tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86934396183312853342024-02-19T23:24:49.755-08:00A Healthy HelpmeetOne woman's journey toward wholeness. Faith. Food. Family. Fitness.A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-13193250683002151852013-03-16T10:34:00.003-07:002013-03-16T10:34:41.160-07:00Conundrum and a {small} Recipe Round-up<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seems like there's always a holiday or a special occasion out there that we celebrate with candy. From the number of posts I've seen from people wondering what to do about friends and relatives who won't respect their food choices, I'd guess I'm not alone when I sometimes feel guilty for not allowing my kids to "cheat" on their diet to partake of the cupcakes, donuts, candy and such that come into their Sunday School classes, and it must be even harder when your child is in school!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Growing up, I had a sort of middle-of-the-road mom. She was real concsienctious about how much sugar and processed junk we had. We were the kids who brought our lunch from home, didn't eat doritos, barely knew what soda was, never tasted chocolate milk ... dessert at home was 2 oreos, or applesauce with mini marshmallow smileys. I felt wierd and left out. At the same time, I was kinda jealous of my friend Mavis. She had a real cruchy mama! She ate bean sprouts sandwiches on homemade whole wheat and really enjoyed it! They had an enormous patch of sunflowers in their backyard with a group of beehives in the middle of it, and a honey spinner in the basement. It was so cool!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess I say that to say I understand both sides of the argument personally. I thought when I grew up I was NOT going to be the mom that limited her kids to 1 Kool-Aid at a party... turns out I<em> am</em> that mom. And worse! I have my kids on GAPS, for crying out loud!. It's for their own good, and they know it, and they understand it -- to a degree. That doesn't make it any easier on them when their class is having Krispy Kreme and they have to turn it down to eat the banana I packed for them! For the most part that doesn't happen, and generally the snack is animal crackers or something that they don't have much trouble turning down for a Larabar. But what about those parties? What about those ball games in the summer when everyone around them is sucking on a lollypop? What about <strong><em>EASTER??? </em></strong>No jellybeans, or Cadburry Cream Eggs, or Recees Peanut Butter Eggs? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've really never been an Easter Bunny family, but we've always had a few chocolate eggs or maltballs and jellybeans in a bowl on the counter for easter, and generally we have a spring-like dessert of some sort, whether its a lemon cake or something else light and yummy. So I've been doing a lot of thinking about what to do for Easter treats. Of course I don't want to go overboard because even with these recipes that can be good for you -- full of gelatin and butter and other goodness, they also have honey. And while honey has wonderful healthful properties, it is sugar. But I've been searching the web and I've come up with what I think are some pretty good options, and I thought I'd share them with you, maybe you can make healthier choices this Easter season, too and feel better about the sweet treats you're sharing with your kiddos! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me preface this list by saying that chocolate is NOT legal on GAPS intro, but small ammounts once your digestive symptoms have subsided are allowed. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride had this to say on her website </span><a href="http://gaps.me/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">gaps.me</span></a>:<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>“Cocoa is SCD illegal. However, I find that many people can start having it occasionally on the Full GAPS Diet, once the digestive symptoms are gone. Find pure organic cocoa powder. Mixing the powder with some honey and sour cream makes a delicious dessert, and you can add it to your homemade ice cream or cakes. After trying it for the first time, observe your patient for any reactions. Cocoa is very rich in magnesium and some essential amino acids and, unless your digestive system is not ready for it, there is no need to avoid it.”</em></strong> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, the peanut butter cups recipe uses her recipe for GAPS legal chocolate, which seems a bit complicated and requires purchasing cocoa butter (which I'm really interested in trying, actually) but for the time being, we have found that using unsweetened bakers chocolate and adding about 1-2 T of honey and 1t of vanilla per oz of chocolate makes a delicious dark chocolate that hardens quite nicely at room temperature. ;) And almost ANY of these recipes would be delish if dipped in chocolate, methinks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Easter and happy treat making :)</span></div>
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<a href="http://urbanposer.blogspot.ca/2012/04/best-almond-flour-cinnamon-rolls-paleo.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cinnamon Buns</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from The Urban Poser</span></div>
<a href="http://www.mommypotamus.com/homemade-marshmallow-recipe-gaps-paleo-scd/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Homemade Marshmallows</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from the Mommypotomus</span><br />
<a href="http://www.mommypotamus.com/homemade-gummy-stars/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gummy Candies</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from the Mommypotomus</span><br />
<a href="http://gapsdietjourney.com/2012/02/recipe-coconut-almond-candy-clusters-gaps-legal/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coconut Almond Candies</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from GAPS Diet Journey</span><br />
<a href="http://muffindiaries.com/2012/11/10/homemade-salted-caramels-and-a-safety-lesson-gaps-dairy-free-gluten-free/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Salted Caramels</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from Diary of a Small Town Earth Muffin</span><br />
<a href="http://www.mygutsy.com/gaps-lemon-bars/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lemon Bars</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from Gutsy</span><br />
<a href="http://ournourishingroots.com/honey-sweetened-gaps-peanut-butter-cups/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peanut Butter Cups</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from Nourishing Our Roots</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-13081016148999024602013-02-28T06:13:00.000-08:002013-02-28T06:20:55.401-08:00Cultured Butter, Why You Should Eat It, and How To Make It<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9AbAoHJAikks8_YAJvuHM8n-aUtdC_6uLh5QBRPxm4TrfmFGmnrOwhCU6kw5pLfobZ5_PsJmEegYYvOp5dPNKD-VSYqZm3PqkvIJf0vy-RIzjfLtNb-sSrNMT5GuVPKZdcmkojVRw_zi/s1600/wyatteating+butter+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9AbAoHJAikks8_YAJvuHM8n-aUtdC_6uLh5QBRPxm4TrfmFGmnrOwhCU6kw5pLfobZ5_PsJmEegYYvOp5dPNKD-VSYqZm3PqkvIJf0vy-RIzjfLtNb-sSrNMT5GuVPKZdcmkojVRw_zi/s320/wyatteating+butter+(2).jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my youngest at 18 months. He<br />grabbed a spoon, pulled up a chair,<br /> and dove into the butter I had <br />softening on the counter. Little ones <br />know what's good for them!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I first tasted butter as a sophomore in high school. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like most public schools, mine sold lunches
every day. Not as typical, they also offered some “breakfast” items before
school in the morning. These items consisted of chocolate chip cookies, cartons
of milk and juice, and … buttered hard rolls. Not exactly ideal morning fare,
but a friend offered me a piece of her hard roll one morning and that was the
beginning of the end. I started bringing spare change about once a week to buy
one of those hard rolls. I can still taste it! It was <em>soooooo good</em>!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I grew up eating margarine. Not that my mom ever bought into the whole no fat/
low fat mantra, it’s just that margarine was cheaper, and she didn’t really
know anything was wrong with it. She did her best by us ,and I have her (and my
dad) to thank for my ability to think objectively and make choices about food regardless
of what popular culture tells us. We didn’t eat much sugar and ate as many real
or whole foods as a single income would allow a family with 10 kids. We just
couldn’t afford butter is all, and I never knew what I was missing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’ve been “in the know” on butter for such a period time now
that I was sort of shocked a few weeks ago, at Sam’s Club when I overheard a
man ask his wife if she wanted him to grab the margarine. Sometimes when we
know something, it seems sorta strange that everyone else might not know it,
too, doesn’t it? That was a good wake up call for me. Even though conventional
wisdom is coming around and demonizing trans fats (of which margarine is
definitely one) they have not also accepted butter as the healthful alternative
and so most are left with a conundrum. What to do? Butter?? Margarine?? Which
is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">least</i> bad?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Well, in case you don’t know already, butter is unbelievably good
for you. When cows are healthy and grazing on rapidly growing green grass, the
butter is at its best."Dr. Price thought [this kind of butter] could heal rickets and that it brought blood serum and calcium ratios toward normal". (Cure Tooth Decay p.38) It is rich in vitamins A, D, E, K2 which, by the way is
design perfection since we need the fat in butter to absorb these vitamins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most people are aware that<strong> vitamin A </strong>plays a key role in vision, most are not aware of it's role in reproductive health, bone and tooth growth, and cell division. Most people are also under the false impression that we can get plenty of vitamin A by eating carrots. Not so. The water soluable carotenes found in vegetable foods are not the same as vital, fat soluable vitamin A. These carotenes must be converted by the body into retinol, but it is a difficult process for the healthiest of bodies and requires stunning ammounts of the carotenes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Vitamin D</strong> assists in the metabolism of trace minerals in the body, especially calcium and phosphorus. Adequate levels of vitamnins A and D help the body to ward off infectious diseases like the flu! There is a common misconception is that we can get all the vitamin D we need from the sun. Well, yes, our bodies do have the ability to convert sunlight into vitamin D, but only if we have high levels of fat in our diets and have access to both UVA and UVB rays. How many of us are blocking those with regular sunscreen application? (don't even get me started on sunscreen!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Vitamin E </strong>strong antioxidant and aids in ridding the body of free radicals. According to Adele Davis it also assists with skin elasticity</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>K2,</strong> or as Dr. Price called it <strong>Activator X</strong>, is what makes grass fed butter yellow, and it isn't easy to come by. Perhaps the<em> best</em> source is butter from cows feeding on spring grass. Next would be the livers of these same animals. The Swiss of the Loetschetal Valley used to have a religious service of thanks to God for the first butter and cheese of the year because of it's life giving properties. It is essential for tooth health and remineralization. It also plays a key role in protecting heart and brain. Activator X works synergystically with Vitamin D, A and calcium. It is uncommon to find poor bone or dental structure, and cavities in the ancient exhumed skeletons of the Loetschetal Valley.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I first started making my own butter from the rich cream skimmed from our jersey
milk, I found it nearly impossible to wash all of the buttermilk out of it,
and it would get a sour taste fairly quickly, even when kept in the
refrigerator. I found it frustrating and eventually I sort of gave up on the
butter making and just bought sweet cream butter from the store.(which is really not that great since it's made with pasturized milk from cows in confinement) Then my 2
year old developed a lactose intolerance and I couldn’t use butter in cooking
anymore. I decided it was time to take another look at butter making. Since raw milk contaise Lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose, most people with lactose intolerance can drink raw milk and eat raw milk butters and cheeses with no problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been hearing wonderful things about
Kerrygold cultured butter and mentioned it to my husband. We love cultured
things! Yogurt, milk kefir, water kefir, Kombucha, and sauerkraut are all regulars
in our kitchen. We both wanted to know WHY it was so delish and started doing
some research. What exactly makes cultured butter <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cultured??</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll let you in on a little secret. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ready?</i> It’s made from soured cream! That’s
it!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, I had seen the recipe for cultured butter in my
Nourishing Traditions Cookbook a hundred times and passed it up because it
sounded gross. I mean who wants <em>sour</em> butter? Ewwwwww! But after all the
research and forum reading, I decided what the heck? I might as well give it a
shot with a bit of the cream. If you never try, you’ll never know, right? <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Oh my word! It is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> good!!</b> The butter is still very sweet, and what’s more, even
if you don’t get ALL the buttermilk out, it stays good for quite a while just
sitting out on the counter. Of course, I don’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">advise</i> you to leave it out on the counter. That’s just what I do.
On top of that, the buttermilk you’re left with<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>is just like what you would buy in the store, except it’s raw. You can
use it however you would normally use buttermilk. Do you make buttermilk pancakes,
for instance? I really like it for marinating venison roasts. It makes them more
tender and less gamey. SCORE! Two for the price of one! <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what I have discovered is that the longer
you let your cream set to sour, the thicker the buttermilk is, but it really
affects taste very little. Of course you don’t want to leave it until it’s
clabbered, but if you don’t get to it right away, no worries. It’s not going
bad on you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lest you worry about<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>bacteria in the sour cream, let me put your mind at ease. If you have a good local
source of raw milk from healthy cows, rest easy. The milk is loaded with
beneficials that actually protect the milk. In fact</span><a href="http://www.realmilk.com/safety/does-raw-milk-kill-pathogens/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> studies have shown</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that raw
milk from healthy cows, when inoculated with a pathogenic strain, actually
killed off the pathogenic bacteria or virus, and the only side effect was that
the milk soured more quickly. It was not, however, any less safe to
consume!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">***<strong>I can not vouch for what would happen with pasturized milk. Those animals are not healthy and any good bacteria that might be present has been killed by the pasturization***</strong></span></span></div>
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Traditional cultures prized dairy and rarely drank it sweet
and fresh the way we do today, especially those cultures in temperate climates. They relied on
souring to protect their milk products! Souring is the process of beneficial
bacteria (lacto-bacilli) consuming the sugars and protein in the milk, making it safe to consume for longer
periods of time. Amazing, isn’t it, how God provides the means of protection
right in the milk? And in the process, the milk becomes more healthful,
providing beneficial bacteria to populate your gut!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only does the culturing process make it easier and safer to digest milk by prediegesting the lactose and casein, it also intoduces enzymes that help the body absorb the minerals already present in the milk, while at the same time increasing B and C vitamin content! Isn't that magical?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, so now that all that’s out of the way, how do you make
this fantastic stuff?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Equipment you’ll need:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Fresh raw cream<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Something to beat or shake it in. Hand or stand
mixer, blender, or just a jar with a cover for shaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Strainer of some sort with small holes. A
typical colander probably won’t work here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Wooden spoon (wet so it won’t stick to the
butter) and a bowl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Salt to taste (optional)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are blessed to
have the ability to buy quarts of cream from your local dairy, you can start
there, or simply skim the cream off the top of your milk with a ladle or a
turkey baster and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>allow it to sit on the
counter for about 8 hours, or overnight. Depending on how warm your house is
you may need more time or less. Keep an eye on it. Whenever it smells sour you
can go ahead and begin with the next step.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now you can form your butter in any number of ways. If you
have a traditional churn, that would work, or a stand mixer, or hand mixer,
even a blender. I personally prefer to just shake a jar by hand. Make sure your
container, whatever you choose<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, isn’t too
full</i>. That’s key. You’re cream has to have plenty of room to slop around in
order for the butter to form. Then just start shaking, whipping or whirling
away. When it’s done, you won’t have any trouble knowing it. There will be
globs of yellow butter floating around in your white buttermilk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point you will need to strain your buttermilk into a
jar. Use a canning funnel for this. It makes the job a heck of a lot easier,
trust me! Now you’ll be left with a strainer full of butter. It will look
something like this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiVW_pZzz15b-PWo67f3L8TykdTuviXWDfltgD-Yln-FMmk-Y1Kz-GRrwVHRxZXdUjiyXmYX4D7aGiDRAiY4F3Jh6jYfkR8G1ZkW6AXAqHaOpuNswUJulZ6HxCbzsMsWznu8fWqTEBcyG/s1600/2013-01-25+14.27.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiVW_pZzz15b-PWo67f3L8TykdTuviXWDfltgD-Yln-FMmk-Y1Kz-GRrwVHRxZXdUjiyXmYX4D7aGiDRAiY4F3Jh6jYfkR8G1ZkW6AXAqHaOpuNswUJulZ6HxCbzsMsWznu8fWqTEBcyG/s400/2013-01-25+14.27.16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just got this strainer in the kitchen section of Walmart.
