Thanksgiving Turkey Family Hands Craft

Last year we made a family turkey hand print.  It was such an easy craft to make!  I used ROY G. BIV to decide colors so there wouldn't be any squabbles.  No more babies in this house, so there won't be indigo or violet! I also wanted to use the same colors each year so that we can see the kids hand size progression.  I can't wait to get started on this years!  My husband was the exception.  He was brown for the base of the turkey and ol Roy doesn't have an appreciation for turkey color.  After it dried I drew a face on him, the turkey not my husband, and we put each persons name, color and what they were thankful for on the back.  So much fun and I love looking back at how little everyone's hand was and what they were thankful for.  In just a few years we are going to have one fat turkey!

Join me over the next three weeks for my yearly Thankful Thursdays in November.  I am really grateful for so many people this year and I love the time for reflection.

I'm gonna party like its my birthday, because it is!

It's Friday!  But even better its my birthday!  A lot of people don't make a big deal about their birthday the older they get but I keep making a bigger deal out of it every year.  I'm entering the last year of my 20's.  If you're in your 30's or whatever don't hate, I'll be there soon enough.  I spent my 20's having babies, 4 babies.  That means 3 whole years of my 20's were spent pregnant.  You're not jealous anymore are you?  Pregnant, nursing and fat is how I spent the majority of them.  At 29 I am the skinniest I have been in my 20's and I'm going to crush this last year.  I lost a lot of weight in the last year and being so close to my goal and close to hitting the big 30 has me more motivated than ever.  Bring it 29.

So I bet you're wondering how I'm going to spend my fabulous day, right?  Well first I'm dropping the kids off at school and getting my birthday coffee from Starbucks.  I'm getting the biggest and most caloric thing I can with a shot of espresso.  Then I'm going to Walgreen's to pick up some prescriptions for the littles.  Brace yourself for these awesome things: laundry, dishes, mopping the kitchen (its only been 2 days but for real its gross), calling the dentist to set up my x-ray, calling and setting up my hair appt (mama's getting her hair did) and taking a nap with the little ones.  I know, pure awesomeness.  We're having grilled cheese for dinner outside because its my birthday and that's what and where I want to eat.  Remember I'm going to hard core mop the floor so I'll be damned if it gets some crazy amount of dinner on it, just give me a few hours of clean okay kids?  I'm making Dale take a walk with me 29 times for my present starting with tonight. I want him to live forever (or just The Notebook style and as long as I do) and secretly I know he will become addicted to it especially if he does it 29 times.  I have walking withdrawals from not going yesterday.  We are going to sing happy birthday (for the umpteenth time) and eat ice cream and maybe a spoon of Nutella and have extra snuggles and extra stories because its my birthday and I get to spend it with the people I hold most dear in the world.

Perhaps the best present I got this year was from my Mom's surgeon who called her with her pathology report saying they did indeed get all of her cancer.  She doesn't have to have anymore surgeries (the next one would have been really, really risky) and no chemo.  She is a survivor for the second time in my life.  Best present ever because I know it could have just as easily been the hardest birthday I've ever had full of uncertainty and sadness.  Best present ever.  I'm going to rock 29.

Ellie in her new glasses, I love her.

My favorite swing buddies.

My favorite Thunder player, number 10.

This guy who happens to be the love of my life.  Who told me to hurry up and finish blogging because I only had a  little bit of young left in me :) and I should spend it with him!

Epsom Salt Vanilla Mint Hand Scrub

Did you try some of the Brown Sugar Epsom Salt Body Scrub I made?  Well here is another recipe to keep in the kitchen to make your hands extra soft and smooth.  The ingredients are simple, it smells good and most importantly it works!

What you need:
Heaping 1/4 cup of Epsom Salt
1/8 cup of Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh mint (finely chopped if fresh, mine was dried)

Mix your ingredients together and enjoy.  I like to use mine after I'm done doing the dishes.  I like to rub it all over my hands and massage each palm and fingers, then rinse well in warm water.  It takes about 2 minutes total but its a great way to sneak in some pampering and do something nice for yourself.  The great thing about the olive oil is that it doesn't leave an oily residue like the Brown Sugar Scrub which works fine on your body but you don't really want on your hands.  My hands work hard crafting, baking and cleaning which can leave them looking not so elegant.  This restores them and helps me look fabulous, even if its just a trip to Target.