Birthday and Parenting

Today my baby boy turns 2! It is unbelievable. The road has been rocky with this strong-willed little person, but going through it has made me a better mother.

Especially as of lately, as I attempt to look into the future and in-vision the kind of man and person I want him to be I am even more motivated to train him in the way that he should go. I want him to leave me with a set of skills, abilities, and character traits that will

help him in his service to God and in general life.

I am halfway through "Dare to Discipline" by James Dobson, a book that I only knew about through Shawn but never read for myself. I'm glad I decided to take the time now.

It has help me to understand the way Shawn parents our children, the way God intends for us to parent our children, and gives me motivation to do the same.

Did you know that through all of his years of studying families and parenting that James Dobson believes that a child who comes from a house divided will

have the most troubling issues? It would be better to come from two overly strict parents or two overly passive parents them to come from a home of one of each! Wow!

Another area that I have been very perplexed about is scheduling and daily routine. Just these words make me cringe. These things do NOT come naturally to me.

I tend to live in the moment and not think ahead. To tell you the truth, I rarely choose what I am cooking for dinner until about 3pm. Yikes! If my friend Sara is reading this she probably just had a heart palpitation. Sorry Sara.

No major consequences but not the best way to live when you have a family. As you might have guessed, Shawn is the complete opposite. Complete.

So, I have humbly asked for his help. Why is this so hard? It's so hard for me because

I have to admit my way isn't working and this equals failure in my mind. One of my core issues no doubt. But I am replacing that "failure" mentality with "improvement" and "growth." So it was to my amazement that one of the women I look up to most

as a wife, mother, and teacher emailed me this link to a free book you can download here with ideas from Charlotte Mason, who also comes highly recommended

by Cheryl Lange. The title is none other than "Smooth and Easy Days!"

Exactly what I need!

Do you feel like your days control you, your

children are controlling you, and nothing seems

to go as planned? Amen, it is because

I didn't have a plan!

Everything in this book confirmed for me that what I am in the "process" of learning and changing will most definitely pay off greatly in my children's futures. I will share a couple of quotes from the book. It is only 47 pages so you can read it in one sitting. :) Take notes, make a brief plan of the next week and leave it on your kitchen counter so you have to walk by it a million times a day. And if you are like me, don't let the unexpected discourage you or cause you to quit. And please feel free to ask me how I'm doing. I need all the accountability I can get!

“Strong as nature is, habit is not only as strong, but tenfold as strong.” Your child can overcome his natural tendencies by

intentionally instilling good habits in his life.

Our problem comes with that glaring phrase “a little persistent effort.”

Yes, it will take effort to cultivate that good habit. And here is where your children will

benefit from your experience. Your victories, struggles, temptations, and progress will offer a prime opportunity to show your children what it means to depend upon God while putting forth personal effort. They need to learn this principle!

"The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children.”

God made our brains to form habits. And form habits we will, whether we’re thinking about it or not, whether the

habits are good or not. That’s a sobering thought when applied to our children. “Habit is inevitable.

If we fail to ease life by laying down habits of right thinking and right acting, habits of wrong thinking and wrong acting

fix themselves of their own accord.” If we are not intentionally cultivating good habits in our children’s lives, they

will naturally form bad habits. If we do not take pains to teach our children to obey, their natural tendency will be to disobey. If we do not make the effort to instill the habit of attention in our children, they will easily form the habit of

inattention. It’s true, habit training is hard work. And we parents may want to sit back and reason that we don’t have the energy or the time to work on this thing called habits, so we’ll just let it go for now and if we get around to it in the

future, we’ll add a few habits to our children’s lives then.

Photography 101 Hah!

A lot of you have asked me for some photography tips. I am very flattered by this considering I pull up websites of professional photographers all the time and I cringe as I glance at the pictures I have on my desktop. I do try to learn what I can in the limited amount of time that I have but I don't have time to explain everything that I have read and you would be really confused at the end. Trust me.

