Pumpkin Patch Adventure

I'm over a week late, but I still wanted to post pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch 2 Saturdays ago! The weather had been cold and nasty the week prior to this now, infamous outing, so it was supposed to be a nice treat to be outside in anything other than heavy jackets, mitts, toques and boots! But, because of the nicer break in the weather, EVERYONE else decided to go to the pumpkin farm on the same day! We could barely move - seriously! And just the day before, the 3-4 inches of snow that was on the ground, had rapidly melted, turning all dirt pathways into muddy pathways... We had to wait in line for about 40 min. for lunch and by then, it was not the kids that were cranky, it was my husband! I think it all started when he had to pay $9.25 cents per person just to get onto the farm. Then, there were numerous crafts, games or activities that were an additional $2 charge each. We avoided those like the plague, but felt guilty at the same time, like we were bad parents and our kids were missing out... This was my first time to any pumpkin patch - ever! I was so excited before we got there, but so disappointed the moment I saw the place. Where were the piles of pumpkins for cute, fall photo sessions with my kids?? Well, because we live in this stupid, freezing country (yes, I really did just say that!), the pumpkins all had to be mass harvested and brought into a green house. Bummer! I wanted to actually pick a pumpkin! So, we manged to have some semblance of "fun" before trudging through the mud, back to our car (parked about 2 miles away because there were so many people there!). I think Sara and Sky had way less expectations than I did, so I was able to snap a few pictures of their happy smiles! They actually enjoyed themselves for the most part!

Guess how many pounds this pumpkin is, and you get to take it home! Really? No way do I want to cart that thing home! (How do you like Sky's tough guy pose?!)

Sara being silly and hopping on one leg at the top of a very large pile of hay!Sky, the pumpkin-man! (Get it? Instead of a snowman?!)

This was the hay mountain at the center of the hay bale maze! This was definitely their favourite - they could have done that all day long!
Petting the bunnies was another big favourite! They were sooo soft!

I love the expression of surprise on Sara's face! I would love to know what she was thinking!
Later that evening, we had fully recovered! :-) The kids each picked a pumpkin at the farm (from the greenhouse...). Sara chose to decorate hers like this... And Sky wanted to carve his pumpkin. This was the end result! Joshua had never carved a pumpkin before! I must say I was very impressed! While the carving was going on, I separated, cleaned and roasted the pumpkin seeds! This was my big "first" for the day! They turned out really good, if I say so myself!

The Sign On My Back Reads "Please Run Me Over!"

Monday was Family Day in Alberta (and Ontario). It's actually an official holiday, so Joshua had the day off! Since moving to our new home, we aren't as close to the mountains as we used to be while living in the Calgary area. It used to take us only an hour and a half to get to the closest ski hills. Now, the nearest one is in Jasper, 4 entire hours away! It makes the one day ski trip, either very, very long (especially for children), or it necessitates an overnight stay. Then, you're talking about major expense because lodging in Jasper doesn't come cheap. Joshua went skiing in Jasper once with his dad for one of those VERY long days (up at 4 a.m. and home around 7 p.m.) just after Christmas. Then, Joshua and I were able to go with Bryan and Karen two weeks ago. We were feeling badly that kids hadn't had a chance to ski in the mountains this year, so we decided to splurge and take them for Family Day. Joshua's dad also joined us in Jasper, so that took some of the pressure off me. For those of you who don't know, skiing is not really my most favourite thing to do. I tolerate skiing but, I do not LOVE skiing - much to the chagrin of my dear husband.

