Seriously?

So this Dove ad has been getting a lot of controversy and as a designer (someone who actually puts together ads) I think its rather stupid and hilarious. (You can read the full article HERE) Basically what they are alleging is that Dove is racist. Now I know this is in itself a controversial subject but COME ON, really? Its mostly about how the women are lined up, left to right, from dark skin to light skin and thicker to thinner. I seriously doubt that Dove had the intent that they were going to make a plump black woman into a skinny white woman. Sure its probably bad placement with the juxtaposition of the BEFORE and AFTER text, but not the intent. I happen to think that its aesthetically pleasing with the specific poses, and often in designing an ad, the photo is taken and then graphically put together. I give praise to Dove for using "Real" women in their ads, showing all shapes and sizes. I think that in general we have become too sensitive and too politically correct as a nation and need to get over it. Not everything has an underlying meaning. Some need to just get a life if they are really agonizing over this. What do you think? is it racist?

as John Stossel would say " Give me a break"....

CREATE

Productivity and creativity are two of my favorite things, and today I was able to expand on those with some fun and easy tools. I have an iPad, and thanks to adobe I know have some brilliant apps that make my life easier. They introduced some new apps this month and I knew I just had to have them . The first is adobe nav. Which basically puts my photoshop tools onto my iPad for quick and easy switch between and access. I can then also view all my open files on the IPad and then get up and walk my iPad down the office to display the work in real time. How cool is that!



The next one is more of a quick idea on the go app. I can sketch and paint my inspiration quickly and easily whenever I want at the swipe of my finger. And the control is amazing. It is like a water color effect Which I not really know but I am now eager to learn. The artwork above is something I did in about 30 min in bed, it's a sketch of my son Sam. I got about halfway through the coloring process when I realized I need MAJOR work..haha but this may be fun.  This app is simply called adobe ideas.

Check it out!

Silent and Quiet.

Frederick Buechner says "Silence, Cant be anything but silent, Quiet however chooses to be silent. It hold its breath to listen. It waits and is still." To be quiet is to find your strength from HIM alone. Psalm 46:10 calls us "to be still and know I am God.." In Hebrew that translates to rapha which in other words means letting ourselves go or to become weak. And this is what I needed to do so badly this week. I was having one of those weeks where if it could go wrong, it did! On top of the normal stresses of life ( finances, school, parenting etc..) It seemed as though one thing after another was dragging me down. My daughter threw my laptop, someone hit our car window and shattered it, I was audited at school, I spilled screen printing ink all over myself, my kids were fighting and oh my coffee went cold. ( you know, THAT kind of day). It wasn't huge life changing stuff either. We have a warranty, we needed some air conditioning, I'm not in any trouble, ink washes off, kids are kids and its just coffee. But in those moments it seemed like I was going to fall apart. And thats sort of just what I did. I came home after that long day and I just sat in the shower in silence. I knew that I just needed to "be still". To stop stressing and let God take care of it. I got so wrapped up in the moment I forgot who was in charge. Last year I got the words "be still" (harpoo) tattooed on my wrist as a reminder to myself to just stop and listen and let go. I need to remember to become weak because HE is strong. As soon as I did that I could literally feel the weight lifted off my shoulders. I began to feel a peace inside that only He could give. I know I am not alone when it comes to these moments of "strength" as I will call it.. strength that I can do it alone and its all about me. We all have those moments and I hope this blog helps you to feel "weak" when you need it too.

So I thought I would share some eye candy with you all. I have been up all night busy making decorations for my sisters bridal shower on Saturday. I did some oragami creations and then sprayed them with acrylic so they would be shiny and a bit stronger. Enjoy!

This is what I started with. (scrapbook set)

Them Drying

Sams Little League

Today was opening day for sams little league. It was so much fun and my boy is so handsome. ( although Im bias!) Hes pretty darn good to boot too, I mean look at that form! Here are some photos to enjoy. We can not wait for the games to begin! a

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Rooms

I have not yet watched any other Documentaries so there is no update on that end. We are still going strong on our new Organic lifestyle though. The kids really do love all the new foods and are excited about them and love eating healthy. My body seems to be regular again as far as periods go. Hopefully this will lead to good things in the future. Not to mention my pants are fitting nice.

