Yesterday was a bit of a... hmmm?  What's that word?  Revelation!  That's it. That's the word I'm looking for!

Yesterday was our first day of school.  July in Iowa is sticky, hot, and sticky... Did I mention sticky?  So, we started school and we'll take a break in late fall when the weather is gorgeous again.  So, new curriculum, new schedule, and new kids.  Well, okay, same kids, but I was hoping for at least the magical transformation of my three year old into this lovely, obedient preschooler.  Didn't quite happen....

So here I am on Day 2.  I'm behind, lol, and I wonder, "How can that be?  How can I be behind on the SECOND day of school?"

See this year we are taking a new approach.  I've always made our own lesson plans, pulling eclectically from a hodge podge of materials that I've chosen based on merit.  This year, in a state of utter exhaustion, and admitting I'm not SuperWoman (who knew?!) I went with Sonlight.  Whew boy!  Didn't QUITE realize *I* would be reading aloud two hours a day at a bare minimum....

Yesterday was absolutely filled with revelations... Just one after another.

I sat here today sorting books and we've just recently picked up several of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's books.  And I found myself a bit resentful to be honest.  When we started reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle I was reading rather intently, with the wild idea that I'd get something useful out of it.  You know you must be over your head a bit when you have a child's book in front of you with a funny little woman on the front and you're hoping beyond hope that SHE will have the secret to heeling your three year old.  Wrong.  Just wrong.  So as I put away these books this morning I really thought she was mocking me a bit from the cover.  She should be grateful she didn't find herself in the trash can as I couldn't find much use for her...  powders and candy.  If only.

My second thought came as I RE-sorted all the math manipulatives.  Our three year old (noticing a trend) came up with the delightful idea of playing with the lacing beads, attribute blocks, dominoes, stamps, pencils, paint brushes, and lacing animals... all at one time, in one big pile. 

And the thought occurs to me that "Quiverfull" is kind of like buying a timeshare.  Oh, it looks good on the brochure.  The cuddly, big family, curled in front of the fire... I think they use the SAME brochure.  But about ten years down the line........  It just takes on a bit of a different look and you're thinking, "Hmmm... would I have bought into this if I had known what I know now?"

Ahhhh...  In all seriousness I adore my children, with the exception of above mentioned three year old.  But I will be the first to admit there are days, lately, of utter exhaustion.  Those lovely moms of many know just what I mean!   Apparently, simply based on the fact that I get pregnant easily, this does indeed qualify me for Mom of the Year.  We have two olders (planned) 12 and 9.  Then, with Quiverfull conviction securely in hand, we've had the last six in seven years. :)  So now, they are trained well enough that I can take all of them in public with me.  And people are fairly certain that because they are all dressed, wearing shoes, and I look reasonably sane, that I really must be this amazing, fantastical mama, with a heart of gold and unlimited patience.  As I am not terribly fond of hypocrisy, I try to explain to them that this is simply not so and that I am a mama just like everyone else who does indeed occasionally lose her marbles.  This is of course then hurrahed as humbleness and I'm even more wonderful than before.

Let it be said here and now...  I am not SuperMama.  My kids would laugh at the very idea!

So, now that I've set the situation up for you, here's the rest of the background.  We have really great older kids.  They're wonderful. We adore them.  They are the kind of kids you LIKE to spend time with.  To about age 4.  We love our resident four year old VERY much.  She's an absolute delight.  But, age three NEVER fails to disappoint...  We pretty much hate age three.  Bring on the two year olds, but I don't like three.  It is inevitably at age three they discover they have opinions.  Generally, contrary to my own.  And at about age three, I always have a new baby...  (When don't I have a new baby, my mom would say.)   So, despite the fact that I've gone through this several times, I see my sweet, adorable two year olds and assume that THIS child will not go through this willfull, naughty stage, and we spoil them to death.  Only to pay for this six months later. 

We're at that stage.  Add in one potty training 22 month old, and one needy infant and mama NEEDED to get out of the house last week.

