Winter wonderland!

I didn't believe it would actually happen, but it did! We have snow!!! and lots of it. More is falling from the sky as I write this.

Our winter has been fairly mild so far this year, but all of a sudden the temperatures dropped, and we are covered in a soft blanket of snow. It's beautiful. I'm not a huge fan, mostly because of the cold. I'm a coldy, so ideally this is not my kind of weather, but I think the boys will have a blast. I can spend half an hour bundling them up, and hopefully Jude will last longer then 10 minutes (which has been his max tolerance for the snow in previous years), make them hot chocolate, and kiss their rosy red cheeks.

Here are a few pictures of what it looks like outside right now:

This is our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

I can't wait to bring our dog out in the snow. She is a husky/malamute/great pyrenees, so she was made for this kind of weather, but she totally cowers in the snow, tiptoeing through, like maybe if she treads lightly it won't touch her. Like a cat. She is so like a cat. She does the something in the rain. Then all of a sudden she gets a burst of energy and runs around in circles, releasing her inner dog. It's fun to watch.

I hope you have a great Tuesday:)

New age girl

I'm sure you have all seen the S#!t____ Say videos, but this one was so me, and so funny I just had to share.

I'm not quite so extreme, but I am sure my family views me this way.

We homeschool, Jude and I can't eat many grains, now I also can't eat sugar, including fruit, I do yoga, take homeopathics, eat organic and local, had midwives, and home births, our babies were diaper free, I sew using upcycled/recycled fabrics, Rob and I often discuss (between ourselves) manifesting/law of attraction, we grow some of our food, and one day hope to have a self sustaining home, with chickens, and maybe a goat, but we aren't as flakey as we sound. Really!

It's not always easy living against the grain, so it's fun to laugh about it sometimes, and this video made me laugh.

Happy Monday everyone!

No resolutions, but lots of goals

I don't like to make New Years resolutions. There isn't a particular reason why. I just don't. I do have some goals that I would like to reach this year, but it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't work out.

Here is a list:

1. I would like to learn how to make soap. I have wanted to make soap for years, but have been too intimidated. This year I plan to concur that fear, and go for it. I want to make enough soap to last us through the year. We go through a lot of soap in our home.

2. I want to make a mosaic. We were at the park a couple of months ago, and there was a new mosaic up on a wall. Jasper saw it and was mesmerized. Jasper said "it's beautiful. I wish we could make this". It's a plan. We just need to break enough dishes to make it happen.

3. I would like to make a play kitchen for my kids. You can see my inspiration on my DIY pinboard, along with many other DIY projects.

4. I would like to get through this pile of scraps:

It just keeps growing and growing! 

I do have some ideas on how to use up the scraps:

Raglan shirts made from strips of fabric. 

Ruffle layered skirts. I included two skirts, because just look how many scraps I can use up. It's fantastic!

Ruffle pants. 

I hope to make my way through this never ending pile by the end of the year. Fingers crossed!

5. I need to work on Jude's diet. His pour little cheeks are all red and irritated.

6. I would like to start doing more physical activity with the kids. Jai needs to tighten up his core for hockey.

7. Sew consistently though out the year, so I am no panicking so make stock for craft fairs. 

8. I would like to make at least one sale a week on Etsy. At the moment I maybe make one sale a month. This one is not such a big deal, but it would be nice:)

9. Start saving money.

10. Go on a vacation!!!

11. Grow most of our food this year. 

12. Find more ways to reduce our impact on the planet. This is on going for us. We are fairly gentle on the earth, but there are always more ways to reduce our impact. 

And that's about all for now. I am sure things will shift and change through out the year, but hopefully I can reach a few of these goals by the end of the year.

What about you? Do you make resolutions? Goals? 

First Failure of the year

(I don't have any pictures that relate to this post, but thought I would randomly throw in some pics of my boys playing with their new flashlight rings they received for Christmas)

So I decided a month ago that once the holidays were over it was time for a cleanse. Not as a New Year's resolution (I don't make those), but as a I-will-be-eating-lots-of-junk-therefore-will-feel-like-junk decision.

I did some research and found the cleanse that I felt would be best. Because I have been feeling ultra gross, I went for the ultra cleanse. You can read what it involves here. I of course opted for option #2 (which is the more difficult option, for those of you that don't want to read about it). I didn't like the idea of eating raw veggies in the winter, because I get so cold. The warm broth sounded so warm and cozy to me. Also, I love the idea of being able to drink all of my meals. After spending all day preparing food for the kids, I just can't bare spending another moment preparing food for myself. I know. Why don't I just eat what they eat? Everyone asks me that. Well the reason is they eat all the food. If I make more, they eat more, so I have to make my own food or not eat at all. That's what having three growing boys means. A grocery bill that is more than the mortgage!! :)

Anyways, back on track, I began my cleanse this past Monday, and lasted until dinner time on Tuesday. I watched Food Inc. with my kids on Tuesday to try and put me off food, but unfortunately it just made me hungrier (if you haven't seen Food Inc. you should. Like right now!).When my husband came home from work I was totally faint and out of it. My head was spinning every time I stood up, and all I wanted to do was sleep. So ya, "duh" I said to myself. Trying to do a cleanse that involves no food is maybe not such a great idea when I have three boys to take care of as well as during the week activities were coming into full swing. Actually the most difficult part of the cleanse was drinking the detox drink. No matter how many different ways I tried to mix it, it would alway coagulate, and I would have to gag it down. Three times a day! It got to the point where the smell of if it would stimulate my gag reflex. Yuck! I am drinking it happily now, without coagulating or gaging issues.

I don't feel like a failure. I  just over estimated what I can handle, which is a lesson I need to learn. I am on the strict diet, and enjoying eating again. It's funny how just a day and a half without food has given me a new appreciation of eating, and food preparation.

So it was my first attempt, and I'm not going to let it discourage me from future attempts, I will just look at timing it better in the future.

The FlueBlog

Well here I am, featured in the FlueBlog!!

 It's pretty fantastic and exciting! Who would have ever thought that I would be so fortunate as to sell my booties in a Fluevog shop, or be featured in their blog. It's pretty fabulous.

Thank you so much Fluevog!