Here's picture of me, Dad, Sky and Sara (left to right) on our first run down the mountain on Monday morning. It was an absolutely beautiful day!Sky joined me after a few runs for a break and a snack. He wanted iced tea and brownies!Sara was not about to go inside, so she and Daddy headed up for another run!Now I must tell you what happened to me after lunch. My family convinced me that I should go with them to the very top of the mountain (instead of just the chair that takes you to about halfway). It involves taking two chair lifts to get there. After you get off the first one, you have to ski down a short "Blue" run (that's intermediate for you non-skiers), to get to the next chair lift. There hasn't been any new snow lately in Jasper, so there were some pretty icy spots on the runs. I was slowly, but surely making my way down, just trying to get that part over with. My little racing children had already disappeared with Grandpa! As I made another turn, suddenly, another less-than-confident skier, came right across my path and we ran into each other. She managed to stay on her feet (I found out later), but I lost control, fell backwards, and began sliding down the hill FAST! At first, my legs started to go in the wrong direction, but I somehow managed to get them back together. Now, my skis are pointed straight downhill, and I was still attached to them!! I had a lot of thoughts going through my head in the next 10 seconds, but my foremost feeling was anger. I was so incredibly angry with that woman for making me fall! I screamed my head off as I hurtled down the hill, desperately trying to make my skis go sideways, so I could dig in and stop! I didn't care what kind of a scene I was making - I just wanted that girl to feel REALLY bad for taking me out! I finally stopped, still in one piece, with a very painful spot in my middle back. Not to mention my extremely wounded pride! Joshua, who was right behind me, has dubbed me with "the most spectacular fall that anyone has ever made while I was skiing with them!" Oh yay! As Joshua helped me up and returned my poles, I demanded to know where the girl was who ran into me. I was informed she stopped momentarily, looked at me still falling, and proceeded on her way. Can you believe it??!! I was TICKED! If I took somebody out like that, I would not just ski away without apologizing and offering to help! It's probably just as well, though, because I was mad enough to beat her up! Karen, I told you I had a sign on my back! (A snowboarder ran into me last week, while I was trying to help Karen ski. Fortunately I was standing still, and didn't fall over. And I was glad it was me and not Karen!) Anyway, I finally made it onto the second chair lift and all the way up the mountain. I had a little venting/cry session on the way, which made me feel much better!

Here I am, with Sara and Sky ready to head ALL the way down the mountain! It was truly an incredible view! And I lived to see it! I also made it down without further tragedy! Sky went on a Blue run with Grandpa, and I went down the Green (easy) with Joshua and Sara. Sara was looking out for me the whole way and made nice, slow turns so I could follow her down. She's a sweetie!
Halfway down, I stopped for a break at the mid-mountain lodge. I enjoyed some time by the outdoor fire pit, drinking my Gatorade! This was my view as I waited for the rest of the family to ski some more runs. When they came back, the kids were glowing because they skied their first Black (expert) run! I was proud of them, but you'll never catch me on one of those!
We finally skied out to the parking lot and got comfortable for the long ride home. We stopped for supper and a car wash (yes, Karen, the same one!) and arrived home around 9:15 p.m. Then it was goodnight to another great Family Day!

Bits and Pieces

This post was originally posted on Thursday night (Jan. 29), but it got buried under my Aloha Friday post and I didn't want my regular readers to miss it! So, I'm re-posting this again today!

I haven't posted much about daily life around here, so here are a few random snippets of what's been going on lately...

1. Remember my new rule about not turning the T.V. on in the mornings? I really thought it would be an issue, but I heard next to no whining or complaining about it! I've had a couple of requests, but when I say "no" and remind them that we're not doing that anymore, they are quick to go find other amusement - happily! It's almost like they are relieved that they don't have to watch the same old dumb shows on T.V. every morning! Now I have to tear them away from building with Legos or their imaginary play, when it's time for school to begin. I like that so much better!

2. On Saturday morning, Sara and Sky had their second Nation's Cup ski race. It was a brutally cold week, so as the weekend approached and things didn't warm up at all, we kind of assumed that the race would be cancelled. It wasn't. I checked my e-mail every 5 minutes between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Saturday, and there was nothing. Joshua had volunteered to help with the race, so he felt like we should be there. It was -36 when we left our house and -34 at the hill when we arrived at 8:45 a.m. I couldn't believe they were going through with it! I mean, really, what was the dude in charge trying to prove?? As I bundled up the kids for warm-up and course inspection, I was so stressed out I was fighting back angry tears. The two runs were an hour apart, so we kept the kids inside until it was absolutely necessary to go out. We had toe warmers in their boots and hand warmers in their mitts. I am definitely thankful for those little inventions! Sara and Sky both did well. There were a lot of missed gates this time, but we could tell they were doing their best - especially under the circumstances. I still don't think I've completely recovered, but we did survive....

