We're a pretty healthy family.... actually, really healthy, but I'm not taking that for granted.  Who should these days?  The rates of many diseases are climbing and physical activity is decreasing.  Oh, and I just had my birthday, so age is on my mind.  When I am 67, aren't I going to wish that I had eaten well and moved often while I was only 37?  (yes, it was that birthday). 

So, Tim and I decided that 2008 is our Year of Health.

.....well, okay, I'm the one goofy enough to call it "Our Year of Health," but Tim, being the athlete that he is (team sports are his thing), likes the idea, too. 

My role in this is to work on our eating.  Over the past few years we've made some significant changes, but you can still often hear me saying, "We're no purists!" as I'm holding a bag of Doritos and a Coke at a get-together. 

This is the year I need to be more committed to eating well.  We do well when we're at home, with just our immediate family. But we do poorly when we are out or when we have people over.  So, this year, I'm going to learn more about recipes I can make that will hopefully be accepted by people who don't know what hummus and tabouleh are.

If you are just now getting the urge to eat healthy, but don't know where to begin, here is a great ebook to get you started:  Supermom’s Simple Guide to Healthier Eating for Beginners and Beyond by Erica Johns.  The ebook is not a recipe book, although some recipes are included, but it is more of an educational book.  Through it, you wil learn what foods are good for you, and why.    I found it to be an easy read, while still informational enough to get you started on the right track.

Another job I've given myself is my personal exercise.  Tim, wouldn't touch that area with a 10' pole! (smart man!)  I still need to lose some "baby weight" (the "baby" is four!), but even more than that, I need to feel strong.  Tim gave me a kayak for Christmas (at my request; I told you he is wise!) and we have several other exercise options (like, a road in front of the house for walking or biking - no excuses!), so there is really no reason for me to not move every day.  My goal, for now, is simply to move every day in a way that makes my heart go pitter-pat.  I can't be bothered with timers that make me stare at them and count every loooonnng second, so I'm just going to move to start out.  Maybe later I'll add timers. 

Along with that, I'll continue doing strength training exercises each morning.  It only takes about 8 minutes, so I can't think of an excuse to make me stop doing them. I have really noticed an increase in strength, stamina and even energy in the 3 months since I started doing strength training. Oh, and I lost 11 pounds.  That, too.  ;) 

For strength training exercises, motivation, support, nutrition trackers, articles, and all other Things Needed or Desired for Getting Healthy, check out one of my favorite (free!) sites:  Spark People

Also, our whole family is going to move a lot this year.  We have skinny, tall kids, thanks to genetics, so they don't need to lose weight, but I want them to 1.) Know how to do many types of sports, 2.) Start good habits that will hopefully last a lifetime.  For a while, I was thinking of enrolling the kids in P.E. classes or other sport classes, until it occurred to me that the best coach I can find is right under our roof!  It often takes a smack on the head for ideas to occur to me.  So I'm going to start tossing a ball around with the........Just kidding!  The "best coach under our roof" is not me, the gal who was usually in the bottom 5 chosen kids to be picked for a team.  That would be Tim, our Resident Athlete.   He already plays with the kids, so why not teach them a few moves while he's at it?  I try to look real busy and back out, but Tim usually gets me to join in, too.   When I join in, I make the kids look good.   Real good. 

Visit the sites above, and let me know what you're doing to improve your family's health this year!  I'd love to read your ideas!

by Lori Seaborg 2008

My List of Things to do:
 
Before St. Nicholas Day (Thursday, December 6): 

• Kittens were born on May 1.  Can you imagine a better day to be born but May Day?  It just sounds sweet.  We decided to let our cat have one litter of kittens, for educational sake, and planning on keeping the kittens. Mama (that's me) said, "I'm hoping for just two."  The kids, of course, wanted larger numbers, like 4 or 6 (gasp).  Thank God, there are only 2 kittens.  We're even one short, since we have four kids.  But that's just fine with me!

• Starting in mid-April until mid-May, we were either out of town (Orlando!) or had company here - Nana and Popo visited for a couple of weeks, then our college friends and their 5 children met us at a beach house on Pleasure Island (Alabama Gulf Coast). 
  

