Videos Galore...

Kids have had a bunch of end of the semester Christmas performances... I didn't upload a great quality - boo! But it'll have to do.... enjoy some of my favorites:

Colby, Taylor, & Halle sang with the Katy Children's Choir. Colby had a solo in this Christmas in Texas song:


Colby had his first band concert. He plays percussion and LOVES it. Here is one of the songs they played:

Taylor made her elementary hula hoop team. They performed at half time for KHS's Lady Basketball Game:

Taylor & Colby played the piano at the Alzheimer's Care Center. Here are Taylor's songs:

Halle's group for choir also sang for a Nursing Home:


Avalyn had her preschool Christmas program and sang so great on stage:


 And Kendall is learning new Christmas songs:

Liver & Gall Bladder Cleanse

I'm super tired... so this will be a quick post but wanted to update on the last 3 days of the 3rd phase of the cleanse. And I just have to say that I love that so many of you guys are reading my blog... makes me miss posting on here.

So phase 3 has been all about cleansing specific organs. It was by far the most intense (I was hungry) but not necessarily the most difficult because our bodies were prepared to have fewer calories from previous weeks.

First was the watermelon Kidney cleanse. And then, we did a liver cleanse. We were supposed to drink 2 quarts of green smoothies and we had some other options for food... a salad but I never made the time to figure out how I was "allowed" to dress it and organic sprouted english muffins which I couldn't find so J&I just ate leftover watermelon instead ;) We were required to take 4-5 apples, blend it with water, and drink it sometime during the day without any other food. Here is my GORGEOUS picture of that little concoction. It tasted pretty much like applesauce...

And I love the directions for the gall bladder cleanse so much, I'm just going to quote that for you, "At night on Day 5 of Phase 3, stir the juice of one lemon into 1 CUP of organic, extra virgin olive oil. (If the task of drinking this is too mentally difficult for you, you may add 1 C fresh organic apple juice to the olive oil/lemon.) Drink it quickly, and then lie down on your right side for half an hour. Most people do not vomit, but it does occasionally happen, so have a trash can nearby just in case. Try to lie on your right side throughout the night."

I read that to Jared and he said, "No thanks." I almost backed out of this... just the thought of having to drink 1 CUP of olive oil surely makes anybody want to vomit. I made a late grocery trip, mixed the drink and then it sat on my counter until 12:30am because I was terrified. I finally stirred it up and then just chugged it. With the juice, it was much easier to get down than I would have expected and my stomach felt fine... until I woke up about 4:30am and I felt really sick. 100% whole wheat bread was on the menu for this morning so I made myself a piece of toast... ate about half of it and was able to fall back asleep. And then I felt fine when I woke up.

I wish through all of this, there were some bodily numbers I could be tracking to know that this was really doing me any good. I have lost 14 lbs as of this morning. I'm not sure where Jared is at. Jared has continued to stay off of his blood pressure medication - although he was sent to his kidney doctor for some irregular lab results. Curious about how this diet caused that... And why I'm still itching. I read online that as toxins are being released from my cells, my body is creating histamines to help the white blood cells combat the toxins. Freeeeaaaaky. And it said I needed to drink more water, skin brush (which I haven't talked about but one of the habits I've picked up on the cleanse), take baths in baking soda, and more coffee enemas to get the toxins flushed from my body. Trying to work some of that into my "spare time". 

Anyway... off to bed. xo

Watermelon & Detox

The next phase of our detox is a Kidney Cleanse which is comprised of two days eating JUST watermelon and drinking a celery seed tea... good thing we got some sweet ones!! It's been surprisingly very easy... I've been dreading this part of the detox from the beginning. I'm on Day 2 and just about an hour ago I started feeling really light headed so I guess my body is ready to be done with the only watermelon....

