Two Crazy Navy Wives Beauty Subscriptions December 2013

Two Crazy Navy Wives Beauty Product Review December 17, 2013

Still In Love

Melanie once invited a woman to a Family Readiness Group meeting. It was just before deployment, and as FRG President, I felt we should get to know each other before our spouses left. To let them know that they won't be alone, just because their spouses are away. Her response, "I'll go after they leave. We're newlyweds, and I still love my husband."

When Melanie first told me this, I laughed. Later, I started to be insulated by this comment. Does she think that the rest of us no longer love our husbands? Just because we've been married for years, instead of just married? I have noticed that, while maybe not this sentiment exactly, many women feel that they love their husbands more than I love mine. I don't really have a problem with this. See, I might think I love my husband more than they love theirs.

I joke with my fellow deployment veterans about wishing our spouses would just leave already. That we can't wait for having the house to ourselves, and control over the remote. I mean it, I want that remote! The truth is, I miss my husband when he's gone, desperately. I cry when he's gone. I comfort my kids. I take over all the responsibilities of running a household. I do it all BECAUSE I love my husband. The build up to deployment is stressful, and emotional. We want it over with. Plus, the sooner they leave, the sooner they're home.

My husband is a United States Navy Sailor. I am ridiculously proud of him. He is out there, in dangerous locations, defending our country. He's my hero. I don't call him complaining about every little thing at home. I don't beg him to come home. There are even spouses that do everything in their power to try to get their spouses sent home. Not me. Not because I don't love him, but because I do.

Being a military spouse isn't for everyone. It's sometimes the hardest thing I've ever done, but I believe in my husband, with all my heart. He isn't in the highest paid profession, we sometimes struggle to make ends meet. He is gone for long periods of time. He works long hours when he's home. Our life is often misunderstood by others. (My son's teacher once told me that I definitely live a unique life, and she doesn't think she could do it). Despite all this, I wouldn't change it for anything.

I'm sure, to an outsider, it may look like I just go about my life, not caring if my husband is away. That I don't miss him when he's gone. Trust me, I do. It's just that I do what I need to, in order to support my husband in his chosen career. Because I love him.

My husband and I were friends for two years, dated/were engaged for another three years, and have been married for nine years, and I still love him. We may not be newlyweds, but no one can possibly love their spouse more than I love mine. He knows what he means to me, and that's all that matters. So if you think you love your spouse more than I love mine, that's okay. Maybe everyone should feel that way.

Two Crazy Navy Wives Introducing The Eight Crazy Navy Brats

Two Crazy Navy Wives Favorite Beauty Products 12-3-13

It's So Easy

Here is a quick craft if you are child free and and a plan in advance sort.  I'm not. It wasn't.

It ended up taking Amanda and I most of the day happily playing with paper choices, tools and embellishments. But it came out so cute. The clip boards were around a dollar at Walmart, Office Max or the Dollar Store. Amanda is an Origami Owl Consultant and planned to use the decorated clip boards for her party's. I wanted one for each child to keep school work, and help with the paper $#!% storm that comes home with them, organized. 

I cut a piece of paper down to size. Turns out a scalpel is a fabulous craft tool. 

Next I applied Mod Podge to the back of the paper. I flipped the paper over onto the clip board and smoothed it down. 

 Then I applied a layer of Mod Podge to the whole clip board. 

Once it was dry I added so coordinating stickers. This one is my favorite!

Tom Turkey

I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving.  It's important to take the time to appreciate what we have, and be thankful.  It definitely gives me a new outlook on my life.

Alright, enough seriousness.  I made this adorable turkey for my daughter.  It can make a fun craft to do with your kids, while waiting for the real deal to cook.

Very minimal sewing, I promise.

Isn't he cute?  I call him Tom.  

First I cut out all of my pieces from felt.  This is the style I chose to do my feathers for the tail.  You can use any style you want.  Maybe even real feathers.

Two Turkey bodies, two eyes, two feet, one beak, and four of each color feather.

I also cut out the eyes with white felt, and used black sharpie for the pupils.  You could use googly eyes, or buttons if you would like.  Lot of room to play around with this.  I just used supplies I had on hand.

