We Are Blessed To Camp In Our Own Backyard

The start, don't believe his face. This guy is pumped.

I'm working hard contributing to the documentation part.

If you want a cooked marshmallow, here's your guy!

Our wonderful campsite

Gosh, these two are cute!

Now time for shadow puppets and goodnight!

Behind the Colors

"We are no longer happy as soon as we wish to be happier."

For every woman there is usually at least one feature she will ultimately try to enhance. So why do we play this game of seeking out compliments only to change whatever it was we got compliments for in the first place? Answer: We have been told a real woman was never good enough to begin with. Statistics show 75% of normal women think they are overweight. 90% of women overestimate their body size, and 50% of American women are currently dieting. Not that I am against being conscious of what you are putting into your hands which ultimately decides what you put in your body. My focus is more on being healthy and balanced. "7 in 10 Girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way including their looks, performance in school and relationship with friends and family members." -girls self esteem


I was recently given some intriguing information from my Mom about what an E.R. experience at a hospital is like. You are rushed in and one of the first things the nurses will do is put medicine patches all over you.  They do this because if only takes twenty seconds for your body to absorb something on the surface of your skin. Therefore you are getting the medicine almost instantly. So this poses the question, what is in our make up, soaps, lotions and cremes that we are absorbing within twenty seconds too? Find out what your products have in them at skindeep


At some point over the course of seven years I asked Richard his view of ruffles. He laughed and began to explain that ruffles are feminine which is probably why we women like them. Basically when women wear ruffles, it's for other women. Within a few short months I also read an article stating that a company had taken a woman in heels and asked a panel of men there view of her. They next only switched her shoes to flats and asked another panel of men their views. The conclusion was the men found the woman to be just as attractive with flats to heels. They did the same with a woman in red lipstick and without the red lipstick. The result was quite similar to the first, most men showed equal interest to the woman but some men said the lipstick was actually a turn off.  Not one man ever complained about the woman when not wearing lipstick. 


So WHO are we dressing for? Who are we wearing all this toxic make up for? And why are we hurting our feet and killing our backs if guys like some cute ballet flats? Get Real With Barbie I still wear mascara in our date nights feeling a bit prettier even though I didn't have it on all week around him. Ultimately we all have our red lipstick mentality. I'm am the anti-Barbie and nude is my new red. 

Earth Mammas

I had another great phone call today with My Abbey ( I know she's not just mine but this is what I call her) and she told em about their plans for her oldest son, Gino's fall break in September. They are planning on staying at an organic homestead in North Georgia for the week. A homestead is an educational center and farm where you can stay for a short visit or a long one to work and live at their farm. Perez Family of five (3 children under he age of 7) plan to stay over night for several days while enjoying the benefits of milking the goats and gathering eggs in the mornings and picking seasonal fruits and vegetables for snacks. And being alongside workers at the farm who are providing care to the animals.

She told me she looked up Hawaii which also has some homesteads. This got me thinking... then I found this! kahumanafarms.org less than 35 minutes away on our same coast. Amazing! I am suuuuper pumped, but I also want to confirm their are no farms in our more local Pupukea area. THE slogan, yes there is a slogan for the North Shore is keep the country country. We live in an amazing place and I have been so thankful to have so many local resources for food. I have already come into contact with a local farmer who offers seasonal and fresh baskets refills every Monday afternoon who literally lives on the closest dirt road to our son's school. Amazing how things just fall into place! Vote on the Farm Bill

Talking with Abbey reminded me of Laura's experience with staying at a farm last year. T-man was less than 6 months as I can recall and he, Laura and Xavier all went to help clean up their farmers property. By doing so they camped in a tent. She got home she showed us she was covered in bites from...chiggers. Curs-ed southern chiggers you got another one of us!

I've recently been talking to several newly pregnant friends all of which either want to be as natural as possible either for their first time or go more natural their second. I am delighted to be a part of the pregnancy to encourage and support in anyway possible. I love being able to share how much food can effect our bodies as well as our little ones.


My new favorite read is by far Alicia Silverstone's the kind diet , who lives a vegan lifestyle and was a healthy vegan through her whole pregnancy! Yes, she gained weight, check it out if you are interested. Whether your'e vegan or not it the importance of how to choose your food. Buying seasonal, local and the way a farmer slaughters their  animals are the three most important things I have learned in buying food. Does your food have pesticides in them even after you wash?

