What a "BUM-mer"

So how many of you moms out there have had to deal with the horrible thing that is Diaper Rash?

Let me share what I have found is a simple home remedy and can change your child's mood from glum to sunshine!

Jackson has never been one to have a horrible problem with rashes until the past couple weeks. He picked up some kind of tummy bug and it has caused him to have some pretty knarly diaper changes. I finally took my mom's advice and did this simple and fun home remedy. Little did I know it would be a GREAT discovery and multitasking at its finest.

First you Run warm water in the sink and put about Oh 4-6 Table spoons of baking soda in it.






At first I thought he would feel uncomfy and want to get out right away. He is not really used to baths in the sink and his legs are so long he had to sit like a pretzel.


To my surprise he TOTALLY loved it. It went from being a chore to being a ton of fun in the water!As I was standing there and procrastinating on my dishes, I realized, hey, I might as well do my dishes. So there ya go! DISHES DONE! All the while Jackson was right beside me filling up his cups with running water and washing his bottles with me. When we were all done (about 45 min), my sink and wedding rings were sparkling, dishes were done and Jackson's bum looked about 90% better.






We finished his bum treatment off with our favorite "crack spackle" by Shaklee baby. If you haven't tried this you need to. Beats out Desitin for sure. Its at least 4 times as thick and keeps diaper rash at bay with everyday use. This is the first time Jackson has had any issue with rash since he was born!

Designing theLMC Women's Valentines Tea

So i have been handed the task of decor for the Lihue Missionary Church Women's Tea. The theme is about the Lord's love, so naturally Valentines theme applies.

But since the worst thing anyone could do is start throwing pink, red and purple together to create a Vday theme disaster, I am opting for a little bit different way to do this puppy.

Theres a twist though.

I only have $150-200 to do this thing.



NO WORRIES!

10 rounds. 1 buffet table, room decor

I HAVE A PLAN!!!! I cant wait to do this thing. I haven't been able to plan an event since being here in Kauai. I am SO excited to pull this off.

How you say?


The Plan


Lets start with the tables. There are already basic White table cloths available. Instead of going without the expected theme of hearts and bright colors...I am going for roses and antique pink and red hearts.



My girlfriend and fellow LMC goer is allowing us to use her sweet white vases! This is kinda the look i want!


Each table will have a runner made from canvas drop cloths. Ill make a stencil and paint these roses along the strip of CANVAS DROP cloth from Home Depot (very affordable).

Above the table will be Huge tissue paper poof balls.


I mean big. There will be 2 over each table. This will bring that eye candy into the room. Im also thinking of spraying glitter on them....maybe... BUDGET haha...

There will be focal points to break up the space. The first focal point is going to be made up of an old piece of furniture such as a dresser or desk. I got this idea from blairbrittevents.blogspot.com.

It makes for a SUPER cute feel and really warms up a space. Behind the desk will be a wall of either fabric or ribbon. Probably fabric.

The words that will be hanging are "His Immense Love"

The other focal point will be on stage as that is where a lot of the performing will be. I am planning on painting panels of these rose stencils to create a simple but dramatic effect.


We are planning a trip to Hanapepe to go thrift store shopping so we will see what fun goodies we pop up with!


Heres some more ideas i want to use =)


Stay tuned!

To Pee or Not to Pee...Potty Training has Begun

So yes, here we go on the journey of potty training our boy. That is one of our requirements before having another baby. My mom sent Jackson the Fischer Price Potty Training book and Jackson just LOVES to read it before bedtime so we went out and got a potty! when I got to the store there was a variety of potties. I mean you've got your mercedes and you've got you pinto of potties. Its almost ridiculous.Almost. I determined that I really wanted him to make the connect between what we were reading and the actual potty that we got, so of course that would be the mercedes of potties. This thing plays music, has its own handle to flush and a toilet paper roll holder. It turns into a toilet seat that can be put on to the real potty later on. Im sure all you mommies know what im talking about. Anyways what I am trying to say is that it has all the bells and whistles.

Jackson LOVED it! He sat on his throne and gleamed with pride. Of course he then started disassembling it. This kid HAS to take apart everything and put it together again. Then he learned that it plays music, but only when moisture hits the little censors "rewarding" him for tinkling in the potty. So what did he do...he took the little potty insert out and discovered that stepping on the actual censor connectors would in turn play the music. THIS CHILD CHEATS!!! Now the potty music reward is totally useless....well,maybe until he really realizes that when he pees on the censors the music starts...unless he breaks it first.

So the potty had been out in the living room (right after we unwrapped it) so that he could get used to it. Every night we let him have a little naked time on our way up to the bath and to bed. His was wearing a red shirt that day and subsequently went on the wood floor in the chaos of stripping. He then ran over to it and with distinct aim PEED on his shirt.

ALMOST SON!

I scrambled for his potty and tried to place it in the the path of fire but it was too late and my potty opportunity had been lost. =( Next time i guess =)

So now the potty is completely disassembled in my living room ( compliments of my son) and will soon be finding its home in the bathroom. Next step is Big Boy underwear so that her can learn what its like to have wet pants when you pee.

So pray for us! Im sure it will be one adventure after another but will be filled with number 1 all over the place either way!

Just a Driftwood Fire

So we have been trying to take advantage of our time here in Kauai and one of the things that we love to do is go on down to the beach and make a fire from the drift wood on the beach. Its SO fun. Something we could never do pretty much anywhere else we move. Ev has so much fun gathering the wood and starting it up. Jackson and Mommy have fun in the surf and watching daddy.

Jackson is such a good helper!




We watched the sunset and sipped our Americano Expresso. Went home and grilled pork loin and onions with fresh picked green beans.


