I have an exciting story to share....but later this week :-) Still waiting for my thank you to get out. Not sure if we are the only ones who never seem to have envelopes on hand when you need one!!! Ha!
But this story will tie into the one I am about to tell now. You see, God moved in a very real, visible way, actually in many ways, last week. We were at a stand still on a few issues. It was a time when there was nothing we could possibly do to make the situation work. I have to say it is always a good thing to come to the end of yourself, though not the most pleasant of feelings!
Yesterday we finally received Jed's medication order. It was nothing short of an extra large fiasco of phone calls to get it here on time (he only had one dose left!!). I did have one more phone call to make after it's arrival because apparently someone in the pharmacy didn't actually read his prescription! They sent the wrong syringes. Ugh. Oh well, I still have some of those on hand so nothing to worry about, just phone call number 34 to make :-)
But it appears that God's working last week was more than provisional. It was to build our faith. Not hours after receiving Jed's meds, all of us still elated by everything working out financially, then we get the mail. In the mail came a letter from our insurance company telling us that come Jan.1st, they will no longer be covering Jed's medicine!!!! WHA?!?! They gave us three other options to talk to his doctor about, which Jeremiah will be doing once their office opens this morning. But that leaves us back to square one.
I can't say it is particularily pleasing to be back at square one. After getting everything worked out with this present medication, we need to start over. But I am praying, as I ask any of you willing to do as well, that the Lord will go before us to make a way. You see, on our nifty little insurance card there are 3 tiers of coverage on meds. At least that is all they put on the cards. There is the 5$, 15$ and 30$ levels. But our co-pay for Jed's medication is $150 per month. That is huge, big and ugly. Which is why we were so excited about the savings card from the makers of his meds, as it took care of that co-pay! Goodness only knows how much his meds actually retail for!! Yikes.
I am praying that these other medications will have the same type of options for us. I know that this road block will be lifted as well...I'm just not sure how yet. This morning I spent praising God for all He has done, and continues to do in our lives. Even if we have to take on this co-pay there is so much to be thankful for. I know there are many out there who have way more medical expenses than we do. I'm thankful that Jed's condition is not life threatening. Though dealing with crashing blood sugars daily would mean a lot more work. I had recently learned that though high blood sugars are much more dangerous and have worse side effects, low blood sugar has many risks involved as well. I never knew that before.
Well, goodness, it took me all morning to type what I did above :-) Since then Jeremiah was able to get a hold of a doctor to figure out which drug we need to go with. Thankfully one of them has an assistance card as well, though not for the same amount. Worse case scenario would be that we have a copay of 25 to 30$, which is much more doable! Jeremiah is now calling our insurance to see how much they cover for this new medication.
I'll write more when we have all our "i's" dotted and "t's" crossed :-)
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Plugging Along
Well it seems that my mind can not stop going in 64 different directions at the same time. Everything I think about seems to be a priority, or needs doing (before baby arrives), or needs more planning, or more resources, or, or, or. So I write up a lot of lists. Not that I have looked at half of them after they are written!!! Ha, ha. But, it seems to help calm my brain a bit to get it all out on paper.
Lately I've been doing a lot of work on our homeschooling plans. We are just starting to get back to our schedule, so we've slacked off a bit in the schooling department. But more importantly there were little bits and pieces, odds and ends, that were not taken care of for this school year. I really wish I had known about Charlotte Mason before I started Isabella's education! Trying to figure out how this all works with 6 children is daunting. It would have been so much easier if I only had one going into it, I learned what to do/expect for that year, so that each child that came along would have just "plugged" in. Sigh. Due to that the older two didn't get all that their younger siblings will get.
There are so many little things that matter with a CM education. Or so it seems. It's not that any of it is difficult, just lots of little things. And it is all good. My brain just needs to wrap around it all! So far I got around to printing out some needed maps, printed out the lyrics for our hymns and folk songs. I downloaded the music for this semester's composer we will be studying. I also put their hymns and folk songs into a playlist for easy access. I determined the best way to handle their narrations, though there are many new ideas for me to try out that I need to remember. I still have to get some colored index cards for a timeline. Now if I can remember to keep our Book of Firsts out, and to get out and DO nature study!
Along with all of that, my next obsession has been food storage/preps. Like I talked about before, we have been seriously slack in that department...all. year. long. I've been trying to do some more research/learning for inspiration to keep looking for ways to make it happen. I think one of the biggest things we need to focus on for our family is gardening. And, for Jeremiah, to bag a few deer this year :-) If we could round things out with a small flock of meat birds this spring I think we could really save a lot on our grocery budget. Meat and fresh veggies just seem to break the bank these days! As it is we already buy our wheat, oats, rice, beans (multiple varieties), coconut oil, and some baking supplies in bulk (I'm talking 50 pound bags).
On top of that, I really wanted to have some herbal tinctures on the ready for this winter. With a baby due in January I want to be prepared! No germs please :-) I suppose I should stop rambling on, since there are a few more biggies running through my head. I leave you with some pathetic photos. No really, they are. I pulled out my camera, hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe, it was having an off day the last time I used it. But, no, my second lens is broken. I took some pictures around the kitchen, since I spent a lot of time in there yesterday brewing up things.
My kefir in the back left, and a second fermentation of kefir up front on the left. Next to them are nine quarts of fermenting veggies. I have reg. sauerkraut, kimchi, cortido, and salsa.
Beans soaking for our dinner tonight.
I made up a big batch of pasta sauce to go with some rice noodles.
A huge pot of beef stew brewing. In the red mug is my coconut/almond milk hot chocolate.
In the crock I had a chicken butternut squash soup brewing. Yum! (someone needs to clean the outside of the crock!)
And the never ending dishes. These are all clean, except the very few in the lower left corner. Doesn't everyone have a 100 number chart hanging out in their sink? Ours got some peanut butter on it, not the best thing to have "spilled" with all the grooves that this chart has. Sigh.
Lately I've been doing a lot of work on our homeschooling plans. We are just starting to get back to our schedule, so we've slacked off a bit in the schooling department. But more importantly there were little bits and pieces, odds and ends, that were not taken care of for this school year. I really wish I had known about Charlotte Mason before I started Isabella's education! Trying to figure out how this all works with 6 children is daunting. It would have been so much easier if I only had one going into it, I learned what to do/expect for that year, so that each child that came along would have just "plugged" in. Sigh. Due to that the older two didn't get all that their younger siblings will get.
There are so many little things that matter with a CM education. Or so it seems. It's not that any of it is difficult, just lots of little things. And it is all good. My brain just needs to wrap around it all! So far I got around to printing out some needed maps, printed out the lyrics for our hymns and folk songs. I downloaded the music for this semester's composer we will be studying. I also put their hymns and folk songs into a playlist for easy access. I determined the best way to handle their narrations, though there are many new ideas for me to try out that I need to remember. I still have to get some colored index cards for a timeline. Now if I can remember to keep our Book of Firsts out, and to get out and DO nature study!
Along with all of that, my next obsession has been food storage/preps. Like I talked about before, we have been seriously slack in that department...all. year. long. I've been trying to do some more research/learning for inspiration to keep looking for ways to make it happen. I think one of the biggest things we need to focus on for our family is gardening. And, for Jeremiah, to bag a few deer this year :-) If we could round things out with a small flock of meat birds this spring I think we could really save a lot on our grocery budget. Meat and fresh veggies just seem to break the bank these days! As it is we already buy our wheat, oats, rice, beans (multiple varieties), coconut oil, and some baking supplies in bulk (I'm talking 50 pound bags).
On top of that, I really wanted to have some herbal tinctures on the ready for this winter. With a baby due in January I want to be prepared! No germs please :-) I suppose I should stop rambling on, since there are a few more biggies running through my head. I leave you with some pathetic photos. No really, they are. I pulled out my camera, hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe, it was having an off day the last time I used it. But, no, my second lens is broken. I took some pictures around the kitchen, since I spent a lot of time in there yesterday brewing up things.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Huge praise!
This may be a bit premature, but it looks as if Jed's medical savings card (for his growth hormone) will be renewed! This is a huge praise as the monthly copay for his medicine was going to be a huge hit against our budget. His pharmacy called last night to put through his next order, and I was told we had to pay for the copay. I told them I had to call back as I was not sure which card we were going to use (we have benefits card and our regular bank card...both of which come out of the paycheck). When I called back this morning the agent told me that our savings card was supposed to be active until the 30th of this month, so when they called yesterday it was supposed to still be active. That alone was great news, but then he asked if we had re-enrolled in the program. Re-enroll? No. We didn't know that option was open to us. So a few phone calls later and it looks like Jed will be re-enrolled into the savings program! We'll know for sure by this afternoon, but the woman I spoke to thought it was pretty much a done deal.
Totally not related, but yesterday marked week 28, I am now officially in the third trimester! A couple of prayer requests for those willing to pray....1. This baby has been enjoying the transverse position the *WHOLE* pregnancy. This is a concern, seeing as what we went through with Aubrey. A lot of the problem is that there is still plenty of wiggle room due to this being pregnancy #8, and some, um, lax stomach muscles. Please pray that this baby will find the head down position more comfortable in the next few weeks! Not only head down BUT also facing the correct way....no repeat of a posterior baby, PLEASE!!!! 2. Between being busy, and feeling or fighting sickness (that basically presents itself as overall body weakness), I have not been keeping up with exercising. It has only been about 2 and a half weeks, but it really shows! I am trying to get back into it, and I am having to start off slow. I really can't believe you can get that out of shape so quickly! Ugh. I need to stay active and strong for delivery. And yes, delivery pretty much consumes a majority of my thoughts these days.
