...juggling contractors & repair-men as we inch closer and closer (fingers crossed) to having the duplex sold.
...realizing it will be bittersweet when it does sell- An end of an era.
...reminding myself that every end has a beginning.
...perplexed as to what our next beginning should be. (Don't you wish you could flip a few life pages ahead sometimes, just to sneak a peek?)
...making time for a few creative projects, including sketches for an upcoming mural project.
...aspiring to make something like this with the kiddos next. Aren't miniatures great?
...sleepy from recent late nights trying to making it all fit in, which never works.
...excited for some kid-less weekends this summer- especially the prospect of Sleeping In.
...thankful for friends who are filling our vegetable garden. I wasn't sure, with house selling, if we were going to garden or not. But free transplants? Yes, please.
...appreciative of all your music suggestions last week to add to our summer soundtrack.
...hoping to get our playlist finalized soon- I promise to share when I do! (smile)
Wishing you a creative end to your week!
There have been several things that I've come across on Pinterest that sound a bit out of my comfort zone. Sure I'll use a pool noodle to make a wreath, but using oil to clean my face? And the promise that it would minimize black-heads too? I was skeptical, but willing to try anything to get a clearer complexion. Carrying our two kiddos left my chest smaller, my hair curlier, and my skin drier- especially on my face. Where I used to have oily skin, I now have a dry face with an oily forehead and nose. It's been hard to find a lotion that can moisturize where needed without clogging everything else even more. Add some stress-induced acne, and I was been pretty much avoiding a mirror whenever possible. Thankfully things are looking better now, and it only took two ingredients.
The oils you need are cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and cold-pressed Castor Oil.
Cold-pressed means that the oils have been processed without heat, retaining most of their nutrients. Since oil dissolves oil, these oil are able to dissolve all the dirty oils from your skin and replace them with nourishing oils instead. For my combination skin I use two tablespoons of castor oil to every one tablespoon of olive oil. If you have normal skin a 1:1 ratio should work for you, while drier skin can try up to two tablespoons of olive oil to one tablespoon castor oil. I keep my oil cleanser in a small lidded ramekin. It's easy to scoop my cleanser out, and I like that I can throw it in the dishwasher between batches.
Cold-pressed means that the oils have been processed without heat, retaining most of their nutrients. Since oil dissolves oil, these oil are able to dissolve all the dirty oils from your skin and replace them with nourishing oils instead. For my combination skin I use two tablespoons of castor oil to every one tablespoon of olive oil. If you have normal skin a 1:1 ratio should work for you, while drier skin can try up to two tablespoons of olive oil to one tablespoon castor oil. I keep my oil cleanser in a small lidded ramekin. It's easy to scoop my cleanser out, and I like that I can throw it in the dishwasher between batches.
For washing your face, pour about a quarter sized amount of oil onto your hands. Then rub your hands together to warm up and distribute the oil before massaging it onto your face and neck. After it's all rubbed in, run a clean washcloth under hot- not scalding- water. Hold the wet washcloth on your face and let the steam do its work. This is my favorite part, a few moments to pause and enjoy the warmth. Then I use the washcloth to gently rub the excess oil off my face, pat my skin dry, and I'm ready to go.
Here's me, a la natural. If you do wear makeup- which I barely do- you don't have to remove it before oil cleansing as usual. Some people get away with oil cleansing at night then only splashing their face with cold water in the morning. My face gets too dry during the day when I try that, so I do a modified routine (i.e as quickly as I can before the kiddos wake up) in the morning than a longer massage & steaming at night. I love how luscious my skin feels now and how quickly my acne's been improving. I also enjoy getting my face cleaned in one step, instead of adding all the lotions & potions I used to. This means that my face gets cleaned quicker, with less time in front of the mirror to stop and critique every laugh line. Which has made me a lot more content with what I see!
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"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."
(words and inspiration via Soulemama.com)
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| On Mother's Day, my two lovely reasons that I get to celebrate it! |
Isia wakes up with the sunshine these days. Her first question, as soon as her feet hit the floor, is "When can we go outside?" I usually stop for a moment and groggily try to visualize our day to give her an answer. Sometimes we need to wait until after errands (much to her chagrin) but usually we're able to go right away- after everyone's fed and dressed of course. As soon as she dashes out the back door, reluctantly stopping to put her shoes on along the way, she goes around the yard visiting her many projects. There's the fairy habitat we've been working on- I'll share more soon, promise- and the assorted holes she's been digging around the yard. And always an art project or two in the making. Sometimes it's a stone & sand pile, other times a collection of leaves. Lately it's been this mound of wonderfulness.
Isn't it lovely? There's a system to it, and Isia would tell you all about it. She'd let you know that the mulch needs to go down first, then the rocks, and then the leaves. She'd then point out her favorite stones or leaves that she's "saving for Daddy."
Since we love nature and art, we've studied a lot of Andy Goldsworthy. He's one of my favorite artists, and the inspiration behind several of our projects. So it's not surprising to me that she makes these Andy Goldsworthy-like sculpture, even though I don't think she set out to consciously emulate him. Did she choose to make it circular since so many of his sculptures are? Or to create a gradation of materials- mulch, stones, leaves- like he often does? While I think she'd recognize similarities between his work and her work if they were side by side, at three and a half I don't think she's analyzing her process as she goes. I think she's just enjoying the materials and the sunny day.
It's my joy to pick up hints of the process along the way, and tuck them away to share with her later. And to realize, again, why we should keep exposing kids to art. Because art becomes a part of us. Informing our perspective and creative processes in ways we may never truly understand- even if we're just a little girl playing in the backyard with sticks and leaves.
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Hello friends! This middle of the week finds me...
...enjoying this little bud vase, a recent gift for Cory as he finishes his school year. Not only did he really like it, but I get to see it daily too. Win, win.
...thinking more vases should have feet. Aren't they sweet?
...spending more time outdoors than in, soaking up this gorgeous sunshine.
...proud of the big sister that Isia is becoming. Yesterday she asked me if they could both have bananas, then got them all by herself & peeled them before giving him his.
...happy that Billy can keep up with her these days, it's pretty much his full time job!
...blown away by how cool it is to see your children become friends.
...admiring my fabric project pile: a vest in need of buttons, a half-way sewn dress, a basket half-mended, another basket in progress... I have some catching up to do!
...trying to work on my paper pile too. Somehow shuffling it around isn't actually depleting it (ahem).
...looking for some new music to add-
What are you listening to these days?
Maybe it's just the Peter Pan in me, but I think shadows are magical things. While our recent days have been chilly enough to require a bit of layering, there's definitely been enough sunshine to go around. Which has made for some wonderful shadows- and shadow art!
The kids and I were having the best time the other day, walking around the yard and admiring the shadows. Isia kept holding things up to make shadows, admiring her silhouette in the grass. Then I thought, what if we were to include some paper in our exploring? So I ran inside and grabbed our large easel paper...
...and we began experimenting with our shadows on the paper. Don't the shadows look so nice and crisp on the white paper? We were enjoying them so much that I began to trace them. This would be an excellent activity for older kids, but my 3.5 year old isn't quite there yet. She was very adept, however, at over-seeing the tracing: "Mama, did you include any dandelions? We need to have more dandelions..." Until everyone was satisfied with it,
and ready to move onto the next activity. Such as chasing each other around with big sticks (ahem).
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