Sea Salt Detox

I first heard of the sea salt detox from someone at work.  She said she had done it and it worked great.  It's suppose to clean the toxins out of your system.  Hmmm. That sounds easy enough.  You mix two tablespoons of sea salt with 64 ounces of lukewarm water.  EW!   Who can drink 64 ounces of water at one time? That alone made my stomach churn. 

Well I have been in a slump this weekend.  I started my Atkins diet January 2nd. I have done great so far, losing 6 pounds the first week. Then last week I lost 2 pounds-BOO! THis weekend however, I gained a pound back.  I haven't changed my diet or even cheated the least little bit.  Only thing I can figure is I have had to many diet drinks: Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Mt. Dew, Diet A&W!  So Saturday I attempted to limit my caffeine.  Well before I could even get to Sonic at 3:45 in the afternoon I already had a killer caffeine withdrawal headache.  I drank about half of it on the way home, took 800mg of motrin and had to get in the bed.  My head hurt so bad I thought I was going to be sick.  I wasn't in the bed 30 minutes and it was gone. Crazy. Any way...I digress. 

So I was bummed about not losing more weight, so I thought I'd give the detox a try this morning. Omg! It's just as bad as I thought.  Who can drink 2 liters of water? Add in sea salt and that just makes it even worse.  I didn't even get the entire thing down and I was throwing it up. UGH! 

So I began to do more research. Mainly I wanted to know when I could eat or drink again after drinking that awful concoction.  Come to find out there is one website that says to drink 64 ounces and one that says 32 ounces WHAT!? That is a BIG difference. 

Anyway, it did state that I can eat light, meaning soup and salad. 

No chance I will be trying this again, EVER!!!!

Rainy day fun with the kids.

I had planned on doing some caching with the kids Sunday afternoon.  However, the weather hampered those plans. We were able to attempt three caches but only found one.  I hate DNF's (did not find)!  Then we made a trip to the grocery store and got in and out just before the down pour. 

Once home we did a few chores and then the kids pulled out the "Magic Marbles" they had gotten in their stocking.  I think these are the same thing as "water beads" also called
"orbeez". I have seen them at the daycare before and just this weekend saw a great website about sensory activities to do with them.

This is how they start. TINY!

Drop them in a cup or bowl of water.

After a few hours this is how much they have grown. 

 

 

Here is what it looks like after soaking in water over night.

A sea of orbeez!

So we will be incorporating this in our lessons this week.  Jace will have a lot of fun playing with these. Maybe it'll even keep him occupied while the older kids and I get school work done!! 

So while our "magic marbles" were soaking we pulled out Connect 4 Launchers.  I think my son got this game last year for his birthday or Christmas.  Either way, its been here a long time and this was the first time we have played it. SAd!  It was a lot of fun.  Jace didn't really understand the concept of how to win but he certainly enjoyed launching the pieces. 

We also learned how to use a knife.  Jace loves playing with knifes when we are out to eat somewhere.  Usually I don't mind if it's just butter knives.  He just loves cutting stuff up on his plate.  So when I was cutting cheese last night they just had to join.  I only post this because I think their faces are adorable-not that you care to see my kids cutting cheese. LOL. 

So that was what we did on yet another rainy day.  It appears it's going to rain all week so be prepared for more lovely pictures of the kids doing random things!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!

The kids and I had a great New Years Eve!!

We spent the evening with my parents and a family friend.  The kids and I started off with a trip to the Dollar Tree to grab some goodies for the night.  Then we had dinner at a Mexican Resturant.  We arrived at our destination about 6:30pm.  Just in time to start off our night.

We did activity bags and idea I got from Pinterest.  You create a bag for the kids to open each hour until midnight.  I had them color coded so each child had 2 bags to open during the night.  

7:00 P.M. 

The first bag was a "build it" set and a bag of balloons.  Yeah, a bag of ballooons can entertain kids for HOURS!!!

 

Here is Jacob helping me put together the "build it" set.  It was a little helicopter.  It had  moving propellers but that's about it.  It says 6+ but the small parts did make it a little difficult to put together.

 Here is Jacob having some fun with the balloons!  Mom had some fun with the balloons too.  She made an octopus with 13 balloons!!!

 

My mom is punching a balloon into the air.   I LOVE JoAnna's face in this picture. I don't know why she reacted in this way but it made me crack up.

 Here is the 13 balloon octopus. Yes 13 balloons.  If you have known my family for any length of time you will know the significance of the number 13. 

8:00P.M.

Jacob opened the second bag of the night.  Bubbles and gummies.  My kids love gummy snacks. So the older two headed outside to blow bubbles while Jace stayed inside-he was a little afraid of the fireworks.

9:00 P.M.

Jace opened the third bag of the night.   

 Glow sticks and punching balloons.  So one of the two packs of glow sticks actually worked.  Jace loved his punching balloon but the other two were outside having a blast with the glow sticks and totally forgot about the balloons.

 

 10:00P.M.

 JoAnna opened the fourth bag of the night.  Light up "Flitter" and more gummies!  Jacob and JoAnna loved playing with these light up helicopters. 

 11:00P.M.

Jacob opened the fifth bag of the night. 

 Rocket Balloons and  Silly String!!!  yeah walmart only had one can of silly string left.  So we had to share. Oh well, what better way to ring in the New Year than to learn how to share. 

 Here is Papaw helping Jace blow up the rocket balloon.

11:45P.M.

Jace got to open the final bag of the night! ! I couldn't believe the made it to midnight.    

 

Final bag..... noise makers!!!  Of course we waited for the last bag for these, who wanted to listen to them all night?? 

We had a great night!!!  The bags gave the kids something to look forward to each hour and the items in the bags kept them busy for at least an hour or more.  It kept them occupied and they didn't get tired and cranky waiting for midnight.