Hoping to take a picture of my expanding belly soon :-)
Totally not related, but yesterday marked week 28, I am now officially in the third trimester! A couple of prayer requests for those willing to pray....1. This baby has been enjoying the transverse position the *WHOLE* pregnancy. This is a concern, seeing as what we went through with Aubrey. A lot of the problem is that there is still plenty of wiggle room due to this being pregnancy #8, and some, um, lax stomach muscles. Please pray that this baby will find the head down position more comfortable in the next few weeks! Not only head down BUT also facing the correct way....no repeat of a posterior baby, PLEASE!!!! 2. Between being busy, and feeling or fighting sickness (that basically presents itself as overall body weakness), I have not been keeping up with exercising. It has only been about 2 and a half weeks, but it really shows! I am trying to get back into it, and I am having to start off slow. I really can't believe you can get that out of shape so quickly! Ugh. I need to stay active and strong for delivery. And yes, delivery pretty much consumes a majority of my thoughts these days.
Hoping to take a picture of my expanding belly soon :-)
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
How things have been
Well, I wish I could say that we are accomplishing all I had hoped we would, but that doesn't seem to be the case. But, that is ok. We've had plenty to be thankful for over the past few weeks, along with a few blips. I was finally able to make up our new schedule, that will include: no milking, Isabella's horse work/lesson time changes, and putting Jonah on the 'must be schooled' line up. We were supposed to start on it yesterday. However, there were other things that needed tending to. I had to prepare for being gone yesterday evening, and then I returned to a few sick kids. I knew it was coming as Isabella had a sore throat, runny nose, etc. But now, all three boys have runny noses. Nothing bad, but it seemed to disturb Jed greatly in the middle of the night. I didn't get much sleep! Trying to rest/sleep-in didn't work either. Oh, well, I suppose I will be hitting the hay early tonight.
Along with our regular daily things, and the need to plan for this coming baby, I am also trying to plan for some other activities, learning times. For example, we are need of some herbal tinctures. My first go to is homeopathy, but I still have a lot to learn to get the right remedy each and every time, so herbs are our back up. I would really like to get a couple of books, but that won't be possible. So I get to spend more time searching the web for herbal recipes. I have found a few, but trying to organize things seems to be impossible lately.
We really, really, *really* need to get back to stocking up our food storage. After months, and months of having to cut back, we have to cut back yet again for another pay check. Which I know I really should just assume will be forever more at this point, to not get my hopes up. But, this is going to be very hard to do since we ran out of a lot of things this past pay period. Not major things, but lots of little things. And I already know that those little things add up. Sigh. It can be so discouraging to read of others experiences, and tips, and realize...at this point there isn't anything more I can do to make room in the budget to get caught up. Very frustrating. Even with what seems to be a no win situation, I need to think outside the box to see if I am missing something. Because I really can't just sit by and feel helpless.
UGH! In the couple of minutes it took me to type...Aubrey redecorated our living room floor with paint (he was trying to paint on paper and didn't quite keep it there). Our boys are exceedingly destructive. I have to balance doing work around the house, and cleaning up the aftermaths of the hurricane/tornadoes they create.
Anyways, as I was saying, there is just lots to do around here. Big and small. We need to get a light in with the chickens asap. With 30+ chickens we are getting a whopping 3 eggs (if we are lucky!) a day. Not a good return on our investment in chicken feed! We need to breed our two oldest goats in the next coming weeks. The baby goats are still too small for our liking to be bred this year. They have really picked up growth since we send someone out to fend off the chickens, who were eating their food! Silly goats. They would just let the chickens take over. Our adult females would never let that happen :-) But finally the baby goats are filling out and up. We will be trying to space the breeding so we don't have all the babies born at the same time. Way too stressful for me!
We really need to find a good time to work on gardening and the off site fruit orchard. I think because we don't *have* to absolutely rely on them, they seem to take second place, or 6th or 10th! But, really, with food prices rising, a large percent of the USA's meat cattle being wiped out, and the usual, we *need* to see it as a necessity. I was talking with a friend the other day about gardening and she was saying up North they had an amazing garden. Tons of stuff growing, huge harvests, etc. But down here, she said the soil is just soooo bad. I started thinking of my dad's, grandfather's gardens and the lush gardens of some bloggers I follow. By golly, they all live in the North! Here we have an amazing growing season (length wise), yet horrid soil. So, my plans, which I have had on a list for the past 3 years (!!!) to really make it our chief goal to obtain, and make our own compost really needs to be the priority list right now. We had great success with our first garden here in the South, but we used the double digging method, and due to the all clay soil, we put in a TON (not literally) of compost to make it usable. Our soil on this land isn't filled with clay, and so we put a few inches of mulch on top of the yard. That has not been cutting it. At first we thought the mulch we had lay down may be inhibiting growth, but I've seen plenty of success with other people's gardens that use that method. I am now thinking it is because the soil is just bad. So we need to think of building soil, instead of building a garden. Hoping that made sense.
I am hoping to one day actually start taking pictures again. My favorite lens broke, and then my second lens, which I don't care for broke. It is still usable in manual focus mode, but that makes it very difficult to capture anything that is moving...like my children :-) But I do miss documenting our days with photos. Everyone grows so fast that I don't want to let months and months and months go by without snapping some pictures. I suppose I will need to see what I can do with my manual focus only lens since a fix, or a new lens isn't in the picture right now (yes, pun intended!).
Alrighty, after Aubrey just made another mess... I need to scoot and get some things done. Maybe I should make, find some duct tape be on my top to do list? Ha, ha!
(sorry for any typos, don't have time to read through)
Along with our regular daily things, and the need to plan for this coming baby, I am also trying to plan for some other activities, learning times. For example, we are need of some herbal tinctures. My first go to is homeopathy, but I still have a lot to learn to get the right remedy each and every time, so herbs are our back up. I would really like to get a couple of books, but that won't be possible. So I get to spend more time searching the web for herbal recipes. I have found a few, but trying to organize things seems to be impossible lately.
We really, really, *really* need to get back to stocking up our food storage. After months, and months of having to cut back, we have to cut back yet again for another pay check. Which I know I really should just assume will be forever more at this point, to not get my hopes up. But, this is going to be very hard to do since we ran out of a lot of things this past pay period. Not major things, but lots of little things. And I already know that those little things add up. Sigh. It can be so discouraging to read of others experiences, and tips, and realize...at this point there isn't anything more I can do to make room in the budget to get caught up. Very frustrating. Even with what seems to be a no win situation, I need to think outside the box to see if I am missing something. Because I really can't just sit by and feel helpless.
UGH! In the couple of minutes it took me to type...Aubrey redecorated our living room floor with paint (he was trying to paint on paper and didn't quite keep it there). Our boys are exceedingly destructive. I have to balance doing work around the house, and cleaning up the aftermaths of the hurricane/tornadoes they create.
Anyways, as I was saying, there is just lots to do around here. Big and small. We need to get a light in with the chickens asap. With 30+ chickens we are getting a whopping 3 eggs (if we are lucky!) a day. Not a good return on our investment in chicken feed! We need to breed our two oldest goats in the next coming weeks. The baby goats are still too small for our liking to be bred this year. They have really picked up growth since we send someone out to fend off the chickens, who were eating their food! Silly goats. They would just let the chickens take over. Our adult females would never let that happen :-) But finally the baby goats are filling out and up. We will be trying to space the breeding so we don't have all the babies born at the same time. Way too stressful for me!
We really need to find a good time to work on gardening and the off site fruit orchard. I think because we don't *have* to absolutely rely on them, they seem to take second place, or 6th or 10th! But, really, with food prices rising, a large percent of the USA's meat cattle being wiped out, and the usual, we *need* to see it as a necessity. I was talking with a friend the other day about gardening and she was saying up North they had an amazing garden. Tons of stuff growing, huge harvests, etc. But down here, she said the soil is just soooo bad. I started thinking of my dad's, grandfather's gardens and the lush gardens of some bloggers I follow. By golly, they all live in the North! Here we have an amazing growing season (length wise), yet horrid soil. So, my plans, which I have had on a list for the past 3 years (!!!) to really make it our chief goal to obtain, and make our own compost really needs to be the priority list right now. We had great success with our first garden here in the South, but we used the double digging method, and due to the all clay soil, we put in a TON (not literally) of compost to make it usable. Our soil on this land isn't filled with clay, and so we put a few inches of mulch on top of the yard. That has not been cutting it. At first we thought the mulch we had lay down may be inhibiting growth, but I've seen plenty of success with other people's gardens that use that method. I am now thinking it is because the soil is just bad. So we need to think of building soil, instead of building a garden. Hoping that made sense.
I am hoping to one day actually start taking pictures again. My favorite lens broke, and then my second lens, which I don't care for broke. It is still usable in manual focus mode, but that makes it very difficult to capture anything that is moving...like my children :-) But I do miss documenting our days with photos. Everyone grows so fast that I don't want to let months and months and months go by without snapping some pictures. I suppose I will need to see what I can do with my manual focus only lens since a fix, or a new lens isn't in the picture right now (yes, pun intended!).