3. Joshua lost his wedding ring (again - this is ring number 3) on Monday morning. He keeps it in a basket by the phone. The problem is, the basket is full of coins, old receipts, spare keys, a few screws, paperclips, etc. Joshua's ring is made out of tungsten carbide (same thing they make chainsaw blades with), so it's able to withstand the abuse, but it also blends in because it's a silver gray colour. As Joshua was getting ready to go to work that morning, we both looked through that basket very thoroughly and came up with nothing. He looked several other places and finally had to leave for work. Later, I emptied the basket onto the floor, went through all the change and couldn't find it. I checked the pockets of everything he wore over the weekend. No ring. Joshua came home at lunchtime. He looked under the couch, we checked in both of our vehicles. Nothing. I even checked inside his gloves to see if it had slipped off in there! We looked through that basket a couple more times, hoping it would magically appear. It didn't. That evening, Joshua took Sara for her music/piano lesson at 5:45 p.m. I looked a few more places after he left and then gave up. I decided it would just have to turn up on it's own. After Sara's lesson, Joshua decided to take Sara out on a date. Sara picked Swiss Chalet to eat. When they were done, they went to the mall. Joshua called when they were on their way home. He said he found a ring on sale and went ahead a bought it. It was a final sale, but that was O.K. - other ring was just nowhere to be found. When they got home, Joshua was missing his old ring, so decided to go through "the basket" one more time. He dumped the entire contents on the kitchen counter and there was THE RING!!! What??!! How did we miss that?? The next day Joshua took the ring back to the store and was able to exchange it for something else.

He said it was an early Valentine's Day present! Isn't he sweet?! (It's times like these I decide it's O.K. to keep him! Just kidding - I'm not that shallow!)

4. Today it's raining! What's up with that? Rain? In January?! The roads are a mess with all the melting snow and rain! There is so much water! It's going to be pretty scary out there when it freezes tonight.

5. School has been going well. We are in week 3 of our new schedule and disciplines. The first two weeks were a fight. It was difficult and exhausting for all of us. But, I didn't give up and we got so much done! This week has seemed a lot easier, so I'm hoping we're getting into a rhythm and learning some good habits.

6. In just 4 days, my wonderful friend, Karen and her husband Bryan, are coming to visit for a whole week! For 3 of those nights we will be at the Gingerbread Cabin in Jasper, AB. Sara and Sky are very excited about having an extended sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa! Mommy and Daddy are just as excited about having an extended sleepover away from the kids and the normal routine! I think I can say the same about Bryan and Karen! The weather forecast is beautiful, so it should be a great week!

7. I played Candy Land with the kids before bed tonight. It's always a competition to see who can get the most "candy" cards! They haven't quite grasped the concept that sometimes those cards can knock you backwards on the board and should not always be the most desired!

That's all I can think of for now! Hope you enjoyed the update!

"Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful..."

"...but the fire (or maybe I should say, furnace) is so delightful!" It has been snowing every day now for a week! Finally! Today it was A LOT! I had to go out this afternoon to take Sky to his music class and then to the grocery store for a couple of things. It was snowing like crazy and the roads are definitely frightful right now! I'm so thankful we have a four wheel drive Toyota Highlander! It really makes a huge difference. After coming home, I poked my head out the door one more time to take a few pictures for you.

Here's what it looks like out the back door...... and what it looks like out my front door!

Brrrr! It's cold, but pretty! Joshua took the kids to ski racing lessons tonight, so I'm alone as I type this. Don't get too excited for me - I've been cleaning up and doing laundry - but at least it's quiet!