So, we get dressed and we head to the park.  We're all in high spirits, congratulating ourselves on being dressed and out of the house by about 9:00 when the weather is still cool.  And as we walk we bump into an older mom, pushing her three year old in a stroller.   Now, I'm in a great mood, but I'm wiped out and you know, you just know you're having one of those days when....

Other Mom:  "How many of them are yours?"

Me: "All of them!"  Big smile

Other Mom: "Wow! I don't know how you do it."

Me: "Oh, it's not so bad.  They're good kids."

Other Mom: "You must be Mom of the Year."

Me: "Why?"  And realize this is said in genuine shock. 

It never ceases to surprise me why people think we just have it all figured out because we've had LOTS of kids.  Like because I've been bestowed with children, I've also been bestowed with endless wisdom... Don't I wish it? 

Truth is, the more children I have, the more sure I am that I don't know it all.  I always joke that when we had our first, I was pretty sure I knew it all about parenting.  After all, I had read all the books and we were doing everything right.   With the birth of number two, I KNEW I knew it all about kids.  I had two, both of them keepers.  With the birth of our fourth, who was a very high needs baby, I began to suspect that we might not know as much as we thought we did.   Then came number five... a baby who had constant diahhrea until I stopped breastfeeding, a baby who turned into a toddler who was VERY behaviourally challenged until we stopped giving her soymilk.  (WHO KNEW?!)  It was then and there I admitted I didn't know much at all.

Okay, okay, so the quiverfull brochure has lost some of it's charm.  I did about seven loads of laundry yesterday and I'm ALMOST caught up.  I am using THREE, count 'em, THREE Cores in Sonlight this year.  I have a 7th grader, a 4th grader, a 1st grader, a K, a Pre-K, a potty training almost two year old, and one seriously high needs newborn that lives in her Moby...  THIS was NEVER on the brochure. 

But, I also have one really neat daughter who is almost a teenager and I love her more than I ever did as a baby because she is absolutely fascinating to me.  I have a 9 yo boy who loves to take care of his Mama and loves God.  I have a 6yo who is a delight and makes me smile every single day.   I have a 4yo who is just never upset, always happy, and smiles the biggest smiles.  My three year old, while not well behaved lol, is very umm... creative.  The two year old makes me think every day, "Thank you God that we didn't stop having children.  How would I live without her?"  She brings me joy every minute of the day... even cleaning up puddles.  And this high needs newborn...  Sometimes I think maybe she is an amazing blessing as well.  If she wasn't so fussy how would I have an excuse to hold her all day in a family this size?  She's in her Moby now, snuggled tight into me, snoring soft baby snores, and blissfully asleep.  She has soft woolly newborn hair, and soft, sweet smelling, newborn skin.   And while this may not be what I THOUGHT I was signing up for...  While it is SO much more work than I ever would have wanted...  While I go to bed every night wiped out and wake up in the morning with a long list of "To Do" options, it is so much better than I could have ever dreamed.

How does that quote go?

I'm not what I should be, but by the Grace of God, I'm not what I was.

"

We have been working on our website, but due to Sarah's arrival we are cutting back a bit! In order to minister to my family a bit more, please purchase from our Etsy site.  If there is something you need, just please convo me through Etsy.

Blessings, Kelly

We've not been blogging for a while.  So sorry!  But we've been very busy and productive! ;)

And here's what we managed to come up with while on hiatus:

We're in Baby Love!  This is baby Sarah Elaine.   She is our eighth baby, sixth daughter and the little girls are pretty pleased with her!  Even Tim likes her, though he'd still like a little brother.

And a gratuitous shot of Abigail singing opera just because it's cute!

Last week  we were still hunting for asparagus when we found these:

Can you see it?  It's a monarch egg!  A few days later, the egg turned black and out hatched the tiniest catepillar you've ever seen!   Last night we went hunting again.  We're up to four catepillars and one egg, and very little asparagus.. Not that the asparagus has much to do with it, but I really like asparagus!

We're all pretty excited and we've raised catepillars for the last three years, but this  is the first year we've had eggs.   Rebecca doesn't remember the last few years, so this has been of special interest to her.   Today we are reading a life cycle book about butterflies.  Elizabeth is working on her own butterfly  book for our local "days" which is similar to a fair for the arts & crafts contest.  I found the cutest project for "Stained Window Butterflies" (and other projects) here:

http://www.butterflyschool.org/teacher/aandc.html

pair of Longies!  Hurrah!  We made longies for baby Abigail today.  OK, so baby Abigail isn't much of a baby.  She's more of a toddler.  But doesn't she look sweet?   For those who do not know, longies are pants that are created to be a natural, breathable cover for diapers.  They keep the little legs warm too.  If you look closely you will see that these longies are actually the sleeves of an adult wool sweater, sewn together.  Ta Da!  And so painlessly quick to make!  We made two pair, but I need to take pictures of the other pair! :)

Good Night!

Okay, we all know that when big families get their tax return back, we get to splurge on a few things we wouldn't otherwise!

And so, one year we bought our NutriMill and Bosch.  We bought our juicer one year.  There is precious little we need in the way of gadgets.  But, we did come up with something this year.

This is the Euro Cuisine YM100.  Glass jars, a timer, and an auto shutoff.  My new toy.  Our goal is to have Liz make the yogurt.  She's almost 6.5.  We'll see. :)

We go through a LOT of yogurt in this house and it's never inexpensive.   I'm awfully excited about this!
They do also offer a set of extra jars for bigger families.  You can make yogurt and go to bed at night.  Put the batch in the fridge to chill and in the AM make another batch with the extra set of jars. :)

Our little business has really begun to take off.  We have shipped out approximately sixty orders since the last week of January.  That is impressive to us... It pretty much tops the amount of things we shipping in 2007, not counting wholesale orders.

This was a bit of a shock to me.

Also, we had the flu two weeks ago.  It is not a generic "we" that people use when talking about themselves.  It was a collective we.  I had the flu.  Ana had the flu.  Timothy and Christian had the flu.  Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Abigail had the flu.  And it was not pleasant.  I'm pretty certain the last time a bug knocked me down like that was 1999.  Only one child threw up and I consider that a rejoiceable success.

And I'm thrilled to report we were able to completely treat all symptoms with herbs.  No Robitussen, no achy, so you can sleep medicine! :)  We didn't need Tylenol to combat the fevers.  It was a major success in our home and I'm very grateful we had everything on hand.  Except lemons and fresh ginger and that was quickly remedied by a very good and doting Daddy.  :)

Which brings me to the title of this entry.

I Can Do All Things.

I have heard of those mothers.  I think I once thought I was that mother.  I'm no longer under such delusions, lol.  I will freely admit that my younger children watched more television in the last three weeks than most likely the rest of their short lives combined.  I only wish I was kidding.  We did accomplish homeschooling... some.  I did keep up with the business though it meant long hours and little sleep and I wonder if that is why I was sick three full days whereas the children bounced back in under two?

And I discovered something about myself.  I *can* do almost anything.... I just can't do them all at once.

I can be quite a decent wife.  I can be a sweet and rather discerning mama.  I can be a rather dutiful homeschooler.  I can run a moderately successful home business.  I can sew, and cook, and make everything from scratch.  I can work with a designer on new labels, talk with a printer about the new labels, plan my new wholesale accounts, plan our test prep., teach one small child her letters, teach another to read, another to count, another her body parts, another pre-algebra, and another multiplication.  I can wake up at 5AM with dh and I can stay up working on work 'til 1 AM. 

BUT

You can't do it indefinitely and you can't do it without a cost.  And you can't do it all at once... or at least not longterm.

I am the "can do" mama.  For many, many years, I had a can-do philosophy.  If I heard of it, I was convinced I could do it.  I wanted to learn to sew.  And I did.  I wanted to grind my flour, make my bread, and spend hours upon hours in meal prep.  I wanted to run my own business, homeschool my children, use cloth diapers, and do everything I read about in Mother Earth News, all the while being a successful soccer mom, and coaching softball.

I'm exhausted.

And I quit.

LOL, I have come to accept that there are things for this family that are a priority.  And, now we are expecting our eighth child in twelve years.  I have one sixth grader, one third grader, one K/1, one preschooler, one 3 year old, a toddler, and I am oh so very pregnant.  It is time to delegate.

