Grandmother in a Jar!

Ok, so I wanted to post and share a product review. I'm an oily girl. Really I can be, but during these windy days, I get these irritating dry patches. My skin just never seems balanced. I have tried everything under the sun to find a moisturizer that truly works wonders. I've found some that I've liked a lot, but nothing worth raving about. One day, it dawned on me. Why not use what my grandmother used to?? Face cream...plain ol' face cream. She was such a beautiful lady in her day. The classic pin up. I've recently been going through some old photos of her which have inspired me! Here's one of her and my grandfather on their wedding day. Her a sweet yet saucy dame, and him a strapping, handsome pro body builder. ..


Anyway, looking over all of these old photos I coveted her complexion. I've also been on a Film Noir kick. LOL So I browsed the drugstore isles looking for the retro beauty products that are still on the market. After all, if they've been around this long, they have to work right??



So after a search, I came upon Jergen's Face Cream... now, if you know me, you would know that after reading the ingredients, this product goes against EVERYTHING I stand for!! Mineral oil, and red dye in the ingredients, not to mention, it's still unknown to me weather this product is tested on animals or not. I looked it up on the cosmetic data base and it ranges at a 5 on the 1-10 hazard scale. (You can go to cosmeticsdatabase.com to review pretty much any product/brand on the market.) PLUS, I have oily skin prone to break outs so I was rather skeptical. BUT, at the under $4.00 price range, I thought "I'm desperate, why not?" and it had those cute little retro ladies on it. So, I caved and bought it...
I LOVE IT!! I use it every night to take off my make up and then leave it on for 20 minutes or so. I usually cleanse my face after I use makeup remover, but with this, I don't have to. I put it on and wipe off with tissues. No fuss. My skin is so soft and has a dewy look even after I've applied my face makeup. Seriously, this product has worked wonders for my skin!!! It's a 15 oz. jar for under 4 bucks! I only use a gentle facial cleanser in the mornings. I recommend! I've also read reviews of people using it on their feet and elbows. Not sure if I'm gonna go there or not....we shall see ;)
Here I am with it all over my face! Looks crazy now, but tomorrow, I'll be glowing with glee over this budget friendly beauty secret of mine. YES, a little of me still does feel guilty that this isn't on the natural side, but for now, I'm willing to compromise. Thanks grandma! xoxo ;)

How to make Elderberry Syrup

I thought I would post this tutorial on how to make elderberry syrup. I've had several people ask me what i give my kids during cold and flu season since I don't reach for the traditional Robitussin or Triaminic. Elderberries are a wonderful herb used in natural cold and flu remedies. Tea can also be made from dry elderberries as well. This recipe is by Mountain Rose Herbs. You can watch a full tutorial here for more details. In this recipe I use dry berries, but frozen or fresh can be used too. It's a very simple recipe. Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup of dried elderberries (fresh or frozen can be used, just increase to 1 cup)
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
1tbsp fresh grated ginger
2 cups water
1 cup of honey

Step one: Combine elderberries, cinnamon stick, ginger, cloves and water in a saucepan .

Bring to a boil

Once boiled, simmer covered until liquid is reduced by 1/2 (approximately 20-30 minutes)

Next, pour through a sieve into a bowl or large measuring cup.

Use a spoon to push excess liquid out of berries into the bowl

Add 1 cup of honey, stir and let cool.

Store in a closed jar in the refrigerator for up to one month.

This syrup can be taken 1 tbsp every couple of hours while sick, or as a preventative during cold and flu season, take on 1 tbsp a day. It tastes yummy. The kids love it. This syrup contains honey. Avoid giving this to any child under one year of age. Pure maple syrup can be substituted for those under one year of age.

On a Mission!

We had an amazing time on our mini vacation! Justin was able to get a couple of weeks off of work so we decided on the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. The kids loved it!!!

Milla's favorite was the Pink Flamingo of course because it was pink!! She also enjoyed all of the monkeys. I think because she is one at heart!

Ian will probably hate me for this one. I took his picture on this same turtle when he was Milla's age! So I made him get on it again! He was kinda mad, but he caved to make me happy. LOL

We decided to stay another night, so we drove over to San Juan Capistrano to see the mission. Ian is doing his 4th grade mission project on this so we thought it would be a great learning experience! The photo below shows 4 bells. These bells were rung when someone died.

Milla even got her own audio tour for kids!!

These pictures do not do justice for how beautiful it was that day! Everything in the gardens was in full bloom. Milla wanted a picture by the pink flower tree....of course!

Panning for gold was the highlight for the kids. Milla thought she was the richest person ever!

We had an amazing time. It was nice to have this time as a family and share these experiences. My parents did this for us when I was young and I instantly fell in love with the California Missions. San Juan Capistrano being my favorite!

