Exodus 16:32--- Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Wheat Belly

 
 
I am almost done reading this book.  Dr. Davis, a preventative care cardiologist, and author of Wheat Belly, has turned my view of wheat completely upside down.  I almost can't believe this book, but I do.  He backs up every thing he's teaching about wheat (and other foods that send your blood sugar skyrocketing) with loads of published scientific studies.  The most impressive chart/study I saw in the book was a line graph showing the rapid growth of obesity in Americans beginning right at the exact moment in the 80's when they told all of us to stop eating fat and to start eating more "healthy whole grains." 
 
Dr. Davis declares that all wheat destroys our bodies; white or wheat, multi-grain or 12 grain; he says it's all poison and it's all garbage.  WHAT??? I know.  You will be absolutely shocked at number of human ailments this doctor can pin on wheat and overall elevated blood sugar.  Dr. Davis recommends going grain free all together since the grains we consume the most, elevate our blood sugar higher than pure sugar.  Read this book if you are at all interested in repairing your health or loosing extra fat.  You've got to at least consider the studies he's gathered for our benefit.  And I do say benefit because I believe him now. 
 
If you're slim and have great balance and moderation in your diet and are, for the most part, illness and ailment free, you probably don't need to worry about wheat.  But me, I ate wheat for breakfast, wheat for morning snack, wheat for lunch, wheat for afternoon snack, wheat for supper and then wheat for a possible dessert and wheat for an evening snack.  That adds up to wheat sending my blood sugar through the roof 6 TIMES A DAY.  I doubt my blood sugar ever came down. 
 
What does elevated blood sugar do to us?  Well, the book explains it in a lot of detail, but what the ailments that stood out to me the most were:
 
-joint pain/soreness
-fatigue
-cloudy brain function
-fat stored around our middles
-Hashimotos Thyroid condition
-low iron
-dementia
 
So what on earth are we supposed to eat?  A hunter/gatherer diet like humans did before they stayed in one place and made farms and ground up grain.  OH, and today's farms and grain are not the grains of 5 decades ago, Dr. Davis says. Wheat has been so altered to be easily grown and hulled and harvested and pest resistant, drought resistant, etc., that what we're eating today is vastly different than what generations before us ate.  Here are Dr. Davis' diet recommendations from his book in case you're curious:
 
RARELY or NEVER:
=Wheat products: breads, pastas, cookies, cakes, cereals, pancakes, pita, couscous, rye, barley etc.
=Oils of the hydrogenated, poly-unsaturated, corn, sunflower, soy, grape seed, cottonseed kinds.
="Gluten-free" labeled foods since they just replace the wheat with corn or tapioca powder which both elevate blood sugar as bad as wheat does
=Dried fruits, fried foods, sugar snacks, chocolate, ice cream, fructose sweeteners, sugary condiments like jelly and ketchup.

LIMITED QUANTITIES
=Non-cheese dairy like milk, yogurt, cottage cheese
=Fruit
=Whole corn, beans, potatoes
=Soy products -- soy messes with the endocrine system and produces estrogen in the body
=Non-wheat, non gluten grains – wild rice, quinoa, brown/white rice (because they raise blood sugar fairly high but not nearly as bad as wheat, couscous, rye, barley etc.)

UNLIMITED QUANTITIES
=Vegetables except corn and potatoes
=Raw nuts and seeds
=Oils – olive, coconut, avocado, walnut, flaxseed
=Meats and eggs (the entire egg)
=Cheese
=Non sugary condiments
 
Joel and I have been slowly removing the wheat from our diets.  So far we have no wheat for breakfast, lunch or supper 95% of the time.  We've gotten rid of wheat from our snacks about 70%.  Unfortunately we haven't cut down on sugar so we haven't seen a huge amount of weight loss, but Joel and I both have lost about 10 lbs over two months with no exercise and and still eating sugar (ice cream, chocolate, skittles).  Joel has experienced great clarity of mind, his usual head aches are gone.  Also gone is his daily, almost debilitating, fatigue in the afternoons after eating a lunch containing wheat.  Joel does not have celiac disease, but he definitely has some kind of allergy to wheat.  He has loved the way he feels off of wheat.  We both have had massive improvements with our random joint and back pain.  We have both complained of joint pain: wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle to sum it up between the two of us.  Almost zero joint pain for both of us since getting off the wheat.  It comes back when we slip up and eat donuts. lol. Seriously.
 
