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Now we have done it! We signed the 2 oldest up for basketball! Yesterday was evaluation night and practice does not even start until after the new year. It is a Christian based program called Upward that gives all kids a chance to play. Joe and I have struggled with the whole sports thing now for awhile. We want the kids to keep active and find something they enjoy doing sports wise. But we are leery of competition sports where the parents (and kids) take the games too seriously. We want the kids to have fun playing a game, win or lose. So Joe made sure to talk to one of the coaches about expectations and whatnot. So far we feel good about our decision. The kids are of course ecstatic! Emma was a little disappointed that she couldn't make one basket for the evaluation, even though she makes plenty of baskets here at home. But the coach evaluating her told her she still did a great job and came close many many times. I think she needed a dose of humility. She never got visibly upset, just disappointed. Remmington on the other hand did better than either of us expected. The coach evaluating him told Joe that he has never met a kid that was so enthusiastic and joyful about playing basketball as Remmington. Georgia was feeling left out in all this as they do not have a team for pre-K level. We drove next door to the Y and got a pamphlet on swimming lessons. That made her happy. :) She will start about the same time (just before the new year) for her lessons. She is a natural in the water and was more daring than her siblings at the pool this past summer, so hopefully she will enjoy it and learn how to swim better. Joe's contract ends March 31st here in NY. Afterwards we are so unsure of what to do or where to go. We of course will leave it up to God, as He as always guided us right. I need to learn to have peace about the unknown. I think we all do to some extent. It eats at me sometimes and I don't like feeling anxious about where our next place is. But I do. And then I pray and feel better for awhile, then later the anxiety comes back. I do not mean to express that I have clinical anxiety here....I just get a feeling of uncertainty and I relate it to feeling anxious I guess. And to think I am already thinking ahead 4-5 months! Sometimes I do not know where my brain is at! :) The funny thing is I LOVE to travel! I would not trade the last few years for anything at all! But I keep experiencing the need to settle. It feels like nesting towards the end of pregnancy....it keeps nagging at you until you do something about it! Yet somehow I know we are not meant to settle down just yet. Hence all the feelings and anxiety I guess. Oh well! I will do what I usually do and give it to God. :) So what about sugar? I have read a lot of unsettling things about processed sugar (white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc) over the years. I feel like it is time to take some drastic measures here. I have read too many times that processed sugar is an addictive drug. It supposedly has similar properties to cocaine. Not sure about all that, but I am willing to go sugar free to better our health. It will be in no way easy. Try going to the store and buying anything packaged that is free of sugar or sugar substitutes. It is near impossible! But I am arming myself with recipes and equipment to make this possible by the first of the year. I want to blog a lot about it to help others in their journey of health as well. I am prepared that this will be VERY HARD! I do not know how the kids will take it, as there will be a lot more changes. I look back on our journey and know we can do it. We are completely off milk....instead we drink almond milk. We still eat milk products, like butter, kefir, and cheese....still not sure what to do about that. Somehow I feel the cultured milk products are necessary for our bodies, just not pure whole milk. Eating more fruits and veggies will not be a problem as my kids love them. I will aim to eat less meat, but have no intentions of going vegetarian at this point. We do not drink soda or eat a lot of junk, so that will not be a big issue. It will only pose a problem when it comes to holidays and birthdays. The other issue will be eating out. We all love our pizza....but pizza has a ton of sugar in it's sauce and dough. And what would we do without the occasional chicken wings? Not sure, but I know that this will prove to be a life altering thing for us all health wise. :) |
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Well now....nothing new here except we are very very busy with making pierogi for the upcoming holidays. It is actually going a lot more smoother and less hectic than I anticipated (although it is still very crazy!). We are all looking forward to selling at the Buffalo Market....it is going to be fun meeting so many people and bringing smiles to their faces! :) Only one more week! Anyway, I have some pressing things on my heart that I need to let out. It is about my children's bad attitudes. All in all they have good hearts. But they each have areas that warrant a lot of work. They all like to antagonize each other and even my parents' dog. They are not outwardly mean or violent or anything of that sort. It is the small snide things that they do....as a whole it can turn them in the wrong direction. It is those little things that will add up to be one big bad attitude. So how do we as parents nip the small bad attitudes in the rear? Not quite sure actually...I am learning as I am going along. Today was shock value on a small level. I spoke harshly of their greediness and desire for toys and their own wants over doing what is right in life. I spoke of how fortunate they were to have full bellies and never go hungry. I pointed out how less fortunate others were yet they were happy in their hearts. I lectured them, but only for a very short time. I told them that the next time I had to intervene because of their bad attitudes, then things would be taken away immediately (the bigger shocks!). If someone complained one more time of being hungry when they just ate an hour ago, they would go hungry all day. If they fought over toys, the toys would be immediately taken away. And so on! They were not happy, but clearly understood the gravity of what I was saying. I talked about how having a bad attitude was a reflection of how good or bad their hearts were. I asked if they wanted to grow up having a good and happy heart or a bad and evil one. They thankfully said a good heart! But I warned them that their hearts can easily turn bad if they allow negative attitudes and behaviors to govern them. I told them that it was Mommy and Daddy's job to make sure we try to govern their hearts in the good direction, but they were going to be ultimately responsible for their own hearts and attitudes. Time will tell, but there is only so much time we as parents have to influence our children's hearts. How much time do you have? |
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It's November 2nd and I sit here wondering why the time is passing so quickly? Seriously....don't you have times in your life when time seems to stand still and others where it goes by so quickly, that it seems in a blink of an eye, 6 months went by? We have been back in NY now for a little over 5 weeks now and it seems like 5 days! There is so much to do here in terms of my mom's business, the kids' needs, and trying to keep on top of things in a general sense. Everything is going very well, yet I feel slightly stressed from the go go go. The kids seem to need more attention (probably because I am so busy with other things). So as of this past weekend, I am going back to individual time with them....I also need to exercise and there seems to be little time for that....so I am combining the 2. 6 days a week I will be taking a walk each morning with one child (that gives each child 2 days a week with just Mommy time). The other 2 will stay home with my Mom. This worked out well last year when we were at our house and Joe worked 10 minutes away....when he got home in the morning, I would go out with one child for a walk. Now that he works 2 hours away, I can't utilize him for that as he SOOOO needs his sleep! Speaking of Joe....he still has no OT, but what he makes now is just enough to cover the bills. So that is all we can ask for! We are all so happy to have him home more! Of course with me being distracted with the business, we seem to have little time for each other and now that I have figured out time with the kids, it is now time to figure out how to get some quality time with Joe. Last week my mom watched the kids so Joe and could go to breakfast. That was GREAT! It was nice to have some time to talk without interruptions! Even if we plan something like that every other week, that would be good for now! Meal planning has fallen to the wayside and I need to change that! We are all eating bad and sneaking in the treats way too much these days! :) No weight gain, but I'm not going to lose anything if I keep this up! Plus the kids need to eat healthier in order to prevent all those nasty viruses! So far only one cold upon our return here to NY and it lasted only 36 hours for each child. Not bad! :) Well off to my walk! |
