wet

I had to wring out my underwear today.  And my socks. And 4 layers of tops.  And my sweatpants.  And I dumped water out of my shoes.  It is supposed to be like that for our tournament in Spokane this weekend.  If I get hypothermia, it was nice knowing you all.  Things to bring this year that I forgot last year: blanket, food.

The good today?  We had free breakfast at Mitzels with all the Finance Reps in the area for work.  I won a Lindt chocolate bunny.  Plus I got a new phone with a better camera so I will have better quality pictures on here.  I just have to figure out how to transfer my contacts because it isn't in our transfer machine yet, it is a smaller sized SIM card, and the only contacts that android is syncing to google is the ones I've typed in new on that phone. It will probably be until Monday, but still exciting because as someone that isn't actually selling phones, I am usually last in line for new ones. Oh, plus we got our Sounders tix sold to my parents last minute.

I am not excited to drive 5+ hours tomorrow after work though, over the snowy pass, to go play in the rain all day.  And leave cute Beans behind. Andy is excited though because he sees it as a little vacation and likes to watch me play.  I am glad he will enjoy it. :) I think I will enjoy the time in the car with him.  We are staying with my aunt Barb since she lives down the street so we will get to visit with them... well probably just my cousin Angelica because she will be the only one awake by the time we get there haha. Which is funny because they are coming next weekend for the Seattle Comic-con and Easter.  I am lucky to get a free place to stay or there would be another $50!

Ok this blog was pointless but just posting my current thoughts lol.  I will see if I have any pictures Monday :)

Smoothie

Today I decided to finally make a smoothie.  I kept reading how people eat them for breakfast to be healthy and what-not, so I had Andy get the ingredients last trip to the store.  I was going to go for one of the "green monster" receipes, but didn't have any fancy seeds or powders, and just ended up throwing in a bunch of extra fruit.

I had: blueberries, strawberries, peaches (all frozen but I thawed them in the fridge overnight), milk, spinach leaves, and a banana.

I swear I took a picture afterwards, but I guess not.  It looked gross with the green, red, and blue together lol.  It made enough to fill 2 coffee travel mugs so I took them to work: breakfast and lunch!

I forgot one minor fact: I don't get full unless I am eating some sort of bread or fat LOL oops. I had one at like 9:30 then was starving again by noon.  I ate some of my frozen cheeseburgers with it.  So much for being healthy hehe.  I guess I got nutrients in though.  It didn't taste bad either :)  Just kind of foamy.

I have been trying to get back to shape after my couple months off.  I didn't gain a ton of weight or anything, but I don't think my endurance is where it was.  I was pretty proud though because last night after a long practice of fitness, she had us to the "moose run" (sprint the width of the field, jog 10, sprint again, etc all the way down and back so it was like a big snake) and I finished 2nd :)  For someone with my shape (short, muscular (heavy) legs built more for sprinting), it was a good accomplishment to not be built for distance lol.

Today was a good food day overall- we got a rotisserie chicken and french bread (my favorite).  Sawyer hasn't been eating much of anything lately- even when he asks for things, but he ate a huge pile of "broccy" and "harrots" and a couple pieces of bread.  I was worried he was getting picky, but I think he just stopped growing so fast.

This weekend I'm in for it- it is fool's fest in Spokane.  Davey and Moraima will be staying at our house with Sawyer.  It is at least 3 games and the altitude there makes you gassed after like 5 minutes. Eek!  I keep reminding myself it made me lose the baby weight though, and I want to be back to tip top shape before we have another little bugger.  Plus, gotta be bikini-ready for the summer! ;)

Did I mention?

Have I mentioned I started a photography page on facebook?  It is facebook.com/amymonsonfamilyphotography Some people have been nagging at me to start one, complete with links to some (I hate to say it) not-very-talented people with pages and insisted I start one.

Anyways, yesterday we went to the Sounders game and had quite a lot of fun.  Kyndyl watched Sawyer all night for us, and we were glad to hear they both had a good time.  We weren't sure how Sawyer would act since he didn't know her so well, but he treated her like everyone else lol.  Sounders won!

