DIY: Binx Cat Costume

Okay, so who doesn't LOVE Hocus Pocus? I know we do! So this Halloween Ronnie wants to be Binx from Hocus Pocus. If you haven't seen that movie....Binx is a boy who was turned into a black cat. And if you haven't seen that movie, you MUST. Yeah, I could have go to the Halloween store and bought the ears, tail and even cat paws....but I just love doing homemade when I can. It's fun and I think it makes it extra special.

So I gathered up my supplies from Hobby Lobby. I found the black sweatshirt/sweatpants at Walmart and picked up some wire hangers. I already had the headband from other craft projects, but it did come from Hobby Lobby.

So from Hobby Lobby I bought 2 sheets of black felt and 2 sheets of white glitter felt (for the inside of the ears). I also bought some black elastic and velcro to make the belt that will hold the tail. We picked up some fluffy boa wearable art, which was perfect for his wrists.

Also, some black fur that I used to make a collar piece and fur to go around his ankles. They had a large piece of black boa type material that I used to wrap around the wire hanger that made his tail.

For his tail: I bent/twisted the hanger until I got it how I wanted. I slowly but surely hot glued the feather boa material from top to bottom, until it was completely covered. I did leave a small piece of the wire hanger not covered. This part is bent to hook over the elastic belt.

For the elastic band that his tail clips on. I measured out how much I needed and then added velcro on each end. I bought velcro that had adhesive on it already, but ended up (hand) sewing it because it kept trying to come off. I ended up sewing ALL velcro pieces because of this reason.

Now for the ears:

I grabbed a sheet of computer paper and hand drew the cat ears, the black piece bigger than the white. Ronnie helped me pick how big they should be. He chose white for the inner ear "because the inside of a cats ear is white." It's easier to just fold your piece of felt and pin your paper design to it, cut around it. This cuts both ears at once and I did the same with the white felt. I hand stitched the white felt onto the black and then sewed the black ends together. Now, where my finger is pointing in the last ear picture, I put hot glue all along that area and wrapped it over the headband, just to offer some extra support. And then I sewed the ears on the headband.

For the fur collar:

I bought 2 packages of this. My first piece, I cut it half and sewed the ends together to make the fur collar. Also, sewed the velcro pieces on to help keep it in place. I took the other black fur and cut it in half. I put velcro on each end so it can connect and that makes the fur that goes around his ankles.

I used black eyeliner for his face makeup. How adorable is he though? :)

I personally think he makes the most adorable Binx EVER....and NO! I did not make him do this, that's all Ronnie.....

He makes my heart melt. He's so cute!

Anywho,

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and maybe it will give you an idea for a super easy and cute costume to make for your little one!

CHECK OUT this SUPER FUN Halloween Craft: http://healthymommatalk.blogspot.com/2013/10/outdoor-halloween-decor.html

And THIS ONE: http://healthymommatalk.blogspot.com/2013/10/outdoor-halloween-ghost-decoration.html

Homeade Egg Drop Soup

Who doesn't LOVE Egg Drop Soup? This is such a easy dish to make and it turned out so delicious!

What you need:

5 cups of Chicken Broth (I use Simple Truth Organic, from Kroger)
1 1/2 tablespoon of Arrow Root
3-4 Eggs  - whisked
3-4 Green Onions - chopped
(about - I just throw some in there) 1 teaspoon of Himalayan Fine Pink Salt 
(about - I just throw some in there) 1 teaspoon of Garlic Powder
 *Optional- frozen bag of organic corn
 I added corn in my second batch of this soup and the hubs and I both LOVED it. :)

**My first batch of this soup I used 4 eggs, my second batch I went with 3 eggs. I preferred using 3, but if you like more egg use 4.

Let's cook:

-Chop green onions and set aside.
-Set aside 1 cup of broth and pour the rest in a large pot, set to medium-high. Bring to boil and stir in  Himalayan salt, chives, corn (if using) and garlic powder. Return to boil.
-Mix arrowroot with the 1 cup of broth and pour into pot, stirring to combine. Lower heat to medium and boil (lightly) for around 2 minutes, soup will slightly thicken.
-Slowly pour your whisked eggs into soup, will cook immediately.

Vegetarian Spring Rolls, purchased at Kroger

Enjoy y'all!!

Autism and Plexus?!

First let me start by saying *Plexus products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.* I'm not claiming that Plexus has cured Ronnie, but it HAS helped him in SO many ways. I am NOT an Ambassador, just a happy customer! Prepare for a long post, but it's amazing seeing and now sharing with all of you how much Plexus has helped him!

