Thanksgiving 2007

Art Photo in Mothering!

I'm so very excited to share this terrific photo.

It was taken by one of the mamas at an art playdate I hosted at my house. (You'll see the original post a few scrolls down). The best part is, her photo was published in the current issue of Mothering Magazine (November/December issue) -- page 17. Mothering published it because Melanie sent her photos in since I was inspired to begin hosting montly toddler art playdates after reading their July/August issue, which discussed how to create these wonderful, artistic opportunities for tots.

Sesame Street - Buffy Nurses Cody

Terrific clip from the late '70's. Why don't they air stuff like this these days.

Arbonne on ABC7 News

~*Toddler Art Party*~

Sophia and I hosted a Toddler Art Party with our playgroup. Our large covered patio with taped down pieces of long butcher paper was the dedicated art space so the little ones could explore without any worries of mess. We stripped 'em down and gave them finger paints and let them do what came naturally. We kept it short-about 30 minutes, since our young artists' attention spans are still short. After the Mommas hosed their their kiddos off, put on clean dipes, and dressed them, they played for a few minutes while the mommas chatted. Looks like we have some one year old prodigies whose specialty is body art. I think after the wonderful fun we had, (and easy clean up) we will happily host a monthly Art Playdate and explore other art materials with all the senses during all seasons(except Winter because it'll be too nippy to be out on the patio). Thanks to Mothering Magazine for this terrific idea. I think it's a wonderful idea to give kids a strong creative foundation.




Meet Sophia's Art Posse

The soapy clean up tub was just as much fun...

A big thanks to Melanei for capturing the moment so perfectly. Take a moment to check out her Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/melanie_in_texas/sets/72157600992829071/with/890932196/

ACTNow ~ Houston, Texas

As most of my friends and family members know, I'm incredibly excited to be launching an Arbonne business! Talk about a solid company with phenomenal products (and I can't forget to mention they have THE BEST compensation plan in the industry). Really.

I. AM. PUMPED.

At first, I was skeptical. I thought to myself, "Here I have a Master's degree and now I'm considering selling skincare?" But--I did my research (lots of it) and loved what I found. I signed up to be a Consultant 3 weeks ago, have immersed myself in Arbonne's terrific online and phone call training, and this weekend, I attended the ACTNow Consultant training in Houston. Arbonne holds large regional trainings twice a year, and I couldn't pass up attending one so close by! And it BLEW MY MIND! The energy in this place was unbelievable. I can honestly say I haven't experienced something so exciting and motivational - ever. Arbonne is hitting the International market now and is going live in Australia July 2nd. Those of us at the ACTNow training were the first to hear where Arbonne is going next, which is the United Kingdom in October! Arbonne will continue launching in 2 new countries a year!

Since my upline will be in the area, she and I planned to have my launch party immediately. Tomorrow is the day and I could not be more thrilled. Below, on my right, is Alysia-my upline, and Colleen, one of her newly sponsored Consultants from Kansas. Alysia matched her teaching salary in 4 months and is on her way to Regional. She stays home with her 3 children. How awesome is that.

Oh, and what's with all the pictures of the Mercedes? Well, once a Consultant hits a certain management level (Regional), they not only have a very lucrative income, they earn a White Mercedes. Might I add that these are the Mercedes' that I saw just on the short walk to the parking garage elevator! I met women who made this level within a year--some in 6 months! Yes, some take 2 years, but still! C'Mon! What will you be doing in 2 years if you keep doing what you're doing? And that's not even the highest level in Arbonne. National is. And when I met women who retired their husbands at the age of 30, 32, I was amazed. Simply Amazed. What a wonderful, inspiring group of women because of the amount they give to others. There's only so much money one can make or white Mercedes they can have in their driveway, so when they turn around and give to others, that selfless act, is what draws me even more to Arbonne. If I can make a huge difference not only in my family's life, but also in other people's lives, I would be a fool to let this opportunity slip by. So, I'm jumping in with both feet and looking for a team to go with me.

Domi is 15!

We celebrated Domi's 15th at Dave 'N Buster's with a small family get together and a few of his girl friends from school. I just cannot get over how he will be old enough to get his driver's license next year!

Happy Birthday to my darling Domi!!

Nature's Pleasures

As Sophia and I sat on our front porch with the door opened, I thought I spotted something in my peripheral vision move in the foyer of my house. Looked in and saw a bird sitting on the tile. I assumed it was injured. I mean, it just stayed there, not moving for several minutes, and it's beak was opened in this odd way.