• My FreeHomeschool group that I founded last September has really grown by leaps and bounds.  There are over 1,000 members now.  As a result, a lot of great homeschool items are posted daily for free (shipping is often requested).  I'm so glad that it has helped others.
  

• At the beach (Gulf of Mexico), we did some fishing from shore.   Between our friends and whoever was holding our pole, we caught 3 stingrays, 2 crabs, and too many catfish.  All were thrown back out, after being inspected closely for education's and curiosity's sake.  We learned that catfish have very sharp fins (I think that part is their fin) and  you have to watch out when you hold them.  The stingrays are very gentle.  You only have to watch for that one small spike on their tail.  They are not at all aggressive, so it was easy to free them and let them go back into the surf.  The crabs were caught with a regular fishing pole when their claw got caught on the line.  They looked like they were truly caught red-handed! 

• There have been so many busy days lately....I don't even know where to begin in telling you about them.  These children truly have an idyllic childhood.  It is not perfect, as we are not in heaven (of course), but it is idyllic.  I think a child could have an idyllic childhood in the inner city as well as here in the country, if only the child is allowed to play.  "Let the children go out to play!" Charlotte Mason says.  I agree. 
  

• WellTellMe.com, where you can learn about all sorts of natural things, such as how to make kefir (sort of like yogurt) and how to get rid of dandruff naturally.  It's a forum, so you're reading from those who have tried this or that.  I've always had a curiosity about things, so I love reading the posts, even if I have no intention of trying what I'm reading.  Sometimes, though, I read of something I'd like to try, so lately I've been making kefir and found that we really like it! 
  

• SparkPeople:  All of those other sites I gave you a month or so ago for eating well or losing weight pale in comparison to Spark People.  At this site, you can do so many things:  food journal, weight log, exercise log, read articles, join in the chats on the forum....it's like joining an expensive online weight loss/healthy eating group, only SparkPeople is absolutely free.  Can't beat that!

St. Nicholas Day is tomorrow, December 6th!  That day is the birthday of the real Santa Claus.  For more information on St. Nicholas, and ways to celebrate the day, go to this beautiful website:  http://www.StNicholasCenter.org .

We will celebrate by making spice cookies from a recipe on the above site, waking to full stockings that were left by someone during the night, who gave in the spirit of St. Nicholas' generosity.  We'll read a story of St. Nicholas (the real Santa Claus), and most importantly, doing something for others.  For the latter, we will make up a tin of Christmas goodies for our neighbors, make Christmas cards, and donate some extra toys to the nearest charity. 

Do any of you celebrate St. Nicholas Day as an alternative to Santa Claus at Christmas?  I'm fairly new to this - only a couple of years ago, I didn't know that Santa Claus was truly a real person at one point who had been significantly changed over time.  As I learned about St. Nicholas, I decided to celebrate St. Nicholas Day as an extension of the holidays, but more importantly, as a way to get the kids to think of others during the season, and not just of the gifts they will receive.  On St. Nicholas Day, our goal is to give in the spirit of the real Santa Claus, who gave freely all that he owned.

by Lori Seaborg 2006

Having...Nothing to say that seems worth your reading.  I've been the one reading lately.

Reading....toooo many books.  I love using PaperbackSwap*.  I have most recently received, via that site, Newman's Own Cooking, a book on Biblical foods (I think this would be great for a family feast during a series of lessons on the Old Testament -- or a unit study), and a book on Tuscany (I thought it was a cookbook, but it's about an old house someone bought there.  My neighbor borrowed it before I finished it, so I don't know if it's any good.)

Feeling....sore.  My back has been giving me so much trouble lately! I set up an appointment at a chiropractor, but I doubt the stress of going to a doctor (I'm doctor-phobic, even though I was a nursing major) and paying what I'm sure will be a million dollars, can possibly be helpful. 

Studying...Video game designing (the 11yo son) and Cooking (the 9yo daughter).  Can you imagine how tickled I was when she said, "I want to learn to cook Breakfasts and Lunches, so you never have to do them again!"  I let the kids choose a subject to pursue in depth.  They'll write me weekly reports and we'll figure out other ways to keep it educational. They can change subjects at any time.  I think we'll use some of Cindy Rushton's tips on Notebooking for this idea. 