Today we went to Point Defiance to take pictures of Renee and Jamie since he is deploying again for awhile.  Since it was so un-manly, he insisted on playing Slayer and kept saying how he needs to go shoot some stuff afterwards lol!

After, since we were there, we went to eat at Anthony's.  They forgot Sawyer's food, which was annoying because making someone his age wait for food while he sees food is hardly even possible.  When he got his grilled cheese, he just peeled off all the cheese lol!  He loved looking at the boats out the window though.

After that, we went home intending to take a walk, but Andy started falling asleep in the car (he obviously didn't crash us though lol). So he and beany took a nap.  Then I did (on accident) and there went the entire day! It was like 6 hours worth of sleeping for us haha!  We cut Sawyer's hair, and watched Cars twice....again. He actually asked for "mouse" though (Micky Mouse) so we got a little Cars break.  Hopefully the weather is nice again tomorrow so we can do some more outdoor activities!

park n ride

So, I just wanted to post a few pics of the past few days.

My leg bruise is still not obvious, but it hurts. Boo.  Luckily we don't have a game this weekend so I can heal up :)  The light brown blob you can barely see above my ankle up to the dark circle is not a shadow, its the bruise. That dark circle is my scar from last year still lol.

Yesterday, Andy's friend and coworker got stuck in the snow at Crystal Mountain in his propane truck.  Andy, as the salary worker, had to go up and get him out.  He was gone all day from 6am to 10pm!  I ended up taking Beany to the park.  The slides at that park were really steep but I think he liked it.

Today, a guy at Andy's work gave him a radio flyer bike.  It is like a bike with training wheels, but you can't take the trainers off.  It is complete with music sounds, a horn, and turn signals lol!  Sawyer loved it.

We also decided today to actively encourage him to potty train.  I'm going to buy him some undies so he won't ruin our floor, but will know when he pees.  My mom was telling me how we were potty trained by 18 months so it is possible (not to mention people I know were too), and it is probably best to take advantage now while he is very interested in it before he doesn't want to again.

Also (poor kid) we are just going to take away his binkies and put them somewhere he can't see.  He only asks for them when he can see one somewhere, so I don't think it will be too hard- especially because the kids at daycare are all off them.  I think we will wait until after next week though because Janelle is in Texas so her sister is watching him, but Janelle took the boys with her so he has had no friends.  I don't want to traumatize him while he is already sad lol.  He got to skype with them yesterday though and I guess he liked that.

Random hair update: I have actually been spraying apple cider vinegar on my hair in the shower (just the bottom) and it doesn't smell at all once I rinse and dry.  It is actually kind of nuts because it feels grippy in the shower (like how it does when I don't condition) but miraculously I can brush through my wet hair perfectly which is way more than I could say if I didn't condition.  I wonder how that works?  Maybe it is only because I have started looking closely at my hair now, but I also have a lot of highlights in my hair and I haven't highlighted my hair since high school.  One of the two is lightening it I think!

Potties

Our downstairs bathroom is usable!  It is painted, the shelf is up, the shower curtain came, the door is back on, the toilet has completely fixed (thanks genius Andy) and I am temporarily satisfied with the gray towel.  They didn't put in a T-P holder though so we have an awkward situation around the toilet with a weird shelf, but I am quite satisfied with how it is now :)  Here is Sawyer cheesin' with his newly found megaphone.

We had a little progress with the other potty as well.  Don't get me wrong, we aren't pressuring or trying to potty train him at all.  We honestly aren't home enough to even do anything.  Today though, he dirtied his diaper, came over to me and tapped me going "pee! pee!" (he actually went #2 but whatevs) then said "potty!" and ran upstairs to his potty and started taking off his pants.  I helped him get naked and he sat there for awhile before I wiped his bum and he helped me flush the TP down.  He was so excited.  He wouldn't leave it so I had to take it downstairs so he could sit for awhile longer until he finally said "all done!"  Even though he told me AFTER he went, I still think it is a good sign he is recognizing it.