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Good afternoon! I am very excited to say the least! I FINALLY figured out what we were doing wrong and right in our homeschooling venture! You see, for the last 2-3 years since I started homeschooling "officially", I have felt totally and completely lost in the world of structure and curriculum! I am considered type-A, so structure should come easily and be even welcomed! But we have NEVER been structured in homeschooling thus far. I even went so far as to look into Christian schools last year as I was getting frustrated with what I perceived as a lack of motivation on my part to keep my kids on a schedule and doing a curriculum from beginning to end. We tried 3 different curriculums over the years and looked at hundreds more. I really liked the ACE approach with the Paces....they worked very well and still do when and if I take the time to do them with my children. Instead I was finding that my kids were learning more on their own than when I sat them down to focus on what I thought they needed to learn. Remmington still has a problem reading...he is getting remarkably better at it recently because all of a sudden he WANTS to read. But I still have noticed that his brain is still not ready to process how reading words work. That is OK with me and even Joe. We know boys are slower to learn how to read than girls because of how their brains work, not because they are lazy or just don't want to. But in doing even the PACES with the most current curriculum, we are noticing that in order to advance in other subjects which he is more than ready to do, he has to be reading. It is so very frustrating! So off I went to the library yesterday with the children and searched through the homeschooling section. There was the BEST book EVER there! It is called "The Unschooling Handbook" by Mary Griffith. Now I have heard and read ABOUT unschooling before but never gave it much thought and attention. Well reading the first chapter and seeing EXACTLY what we have been doing "on the side" with "school" is so exciting! We have been unschooling and not even knowing it! I thought there was some magic or mysterious way that unschoolers approach education. But there isn't. It is so basic and simple and PURE, that I missed it completely in seeing it in our own lives and ACCEPTING it. For those who are not familiar with the terms in the homeschooling world, unschooling is simply allowing the child to lead how and what they learn, with the parents being the facilitators. Unschooling will never work however if the parents themselves do not enjoy learning, reading, exploring, etc. Kids learn from example and need their parents to answer their never ending questions. You see, kids have an innate drive to WANT to learn. Yes, you read that correctly...kids truly want to know about the world around them. So if you are reading this and have a child in school, you are probably thinking, "not MY child". But alas you would be wrong....you see the drive to learn in schooled children is totally squashed and put out by the time they hit 3rd to 5th grade. They are always being told to wait to speak, to wait until next year to learn something, to wait until they have time on their own to learn something, or to wait until someone has the time to answer their never ending questions. By having their questions answered consistently, they will keep that drive going....they will keep wanting and actually needing to learn. That is what this book says anyways. And I can see the logic in it. I can see the drive in my own children....like when Remmington would watch his Discovery channel dinosaur movie over and over and over and yes, over again (even though it was 3 hours long!). He knows a lot about dinosaurs now! Or when Emma wanted to read when she was only 3 years old. I did not trust that she could and so she did it all on her own. I never once sat down with her to teach her how to read, yet she reads at least at a 5th or 6th grade level now. So the key in unschooling is to TRUST your child! If your child has been formally schooled or homeschooled using a strict curricumum approach, they will need a break away from any and all school structure. The book describes it as a "vacation". Some kids only need a few weeks, while some need a year or 2 to start wanting to learn on their own again. This really struck home with me as I always disliked school...even in college. But after many years away from my last year in college, I find I am now constantly wanting to learn new things....I read constantly and am always seeing an opportunity in most situations to learn something new. So with all that said, I still have a few chapters left in the book to read, but I am now going to "officially" declare us an unschooling family! I'm not big on labels or anything, but it is nice to finally be able to describe exactly how I truly want to approach our children's education. No changes need to be made at this point! :) Of course we have already made a few big changes anyway, but we are ALWAYS making changes! First TV is now going away 6 days a week. They get 1 day a week of "video day". I want to get back to reading out loud to the kids. I wanted to start with the classics, but the kids need to be de-programmed from TV and the constant "don't use your imagination" attitude that TV produces. So instead we are going to start with the Harry Potter books....they have seen the first 3 movies, so we will read those books aloud and get them back into listening and using their own imagination mode again. THEN we will move onto other, more difficult books. Other changes around here include going back to the gym. Joe and I can barely move today as we both overdid it yesterday....but it really is that "good" kind of soreness! I have been doing a lot of walking in the past few weeks, so I want to up it to more walk/running, and eventually just running. The kids have been playing a lot outside and enjoying the fall weather. Well Joe has to go to work and I need to say goodbye! |
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Good morning! First I would like to say that I forgot to mention that Joe finally got a job! (Thank you Lord!). The day before we left Maryland he got a call for a job in Syracuse (2 hours away from Rochester). It will be a tough commute but enough $ to make ends meet. We are very thankful and happy! For the last few months I keep thinking about one issue that I feel pressed to write about. It is something I learned in my 8 years of marriage, but felt that 8 years was not enough experience to be an "expert" in. BUT it has helped our marriage and I feel it can help others' as well (even other relationships besides marriages also apply here). It comes down to the little things in life. Yes, the small itty bitty things that we do not pay much attention to that over time that build up to a point where, BAM, the relationship turns sour because it was the needle that broke the camel's back! I read Debi Pearl's book, "Created to be His Help Meet" many times and learned a lot. But the book goes on to explain how the woman has almost complete control in how her marriage turns out. I don't think this is true in most marriages though...it takes 2 to make it work. So my advice is not aimed just at women. It goes for men too. So what is so important about the little things? If one person is doing more things that are negative in the other person's eye, then those negative things add up to become rooted in bitterness. Those annoying things turn around to be aggravating things, then things that make you angry, then before you know it, you are always angry or frustrated with your spouse. It doesn't happen overnight or even over a year....but over years and it sneaks up on you. No one who gets married in happy bliss thinks, "well in 7 or 8 years I am going to try to be angry at my spouse on a daily basis". Nope...but it happens to a lot of people and it does nothing but teach the children (if there are any) that anger and bitterness are normal and hence they grow up to repeat the process. As in any situation, there are always exceptions. I know of a few personally that even if the wife did everything perfectly, the husband would have turned out the same and divorce would have been the outcome regardless. And in some cases, divorce is actually the better and more healthy outcome for all involved (including the children). But for the standard, a lot of marriages could be saved if the couple paid more attention to the small things. For example, Joe LOVES my hair long. After 3 children, the long hair is getting annoying. I would love a shoulder length cut to make life a bit easier FOR ME. BUT I just can't do it. Would Joe divorce me or become bitter over me cutting my hair. Absolutely not, but there's a part of me that doesn't want the small things (like me cutting my hair) to build up in our relationship. I could easily get annoyed with him, but I realized a while back that if I keep doing little things that make him HAPPY, then we will have a happy marriage. In turn he does so much to make me happy and the result is a great marriage. Does that mean we don't have problems? No, but let me tell you, it is so much easier to deal with the big obvious problems when there is no underlying bitterness, anger, or frustration. A warning: doing little things for your spouse has to come from the heart. Just doing them with a poor attitude in hopes that it turns your heart around will not be enough. Plus NEVER remind your spouse of all the things you do for him/her. That is the martyr syndrome and should never be a part of a healthy marriage. Since Joe rarely reads my blog, I will make a list here for others to see what I mean: 1. I try to have his dinner all ready for him before he is ready to leave for work so he is not scrambling last minute to get something himself. 