Alrighty, after Aubrey just made another mess... I need to scoot and get some things done. Maybe I should make, find some duct tape be on my top to do list? Ha, ha!
(sorry for any typos, don't have time to read through)
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
A MUST see...food storage
I am jumping on here for just a wee bit to share a really amazing series that The Welcoming House is having on food storage. I highly recommend checking it out. Currently I do not believe she has a direct link to the series itself, so I am just going to link up to her main page. I think she is on day 4 or 5 of the series as of today. In the most current post she has links to the other previous posts, so do check them out in order.
We have been slack in the food storage area most of this year! Not a good thing, to be sure. We really can not rely on one big purchase a year in hopes to build up our supply. Don't get me wrong, it is a great start, and we really have made a dent. Recently, though, we have had a few months of having to really cinch the pocket book in the grocery department. That left us using a lot of the foods we had stored, and our food storage took a really big hit. If you are doing food storage a little at a time, it really does add up!! When we first started I thought we would never reach a decent supply...EVER! But, month after month of buying those few extras really paid off. At least until we had to not only stop buying a few extras each pay period, but then having to eat the things we already had stored. Sigh. But, I can be thankful we were able to cut back because we DID have food set aside. I am praying we can pick up where we left off.
Anyways, check out the series, and let me know what you thought about it. Are you building a food storage? I think my main goal for the moment is to really plan out a catch up plan, and to be diligent and purposeful about it. In the past I would just pick up a bit of this or that that I hadn't picked up in a while to add to our stock. Don't get me wrong, it worked, I didn't have too much of any one item, but I would really like to make a bit of a plan to make sure we stay balanced.
Our computer break isn't totally over yet. We've had some time here or there where we've been on, but we are still working out way to getting our work done in a timely manner...on a daily basis :-)
We have been slack in the food storage area most of this year! Not a good thing, to be sure. We really can not rely on one big purchase a year in hopes to build up our supply. Don't get me wrong, it is a great start, and we really have made a dent. Recently, though, we have had a few months of having to really cinch the pocket book in the grocery department. That left us using a lot of the foods we had stored, and our food storage took a really big hit. If you are doing food storage a little at a time, it really does add up!! When we first started I thought we would never reach a decent supply...EVER! But, month after month of buying those few extras really paid off. At least until we had to not only stop buying a few extras each pay period, but then having to eat the things we already had stored. Sigh. But, I can be thankful we were able to cut back because we DID have food set aside. I am praying we can pick up where we left off.
Anyways, check out the series, and let me know what you thought about it. Are you building a food storage? I think my main goal for the moment is to really plan out a catch up plan, and to be diligent and purposeful about it. In the past I would just pick up a bit of this or that that I hadn't picked up in a while to add to our stock. Don't get me wrong, it worked, I didn't have too much of any one item, but I would really like to make a bit of a plan to make sure we stay balanced.
Our computer break isn't totally over yet. We've had some time here or there where we've been on, but we are still working out way to getting our work done in a timely manner...on a daily basis :-)
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Going off line for a bit
It is time again for me to take a bit of a computer break. We try to take a couple of those a year. It seems now is the time for our family to refocus. I have a lot that I do online, as far as classes, and the kids schooling...so I won't be gone for too long :-) But just so you know that I have not dropped off the face of the earth, all is well.
Speaking of well, I think I FINALLY kicked my sinus infection! Yay!! And it was the fermented foods!!! Trust me after consistently taking over 160 billion strength for months now, and still having sinus issues....well it wasn't the pills that got me over it :-) This last infection came very close to sending me in to get antibiotics, because nothing was working! Nothing, until I started with the kefir, kombucha, and (finally) my fermented salsa and cabbage concoctions. So I am hoping that I will remain well until I return to this space again in a few weeks.
Have a blessed day!
8 is Great...Post Partum Help
I would insert my little 8 is Great graphic, but I don't have access to it at this moment.
It may seem a bit premature to be thinking about the post partum period, but nothing could be further from the truth! I've written, long ago, about some ideas for this time after the baby. I thought I would just write about my plans for after this baby's arrival.
It may seem a bit premature to be thinking about the post partum period, but nothing could be further from the truth! I've written, long ago, about some ideas for this time after the baby. I thought I would just write about my plans for after this baby's arrival.
I will say, with my olders getting older, the post partum time gets easier. At least, after Aubrey, we didn't have what looked to be a tornado having gone through our house, like the 6 post partums before him. I am convinced it is because everyone is older and able to help more. I suppose it had nothing to do that I threatened life and limb should I find the house in such an order when I was back on my feet :-) No, no, I am sure that had nothing to do with it.
This time around, since we are trying to catch up on schooling, I will probably have a simple schedule that gives each child some schooling time, to at least keep up with the basics after the first week of the baby's arrival. I won't be writing that up for another two months as I want to see how Jed and Jonah are doing in their daily school to see what the girls will be able to handle, and what I will be able to handle. It would be easy to give a phonics lesson as I sit and nurse the newborn, for example.
We are still having some issues with chores getting done when they are supposed to get done. I've made up some consequences for those times, but right after I made them up I got sick. And then sick again. And, well, needless to say I have yet to institute the new system, though I have no doubt it will be key in getting things done when they need to. After the baby is born I will not be able to go around inspecting, and watching over to make sure everything got done as it should. And I can tell you it is the little things that go undone that really, really add up after a few days to make my house a wreck. Since I am starting to finally feel better I plan on getting on top of this issue NOW, so as to make our time after baby go much more smoothly.
Having some new activities to do can really go a long way as well. Simple things like a new coloring book, or board game. I think I will try to find a couple of new card games for the girls to try out. The boys really enjoy some of the learning books I've made them in the past. I may try to make up a couple of new ones for them. With this baby coming on the heels of Christmas and Aubrey's birthday, finances will be tight. So I need to come up with cheap ideas :-)
I've written on the importance of having meals made up in advance. This makes SUCH a HUGE difference in those hectic evenings with a newborn. You are recovering physically, possibly emotionally, caring for a needy newborn, still having to manage the household, and keeping up with the other kiddos, that the thought of having to plan out dinner come 5 PM??!!!??? Just NOT happening, at least not with ease. So I've pulled out my pen and paper and have been planning our meals that will be at the ready for this special time. I basically plan for a whole months worth of meals. Yes, that is a lot. Which is why I start now. I need to start buying ingredients each pay period so as to not try to buy one months groceries in one paycheck.
This year will be a wee bit different since we are still on modified GAPS. Though, I do have a few items that will be made with sprouted wheat, since who can deny the ease of pulling out a muffin to snack on :-) I am hoping that by then, with all the ferments I will be adding to our diet soon, we will be able to handle those without issue. I have a lot of items I plan on canning this year, due to our need of precooked beans and meats. I do plan on freezing some precooked meats as well, but nothing beats opening a jar and throwing in your needed meat, without having to wait for it to defrost. Without a microwave, defrosting means having to plan ahead, and I am trying to avoid such scenarios in the post partum period.
Here is my meal plan that I have been working on:
Breakfasts:
granola
yogurt
eggs
egg bake
egg burritos
oatmeal
waffles
Snacks:
muffins
fruit
yogurt
popcorn
Lunches:
Salads (taco, chicken, bean, etc.)
tacos
pizzas
pita sandwiches (egg, hummus, tuna, etc.)
soups (stew, chicken/squash/beef tomato)
Dinner:
chili
shepherd's pie
spaghetti beans and rice
tacos
chicken and black beans over rice
cheeseburger rice
baked beans and corn bread
beef cubes with gravy over rice
black beans and rice
chicken enchiladas
Some of the above are not meant to be made ahead of time, like oatmeal, eggs and popcorn. But this will all be put on a posted list so everyone knows what options we have. Some items, like chili will be frozen in it's finished state, while others, like black beans and rice will not. I will probably can some black beans, and have a jar of 'black beans and rice seasoning' made up. The rice will be frozen in the quantities we need for each meal. So some assembly will be required, but for all of those, my girls are capable of doing so if I am unable to. They would just need to set out the rice to thaw as they warm up the black beans and seasonings in a pan.
I also plan on jarring (not canning) up a bunch of ferments. The great thing about fermented foods is that they keep well for months in the fridge. And, though they are easy to make, there is a bunch of slicing/dicing/chopping to be had with some of them. So some will be made in their fullness, like sauerkraut, kimchi and salsa, while others will be done partially. For example, I plan on fermenting some garlic to be added to our hummus. Hummus can be made on the fly if the chickpeas are precooked and canned. The kefir will need to be made daily, though one of the older girls can handle that, since kefir is so easy to make. The kombucha only needs to be made weekly, and again, an older girl can accomplish this task. The only issue will be to remind them that it needs to be made :-)
I still have to find someone who can be here for the kids when I am in labor. Though Isabella and Moira can babysit, they want to see the baby being born. So we need another helper to be here to watch the others who do not wish to see the grand entrance of their new sibling.
As far as the items I need on hand after the baby is born? Well, those seem to get more simplified with each child I have :-) It is funny to me to think of what I *thought* I needed after my first was born! I am sure you've all seen those lists of 'needed' items. But we keep it simple. Really simple. A car seat, some clothing and diapers/wipes, the baby bathtub (we've had for years and years), our noise maker, and a baby carrier/wrap. I think that is it! We have a ton of newborn clothing for a girl or boy. Though I do worry about the quality of the baby girl clothing since it has been in storage for 9 years! Oh my. Since we don't have temperature control storage things tend to start to deteriorate after a time. The last time I went through the clothing (2 years ago) I had to throw out some items since they didn't withstand the elements (heat and cold). But I am confident that there will be enough to see us through should we be blessed with a girl.