A perfect afternoon.

When in Roma...

Today I received an order for Jackson's beloved alien costume all the way to Rome Italy because lets face it, they are the height of fashion and aren't afraid of braving children's labor laws and parading their children around on cat walks haha..no, but really, It is pretty cool to have some of my things sent there. Here are some hip fashions being sported... hehe






Because business has been so good I decided to review the books today =) Turns out that my little business after 6 months has come out to $4,027.31 in the BLACK! YAY! Thats after fees and materials and everything. I know thats not a ton in the grand scheme of things but Ill tell ya, the extra cash has sure come in handy these days!!


As I look to the future of business I want to gear up for making sales pitches for my designs to heavy hitters. For the kind of money I would like to make, there is NO way I can handle crocheting it all! PLus my fingers are NOT up to it. I DO NOT want carpal tunnel and most definitely do not want to compromise my violin fingers! The money is in Copywritten designs and patterns. I want to be like hugh grant in "what about a boy" where he writes a Christmas Jingle and gets paid for it the rest of his life haha...


then I can do what I want to do when we move to the south and continue with my event coordination and design group. There is just NO market for it here on Kauai. Everyone hates to spend money because no one HAS that kind of money to spend. Every wedding is either at a hotel or in a sundress on the beach and the home owners here are permanently stuck in the 80's decor phenomenon and pleased as punch about it.



Theres just not much you can do with weddings that center around a dress like this....



That is why I am super excited about our move! SO many business opportunities! I love the possibilities available to us there! I could do anything from Pageant prep to violin teaching and STIll maintain my etsy store.


In the end however, I give all the glory to God for the blessings He has given me these past months through this business. Its amazing the places He can take you to when you work hard. Not to mention the connections you make and the new friends you meet. Just pure blessings!

Food can be beautiful!

So we are obsessed with the farmers market and all the fresh organic produce we can get for such a low cost. Here are some food entrees we have enjoyed =)

Home accents: Yarn & Felt Flower wreathe

So I am very excited to make this ever since I saw it on Etsy. They look really easy to do and inexpensive! I still havent decided what colors I want to do but probably something neutral to hang from spring-summer and another one for the holidays.

Christina, Maggie and I are meeting up to work on these when I get home so i will post pics of our creations.

Here is some pics!

32"x32" floor pillow

So at sunday school they have these HUGE animal floor pillows which Jackson absolutely LOVES. I really want to get him one but came up with a Quick and easy solution in the mean time, since I will probably have to order it from Babies R us.

I dont know about you but I have a ton of old decorative pillows that I have been wanting to reuse some way. I think I have had them since I was a freshman in college. I have NO idea how they followed all the way to kauai some 8 years later.

What you need:

4 throw pillows (around the same size)
2 receiving blankets ( mine were just laying in the closet collecting dust) oh, I used flannel
Accents (optional) yarn and 2 buttons (at least 1.5 in)

Just sew the 2 flannels together inside out leaving about a 12" hole on one side of the square to stuff the pillows in.

Stuff the pillows in

Sew shut the opening by hand.

THATS IT for it to be functional.

For some extra accents I added what looks like "tufting". I took some yarn and followed the creases already made by the pillows and exaggerated them. Then I sewed a button using the yarn into the middle.

This was a TOTAL experiment but I LOVE how it turned out and Jackson has been laying and playing on it all night.

Lemonade diet: Day 2

So last night was very interesting. My entire body from the lower back down began to ache unbelievably bad. Whenever I moved, my hamstrings spasm-ed so bad it felt like a permanent charlie horse. I have to say that I half expected this, just did not know how extreme the pain would be. What is happening is, the toxins are leaking out of my bowels and Big muscle groups causing spasms and extreme soreness. Kinda like the lactic acid that is released after working out really hard. It is common to feel this toxic pain and is a sign that the cleanse is starting to take hold. I woke up with a headache and suddenly got a burst of energy even though I woke up around 2 and couldnt go back to sleep until 330am. The whole morning I was dripping sweat as I got ready for church (ewe). Now its about 12:15 and I am due for my third lemonade of the day. I barely got through church with my eyes open. It was great, dont get me wrong, I just am running on a weird energy cycle.

I have read that this painful toxin release only lasts 3 days at the most. Man, I havent felt pain like this since before my knee surgery...or you know when you are like fully preggo and the baby is spreading your hips apart? Its kinda like that pain.


Well, Ill catch you tomorrow. Almost 20% done with this thing.

The Lemonade diet:Day 1

So many of you may have heard of this "master cleanse". I have been trying to get my hubby to do it with me for a long time now, but he was never convinced it was a good idea to drink liquids for 10 days.....until..... The airforce sgt. told him he needed to drop weight asap to be in the same competitive bracket he is in. So he comes up to me yesterday and says..." bebe, what was that cleanse thing you were talking about" ....

I told him its 10 days of drinking water,lemons, grade b maple syrup and cayenne pepper with laxative teas and salt water flushes!


So basically

2 cups of water
half a lemon (freshly squeezed)
2 TableSpoons of GRADE B Maple syrup
1/10th tsp of cayenne pepper

WHAT!?!.....

OK. When can we start?

So last night we had our last supper for a bit. Steak n sweet potato fries with onions and bell peppers.

So here it is... DAY 1


Started our first batch at 830 am.

Its not that bad tasting. The cayenne pepper is a kick in the booty. You have to kinda take gulps of the drink. Chasing it down with a big glass of water is a must!

I have read that this makes you have aches in all shapes n sizes so we will see what manifests itself today.

Ill catch you on day 2 !