Ok guys, I’m not gonna lie. It’s been hard to blog this past week! My husband is home (yippee!!) and we had a ton of family in town for my Birthday and Easter, which meant that I was having too much fun to sit at the computer.
So, I’m back at it…sorry to leave you hanging for so long.
I have lots of great posts planned – I got those new shower filters and I’m in LOVE with them…I have an amazing solution for filling your home with delicious scent that can actually boost your immune system rather than hurting it like traditional fragrances, I want to share with you my absolute favorite bath products for babies and kiddos as well as cheap, healthy, and earth-friendly filler for plating pots (under the dirt)….I could go on.
Anyhow, for now, I wanted to just give a recap of the weekend.
I turned 30. {I actually just typed 20 by mistake…I’m sure that was a total accident} I blogged about that HERE.
My parents and youngest sister came in town the day before…just a few days after my sister and her little girl left after almost a week together. Seeing the cousins together was precious, and my sister and I got to really catch up, which was wonderful.
I had just what I wanted for my birthday: family, peace and calm, and good food.
We spent the morning just lazing about, drinking coffee and playing with the boys. For lunch we visited a great local place that makes delicious crepes. I had “roasted pear with balsamic”…so delicious.
My husband snuck a Nutella one in for dessert, and I was thrilled to find out that they use Nutella that is imported from Italy, so it is made with real sugar, real cocoa, real vanilla, etc. instead of the artificial junk we get here in the U.S.
(P.S. – on that note: did you know that because the United States allows all kinds of toxic crap in our food that other countries do not, most major brands manufacture pure, quality foods for the other countries, and sell us the artificial, GMO stuff? Maddening, huh?…anyway, that’s a whole other post altogether.)
Ok, so after lunch my dad and husband took care of the boys while my mom, sister and I got manicures and pedicures I avoid most of the chemicals that come with these by going to high-quality spas and bring a few things along with me for them to use instead of their products.
I just say that I have sensitive skin (which is true) and they are more than happy to use my scrubs and lotions. I also just opt for the “buff and shine” rather than polish to further avoid getting those nasty chemicals in my body. You can also seek out spas that have really great ventilation systems, as well as ones that do those smelly acrylic manicures in separate rooms to keep you from breathing in fumes the whole time.
Anyhow, THAT was really relaxing and I may have fallen asleep during the foot massage.
We went home and mom prepared dinner, and Henry decorated my cake. I really didn’t want a big sugary treat, so we bought a tiny flourless cake (Henry insisted that it isn’t a birthday without cake!) from a local baker, Lucy’s Kitchen, who uses organic flours, cane sugar, pastured eggs, etc. and we let Henry decorate it with raw whipped cream and organic berries.
It was perfect.
He also picked out a tiara while out shopping with my mom that he wanted for me to wear, so although tiaras are not generally part of my wardrobe, when you are a mom, you do these sorts of things.
I then opened gifts from my family: gold sandals from my sister, a back massager and top from my parents, a bracelet from Henry, and antique butter dish and dish towels from Miles, and my precious Husband, who is always amazing at gifts, got me a new purse, hunter rain boots (in Navy), and wrapped up a Chemex from our Baby Girl…so sweet.
It was around this time that Miles started acting sickly. He is such a tough guy that it took me 3 days to discover that he had an ear infection. Poor little fella. I was somehow able to get him to keep this cotton ball in his ear. I added a few drops of tea tree oil to help draw out the infection.
We got in a ton of snuggle time, but it was the sickest either of our kids had ever been. Once we started doing the garlic ear oil he got better very quickly. It also didn’t help that he was cutting his top two molars at the same time.
I blogged about helping a baby recover from illness quickly HERE.
Once he was feeling better, the weather also started to get warmer, so we all spent an afternoon outside planting up my big pots in the front yard, another gift from my parents. We left plenty of room for adding some herbs once I can get them at the Farmer’s Market – hopefully this weekend!
On Saturday we decorated easter eggs with Henry. I made my own dye with beets, paprika, and blueberries. They turned out so pretty! But of course, I forgot to take any pictures…I told you we were having fun!
For Easter we actually didn’t even go to church. Miles was still sluggish and so Mom and I wanted to stay with him. The boys were going to go, but then at the last minute, we all decided to just stay home and be together.
We had bought an amazing grass-fed leg of lamb from River Cottage Farm that mom prepared with yukon gold potatoes and carrots, with a side of roasted asparagus for dinner. It was amazing. Once again, I got so excited to eat that I forgot to take any pictures.
Whew, so, I think that’s it! Oh, we also watched Lincoln…amazing movie.
Alright, so I’m getting really excited about sharing some of these new ideas with you all – stay tuned!
live well. be well.
