February Challenge: Love Your Body by Eating Clean(er)

A year ago,  February 2014, I challenged myself and all of you to find something you loved every day. I managed to get 25 out of the 28 days with the chalkboard art graphic of something I loved.

This February I am going to kick off another challenge!

February is a shortest month of the year so why not use it as a trial for healthy living!?!

Last year I did a lot of exercise and I'm feeling great. This year I think it's time to challenge myself to make even more changes, specifically in the everyday foods I eat.

Despite all the exercise I've done and my overall daily healthy eating, haven't lost that last 10 pounds of baby weight that I want to get off of me. (Although I know some of that is gaining muscle and losing fat from running and all that kind of thing…)

But after lots of reading and investigation I've come to a realization that I've crossed that threshold into the mid 30 range and it's not just about exercise our calorie consumption (a.k.a. quantity). I really think it has to do a lot with quality. 

I'm really thinking at this point I need to seriously think about metabolism and hormones and overall healthy body balance. 

I've talked before about feeding our kids good food and organic versus healthy versus junk food I think it's time for me to really step up the game and see how much of a difference clean eating makes.

So here's what I'm going to do. I am going to take the month of February and challenge myself to gradually switch my family over to eating high(er)-quality food thought the entire month of February.

Over the next three weeks I'm going to do a series of posts about healthy eating geared towards moms who cook for kids and families. I will also setup a basic framework for the February healthy eating challenge.

I would love to challenge you to join me. No need to jump on the organic or vegan bandwagon, just make some small steps to making your families eating a little more healthy. 

Let's get together, share some tips, recipes, resources, and most importantly encouragement to love your body by eating cleaner and healthy.

Let's make February the eat healthy and love your body month! ❤️

Cleaning Crayon Off A Fireplace Hearthstone

It was bound to happen... My daughter colored on the hearth stone of the fireplace a.k.a. my husbands #1 pride and joy project of all time. 

What do I d!?!?! Well I don't tell him of course....Instead I run to the computer and Google how to "clean crayon off stone" and "how to clean a stone fireplace", etc... Search like mad to for a way to easily and quickly clean up the mess.

 



This is actually the after picture. I was so freaked out when it happened I didn't take time to do a 'before' picture.

Unfortunately the most popular solution to getting out wax is to use a paper bag and an iron. I was not doing to dare do that. I knew that it would just melt it into the stone and make it worse. (Although side note if you ever have candle wax or melted crayon on carpet or fabric, the iron and paper bag  method does work! I speak from experience.)

Other popular suggestions:

Scrape it off (-this was the first thing I tried and it didn't work!)

Soap and water (-not going to work, I don't even have to test this one)

WD40 (-eeehhhhh, I don't know if I should spray it on the porous stone.. might soak in and affect it)

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (-tried it, didn't work)

Various random chemicals (-same comment as WD40)

 

 

NONE of these were going to work....

 

Then I had an aha moment. Stone is rough, what if I found another rough yet gentle material to

"sand" off the crayon. I had some steel wool and I crossed my fingers and prayed.

 

As you can tell it leaves a bit of a mess. A gray dust on the edges of your 'sanding' area. But all the crayon came off!!!!! I used a dust pan to sweep up the gray dusty stuff and it was as good as new! Couldn't tell there had been a crayon anywhere near it!

 

So next time you child gets near a stone or brick surface with crayons try using steel wool.

 

It worked miracles for me!

 

New Endless Numbers App

I posted before about the Endless Reader App. Well, the creators of that app have come out with a great number app called "Endless Numbers".

Great animation and fun interaction, all while teaching numbers and basic mathematic principles.

You can download the app for free and it comes with activities associated with numbers 1-5. The rest of the numbers are 'locked'. For $3.99 you can download numbers 6-25. Let me tell you it is worth the price! I struggled with math all during school so if I can do something that helps to start those mathematics bridges building in my daughters brain I will do it.
The animation in this are so delightful:

The 'games' are fun and delightful without being repetitive:

The only negative I have is that sound effects can be a bit much after having my daughter play it near me for more than 10 minutes...(but that is what volume control and mute are for right?)

I give this app a 5 Star review!
 

Product Review: Eye Creams

This week as I was putting on and taking off my make up I was thinking how much I love my current eye creams. My new morning eye product was recommended to me by a friend and I am so glad I took her advice. It is currently one of my favorite products!

 

Garnier Skin Renew Eye Roller

I am unfortunately one of those people that no matter how long or how well I sleep, I wake up with really puffy eyes. Makeup can cover dark circles, but no amount of makeup that I have found can cover puffy eyes. This little roller and the "magic" liquid inside bring down that puffiness to almost un-noticeable!  I use this on an almost daily basis. It feels so cool and refreshing going on and really does work wonders. Sometimes after a long day I will give myself a few extra minutes to give my face a good scrub or maybe a mask (a time and luxury that doesn't happen often) and will use this too because it just feels so great. Thumbs up and high recommendations for this. Best part off all this is available at your local store. No need to go to a specialty makeup store for this. Wal-Mart carries it for around $10. :-) 

 

 

Here are some reviews on the other eye creams I have tried:

 

Bare Minerals Firming Eye Cream

I love Bare Mineral products and have rarely been disappointed in the results. However, this is one of the few things that didn't work for me. It was a nice cream, went on smoothly, didn't' leave a greasy feel, but it didn't do anything noticeable for me. :-(

Organics GinZing Eye Cream
This one I was so psyched about. I did all the research and read tons of customer reviews. I had a gift card so I allowed  myself to splurge and spend the extra $ on this one.... Wasn't happy. After 2 months of use and being half way though the jar I saw no results. It smelled good and thats about all it had going for it in positives. If you applied it too thickly it left a chalky residue and I hadn't noticed any results. I usually use a products all the way through to give them a chance to work (unless I have a sever reaction to it).... but am tossing this one out and going back to the old stuff.  :-(

 

Bare Minerals Renew and Rehydrate Eye Cream

This is the "old stuff" I just referred to above. I tried this about 3 years ago and this is probably equal with Garnier Skin Renew eye roller. I used this on an almost nightly basis and could really see the difference. What really hit home with me was when ran out and went a week without it. Suddenly I noticed they my eyes seemed more wrinkled and puffy and all around less youthful. Using this stuff on a daily basis really did make my under-eyes look much better. From now on this stays in constant supply in my home! :-)

 

New Reading App

I'm a big fan of the Endless Alphabet App. See the write up I did about it here.

Now they have a new app!!

Endless reader is just as cute and creative as their first app. A must have for young kids. It is fun and educational.

Great animations....

Teaches through fun interactive processes…..

This app has a starter set of words and the rest of the words are available through an in app purchase ($1.99). In my opinion it is with every penny!

Book Recommendation

I have been listening to a great audiobook over the past two weeks. So good that I've actually looked for extra opportunities to walk the dogs just so I could listen to it for a few more minutes.

A well written book combining the love and mystery and effortlessly weaving modern times and the past. 

Here is the amazon.com review

I HIGHLY recommend this book, whether you get it as and audiobook or a paperback, it is well worth the read!!!!