. (flat heeled)

Now please check out all the GOOD outfits on the Pleated Poppy!!

Christmas in review

2010-12-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

These blocks belonged to my Grandfather and have seen lots of play time through the decades!

My nephew Rhyen:

One of the very few plastic toys my kids received this year. I was really proud of the good imagination building things they got. *pats self on back*

we all like Perry the Platapus :)

Ben spent more time writing on this chalkboard piggy bank then doing almost anything else!

The castle that Ian and Connor received for Christmas. It goes quite well with the swords and shields they got. They have really enjoyed these toys!

I jokingly called this the "year of the weapons" as the little boys received not only the swords but wooden pingpong ball shooting guns, Ben received an airsoft gun and a bow and arrow and Mark received a super ultimate survival knife! I received lots of clothes, new earrings and 2 necklaces, boots and a hat which I hope will be making their appearances here if I start participating in all the fun "what I wore wednesdays" I've been enjoying. Leah, a girl after her mother's own heart, bought me a foot spa. aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

The best thing this Christmas though was that we were healthy, happy and together. Hope all my readers had the same :)

Remember......

2010-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday!

Dashing through the snow....

2010-12-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

In this case, the photos speak for themselves....

Now for the nicer photos....

2010-12-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

Last night was the school musical. I didn't get any photos of the actual musical but I did get the kids beforehand. Ben and Leah were in it. Ian and Connor are just hams.

Why you shouldn't ask a 3 yr old if you can take his picture:

2010-12-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

You end up with something like this "session". No I don't know what Bob did to merit this treatment: