For our wedding, messy is key. But the updo part is still not selling me because I have so much darn hair! An updo with hair like mine means a full packaged of hair pins… and everyone knows that ISN’T comfortable.

In the above video, they have you tie the bottom part of your hair in a knot… Mine doesn’t tie in a not nearly as easily and it simply wont stay! This girl needs so hair tips.

So tell me, do you rock the updos? What are your tips and trick for a girl with like 8lbs of hair on her head?

Want more info about the Oil of Olay sweeptakes? You can find Sweeps rules here http://www.blogher.com/hair-sweepstakes-offical-rules-week-1 and Prizes & Promotions info here https://www.blogher.com/blogher-tv-weekly-hair-style-sweepstakes

You already know, our very belated wedding is nearing, fast. Remember how we posponed it while pregnant with Everly? When it comes to important life stuff…

 ”Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”.

Except, for us the “going wrong” isn’t really all that terrible, just inoppotune type stuff like infertility clearing up right after engagement.

Well this time, the money has been paid and we can’t back out now… but it’s about to get way more interesting around here thanks to ole Murphy.

As for the wedding, we’ve never seen the wedding venue we choose, so that makes things very interesting. I mean we know the property but have never toured the lodge we will marry & celebrate at… so we can’t visualize the flow of the day or knowledgeably plan for what will go where, or what we’ll need. We hope to have someone in Arizona to take us on a video or photo tour of the place though.

We do have a photographer, a videographer and a gluten free cake in the works. The menu is also decided, the guest list is shaping up and in a few short months our big day will be here.

Did I mention we are doing a waste-free wedding? We AREN’T buying a ton of decor crap that will later be useless junk that’s landfill bound. Instead we are borrowing what supplies we need. The wedding will be very rustic, not really “frilly” if you know what I mean.

I’d really like to find some wine crates, old wooden cable spools and some large wood stumps to use for decor… It will be an intimate, very small wedding. We are also doing this debt free! We are excited that the big day is getting so close but we are also starting to feel the stress of the nearing event.

Also, Nathan just spend all of Sunday out with our neighbor doing more “pond” cleanup. I’ve blogged about the pond that we share ownership of before… This time, they got an inflatable boat. Chainsaws, waders and hand clippers were involved. It was all quite ammusing but also insanely productive!

The garden is springing to life here, we anxiously wait and watch while the strawberries, blueberries & grapes set. Seeds are coming up in the planting beds, the peas are climbing high and we just can’t wait to be harvesting and enjoying our own fresh, organic produce again!

That is really all I have in terms of updates. What is cookin’ with you?

Here, we try to find ways to reuse virtually everything instead of just throwing it away. I keep things like milk jugs, grocery bags, cardboard boxes, plastic kitty litter bins, beer/ wine bottles, corks/ bottle caps, baby food jars, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls and  much more. These items can be reused or can be manipulated to serve other purposes depending on your needs.

• Use plastic detergent or kitty litter bins for planting or composting or just for storing things. We have various types of animal feed in these bins right now, we also have put gardening tools and even kids toys in them for storage.
• Use old wine corks to make your very own cork board. These can be cuite cute too.  You an repurpose bottle caps by making a fun retro belt or use any number of these creative bottle cap ideas.
• Use milk jugs for plant watering and liquid storage, use the top portion of a milk jug as a funnel and the bottom portion to plant in or just buy milk that isn’t coming in plastic containers and recycle/ compost the cardboard.
• Grocery bags and cardboard boxes can be reused for several times. Every package we send is sent in a reused box, even with reused packing materials. 
• We pay our bills electronically and still get paper bills. We don’t toss out those return envelopes inclosed in the bill, we have a whole container full of them and we reuse them when we need an envelope.
• Cardboard egg cartons, cereal boxes and toilet paper rolls can be used to start seeds in. Then you just plant the cardboard in the dirt where it will break down and compost while the plant grows.
• Glass baby food jars can be used to store small items like thumbtacks, paperclips, nails/ screws, dried herbs, seeds and much more!
• Ditch the paper product and reuse your old clothes. Here I’ve turned old cotton clothes/ receiving blankets to clean up spills (aka paper towel replacements) and even as *gasp* “snot rags” for the kiddos. I’ve even made swiffer clothes from old shirts. We just wash them and reuse them till they fall apart. Then they go to the compost.
• All the paper we use in our office printer has already been printed on the backside. 
• Most kitchen waste is great for composting and replenishing garden soil. Things like coffee grounds, tea bags, vegetables, fruits, egg shells, paper towels and egg cartons can be composted and later added to garden soil. I set aside one of my old plastic kitty litter bins (with a lid of course) for all my chosen compost items.
• Old window frames are perfect to repurpose! With glass intact you can build a “coldframe” for your garden with them. Frames with the glass removed can be lined with chicken wire and used to make a chicken or rabbit run. You could even make trellises for the garden with theses.