2. I try to make sure his scrub tops are ironed (even though I loathe ironing!)....but he really dislikes having the V-necks of his scrubs wrinkled. 3. I lie down with him at night when HE is ready for bed even if I am not tired nor ready for bed. 4. I train the kids to respect what he says even if it contradicts something I have said earlier. 5. I make sure all his laundry is done and he is never scrambling to get something washed right before work. 6. I try to make sure the coffee maker is ready and programmed for when HE needs the coffee (like 4am on the days he now goes into work). And I just reheat it in the microwave for myself. 7. I don't mess with the presets on the radio even though I may not care for his selection. The list could go on and on....and the things he does for me would be the same length. The point is to give you an idea of just how SMALL some things are that over time could make a BIG difference. You see for the first few years of marriage I neglected some of those specific things because I was selfish and a "modern" woman. I believed what society said about our roles as women. But woman's liberation did a big injustice for the women of today. While I agree with equality in voting, pay, and whatnot, I do not agree that we are equal to men. Are we less or more? NO, but we are not equal either. God did not make us to look or feel like men. If that was the case, we would ALL be men or unisex and God would have created us to all have children. BUT He did not create us to be equal. He created us to have certain roles. Men are the providers and the laborers. Women are the caretakers. There is much more to each of our roles, but I am not here to point those out. Just that we are NOT equal and should not try to do all that a man can do, plus the things we as women should be doing. But I was trying to be the woman of today when we first got married....and it was exhausting. I realized that by doing my part as a wife and mother, I would be indirectly helping others through my husband. By making him happier and more fulfilled at home, he would be more productive and helpful in his job and society as a whole. But if I made him bitter and frustrated, he would carry those negative qualities into his job and life and directly to other people. Just some food for thought ladies! :) Anyway, time to go cook up the oatmeal and feed the family! Hope everyone has a good day! |
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So how do you spend your time? This question has been on the forefront of my brain for a little while now. I am going to be trying to get on a revised schedule now that life has changed a bit. We got back safely to NY this past weekend and are still trying to unpack. There have been a few bumps in the road and a few setbacks in my health (due to allergies), but we are finally getting things settled. There are things I have to set aside for now in order to help my mom with her business (like my sewing and online answering health questions). I realized also that I am not a good keeper of time. That is due in part to poor health over the past 5-6 yrs, but also due to plain procrastination and occasionally laziness. Add to that Joe's crazy work schedule and you have a recipe for poor time management! God gave us rules to follow for a reason. Work hard 6 days a week and rest on the 7th day. Don't spend time dilly dallying on the phone/computer/etc. OK, so those specific items are not listed in the Bible, but they might as well be. The key is moderation in everything. Is it wrong to use the computer? No. But we have to be careful of where on the internet we are going and for how long. Is it wrong to call friends and family long distance to catch up? No, as long as it is not taking your time away from your immediate family and their needs. So I have come to a few conclusions: I will be keeping this blog. It not only helps to keep in contact with family, but other Christian women whom I learn A LOT from! I will be getting rid of my weight loss blog. It is good for support in my weight loss journey, but it reminds me a lot of high school and I want to get away from things that distract me from my main goals of family. I will continue to set goals for my weight loss and get our kids involved in the exercise as well as the healthy eating. The one thing I teach our kids is that all things can be bad for you if you have too much.....too much sweets, too much exercise, even too much water are all bad for you. It is this philosophy that I am trying to utilize in our everyday life. This includes too much play time with toys, too much TV, etc. I view TV like sweets...a little is OK as long as it's the right kind of sweet (no food coloring for example). So once we are all unpacked and more settled, I will be setting up a schedule that will hopefully work well for everyone. I also plan to start utilizing my time more efficiently and hope to accomplish this by either making daily lists or weekly lists. If anyone has any good ideas on time management, please let me know! |
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Well after much drama with our truck the day we were supposed to leave Maryland, we finally left Friday (only 2 days later) and arrived in NY early Saturday morning (4 am or so). The drive itself was uneventful. We have been very busy yesterday and today, and still have much much more to do, so I will be offline for at least a week. I hope to catch up with everyone soon! Hope everyone has a great week! |
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Well I have a lot to say, but not a lot of time. This will be shortened as I have a lot to do in the next few days! Plus I do not know how long my good luck will hold out...our computer just up and started working again so I am getting as much online stuff taken care of before it decides to not work again! :) We are set to leave Maryland sometime next week (Wed or Thurs). We have yet to hear about a job for Joe yet, but we continue to pray and stay calm as we know we have done everything we can and now it is in God's hands. Packing is going very well. I finished the last of my Ebay blankets and mailed those out along with some scrub shirts I was making for Nina. I cleaned all my sewing machines out really good and packed them safely. I got all my sewing supplies and material all neatly organized and packed also. Now it is time for the books, schoolwork, kids' toys, and clothes. Next will be the electronics and kitchen, then bathroom and last minute things. All this to be done no later than Wed. morning....so that only gives me 5 full days (including today). I am very excited as this is the first time I have been THIS organized! It's only taken me 2 years of traveling to get it right! :) Now onto the thoughts running through my head before bed last night. You see, lately I have been having a hard time falling asleep... not because I am not tired, but because I get to thinking way TOO deep. Trust me, I do not do this intentionally. In fact a few nights in a row I put in a movie in order to drown out my thoughts as they wouldn't shut off. And I NEVER go to bed with the TV on...so you know it's bad! Anyway, last night I kept thinking of the judgements we all place on one another. The ones that are sort of unconscious...not at the forefront of our thoughts. They are usually noticeable only if one is looking for them. Here's what I mean: lately I have been doing a lot of blog hopping in many different areas on top of joining some homeschooling networks back home in NY. I have spent a lot of the last month or 2 reading others' viewpoints and I am getting frustrated with something I guess I never noticed before. It is the perception of many married women that single moms are somehow "wrong" for being a single mom. I cannot think of the right word or phrase..."wrong" is not the word I intended nor does it fit, but it best describes what I am reading from others. And this is driving me insane to no end as it is not blatantly spoken or written as such, but it is definitely implied in many different ways. So here are my thoughts: no one has any right to judge anyone else's situation unless they have walked in that person's shoes...that leaves everyone out except God. I thought long and hard and realized that most single moms did not choose to be single for any other reason but to get away from either abuse, neglect, or a really bad situation. Their situation had to be so bad that they would rather try to survive on their own (get a job, a new place to live, dealing with the children 24/7 with no breaks, dealing with loneliness, etc, etc) than to stay in the situation they were in. So many people often judge women who stay with