The weekend was fun, but too busy. The highlight for me was seeing the musical presentation of The Chronicles of Narnia on Saturday night. The church that did the production did an amazing job! It was truly enchanting for me. Sara and Sky absolutely loved it! Their eyes were glued to that stage from the minute the play started, till the closing scene. It was over two hours long, with only a ten minute intermission, but they couldn't get enough of it! We have been reading the book out loud in the evenings, so it was really neat to see it all come to life like that!

On Sunday evening, Sara and Sky performed in their Christmas piano recital. They both did a great job and we were very proud! Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Shannon came to support the budding musicians as well. Afterwards, we all went out for supper together. There are no pictures because I forgot the camera! And I realized that, about 5 minutes after I realized I had forgotten to prepare a snack to take for after the recital!! (Everyone was supposed to bring a plate of something.) Yes, I have officially lost my mind with all the busyness! One of the other moms in Sky's class took some pictures for me, and she has promised to e-mail them to me. Hopefully I will get those soon and then I will post them!

Hurry Up - We're Late!!

A few days ago, my friend, Mindy, blogged about her thoughts on being late. To read what she had to say, click here. I responded with a very long comment. Here were some of my own thoughts.

"Interesting you would post this! I was just late yesterday to a birthday party, and it caused me great stress along the way. (Be sure to scroll down to the next post to see pictures of a very fun and unique party!) I do agree with your statement. I was raised in a family that was also right on time or a little bit early. It's definitely easier to hold to that conviction when you have only yourself to worry about. After I got married, things got slightly more complicated, but we were still on time. Then, we had kids! As a mom, being on time is definitely a challenge! It seems that no matter how organized and efficient I am, something always comes up. You wouldn't believe how many times I've gotten everyone in the car, and then have to come back in because the baby just pooped in their diaper or spit up all over the car seat and themselves. Or when you're potty training and suddenly, they have to go potty "right now," but they don't quite make it and we have to go change... Anyway, you get the idea. Yesterday for the party, we were on schedule and all was well. We had rushed to get to that point, but we were O.K. On the way, I was going to stop at Wendy's and grab burgers for everyone to eat in the car. Well, wouldn't you know, the drive-thru was closed and the line inside was incredibly long! We got back in the car, having wasted 5 minutes. Down the road a bit, I stopped at Dairy Queen. Would you believe, there was a truck sitting in front of the ordering console, with all their doors open and the hood up! What?! Now, if this had been just me, I would have simply gone to the party. But, my young children were very hungry by now. So, I raced to the other side of the parking lot to Starbucks. I picked up banana bread slices for everyone and smoothies. Finally, we were headed to the party. (There is a reason for this story - stay with me!) As we were driving, poor Sky picked up his smoothie, by the lid, spilling it all over his Peter Pan costume and his car seat. I freaked and started yelling. Sky was crying, Sara then started screaming. We got to the house and I roughly cleaned up my child, scolding him the whole time. Once I finally calmed down, I noticed he wasn't having any fun at the party. His little face was so crest-fallen. All because Mommy got extremely stressed out about being 10 minutes late and took it out on him. I apologized, with hugs and kisses and the rest of the party went great. I've done that so many times with my kids. Being on time shows definitely shows respect for other people, but being angry with my family because something out of my control made me late, is not acceptable. So, I learned a few lessons yesterday... And your post was a good reminder to keep trying each time to be as organized and on time as possible."

What about you? How do you feel about being late? What lessons have you learned in this area of your life?

Camping Pictures!