I have been reading how to make yogurt in my oven.  Today I quit.  I am buying a yogurt maker!  Don't comment on how easy it is, I don't care.  This is my line.  I can't plan properly so that my oven is free.  I can't keep up with our yogurt consumption.  I am buying a yogurt maker. 

My daughter is going to learn to make the bread.
My son is going to learn to grind all the flour.
My dh bought me huge tea jars so that I don't have to pre-mix my pregnancy and childrens' teas every morning.
I hired someone to turn my prefolds into prefitteds.
I am switching to all natural covers for the babies.  And I am NOT (absolutely refusing) to potty train Abigail before the baby comes in May.  (I can't decide if that's smart or stubborn.)
Someone else is making the wool covers. 
Someone else is designing the website and the labels.
We are having a printer print the labels.
I cut out all the soaps I don't enjoy making.
I am simplifying.

Can I do it all?  Perhaps.

But I can't do it all well.  And that is a fact.  And a useful fact.  It is time I admit my limitations.  I am at that point.

*We bought new glasses.  Glasses we can fit our hands in and I'm throwing away the bottle scrubber.  Inefficient little pain that it is.
*We are getting rid of the tupperware glasses, all one million of them.  We now own eight glasses for company.  And, two glasses for Mama and Daddy at supper.   We have ONE, count 'em ONE, color coded cup for each child.  Everything else - gone!
*DH got large jars for our herbs.  They've been PROPERLY labeled, they've been alphabetized, and are now on a shelf for easy access.  No more fighting with balanced jars, looking for the proper herbs. 
*DH also got a large chest of drawers for all my shipping paraphernalia, the labels, the tape, the boxes, and the one thousand and one things lying on every horizontal place in our home.

What's next?

Oh the plastic toys are being sacrificed.  They don't play with them.  They scatter them about in the basement in the search for the one perfect toy.   Gone.  They are all going.  All VHS tapes are going.  We don't own a VCR.  Why hang onto them.  Clothes are being sorted through.  Dishes and useless kitchen gadgets - gone.  I am decluttering.

Those who know me will be alarmed.  They might be scared for my children.... that I will throw one of them out in the frenzy.  LOL, I have a reputation for despising clutter.  But I have allowed it in my home too long.  It looks like we will shortly be making a move to the country.  FINALLY!  And with the addition of (I PRAY goats!) animals, the home must take some responsibility at taking care of itself.  And it can't do that having gadgets about.  I'll post pictures as we make progress.  Oh to be near our Goodwill.  There will be much finding it's way there. :)

One of the chairs is already in the backyard.... in three feet of snow, lol.  We're getting there!

And finally, the admission.

I can do many things well.  But I can not do them all.  And I cannot do them all at once.

In life,  we must all prioritize.  Where did True Vine Soap originally start anyway?  The goal was to give the business a name that would remind me to stay where I needed to be.  To keep me mindful of my priorities.  I am extremely grateful that I gave it such a name, and truly believe it to be God inspired.  Thanks to that, I think I am getting back to the right track.  We are so easily misled on rabbit trails. 

God
Family

Everything Else

Lord keep me mindful that I cannot do all things.  You have given me twenty four hours each day of which I am to be a good steward.  I pray that I would be mindful to take good care of those things which You have given me.  Keep me mindful Lord, keep me mindful.

OK, I freely admit it... shameless spam.  I'm getting ready for a soapmaking marathon this month to stock for the Grand Opening of the redesigned site.   But, in the meantime I've been having a little fun with Etsy.  A mama needs something to keep her busy... Er. Wait.  That's the six children. :)  At any rate, I'm running a special this week.

My Etsy site:

The Special:

Buy one (or more) items from my Etsy site.  Pick anything of equal or less value from my website at True Vine Soap In the comments section type: Homeschool Blogger  and the item(s) you want. 

Notice:

All items in Treasuries right now have a free gift (lip balm) with purchase.  Yes!  You will get that included.  Items in treasury for TWO more days: Cocoa Butter Sugar Scrub & Oatmeal Castile Soap.