It’s not fancy but it does the job. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you can just run
this butter under cold water from the kitchen faucet. Alternately you could put
it back in your blender or stand mixer with cold water and turn it back on.
Repeat this rinsing several times until the water runs pretty clear. I usually
put mine in a bowl here and press out as much water and buttermilk as possible
and rinse as needed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWShZSPGdo4r2oW4PszXyZ7kp9Q_GrbX4IVZ4jj-QSoWlkr7XHfQ2mRpxSinyTAwgUxffWf0-SrwBEEDRGjrdC6UP-_dRKgAq24mynxtQpnGNTD-ieQtXrYm82AlSAo_BL4vv9bVrDoADn/s1600/2013-01-25+14.33.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWShZSPGdo4r2oW4PszXyZ7kp9Q_GrbX4IVZ4jj-QSoWlkr7XHfQ2mRpxSinyTAwgUxffWf0-SrwBEEDRGjrdC6UP-_dRKgAq24mynxtQpnGNTD-ieQtXrYm82AlSAo_BL4vv9bVrDoADn/s400/2013-01-25+14.33.25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once it’s running clear or pretty near to it you can
optionally salt it, or just press it into bowls, or just slap lumps of it onto
plastic wrap to store in the fridge or freezer. That’s it! Pretty easy, right? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Give it a try! Then let me know how it turns out! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><a href="http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/16/vitamin-k2.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/448892-important-roles-of-vitamin-d-in-the-body/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source: Cure Tooth Decay, Ramiel Nagel</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">source: Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig PhD</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-6224234631459767632013-02-04T20:24:00.003-08:002013-02-06T06:48:42.650-08:00There and Back Again -- a Tale of Decision<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I come from a family of 12. Yes, I am the second of 10 children. And I always swore I would not have an enormous family! But, by today's standards, and the comments I get at the grocery store, my family is already enormous with 4 kids. Sooo, we've decided to add another bundle of JOY. That's right, we'll be adding a new member to our family in October. It was a weighty and somewhat difficult decision for us to make, but we're excited about it. Want to know why? Read on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When my youngest son was imminently expected, I was ginormous and miserable! There's a picture of what I looked like. I promise, that is NOT a basketball under my shirt; it is a 8 lb. 9 oz. baby boy.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4jEGdW2W7ey1B8i1CQceGeXRB9YkVt-O_O1No-EL7VFM1tPz4vhkC1tlcXXR6Qcyu5pUBYm6vacJVKZagXBCRP74KWgTrML7XwB-Env7Q-xw3s8Lxa799HqOz4ZWrg0EZS8zjE-0twOL/s1600/5736_1090176105535_37152_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4jEGdW2W7ey1B8i1CQceGeXRB9YkVt-O_O1No-EL7VFM1tPz4vhkC1tlcXXR6Qcyu5pUBYm6vacJVKZagXBCRP74KWgTrML7XwB-Env7Q-xw3s8Lxa799HqOz4ZWrg0EZS8zjE-0twOL/s320/5736_1090176105535_37152_n.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We had been transferred with the Railroader's job and were living in a tiny apartment, that felt hopelessly cramped with our too-big furniture and half our stuff was in a storage unit. And even though I had already done this twice, I felt completely overwhelmed! COMPLETELY! I was scared out of my mind about money for some reason, despite the moving package we get. I just <em>knew</em> we weren't going to have enough to move and our house in MS would never sell and we would be pinching nickles and pennies. I spent a lot of time crying, but I can't honestly say I was crying out to God most of the time; I was just in tears -- emotional and hormonal, and stressed about not getting enough homeschool done, and how I was going to contribute financially from home. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I felt like a "bad mother". Especially after Wyatt was born, and I had PPD for the first time, and came <em>THIS CLOSE</em> to giving up on breast feeding for the first time ever. I desperately wanted to be a good mother. A "super mom" who has it all together and never has an off day or loses it with her kids. ( I have since realized that those don't exist this side of heaven. And really, would I be any less emotionally thin with no kids, or even one, without leaning on my God?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of that, I was tired of feeling fat, tired of the cycle and the zillions of different sizes of clothing in my closet that I <strike>didn't even like</strike> <strong>hated</strong> -- all so that I could go from preggo clothes to non-preggo, back to my "skinny" jeans and then back again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in that state, that emotional, spirit empty, worried, frazzled state, I made a decision. A big decision: I would not have any more children. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Railroader and I have stood by that decision for 3 1/2 years, but in those years, the Lord has been doing a work in our hearts. Individually, then together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I began to think about and hear more and more stories of extremely difficult pregnancies, with terrible morning sickness, dehydration, placenta previa, extreme weight loss, and other miseries, while the most difficult thing about any of mine has probably been the heartburn. I have friends who want babies with all their hearts, but aren't able to conceive, or had extreme difficulty conceiving, while here I am, evidently "Ms. Fertile", and not willing to conceive again. I've shared before that I'm </span><a href="http://www.healthandhappenings.blogspot.com/2011/03/im-home-school-mama.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">motivated by guilt</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ... well ... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there's the command to multiply and <em>fill the earth </em>in Genesis. We've both been mulling this over quite a bit, since we learned that our race literally</span><a href="http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/2012/12/19/future-us-slower-growing-older-and-more-diverse.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> cannot sustain itself at the current rate of birth.</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <em>If </em>every person were to get married and have <em>two</em> children, who were guaranteed to get married and also have <em>two</em> children ... the population would just barely stagnate. But not all couples <em>CAN</em> have two children, or even one! Some people God chooses to remain single. The command to fill the earth is given to married couples. Now, we could really say we've done our part; We have 4! And we were inclined to do so, at first, but it just kept coming back to us as something we couldn't ignore. As if God were imploring us, specifically, to do more. And we began to wonder if it was really our decision to make. And so began to bathe it in prayer. Please don't misunderstand me. I still believe in responsibility and timing children appropriately, but I think sometimes we get caught up in US and WE and our PLANS or what is <em>exactly the right time</em> and we miss the bigger picture. We miss the calling that is parenthood, sometimes until it is too late. And we get caught up in the work children make for us, or how they interfere with our work, when really, <em>they<strong> </strong>are our <strong>most important</strong> work!</em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also hope and pray that another baby will be good for Wyatt. He is our only mama's boy. He is attached to me at the hip,and while I love it, even thrive on it, I think he might need a wake up call. He needs to learn to help take care of someone more helpless than himself. Besides, some of the other boys have been asking for quite some time for another baby. You know, the Lord often speaks to use through our children.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lastly, we simply enjoy our kids. They're fun, and funny, and sweet, and precious memory makers. They cause us to get outside of ourselves, and teach us daily more about ourselves, and the love of the Father. In particular we are enjoying our 3 year old in a way I think we have never had the opportunity to enjoy the others, because there is no baby to distract us from him, but our enjoyment of him makes us desire another. So we decided to go for it. In fact, this is the first time the Railroader has been really, truly excited about a pregnancy. I think he actually may have gotten a case of baby fever (which is curious, since he doesn't do that well with them until they're old enough to interact with him) That gives me confidence that we made the right decision. And if this one is a girl, so much the better! :D</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-58921811934673988292013-01-23T12:11:00.000-08:002013-01-23T12:11:22.378-08:00 Beans and Whey Soup<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSUIJhVuE18MDnt9ZubSgmOWx6fx-m1M0_LHFkMJwnUugYdCwgrbi_RfOSRA6S6-DGTDofIc-10EXcNNCAGg9ReboXYT6qtuKpOYQpyC92j5EmM2-3JwR6_bL-smdGaoARQ8SAT7Y_vGb/s1600/2013-01-23+09.06.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSUIJhVuE18MDnt9ZubSgmOWx6fx-m1M0_LHFkMJwnUugYdCwgrbi_RfOSRA6S6-DGTDofIc-10EXcNNCAGg9ReboXYT6qtuKpOYQpyC92j5EmM2-3JwR6_bL-smdGaoARQ8SAT7Y_vGb/s1600/2013-01-23+09.06.40.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because we're starting GAPS again, and because I have some idea of what to expect of it from the last time, I decided 2 things. #1 I'm going to use my crockpot as much as humanly possible for dinner preparation, and #2 lunch will be soup. Period. I have WAYYY too much to do during the day to be preparing 3 GAPS meals from scratch every day, and I know my boys are going to fight me on drinking broth, which is an intrgral part of the diet. They'll fight me on soup, too, but there's more variety in hearty meal soups than in meat broth day after day. Soup is easy to prepare in large quantities and freeze in smaller portions, and besides that, since Nathan will be joining us on the diet, I need to have something easy for him to carry with him. That means soups and salads will have to be mainstays in his lunch repetoir. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, needless to say, I have been scouring Pinterest and the Internet, at large for soup recipes that are either GAPS friendly, or can be tweaked to suit our needs. The other day I had a large quantity of Whey leftover from making some Whole Milk Ricotta. Whey is a nutrient dense food and I knew that I didn't want to throw it away! I also know that I will be making large quantities of Kefir Cheese while we're on GAPS and I will have lots of whey left over from that, so I needed to find a good way to use it up. That led to a search for soups with a whey base. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/abak/4690115844/">This</a> is one of the recipes I found. I tweaked it quite a bit because of what I had on hand. It ended up delish, and I will definitely be making it again! Here's my recipe:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">BEANS AND WHEY SOUP (with greens)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Ingredients:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup white beans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1tsp. vinegar or lemon juice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">good quality bone broth<br />1 bay leaf<br />1 lb. ground meat of choice (I used venison)<br />1 tsp dried rosemary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pinch red pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pinch sage<br />salt and pepper to taste</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 md. onion, coarsly chopped<br />2 carrots, sliced<br />3 cloves garlic, minced</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />whey (about 1-1 1/2 quarts)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1-3 bunches leafy greens, coarsly chopped, or 1 can cooked greens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup grated hard cheese such Parmesan or Romano, optional</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directions:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cover dried beans until water is about 1" higher than the beans. Add 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice and let soak at least 12 hours, or overnight. Drain, rinse and put in a pot. (Alternately you can follow the directions for fermented white beans in the GAPS book and then continue with the recipe)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a large soup pot, just cover the beans with bone broth. I used turkey, because that's what I happened to have on hand, but beef, venison, chicken, fish, goose, duck ... you get the picture ;) ... will be fine. Add the bay leaf and bring to a boil, cover, lower temp and simmer for up to 8 hours, or more if you like. Peak in on them once in a while to make sure your broth hasn't boiled away!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, in a large heavy pan, brown your ground meat with the spices, salt and pepper. Add onion, carrots, and garlic. Cook until the carrots start to soften. Remove bay leaf from the beans and discard. Add meat mixture to beans, and stir in your whey. The ammount isn't exact. Just get the soup to the consistency you want. Put the greens into your heavy pan over med-low heat and cover until wilted. Add wilted greens to soup pot, stir. Allow to simmer for a few minutes before serving. Just before serving, add optional cheese. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Optionally serve with a dollop of cultured cream, sauerkraut , or other cultured vegetable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you try it and like it, leave me a comment :D </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">How about you? If you have any really great soup recipes I'd love to see/try them! Leave a link in the comments! </span><br />
<br />A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-13097812216108755662012-10-06T15:29:00.000-07:002012-10-06T16:01:29.647-07:00Belatedly ... Back-to-School<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lXO6jPi70B9JWMGW0mVBFtKOoWtxIcCsFjVvLE1LvN0VBOP4XbXbJbp-wUpsvsN1TLqcVAzna-yom76J-Y92F202PB9Sfv5px-tkyBKs2q1bPMPJu5CTeMryXDigG0uMfQmr2uikXh4l/s1600/all.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lXO6jPi70B9JWMGW0mVBFtKOoWtxIcCsFjVvLE1LvN0VBOP4XbXbJbp-wUpsvsN1TLqcVAzna-yom76J-Y92F202PB9Sfv5px-tkyBKs2q1bPMPJu5CTeMryXDigG0uMfQmr2uikXh4l/s400/all.jpg" width="300" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was a kid, we never took first-day-of-school pictures! I don't know why.I'm sure my mother had plenty of other things on her plate. It probably never crossed her mind to do it! So, anyway, I didn't think to take first-day-of-school pictures either. I didn't even know such a thing existed! But since Pinterest and Facebook and the Blogging world, at large, have come into my life, I have realized that there are a <span style="font-size: large;">whole heck</span> of a lot of people who take these pictures. At first, I thought "Its too late! Silas is already in the 3rd grade!" Then I thought "I'm not a scrapbooker! What will I do with all those pictures?? They'll get misplaced, forgotten, and out of sequence." But I love traditions! I really, really do! I stretch my brain to think of new ways to create memorable traditions for my kids, especially during the holidays. Things that define this family, and that maybe they will want to bring into their families when they get married. Ideally they will be God-Treasuring traditions. Things that have meaning, not just things to do because we do them every year. But some traditions just for fun are good, too. So, the more I think about it the more value I see in it. I mean especially since, as homeschoolers, we don't do "school pictures" like they do in traditional schools.<strong> </strong></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>What a great record of their growth year by year!</strong> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDjQQwvqv93qcHz7DKFaqPay0EPwMO9HRgdyvn2NDB5LecEZ_6i4WcwuFfuGgRXntwD9fgCveFfQQmVVstm-AOg47AQ2pI97_q16NyR7V_RKc6Fr7nE_s-Ql5ihL6Z9TXA6QlkTUB5xWf/s1600/silas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEwGg8-pSEihdqMhi4PROI4MLMUVzs9c8dhNp9U2oCdqP14RvAsNmfa11VpX94F1uqvxDrTerJuwq0HHnCgBUVzv1V8D5QHeoI_QQkHWOA6ie5aHe-fXHHXfqFEIEHy699qcjhzzL9lld/s1600/liam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So anyway I started seeing some really cute ways of doing it on Pinterest and I decided to do it this year. And then right before school started</span><a href="http://gracefullmama.com/transitioning-from-summer-to-school/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> this post</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> came out from one of my favorite bloggers </span><a href="http://gracefullmama.com/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">gracefullmama.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> about some ways to make transitioning from summer to school more fun and less stress. I didn't do many of them and we started school 3 days later than planned b/c my wonderful hubby decided to finish that closet for me last minute :D But what I did do was follow </span><a href="http://www.iheartnaptime.net/updated-back-to-school-printables-k-12/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this link</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to find these <em>adorable</em> printables. I saved every one of them on my computer because I'm planning on doing this every year. And I printed them out on cardstock for durability.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDjQQwvqv93qcHz7DKFaqPay0EPwMO9HRgdyvn2NDB5LecEZ_6i4WcwuFfuGgRXntwD9fgCveFfQQmVVstm-AOg47AQ2pI97_q16NyR7V_RKc6Fr7nE_s-Ql5ihL6Z9TXA6QlkTUB5xWf/s1600/silas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDjQQwvqv93qcHz7DKFaqPay0EPwMO9HRgdyvn2NDB5LecEZ_6i4WcwuFfuGgRXntwD9fgCveFfQQmVVstm-AOg47AQ2pI97_q16NyR7V_RKc6Fr7nE_s-Ql5ihL6Z9TXA6QlkTUB5xWf/s320/silas.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEwGg8-pSEihdqMhi4PROI4MLMUVzs9c8dhNp9U2oCdqP14RvAsNmfa11VpX94F1uqvxDrTerJuwq0HHnCgBUVzv1V8D5QHeoI_QQkHWOA6ie5aHe-fXHHXfqFEIEHy699qcjhzzL9lld/s1600/liam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEwGg8-pSEihdqMhi4PROI4MLMUVzs9c8dhNp9U2oCdqP14RvAsNmfa11VpX94F1uqvxDrTerJuwq0HHnCgBUVzv1V8D5QHeoI_QQkHWOA6ie5aHe-fXHHXfqFEIEHy699qcjhzzL9lld/s320/liam.