I will say that I personally have seen great benefits from using Plexus products and you can read more about that here. But today, this post is all about my son, Ronnie. He's 6 years old and has Autism.

This is a typical reaction when we say "Ronnie smile" and I love it!

Ronnie has dealt with constipation pretty much his entire 6 years of life. And if your child has ever dealt with chronic constipation you'll understand when I say, it has been so heartbreaking to watch. When Ronnie was diagnosed with Autism (around the age of 3) the psychologist recommended we do a dairy free diet, at that time he was taking in large amounts of dairy. Yogurt, it was one of the few things we could get him to eat. She talked with us about how removing dairy may help improve his constipation and that "might" help improve :some: behavioral issues. So we tried. It helped some, but not enough.

We spoke with his pediatrician because despite going completely dairy free (wow, what a challenge that was) he was still having pretty severe constipation. She prescribed him Miralax and told us to give him some every day. We did this for quite some time and guess what? Still no relief. After researching, I found out that Miralax A) Shouldn't be taken daily and B) Can cause chronic constipation. Yes, you read that right, extended use of Miralax can cause chronic constipation, the one thing I was trying to help my child with.

So a friend recommended trying a probiotic. I found some chewables that luckily he could tolerate and after doing some more research I added Aloe Vera to his juice. And eventually we went gluten free. While doing all this helped improve his constipation problems a lot, he was still having problems (just not as severe). We kept with this routine for quite some time (years) until he could no longer tolerate the chewable probiotics. So I moved on to a liquid probiotic that I could just add hide in his juice.

*CUE PLEXUS*

I started taking Plexus products and LOVED THEM (read more about it here). My husband and I had to take Ronnie to the doctor because he was peeing so frequently we thought maybe a bladder infection!? Nope. It was from constipation. So I showed her my Probio5 and she gave us the green light and things have been amazing ever since. He no longer has problems with being constipated. For the first time ever my little guy isn't in pain when he goes to the bathroom and he's regular. But that's not all that Probio5 has helped him with.....
*Note, he occasionally will have a half of Slim, but he IS consistent with Probio5.

Behavior. His behavior has drastically changed for the BETTER. I cannot stress that enough. Before Probio5, it was rough around here. And that's putting it mildly. My husband had just gotten back from his assignment in Turkey, Ronnie was having problems with transitioning from one parent to two parents. Daily, we were dealing with being screamed at, slamming doors (I'm honestly surprised it didn't fall right off the hinges), throwing things, hitting, kicking, screaming, saying the most awful things, he couldn't focus and was extremely hyper. If you're an Autism parent, you'll understand when I say....they were meltdowns from hell. And as a parent I felt so awful, like I wasn't doing everything I could to help my baby. I hated seeing him like that, he didn't understand why he was behaving that way...it was hard hearing him say "I don't understand why I'm this way Momma." We aren't seeing this behavior anymore, I mean....rarely....when we do it's usually around a full moon and it's not as severe. Thank you Jesus.

Schooling. We homeschool and that journey has been rough. We began kindergarten last year. He couldn't focus, he couldn't sit still long enough to try to focus and the moment something difficult came up...he would lose it. We weren't getting much work done during the day. We ended up taking a break from homeschool for months because of his behavior, honestly....I felt like a failure. But now, we're a couple of  months back into homeschool and he's doing GREAT. He can focus better, he is much more emotionally and mentally prepared for school work and his behavior...AMAZING. When something frustrating does arise, he communicates with me instead of automatically resorting to screaming at me or melting down. Do we still have a few rough spots here and there? You bet, but it's not something that we can't manage now. Even his OT has commented on how much he's changed and how much improvement she's seeing in his sessions.

Sleep. Where do I start? Around the age of 2 sleep became such a huge problem area for Ronnie. It was a battle....a long, hard and exhausting battle. It was taking him usually around 2 hours to go down for a nap and at bedtime. I eventually gave in and did away with nap time, thinking he would fall asleep easier at night. Nope. It was still taking him up to 2 hours (usually right at 2 hours) to go to sleep. PLUS he would wake anywhere from 3-5 times a night. So it wouldn't wake my husband, I eventually just started sleeping in Ronnie's bedroom floor. I was EXHAUSTED. We took him to his pediatrician several times and kept getting the same "oh that's normal for his age, just put him in his bed and he'll go to sleep eventually." They would not hear our concerns. Before you say, "oh why didn't you just find a new doctor?" It wasn't that easy when you lived on a military base and they were short on pediatricians. I expressed my frustration and exhaustion on Facebook and a friend recommended melatonin. What a life saver that has been for Ronnie (and the tired Mom). Ronnie has been taking a total of 6 mg for quite some time now and that helps him fall asleep, but he would still have night time wakings. Now, since being on the Probio5 and thanks to our amazing Young Living Essential Oils, I've been able to back him down to 4 mg. AMAZING! He's not getting up before dawn anymore either. *insert angels singing* He's sleeping anywhere from 7 ish to 8 a.m., sometimes as late as 9 a.m. That is HUGE for him y'all. HUGE.

