Maternity Shoot with the Hardy Photography Team

Did a little photo shoot with the Hardy Photography Team yesterday. They turned out wonderful, elegant, bright, and beautiful. I did victory rolls in my hair and so it has a fun vintage feel. But still had unique and modern poses. Which I of course love. They were the cutest couple team ever. She was all sass and fire and knew exactly how to position us. He has the talent behind the lens. Perfect pair, those two. Anyway to my favorites of the pictures of my bump holding our little Edulaide Prinsloo. 

6 Months and NO SHAMPOO.

So I read a blog about a woman who hasn't washed her hair in like 3 years. She said she tried the baking soda+vinegar thing at it didn't work for her. It had been working for me until I bleached out my hair and put color in. Yeah not the best idea health wise. But after that the baking soda vinegar thing was NOT working.

 So I'm going to try this ladies method except in my own way. She says she just does nothing except rinse it with water. I'm actually still washing my scalp. Sometimes I just scrub it really hard with my fingers or I was just sometimes using my husbands crappy body soap which is probably full of junk anyway too and it was leaving an awful residue behind. So my hair was/is feeling quite nasty.

I was feeling like giving up but someone recommended Castille soap and swears that it leaves no residue. So I've ordered it. I will update on how the Castille works. I bought Dr. Bronner's.

Sooo anyway.....after hearing about castille I've decided to take a six month challenge to not wash my hair with shampoo. And wash it with castille a couple times a week. If the castille doesn't work I'll just try the water rinsing and deal with the greasiness. The lady in the blog claims it takes a few months for your hair to adjust. I'm giving it six. So December 2014 We will see where I am at then!

How is my hair doing after a week or two of the no shampoo? It is greasy and full of soap residue. It doesn't smell bad but it doesn't smell good. I can tell that my head feels different and that bugs me. It's hard not to be able to run my hair through freshly clean, stripped hair and conditioned hair. BUT it is much easier to do victory rolls. Like a million times easy. My pin-up hairstyles are such a breeze. When before they took tons of time and tons of freeze spray. So I'm digging that part. I'll check back in soon! And the photo below is what my hair looks like today.

100 Days of Real Food

I've been following the blog 100 Days of Real Food. I'm really glad I found it. I feel like I'm already even more hardcore then she is in some areas but this blog has helped me with some thing I struggled with. BREAKFAST and DESSERT. I've just been feeling that on my journey to eating healthy I couldn't drop cereal because what else are we supposed to eat and I didn't have any good, healthy ideas for dessert. So I just kind of stuck to lunch and dinner. The problem is that if you slack in any area you so easily slide back into old habits. I kept doing this over and over! I feel now that I'm being consistent with healthy food choices and I'm not roller coastering it. I'm learning that you can make some really yummy healthy things. And that breakfast can be an anti-cereal breeze. All in all I am really happy with this blog. I alter her recipes all the time to fit our families needs and also what ingredients I have available at the moment. But I think that's the idea anyway. We are all at different levels with our eating habits. It's her inspiration and her basic recipe ideas that are what keep me plugging away at this. So what if a few ingredients are different?

Blue Victory Rolls

Just thought I'd post another picture of my awesome hair since I actually took the time to do it today. One of my victory rolls went a little wonky, but I like it anyway.

Bunny Eats

The man had his second experience learning to butcher rabbits today. He was pretty quick and efficient. It's good because we just bought a home with space for a whole bunch of rabbits! Making some crock pot rabbit right now. Feels so strange that they were alive this morning and now a couple are cooking for dinner tonight.

Mermaid Hair

I got me some mermaid hair for summer! Done by Joey at Headlines.

Prenatal Workout/Workout for During Pregnancy

I usually post this in my Pregnancy/Diastasis recti Support Group on facebook but since I'm taking a break from Facebook I'm just going to post it here. 
So I wanted to do combination workout today because I feel like I've been taking it pretty easy on workouts lately. I'm starting this combo with getting my heart rate up. It was hard for me to think of something to do without getting all bouncy. I just get uncomfortable with that when I've got a baby bump. I decided on dance. So I hooked up my Just Dance 3  in the Wii and did one round of Just Sweat. To me a round is that I do the dances until I earn a "gift". Then I'm done. It was Really Fun. Anyway here is the workout I came up with for the day.
Step 1: Cardio. Get Your Heart Rate Up

Do at least 10 minutes of dance. I wouldn't go beyond 45 minutes because word on the street is that that's not good when you are pregnant.