Finding...a beautiful Tarragon plant in my garden.  It's sunny yellow flowers are so bright!  Also blooming in the wild are Goldenrod and Black Eyed Susans and several purple and blue flower varieties. 

Canoeing...down the river with part of our family in one canoe and my parents and a couple of kids in their canoe.  It was such a lovely way to spend an afternoon!  We all got wet, of course.

Going...back to Orlando this week, but this time with only Tim.  It's a business/pleasure trip.  We are very excited about it, and about getting some alone time, too.  Thank God for grandparents who will watch the kids!

*PaperBackSwap.com is a site where you can list books that you'd like to give away.  You'll receive points for books sent out, which you can then use on books that you'd like to read.  If you join, mention Dreamwords as a referral, and I'll get a free book point.  It's okay if you don't do that -- join anyway!

by Lori Seaborg 2006

Someone wrote me last night and mentioned that I haven't blogged in a while.  I thank her for the nudge!  Sometimes I need that. 

We were on vacation all of last week.  We went to Orlando to Sea World (a new baby Shamu was born 2 weeks before we went - he was born the size of Shaquille O'Neill, they said).  Tim and I also had a very lovely date at the Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba performance.  It's always been a dream of mine to go there.  Tim offered to give me the cash for shopping instead of going to Cirque, but I quickly decided that a cherished memory is worth more than yet another thing.  :)  Good decision; Tim enjoyed it as much as I did.  Cirque du Soleil is located in Downtown Disney, which is a fun place to visit with lots of restaurants and shops (we went a second day so the kids could come.  They love the Lego shop and the shop that sells My Little Pony).  We had a scrumptious dessert at Ghirardelli's.  Oh, that was good!

Coming back home, we went the way of the Atlantic Ocean (the waves weren't high that day, so it looked like our Gulf beaches, only browner sand).  I lived near there for a year's worth of college breaks, so wanted to show the kids some of my old haunts.  We also went via St. Augustine,  which was dirtier than I remember, but it was still good to see the old buildings. 

After a vacation, it's always a little hard for me to adjust to real life once again.  But it is nice to come home to our little place.  The first thing I did was hug the goat.

by Lori Seaborg 2006

There are streusel-topped muffins in the oven (this time from a box) so I can only stay a minute.  I've been gone from you for a while because my FreeHomeschool idea (a group to share homeschool items for free) just took right off! There are 535 members and more added daily.   Every day there have been offers for free homeschool items, but the list has gotten really slow in the past few days and yesterday there was just one offer.  For a while there, I was approving at least a dozen offer posts each time I logged on!  I'm a little sad that it's gotten so slow - I think there are many we could still help - but I'll let the list do what the list will do!

I got up at 5am this morning; it's 7 and the family is still sound asleep!  I'm a born-natural night owl, so getting up is very tough for me.  I set my alarm for 6:30am, but somehow woke up much earlier.  You can sure get a lot done in the morning when you get up early!  I've already gone on a 1.2 mile walk, pet the cat, washed a pan, washed and dried a load of laundry, read my Bible, wrote in a prayer journal, checked my email, checked the bank accounts, and wrote down a to-do list for this week.  I need to get up early more often!!  Usually, by now I'm only just getting up (if even that) and haven't done anything.

If you want to get up early in the morning, read some of Laine's Letters. That girl is inspiring!

Better get those muffins out of the oven!

by Lori Seaborg 2006

by Lori Seaborg 2006

I made a few changes to the blog tonight so thought I'd check in with you and say hello before logging off.  I've been busy planning for the next school year, as I'm sure you have been as well. 

I've been reading articles at Heart of Wisdom, Ambleside Online and Simply Charlotte Mason.  Also helpful has been Charlotte's Daughters and Old Fashioned Education, not to mention the many Yahoo groups that I'm on.   I'm so glad that homeschooling moms are so willing to share their secrets!