If you read my blog post that I linked above, you'll see that I said I ran out of Probio5 while waiting on my order....yeah, he ran out of his too. NEVER again will I let that happen. EVER. He was off his Probio5 for 2-3 days and the difference we saw in him during that time was....SO ROUGH. His constipation returned and his behavior....let's just say we weren't able to get ANY school done those days and a lot of tears were shed (between the both of us). It was hard. And it was a great reminder of how much Probio5 has been helping him!

Over the years, I've done and tried so many things to help Ronnie. It's hard watching your child, in a sense, suffer. For us, Plexus has offered a bit of normalcy and relief for Ronnie. For both of us. I hashtag this a lot because it's true, we're a #plexusforlife kind of family. I am so thankful that I took a leap of faith and tried Plexus for myself. I'm even more thankful that I introduced it to Ronnie.

So if you ever wonder why I LOVE Plexus SO MUCH and share about it a lot, THIS is why!

His first time climbing Pinnacle Mountain. My husband and I weren't sure if he would be able to handle climbing to the top. But here he is. He conquered it. He conquered it like he has so many other things in his life. I'm so proud to be his Mom.

I will continue sharing with everyone how much Plexus is changing lives, for the better! I'm so thankful God answered my prayers and helped bring something in our lives that would make a difference!

#plexusforlife

***UPDATE***
As of 10/26/15 Ronnie still CONSISTENTLY takes Probio5. When he's eaten more things we typically don't do, especially with the holiday's rolling around, we bump him from 3 Probio5 to 4. I have also started adding 1 Biocleanse to his chocolate milk (he can't swallow pills) and he drinks that at dinner. He is still seeing AHHHHMAZING benefits and I still get SO emotional when I talk about it, so it's probably a good thing you can't see me typing! ;)

Be sure you check out the updates in my blog entry about how Plexus has helped me! 

So.....Ronnie decided we needed to add a updated photo and so I said of course! I just love him to pieces! He picked this photo to share. He's going as Binx, the black cat from Hocus Pocus! :)


****UPDATE****
 12/2/15 - Ronnie still consistently is on 3 Probio5 and we have now added 2 MegaX. One during the day and one at night. He still consistently takes BioCleanse, but now between breakfast and lunch. But GUESS WHAT??? He can now SWALLOW his meds, no more mixing it in his milk! That's so HUGE for him, so YAY! :)


****UPDATE****
3/7/16 - Ronnie is still consistent with Probio5 (3 right before dinner), 2 Biocleanse between lunch and dinner and 2 MegaX. I switched giving his MegaX 1 in morning and 1 at night to taking both (2) at night. But GUESS WHAT???? As of 2/20/16 Ronnie is officially OFF Melatonin. Yay!! Ronnie had been taking it for about 4 years and was up to 6 mg. I slowly weened him down to 4 mg before MegaX and then slowly weened him completely off. He sleep beautifully....PRAISE GOD! :) 

**These statements are not endorsed or provided by Plexus nor am I medical professional; this is just my personal experience and/or research.

I DARE you to try it....

 First let me start by saying *Plexus products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.* I'm not claiming that Plexus has cured me, but it HAS helped me in SO many ways. I am NOT an Ambassador, just a happy customer!

Remember that time I got that adorable pixie cut? 

What you don't know is the reason behind that. See picture 2, I was losing chunks of hair at a time, the picture that shows the hair on the shower wall, yeah...what you can't see is there were about 3 more piles of hair lined up. This was happening every time I showered. It was so upsetting and depressing. I was so insecure about it, that many times I contemplated just shaving my hair off. No lie. Any time I was going to be out of the house, I wore a hat. But, instead of shaving my head in a moment of frustration, I got the pixie cut.

 

Now, let's talk about these pictures (which doesn't even do justice for how bad it was). I asked for prayers so many times for this miserable rash on my face. I never shared a picture of it, b/c it was embarrassing to me, I hated even leaving the house. I saw a dermatologist and he gave me some meds for it....keep reading I talk more about this in a bit.

Every where that looks red on my face in this picture, was SO raw, chapped and painful.

