Mind Spew

I was having troubles deciding what to write about today so I think I will touch on all my thoughts.

The first one being about the movie we watched last night, Dan in Real Life. It was such a sweetly funny movie. Not like Steve's regular movies. More human and touching. It is about a widower with three girls falling in love again. I have to say my favorite part of this movie was the family dynamic. They all came together at this cabin for a week of laughter, silly games, ect. They hosted a family talent show and thought it was such a great idea. I dream about having a family like that. Our family is somewhat like that, but not really. It's a great movie.

The next on my hit list is about an unexpectant email that I recieved last night from a dear friend from elementary days. Carla has always been someone who I admired growing up. She has an amazing sense of humour, very athletic, kind, and the truest friend you can find. She emailed me last night saying how she loves my honesty on this blog. The truth be known I just write what I feel not thinking about who actually reads this blog. Sometimes I pay for it in the comments or even in real life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am an uncencored blogger. Having said that, I will share my greatest fear of moving back to Summerland. I spent some time crying about it last night while Dana reasoned with me trying to be my strength. I am scared of change. Even though I didn't want to move to Regina we were pleasantly surprised by what we found. The biggest surprise being our faith. My fear in moving back to Summerland is changing our environment. It is easy to remain faithful when you spend time with people who share your faith and encourage you to explore it. Just like anything in our lives, it is always easier with encouragement and accountability. I am scared that people may not understand the importance of this to us. I hope that people see a change in us for the better, but my other fear is that they may not or worse they will but for the worse (in their eyes). Our pastor said the other day that our lives our billboards for our faith and more importantly for God. I have been thinking alot about what my billboard says. And I am not sure. I hope that our family sees how much we love them through our actions. We are leaving something that has become very close to us to be closer to them. We miss them. I miss the interaction with my kids and niece and nephew. The famiily dinners. The closeness. But I fear that I will get lost in the midst. Here I feel like people actively try to get to know Dana and I by asking to spend time with us, not just our kids. When we get together we talk about real important stuff like beliefs, emotions, perceptions. Tantalizing conversations some times. I love visits like that where you can have real conversations and feel connected to and revealed. Like someone is looking at who you really are, with no past judgement, and loving you all the same. Fear. Hope. Excitement. Anticipation. Are all what I feel about the move.

The final thing I wanted to share is a little more light hearted. Dana and I are going on a vacation in tomorrow!!!! Somewhere relaxing, beautiful, somewhat warm..... if you are thinking I am going to say Mexico I am sorry to disappoint. We are going somewhere that seems just as good at the moment because we haven't had an overnight getaway in almost a year. The last time we went away from the kids as last July. July 7th to be exact. So we are heading to the nearest city, Saskatoon, for a Castle Hideaway. We plan to eat out, go for a walk by the river, maybe do some shopping, lots of laughing, relaxing, sitting in the hot tub, and other adult activities. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. What a wonderful way to end all the renovations, but with a romantic getaway.

Anyways, that's it for now. For those interested in a 'listing' update. We have had 5 viewings so far and plan that the weekend will be very busy. Offers will be reviewed on Monday night so I am sure I will posting some news on Tuesday on that.

Earthy Thursdays

Welcome to my new addition, Earthy Thursdays, where I share all my thoughts on my journey to become more 'natural' and 'eco-friendly'. I love the weekly edition that you can find on other blogs like here, here, and here. It inspired me to share my journey of becoming more eco-friendly and losing weight (Weight Watchers Wednesday). For those of you who know me, there is no disclaimer needed, but those of you who don't here it is. I am the furthest thing from an eco-friendly consumer and natural living person. I LOVE Walmart, I usually by non-organic, I have used chemical cleaners for years and spend hours in the store smelling all the different scents until I find the perfect one for the next few months. I am; however, trying to change our lifestyle and this year is the year to do it.