Next, I sewed the turkey body pieces together, leaving a small hole at the bottom.

Don't you love the hot pink thread?  I didn't want to rethread my machine, and I knew it wouldn't be seen.

Now flip your turkey inside out, and stuff with fiberfill.  Really cheap at Wal-Mart.

Now sew your opening closed, and begin working on the tail.  I hot glued all the feathers together, then glued them to the turkey.  I ended up using all of my feathers, for a very full tail, but you could use as many, or as few, as you like.

Then hot glue on your feet, eyes, and beak.  I didn't post patterns, because I think this is a project that everyone can use their own imagination for.  Create your very own one of a kind turkey.  There are definitely things I will do different when I make it again.  Have fun with it, and have a great holiday!

11/26/13 Two Crazy Navy Wives Beauty Product Review.

The Zoo

So Melanie and I had the brilliant idea of getting all of our kids together, and doing a craft.  When daddies are on deployment, we come up with lots of genius ideas like this to entertain the kids.

Melanie saw this adorable picture on Pinterest, so we decided, how hard can it be?

We grabbed some popsicle sticks (tongue depressors would have worked better), foam, and glue from the Dollar Tree.  We also grabbed the project scraps we knew we saved for some reason.  We printed the picture off, set out all the supplies, sat the kids down, and let them have at it.  After listening to them bickering over supplies, scissors, and who had the printout last, I was pretty impressed by their creativity. In fact, Melanie, and I couldn't help but join in, and make a couple ourselves.

I Whip My Hair Back And Forth

I had red hair for about three years.  I loved it!  I used henna from Henna Hut (best, purest, easiest henna around IMO).  My hair was in the greatest shape it had ever been in.  I highly reccommend henna for dying, if you like the limited color options.  Just make sure to research thoroughly where you get your henna from.

Problem is, I got bored with it.  I decided I wanted to go back to my natural blonde.  This was a very loooong, damaging process.  First I had to let it fade, ugh.  When that started looking awful, I dyed over it with brunette.  (Be careful about dying over henna!  Make sure you have a pure henna with NO METALLIC SALTS, or disasters can happen).  Next, when it had faded enough, I used a color stripper to take the rest out (as much as possible).  Finally, I dyed it a blonde closest to my natural color.

Now, like I said, this was a very damaging process.  I took a long time with it to minimize damage, and did once to twice weekly coconut oil conditioning treatments.  My hair did not come out of the process damage free, however.  Henna is great because it coats the hair shaft, whereas chemical dyes force the color into the hair shaft.  Opening up the hair shaft causes hair to become dry, brittle, and prone to breakage.  So how do I get my hair back in good condition?  Protein treatments.

Your hair is about 91% protein.  When your hair becomes weak and damaged, it might need protein put back into it.  I decided to try two ways of doing this.  A chemical treatment, and an at-home DIY treatment.  I researched protein treatments to death, and decided on ApHogee 2-Step Protein Treatment.

I purchased it at Sally Beauty supply for around $4.00.  I have a Sally Beauty Card that normally costs $10 a year (although I hear they are doing a $5 special right now), but that I get for free because I'm a military dependent.  I read a million reviews and how to's on this product, everyone loves it!  The clerk at checkout even said "This stuff is Amazing!", as I was checking out.  Even with all the praise, I was terrified to use it.  I read all the warnings about not touching your hair once it is in because your hair will break off.  Rinse carefully, because your hair will break.  Don't use a cap, because your hair will break.  You get the idea.  I had it for about two weeks before I finally summoned up the courage to use it.

It's a very simple process.  Put Step 1 into your hair (I used a spray bottle for easy even coverage).  Then apply heat for around 30 min.  Your hair will get hard, and helmet like.  I only have a regular, hand-held, hair dryer, so this was a little much, but not too bad.  (I swear I took pictures of this part, but I can't find them anywhere).  Then you get into the shower, rinse carefully with warm water, then apply Step 2.  Leave in for a few minutes, then rinse.  You're done!  Well... almost.

Adding protein to your hair dries it out, a lot.  The moisture is pulled from your hair to make room for the protein.  I read that you need to immediately follow a protein treatment with a deep conditioning mask.  So that's what I did.  I used the following ingredients:

EVOO, Coconut Oil, My favorite conditioning mask, a wide-toothed comb, and a microfiber hair towel purchased at the dollar store.