Cue 4th picture. The mysterious swollen leg. I saw specialist after specialist after specialist. Blood work, MRI's, X-Rays etc. I've been tested for autoimmune disorders, ruled out blood diseases/disorders (despite having abnormal labs) and still no answer. It's been almost 2 years and I STILL do not know what is wrong with my leg. The only thing that I have been told is whatever caused it, permanently damaged it. It's forever going to be larger than my other calf. The only time it changes sizes is when it swells more, which it does on my really active (running errands half the day, doing a lot of walking, exercising etc) days.

What you can't see in any picture I post....the chronic fatigue and pain that I was experiencing every single day. I would be awake maybe an hour or two in the morning and then I would have to put a movie on for Ronnie so I could crash on the couch. It didn't matter what I tried, I could not stay awake. I LIVED on energy shots. Sometimes 3 a day and I still could not function. Being a stay at home Mom of a special needs child and a homeschooler, this WAS NOT an option for me.

*Chronic pain brought on by bulging discs in my neck. Bone spurs and degenerative changes in my back. A old injury to my foot from when I broke it in 7 places, a osteochondroma in that same foot. Fractured sacrum. And the mysterious swollen leg*

At one of my follow up appointments with my Rheumatologist to go over results of the many, many tests I had done, the nurse practitioner informed me....that they still didn't know what was wrong with me. She said some of my symptoms could be Fibromyalgia and there is a family history, but at that time the doctor wasn't taking new fibro patients. So instead, she handed me some scripts to try that they use for their fibro patients. I just felt like that wasn't the right path for me. Like many of you see daily, I kept seeing posts about Plexus. And to be honest, like many of you, I was so tired of seeing and hearing about Plexus....but...

As a last resort, I ended up trying Plexus. I was extremely skeptical, I thought there is no way people are truly seeing all these results. First I started with just the Slim. A week went by and I didn't feel any different. Then two weeks went by, still felt the same. After the third week, I noticed I wasn't having problems with my insomnia (brought on by my Bipolar Disorder). I also noticed that I wasn't stiff and in horrible pain after waking up. And thank goodness, my fatigue wasn't there. Then I started to notice my sugar cravings weren't there. I wasn't going to the cabinet for handfuls of chocolate chips throughout the day.

But then I started having the face rash problem and went back to see my Rheumatologist. He wanted me to get in to see a Dermatologist ASAP to have biopsies done. And he sat me down and told me that unfortunately I was a mystery (all of my symptoms didn't point to one thing and all my tests were fine) and told me that we could try a 8-12 week steroid trial to see if it helped my symptoms. And if it did help, we would then move on to a permanent stronger prescription. Any time a doctor is willing to put me on medication WITHOUT a diagnosis, I'm saying no thanks. I didn't want a band-aid and at that point, I felt like that was all that was being offered. He felt that my immune system was seriously out of whack, but just couldn't give me an answer as to why. He also mentioned trying a cleanse to which he suggested BioCleanse by Plexus.

**The dermatologist diagnosed me with Eczema, Perioral Dermatitis, Seborrheic Dermatitis and Acne (which I would get really bad cystic acne. Acne on my chest and back)**

I thought, okay here is a doctor telling me to TRY Plexus, awesome! So I went ahead and added the Probio5 and BioCleanse to my Slim (triplex combo). WOW. What a difference this has made in my life. I sleep better, my acne is better, my stomach feels better (diagnosed with Gastroparesis as a young adult), my aches and pains feel better. I made the mistake of not ordering my Probio5 before I ran out and what happened? My acne was back, especially on my chest and my eczema immediately started to flare up, along with that horrible rash on my face. I will NOT run out of Probio5 EVER again!  When I started to work on my gut health (which contributes to over 80% of our immune system), the rest just started to fall into place.

I started seeing others post about XFactor and how it was helping thicken their hair and with new hair growth, so I added that to my Plexus regimen. I've been on it for almost a month and WOW were they right!  (as you can see in the hair picture above, no more balding)

I'm learning to live with an abnormal leg...

Do you see that? I can actually leave the house WITHOUT a hat to hide my hair loss! I'm finding new hair growth all the time it seems like and I LOVE IT!

Plexus has HELPED with my:

Acne
Eczema
Chronic Fatigue
Chronic Pain
Dermatitis Issues
Tummy Troubles
Anxiety
Insomnia
Sugar Cravings
Migraines
Lost 7lbs (that I put on thanks to all those sugary energy drinks)
Relief from my periods (that's another good blog entry I should do)

These are just my personal results, I'll blog another day about how Plexus has helped Ronnie, my 6 year old son who has Autism. I take the Triplex Combo, XFactor, Plexus Nerve (which is great for when I do get a headache or when my leg is bothering me) and Plexus Body Cream.
**As of 10/26/15 I am CONSISTENT with the Triplex Combo. I NEVER go without the Probio5


So, if you've been debating trying Plexus, Do it. I DARE you to try it. I once doubted it and my regret is that I didn't try it SOONER. You literally have no risks with a 60 day money back GUARANTEE. You can't walk into GNC and get that kind of guarantee. 