Other ways to get rid of or score great things for repurposing:

If you have old clothes, appliances, or any other reusable items you can always donate them to charity, goodwill or just give them away! As a last resort you can even set the items out next to or near the trash can with a note that says “free”. Anything is better than throwing them away…

-Visit http://www.freecycle.org/ if you are looking for stuff or if you have stuff to give away. Here in my town all you have to do is post what you have to get rid of and all the members of freecycle in your area will get emailed. If someone is interested they will contact you, you can set up a meeting or you can simply have them come to pick up the stuff you are giving away. It is super easy, convenient and best of all FREE!!

-Also http://craigslist.org/ is a great resource for getting or giving away stuff.

The majority of everyday household items can be either be recycled, reused, composed or given away to cut down on wastes. Try it, you will be surprised how much you really can cut down on wastes. A small change can make a big difference! Our trash can is the proof.

Now tell me, in what ways are you repurposing, recycling or reusing to cut wastes?

Need a washing machine upgrade?

You can “pin to win” a new washing machine if you got a clunker that needs an eco upgrade! Enter the P&G #EverydayEffect Pinterest Giveaway by filling out the form here: on.fb.me/ZMyucH

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks & P&G

Lets change the situation here in Indiana for home birth seeking families! Voice your support of HB 1135 to your Indiana Senator this week and tell everyone you know to do the same. This is time sensitive, take action this week please if you intend to.

Apparently, our desired venue has NO events booked the month we want to wed and they offered a nice discount to us for booking last minute, so we are committing to make this wedding happen in just a few months!

We’ve been designing the invites, talking colors, guests and all the other stuff that comes with planning a wedding. Luckily, I already have my wedding dress and I lucked out stumbling upon a perfect pair of wedding shoes a few weeks back. However, I’ve been at a loss as to what I will do with my hair…

I’ve been watching videos and pinning different styles I like. The thought of doing my hair for a big event has me anxious. My hair has been in a messy bun for like 3 years straight now because I just don’t have time to stand in front of the mirror applying product and straightening my hair just for it to get yanked on and gunked up with drool, snot and kids food from my two young girls. Plus, I don’t want my girls see me spending hours on my appearance because I don’t want them to feel they need to do the same…

Problem is, I get super frustrated with my hair whenever I do try “fixing” it for a date or whatever. This frustration just further discourages me from making an effort with my hair. I mean, if I spend lots of time on it, it does look nice. Most times it’s just not work the trouble though.

My wedding day will be another story. I want something practical done to my hair that will last the whole event, but I want it to look pretty at the same time. Some of my hair ideas are:

         

Regardless of chosen hairstyle, I plan to ease myself into doing my hair again. To start off small and to limit my initial frustration levels with hair styling. I’m going to try out simple hair styles here at home.

The first one I am trying out us this dressed up pony brought to you by the Oil of Olay Sweepstakes  just watch the video and enter to win at the end of it:

Want more info about the Oil of Olay sweeptakes? You can find Sweeps rules here http://www.blogher.com/hair-sweepstakes-offical-rules-week-1 and Prizes & Promotions info here https://www.blogher.com/blogher-tv-weekly-hair-style-sweepstakes

Everly seems to be really warming to the idea of being a big sister lately. She leads Addie around all day on excursions and she loves to try assisting us in coaxing Addie to do various things (like eat or have a diaper change). We’ve even had a few instances where mom & dad fail to get Adalyn’s cooperation but she’ll do it for Everly. I feel the girls will be conspiring against us sooner rather than later. LOL. One afternoon I even had to intervene as Everly was coaxing Adalyn to wipe her after a poop. It was one for the baby book!

Sisterhood is fitting well for the girls. I am so relieved and pleased to see their relationship beginning to blossom.

