I’ve been doing a sugar detox for two weeks now. I was super nervous to start it because I’ve never done anything like this before. I was afraid that I had no self control but guess what… I’m doing it. I’m so proud of myself! It’s not as hard as I thought to pass up cookies, ice cream and warm toast with honey.

I’ve always tried to eat on the healthy side of things but I’m not a super-crazy-organic-no-sugar kinda girl. I certainly enjoy a treat now and then. I’ve noticed lately that my metabolism is slowing down and the baby fat isn’t coming off as easy as it use to. I need to stop snacking on the quick sugary carb type treats.

I played with the idea of a liver detox but the one I wanted to do was around 200 dollars. So when my mom said she was going to do this sugar detox I jumped at the idea of doing it with her. We both needed the support. It makes it easier to know that I’m not the only one suffering.

I thought I’d share this diet if any of you are looking for a healthier you. I’m hoping in the long run that I will gain more self control, eat more veggies and avoid the bad foods.

This sugar detox was develop by a local doctor of mine. He’s a well known integrative doctor around these parts. I really like how he uses healthy eating and natural methods to treat people instead of jumping right into medical medicine. www.hugorodier.com

This diet burns up sugar/glycogen stored in the liver. This is critical to adjust your metabolism.  When the liver is full of sugar, it keeps your blood sugar at a level that maintains addictions and metabolic problems. You will emerge with your sugar cravings gone.

Here it is.

I think it’s been great and I have lost a couple pounds. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be. I think having support is the key. The first few days is the worst. I had this awful sugar withdrawal that made me shaky and weak but once I got past it I’ve been feeling great. I’m rarely hungry and have had plenty of energy for biking and climbing and chasing after kids. It’s important not to get caught hungry around tempting food so I even took a gigantic bowl of salad camping this last weekend.

Crazy eh?

Hi, all you template loving people, I have another one for you. Yea, happy day! I hope you like it because I spent way too much time rearranging all the little squares. I almost went bonkers, I tell you.

I only put 3 photos on a page but remember you could fill up as many squares as you needed. I also stroked my photos because, yes, even I sometimes get lazy. I think it helps them stand out. Anyhow, it’s yours for the taking. Download here and don’t forget to give me some comment love.

After I had all the bloom’n squares in place, I thought this template was pretty fun to scrap. Here are my pages. Credits at flickr. I can’t wait to see them printed out and put into my scrapbook.

It’s officially summer in our next of the woods and I’m sorry to report that our summer school efforts have almost completely fizzled out. I mentioned school this morning and the kids turned to mush and rolled around on the floor moaning.

DRATS!

Emma told me today that our school was soooo boring and that she wasn’t learning anything. I’m not quite sure what she wants me to teach (molecular physics?) but I’m sure it’s not the math facts that she needs to work on.

I just can’t compete with recess and hot lunch.

I’ll now have to come up with some sort of incentive to get the kids going. If I can get Emma excited again then I’m pretty sure that Isaac will follow. I think the biggest problem is getting breakfast done and out of the way before 9:00 so we have time for school. The neighbor boys start knocking down the door right on the stroke of 10:00 and once that happens there is no hope for starting school.

I think that means no sleeping in for me. Aargggg. I thought that was what summer was all about.

My party girl, Emma wants to figure out a way to celebrate Summer Solstice today. I thought maybe we’d just set up the wading pool in the backyard and call it good but I think she’s looking for something bigger… a festival with merry-go-rounds and cotton candy? a sunset bonfire dance with bells tied around our ankles? A giant pancake made in the shape of the sun?

Any ideas for the struggling mommy?

I decided that I wanted to do something to keep Emma up on her school work this summer. She came home from school with some paper saying that kids who don’t read can loose a whole grade level of reading skills over the summer. I had heard something like this before and I knew that I didn’t want that to happen. I’m actually not too worried about Emma’s reading because she LOVES reading and we do it every night before bed but she struggles a bit with math. I thought it would be a great idea to get a little math book and have her do a sheet a day after breakfast.

I told Emma my idea and she loved it. She started telling everyone we ran into that we were going to do homeschool. I just smiled and told her to start saying summer school. She was so excited about it that she told Isaac that “Mom is going to teach us! Woo hoo!” and they ran around screaming and doing flips. She now has him thinking that SCHOOL IS AWESOME!! So of course I’m including Isaac in the whole summer school thing despite my worries about his ability to focus.