This weekend was our debut family camping trip! I spent the majority of last week making lists, shopping, packing, more shopping, and otherwise stressing about this family adventure we were about to embark on! Our neighbours, the J family, just bought a new trailer, so we invited them to come camping with us. They have two kids, Taryn, who is 7, and Jory, age 10. It was also their debut trip with the new trailer! We spent the week stressing together! :-) When Joshua came home from work on Friday, we loaded up the car and were on our way! We stopped at Wendy's for burgers and fries, and drove northwest to Gull Lake, about an hour and a half drive. We arrived around 9 p.m., set up everything (which went VERY smoothly, by the way!), then went for a short walk to check everything out. The kids were way too wired to go to sleep right away! Eventually it was time for bed. We were waiting for the J family to show up, but they were taking too long. Of course, as soon as we got the kids settled down in their sleeping bags, the J family pulled up with their trailer! They were having a terrible time getting their trailer backed into their campsite, so Joshua went over to help direct them in. Everyone finally got settled in and went to sleep.

The next morning, we had lazy man's omelette's (scrambled eggs with ham, cheese, green onions, red peppers, and mushrooms), bacon, toasted bagels and grapes for breakfast! It was quite the spread!

After breakfast and clean up, we changed into swimming suits and headed to the lake. It was an absolutely beautiful, warm, sunny day! The lake was quite warm. It was also very shallow for a long way out and never got any deeper than our knees! We didn't have to worry about the kids falling off the edge of anything!

There was also a nice, sandy beach that the kids really enjoyed. I forgot to take a picture of the massive playground that was right on the sand, about 3 feet from the edge of the lake!

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the campsite to rest and have snacks, and play some games.

Then, it was time to build fire for supper preparation. The dads decided to each build and their own fire and the competition was on! You should have heard the trash talking the kids were doing on behalf of their dads! Here is Phil's fire with Sara and Taryn helping him add paper!

And on the other side, we have Joshua and Sky, working on their own fire! In the end, Phil had higher flames, but Joshua made better, long-lasting coals!

Of course, no camping trip would be complete without s'mores! It was the perfect ending to a near perfect day!

All in all, the trip was a success. Joshua and I rated it at about 70% successful, which I'd say is pretty good for our first time ever! There were things we forgot to bring, there were a couple of cold showers, a few mosquito bites, but mostly we just had fun. The first night Joshua and I learned a valuable lesson: If you have an inflatable mattress, you must insulate it with something thicker than a cotton sheet. We had wonderfully warm sleeping bags, zipped together, on top of us, but whatever body part was against the mattress was freezing! Who would have thought?! The second night, the J family loaned us some extra blankets to put on the mattress and we were so much warmer! The kids were warm the whole time because they were actually inside their bags and insulated on all sides. (That sentence was for the grandparents sake!!) And sometime in the early morning hours, on the second night, it started pouring rain. Joshua ran out and grabbed all the towels that were drying and anything else that needed rescuing, and threw it in the car. We spent the rest of the night listening to the rain and sleeping off and on. The tent stayed cozy and dry and the kids slept great through the whole thing! When we got up, we took refuge in the J family's trailer for the morning! They fed us scrambled eggs and pancakes. Then, we packed up and came home. Anyway, we're already super excited about the next camping trip in July and are planning more after that too! I'll leave you with two more pictures of the kids that I snapped when they were waking up. Two very different responses to Mommy with the camera...

That's The Kind Of Week It's Been

This was the scene just before supper tonight. Our car suddenly decided that it was not going to go any faster than 15 km per hour. After a call to the Toyota dealership, we were told that the car's computer was thinking that the car was on a slippery surface (there is no ice on the roads right now). So, it was engaging the ABS (automatic brake system) and not letting the car accelerate. Fortunately, Joshua was the one driving the car when this happened. I was at home with 5 kids, and he had taken a load of stuff to the Goodwill drop-off. ( He came home from work early, because he wasn't feeling well. Then, after being in a house with 5 active, wonderful children, he decided he needed some fresh air!) He called to say that he was crawling home at 15 km/h! We have free road side assistance from Toyota, so we called them to send a tow truck. The guy arrived after about an hour, and took the car to the dealership. The service shop had closed already, so Joshua left the keys in the night drop. Hopefully tomorrow they will be able to fix the problem without much hassle. They seemed to be familiar with what was happening...


