Weeks 22 - 29

Week 22

Sun., June 10 - Anthony and I at the Sottile Family Summer Picnic at Greg and Melissa's house. It was a beautiful 85 degree day! The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins, and we enjoyed catching up with family that we don't get to see very often.

Week 23

Sat., June 16 - Skull Island Mini Golf at the Cape. Even Anthony got in on the action. And while we're not quite ready to sign a contract with Titleist, they do ok. More importantly, they love it.

Week 24

Sun., June 17 - Father's Day at the Cape. It was a gorgeous day - sunny, breezy, perfect. We went to First Encounter Beach for a bit.

Week 25

Thurs., June 21 - Carlie's Birthday! The boys and I spent the day at Winding Trails, awaiting her arrival. The four of us got to visit her just a couple hours after she was born.

Week 26

Thurs., June 28 - We had a small gathering to celebrate my birthday. I love the top picture with Matthew, and just laugh at the flame of candles on the second one. There really weren't THAT many on there. And yes, I had two cakes. You can never have too much cake, I always say. 

Week 27

Wed., July 4 - Hanging out at my sister's house. Matthew was way too busy riding his scooter to stop and take a picture. 

Week 28

Sat., July 21 - We were at my sister's and Matthew and Anthony wanted to have a dance party. Polka was the genre of choice, which they listen to when in my mom's car. Niki snapped this after we all collapsed on the couch. 

Week 29

Sun., July 22 - Just another day at the beach. Life's tough, I know...Gone are the days when Anthony would take a nap in the stroller. This day we was so very tired, didn't want to play, didn't want to be in the water, and just curled up on my lap. I started singing to him and off he drifted. He took about a 1 hour nap on me. Loved every second of it.

Happy Birthday to me! And a list.

Ahhh, the big 3-5. Officially closer to 40 than I am to 30. My 30th was wonderful, I didn't even give it a second thought. I had just had Matthew, things were great. Something about 35, though...it just feels "different". Not bad, just different. My life is very different than it was 5 years ago. Perhaps I've changed in the past 5 years as well? I hope for the better... I'm feeling more comfortable in my own skin, taking better care of myself, more confident in the choices I make, more willing to admit when wrong - ok, so I'm working on that one. Anyway, life is good. And 35 is going to be great!

So in honor of turning 35, I've put together a "bucket list", if you will. Thirty-five things I hope to do in my 35th year (some before I turn 40). 

1. Run a 5K. An official one (I can already run 3.1 miles).
2. Splurge on designer denim. Don't laugh at me.
3. Take swimming lessons. No, I don't know how to swim. Yes, really. I told you not to laugh at me.
4.  Finish the boys' toy room.
5. Organize (and print out) a ton of pictures. This one is overwhelming.
6. Do a wine tasting.
7. Update the boys' baby books.
8. Have a girls' weekend in NYC.
9. Have the main bathroom remodeled.
10. Lose my mom-pouch. If it kills me.
11. Have a sunset picnic on the beach with my hubby.
12. Make a real plan to go back to Hawaii. We keep saying "in a few years", every year. 
13. Redo our bedroom. Top to bottom.
14. Fly a kite.
15. Go sledding down the hill at Wolcott Park.
16. Get a full body massage.
17. Have a camp fire in our back yard.
18. Take a vacation to Montana or Colorado...oooh Yellowstone! I'm probably going to floor my husband with this one.
19. Make one of those amazing decorated cakes for Matthew and/or Anthony's birthday.
20. Do more random acts of kindness
21. Read more; aiming for 1 book a month at this point.
22. Master my DSLR.
23. Go back to Disney.
24. Make a piece of pottery with the kids.
25. Enjoy an outdoor concert or performance of some sort.
26. Go to a drive-in.
27. Make a photo book.
28. Get better at this: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants." ~ Michael Pollan. 
29. Get Anthony to give up the mo-mo, sleep in a big boy bed, and out of diapers.
30. Get more creative with cooking.
31. Run through someone else's sprinkler.
32. Build something. Anything.
33. Make lasagna.
34. Dance under the stars. Anyone having an outdoor wedding anytime soon??
35. Unplug more, live in the moment more, appreciate more.

Still rockin' the oil.

So it's been a while since I started using the oil cleansing method, and I thought I'd give a bit of an update for the 1.3 people who care. I think I like it! I don't know that my skin feels any cleaner or softer than when I was applying a chemical filled cleanser, but it sure doesn't feel worse. And the other day, a friend told me my skin looked great, and asked if I had anything done, like a peal or something. Sweet.