Toxic Face

We have already kinda started and I will share some of those things soon, but for today I want to share the current change, Cosmetics and Skincare and the startling truth... (cue music... dunn dunn dunn...) Recently, I tried these products that were advertised as 'natural' and 'botanically based'. I was most excited about their baby line as Dana and I are always trying to find good products for our children. I was going to see if my girlfriend Jen would be interested in these products, and she is the one who introduced me to this new knowledge. She asked what main ingredients did the company use as preservatives, and after some investigation I was told it was 'parabens'. I didn't think much of it, but when I told this to Jen, she immediately said no (politely as she could) and then informed me that parabens are actually proven to be cancer causing. I, being non-eco aware, brushed it off thinking Jen was a little 'radical'. Whatevs. But then when home and did my own research and was surprised by what I read... she wasn't be radical, but extremely smart. This is what I found.

Most cosmetics and skin care products contain synthetic and petroleum-based ingredients that can cause reactions "as mild as skin irritation and as severe as cancer". The cosmetic industry is a self-regulated industry, which basically means they play by their own rules. There is the FDA and Cosmetic Ingredient Review that they use, but they only have safety information on 11% of the 10,500 ingredients the industry uses. California and Minnesota have taken the first step in trying to make cosmetics safer through #1) Creating the Safe Cosmetics Act that requires companies to list any ingredients that are on the Proposition's List of 65 Ingredients that cause cancer, birth defects and/or reproductive harm. #2) Banning mercury use in mascara, eye liner and skin lightening creams. Here is the kicker. Any products that say 'organic' or 'natural' offer no real guarantee as they are not regulated terms. Companies who use even one organic ingredient or have one plant based ingredient can use those terms despite what else is in their products. USDA- certified organic cosmetic are an exception as they use the same regulations as organic food. When I heard 'cancer', 'birth defects' and 'reproductive problems' I got scared. Maybe not for myself as much as for my kids. My daughter. I felt I needed to change. So I went through all our bathroom products and threw out anything that contained 'parabens' or any of the ingredients listed below (except Parfum or fragrance). I was pretty much left with nothing, but a few products my mother-in-law had given me a while ago (GO Carleen!). It is extremely hard to find companies who don't use these ingredients. I basically could only buy a handful when I went to Walmart or Shoppers to look; however, I had much better luck when I went to a natural food and bulk store. Below I have listed some products that have been deemed 'greener' by the article where I got most of these facts (Green Guide: Beauty Secrets: Emily Main).

Green Guides 'Dirty Dozen'
12 Petroleum-Based Chemicals that have serious health impacts.

1. Antibacterials
2. Coal tar colours (FD&C, Blue 1, Green 3)
3. Diethanolamine (DEA)
4. 1,4 Dioxane (present in sodium laureth sulfate and other -eth ingredients)
5. Formaldehyde (from urea-based and quaternium perservatives)
6. Fragrance
7. Hydroquinone
8. Mercury and lead
9. Nanoparticles
10. Parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, isobutyl-)
11. Petroleum distillates
12. Phenelenediamine (PPD)

PRODUCTS THAT HAVE BEEN DEEMED 'GREENER'
1. NVEY ECO econveybeauty.com
Has Australia's OFC certification which means that 95% of the ingredients certified organic, and contains no harmful ingredients. Has a great selection of colours.

2. PHYSICIANS FORMULA ORGANICS WEAR
Can be bought at pretty much any drug or discount store (even Walmart)
Certified by Ecocert which means 95% of the ingredients have a natural origin and that 10% are organic. Brushes are also made with goat hair rather than a petroleum based product. Is mostly foundation and bronzers.

3. SUKI COLOUR sukicolor.com or natural retailer stores
Made from sensitive skin friendly minerals that don't contain bismuth oxychloride. Also packaged in glass making it much easier to recycle. Have also removed all ingredients banned in the European Union and have sustained all other ingredients they use for safety.

4. DR. HAUSCHKA drhauschka.com and Whole Foods Market
They abide by the European Union which is much stricter than the US's regulations. They are independently certified by BDIH which requires the use of plant based ingredients wherever possible and bans the use of petroleum based products and animal testing.

That's all I have for you this week. Stay tuned next week for one of the following:
The Living Roof
Plastic Beware
Immunizations Education

I hope that you have enjoyed the read. Please know that I am not trying to be judgemental in any way. I am just sharing the new things I am learning and choosing for myself. We all have the freedom of choice and ultimately have to feel comfortable with our decisions. Good luck with Go Green ways.

