2 Weeks with the New Points System - Motivation!!

They are actually doing very well!! Including my young one!

The point system is giving them the motivation to get things done without me having to tell them to do it!

One thing that I noticed is that they are having a hard time completing something TOGETHER. They always end in some kind of fight or someone just stops working altogether.

This is something that I am going to have to work on with them, as I want them to be able to do things without always fighting.

I used word & publisher since I have it at work. If I were at home(& my macbook pro hadn't died for the umpteenth time) I would be using Pages.

This is just the basics of what I put together. I also created the lists with their Daily Tasks for each and put Avengers characters in the backgrounds to give them a little more excitement and sense of ownership.

I laminated each of their Daily Task sheets and had them tape it to their walls in their bedrooms.

I then had them place the rules and points list all over the house. In pretty much every room since I want to jam this system down their throats(figuratively, sometime literally.. LoL)

The first page on this is a list of chores that I write down as I come by them. Sometimes I assign them sometimes I don't.

The second page is theirs. I printed out multiple copies of this and on it they can mark down all the things that they did everyday.

So far, so good!!

Creating a Summer Schedule for Bored Kids

I work a full time job in addition to taking care of 3 children on my own. My babies are highly intelligent and highly active. My youngest is super Hyperactive. Such a sweety pie, but he is constantly getting into things he shouldn't be.

When they first got out of school, they lacked the structure that they are used to and need in order to keep themselves on task. They have been running rampant like a pack of wild dogs!!!

Kids in general need structure, so I have put together a daily task list and a point system for them while I am at work. This way I do not have to come home to a mess everyday and blow a blood vessel trying to get them to do the things that they are supposed to do.

I set up a schedule with a list of daily tasks and chores for them to do. There is space to add additional chores if need be depending on what is going on. There is also a space to keep track of the points that they accumulate throughout the week.

At the end of each week they can choose to use their points towards something that they want or want to do, or they can save their points to let them accrue towards whatever goal they may have.

The beginning stages of implementing this system are sure to be difficult to get through but with consistency I am sure that they will be able to and I will be left with clean, well behaved babies.... Hopefully.... LOL

This will be an absolutely interesting experiment and journey. I am very interested in seeing how far my kids will go to get the things that they want.

It has been a few days and the older 2 have taken to it pretty well. My youngest is still trying to figure things out. He hasnt been able to understand the concept of working towards something just yet.

Acrylic Nail Obsession!!!!

I have been super obsessed with acrylic nails as of late. I have always had a thing for nail art and definitely prefer acrylic or gel over just regular polish. It never lasts more than 2 days on me regardless of the brand and the technique.

I have done my own acrylics off and on over the years and have recently started back wearing them. I am wearing them again because I got so tired of my natural nail breaking constantly and just not looking very good. I really like for my nails to look nice and started doing my pink and whites again.

I love pink and whites!!

This time I really want to perfect my technique and get much better at doing them!

I have gotten my prep down and with better products and application technique, I have greatly reduced the amount of lifting that I used to get.

I have been slowly building my nail collection back up and now have acrylic from 2 different lines. Both are great and I really do feel like the Omega especially works the best for me compared to anything else that I have actually tried.

I have the majority of essentials for doing acrylics. Many of which, I have purchased from eBay this past few weeks and from here all I will really need is the wants and nail art supplies.

I have ordered a dust fan which I think is highly important to have in your acrylic or gel nail kit. You want to keep the acrylic dust down to a minimum as much as possible since it can cause serious health problems. I actually wear a particulate mask when I file my nails regardless if I am hand filing or using a drill. Since I do have asthma, I try to reduce the effects that doing acrylics can cause as much as possible.

I ordered a few carbide bits which are much safer as far as dust since they cut the acrylic into chunks that are too big to breathe in. I am excited about trying them out! You must be careful when using carbide bits since they can cut the skin.

There is a bit of a learning curve and for me my biggest obstacle has been product ratio and consistency. I cant quite get the perfect pearl every time. But that also has to do with the fact that I have been trying out new brushes and things like that on a regular basis. With practice that will eventually come natural.

I have found eBay to be the easiest way to order nail art stuff. I ordered a practice hand as well which I am super excited about so I can get my technique down without destroying my nails, taking them off and redoing every week or few days or whatever...

I have been practicing on that as well as on Tammy Taylor's practice sheet. I have done a ton of pink and whites and also wanted to try to do the type of nails that I would never actually do on myself. I did an Edge nail which came out pretty interesting...

Acrylic nails can become a really bad habit because there is always something else that you want to buy. Its just as bad as my hair obsession if not worse at this point!!

My Short Curly Hair Routine - Modified MHM

Since cutting off all my hair my hair routine is super simple and super quick!

I am simply doing wash & goes every day and deep conditioning once or twice a week.


I have been reading up on the Max Hydration Method for a while and have incorporated a few things from it into my regimen.


Since my hair is in its short stage I do not want to go all out with what I am doing to my hair. This is what I am doing to my hair on a daily and weekly basis.


DAILY

• Rinse hair very well under shower
• While hair is still soaking wet, apply light conditioner and massage through focusing on the very front, sides, and back, as these are the driest parts of my hair.
• Apply oil to scalp and massage in making sure to lightly coat the hair. I like to use Castor Oil or one of my own oil blends with essential oils.

WEEKLY

• Deep condition the hair with a heavy conditioner, mixed with honey and oils
• Apple Cider Vinegar rinse
• Baking Soda rinse
• Shampoo if I feel the need to (which is usually about once a month)

I will say if I had bentonite clay or another kind of clay I would definitely do the fully MHM every 2-3 days.


However, since I started back cowashing everyday like I used to, my hair is a lot more moisturized and my curls are popping like crazy!! The sides and the very front of my hair have had a harder time forming the curl as compared to the rest of my hair. Because of this I have been focusing on those sections a  little more.


I shampoo with Nizoral for my scalp issues. I feel like it does help when I get that weird burning sensation, as well as the Apple Cider Vinegar rinse.

My hair is responding to this very well and I definitely feel like the shedding that I had been experiencing has subsided greatly! My hair is becoming more and more moisturized everyday and I am not experiencing any breakage at all!

That makes me pretty happy!!

My Extreme Haircut - Video Series 1-4

I have uploaded 4 videos so far about my haircut. The first one was just an explanation of what has been going on with my hair and what had led me to make the decision to cut off all of my hair. My hair has gone through so many changes and I really needed a change.


I just needed to be able to forget about my hair completely for a while. And I have to say that it was definitely much needed!! I feel so much better not having to worry about what I am doing to my hair. Since my hair was in such a bad condition I couldn't do wash and goes. It looked terrible when I wore it down!

In this video, I explain my reasons for wanting to cut off all of my hair. There are so many different things that have been going on I have simply become fed up! I was ready for a change!

The Cut!!

The change was pretty drastic!! And Even though I cut off so much hair, I do not miss it at all!! I am actually quite surprised about that!!

This is how I felt about my hair after the 1st week of wearing it short. I love it!! It is so different and something that I have wanted to do for a really long time!! I am super happy and excited that I finally did it!!!

I got over my fear of having short hair and over my fear of cutting off all of my hair!! It took me a couple of years to be able to grow the courage, so to speak, to be able to do this. I would always say, "I want to shave my head and if I feel the same way next year, I will do it."

Well, I finally did it!!!

What fears do you have? How long do you think it will take you to be able to say "Fuck It!" and just do it??