Brooke darling

 

Time for a Brooke post:)

 

I’m so in love with these pictures. I took these about a month ago. I placed Brooke down infront of the budding trees, saw what my camera was doing to the backdrop, and freaked out. Love it. Love the sun shining behind her.

Brooke is getting bigger and more talkative. She’s such a cute, little girl. Such different mannerisms than the boy’s have. She’s not walking yet, but getting closer every day. Here’s some things about her now:

• She knows what to do with necklaces and bracelets. She quickly puts them on and starts crawling around proudly wearing her jewelry. So dang cute.
• When I carry her, she will lay her head on my shoulder, and just want to be held. It’s so very heavenly.
• She has the sweetest giggle, and the softest cry.
• She gets a little feisty at mealtimes, and will throw her bowl and cup down with vigor.
• She giggles when the boys pick her up and carry her around.
• She does sign language quite often now. Mostly eat, sleep, and more.
• She is now in the nursery class at church, and is doing pretty good.

I’m just so thankful to have at least one girl in our family. I don’t want her to be spoiled at all, but I do teach the boys the importance of treating a lady correctly, opening doors for her, and respecting women. I tell the boys that they are her protectors and friends. Ladies always get fed first at the table. I wish I could put more boys and clips in her hair, but she usually will pull them off quick. Maybe when she gets older.

The month of April flew by! I have a load of stuff to catch up on for this blog. Can’t believe summer is almost here. Here’s a few things:

• We took the boys to the Monster Truck jam here in town. It was so fun for them to see really huge trucks.
• The boys did a little horseback riding learning for a bit.
• The garden is taking off, and the tomato plants are starting to get that amazon jungle look. Yea!
• We got an above ground pool from Costco, and are so incredibly thankful for a way to cool off this summer. Have gone over safety rules constantly with the boys.
• I had a wonderful senior photo session last weekend, and applied a lot of things I learned from my studying. Pictures turned out so beautiful, and I am forever grateful for being prepared.
• I had the blessing of attending my friend’s Herb academy again. I was reminded about the importance of herbal tinctures, liquid medicine, and have begun making them again. I love learning about the healing powers of herbs, and how they can help my family right away when we are sick. It’s the best.

I’m sure there are more, but the sun is rising fast. Got to accomplish another day of meal preparation, school time, loving the kids, and getting a tiny bit of rest to make it through the day. Wishing you all a beautiful day. Take the time to slow down and be in the moment. Such a hard thing to do sometimes, but so wonderfully rewarding.

The rest of my talk

This week, I had the neat opportunity to give a little 15 minute talk about our change to processed foods. It was for a small group of lovely ladies at my church. I tried my best to whittle it down and keep it to the biggest and most important stuff we learned, but it was sure hard to do that in only 15 minutes.

I told the class very important things health wise about eating white flour, white sugar, and processed vegetable oils. I wanted so badly to tell them the huge stuff that we discovered, and that it’s given us the most amazing health and wellness we have ever experienced in our lives.

After it was over, I had a lot of self doubts. I thought to myself', ‘ Oh, no. What did I just do? I just told these good ladies with honest hearts and good desires what their beloved sweets and flour products are doing to their long term health. I told them specific facts, about heart disease, what free radicals do from the cooking oils, and cancer. What if they just don’t want to hear that? What if they still love their brownies and pasta, and know about the damage it is doing to their health, and just don’t want to do anything about it? I just came in and rained on their parade. Maybe I should just stop sharing everything I keep learning. Maybe it would be better if shut my mouth, and hopefully not offend anyone who still wants to eat the way they have been.’

These thoughts were with me as I put the kids to bed, and collapsed into bed myself that night. Then, I got a sweet text from a friend who was at my class, thanking me for the info. It sure helped. I thought, ‘Oh, thank goodness. If it was to help at least one person, then it was worth it’. I then was able to go to bed with a rested soul.

People everywhere have their agency; the gift to make choices in their lives. What a blessing Heavenly Father gave us agency, and we are not forced to do anything. Just like sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone, they can choose to either accept it or not. The same goes with this food topic. I only want to help others. I’ve been on this food/holistic journey since July last year, and I keep learning amazing things that I never knew. I wish so badly at times that I could pick up the phone and call my Mom to tell her about it, but I’m sure she’s watching from heaven above. I keep seeing the results when the knowledge is put to the test, and it has been so wonderful, physically and emotionally. Once you learn something incredible, you can’t go back to your old ways and unlearn it, you know?