I've been meaning to mention some of the detox symptoms I've experienced. The first week, Jared & I both had terrible headaches. But those are gone.... and other than that, I've just had excessive ITCHING. It's actually sort of driving me crazy. I looked it up and it appears to be a detox symptom (scary).... I must carry all my toxins in my butt and thighs because my itching is confined to there - it works out really well for me when I'm out and about ;)

Green Smoothie Girl Detox, Days 8-14

Phase 2 of the detox was pretty easy. Jared had issues with a lot of the food and I think he's pretty sick of eating fruits & veggies (and would really love some salt) but we're still both going strong. We're both down about 12 lbs. The coolest thing is Jared takes blood pressure medication... he has an immune disorder that affects his kidneys and his blood pressure. A few days into our detox, he was out of medication - which usually results in a pretty bad headache. He went 3 more days without his medication and without a headache. He took his blood pressure and it was normal! He decided to stay off his medication and just monitor closely... It has stayed normal or even a little low since. This doesn't excite Jared like it does me.... because he doesn't want to eat like this the rest of his life, haha! But I'm just crossing my fingers that he'll feel so crappy when he tries to eat that big Chinese meal he's been dreaming about that he'll be convinced more fruits/veggies is worth it in the end.

I forgot to take pictures of everything but here is what we ate the past week & what I thought:

BREAKFAST:

Millet Porridge - would have been more difficult to get down on its own but Jared & I both enjoyed with blueberries.

 

 

OR - Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie (made with beets, carrots, nuts/seeds, strawberries, & dates) This is YUMMY to me! I've had it before the cleanse and it tastes so good.

 

LUNCH:

Days 8-10: Hockey Pucks (made with carrots, apples, & oatmeal)... we tried to eat these fresh out of the oven and they were mushy and tasted like baby food. After they spent a night in the fridge, we ended up both liking them. We also got a quart of green smoothie for lunch.

 

 

Days 11-14: Crunch Avocado Salad (made with tomato, celery, green onion, cilantro, avocado, & almonds)... I forgot a picture but this was really good as well! Jared never ate it. We also got a quart of green smoothie and that was enough for Jared.

 

 

DINNER:



Day 8: Sweet potato topped w/ coconut oil & Purple Heaven (cabbage, raisins, sunflower seeds, & a sweet dressing). Purple Heaven is my favorite recipe from the entire detox. It was delicious!

 

Day 9: Black Bug Soup (wild rice, carrots, onion, spices) & Purple Heaven

Black Bug Soup is my LEAST favorite recipe from the entire detox... it was pretty bad!

 

 

Day 10: Sweet Potato & Purple Heaven

Day 11: Black Bug Soup & Purple Heaven (we skipped the soup... blah!)

 

Day 12: Green Smash (made with potato, cauliflower, green onions, garlic, & a ton of spinach) & Green Smoothie. I actually enjoyed Green Smash and had just sat down with a second bowl when Jared came to eat with me. It was good up until Jared started making throw up noises as he tried to get down his. He was for real....

 

 

We were supposed to eat Black Bug Soup & Green Smash for Days 13 & 14. After Jared's gag reflex... and the fact that I really disliked Black Bug Soup - we decided to adjust our menu a bit. We stir fried veggies in coconut oil on Day 13 & just drank a qt of green smoothie for dinner on day 14.

 

 

COFFEE ENEMA

In other news.... I figured if I was eating mostly fruits & vegetables for a month... I might as well try other very strange things. I don't know that I really want to get into the deets about this... other than to mention that it has been a part of the detox for me (not Jared bc of his kidney disease and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have tried it anyway). Here is what the green smoothie girl has to say about coffee enemas:

 

"Drinking coffee, or caffeine in any form, is not beneficial to your health. Why, then, would coffee be helpful implanted the other direction? Several distinct advantages make this a good technique for pain relief and accelerated, safe detoxification of the liver and kidneys.

 

The coffee enema allows the natural caffeine in the coffee to recirculate to the liver several times through the hemorrhoidal vein, opening bile ducts in the liver and kidneys and allowing them to excrete directly into the rectum. This way, toxins may be immediately expelled rather than recirculated through the blood supply.