Enjoy.  If you need something else listed on Etsy you may ask.  I can't promise anything due to the current re-stocking and my actual site takes priority over Etsy, but I will try to accomodate you.

Blessings,

Kelly

Okay, a few some things..........  I made this treasury on Etsy this morning.  I AM so excited!  My very first treasury!

Sugar & Spice:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=24546

Ok, so here is the funny thing about Etsy.  To get an Etsy treasury you must wait until the list hits 333.  Then, you wait, breathless, refreshing your page, for one of the  old treasuries to fall off.

So, how was I so blessed?  Well, it all started with going to bed last night after 1:00 AM.  Yes, I know, shame on ME!  And then I was so sleepy I didn't even get up with my husband.  And THAT is such a rarity the poor man MUST have felt sorry for me, lol, because he let me sleep in, kissed me, and made me coffee.  (Yes, I REALLY know what I have and I REALLY like him!)  So I awake to awake babies and an awful lot of snow falling outside my window.  Which leads me to think of hot muffins.  So I ask Christian to bring me the computer.  And while I'm looking for muffins with apples, blueberries, and bananas... I'm pregnant, I want what I want.  Don't mock me! ;)  While I'm doing this, I take a peek at Etsy.

Oh MY!   It's at that number - 333!!  So I open several windows because I have about four minutes to learn how to do this, lol.  And I remember some of my fellow Soap Dish forum sisters mentioning that their windows timed out.  YIPES!  So I have two windows I'm refreshing.

Do you KNOW what happened?  I got TWO Etsy treasuries.

And so my first went to my beloved Soap Dish.  And the second to the other team I've joined - Natural Kids.

If you have little girls and love sweet, pretty, cuddly things, do so look at my SECOND (gasp!) treasury, lol!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=24610

I am so spoiled today!  And yes, I made the muffins too!  And they were fantastic!

Have a blessed day!

Are you at home with your babies today?  I am.  It is, literally, freezing cold outside.  They are cancelling schools across the state for cold.  And I am sipping some coffee with one very wild-haired, soft, and sweet thumb suckin' baby.  She's cuddled up on my lap beneath a cozy blanket with her head on my shoulder, and she smells sooo good.  Our little boy, newly turned three, just woke up.  His hair is a little wild, but he has a smile on his face.  You can tell he's still sleepy because he hasn't started zooming around the room.  Instead, hTe's chosen to snuggle up next to his mama for a few more minutes There is a four year old with her little feet on the heater laying on the carpet and all is quiet here for just a little longer.

And where is that wonderful husband of mine?  Well, he got up at 5:00 AM this morning, got into a shower, put on work clothes, and walked out into the snowy cold, so that the rest of us could have all of this. 

I am still in my robe this morning, contemplating our schedule for the day, figuring out what we should do on such a cold day.  I'm not going to have to brave the miserable cold, or drop my babies off a sitter's house today.  

I will be blessed with opportunities to minister ALL day long.  I'll be able to fix wrongs, kiss boo-boos, make healthy meals, read special stories, and laugh and play with them all day long. 

And this is thanks to my husband.  It doesn't always occur to me to be grateful.  Sometimes I just go about my day not thinking about it.  But, I think we have an obligation to show our gratefulness to those wonderful men who make our lives possible.

So many of us had dreams before babies.  They involved careers, exotic places, or whatnot.  They generally did not involve dirty diapers, lots of dishes, chaos, teaching school, cleaning up, and baby drool.

Oh how little we knew then.  We didn't know that careers mean exhaustion and not seeing our beloved babies.  We didn't know exotic places soon lose their charm and allure.  Mostly I didn't know how thankful I  would be for dirty diapers to change, the chaos of many children underfoot, the joy of teaching my own, and the blessed adorableness of baby drool.  Thank you Lord for teaching me all of these things. Thank you Lord for every diaper *I* GET to change, thank you  for every child *I* GET to teach, thank you for every baby You give me.  And thank you Lord for that husband that braves the cold to take care of us so that I can be home with them each and every day, teaching and learning, and ministering.