Some options....

Just Dance(What I chose) or another dance game you can use on your gaming console.

You tube.

This video is low key but lasts a bit longer. Only follow along as long as you are comfortable.

This video is specifically for cardio when you are pregnant. It seems a little more intense and a little more serious. It's also more structures then dance. It is quite short though.

And here is zumba if that's your thing. Very low key. I would try to march instead of jump but that's just me.

Step 2: Weight Training

I've done the babycenter weight training. I had to do 3 sets of between 15-50 reps of each exercise to feel like it did any good. But don't make the mistake of to many squats. They are deceptive. I could hardly walk the next day.

Step 3: Core Training

I found this great webpage with so many options for this. I tried them all out but I wouldn't recommend that. I had a couple contractions letting me know I'd overdone it. Next time I'll take it easy. I just was excited! :P

AND that's really it. You can switch it up. Change the order or try different websites. Just double check with your doc and make sure they are ok with you starting new routines. Have fun and feel stronger for when this baby busts out!

70 Fun Things to do in Nampa, Idaho

A list of things to keep the family busy this summer. I got this list out of a little newspaper my kid brought home. I'm hoping if I blog the list I won't have to worry about losing the magazine!

1. Count the ducks at Wilson Pathway

2. Play disc golf at West Park

3. Swing on the swings at Liberty Park

4. Slide down the orange tube slide at Lion's Park

5. Collect rocks at along Indian Creek Pathway

6.Swing on the swings at Starr Park

7. Check out the M-60 tank a Lakeview Park

8. Go fishing at Lake Lowell

9. Play tag at Hunter Park

10. Walk the fitness trail and try the activities along the way at King's Road Park

11. Play horseshoes at Lakeview Park

12. Skateboard at the skate park in Stampede Park

13. Fly a kite at Liberty Park

14. Have a picnic by the pond at Lakeview park

15. Golf the Wee-9 at Ridgecrest Golf Club

16. Slide down the colorful slide at Indian Creek Park

17. Count the different colors of roses in the Rose Garden at Lakeview Park

18. Catch a frog in the pond at Wilson Creek Park

19. Read a book under a tree at East Side Park

20. Ride the BMX trail at Lakeview Park

21. Slide down the blue winding slide at West Roosevelt Park

22. Dance on the ampitheater stage at Lakeview Park

23. Ride your bike on Stoddard Pathway

24. Swim with friends at Lakeview Park

25.Look for an Eagle nest at Lake Lowell

26. Slide down the purple slide at Skyview Park

27. Play Basketball at Hunter Park

28. Have a BBQ at Lakeview Park

29. Slide down the tall green slide at South Fork Park

30. Climb up the yellow ladder on the playground at City Acres Park

31. Play sand volleyball at Liberty Park

32. Play tennis outside by the Nampa Recreation Center

33. Slide down the waterslide at Lakeview Waterpark 

34. Crawl through the multicolored tube at East Side Park

35. Take your dog to the Nampa Dog Park

36. Kick a soccer ball at McDonagh Park

37. Hit a bucket of balls at Centennial Golf Course

38. Look for baby Grebes on their mother's backs at Lake Lowell

39. Play on the playground at West Park

40. Visit Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge 

41. Roll down the hill at Lakeview Park

42. Feed the ducks at Lakeview Park

43. See if you can run the whole length of Grimes Pathway

44. Dance in the fountain at Lakeview park

45. Do a cartwheel on the grass at Mary Ellens Meadows Park

46. See how many kinda of plants you can find at Wilson ponds

47. Slide down the double slide with a friend at Lakeview Park

48. Walk across the playground bridge at Optimist Park

49. Lie on your back and look at the clouds at Indian Creek Park

50. Jog around the outdoor Fitness Pathway at the Nampa Recreation Center

51. Catch a grasshopper on the trail at Osborne Park

52. Take a funny picture at Lakeview Park

53. Crawl through the yellow tube at Sunset Oaks Park

54. Explore the carriage at Hunter Park

55. Play disk golf at Osborne Park

56. Skateboard at the skate park at West Roosevelt Park

57. Swing at Maple Wood Park

58. Look for butterflies in the rose garden at Lakeview Park

59. Play Catch at Lion's Park

60. Skip rocks at Lake Lowell

61. Look for 4 leaf clovers at Port Meadow Park

62. Play ultimate Frisbee at South Fork Park

63. Go fishing at Wilson Ponds

64. Watch the Sunset at Lake Lowell

65. Watch the sunrise at Wilson Ponds