So, I am going to take the easy way out and link you to a couple of sites that I found helpful. On our "dates" sometimes Shawn and I will just go to Barnes & Noble and read books. (Yeah, we do a lot of reading around here. Have I mentioned that?) It is one of the best bonds that Shawn and I have.

Ok, so we go there and I just look at digital photography magazines and books and take notes. I am not a genius but I did get fairly good grades my entire life. How did I do that? I took lots and lots of notes. Something about the process of writing it down helps me to retain it. Even if I never look at my notes again it really works for me. So take notes and carry some of them with you when you are practicing with your camera.

I will give you two of my own personal tips before I refer you to the experts. : )

#1.

Lighting is EVERYTHING. If you don't have to use your flash then don't. I rarely shoot in auto mode because the flash is always popping up. I typically shoot in manual mode. Natural light is the best, indoor or outdoor. Morning and evening

sun is the best of the best. If you are shooting in the middle of the day and there

aren't any clouds to filter the sun then try to find some light shade to diffuse the sun for you. Here is an example of two (unedited) pics of my friends sweet baby Marlee. The first pic I took in front of the window with the blinds closed. The second one is with the blinds completely open with herfacing towards the window.

Marlee before

Marlee after

Makes a huge difference! These photos were both taken at ISO 400, 1/400 shutter speed, and 2.0 aperture. After you read the links I will give you below you will semi-know what this means.

#2.

My Canon T1i came with an 18-55 mm lens. This lens works great but it only has an aperture of 3.5-5.6. After a lot of research I bought an additional lens. I got a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. This is the lens that the Pioneer Woman (surely you know PW right?) keeps on her camera most of the time. It is great for a variety of shots, especially portraits and at $100 it is a real bang for your buck. The 1.8 aperture is important because the lower this number is the more light you can let into your camera, meaning you can use your flash less often! The catch is that the lower the aperture is the less depth of field you will have in your shot. This is great for the "fuzzy background" effect but not so great for group photos or landscape shots.

Okay so now I want you to read these two links when you have time to process it and let me know if I can help explain further. Just keep playing around and remember to bring your notebook when you practice!

Pioneer Woman Explains It All Here

Good Article on Basic Photography

Mending

As we are on the mend around here today was an air-mattress-jumping kinda day.

Save A LOAD {and my favorite organizing tip}

I decided back in November to make my own laundry detergent. Once again I had a couple of friends tell me how great it was and how much money they had saved for a while and like anything else in life, change is hard and sometimes it takes a while to actually change the way you've always done something. Even if it is as little as changing laundry detergent.

Another reason I postponed making detergent is that I had only heard of making liquid soap and it sounded really messy and I prefer dry soap anyway, so when I found this recipe I had no more excuses.

I'm glad I did it because I spent about $15 in early November on the ingredients and I probably still have a couple of months left in the box before I run out!

It really is so simple and I will give you a tip because I love you. You can't find all the ingredients at Wal Mart or Target. I went to Crest but I have also heard that Homeland has the ingredients too.

You Need:

1 Large Box Baking Soda (around 4 lbs.)

1 Large Box Washing Soda (around 4 lbs.

found this on cleaning aisle)

1 Large Box Borax

4 Bars of Soap (I bought 1 bar organic natural because

it was the last one left and 3 bars irish spring for the smell)

All you do is grate the bars (this is what I did) of soap or you can put them into a food processor. Then mix all the ingredients together! That easy.

The trick to this is that you literally only need a tablespoon in each load. Your clothes will be fresh and clean. Our whites stay white and colors are bright. You won't get the smell of Tide that you may be used to but your clothes won't smell either. My friend Kim found a great deal on a box of Tide, seriously good deal, and added this to her mix because she loves the smell of it.

This blog is where I got this recipe and she has some other great recipes too.

Organizing Tip # 21

This one really helped me

Love it or lose it. Only have things in your home that you use and love. If it is not something you need or that brings you joy then it qualifies as clutter. Think of the picture frame you were given as a gift that is just not your style. You'll never display it, but still you keep it.