Do something wonderful for your husband today.  It is by the grace of God and his hard work that you lead this very blessed life.

And for the final post of the AM I will leave you a picture of two of my little ones.  The eight of us were in my sister's wedding this past weekend.  We had so much fun and it was made so much more enjoyable by the fact that we really like her choice! ;)  Here is a picture of two of our little ones.  If you look ever so carefully, you'll see little feet and a bit of a dress behind Tim... That's Abigail!  She followed along quite well.  When it was time to leave, she ran right down the aisle... 'til she fell and the pastor picked her up on the way out.  It was fabulous! 

Rebecca & Timothy:

Miss Andrea from WANTED finished my design for my Etsy shop!  Tee Hee!   God gives many people many talents and computer skills are not mine!  But they certainly are hers!

You can peek at the banner at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5261708

I'm so thrilled.  It's so nice to work with someone that knows what I want before I know I want it!

And of course she did the full design for the real shop:
www.truevinesoap.com

Which will not open until Feb. 16th. 

Isn't she fabulous?

I love homeschooling. I mean I really adore it.  I'm sitting on a comfortable chair, with a warm cup of coffee, and a toddler attempting to figure out how my eyes work as I type.  She's incredibly beautiful which adds to her charm just a bit. ;) 

It's a blustery day and when I thought of braving the cold, I thought, "Oh BOTHER!" Because running around today is NOT what I want to do.

So, we'll get the awful errands done this morning and then I do believe we're calling it a Winnie the Pooh day.  Now, perhaps my big kids are unique, or maybe it's that you never can outgrown A.A. Milne, but they'll be thrilled.  I think we'll make a "little something" with some honey (of course) and sit down and read one of his books clear through 'til the very end. 

Followed by a hunt for some Woozles, it should be a rather thrilling day.  I'm not sure there could be anything quite so pleasant as a Pooh Day.

Ana in her new flannel jumper.  Amazingly fast and easy pattern.  Pictured with the cloth headband from Heather Bailey's online free pattern.  Thank you for sharing Heather!

Elizabeth and her doll, Liberty from the Beautiful Girlhood Collection from The Vision Forum.  We made these jumpers and matching dolly dresses for both Rebecca and Elizabeth this Christmas!  You can't see the ribbon that goes around the waist, but we fell in love with the cherry fabric.  Can you see the pantaloons beneath?

Now I'm working on another jumper for Ana.  They were so amazingly simple I decided to make three, lol.  One still needs to be cut, but the other one is only minutes away from being finished!

Tonight I read a post about having five little ones close in age - 0-8.  The mama wondered if anyone had had it all "together" when they were in this situation. Our youngest five have come in six years!

February 2001
December 2001
January 2004
December 2004
September 2006

The newest little one will be here in June.  So, I felt "qualified", lol, to answer this one.  I am blessed to have friends from very different lives.  I have one dear friend who is expecting her seventh... her oldest will be 10.  And I have another friend who has older girls and one little boy.  They have both blessed me so much in their differences.  Looking at their lives and what God is showing them, teaching them, loving them through, shows me so much.  They are both wonderful, godly women and I am blessed to know them.  But their lives have impacted me deeply.

Following is the reply I posted:

I think it depends on what "together" means to you. I had what I categorized " it all together" through Baby Number 4, lol.

Then Baby 5 came along eleven months later.

Now I have it together... but it's a different kind of together. We are having dear friends over tomorrow. My house will not be clean to her standards. Whenever I go to their house (even on surprise) it's spotless. We do not do school as she does - organized and for several hours each day with a log of daily activity, etc. *But* I can tell you that I think she'd trade places with me in a heartbeat. They had their miracle reversal baby almost three years ago. They may or may not get another one. Their three girls range in age from 11-14. I think she'd give up her "together" for five closely spaced babies in a millisecond. Her girls are WONDERFUL, her little boy is a doll, and I can't imagine a couple more deserving for a new baby. I pray they get one. But, I'll tell you, living close to her helps me keep my chaos in perspective. My house is chaotic, it's rarely spotless, I'd love to do more with our school, the laundry is never done, and I'm exhausted at night. And I have a baby to hold, a toddler to chase, and a new baby to feel kick. And my heart breaks for her. No, I don't want it all together... it would mean I would have lots of time to clean my house, to sit still and do school, etc. People with five really little children don't have that kind of time. I'll take my life, thank you very much.