The chickens and rabbits are now cohabitating despite the advice of numerous chicken keepers. The newer hens insist on laying eggs in the rabbit hutch instead of the nice big hen house we built them, so they were already cohabiting. The rabbit hutch and the hen house were on opposite sides of the yard.  Now they are neighbors and the cohabitating is official as we prepare to close the hens in the shared rabbit run for a few months while the garden comes to life and we reseed the yard.

We’ve also been busy wedding planning! We think it will happen this year with our tax return money. Yep, we will be walking down the aisle 10+ years and 2 kids later. Better late than never right?

Our girls are old enough to be part of the wedding, we aren’t saving money to pay for childbirth or paying off a cross country move. The time is right, so now we are focusing on making the once-back-burnered-wedding a reality.

I’ve got my dress, just found shoes for the dress. The dress needs some bodice work. Despite my mother’s ideas, my boobs aren’t much bigger after breastfeeding two children, so I’ll need to have the dress altered. Is redoing boning and beading a big deal? I really hope not.

The girls have their dresses and shoes… We have a venue and now we just need to hash out the fine details and sign on the dotted line. It is all very exciting and long overdue… the money part is still going to be tight but we can control that burden by planning accordingly and keeping the event small. We are excited!

Only things we don’t have ironed out for the wedding are a DJ, a photographer and who is gonna do my hair for the wedding…

I’ve normally been hanging out there at the home where her Montessori preschool classes take place. Everly was super insecure about starting school this winter and she cried a few times when she couldn’t stay with me as opposed to doing class upstairs with the other kids.The intention has been to gradually ease her in to doing things on her own. Especially in light of the lack of  childless time (aka dates) Nathan and I have had since becoming parents. We’ve left Everly in someone elses care three times total, in almost 4 years.

“Mom, do you have somewhere to go today?” she asked. She likely noiced that Adalyn wasn’t removed from the car and that the car wasn’t parked in our normal spot. When I told her we were going back home so Adalyn could sleep and get cleaned up she just hugged, kissed me, did a little excited jump, smiled and went off to do her thing. Of course she blew me a kiss as I left the room.

She’s three going on four and it’s just amazing how much they grow in such a short time!

Here is a photo of her, all dressed for the school day today.

Notice the pajamas underneath her “going somewhere” clothes? She refused to take the PJ’s off when dressing for the day. She likes to be warm she says. I didn’t fight the battle on this one since I knew it was already going to be a potentially emotional day, with me leaving her at school alone. I am sure some people think I am crazy for letting her out of the house like this but whatev. We’re making memories!

Plus, I hate to squash her feelings of accomplishment over dressing herself with my own expectations and worries about her fashion. We did tackle her hair though ;) She likes it in pig tails.

On the way home after school, there was freezing rain falling and I was driving extra careful and slow but got pulled over anyway. Apparently  NOT signaling for the 2 seconds it takes to slow the car down once in the turning lane for our street is ticket worthy. Luckily, I was given a warning. It was a good learning experience for the girls as they were in the car with me when I was pulled over. Everly had lots of questions about the experience.

We’ve previously discussed the laws about seat-belts and carseats with Everly, now she believes that the police do stop you and that they are watching. This will come in handy in the future I am sure.

This makes my mouth water, I’d love to scarf a few Auntie Anne’s pretzels right now! Unfortunately, my belly doesn’t share this sentiment now that we are gluten intollerant.

However, that is no reason why my gluten eating followers should miss out on a sweet offer for some free Auntie Anne’s pretzels in celebration of their birthday…

Dust off those party shoes and get ready to celebrate as Auntie Anne’s celebrates its 25^th Birthday! Another year older and wiser, Auntie Anne’s is celebrating by rolling out a new hand-rolled soft pretzel, Honey Whole Grain, to its variety of gourmet freshly-baked favorites. At under 300 calories, the whole grain, better-for-you pretzel feels responsible, but tastes reckless!

Like to try some free Honey Whole Grain Auntie Anne’s pretzels?

They are having sampling on:

• Saturday, Feb. 2 2013 (tomorrow!)
• Saturday, Feb. 16 2013
• Saturday, March 9 2013

At the sampling, they will be giving free samples of the new Honey Whole Grain pretzel and other fun in-store prizes.

Win 25 free pretzels!

One lucky reader will win 25 free pretzel cards from Auntie Anne’s.

