Coloring Quotes For Thanksgiving

And they are free from me to you!  Click this link to print them out. 

Thanksgiving coloring quotes.

Thinking Tree books in Categories! (& Ideas for using them!)

 We have loved using the Thinking Tree books for over a year now (and longer if you include the Dyslexia Games books that we have used on and off for about 3 years too!  Which started back when I was learning about Right Brain dominant learners.)

There are SO many books by them and they are a different style than we are used to seeing (great for the right brain dominant learners!) But that can make it confusing to know which to pick.  I thought it would be helpful to share some ideas about the types of books (in categories) and a few ideas on how someone could plan to use them.

Many people have wondered how these books work and how they can use them.  I've broken the books down into a rough 8 categories to make it easier for people to see what types of books are available.

Jaming for a year and Favorite things

 October of 2014 was when I signed up with Jamberry, and while this is just a part time thing for me (my goals aren't as "big" as some peoples are!) I wanted to share what has changed in this past year.

First I was terrified of even posting on Facebook to everyone on my friends list (I'd had the privacy settings to only certain people because I didn't think some people new me well enough to take things I'd say in the way that I meant it.)  So that felt like a huge bravery thing to just be more vulnerable and hear a lot of "no's" in a lot of different ways.

 After joining Jamberry I realized that almost all the direct sales women who I ever came in contact with were just people like me, usually Mom's trying to help her family out.  Some in more need than others, but all fell under the "small business" place that I'd always rather support more than big businesses.  I developed a little more patience with other people and their chosen business.  After all, you can support someones business and be encouraging even if you never buy from them.  "Liking" a post for instance boosts it's visibility from hardly any to at least a few more people who wouldn't have seen it before, and even just a kind response is a huge deal to people who have to put themselves out there.

 But the main thing that has changed has been me being braver and finding ways to enjoy being here even if it's in the little things.  So, this post is about some of those little things.  :)

The mug my husband got me when we were out on a date.. possibly one of maybe two dates a year that we manage to go on so it felt special.

 The 8 months before joining Jamberry I was already doing my girls nails, but of course it's expanded from back then!  Now we not only have MANY more wrap options (as I've got a seriously overflowing collection these days!) but now we are doing Jamberry's new 5 free LED gel system!  (This is great to buy with a half off code from hostessing a party btw, it's an amazing deal that way!) So, yes, this is totally safe to do with even little kids.  :)  Helps keep the wraps on better and I love the texture.

 We hang out and watch a cartoon together while I do their nails. It's fun, and they feel special and enjoy looking at them for about a week or so.  Nails are a little thing, but these little joys can be a big deal.  Especially to little people who get to do a "grown up" thing with Mommy. 

 This is my 7 year old's nails and she's wearing "Strawberry Fields" - Best part about these besides the creativity of picking out what to wear and combine together is doing these together and enjoying them.  I don't think that doing ones nails is about "looking good" - it feels more like an artistic expression, but I get to enjoy looking at them at random times while I do stuff around the house!

 So speaking of the gel, it's really easy to take off.  I'm not great at painting my nails and even I able to use this system just fine.  Actually, I think it's easier to do well than painting lacquer.

 You wear the removers for about 15 minutes and then take them off and the gel just lifts off like the picture shows below.

 If you put the gel OVER wraps (clear gel base and top coats) then you take the wraps off just like normal with remover and don't have to use the gel remover packets at all.  It's really brilliant how they created this to work with the wraps so well.

 Speaking of enjoy these while doing random things.  I've had fun making my "Francis and Eugenia" videos - here's my Youtube playlist to see some.   After I'm done making a video I get to laugh at the eyes that I still have on my hand!

 Doing school with my girls or making breakfast?  Yes, totally more fun with Francis and Eugenia.

 Random happy moment while we were in a mall (which doesn't happen often) my Fashionable 7 year old got to see this art display of a fairy outfit made entirely of Starbucks garbage.

 And another outfit that was made entirely out of ties!

 Something that makes me happy is this necklace that my Mom got for me.  It opens so you can put essential oils in it and enjoy a lovely scent of your choice.  Smells are a big deal for me so this is a lovely thing. 

