Juju Bear is one year old!

To celebrate our baby boy turning a year old, we decided to have a cookout and invite a few friends and family. Uncle John dropped by for awhile, and some of our homeschooling friends joined us.


Sunshine made a crown for her brother, and we dubbed him "King Juju of the Jungle."


Juju would not take his nap today. Everytime I got him to sleep, he woke right back up. By the time we got around to the cake, he wanted no part of it.


We got him an ice cream cake, and his Daddy had to get him started on it.


Then he figured out, "Hey, this is GOOD!"


Then he decided to dig in for himself.


Mama couldn't resist getting him retro toys for his birthday. Do y'all remember those phones? I loved playing with those! Juju's siblings enjoy his toys, too, and I have remind them not to hog them. ;-)


Grandma and Grandpa also came down the next day to visit with the birthday boy.

Do-it-yourself pedicure

Like most girls, I love a good pedicure! Can you believe that I never had a pedicure until I was in my 30's? When I was pregnant with my fourth child, the ladies at church presented me with a gift certificate good for a mani/pedi, hairstyle, and massage. After that, I was hooked.
Of course, at $25-30 a pop, and finding time where I can get away for an hour, it's something that happens infrequently. I have always wondered what sort of chemicals are they putting on my feet? I've also always wondered if I could do this myself at home. This summer, after looking at my poor dry feet and not having the money or time to get away, I decided to give it a shot. I googled "do it yourself pedicure" and got lots of good tips, then I put together an "all natural" version for myself. It's easier than you'd think. It's cheaper than going to the salon. I can involve the kids when I do it at home, it's fun for us all, and I don't have to try to set an appointment and find someone to watch them while I go. It makes a nice, relaxing weekend activity.

First thing to do is get rid of the old nail polish. I like to use Honeybee Gardens Odorless Polish Remover. It is non-acetone and enriched with botanicals, but I do have to scrub a bit harder to remove the darker or sparkly colors. If your nails are yellow, you can rub a drop of lemon or lavender oil and rub a nail buffer back and forth over the nail.

Next, cut and file your nails. Cut straight across to avoid ingrown nails, and file the nails to soften the corners. File in one direction and use an emory board rather than a metal nail file.

Then, soak your feet. I like to use epsom salts with about 1/4 cup of milk, but if I don't have epsom salt, sea salt works fine. The lactic acid in the milk is supposed to help loosen the dead skin. If you want to get fancy, add your favorite essential oils or herbs to the soak. I like peppermint, lemon, and lavender. Soak for about 10 minutes, or even longer if your feet are rough.

Now that you've gotten your feet softened up, push back your cuticles. I rub my cuticles with Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream or a little almond oil, leave on for a minute, and push back with a wooden nail stick. Use a circular motion to push back where the skin meets the nail. Trim any dead loose skin with a cuticle clipper, but be careful to not cut the good skin!

After that, scrub your feet with a foot file or pumice stone and some foot scrub. I've tried a few fancy shmancy foot scrubs, but my favorite is still a mixture of sea salt, olive oil, and peppermint essential oil. (If you are pregnant, avoid peppermint eo and go for something like lavender instead.) Scrub all the rough areas, but smooth rather than remove. If your skin becomes bright red, stop scrubbing.

When you've gotten all scrubbed up, it's time to moisturize. My favorite moisturizer for my tough feet (remember, I'm always going barefoot and I condition my feet for karate) is the whipped body butters made by my friend at Ink and Essence Candles. Her products are natural, luxurious, and reasonably priced...and I always prefer to support work-at-home moms instead of corporations whenever possible!

Now you are ready to polish. If I'm using polish, I like to use Honeybee Gardens nail polish-- it has less toxins in it than some other brands. Paint a thin base coat, two layers of your favorite color, and finish with a clear top coat. Use three strokes when painting--one down the middle and one on each side. Brush the polish over the nail edge to prevent chipping. I touch up any errors I make with a q-tip dipped in polish remover. Let your nails dry completely, and enjoy!
If you do go the natural route with your nail polish, there are more tips and tricks at the Honeybee Gardens site that I linked to.