Here’s a few things that I didn’t have time to mention in the 15 minutes that I wanted to say:

• Even though we’ve made all these changes and eat different, we don’t do it 100% of the time. We still eat out at restaurants here and there, order Little Ceasers Pizza (because some days you just need a break from chaos and meal preparation! :), and I let the kids eat sweets and stuff at church activities and friend’s homes. Shaun still drinks his Gatorade. I believe its not good to be extreme in anything, but to just do your best. I almost always seem to indulge on the sweets offered at other places, but here’s the thing. When I do, I notice the change in my body fast. I feel everything slowing down. I get a headache. It stinks. So, even though I will eat white sugar stuff here and there, I keep getting that reaffirmation that really don’t want to.
• Shaun and I both experienced this change together. How wonderful it has been to be on the same page with my beloved hubby. He recognized how his body felt when he got off processed foods, and loved it. He witnessed the weight loss first and increased energy, which gave me the desire to start exercising consistently. He’s been totally on board with our eating, and I’m so grateful. At first, it was funny. I gave away so much of our food, and our pantry was pretty bare. He said to me “What are we going to eat?” to which I would reply “I’m working on it”. I knew I had to find new recipes, and learn how to tweak my old ones. I found new food blogs, and learned about new ways to prepare food. The ‘Aunt Jemima’ syrup was a hard thing to get rid of. Now, we melt butter and maple syrup together for pancake syrup. It tastes infinitely better than any store bought syrup.
• I touched on this lightly in the talk, but last year I experienced something amazing. I was by myself going to the library. I got out of the car, and thought to myself ‘I’m going to jog to the front door of the library.’ I began jogging, and couldn’t believe how weightless I felt. I looked at my legs wondering ‘Am I even moving??’ I was but it felt incredible. It seriously felt like I was flying, and that I weighed as light as a feather.’ I stopped at the door, looked back, and thought ‘What just happened?’. It was all in a matter of 12 seconds. This is what happens when you stop putting damaging food into your body. Your body can perform like no other. You’re not weighed down and sluggish. Now, when I walk it feels like I’m floating, and when I run it feels like I’m flying. No exaggeration. It took some getting used to. Makes me think of that article about the basketball star Kobe Bryant. He recently changed his eating to whole foods, and cut out fructose, and refined food. He’s performing better than ever, in an age way past his prime. You can check out the article here.

So, I hope I can be helpful to anyone who wants to learn about their health. I have learned so much, but it’s a continual journey. There still is so much more to learn, and I feel I’ve only scratched the surface. I get so darn excited about it. I love how I feel. I love my hair, and my new legs. It’s just stinking fantastic, it’s happened to plenty other people out there besides me, and can happen to you, if you have the desire. Thank for putting up with me, and please feel free to email me and ask as many questions as you’d like. It never is a bother to me:)

Contentment

“Everything that is not written down disappears except for certain imperishable moments, people and scenes.” — James Salter, “The Art of Fiction No. 133,”

Beautiful quote. I just love quotes. Journaling is vital and soothing to the soul. I am not very good at journaling every day. That would be great, but I just haven’t seemed to reach the daily goal, but I do try weekly. That’s pretty good, I think.

I seem to have a few places I journal in. This sweet blog, for one. I must print it out at Blurb. What a great treasure that will be.

I also discovered from a friend the app “Day One”. It’s a simple journal app that makes consistency actually happen with my journaling. You can add a picture to your posts, and you can print out the posts into a PDF. Excellent. It’s $5, but well worth it.

Then, there’s the beauty of the handwritten word. I try to find time to sit down and write. I long for my handwriting to be as beautiful as my relative Cindy’s handwriting. Practice. Above all, I love the idea of a tangible book, with my handwriting, passed down to my generations.

I went to the Power of Moms retreat in town this weekend. It was a lovely workshop for strengthening mothers, and to gain strength and ideas from a group of other devoted mothers. It was such a treat to attend. It was held at a fellow homeschooler friend’s home, which is basically a castle of comfort and wisdom. Amazing home.

Picture used with permission from Tiffany Sowby.

There were many things that I learned, and it will take some time to apply them all, but one thing I really loved was the ‘contentment basket’ idea.

Basically, the vital importance of nurturing the person inside the mom, and to seek for contentment. The need to set aside time in the day to have time to feed your soul.

My friend who spoke on this topic showed us her contentment basket filled with good things; scriptures, a journal, a current book she was reading, exercise stuff, things to create, etc. All things that enrich and uplift. I just loved it.

I put my basket together today of good things. Oh, it was such an idea that resonated with me. Another gentle reminder that it’s so important to take care of myself emotionally and spiritually, so that I can find joy and be the best I can for my family. The goal now is to be consistent with finding my quiet time to seek contentment.

There were many more things I hope to share in future posts. For now, this is a little tidbit of sunshine for you.

The Power of Moms website is a tremendous source of help for all moms everywhere of all denominations. If you haven’t seen it, do check it out. They have great podcasts often that can be heard on itunes or your phone. The blog posts are written by many mothers, and the topics are always spot on with common motherhood trials and themes. It’s just a great place. So blessed that the sweet co creator April Parry made the website five years ago, and is passionate about helping other mothers.