I'm also busy writing since I've taken on a 2-week challenge from author Suzie Eller.  We (the subscribers to a Yahoo group called The Writers View 2) were to give ourselves any writing goal we like, but it has to be done by July 29, next Saturday.  We have to report back to her that we've done it, just to help motivate us to do it.  Do you want to write?  If so, join The Writers View 2; it is invaluable!  I've never suggested another writing group to you, but this one I am!  I'll blog on it separately sometime, I'm sure.

by Lori Seaborg 2006

I know I haven't blogged nearly as much as you deserve lately, but, wow, if you could just see how beautiful and time-consuming Spring has been this year, you'd surely understand!  Here on the Gulf Coast, we know that the Summer is our mostly-indoors time of year, so I've been spending almost every minute outdoors lately, knowing that soon the bugs, the heat, the afternoon thunderstorms, the hurricane warnings, and the humidity will be here.  Here's a bit of what's been going on:

• Consuming.....Little Apricot, my cute distraction, is still consuming minute upon minute of my day until hours are gone.   When I catch a glimpse of his white mohair running across the window, you can bet that right then I've lost all concentration on my household chores, and I'll be gazing out the window for at least a full ten minutes, if I can successfully keep myself from putting on my husband's huge galoshes and making my way down to see Apricot, you know, to make sure he's okay.

• Maddening....Toby, the Cocker Spaniel, consumes minute upon minute of my day, too, with maddening cuteness as he chases our rooster across the yard.  One of these days that rooster is going to get tough enough to spur Toby.  For now, it's an entertaining race.

• Raising...19 Cornish Rock chickens for the freezer.  This is our first year doing this; until now, we have only had laying hens.  But the more I learn about organic foods, the more I'd like to raise as much as we can on our own.  This is going to be a good learning experience for the kids, too.  Cornish Rocks are ready for the freezer by 6-8 weeks (that's fast!), so the kids are documenting the amazing growth rate of these chickens as a school project. They can do their documentation through writing, photos, or drawing. We are weighing the birds once a week and the kids are documenting their feed and water requirements. 

• Building....a Chicken Tractor with my dad, to house our Cornish Rocks as they grow, and to later house a couple of turkeys that I hope to buy soon from the feed store.  Click here to view a bunch of chicken tractors.  I'll try to post photos of ours soon -- it looks great and is made of all recycled materials except 1/2 of the chicken wire and the nails.

• Flitting....The butterflies have been flitting about our yard in abundance.  I've seen several swallowtails of different colors - orange ones and mostly black ones, and I have seen our native Gulf Fritillary, a bright yellow beauty.  Butterflies love mud, so if you want some butterflies, create a little mud or a very shallow puddle, or fill a plant's drip pan. 

• Blooming:  The Cherry tree, the Lemon tree, the Kumquat tree, the mysterious tiny-tangerine-type tree, Dogwoods (almost done blooming), wild Roses (almost done), and our Yellow Rose, the Amaryllis is in bud, the Louisiana Irises were beautiful this year, the Azaleas were absolutely stunning this year because we are in a drought - there is just one bloom left.

• Gardening:  Today, I planted basil, cilantro, jalapenos, and garlic chives in my herb garden, which already houses oregano and rosemary.  Tim built this little garden for me, which is about 6' by 3-1/2', made out of two log-type pieces of wood (not railroad ties, but they would work), stacked on top of each other so that the garden is 6-8" deep.  I filled the frame with purchased soil a couple of years ago. It is in the full sun.  The herbs love their garden!

• Journaling....The kids and I started nature journaling this month.  We walked a half mile up the road to the local farmer's cows, only to find the cows wanted to be far away from us (you can draw a distance cow, but who want to see a dot on a piece of paper), so we ended up coming home to draw in our own back yard.  On our walk, Britty, our 8yo, took photos of nature with my digital camera.  It was a nice walk, but drawing in our yard was the real treat.    I had found 88cent drawing pads at Big Lots, so handed one to each of the three older kids, ages 10, 8, and 6. The 3yo got a cheap lined notebook.  I had a real artist's sketchpad for myself, a handy little one about 4"x3".  Using only pencils, we sketched anything in our yard.  I sketched the neighbor's dog, Santana, who thinks she belong to us, and the last azalea blooms.  10yo Brenden sketched a black swallowtail butterfly and the vegetation surrounding it.  6yo Stone sketched a leaf and a twig after telling me "I can't draw anything," and tossing aside his pencil and paper.  I encouraged him to draw what he sees, not what he thinks it should look like.  And I told him that nobody has to see his drawing if he doesn't want to show it to us.  8yo Britty drew the rooster in his pen. ----------- It was important for all of us, myself included, to not say, "I can't draw."  I'll have to blog on this subject soon; nature journaling has been a wonderful "discovery" for our family.