Those are my plans. All the prep work will definitely pay off, though I am wondering how I am going to fit it all in, in the here and now :-)
Saturday, October 05, 2013
Cutting Costs
I remember writing, long ago, about some plans we were going to try implementing to save some money. The problem was that I didn't have the energy to keep up with the changes. Well, since the magnesium has given me my life back (ok, so that is a little dramatic), I am happy to report that we are finally having success with cutting costs here on the home front.
We haven't implemented all of our ideas yet, as some will take longer to incorporate, while others are just waiting their turn for us to get to. I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. Jeremiah was convinced that our efforts were going to be a waste of our time, since our starting efforts were going to be 'small' but manageable. Well, we just got our energy bill in last week, and let's just say we were all impressed!! So impressed that a couple of the girls who were slacking a bit in helping in our endeavors really jumped in all the way this week.
So far the only changes we have made were to shut off the AC, and hang out our clothing to dry. That's it. By doing those two things we saved 100 dollars on our energy bill last month! That is no small change! The money kind of change :-)
We still have a few tricks up our sleeves to incorporate. We won't have too much time left to be free of our AC/heating unit, as the colder weather will be (eventually) making its way to us. But our plan of action will be to keep the temperature in the house colder than normal. NOT cold, just colder than we normally have it set to. I always thought it wrong to be walking around in shorts and t-shirts in the middle of January. It *is* winter after all, and keeping the house temperature set to such a high level as to be able to go around in t-shirt and shorts takes *money*. I'm just not willing to shell out that kind of money for that kind of experience. Though, for years, I have been in the minority :-) But, the girls all want to see that money go to other uses, so we are gearing up to be wearing pants (imagine that!), sweaters and socks around the house. The only exception is when I go into labor this January. I will definitely turn up the heat for that event, and the week following. But really, our babies are always being held, and I've never had a problem with keeping a baby warm. So a week of an extra warm house will be all that is needed.
A few more of our ideas are to keep lights/fans/computers off when not in use. I am hoping that we will be able to turn on the computers for a set amount of time each day, then shut them down. We have been working on the lights issue, but it is taking some time for us all to remember shutting them off when we leave the room. I am notorious for keeping our bedroom fan running all day, when all we use it for is at night for bedtime.
We are being more careful with our food, so as not to waste any. But, again, we have a ways to go. But I tell the kids that whenever we have to throw out stuff that has gone yucky, it is like throwing away money. Moira has noticed that she doesn't have the constant urge to eat all day since drinking the kefir and kombucha. I think we will see the 'hunger' issue go down with the rest of the crew as well. The "I'm hungries" are really getting out of hand over here. I know that means it's because they are not absorbing their food properly, and not getting the nutrients they need, thus their constant hunger. In the previous post I talked about making more of my ferments for everyone to have enough each day. With ferments though, you need enough starter or in the case of kefir or kombucha, you need enough grains or scobies. My new kefir grains should be arriving in a few days, and my kombucha has grown enough to make 2 gallons a week (though we need more like 4 gallons, we'll get there, slowly but surely).
We have a few other ideas as well, but I think that is enough for now. The rest will come in time. It has been encouraging to see that our efforts are really making a difference.
We haven't implemented all of our ideas yet, as some will take longer to incorporate, while others are just waiting their turn for us to get to. I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. Jeremiah was convinced that our efforts were going to be a waste of our time, since our starting efforts were going to be 'small' but manageable. Well, we just got our energy bill in last week, and let's just say we were all impressed!! So impressed that a couple of the girls who were slacking a bit in helping in our endeavors really jumped in all the way this week.
So far the only changes we have made were to shut off the AC, and hang out our clothing to dry. That's it. By doing those two things we saved 100 dollars on our energy bill last month! That is no small change! The money kind of change :-)
We still have a few tricks up our sleeves to incorporate. We won't have too much time left to be free of our AC/heating unit, as the colder weather will be (eventually) making its way to us. But our plan of action will be to keep the temperature in the house colder than normal. NOT cold, just colder than we normally have it set to. I always thought it wrong to be walking around in shorts and t-shirts in the middle of January. It *is* winter after all, and keeping the house temperature set to such a high level as to be able to go around in t-shirt and shorts takes *money*. I'm just not willing to shell out that kind of money for that kind of experience. Though, for years, I have been in the minority :-) But, the girls all want to see that money go to other uses, so we are gearing up to be wearing pants (imagine that!), sweaters and socks around the house. The only exception is when I go into labor this January. I will definitely turn up the heat for that event, and the week following. But really, our babies are always being held, and I've never had a problem with keeping a baby warm. So a week of an extra warm house will be all that is needed.
A few more of our ideas are to keep lights/fans/computers off when not in use. I am hoping that we will be able to turn on the computers for a set amount of time each day, then shut them down. We have been working on the lights issue, but it is taking some time for us all to remember shutting them off when we leave the room. I am notorious for keeping our bedroom fan running all day, when all we use it for is at night for bedtime.
We are being more careful with our food, so as not to waste any. But, again, we have a ways to go. But I tell the kids that whenever we have to throw out stuff that has gone yucky, it is like throwing away money. Moira has noticed that she doesn't have the constant urge to eat all day since drinking the kefir and kombucha. I think we will see the 'hunger' issue go down with the rest of the crew as well. The "I'm hungries" are really getting out of hand over here. I know that means it's because they are not absorbing their food properly, and not getting the nutrients they need, thus their constant hunger. In the previous post I talked about making more of my ferments for everyone to have enough each day. With ferments though, you need enough starter or in the case of kefir or kombucha, you need enough grains or scobies. My new kefir grains should be arriving in a few days, and my kombucha has grown enough to make 2 gallons a week (though we need more like 4 gallons, we'll get there, slowly but surely).
We have a few other ideas as well, but I think that is enough for now. The rest will come in time. It has been encouraging to see that our efforts are really making a difference.
Friday, October 04, 2013
Kefir Success!
I've written about drinking kefir in the past. I've always had success with making the actual kefir. The drinking of it though, well, not as much. We always had to use some kefir (2 cups) in a full blender of smoothie to make it drinkable. But, now I found out the 'secret' to being able to drink kefir with just a small amount of flavoring :-) You do a second fermentation with the kefir and some fruit. Wow, the sourness really goes down. On top of that the kefir is nice and tangy/fizzy. It kind of feels like it is doing a dance on your tongue.
Since my kefir grains are only making about 3 cups of kefir a day I am having to fend off small children to get my share! Since we are all in need of some serious good bacteria over here, I went ahead and ordered MORE kefir grains! It was going to take a while for me to be able to make the gallon of kefir we will need...*daily*!
On top of fending off small children from the kefir I am having an even harder time keeping them away from the kombucha. Oy! Don't get me wrong, they all get some each day, but since I am currently only making about 3 quarts a week, that doesn't last long enough for everyone. I worked out how much kefir and kombucha I wanted each person to have daily. For the kefir, for everyone to have enough daily, plus there being some to gather whey from (to make my fermented veggies), I will need to make 8 gallons of kefir a week! Too bad that we will be drying up our goats next week.
I worked out that I need to make 4 gallons of kombucha a week. That will give enough for everyone to have daily, plus the extra for starting the next week's batches. Thankfully kombucha will be cheaper to make :-)
To compensate for the increase in milk purchasing we will be doing over the next handful of months, I will not be ordering my probiotic pills after the ones I have run out. This way we will ALL benefit from the probiotics we need, without breaking the bank.
As it is Moira and I are seeing changes from the kefir and kombucha. Isabella is starting to, but for her, she is getting worse in some areas (like her anxiety), but better in others. She was very upset by this. I told her it was a good sign. The bad bacteria were being killed off, but in the process their toxins will make her anxiety worse. I gave her some suggestions to limit the effects, hopefully they will be helpful to her.
I am hoping to buy some of the flip top bottles to make our kombucha nice and fizzy. I think that will be fun. In the meantime I will continue with using our mason jars. Though the kombucha lacks that wonderful fizz it is capable of producing. Hey, as long as it is still doing it's job!
I found out how to do the second fermentation from the Cultured Food Life site. I can't wait for her cookbook to come out. She has a lot of great ideas that sound really yummy. I really like my sauerkraut, and if my kimchi turns out like my friends, then I will really be loving that, but I really want to add lots of different ferments to our diet. I didn't want them all to be made with cabbage :-) I'm not exactly creative in the kitchen. So a little help is much appreciated. Ha!
Since my kefir grains are only making about 3 cups of kefir a day I am having to fend off small children to get my share! Since we are all in need of some serious good bacteria over here, I went ahead and ordered MORE kefir grains! It was going to take a while for me to be able to make the gallon of kefir we will need...*daily*!
On top of fending off small children from the kefir I am having an even harder time keeping them away from the kombucha. Oy! Don't get me wrong, they all get some each day, but since I am currently only making about 3 quarts a week, that doesn't last long enough for everyone. I worked out how much kefir and kombucha I wanted each person to have daily. For the kefir, for everyone to have enough daily, plus there being some to gather whey from (to make my fermented veggies), I will need to make 8 gallons of kefir a week! Too bad that we will be drying up our goats next week.