I got my hands on some workbooks for the kids. I went to the Lakeshore Learning Store and picked up Brainquest Workbook: Grade 2 for Emma as well as this math workbook. And for Isaac I grabbed Brainquest Workbook Pre K. I planned to also use Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons which I already had. At the store I debated over the Summer Bridge Books or the Brainquest workbooks. I eventually let Emma choose. I think she chose the Brainquest books because they are colorful and full of pictures. But now I think they are a bit on the easy side especially for Emma. The Summer Bridge books look a bit more serious and less colorful. I love the Teach Your Child to Read book and Isaac’s pre K workbook is just right for him. He needs something easy. The math workbook for Emma is on the hard side but I think she needs the push.

On the first day of “school” the kids were awesome. Emma wanted to have a full day of school just like “regular school.” We had a student of the day (they get a sticker and are able to sit the closest to the chalk board) and a “supplies” person, who I guess fetches stuff for the Mrs. Mommy. I even rang a pretend bell. Emma also wanted a lunch break, recess and art class and begged for some science.

I kept telling her it was just summer school and it was meant to be short so she could spend time playing. I didn’t convince her until the door bell rang and the neighbor boy wanted to play. She turned to me and said, “Mom, is it okay if it is a short day today?”

Of course, Hunny!

Our first week was very successful. We had school 4 out of 5 days and they even wanted to do it on Saturday which I voted NO. Isaac paid amazing attention and was supper excited to write his letters and numbers on the chalk board.

When we were out walking the neighborhood he stopped at the stop sign and sound out “sss- t- zero- puh” You see, we learned about the number 0. I thought it was too cute.

Today was the  first day of week two. Although the kids still are enjoying school very much, the honeymoon might be over. Isaac rolled around on the floor a bit more today but would pop back up whenever I shut his reading book. He surprisingly wanted to keep going. Emma only wanted art class and no math but we managed to get through a couple math pages by counting money instead of subtraction which she gets a real blank stare on her face for.

I’m really hoping we can keep going with this school thing. I hope to get Emma up on her math and Isaac ready for preschool next year. Wish me luck!

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Have you ever done any summer school type activities? What has worked for you in the past? What are your educational plans for the summer?

Hello everyone! I hope you’re summer is going great. We’ve actually had a very decent first week (excluding the day from my last post). I’ve managed to keep the kids busy playing and that makes everyone happy.

I sat down to work on my scrapbooking and looked through my pictures from last November. It must have been one long boring month because I have nothing to show for it as far as pictures go. I didn’t even have Thanksgiving Day photos. I wondered how I was going scrapbook all of the dull photos in that folder. I couldn’t exactly skip ALL of them… So I decided to throw them all on one page, call it good and move on.

As a result, I have a new template for you digi scrappers. It’s not one of my favorites but I’m sharing it because it’s a great way to get tons of photos scrapped. If you like it download it here. Remember that if you don’t have the exact same number of photos as me you can delete, duplicate and move things around. I always try to be cautious of where the page will be cut in half. Also the splatters and staples can be removed and used as a guide for a place to put you’re own elements.

Here are my pages. (Although I’m slightly wishing I made a cute boy page for Isaac’s major road rash.)

Happy scrapbooking!

Good gracious, I’m glad it is bed time!

My wee little one has been sick this weekend and I expected her to be feeling better today. I’m sad to say that she whined and fussed the greater part of the day. My arms and my back ache from having the little tike attached to my right hip.

By 3:00 pm I was about ready to do myself harm and anyone else who came near me. Luckily I kept my cool until the daddy came home.

She didn’t want to sit. She didn’t want to play outside. She didn’t want to nap, eat, read books or swing in the hammock. She didn’t want to walk around the block or cuddle on the couch.

Frankly, I think she wanted to cry, fuss, scream, and throw her first real fit. She wanted to get mad, smack me in the face and rip pages out of my book.

She did however enjoy a handful of chocolate chips.
{imagine here a picture of my baby girl with brown messy smears across her face.}

How do you manage to get through these types of days?

I have been trying to sit down to the computer for days but one way or another something or someone gets in my way. This afternoon was finally quite so here I am with pictures of our super fun weekend.

I have to start out by saying that last week as I drove around town, I saw so many boats and RVs pulling out for the weekend that I was simple discourage about our no-plan-weekend. You see, I’m a girl who just wants to have fun… so I am cheerfully reporting that we managed to have a very decent Memorial Day weekend without packing up and traveling somewhere.