• Welcoming.....Tim (dh) home after a week of business in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I'm more of the outdoor, nature lover in our family, but even Tim said, "Wow, it is really green here!" when he came back home from up North.  I missed that man even more than I thought I did.  It's nice to have his strength back again, in every way that he gives it to us. 

by Lori Seaborg 2006

We have a baby around here!  A literal kid...Apricot, our baby goat.

I am driven to distraction by him.  I wonder why it takes me two hours to cook dinner and why I can't get extra chores done, and why we are so off-schedule (not that we ever were on, but we always try).  Well, yeah, dinner doesn't get done quickly when I'm spending hours starting out the window at the goat pen, hoping to see a small bit of white romping around so that I know the little bundle is okay.  And chores don't get done when I tell myself I'll "just go feed the mama an apple quickly.  She probably needs it."  An hour or two later, I'm still sitting on a log, petting Apricot's head, gazing at his beautifully created blue eyes, or twirling his mama's mohair locks around my fingers. 

I just can't get enough of those two goats. 

Three days later, I still can't believe the miracle of the baby, who was born unexpectedly on the same day we lost our other precious goat, Mary, to an unknown illness.  The baby is such a gift, just as his mama, April, and her companion, Mary, were last October when they were offered to me by a complete stranger whom I met when I went to pick up something she had posted on a local recycling e-list.   By my reaction to her beautiful Angora goats, she could "just tell" I'd make a great home for the goats that she could no longer keep. 

I'm grateful for an easy-going and tolerant husband who can't resist my own blue eyes.  That's just downright useful sometimes, so I used my female charms that day to get a goat pen built by him for the goats I'd always dreamt of having. 

Most of all, I'm grateful for God who now and then gives me the desires of my heart. 

For weeks, I've been trying to get up earlier in the mornings, wanting to start my days ahead of the children.   I think I've even blogged about this struggle.  If you are having the same trouble, I have a bit of advice for you:  just get yourself a wee little billy goat, and you'll be up right at dawn, checking to see if he made it through the night just fine.  It's a pretty simple solution, really.

Lori Seaborg

I'm finally back with a working computer!  I really need to guard my time on it, because the biggest lesson I learned, while Internetless, is that I spent a lot more time on it than I thought, and I can get a lot done in the time I don't spend on the computer!  Still, I missed you and I really hope you missed me, too.  I'll blog on here during the baby's naptime every day that  I can. 

Today, I started a blog on HomesteadBlogger.com because I just adore homesteading topics!  Please visit my new blog by clicking here:  Garden and Home Life by Lori Seaborg . 

Enjoy the read!  I'll write soon!

by Lori Seaborg

Happy New Year!

Computer problems still plague us at home.  I am praying daily for a little Divine Intervention!  But on the bright side....

not having a computer gives me extra time in my day.  I've been cleaning and organizing and crafting.  It's the crafting that makes me smile.  These have been fun days, even without a computer.

Still, I miss you all!  I'm at my parent's computer in Florida right now for the holidays.  I'll let you know when God answers our prayers and we are blessed with a working computer!

Have a wonderful holiday!

by Lori Seaborg

Hello, all! Thank you for being patient with me last week. We had Tim's sister, her husband and their four kids visiting for eight days.  We had EIGHT kids ages TEN AND UNDER for eight days!  Can you imagine what our noise level was? 

We had a great time, letting the kids run through the splash pad fountain at the mall, visiting the National Museum of Naval Aviation (worth a trip to Pensacola, Florida to see!), seeing more family in Mobile, Alabama, deep-frying a turkey for dinner, barbequeing a few dozen hot dogs, eating s'mores, drinking strawberry and pina colada homemade slushies (a.k.a. non-alcoholic daquirris), ordering steak dinners to go (just us adults, after the eight kids were in bed), playing Rook every night, creating beaded earrings, shopping in our adorable downtown Fairhope, watching the men play basketball, and so much more.  Part of "so much more" includes chasing our two angora goats, who escaped their pen on Sunday.  That is not fun!!

I'll get back to blogging again now.  I've missed you!

by Lori Seaborg