It's a little late for mardi gras

Here is what Sawyer learned on St. Patrick's day.  We got a preview yesterday.



"how do you get your beads?" lol

I also wanted to post that Sawyer is scaring the crap out of me now because he has started going down the stairs forwards and stepping down, instead of crawling backwards down.  Eek!

I hate posting weekend blogs

Weekend blogs mean the weekend is over.  *le sigh*

We had another full one, but what's new?

Friday we both had a pretty crappy day.  Andy was so late home that I had to go pick up Sawyer (I hate hate hate traffic), get gas (hate hate hate getting gas, Andy normally does that for me), and stop at the ATM to pay Janelle (also hate making stops in rush hour).  We decided to treat ourselves to Indian at Karma.  There was a "dinner for two" we decided to try because it came with a lot of stuff.  Boy was that a good choice.

First came the apps.  They tasted pretty traditional- Andy liked them a lot and Sawyer too.  I thought they were OK.  I almost died after putting a tiny drop of red sauce in my mouth.  Eyes watery, coughing, the whole shebang.

 Then came the meal: chicken curry, a pick from the vegetarian menu (we had the korma), tandoori chicken on vegetables, and naan.  They have such good naan there, I think they flame cook it or something.  It was all so good, but I think that vegetable korma would be on my last meal menu. It had everything in there, potatoes, carrots, peas, broccoli, all in the delicious sauce.

 And guess what, Sawyer liked it!  We ordered everything on a level 1 spice this time haha.

 It came with rice pudding and sugary balls that remind me of the stuff the old lady handed out at the Sikh church for us to eat during the service.  Rice pudding is meh, but it was like the most delicious, refreshing treat after eating spicy foods!

It was a lot of food so we still have a meal left :)

Saturday we woke up to snow. I was worried, but it melted and ended up not too cold!  We had a rugby game at 1:30 against Budd Bay (Olympia).  We had to loan some of our players to them, but all of their players they had were the ones that joined our team last season and they are really good.  I was so proud of us because we still beat them and didn't let them get any good runs in!

I played fly-half for the first half.  Towards the end I got hit with something (shin?, head?) right in my shin so I had a hard time walking the rest of the day. I'm a little sad the bruise that resulted isn't so big, because it still hurts and I have nothing to show for it!  It was a fun game though, my parents, grandparents, and Erik and Destiny came to watch.  A couple people I don't know even came up to me and said I was really good and were like "who is that?" so I felt really good :)

Here is me and Leslie (she had to play for the other team) haha!

Afterwards, I bathed in the parking lot with baby wipes (it was MUDDY).  I put on my rave green (it WAS st. patty's day) and we headed off to the opening game for the SOUNDERS!!!  We did the march to the match, and they won 3-1 (free haircuts!)

I found this sweet alley by Pioneer Square:

We got home and Beany was asleep in his little St. Patrick's shirt on the floor of Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I was so tired, but took the time to ice my leg so it didn't explode in bruise!


Sunday (today), we tried to take it easy a little.  I did 8 loads of laundry and cleaned the car (rugby and ski stuff had completely overwhelmed it- it was a disaster in there).  Andy finished painting the bathroom (YAY!)  And my parents had us over for delicious enchiladas.

My dad had to move the cars around, and Sawyer wasn't letting "Bamba" leave, so he let Sawyer take his first drive.

Destiny and Erik went and got stuff for awesome milkshakes

We came home to work on the house some more.  I wish there was more time on weekends to get more things done and relax, but I guess doing things is what life is about, haha. Back to the old grind tomorrow, boo.