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuJ_p1_Ty33Rjejx6osTEc-OIvzyapMxdVL3HSRrGT3X1Le14KXdfWjkHpNHQA6SFYan_zQ8ll_Ei99w3nSolIZQBs44-4CpZL6Eyw-zm_Rzf8_QdLMrwmNb4Lfcy0hWIS9XqHwA7W9Dw/s1600/shamus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuJ_p1_Ty33Rjejx6osTEc-OIvzyapMxdVL3HSRrGT3X1Le14KXdfWjkHpNHQA6SFYan_zQ8ll_Ei99w3nSolIZQBs44-4CpZL6Eyw-zm_Rzf8_QdLMrwmNb4Lfcy0hWIS9XqHwA7W9Dw/s320/shamus.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVF2l7kZRovtqmKvXHZ5Dqv1FBy2XAV6UAy-x-2H-8bPxwmug22ix4GX-2NumpKqv8-J5Mz1BlqCwzMxW-NkmDCuFAtJaHkqSak4dD4mNP244Ulp2GY_J9RwdP_UuVR_pg_7KkEj_YQp7y/s1600/wyatt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVF2l7kZRovtqmKvXHZ5Dqv1FBy2XAV6UAy-x-2H-8bPxwmug22ix4GX-2NumpKqv8-J5Mz1BlqCwzMxW-NkmDCuFAtJaHkqSak4dD4mNP244Ulp2GY_J9RwdP_UuVR_pg_7KkEj_YQp7y/s320/wyatt.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took it one step further, too. You know all those cute "interviews" people pin to do with your child at a certain age? Well I looked at every one I could find and picked out the questions I liked best, tweaked some, and added a few of my own and printed that on the back. Then i sat down with each of my kids individually the day before school started, asked them the questions, and wrote down <strong><em>exactly</em></strong> what they said. They said some of the cutest stuff!!! I'm keeping a 2" binder so every year I can put their interview/grade sign across from their pictures in sheet protectors so they won't get lost ... or destroyed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfkyzAjhHYsnByzwbFMqh5MfW37THDFGMUlrpAT3qzUzT-e5GWWyRzSu9-wyiojsYWp1naSCVRJu_pfj1hPUv3CRtvCyXaolDtf-Z4QpGPRPy6r4CamzjEP2ixQcgF3TN6GU-7G5kD9Qz/s1600/2012-10-06+17.09.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfkyzAjhHYsnByzwbFMqh5MfW37THDFGMUlrpAT3qzUzT-e5GWWyRzSu9-wyiojsYWp1naSCVRJu_pfj1hPUv3CRtvCyXaolDtf-Z4QpGPRPy6r4CamzjEP2ixQcgF3TN6GU-7G5kD9Qz/s320/2012-10-06+17.09.52.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then maybe I'll put them into matching frames to hang on the wall until the end of the year when they can stand in the same place, holding their picture from the beginning of the year like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The end of year pic would then take its place in the frame until the next first-day-of-school photo shoot. As they are replaced on the wall they take their place in the binder with the Sign and Interview for that year. So cute! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to be honest, though, this post comes late because I didn't get <em>FIRST-</em>day-of-school pictures. Not even <em>SECOND </em>or <em>THIRD</em>-day-of-school pictures! These pictures were taken today. Saturday. A full three <em>WEEKS </em>after school started. Oh well. They were taken and that's what matters! I'm only sorry I didn't start when Silas was 3! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Well, what about you? What are your back to school traditions? What are you planning on starting for the future?</span><br />
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<img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEwGg8-pSEihdqMhi4PROI4MLMUVzs9c8dhNp9U2oCdqP14RvAsNmfa11VpX94F1uqvxDrTerJuwq0HHnCgBUVzv1V8D5QHeoI_QQkHWOA6ie5aHe-fXHHXfqFEIEHy699qcjhzzL9lld/s320/liam.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 588px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 651px;" width="72" />A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-65784366467844472972012-08-07T11:35:00.002-07:002012-08-07T11:35:46.256-07:00Say What?? Natural Cleaning<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My hubby has been working really hard lately. There's something major about to happen at work, which is neither here nor there, except that normally, since the promotion, he doesn't do a whole lot of "hands on" getting dirty stuff, but this weekend he was in the trenches. He got <strong><em>DIRTY! </em></strong>When he came home Saturday night he didn't even come in and say hi. He went straight to the Laundry room, stripped his clothes off, hung them over the sink, and took a shower. I didn't even go in that room all day Sunday. On Monday I went in and, I kid you not, I almost fell over from the smell in there! It was bad. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When I told him about it he said "So what you're telling me is that it wasn't B.O. it was <em>beyond</em> B.O., it was <em>B.B.O.!</em>" Funny. You are a funny man. :) (in case you didn't catch it -- Seinfeld ... there's this one episode about the valet ... and "what am I hard of smelling?")</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anyway, I'm sure you can guess that the first thing I did, after opening the window, was throw them in the washer! They came beautifully clean, but this is what I was left with:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleb7ZRrJwyxTLdwWpPqU8bQMLWt54w12hlJXPdR97Ji7tSH7WiF1VnFOl996d6_QRuQvZAfOi1tifPEOvqOB6Y_15Eyg2RKLyOyVB5PMfJfZ-VFTonxS9JyNZzy0wl9ymdRNsr9J58MEB/s1600/before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleb7ZRrJwyxTLdwWpPqU8bQMLWt54w12hlJXPdR97Ji7tSH7WiF1VnFOl996d6_QRuQvZAfOi1tifPEOvqOB6Y_15Eyg2RKLyOyVB5PMfJfZ-VFTonxS9JyNZzy0wl9ymdRNsr9J58MEB/s320/before.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yeah, that's the grease like from train wheels ... and it's thick too. I was afraid to put another load of laundry in, but what to do? I had some affresh tablets so I ran that cycle. It didn't even touch it. So I had hubby look at it when he came home last night. He tried scraping it off with his fingernail. Not much happened.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I thought maybe I could try my softscrub, but I was afraid of what the suds would do to the machine, you know? He said maybe the wipes he keeps in his truck that all the guys clean their hands with would work. It's some auto mechanic thing. So I said "good idea!! just leave me some in the morning." He forgot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I had to get some laundry done, there was a big pile!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Then it hit me. It was an epiphany from the Lord. That's all it could be!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Like dissolves like. The most basic principal in chemistry -- a class that I never took! I just read it somewhere when I was researching the Oil Cleansing Method. Wait. I never posted about that? ... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anyway, I have this pledge orange oil for dusting</span> <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and polishing furniture. It's in a spray bottle, so I just sprayed some on there and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I went and got some paper towels -- had to be disposable (I didn't want to end up in the same predicament when I washed the rags) and started wiping away. Do you know it came right off??? No elbow grease required -- and it's a good thing too! You know I'm not quite 4'11" right? It's tough just reaching in to get the laundry out ... Here's the after picture:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL2Pcdg_qu96mEV0SDzAKtdMlvrIOc2FkSvpi6pjPleKi77Ved6HeVeMe453XHj-YSTndtIR82T0V7XqlLFB_91smvCWdv33c-5dpQRzrBE0VTMsi4oLFSIwVKCyNNcIN87_1XbVuQXaXj/s1600/after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL2Pcdg_qu96mEV0SDzAKtdMlvrIOc2FkSvpi6pjPleKi77Ved6HeVeMe453XHj-YSTndtIR82T0V7XqlLFB_91smvCWdv33c-5dpQRzrBE0VTMsi4oLFSIwVKCyNNcIN87_1XbVuQXaXj/s320/after.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are still a few light gray "stains" on the bottom where the plastic is permenantly discolored, but can you believe it? After I got the oil and grease up with the paper towels I sprayed it down with distilled white vinegar and wiped that up too. Good as new!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">How's that for natural cleaning? Awesome!</span></div>
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<br /></div>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-32881158100873460322012-08-07T10:54:00.001-07:002012-08-07T10:54:45.382-07:00Back to Blogging<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sad isn't it? I made a resolution in January to blog every 2 weeks at the very least. Then we moved, and ... what happened?? My last post was in May! I got discouraged, actually. I started thinking about all the <em>other</em> blogs out there in blog land that are prettier than mine, and who simply <em>do it better</em>. I'm gonna be honest with you, I can't blog every 2 weeks--at least not right now. I tried. It didn't work. <br />I started thinking about how many other blogs there are that are doing the same thing my blog is trying to do. I guess mine isn't really needed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Then I started thinking about my mission statement. Remember that? And I was wondering if blogging actually fits in with my mission statement. Initially I had categorized it under things that I enjoy and keep me refreshed, but I wasn't enjoying the panicked feeling I was having, or feeling like I should apologise when I didn't get a post up in time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I started thinking how embarrassing this blog is. It's really been nothing but trial and error from beginning to present. Stuff started and not finished ... like GAPS that we had to give up on for now ... or the running that I couldn't keep up with ... etc. And I seriously considered just deleting the whole thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">But then I had a sweet friend tell me that she missed my blog posts. She actually misses my blog! I cried.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And then I started thinking that maybe I do have something valuable to share. And maybe I'll never get a hundred million followers who love my blog and pin stuff up on pinterest. And maybe I don't have to post on a schedule, at least not yet. But maybe none of that matters! And so, I'm back, yet again. To post when I have time and will enjoy it. About our lives, and what I'm learning, and homeschool and anything else that finds its way to these pages. :) </span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-85816512055701300312012-05-02T05:48:00.001-07:002012-05-02T05:51:04.887-07:00A GAPS for Everyone<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was introduced to GAPS by my sister, who's husband and young son were having fairly severe digestive health issues. And GAPS is for diegestive health, but it's for so much more! I personally believe that every person could benefit from GAPS. Everything stems from the gut. That's the premise behind Gut And Psychology/Physiology Syndrome. If you're gut is not healthy it cannot digest the foods you put into it properly and your body will not function optimally. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride believes that we can heal our guts and allow our bodies to function in ways they never have before, but it takes dedication, preparation, and a commitment, because it can be pretty expensive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to the fact that my husband and I are on <em>completely</em> different pages, I have decided to put GAPS on hold for a while. But we are continuing with several of the principals and doing the best we can, because in the 3 months that we've been following this diet I have discovered some interesting and unexpected things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew Wyatt was having issues with dairy, but I guess it took stepping back from it to realize how severe the symptoms were. At my husband's insistance, I allowed the boys to have the sweet potatoes and biscuits I had made for him. I wasn't thinking about the fact that there was a bit of butter on the potatoes. Before the meal was over, Wyatt was complaining of stomach pain and then he had diahrrea for 3 days. While we were on vacation Wyatt had french fries twice. I'm not sure yet whether it was the potatoes themselves, or the rancid oil they were fried in, but he had excessive, painful gas and bloating, so that he couldn't sleep afterwards. No wonder he'd been waking several times a night for well over a year!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've also discovered that Liam loses complete control and absolutely cannot focus when he eats wheat. I've had some minor concerns about him in the past, and noticed that he had calmed down while we were on GAPS. His schooling had also started to go much better. His attitude was better and he focused on the lesson. We've made more progress in these last couple months than I had in an entire year previous! He tends toward hyperactivity by nature and is still a free spirit, but the change has been remarkable. I wasn't sure what caused the difference until I allowed him to have crackers one day last week. OH. MY. WORD! The next day he was off the wall. He was quite literally bouncing off the walls! he wasjumping on, and otherwise abusing his brothers. He wasn't angry, in fact he was being silly, but he couldn't stop when I told him to. Even when I disciplined him he couldn't seem to control it. Our school lesson was full of tears and took over 2 hours to complete. He just hasn't acted that way in months. It used to be a common, every day occurance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Silas and Shamus I haven't noticed much difference in except that Shamus is not complaining of a stomach ache every night at bedtime anymore. He did last week, though, but I didn't make a connection to anything in particular.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have noticed a sharp decline in my severe headaches, but once again, I didn't make a distinct connection to any particular food.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So many people are so used to their symptoms that they don't even notice them, or see them as abnormal, but GAPS can identify them, and heal us so that we can go on to live normal lives. GAPS really is for everyone, or almost everyone :D</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-29028813635996459222012-04-17T08:09:00.000-07:002012-04-17T08:09:09.225-07:00Just Let It Go.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtkZWC7aL-h1m9TKch1mqa3IqbmxWGEQPFPg1DcQSH_SUzzokJXNHCWEZnx2ANJMFDljRfz1HOuvGtug1LbLFtlTivLSnwmbLykkEl_56evp_Z9jGtJCymOovCdV7LByNAnPQokhVa_4R/s1600/clothes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtkZWC7aL-h1m9TKch1mqa3IqbmxWGEQPFPg1DcQSH_SUzzokJXNHCWEZnx2ANJMFDljRfz1HOuvGtug1LbLFtlTivLSnwmbLykkEl_56evp_Z9jGtJCymOovCdV7LByNAnPQokhVa_4R/s400/clothes.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been married to the same man for almost 10 years. I have always done his laundry. Wash, fold, put in drawers, hang in closet whatever. I'm pretty particular about things. He jokingly gives me a hard time because I can't stand it if the covers are wrinkled and I'll get out of bed in the middle of the night to fix them if necessary. Glasses and mugs need to be in neat rows in the cupboards etc. So it stands to reason that I'd be pretty particular about how I arrange clothes in the closet and dresser drawers, right? I can't help it that it makes me want to scream when I see two shirts with their plackets facing each other hanging in the closet! It just does, ok? So I <em>always</em> hang all shirts facing to the left. I also arrange them by type, fabric and color in that order. I have a little more difficult time on my side because I have so many different <em>kinds</em> of shirt, but Nathan has oxfords, polos -- long and short sleeved, and then special breathable golf polos. His side of the closet looks like a rainbow. Literally.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have spent the last 9 years in various levels of irritation and disbelief when I walk into the closet, or open dresser drawers to put things away because something is always out of place. And really. How much effort does it take to reach just a bit further to the right to hang that shirt up with the long sleeved polos than in the middle of the short sleeved ones? And so I would sigh and maybe grumble and hang it where it belongs. But one day, in the not too distant past, my darling hubby was desperately searching for a particular shirt. Finally he called to me in frustration "do you know where my _____ shirt is?" "It should be hanging right there in your closet" I call back. Still he can't find it. So I walk in and immediately pick it out "It's right here with the rest of your blue polo shirts" I say. He gives me a vacant look. "You mean to tell me, that in all these years you have never once noticed that your shirts are organized and arranged by color?" "They are?" he says staring at the shirts in disbelief. "They are" I say. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there it is. He's not doing it to spite me, or to be lazy. He doesn't realize he's making more work for me. It just never occured to him to even notice! He still doesn't notice. I could harp on him and nag him until I'm blue in the face. It's not going to change anything. He is who he is. And so, I just let it go. :) Sometimes I still get irritated, but mostly I just chuckle and move the shirt.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What about you? What have you had to let go in order to avoid hard feelings or constant irritation?</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-8012151133453718262012-04-04T13:52:00.001-07:002012-04-04T13:54:32.805-07:00Why I STOPPED Boiling Eggs<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CPm81AlKsJuqle77f8dTnTLpLrGG-bNdNBAuMYoZiC4-J0PgDORC3pUg7kK_bUNTTsfTYf4KseA74HapMoWz7io1CpK9NvQg8nbaXWEepyj0-P48wVgtPUihFueWhI98qzZc8REBpJLU/s1600/egg+in+cup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CPm81AlKsJuqle77f8dTnTLpLrGG-bNdNBAuMYoZiC4-J0PgDORC3pUg7kK_bUNTTsfTYf4KseA74HapMoWz7io1CpK9NvQg8nbaXWEepyj0-P48wVgtPUihFueWhI98qzZc8REBpJLU/s320/egg+in+cup.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gotta-eat.com/blog/hard-boiled-eggs-safe-easy-all-in-pictures/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">photo credit</span></a></td></tr>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boiled Eggs. They have so many, many uses! And we have been eating a<em><strong> LOT</strong></em> of them in the last month or so, since we started GAPS. They are a super easy and nourishing breakfast for my crew, especially if I make them the night before. My kids <em>love </em>deviled eggs. They're great as egg salad, and when we're not eating GAPS I like to put them in potato salad, macaroni salad and more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My success with boiled eggs, however, has been inconsistent at best. I don't know if anyone else has this problem or not but if I follow the typical "bring to a boil, turn off heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes" The yolks typically turn out an unappetizing greenish color on the outside. If I take them off the heat and cover for 10 minutes the whites are usually less firm and I'm picky about how things <em>feel</em> in my mouth. If it's slimy at all -- BLEH! Not happening! Sometimes they're hard to peel, sometimes it's easy, but more often than not lately they've been really hard to peel. For our road trip last week, I put 5 dozen eggs in a stock pot, covered with water and boiled. I do not, I repeat N.O.T<em>. </em>recommend doing that! what a pain. None were easy to peel. and the ones at the top we really soft, while the bottom were fairly firm. BLEH. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So then we stay at a Holiday Inn Express and their hard-boiled eggs are perfect. And obviously easy to peel. <em>How do they do that??? </em>Well, I finally concluded that they use an egg boiler. I'm pretty sure I've seen those before. But they're probably not cheap. And do I <em>really</em> want another appliance cluttering up my countertop? I don't think so! So what's a girl to do?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I finally found the answer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last the other day I stumbled upon it on pinterest. Don't boil your eggs; <em>BAKE </em>them! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I tried it out. Two days in a row and it's a-mazing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's how you do it: Place eggs directly on rack in center of oven. Like so:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZSSZF81MBTv0TVIIE5qLUENw1k63U52VdMABEHxFiam3RZ5uJ-kKOmq6UKjlpgFEc9XWcXPhxcHFwNS8BgDM3Si2mtiptuRLmqqVYSs6jLcRTAOTr56o5IeU5lcP1gJ1FFPN39zUz2YR/s1600/eggs+in+oven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZSSZF81MBTv0TVIIE5qLUENw1k63U52VdMABEHxFiam3RZ5uJ-kKOmq6UKjlpgFEc9XWcXPhxcHFwNS8BgDM3Si2mtiptuRLmqqVYSs6jLcRTAOTr56o5IeU5lcP1gJ1FFPN39zUz2YR/s400/eggs+in+oven.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn the oven on 350 and set your timer for 30 minutes .Have a pair of tongs and a bowl of cold water waiting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take them immediately from the oven and drop them in the bowl of cold water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When they're cool enough to handle you can peel them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can I just tell you they <em>slide right out of the shell! </em>and the yolks are a beautiful yellow color! and the Whites are so nice and firm! The perfect boiled egg! With no boiling involved</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1WcvMiMN4clr3_IvUewNGC95367AxD-nWyj-Y-e3TuBUwmuxz05SUZ6ykPVwU0rCvvLUphpJj8aGpo9w9dBh9FzWW3C-ju6jjbPNdKY0HfCAe3t5PAcCKnmiQasjvHudscCUoenFZTRi/s320/boiled+eggs.jpg" width="240" /></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can make as many as your oven will hold! It's fantastic :D This is definitely the method I will be using for coloring Easter Eggs this week!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As info, some of the eggs do get brown spots on the shell, which I can only assume is liquid from the eggs coming through the shell, but I tested and if you dry them with a (paper) towel as you take them out of the water it comes right off. If any sticks you can use a Scotch Brite Green pad to buff any residual spots off and they will be beautiful for Easter coloring.</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-70349307765672454332012-03-25T20:41:00.003-07:002012-03-25T20:59:31.529-07:00Real Food on a Road Trip<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We recently started the GAPS diet. GAPS is pretty restrictive. You can't eat just anything. Most of what you eat needs to be home cooked or raw. Ideally it would all be organic, grass-fed, free range ... we can't make that happen right now, so we're doing the best we can. We avoid as many chemical additives as we can, no sugar or artificial sweeteners are allowed, except honey; no grains or starches either. You'd be surprised where you find sugars and grain additives!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here's the deal: we're driving to the Grand Canyon from Alabama. 24 hour drive. 2 1/2 days driving. Yeah. I thought about just throwing in the towel and starting over when we get home, but the reason I started was the discomfort my two year old was experiencing and I wasn't going to go back on the progress he's made, so ... I just had to come up with a way to make the road trip and the diet work together! Not gonna lie, I took cues from a couple other blogs </span><a href="http://www.passionatehomemaking.org/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.passionatehomemaking.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and another one I cannot for the life of me remember right now. I spent 2 days cooking up some chicken and cutting up veggies. Here's most of what I put in the cooler on ice.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzBPwY4Soa4wRtIfB6VaPtYCVfhyphenhyphenF7HMRfeXZML2Z8Qlzdcdfdf9MvrDRarHRI49YmmGmTmQJdl_Qg57Ke_7lCnfHHVZpPim4DdtR5-ZXGW_BxmXKXaWhBwk6IQGBN3gK9so6SSWmiuEm/s1600/2012-03-24+07.38.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzBPwY4Soa4wRtIfB6VaPtYCVfhyphenhyphenF7HMRfeXZML2Z8Qlzdcdfdf9MvrDRarHRI49YmmGmTmQJdl_Qg57Ke_7lCnfHHVZpPim4DdtR5-ZXGW_BxmXKXaWhBwk6IQGBN3gK9so6SSWmiuEm/s400/2012-03-24+07.38.26.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the 4 gallon sized bags: 5 dozen hard boiled eggs, 16 pounds of roasted chicken drumsticks, 10 pounds of marinated, baked, chicken breast tenderloins. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the 7 quart sized bags: 8 cucumbers cut into "sticks", 6 sweet bell peppers (yellow, red and orange) sliced, bunches of carrots, I couldn't even tell you how many, peeled and sliced into discs,and some cuties.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there's Bubbie's dill pickles, sauerkraut (which I actually tasted and ended up leaving home, homemade yogurt and bananas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also packed a jar of ghee, for cooking at the campsite,raw honey and a half gallon of raw milk I had left in the fridge. We stopped at Sam's Club and picked up a bunch of Pink Lady apples, more bananas, some strawberries, and a box of Larabars. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be honest, I'm not sure we're going to make it. We've already gone through half the carrots, about a third or so of the cukes, half of the peppers, all of the tenderloins, and slightly less than half of the drumsticks! The milk is gone, and so are most of the Larabars. And we're only 2 days into the week long trip. We haven't touched the eggs yet, because the hotel we stayed at last night had hard boiled eggs at the breakfast and we can always stop and get more fruit and veggies, but the meat might be a problem. I'll have to think about how I can cook some up at the campsite to bring with on the way home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">What are some ways you deal with eating real food on the road?</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-75151274577483484612012-03-18T19:04:00.000-07:002012-03-18T19:04:11.160-07:00Home Management Notebook: Downloads and Links<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our Home Management Notebook is well under way. I've given you the overview and the general idea to hopefully get you thinking about what would be most helpful for you to have at your fingertips. And I've given you access to a few downloads. With this post I will give you the last of my downloads and then link to some resources that I loved and gave me a lot of ideas. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u>Menus</u></strong>: "They" say that most women have about 21 meals in their rotation, so many women make a list of their 21 meals and draw from that when they make their Monthly or Weekly meal plans. I chose to go about that a little differently. I am in the process of making a Recipe Binder that contains basically everything I make on a fairly regular basis or that we really like. This is still ongoing and probably will be forever, but I had to start over recently because of the new healing diet we undertook here. More on that another time. But I'm taking that Recipe Binder and using it to put together</span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=RoHHIgDokAQLHyI6Pcqeig" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Master Meal Plans</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Plural because I have one for spring/summer type recipes and one for fall/winter type recipes with more soups and stews and such. And then I'll use these master plans to make my</span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=RoHHIgDokAQLHyI6Pcqeig" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Monthly Meal Plans</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> less stressful and also to help me purchase things in bulk or ahead of time. This way I can just line my current month up next to the master and rotate things in based on a recipe I just found that I want to try or Holiday meals or whatever. Once my Monthly Plan is complete I'll use my </span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=*gQytK7Yzg2DtSCAVQaTrw" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weekly Meal Plan</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> with the shopping list to plan not only my dinners but also breakfasts and lunches. It doesn't have a snack section. I'm thinking of adding one. Or two. If I do, I'll update.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u>Planning</u></strong>: I watched "I Don't Know How She Does It" the other night. I thought it was pretty cute, but I kept saying to myself "<em>why doesn't she write her list down???".</em> I have to say, I make a lot of lists in my head. Not in the middle of the night. I generally sleep like a rock, but in the shower I'm on autopilot and I plan a lot. But if I don't write it down as soon as I get out, I am <em>going</em> to forget. There is no question about that! So I have an ongoing</span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=2Mne8cX2OweSOuM9Qu4vpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Master To Do List</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for all those things that always need to get done. Like extra cleaning, organizing, stuff to get, things to tell Nathan ... and on and on and on. I also have some specific To Do Lists. One for</span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=2Mne8cX2OweSOuM9Qu4vpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Personal Growth Goals</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, One for</span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=2Mne8cX2OweSOuM9Qu4vpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Home Improvement Projects</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, one ofr </span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=2Mne8cX2OweSOuM9Qu4vpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crafting Projects</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that I want to complete--can we say Pinterest?? :D, and a special </span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=2Mne8cX2OweSOuM9Qu4vpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christmas in July</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> list. I think most of these are pretty self-explanatory.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u>Shopping</u></strong>: Simple it's a</span><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=4v8MZnUcG*zhVUDV0xsvUg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> shopping list</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, but it matches the rest of my downloads so I like it :D</span><br />
<strong><u><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=mG0FLNVYSExmJHMfcva8Tg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notes</span></a></u></strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Just a place to write down stuff I don't want to forget while I'm on the phone, or making notes while I'm researching something online etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><u>Maintenance</u></strong>: Here's where I keep a written record of maintenance done to the<a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=00QoitwvFXHxP12sO814IQ" target="_blank"> van</a>, and to the<a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=YxjTOWIA6ckmRpahHTkklw" target="_blank"> house</a>. So when something comes up, I know exactly where to find out what we've had done, when, how much it cost, and who did it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><u>Inventories</u></strong>: I'm keeping an inventory of my <a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=jVKg7qJs4c-jTeSb5MCtkg" target="_blank">pantry</a> and <a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=0GvZ37Fe4idpGS5dnn-5rA" target="_blank">freezer</a> so I never run out of staples, and so that I don't buy duplicates. A quick check to these lists when I'm making my shopping lists will keep me from wasting money, or from frustration when I go to make a meal, only to discover I don't have what I thought I did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><u><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=ina1OyrT3r*BWag-YGa6wA" target="_blank">Account Info:</a></u></strong> This one I went back and forth on for quite a while, I wasn't sure I wanted to keep it in something I carry everywhere, but I need it with me in case I'm out. I you struggle with remembering all my user names and passwords for websites that I use? I'm afraid to ever change them for fear I'll forget what they are and I tend to use the same 2 or 3 for everything. More mental clutter trying to remember all that stuff all the time! I keep another copy in my Bill Pay Binder just in case my HMN is ever lost or stolen, I can quickly change all my passwords and not worry so much about hackers and identity thieves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><u><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=*BAAULDlkypKZzyPjU*QTw" target="_blank">Spending Tracker</a></u></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One more thing about the downloads, for some reason some of them look like half sized sheets and some look like they'll print in the center of and 8 1/2 X 11 sheet. When you go to print, just make sure you look at the printer set up and set it to print 2 per sheet. They will print out just fine :) Let me know if you have any issues in the comments section and I will do my very best to make it right!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is just a list of blogs that I have found with Home Management Notebook resources:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.mommytracked.com/downloads?page=2">mommytracked.com</a> -- she's got some really cute printables</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://accordingtonina.com/my-home-management-notebook-and-link-up-with-blue-eyed-bride/">accordingtotonya.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://therempels4.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-home-management-binder.html">a mom after God's own heart</a></span><br />
<a href="http://craftsandcontainers.blogspot.com/2011/02/home-management-binder.html"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">create order</span></a><br />
<a href="http://desiringvirtue.com/2011/07/dvs-home-management-printables/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">desiring virtue</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> -- really like her printables and her heart. nice blog</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.designfinch.com/2011/07/31/sunday-planning/">design finch</a> -- a collection of printables from various blogs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.delicateconstruction.com/2011/10/home-management-binder-free-printables.html">delicate construction</a> -- printables</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2010/01/creating-a-homemaking-binder.html">Keeper of the Home</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Life...Your Way</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://listplanit.com/">List Plan It</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://professorpoppins.blogspot.com/2011/03/family-planner.html">Miss Poppins</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.thenesteffect.com/2011/09/home-management-binder-setting-it-all.html">The Nest Effect</a></span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-22769678720523800912012-02-20T08:52:00.001-08:002012-02-20T09:00:49.325-08:00The 10 Second Rule<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.claredegraaf.com/10-second-rule/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GfzrmYkrHaAdG24se_8kHrQlsn_WpFntjre95TDEdl33VFOd0PcEe0zP7q-Cxs4UbwtdCdZYXXcWtz6b71aYBCI9Kmt7-U0URs36DmRnieAL4Cdmni34Y69TvgIAfF3ILmOqNDJb0td0/s320/bookcoverFINAL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on the book to read the author's summary of the <br />