The hair story update

So behind on blog posts, ah! Need to blog about our anniversary date, Power of Moms’ retreat, the fair, whew! Here’s a post long over due for my friend:)

So, it’s been almost a year since the hair revolution I encountered last year. I’ve been meaning to blog about how it’s been going since then. So here we go:)

Last year was the year I fell in love with my hair again. It all started with reading a pin on Pinterest about the ‘no poo’ method of washing your hair. It greatly intrigued me, and I feel into the rabbit hole of learning. I learned about the ‘Curly Girl’ hair topic, the damage that Sodium Laurel Sulfate does to your hair, and how to take better care of my hair. So, I’m not strictly ‘no poo’, but I use different shampoos and conditioners that don’t contain silicones, parabens, and sulfate.

Lorraine Massey is the founder of the Curly Girl method. Basically, if you have wavy or curly hair, embrace it! Try not to blow dry, be gentle in handling your hair, and give it plenty of moisture.

I found a girl on youtube who is devoted to creating great videos on the curly girl method. She’s done a ton of homework on what brands are safe to use, hair care routines, and more. She films them in her college dorm room. I think she’s darling:) Go HERE to see her youtube channel of videos.

Naturallycurly.com is a forum all about hair care. My goodness, there’s a forum for everything out there, isn’t there? Learned a lot about the basic washing routines here.

I learned that the sulfate is in nearly every shampoo. It is a foaming agent, toxic, and cleans the snot out of your hair. Yet, it strips my hair of its natural oils, thus making  it incredibly dry. I used to wash my hair every night with Pantene. I was totally killing my hair, but I just didn’t know.

I learned that I didn’t  have to wash my hair everyday. My hair washing schedule now goes something like this:

I wash my hair with shampoo about twice a week. On other days, I just conditioner wash my hair. Basically, I rub my scalp really well all over with some conditioner that doesn’t have any sulfates or silicones in it. Those are the drying ingredients. Moisture is what I needed to make my curls come back to life. Lots of moisture, and Pantene stripped all moisture away.

I rub some conditioner into my hair, and comb it through with my fingers so it’s completely coated. I scrunch my hair a ton, to encourage the natural curl pattern. At the end of the shower, I try to rinse in cold water, as cold as I can handle it. That closes the cuticles up, and increases shine. Fun.

Sometimes, if I don’t have product in my hair to clean out, I just wash my hair with water, and then use a little conditioner at the end. Scalp rubbing/massaging is key to a good wash.

To dry my hair, I use an old cotton T shirt and gently push it all over my hair to dry. The little fibers in towels increase frizz in your hair. I love using a shirt gently on my hair to dry. I just love taking care of my hair now:)

For the first two weeks I got off regular shampoo, my hair seemed extra oily. I read that’s totally normal for your hair to do. It was getting used to not having the natural oils stripped away, and balancing back to normal.

I learned that you can over condition you hair, and that’s not good. When my hair was too soft and limp, I needed to take a day off from conditioning it after washing my hair.

So, every one has a different head of hair. You must experiment and see what works for you. I did have one of my friend with straight hair try out this method. She said her hair felt softer.

It’s been great fun, and I love my hair again. I always shower at night, and usually have to re wet my hair in the morning to style it. Going to bed with semi wet hair and waking up makes my hair look like Simba. No joke. I usually stick my head under the bath facet, re wet it, and style.

Oh yes! I stopped using a baking soda wash for a shampoo alternative. I read that it is pretty harsh for your hair, but I use a apple cider vinegar rinse 1-2 a week. It basically clarifies. Every time I do that, I seem to have the best hair days. It’s awesome.

I tried to find a random picture of me and my hair. Here’s one.

So, it’s super great to learn how to take better care of your hair! That’s today’s post for ya:)

Beautiful quote

Shaun’s father quietly passed away in his home last week. Now, funeral preparations. Not fun, but here’s a beautiful quote that I came across yesterday. It’s from Joseph F. Smith, a former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

“I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses, … how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful, who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.”

Isn’t that beautiful?

Purging

I’ve been doing a lot of purging lately. Spring cleaning, so to speak. It feels great. I’m constantly realizing that time is so important. There’s only so many hours in the day, and the days fly by.

I’ve been cutting down my Facebook time. As much as I like to catch up on everyone and participate in chatter, I’m finding I just don’t have time. So Facebook has been reduced, and you know what happens when you’re not constantly checking FB? You are free. More time to focus on the big stuff, and see my kids in their cute moments more.

Worked on email inbox. Way too many subscriptions. Too much time trashing emails each day.