Have any of you read Wheat Belly?  What do you think of it?  Any good meal or snack tips for wheat free eating?



Thursday, October 4, 2012

Count and Smash

Are you looking for an engaging counting activity?  Here it is.  Count and Smash.
 
 
 
 
--Your child will roll one die.  Have them count the dots on the top of the die. 
--Then, from a pile of pre-made playdogh shapes, have them count out the same number of play dough shapes as shown on the die. 
--Give them some kind of object for smashing.  (Luke is using an old cocktail muddler I got from my recently deceased Grandma Iris.  It works quite well for this kind of thing since I don't do much muddling.) 
--Then have your child count out loud as they smash their play dough shapes. 
 
 
And that's it!  This activity has really helped Luke get a better concept of counting. 
 
 
We'll graduate to two dice soon, when we start counting beyond 10.
 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

I'm Teaching Again!

I'm sorry for the delay in blog posts this month!  We've started HOMESCHOOLING!!!! yay!

I am a teacher by profession.  I quit my job when my son Luke was born in 2009, with the intent to homeschool him when he was school age.   A few weeks ago, Luke turned 3, which means I get to start homeschooling him for preschool!  I'm wild about homeschooling.  Probably because I'm a teacher!  Teachers, can you imagine having only one or two (or 5 or 6) students?  The possibilities are ENDLESS.

Now some of you may say, "Wait a minute, you're an art teacher Genelle.  Are you really qualified to teach your children?" And to that I say,

#1  If you want, you can homeschool your child without a teaching degree.  Follow the Learning Standards for the state you live in.  It is overwhelmingly complicated to educate 20+ children by yourself at once so we must have gifted professionals to tackle that seemingly insurmountable task.  But you can educate your own small brood on your own if you want.  Really.

#2   I graduated college with 169 credits.  I was a business major first, so math is covered.  When I switched to education, I couldn't decide on which path to take.  I took loads and loads of education classes, but in the end, I went with my heart and passion and I chose an emphasis in art and French. I got certified in both (Art K-12 and Secondary French).

I'm so thrilled to be teaching again.  I have printed out all the learning standards for preschool and have them all 3-hole punched and organized with tab dividers in a smooth new binder.   I've made Luke's portfolio and have already started filling it with "evidence" of his completed "benchmarks"! 
I printed this portfolio cover at Kinkos and slid it into the front of his 3" 3-ring binder portfolio.



 
Here Luke is working on a math lesson.  This Melissa and Doug Magnetic Pattern Block Kit is a wonderful tool that Luke got from his Grammy.  We use it all the time.
 
 
 
 
Luke is adding his own orange square border to his snail page.
 
 
 
 
 
 Pattern blocks teach children about shapes and geometry, as well as develop their visual discrimination skills.
 
 
Did you home-preschool any of your children?  Do you have any great tips or ideas to share?
I'd love to hear all your great ideas.

 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Luke's Construction Party

 
 
We all had a fantastic time at Luke's 3rd Birthday this week.  I thought I'd share a few highlights from the big day!  The kids "checked- in" here and picked up their tool belt ($0.71 each at Home Depot) and their hard hat.  Their tool boxes, filled with shredded CAUTION ribbon, a dollar store tape measure, truck eraser, road sign sucker and snacks, went home with them after the party.  My tool box fillers and hard hats came from Oriental Trading Company.   I wrote instructions with a black sharpie on large smooth rocks.  I love the "Hard Hat Area" signs I found on Amazon.  My wonderful sister made the "Happy Birthday Luke" sign.
 
Construction Site Cake!
 