10 second rule</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You know how sometimes, particularly during a missions emphasis month, preachers will harp on being a missionary in your own community? They rant about the lady in front of you in the grocery line, or the guy in the cubical next to yours at work, or the people you see every day going to and from work, your secretary, your boss, your neighbors. It's terribly convicting! But here's the deal; I don't work outside the home. My sphere of influence seems very small! And really, how <em>should</em> I go about approaching the lady in front of me in the check out line with the Romans Road, when I've got 4 hooligans I'm trying to keep in sight and in check?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past I've reasoned with myself that my children are my mission field right now. And that is very true!! They are perhaps the most important mission field I will ever encounter! The way I raise them could eventually influence hundreds or thousands of people for Christ, depending on how sold out they are for God. Talk about responsibility! But what if they never see me in action for Jesus? I'll say that again. What if they <em>never see me in action for Jesus???</em> What kind of example am I setting for them to follow later in life, or even right now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Last night and this morning I read a small book called <u>The 10 Second Rule</u> by Clare DeGraaf. The premise goes like this "just do the next thing you're reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do." That's it. I got it in the mail from the Sonlight Curriculum office as a Christmas gift this past December and put it on the shelf. I wanted to read it, but I was afraid. I don't like change. Can I be honest? A lot of times I'm afraid to look at a book like this for fear I'll be called to evangalize a third world country. Doesn't that sound horrible? I hate that about myself, but it's true! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, anyway, yesterday was Sunday. It was also the end of a "real church conference" at the church we've visited the last 2 Sundays. I don't really understand how it is that they "plant" churches in other areas of the country and around the globe. It's not by commissioning a member of the main church to go start one. I guess that's not important. At any rate, once a year they have this conference and invite members from these "church plants" and have a conference, and this past Sunday was the last day of it for 2012. It was amazing. It was all about evangalism and having the Gospel preached, and walking worthy of the Lord. It was about the Goodness and the Majesty of our God. In short, it was one of those services that completely lifts your spirits and at the same time causes you to feel like a complete wretch. S</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">o when I got home and saw this book in the diaper bag (something told me to pull it off the shelf before the movers grabbed it -- go figure) I knew I needed to read it; so I picked it up and started.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It makes so much sense! It bridges the gap between what seems possible and what I feel a general sense of conviction about during mission services. It's not about enormous descisions, it's about sensing the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit and acting on it, before you can rationalize your way out of it. I don't have to make the decision to go knock on every door in our neighborhood and hand out tracts, or decided that I won't leave a grocery store before I speak to someone about Jesus, no matter what the boys are behaving like that day. All I have to do is ask God to show me what He wants me to do and then do it. Now, He <em>could</em> ask me to knock on my neighbors' doors, or he could simply ask me to wish the person beside me a good morning, or hand they guy on the corner a five dollar bill. They key is listening and obeying. Being Jesus to someone when they need it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'll tell you what my first step was. Writing this post and putting the little vinyl clings with "10s on them in prominent reminder spots. Then next is heading back over to Olive Garden where we had lunch yesterday. I had a gift card that paid for the boys' lunches but most of<em> my</em> meal I paid for on my card. When the waiter brought the check back, for some reason I calculated my tip based only on the money that came out of my pocket, not the entire bill. I realized what I had done when I got to the car, but rationalized myself out of going back in. The boys are a good excuse for a lot of stuff. The only thing I could think about the whole time I was reading was that waiter and his tip. He was friendly, and great with the boys and I'm pretty sure he saw us bowing to pray over our food. Then I gave him an insulting tip. It woke me up at 5:30 this morning. I told God I would go. I just hope he's working today!</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-86733553648834774652012-02-06T20:31:00.001-08:002012-02-20T07:18:40.548-08:00Home Management Notebook: The Skeleton<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got to thinking that I should share not only the forms that I used and created, but the pieces that make up the binder itself as well. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Avery-Durable-Comfort-Binder-17346/dp/B005FIYAB2/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1328589250&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3_sDvF9VxNkgsXkpQhFq68n8Myy0zpjvms0bJGrePLk8H4DW89s4b7PVm3Wi7RoQjILfYaJg1ghz3lxazCP1K98Z_m-XLjy2TNyUoVsFaUkDjdjs3XBaEB1aFxTiXZpkAfl_gOHRRiyv/s320/binder.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the actual shell I used and Avery Binder. You can find an Avery view binder, 5.5"X8.5" size at your local staples or you can find them on Amazon or online office supply stores. I personally decided to use</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Avery-Durable-Comfort-Binder-17346/dp/B005FIYAB2/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1328583561&sr=8-11" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> this</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> comfort touch binder from Avery. It has more of a "planner" feel to it. Avery also makes a binder this size with a</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Avery-Durable-Protect-8-5-Inches-23030/dp/B0058TXN52/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1328583561&sr=8-7" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> pocket attached to the inside front cover</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that I really liked and almost decided to buy.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVdHEnlJ8RsdOc0kuFodd4zC29ZdZcqYq2C8Wli3VjY-VVaD8pfhdYJOvnFMzZt8UYhG78zkhqXgGTNmfugZreV34Q-bOGv4ossGgROzlzvCH_08hDyDf0FKR-98uxNhv0Wb4CyOqdjQk/s1600/calendar+divider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsVdHEnlJ8RsdOc0kuFodd4zC29ZdZcqYq2C8Wli3VjY-VVaD8pfhdYJOvnFMzZt8UYhG78zkhqXgGTNmfugZreV34Q-bOGv4ossGgROzlzvCH_08hDyDf0FKR-98uxNhv0Wb4CyOqdjQk/s320/calendar+divider.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=7m16eM2S4xVGu3Jk--7zFw" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here to download the Covers and Divider sheets</span></a><br />
<a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=CAO1sjRLVqgQPalw1jSPSw" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here for the tabs</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made the dividers by getting</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Avery-Heavyweight-Protectors-Inches-77007/dp/B004K77QQ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1328586870&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Avery half sized sheet protectors</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It turned out really well because there were 15 sheet protectors in the pack and I had 14 dividers plus my mission statement. I wanted pretty dividers so I designed the dividers to match the front cover. Then I slipped 2 copies into each page protector so that it would be double sided and a little firmer. I made tabs that fold in half so I could see them from both sides, and then I just used packing tape to attach them to the page protector. The tabs download has both the tabs for the HMN and for my Bill Pay binder. I apologise for that. I included a blank background for the dividers, and also a background with a blank square in case you like my dividers but the names of your sections are different than mine. There's also a page that I intended to be my back cover. I ended up not being able to use it since there's no clear view pocket on the back of this particular binder, but I really liked it, so I chose to just leave it there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lastly, here are some links to </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Business-Card-Holders-Looseleaf-Planners/dp/B000RZNII4/ref=sr_1_12?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1328588152&sr=1-12" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">business card holders</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> similar to the ones I purchased, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I didn't see</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/041-152-Runner-Business-Credit-Holder/dp/B003I61CRI/ref=pd_sbs_op_3" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> this one</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> before, but I think I like it better!) </span>and the</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Day-Timer-Vinyl-Pouch-Inches-D87219B/dp/B00007LP00/ref=pd_sbs_op_1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">clear zippered pouch.</span></a>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-69128350129218655962012-01-31T21:42:00.000-08:002012-02-06T20:40:43.894-08:00Home Management Notebook Pages: Calendar and Daily Docket<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthUNr63pPyD4ATKnGFejH4RN6yTDNC4jbVLfiF8VMTv0W-RyVYKfnNXO8xK1msuvhbevgH8lkTUVtrqFk12oFfTsn_5-M6-usPzysyLEBMi8FQllzzYYLnRdL7v2KS987zn4BjHPPGVew/s1600/important+dates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthUNr63pPyD4ATKnGFejH4RN6yTDNC4jbVLfiF8VMTv0W-RyVYKfnNXO8xK1msuvhbevgH8lkTUVtrqFk12oFfTsn_5-M6-usPzysyLEBMi8FQllzzYYLnRdL7v2KS987zn4BjHPPGVew/s400/important+dates.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=j650*-UtZ4xDOc13doGvkw" target="_blank">Click here to dowload Important Dates template</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of my dividers are double sided. In other words, they say the name of the section and have the same design on each side (which you can see and dowload in the <a href="http://healthandhappenings.blogspot.com/2012/02/home-management-notebook-skeleton.html" target="_blank">Skeleton section</a>) But here I chose to use the back side of the divider to house my Important Dates overview. I made this one from scratch, finding nothing I really wanted to emulate. It may be difficult to see here, and I apologise for the glare, but there are 4 columns. The first two have the header {birthdays} and the second two are headed by {anniversaries} There is a triple divider between. Then each of the columns has 6 sections, each labeled by one month of the year. Then I simply filled in the dates that pertain to my family. The download is blank and unfortunately, I'm not sure how to make it a typeable document, so either you can handwrite your dates, or you can modify it in whatever word processing document you have on your computer.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm02eB119GLJMrhkaxV87oQn8Cn2z-7SG9h8FQMmI7-70tgtvFblLPfo4PsIS2Gkq0BeAvwqFSAaMme_T4UlzTEJe1e-uunere5IVB4sU6aYhs6YQOtOa0M_ITQmI-iKB4XSaF2mL4FXv0/s1600/calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm02eB119GLJMrhkaxV87oQn8Cn2z-7SG9h8FQMmI7-70tgtvFblLPfo4PsIS2Gkq0BeAvwqFSAaMme_T4UlzTEJe1e-uunere5IVB4sU6aYhs6YQOtOa0M_ITQmI-iKB4XSaF2mL4FXv0/s400/calendar.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=UrZyPUj2e5BH7Rt459TMzg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here to download the 2012 Calendar</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I couldn't find a calendar that I really liked. At first I was going to use the one from Life...Your Way, but then I realized I needed a little more than just a few squares with numbers in them if this was really going to work for me. I also didn't like having to turn my binder sideways to look at the calendar properly. I needed a 2 page spread, which is what I created here. This Calendar might take a little getting used to, since I started it on Monday and both Saturday and Sunday are on the right, but that's how my life works, so that's how I laid it out. Feel free to download it or not, and tweak it as you wish. I included lines for notes or reminders at the bottom and an eighth column at the right to remind me of important dates coming up next month, such as birthdays and anniversaries (to buy and send cards) or holidays or if Nathan has to go out of town or whatever. Especially if they're at the beginning of the month I hate turning the page and realizing that I've forgotten something important and I'm completely unprepared. For example, My In-laws' wedding anniversary is April 1st! That card definitely needs to go out mid to late March, and so on. All US holidays are in the appropriate date box. I opted to leave off Jewish and Canadian holidays because neither of them pertain to me as well as things like Rosh Hoshanna. No offense if you celebrate them. Quick side note: I wasn't sure if I was going to include my Daily dockets <em>between</em> the months or have all the months together and then have the Daily Dockets behind. If you want to have your monthly calendars together and your printer can do double sided printing, print out page 1 first, by itself. then print the remaining pages double sided. That way you won't have blank pages between, and you'll be able to see your entire 2 page spread for a single month all at once. It will use less paper that way, too! :)</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5BzBNNI6wmmPuCoOj7rKkng6WRnlRtJtYmBJJtf8bNyf-Ec8P6gcH1t4brVPpCWnKYHFvjDW2427IRGZ5yolc95wLFSZexyGwjZnQ4yLXdMb7UY00E0WN2AebcIohLVkODW-r9kVRbmB/s1600/daily+docket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5BzBNNI6wmmPuCoOj7rKkng6WRnlRtJtYmBJJtf8bNyf-Ec8P6gcH1t4brVPpCWnKYHFvjDW2427IRGZ5yolc95wLFSZexyGwjZnQ4yLXdMb7UY00E0WN2AebcIohLVkODW-r9kVRbmB/s400/daily+docket.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://acrobat.com/#d=B7TfPB8*NjmIsLntasTV*A" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here to download my Daily Docket</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my daily docket. I stole it from</span><a href="http://simplemom.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/daily-docket-example.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Simple Mom</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, but changed a few things. If you want to see hers just follow that link up there. :) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of all is my TO DO list for the day, it may be things from my Master To Do list, phone calls and errands Nathan has asked for my help on, or something from my calendar, etc. As <a href="http://simplemom.net/" target="_blank">Tsh</a> points out on her blog, the important thing is to keep the list short--no more than 10 things in addition to my daily routines--it's less overwhelming that way, and I'm more likely to actually feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with <em>finishing</em> my to do list for the day. Then I go through and pick out the 3 most important things. Things that absolutely<strong><em> MUST </em></strong>get done <strong><em>today</em></strong> and put them on the Most Important Things list at the top of the page. Requests that Nathan has made are usually at the top. Since his Love Language is Acts of Service, part of my efforts to show my love in tangible ways is to make sure his requests are a priority.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a space to write down what's for dinner <em>today</em> and what's for dinner <em>tomorrow</em> to keep me mindful of what I need to do for prep work. Maybe I need to soak some beans or get some meat out of the freezer or whatever. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm trying to start memorizing a scripture verse a week or a passage in a month or two, depending on the length so since I look at the docket several times daily, I included a space for scripture. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a section titled "reminders" for things from my personal growth goals or maybe something I'm trying to work on with one of the boys. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The small box in the center helps me to be mindful of health and fitness. I find I have to force myself to drink especially in the winter. I never have enough to drink in a day, so I included 8 little pictures of water glasses that I can cross off to remind me do get my 8 glassses a day. Under "workout" I can plan my excercise deliberately. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in case of an appointment or two, or a bunch--depending on the day-- I included a section for appointments or a general plan of what time I'd like to start certain routines or whatever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, there's a "notes" section at the bottom for when the phone rings or if I think of something or whatever. Then later I can transfer the important stuff that needs to be saved to the other sections.</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-42328764450778029792012-01-23T11:05:00.002-08:002012-03-25T19:28:13.508-07:00Home Management Notebook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwwXd7DhFQw7kT0EBIWcTpQjfaN5i-7x7pFYsscB46N5U5OVcsclXo9AYkn1yKgbMESRJdKYK0rT_0WgmhYXSej3J_VjeMP4gRs977nnKIAFwNABHntAUlrIKg5SklFV-q7KlvoSB7fgpy/s1600/hmn+front+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwwXd7DhFQw7kT0EBIWcTpQjfaN5i-7x7pFYsscB46N5U5OVcsclXo9AYkn1yKgbMESRJdKYK0rT_0WgmhYXSej3J_VjeMP4gRs977nnKIAFwNABHntAUlrIKg5SklFV-q7KlvoSB7fgpy/s320/hmn+front+cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you follow any organizing or homekeeping type blogs, you've probably heard of a Home Management Notebook (or Homemaking Journal or Family Binder) there are a dozen names for them. So, this won't really be a new idea to you, but I'm going to share mine with you, because it's such a huge part of how I plan to meet my goals for the New Year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have always loved planners. They're so cute. They're for organized people, which I desperately want to be I can really waste some time looking at them online and in Office Supply Stores! I've bought a handful of them over the years, and I always <em>intend</em> to use them, but it lasts a couple weeks, maybe and then I put them aside. They're not designed for me. I don't have bunches of <em>daily</em> <em>appointments</em> I'm a mom, and before that I was a student. I had class schedules that were pretty unvarying, and a set work schedule. I <em>have</em> always been a list maker, but I don't have much interest in handwriting a bunch of phone numbers and addresses in the back of my planner every time I get a new one, so that was a huge waste of space. I would always look at the daily planning sheets and think of ways I could change it to make it usable for me, but I never actually thought I could <em>do</em> <em>that. </em>With the Home Management Notebook, I can! The great thing about these Journals is that I can tailor them completely to suit what <em>I</em> need. In most ways, I think my HMN is pretty similar to most you will see out there; but it differs in a couple of important ways</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I recently read a statistic that basically said every one minute you spend on organization will save you 10 minutes down the road. I believe it!! If I take the time to sit down in the morning and make a list of things that need to be done that day, most of them will get crossed off. If I just take things as they come, nothing gets done! So I took an inventory of all the hats I wear. I was not being truly efficient in all of those roles! Sometimes I find myself staring into space wondering where to start. Which is the most important? Should I start "A" or "B" first? Which will take longer? It's kind of discouraging when I lose track of time, or when I completely forget about the phone call Nathan asked me to make until he walks in the door at night. Mental clutter. I'm trying to store everything that needs to be done, what time, details in my brain, and then on top of that there are the things that I really <em>would like </em>to do. No wonder my husband teases me about being so forgetful. I really would forget my head if it weren't attached, sometimes!So, the number one reason for making this Home Management Notebook was ... to make me a better, more efficient home manager. That's my job, after all! The best way to do that is to keep everything all in one spot so that I always know exactly where to find what I need.