I mixed the ingredients together, combed through my hair, and let set for about 5 hours, while I did other things, then shampooed out.

The results?  My hair did feel stronger, but not as much stronger as I was expecting.  The conditioning treatment definitely made my hair crazy soft, but duh, lol.  I think I was so afraid of breaking my hair, that I didn't give it quite the heat it desired.  I would like to try it again, now that I have a better idea of what I'm getting into.

The Second Protein Treatment.

Now, if you read The One Where We Go Au Naturale, you would know, that I love to use natural ingredients, as much as possible.  I am actively trying to eliminate as many chemicals from my home as possible, so I was eager to try the DIY recipe.  I waited six weeks to try the next method, as directed, because adding protein to your hair too often can result in stiff, dry hair that breaks easily.

The recipe for a DIY protein treatment is.... egg yolks.  That's it.  Separate 1-3 egg yolks, depending on your hair length, and thickness, and apply to hair.  Wrap with plastic (I then added my microfiber hair wrap over the top), and allow to set for about 30 minutes.  You can apply heat if you want, I didn't.  Shampoo out in lukewarm water, not too hot, or you'll cook the egg, and be pulling egg out of your hair forever.  Finally, use a deep conditioning mask to replenish moisture.  I used the same one as before.

The results?  Amazing!  As grossed out as I was putting egg yolks into my hair, my hair felt amazing!  It felt stronger, softer, and was seriously shiny.  Again, I can't find what I did with the pictures, don't hate me.

So overall, I would go with the egg yolks.  I can use it every 4 weeks, it doesn't smell as bad as the ApHogee, and I wasn't as terrified of breaking it.  Plus, it's something you almost always have in the house already, and they're really cheap (not that the ApHogee was expensive).  You don't even have to throw away the whites.  Mix them with a little lemon juice, and make a fantastic face mask.  Melanie made one, and loved the results.

Only use egg yolks for a strengthening protein treatment.  If you want a more moisturizing treatment, mix yolks with some coconut oil, or an avocado.  Have fun with your protein treatments, but make sure to follow directions carefully!

And Justice For All

I have six kids. This in no way makes me an expert in parenting or anything else and I feel strongly that every parent finds their own way and use the tools that works for them. By following that belief I have been, so far, highly successful. Do you hear it? There is a giant HOWEVER coming your way. Sometimes my kids throw me a curve ball.

 I have one child that we shall call Cubby. He is 11 and  he doesn't just hate chores. This one is a champion skate-out-of-chores gold medalist. Once I decided if I had him help in the kitchen where I was cooking, there would be no way he could get out of it, right? No sooner had I turned my back for one second did he disappear.  I have tried charts with and without stickers, graphs, pebbles in a jar, prize boxes, treasure chests, trips to the dollar store, prize on a shelf and anything else you can possibly think of including just asking him to do his chores.

I dreaded his first parent teacher conference. But I got nothing but glowing praise. I've never heard anything but what a pleasure he is in class and how hard he works. I've gotten used to it. I just smile and tell the teacher thank you and say things like I wish I knew that boy. Which brings us to a random Tuesday. He wanted to play outside. The following VERY typical conversation ensued.
I asked "Did you do your homework?"
He said "of course."
I said "let's go check.
He said "Okay."
And he did do his homework.

I asked "Did you clean your room?"
He said "of course."
I said "let's go check.
He said "Okay."
And I said "But if it's not you aren't going outside."

 So we went to look, and of course it hadn't been touched, but then he knew that. He argued that he'd do it now and I felt it was too late. He thought it was unfair because I hadn't been clear enough. He said he thought we'd check his room and then he'd clean it. I walked into the living room and asked the oldest two kids to have a seat. I introduced Cubby to Judge Daddyman. My husband is always happy to play along. So he called to order the family court. I presented my case. Cubby took a turn presenting his. The jury members reached a verdict and the Judge handed down the sentence. The Jury felt I had given clear instruction. The Judge said Cubby had a choice to make. He needed to clean his room and do one chore that would make ME happy. And he had to think of it on his own and complete it or he could forfeit his outside time. The room got clean and I also got a clean backyard. We had some laughs and talked more about it at dinner too.