their man who just cheated on them. But while some think they would rather die than live with a cheater, a lot of women know that going out on their own is so much harder than living with their man, so they stay. It's not a cop-out, just a choice. And there are the women who have no choice...when their man just ups and leaves them with the children and nothing else. These women (all of them) are extremely strong...walking with God or not. Even those who are very Godly can end up in a bad marraige (Christians actually have a very high divorce rate). Making any judgments (intended or not) is just wrong. Single moms need to be given more support. Not out of pity, but out of understanding that raising children by oneself has got to be an extremely demanding position. Even with Joe working a ton of hours, I will from time to time (once a month or every other month nowadays), ask for a reprieve (it used to be at least once a week when they were younger). I need to get away to just collect my thoughts! But a single mom does not have that option. Even if she asks a family member for a few hours so she can have time to herself, she is probably ridden with some kind of guilt. It is up to all women to support one another in this (single or not). Offer a friend or family member to watch their kids for a few hours so she can have some alone time - even the married ones (expecially the ones who seem to not have good support from their husband and is left with the kids 24/7 anyways). Older women used to do this....think the wonderful grandmothers from ages ago! But the grandmothers these days are so preoccupied with their own lives and due to women's liberation, they feel they have raised their children, so they are not going to help raise their grandchildren. This is a sad state for our country and all women and children out there today. So when someone offers to watch your child(ren) and there is no guilt attached, allow it and get some time to yourselves! And I hope that those married women out there who have openly judged single moms do not end up becoming single someday themselves...it is not an easy road, nor is it one that most women choose freely out of selfishness. In closing, I would like to say that I feel blessed to be married to Joe. But I was not always so grateful...I took him for granted for the first few years of marraige. I just assumed he would love me no matter what...but after 8 years of marraige I have learned that if I do not work at our marraige, it could end like so many others out there have. And I am not talking about doing a few things from time to time....I am talking about spending more energy and focus on my husband than on my children. My children will be out that door someday, but I never want my husband to ever walk out. On the other hand, I do not want my children running out the door at 18 and never looking back. I want there to be a good balance. I want my children to feel loved and want them to stay close by when they are older because they want to, not out of obligation. I also want them to see what true love really is... it is not about the butterflies and first love passion that consumes the first year of most marraiges. It is about the little things done on a daily basis....the love shared all the time...and the overall feeling that life is good. Single moms can show this to their children in many ways too and is not just for married couples. I have met my fair share of adults who were raised by a single mom and they are truly wonderful and loving adults now. They speak highly of the way their mom struggled but still found a way to show and express love and security. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I know I will! :) |
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Something happened today that really made me think VERY hard of how I speak to my children when no one is around. God tells us we need to be accountable for every word spoken, but are we? I know I am not, but hopefully that will change. You see today I had my cell phone off and in my pocket. Well a few hours later I took it out of my pocket and noticed it was on. Then I noticed I had called a family member for 3+ minutes! I was like...."OH my". Well I called her and she laughed saying I left this very long message on her voicemail of background voices and noises. My first thought was what did she hear? and did I raise my voice at my kids during that 3 minute period of time? That shook me up as I realized that I should be fearful like that all the time because SOMEONE IS LISTENING! God is ALL the time! I need to be accountable to HIM and HIM only. It hit me hard because I am not always soft spoken and I am not always kind and loving like I want to be. We all have our moments I think, but are we arrogant in thinking no one heard us THAT time? I know I have been very arrogant in that regards. I think all the good I do makes up for those moments when I just lose it...but does it really in God's eyes? Something to ponder for sure. For me I will try to be more conscientious of what I am saying all the time and try to remember that God is always listening and watching. On to the subject of school...I have been struggling for the last few years on schooling vs unschooling, curriculum choices, etc etc. I still feel like I am not getting my act together in this area. I have an idea of how I want our homeschooling to go, but can't find the right things to make it happen. I just need to buckle down more and do more extensive research. I cannot imagine how teachers do their jobs! How can they teach 15+ kids who are at all different learning levels and learn different ways? I have 3 and am having a hard time figuring out what is going to work for each of them! I like certain parts of everything I have tried, but cannot find it all in one place! I may end up doing the a la carte style homeschooling after all! It's frustrating, but if I get organized and write down EVERYTHING then it may work in the end. I better get a lot of this done and out of the way before we move! I want to start school on a daily basis come Oct. 1st. Well off I must go to get the kiddos in bed. Take care all! |
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Well we have been very busy around here getting ready to head back to NY. As of today, we still have no word on a job for Joe. This is highly unusual and something we were not expecting, but we will continue to pray that it all works out well. We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow or Thursday. This past Sunday I took quite a few things to a free community yard sale and sold almost everything! It will help free up some much needed space in our trailer so we do not have to make 2 trips to NY to get our stuff home! I spent 5 hours out in the sun and have a very sunburned nose! :) The rest of me is nicely tanned! Anyway, while we are down about the job situation, there is something else that totally takes away our frowns completely! First, my energy level is currently the best it has been since before I met Joe! I have been go go going for weeks now and am hardly ever tired, which is a rare thing for me! I am very happy that the remedies are working and changing things for me in such a very positive way. Now the second thing is even more exciting....Joe has been taking remedies also from the practitioner we saw a month ago. About 2 weeks ago, he went through a few days of a healing crisis (a normal, expected thing when healing the natural way). Well, after the 2nd day he noted that he had no neck pain. And he has had no pain AT ALL since that day! Now for those who do not know...Joe was in a very bad accident 13 or so years ago. 2 vertebrae in his neck were fractured and he had to have screws put in (on top of other extensive injuries). He has had neck pain ever since on a daily basis and was told he had to live with it. Basically he has lived on Tylenol and Motrin daily since I have known him (except when we were out west in the more dry climate...then he only needed the pain meds every other or 3rd day). But for the last 2 weeks he has not taken any Tylenol or Motrin. I ask him daily how his neck is and he always gives me a smile and a thumbs up. We are still in that "waiting for the other shoe to drop" mode, but are now believing that the applied kinesiology truly did work! He has been exercising the last few days and feels very good. He has even lost quite a bit of weight over the past month! So while it may not seem significant, it truly is....Joe was even having a hard time turning his head side to side (which posed a problem at times when driving), but now turns his head freely and pain-free. And it is so nice to see him so HAPPY! Let's see...other things have just been put aside for our move. The kids are doing a lot of self-schooling...Emma is teaching Georgia A LOT and they are having fun "playing school". Remmington is doing more reading, but I will have to spend a lot of time with him on this for the next few months in order to get him where I think he should be. I have enrolled Emma in an online "school" where she can do her own lesson plans in either Math, English, Social Studies, or Science. This is something she really loves as she is so self-motivating! The kids really just need some one on one time. So I will be trying to squeeze as much of this in as possible. They get very out of sorts every time we move...their behavior is just off in a general sense. I have learned that they just need an extra dose of reassurance whenever a change occurs. Once we are moved and settled into our new place, they go right back to "normal". Joe even noticed their changes in behavior and stated "Here we go again"! :) Well I need to get the kids into bed soon and get the evening tidying up done. Hope everyone is doing well and having a good week so far! |
