SmartKlean Product review

Have you heard of this laundry ball? From their website, this is how it works:

General Function
The laundry ball is filled with four types of mineral-derived ceramic beads and two magnets, each performing different cleaning functions. When these components come in contact with water, they form ‘oxygenated’ water with an increased pH level and an ability to eliminate germs and bacteria. The result is fresh, safe and clean laundry!

Through a chemical process, detergents make surfaces more susceptible to water, and increase the pH levels, making it easier for the water to remove the dirt from the fabrics. The downside is that most of the chemical ingredients used to achieve this are toxic to your health and the environment.*

The SmartKlean Laundry Ball uses an innovative technology designed to clean fabrics through a physical process instead. On a molecular level, the water is entirely affected by its special mineral ceramics, offering a natural and powerful wash.

You simply just put it in your washer and you can leave it there for every wash. At times I will add a few drops of lavender essential oil if I am wanting my clothes to smell like something.

I was feeling guilty about the massive amount of laundry detergent I was buying so I started researching alternatives. I have been using the SmartKlean laundry ball for 2 months now and LOVE it. My clothes are really clean and it gets any smells out easily. I still use a stain remover for stubborn stains, but for the most part the ball does the trick. 

This ball lasts for 365 loads!! 

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to post this review.

Talking Gay Marriage with my son.

Today my 5 year old asked me about his friend who has two momma's

H: "Mommy, why does he have two mommy's"
Me: "Because that's his family."
H: "Are his mommy's married?"
Me: " Not yet, but hopefully soon."
H: "Well if they love one another and they love their son, then why aren't they married like you and daddy?"
Me: "I know honey, it's complicated, but we are working on that."
H: "Well I think they will be married soon. They are such good mommy's."

I can't help but have this song stuck in my head all day. A huge fan of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, I am so happy that this song graces the screens and radio. It's time to Rise Up! Equality for All.



I am so happy that I am able to raise my children with such tolerance.  They will grow up in a house and surrounded by individuals that don't preach hate and that welcome all races and support the love and rights of all individuals. I grew up in Middle America. Always kind of the black sheep, I never understood how someone could hate another based on the color of their skin or their preference of whom to love. I remember days when I was in junior high and I watched the Ku Klux Klan walk past my school. How could that even be a part of our world? I grew up hearing words of hate towards gay men and women. Aren't we a population of people who all deserve the right to love whomever? Who am I to tell someone who they can spend their lives with.  The first time I visited San Francisco as an adult was the day of the Pride Parade. I was so excited to be a part of this. To feel that the prejudice that I grew up around was not surrounding me. I loved the free feeling I had that day!

I love being part of a time that I hope for great changes. I am excited for the hope of my friends being able to legally marry. I am excited that my boys will learn from me that love is a feeling, that they are not to judge.  I am happy that I had the courage to not listen to my surroundings and felt with my inner self to decide what love meant. That everyone deserves the right to love without scrutiny and prejudice.

I am happy to have a son that sees this too.

"Mommy? Will you always be my best friend?"

(Hudson age 2 months)

Recently I've been telling Hudson a story every night. Not one from a book, but an impromptu-make-you-laugh story. It's funny when you let your mind go, where it will take you. There have been little boys climbing on clouds, fishing in coconut water, and sometimes (because I'm a little boy at heart at times) the stories involve a little bit of poop. Yea! That's right, potty humor! Wheee! 

Tonight, as I finished my latest story, and Hudson was giggling so hard he said "mama, I almost peed my pants that was so funny." He turned to me and asked "Mommy? Will you always be my best friend?"

I told him "yes! I will always be your best friend, but more importantly, I'll always be your mommy." 

I then asked him why I was his best friend. (you know, just curious)

He said "Cause you bike all day with me, then play ball all day and you never make me go inside, only when I have to poop and I get hungry!" 

It's good to have such high standards for a best friend I tell ya. 

He went on, he thanked me for painting with him and for folding his laundry. He thanked me for having daddy to be his daddy and then he thanked for me being a great friend. 

As my heart grew fuller and fuller I thought to myself what a wonderful life I lead. I don't want to brag or boast, but some days my heart is bursting at the seams with my love for these two little beings. I do spend my days playing hard. I am a kid at heart and I love spending hours upon hours biking, playing tennis, volleyball, soccer....on and on and on. I love painting, I love knitting with him, I seriously love it all. I love embracing his childhood and entering into it with such enthusiasm. 