So all in all this worked out beautifully for us. It was very impromptu and fly-by-the-seat-of my-pants. It took what had become a very regular exchange and added a little fun drama to it. I made sure to keep it light. I didn't want him to feel he was being picked on and he didn't. I think in certain situations I would absolutely do it again. I wouldn't choose to make it an every Tuesday kinda thing though. I'm pretty sure my kids would start to feel it to was a chore but I am sure the kids will meet with Judge Daddyman again.    

This is Halloween

On a recent shopping trip, my friends and I started spying these fabulous carvable pumpkins. The price tags were just a little too high for a seasonal craft project though. So we passed and moved on. We had this great Pinterest night planned. We each pick a Pinterest recipe to try out and share, and then we decide in advance what Pinterest craft we want to try. We chose a painted distressed sign with the Pledge of Allegience. Round about on the night of I talked with the ladies and shared my concerns that the project was not a one night Pinterest party project.  With our heads put together we decided on tracking down some less expensive carvable pumpkins. Last minute of course. 

The Dollar Store had small carvable pumpkins like these.

We talked about using Mod Podge and pages from a book or this darling tissue paper we found. We also found a couple of little black ravens, and Tiffany found herself  more ribbon. I admit to the crime of trying to talk her out of more ribbon and then needing to use it after all. So Tiffany, I thank you! We, of course, arrived fashionably and OK rudely late to Amanda's, but we did bring her two pumpkins. Alas we forgot to grab her a raven. 

We applied Mod Podge to the pumpkin and then torn strips of tissue paper. Followed by another coat of Mod Podge. Once covered we tied ribbon, and then added a Raven. 

Here is how Tiffany's came out:

That set the bar. 

I spent the next day fiddling with mine. I used the floral tissue paper and the results were......complete crap. I was really disappointed, so I used some orange lace washi tape, and applied stripes to my pumpkin.. Then I cut some 1 and 1/2 inch stretch lace, and used the same Mod Podge technique from above. I let it dry and attached a little black bow and the raven. Now I feel complete.

Cute Right? 


I hope Amanda will share a pic of her pumpkin! 

Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now

I am soooo excited to introduce our first giveaway!!!!  This lovely antiqued family sign, created by yours truly, is the prize!

Isn't it beautiful?  I love it!

I will be posting a tutorial on how I made this soon.  I hope you all love it as much as I do.

Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck Everyone!!!

UPDATE:   We have decided to add a second place prize!! A custom made tutu!!

New Logo

Melanie the Talented, drew our new logo.  What does everyone think?

Living In The Moment

Inspired by a post from http://www.littlemissmomma.com/2013/09/taking-stock.html She often inspires me and I truly enjoy her blog and amazing photography. 

We just got our Sailors home and that is both amazing and sometimes frustrating. We have our own routine as we hit our stride during deployment and having them home means a new routine all together. So what are we up to? Check it out and leave your answers in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Melanie

Making : Plans for the Khaki ball.
Cooking : Breakfast for dinner.
Drinking : An iced vanilla  half-caf latte with only 5 ice cubes.
Reading: The newest Dean Koontz Book in the Odd Thomas series.
Wanting: Another Coffee.
Looking: Forward to a night out with my husband.
Playing: Candy Crush level 122.
Wasting: Time on candy crush....that is for sure.
Sewing: Wired headbands. I'll show you how one day soon.
Wishing: I had a new sewing machine.
Enjoying: Listening to my kids goof around with each other.
Waiting: For inspiration: To clean and organize my ........life.
Liking: That fall is in the air!
Wondering: If it will snow this year.
Loving: My family. Madly and deeply.

Hoping: My back heals quickly.

Marveling: At Lil Man's four new teeth.
Needing: This one's tough. We don't actually need anything. Want is a whole other thing.
Smelling: Yankee candle's autumn wreath.
Wearing: VS pink Sweats......Always.
Following: My son N Dog's Blog!
Noticing: Smalls trying to sneak outside.
Thinking: When will my husband be home from work?
Knowing: It won't be soon enough.
Focusing: On this weekends date night!
Bookmarking: Other blogs for inspiration.
Opening: A package from Pick your plum.....no clue what's inside. it's like a mini Christmas!
Giggling: Kitten trying to walk in heels.
Feeling: Comfortable. 