Bunny Man

Easter was laid back and fun in our house this year. Kynan kinda got until we said a bunny came and hid candy everywhere. Well, then it all made sense.

Are they under there?

Even excited about bunny pasta from Baba

And yes, that is my son eating his candy like a dog.

'Do you like my ears?' the darling little girl asks.

It was a steamy morning for Dana and I! LOL

Kynan eat the bottom of his chocolate dinosaur and then proceeded to use it like a puppet.

We finally broke out this beautiful bracelet that Baba gave Ava. She loves it.
And these little booties are awesome. Stay on and are very soft. Made by Grandma.


Just wanted to add that Dana and I are very thankful this year to have a new appreciation for what Easter is really all about, Jesus. For those of you who do not know, Easter is about Jesus' Resurrection and His promise of salvation to all of us. What an amazing gift. Everlasting life.
We are so blessed to have a God that loves.
We hope your Easter was filled with love, grace and happiness.

Listed

Welcome to our home.... which is finally done! As I promised months ago, here are is the proof. Above is our living room and it's clean! Staged with beautiful Debbie Travis chairs; however, they are the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat on.

Ava's 'butterfly room'. Pink and Girlie!

Can you guess who's room is this? McQueen lover, Mr. K!

The Master Boudoire- serene and sexy.. LOL... sorry did I laugh?

The family room.... where we spend most of our time. don't you love Dana's built in shelves? And yes, that is 'cappacino' shag carpet.

If anyone wants to know, we built this bathroom in a week! Last week it was just a framed box and now look at the relaxing oasis it is. I love it.

Our kitchen, the heart of the home. I love the colour. The only vibrant colour in the house.... asparagus green.

I have to say, walking around our home today, I am sad to be leaving it. It is finally done and exactly the way we pictured it when we first moved in. Today is a little bitter sweet because of that. I think this is the first home I absolutely love. We are listed and accepting offers on Monday so who knows what the week has in store. Hopefully, success. Pray for us that we can keep the house clean and the kids occupied while we have lots of showings. Our realtor warned us that we would be busy.

Now, as for an update, the reno's is pretty much what we have been doing for the past two weeks, sometimes working until 1am. BUT we had an awesome Easter so I will post some pictures in the next few days.

The Little Big Man

I just wanted to pause in my day and reflect on what an amazing little big man I have growing up right before my very eyes. This man has not only potty trained himself in the last two weeks (including sleeping through the night last night with no diaper), but he has also weened himself off his bottle and refuses to kiss me in public. Where did my little baby go? I am not complaining. I have enjoyed Kynan as a sweet little bambino in my arms and I am enjoying his exploring and inquisitive toddler years. He just seems to be growing up so fast. His vocabulary is uncanning as he communicates using words I had no idea he knew. He is so much like Dana it is unbelievable, from not being a dessert guy to not peeing in a public washroom. I laugh because in alot of ways he is like me too, loves to cuddle and is very strong willed. He loves pretending..... pretending to be a monster, dinosaur, a cool car, a truck, a ghost.... anything. He loves other kids. We were having our Sunday family lunch at Eastside Mario's (which has unknowingly become a habit), and he walked up to a neighbouring table that also had kids eating, introduced himself, sat down and starting talking about toys. He yurns to be around people and cries whenever we leave. Church is a passion for him. Of course the sunday school volunteers are wonderful and he always comes home with little creations from Sunday school, but whenever it is time to go- he cries and plants his feet firmly on the floor. His hands are always down his pants. I honestly tend to ignore it, but sometimes when you are in line at the grocery store and the clerk starts giggling- it's kinda hard to. So we have started a 'private part, private place' rule in our house. Back to the potty training, the other day I walked in to the bathroom to see that Kynan had pooh smeared down his legs and across his forehead. Yes, that's right. He had not called for help or anything like that. He was neglected. When I asked him what happened and offered to help, he said" "No! I wipe myself!" Which seems to be a theme, if he is not asking what something is, he is demanding to do it himself. I am so proud of him. Sometimes it is a little frustrating (especially cleaning up pooh smears) and things take a little longer (running through Rona trying to find a washroom in time), but I am so proud of his independence. I do feel a little seperation anxiety as he ventures out and doesn't rely on me as much, and I am sure that will only get worse as his independence grows, but I know that he is going to be an amazing young man. So proud and happy that he is becoming the person he is. And these baby steps are all part of it.