Speaking of smells, Jamberry's  "Indulgence set"   has hand soap in it that smells like lemons and I'm realizing that I love the smell of lemon.  Not sure why.. I never used to like it much, but now I do.  I let my husband and girls try the sugar scrub and lotion from the set and they all oohed and ahhed and enjoyed it so much.  

 I haven't tried to do as much selling as I could probably, but I'm still enjoying this so much and ESPECIALLY the trading!  Did you know that people trade Jamberry wraps?  Half sheet trading is my favorite because then I get tons of designs. 

 Orchids orchids orchids.. I wish I could propagate them.. I wish I knew how or had time to learn.  Maybe some day I will.  I've finally gotten some outdoor plants to stay alive a bit longer than 2 weeks here.  ;)  So that's an improvement anyway.

 I love the smell of beeswax and this candle is one that we got recently and have enjoyed watching while we eat breakfast and have our tea before we do our school.

 Coffee.  See, coffee was never "my thing" but I realized something in the last few years.  I'm nicer when I've drunk coffee.  It's okay to admit this to oneself, right?  I'm not necessarily less depressed or more awake, but I'm just slightly happier and I'm thinking this is a gift to my family to make sure the Mommy is happy. 

 My Jamberry flare.  I just like it.  It's not about advertising and selling with these to me.  I like them for myself.  "Be you be Beautiful" Jamberry, thinking of friends I've made who are consultants and thinking about how I've enjoyed these with my mom and mother-in-law as well.  I just like them, and would keep these even if I wasn't a consultant anymore.

NEW CHALK!  This stuff is amazing.. seriously, the vivid color it has!  And I'm always breaking them so a new set is quite fantastic.  I'll still use the old broken pieces till they are gone of course, but I was almost out of black and brown.

 Speaking of chalk.  "Eugenia" is the artist of the pair with this and becomes quite the mess when she's done.  It takes her about 4 hours to complete one design so there's a lot of stopping and washing of hands in that time as well since the kids are always needing something.

 Notice?  Yeah, nasty.  But the wraps hold up even to this chalk that stains my walls if I touch anything!

 One of my favorite gel colors is "Fresh" and there's a lacquer almost this color as well.   I'm realizing that my favorite ones are on the lighter end.  Didn't know that about myself!  Also, I have a lot of purples and blues.  The wrap in the picture above is called "Koi Pond" which I really enjoyed.

 I moved the rooms around so this is our new "book nook" and where I sometimes color with the girls or at night I'll watch a Dr. Who and do my jams after they are asleep.  Nice and relaxing quiet time. 

 Reading out loud to my girls is one of my favorite things and here it's combined with Jamberry too!

 I'm loving these pinwheel ones that I'm wearing right now!  And of course coloring in my Mom's Homeschool journal  Is one of my favorite things to do these days!  Sadly these wraps are retired, but I'm sure I'll have another favorite in a few weeks when I switch again.

 Pumpkin pie.  Love pumpkin pie!  It's finally feeling cool enough here to make it not seem ridiculous to make pie.  I've still been having to run the AC some and socks and hoodies indoors are sadly hardly ever necessary, but I'm working at trying to find more things to enjoy.  It's all about the little things.

 My conference t-shirt is my jammy shirt!  Seemed appropriate!  I've thought some about wanting to wear it during the day as well, but right now I can enjoy it more this way.  Plus it makes me feel better when I see this shirt as I look in the mirror in the mornings and look terrible and tired with bed head (no the picture above is NOT how I usually look when I wake up.. I didn't inflict THAT on you, just so you know.) 

The last of my rambling thoughts about Jamberry and this past year is just a picture of my favorite design.  Yes, I think it really is my favorite! It's so detailed and subtle.  The background is that "fresh" blue color that I love and the pattern on it is kind of a Mulberry (which is another favorite color of mine these days.)

You can of course join Jamberry too like I did for the discount and the fun of meeting new people, or you can just enjoy wearing them, or you can find something of your own to enjoy.  Some little thing that you delight in and that makes you smile.