66. Do a cannonball off the diving board at Lincoln pool

67. Play tennis at Lion's Park

68. See how many different kinds of birds you can see at Wilson Ponds

69. Look for bugs along Grimes Pathway

70. Shoot baskets at Creeches Court

This is going to be really helpful for us because we do one-on-one date nights with once a month for each of our kids. So that is 4 date nights with them a month. Most of these things are free to do so that will really cut down on costs. We can never think of anything but going to a movie. Inspiration!

Best Pie Crust

My mommies pie crust recipe.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup shortening

Instructions:

Cut shortening into flour until dough is in pea-sized pieces. I like to use coconut oil in place of shortening. 

Mix in a paste made with 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. I usually fold it in with a spatula for a little while before I dig in. I don't like messy hands. 

After the paste is folded in pretty good I'll work it a little better with my hands. Sometimes I have to add a couple drops of water to help it become more elastic and less crumbly. Just depends.

Split dough into two balls.

Roll out one and fit into pie pan. I do better at not breaking it into a million pieces of doom if I use the rolling pin for this. Cut off the edging leaving a bit to pinch together with the top crust at the end. Poke several holes with a fork.

Tip: When rolling with a wooden pin dust it lightly with flour a few times during the process. Otherwise it can stick and poke holes in your crust.

Add your filling. I was making berry pie. It looks kind of gross. I guess that's what top crusts are for...

Roll out your top crust using the other ball. 

Cut out a design that is prettier then my deformed swam thing. It functions as a sort of vent so your filling doesn't go bubbling out the sides. 

Roll it up on your rolling pin.

Center it and roll it over your filling.

Then you just trim those sides up again leaving room for the pinching and pinch it and bake it! I usually bake mine at 375 degrees cover with foil for 20-30 minutes and then uncovered for another 20-30 minutes. This prevents over-browning the crust. 

What is it?

It's a girl!

Jewelry Frame Project

I made something! My jewelry box couldn't contain my jewelry any longer. Everything was getting crazy tangles. So I passed it on to my daughter and made this awesome frame for my jewelry. I only got one blister doing it too! I have another frame so I posted it on etsy as a custom order, in case anyone is interested in an awesome jewelry display and storage all-in-one! 

The wooden frame already had a really cool swirly design so I just took a little gold metallic spray paint and spritzed it lightly over the frame to give it some shine.

Then i wrapped the cut fabric over the backing of the frame. I just folded it around, tucking the corners, and stapled it. Here is a good video that shows you how. VIDEO

Then I wrapped my ribbon strands around the backing and wrapped fabric and centered them where I wanted them and stapled those down. I popped it into the frame. 

After that I took a very small screw driver bit and drilled holes in the wood where I wanted the necklace hooks. I used a measuring tape to mark even spacing with a permanent marker. I also screwed holes for the ring bar. I spray painted the bars and left them to dry in the sun. I used the same metallic gold and also red to color the bars and left them to dry

Then there was lots and lots of screwing. That's what she said. :P I got the hooks that have the little screw attached. I only ended up with one little blister! 

After those were secured I had to figure out how to secure the hooks for the bracelet bar. The frame backing was thin cardboard. I just found a random small piece of wood(that's what she said, again!) and screwed holes in it with the tiny bit. Then I lined up the hooks and poked one through the fabric and card board and screwed it into the wood. The second hook gave me trouble. I had to do it over and over because it kept going all crooked. Gosh! I got pretty angry with it and finally forced it to go in straight with my strengths. 

After all the hooks were all secure I hung this beast on the wall, added the dry bars, and started the horrible process of untangling all my necklaces. NOOOOOO!!! I ended up giving half of them to my daughter. Turns out I still have a ton of little girly necklaces in the jewelry box that never made it out because of the tangled ball of doom. But after I was done it turned out looking awesome and matched my bathroom soo cutely.