Tiffany

Making : Crafts out of old sweaters
Cooking : Pot roast in the slow cooker
Drinking : Dr. Pepper of course
Reading: Yesterday's Gone by David Wright and Sean Platt.  Love everything by them!
Wanting: Because of these sweater crafts, definitely wanting a serger.
Looking: At Melanie's beautiful girls coloring.
Playing: Deadpool the game!
Wasting: Thread.
Sewing: Sweater crafts and broken pillow pets
Wishing: For mental health. :)
Enjoying: My hubby being on leave!
Waiting: For my kids to get out of school.
Liking: The minions on TV
Wondering: If Ben Affleck is going to be a good Batman. I think he might.
Loving: My family with everything I am.
Hoping: Melanie will let me keep Smalls. (She never does).
Marveling: At the fact that Smalls is wearing a shirt that Dancer actually used to wear. They grow too fast.
Needing: Sleep. 
Smelling: My VS Sweet Tease lotion, and pot roast. 
Wearing: VS sweats, usually
Following: People that make me laugh, and people that give me inspiration.
Noticing: That this sweater is very stretchy, therefore, a pain to sew.
Thinking: That I am so lucky to have such amazing people in my life.
Knowing: That I couldn't survive without them.
Focusing: On nothing, my mind is too chaotic to focus on one thing.
Bookmarking: Too many online shops.
Opening: Another window to see the new boots on Shoedazzle
Giggling: At my hubby being tortured by Smalls.
Feeling: A bit bad about my puppy having to wear the Cone of Shame.  He cries the whole time.

Home Again

I feel bad for being a couple days late with our post, but I swear there is a good reason for it.  Something fantastic!  The Two Crazy Navy Wives have gotten our sailors home!  For the past four years, and for a few more months, our husbands have been stationed together, so they've been gone at the same time.  Which means they get home at the same time!

Before this squadron, I had only done ship homecomings before.  They are a huge affair!  You get to watch the aircraft carrier pull in, with all those sailors in their dress uniforms, "manning the rails".  Our last ship deployment, our son was born, so I got to be right up front, and he was one of the first off the ship!  Very exciting.  Our current squadron, doesn't go on a ship, so we have our Homecoming at the squadron's hanger.  Not as exciting, but we are getting our sailors home, so who cares! 

This deployment was delayed several times.  Now this might sound a little mean, but it's very irritating when you get into the "he's leaving" mindset, then they get delayed.  He will be gone the same amount of time, so you just want it to start already, so he can come home already!  Once they finally left, we had no idea when they would return.  This is completely normal.  We're used to it.  It's annoying, but this is the life of a Navy Wife.  When we got word they were coming home, it was fairly little notice.  You should see the Two Crazy Navy Wives, when we have little notice.  Chaos!  So worth it though.  They're home!  I thought you might enjoy some pictures of our families enjoying homecoming.  A new post soon, I swear! (My fingers were not crossed).

Entertainment for the kids, while we wait.

Nice spread!  Huge flag!

Someone spent some time on this.

Melanie waiting in her amazing sweater!

I hate having my picture taken!

My kiddos, Bug and Dancer.  Check out those shoes!

Melanie's fam; Cubby, Lil' Man, Smalls, N-Dog, Mikey, and Kitten.
(Don't you just love our nicknames?)

Our heroes getting off the plane!  Which one is mine?  Which one is mine?

The pink skirt is Dancer launching herself at Daddy!

He's home!  Daddy's home!

That is one big group hug!  We missed you Daddy!

She's Smalls for a reason!  Daddy you look so much better off the computer screen!

Hey Daddy!  Haven't I gotten HUGE!!  And I have teeth!

After the kids, Mel finally gets to give her hero a kiss.

And I get mine!  Although Bug can't help but sneak into the picture, lol.

We're sooo happy to have our families whole again!  Thank you to all of our service members!  You are our heroes!  Home of the Free, Because of the Brave!