Domi gently picked it up and as soon as I saw that the bird let Domi pick it up, I'm thinking to myself, there is definitely something wrong with it and now we're gonna have to deal with this small dying bird. Domi wanted to know if we could call the vet or do something for this animal. Told him probably not. So, Domi just sat down on the bench holding and gently stroking this bird that he was genuinely worried about. After several minutes, the bird wasn't looking as weak as before, so went and grabbed my camera. Lo and behold, after this birdie had enough of looking at Domi (and my camera), it perched itself on Domi's hand and just flew away! There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. I don't know about you, but I've never had a wild bird sit in my hand for 10 minutes without trying to escape.

Mother's Day Squash Books

I made these uber cute "squash" books for the mommas as their Mother's Day gift. Even though I wanted to spend more time on them (naptimes only last for so long), and I didn't have all the materials - I like how they came out. Thanks to one of my crafty friends who showed me where to get instructions (you're awesome Gabriel!), I was able to give the moms a handmade gift they would appreciate. What mother wouldn't love a brag book full of their babe's pictures?

Say what?

...was what I wanted to cry out when I saw the numbers. For what? Total Body Fat Percentage. After getting measured and pinched throughout my body, the verdict is in. I'm overweight. (In case anybody out there was in denial like I was).

So after this reality check (and some before pictures I took of myself with very little on, in a 360 mirror -ugh!!!), my denial stage is officially over. I need to lose weight and more importantly, I WANT to now. I've never weighed this much in my entire life, so this is definitely a motivator. Our trainer is great, a female and a bit ADD, but not the militant type of trainer I worried about getting stuck with.

We worked out an hour tonight, I started my cardio on the Elliptical machine thingie and accomplished my target time and then spent 25 minutes working resistance training on my arms. The bicep curls were easier than I thought. Perhaps since I pick up kiddos throught the day (one kiddo being almost 30 pounds) that has increased my strength in that area. I'm also learning how to count the calories for my food intake since we're on a 1500-1800 restriction. Who knew a single tortilla has 110 calories!!! No bueno.

"Operation Body Back"

I'm on a mission. A mission to lose this padding that pregnancy left me with and I've got a partner to do it with - Yvonne. Wahoo!

I am ready.
I am determined.
And I want my body back.

We signed up for a Summer Shape Up at the gym and will work with a trainer for 5 sessions. They had a special that we couldn't pass up. I'm super excited about this because I will learn "how" to work out in order to achieve my personal weigh loss goals. All those machines and weights are very intimidating and I would naturally head to the tread mill because that's a no brainer, but we've learned that it isn't all about cardio, but apparently also resistance training.

I believe what is going to make this work is that I'm being held accountable. Yvonne and I are in this together, and ironically, we're the same age, AND the same weight - to the pound! The only thing I'm not pumped about is to see the dreaded numbers. We get our stats taken tonight. Something about having my "skin fold measurements" and body fat % does not sound appealing.

So we begin tonight. I won't share what my numbers are now. That's only for Yvonne and my trainer to see, but when I've dropped the weight and shed the inches, perhaps then, I'll share.

Que es el Cinco de Mayo?

Growing up on the U.S. Mexican border meant we celebrated holidays such as Cinco de Mayo. Celebrating this Mexican holiday has become increasingly popular (and very commercialized) along the U.S. Mexico border. Many people wrongly confuse Cinco de Mayo with Mexican Independence Day, which was on September 16, 1810 - nearly a fifty year difference. But what the hey! - it's an opportunity to have a celebration with great food, music, drinks, and dancing! Even though I'm over 600 miles away from home (but still in Texas), we've still been able to enjoy these festivities from time to time. A couple years ago, we were able to attend a local Cinco de Mayo festival and watched beautiful Folklorico dancers while we enjoyed savory food and cold horchata (drink made of rice, almonds, canella (cinammon), lime zest and sugar) - this drink is rumored to be a cure for a hangover and is frequently served at breakfast time (with Menudo). Even though horchata has a milky appearance, it's totally dairy-free and oh, so delicioso! During the summer of 2005, while in Juarez, Mexico, I picked up this adorable muñeca and the tiny dress below, and this year - finally have a little lady to wear it.

Just for grins, I'm sharing this photo of me wearing a Folklorico dress which was taken a couple years ago. Since I had such a large population of students that year with a Hispanic heritage, I decided to have a Cinco de Mayo unit. At the end of the week, the students and I had fun dressing up and the school got a huge kick out of my class that year.