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The first difference in my HMN is that it is only part of a larger system. I'll go more into that later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Probably the main difference between my HMN and others that I've looked at is size. I've seen them from 1" to 2" binders. The problem I see with that, is they're too bulky to carry around. I want to be able to have mine on hand at all times so that when something comes to mind, I can write it down before I forget ... because I <em>will</em> forget! Or if someone calls me on the phone, I can take notes -- even if I'm not at home. Or if I'm chatting with one of my girlfriends at church and we want to set up a coffee date, or a playdate, or ... whatever, I can check my schedule and/or write stuff down right then. So, instead of a conventional 1" or 2" binder, I opted for 5.5" by 8.5" binder with 1" rings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This posed a bit of a problem, since about all the printables available either for free, or to purchase online are 8.5"X11". So I made my own. Basically, I found a look that I liked on <a href="http://printables.yourway.net/" target="_blank">Life ... Your Way</a> and imitated it. Actually, I downloaded all of the forms from there that I felt pertained to me and used them as models. I copied them pretty closely, but with a few minor alterations and in a smaller size.Then I took other forms that I liked and did the same, modifying the fonts and such so that they matched. It might not be a big deal for some, but I wanted a theme in my binder, not just random forms. Anyway, they will be up here on my blog for<a href="http://healthandhappenings.blogspot.com/2012/03/home-management-notebook-downloads-and.html"> free download</a> very soon. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It's important for everyone to come up with their own categories that will work for their specific needs, but here is what I came up with. This is a general overview, later I'll put links with pictures.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The very first page in my HMN is my <a href="http://www.healthandhappenings.blogspot.com/2012/01/do-you-have-mission-statement.html" target="_blank">Mission Statement</a>. I keep it here as a visual reminder every time I open my notebook -- several times a day -- of the best version of myself, and who I am trying to become. The whole reason for having the notebook in the first place!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://healthandhappenings.blogspot.com/2012/01/home-management-notebook-pages-calendar.html" target="_blank">Calendar:</a> Here I keep a simple monthly calendar with Holidays. It has a column on the far right side for important dates coming up in the next month and an area for notes at the bottom. I also keep my daily dockets in this section. And a list of birthdays and anniversaries by month.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Routines: this is invaluable to me. Instead of a set schedule for every day, I need felxibility, but I can't keep the clutter of the daily mundane in my head, or little things will get over looked. A lot of my ideas for this section came from the <a href="http://flylady.net/">FlyLady.</a> A few others came from Pinterest :).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Menus: Here I keep my master meal plans, monthly meal plans, and daily meal plans with shopping list.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Planning: My master to do list, you know, as well as lists of projects I want to complete. I have them categorized by crafting, home improvement & decorating, and personal growth goals (this includes spiritual growth). I also have a list titled Christmas in July. I'll have a post on that later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Shopping: this is just where I store extra copies of my simple, two column shopping lists.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Notes: Agan, very simple, but I want to have everything in one place. I'm sick of bits of paper here and there and never being able to find the one I need!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Cleaning: This is my cleaning routine. Again, I will have a post later on how this works for me. I took several ideas for this section from <a href="http://flylady.net/" target="_blank">FlyLady</a> as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Maintenance: Here's where I keep a written record of maintenance done to the van, and to the house. So when something comes up, I know exactly where to find out what we've had done, when, how much it cost, and who did it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Inventories: I'm keeping an inventory of my pantry and freezer so I never run out of staples, and so that I don't buy duplicates. A quick check to these lists when I'm making my shopping lists will keep me from wasting money, or from frustration when I go to make a mean, only to discover I don't have what I thought I did. Also in this section I will eventually have a complete inventory of clothing that I have for the boys, so if I run across some good sales or a great yard sale, I'll be able to purchase exactly what I need rather than guessing and trying to remember -- more mental clutter!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Garden: Right now this is empty, but I hope to fill it with plans for a vegetable garden, frost dates in spring and fall, and flowers and shrubs that worked and those that didn't.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Blogging: Blogging by the seat of my pants didn't work. It's more mental clutter and I would constantly come up with ideas for blog posts, then forget what they were before I had a chance to write them. Here I keep a comprehensive list of ideas. I'll share my form with you later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Account Info: This one I went back and forth on for quite a while, I wasn't sure I wanted to keep it in something I carry everywhere, but I need it with me in case I'm out. I you struggle with remembering all my user names and passwords for websites that I use? I'm afraid to ever change them for fear I'll forget what they are and I tend to use the same 2 or 3 for everything. More mental clutter trying to remember all that stuff all the time! I keep another copy in my Bill Pay Binder just in case my HMN is ever lost or stolen, I can quickly change all my passwords and not worry so much about hackers and identity thieves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Financial: I'm tracking my spending for a while so I can figure out exactly where the money I'm spending is going. We've done this before and it is really effective. I have a really good budget on <a href="http://mint.com/">mint.com</a> which I highly recommend, but sometimes I end up wondering how I went over in "that category" or forget that iIbought this or that. I also think we might have need for a few additional categories in our budget. This is a means to an end and temporary or intermittent, but I think it's important to keep it available if we ever need it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Contacts: I bought a few pages of business card holders for day planners. They fit perfectly in here so that when we find a contractor we like I can just stick his business card in there and I know who to call if I have a problem! I thought about keeping my Christmas card list here, but I think I'll opt for a shorter list of people I send mail to often. I keep important phone numbers in my cell, so I have absolutely no need for phone numbers, but I usually find myself texting someone at the P.O. when I need to send a letter or a package, and it sure would be useful not to have to do that all the time. <br />
Also, I have a clear zippered pouch in the back for coupons. I don't do a whole lot of couponing, b/c most coupons are for things I don't buy. But I do save coupons for things like toothbrushes and razors, so that when there's a sale I can stock up. That's something I don't feel like I should ever pay full price for. I also get the coupon booklets from Earth Fare, and there are usually a few things in there I'll buy. So I keep them in the notebook and have them available at all times.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Last couple of things: I bought some of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pen-Pal-Holders-Assorted-PENPAL-BP3/dp/B005HTU45U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327335979&sr=8-1" target="_blank">these nifty pen holders</a> and mounted one to the inside back cover of my binder so that I always have a pen. (side note: I do wish I had mounted it to the inside <em>front</em> cover of the binder!). No more hunting all over the house for a pen everytime I need to write something down! I treated myself to pack of<a href="http://www.target.com/p/5-pk-Write-Dudes-Medium-Ballpoint-Pen/-/A-13603709" target="_blank"> these really cute pens</a>. This is mommy's pen and no one else touches it! I also found this cute miniature clip board in the $1 section at target, and I slipped it inside the pocket on the front cover of my binder. Then I mounted it there permanently with double sided tape, so it won't fall out. This holds the shopping list I'm using currently, and right now it is holding some oversized reciepts for work we had done on the house and car recently, until I get to filing them in my Bill Binder for future reference.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://healthandhappenings.blogspot.com/2012/02/home-management-notebook-skeleton.html" target="_blank">Here's how I put it all together</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> Do you have a Home Management Notebook? How does it serve you?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-46484295133973213742012-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:002012-01-16T07:47:43.113-08:00Do You Have a Mission Statement?<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: orange;">As I was putting together my new system for a fresh start I had lots of ideas that I had pulled together from here, there, and everywhere, but it lacked <em>direction</em>! I knew that if I was going to make a system that would really, actually work for me, I needed to know where I was going, but all I had were vague ideas and transient, dream-like aspirations ... that is until I read</span> </span><a href="http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2011/12/give-yourself-a-new-years-planning-retreat.html;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">this post</span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;">;</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: orange;">at one of my </span><em><span style="color: orange;">very favorite blogs</span> -- </em></span></span><a href="http://www.keeperofthehome.org/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keeper of the Home</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. <span style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A light went on! Now, I didn't actually give myself a planning <em>retreat</em>.<em> </em>But I did carve out a few hours on a couple of different days and make myself a mission statement. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I loved the idea as soon as I heard it, but honestly I had no way to go about it. Lucky for me,</span> </span><a href="http://inspiredtoaction.com/;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kat @ Inspired to action</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;"> has a free e-book :</span><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span><a href="http://inspiredtoaction.com/resources/free-mission-statements-for-moms-ebook/"><span style="color: #783f04;">mission statements for moms</span></a><span style="color: orange;"> that I took full advantage of.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I love this quote from the book "Having a mission statement is like having the best version of yourself beside you on your worst days, encouraging you to press on and pointing to the goal." How great is that? So when you make your mission statement, don't worry about how</span> <em>doable</em> it seems, just set your loftiest goals out there! If you don't aim high, you'll never attain. And you're not setting yourself up for failure, because it's not about getting it all done at once. Remember, this is not your New Years resolution, this is the mission statement for your life. It's everything you ever want to be in all your roles, beneath all those hats you wear, you superwoman, you!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kat includes several examples of mission statements that other women have written, as well as her own, to serve as inspiration to you. I don't mind telling you, that even though I had plenty I wanted to say, I was having trouble wording it just so, and I <em>shamelessly</em> copied a few phrases from other women. I tweaked them a bit later, but there's nothing wrong with that, as long as the end product is <em>your</em> personal goals. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mission statement is the very first page in my Home Management Notebook, and it is the backbone of everything that will follow on my blog this year. So here it is for your perusal.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 11pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #92d050; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">With the grace and help of God</span>,<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As a Christian</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">,<span style="color: #92d050;"> </span>I pledge to make Jesus my first priority and be more like Him so that my life will testify of Him in all that I do; to regularly and faithfully intercede on the behalf of others; and to cultivate a heart of gratitude daily.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As a Wife</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">, I pledge to nurture my marriage by showing Nathan my love and respect in tangible ways, and allowing myself to be vulnerable with him. I pledge to listen well, submit to his authority, and make his requests a priority; I pledge not to set him up for failure with unreasonable expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As a Mother</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">, I pledge to embrace this season of my life as a blessing while my children are still young, and I am still their whole world; to delight in my children, taking time for fun, and showing them grace and loving, consistent, merciful discipline; to raise my boys to be selfless, joyful, productive men who will cherish their wives and glorify God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As a Teacher</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">, I pledge to learn alongside my children; to give them a good working knowledge of themselves and the world, and how they are to relate to it; and to patiently instill in them a love of learning that will allow them to grow intellectually, and give them confidence to fulfill the call of God in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As a Keeper At Home</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">, I pledge to create and maintain a clean, peaceful and beautiful home sanctuary to welcome family and visitors alike, and to practice generous hospitality; I pledge to save money wherever possible, while providing delicious, healthy, nourishing food for my family; and to engage in regular exercise and creative activities that help me feel motivated, invigorated and renewed.</span></span></div></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, that's it. Put it in a prominent place and live with it for a while. Make sure you love it. Then we'll talk about how to use it to set your goals or New Years Resolutions based on what the most important things are in your life.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you already have a mission statement or something<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"> similar</span>? How does it help you in your daily life and in your goal setting?</span> </span></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-41262289358890929452012-01-10T05:38:00.000-08:002012-01-10T05:44:25.426-08:00Resolutions<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy New Year! I know, I'm a little late, but it's better late than never, I always say! :D Have you made any new years resolutions? I know I have!! And some of them pertain to this blog. In case you haven't noticed, I've been away from the blog since mid-August. There are plenty of reasons for that -- some of them having to do with my computer going completely haywire ... some not. Suffice it to say I've got ideas and I'm about to roll with 'em! I am pledging to you right now that I will post something bi-weekly, <em><strong>at the very least</strong></em>, every month this year, and Lord willing, more often than that!