I have since started using castor oil, along with olive oil and a couple drops of tea tree oil. And yes, this concoction still sits in a shot glass on my bathroom counter. I really need to find something else to put it in. I made a batch using 3 tablespoons of olive oil to 1 tablespoon castor oil, and at some point I think I added maybe another teaspoon of castor, which seems to be working better since I have combination skin.

I think I'll keep up with it. I like having all the ingredients at home, and I love that they are all natural. Plus, a little goes a LONG way (I use about 1/4 teaspoon per wash).  If you are even remotely curious about it, try it out. But I will warn you, you really do have to give it a sold 1-2 weeks for your skin to adjust. 

Weeks 17 - 21

What a busy month it has been!

Week 21

Fri., June 1 - Matthew's graduation from Quaker Lane Nursery School. What an amazing day. A year ago, he got overwhelmed and ran to me before the ceremony even began. This year he sang, performing every song, and walked up to get his diploma with such a proud look on his face.

Week 20

Sun., May 20 - First Winding Trails visit of the season. Matthew wanted nothing to do with the water, so he was off riding his bike (being watched by my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and her friend Sarah). I had the incredibly hard task of watching Anthony throw pebbles into the water. After the beach, Matthew and I picked Bobby up from the airport, while Anthony went to bed (my mom was with him).

Week 19

Sun., May 13 - Mother's Day cookout at my sister's. Believe it or not, this is the best picture we got. I wish my husband could have been there to celebrate with us, but I had a wonderful day and spent it surrounded by my loving family.

Week 18

Fri., May 11 - Making s'mores at Michelle's house. That was the day hubby left for Australia for 10 (no, not 9 honey!) days.

Week 17

Fri., May 4 - Matthew's 5th Birthday! What a fun day that was. I was the helping parent at his school that morning, we brought in chocolate cupcakes to share with his friends that we baked the night before. We spent a good part of the day playing outside, then went out to dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Anthony hated it, the thunder and loud animals overwhelm him...but he was a trooper for his brother.

A darker shade of green: the oil cleansing method.

 In my quest to become "greener", I'm cleansing my face with oil. Yes, oil. As in EVOO a la Rachel Ray.

I first heard about the oil cleansing method from an online community I'm a member of. I admit, at first I was a bit grossed out about rubbing straight up OIL onto my face. For crying out loud I cook with this stuff! (And make a mean vodka sauce, I might add...) I don't care for feeling like a greasy pizza...and that's what I envisioned. But the more I read, the more intrigued I became.

I have to admit, I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to skin care. I don't invest a ton of moola on cleansers and moisturizers. I never wash my face at night...unless I happen to be wearing foundation and blush and such for a special occasion. Otherwise, it's washed in the morning in the shower. And as I approach a certain ripe age of ahem-blah-blah-something-five, yeah I'm seeing the wrinkles and "laugh lines"...not so damn funny I have to tell you. But like the 2 or 3 (hundred) gray hair I find on a regular basis, I don't really get my panties in a twist about it. But I'm told this is supposed to eliminate the need for moisturizers and anti-aging crap.

Listofhealthyfoods.com

So, moving on. Oil cleansing method. I have heard great things about Castor Oil, and while I do want to pick some up I decided to start today regardless, because I ran out of my cleanser and figured now was as good a time as any. So feeling like a teen sneaking a can of beer into the garage, I crept into the bathroom with my bottles of olive oil and tea tree oil. The funny thing is, only Matthew and Anthony were home. Not like they'd raise an eyebrow. I added a teaspoon of olive oil and 3 drops of tea tree oil into a shot glass...that's hard core right there, I know. I mixed it around and applied it to my face, massaging for about 15 seconds. It felt nice. I *think* I might have felt some grit after a while...but it could have been my mind playing tricks on me. Then, I wet a washcloth with HOT water and placed it on my face. Waited until it cooled, and repeated. Then  gently wiped the oil off with the same cloth, repeated this a couple of times.

When I was done, my skin felt utterly...normal. Not tight like it is with a regular cleanser. Not pizza-pie greasy like I expected. Just CLEAN. And soft. It's now the end of the day and I don't have the same dry patch appearing on my forehead. I did feel a little "damp" this afternoon while out and about, but I think that might have more to do with the 387% humidity outside than the oil. Once indoors, my skin feels normal. So far, so good. I plan on sticking with it for a while. And like I said, I want to get some Castor Oil as it is supposed to be super-bad-ass cleansing. Will report back from the field in a week.

If you have tried this, or plan to, I'd love to hear your thoughts.