My sweet Luke.  The plaid shirt really plays into the outfit, and I didn't even plan it.  I love that he's 3 and he still has little wrist links.
 
The Spread: brats, veggie dogs, hot dogs with wheat and white buns and the fixings, cheese, sausage and cracker tray, veggie kabobs (cherry tomato, cheese, cucumber), fruit kabobs (strawberry, mellon, pineapple), Recee's Pieces, Raisinets, marshmallow "cake" pops, lots of different kinds of chips, cheese puffs, pretzels and snacks from trader joes, pickles, apple juice boxes, bottled water, and 3 kinds of soads on ice, pickles, cake and ice cream.
 
 
The Baby Tent: I set up my EZ up (from when I sold my paintings in summer art fairs, pre-children) Pack and Play outfitted with toys and a balloon for containment while parents ate or visited, soft chairs for moms, blanket on the grass, etc.
 
 
 
Babies!



For entertainment we set up a few stations for the kids to explore.  Here is the duplo station.  I used home depot buckets with a ballon tied on each one to mark each station.  Other stations: 10 dollar store spray bottles filled with water (it was pretty hot out and I just had them all set on "mist"), a bubble machine in a wheel barrow, a tarp with a pile of imagibricks for making and smashing towers, and inside was a linclon log station and a wood block station (we love our Melissa and Doug wood blocks from Nina and Papa).


A lot of the kids actually wore their tool belts and hats almost the whole time! I added some puffy paint decorations on the tool belts of the little girls.



Opening gifts: Trucks, Trucks, and more Trucks!  Luke was thrilled!
 
 
 
 
Another sweet year has come and gone in my life as a mother.  Joel says I really make too much of a fuss for birthdays, but I'm not just celebrating another year in Luke's life.  I'm also throwing a party for me and my friends and family, celebrating the Lord's blessings through another year of parenting!  Congratulations on turning 3 Sweet Luke!  And well done Grammie and Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy, and Nina and Papa, Aunties and Uncles, on another year of raising Lukey!


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Beautiful Vitamin B Complex

Our family loves to juice, mainly for the vitamins and the health benefits they bring.

What are vitamins? 

The chemist tells us they are small quantities of substances essential to life.  They are found in every living structure.  Today we’re talking about the group of B vitamins called vitamin B complex (including B1 B2 B12 etc.). 

Vitamin B complex plays a vital role in cell metabolism.
vitamin b

Cell Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life.  These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments.


Below I have listed the members of the B vitamin family and the fruits and vegetables where they are found in the highest levels.


B1 is called thiamine (kale, cauliflower, oranges)

B2 is riboflavin (leafy greens)

B3 is niacin (tomato, leafy greens, broccoli, carrots, asparagus)

B5 is pantothenic acid which improves your ability to respond to stress by supporting your adrenal glands.(broccoli)

B6 is pyridoxine which helps lower stress, decrease symptoms of PMS, treats depression, lowers cholesterol, and reduces the risk of dental cavities. (bell peppers, spinach, green peas, broccoli, turnip greens).

B7 is biotin which helps the body process glucose. (cauliflower, raspberries)

B9 is folic acid which the human body needs to synthesize DNA.  It’s especially important in aiding rapid cell division and growth, such as in infancy and pregnancy. (all leafy greens)

B12 is various cobalamins (cyanocobalamin in supplements) which plays a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system. (Vitamin B12 can only be manufactured by bacteria and can only be found naturally in animal products, however, synthetic forms are widely available.)

Broccoli has loads and loads of vitamin b.  Below is my favorite broccoli juice of all time.  Enjoy!

Broccoli Peach Juice
Serves: 2 large glasses
2 Stems of broccoli
4 peaches
3 apples

Here are some other great juices that contain the vitamin B complex, but remember, the vitamins “die” and are almost useless once heated, so juice them raw or eat them raw!

