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HUGO – The Happy Starfish & The Secret to Happiness (E-book)

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Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Hugo - the secret to happiness

As a mother of 3 (two of which are twin 4 year olds), reading together is family fun time and we enjoy doing it together and reading one another stories.   The Twins (Luke & Isaiah) especially love reading books that offer fun colorful photos and a well written story behind it.  We were all very excited to have the chance to read the E-Book HUGO THE HAPPY STARFISH – THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS, because the boys have seen starfish up close and have had the opportunity to touch them and this book brought their memories to life.

In a World filled with bullying and so many negative things, it is a breath of fresh air to read a book to my children that talks about how happiness can easily be achieved with sharing, caring and love.   The E-book was easy to download via my Kindle on my Android Tablet as well as via my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Phone.  The boys have been enjoying reading the story with me over and over again and I love that I can always pull it up on my phone and we can read it together as they request.  As a busy mommy who is running one son to Basketball practice and games and doing errands and running a household – having an e-book is very convenient and useful.

HUGO - The Secret to Happiness

The pages are filled with eye attracting colors and characters.  The story line is filled with positive reinforcement that allows me to remind my children each time we read the book that sharing is a great way to make us feel good inside.  The boys (even my eldest who is 10) enjoyed reading the book as well and thought it was a great way to encourage sharing and making new friends.  The book is not only educational but fun.  I also love that it is available in more than one language which makes it easy for those around the World to read the story.  As a mother, I not only recommend e-books for children since it is easy to travel with, but I also enjoyed this book and others from author Suzy Liebermann and highly recommend this and the rest of her books for your family.

Hugo - Award Winning Book

HUGO The Happy Starfish THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS is an award winning children’s book:  Award-Winning Finalist in the CHILDREN’S MIND/ BODY/ SPIRIT, category of The USA “Best Books 2012” Awards, sponsored by USA Book News.

For more information about HUGO Books and the Author visit: http://www.mystarfish.org/

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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My Perception of Beauty – You’re Amazing!

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I have struggled the last couple of weeks coming up with the words to put into this post to describe to all of you what my “Perception of Beauty” really was.  I jotted down ideas and thoughts, quotes and an overall view of what I wanted to say, but every time I put it down on paper or typed it out, it portrayed something completely different from what I had been trying to get across.  Honestly, I didn’t think I would be able to come up with anything and have had difficulty putting my thoughts into words.  You see… my perception of Beauty is very different from that of most, to me – I see beauty as a wonder and I see it in Everything.  As a Photographer, I have captured many beautiful scenes, memories, moments over the last few years, and growing up in Hawai’i has given me the opportunity to live in Paradise and see landscapes people only dream of.  “Beauty at its finest!”  But experiencing such, living those moments… doesn’t necessarily mean you see beauty as others do and your perception of beauty could be entirely different.  So – let’s start off with what Beauty really means as defined by a Dictionary:

Beauty: (beau-ty)

a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight.

So – let’s ask that question once again… What is my perception of beauty?  I’ll be honest… I think beauty comes in all forms, all sizes, all colors and all shapes, but to me – Beauty comes from within!  Beauty to me means that you not only love yourself but that you are comfortable in the skin you are in.  Beauty also means that you embrace the World in all its wonder instead of criticizing it for not being perfect.  If there is one thing I learned about the Beauty community or Beauty showcased in a whole, is that there is a romantic notion over making others feel like they are not beautiful.  Don’t get me wrong, not everyone thinks or acts this way – but it seems that the Perception of Beauty is that “to each his own” and that you have to look a certain way, act a certain way and treat others a certain way to look or feel beautiful.

Society would like us to think that Beauty is what you see on the covers of magazines – flawless skin, makeup, hair, bodies.  When in actuality we are not all cookie cutter shaped Barbies that our World would like us to be.  We are all people in a World of PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS that make us unique and individual.  Beauty is not about makeup, it’s not about covering up your flaws to make yourself feel beautiful.  It is about empowering yourself and those around you to love one another and love being you.  It’s about knowing that you are perfect, no matter what the popularity vote may be.

