A little break...

I am taking a bit of a blogging break. See you all in a bit.

Rishi's Gift Foundation

Above is Rishi singing the song "I am " composed by Rishi Nair and Mateo Messina for the Symphony of the Superhero.

How do I describe Rishi? He is a vibrant, talented sweet boy who loves music and people.
We belong to the same home school community as his family. It's a wonderful group of people who share a common goal. To educate their children and provide them with wonderful, enriching  experiences along the way. We were a part of one of those amazing "moments" last night. Beau played his bagpipes for a Rishi's Gift benefit concert. As I stood in the back at all of the familiar faces gathered together to support this effort I got a bit choked up. I know these people truly care for each other and it is so precious.

Rishi was born without functioning kidneys. He spent most of his young life attached to tubes....I remember him having to sit out while the kids on our group would run, swim, play. He always had a smile to share. He had such a great attitude. I have to smile when I think back to all of our talent shows at our school. Rishi loved to perform and always managed to steal the show. He has loved music since I have known him. I am so proud of him and his family for putting that love of music into helping others.
http://www.rishisgift.com/
His Mother gave him one of her kidneys three years ago. I look back on that and get teary eyed as I remember Mary Lynn's determination and strength through out it all. They have turned a difficult situation into an opportunity to bless others. They raise money for children who battle medical hurdles. They offer them a little piece of "joy". A chance to rest a little from their battle. A chance to smile and be happy.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

ChaCha

Tayler, Kyle and I were standing in the kitchen discussing Sponge Bob. I mentioned the fact that he wears glasses. Kyle told me he didn't think he did. I was sure of it. Tayler grabbed her phone and started texting. I didn't know she could surf the Internet on her phone. She told me she wasn't. She was texting ChaCha. She hit send and set her phone down.

"Who is ChaCha?!" I asked. She said she has shown it to me before. I kindly disagreed. Kyle told me that there were people just sitting there waiting to answer questions. I couldn't believe it! How did I not know about this??

 Do you all know about this?  Am I that out of the loop?

All of a sudden the phone buzzed. The text said: "Sponge Bob wears glasses, but only while jelly fishing."

I couldn't believe it. So I asked Tayler what the number was. 242242.....ChaCha. I had to try it out.
 I asked them, "Who coined the term "Blog" ? Within one minute I had my answer. Jorn Barger. It started with the term "Web Log" and went from there.

I for one think this will be handy. I can't wait to use it while standing in a circle of people when that "little answer" has slipped every one's mind. I will come to the rescue using ChaCha! In fact, I will just make up a reason to text them!

Fine Mom....I will read up some more first.

 So my Mom and sister had some concerns over this program. They are valid concerns. So instead of plunging ahead and being stubborn, I will look into it.  I will talk to my naturopath and see what he says. I will read some more.

The thing is...I know exactly how to lose weight and have had great success this year with it. I am just at a plateau and thought this might be a good way to get past that. Also, I was curious. But you know about that whole saying about the cat...

My two friends are still going to start tomorrow so I will chart their progress and hope that it works great....since I talked them into doing it with me!
Instead, I will be very strict about no sugar or wheat and get back to my daily run no matter what. That is what has worked so far.

Bummer about all the bad food I ate yesterday!

I am SO FULL

Ok....I was just about to go off of meat. I have a lot of reasons why.  But I have decided to do one thing first. I am too curious and I have to try it out.  I have a couple of friends who have gone on a program called Do-It-Yourself HCG. They have had amazing results with their weight loss. Like thirty pounds in a month.

Here is the basic concept in my words.

Dr Simeons developed this program in the fifties. He found out that when a person starves themselves they use up their normal fat reserves. After that they burn structural reserves. Finally the body will give up the abnormal fat reserves. But by then the person is so miserable they give up. It's no fun to lose the fat in your face so you look older and worn out and have nothing else change. Losing muscle is not good either. Even though your scale will tell you that you are losing. HCG allows you to tap into our abnormal fat deposits. (shoulders, butt, upper arms, thighs)

The HCG hormone coupled with a 500 calorie diet  allows these reserves to be tapped into and released into the blood stream. So your body isn't getting only 500 calories, but between 2,000-4,000. This is the ONLY reason it's okay to be on so few calories each day.

The food you consume is very healthy and is a great detox diet. Your body will have a rest from the onslaught of unhealthy processed foods and drinks. And you feel full. You don't want to rip someone's head off because the hormone drops keep that starving feeling away....mostly because you aren't starving. You are getting plenty from the fat that is unlocked and released into your blood stream.

OH! One more thing. You have to gorge for the first two days. As much fat as you can get down you without being sick. This is to keep you from being hungry the first few days until the HCG kicks in. If you skip this step, you will feel hungry and those around you will not be very happy.

Today was my first "Gorge Day". I spent it with Jen who is also doing this program for 23 days with me. I will post tomorrow about that. We had quite the time of it. I would tell you now but I feel soooooo full miserable. I don't want to see another Snicker Bar ever again.

I am laughing just thinking of today. I can't wait to share it. I realize most people don't talk about these things until they see if it works. I know people will think it sounds "fishy." Go to their website and read about it. You too might feel inspired to try it out. If so, let me know.

http://www.diyhcg.com/hcg-in-weight-loss/

GOODNIGHT  :)

Am I adopted?

I guess Beau has been trying to convince Chase that he is adopted. He asked me to just please tell him. I looked at Beau across the kitchen. He was smiling ear to ear. Mmmm-Hmmm...
"What?" Beau said. "I have been working on this one for two weeks."
Chase said, "Mom, just tell me the truth." He didn't seem to care much either way. He wanted to know if Beau would get in trouble.
I pointed out that he looks JUST like me so how on earth can he think that.
He said, "No....you had BLACK hair until  you DYED it!"
I told him to look in the mirror.
Same eyes, nose and mouth....
He looked at me and nodded. He seemed convinced
You decide.