Cut down on the amount of Pinterest boards I’m following. Tried to keep it to the things I’m really interested in, and will use. I love Pinterest, because I use so many things I pin. Vital source of activities for teaching the kids, for real food recipes, and photo business stuff. Cannot live without Pinterest, but have to filter the board following.

I have a black garbage bag that is hiding in my closet. It constantly gets filled with crud laying around the house; broken toys, stuff we’re not using, etc. Decluttering saves your home! Wow, to have less makes it much easier to clean the house. Brings peace of mind, too.

So, purging has been going great around here. Now, here’s a beautiful picture of Ethan I was able to capture last weekend.

It’s always been a challenge to take pictures of the boys. They just wiggle and move so much. Boy nature. Even though Ethan may not always look at the camera for me, he always gives me this wonderful, candid shot that turns out more beautiful than I hoped for. I love this. I’m always at a loss about decorating my mantles at home. I now know what to do;  just put framed pictures up of the kiddos. That’s just perfect.

For this picture, I took the kiddos on a nature walk at my favorite photo taking place. It sure doesn’t look like the desert. It’s the most beautiful, peaceful place with a little creek bubbling along. I have some great pictures of Brooke to share next post.  Kevin was too busy exploring to hold still for a pic, of course.

That’s it for today. What purging have you done lately? Get cracking, it feels great:)

Bittersweet

This week has been a busy one. WPPI has come to my city again this year, the big photography conference. I told my boys that this week would be a little busy with them getting shipped to babysitters on the few days I attended some classes, but that I loved them so much. I felt guilty not having as much time with them this week as I like, but it was also a wonderful treat for me to go to the conference.

Here’s a few shots from today. I won’t post a ton, as I already did on my photography account on Instagram, but it was a good day.

First off, I went to a portrait business class on Monday that really opened my eyes on how I could do better for my clients. I was so thankful to go and hear this humble woman share her mistakes and teach us. My friend Celise and I sat together and listened, taking notes. Second year going to this conference with Celise. Fun:)

We walked around the trade show, and I kept seeing photographers who I saw teach online at Creative Live. Big wigs with lots of gear.

Today, this wonderful musician, Mindy Gledhill, performed some music before my class started. She has a beautiful album named “Anchor”, and her songs have been used by many photographers. I got into my class, saw that she was on stage performing, and thought ‘Sweet! Double whammy! “ Two great treats in one class, Mindy, and Sue Bryce teaching us.

Mindy was so kind and approachable. She is heading into the studio next week to record her next CD, which will be out in September. Yea!

Lighting was pretty off in this area, but oh well. It’s a picture:) I’ve been watching and learning from this funny and kind lady, Sue Bryce. She’s a huge portrait photographer from New Zealand. I’ve watched her on Creative Live for the past year. Excellent teaching in posing. I just wanted to meet her in person, and tell her thanks for teaching me how pose, and to direct hands so well. Haven’t mastered it yet, posing hands is insanely hard, but she’s about the only one who teaches posing so clear and direct. So, this was my treat:)

Then, it was time to come back to reality, get the kids, give them big hugs, and try to not forget the education I gained this week. Grateful I could go for a couple of days.

The bittersweet part of today was a phone call with Shaun’s tender Dad, who is battling leukemia cancer. He no longer wants to do chemo, and the nurses say he has about two weeks left here. So hard to think of, and yet, a comfort to know that soon, he will be with his wife, his best friend, Shaun’s wonderful mother, Dixie. Still, it’s sad and emotional.

I called him today, praying that he could answer his phone. He did. Fighting back tears, I told him how sorry we were that we are so far away, and can’t see him in person, but that we love him very much. I thanked him for teaching Shaun how to be a good worker, because Shaun is one of the hardest, most helpful, working people I know. He takes such good care of us.

I thanked him for teaching Shaun how to treat a wife like gold. Shaun learned from his Dad’s example. Shaun spoils me, and constantly is thinking of my welfare first. He saw his Dad do that for his mom. Example is powerful. I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to Shaun.

I just wanted to thank him so much for the gift of his son, Shaun, to me. I told him how much I love him, and how happy I am to be his wife and friend. I remember being single, and giving up on the idea of someone wanting to spend eternity with me. I had the mindset of being content single for a long time, and then Shaun came, and my life has been forever blessed. It takes a good Dad to raise a good son.

I also told Dad even though this is hard and sad for us, how happy I was for him to be with his wife soon, and to see her again. She’s waiting to greet him, and everything will be ok. How grateful I am to have the knowledge the gospel gives us, that life does not end at death. There is so much more to come, and families are eternal.

Then, I got off the phone, and cried in the car. I’m an emotional basket case.

So, that was my day today. I tried to notice the sky more, and hear the birds chirping in the trees. Life is a precious gift.