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Good morning all! Ok....first things first....GARLIC! That oh so wonderful white bulb thing that I have talked about before! But the new thing here is how to get it into your kids without them actually having to taste it! The benefits are amazing...garlic actually seems to repel mosquitoes and other flying bugs. It also keeps those nasty viruses away (or keeps the colds to a bare minimum). We were giving the kids liquid garlic drops in their juice for the past few years on and off and it really worked great! BUT we took away the juice. They now just drink water and occasionally almond milk. So who wants to drink garlic flavored water? No one I can assure you! :) Instead here is what to do: buy the Kyolic liquid garlic and place 1-2 drops of garlic on your or your child's inner wrist and then rub both wrists together. It will get absorbed through the skin and the benefits still remain! We went to the "alligator park" last week and because it is surrounded by a lot of trees, it is ALWAYS buggy. We put our drops on and I was surprised....not one bite! And of course we have yet to be sick at all this year. :) Now onto that calling thing. I have heard many people over the years talk about their "calling"....something they strongly feel they must do because God is calling them to do it. For example, many people feel called to be missionaries in distant lands to spread the Word of God. This is amazing and wonderful, but God does not call everyone far away (who would be left here?) nor does He call us to all do the same thing. When I was younger all I ever wanted to be was a nurse and a mom. I accomplished both! But since I have not been working as a nurse for awhile, I thought that was ok since I would go back to it once the kids were older. But that will not happen. For one, I am appalled by the medical profession as a whole and no longer believe in the way medicine is taught and practiced. I could not ethically and morally work as a nurse again in modern medicine. So I struggled looking for an alternative medicine to study...for the last 4 years I have researched all sorts of things from accupuncture to naturopathic doctor to different sorts of energy work to homeopathy in all sorts of different ways from degrees to certificates. But nothing jumped out at me....that is until now. When we went down to NC to see the holistic practitioner I have told you all about, I remember thinking that "this was it!". But I no longer get ahead of myself. So I bought the first book in the study program (there is no minimum to buy nor is there semesters or quarters to pay for). I read it...twice. I have also talked to 2 others that practice TBA as it is called. After talking to one in particular, I knew then without a doubt that this is what I wanted to do. To be able to help people with their medical problems without dishing out pharmaceuticals and to be able to minister to people who are at their wits end because the medical community has failed them (like it failed me) is something I now feel truly called to do. It will take time to study and build up a business, but I feel strongly that it will work out the way it is supposed to. I have yet to even get the second book and set of DVD's, but I am now going through the first book for the third time in order to best understand it and make the necessary diet and lifestyle changes for myself and my family. We will be heading back to NY soon and will be staying at my parents for 3-6 months (give or take a year :) and they will be my own personal "guinea pigs". They will probably kick me out when I offer them celery, carrots, and goat's cheese for their lunch! But hey, one can try! Seriously though, in order for me to encourage people to eat better and more organically, I have to be living that way myself all the time. I want to be able to preach what I already practice. Well anyways, I have been slacking for some time here with the blogging, and it will only get worse. We only have 3 1/2 weeks left here so that means I am getting geared up to start packing (after the community sale on Sunday where I will be selling a bunch of old things that we no longer need). I have put almost all my blankets up on Ebay and they will be gone in a week. So for me it is crunch time...will try to write as much as possible but make no guarantees! |
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HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY GEORGIA!!! So today is Georgia's 4th birthday! She slept in and while I was taking a shower, Emma and Remmington made her a birthday sign! My wonderful sister has this thing where she makes birthday signs for each child's birthday. And since she is VERY creative and artsy, this is just NATURAL for her. So I never in a million years thought I would do such things for my children EVER as I am the furthest thing from creative and artsy as one can get! Yet for Emma's birthday I made her a simple one and I think for Remmington's last birthday we made one then too. Nothing elaborate or fancy like my sisters'...just something that says happy birthday! Didn't even think to make one for Georgia as it is not my thing. Well my children obviously have issues with that as they took it upon themselves to make sure Georgia had one! So anyway we already had cake and presents as Joe has to work a bunch of days in a row and since he is most awake in the mornings, we celebrated early this morning. Georgia was thrilled and we all had cake for breakfast! (ohhhh man there goes the healthy eating!!!) So she requested a specific cake (yellow boxed cake and frosting from a can), as we all get to choose our favorite dessert for our own birthdays. Here are some pictures:
AT CHUCK E CHEESE:
JOE'S SCIENCE PROJECT: (a wolf spider he caught at work with babies on it)
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So yesterday I stated how I was having a crisis over Georgia turning 4. Well that has to do with the fact that I still have the extra weight on me from her pregnancy...of course I know now that it has all to do with my medical problems, but it still depresses me nonetheless....at least it did yesterday. Today I am feeling a bit better as I exercised for the first time in quite awhile and actually got 10 times further than I ever have when starting out exercising. Before I used to get winded very easily and my muscles would get extremely sore. Today I wasn't the least bit short of breath nor did I have any soreness whatsoever. I actually stopped so I wouldn't get too sore later. I figured that my shortness of breath with all other previous exercise was related to the fact that my heart was so weak. Now that it is getting stronger with the remedies, it can handle the exercise! Very exciting indeed! The other reason I was having a crisis is because Joe and I always wanted more than 3 children...of course we are extremely happy with the kids we have now....but it was always in the back of my mind that having another baby without an illness would be so nice. I had a tubal ligation with Georgia's C-section because we did not know why I was getting sicker after each pregnancy and we knew that going through another one would be very detrimental to my health and our family as a whole. Other forms of BC were just out of the question for various reasons. I resigned myself then that our 3 wonderful children would be it for us...and I truly was ok with it. But for some reason Georgia turning 4 is hitting me hard. No more babies :( We had discussed a reversal if I ever got well....so that is still open as I am now on a path to greater health. But most of our baby things were given away as I just closed that chapter back then. And now Joe and I want to open it back up in the next few years....yet it seems almost too late now that our kids are getting older. I know I do not make much sense....sorry about that, but this is weighing on me and I just need to get the thoughts out there! I will just continue to pray that God will lead us in the right direction...even if His way is for us not to have any more children of our own. OK....now for the SCARY moment we had yesterday. Since Joe did not have to work Monday night (but the rest of the nights this week), we decided to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for Georgia's birthday during lunch time. It was packed! But we all had a great time! As we were leaving, I noticed a guy walking out behind us. He looked angry or uspet and I thought it was weird that he was walking out without a child. But I figured maybe he had to go get something in his car or whatever. So I held the door open for him and Joe and the kids were right next to me. We had to walk around the building to where our truck was and I figured