Do I have an immaculate house? No. But there will be time for that.

Do I have hours and hours to spend coloring pictures of each President while graphing the amount of precipitation we received today and reading the children Socrates while standing on one leg? No. But someday I will actually have time to do it - if I wanted to.

These babies don't come along forever. And then we're going to long for the chaotic, crazy days where children were underfoot and we couldn't get anything done. Because SOMEday, we'll be able to get it all done... and have time leftover to twiddle our thumbs, and we might not enjoy it.

Is my house clean? Well, no mold. No dirty diapers lying all over. The supper dishes are almost done. There is laundry to do tomorrow, but we did some today, and it's never REALLY done anyway. I can see the floors. Today is a good day.

Did we do school today? Well, no, but technically we're still on vacation. CJ wrote an "essay" (I didn't know he knew what that was) on why the Earth and people were created for each other. Ana read us the letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to his step-brother after listening to Dave Ramsey today and decided on what hobby she's going to take up in place of soccer next year. Today was a good day.

Did I sit down and do lots of arts and crafts and have time to make play-doh from scratch? No. But the kids did get to go with me today and hear the new baby's heartbeat and really make a great impression on several women at the doctor. Maybe kids ARE a blessing. Today was a good day.

Do I have it all together? Nope, not really. But they were fed three fairly nutritious meals. The baby isn't sick. We're fairly healthy, the house is fairly clean, and we do a fairly decent job at school. I read to them more than I did five years ago. We read the Bible more than we did five years ago. I scrub the floors FAR less. I do more laundry and it's always sitting on the floor. Sometimes I get frustrated with not having it all done like it was before they came so close together. Sometimes I wonder if we didn't stop having babies, wouldn't I be able to be SuperWoman and do it "all" again? But which one am I willing to trade for spotless floors? I am very, very blessed to have a friend I love to keep it all in perspective for me. There isn't ONE of them I'd be willing to give up today for having it all together tomorrow.

If I do the best I am physically able to do each day, it's a good day. And if I'm willing to praise God while I do it and maybe teach the babies what JOY in the Lord is by example instead of by sour words, then it is an excellent day. And my house might STILL be a mess.

I hope this blesses you as you go about your day with your little one or your tribe.

Blessings,

Kelly

I'm not a fan of supplements.  I adore whole foods and herbal teas.  But, truly, I have a very low opinion of the little plastic bottles marked "Calcium" or "Iron."  It is my personal opinion that they are an utter waste of your money. 

Recently, on one of my favorite online communities, someone was just beginning her journey down the road to better nutrition.  Wondering what supplements she should begin with and planning her trip to the health food store, she was trying to figure out where to begin.

I didn't want to overwhelm her with information, but neither did I want to send someone into the very overwhelming "Health Food Store " unarmed and unaware.  It's a bit like feeding a lamb to a wolf.

 I like health food markets.  For one reason, my soap and products are carried by health food markets!  Much of what I can't get at my local grocer or farmer's market can be found at my health market.  But, for me, there is a huge difference between my local market and the generic "health food store"  full of little plastic containers, and amber bottles full of "sure fire cures for whatever ails you."  I feel that many health food stores get more than their fair share of money off of great marketing rather than truly helping their customer.  This alarms and frustrates me.  More and more studies are showing these great little pills aren't easily absorbed or utilized by your body.  They are a waste.

So, what to do?  Well, there's an alternative.  The alternative is becoming aware, spending FAR less, and reaping MORE health benefits.  It requires a little more effort initially, but in the end, you'll be much better off for it.

So, Herbs 101... let the first lesson begin!

Following is my post, to this newcomer (slightly edited),  feel free to ask questions.

I might skip the trip to the healthfood store... It's kind of like putting a new homeschooler in a curriculum fair. All sorts of great marketing paired with a complete inability to differentiate between products can often mean a lot of money spent in the wrong direction.