I worked out that I need to make 4 gallons of kombucha a week. That will give enough for everyone to have daily, plus the extra for starting the next week's batches. Thankfully kombucha will be cheaper to make :-)
To compensate for the increase in milk purchasing we will be doing over the next handful of months, I will not be ordering my probiotic pills after the ones I have run out. This way we will ALL benefit from the probiotics we need, without breaking the bank.
As it is Moira and I are seeing changes from the kefir and kombucha. Isabella is starting to, but for her, she is getting worse in some areas (like her anxiety), but better in others. She was very upset by this. I told her it was a good sign. The bad bacteria were being killed off, but in the process their toxins will make her anxiety worse. I gave her some suggestions to limit the effects, hopefully they will be helpful to her.
I am hoping to buy some of the flip top bottles to make our kombucha nice and fizzy. I think that will be fun. In the meantime I will continue with using our mason jars. Though the kombucha lacks that wonderful fizz it is capable of producing. Hey, as long as it is still doing it's job!
I found out how to do the second fermentation from the Cultured Food Life site. I can't wait for her cookbook to come out. She has a lot of great ideas that sound really yummy. I really like my sauerkraut, and if my kimchi turns out like my friends, then I will really be loving that, but I really want to add lots of different ferments to our diet. I didn't want them all to be made with cabbage :-) I'm not exactly creative in the kitchen. So a little help is much appreciated. Ha!
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
24 weeks down!
Whoa! The six month mark! At least as far as 'weeks' go. Really not sure how they figure out months. So I am either part way through month 5, or just hitting 6 months. Anyone know how they figure that?
Anyways, I shared how I am doing below. Lots of fun. No need to repeat :-)
Just wanting to put up a picture of the baby bump :-)
Music to my sinuses...er, ears!
Not sure if I have lamented here about my sinus issues. I have definitely been lamenting....just not sure if I did it on here :-) Anyways, almost two weeks ago I came down with *another* sinus infection. I do believe this makes infection #6 in the past 5 months. So I hit it with (most) of the usual stuff. Being pregnant reduces some biggies, like oil of oregano. But I made up an apple cider vinegar concoction (with magnesium, vit. C, vit. D, echinachea tincture, GSE), an elderberry syrup, and was taking some colloidal silver. Along with that I was also doing a sinus rinse 3 times a day with the silver added or GSE added. Things would get better for a couple of days, then WHAM, get much worse. Lather, rinse, repeat for the past two weeks. I got desperate and sought out some essential oils. The Young Living's RC blend really made a difference over night. I was feeling much improved.....until two days later I came down with the dreaded tummy bug. Wham, sinuses flared. Then to top it off I actually came down with a run of the mill cold. REALLY!?! I was at my wits end. But, I don't give up easily. And so I sat and thought.
I took some time to really think WHY I had no sinus issues while on GAPS, at least until we got hit by that horrid 5 day tummy bug 9 months in. Since then, even re-doing GAPS intro 3 or 4 more times (!), I still CAN NOT get my gut healthy, thus having very unhealthy sinuses. Sigh. I went through what I ate, and did during, each of those intro times. And then the light bulb moment!
The first go around on GAPS I was only using the liquids of the homemade sauerkraut. The following re-do's I was using the probiotic pills (ones, that I now realize were DOA). I did try using the fermented juices one time, but my ferments went bad after week one and I resorted back to the pills.
Fast forward to being pregnant. Hormones high, increase the bad yeasties count. Bad, bad sinuses. Pregnant lady losing her mind :-) Pray! Yes, pray, and quick. Later that day or the next, I was scanning down my list of 'favorites' in my computer folder, and I stumble upon this bookmarked site, Cultured Food Life. This was when I had stopped and done my thinking. I realized that it was the homemade ferments that helped my gut to heal, which led to my first ever allergy free season since a teen!
So I spent the next couple of days (we still had two days before shopping day) reading her site. I signed up for a month membership because I was in desperate need of direction. So do you want to see what was music to my sinuses/ears?
Ah, ferments, ones that popped when I opened the tops and did a bubbly dance as well! That means that they are alive and active. The salsa one will be ready for eating tonight, the other two (kimchi, and a cabbage/carrot/apple/raisin blend) will be ready this Sunday. I can hardly wait! Especially since I've had success with what I have been doing in the few days before I made the above veggies.
I had kefir and kombucha on hand, and figured I better start with what I have. Donna, from CFL (link above) calls kefir, kombucha and fermented veggies, The Trilogy. She has found that with any of them you will see results, but when you are consuming all three, you will see amazing results. And right now....I need *amazing*!
In the past three days I have been drinking 1/4 cup of kefir with each meal, and 1/4 kombucha twice a day (between meals). I am still taking my probiotic pills, and decided to open a capsule to add to my sinus wash that I am doing two times a day. The results? After three days, no more sinus pain, and any nose runnies (yes, I am aware that is not a real word :-)) went from yellow to clear. Also, my 7 month long break out on my chin? Huge difference!! It is finally clearing up!! This is no small matter, as I have tried various things to try to get rid of this rash or break out (kind of seems like a combo of the two, something I have never experienced before, so not sure what to call it). I feel like maybe, just maybe I can be rid of the back to back sinus infections. I still have stuffiness (I think more from the cold), but I have more energy, and no actual infection signs. I don't want to get too excited, but so far this has been the only thing to really work at clearing things up, instead of me just feeling better. I will let you know how it goes over the next few weeks. So far I have an infection every 3 to 6 weeks. So, if I can go the next two months without one, then I know I've found my "ticket".
I took some time to really think WHY I had no sinus issues while on GAPS, at least until we got hit by that horrid 5 day tummy bug 9 months in. Since then, even re-doing GAPS intro 3 or 4 more times (!), I still CAN NOT get my gut healthy, thus having very unhealthy sinuses. Sigh. I went through what I ate, and did during, each of those intro times. And then the light bulb moment!
The first go around on GAPS I was only using the liquids of the homemade sauerkraut. The following re-do's I was using the probiotic pills (ones, that I now realize were DOA). I did try using the fermented juices one time, but my ferments went bad after week one and I resorted back to the pills.
Fast forward to being pregnant. Hormones high, increase the bad yeasties count. Bad, bad sinuses. Pregnant lady losing her mind :-) Pray! Yes, pray, and quick. Later that day or the next, I was scanning down my list of 'favorites' in my computer folder, and I stumble upon this bookmarked site, Cultured Food Life. This was when I had stopped and done my thinking. I realized that it was the homemade ferments that helped my gut to heal, which led to my first ever allergy free season since a teen!
So I spent the next couple of days (we still had two days before shopping day) reading her site. I signed up for a month membership because I was in desperate need of direction. So do you want to see what was music to my sinuses/ears?
Ah, ferments, ones that popped when I opened the tops and did a bubbly dance as well! That means that they are alive and active. The salsa one will be ready for eating tonight, the other two (kimchi, and a cabbage/carrot/apple/raisin blend) will be ready this Sunday. I can hardly wait! Especially since I've had success with what I have been doing in the few days before I made the above veggies.
I had kefir and kombucha on hand, and figured I better start with what I have. Donna, from CFL (link above) calls kefir, kombucha and fermented veggies, The Trilogy. She has found that with any of them you will see results, but when you are consuming all three, you will see amazing results. And right now....I need *amazing*!
In the past three days I have been drinking 1/4 cup of kefir with each meal, and 1/4 kombucha twice a day (between meals). I am still taking my probiotic pills, and decided to open a capsule to add to my sinus wash that I am doing two times a day. The results? After three days, no more sinus pain, and any nose runnies (yes, I am aware that is not a real word :-)) went from yellow to clear. Also, my 7 month long break out on my chin? Huge difference!! It is finally clearing up!! This is no small matter, as I have tried various things to try to get rid of this rash or break out (kind of seems like a combo of the two, something I have never experienced before, so not sure what to call it). I feel like maybe, just maybe I can be rid of the back to back sinus infections. I still have stuffiness (I think more from the cold), but I have more energy, and no actual infection signs. I don't want to get too excited, but so far this has been the only thing to really work at clearing things up, instead of me just feeling better. I will let you know how it goes over the next few weeks. So far I have an infection every 3 to 6 weeks. So, if I can go the next two months without one, then I know I've found my "ticket".
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Our camping trip
I am very happy to report that our second family camping trip went MUCH better than our first (which was 4 years ago, where most of us vowed we would never go camping again!). It was a short trip. We drove to the zoo on Friday, visited one half, then headed to the camp ground, all of 10 minutes away. We set up camp and explored a bit. We only went swimming once this summer, so the pool at the camp ground was a big hit. Saturday we headed out to see the other half of the zoo, and spent the remaining of the day swimming, jumping on the huge "pillow", and playing putt-putt at the camp ground. After breakfast Sunday, and a quick walk on the walking trail we packed up and headed home.
There was a lot of walking to be done back and forth between our tent and the bathrooms. Little boys decided 10 minutes *after* the other had gone to the bathroom, that they too had to go...now! Ha! We were very blessed with wonderful weather. So thankful for that. Not all went as planned. The first night two of the boys were freaked out about sleeping in the tent. Jonah kept begging to go home. The funny thing, by the following evening he was saying, "I love this place! I want to live here forever!" So he got over his fears. Unfortunately one of the girls was experiencing extreme anxiety. Extreme. I didn't get much sleep because of it, and neither did she. However, when we got home, she slept like a rock until after lunch time! Being the Mom, meant I didn't get such the privilege of doing the same :-) Which made me very thankful that everyone wanted to just chill out that first afternoon home, and I got to take a nap with Aubrey. Phew.