 

As blood circulates through the liver, the entire blood supply of the body is detoxified in three minutes. The coffee held in the rectal cavity stimulates the nervous system, promoting increated peristalsis through the intestinal tract.

 

The body's master hormone, glutathione S-transferase, is increased over severn times, which mops up free radicals that cause aging, tissue damage, and cancer. All of these toxins, including cancerous tumors breaking down, quickly evacuate the body. Pain and swelling abates, and a newly cleansed patient has a renewed sense of well-being."

Green Smoothie Girl Detox, Days 5-7

DAYS 5-7 - Green Smoothie Galore

So today, we entered into the second part of Phase 1... Only Green Smoothies for 3 days. Jared was miserable the last 4 days. He mostly likes to drink his vegetables, but to eat them... without salt... was pretty much torture. In fact, he didn't even eat anything at least one day because he would rather not eat than eat what was on our menu. I, on the other hand... really didn't mind the first 4 days. I love vegetables and did fine without salt. I felt full and had more than enough food to eat. I never felt hungry and that is what makes me happy, haha! Jared was down 7 lbs and I was down 6.5 lbs this morning - though neither of us are jumping for joy over that because our weight fluctuates so much and started on the high end after our family reunion last week.

 

The next three days are going to be tougher for me than for Jared. I get really grumpy when I feel hungry and our menu is:

 

Breakfast: Quart Green Smoothie

Lunch: Quart Green Smoothie

Dinner: Quart Green Smoothie

 

On day 5 (today), we eat a variety of greens, water, and berries. On day 6, we add the same plus banana. On day 7, we add all the same plus apple. We are allowed to eat steamed broccoli/cauliflower if we're hungry so I should probably make some of that right now bc I am definitely hungry. We are each getting close to a lb of greens a day for the next 3 days so that is a TON of bulk. Think about those big boxes of spinach. That is what we are eating EACH... but without any salad dressing. Except we're not just eating spinach for our greens. Plus several cups of berries and tons of water.

Are you jealous yet?? YUMMY.......

 

Green Smoothie Girl Detox, Days 1-4

So I have been eating HORRIBLE since about Thanksgiving last year. I don't know why, really. I can blame it on stress and being too busy but ultimately, I just didn't feel like I had the mental space to think about food and exercise for a little while. It is the first time in my life I remember just really not caring... sort of liberating but destructive nonetheless. Now that Jared has a job and we know we are staying in our house for now... it is time to take control of my eating habits again. Jared & I decided to participate in the Green Smoothie Girl's first Detox program which started as a group, August 1st. What better use for my blog than to document the challenge we have taken on! (& to keep me accountable).

 

DAY 0 - Read the manual and shopping

What I love about this is that the real "meat" (ha...ha) of the program is fruits/veggies. But I have to admit that when I started reading through the manual... I was getting increasingly annoyed at all the optional things she "recommends" getting... including a $600 detox supplement kit, a $250 pathogen purge supplement kit, a $150 parasite supplement kit, $65 in other supplements, a $250 reverse osmosis water filter, a $2500 juicer, essential oils, $170 10-piece kitchen set, a Far Infrared Sauna, a skin brush, daily home coffee enemas, and more.  Since this is my first time to do something like this & I don't have the budget right now... I decided to let most of that slip off my back and focus on the diet part of the detox.

 

I know a lot of people have strong feelings for or against internal cleansing/detox/whatever you want to call it. I have negative reactions when I hear of most of the cleanses out there. But as I look at my shopping cart for the next 4 days... nobody would ever be able to convince me that taking this challenge on is bad for me! 