It’s funny that I come and talk to you all about “being comfortable in your own skin” and not needing makeup to feel beautiful when I do makeup tutorials and looks for YouTube and my blog often.  But I’ll be honest, I don’t use makeup everyday… in fact, I love a bare face and I’m comfortable leaving my house that way.  I don’t care that people will look at me and say… “whoa, she looks different without her face on”, because I love who I am.  I usually put on a little mascara (I have super short lashes lol) and maybe some lip balm and I’m out the door.  Because to me… Societies definition of Beauty DOES NOT define ME!

Honey Kahoohanohano

I don’t know that this post truly explained what my perception of beauty truly is… but I hope it got my message across.  I’m still not sure that the words I put here are what I wanted to convey, but nonetheless – I think I did an okay job.  Humanity as a whole needs to know that while there are beautiful men, women and children everywhere… we need to know that we can find beauty in ourselves.  It all starts with us, one person at a time.  If there is one thing I wish that the Beauty Community that I’m a part of would do, it is to establish that you don’t need to be “flawless” to be beautiful and that bullying others to thinking so or feeling inferior is wrong.  But, that’s another post I’ll try to tackle another time.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite Artists as I close this post.  Know that YOU are (pardon my french) FRICKEN AMAZING – Just the way you are and “if perfect’s what you’re looking for… then just stay the same” and love yourself.  Be comfortable in your skin and know that I love you for you with all my heart, and support you for who you are!  EMBRACE & LOVE YOUR PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS!  xo Honey

 

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Motivational Monday… Stop and Watch the sun set!

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Today was one of those days where I stopped and thought to myself… “Okay – we are in 2014, where in the World did 2013 go?”  Honestly, 2013 flew by so quickly, I didn’t realize it till the Holidays were staring me in the face.  Regardless… it doesn’t really matter now that it is 2014 and that was the past.  One things for sure though… I know 2013 was pretty awesome (even if it went by so quickly) and 2014 will be just as great if not better.  #loveyourlife

Maui Sunset January 13, 2014

 

While driving home the other day I caught glimpse of a beautiful sunset.  Sunsets mean a lot to me… it’s something my husband and I look forward to and sometimes when we are not with one another – we look up at the sky as the sun sets and know that we are each staring at the same sun setting – just at different locations.  So seeing the sun set the other night brought major comfort to me.  That day was a bit of a challenge… The twins and my eldest were handfuls, the stores were busy and packed and traffic had me wanting to pull out my gray hair.  If that wasn’t bad enough, I weighed myself that morning and put on 2 pounds which was completely inconceivable considering I didn’t eat anything out of the norm and kept with my routine.  I was feeling frumpy, not myself and just lacked inspiration in a whole.  Seeing that sunset reminded me that I needed to stop, breath, take in the view and know that everything would be okay.  I took the photo above as a reminder of that very moment.  Sometimes in life… whether daily or once in a while – we really need to stop and smell the roses, or pull over on the side of the road and watch the sun set.   While we don’t enjoy the stressful days or the craziness we call life… it’s the little color and sparkle that makes us appreciate what we have.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

Have a wonderful Week Loves!

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Homemade Chicken Soup with Dumplings – Comfort Food

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Homemade Chicken Soup with Dumplings

The Winter Season is in full swing here in Hawaii.  Now, don’t get me wrong – no snow here… but it’s much colder now a days then it normally is, especially with the Winter Vortex going through the States.  And, with Flu and cold season lurking (it’s made its way to my house a few times already), a nice hot soup is perfect for healing our souls.  Homemade chicken soup is a staple in our family and we have it at least once a month normally and a few times a month during the colder season so it was perfect to make with all the rain and storms we’ve had the last few days.

To make my chicken soup is a family recipe so I’m not going to get into all the details about it.  I did not use Chicken Stock or broth to create it and the soup base itself is thanks to the chicken, water, vegetables and herbs.  While cooking the chicken (I used thighs this time around instead of breast meat), I added my vegetables, seasoning and let it simmer to perfection.  Once the chicken was cooked and the veggies were almost at the tenderness that I like it, I add in the dumplings so it can cook.

So here is where I share a little of my secrets…

I use Pillsbury Croissant Rolls (dough) for my dumplings.  I love to use the butter biscuits, but I use what I have on hand and this particular meal I used the croissants (thanks to an awesome sale at Costco – lol).  Now – this is super easy so don’t even fret about it.  Open up the Pillsbury Croissant rolls, you can either unroll them or leave them rolled up and slice them into small sections (which is what I did).  When they are all sliced up, they almost look like a cinnamon roll (each piece does).  Now take each piece and drop it into your pot making sure that there is enough room for them to sink into your broth.  Cover and simmer for about 8-10 minutes and that’s it.  You can tell when the dumplings are done when they rise to the top and when they are no longer doughy.  Yummy in your tummy on a chilly evening – perfect for snow days.