We had some neat evenings at the camp. The first night there was an elderly couple who drives around the camp ground in their *very fancy* golf cart, giving rides to the kids. They insist that an adult goes with them, for safety, which I appreciated. I went along, and the kids loved the ride, singing and laughing all the way. The second night we had a bonfire, with s'mores. The s'mores were compliments of two families that we met earlier that afternoon. They were friends (each having 4 children), moving down from New York. It was a lot of fun. The kids had a ton of fun telling scary stories and running around in the dark.
A few other lessons learned:
:: It took 3 days to prepare for our camping trip. Lots of food prep and packing. But we only spent 2 days there.
:: Definitely must convince everyone else the importance of organization. I wanted all like items in one bag, but everyone else just wanted to throw things together. That meant there was a LOT of searching for things like tooth brushes, flash lights and food items.
:: We figured that the time it would take to uninstall the back seat of the van would not be worth the time and effort. Wrong! The van was packed to the hilt and it was not exactly a comfortable ride with things under our legs, and crammed in between people.
:: Simple, cheap, Dollar Store items really, really held the boy's attention, making the car ride go smoothly :-)
:: I'm very thankful I packed more clothing than we thought we would need. We ended needing pretty much all of it.
I'm quite certain there were more! Oh, yes, next time I really need to *chill out*. Which, for me, surrounded by woods, next to a deep creek....well that's just hard. But despite trying to keep track of everyone at the campsite and at the zoo, it was fun and I think all of us, save the anxious girl, wants to go again. Here are some of the pictures. Some came out really blurry. Something is really not right with my camera. I just got the focusing figured out and 'something' happened. Nothing physically that I know of (like being dropped or the like), but everything in the view finder is blurry, blurry, blurry, and it seems like the camera is not focusing properly (taking longer, not really engaging on the first attempt). Sigh. We shall see.
I think most of the kids got up that tree at some point. Here is Moira and Flannery. I was surprised that Moira climbed up, and also surprised that Flannery didn't go any higher! Both odd events :-)
Unfortunately you can just barely make out this duck's bill. If you look really closely to the brownish duck at the bottom of the picture you may make out that his bill is *blue*!! A BLUE bill?! How cool is that. I've been to the zoo quite a bit, but never saw this. Ends up, it only happens for a few weeks out of the year, during mating season. The rest of the year it is the normal yellow/orange.
Saoirse and Flannery hanging out on a bee. The kids were all looking forward to watching the bees at work. They all kept asking when we are going to get our own bees. So glad that non of them are afraid of the prospect of having hives of bees on our property!
Although very blurry, his smile was just too cute!
Oh. My. Word. This picture *really* shows how much Jed has changed in the past few months!!! He looks like a BOY! As opposed to looking more like a toddler/preschooler for years. So happy to see that improvement.
You can see Isabella's notebook in the lower corner. She kept notes on everything we saw and did!
Almost everyone! We usually get a family photo at the zoo, but we failed this time around. Here we are eating a snack before heading on to see more exhibits.
Isabella was really thrilled with getting her picture taken. Looks like I was too :-)
Ugh. I snapped two pictures of the kids against this wall, and both are blurry with silly faces. It is hard to get them all looking decent at the same time. I am pretty sure that I put my camera in auto mode to get a picture quickly, but it is still all blurry!!! Grrr. Like I said, something is not right with my camera right now. I have to find out if it is under warranty. I've had it less than a year and I have not been happy with how it's been acting.
Jeremiah took Saoirse and the boys to a special dinosaur exhibit at the zoo. The rest of us hung out by the carousel. They got to "dig" for fossils. They had fun.
Looking for fossils.
Jonah having a fun time with a jeep.
There was one dino that you could get on for photos. Not sure where Jonah and Aubrey are for the picture. Oh, well.
I usually don't put pictures since, well, they are just animals at a zoo. This one however is of the polar bear, who we found out on our return, died the very next day! So sad.
The highlight of the walking...the playground. There is a huge kid play area that was supposed to be finished this summer, but was still under construction. Such a bummer. It looks like it will be a lot of fun. Though, do to it's size, it looks like a lot of work for parents!
Jed climbing the spider web.
The girls wanted their picture taken on the praying mantis.
Jonah was very pleased to show off his monkey skills :-)
A fellow camping family gave us the red box of kindling for our fire starting efforts. The boys immediately saw this wood for what it really was....building blocks!
They actually made some impressive buildings, but I got side tracked and didn't get a picture of them.
Jeremiah starting the fire. All of our folding chairs out. I do believe we took up a lot of space. As it was we had to have two camp sites, due to our size, but with no one else there (on our side of the road) we got to spread out a bit more.
Moira peeking out of the tent.
It may look like we either just arrived, or were packing up. Actually this was our second night there, and in one nights and day time the tent was a wreck. Isabella pulled everything out to put everything back in as it should be.
It proved to be a lot of fun, a lot of work and in the end we were sad to go. We did have a sad arrival as we found that our baby male goat (he was about 6 months old) had died while we were gone. He had never been well since we got him. We made the decision, that should we ever get him well, that we would sell him as he wasn't fit for our purposes. He was taking another, out of the many over the past few months, turn for worse the day we were leaving. I had hoped with the meds we were giving him that we could see him through another bout of 'whatever was ailing' him. But that was not the case. I felt bad for the family that was taking care of our animals, as they were the ones to have to find him :-( Poor little guy.
I was able to get all the laundry washed in quick order when we got back. However, with the extra work, the long weekend, things fell apart with the rest of the house. With Jeremiah being home on vacation we were all out of sorts schedule wise. It took us the following week until we were completely back on track. BUT, I am grateful that we did indeed just jump back on the wagon! Phew!
There was a lot of walking to be done back and forth between our tent and the bathrooms. Little boys decided 10 minutes *after* the other had gone to the bathroom, that they too had to go...now! Ha! We were very blessed with wonderful weather. So thankful for that. Not all went as planned. The first night two of the boys were freaked out about sleeping in the tent. Jonah kept begging to go home. The funny thing, by the following evening he was saying, "I love this place! I want to live here forever!" So he got over his fears. Unfortunately one of the girls was experiencing extreme anxiety. Extreme. I didn't get much sleep because of it, and neither did she. However, when we got home, she slept like a rock until after lunch time! Being the Mom, meant I didn't get such the privilege of doing the same :-) Which made me very thankful that everyone wanted to just chill out that first afternoon home, and I got to take a nap with Aubrey. Phew.
We had some neat evenings at the camp. The first night there was an elderly couple who drives around the camp ground in their *very fancy* golf cart, giving rides to the kids. They insist that an adult goes with them, for safety, which I appreciated. I went along, and the kids loved the ride, singing and laughing all the way. The second night we had a bonfire, with s'mores. The s'mores were compliments of two families that we met earlier that afternoon. They were friends (each having 4 children), moving down from New York. It was a lot of fun. The kids had a ton of fun telling scary stories and running around in the dark.
A few other lessons learned:
:: It took 3 days to prepare for our camping trip. Lots of food prep and packing. But we only spent 2 days there.
:: Definitely must convince everyone else the importance of organization. I wanted all like items in one bag, but everyone else just wanted to throw things together. That meant there was a LOT of searching for things like tooth brushes, flash lights and food items.
:: We figured that the time it would take to uninstall the back seat of the van would not be worth the time and effort. Wrong! The van was packed to the hilt and it was not exactly a comfortable ride with things under our legs, and crammed in between people.
:: Simple, cheap, Dollar Store items really, really held the boy's attention, making the car ride go smoothly :-)
:: I'm very thankful I packed more clothing than we thought we would need. We ended needing pretty much all of it.
I'm quite certain there were more! Oh, yes, next time I really need to *chill out*. Which, for me, surrounded by woods, next to a deep creek....well that's just hard. But despite trying to keep track of everyone at the campsite and at the zoo, it was fun and I think all of us, save the anxious girl, wants to go again. Here are some of the pictures. Some came out really blurry. Something is really not right with my camera. I just got the focusing figured out and 'something' happened. Nothing physically that I know of (like being dropped or the like), but everything in the view finder is blurry, blurry, blurry, and it seems like the camera is not focusing properly (taking longer, not really engaging on the first attempt). Sigh. We shall see.
We had just arrived at the zoo, time to unpack our lunch and eat before heading in. We really try to not bring much with us, as there is a lot of walking!
It proved to be a lot of fun, a lot of work and in the end we were sad to go. We did have a sad arrival as we found that our baby male goat (he was about 6 months old) had died while we were gone. He had never been well since we got him. We made the decision, that should we ever get him well, that we would sell him as he wasn't fit for our purposes. He was taking another, out of the many over the past few months, turn for worse the day we were leaving. I had hoped with the meds we were giving him that we could see him through another bout of 'whatever was ailing' him. But that was not the case. I felt bad for the family that was taking care of our animals, as they were the ones to have to find him :-( Poor little guy.
