I was just thinking about May and all the happiness I've felt. I need to record some of the happenings around here since my long-term memory is like a sieve (it's seriously embarassing sometimes....like when a friend will say to me, "Remember when you......" and I do NOT recall the slightest thing about it....eh hem, yes, that's me)
1. I have been on a home decor/organizing frenzy. Partly due to boredom with the mundane (and given that I stare at these 4 walls most of the day) and partly due to my subscription to 'Better Homes and Gardens' (thanks Mom and Dad) and partly due to that spring cleaning kick that comes each year!
I have been throwing out/donating useless stuff and grouping similar things, like in my kitchen drawers using drawer dividers. And I know that I sound like an organizing nerd, but when I open my drawers now it makes me happy!
I also gave my living room a little spring make-over and replaced the red accents with pink ones.
Lately I have been into making my home a reflection of all the things I love; things that are part of us and that bring us happiness. I don't really like spending lots of money and following trends too much. Too predictable. It's fun to find unique stuff for a good price. Like this cool medieval-looking goblet, I put it with my England display (even though it's from Savers for $4 - it helps create the feeling of old English castles and such).
This little rustic table just spoke to me when I was at D.I. trying to find a tray for my coffee table. I love that it is a little worn and has character. I especially love that it only cost me $5! It just needed a good polishing, a little bit of sanding on the edges to make it look like it's SUPPOSED to be old and worn out, and voila.
Also I found the tray for $2 and added my own strip of material.
This spice rack used to hang on the wall for keys and was white. We tore it down when we moved in and painted and I've been wanting to give it a face lift and put it back up for years. So one day, I decided to spray paint it antique black, then sand down the edges. And then I found those cute little glass bottles at D.I. to display some spices, added a few little trinkets and now it's a little kitcheny decor for us.
My wall here has been bare for a couple of years and I've been wanting to buy a large mirror or other decorative piece to put up but I didn't want to spend the $50 or so. So I got a bunch of random frames, spray painted them all off-white, printed out some of my fave memories, and created a grouping. I love to look at my little family being happy on the wall.
So now I'm done with my little frenzy and feel content for now. Now it's time to enjoy SUMMER! Woohooo!
2. Mikayla finally decided a few weeks ago that she was going to start using the potty again. Kraig and I were in the middle of re-organizing his man cave (tool shed, which was horrendous) and Mikayla went inside for a minute, then came back outside bottom half naked. I told her she needed to go back inside and get on a pull-up or underwear or something. To our surprise, she shouted, "YEAH! I'm gonna go put on my LIGHTNING MCQUEEN underwear!" (Yes, we bought her boy underwear) So we're like, ok, whatever, this will be short-lived like in the past. Well ever since that moment she has used the potty perfectly and WILLINGLY. I think she had one accident in 2 weeks. She has great control and has been initiating going potty herself. Woohooooooooooooo!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!! What did we do differently? NOTHING. (oh yeah, we waited for her to decide it was time)
3. We got a zoo membership and have already been twice. We got to see the new polar bear, seals, and river otters yesterday and the kids loved it.
4.Both of our girls' eczema has become really bad lately. Has anyone else's kids eczema gotten worse lately? The heat has contributed, along with us not using any steroid cream on them since we ran out, and I got to thinking that I actually don't want to have them on a steroid cream long-term. So I am trying other things. I have been researching causes of exzema a lot and I am determined to get to the cause of it. The tricky thing is it could be so many different things, and it's different for everyone.
Right now I am trying to heal it from the inside out. I am giving them flax seed oil once a day. The research says that people who suffer from exzema don't have certain enzymes needed to break down histamines in their body. Lots of different things can give us histamines - dairy products, pollen, soap, detergent,dust, mold, etc. etc. So you can try to eliminate those. Flax seed oil provides the body with the enzyme needed to break down certain histamines. So maybe my girls are reacting to milk for example, but if they have the histamines to break it down it's okay.
I have considered eliminating dairy products from our diet for a month to see if it improves, but the thought of that is daunting given that Me.ikayla probably gets most of her protein from dairy. So we'll see if flax seed oil works. It has the highest amount of essential fatty acids, much more than fish oil even, so regardless if it works to heal the eczema it's a great supplement!
5. I had a wonderful time with many of my old friends for a girls' weekend. It was so nice to get away and reconnect. I love how with old friends things change, but nothing really changes with your friendship and you just pick up where you left off. We went out to eat at a British restaurant and had fish 'n' chips, talked late into the night, crashed on my friend's floor, then got up and ate a delicious breakfast, went to the Salt Lake temple, and then hit City Creek shopping center for a late lunch and MORE talking. We had so much to catch up on! I love these women and don't see them nearly often enough. I am just surprised that so many of us settled here in Utah. Now it's going to become a yearly tradition!
6. Since Ashlynn is getting older, my girls have become really great playmates lately. Yesterday they had fun in the rainstorm.
It's been a wonderful month. Lookin' forward to June!
