Tears for the Duggar family morning. I also pray that God would protect and shield them from any negativity that this will inevitably bring. It never ceases to amaze me how cruel people can be. Michelle did not have a miscarriage in the sense that people are thinking. They did an ultra sound at 6 months and found no heart beat. Now she will have to have a forced/induced delivery.

I'm so thankful that I can cry and my Father knows what to do with these tears. He knows how to comfort her. He knows how to protect her. He already had a plan for that baby. I'm most thankful that Michelle Duggar knows that as well.

Cause when you're dead, you're dead, but until then there's ice cream. ~The Mentalist.

I LOVE IT!!

An update on the hair.

I am def in the "oily stage" and I no likey. I'm washing everyday b/c of it. It's not a big deal tho. What is a big deal is that I was seeing flakes. That is not exceptable. Kristal does not have flakes in her hair. Ever. If that does not go away, I will have to go back to shampoo. But I will be buying something all natural. I am trying to give this a full month, I figure I haven't given it a full chance if I haven't done it for a month b/c I won't get out of the oily stage or see if my hair adjusts.

My husband is a rockstar. Plain and simple. He worked full time, and went to school full time for 2 years while still being an awesome husband and dad. Last night he did his last class of his bachelors degree. And I think he is going to graduate with honors. I could never do what he has done. Now we get 8 months off and then he starts on his Masters degree.

I did make the laundry detergent. Seems to be working fine and will last us forever. I also found a very similar recipe for dry detergent that I might try next time. And I found another bonus, the homemade stuff is better for the environment:) No phosphates.

Changing the name of my blog yet again. I guess I just feel like a blog should fit the blogger, and it wasn't fitting anymore.

An update on the hair:

Day 4: washed and rinsed. As I was getting ready for work I noticed up toward my crown it looked oily. This could be the start of the oily period that they talked about, or it could be that I didn't do a good job washing, yes I scrubbed but maybe I didn't dispense it well. We'll see. But, since I'd about die before I'd go out of the house w/ oily/dirty looking hair, I quickly baby powdered the crown.

Today, even tho it was oil-ish last night, I will probably still not wash it today. I'm thinking it's a pony tail or braid day!

And on to other such life. I've gotten into this wanting to escape groove the last few days. It started when I went to the store with all the kids the other day and they were wretched! At this age, they usually aren't. It caught me off guard and to be quite honest, pissed me off. I have been in the house a lot lately, with every one being sick on and off. I was so thankful to go to work last night, just to get out with out the kids and be around adults! I've been begging people to DO something with me, something fun, but no one can lately. Mostly because it's like the middle of the week and they all have to work in the morning. I have to teach, but I guess it's a little easier for me to get up and deal than it is for them.

My point is that this escapism is a shaky path for me. I tend to be all or nothing with everything in my life, and when I feel this way I usually end up not being present in my head even when I'm here in body. Hoping I get out of the house soon and relieve a little stress before I go off the deep end!

that is the question...

Day 1, I washed w/ the baking soda

Day 2, I did nothing.

Day 3 I washed w/ the backing soda and conditioned with the apple cider vinegar. I also dried my hair, and flat ironed it. I was concerned that b/c I am used to using shampoo and cond with smoothers in them that I would have an issue with it, but I didn't. It styled just fine. I ran into my cousin at the store and she commented on how pretty it looked.

Day 4, I had no intent of washing my hair today. Unless I work out and get sweaty, I typically wash it every other day. But last night I noticed flakes up by forehead. Then it occurred to me that when I had "washed" it, all I had really done was rinse with it. I didn't do the typical scrubbing that I am used to doing. So this morning, I did. Feels much better.

So, here's a pic of it after flat ironing. It smoothed out with out frizziness fine. I would like to add that this is an experiment. I don't know if I will do this forever. I wanted to try it, so I am:)

To poo or not to poo...

So, I have always been slightly on the crunchy side on things. I sometimes think I like the idea of living that way more than the effort it takes to do it. But one step at time folks. Before I put my adhd kid on meds I spent 2 years making my own bread because I couldn't find any w/o high fructose corn syrup or food dies in it that cause my kid to react to it. We didn't buy ANYTHING with those things in it. SO, I can't say that is always true. But I do take my time b/c I do get overwhelmed with the effort these things take sometimes.