Apple Juice

Beet Juice

Cucumber Juice

Cabbage Juice

Carrot Juice

Celery Juice

Coconut Juice

Onion Juice

Parsley Juice

Pineapple Juice

Radish Juice

I am not a professional heath care provider.  My blog posts on health and nutrition are just my shared opinions and observations from my own life experiences.  Information in this post came from the whole foods website, wikipedia, the livestrong website, and the book Live Food Juices written by H.E. Kirschner, M.D.

Friday, August 10, 2012

For Vim, Vigor, and Vitality

"LEAVE YOUR DRUGS IN THE CHEMIST'S POT IF YOU CAN HEAL THE PATIENT WITH FOOD!"  --Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine.


Live Food Juices was written in 1957 by H. E. Kirschner, M.D.  It may have been written 55 years ago, but the wisdom it holds is just as prevalent today as it was back then.  Fruits and veggies are still fruits and veggies!  In the coming weeks, I will be sharing posts about juicing in my own life as well as including great facts and info from this book along the way.  I have been inspired by several true stories of medical healing found in this book.  Kirschner also teaches about vitamins, their sources and how to use them to heal different kinds of ailments.

Vigor and vitality might be words we recognize, but what is vim you ask?

Vim-- lively or energetic spirit; enthusiasm; vitality 

I am always looking for more vim in my life, that's for sure.  My son, Luke, has loads of vim.  We should have considered naming him Vim.

If you appreciate vintage reading material, and are interested in reading more about juicing, Live Food Juices is a must-read.  I have never seen a new copy for sale, but used copies are readily available on Amazon and half.com.




Monday, August 6, 2012

Questions are Coming!!!!



"Let's see what the Word of God says today mommy!"

I almost burst with joy when I heard Luke say this two days ago when we sat down to breakfast to continue our 8 Year Bible Journey.  After Sophia and Luke and I are all settled in at the breakfast table with the sun streaming in through the glass sliding doors, I always say, "Let's see what the Word of God has to say to us today!"  Two days ago, Luke beat me to it!  He honestly is starting to look forward to hearing the Bible read to him every morning.

We are reading about Joseph now; one of Jacob's 12 sons.
Jacob had singled Joseph out as his favorite son and gave Joseph a multi-colored tunic or coat as a gift and symbol of his affection.  Joseph's brothers became jealous.  They took Joseph's coat, dipped it in blood and gave it to Jacob so Jacob would believe that Joseph was dead.  In reality, the brothers sold Joseph as a slave.


I took this photo from the Jesus Storybook Bible.  We read this after we read from my NIV Bible.

This is such a fascinating story.  If you haven't read it, go find a Bible and crack it open to Genesis chapter 37 and read all the way through to chapter 50.  You'll love it!

Here is what Luke and Sophia and I read together two days ago that sparked so many questions!

The Cupbearer and the Baker

Genesis 40
Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.
After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”

8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”

12 “This is what it means, ” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.[a] 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”

20 Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand 22 but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.



"Mommy, what is a prison?"
"Mommy, what is a baker?"
"Mommy, what is a vine?"
"What is a Pharaoh?"
"What is a king?"
"What is a country?"

I can't say that I had very good definitions to all of those terms, but I did my best, and I was so thrilled to be having this kind of conversation with my 2 year old!  (He'll be 3 in a month, but I'm keeping him 2 as long as I can *sniff* )  It took 40 days of reading before Luke started asking solid questions about what we were reading, but it was worth the wait!  I knew God's Word would start to click with him in a very concrete way.

A few chapters later, which was a few days later in Luke's studies,  Joseph's brother's unknowingly come to see him in Egypt.

"Do you remember Joseph's brothers?", I said. 

Luke said, "They like the rainbow coat and they killed him in a hole with an animal."

The details came out a little fuzzy, as you can see, but it made for a great conversation!



I highly recommend the Jesus Storybook Bible as an accompaniment to reading an adult Bible.  It has such engaging illustrations and the simplified wording can clarify what you've just read in a standard version.


Do you have a favorite children's Bible that you like to read from?


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Juice Fast Anyone?


