365 Day 2

A New Year!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and are looking forward to the next year.  I know that I am sure excited.  Since it;s the beginning of a new year, it's a chance to start a new 365 book. I didn't complete last years book. I became to obsessed with making sure that each of my children were equally represented in each months photos. With 5  children, , that just didn't work out too well. I became frustrated and just quit. This year I have resolved to just use my fav picture of the day and if I happen to 6 in a row of the same child, so be it! I not only want to be able to enjoy this book later on, I want to enjoy making it. So that means enjoying the art of photography too.

For example, here are two photos both taken on Jan 1. Last year I would have chosen this one because it had 4 of my 5 children in it.

This year however, I'm going to use a picture that I like better. It is my youngest son sitting on his uncle's lap eating cake.

She Waved!

This morning something happened that I have been waiting to see for years. My daughter waved good-bye to me. Now I realize that to most parents this will not seem like a big deal, but for me it brought tears to my eyes.

Everyday, I drive my children to school and drop them off near the door. My son will often get to the door and then turn around and look back at me and wave good bye. When my daughter gets to the school, she silently opens the car door, shuts it (with her back turned to the door), walks up to the building, opens the door, and goes inside. SHE NEVER LOOKS BACK!

I have always believed this behavior is due to her attachment disorder issues.  Because of her history of broken attachments, she tends to perceive separations as abandonment. Her primary coping mechanisms for handling this anxiety is, dissociation from all feeling states or full out rages. Usually on the way to school she will start disassociating, but I have noticed that lately she has started talking a little in the car. I have been thrilled with that because it means that she is starting to feel a bit more comfortable, and safer than she used to going to school.  

I thought today seemed like every other morning... We drove to school and talked a little. We listened to the radio.  She looked straight ahead.    Nothing out of the ordinary.    We pulled up to the side walk and I said "Have a good day. I love you."  She silently got out of the car,  walked to the door,  opened it,  and  then stopped.  She turned around,  looked me IN THE EYES, and waved good-bye. 

I know that wave was just a baby step in the right direction, but it was a step!  Over the years I have come to be grateful for those moments that remind you that there is hope and that there can be healing.  

New Advent Calendar

For Christian believers, Christmas is one of the greatest events of the year. Centuries ago, the importance of this event caused many Christians to feel that it was not enough to merely to mark off only one day on the calendar for celebrating this incredible event so believers started marking the days on their doors with chalk starting on the first of December. Then in Germany in the late 19th century a mother of a young son invented the first advent calender.

Today there are so many options and takes on this idea. I personally love to use a calender that lets me include a small gift for my children. It adds to the excitement of the holiday and gives me another opportunity each day in December to talk about the importance of the December 25. I have been searching the net and here are a few calenders that I would like to make for our home.

I think that I could make this one by myself and it would look really cute in my kitchen.

This one would let me use up some of my old scrapbook paper.

I wish that I knitted because I love this one!

I already own a large jar so this may be the calendar I go with.

Got Acne? Try Rooibos.

credits: http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/326267/view/3478705/-1/1.html

I have a teenage son, and like a lot of teenagers (and adults) he has acne. His acne wasn't severe, but it definitely was very noticeable. I could tell that he was self conscious about it and so we decided to try a popular acne treatment that is advertised on TV. He tried it for 2 months and although it helped a little....it really wasn't worth the cost.  SO... I started searching the web, and found somewhere that Rooibos (ROY-Boss) tea can help clear up acne. I'm a huge believer in natural/alternative healing and treatments, but even I was a little skeptical. I figured what did we have to lose so I headed to the store and bought the tea you see in the picture below. 

Well the taste of the tea took a little getting used to for my son. He is not an herbal tea drinker! I didn't mind it. The tea has a kind of a nutty slightly bitter taste. It does go down smoothly though and doesn't leave any unpleasant aftertaste. He hung in there though and has now been drinking the tea for a little over a month. The difference in his complexion is AMAZING! His acne is nearly gone and all that remains are a few darker areas on his skin where the pimples used to be. Honestly this tea works wonders. I even tried it myself. About once a month I get a small break out and so when I felt the beginning of a breakout I decided to drink a cup of tea that morning and one that night. Well....I am happy to say that my breakout never occurred. I'll post some before and after pics of my son as soon as I get a new photo of him. Just so you can appreciate how amazing this tea works!

Rooibos tea is is full of antioxidants and is also said to:

Act as an antioxidant and increase SOD levels
Suppress fasting glucose levels
Act as a bronchodilator and antispasmodic
Help provide cardiovascular protection through ACE inhibition
Improve glucose uptake and insulin secretion after a meal
Aid in liver tissue regeneration
Lower blood pressure
Help prevent DNA damage
Inhibit lipid peroxidation and brain aging

*Alternative medicine herbs have been around since the beginning of human life and hold a strong and extensive history. It's about embracing the union that occurs when ancient wisdom and modern science meet.There are plenty of studies to support the use of herbs and supplements for a variety of medical conditions. The University of Maryland, one of the leading pioneers in the study of complementary alternative medicine, notes that, "used correctly, many herbs are considered safer than conventional medications." You can find them on PubMed. Here is a link to some more info on the healing benefits of Rooiboss: http://www.raysahelian.com/rooibos.html.
Here is another link: http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com/2010/04/many-health-benefits-of-rooibos-tea.html

Wishing you a restful day

that brings a peaceful heart,

a contented soul that leads

to a genuine happiness, and

countless quiet moments of

Thanksgiving.

Enjoy Your Holiday

Clean and Simple Challenge

Hi everyone, I am very happy to announce that I'm the new host for the Clean and Simple Challenge over at Scrapbook.com. I just wanted to take a minute, and encourage all of you to join me for this fun challenge. At the end of the month, there will be voting and the winner will recive a small RAK.  I personally love scrapbook pages that are not overly fussy. I believe that a minimal design often makes your  photo the true focal point of your LO.

If you want to submit a page, the rules are very easy.
1. Make a new LO as of November 1, 2011 and submit it over at Sb.com
2. LO must have clean lines and be simple in nature.
3. Paper or digi is ok.
4.You don´t have to sign up, you can enter a LO anytime during the month, but let me know if you want to    play along.
5. LO's need to be posted by November 30, 2011
6. If you receive love, please leave love.
7. Please allow public embedding.

VOTING-Once I close the challenge, participants can PM me their top 3 votes. Please tell me the number of the LO's you are voting for and which number your LO is. You don´t need to vote for yourself, you get an extra vote just for voting.

The Twist- This month the twist is to use a very large title on your LO. When posting your LO, please be sure to let me know you have "twisted" your layout.You will receive 1 extra vote!

If you want to join me here is the link to the challenge: http://www.scrapbook.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/1566345/


Here are a couple of example LO's
   

Credits for my LO's can be found at my gallery here: http://www.scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=galleries&u=326267&type=2&page=1

Hope to see  you there.