Birthday on the Brac

The hubs and I just returned from a wonderful vacation....we went to Cayman Brac with another couple and it was simply a great vacation. Good laughs, great food, and great memories! We met another great couple from Canada while we were there and sometimes the best moments are conversing with "strangers" and sharing life experiences and connecting. It was a great trip and one that helped put a lot of things in perspective.

Cayman Brac is a small island off of Grand Cayman due South of Miami and Cuba - the people were friendly, the island secluded, and the rum punch tasty. I also got to celebrate my 34th birthday while on the island (who could ask for anything better), the only thing missing were my little ones, but it was a good time to reconnect with my hubby.

I started off "34" snorkeling in the ocean....which I will admit I was scared and did have a panic attack when I first got into the ocean and wanted to get out, but I knew it was a panic attack and continually tried calming my mind and trying to relax my breathing until I finally put my head underwater and pushed off with my fins. Before I knew it it, I was looking at all this wonderful sea life and was out in the ocean, we ended up snorkeling quite a bit and who knows I just may become a diver by 35th birthday or at least I'm going to continuing with the snorkeling ;)

As I was thinking about everything while relaxing, I realized that the older I get, the more comfortable I finally am in my own skin. I'm not a young, skinny girl with a flat tummy and perky (you know what)....I have stretch aka "respect" marks from bearing two babies and thank goodness for the push-up bra, and I'm not concerned about my weight. I'm happy, I'm healthy, and there is nothing more I could ask for....life is good. I'm actually looking forward to turning "35" as I've got some plans in store, but I won't share the details....you'll have to wait for that....

“Growing into your future with health and grace and beauty doesn’t have to take all your time. It rather requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is." - Victoria Moran

My "Things I Want My Children to Know" list.....because there isn't enough out there already

Lately I have seen on social media sites the various "20 Things Mothers Should Tell Their Son" or "10 Things to Tell Your Daughter" and I've seen them take a satire approach and then those that get you all weepy-eyed and as a parent to both, I've enjoyed reading them. There are definitely points made that I can relate too.
So it got me thinking.....what would I share with my kids, do I differentiate the lists...one for my son and one for my daughter or would I tell them the same things? And so one evening after the kids went off to bed and I was sipping my cup of tea, I thought about it....here is my list (and I decided, my list applies to both my kiddies).....

1. I will always love you - This one is easy, but I know at some point in your lives there will come a moment when you will perhaps question this or worry what we may think, either from something said, did, or whatever. Perhaps this is more appropriate for the "teenage" years or those moments when we may not get along...those times when we may not agree on clothing, music, friends, curfew, etc...just know that we may not agree on things, we may even argue, but I will always love you both "to infinity and beyond" that will never change.
2. Sometimes life is not fair - at some point or another have all felt this way and I myself, have said, "this isn't fair, why?" and you know what life is not always fair, but the key is how you deal with it because ultimately it is a state of mine and not necessarily a good one. We all have dealt with disappointment, sadness, or challenges and everyone has a story to tell, but you can either blame others and "pout" or you let it serve as the desire to overcome whatever it is and I say let it serve as your determination to overcome.
3. You are responsible for your happiness, not others - I have struggled with this, I don't like discord or conflict and often times would ignore my own feelings of happiness for the sake of keeping peace. Don't do this - you are not responsible for keeping others happy, you are responsible for your happiness and if you are not happy, then most likely others will see this and respond accordingly and if you are not happy, how can others possibly make you happy. It has to come from within.
4. Go after your dream - yes I said it, if you have a dream go after it, now this doesn't mean to pursue a singing career if you are tone deaf. If that is the case, it doesn't mean you let go, perhaps you can become a song writer or something else, but if you are good at something and it makes you happy and it is your dream, pursue it, cherish it, and hold on to it. If you do, you will have no regrets. As people get older, often times the only regrets they have are those they didn't pursue....their dreams. 
5. Do not purposely harm or be hurtful to others -  but don't take anyone's crap either.And you will come across people who will push your limits, who are mean-spirited, selfish, or whatever insecurity they have and will be forceful and/or demanding. Don't take that crap, stand up for yourself, but don't resort to their level either. Believe me, it will only make things worse. "Being a good person does not depend on your religion, status in life, race, skin color, political views or culture, it depends on how you treat others" - Unknown
6. Remember your beauty - and yes this most definitely applies to my son as well as my daughter. You both are still so young and still show the innocence of childhood and your smile lets the beauty escape. As you get older and your body and face change, always remember your beautiful, that does not change. It took me a long time to feel comfortable in my own skin, because I didn't like this or that, so know you are beautiful just the way you are (hey isn't that a song).
7. Read, read, read - I love that you guys look forward to visiting the local library and getting stack of books. It is easy to get lost in a book, that takes you to a faraway land or in the midst of a battle in outer space. The other great thing about reading, is everything is at your fingertips and you can learn basically anything from reading. There are many simple things in life and this is one of them, simple, but deeply satisfying.
8. Be Patient -  I can see already that patience may not run in our family, I definitely had to learn patience when I became a parent and often times we all need to be reminded of this - the definition of this is as follows: the ability to wait calmly for something to happen without complaining or giving up. I like that! In today's age of instant gratification, a lot of patience is lacking, patience is a great thing!
9. Don't take anything too personally - Believe me when I tell you that if you do, it will just bring you heartache. I've spent too many days hurt or upset about something said, did, or whatever because I took it personally. In the end, what others say or do is merely a projection of themselves and their own beliefs. And when you don't let it get it you and not care, you can't be subject to their projections. Look at someone who exudes confidence and ask them how they do it, most will tell you that they really don't care what others think of them because it doesn't matter.
10. Always give your best - your best will most likely change from year to year or even moment to moment, but when you give your best it shines through, people see it and they want to be part of it. And it is just like your activities, I don't care if you place or win, all I care is that you do your best because when you know you've given it your best, you avoid self-judgement or regret.
11. There is a hint of fairytales or magic in the world - the world is cynical and we are flooded everyday with negative news and reports. So know that it is okay to believe in fairy tales or magic...just remember that I found my fairytale when I wasn't even looking. It's okay to believe in all things good or have a positive outlook on life because you will attract those things to you. It is much easier to be negative and cynical than to be positive, so believe in the magic. “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” - Roald Dahl
12. Travel and learn about the world - go exploring and see the world, there are so many wonderful and fascinating places to see. If I could, I would make the world your school, showing you all the many people and places this world has to offer, embrace the culture or language and explore. Being a military brat, we moved a lot and I hated it, but it is one of the greatest memories I look back on - so go out my child and see the world.