I was able to get all the laundry washed in quick order when we got back. However, with the extra work, the long weekend, things fell apart with the rest of the house. With Jeremiah being home on vacation we were all out of sorts schedule wise. It took us the following week until we were completely back on track. BUT, I am grateful that we did indeed just jump back on the wagon! Phew!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
An update to Moira's New Look
Sixteen months ago I had a post titled, "Moira's New Look". Well, she has another new look today. It was a BIG day, long in the making. Here she is:
Doesn't she look awesome?!! She is VERY happy with her new look. She is now having to get used to 'normal' teeth :-) She also has to learn to talk with her new retainers, but either way, she is happy, happy, happy!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Baby update
I just had my second appointment with my midwife. Things look well. I measured 19cm (I am 21 weeks along), so if things stay that way (growth rate wise) then hopefully we are looking at a 7 pound baby and not an 8 pounder. That would be a welcome relief. My 8 pounders were all hard to deliver. I don't look forward to a repeat, 3 of them was enough :-)
My midwife does not use a doppler, so for now she just makes sure she can locate the heart beat, and she said it sounds to be around 140. And anyone who knows us, knows that we use that number to play our 'baby guessing game'. Ha, ha. The old wives tale is that a heart rate of 140 is a boy, and one that is around 160 is a girl. Sooooo, it's still looking like a boy :-) However, she didn't actually clock it, so we really don't *truly* know. Once the baby is a bit bigger, and it's heart rate is louder she will record the actual rate. But that is the number we have for now.
The last time the midwife was here she gave me a folder of informational papers. However, her printer went out on her and she only had half of them. This time she gave me the rest. One of them was the supply list. Pretty much most of the homebirth supply lists are the same. But I made sure to look over it. And, I know it sounds silly, but I got SO excited looking over it, imagining gathering all of our supplies. I am so grateful for that excitement. As some of you know I have had huge apprehensions about this birth. This is due to Aubrey's labor and delivery. But with prayer, and with doing what I know to do (read, and read some more :-)), I am finding that I am more at peace with this baby's birth. I am still being cautious, listening for those small voices that were being spoken with Aubrey's pregnancy. So far I haven't heard any.
I am also happy to report that so far I have gained a total of 6 pounds...if you go by my starting weight. I am still not sure what number to use, as I lost 5 pounds during that first month. Either way, that means a possible 11 pound gain, which I am very grateful for. For most of my pregnancies I've gained 40 plus pounds. That makes those last couple of months *very* difficult. With only one of my pregnancies I gained a total of about 28-29 pounds, and what a *huge* difference in my energy levels, and ease of moving that made! So even if I were to suddenly start gaining a pound a week (I think that doesn't start till after 28 weeks?) that leaves me with a total gain of 25-30 pounds.
Please note, I do NOT limit my food intake. I feel VERY strongly about nourishing my baby properly. And although I do not enjoy gaining 40 pounds, during pregnancy I eat until satisfied. This time around after being on GAPS, this is my first pregnancy that I wasn't "starving" the first 4 months. As opposed to when I was pregnant with Jedidiah, and I gained 60 pounds because that 'starving' feeling lasted all 9 months! My theory is that my body knew the baby wasn't getting what he needed, and as such I felt hungry all the time, eating in order to try to get those calories to the baby (which obviously didn't happen!). Either way I listen to my body and eat accordingly, no matter what that means for a final gain on my part.
Overall, I am very happy with how things are going. I am still nervous that this baby will be mispositioned, but I still have weeks till I have to worry about that. But, honestly, after 7 pregnancies my tummy muscles are not what they used to be. And that's putting it lightly :-) With weaker muscles, the baby has more room to move at will, and get itself into positions its not supposed to be in. But, I will at least be trying all I can to sit properly, and continue to exercise, to do all I can on my part, to encourage the baby to be head down AND facing the right direction for its birth.
My midwife does not use a doppler, so for now she just makes sure she can locate the heart beat, and she said it sounds to be around 140. And anyone who knows us, knows that we use that number to play our 'baby guessing game'. Ha, ha. The old wives tale is that a heart rate of 140 is a boy, and one that is around 160 is a girl. Sooooo, it's still looking like a boy :-) However, she didn't actually clock it, so we really don't *truly* know. Once the baby is a bit bigger, and it's heart rate is louder she will record the actual rate. But that is the number we have for now.
The last time the midwife was here she gave me a folder of informational papers. However, her printer went out on her and she only had half of them. This time she gave me the rest. One of them was the supply list. Pretty much most of the homebirth supply lists are the same. But I made sure to look over it. And, I know it sounds silly, but I got SO excited looking over it, imagining gathering all of our supplies. I am so grateful for that excitement. As some of you know I have had huge apprehensions about this birth. This is due to Aubrey's labor and delivery. But with prayer, and with doing what I know to do (read, and read some more :-)), I am finding that I am more at peace with this baby's birth. I am still being cautious, listening for those small voices that were being spoken with Aubrey's pregnancy. So far I haven't heard any.
I am also happy to report that so far I have gained a total of 6 pounds...if you go by my starting weight. I am still not sure what number to use, as I lost 5 pounds during that first month. Either way, that means a possible 11 pound gain, which I am very grateful for. For most of my pregnancies I've gained 40 plus pounds. That makes those last couple of months *very* difficult. With only one of my pregnancies I gained a total of about 28-29 pounds, and what a *huge* difference in my energy levels, and ease of moving that made! So even if I were to suddenly start gaining a pound a week (I think that doesn't start till after 28 weeks?) that leaves me with a total gain of 25-30 pounds.
Please note, I do NOT limit my food intake. I feel VERY strongly about nourishing my baby properly. And although I do not enjoy gaining 40 pounds, during pregnancy I eat until satisfied. This time around after being on GAPS, this is my first pregnancy that I wasn't "starving" the first 4 months. As opposed to when I was pregnant with Jedidiah, and I gained 60 pounds because that 'starving' feeling lasted all 9 months! My theory is that my body knew the baby wasn't getting what he needed, and as such I felt hungry all the time, eating in order to try to get those calories to the baby (which obviously didn't happen!). Either way I listen to my body and eat accordingly, no matter what that means for a final gain on my part.
Overall, I am very happy with how things are going. I am still nervous that this baby will be mispositioned, but I still have weeks till I have to worry about that. But, honestly, after 7 pregnancies my tummy muscles are not what they used to be. And that's putting it lightly :-) With weaker muscles, the baby has more room to move at will, and get itself into positions its not supposed to be in. But, I will at least be trying all I can to sit properly, and continue to exercise, to do all I can on my part, to encourage the baby to be head down AND facing the right direction for its birth.
Thursday, September 05, 2013
8 is Great!....Advanced Maternal Age
Today marks my half way point! Twenty weeks! Hard to believe. Today I thought I would write about being an older pregnant mama :-) At 42, I am considered past my prime in the baby making area. Thankfully, after doing a quick search on 'older pregnant moms', I was pleasantly surprised to find some sites that took a balanced approach to this idea of being older. I know there are a lot of doctors out there that are also changing their views on older moms, for the better.
One of the biggest concerns about being an older mom is chromosomal abnormalities (CA). Yes, the rate of babies being born to older moms have a higher chance of having a CA, but what do the numbers mean? When being told that I had a 1 in 40 chance of having a child with any type of CA, that sounds pretty bad. But percentage wise that only means a 2.5% chance of a child with a CA. Just over 2%. That means I have a 98% chance that my baby will be healthy. So, yes, the risks have risen from someone who is only 30, but my chances of having a healthy baby are still on my side.
Please don't misunderstand me, I know the risks are real. But at the same time, I know (personally know) multiple moms who's first children, or a child born while still young that have Down Syndrome. For them, their 1 in 1,000 chance became 100%. We are not exempt from the possibility at any age. My thoughts are that there are risks in pretty much everything we do. Driving a car? Risk. My daughter horse back riding...who is now *jumping* horses! Gulp! Risk. Taking medications or receiving or not receiving vaccinations. Risk. And by golly the risk of your child having autism is 1 in 50, but I don't see that stopping people from having a child. And boys are at more risk than girls. So just being born is a risk. The rise in cancer? We are all at risk.
None of us knows what life will hold. Only One. And He is in control, nothing is a surprise. This doesn't mean I wouldn't be heartbroken if there was anything wrong with my child. We all, myself included, want the very best for our children. That includes being healthy. But living life in fear isn't an option either. I know for one that my oldest would think life isn't worth living if horses were not involved :-) We've also had many a fun adventure that took a car drive to get there.
So CA behind us, the other biggest issues of an older mama is her health. The risk of diabetes, pre-eclampsia, and high blood pressure rise with age. But I know that all of those issues can be avoided completely with a healthy diet and exercise. I read how a mother's blood flow isn't as good as when she is younger, possibly leading to a smaller baby. But, again, how our bodies work is directly related to how well we've taken care of them (obviously lacking any physical disabilities from birth or accident).
