New blog and announcement

A few announcements (and no, I’m not pregnant!)

Starting sometime this week, my blog will be down for a few days as I move everything over to a WordPress blog under the domain, www.talkingwhiteheads.com

I will put another reminder here before I start moving things, so this is just a heads up.

I’ve been wanting to move everything over for a while now, but haven’t gotten around to it. Basically, by having a blog hosted on Blogspot, which is owned by Google, Google basically owns my images, text, everything. It’s similar to renting instead of owning a house– you can get kicked out anytime the landlord decides to sell the place!

I’ve read stories from people whose blogs have crashed completely and couldn’t get them back or who have been locked out of their own blog by Google for violating their policies, even if they didn’t do anything wrong. Basically, although Google is awesome, I don’t want them owning my blog.

So if you check the blog and it’s down, you will know why. Just check back next week and everything should be up and running at www.talkingwhiteheads.com

I know some friends and family out there who use an RSS feed like Feedly, so you will need to update the URL there to see posts.

Eventually, once everything gets moved over, I will be making the blog private, which means it will be password protected– don’t worry, I will give you the password! Basically, I just want my blog, our images of the girls, and our stories to be protected and to be as safe as we can be on the Internet.

I won’t be making the blog private right away though; I will put out a post on that beforehand, so I can make sure any friends and family members who still want to read the blog can do so!

Another reason I’m moving to WordPress is because I’ve been working on a totally separate food blog the past few months using WordPress, so it makes sense to have everything on the same platform.  I’m super excited to have my other blog, Radish Me, up and running, hopefully within the next few weeks!

I literally thought of the name and tagline one night while I was writing down some notes with a crayon (the only writing utensil I could find at that moment) in the dark because I didn’t want to turn on the light, for fear of waking up the girls who were trying to go to bed!

A clean eating/healthy living blog is something I’ve been wanting to do ever since the girls were born, but I didn’t really get serious about it until the past few months. I’m so excited to get this thing started!

Radish Me is a food and wellness blog dedicated to helping families make healthy eating simple and fun. It really doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated, and that’s one of my big goals– to share what I’ve learned about getting our family on board with eating healthier food– minus the overwhelm!

My goal is to have a variety of simple, healthy recipes and meal plans for all types of families with different budgets and eating preferences. There will be lots of gluten-free and paleo recipes since that’s primarily what we eat, but there will still be lots of options for families who don’t necessarily have any food sensitivities, but still want to ditch processed food and eat real food!

I’m also excited about some of the natural living posts, such as quick and easy ways to create your own natural cleaners, where to buy the best non-toxic products (like sunscreens), and our favorite ways for using essential oils at home.

Perhaps my biggest fear when I decided to start Radish Me was that it would morph into one of those super judgmental blogs– if you aren’t eating 100% organic, free-range, grass-fed beef from the rancher who just happens to live next door, you might as well be a horrible mom!

As a food blog lover, I come across many of those judgmental-type sites and I want mine to be the opposite. By sharing our own imperfect real food journey, I hope to encourage people to start where they are and take baby steps to make healthier choices– whether that’s eliminating refined sugar and flour for one day a week, or cleaning out their entire pantry!

Here’s a few sneak peaks of content on the blog. I want to say that I have a whole new respect for all the food bloggers out there– the food photography thing has been a HUGE learning curve. I’ve had to shoot most of my photos while the girls are napping, and the sun is not the greatest for food photos in the middle of the afternoon, let me tell you!

Still, I’m learning as I go along and living by the motto, “Done is better than perfect.”

 

 

 

 

So– stay tuned for Radish Me. I’ll post an update about it when it’s ready to go!

And don’t forget– this blog will be down sometime this week and will be up and running next week at www.talkingwhiteheads.com

Lots of love,

 

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Fancy girls

I have no idea where they get it from, but S and A are hoarders of jewelry! I don’t really wear that much jewelry and it’s not something they see me put on everyday (unlike makeup, which they now try and do themselves– ahhhhh!) I’m thinking their penchant for all things sparkly and glittery is inborn. 
For Samantha, a trip to the park to feed the geese necessitates no less than 16 bangles. 
All fancied up for the geese. The best was when an elderly woman and her husband stopped us to talk about the girls.
 Nice old lady: “Wow! They really love jewelry!” 
Her husband: “FRANCINE! That’s RUDE! Don’t ask about their finances!” 
Because obviously plastic necklaces are spendy! 
More bread, please!
Amelia cackled while Samantha got bit by the geese who were eating out of her hand. She’d scream, cry, run to us, and then go back for more. 
Of course, I think the girls are cutest when they are un-fancied up. 

Other adventures last week: we discovered a new park!

We played at some of our stand-by favorites as well. The girls love practicing their arch climbing– maybe we’ll visit the real Arches National Park someday?

Amelia the mountain goat. This girl can climb.

My favorite Friday nights involve eating dinner at the pool with friends and tiring the girls out by encouraging them to lift themselves out of the pool and jump back in. Twenty thousand times. Easy bedtime + no kitchen clean up = a win.

Lots of love,

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Countdown to Summer 2015

Even though the girls aren’t in school yet and I’m no longer teaching, the excitement in the air right before school gets out is palpable! Things don’t really change much for us here during summer time, except for the fact that the pools, parks and beaches we usually frequent are about to get A LOT more crowded.  
We’ve been soaking up the fun and sun at our favorite parks and beaches before the summer vacationers and out-of-school kids start taking over, and one of the girls’ favorites is Salt Creek. There’s a grassy hill overlooking the ocean where families are usually flying kites, having picnics and letting the kids be crazy. Of course, we usually end up down the very long hill at the actual beach for a bit, too, where there’s usually not a lot of people in the off-season. 
Twice a year, our twins club does a fundraiser, and last month, thanks to fellow twin mom and photographer, Christina Kennedy, we took some fun Spring-y/Summer-y pictures at Salt Creek– in just ten minutes! 
We had a blast watching some of the other twins and triplets get their pictures taken and when it was the girls’ turn, they didn’t even seem to notice there was a camera pointed at them. They just ran around like normal, until we wrangled them for a five-second attempt at a family photo before letting them go again. A ten minute shoot is right up our alley. 
 Only 17 summers and approximately 1,360 summer days left before the girls graduate high school. We’re going to make these ones count! 
Silver and gold sisters. 

You wanted some candid shots, right? Here’s a great one of me pushing Amelia down!
Whitehead family, Spring 2015. 

Daddy’s girl, Samantha. 
I call Amelia my bright little star. She’s almost always so peppy and cheerful. 

The natives getting restless. 

I can’t even remember the last time Jake and I actually had a decent picture of ourselves taken sans twins, but this time I made it a priority!

Lots of love, 

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Rainy Days

On the 6.5 days we get rain per year, S and A go crazy! I keep meaning to buy them some raincoats, but never follow through, thinking surely THIS will be the last time it rains this year. 
The girls don’t care if they get soaking wet– they will stand outside collecting raindrops forever until I force them inside for fear of getting too chilled. 

Rainy days also mean lots of art projects. When I asked Samantha what she was drawing, she said that clearly it was herself, dancing. Duh, mom. 
Amelia pointed out that she had painted Bandit, Mama, Dada, Sammy and Ba. Abstract at its finest. 

The best part about cold days is picking out their own outfits and walking to grab a vanilla steamer– warmed coconut milk swirled with vanilla. I tell the girls it’s hot cocoa. They love it!

Lots of love,

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