Anyhoo, I have been concerned lately with the things we use on our skin. I do believe that skin is our largest organ and we're constantly filling it with chemicals. This can't be good. So I am slowly turning us natural and organic. I read recently, and I have read this before and dismissed it b/c I loved my products too much, lol. But the time seems to be right now, about washing your hair with baking soda and water. I have decided to give it a try when I ran out of my shampoo and cond. I did it yesterday and it was fine. I used a mix of 1 TB soda, to 1 cup water. I concentrated it most at the roots and around my face which seems to be my most oily spots. At the end it still felt a bit oily, but then I realized that I am used to shampoo stripping my hair of it's natural oils. And quit. After my hair dried it didn't look oily at all. I didn't wash it today (gasp i don't wash it every day!) it doesn't look oily today. The blog I read about this said you may go thru an oily period of about 2 weeks. We'll see. To condition, she instructed the same mix of 1TB to 1 cup but apple cider vinegar, she said you can't smell it after you rinse. It is supposed to soften and detangle the ends. I know my mom has always told me when I run out of fabric softener to use vinegar. I didn't do this yesterday, but I plan on making the mix up today and using it tomorrow, I'll post about it later.

My future endeavors in this will hopefully be home made facial cleanser, body wash and laundry soap. I have to take them one at time or I will get over whelmed and quit.

Here is a link to the blog I read about this on, http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/ She also gives a good explaination as to why not shampoo. NOT MENTION HOW MUCH CHEAPER IT IS TO NOT!! Also, her blog is simply amazing.

So, what's new? Nothing exciting here. Thought I'd post some pix from when we went up to St. Joe to see the Nina and Pinta docked with out homeschool group. They were surprisingly smaller than I could have imagined. We were told that, but to see it was unbelievable, and to think of the amount of people that were on them. And the remake of the Pinta is even bigger than it was in real life. It's 8 feet wider and 12 feet longer than the original.

Above I think are all the Pinta. The Pinta is on the left below.

I am crabby today. Just to be quite honest. I've been fighting a cold, I started my period, woke up w/ a headache, and am just plain crabby. Thankfully my kids are being ok. One of those days when I don't have a lot to do, so I can curl up on the couch, but I just can't comfortable! and being nice to the people around me is a real effort.

that is all.

wascally wabbit!

We are thinking about getting a rabbit as a pet. In all our years of parenting, we've not had a lot of luck w/ pets. We had a cat, then found out that Zac was allergic to them, we sent him to live w/ his sister at my friends. We had a dog, but she was too much for us. Our kids were toddlers, literally, toddling, and she would knock them over all the time. I have trained dogs before and could NOT get this sweet dog to train. I also then found out I was expecting Sis. I took her back to the pound. I'm pretty sure she got adopted quickly b/c she already had all her shots, and I saw her on out local morning show. It broke my heart to take her back, but I had to keep my sanity. I knew I could not handle 2 toddlers, a hyper dog and a new baby. Then my little girl had a pet mouse, whom she named "Little Bert." He died about 3 months after she got him. BROKE HER HEART.

In order for us to have an animal that we don't have to pay a $250 deposit on, it has to be a caged animal. We would keep the rabbit outside. We have a pretty awesome hutch for it. We were thinking about getting 2, not wanting it to be alone, but then we have 3 kids. So, not sure yet. Anyone have any experience w/ rabbits??

Remember when I used to update my blog w/o someone telling me, you need to update your blog?

We had a fantastic summer. I'm so glad that my kids are still at an age that they can be happy w/o huge summer vacation trips. We went to the beach every chance we had, and had SO much fun w/ it. This year we had lot's of friends join us. Last year it was pretty much the kids swam and I sat under a tree and relaxed. This year I swam some too, and we had friends there w/ us a lot.

This September 28th Scott and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, it's been the best 15 years of my life. Even thru the not so fun times. We spent 4 days away, 1 in Chaboygan, MI. And 3 nights on Mackinac Island. I am in love with the place. Scott was so excited to show it to me. He had been up there plenty of times, but I had never been that far north. Michigan is truly a beautiful state. I've a

lways been apprecaitive of our local aggriculture, but seeing the whole sta

te made me appreciate it even more.

We are still loving our church and getting to know our new church family. One thing I do love? Lot's of Notre Dame fans:)

Speaking of Notre Dame... how bout them IRISH!? I knew this was gonna be a good year for them. I got to be part of history at the 1st game of the season when they kicked us out of the stadium 2x. 1st time in Irish history and marked down in the books as longest college game in history at 5 hrs, 59 minutes. Right now Rees and Floyd are on fire. I was so glad when Floyd chose to come back this year.