 It was surely a night we will remember. I cannot wait to do this again next year!!!

A "summer scarf"

Here is a summer scarf I found on Pinterest today. It looked so easy I just had to try it.

Here is my version...



Here is the Pinterest version...

 
  Yeah mine needs a little fluff.  But I thought it turned out ok.  Hopefully if I wash it, it'll fluff out a bit?!

Our family has grown by 4 feet!! YEs you read that right....4 more feet!!!

Meet Oishii.  He is a 9 week old Akita puppy.  He was rescued by the Warm Hearts Humane Society in Arkansas.  The same rescue we got Phantom from, and he was with the same foster mom.  His was a gift to his previous owner, from her daughter.  She soon realized she could not take care of him and was dumping him in the Petco parking lot.  No-bets do not make good gifts.  Unless you are an adult giving your child the gift of a forever friend.

That is where our family comes in.  My kids have loved Phantom and I really wanted to give Phantom a companion.  It just so happens this little puppy showed up just in time for Christmas, but I couldn't wait until Christmas to bring him home.  So here he is a little early.  What a great Christmas gift for Phantom, and the entire family. 

He is not yet housebroken so that will be a challenge.  Luckily we started our Christmas break this weekend so we have this week to work on housebreaking and then its full days of work for me for the next two weeks.

Anyway, my niece and I drove to Mount Ida, Arkansas-yes a 6 hour drive- on Saturday afternoon.  We met Oishii and his foster mom and fell in love.  He is so adorable, little and fuzzy.  We stayed at a cabin at Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa.  It was wonderful!  It was a beautiful setting and filled with Christmas lights.  Phantom and Oishii got along great until Oishii ate out of Phantom's food bowl. 

We took a long walk with Phantom and Oishii's foster mom and her 11 year old Akita.  Just enough to tucker the dogs out for the long drive home.  The dogs did great on the drive home. I got the dogs home and settled and then left to pick up the kids.

It was GREAT!! They were so excited and appreciative.  They kept saying "Thanks Mom!!" So sweekt.  JoAnna thinks she can carry him around like a little rag doll.  Jace also tries to pick him up, but even at 9 weeks this Akita pup is still a handful for my little 3 year old. 

So here are a few pics from the cabin, the ride home and the introduction to the kids.  There will be plenty more photos/videos to come!!!

Christmas 2013

Here are some Christmas pictures for 2013...

Susan G. Komen 3day Event-Atlanta 2012!!

AMAZING!!!

UNFORGETABLE!!!! 

INCREDIBLE!!!! 

My 3 words to describe the 3day event!! This was my first Susan G. Komen 3day event!  We trained for months, raised money for months (ok my sister raised most of my money for me). It was such a wonderful experience!!!  We were so excited to arrive in Atlanta on the day before the walk began.  We had a great dinner full of carbs! We woke up bright and early the day of the walk.  Full of anticipation. Prepared to walk 60 miles over the next three days.  The four of use boarded our shuttle with bags overflowing!!! 

After a 25 minute ride, we arrived!!  We were greeted by cheers from the Youth Corps! They were lining both sides of the entryway, cheering us on and giving us high fives.  

Opening ceremonies began about 7:30am.  It didn't take long and we were fighting back tears. The flags were presented and they lead us to the starting line.  There were almost 1600 walkers present so it took us a while to get to the starting line.  

I cannot describe in words what we experienced the next three days.  It was a feeling like no other.  We walked 60 miles in 3 days along side some of the most amazing people I have ever met.  Our Atlanta CREW was AMAZING!!! They were dancing, singing and cheering in the streets.  They were the spark that kept us safely going on our journey.  I am not great with words, so here are pictures to describe our journey......

Opening Ceremonies.... inspiring.

 

Some of our AMAZING CREW! They were so much fun and so encouraging.

One of the many cheer leaders along our route! Atlanta really came out and supported us on our journey.  They provided snacks, drinks, motrin, and encouragement!!

Another member of OUR AMAZING CREW!! She was one of the first crew members we encountered on Day 1.  She rode her motorcycle up and down the route, playing her music loud and singing along!! So much fun!!

 

Here we are on Day 3 posing in Piedmont Park! Beautiful park!!

 This is Richard.  I learned about his story on FB after we returned home from the 3day Event.  He was a lot of fun on the route. He danced and sang and kept us moving along safely.  He is a third generation breast cancer survivor.  His father and grandfather had breast cancer.  He had a mastectomy at the age of 14! Can you imagine?! I believe he is now 65. Can you imagine, 51 years ago,  having breast cancer at the age of 14, having a mastectomy, and being male??? How difficult that must have been for a 14 year old kid.

 OUR AMAZING CREW!!  They were all dressed up and full of encouragement!!

 Our tents inside the convention center.  yes we were spoiled.  I think they have had bad weather in Atlanta the last few years so they have been camping indoors for this event. Lucky us!!

 Sara admiring the wall of inspiration!!

 Amy treating her blisters on Day 3.  yeah, we were unable to avoid those blisters.

 Some of our CREW at lunch on DAY 3

 Another one of our FABULOUS CREW members!!

 Day 2. PitStop ??? 

 End of Day2. 

  

More of our supporters in Atlanta!! They were amazing!!!  This was one of our favorite stops...they 

  

Amy going up the escalator on Day3

 

 

 We thought we had struck GOLD when we passed supporters with open coolers of caffeine!!!! 

  

 The finish line!!! 

 

Marissa helping Amy out with her shoe laces. At this point bending over is a luxury for most of the 3day walkers-but Marissa must have had her V8 this morning...lol.

Shoe salute!!!



You can make a donation to my 3day event at  the3day Atlanta 2013