The Girls & Rag Curls

Lily and Eden love to have their hair done up in rag curls. It's pretty easy to do and very safe. I don't have to worry about wiggly little girls and a hot curling iron. I just cut up one of Kevin's old t-shirts into strips, and coil the hair around each rag, and then tie them in knots, and take them out in the morning. The more rags you use, the tighter the curls. I used 12 on Lily this time and 4 on Eden. I usually do it after bathtime when the girls hair is almost dry. Lily's curls usualy last about 3 days. I just put it up in a bun or a ponytail when she takes a bath. Eden is my messy child and I can never get away without bathing her from head to toe, so needless to say her curls last only a day.

You can see pics HERE of Lily's hair in rag curls, when she was just 2 years old, and boy did she have a lot of hair!

If the Barn Needs Painting...

...Paint The Barn!

This is in responce to a post by Cadence. Be sure to check her out, she is a great Gal!

Most of the time I don't wear make up, But once in a while, Like if My hubby and I are going on a date or if I just want to feel extra pretty, I will put some on. Well, we are going on a date this weekend, and I would like to get all dolled up. But there is a problem. Part of the reason I don't wear make up often is because, I am allergic to everything. But there is a bigger reason to be honest, when it comes to hair and make-up, I haven't got a clue. I can't even french braid. Lame I know. Don't laugh! So now that the cat is out of the bag. I will share my secret weapon with you. You Tube, and these lovely ladies that share their knowlege of all things glam, with those of us who feel overwhelmed when stepping in to Sephora.

There are tons of Great hair & make up how to's on the web but these are my top 3 chicks, I mean picks. :)
Sandy Gold http://www.happiface.com/
Amy B http://www.askmemakeupblog.blogspot.com/
Danica http://askamakeupguru.com/blog/
They all have tutorials on You Tube as well :)
Hope this helps anyone else out there like me who hasn't got a clue, when it comes to this stuff. :)

Master Bath

Recently I have been reconnecting with old friends and they ask me what I have been up to. So this is what have we been doing for the last 3 and 1/2 years? Making babies and fixing up our little house. We are transforming an old 70's raised ranch into our dream home. "A little country cottage by the sea". Except the closest thing to a sea we have here is Lake Ontario. The theme we are going for was a mish mash of my childhood. I was born on John's Island in South Carolina. So there is a little Southern Charm in the mix. And my love for the Ocean is deep within my veins. So you will see Sea shells scattered her and there some sail boats and even a light house or two. Later we all moved back to my mom's home town in New England right on the coast :) That's where I spent most of my life. I loved having my grandparents around. I loved big old Victorian houses and small little beach cottages & beautiful farm houses. Built in furniture so intrigued me even as a kid. I loved going to visit peoples houses. I remember my grandmother had a hutch in the dining room with all her china in it. And the drawers came out of the wall. I thought that was the coolest thing. I had a window seat in my bedroom it was my favorite spot to curl up and read a book and all my toys were stored inside. As a child I had a very romantic imagination. I started a huge garden lined with cobblestone in my parents back yard. My dad helped me, We made it in the shape of an old skeleton key. He collected the cobble stones from roads that they were tearing up in the city. He also got me a beautiful wrought iron park bench and put a section of white picket fence behind it. He was the DPW supervisor and they were just getting rid of the stuff. How sad. Well we gave it a good home. Amazing what they throw away. I also have many fond memories and images from the stories I read with my mom. Mandy, was one of my favorite books along with The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, and all the Jane Austen novels. We also spent our vacations staying @ various bed and breakfasts throughout New England and touring old historic homes. (My mom is quite the history buff. She does genealogy for fun.) Best way to travel I think. I love B&B's. So when my hubby and I got married we went to a beautiful B&B for our Honey Moon. Morgan Samuel's Inn http://www.morgansamuelsinn.com/index.html. We stayed in the Morgan Suite. It was awesome. We loved the corner garden tub so much we wanted to put one in our dream home. We were not home owners yet. So it would have to wait. 8 months later we moved into Our fixer upper. Or "Money Pit" as we like to call it. Here is how the bathroom turned out.
Now before you freak out. My Hubby worked for TRANE @ the time which was a branch of American Standard so all the fixtures were under employee discount. So we had some fun with this project. And our friend Steven did the Labor with Kevin's help. The color Scheme is Gold and Brown. Kevin's sister and I did a faux finish on the walls with five different colors of paint. What a job but it turned out beautiful if I do say so myself.