Homemade Chicken Soup with Dumplings

I’m sure there are many ways to create dumplings, but being a busy mom – this is easy, fast and hearty for my family of 5.  You can even decide to use can chicken soup in the can if you want to make it easier, but we do our soups from scratch in our house.  The choices are up to you.  You can also use a chicken soup recipe and drop these guys into a crock pot as well – yummers!  The tips and recipe to the dumplings (besides what I stated) can also be found on the Pillsbury website along with many more ways to utilize the croissant and butter biscuits.

Wishing you warm nights – Happy Eating!

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Mommy Survival Guide: Flu Season is Here – My Tips For Keeping the Flu Away

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Photo courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Photo courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ugh… I HATE being sick and hate when anyone in my family is sick too.  Yes, HATE is a harsh word… but I’m sure all of us know that it is not something we like to deal with EVER.  Since it’s that time of year when Flu and Sickness hit our families like a crazy whirlwind that we don’t like – I figured I would share a post with all of you and My Tips For Keeping The Flu Away.

1.)  Keep your distance if someone looks ill.  If someone looks like they may be ill – take special precautions and stay away.  Sometimes people don’t realize that they are a carrier for bacteria.  You don’t have to be impolite or rude, but keep your distance until you know for sure that they are not sick.  Follow your gut.  If that simply cannot be avoided, be sure to wash your hands after any contact with the person in question.  Of course, I don’t want you to feel like you need to alienate the person, but teach your children or keep in mind for yourself that it’s a great habit to have.

2.)  Sanitize your shopping cart.  When grocery shopping – take the time to sanitize the handles of your cart as well as the area where you place your child and your handbag.  Most grocery stores now have sanitizing wipes near the entrance of their stores so you can utilize these to clean your cart.  While you may think germs are not prominent on a shopping cart, those carts hold some of the most terrible bacteria since these stores see thousands of customers a day.

Photo Courtesy of Ambro at http://www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Photo Courtesy of Ambro at http://www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3.)  Be sure to have Sanitizing Gel, liquid or wipes on  you if at all possible.  Most of these types of things will kill up to 98% of surface germs.  Bath and Body Works as well as your local CVS, Walgreens, etc. offers a variety of these options at such reasonable prices.  It is not a waste to invest a little in these items because it can truly help in the long run.

4.)  Take your daily vitamins.  I know a lot of people that say they do not take vitamins because they do not like the way it tastes or they do not want to swallow large pills.  Now a days – they have gummy vitamins or vitamins in drink form.  These are essential in keeping your immune system running strong to keep those germs at bay.  Over the years – I have found that if I do not take my daily vitamins I feel sluggish and tend to get sick much more and faster then if I had been taking them.  If you simply cannot handle vitamins, try to get in at least a cup of Vitamin C (gold ol’ OJ) at least once a day – it will help to a certain extent.  

5.)  Stay home and recover if you are not well.  Last but not least… this rule is especially important for parents or those that are working.  I know that we all need to work for our money and kids need to go to school – but if you or your child is sick, call out and stay home.  There have been so many occasions that my eldest had come home from school sick, then the whole family gets sick – only to find out that he caught it from a classmate that came to school very sick.  I understand daycare is expensive and sometimes it’s not feasible, but think about those that you or your child will and can affect and how the same germ you or your child passed on, can come right back to you.  

I’m not a doctor and most of what I discussed in this post is common sense – but since it is flu season and since I haven’t done a “Mommy Survival Guide” in months, I figured this would be the best time to do so.  Remember… while we can’t avoid getting sick sometimes, we can surely do our best to make sure it is not as bad as it could be.  As a mother, I know how difficult this time of year is.  Most mommies and daddies are running on reserves, tired and beat – but together, we can all help to make it a bit easier on one another.

Last year I posted a video on this subject which you can find here: http://youtu.be/pOlZooba6pg (it’s on my old channel).  Check it out because I go through all the goodies in my Mommy Sick Bag and have more details as to how to keep the flu away or some simple tips to follow.

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