Stay at home Mom's and homeschooling Mom's often forget about how we can nurture ourselves.  If we aren't careful we can get to a snapping point and that's not going to be good for anyone. 
I've found living in Dallas and an apartment and being in a big city to be extremely hard (for my personality) because all those things I used to do to find rest just aren't here.  When I went home to visit my family this past spring I didn't feel as desperate for rest as I'd felt in the past trips.  Normally when I visited I felt like a starved person finally getting some nourishment or something, but this time, because of Jamberry and the fun I've had and relationships I've made through this, I didn't feel so crazily desperate for refreshment as I had in the past. 

In the last few months I've pulled back some from running Jamberry parties so that I could focus on the girls school a bit more.  Hence all the blog posts about their school!  We are still enjoying Jamberry though and it's been good to focus more on their school for a time to get into some good patterns and practices.  I still love helping other consultants out in our facebook group and taking pictures of all of our nails, and my girls enjoy being my hand models for pictures.  I've been re-discovering how much I love to draw too.  The picture above was a coloring contest with my favorite writer.  She's been doing a lot of contests and giveaways and other fun things recently!  So be sure to check out her website here and her facebook page here.

Too often we mom's underestimate the little things that bring us joy.  As I add coloring into my days too I'm getting even more of that good rest and refreshment that I've been craving.  It's different than the things that used to bless me, but different is okay, right?

Indian Gorging, Sleiman-style

After barely surviving a dry, hot summer, the pilgrims found themselves near the end of their proverbial ropes. Then, to make matters worse, around the third Thursday in November, Indians came and showed the pilgrims how to make enough food to stuff their faces... which, believe me, hurts a little more than a too-hot summer.

Lynné outdid herself once again, cooking the turkey to perfection.

For those who aren't sure, perfection is when the turkey is soft everywhere. As L and I discussed matters, the distinction between white and dark meat is more than just how much moisture the meat keeps.

Of course, juicy meat isn't all that special. (haha, just kidding - yes it is.) More than that, however, is the awesome cookly power of matching the proper herbs and spices to the meat. Watch Lynné's genius...

She prepared the turkey in a honey mustard glaze complimented with a rosemary herb mixture. Most doctorate theses aren't that eloquent.

Here comes the near-fatal hubris of Youssef... his eyes being bigger than his stomach.

What you see here is a turkey drumstick. If you've been to Scarborough Faire and paid $5 for a drumstick, it's okay if you don't recognize this. Lynné found a mutant turkey with thighs sculpted by hours on a commercial exercise machine.

This looked at first like no big deal. Just a drumstick, right?

The strategy thus far was to get as much down as possible.

In a way, if you think about the first feast of Thanksgiving, the entire strategy to overwhelm your enemy with food strikes a chord with Sun Tzu.

Each bite tasted so good...

It made me hungrier with each taste, but at the same time filled me more with it. It may be a flawed strategy, but the plan was to taste and eat as much of the turkey that came across my eyes. However, things got to the point where a new strategy needed to be adopted...

Thus, the sprint crunches. Oh yeah, for about ten to twenty minutes, I sat beside the table and began to do crunches and sit-ups and twist-ups and a (pathetic) pair of push-ups.



It worked, oddly enough. I wasn't as full as I was ten to twenty minutes ago - but whether that was due to my impromptu exercise routine or my brief pause in turkey consumption, we'll never really know.

But, if anything could be attacked with more gusto than I did the turkey this second time, I don't want to hear about it. Forks and knives only get one so far. Then, to properly handle the turkey, you've got to reach in with your fingers.

I love that moment. It reminds me of Star Wars, when Luke is wearing the blind helmet and facing off against the "remote" with a lightsaber... and of the throaty voice of Alec Guinness saying, "Reach out with your feelings."

My hands will smell herbally until the Tuckers get home (next week, right?)

What may be missed in this picture is that there was other food at the dinner table than turkey. There's gravy on some mashed potatoes, I believe. I didn't look that closely.

It was more of a cursory serving. Lynné, as she ate, asked me if I was interested in the other food - stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. "What other food?"

And yes, this Indian gorging ended at some point.

In fact, the remains of the poor fowl weighed about 15 pounds lighter when they were thrown out. Even to the end, I was picking off and eating small chunks - juicy and delectable.


We cleaned the table in a short moment and, just as I was lumbering over to the big sofa to rest, Lynné broached a subject I was completely unprepared for...

"Want some pumpkin pie?"