I love old fashioned hardware. Kevin had to have the vessel sinks. The cabinets and counter top are kitchen height. We are a tall family and I didn't like having to bend over every time I wanted to wash my hands etc. I put some bathing suits on my girls using paint shop ;) I don't want my naked babies on the Internet. The curved soffit above was absolutely necessary. I had to have the border go all the way around the room. And I wanted to hide the shower curtain rod as well. I used 80in window curtains from Target in a lovely golden yellow damask.

We got the taller Potty with an elongated seat. :)

We got rid of our walk in closet and linked the previous bathroom to our master bedroom. It also allowed for us to have an outside wall to put in a window for some nice natural light.

Door to Master Bedroom.

Note- these pics were taken in Oct. 2008

Sparkle

I decided to polish my engagement ring today. I love making it sparkle! It gets so dingy from daily chores, cooking, crafting etc. My hubby used to buy the cleaner from the jewelers, until my mom told me it was a waste of money. She had a friend who's hubby was a jeweler, and back in the day my mom would go to her house and find her soaking diamonds in a big pot of ammonia. (imagine a pot full of diamonds) So now I buy a .98 cent bottle of ammonia and soak my diamond in just a little ammonia in a shot glass on the window sill by my sink for a 1/2 hour and scrub it with an old toothbrush rinse it off, slide it back on and reminisce while watching it cast glimmering dots of sun on the walls. Remeber Amonia is toxic so be sure the kids can't reach it. And never mix with bleach.
So go on, get that diamond sparkling, and think of the day your hubby popped the question.

Natural Toothpaste

Growing up I watched my dad brush with baking soda. He puts a little in his hand dips his brush in hydrogen peroxide and then dips it in the soda. He has great teeth. Even the "natural" ones contain Sodium Laurel Sulfate, Yuck! It's bad stuff. Go here to find out more on this and other harmful chemicals that are in our personal care products.
http://thecosmeticconspiracy.com/Toxic12.html
I have been following my dad's example, since I was pregnant with Eden, because the regular tooth paste even Toms of Maine, made me gag. I have tried to get my hubby and kids on board, and they scrunch their faces every time they give it a try. I thought if I had them do it often enough they would eventually get used to it. They hate it! So this past weekend I did some research to see if there were any natural sweeteners oils or other ways to make it taste better. I really want the whole family to go chemical free.
So here are the sites I found helpful. (I will come back to this post and continue to update these lists as I find more info.)
http://www.christianpf.com/how-to-make-natural-toothpaste/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/18965/how_to_make_your_own_toothpaste_and.html?cat=24
http://www.mythings.com/tips/2963/How-to-Make-Your-Own-Toothpaste
http://greenliving.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_make_your_own_toothpaste
Another note-I was a dental assistant before getting married and the Dentist I worked for said good oral hygiene was important for keeping your teeth white. Not whiting toothpastes and gels. He said they were really bad for you. And advised me not to use them. Ever. He was quite passionate about it. He said your health is more important than your vanity. Now that's That' a hard one to swallow, but very true. :)

Lily's Rag Curls

My sweet Lily lou lou ;)

They came out a little tight the first day. I still think she looks adorable ;)

At bathtime I put her hair up in ponytails, so we could get an extra day out of the curls.

Coloring in her Blues Clues Activity Book, Thank You Gamma!