Florida Highs and Lows

Here are some of the highlights from our trip. The kids were both sick for most of our 7 days there but overall they were troopers.

Also, please don't let the sun fool you, we were freezing!

Here is aunt Mary and Hayden on the dumbo ride. Poor Mary held a sleeping Hayden in line for almost an hour. He is not a lightweight and I'm sure she was probably sore the next day. Berklee kept yelling, "We're flying, we're flying!" on the dumbo ride.

This is myself having a good time during It's a Small World. It actually was a very loooong ride compared to the others, well worth the 10 minute wait since it was 35 degrees and raining at this time.

This is Hayden on the caboose of the train at Downtown Disney. We decided not to go to Magic Kigdom this day and it turned out to be the nicest weather of the 3. Go figure, but we had a great time.

This will hopefully be the last picture with the pacifier in his mouth. He turns two on Friday and I am working up the strength to throw them all away. Any thoughts or advice on this?

This picture was taken by Shawn at the pond in his mom's apartment complex. Gators are something I still have a hard time getting over. They are as common as seeing squirrels in Oklahoma.

This is my favorite picture of the trip. We stood in line to meet our first princess and you would have thought they were both seeing Santa Claus again! As you can see Shawn and I made the best of an awkward situation.

Here is Nanna at Port Charlotte beach where Shawn grew up. No wonder he wants to move back someday!

One of the only family pics from the trip. No one could pull it together at the same time, including me. I'm thankful the Lord is so forgiving. I needed a lot of grace on this trip.

Beautiful castle at dusk.

Berklee riding the train at Downtown Disney. She told all the kids where to sit as they came through the gate.

With the help of the sweetest Princess Aurora (not pictured and better know as Sleeping Beauty) the Maguire children faced and conquered their fears of costumed characters!

This isn't he greatest picture but I kept looking at it over and over because Berklee looks like a little girl in this picture more than any other I've seen! It melts my heart and reminds me to enjoy the moments with her.

This is Shawn's cousin's baby Ava. Look at those eyes! They were amazing!

Here we are visiting the family. Good times.

Here is Hayden giving Belle pounds. He was all gaga over her and even now when he looks at the picture he gets a cute shy grin on his face. He was smitten.

We went to the Arabian Knight show. As I said before, cool show but eat before you go, unless you like elementary cafeteria food. Hayden loved the horses.

REALity

As most of you may know, my husband is a therapist/counselor/life coach/mentor.... God has blessed our family and I am fully confident that Shawn is living out exactly what God had purposed for Him to do long before he was born.

As most of you also know Shawn is unique in that, unlike many people, myself included, he is pretty much real all the time. I mean like really real. You never question what Shawn is thinking, or if he loves you, or if he is disappointed, or if he doesn't quite understand something you are saying. He is a communicator. He is a getter done kinda guy. A definite leader. I have grown and learned so much from being married to him for over 7 years now.

Mostly I have learned a lot about who I was, who I am, and who I would like to be. We sharpen each other and we never give up on each other. Bottom line. We are real, for better or worse.

Because of his "line of work" I have come to realize that in order to move on, move up, or just move off the couch in this life you have to face reality and get real with yourself and with others in your life. Whether your problems are big or small, we all have issues or character flaws or baggage that we have to deal with in order to grow. Be honest with yourself, swallow your pride, find a counselor, ask for help or suggestions or accountability, share your struggles! Yes, this makes you vulnerable and maybe uncomfortable at first, but believe me, God created us for a real relationship with Him and with others.

I know so many people who don't open up or ask for help and I have come to realize that it is usually for one of two reasons. 1. they are very insecure, low self-esteem (if this is you, then this would be your first issue to deal with) or 2. pride, you want people to think you have it all together.

I encourage you to put in the effort to "diagnosis" any areas that you struggle with and really work through them with the help of God and the people he has put in your life. Don't settle for mediocrity, you'll regret it.