**PHOTO DISCLAIMER** I apologize for no pictures as I have lost our card reader in the midst of all the reno junk. Forgive me. Soon it shall be revealed**

Signs of Spring

1. I can go outside without wearing a jacket (of course I am still in a sweater... this is, after all, the prairies)
2. I can see my drive way. AKA: the snow has melted the ice that use to be snow that we refused to shovel away.
3. Driving on pot hole infested streets again. In the winter, the snow kinda levels out the road.
4. Our backyard ice rink is now a back yard pool ;)

5. Birds are chirping
6. Sun is shining
7. And I am DYING to go outside!

The Walker...

The walker is a bone of contension around our place lately. Dana and I had a big debate whether or not to get Ava a new walker. We already have one, but I found it really tippy and she was always falling over with it. So I wanted to get a walker that was more stable. Dana said that she didn't need one and to just let her be. But me, wanting to be a good mom and make things easier on my baby girl, went out and got it anyways. Now, I watch my little girl walk all over the place..... but not with the beautiful walker I got her. With everything but. She uses an upside down laundry basket, Kynan's little chair, even our coffee table. It shames me to admit that Dana was right ;)

Kynan's world (or shall I say our world) just got a little brighter this weekend as Kynan went POOH on the potty for the very first time. As my previous post explains, he has been doing so good with his peeing on the pot, but not so great with the ladder. On Saturday he ran out of the bathroom saying, "Come Look!" Not only did he get up on the potty himself, but he poohed! We were so excited for him and did a little song and dance as the toilet as our witness. The end of that tunnel just got a little closer.

In other news, Dana and I are going gun hoe on the renovations with the hopes to list our house by the 27th. It should be interesting to say the least. But this weekend we got alot accomplished with kids under toe. We removed all our kitchen cabinet doors, sanded, painted, and re-hinged them all. We replaced our kitchen light fixture and Dana installed under counter lights. Dana completed his grand shelves that flank the fire place downstairs and we tore out all the carpet downstairs, scraping all the glue off the cement. I look around and considering we also had a fun afternoon shopping at Old Navy and Rona AND had some quality time with the kids. We got a lot accomplished. Tonight we are painting and replacing more lighting. As soon as everything is done pictures will be on this blog. I know we have been promising that since we moved in, but I guess it took us moving out to finish up.

It's Official!

After months of pining over this decision, Dana and I have finally made it official. We are moving back to sunny Summerland. It was a very difficult decision, and I think we will be really sad to leave the prairies, but there are so many things waiting for us back West. One of the major reasons, one of many, was that I have always wanted my kids to grow up near their Grandparents. I imagined sleep-overs, lunch dates, camp outs, tea parties.... the whole nine yards. In the land of summer, we are also blessed that most of our children's aunts and uncles live there too so it adds to that family closeness. We are excited and may have found the perfect lot with HUGE help from Grandpa Al! Dana and I are dreaming of our house, his NEW job- doing what he loves, living near family again, driving a new Mazda5 ... hopefully ;) And all that stuff. Plus we are excited to see what God has in store for us. We really feel at peace about this decision and know that it will be a fun, exciting, hard working, busy year as we build our new home. We feel so blessed right now.

Picture Puke

We created these at MOPS last week. They are Gift Tins.

On Friday we went to the Science Centre for some much needed family time.

I was reluctant to post this picture, but this is me being. Stupid.

I love this shot. This is not actually Kynan touching it. He was pretty terrified of it.

Kynan with beer goggles.

There was a park outside with a rope swing. We quickly got a few shots before mom was saying,
"Hurry up, I'm freezing." It was something like -25 that day.

