One blog ending, New ones Beginning!

Hello All!
I hope you are still around here somewhere. :)  I've finally decided that I would just start another blog instead of posting here and linking/embedding pictures and video.  Actually, I've decided to start 2, maybe 3 blogs and try to focus my topics in different blogs.  The one that is already set up is a belly dance blog and the first post is published.  Please join me there!  www.narahsblog.blogspot.com

I may also start one for just artwork.  Definitely, I'm starting another for my latest calling for focus: Tarot and Reiki.  Currently I am finishing up my homework to complete Doreen Virtue's Advance Angel Card Readers class.  Tarot has interested me for years and have a few decks, but this class really called to me and I have learned a lot.  Soon, I'll be offering readings!  The longest reading will be 30 minutes until baby can be away from Mama for longer. ;) But, I promise you will get a lot in that 30 minutes and it will be so worth it! :)  Also currently, I have decided to offer distance Reiki!! You can paypal me with the details of your concern to vinegar and glitter (at) gmail (dot) com.  It is $30 for 20 minutes of Reiki and an email summary of the experience.

Lately, it's felt like I'm "coming out of the spiritual closet" as I tell others about my abilities.  Though I may have mentioned Reiki here before, I have not mentioned that I am an Empath. This means I can feel and take on others' energy as my own to transmute it.  It may be physical pain, but most often it is emotional.  Instead of just not talking about it because I've felt that no one would understand, I've decided to fully own these abilities and use them in my healing work.  They will truly enhanced my Reiki healing and insights into Tarot readings.

This blog will be posted to momentarily: http://www.healingreikiandtarot.blogspot.com

Please check out the new blogs, follow and share! I will post here when there are new posts on these blogs and when the new ones are created.  Thank you so much for spending your time here and sharing my space!

Namaste!

Baby is here!

My Fairy Girl arrived 3 weeks ago Monday!!  We are so glad she is here and just adore her.  Big brother is wonderful with her and so helpful around the house.

Obviously, there are a lot of details to fill in, but I'm typing one handed as Serafina ("Little Fire") sleeps on me. :)

This pin shows ways to stimulate your 0-3 month old for those brief periods she/he is awake. Given that I find pouring a bowl of cereal difficult, I was only going to try to get out Angelo's baby mirror (ok, try to convince Angelo to get it out of his room)... like I'd already planned on doing for weeks anyway.  The high contrast prints are "old news" to me too and I only bring them up to point out that my girl was highly interested in the butterfly printed receiving blanket I had folded up next to the wall on her changing table, the rather low contrast print on the couch and the face on the lady bug pillow pet on top of the couch.  None of these things did I put up with the intention of getting her attention; she just naturally noticed and found them interesting.  My point is not to criticize this blog post, but to make sure I and no one else feels like an underachiever for not stimulating their newborn enough and to just use the information to be aware of what new babies are interested in and use what's convenient at the time... because it's already tough getting enough food, water, and if you're lucky, a shower at this point, right?  Oh, and you may get lucky like I did and happen to find an older sibling's finger puppet on the floor for him to entertain your littlest while you change her diaper.

Also, I chose this pin because I still haven't done anything about the "no more free photo storage" thing, and I can embed pins. ;-)  Remember you can follow me on Pinterest and Facebook (where my profile pic is of the littlest one and me.)

Are you on Pinterest too? LMK! :) 

Source: playfullearners.co.uk via Narah on Pinterest

Holiday Countdown '12

Since I haven't paid to post more pictures and haven't done anything more than download wordpress, I will link to the picture of our "countdown calendar" here.

It is really simple.  I googled "free mini envelope template" and chose one I wanted.  Then, I printed it out at 60% since even though they all said mini and I unchecked "fit to page", they still were giant.  Once printed and cut, I traced 24 on Christmas scrapbook paper.  Angelo actually cut most of them out and helped to fold them.  After the glue dried, I put in strips of paper (cut from one sheet printed from Word) with an activity that would work for that day.  Some are simple and could be done any day and some are days that I will need to be teaching or taking advantage of weekend hours to make gifts and DH will take Angelo out for a while. This was one of my rare moments of planning every day for a month.  The last time was this time last year... and I still switched some activities as needed.

So, the list includes:
See holiday trees at the Carnegie art museum
Put up our tree
Make gingerbread houses at the library
Make small crafty gifts
Make cards
See gingerbread houses on display at Market Square
Help make gifts for our baby and baby cousins
Ride Shenley Santa train
Make hot chocolate (from scratch) and read a Xmas book (we checked out a bunch from the library)
Decorate paper grocery bags for gift wrap
Package, address, stamp and mail gifts and cards (he's been getting a big kick out of writing things out for family, so it's not as boring as it may initially sound.)
See "Wreck it Ralf"
Put up lights
Make ornaments
Train ride at Station Square
Science kit (been saving one- he loves them!)
See "The Guardians"
Make cookies
Color and glitter Christmas coloring sheets (tons of free printables out there)
Make a mixed media winter/holiday themed painting
Eat a cookie and read a Xmas book (we'll read these as he's interested too, but the cookie will be a little extra something)
Go to open art studio at the library
See miniature railroad at the Carnegie Science Center
Open one present

Since we have a membership to the Carnegie museums and we have all the materials/ingredients for making things, really only the Shenley Santa train ride (not very expensive at all), the train at Station square (only $1) and the movies (ok, movies are expensive these days) cost anything.  But, we will all have fun and spend lots of family focused time together.

Since all this making and fun-having will take up a lot of time and since I'm likely transitioning my blog elsewhere, I'll be taking a bit of a break here.  Be sure to check back to see where the Vinegar and Glitter blog ends up! :)

Subscribe to this blog if you like it, Please.

I'm going to make this post short so people checking at the very last minute still can see the info on the new beginner's bellydance class starting tonight. (Previous entry...)

So, if you read this blog regularly, go ahead and subscribe! I know I mentioned that I may switch, but I still haven't looked to see if I just need to know more about blogspot before I make the move. I'm already preparing to move our household, so that's enough for me right now. :)

The description is a little crowded over there, but the button's near the top on the left side. Beeeee one uv us... one of us, one of us, one of us... ok, that's creepy, so I'll stop now.

Future blog posts: "how I became a vegetarian and how you can too if you're interested", "what I wish I'd known or done differently when I was pregnant even though I read a ton of books" and some pics of a few altered book pages I've done lately.