Joel and I love to juice fruits and vegetables in our Breville juicer, almost every day of the week for the past year. (Our juicer is really amazing, even after so much heavy use...in case you're shopping for a juicer)  Once last year, in July, and again this July, (last week actually), we have done a complete, three-meals-a-day nothing-but-juice-from-the-juicer-fast.



If we're dying of hunger, we'll eat raw fruits and veggies to get us by. We just finished our latest juice fast last week and it went really well. We feel great and our bodies are a few pounds lighter (Joel is 10lbs lighter and I lost 6lbs). Our 2 yr old, Luke drinks some of the juices and eats three big meals a day of only fruits and veggies for the week. He loved it. He's a fruit and veggie man. He acted like he was getting cookies for supper! He was so excited at all the multi-colored produce he got at each meal.




The juice fasting does so many fantastic things for the body. Here is some incredible wisdom on fasting from the Prescription for Nutritional Healing Reference Guide by Phylllis A. Balch, CNC and James F. Balch, M.D.

"Over time, toxins build up in the body as the result of the pollutants in the air we breathe, the chemicals in the food and water we consume, and other means. Periodically, the body seeks to rid itself of these toxins and releases them from the tissues. The toxins then enter the bloodstream causing the body to experience a "low" or "down" cycle. During such a cycle, you may suffer from headaches, diarrhea, or depression. Fasting is an effective and safe method of helping the body detoxify itself and move through this low cycle with greater speed and fewer symptoms. In fact, fasting is recommended for any illness, as it gives the body the rest it needs to recover. Acute illnesses, colon disorders, allergies, and respiratory diseases are most responsive to fasting, while chronic degenerative diseases are the least responsive. By relieving the body of the work of digesting foods, fasting permits the system to rid itself of toxins while facilitating healing."

"But fasting is helpful not just in times of poor health or during the body's low cycles.  By fasting regularly, you give all of your organs a rest, and thus help reverse the aging process and live a longer and healthier life." 

During a fast, the following happens:


  • The natural process of toxin excretion continues, while the influx of new toxins is reduced.  This results in a reduction of total body toxicity.
  • The energy usually used for for digestion is redirected to immune function, cell growth, and eliminatory processes.
  • The immune system's workload is greatly reduced, and the digestive tract is spared any inflammation due to allergic reactions to food.
  • Due to a lowering of serum fats that things the blood, tissue oxygenation is increased and white blood cells are moved more efficiently.
  • Fat-stored chemicals, such as pesticides, and drugs, are released.
  • Physical awareness and sensitivity to diet and surroundings are increased. 
  • You can heal with greater speed; cleanse your liver, kidneys, and colon; purify your blood; help you lose excess weight and water; flush out toxins; clear the eyes and tongue; and cleanse the breath. 

"It is recommended that you fast at least three days a month, and follow a ten-day fast at least twice a year.  Never fast on water alone.  An all-water fast releases toxins too quickly, causing headaches and worse.  Instead, follow a live-juice diet, as this both removes toxins and promotes healing by supplying the body with vitamins, minerals, and enzymes."



I am not a professional heath care provider. My blog posts on health and nutrition are just my shared opinions and observations from my own life experiences.




We were inspired by the documentary, all about juicing, called, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. You can watch the video on Netflix or currently you can watch it on the reboot website. They call it "rebooting" your body when you flush it with live fruit and vegetable juices. Visit their website, http://www.jointhereboot.com/ to learn more about "rebooting" your life with juicing.

I really really love it.  Do any of you do fasting for healing your body?  How do you do it?

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Our Love of Juicing




Joel bought me a Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor
for my birthday in April of 2011, and we've been juicing all kinds of fruits and vegetables almost every day since then!  We've given our Breville quite a work out, and it is still as slick and powerful as the first time we used it.

I want to start today's post with a quote from a book by Dr. Bircher-Benner-- "The Essential Nature and Organization of Food Energy," published in 1936.