I've been babysitting every day this week, so it's been busy around here! Inspite of the nice weather and lots of outdoor play, the kids have been so scrappy with each other. I've needed lots of grace to deal with the fights, bossiness and tattle-taling that's been going on. I'm not the only one, though. I have some other friends who are having similar weeks! Yesterday was the worst, and I'm afraid I lost my patience more than once. Today was better. And tomorrow - well, to borrow a phrase from my favourite movie - it's "fresh, with no mistakes in it!" Here is a picture from one of the happy, friendly moments we had today!

Science Experiment

I think it has to be stinkin' cold for this to work, so maybe Emily, Karen, or Judith can try this one! Boil some water and fill up a mug. Bundle up and take the mug of water outside. Toss the water into the air and you will be amazed! My kids loved it! I won't tell you yet what happens. If at least 5 people comment with what they think is the result, I'll post the answer! (I know you're smart enough to know the answer, but I will resort to bribery to get people to comment!) Joshua called me from work on Tuesday and told me to take the kids outside and try this. They apparently had nothing better to do at the branch yesterday, than go outside and throw boiling water up in the sky! I guess after the third go around, almost every employee was outside to watch!

In other news, this evening we drove Joshua to the airport and said good-bye for the next 3 days. He flew to B.C. for a ski trip that ends with a race on Saturday morning. His dad and uncle are also there for the big event. His Uncle Peter has been a part of this ski trip/race for a few years now and it's really just a bunch of older, retired guys. They've realized they're getting up in years and wanted to get some new, young blood in the group. So, all of the men who have sons, invited them to be a part of the group this year. I don't know how many guys accepted, but Joshua jumped at the chance! He'll do anything for a chance to ski, especially when Dad and Uncle Peter pitched in to pay his way! I hope he has fun, but I'm kind of worried he'll kill himself this time. The last two times he's been skiing he's taken some very hard falls. The first one actually gave him whiplash (a head-over-heels fall) and the second was a severely sprained tailbone from trying out a snowboard! He's still feeling the tailbone and has decided to stick with skis! I'll let you know how things go! The kids and I got tacos and nachos on the way home for supper. I didn't want taco filling all over the car, so we waited to eat them after we got home. They were pretty soggy, but still tasted good. Joshua called while I was ordering tacos to say that they had over-booked his flight and wasn't sure if he would even get a seat. Then, the flight was delayed an hour, so he had to wait that much longer to find out about his seat! Thankfully, he did make it on the flight and landed safely. A few minutes after I got the "I made it" phone call, he called to say that his luggage did NOT make it on the plane. He was not a happy camper, to say the least. His skiis were part of that luggage, but they gave him a voucher for free ski rentals. Anyway, tomorrow morning may be a little rough, but hopefully his stuff will arrive before he goes too crazy! Now I'm off to bed or I will be cranky mommy tommorrow!

The Broken Wrist That Was Not

I don't really know why my only post his week was a recipe! It wasn't even a busy week for me! So much for my great plans of posting at least every other day! I did get a lot of housecleaning done, so I guess that's my excuse! I made two posts today, so don't miss the first one!

