Easter craft book

To celebrate Holy Week for Easter this year we made this awesome book of hand and foot prints. 

We did several pages everyday...We actually completed it early. She was really into it so we just kept going.

Check out Catholic Icing if you haven't already! 

She has come super cute crafts for kids! 

Her blog is my go to for crafts. 

We also read Stations of the Cross for Children Which is an awesome book to teach children about what Jesus actually went thru. 

Here are some finger paints for you to check out..we have both brands.

Crayola 8-Ounce Fingerpaint

eco-kids Gluten Free Finger Paint

I use this religion curriculum with her Image of God: Who Am I?: Kindergarten. She actually does it on her own...lots of simple activities for her to do...cutting...glueing...connect the dots. 

       

            We also read our New Catholic Picture Bible...Stations of the Cross...and all of the chapters leading up to the resurrection. She absolutely loves this bible and asked to keep it in her room to read in the mornings. 

                        Happy Easter! 

I should have written this book!

This is the BEST HEALTH BOOK EVER!!   

The New Health Rules: Simple Changes to Achieve Whole-Body Wellness

It is everything that I believe in! 

Clean living!

It is the new way to look at health....

Foods to eat...nuts...veggies..water...stop the packaged foods! 

Working out...lifting weights...moving your body...meditation...

Natural cleaning products...de cluttering...doing something you love everyday..

Supplements...

Organic...

When I say everything I mean everything that I believe in!!

I love it and I highly suggest every person on this planet to read it!! 

Buy it Here! 

Thanks for reading! 

Crows feet...wrinkles around eyes be gone!!

These are such easy and super cheap ways to not have crows feet aka wrinkles around your eyes!!

Many many years ago...my first aesthetician that worked on my horrible acne once told me..(while I was complaining about the creapiness around my eyes...that didn't actually exist) that many of her contact lense wearing clients age more quickly in the eye area because of the tugging and pulling while putting in and removing their contacts. Basically the tugging and pulling up and/or down of the lid twice a day.

Hmmmmm.....

Makes sense!

This is similar to the reason that people have the "11" in between their eye brows...repetitive movement from squinting. That's why I wear Ray-Ban Wayfarer every time I step foot outside! So I never have to squint.

And forehead wrinkles...from raising their brows.

So from that day forward I have been super gentle and extremely careful when I remove and put in my contacts. 

I try to also never rub my eyes.

Annndddd I never pull or tug on my eyelids when applying eye liner or eye shadows.

So I have also taken this a step further for most of my adult life...

How I remove my eye makeup.

I NEVER use a cotton pad to remove my eye makeup. 

I simple use my facial cleanser....Neutrogena Naturals Fresh Cleansing or Simple Foaming CleanserNon paraben safe cleanser that is! 

Yep cleanser only... that removes makeup...

So when I am cleansing my skin..after getting my face super wet I add a few pumps of my daily cleanser to my hands...get a nice lather going...then very gently cleanse your skin...including your eye area...using your fingertips extremely gentle removing your eye makeup...then rinse...do this twice if you are wearing nighttime makeup...

If I'm wearing just my daily makeup ...one cleanse over my lids is all I need.
More makeup equals two cleanses.
I actually do three cleanses plus a toner treatment.Obagi Clenziderm  Or 
Perricone MD Firming Toner. 
I do each of these toners 1x per day.

***Two cleanses is all the rage right now and I've been doing it for years! Yay ahead of the game!***

Read about how I wash my face Here.

Your daily cleanser is all you really need to remove your eye makeup. 

If you have a bit of residual liner on after your cleansing...simple take a cotton swab (not a cotton pad or round) ....dipped in eye makeup remover...such as this natural paraben free one Alba Botanica Eye makeup remover and ever so gently remove it....without pulling or tugging. 

I do use an eye cream 3-4x per week....it is super light and it's a cooling gel formula which I adore....non pore clogging .....non milia producing which I love...Eltamd eye gel. You know I love Elta products!