Here is a picture of the kids and my feet after a pedicure. Yeah, we used the non-natural kind of nail polish here--"fairy dust" was the only kind of natural polish I had at the time, and nobody really wanted sparkly pink. Sunshine chose orange, Mojo chose blue, Caveman chose blue and orange, Gem chose pink, and Mama chose a deep burgundy.

That Boy of Mine

My 5-year-old Caveman. He's a sweet little boy, very cuddly and loving. His daddy is a little disturbed that he will happily play with Barbies and dress-up with his sisters, but I think it's just because he's such a social creature. His bossy big sister will not tolerate Superman, the Hulk, dinosaurs, or cowboys for very long, if at all. So he'd rather play her games than play by himself. Unfortunately, he just can't stand being alone. And it's also unfortunate for all of us that he'd rather have negative attention (as in screaming) from his sisters than no attention at all. I wish I had a nickel for everytime I heard someone scream "Stop it, Caveman!" or "Mama, make him get OUT of my room!" (That's usually after a dinosaur has decided to crash Barbie's party and start attacking.)
Yesterday, he informed me "Mama, I'm going to teach Juju to be a brat. It's good that there are two of us, because I can pester Gem, and he can pester Mojo."
I wonder how long he's been thinking about that and planning it out?

Our Independence Day

Here are my lovies! Yes, I know I’m a dork. But the t-shirts were on sale for $2 at Wal-Mart, and you know I can’t resist cheap t-shirts. Aren’t they cute? And patriotic, too!


Mojo is admiring my decorative lighting in the dining room. It was fun to eat our hotdogs, tater salad, coleslaw and corn-on-the-cob under such ambience!


My kids have never really experienced backyard fireworks; we’ve always been to a big display somewhere. They weren’t too sure about sparklers at first. They quickly warmed up to them.


Aside from sparklers, we got other kid-friendly fireworks like smoke bombs, snap dragons, those “flowers” that buzz around on the ground turning different colors, and a “fountain” that shoots up sparks. The kids loved them, even Juju.
Juju also loved his first taste of watermelon.


We had fun, even though Bear had to work and didn't get home til 8pm. He brought home some pina colada fixins, which made my night. You know when you are covered in dirt, watermelon juice, and pina colada at the end of the night that it was a good 4th of July!
I may come back and post some videos later.

Mojo's New 'Do

Mojo has been begging me for awhile now to cut her hair...short. We got it cut in March, but it wasn't short enough for her liking. Sigh. I'm one who believes in personal expression, and it is her hair. I told Caveman not too long ago that he didn't have to cut his if he didn't want to, and I've told Sunshine that purple hair is fine as long as she pays for it. Why would I be so reluctant to let Mojo wear her hair short? Maybe it's the feeling of rejection; those curls come from ME. That is the only claim I have to her looks. The rest of it she gets from her Daddy.
But the deed is done now, she is very happy with it, and I must admit it looks adorable on her. Though maybe a little too "grown-up" for my taste!


Mama still misses these days...


Mojo Facts:
Favorite Colors: Hot pink and purple. Preferrably sparkly.
Favorite Foods: Broccoli cheese soup, Spaghetti-O's, hand-made tamales (the way the Mexican families at our church make them.)
Favorite Movies: Bolt, Madagascar 2, The Wild
Favorite Books: The Trumpet of the Swan
Favorite Songs: "He Set Me Free", "Funkytown"
Favorite Character: Indiana Jones (though Mama won't let her watch the movies, she checks out the books from the library every chance she gets.)
Activities: martial arts, basketball, and she loves our homeschool group

Girls' Night Out

Ever since graduation, a group of my high school friends have gotten together at least once a year. Our get-togethers have gotten less frequent in the past couple years, but we've decided to not let life get in the way. Right now the plan is to have a scheduled night out every two weeks, and whoever can make it makes it.
Here are some of us on our most recent outing...