the guy would walk around us if he was going in the same direction as who wants to walk behind 3 slow pokey children, right? Well he just kind of stopped, did not say thank you for holding the door open, and just looked out towards the other parking lot. So I thought nothing of it and we started walking towards the truck. Well we turned the corner and I realized the guy was walking behind us and staring at us. Our truck was parked about 7-8 cars down so we still had a little bit further to go. So I immediately grabbed my purse...but not in the typical female way (clutching the strap harder)...instead I took the strap off my shoulder and grabbed it very close to the bag part as if it were a weapon. I did not get the feeling this guy was after my purse. He was acting too weird though. As soon as we passed the big windows to CEC and were walking between the cars and a brick wall, he sped up and got very close to Joe. Joe started yelling at the kids to get in the truck. Separately we both KNEW this guy was about to do something. The kids at this point were on my side of the truck opening the back passenger door....I looked around and did not see any other vehicles or people around so I stayed outside the truck by the front end while Joe went to walk around the front of the truck to get to the driver's side. The guy was literally only a foot or 2 behind Joe...even though it was a VERY wide sidewalk. He had no reason to be that close to Joe....and he had no reason to be starring at Joe and me so intently. Joe was getting his key off the ring and pulled out his knife, but did not have to use it. The guy abruptly stepped closer to the wall and walked on. When we got home, we talked about how we both were on hyper-alert with that guy even though we never exchanged a word or even a look to warn the other. It was the first time in a very long time I had the hair on my arms on end! So the point of my scary story is to let all of you out there reading this know that you truly need to trust your instincts. It is crucial! I have walked in dark parking lots before and come across someone who looked suspicious, but never went into a hyper-alert state. I never had to defend myself with my children before, but yesterday was a good example that I need to keep my instincts sharp and I need to ALWAYS pay attention to my surroundings. I was in such a mode, that I did not even realize that I had changed my grip on my purse at all until I was next to the truck. So it wasn't as if I was slowly processing things or thinking about what I should or should not do...I was just in a mode of protection. Joe and I wish we could have called the police, but what could we tell them? Nothing! They do not go around arresting people based on others' assumptions or instincts. Which is too bad, because this guy will go on and try to assault and/or rob someone else. Are we 100% sure about this? Actually yes we are...the guy was truly one of the bad ones out there. There is no doubt in either of our minds. But we cannot go and try to protect everyone else....we can only protect ourselves and our children. BUT we can warn others to stay alert and pay attention...even in the daytime. That's it for now.....more birthday pics to come! :) |
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As always, things are busy, busy, busy! :) We never made our quick trip to NY....with Joe's work schedule being way crazy, we just needed to stay down here. It was a relief in some ways only because of our trip the day before to NC....too much driving would have done me in for a long time! So 11 days ago, Joe and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary! I told him marrying him was the absolute BEST decision I ever made!! And it truly was!! The funny thing about our marraige is that things keep getting BETTER between us....we are not complacent nor are we together for the wrong reasons. We know that eventually the kids will leave our home to have families of their own....it will be just the 2 of us. If I focus too much on my kids and not enough on my husband, where will that leave us in 15 years? Not good I can assure you. When they were younger, the kids needed more attention as they had many needs as babies, but now that they are somewhat older, I have been focusing more and more on our marraige...hence why I believe things are so much better now than they were 6 or 7 years ago. I know that some marraiges dissolve for many different reasons. Sometimes a divorce is truly what is best in some situations even when kids are involved. But I do not want to go down that road. I want to be with Joe forever and I truly see that happening! :) So on to birthdays....I celebrated my 37th a few days ago! I had a bit of a crisis though...not because of my birthday, but because of Georgia's upcoming birthday! She will be 4 in 2 days. FOUR!!!!! I could go on and on as to why this truly bothers me, but I actually need to run as it is after 10 am and we have a bunch of things to do today. I will have to elaborate on this a bit later! My birthday!
Beauty Salon Time!!!!!
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It has been a pretty hectic past 10 days or so. In all honesty, we haven't really done much around here....not even school! Of course the kids are doing their own school work....writing and drawing in their journals....their Auntie Kerri got them composition books last year and they have been all filled up....so we went to get some more and they continue to fill up the pages daily! I have been getting them outside to the parks and whatnot, but there have been so many changes with me from the new remedies I am on, that it just SEEMS more hectic around here! First my hormones are WAY out of whack....so agitation levels are NOT right. I have this thing with my energy level...like a switch is either turned on or off. Was on for quite a while, now off for the past 2 days. I can't keep up! :) However there are so many good things that I know the negative changes are necessary and will pass. First my resting heart rate (which was ok before) has literally dropped 15 beats (with no exercise). I went from 65 bpm down to 50 bpm... all from cleaning out my heart of these viruses and bacteria and yeast! My heart rate would always drop after a month or so of consistent exercise down to 45-50, so for it to go this low without exercise is very good. Another positive is the weight loss from the adjustment in my thyroid hormones. I am not losing as quickly as I have that first week, but it is still coming off without even trying! I am now trying to factor in exercise...but I have to be careful not to overdo it as I am still in a major healing phase.....so I am starting this week with 3 short walks. This week I am going back to the holistic practitioner to see how the first round of remedies worked and to start working on other issues. That will be on Thursday....Friday Joe has to work a day shift and then we are headed to NY for an appointment to see the trailer! We are VERY excited about this!!! Saturday will be spent with family and running errands, and then Sunday morning we go see the trailer and then head back down to MD as Joe has to work Monday morning. After that, Joe will be working MAD hours....he gave his availability to his second job....all the days he was NOT working at his first, thinking he might get a few extra shifts....NOPE! They signed him up for ALL the days....basically he will be working 84 hours every week for 4 weeks straight.....not good as that is just TOO many hours in a row. Hopefully he can retract a day or 2 from those weeks to catch a breather! Anyway, other than all that, things are ho-hum around here. Still working on the change in eating habits and food...going ok except my sourdough starter went bad on day number 5....was so not happy about that, but I am looking at other recipes that differ dramatically from the one I used. In the meantime....whole wheat bread from the store will have to do! The kids are loving the smoothies and all the fruit and veggies we are eating more of! I actually need to get a move on and get them some breakfast and run to the store before it gets any hotter! |