 

 

DAYS 1-4 - Phase One, Part One

Here is what we get to eat for the first 4 days:

 

Breakfast: Oatmeal w a couple of drops of liquid stevia and cinnamon

Quart, no fruit green smoothie (tons of spinach, fresh lemon juice, water, and liquid stevia drops)

 

Lunch: Baked Potato w flax oil, green onions, no salt seasoning

Quart, no fruit green smoothie

Snack: Steamed broccoli & cauliflower (no salt, no butter)

 

Dinner: Cucumber/tomato salad & a potato/veggie soup with no salt seasoning

 

We're half way through day two and so far, it hasn't been bad at all. This is a ton of food so we are full at all times. I spent one morning preparing everything for the 4 days so there is no prep involved throughout the day other than the smoothies which is really nice for me. Having no fruit in my smoothie & no salt or butter on my food scared me! But it actually hasn't been bad at all. We both had a headache last night... we should expect detox symptoms as I know my body has addictions to chemicals in all the processed food I typically eat. I won't be surprised if it gets worse before it gets better (scary!). Jared was craving salt last night...

 

... And that's all there is to report for now!

Katy Chilren's Choir Summer Camp

Enjoy my cute girls & these songs of uplifting messages.... (Tay is wearing an orange Tshirt & Halle is wearing a purple fitted shirt)

Lean on Me:


It Don't Mean A Thing:


Happiness Is... :


This Little Light of Mine:


Sing!: 

Dr. Jared A. Wright, DDS

That's Dr. JAW to you ;) I've succumbed to the ease of Facebook these days... but for those of you not on Facebook, I wanted to share the incredibly awesome news that Jared is officially a DOCTOR! Forgive Colby's videography skills and our sad cheering section and enjoy the fruits of 8 years of hard work. So proud of Jared, me (haha, but true), the kids and all the sacrifices that have gone into making this dream a reality.

Christmas!

I can't believe it! I had 5 of the 6 kids in my family, plus their spouses, my dad/stepmom, my step brother & one nephew all at my house for Christmas. It was WONDERFUL! I loved having everyone here! We spent Christmas Eve at my house with my mom as well. People energize me so I guess it's a good thing Jared & I both come from such big families (and now have a big family of our own). 

Santa visited the Wright house!

Taylor's favorite gifts: Oil Pastels, Tie Dye Kit, Bike, & Jared's old IPod (updated w/ a pink and black zebra bling case;)

Kendall's favorite gifts: adorable stuffed animals from her aunts & uncles

Halle's favorite gifts: Easy Bake Oven & Hermit crabs

Colby's favorite gift: Raspberry Pi... a credit card size computer with Linux operating system, designed to help kids learn how to program.  Yes, that little motherboard on the floor is his computer. Crazy, huh?!

Avalyn's favorite gifts: jewelry and purses from aunts/uncles, Rapunzel hair, and grocery store/cash register

Before (@ Good Will)

       

After my crafty paint job

Activity of the day: 1000 piece Periodic Elements puzzle. Dad & Andrea finished it while we saw Les Mis Christmas night:)

Gingerbread Houses

Occasionally, something I try with these kids works really well & this gingerbread house making party was one of those times! I made the houses the night before so kids weren't frustrated, trying to keep the houses together. They each invited one friend... & everybody got along so well. Good day!

Christmas Piano Recital

Colby - The First Noel


I was super proud of Colby for choosing to play a song from our church's simplified hymn book. I think knowing how to play hymns is such a valuable skill in our church... and for when he serves his mission.

Taylor - Up On The Housetop


Taylor has started piano and this was her first recital. I was SO.PROUD.OF.HER. She's only been playing a  couple of months and she had the option of playing in the recital and she CHOSE to do it. I think she was the only one who memorized her piece and she did so great!

Every morning, I love listening to these two practice. Taylor is so good at practicing... it has helped Colby stop complaining about practicing like he used to. All is well in the piano world at the Wright home! And I'm glad I wrote this post and realized we've got at least one thing under control, haha!

Kids

We met some friends on Sunday to attempt some pictures for our Christmas card... considering 2 had the flu, we were able to get some cute individual shots of the kids:) I didn't have any family pictures turn out great - somebody had an awkward face in every one! I need to learn how to cut heads out of one picture and put them in another because I could have made a cute picture if I knew how to pull from different photos. On my list of things to learn... one day!

Baby Therapy

This is for you mom! 2 minutes of pure baby joy... she was totally throwing the toy on purpose.