A little update

Here's an update on my new cleansing methods:

I have used said methods for 2 days now.  Let me tell you, it is against nature to rub a handful of oil on your face.  I have done it twice now before bed, and it is actually a little relaxing.  Its like a little massage followed by a steam spa treatment.  If you try it yourself, don't wear a shirt.  I soaked one as the wet cloth dripped.  I was expecting the worst the next morning, but I woke up looking...normal!  I actually went the entire day without getting face oil as usual.  With the stress (ok it isn't that much stress) of work and the day, I usuall could wipe my face mid-day and get a little shine.  I went the entire day looking NORMAL. My eyeshadow wasn't creased as much as usual either.  I think I am a believer.  I will give it a week to see if I break out though, but it is definitely oil-controlling.

My hair looks ok as well.  I have to say that I think my head is a little itchy.  It must be dry.  Maybe if I wash less often it will not be like that, but with rugby I have had mud in there lately.  It is a little tougher to comb my hair because I don't want to put conditioner at the top of my head (since I am trying to eliminate chemicals) but it has been ok at the base where I have been putting a little.  I think it is definitely a money saving method though, as I have only used one tablespoon of baking soda to one cup water the first day, and I am only half way through that first batch.  I just kind of pour it on the top of my head after wetting it and "massage" (though it is just water-looking so there isnt really anything to scrub), then wash it off later in the shower.  Still not willing to try the vinegar.  I heard beer has similar qualities, but it doesn't sound cheap going through a beer in the shower so often.

Update on life:

We have just been doing the same-old.  Work, rugby, dinner, a little TV, and errands seems to bring us our days.  Our bathroom isn't done, but I found shelves at Target at least.

Update on Sawyer:

Sawyer loves his "Cars" toys.  I don't know why we bother to have any other ones.  He just drives Mater and McQueen around all day.  He is really starting to understand his actions more.  He is learning please more (he used it about 5 months ago as a means to get things but didn't know what it meant, just that if he points at something and said "please" he would get it).  He really understands the meeting of sorry.  If he hits or yells, Andy will take him aside and say "NO hitting" and he will walk over to me and give me a hug all sad and say "Horry" without having to ask him. He does the same thing if he hurts you (like accidentally steps on you) and you say "owww" he will go "hurt?"  you tell him "yes" and he will pat you on the head and say "Horry".  He also seems to understand everything now- we can ask him questions "Do you want more?" "Nope. All-done!" or "Do you want to go to bed" "Yeah" or "Will you bring me your jacket and shoes" "Yeah (does)."  He still has an attitude though...wonder where he got that from?  I will have to post a video soon too because he sings "Twinkle Twinkle" so cute complete with motions.

It's natural

Today starts the no 'poo.

Contrary to the picture of the castor oil I will be posting below, it is not what you think.  Let me rewind a bit.

A few months ago, when pinterest started to be cool and I actually checked it often, I found a recipe for a 'make your own laundry detergent'.  I was super interested because you could wash your clothes for pennies!  After quite a bit of research though, I heard the same thing: borax is bad.  It's illegal in several countries like Germany.  It produces reproductive issues (how the Duggars use it is beyond me).  My dreams were crushed as I could not find a single recipe without borax.  I loved the idea of making my own products though.

Yesterday, an old friend of mine from Jr. High posted on her facebook to google the "oil cleansing method" and she said "you're welcome."  She said she has been using it for a month and her face has been perfect, soft, and not oily at all.  Basically, you combine castor oil and another carrier oil (like extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil, or flaxseed oil) and massage it into your face.  You then put a hot cloth on your face a few times and wipe away the oil.  It is supposed to be the perfect combo of moisturizers and cleans your skin while leaving good oils on your skin (they don't clog pores).  My friend says the next morning there isn't any oil slick or anything.

I had to try it, it sounds exactly like my issue.  My skin gets oily quick, but feels dry underneath.  Your skin produces a lot of oil to make up for the oil you get rid of when cleaning it and your skin dries out while becoming more oily.  Yuck.

While searching for the recipe again today, I found a link to a blog that the lady had been using that for a while and loved it.  She had posted a link to her new "poo-free" (no shampoo) regimen as well.  I decided that I might as well take a stab at it since I am already doing crazy things.  Basically you wash your hair with baking soda which doesn't use any of the harsh chemicals that is in shampoo, and rinse with apple cider vinegar.  Eventually your hair doesn't need to be washed often because it isn't producing oil to make up for the chemicals in the shampoo.