Our Egg Dying Eggstravaganza!

So, I thought I'd post this since every one's been asking. This year, I decided that we would find a natural method to dying our Easter eggs. I got the idea from another blog, Crunchy Domestic Goddess. We had so much fun experimenting with different foods to come up with colors. Here's a summary of what we did. You can visit the above blog for the full tutorial. Yes, it was a bit more pricey than the .99 cent Paas box, but it was a fun experiment for the kids. Plus, my husband and son like to call me a modern day hippie, so I thought I'd live up to the name. I really wanted to go with a more earthy color theme so I was very impressed with the results The above picture shows the ingredients and materials we used to make the dye. We used, purple cabbage, spinach leaves, frozen blueberries, frozen cherries, canned beets, coffee, tumeric powder, chili powder, vinegar and rubber bands and crayons for decorating. The crayons are the little colored pebbles in the pouch. There's also a red onion pictured, but we didn't end up using it. I wish we would have though because our red dye turned our eggs a dark bluish gray.

We used spinach leaves, blueberries and some tumeric powder to make green. This green turned out beautifully!! We didn't do too much measuring aside from the vinegar. We just kept throwing stuff in. It's important with the fruit especially to warm it and mash it up. When the berries burst, then all the color is released.

Next we used the purple cabbage and blueberries. This made an amazing dark blue!!!

This is the red dye....well..what was supposed to be red anyway. I used 2 cans of beets, (next time I'll try 3), frozen cherries, and not pictured above, some ocean spray cran-cherry juice. I think the juice is where we went wrong. Next time I'll use the red onion instead. These eggs still turned out a cool color though.

This is the yellow...obvioulsy...We used tumeric powder at first, then we decided to add chili powder to the mix and it mad a more vibrant yellow. Also, not pictured, we used coffee for the brown. I just brewed a REALLY strong pot of coffee and let the eggs sit overnight. I actually strained all of the dyes and set the eggs overnight in the liquids. This part is definitely crucial if you want the most vibrant color.

Our beautiful eggs!!!! We loved them so much. Milla especially likes to smell the brown ones because they smell like french vanilla coffee!!! LOL All in all we had fun. It was our first attempt. We learned a few things and we'll tweak some things next time. Thanks for looking at our masterpiece! LOL

My First Client!!

I was so excited starting my journey towards becoming a doula. After finishing my 16 hour workshop and my own research, I was finally ready to take on my first client. But who?? I prayed and prayed for God to send me the right mama who would take a chance on a new doula in training. Finally, through a friend, I was able to book my first client. Mom and dad are such amazing people! I enjoyed the prenatal visits. We really got to know eachother. Mom was pregnant with thier first child and dad was a little nervous. He was worried how he would react during labor and delivery. I assured him that when the day came, he would instinctually know what to do and if not, that's what I was there for. To help them along the way. I finally got a call at about 7 am on a Thursday morning from mom that they were on thier way to the hospital. I met up with them around noon at the hospital and mom was still laboring with lots of back labor. We (dad and I) were able to use warm compresses and positioning on the birth ball, to relieve some of that pain. Mom did amazing!!!! After a long day and night of laboring, mom delivered baby boy via ceserean early the next morning. I was sooooo blessed by them letting me be a part of this special day!! Unfortunately because of the cesearean, I wasn't able to meet baby right away. I didn't meet him until the post pardum visit with mom and dad about a week and a half later. It was sooo very worth the wait! Baby boy was so precious. They are such a beautiful family!!! It was such a blessing and reminder of why I do what I do. I love helping mama's have thier babies!!!

Cleaning Tips

Kitchen cleaner/pot scrubber~ All you need are lemons and salt. I use lemons that need to be thrown out, and salt. (Morton's is 52 cents at Target). Just slice a lemon in 2 and dip the open end in salt and there you go! You can use it to scrub counters, pot, pans...just about anything! It's cheap and easy and the lemon acts as a natural bleach and lifts stains. Also, there are no chemicals involved!

All Cooped Up!!

The chicks finally have their coop! It's not all the way done, we still need to build a run, but at least they have a home of their own to lay their beautiful eggs in!! Justin worked so hard all day on it. I planted some more of our garden, and the kids....well scroll down the pics and you will see how they passed the time!

Molly, Stella and SuperGirl in their new home. Last night was thier first night outside in the coop. I must have checked on them at least 5 times last night before I went to bed! LOL

Justin did such a great job. He loves our chicks too!

Here's what the kids got into!!!!

At first she wanted nothing to do with the mud, and then we couldn't get her out of it!

I worked on the garden. Justin and I both got sunburned but at least we remembered to put sunblock on the kids!!!