We had some drama on Friday (June 1st) morning, but by the time things calmed down and I had time for the computer, the drama had ceased to be! Sky apparently sprained his wrist during his gymnastics class Friday morning. It was the end of class, and the kids had finished their cool down exercises. They told the kids to do the "crab walk" over to their individual coaches, where they turn in name tags and get stickers or stamps. Sky had worked hard and he was so tired already. He was struggling along and suddenly his wrist twisted and crumpled. He cried and cried and he wouldn't let me or the coach really check it. Sara had also gained a few bumps (one on the head and also scraped both knees on the trampoline). Both kids were crying when gymnastics was over! It was so crazy, because in the more than three years that we've been doing gymnastics, there have only been one or two other injuries to speak of! What a mess! Anyway, I got us all home, but Sky still seemed in significant pain. I called Joshua at work, and after the secretary heard what the problem was, she went and interrupted a big presentation he was making! He finished up and excused himself early! He decided he'd better come home as we probably needed to get the wrist checked by a doctor. The kids and I got back in the car, picked up Joshua, and headed straight to the clinic. (The one right by our house, with the lavender walls!) Thank goodness it was a short wait, and we got right in. The doctor decided to send Sky for an x-ray just to make sure, as his wrist still seemed pretty tender after two hours. Joshua took Sky to the lab and Sara and I walked home. We picked up a pizza on the way! Sky got his x-ray and evidently did really well. He wore his sticker proudly all day! The radiologist said she would call that day if anything was broken. Well, we never got a call that day, and on Tuesday, it was confirmed that his x-ray came back fine. In the meantime, Sky refused to use his hand or arm for two entire days. At one point we had it wrapped, as you can see in the picture. It didn't seem to make a difference. He kept saying it didn't hurt, but whenever we tried to get him to use it, he would whimper or cry. I was pretty sure it was just fear, but I didn't want to hurt him just in case, either! What's a mother to do?! And Sara, was so sweet and helpful to him in any way she could be. She was so sad because he couldn't really play with her, either. Finally, after his nap on Sunday afternoon, in which he never actually slept, he was a totally different child. He came downstairs waving the "hurt" arm saying, "Look, Mom, I can move my arm!" He was so happy the rest of the day as he rediscovered his abilities to use his hand again! I could tell he was just so relieved. Poor traumatized child! And I'll never know if it ever really was hurt or not! I was never so excited to see him put his shoes on with both hands! Or put his hands on his hips, with his pouty little face, because he was irritated about something! I just thank God that he didn't have to be in a cast for six weeks! Knowing Sky, we'll probably have at least one for real at some point! He's not hyperactive, but he will try anything, especially if he thinks he'll get applause or attention. He's quite the showman! For all of you with boys, what has been the worst injury you've had to deal with so far?

Sugaring (It's not as sweet as you think!)

So, does anyone know about body sugaring? No, it's not a sugar scrub - it's hair removal! It's the new "waxing", but very natural and supposedly not as painful. Ha! Ha! I am here to say it hurts just as one would expect when you rip hair off your legs! Joshua was the one who actually first heard about body sugaring and told me about it. Knowing my hatred for shaving and constantly having razor burn, he said I should try it. So, as Spring approached, I decided it would be nice to have nice, hair free legs for the summer! I went for my first session in March, intending to have my full legs done. Well, it was so painful for me, and took so long, that my sugarist and I decided to just do the lower legs. Then, right when I would have gone for my next appointment, we decided to spend a night in the mountains where there was - a pool! I tried to book a quick appointment, but she was gone for the weekend. I was forced to shave the lovely locks I had been saving up! (You have to not shave for at least ten days, but I had waited like three weeks!) Then, we got sick for over a month and I didn't want to add that to my list of pain and misery.

Finally, today was the day! My friend/babysitter, Charity, came along for the ride and took the kids to the park while I underwent my torture. I really wish I had before and after pictures. You girls would laugh so hard! My sugarist assured me that this second time wouldn't hurt nearly as bad as the first time, but it did. She also said, the second leg wouldn't hurt as bad as the first leg. I said, that's what you said last time, through my teeth clenched in pain. She said it wasn't as bad as labor. I think I disagreed with that too. It's just that it only lasted for an hour - not 23! But, in the end, we persevered, and she did both legs all the way! Seven hours later, I still look like I have the measles, but I am hair free! So, you ask, what is sugaring? Well, it really is all natural. She takes a big handful of some very stiff and sticky substance that kind of looks like honey or corn syrup, but a lot thicker. She spreads it on a section of skin with her fingers against the growth of the hair. The sugar stuff softens with your body heat and then she quickly pulls off the sugar with the growth of your hair, and everything comes out with it. That's the "ow" part! This is repeated until my legs are completely red and throbbing! The good things about sugaring are that it can never burn your skin as with waxing, and it doesn't cause as many ingrown hairs.

So, you should try it! Trust me, it's not that bad!