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So, resolutions. They're a big thing this time of year, but honestly, in a few weeks, most have already fallen off the bandwagon. Most have to do with losing a tremendous ammount of weight or "getting healthy" with no real game plan. But as Dave Ramsey says "a goal without a plan is just a dream". I haven't made too many New Years resolutions over the course of my life. I don't really know why. But particularly in the last couple of years it seems very important to take this fresh year and make a fresh start. It doesn't have to be a new year to make a fresh start, so if you're reading this in July, now is as good a time as any! Jump in! :) Anyway, this year is especially so, since I'm starting my year (well, february is close enough!) in a new home. At the beginning of November, my husband was transferred to Alabama, so we've been in a state of limbo for a while here. He's travelling during the week and coming home on the weekends; we're selling a house here in TN and looking for a new one over there. Nothing feels permanent and I am <em>so</em> ready for my fresh start! But I'll tell you one thing, I don't want to get overwhelmed with all that I have to do and give up. I also don't want to go to the other extreme and not even make a goal. So I have been doing a lot of reading and research over the last months (and really this was in the works before -- but the move, and new year amplified everything) and I've been working on a system to keep me organized and on track. And I'm going to be sharing it with you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">You see, when I started this blog I had high aspirations of losing weight and getting fit. I had a sort-of plan, but it pertained only to that specific portion of my life and didn't take into account everything else that I already have going on. It didn't work out, because I simply couldn't figure out a way to fit it into my already hectic, crazy life. And that's where my new system comes in! Next post I'll share the first part of that with you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">What are some of your resolutions? And how do you plan to stick with them? I'd love to be inspired by you!</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-63096010368786275582011-08-16T07:43:00.001-07:002011-08-23T12:27:22.083-07:00Keeping it Together<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life as a homemaker is sort of overwhelming. Especially if you're a homeschooling mother, or a stay-at-home mom trying to work a job from home, but let's face it, even if "all you do" is stay home with your preschool kids, that is a monumental task. You're investing in lives that you hope will make a difference in the world someday. You hope they'll reach others for Christ, that they'll get decent jobs, be contributing members of society. You pray that they will be lovers of Jesus, that they'll make a difference. But right now, it's hard to see past the oatmeal sticking to the pot in the sink as you build a puzzle with your little one. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there are those who work a full time job outside the home, and wonder where they can make time to spend with their families while still keeping an orderly home, and finding something nutritious to put on the table every night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finally came to the conclusion a few months ago that staying home with my kids is not "all I do" It is a full time job and I am on call 24/7. And on top of that I need to manage to find time to do my other full time job: cook, clean, and keep house. And not just any cooking, I care tremendously about what goes into the little bodies I'm growing. I need to prepare healthful food to satisfy my conscience. Mess, dirt and clutter bug me, but not as much as they bother my husband when he comes home from a stressful day at work, so I need to find time to do the things that are important for Nathan to see when he walks in the door everyday too. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To top that off, there are the little things that I notice need to be done as I'm flying from one thing to the next during the day, but don't have time to stop and fix right then and there. Take the flowers in the front that need to be deadheaded. It irritates me everytime I walk past that garden to go out somewhere or when I come back home, but as soon as I get inside it's completly forgotten in the thick of all I have to do indoors. And my blog, which I am passionate about, but don't do nearly enough with! I wish I could carve out at least an extra hour per day to spend working on this. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, last but certainly not least my third job: the one room school house I run. A daily adventure is that! There are so many books and binders and activities for all levels I had to find a way to make it all streamlined and orderly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, how in the world are we moms supposed to keep it all together?? I'm working on some ideas that, so far, are helping me stay on track. It's my binder system. It started out as simply an idea for a Home Management Binder, and that is the backbone of the system, but also included are my Daily Working Binder, and my Student Evaluation Binder (which are my homeschool sanity) and my Prayer Journal; because what's a mom, or a wife, or a teacher without some daily guidance from above? As well as a Recipe Binder. In the next several posts I will be revealing the system I created. Most of the ideas were stolen from here and there and tweaked to serve my needs. I hope you might find this useful as well and tweak my ideas to meet your specific household dilemmas. Stay tuned for ideas and pictures!</span><br />
<div style="clear: both; font-size: xx-small; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9</span></div>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-1761990491369294372011-06-30T12:13:00.001-07:002011-06-30T18:13:17.295-07:00True Confessions<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5VU0I_O1RR9WV6qSDi5gUQxMijrT3MK7lUs2mtRacLQZBFNxP6vjCw_GqsJnS-vL4AZWwaf974aSIBc-DM9zrDoW97XAYL2BhiouzNWK2nJWNainEp5mbsY2WwG9OYPRhBs7cGdhtOg5/s1600/thumbnailCA8QU0IU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5VU0I_O1RR9WV6qSDi5gUQxMijrT3MK7lUs2mtRacLQZBFNxP6vjCw_GqsJnS-vL4AZWwaf974aSIBc-DM9zrDoW97XAYL2BhiouzNWK2nJWNainEp5mbsY2WwG9OYPRhBs7cGdhtOg5/s1600/thumbnailCA8QU0IU.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been avoiding my blog. I've been avoiding it because I don't want to think about food, or the grocery store. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B004HFRJCG&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 18px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 8px;"></iframe></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started out really excited about some things that were going on, and some decisions I had made, but I've gotten discouraged. Turns out the meals in Eat Fat, Lose Fat are just too expensive to make. Turns out eating a tablespoon of coconut oil an our before I eat a meal makes my stomach feel heavy, but not full. Turns out it's really hard to find time to work out and run, even on a treadmill, with a 2 year old who is into EVERYTHING and can no longer be contained by a pack'n'play. So,even though I didn't want to give up, I did--until I could think up a new plan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been winging it in the kitchen. I get very overwhelmed at the thought of preparing dinne,r or any meal for that matter, because nothing in my pantry seems to go together. I had thought I would get together a list of 21 healthy, nutrient dense meals that would work in our budget; and have a rotating 3 week schedule so I would always know what to buy. HA! All I came up with were soups from my sister, most of which sounded delicious, but required somewhat exotic ingredients that I did not have in my pantry, and which I did not have room to store in my bitty, side-by-side, counter-depth freezer once they were made. Not to mention the fact that my husband does not consider soup a meal without a sandwich. *note that somewhat exotic ingredients nowadays includes ground beef and stew meat and almost anything that is not regularly on B1G1 sales at Publix and Bilo. So, I went back to letting Nathan do his game show shopping and hope I can come up with something to make out of it every night. Right now I am looking at my freezer and pantry. I see boneless skinless chicken tenderloins, 2 tuna steaks, a bag of bay scallops in the freezer; and a whole bunch of spaghetti sauce and crushed tomatoes in the pantry, but no pasta. hmmm</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">m what should I make? See what I mean? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I have another plan! I WILL conquer this discouragement. And here's how. I read 2 posts at Keeper of the Home this week. Both were on eating healthy on a budget. One included 3 full weeks worth of meals (breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner), recipes included where necessary, that she said could be made on a food stamps budget of $167/week. (I guess that's how much money you get to spend on groceries when you're on Food Stamps-I wouldn't know) Unfortunately I only get $100/week and she didn't soak grains or anything. So that was out. The next day there was another post about making meals ahead so you always have someting ready. Now that was good. She sourced a few different sites where she found recipes. And that is my starting point. I'm not quite there yet, but so far I have decided to make triple batches of a soaked flour pancake batter and freeze them with freezer paper between so they can be thrown in the toaster for breakfasts on weekday mornings, make ahead sausage, egg and cheese biscuits for Nathan to grab in the morning, try my own granola bars for snacks, and attempt again to get a 3 week rotation of meals 2/week in the crock pot. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also have a new plan for exercising. we have a pretty big walk-in closet, and my treadmill folds up out of the way. So, I'm moving the treadmill in there. Typically no one has been getting up around here until between 7 and 7:30, but you know, good ol' Murphy always comes to visit in times like these. So I'm instituting a rule my little sister thought up. No one is allowed out of their rooms until I turn on the hall light. This way I can set my alarm for 5:30, have 30 minutes for quiet time, 30 min to run on the treadmill/ or do a weight routine and 20-30 more min to get showered and dressed. Then I will be clean and ready to face my munchkins armed with Jesus, and endorphins. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, here's hopin'! I'll write again sooner than later. :)</span><br />
<div style="clear: both; font-size: xx-small; text-align: center;">Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9</div>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-59550509935656204542011-04-21T08:14:00.000-07:002011-04-21T08:15:21.390-07:00Nip It In the Bud. A Thought On Discipline<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRDzpLYGWxVl1oNKafGiiRI1eyyCz1wi2DTMAIzo7ry_O2PzfGWWjlbXUD_402hQpANiIFSBiIqfiZkyZ60fsU3tlBeEIidz-oGAkVEbGuYd69uLCKaSZ-RNYg5ICFyxakO_1QeKh9VGt/s1600/holding+hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRDzpLYGWxVl1oNKafGiiRI1eyyCz1wi2DTMAIzo7ry_O2PzfGWWjlbXUD_402hQpANiIFSBiIqfiZkyZ60fsU3tlBeEIidz-oGAkVEbGuYd69uLCKaSZ-RNYg5ICFyxakO_1QeKh9VGt/s1600/holding+hands.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lately here I've been thinking it's about time to put my toddler in a toddler bed. I've been dreading it because , as I told my husband, I just <em>know</em> he's going to get out and I'm going to have to spank him. A lot. And I don't really want to right now. But, I had no choice when he started hanging out on the front rail of the crib just because he could. So we took off the front of the crib and put on the toddler bed rail. Then we took a video of his first impression of his new bed. At first he didn't see it, then we could barely get him off of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, I had this picture in my mind of my hard headed, strong willed 22 month old getting out of bed repeatedly every night from now until kingdom come! Fortunately, God is merciful to me, a sinner. And even when I don't pray about the piddly stuff He comes to my aid. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had the thought to sit at the top of the stairs just outsided his bedroom door with my trusty "spankin' hose" and the first time he climbed out I was in there as soon as his feet hit the floor. No warnings just a swat to his upper thigh. Not too hard, but enough to sting a bit and leave a mental impression. He got out once more. I met him with the same swift swat and that was it. Nap time was in the pack'n'play next day but I sat at the top of the stairs the next night too. Turns out I didn't have to. Not once has that child climbed out of that bed since. And not only that, he doesn't get out on his own in the morning either. He simply sits cheerfully in his bed talking to himself until I come to get him. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only was this good for Wyatt, but it was good for the middle two as well. They are both great at making up excuses to get out of bed. We are usually too lazy to go up there each time and typically warn them until we're angry. Then one of us will go up and yell (we don't spank if we're angry. When we spank we want it to be in love not anger) But being that I was already up there I just hopped up and swatted them too. Just a couple of nights of consistent discipline and bedtime in our house is a much more pleasant experience for everyone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing is, this is something I already know. I just fail to practice it the way I should. Call it laziness. Call it distraction. It's probably some of both. Regardless, I forget how well it works! This is what Michael Pearl calls "training". The idea is that you set up a situation in which you know you child is bound to fail, then you sit back and wait for him to do it. Not that you get a chance to spank, but so you get a chance to teach them what is and is not acceptable behavior before they have to discover it for themselves and recieve discipline for it. The child learns the meaning of the word "no", he learns what is not tolerated, and above all he learns self control. Rather than catching your young child in the act and explaining that it is not ok only to catch him at it again, at which point you wonder if he understood; you set up a situation where you are ready and waiting. As soon as he acts you reprove him repeatedly until you are sure he understands, and he no longer attempts to engage in that behavior. Then if you catch him at it you know that he knows he is wrong whether or not he can verbalize it. In good conscience you can spank him, just hard enough, and be pretty sure he is not going to do that again. If you don't set up training sessions and catch him in the act, he may have already been enjoying himself for quite some time, thinking everything is fine. Imagine his surprise when you show up and take away his fun. He's only going to look for another opportunity. But if before he has a chance to enjoy said behavior, just as he is reaching for it he recieves a quick swat and a gentle "no", he will relate that activity or thing and the word "no" with the pain of that swat and exercise self control in the future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like to combine this principle with the Ezzo's principal of parenting inside the funnle in which you allow only the mobility and freedoms your child is able to developmentally handle. I make good use of my pack'n'play when I can't be attentive to the youngest, but even so he's getting bigger and I've been lax in my training. I've got my work cut out for me!</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-10743539003468461732011-04-09T20:13:00.000-07:002011-04-09T20:13:40.347-07:00A Small Problem<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuUsxW8gIgs7vulE4Alf1QoMWwvBrMGZ3maIMPkOoyliavZqgNpM-hcoGOJIJiJLpZ1JKRIezA5jzBuCx7OJznKxZO3KikJYGA9bTtoDEDXbqRPeL-CYoI66n7hxYQUHarvl1_pW2-PKtS/s1600/cereal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuUsxW8gIgs7vulE4Alf1QoMWwvBrMGZ3maIMPkOoyliavZqgNpM-hcoGOJIJiJLpZ1JKRIezA5jzBuCx7OJznKxZO3KikJYGA9bTtoDEDXbqRPeL-CYoI66n7hxYQUHarvl1_pW2-PKtS/s1600/cereal.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been running into a bit of an issue in the kitchen lately. Namely my zeal exceeds my skill and my pocketbook. I just wrote a post on the importance of soaking and souring our grains (and legumes) for consumption in order to get the most from them. The problem is this: when wheat (or spelt, kamut, rye......) is ground into flour the nutrients immediately start to break down, so buying even organic flour in the store is practically worthless. I don't want to exclude grains, but I can't justify buying an expensive grinder yet. To me it would be a foolish purchase without experience in breadmaking first. But what is the point in making bread when you know that there are few benefits to be had?</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I finally had to make the decision that something is better than nothing. I can exclude things all day, but if I can't replace them with better things, there's no point. All we'll do is starve. So, I'll use store bought flour and prove to myself that I can do it. I'll get the hang of the processes and the time it takes, and when I'm confident and I've saved enough, I'll buy a grinder.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A main concern I've had is breakfast. Cold cereal, even Kashi or Annies organics cereals are formed by a dangerous process called extrusion, which makes the pretty shapes and flakes. So we cut out cereal, but that has really messed with our schedule. Eggs are a great breakfast for the weekends, but on school mornings we need something without a lot of prep work or clean up. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the definition of and reasons for food extrusion by Ohio State University:</span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Extrusion is defined as "shaping by force through a specially designed opening often after previous heating of the material." Extrusion is the continuous forming of plastic or soft materials through a die. Several types of extruders include ram or piston types and screw or worm types (Harper, 1981).</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooking extrusion combines the heating of food products with the act of extrusion to create a cooked and shaped food product and is a process in which moistened, starchy, proteinaceous foods are cooked and worked into a viscous, plastic-like dough. The results of cooking the food ingredients during extrusion are:</span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 ) gelatinization of starch </span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) denaturation of protein </span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) inactivation of raw food enzymes </span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) destruction of naturally occurring toxic substances </span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) diminishing of microbial counts in the final product.