There are definitely many more things I would include on this list, but I think that is a good start for now.

Can We Do It......

We recently watched "Hungry for Change," a food documentary, which we've watched several of these food documentaries and I am always left feeling sick from all the crap that goes into our food. So, over a year and half ago, we have slowly watched what we purchase and stopped eating fast food, soda, etc....and during this process I'm lost 20lbs and have been able to keep it off (surprisingly I wasn't even trying to lose weight). 
Yet, something changed inside while watching this last food documentary and so for the first time, we are trying the "Real Food" challenge by not eating any highly processed food and more fruits and vegetables.

I went through our pantry and removed everything that had some of the toxic ingredients that they mentioned and surprisingly we only had about two bags worth. We started on Wednesday and besides the time consumption of preparing these meals, things are going well.
A friend of mine suggested spending one day just cooking the meals for a whole week and I think I may try that this weekend. I think the biggest challenge will be deciding what to have that week - I'm not very good at planning my meals out, usually it is "let's decide two hours before" if it isn't in the crockpot, but I'm willing to give a day to cooking for a week's worth of meals.

100 days of real food is our challenge and I will periodically post updates....can we do it? I think so, we sat down with the kids and they seem okay with it. Tonight I made kale chips, which I have never tried before and wow, those suckers were delicious and I'm wondering why I have never tried baking them before, but I'm glad I did now. The other fun cooking thing is I made a sauce from a tablespoon butter (real, unsalted), teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, and tablespoon of soy sauce to put over our asparagus and it tasted great over them.

The other thing I have noticed over the past week is that everything seems to be coming together in a positive direction....things that would normally upset me, haven't and I feel with my whole being that everything is as it is meant to be at this moment and all that is left for me to do is accept it, so I have and I am loving the results!

"If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place." - Lao Tzu

What is Montessori.....

So, I came across the Montessori Elevator Speech Contest on the Montessori Madmen blog and decided to make a video and submitted it tonight. I'm not hoping to win because you have to be present at the conference in order to win and that is not going to happen, but anytime I can promote Montessori, I will.....here is our video (thanks to my little ones for their help and ideas)......




I also learned that our public Montessori school may be getting a legislative visit, which is pretty exciting! I secretly hold out hope that by the time my little ones enter high school, we will have a public Montessori high school....there is always hope!
And I don't think all schools should switch to the Montessori method, but I definitely think there needs to be more options than what is currently available for parents and students. We all learn differently and the currently schooling methods were developed during the industrial age, so I think it is time we look at schools that have high enrollment numbers, waiting lists and see what our public schools can learn from those "choice" schools.

I can't wait to eat poop......unicorn of course

So, I saw a website that sold Unicorn Poop cookies.....yup, unicorn poop and so immediately I did a search for recipes and found one at Making Memories and thought, sounds easy enough, right?

I went to the store bought all the ingredients I needed, however, I could not find the disco dust...not sure if I need to get that at a specialty store or not, but I got everything else. I did not use the recipe in the blog for the cookies, I used a sugar cookie recipe that I have, so if you are keen in trying to make these, I would suggest either using the Making Memories' recipe or use your own sugar cookie recipe.

 I divided the dough into four bowls and then used food coloring to color the dough....next was rolling them into snakes. Let me just say that as easy as that looks, my snakes kept breaking or were uneven, so I'm not the best at rolling snakes, but this is suppose to look like poop, so I didn't care to much. Just do your best!

Then toss them in the oven, my sugar cookie recipe cooks for 10 minutes, the one in the blog is 8 minutes, again, whatever sugar cookie dough you are using, following the baking time accordingly.
Then as they are out, put in the pearl balls and goodies - I've never used pearl balls before and they went everywhere....I'm use I will be finding those little suckers in my kitchen over the next few days

Decorate with the sparkle gel or make an icing glaze like I did with powdered sugar, food coloring, a tablespoon of water and drizzle over the cookies. The kids thought these were great and all I heard was, "I can't wait to eat poop!"