My Lovely Linlys

 My beautiful girls share Lyn & Lin in their names. We are big on nicknames, if I give you one I do it out of love. With our last name Lee, we accidentally created a wonderful nickname for the both of them. Therefore the nickname Linly was created. Now Ava 3 1/2 and Quin 20 months I can already see how close their bond is. I simply adore them.

You float and fly and I sing for you

You grow and give and I go with you

You love and live and I pray for you

You create and stand and call to you

You ache and hurt and I shelter you

You take rest and be and I will wait for you

Every memory that I can recall started and ended with you

Though we stood nearly the same height, we saw two different views 

Without you I'd have no one to share my room, my clothes, my toys

without you I'd have no one to share my hurts or my joys

When your'e around I laugh a bit louder and smile a bit more

My sister it is you I will always adore

Dublin Time

Erin Go Bragh! For those of you who don't know this Irish term it means: Ireland forever. My sister is getting ready to go to what is our homeland and we couldn't be more excited for her. She is planning to live abroad for 3 months in Dublin, Ireland but before she does she came to visit us one more time before leaving at the end of August.On both sides of my family we are Irish. As well as Richard is Irish on his moms side. When Richard and I plan out our daydream vacation without the kids we talk about backpacking through Ireland. Seeing the huge rocky edges along the coast, the lush green hills, touring the local pubs(I don't drink beer but why would I not see the pubs?) and staying in hostiles or our new friends through couchsurfing.

(side note)A common theme I have noticed about the Irish, they are quick to do 4 things:

1. make babies
2. get in fights with anyone
3. drink alcohol for any occasion
4. have red in our skin whether we're drinking or not

Alyssa spent the week visiting and playing with us, it was wonderful. She always makes me so relaxed because she's the one person that can be in are home where the kids are half naked and I'm yelling at them for fighting and being half naked and she just smiles and helps alleviate some of the stress. We stayed up most nights talking on the couch, playing games and personality quizzes. She even got to play the "bad guy aka me" and put the girls to bed again for the 3rd time. Thrilling!

I can't say enough about how nice it was to have her stay with us, she got to sleep in The Boy's room and he bunked on the trundle of the girls bed. A little strange I'm sure, but she'd never complain partly because she's easy to please and partly because everyone wants to sleep in a boat bed.

Her newest adventures will be great for sure but of course I needed to feel like I was apart of this journey so.... I insisted she bring and wear my trench coat! Oh, the joys of being in Hawaii and the seasons never shifting too far from late spring. I'm so looking forward to seeing all the places she goes so she can recommend them for us in give or take ten years, haha. Until we see each other next sweet Alyssa and sweet Ireland, stay beautiful and Erin Go Bragh!

Ode To Date Night

 Our first date night since moving here. The food took unusually long, which we had all the time in the world so I didn't mind. It was delicious, fresh fish and sushi has been such a treat upon arriving here.  We tried just taking one at the restaurant but our camera was sensitive to how close Richard was holding it. So we got home and Alyssa took these... Thank you our sweet sis and thank you Richard for taking me!

We plan to add more date pictures in December when we are having our first trip away (just Richard and I) since our son's been born. Our anniversary is in December and Alyssa comes back in mid-December. She has really been encouraging and we can't wait!!!!! We are going to be staying near by on the North Shore BUT it will be just us for  a day or so and won't have to have fun based on a nap schedule, unless it's our own.

Feeding Forgiveness Part 2

I had an awesome phone call today. A much needed and appreciated phone call from my cousin. Sometimes when there is too much time questions can be created. Not that questions don't come around when there is little time but when you have large gaps of distance due to distraction, questions appear. One of the question that lingered for the both of us was " Does she still have time for me?" and " Am I still important?"

Despite our efforts time is not on our side. We make excuses, we all are legitimately busy, a little too busy. Something I don't enjoy about my life is how busy we can get. Now a days it takes little effort to be busy and much more effort to be available. I want to be more available, I am choosing to be more present. It was so nice to catch up, break down worries, and simply just hear her voice. She has always been a treasured person to me, I grew up seeing her every holiday and every summer for most of my life. We did it all wore matching dresses, planned which spice girl we were going to be, even terrorized the neighborhood boys together. I am happy to see how loved she is by her fiance and continue to be impressed with her independence.

Today was an encouraging day and a reminder that even when you aren't talking, someone is. We all have that little voice telling us things, and they are normally destructive comments. Since we cannot ever fully eliminate that voice we can at least dull it down with truth and effort in our relationships. She is getting married in October and I am hoping to have a front row seat their whether it be through Skype or not. I love you SVS. You will always be my Syd The Kid!