"Absorption and organization of sunlight, the essence of life, takes place almost exclusively within the plants.  The organs of the plant are therefore, a kind of biological accumulation of light.  They are the basis of what we call food, whence animal and human bodies derive their substance and energy.  Nutritional energy may thus be termed organized sunlight energy.  Hence sunlight is the driving force of the cells of our body."



How fabulous is that?  We are eating sunlight when we eat raw fruits and vegetables, or drink their juice.  Joel and I juice mostly because we love eating healthy foods that heal our bodies, but we also love Starbucks drinks and cookies and deep dish pizza.  Our juicing balances our nutrition.  We drink a vegetable/fruit juice 3-4 days a week, year round. Every now and then we'll do a one week juice "fast" where we only drink juiced fruits and veggies for breakfast, lunch and dinner to "reboot" our bodies. Check out www.jointhereboot.com for lots of great ideas and recipes for juicing.

Here are our two favorite juicing recipes:

Mean Green
Serves 2
1 cucumber
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of celery
3 green apples
1 inch chunk of raw ginger root
1 peeled lemon


Apple Carrot Ginger
Serves 2
5 apples
2 bags of carrots
1 inch chunk of raw ginger root

Do any of you juice?  What are your favorite recipes?  I'm always eager to try new ones!

I am not a professional heath care provider. My blog posts on health and nutrition are just my shared opinions and observations from my own life experiences.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Through Genesis Chapter 31


I read Genesis chapter 31 to Luke and Sophia today.

Jacob Leaves for Canaan by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
Engraving 1851-60 (It took 9 years to engrave)
Photo Credit: www.biblical-art.com

It's a chapter that talks about Jacob and his wives and all of Jacob's children, on camel back, leaving his father-in-law's estate without any notice after living all together there for 20 years. Laban, Jacob's father-in-law, and also his uncle, by the way (his mom, Rebekah's brother), catches up to Jacob's caravan and is upset--hurt really, that Jacob and his own daughters and grandkids all snuck off without saying good-bye (Jacob married two of Laban's daughters). The chapter brings reconciliation and a peace covenant between Laban and Jacob. Laban and Jacob gather a heap of rocks as a symbol of their covenant and as a geographical marker. Genesis 31:52 says "This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me."


Luke will be 3 in about 6 weeks and Sophia is 8 months. And I read this to them. Sophie likes the different voices I make, and listened intently for the whole chapter. Luke ate his breakfast through most of it. When he finished eating it went like this:



"Mom, I'm all done eating."
"Luke, we're almost done with our chapter."
"Can I have some keifer?"
"When we're done reading our chapter I will get you some keifer."
"Will you wash me? Can I go watch cartoons?"
" He said to his relatives, 'Gather some stones.' So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap."
"Are they getting rocks? I like rocks. And they put them in a big pile!"


So today, Luke liked that everyone in Jacob's family got to ride a camel from Grandpa Laban's house to Grandpa Isaac's house, and he liked it that everyone gathered rocks and put them in a big pile.


My children are very small and don't understand the bulk of what we read, but it is the true Word of God and it will not come back void. It is living and breathing and full of wisdom and power. I could read any number of toddler devotionals to my children, and we do from time to time, but I am convinced that the actual words of God I read out loud will be like hundreds of seeds planted in their hearts. The Word of God is powerful and I want my kids to hear it; even now.


If you do the math, from the day I started this 8 year bible adventure, until today, we should be much farther than chapter 31. We keep plugging along in between the days missed due to funerals, vacations, stomach flu, sleepless nights, etc. Every single morning that we possibly can, we open the Word of God and read together. I'm not worried about a strict 8 year schedule. I'm just tickled that we're getting as far as we have! And that it's going so well. I get my daily feeding of God's Word and so do the kids. Then if I have time, rarely, I will do a more in depth study on my own. I don't get to bent out of shape about it. I just do my best every day to live for the Lord.  We will press on!



Those of you who read the Bible out loud to your kids, how is it going?

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Whole Wheat Bread


Sometimes I bake my own bread.  I used to bake my own bread weekly, but since baby number two arrived, I usually I buy my bread at Trader Joes.  If I can't get to the store, and we've run out of bread, this whole wheat recipe is easy; even easier if you own a mixer. 