Ava's new trick of standing up. The other day she stood up all on her own without anything around her. She truly amazed me with her determination. She stands for about 5 seconds and then falls on her bum and giggles.

And of course the traditional daddy trick that gives mom a heart attack everytime he does it.

Kynan in all his seriousness lately. He's growing up too fast.

On Saturday Dana forced me out of the house to Moose Jaw for some much needed me time. I went to a little scrapbooking store and worked there for most of the day on Ava's album. I also went and had lunch by myself and a little walk around the cute little town. It was surprisingly it was very relaxing and fun. I'm not usually a 'by myself' kinda gal, but it was nice.

The whole time I was there I was dreaming of this machine. They had one there for customers to use and I just fell in love with it. Notice above the 'Birth of a Flower'. That was done with this machine, the Cricut.

Well, that's it for today. I should be a good mom now and go play with my kids. Or maybe a good wife and do some laundry or cleaning ;P

It's Potty Time!

Ok, first of all let's give credit to where credit is due- I found this picture via google and fotosearch. Obviously it is not mine. Trying to get a picture of Kynan on the pot is well.... near to impossible. But I am so happy to report that he is doing it. For the last three days we have been diaper free, outside naps and nighttime. He has only had one poopy accident. Not only is he blazing ahead in the potty area, but we have also eliminated his bottle at bedtime. We lost it (cough) and can't seem to find it ;) He takes a little longer to settle, but he is doing it!

I am so proud of my little man. That is exactly what he is. He is growing up so fast and seeing him in big boy pants is so bitter sweet (honestly more sweet). Bitter in the mere fact that it is evidence that our children don't stay young forever and every day that passes it shows. I looked at his baby book the other day and just remembering holding his tiny body for the first time... ahhh.... all those new mom feeling start floating back. But I will be completely honest, most of my emotions is leaning on the sweet side. I am so happy that I can actually see a diaper-free future for him now where as before I was so frustrated changing his leaky, poopy, disgusting diapers. Also, the money savings in using the toilet- hallelujah! AND more so for him in the simple fact that he can go to pre-school now. Well, not now, but when he is completely trained. Yay! My little Mr. K is becoming more of a Mister than I ever imagined.

Post RECALL

Welcome to my rollarcoaster life. Seems as though things weren't as firm as I thought they were. Not because Dana and I miscommunicated or didn't talk, just life happens and things change. We actually may be staying in Regina....... for now. BUT I will not say anything with certainty. I don't want to be posting another retraction. Sorry if this topsy turvy ride makes you want to hurl.... I know I certainly do sometimes, but thus is life when major decisions are involved.

I also wanted to support Kaili in authenticating her blog by authenticating mine a little by sharing something that has been 'bugging' me. It is always my hope that through my words that I share and pictures I post that you, my readers, will not only know 'what's up' in our lives, but hopefully get to know me a little more. I want to be truthful and open as much as I can. I think sometimes I scare people off when I start talking about God or what-have-you and it is never my intention to offend. That is the honest truth. I sometimes wish that people could look into a window on my chest and see my true heart, what I am all about, my essence. Truth be known, I am not even sure I know what my essence is but that is my wish.

I sometimes feel that people don't truly know me and how I am at my core. My heart. Friends, family and strangers alike. I try to do my best to show my love and my care and my honesty. I am not a doormat though. I have opinions and thoughts, but I have a big heart. And I truly do care. I care about alot of things. It hurts when people have preconceived notions about what kind of person I am or don't have the whole story on situations and make judgements on half the tale. I know that we shouldn't 'care what other people think', but I do. And I think you should care. It is the message you are giving and it has prevalence. Some things were said to me recently that made me think about how I am portraying myself to others. DO they really feel this love I have for them? Do they really know that all I want is for them to feel loved? Obviously not otherwise these things would not have been said. So am I doing everything I can to ensure that I am portraying the 'real' me. I make mistakes. I sometimes shoot my mouth off. I am a work in progress. But I have love and love to give. Sometimes it hurts when that is not seen.

There it is.... one step to authenticating a blog. Hope you come back.