#plexusforlife

***UPDATE**** Check out how Plexus is helping my son Ronnie! 
***SECOND UPDATE*** (10/26/15)

I posted a comparison picture to my Facebook page on /10/7/15 and wanted to add it here as well. I spoke in this blog entry about losing chunks of hair and I do mean CHUNKS. The first picture in the Before pics, that's how much hair I was losing every single time I showered. The second picture in the Now pics is what I lose now. I'm SO thankful for Plexus!


***UPDATE 3/7/16*** I've recently added MegaX to my nightly routine. 

**These statements are not endorsed or provided by Plexus nor am I medical professional; this is just my personal experience and/or research.

Bag Burst Science Experiment

Looking for a fun Science experiment to do with the little ones? The kiddo and I both enjoyed this. We started out with a smaller bag first and the decided to go bigger. Because, why not?

If you're doing the smaller ziplock bag, here's the recipe:

Put 2 tablespoons of baking soda in a small torn of square of a napkin. Fold the napkin into a little packet. In your ziplock bag add 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar. Go outside, put folded napkin inside bag and quickly close bag, you may need to give the bag a little shake. Then the bag will slowly start to fill up and after a few seconds should pop.

We got a bigger pop when we used a gallon size bag. The recipe for that size is:

Tear a napkin in half and add 1/2 cup of baking soda, make napkin packet again. In your gallon size bag, add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of vinegar. We added some food coloring to our second bag. Again, go outside and add packet. Zip bag close, give a little shake and enjoy! :)

Glazed Sugar Cookie Muffins

Oh. My. Yummy. Seriously y'all. These Sugar Cookie Muffins are so delicious, easy to make and they're gluten/dairy free.

Have you seen my Gluten/Dairy Free Sugar Cookie Donuts recipe? I used that recipe to make these muffins, so be sure and check it out! I baked for 14 mins total.

For the topping you need:

2/3 cups Organic Coconut Palm Sugar (Vanilla)

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon 
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice 

4 tablespoons Melted Butter (I use Earth Balance)

Melt butter. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Dip the top of your muffins in the butter and then in your dry ingredients bowl. Set aside. *I had dry ingredient mix left over, my little guy and the hubs ate some of the muffins the night before. You don't have to make these a day before eating, I did so I wouldn't have to worry about baking them that morning.

Now for your glaze.

You need to melt 3 tablespoon butter (again I used Earth Balance) in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Then add about a 1/2 cup of your Organic Coconut Palm Sugar (Vanilla) (I just eyeballed it, did a little less than 1/2 cup). Next add 1 teaspoon Organic Vanilla Extract and 2 tablespoons Organic Cane Sugar (I picked both of these ingredients up at my local Whole Foods). Mix well!

We spooned our glaze on just one muffin at a time and refrigerated the rest of the glaze for when we're ready for another delish muffin!

So yummy y'all, hope you enjoy!

Homemade Taco Sauce

 Have you ever thought about making your own taco sauce instead of buying from the store?  It's super easy. And way...WAY healthier. Have you checked out the ingredients from a store bought bottle? Let me help you with that....

This is the Taco Bell brand. Let's look at Sodium Benzoate as a preservative. Some may not realize this but it has the ability to deprive the cells of oxygen, break down the immune system and cause cancer. It's found its way into thousands of products, even foods that are labeled as all natural. But don't be fooled. While benzoic acid is found naturally in low levels in many fruits, the sodium benzoate listed on a product's label is synthesized in a lab.

So why is it in our food? Simple. It's the cheapest mold inhibitor on the market and extends shelf life. Learn more at Natural News

Want to make your own? This is what you need:

1 can of Organic Tomato Paste
2 teaspoon Arrowroot (I use this instead of corn starch)
1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon  Cayenne (add more if you like really spicy sauce)
4 teaspoons Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

Here's what you do:
Dissolve arrowroot in 3 cups of water in a medium sauce pan. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins. Allow to cool before pouring into bowl/bottle.
Can keep for up to a week in the refrigerator, shake well before each use.

I didn't have anything to store my sauce in, so I was using a bowl (this recipe makes a lot). And then my kiddo said "Let's use my lemonade bottle." Hello recycling and reusing. Works perfectly!

Enjoy.....