Florida Chill

Still here enjoying the Florida chill. The high today is 60. It hasn't been the best weather and the kids are still under the weather, but at least there have been a few highlights so far. I will post pictures when we get back.

1. Berklee got to meet all of the Princess's at Disney World and get their autographs. It was so sweet I actually almost cried.

2. Hayden kept giving Belle pounds.

3. Because the weather was so bad we got to ride a lot of rides. I think the Dumbo ride was the kids favorite.

4. My mother-in-law hooked us up with a sweet villa at the Caribe Royale. It was a two bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, living, and dining room.

5. I got a pink mickey mouse watch with diamonds. It's bling bling. (fake diamonds of course)

6. We found a dinosaur restaurant which had a Build-a-dinosaur inside of it. Hayden picked out an orange dinosaur and when we filled out the birth certificate he officially named him......ORANGE! I typed Big O on the certificate. It sounds a little more ferocious.

7. We got tickets to the Arabian Knight Show. Awesome show, not so awesome food.

8. We did get to bundle up and play on the beach yesterday and I got some decent pictures.

9. I am sitting here drinking coffee and watching the national news while everyone is out walking the dog. This is really the big highlight.

Homemade Lip Balm

Why in the world would I spend valuable time making homemade lip balm?

Well, for one, we go through a lot of lip balm around here and for two, I read this blog post by a farmer's wife in Texas who has no idea who I am, but she has a fountain of knowledge when it comes to living a more natural and healthy lifestyle.

So, as she explains, whatever you put on your skin goes into your body. Duh, like petroleum. Many pain medications and nausea medicine for example, are prescribed as topical creams!

If you wouldn't swallow the ingredients that you put on your skin then you shouldn't put them on your skin right?

Well, this is just one step towards getting to that place. If you read Yonderwayfarm's blog post then you will get a lot more information.

One little interesting tidbit she shares to prove the point about how fast our skin absorbs and distributes what we put on it is that if you put a piece of garlic between your toes you can taste it in just a few minutes! Please, I am begging one of you to try this and let me know if it is true!!!

So, I have had all the ingredients for a while but kept putting it off until I had a block of time, but it was so quick and easy! It took about 30 minutes to make a lot. The recipe I'm going to give you makes about 3 full little tin cans so I tripled it for the second batch. I ordered all my ingredients and tins from Majestic Mountain Sage. Who knew it was so easy to make your own lotion, lip balm, shampoo, makeup, etc!! They have different recipes and tips on their website.

Recipe:

3 teaspoons of grated unbleached beeswax5 teaspoons of carrier oil (sunflower, avocado, jojoba) I used avocado oil...has a longer shelf life and doesn't go rancid easily6 drops of essential oil - I used min

t oil1 teaspoon of honey - already had this

Melt the beeswax and carrier oil in the top of a double boiler. A pan on top of a pot of

boiling water. Like so.

And so.

It melts really fast. Stir it together really good and add the rest of your ingredients.

Then use your dropper to fill your tins or other containers and it will set up quickly! Voila.

I hot glued some little scrap booking letters to the top of some. Cute.

Yummy Lettuce Wraps

My mom is pretty creative and this is one of the recipe's

she has come up with for our Ideal Protein diet.

But it is also a very tasty, and healthy treat for anyone!

Ingredients You Will Need

1/2 onion

1/2 cucumber

1 green bell pepper

1 jalepeno

Your choice lean meat (ground beef, turkey, pork tenderloin)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp vinegar

1 lemon

1 head of lettuce

Chop:

1/2 onion

1/2 cucumber

1 green bell pepper

1 jalepeno (take seeds out unless you want more hair on your chest)

Mix together and squeeze juice from 1/2 a lemon. Refrigerate overnight if you can make

this ahead of time. It is good either way but we thought it was even better on the second day.

The next day add 1/2 tsp. olive oil, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. vinegar.