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During my studies, I came across some distressing news. To top it off, there was a clip in the news the next day confirming this! Not that we can believe everything in the news, but this is pretty compelling. If you use an antiperspirant, it more than likely has aluminum as its active ingredient. Read the label of yours. Then read a bit further down if there is aluminum in your deodorant....it should say "Please consult your physician before use if you have kidney disease". Why would it say that???? Because aluminum is toxic to your body...especially the kidneys! It gets absorbed through your lymph nodes in your underarm area and eventually makes its way to your kidneys. Over time this can cause cancer (breast cancer) and/or kidney disease. The problem with kidney disease is that it is not even detectable (via blood work at your doctor's office) until your kidneys are past 90% failed! That is correct...your kidneys will apear normal even if only 10% of the kidneys are functioning! So by the time kidney disease is detected, it is often too late to save them or reverse the damage. Hence why so many people are on dialysis and waiting for a kidney transplant. Now kidney disease has MANY causes and I doubt aluminum in your deodorant would be the sole reason for anyone's kidney demise, but why add fuel to the fire years later if you do ever develop kidney problems? The other problem with aluminum is it can cause CNS (central nervous system) problems....anything from short term memory problems to seizures. Suffice to say that since I read this and I remembered that my holistic practitioner told me I had significant kidney problems and CNS problems, I immediately went to the store and bought just regular deodorant (Tom's and Arm & Hammer both make them but they are hard to find among all the antiperpirants!). So do not take this lightly. It is a true danger....it just takes years and years to see the consequences. On top of this I also read that one should not be using soap that contains any ingredient that contains "poly" in it. It acts like saran wrap on your skin. Since our skin is our biggest organ and toxins in our body are often excreted through the skin, you can build up toxins in your body by using such soap. I haven't done any further research on this, but I will and get back here if there is anything that refutes this information. But it sounds right in my "medical" brain so I will be reading even more labels! :) As I study further, I will be bringing more information here...so stay tuned for more information on how to get and stay healthy! OK....as for the rest of life, things are going well. I got behind in everything last week as the remedies I am on apparently have been changing my hormones around....and they are not evened out yet! :) So instead of my typical 1/2 day or less of PMS...I had 5 whole days (2 were severely bad). That was just NOT right! But if it means things will get better in the near future with my body, then hey it's ok! One must get worse before one gets better. right? Other than that, we are getting back on track...this morning we had yummy oatmeal...2 had fresh strawberry oatmeal, and the other 2 had fresh apple and cinnamon oatmeal. I had strawberry with maple syrup oatmeal. Today I will be starting my sourdough bread starter. And my bananas are ripening for more banana bread in a few days (it was big hit with everyone!). So with all that, I have a lot to do...along with homeschooling (which we were slacking on). Yesterday we went to the book store and made a few purchases. We are starting to Read "Gulliver's Travels" and after we will read "A Tale of Two Cities". We also need to start getting some books on history, but I need to study this further as I do not want the typical history books we had in school. I want my kids to learn the real life aspect of history (if that makes sense). I also purchased a special pocket calendar that will help me keep track of their schooling for now until I can find a more organized format. I want to be able to keep track of what we read all together and also what they do individually. But since we are only at the K-2 stage, I know we have some time to figure this out. Hope everyone is well!
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Joe and I are feeling quite blessed lately. We have been praying for direction in where we should go from here. Initially we were just planning to go to NC to my sister's for 3-6 months. But then my Mom's business looks like it may be taking off in a very good direction and she will need some help. So we were thinking about going back to NY sooner than expected. But we were in limbo....with no idea where we should go. Both scenerios seemed good - however the job scenerio in NY was a little more promising as Joe had more contacts there and had significantly more guarantees for the amount of hours he needed. However going to NC allowed our children to get to know each other better and for me to spend some quality time with my sister. So we just left it up to God. We kept praying for that guidance, for that whispering on our hearts. Well during this time of indecision, Joe asked me to contact people who were selling their travel trailers both in this area and NC and NY. I basically asked if anyone was willing to accept payments for about 6 months or do a rent-to-own option. We had a few response, but most people said no because they were declaring bankruptcy and needed all the money upfront. But we did get one response from a very nice family in NY. They are willing to work with us on this and their trailer is exactly what we have been looking for. We will be making a very short trip to NY in a few weeks to look at it and hopefully make a holding deposit. Joe just got a whole bunch of unexpected hours over the next few weeks....another blessing. As much as we want Joe home for the quality time we need, we all agree that we are in a phase of working extra hard to make things easier down the road. He is so excited about the trailer that he says it makes it easier to work such long hours. Not only do we as a family have a lot to be thankful for, I do too on a personal level. I took a few steps backward when we started phase one of the Maker's Diet last week. The diet starts you on whole, natural foods that keep out grains and most carbs (the only sugars allowed are berries, cherries and 1 tbsp of honey) for the first 4 weeks. While I know that a higher protein and fat diet is not bad for someone on a very short timetable, I started having some serious negative consequences by the 2nd day. I literally could not function...my brain was very fuzzy and I had not one iota of energy...not one. I also slept for hours during the day and for about 9-10 hours at night. Clearly something was not jiving well with my body. By day number 4 , I just couldn't take the lack of energy any longer. Joe said that with all the changes I had made already, it was clear that one more change was not acceptable to my body. So we decided to go to phase 3...the maintenance phase...all natural bread, whole foods, etc. It basically is eating the way God intended us to eat (with carbs)! So I went back to eating carbs yesterday and what a difference! Today I am full of energy! It is only 10:30 and I made a big breakfast, have done 2 loads of laundry (with putting the clothes all away!), and have banana bread ready to bake. I soaked all natural whole wheat in kiefir last night and just added all the rest of the ingredients. I got the recipe from the "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook. The kids are DYING to try it! On top of that, we added green smoothies to our daily diet....kiefir, bananas, strawberries, and super organic green powder. On the rest of the agenda today is taking all 3 kids to the dentist for a cleaning, getting some blankets sewn and on Ebay, finishing the rest of the laundry, and maybe cleaning out the kids's room and all their toys organized! Whew! I better get started! :) So my point for today is to say keep praying! Sometimes we just need to wait and be patient for an answer, but He does answer our prayers! I have prayed many many times in the past, but before I got an answer, I would get upset and have a severe lack of faith. Then God would answer my prayer and I would feel horrible for not being patient. It has taken me a very long time to gain that patience, but now I pray and leave it to God, literally. Of course I still falter from time to time, but Joe seems to know when I am agitated about something and he just reminds me to have faith and be patient, because God will provide, and He will be there. And he is so right! So on top of all the blessings, the one I am most thankful for is being blessed to have such an amazing husband who has such amazing faith! |
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It was a great day yesterday in regards to keeping on track. We started our "diet" in the afternoon as we still had some leftovers that I couldn't see throwing away. We threw away a lot of things that were already opened and gave away all the other stuff we had not opened yet that was not part of our new way of eating. In case anyone is wondering, we still plan to have special treats for birthdays and holidays once we get past the first 2-4 weeks. But they will be homemade, not from a store and not from a box. I am going to have certain things the kids will be able to choose from once it is their birthday. So no one will be deprived! :) So this morning consisted of blueberries and strawberries, along with some scrambled eggs. Lunch will be a garden salad with homemade salad dressing and some raw almonds. We went to the health food store yesterday as the grocery store did not have a few items we needed. Well we bought a huge bag of almonds. The kids went ga-ga over them! I had to cut them off, but not before they all got a tummyache! I keep trying to tell them that too much of ANYTHING is not good for you, including healthy foods! :) Since starting so many new things, I have let other things go. I have a ton of cleaning to do! Even though we "cleaned out" our kitchen, it is still a disaster! So many papers and stuff everywhere! The living room is about the same! I have quite a few blankets left to sew and sell, so I want to get those out of the way so I can start other projects. We were doing well with school up til a few weeks ago...now that I am feeling much more energetic, I will have to get that back into the schedule of daily life! On top of the new curriculum, I wanted to also incorporate a somewhat Charlotte Mason approach...reading the classics and learning from life and nature. We sort of do that already, minus the classics....except once in a great while. I want to increase our "library" and start accumilating more books! Our new curriculum makes school time go by so much quicker so we have a lot more time to work with. The kids really love it when I read to them...we have read such things as "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Secret Garden" in the past. But they are ready for so much more! :) So off I go to get some cleaning done (after I down a few more vitamins). |