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Upon discharge through the die, the hot, plastic extrudate expands rapidly with loss of moisture and heat because of sudden decrease in pressure. After expansion cooling, and drying, the extruded product develops a rigid structure and maintains a porous texture.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Advantages of food extrusion are versatility, high productivity, low cost, product shapes, high product quality, energy efficiency, production of new foods, and no effluents or waste.</span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition, the extrusion process renders these foods toxic. So, I made cereal yesterday. Once I made the decision is was easy to do. I got the recipe from Eat Fat, Lose Fat. The boys haven't tasted it yet, but I'm optimistic. :)</span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sources:</span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eat Fat Lose Fat</span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nourishing Traditions</span></div><div align="justify" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div align="justify"><a href="http://class.fst.ohio-state.edu/FST401/401%20product/Lab%20Projects%202002/puffs.htm"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://class.fst.ohio-state.edu/FST401/401%20product/Lab%20Projects%202002/puffs.htm</span></a></div>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-6408418207921909802011-04-09T19:07:00.000-07:002011-04-09T19:07:07.542-07:00Starting with Sourdough<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucSLfAB9-zmnQD-q780I2cyWK7OyO7F8x4osw0PF-FX3JK1bwmuMUM-vNZIJf7kkQSmBz4k8j5OaM7WDk2xy5osEufvSXMF758B9y43a2j56ryN_Eh0ubexOIGMggYSwp32SbL-5VSi4t/s1600/bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucSLfAB9-zmnQD-q780I2cyWK7OyO7F8x4osw0PF-FX3JK1bwmuMUM-vNZIJf7kkQSmBz4k8j5OaM7WDk2xy5osEufvSXMF758B9y43a2j56ryN_Eh0ubexOIGMggYSwp32SbL-5VSi4t/s1600/bread.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've decided I'm going to try my hand at bread making again. Sourdough is the way they used to make bread before the advent of packaged yeast. It's the way Caroline Ingalls fed her family. It's old fashioned so it appeals to me immediately. I'm an old fashioned kinda gal--ask anyone who knows me :) So I just ordered a sourdough starter from </span><a href="http://carlsfriends.net/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Friends of Carl"</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Friends of Carl is an organization that carries on the tradition of Carl Griffith who gave away, free of charge, a bit of the sourdough starter which came from a sourdough culture carefully nurtured and preserved in his family for over 150 years. It is the same starter his family brought with them on the Oregon Trail in 1847. I love a bit of history :) besides, it's free! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made an attempt at sourdough bread before, but I think I fed it wrong and it died. My bread started turning out pretty badly so I threw it out. But recently I discovered </span><a href="http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.html"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sourdough Home</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Mike is very thorough and reading through this site has given me the confidence to think that maybe I can do this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, nowadays nutritionists urge us to eat whole, unrefined grains--a very smart idea! Refined grains contain little to no nutritional value. Because all the nutrients are stripped out during processing they now "enrich" white flour with synthetic vitamins which aren't much better, I assure you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A look at Egyptian mummies and hieroglyphs will confirm that while the peasantry ate their grains whole, Pharaohs and nobles had slaves pound and sift until they had white flour. While the peasants seem to have lived fairly healthy lives, their noble counterparts suffered from scoliosis, rickets, and osteoporosis. The problem is that while the bran of the grain contains vital nutrients, it also contains phytic acid, which combines with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the intestines. This blocks our bodies' abilities to absorb them leading to deficiencies and degenerative diseases.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grains, whole or not also contain gluten which is difficult to digest. This country is seeing a rise in grain allergies, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, chrones and yeast overgrowth. But there is a simple answer to all of these problems. A simple process of which primitive peoples were aware, and practiced, but was lost along the way with industrialization. Nearly all primitive peoples soaked, soured or sprouted their grains.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we soak grains and legumes in yogurt, buttermilk, whey or sour milk (or lemon juice if you happen to have a milk allergy) or when we sprout them prior to grinding the phytase introduced from the souring breaks down most, if not all of the phytic acid. This leaves vitamins and minerals available for absorption. The souring also introduces lactobacilli which helps to break down the gluten into more digestable components.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's where sourdough comes in. It is a great way to make bread because it sours or ferments your grain for you in the process. It is also quite delicious.</span>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-74410562363527563942011-03-28T09:04:00.000-07:002011-03-28T09:04:26.375-07:00Entering the World of Lapbooks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXhmbTMYWKx0iKQr2spw10MQAlFMjLf7r7_tu6BPNsYaaZbuStr-aJzSNfqEqrjlrSzhrNj2bVntYrrq2r685002nyQjg_ZRdM3l_xF7n9zfTvRPrgNS3ivRerYRxjHUCzlssChuc7Ira/s1600/DSCN0241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXhmbTMYWKx0iKQr2spw10MQAlFMjLf7r7_tu6BPNsYaaZbuStr-aJzSNfqEqrjlrSzhrNj2bVntYrrq2r685002nyQjg_ZRdM3l_xF7n9zfTvRPrgNS3ivRerYRxjHUCzlssChuc7Ira/s320/DSCN0241.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not really sure why they call them "lapbooks"; they are basically a file folder (or 2 or 3) that hold projects and information on a particular subject or "unit". I think most homeschoolers use them for Unit Studies in which they use a broad subject to encompass all aspects of their schooling. For example The Solar System could be your unit, while you were studying The Solar System , which is obviously science related, your child could write a Bible verse about space or creation for Bible and for handwriting practice, maybe a creative writing project about the planets, adding the 9 family since there are 9 planets etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I started on my homeschooling adventure I was teaching my eager 4 year old to read. He had played with the </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-Fridge-Phonics-Magnetic-Alphabet/dp/B000096QNK"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fridge Phonics</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> game endlessly, and after he learned all 26 Uppercase letters, their sounds and the alphabet song basically on his own, I purchased him the set of lowercase letters which came with a comparison chart to put on the fridge. He literally learned them all in a week. I knew then that it was time to teach him to read. I'm not one to pass up an opportunity like that. At 18 or 20 months this same child was potty trained. Not because I pushed him to be, but because I was willing to go along with it when he tinkled on the potty on his own. After that he ran around naked for 3 days and the deed was done. I'm not saying every child is like that. Heaven knows my others have not been! I'm trying to give you perspective on my oldest son.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, anyway, with an oldest child like that I was very driven and had high goals for my homeschool. I still do, but my perspective is changing just a bit. To this point I have been all about books. I'm still all about books, but I'm excited about adding in some new stuff, particularly for the benefit of my younger "students" who don't read....yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I look at preschool and early elementary curriculums I'm usually a little discouraged. I feel like they are so general that it's almost not worth it for my kids. I want to delve in deep! Let them catch what they can, and what they don't will be caught next time around when we cover the material again in another venue, as I'm sure we will. So far this has worked for me. But </span><a href="http://www.apologia.com/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apologia Science</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was a little bit much for us this year. So was </span><a href="http://www.nothingnewpress.com/guerber/colonies.html"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Story of the Thirteen Colonies</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, our history book for this year (at least). This is because we mostly just read aloud, there were few "experiments" and we found ourselves getting bogged down.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Christmas I wanted to do a Christmas Unit. I went to the Library each week and got countless books about Christmas around the world and the origins of Santa Claus but I had no way to document what we did other than a book list. The kids got confused and bored with all the facts and timelines. We didn't really do any<em> projects</em> so the whole thing really felt like a flop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several weeks ago I met for coffee with a homeschooling friend. We've sort of been working through </span><a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=4"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> together but separately. We were trying to come up with a plan as we leave birds and delve into flying insects. In the process she introduced me to lapbooks. She's a much more hands on homeschooler. She has a special needs child and really does a fantastic job; she's so creative. </span><a href="http://www.lessonsonlongview.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is her blog</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in case you're interested.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sure do wish I'd known about Lapbooks at Christmas time. Anyway, for two weeks in March we did some projects and learned about Ireland, St. Patrick's Day and Rainbows. It wasn't exhaustive, and I felt entirely disorganized in the process, but it was a good start and I'm pretty excited about how it turned out.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNJtVx9Dj-mDsZe7SX4pPaoN5yPMm7Rm1eVRUaqQlasiFs3hHi6ofADPSEN20DO-zXJpkTC6qJstZbNuTWl_88nMe8M2J1kn4YUCVkcxtt-REfaFjFLvi4-20bwxIs76pHqcRLnY2DlqG/s1600/DSCN0259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNJtVx9Dj-mDsZe7SX4pPaoN5yPMm7Rm1eVRUaqQlasiFs3hHi6ofADPSEN20DO-zXJpkTC6qJstZbNuTWl_88nMe8M2J1kn4YUCVkcxtt-REfaFjFLvi4-20bwxIs76pHqcRLnY2DlqG/s200/DSCN0259.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the front cover of the Lapbook. My 3 yr old decided to color on it while I was getting the camera.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpuHJtAe5nHYTpmIJoyx-Lf_mkasfqY6N2Ox0MGxXYo46wOGuInBLhbbtQUPaoRLPM1dCX4iip72hxdxCU6bxwRM-w1z1-AiqL8Qp8n92DSfkQGJMKTZnqpfUT3UTFsitoawI85uiuBQy/s1600/DSCN0260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpuHJtAe5nHYTpmIJoyx-Lf_mkasfqY6N2Ox0MGxXYo46wOGuInBLhbbtQUPaoRLPM1dCX4iip72hxdxCU6bxwRM-w1z1-AiqL8Qp8n92DSfkQGJMKTZnqpfUT3UTFsitoawI85uiuBQy/s200/DSCN0260.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inside the right flap is our Bible verse about Rainbows.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdyhNng_BI82lr-oPgC3Wgpd58HO4Qw1gBZz3spa5bZU_qbD_nB0kA9CYB9dfnYyi9FPPxsQeofcOQinGE9vuL841VZm5zv6kQwrqoiWAeOUvTERCbeh87ssL__9-oybLTXTSkuAn3S_C/s1600/DSCN0261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdyhNng_BI82lr-oPgC3Wgpd58HO4Qw1gBZz3spa5bZU_qbD_nB0kA9CYB9dfnYyi9FPPxsQeofcOQinGE9vuL841VZm5zv6kQwrqoiWAeOUvTERCbeh87ssL__9-oybLTXTSkuAn3S_C/s200/DSCN0261.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxzjRH8JsAKPSj6-cIhPZXx6n50TevBYYwQA5KEbFRkw1LmGYzE7eJ2AR0e0-ysqygsktkoO_AB3rJfJKRpkN1jjoYz2dvwGBLCcJsMBVCHnf62jTl2luiWaJfHAOHQP6pnQM6s3WB_8j/s1600/DSCN0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxzjRH8JsAKPSj6-cIhPZXx6n50TevBYYwQA5KEbFRkw1LmGYzE7eJ2AR0e0-ysqygsktkoO_AB3rJfJKRpkN1jjoYz2dvwGBLCcJsMBVCHnf62jTl2luiWaJfHAOHQP6pnQM6s3WB_8j/s200/DSCN0262.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> While I do feel like some of the things we did were just so we could put something in the lapbook, some of what we did really pushed us--like our timeline of St. Patrick's life. Counting by three's was relevant. Something green was more for fun, since Silas has known his colors for many years now.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-5BG9JN_33t54JvF0PEkx5nYAKc-jZqv1lKXHT8cyhjUnD-kf0rAYzvb058TBKjVivGXJO5dnnrHWyYNBZIW0444pbW4pU6CWxB0HLohj17qST6T1ARwaLz9mzZNl29BqbwsDUxMDBl_/s1600/DSCN0267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-5BG9JN_33t54JvF0PEkx5nYAKc-jZqv1lKXHT8cyhjUnD-kf0rAYzvb058TBKjVivGXJO5dnnrHWyYNBZIW0444pbW4pU6CWxB0HLohj17qST6T1ARwaLz9mzZNl29BqbwsDUxMDBl_/s200/DSCN0267.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We added a flap to the center section so that we could fit more stuff in. I will do this a little differently in the future, but for now this works.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaR5Lyd3fc_6Uxri5Njx1O8ztq73pt1Ske68KSBZrvNlvr_i59MTmcI1mK_llR-NxFdK9xypItT_pqp05JItVlVumtEm57-cRdiS6yAdWAXKaDADoOlyObwglpKzZM80iH7nN719NXxx2G/s1600/DSCN0263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaR5Lyd3fc_6Uxri5Njx1O8ztq73pt1Ske68KSBZrvNlvr_i59MTmcI1mK_llR-NxFdK9xypItT_pqp05JItVlVumtEm57-cRdiS6yAdWAXKaDADoOlyObwglpKzZM80iH7nN719NXxx2G/s200/DSCN0263.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHA0vNspQcYM35DhyphenhypheneMLOBoborVoY7JiGLpQ-AuPXfcwh3sRKzOe-yVIyCeI2B3zlzkULUbi3IsFocmEOp127RRAif9HRy_odR83U6q7_2b85EDtq-Eg-FedZF0IHfQEl3EbWVtI52ILnA/s1600/DSCN0266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHA0vNspQcYM35DhyphenhypheneMLOBoborVoY7JiGLpQ-AuPXfcwh3sRKzOe-yVIyCeI2B3zlzkULUbi3IsFocmEOp127RRAif9HRy_odR83U6q7_2b85EDtq-Eg-FedZF0IHfQEl3EbWVtI52ILnA/s200/DSCN0266.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We created a pocket for his creative writing story to go in. The pocket also served as a place for our Irish Reading List. Here is an example of how this lapbook pushed us to another level. This was Silas' first creative writing assignment. Until now everything has been copy work for him. He did a great job! We did have some tears about rewriting for a perfect final draft, but overall I'm very pleased with his work.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BmD_KDJX_-rzRAacyYnCyXSp2npPUmaxdJOC01gmGPzrAwJ5zjnyHYkO48Ux9-wiF03CfTAGgnlITdht34EK3nK39eN77TjqzWEuRZ-SSb39r9xWk47FUovcXtHrkNuWbIqRpRegTFjh/s1600/DSCN0264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BmD_KDJX_-rzRAacyYnCyXSp2npPUmaxdJOC01gmGPzrAwJ5zjnyHYkO48Ux9-wiF03CfTAGgnlITdht34EK3nK39eN77TjqzWEuRZ-SSb39r9xWk47FUovcXtHrkNuWbIqRpRegTFjh/s200/DSCN0264.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGc_KhZCu15OpKTjtmLpma7DmNIb34MyCH2bnBGE13X0fNtD7_1RfJL687D8Ll897g07_kXkwttWftv1CYhIgREzh3UOfIl6Z7XZNNtzY5638OaoMya1VopLGPey3vobnbba493hPAuGU/s1600/DSCN0246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGc_KhZCu15OpKTjtmLpma7DmNIb34MyCH2bnBGE13X0fNtD7_1RfJL687D8Ll897g07_kXkwttWftv1CYhIgREzh3UOfIl6Z7XZNNtzY5638OaoMya1VopLGPey3vobnbba493hPAuGU/s200/DSCN0246.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We talked about how rainbows are formed, and made a rainbow with a mirror, a glass of water and a flashlight. The pictures of that didn't come out very well. We also talked about primary and secondary colors and formed a "rainbow" in a glass. Then we documented our work. We put this in our lapbook too. I just realized the picture of our color wheel isn't here. If you look closely you can see it in the first picture at the top of this post.</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIt_opgBxXP4qavWHs35Skf223QVnPHy9j9B45ZLmXimW_-Bml-HYHYdRoQo6s3_6sK6nJnypI_wlZ7brtHRB9GtEzK4Z0N3u2DaV736D-SqNzyP57DDlsGKVErwnxlrxRLiLFbWEPw0gd/s1600/DSCN0258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIt_opgBxXP4qavWHs35Skf223QVnPHy9j9B45ZLmXimW_-Bml-HYHYdRoQo6s3_6sK6nJnypI_wlZ7brtHRB9GtEzK4Z0N3u2DaV736D-SqNzyP57DDlsGKVErwnxlrxRLiLFbWEPw0gd/s200/DSCN0258.JPG" width="150" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZzyHA4XK_CNX9KTs3_k5gUJO_K5M37d56firQtNXWqrJ3QfEh5bVb5b9o84oF559LpwfIKX2M-0USn0XRqrhe6cHDkuCFbPiDEv3zaBedPkih1-StftRta4QWuEGfBPWLtzp0tN_0clo/s1600/DSCN0268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZzyHA4XK_CNX9KTs3_k5gUJO_K5M37d56firQtNXWqrJ3QfEh5bVb5b9o84oF559LpwfIKX2M-0USn0XRqrhe6cHDkuCFbPiDEv3zaBedPkih1-StftRta4QWuEGfBPWLtzp0tN_0clo/s200/DSCN0268.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lastly we talked about Geography. This is the back of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lapbook, and a picture of Silas building the Europe GeoPuzzle</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to the left.</span></td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't think I will do a complete Unit Study again, I felt like I was doing things not because they were relevant to us, but because they fit with the study, which isn't really how I want our school to function, but I am loving this new venue and I am definitely going to use this to document our work as we study butterflies next month!</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8693439618331285334.post-20308071428802546612011-03-26T15:50:00.000-07:002011-03-26T15:50:28.160-07:00Bear With Me PleaseSince I started this blog I've been meaning to post my workout diaries on here. I haven't forgotten about it. I'm having technical difficulties getting them to upload onto the blog without being huge and looking really wierd. I will persevere. I will get them up! Bear with me :)A Healthy Helpmeethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16947440644665669933noreply@blogger.com0