I have always been a daily shampooer.  Some people I know can go 2-3 days.  Lately I have been trying to skip a day or two a week, but by the end of the 2nd day, I need to wear a ponytail and head band.  I would really like to be able to go longer and have better looking hair in the process...this seems to be the answer.  My only reservation is the vinegar...the smell makes me sick, and my hair holds smells forever.  I think I am going to have to skip on the vinegar part (which is the conditioning agent) and just use my regular conditioner for awhile...until maybe I try a natural oil instead.  Or take a time when I don't have to work for a few days and try it then.  Some people said the smell left their hair as soon as they rinsed, while others it lasted days (eww).  The only bad part about this is there is a "training" period for your hair to get used to it.  It might take a few weeks (hopefully not months) to train your head to produce less oils, so I might have greasy looking hair for a few weeks.  I guess it will be daily ponytails for me for a little while.  Some people are able to transition quickly though, and I'm crossing my fingers!

Today I mixed my first batches.  I will try the oils tonight, and the baking soda in the morning.

I also bought vitamin E for my scars as I've heard great things about its scar-vanishing qualities.  The baking soda has the potential to save me a TON of money in shampoo.  That tiny bottle of castor oil was like $5, so it isn't going to be as much of a money saver as just a great skin product (hopefully).  It is cheaper than Proactiv though!  I will be sure and update how things are going in the future!

If you want to try these methods yourself, here are some links:

Oil method: http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

Baking soda shampoo: http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/

Green Box Day!

Yesterday was green box day!  Once a year our Sounders tickets show up in a plain green box and it is one of the best surprises to come home to!

I actually like the scarves this year (the green is better in person).  Last year they had the "sounders" side in blue and it wasn't as cool when everyone was raising their scarves because the sea of green is always more visible.

After we found the box, Erik and Destiny came over for dinner.  Andy made the biggest burgers I have ever seen.  They were good, but it was like a meatloaf per person.  It wasn't even able to cook all the way through lol.  I had him make mine smaller after seeing Erik try to eat his.  This picture doesn't seem to be diong it justice, but if you compare it to the size of his hand, the meat was like 2 inches thick haha!

We watched The Voice and Destiny mentioned milkshakes.  I didn't even realize we had the stuff for it.  I had a delicious vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce, fudge, and banana with whip on top.  Here is destiny's about to go with strawberry ice cream and a banana.  They were SO good.  I need to remember to make those more.

I am switching inventory days to Tuesdays, and today we woke up early to a winter wonderland.

Of course when I picked up Sawyer he took off into the wet yard so I had to chase him down.  He just wanted to drive his car.

We got home and took a 3 hour nap before I headed off to rugby...which was only an hour long because apparently cold weather means only 8 people show up :(  Hopefully more decide to come Thursday because our first home match against Budd Bay is this Saturday at 1:30!

Saturday's a rugby day

This was a pretty relaxing weekend :)

Apparently to the Tacoma Sirens, Saturday's a rugby day...even if the other team doesn't have numbers and cancels.  So, we played ourselves.  Yep, we have so many new players that we actually had enough numbers to put on a game against ourselves!

It was actually pretty fun.  We played 12 vs 13 (we had 12) the first half and my side still won despite how she tried to even us up.  The second half was 13 vs 15 and they finally scored a little.  I even scored a try :)  It was a good learning experience, especially for the girls that haven't played a game yet.  I got kicked in the face at the end though :( I have a nice scratch by my lip, and the inside of my mouth is cut up from my braces.  My knees are also killing me because they were bleeding at the end for some reason.