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Well let's see, where to start? Let's start with Georgia. She is 3, soon to be 4 this August. She has always been the "ham" of our family, always getting others to laugh. But she outdid herself 2 nights ago! We were all sitting down to dinner...including Joe as he was working day shift this week. She picked herself to say the prayer which was short and sweet. Then after saying "Amen", she burst out with the "Chicken and Chi-Chi's commercial" word for word! When she got to the "I want taste buds" part, she nailed it perfectly! It was quite hysterical since Joe never saw the kids acting out this commercial before. His face was priceless! Then Georgia exclaims (with open wide arms), that that was "THE BEST COMMERCIAL IN THE WHOLE WORLD!". I almost choked on my food from laughing! If you have never seen the commercial, then you are probably scratching your head wondering what the heck I am talking about....guess you had to be there! :) So what are we starting over? Well it is more of a lifestyle change than anything....after seeing the holistic practitioner and being told I really need to go on the Maker's Diet...I decided it was time. I read the book and many other healthy foods books in the recent past. I knew we needed to make a serious change, but just was not ready to do so. But now that we are facing health challenges, we cannot just sit here and not take action. If you do not know what the Maker's Diet is, it is basically getting back to eating like God intended. No more foods with preservatives, ingredients one cannot pronounce, food additives, etc. This includes things like white sugar and even whole wheat flour... as even these are processed to a great extent. No more processed anything. If it is not found naturally in nature, and it is not in it's natural form, it is not allowed. End of story. Period. No more diet foods which claim they are healthy for you, no more ketchup with all its high fructose corn syrup, and the list just goes on and on! We have started to go this way many months ago...making better choices, even making our own bread. But it just wasn't cutting it...for too many reasons. Suffice to say, we are starting over...no more "cheating", no more eating out, no going back. I have tried many things in the past but this is it...it does not get any more basic than this. My grocery list is VERY short...just the produce section (hopefully with as many organic things as possible), the meat and fish section, and a few items in dairy (but no milk). After a few weeks, we will be adding legumes and REAL whole grains. So I still have a few weeks to get a wheat grinder and find a place where I can buy true whole wheat. Since the Maker's Diet book does not come with a lot of recipes, I have added "Nourishing Traditions" to my bookshelf...teaches one how to make your own keifer, sourdough bread, etc. This is something I have been striving to do for so long now, but have not had the energy....now that I have more energy, it is time to make that leap. So why do I have more energy? It can only be explained by the remedies I got from the holistic practitioner. I only started my new vitamins today, so I know that is not it, and the whole diet thing we are starting tomorrow. The remedies have also done something else... it has truly boosted my metabolism (and no there are no drugs in these remedies). I was told I had low thyroid and a bunch of other gland/hormone imbalances which were making it near impossible to lose weight (along with the heart problem causing the weakness and inability to exercise effectively). So the holistic practitioner told me the remedies would correct those imbalances....and they have already started to!! I have lost about 5 lbs in the last 5 days....couldn't figure out why things were fitting looser until I stepped on the scale. And to think I haven't changed anything yet! So I am even more inspired to carry this all out and to start the home-study of applied kinesiology. I am impressed and intrigued from a medical standpoint how it all works, but after searching for so long for a cure to my eczema and fatigue and finally finding it, I plan to help others find cures to their own health problems. Have to go now as Joe is on his way home and stuck in traffic....he needs phone company! :) |
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I know I have touched on this topic before. We only have a short time (comparatively) to impart on our children the way in which they should go. It is hard for me to see bad attitudes in my 6 and 7 yr olds. I realize that they are only acting out what they have learned. Did they learn the bad attitudes from TV, from me, from other sources? Are they displaying these attitudes daily? No, but they are still there, ebbing and flowing, building up quietly in their hearts. It is my job as their mother to reduce the influences that turn their hearts bad. And I also need to re-evaluate my own behavior and attitudes. That is hard, but it must be done. Last night I hit upon one of those "Ahh-Hah" moments. Let me explain.... As I have written before, I never felt truly connected to Emma. Whether it was because she spent the first 2 days of her life in the special care nursery, or if it was because I had to return to work when she was only 3 weeks old. Either way, I always felt the loss of the connection that never seemed to be there. But last night that connection just loomed in my heart and I made a decision that I normally would have not. You see Emma was not feeling well....slight congestion, no fever...just a small thing I thought. Well she asked me to lay down with her to help her go to sleep after I already sang them their 2 songs each. I almost said no...I always say no as it would lead to a nightly whine session from all 3 of them asking me for more attention. But the way she asked and the looming in my heart just made me say yes. I laid down next to her and she just closed her eyes. I then held her hand....and it hit me how big she was....she was no longer that little baby with the IV in her hand. She was no longer that toddler carrying toys in her pudgy hand. This was a 6 year old hand that will soon be a woman's hand. Can we say WOW! I almost broke down, but instead I just focused on her hands, thinking about every memory I could conjure up. When I got up about 10 minutes later, she was still slightly awake. She gave me a hug and told me how much she loved me. All in all it was truly a blessed 10 minutes, and it changed something inside of me. So after all the child rearing books I have read and all the advice I have received, I found the best child rearing advice in my own heart. Forget everything you have ever learned and focus on this instead: Spend time alone with each child EVERYDAY. Pay ATTENTION to each child and everything they have to say. And PRAY for each child each and every day! That is it! It was Emma that I have always worried about, especially in regards to her heart and attitude. But I don't worry anymore. The dishes will ALWAYS be there. The dust will ALWAYS be there. So will all the other chores...each and every day until you die! BUT your child will NOT always be there...they will not always be there waiting for you to pay attention, waiting for you to listen to them, waiting for you to play with them. Someday they WILL leave. Do you want them to leave with a heart of gold and love, or a heart of stone and steel? It is up to all you moms out there to mold your childrens' hearts. I am not trying to be harsh here, but the wake up call I had last night was truly from God and He wants us all to have good hearts - shouldn't we want the same for our children? So what to do? Let go of the frustration from your own heart. Financial problems will always be there, chores will always need to be done, the world will always have evil in it, others will always try to bring us down. BUT we can let all that go with acceptance that God will see us through it to the end. He will always be there for us if we let Him into our hearts. He will take away the frustrations of everyday and allow us to open our hearts to others...especially our children. If we are truly wanting to be a part of God's heart (I know I do), then don't you think your child wants to be a part of your heart as well? Open your hearts as God opens His heart to us. I urge you to do this today. Do not let another day go by without trying to build a better relationship with your children. So off I go.... |