Refrigerate again--even better.

Cook and chop up any meat. Seasoned ground beef, ground turkey, or pork tenderloin is good.

Take a big leaf of lettuce and put vegetable mixture and meat in it and roll it up.

Yummy!

My Next Purchase and Recommendation

Two things I need to recommend to you today. Valentine's Day is around the corner so these would be good cards to pull out when your hubby asks what you would like.

After a maddening Monday where I literally felt trapped like a caged animal who would do anything to escape, I jetted out of the house Tuesday as soon as an opportunity presented itself. I did my New Vision work duties and then I contemplated my "bonus" from New Vision for that day.

I ended up in Quail Springs Mall and stumbled into the La Fleur Spa. Typically a pedicure would have been a no-brainer but I went out on a limb and got my first facial. I did half an hour for $40, since hubby didn't know about his Valentine's gift to me yet. It was blissful.

Andrea was my facialist (that's not I word) and she looked and spoke like Penelope Cruz which made the experience all the more delightful. Have I ever told any of you that I LOVE accents.

So if you have never gotten a facial I would recommend it.

Also, she gave me some samples of Dermalogica Sheer Tint Moisture. I have always wanted to try one of these but never have. It was awesome. I have been stretching that sample for 4 days! It has just enough coverage that it is great for every-day coverage (meaning it has replaced my foundation) and it totally moisturizes and has SPF 15! This particular brand does not come cheap but a little dab-will-do-ya. I think the 1.3 oz. bottle is $40 but you can find much better deals on ebay. Or if you are lucky enough to have a sister like me who works at Ulta you can get it at a great price! Score.

P.S. The sheer tint comes in light, medium, and dark. She gave me light and medium and I'm going with light for my 1.3 oz. bottle.

Organizing Tip #162

Divide by half. Downsize your stuff by half. For example, if you have 30

books keep only 15. Or if you have 12 t-shirts for hanging around the house or exercising,

hold on to your favorite 6.

3-Unrelated-Topics

Topic 1-Diet

Many of you have been very curious about the Ideal Protein

Diet I've been on.

Well, I'm into my 5th week today and the weight keeps melting off.

I weigh less now than I did in high school and

have lost 18.5 lbs. I'm now in phase 3 so I

should gain a couple of pounds back and then hopefully maintain that weight for life. Mindi and I started going over the science behind food combinations and the glycemic index last night and it is AMAZING.

If you feed your body the right combinations

along with a healthy variety of foods your body needs,

you can literally eat anything you want!

I have been cheating a little bit, I have to admit.

But it doesn't seem to be effecting the weight loss.

Here is a picture of my true "food" love,

and I have been visiting him about 2 to 3 times a day.

We were using Skippy Natural because

it didn't contain high fructose corn syrup

but Nikki found this one and it's even better.

The only ingredients in the Smucker's natural are Peanuts, and it

contains 1% or less of salt. Thats it.

You have to stir it a tiny bit but it is delicious!

Topic 2-Organization

I found a book a few months ago that really helped me in the organization area.

I'm not too good about coming up with new and improved ideas

to make my life easier and this book was perfect. It is called

"1000 BEST Quick and Easy Organizing Secrets," by Jamie Novak.

I read the whole book but I need to start revisiting it because I can assure you I did not implement all 1000 secrets. So we will revisit some tips together.

Tip #98

Hang a tote bag on the handle of the door you

use most often. In it place the items you need to take with you:

bills to mail, DVD's to return, library books to

take back, directions, play tickets, and so on.

Then as you leave grab the tote and you'll have everything you need.

Ensure success of this new plan by always bringing the tote back

into the house and hanging it up so it can be filled for the next day.

I'm going to hang my bag right now.

Topic 3-Strange

Hayden is still obsessed with the color orange.

I thought it was cute at first but now

I think daddy needs to start OCD counseling with him.

Seriously, is this normal for a 23 month old?

The love of orange started before Christmas.