After waiting 7 years, I got the KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixer in pearl metallic.  I use it for all my baking.  If you like to make bread, a mixer is your best friend, since it can do all the kneading for you!  Just never set your mixer above level 2 when working with dough or it can overheat your motor.

My beautiful, blue (my favorite color), stoneware loaf pans are also something I waited patiently for to help perfect my baking.  They are made by Le Creuset and they have never caused a burnt bottom on any loaf of bread.  Using metal loaf pans the first 30 years of my life, it was hit or miss if I would burn the bottom of my loaves; also hit or miss if my loaves would be baked evenly throughout.  These stoneware loaf pans have turned out a perfect set of beautiful loaves every time.  I highly recommend them!


Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Makes 2 Loaves

2 1/4 c water
1 1/4 T dry yeast
1t honey to activate yeast
1T salt
1/3 c olive oil or melted butter
1/2 c honey
5-6 cups flour (whole wheat flour or a combination of kamut, barley, white etc)
1 1/4 c rolled oats

Combine yeast, 1t honey and 1/2 c of total water.  Let sit for 5 min.  Combine yeast, rest of water and all other ingredients in your mixer.  Only add as much flour until it cleans the sides of the bowl.  Knead dough 10 min.  Place in a greased bowl and rise about 1.5 hours.  Punch down and divide into 2 loaves. 



Roll with rolling pin into a flat rectangle and roll up, cinnamon roll style, into a loaf. 



Tuck edges under. 



Place in greased loaf pans and rise again for about 40 min in a warmed oven.



I just turn the oven on for a minute or two and then turn it off to make it warm.   After loaves are risen to the desired size, remove bread from warm oven.  Preheat oven to 350 and bake them for 30-45 min.  They will be golden brown all over.

Eat immediately with butter or wrap up and use for the week.  Double wrap loaves and freeze them if needed.  This recipe really doesn't take much time and the end result of delicious bread is so satisfying.  I see it as an art project that feeds my soul and then feeds my husband and son's bellies.  It's a win win project.

Do you have any good bread recipes?

Monday, July 23, 2012

Make a No-Sew Bunting


I made this bunting banner out of Sophia's outgrown clothes for three specific reasons.  Number one was to create a keepsake of the outfits she used to wear.  Second, I used it for a decoration for the dining room table for her Baby Dedication luncheon. And thirdly, it now serves as a decoration in her bedroom above her crib.

Here's how you make a bunting from baby clothes!

What You'll Need:

Old Baby Clothes
Tag Board Tracer
Fabric scissors
Double Wide Bias Tape
Spray Starch
Iron
Fabri-Tac Glue






First decide how large you want each triangle on the bunting to be.  Cut a triangle template out of heavy tag board to be your tracing guide on every piece of clothing.  Lay the tracer on the clothing.  Trace the triangle and cut it out.  If you want the bunting to be two-sided then make sure you are cutting two triangles of fabric at the same time.  Above you can see that I left the baby pajamas snapped up so when I cut it out, I'll have two triangles of fabric cut at the same time.  I like to include the snaps to add interest to each triangle of the bunting, and so you know it was made from Sophia's pajamas. 


As soon as the triangles are cut out, I glue the point of the triangles together so they don't shift or loose their pair during the ironing process, but only glue the tip of the triangles so the fabric will have room to be smoothed out with the iron and not wrinkle or bunch up.  I use Fabri-Tac Glue made by Beacon Adhesives.  It is amazingly powerful and has replaced my hot glue gun for all fabric, lace, leather and trim.  I love love love this stuff.  As you can see in the photo, it even "strings" like hot glue...but no burns!




 



After each triangle is thoroughly starched and ironed, glue the edges together all around.  Then simply glue each triangle into the fold of the long bias tape.  I glued two 3ft sections of bias tape together to get the length I wanted.



Now it has a permanent home in Sophia's nursery.