Enter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you like giveaways, you can get twisting in the Twist and Win online sweepstakes at www.pretzelperfect.com for a chance to win. The Twist and Win sweepstakes ends until March 31 2013. Prizes include:

• $25,000
• the all-new Apple® iPad® mini
• Coca‑Cola® beverages for a year
• or a $25 Visa® gift card!

Join the Auntie Anne’s celebration on Twitter

The Twitter party is on on Tuesday, Feb. 12 from at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m PT if you’d like to join the fun @AuntieAnnes search #iheartwholegrains.

Now, the big question… What will you do with 25 free pretzels?

On the high side, 17 month old Adalyn slept through the night for the first time since 11/12/12. Back in November she only slept through the night a few times then we all got sick and that ended because what sick baby doesn’t need cuddles and to nurse for comfort?

Then the sickness lasted over a month for the family, Adayln started walking and her vocabulary grew lots (common sleep disruptors). I am happy to say, we *seem* to be back toward the path of nighttime sleeping. This is pretty exciting for me.

Of course, I wake at 5am and relize I’ve not nursed all night because boobs get in the milk production habit and apparently don’t receive memos from baby about when full night sleeping is taking place… So I pee and go back to bed.

At about 7ish I hear Nathan and Everly downstairs and I am still loving my full night of sleep so I sleep some more…

Here is where the lows come in:

Oh gosh, oh no!!!

Nathan is shouting from the kitchen, then I hear gurgling & splashing sounds. Then Everly cries out and I think I’ve got an idea about what is happening. “It’s okay, just relax” Nathan says to Everly.

“What is going on?” Everly cries out between gags and splashes.

When the heaves and spraying subsides Nathan carries Everly to the bathroom very quickly. I join them and it’s confirmed. Everly has had her first puking experience. She’s only ever seen the cats vomit hairballs, we’ve not had any vomiting or uncontrolled diarrhea since our induction to Parenthood.

Funny thing is, after she puked it was all sunshine and normalcy. I suspect the cause was some store bought OJ she had. Thankfully, it was just liquid puke that baking soda soaked up wonderfully but it was a shocker for us all. Poor Everly was so confused and weirded out by it, luckily it was short lived and mild. We are thankful. AND Adalyn continued to sleep while all this madness was going on.

Oh, another high: After about a week, our indoor seedlings have sprouted here in the office.  With the tomato and pepper plants we saved prior to our first hard snow fruiting in the office windows, in combination with the early spring seedlings that just came up, it’s a bustling nursery in here. Can’t wait for spring!

I’d always been on the fence about sending my kids off for someone else to educate. I personally wasn’t a fan of the educational system I came up through and expect my girls to be intelligent but perhaps not all that interested in book learning. I suspect, based on how learning has progressed here at home, that a more hands on approach would be needed. The knee jerk response is to just homeschool… however, the Montessori method of learning is both intriguing and it seems to meet our needs.

Montessori teaching focuses on a self led learning experience that is hands on. It’s not so much about meeting obvious external educational goals as it is about nurturing the child’s curiosities and guiding them so that they teach themselves.

Over the winter break, while I was cutting some gift tags Everly’s Montessori learning reared it’s head at home. She was immediatly drawn to the shapes of my discarded paper from the gift tags. She wanted my scissors and the scraps… I was reluctact because I didn’t want her to cut herself and becaue I didn’t want a huge paper mess all over the house.

Needless to say, she was granted permission to carefully use my scissors and she did make a mess… We just ignored it and let her do her thing, despite our parental objections.

The strangest thing happen, she was eerily quiet and 100% focused on her task, for about 20 min (which is much more focus or time than she typically had spent on any “work” before)!

Once she was ready, she proudly showed us her creation. She cut the scraps to make them in to the letter E, F, T, V, I, L and X. All of the scraps were turned to letters by her careful clipping. Once clipped, she laid them all out to admire. This potentially dangerous, mess creating activity was her self led learning in action. She was taking her knowledge of letter recognition to letter creation and she felt enormous pride in the finished activity.

We were blown away by her level of focus and her determination and that she spotted this chance for a learning activity.

More and more often I am recognizing the ways we are subconsciously stuffing our kids in a box and in turn stifling their educational opportunities and their expression of individuality. My gift tag cutting was just one instance that could have turned to educational stifling. Thankfully, it didn’t.

Speaking of sowing seeds, it’s already time for us to sow those seeds for garden planting! So what have you been sowing lately?