School this year is going well so far. I feel more organized than I've been in a long time. All the kids are involved in a co-op this year. On Wednesdays we meet at a local church that used to be a school, hence the classrooms. We have quite a few classes. Different parents teach them. Mine are all in the science class, and then Lily is in a cute little choir. During choir and in the hour before science, the boys do their other school work in study hall. It's a nice break during the week for us. And I love that there is such a huge age group in the science class.

I'm still volunteering at the PCC. It's def in my heart. I stopped counseling for a little while to work on a doula program. But have set that aside and started counseling again. I really do love it.

Can't think of anything else to talk about right now. take care! and see most of you on facebook:)

Hi there!

Lot's going on here. School is done for the year!! I've been doing a lot of sleeping in:) We also took our 1st trip to the beach already! There's this great little beach about 15 minutes away. It's at a little campground, so it has facilities, even a little ice cream parlor. And they cator to homeschoolers(!) they have one day a week that it's only $1 to get in if u homeschool. How could we NOT go!? We plan on going about every week this summer. We went last summer lot's too.

Big changes here. If you know me at all you know I'm a committed Christian and church goer. (yes you can be one with out the other, but that's a whole other post...) I've been a part of our former church since I was in the 7th grade. We left for Bible college in 1997, went to a church in MO for almost 3 yrs, came back and pretty much settled right back in where we left off. Until last winter. Things started to change. My husband went thru a deep depression. He has been working and going to school full time. Not an easy time for any of us. But a time we needed to go thru. During this time we started praying and seeking God's will for our lives. A couple of months into it we decided to check out a few different churches. That was interesting.

We def found a great church, and the one the Lord lead us to. We all love it. Hubby get's so much out it every week. Something that wasn't happening anymore where we were. The kids have made new friends, so have I. I have felt like I was home from the 1st few minutes of walking thru the doors.

We've done 2 bday parties already this yr! Last yr I did none. I was in the simplify, simplify, simplify mode. I was not doing parties. We told the kids to pick a restaurant and we invited family and had a family dinner. They brought gifts and the kids loved it. Was it more expensive? I honestly don't know thinking about how much I've put into these parties. Here's the clincher, NO MAINTENANCE!!! The restaurants do all that:) And we got to hang out with family. It was great. I can honestly say I would love to do it again next yr. Sis had a craft party. Zai had a Star Wars party, and Zac wants to have a nerf gun party. I'm telling the boys to bring their guns and we're buying lot's of bullets. We have a black top parking lot across the street that it'll be perfect to shoot on. They won't loose the bullets:)

Another change is last yr when we were going thru so much, and were getting used to the new school schedule I backed off the birth seen. Was debating on renewing my website when it came up, but then prayed about it and received an email from someone who sounds like a very fun mama that I'm going to meet with next week as a potential client:) Happy times!!

I'm updating w/o being asked, are you shocked?? ;)

This morning I ran into someone I haven't seen in ages. She asked me if I'd lost weight, (i said it'd been ages!) I told her ya, over 100lbs (106 to be exact) She asked me if I'd had bariatric, I said nope, just hard work.
"Really!? Wow!" She says, "I'm getting bariatric on Monday."
"Oh really?" I say.
"Ya, I'm caving."
We were in a line of people exiting a building so we couldn't have a real conversation. I responded by telling her I'd pray for her, and that what she was doing wasn't easy.

I have worked REALLY, REALLY hard to get where I am with my weight. I am STILL working hard. I still have weight to loose, and am thankfully starting to loose again. What I am learning thru this incredible (incredibly looong) journey is that it's a very personal thing, not only emotionally, but also physically. What works for one person, doesn't always work for another. I have had 100 people tell me this and that and it doesn't always work. Peoples bodies aren't the same.

Also, it is just that, a journey. It has taken me 2 years to get where I am. I had visions of it only taking me 1 more year to loose the other 100 lbs. That isn't going to happen. The 1st 100 came off rather quickly for whatever reason. I have no clue. This time around my body is completely different and it seems to want different things.

Bariatric was not for me. I have had 4 surgeries, I didn't want anyone cutting me open for any reason that I could prevent. I did read about it. I went to a meeting about the lapband years ago. The thing is, you have to loose a certain amount of weight to even get the surgery, then you have to learn to eat right after it's done. So, I figured, if I can eat right b4 and after having it, then why have it?? PLUS, people die from bariatric. I have a friend whose neighbor bled to death from a complication after having it. I've also seen people have it, loose weight, but not change the way they live, and gain the weight back. I just KNEW that if I was going to loose weight, I had to change my whole life. BUT, that is just me. I never want people to think that I judge them for their decisions. Bariatric isn't a picnic. I will pray for her, and wish her the best.