I also had some fun a few sundays ago with my SIL making hair bows. I was hoping to sell some at the JBF Sale but they did not sell as well as I had hoped. But none the less it was still really fun and we got to spend some quality time together. ( plus I scored some great deals at the sale)

Tom and I put the kids rooms together ( or should I say apart as they were together). So now they are back to having their own rooms. They look too cute.

The entrance to Lilahs room ( yes it looks this pink with those curtains)

The room from this angle, and you can see all her girly toys and the changing table is now a toy/bow shelf..haha (both baskets on the top have bows and headbands in them)

And the other side, her dresser, dollies and play clothes

Sams room entrance ( all the homeschool supplies and boy toys in here)

Coming in you can see his bunk bed and desk area

His desk for school ( he needed to work in private without sissy) ( i know the dresser needs some cleaning)

and just a view of his beds... He loves them. ( he has a cool night light that projects a "nemo" scene on the ceiling too.

Cloth Diaper Cutness

Documentaries and Cloth Diapers.

So I'm making it my mission to watch all 17 documentaries on this list! (all though Ive already seen a few, Ill watch them again !)I don't know how long it will take but as I watch them I will review them and kind of give my reaction to them.

DIRT- watched on hulu, it was a quick watch so good if you don't have a lot of time. It wasn't life changing though, it did give me a new perspective on dirt and compost etc.. but I'm also not quite in the composting "green" as of yet. It did however, make me really want some good organic wine!

FOOD MATTERS- We watched this a few weeks ago so its not as fresh on my mind but it made us realize a bit more about the nutrition value of food and this is how GOD intended it to be. Did you know that they are able to treat cancer with high doses of Vitamin C, something GOD made yet we are banning here in the U.S. because of the pharmaceutical companies pockets? This was part of the reason we added so many vitamins to our diet and why we as parents decided to be sure our kids were eating nutritionally dense foods. Fun fact from this film: 2 handfuls of cashews can equal one Prozac! Its a pretty educational film and I think a must watch.

SUPERSIZE ME- We watched it again today, partially because it will be on my exam for my nutrition class. Which by the way I also think that every person should take. I am learning so much about my food and it is only cementing this new lifestyle of ours and making it more solid! Okay, back to SSM, amazing, and disgusting all at the same time. My husband was sure it was going to make him crave McDonalds but by the end of it he to is on the NO FAST FOOD train! Here is an article I read recently about mcnuggets.. and ewweee, butane..really. I cant believe I fed that to my children. From all the illness my family suffers from, I have to wonder if its partially because of the way we eat? I know Spurlock took it to the extreme, but really how much of this also can hold true to other processed foods we Americans eat?

THE FUTURE OF FOOD- WOW, first it was slow, but the more we watch the more we couldn't take our eyes off it. It goes into more depth and detail about GMO, what it is, how its made and the effects it has. It was sad at the same time. We watched it in two parts, after just 30 min I went to bed thinking that MONSANTO was pure evil. I still feel that way, how can we as humans and Christians be so opposed to Gene modification in humans but not our food that we are feeding our children? We gasp at the though of someone modifying our embryos but not when it comes to our food? God made all the plants the right way with the nutrients we need to survive, how can it be okay to change it and say WE can do better than GOD! This film will teach you about the process and patents that go into GMOs. Companies like Monsanto are saying these will cure hunger famine when really its just causing more by the way they are running it and putting farmers out of work. Hunger is not a issue of amount of food, its an issue of access to food. How can we continue to turn a blind eye? No more for my family, we will vote with our forks and our budgets by not buying food made with GMOs, we will support our local farmers and get the future of food changed! check outhttp://thefutureoffoodfilm.wordpress.com/ to learn more. and watch this film!

Ill post more as I watch them!

Now on another subject we have decided to try and Cloth diaper:

We only started two days ago and so far so good, it does take work and Im reading everything I can get my eyes on about it. My friend Kat let me borrow a few to test out, Im thinking I like the old fashion pre folds with covers over the aios, I think the changing may be easier as most times I only have to change the inside and not the whole diaper as with aio's ( all in ones) and that means less money for us. We have now gone two days without using a single disposable. So far our favorites are the G diapers with cloth inserts and flip covers. Ill also keep updating the progress as we move forward for a healthier family and a healthier world!