I know that one day I will take the best friend back seat, but for now. I am pretty stoked to have the title. 

He also wanted me to know that his daddy is also his best friend, so don't tell him that he told me I was his best friend. He doesn't want to hurt daddy's feelings.

A lesson: Teaching our Sons to have posititve self image.

There have been two times in my life where I have felt comfortable in my skin. Those times are pregnancy.

You see, I have suffered/suffer from an eating disorder. It started when I was 13. A group of girls that I was friends with all started taking diet pills. We were obsessed with being thin. Unhealthy for sure, but it's what we heard would shed the pounds quickly. Soon we realized that our hearts raced uncontrollably and that we felt horrible. That was the end of the diet pill craze. Later I started to become obsessed with exercising and calories. I would barely eat enough calories to sustain any substantial weight and then I would work off all that I could. I was a cheerleader. That was a big impact on my body image. Then came college. My sophomore year I joined a sorority and lived with 100 girls. Now I don't speak negatively about cheerleading or sororities because I loved both of them and I felt that I grew from both experiences. That said, it was living in the sorority that took my eating disorder to a whole new level. I won't go into details, but I struggled. It wasn't until my senior year of college that I started to seek help. 

I will never be "cured" of my eating problems and my inability to find the beauty in my body. I try each day but I struggle. It wasn't until my mom was visiting and I was trying to find something to wear. I made a comment in front of my oldest son that I didn't like shorts because "my legs always look fat in shorts." My mom and I went back and forth talking about whose legs looked fatter in shorts. Yes! We actually used the term fat in front of my 5 year old. 

This wasn't the first time. For years I have commented on my negative view of my body. I always complain about my stomach, my legs, my kness.... you name it. I talk to my husband about it, I talk to my mom, my friends, and even my tiny children. It didn't dawn on me until I was laying in bed with my 5 year old and he said to me "Mommy. Do I look fat in my shorts?" I said, "What! Absolutely not! Why would you say that?" He replied "Well you think you look fat in your shorts and you don't."

Gasp. Tear. Breathe. What have I done? When I found out I was having  boys I was relieved that I wouldn't have a girl to have to work through body image issues. It didn't dawn on me that I needed to provide a safe place, free of my own body issues, for my sons. Why I didn't think of this, I have no idea. 

The best thing of seeing your mistake is learning from it. I am trying to better myself and my sons with positive thoughts and comments on my body. To let them know that I do love myself and the way that I look. And mostly laying a foundation for my sons to have positive body images. 

Overcoming fears

 

This year I told myself I would overcome some fears. I would also head down a more spiritual path and do a better job at working on my inner self. With those "resolutions" I needed to tackle my fear of hiking.

There are two things that I really fear. One is a big boulder falling on my car while we are driving and being eaten by either a cougar, mountain lion or bear... really.. any animal. I know the odds of either one of these happening is pretty low, I still have anxiety around them.

But this is the year! Today my family and I headed out for a hike. A mere 20 minutes up the mountains and we found ourselves in the most beautiful place. Surrounded by trees, wildflowers, birds, mountains and views to your hearts delight. This was not an easy hike for a 5 year old, but his tenacious self kept those feet moving one in front of the other.

 

 

My thoughts on hiking:
What a wonderful gift we can give our children. The outdoors welcomes such patience and beauty. We heard a vast array of birds chirping on our hike. My older son was able to decipher which bird calls came from each bird. We took our time. The busy world was left behind. We stopped often to take in the view, to look at butterflies, to see each wildflower growing. To look in amazement as we saw three snow covered mountains at the top of the bluff.

It's moments like these that I look at my life. Free of so many distractions, that I can fully breathe and take in what this wonderfully beautiful world has to offer us. My children witness this beauty. They feel the warmth of our sun on their skin, the breeze of our skies. We engage with them in such an intimate way through things of such simplicity but with such grandeur.

This is why, I challenge my fears and anxiety and I step onto the path. That first step my heart races. I worry about all the consequences of taking that first step in. I breathe. I see my family and their delighted hearts to be in nature. To explore a place that neither one of us knows. I take that step. And for that, I am forever grateful for overcoming my fears.

Our journey:

 

 

 

 

We all ended our day peacefully