Honestly?  As fanatical as I can be, I don't spend much time at our local health food store. Everything is generally priced high compared to "real herbs"  and its almost entirely synthetic and packaged supplements. They aren't easily absorbed.

If I were new and didn't want to be overwhelmed, I'd do two things. I'd read Dr. Sears Nutrition book - it's kind of like a Whole Foods for Dummies manual. It doesn't go over the top but provides a nice introduction to whole foods without overwhelming you.  I can remember back to when I first bought Nourishing Traditions.  It was just too much for me to digest!    The second thing I would do is spend a lot of time poking around The Bulk Herb Store site or Mountain Rose Herbs.

We just placed an order for "supplements" and "medication" at The Bulk Herb Store for dh's high blood pressure. We needed to supplement his potassium, calcium, and magnesium. We also needed more hawthorn berry. In the end I got about six months worth of teas and tinctures (to be made at home) for $50 shipped. That would have cost me EASILY four times that in supplements at the healthfood store.

Because teas are natural vitamins and minerals and they are coming to your body in an easily assimilated form, they are efficient. Most of those supplements in a bottle aren't ever going to make it into your body... their absorption rate is low. What does that mean to you? Well, it means you're spending a lot of money on something that isn't easily used by your body... Much of it is wasted.

You say, okay, well, that's not great, but I'm just getting started!  And it's MUCH easier to consider buying the little bottles marked "Calcium" or "Magnesium" than it is to even know where to begin by making an herbal concoction at home! But, it's not hard, I promise!

Let's say you're low in iron and you want to boost your Vitamin C. So, you do a little research on The Bulk Herb Store site or in various herb books. You'll find out quickly that Nettles or Alfalfa is an amazing source of plant iron and that Rose Hips have more Vitamin C than pretty much anything else. Well, there's your tea! No kidding. That simple. You'll take a 1/2 tablespoon of the nettles and 1/2 tablespoon of rose hips and soak them in boiling water (with a lid) for about 10 minutes and that's tea. You can add a little honey, or if you're like me add elderberry concentrate or some apple juice (because I'm not a tea lover) and you've just drank your vitamins for the day.

A word of warning about goldenseal. I know everyone loves it because it's a really effective herb. But, see, that's why we SHOULDN'T use it a lot. Goldeseal is a powerful antibiotic. And just as we wouldn't take antibiotics for a little cold, neither should we pull out the BIG GUN (goldenseal) unnecessarily. Goldenseal should be reserved for those times when your immune system has been boosted and has been given a little time to work, and is STILL struggling. As a matter of fact I have not yet EVER had a reason to use goldenseal. I do have it here, just in case, but I would not use it unless absolutely necessary. It's extraordinarily powerful and not a daily herb, or even one for just a cold/flu type scenario.

So, what would be good on a daily basis? Well, really it depends on you and your body. I make a tea just for me for being pregnant - nettles, red clover, red raspberry leaf, hibiscus, rosehips, lemon balm. But the new tea we're making for dh will have dandelion, alfalfa, rosehips, hawthorn, green jasmine tea, and red clover. He'll also be taking encapsulated Cayenne Pepper. We cook a LOT with garlic.... lots of it.

What is worth buying at your health food store?  Cod Liver Oil, IMO. For Omegas, it is more readily assimilated (from what I've read recently) than the plant forms of flax or evening primrose.

What would be a nice, basic tea? Nettles (iron - I'm actual partial to nettles over alfalfa), Rosehips (Vitamin C), Lemon Balm (taste mostly, but other reasons too), Dandelion (builder), Red Clover (calcium and trace minerals and taste)

This would be a nice "multi-vitamin" tea. It would give you your basics (Vitamin C, calcium, iron, potassium) and trace minerals. Mixing this 1/2 and 1/2 with a base of Jasmine Green Tea would be a fabulous combination.

I'd order 1 lb. of the Jasmine Green tea and everything else in 1/2 lb. packages and see how you like it. Remember you can FLAVOR your tea with berry or 100% fruit concentrate for tea haters.