Gentle is the key when it comes to the eyes!!!

Unfiltered photo with natural sunlight...age 41 and 8 months....

Homeschooling mom! 

Another awesome children's book!

Pipiri and I for the past10 months have been making our way thru a Mensa book list...read more Here. 

I have loved reading so many wonderful children's books that I had never read to my students when I taught or when I was a child.

We have 22 more books on this list and then we will mail the list off and she will receive a shirt for completing this it. 

Today we read  The Garden of Abdul Gasazi and it was awesome! 

It makes the reader wonder about what they think might have happened...not just a happy ending wrapped up in a bow. 

Which is great way to open the door for other discussions...yay love that!

Chris Van Alsburg is the same author that wrote The Polar Express...which is one of our very favorite Christmas books! 

And Jumanji...another imagination provoking book! 

Happy reading! 

Vitamins and supplements I take

For a very long time I never believed in taking any supplements or vitamins.

I believed that all they did was make expensive urine....meaning you take them and then pee them out.

Being that I am anti sun...and never expose myself to the suns harmful rays...

Read more about why I don't sun tan Here and read Here about how I deal with sun spots/sun damage.

Read Here about how I self tan.

Several years ago I had routine bloodwork done...the findings showed I had low Vitamin D. 

My doc prescribed a "mega" dose script of vitamin D....to be taken for two weeks. 

Then to maintain my levels...I first tried to go at it in a very natural way...10- 15 minutes of sunlight on my arms a few times a week, I also tried to eat more tuna, and cheese...being that I don't drink cows milk. But after about a week of getting a bit of sun on my arms...I started to freak out thinking I may also be causing more sun damage so I stopped the sun time. 

I had my blood redrawn in about 6 months and the findings again showed low levels.

So I decided to try vitamin d drops...but they were sooooo gross!

But then I found Nature Made vitamin d they are awesome! It's tastes like a little gummy bear! 

And I was happy to find out at my last doctor checkup my levels are normal! 

I also take  L'il Critters Gummy Vites Complete Children's Multivitamin, 275 Count as a multi daily vitamin...Pipiri takes these also. Again yummy little gummies! 

I take aAlign Probiotic  and NOW Foods Super Enzymes at breakfast....I truly do believe in both of 
these....both helping to keep your stomach nice and balanced.

And last but not least....I take Branch Chain Amino Acids NOW Foods Branch Chain Amino Acids
I take them post every workout. They help to keep the muscle I have worked so hard to build intact. 

I am NOT a doctor! These are the supplements and vitamins that I take!
My blog is just like having a conversation with a friend....it is my opinion and not to be used as medical advice. 

Going paraben, sulfate, phthlates free...

I have always been an ingredient detective!

I read this amazing comedogenic (acne causing) ingredient book Acne RX wayyyy back in college wayyy before the internet....and it was life changing for me. It truly paved the way to not only clearing my own acneic skin but also as a new career path. In fact, I still research ingredients to this day because of this book. I sort of a research junkie! I'm also this way with food...and working out! 

Recently I started to research the ingredients that honestly I had not really given a second thought too.

Parabens.

Phthalates.

Triclosan.

Quaterium 15.

Triethonolomine (TEA)

Lavender

Tea tree oil

And being that these ingredients can be very harmful .....from cancer causing, to antibiotic resistant, to damaging hormones.....

Sooooo......

I decided to get rid of them all.

Including...soaps, lotions, SPF, makeup, shampoo, conditioners...anything that had the unsafe ingredients!

I started with reading the back of all of my labels on everything that touches me skin.

And....let me also state that I am NOT one care about if something is "natural" or not...because from all of the years of studying ingredients "natural" doesn't necessarily mean better...."natural" doesn't mean it's not going to cause acne!!
Wow it was an undertaking!

Also being aware of ingredients that are acne causing...

And is still a work in progress....
Thankfully most of my products were safe!

Here are some of the new items I have added or replaced in my home.