Friday Favorite...Barlean's Fish Oil

We went to Barlean's yesterday to try their new fish oil. The kids were so excited. They love going in there just because it's fun to get fish fresh off the ice. They also like to try all of the samples of oil. They even save the little spoons and bring them home to eat with them. I guess simple pleasures are not lost on these two. If you go right to Barleans plant you save 30-50% off retail...so look at it as the Fish Outlet Store. Does it get more fun than that? They are located on the corner of Slater Road and Lake Terrell Road, Ferndale.
http://www.barleans.com/


Here is what I was hearing from the back seat all morning..."Could the MANGO PEACH really outshine the Lemon Zest?" It was the topic of the day. I was wondering if I needed to get them out more, but we had just returned from a Kangaroo Farm, so I think they are doing fine.

We parked and they scrambled out of the van. They marched in and waited for the tiny spoon. They tried the Orange flavor and liked it a lot. They also liked the Pomegranate Blueberry vegan formula. The guy working there made it a big show...he was so nice to the kids. When they tried the Mango Peach they freaked out. Hahahaha...freaking out over FISH OIL. I'm not making this stuff up. When we got back into the van they were begging to open it right then. I told them they could probably wait until we got home. But by the time I finished my sentence, I saw Autumn passing  a tiny spoonful of it over to Chase.
"Ok...that's enough. Put it away,"I said.
They fought over who could read the back of the bottle the last ten miles.

My point in all of this is:
I could easily give you all of the benefits of ingesting essential fatty acids. But I think you will agree that a product can be the healthiest thing on the planet, and if it tastes like...well...fish....NOBODY will want it.

Barlean's Omega Swirl tastes like a smoothie. I promise. You will love it.
Just ask Chase.

Outback Kangaroo Farm

We went to the Outback Kangaroo Farm today. We enjoy it so much. I always stand there in the kangaroo pen trying to figure out how I am going to get myself one. They are $1,200 dollars. They don't seem to need fancy upkeep. They live as long as most dogs. They are so adorable and gentle. We fed them bread from our hands and hugged them. The amazing thing is they stay so soft even when they are big.


My favorite one was named "Crook". He was sooooo sweet. He and I are posing in the above photo. I laughed at how he stuck his head in as if to say "CHEEEESE!" I also had to chuckle at "Ozzie". Evidently he and another Kangaroo named "Jack" had a scuffle. Jack won...Ozzie was sporting a sling because he got his arm broken while they were fighting over the top of the fence. I felt Jack's biceps and I could see why he came out the victor. Wow...he had some serious guns.






We also visited the lemurs, emu's, ostriches, donkeys and llama's. We fed the llamas with our mouths. They would gingerly take the feed from us with their lips. I did it so many times trying to get a photo for my blog that my mouth was starting to taste like hay. One time "Fuzzy Butt" knocked teeth with me.
I know. Gross.
"Mr. T" wouldn't even take the food from me. My friend Tammi was trying to get a picture but it wasn't gonna happen. He was flat out rejecting me. I felt like a loser standing there with feed between my teeth begging some llama to please kiss me. Give me a break.


I was taken with all of the baby chicks running around with their Mama's. I asked the owner if he ever lost any. He said they stick close to home. I told him I meant do any DIE unexpectedly. He told me no. I told him I have once chicken die each month. He laughed but I wasn't joking. He then offered me a rooster. I told him I had one. I tried to tell him about Chick Magnet but he just looked at me like I was nuts.

We had a fun time. You should go for the day. It's not too far and it's a lot of bang for your buck. You can even hod a baby Roo al wrapped up in a blankie. That is how you get one when you buy it. That's just torture. I may be blogging about my new kangaroo sooner than later....



http://www.christmastreesandroos.com/

The Wicked Tinkers!

I am so sorry for you if you have never heard the Wicked Tinkers play. If you haven't then you should change that RIGHT away! Even better than hearing them play is SEEING them play. You are so lucky if you live locally...because they will be at the Bellingham Highland Games this weekend. You should come and see for yourself. You will feel like you have been thrown back in time and are sitting around a campfire of a Highland raiding party, or a family gathering. Their music is irresistible and thrilling. The raw tribal sound mixed with a "rock edge" is fantastic to experience. Their stage presence is a rare sight. They move through the crowd yelling and dancing as they play their instruments. (We learned the hard way that most men do not wear anything under their kilts....we had a little homeschool lesson in anatomy after one of them went spinning by.) Don't worry...just sit on a bench, not the grass.

They have been playing together since 1995 when bagpiper Aaron Shaw met bass drum player Warren Casey at The Celtic Arts Center in Los Angeles, CA. After playing together they realized there was a simple beauty when these two instruments were combined. Over the years, the band has evolved. Keith Jones joined in on snare drum and hand percussion in 2000, followed by CJ Henderson on didgeridoo and the recently discovered Bronze-Age Irish Horn – a sound that was lost for over three thousand years.

You may have seen them here and there on hit TV shows, music videos and movies. But I think where they shine the brightest is at the Games. Something about it dredges up feelings and memories we didn't know we had as we listen to their ancient music. You will have a hard time standing still. You will leave feeling like you MUST have some Celtic blood in you somewhere.




Tayler and Autumn have been dancing with them for years. After they compete it is tradition to go over to where the Tinkers are playing and do a Highland Fling with them. It is so cute to see all of the dancers just having fun. Competing is very nerve racking, so it's refreshing to see them dancing without fretting about perfection. They will do a Reel with the other dancers or go up and help beat the drums. I know that when they grow up, the Highland Games and dancing with the Wicked Tinkers will be something they will remember fondly.