Our first adventure on Saturday was a very small local canyon that not many people know of. I read about it in a climbing book and expressed some interest to the hubby about exploring it. We did a quick Google search on it and found out that it was a very nice hike worth trying out. We could even take our hike-loving dog (which is rare in these parts).

It didn’t take us long to fall head over heals with the place.

When I snapped this photo Jer said that he felt like he belonged in an REI magazine.

It was such a pleasant hike. It’s just a little trail that runs along a stream. It is gradual enough for the kids to keep up on along as we stop and throw rocks a little bit.

The bonus for us was the climbing walls we discovered. There are some awesome climbs, quick enough access (15 mins from the house with a 10 min hike (adult hiking pace)) and totally kid friendly, which is something we are always looking for. Loved it! We are definitely planning a climbing trip back there.

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Our next stop was Rock Canyon in Provo. We must have been bitten with the climbing bug because on Monday we begged our sister and brother in law to come along with us climbing. We were a bit insane thinking that we wanted to fight the crowds at the crags (there were tons of people up there) but I made sure to pick out a climb that required a bit of hiking. In fact, the trail that led up to the cliff looked sparsely traveled. We had our doubts about the accessibility with the kids in tow but after a bit of exploring we were trilled with the outcome. Completely secluded, perfectly shaded and totally kid friendly. We were over the moon happy.

This was our first outdoor climb of the season. We felt a little bit rusty but had a great time. I climbed with my camera because the view at the top is always so gorgeous and I wanted to capture the feeling of hanging from the top of a mountain.

This next shot was my best effort of trying to get the feeling of being so high above the trees. My lame camera focused on the trees instead of my face but I guess you get the idea.

If you look at this next picture you can see our secluded and lovely tree covered deck below. Can you see Jeremy belaying me? If not, I put notes on the photo at flickr.

Emma and Isaac almost always complain when we are going to go hiking or climbing. They’d rather stay home and play with friends. But ya know what… they were happy as clams playing in the trees. They informed me that they were secret spy agents on a mission and I wasn’t allowed to find their super secret fort. It’s a lovely feeling to watch them play in the dirt and rocks. It’s truly good quality playing and I believe that every kids needs time in the dirt.

Sticks can be anything imaginable. I think Emma’s is a gun or sword but as for Isaac’s…?  A super secret spy mustache?

Leah on the other hand had had enough of the dirt and rocks by the time I started my second accent. Even the blow pops we brought for bribery stopped working. By the time we packed up we were all dirty and exhausted.

We had a lovely time though and made sure to drive past the cemetery and show the kids all the flowers there. We talked to them about remembering our loved ones that have past on. Emma was touched and Isaac shot spider webs from his wrist.

I can’t believe it’s been over a week since I posted last. Where has the time gone?

I had a little bit of time today and wanted to get some scrapbooking done and you know what that means… I have another template for you. It’s a little different from my usual style but I like the way it came together. If you like it too you can download here.

I know it’s only a one pager but come on people. Get creative if you need a second page. I just flipped mine horizontally and moved the photos around a bit. Worked like a charm.

Enjoy.

Here is my example. Credits at flickr.

By the way, notice Emma’s cute apron? Well, if you haven’t heard my pitch before, my darling mom sells some homemade items at etsy. She doesn’t have any little girl aprons up right now but she has some darling full size ones with matching pinch pot holders. She gave me one and I love it! (can you hear me sing?) Go check them out if you are in the market for a cute apron or pot holder.

We had our family pictures taken over the weekend. My friend, the photographer, has posted some on her photo blog. Click over if you want to see how stink’n cute my little stinkers can be.

I can’t wait to get some printed and get them up on the wall.

Ready for another template? Chances are I’m overloading you with them but you might as well download they while they are available. This template was inspired by some cute layout I saw online. Of course I didn’t note the site but remembered what it looked like and created my own version -a 2 pager of course. If you like it download here.

I’m super happy with the way my layouts turned out. I was a little unsure about the template but when my page was all complete I just wanted to stare at it. I would suggest adding a stitch or border the way I did. I felt like it finally came together after I added the stitches. But then again, maybe it is my cute baby.

This is the end of my fall-ish pictures.  I seem to have made a little mini series with these layouts. Can you tell that I love fall? I love fall colors. I love fall pictures and I love Dani Mogstad’s Falling Softly kit. She should give me a million dollars for this free advertising. Ha. I wish! I used the same kit with all of my fall layouts so that they feel like they go together in my gigantic yearly scrapbook.

Enjoy.