Siobhan and I met the first day of kindergarten. We've been friends for 30+ years now!

Juju's First Lake Trip

He protested loudly when I put him in the water--"It's COLD, Mama!" But it only took a few moments for him to enjoy splashing.

Quit Freaking Out

The one thing I am afraid of is wasps. I can't think of anything else that I am really afraid of, not bees nor snakes nor tornadoes nor clowns nor death...just wasps. I dream about them sometimes. I know that my fear of wasps is irrational, but there it is. The times that I've been injured enough to go to the ER--once from a motorcycle accident and once from falling and breaking my wrist--have been because of a wasp. I kid you not.
Yesterday on the front porch, an Unidentified Flying Bug came buzzing past my face. I startled and shrieked. Mojo said, "Quit freaking out about everything, Mama. Just sit still and be quiet."
Just sit still and be quiet, indeed. Do you know that every single time I have been stung by a wasp, I have been quietly minding my own business? Freaking out scares them away.
We won't mention the fact that motorcycle accidents and broken wrists hurt worse than wasp stings.

Mama's birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday! Thirty-six years. I went through a phase where I didn't want to celebrate anymore birthdays; I just wanted to pretend that I wasn't getting any older. But I've changed my tune. I've decided that I'll gladly take another year of being a beloved Wife and Mama. Even if each year brings a few more lines and gray hairs.



On Friday, the in-laws came to visit, bringing the kids pizza and a movie so that Bear and I could get away for a few hours. We went to eat at a Mexican restaurant with a live mariachi band, then we went to see the new Star Trek. Wow! I didn't think I was going to like it that much, but now I can't wait for the dvd to come out. My childhood crush on Spock has been renewed.
(Bear asked me "The new Spock or the old Spock?" My answer is neither; it's not the actors I have a crush on, it's the character!)

My birthday was a nice, laid-back day with the family. We went to church, I organized photos on my new laptop, the kids played in the sprinkler, and Bear grilled burgers. Desert was cheesecake and wine. It was a good day.

Heart-Shaped Rocks

When Sunshine was about three years old, she brought me a pretty rock she found, in the shape of a heart. I thanked her and exclaimed about how neat that it was heart-shaped. After that, she made it her mission to find me more heart-shaped rocks. In elementary school, she would sometimes spend her recess inspecting the rocks on the ground and come home proudly displaying another heart for me. At age 15 1/2, she still sometimes brings me heart-shaped rocks.



I only wish that I had thought to date them! Some of them, you have to look at just the right angle to see the "heart"; those were the ones she brought to me when she was younger. Now, she's more critical and only brings home ones with distinct shape.

Sunshine is my firstborn, the one who caused me to grow up, the one who taught me to be a mother. The one I've made the most mistakes with. I guess it's true that "love covers a multitude of sins" because she doesn't seem to hold my mistakes against me!
She's turning out to be a pretty awesome girl, if I do say so myself. She is very bright, creative, and talented. I'm encouraging her to start her own blog to showcase her writing and art talents, but she does have an account on Deviant Art and has created her own website based on a graphic novel she is working on. She's a happy-go-lucky girl, hence nickname "Sunshine". You can't miss her in a crowd, with her bright orange fedora and crazy, mismatched outfits. If she ever gets into trouble, it's the mild, mischievous kind of trouble.

Sunshine Facts:
Favorite Colors: orange, yellow, red, white, and lime green
Favorite Food: pizza with Canadian bacon and pineapple
Activities: drawing, reading, writing, plays trumpet in the band
Favorite Movie: The Invisible
Favorite Books: Pyewacket, the Warrior Cats series, Lord of the Rings
Favorite Flower: sunflower
She collects: vinyl records from the 60s & 70s, playing cards, weird shoes, weird hats, weird socks (esp toe socks), weird gloves with the fingers cut out