Afterwards, we were starving so we went to Crockets Public House downtown Puyallup.  Mmm-mm. It is pretty good and my appetite was huge and I ate the entire plate of my flagship burger.  Sawyer inhaled a half of a tomato, and the nice lady (owner possibly?) brought him a scoop of ice cream for free :)

That night we started painting the downstairs bathroom.  I am going for a light, airy, almost beachy but without the shells feel.  If anyone has any decoration suggestions, please send them my way.  I don't want it very colorful, mainly blue and white but I don't want white towels so I'm stuck.  

Side note: Don't get wood floors if you plan on having children.  You can always put resolve on carpet, but even after monitoring Sawyers toys, he has managed to dent the crap out of our floor in the mere 3 months we've lived here.  Yesterday Andy had the door leaning against the wall and he managed to escape our watch for long enough to knock it over and the handle dented the floor while scratching the wall.

Sunday we started out by relaxing- always nice.  I was getting bored though so we went to find something for the bathroom.  We were hungry so we went to Don's drive-in downtown.  Sawyer was kind of embarrassing because while we were waiting, he kept screaming "BURGER!" all angry because we told him he was getting one but he didn't have it yet.  It is a tiny space so the few people there were staring :/

We had smitty burgers and chili fries.

Sawyer was being adorable and only eating fries after dipping them in tartar sauce.  That's m'boy!

I think he likes ketchup.  

We hit up a couple thrift stores and I was annoyed because the last time I went to the Goodwill on the hill there were about 50 mason jars (I just wanted a few) and we had to go to 3 thrift stores and all we could find was 3 at the very last one.  I DID find this sweet jug with a little handle though.  I temporarily put these purple flowers in it until I find something cool to do with it.

I ended up making these for the bathroom.  I hope you can see them.  I filled mason jars with sand and put flowers and little beachy looking fuzzy flower things in them.  I'll post a picture of the bathroom when it is all done and I figure out what to do.  I have a frilly cream colored shower curtain on the way so I'm trying to keep it white-ish.  

If anyone knows where to find a shelf that you just hang on the wall, let me know.  We have looked all over!  If I leave it on that metal thing, I'm afraid Sawyer will shake them down.

We finished off the night by me making cookies.  I burnt them a little though :/  I feel bad because Andy likes them soft, but I like them a little burnt.  This time was on accident though, oops!  Nothing is better than warm cookies and milk though, even if they are a little over-cooked!

Whew, that was long!  Before I forget I wanted to add this picture of Sawyer playing with his ne-nos. He hooks Mater's tow rope on Lightning McQueen and tows him around just like in the movie, it is so cute.

Typical Wednesdays

This past Wednesday was another great Wednesday.

*I apologize in advance for all the fuzzy pictures.  I'm not sure what was going on with my phone camera!*


First, I got off work and picked up Sawyer to head to my orthodontist appointment.  For the first time in forever he was wide awake and nobody was there to watch him so he had to sit on my lap.  I let him wear the sweet stunna shades.  Grandma bought him a new ne-no (lightning mcqueen) so he was distracted at least, but he insisted on sitting at the edge of the chair which made me nervous that he would take off at any second!

Next we stopped at DQ.  Mmmm.  I had an Ultimate Cheeseburger (have you had one? So good!) and strawberry shake (they make them with real strawberries straight from the farm, I know because I worked there) and he had a cheeseburger. 

Next he got a haircut.


Its kind of hard to tell here haha!

 Then we had our last night at little gym for free :(  I wish it was worth the money to keep sending him, but $75 for 4 classes is just so steep!  He LOVES it there though.  I will do a post later with all the vieos since I know some of you have asked to see them, but being at work I will just post the last pictures.

The class always starts with the shakers and the hello song

Then we played with the sticks to a song.  Sawyer was so good with them, he spun it around like a baton, balanced it on his head, put it between his knees, and jumped over it to the music.

They made a tunnel with the parachute and mats

One of the last parts of class is bubbles.  They all run over with their shirts up so she can blow tummy bubbles.

The last thing before going home is getting stamps!

It was definitely fun to go.  I'm glad my mom won that month.  Hopefully we can do more gym in the future.