For so long I have used cetaphil cleanser as my makeup remover...but it has parabens so I switched to
Neutrogena Naturals cleanser andNeutrogena Naturals Purifying Pore Scrub.I love this cleanser! It removes makeup so easily. And is reasonable priced. It's a bit hard to find in some stores. THE scrub is super gentle. I use it twice a week. 

I have also used Jergens natural glow forever!! But I was Sooo sad to find out it has some of groady ingredients in it! So I have made the switch to Fake Bake Sport Self-Tanning Lotion. And I have to say I am super pleased with the results. I use it just as I did the Jergens...as a daily moisturizer. 

As much as I love to kill germs...I don't want to make my body antibiotic resistant so I switched to this healthier hand sanitizer Babyganics and Everyone Hand Sanitizer Spray

And for bathing...this soap is my favorite! I tired several before finding this amazing body wash...Everyone Soap .

And if you have tired to find a safe lip gloss...lip balm....lip anything look no farther! I am in love with 

Bite Beauty Bb , Bite Beauty Lush Lip trio, and Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask.

I have horrible dry hands and was sad to find out that my hand lotion has parabens....working hands...but thrilled beyond belief to find Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream Facial Treatment, 4 Ounce....my hands are thanking me! 

 I have a few more products that I am looking for a replacement for but so far...I am loving my new healthier choices! 

I have been made fun of, have made fun of others, and have not stood up for what is right.....

This morning I read this entire chapter book to Pipiri. All 76 pages! And it was the best book I have ever read to her! And we have read a lot of books!! 

Read This post and This one...to learn more about how much we love reading in our home! 

Typically I read maybe 2 chapters per day when we have a lengthy chapter book we are working on.

But today I literally couldn't put it down. 

I absolutely had to know what was going to happen.

And I have never done this before with a kids books. Never! 

If you have not read The Hundred Dresses you must do so! 

If you have a daughter you must read it! 

Even though this book was written in the 1940's it is relavent today.

Basically the book is about being teased...being bullied...not standing up for what's right...

This book lead to so many wonderful discussions with Pipiri. 

We talked about times I had been teased.

How some people are not nice.

How she should always stand up for what's right.

How I wish I could go back in time and stand up for things I knew were right but that I didn't have the courage to do so.

How it took me a loooong time to get this courage. 

Times I wish I had stood up when people I knew were being made fun of. 

How my feelings had been hurt when I was younger and girls and boys called me "Olive Oil"..."Zit Face"...told me I was too skinny...flat chested...told me I looked like a zipper...told me they didn't like me...or that I was not their friend...

I told her I wish I had stood up for my friend when another child acted awful because she didn't like the Christmas gift my friend had given her....my sweet friend cried and cried...knowing that her gift was not accepted kindly. I told Pipiri I did nothing...and I wish that I had.

I told her I had been mean to girls...I had talked behind people's backs...I had done the wrong thing many times in my life. 

I told her that I had been the bully in my life. And that I deeply regret it and today I try to be a great friend to the people that I know. That I don't talk about them behind their backs and that I treat people respectfully. 

I told her that I (as an adult) have stood up for friends when others are speaking ugly about them. I have told them that the other person is my friend and that I don't appreciate them talking about them. 

I told her even today people can be mean. People have hurt my feelings. That I have been made fun of and that women today have made fun of the way I look or the clothes that I have worn.

When my husband got home today he too joined in our discussions.

He told her he too had been the bully, had been bullied, and had not stood up for friends when others made fun of them.

The discussions this book brought were unbelievable! 

Girls from 5 to 95 will enjoy this amazing book! (And actually Brad truly enjoyed the discussions with us...)

It is wonderfully written, thought provoking...and simply amazing! 

Buy The Hundred Dresses here! You won't regret it!!

Back shoulder circuit

Quick shoulder and back circuit.

Rows, shoulder press neutral grip, full lateral raises, and rear delts.

Do 3x sets of 20 each for beginners...5 sets of 20 for more advanced.

Watch full routine Here.