Now, another issue that has been raised, even from someone in my own family...my age when the child will be 18, an adult. Yes, I will be 60 by the time this babe is old enough to leave the nest. I think this is a matter of perspective. Most people think that life should go a certain way (all of us have *A* view). The idea of being 'free' of children at 40 or 45 so that you can go on to live life as you please is not my view. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are days where I just want to go grocery shopping with out a little one in tow, or get a meal made without a diaper change needed, BUT I do not want to live my life just for myself, doing as I please. I personally have always wanted children, lots of them, and I look forward to being a Grandma one day with lots of littles to dote on. Jeremiah has talked about downsizing once all the kids move out. I just laugh and say, WHERE would all of our grand kids fit?! There will be a time where I have more time to read, more time to crochet/sew, more time to get out and do things. There are days when I am plumb worn out from chasing little boys around, but why would I want to exchange that for more time to 'golf' or 'travel' (I do not golf, Im just using it as an example), or 'make money'? Life is short, too short, and I want to spend it with my family. Each and every one of them. If I die when I am 60, I would only be sad for not being able to see my younger ones through those amazing adult situations (marraige, having a baby of their own, etc.), not because I didn't get a chance to visit the Grand Canyon, or that I didn't have enough free time to knit, etc.
I also read that we older moms will have more aches and pains. Again, this will depend on how well you've been eating and how great a shape you are in. Or that we will be more tired, etc. Seriously, this pregnancy hasn't been any harder than my others. I did have that bout with my 'heart issue' which I found was just a magnesium deficiency. My morning sickness was the best this time around, again because of the magnesium. Had I started a month or two before getting pregnant I truly think I would have had no morning sickness at all. I actually have more energy this pregnancy than any other pregnancy thus far. In all of my past pregnancies I've needed to take a nap, but besides the couple of times my mag. was down, I haven't had to nap.
So, being older isn't necessarily bad, it may just be different. But most of these older mom issues are avoidable. The ones that are not, though real, are still not as scary as some would have us believe.
Any other older pregnant mamas out there? What are your thoughts?
Sunday, September 01, 2013
Scheduling Part 4: Homeschool
Scheduling homeschool felt like making a schedule within a schedule. I had to first figure out the time I wanted our schooling to take place. Then I had to figure out how long each book/subject takes my children to finish. Next was to figure out who was going to need my direct help. And to top it off....what was I going to have the boys be doing during this time. Jedidiah joined the homeschooling ranks these past few months, but since he is just starting off his schooling isn't time intensive. In another month or so I will be adding Jonah to the mix as well. So the schedule will change up a bit, but I only plan on doing math and phonics with him.
I made sure to make up the bulk of my schedule first before arranging the specifics of homeschool. Thankfully I have a few orginizational papers and charts that we will continue to utilize each year. The first year of implimenting Charlotte Mason was HARD. Which books to read and when? Oh, that was hard. But I made up a sort of template that I now just plug in the next years history readings on certain days, their literature readings on another day, etc. That first template took forever to work out and tweak, but all that work paid off since it has been succesful for each year since. I found that in the older years, with the heavy book load, that I did have to switch things up a bit, BUT having the ground work covered I wasn't reinventing the wheel.
Since CM is heavy in reading material, it is parent intensive in the beginning years. I have found a couple of ways to ease the load. The first is to find out if any of their books are on Librivox, where people have volunteered to read books for audio that are in the public domain. This has really eased my reading load this past semester. When I add in Jedidiah, his readings will not be as long, nor as many, so it shouldn't be too bad. Plus, my second 'mommy saver' will be to have my two older girls read any of his history readings to him. Since we had switched curriculums a couple of times over the years I feel that the older ones didn't get everything that they might have had otherwise. So this will cover two birds with one stone.
Below is the sheet that I fill in first for each schooling child (Isabella and Moira are on one sheet as they are using the same materials). The example below if for Flannery. This paper is kept in what we call, "The Green Binder". Oh, yes, we are so creative ;-) This paper is specifically for me, but also for the girls to flip to easily to see which books, at a glance, they have to read that day.
The above blank schedule can be obtained from Donna Young's wonderful website.
After I fill in which books they will be using on each day I then fill in the Daily Schedule sheet that each child has in a special folder of their own.
I made sure to make up the bulk of my schedule first before arranging the specifics of homeschool. Thankfully I have a few orginizational papers and charts that we will continue to utilize each year. The first year of implimenting Charlotte Mason was HARD. Which books to read and when? Oh, that was hard. But I made up a sort of template that I now just plug in the next years history readings on certain days, their literature readings on another day, etc. That first template took forever to work out and tweak, but all that work paid off since it has been succesful for each year since. I found that in the older years, with the heavy book load, that I did have to switch things up a bit, BUT having the ground work covered I wasn't reinventing the wheel.
Since CM is heavy in reading material, it is parent intensive in the beginning years. I have found a couple of ways to ease the load. The first is to find out if any of their books are on Librivox, where people have volunteered to read books for audio that are in the public domain. This has really eased my reading load this past semester. When I add in Jedidiah, his readings will not be as long, nor as many, so it shouldn't be too bad. Plus, my second 'mommy saver' will be to have my two older girls read any of his history readings to him. Since we had switched curriculums a couple of times over the years I feel that the older ones didn't get everything that they might have had otherwise. So this will cover two birds with one stone.
Below is the sheet that I fill in first for each schooling child (Isabella and Moira are on one sheet as they are using the same materials). The example below if for Flannery. This paper is kept in what we call, "The Green Binder". Oh, yes, we are so creative ;-) This paper is specifically for me, but also for the girls to flip to easily to see which books, at a glance, they have to read that day.
The above blank schedule can be obtained from Donna Young's wonderful website.
After I fill in which books they will be using on each day I then fill in the Daily Schedule sheet that each child has in a special folder of their own.
The numbers you see in some of those spaces are the pages or chapters that need to be read that day. The other books are done a page or lesson each day, so they just do the next page/lesson. Above you just see the page for Monday and Tuesday. This is for our third semester, as you can see by the weeks at the top, 25-36. So all of the Monday's for the semester are in one block. Flannery is to check off each item as she finishes it. I get the page numbers from Ambleside Online. Here is a sample of the weekly charts that AO has to offer, GO HERE.
This year I switched Saoirse over to Higher Up and Further In (this is the curriculum name, which is on the Charlotte Mason Help site). It is CM based, and has some of AO's books as well. However, I found I like HUFI's approach to history better. So anyone after Saoirse will start off in HUFI. The rest of the girls, since they are so far along with AO, will stick with AO's book choices. (I have all of the years of AO, and HUFI semester charts printed out and laminated for my reference. I also put a separate paper copy in our Green Binder. Around here, having multiple copies of any needed paper work is essential :-))
Once I did this paperwork for all of my children (who are schooling) I then had to figure out who is going to do what, when! Then the work really starts! Although the below segment from our schedule may seem simple, it was no easy matter to figure out what everyone was to be doing at each given time!
A couple of things didn't get typed up correctly, but we all know what needs to be done. For example, with Flannery, you see the second slot is 'school', and the third is, 'first book'. Those slots should be switched, and the one that says, 'school' is supposed to be 'second book'. I suppose when I have to re-do the schedule to add in Jonah I will switch things then.
Saoirse has two blanks in her schedule, as she is usually either helping with the boys, finishing any chores, or having some free time. Although she has come a long way with her reading, she still has a LONG way to go before she will be able to read any of her books on her own. You can see that I have turns with the older two girls for 'narrations/math'. Narrations are them retelling me what they have read so far that day. This year they are writing up 3 of their narrations, the rest are oral narrations. And each girl has found that they do better with math if I am going over their lesson with them. I stop them before they make a mistake on their problems. They take all quizzes and tests on their own though. This has REALLY helped them to stay on top of any problem areas. This is one reason that Isabella fell behind in math. She kept plugging along, getting so-so grades, until one day she was failing everything. I had to take her back....WAAAAY back to go over those critical elements that she never really got when she was doing math on her own. I do not think it is a downfall of the curriculm at all, which I really like, and will continue to use. I believe she just wasn't catching on to this element, then that one, until it just all crumbled down on her.
The older two girls have time after lunch, not shown above, to finish their schooling since their schooling takes longer than the others.
(All links are just the google results when I typed in the book title. No affiliate links.)
Besides the books on AO, and HUFI, we also use the following curriculm/books:
Isabella:
Science: This year Isabella has chosen to use "Exploring Creation: Biology" for science. For this we are following HUFI's layout, using the chart from Donna Young to keep track of those reading assignments.
Grammar: She will complete one page daily from "Easy Grammar Plus".
Math: Everyone 3rd grade and above uses, "Teaching Textbooks".
Moira:
Science: She too has decided to go with Exploring Creation for her science. We have not determined which book she will do this year yet.
Grammar: She will use the same book as Isabella.
Handwriting: Yes, my naturally talented artist is doing handwriting in 9th grade. Don't ask me how that works out!!! The poor girl can do a beautiful rendition of another drawing or still life in front of her, but could not copy a cursive 'b'!! So she will be learning italic cursive this year, using "Italic Handwriting Series".
Art: She and I working through the book, "Drawing with Children". Since this covers the basics we will probably work through this quickly and move on to the author's second book, "Drawing with Teens".
Flannery and Saoirse:
Science: I am using "God's Design for Heaven and Earth" (this link shows only three of the 9 or 10 books that we have for the whole series). The lessons are short, and easy.
Handwriting: They are using the same Italic series books, but for each of their grade level.
Phonics: Flannery can read well, but she still has some issues of just skimming over words that she can not easily read. Unfortunately for her the drawback of most of her schooling coming easy for her is that when faced with something more difficult, she just tries to ignore it! So we are continuing with our phonics book, "Phonics Pathways" for her. I usually have to only go so far in the book, but for her we are continuing on to help her learn to really decipher those sticky words. Saoirse is very, very slowly working her way through the book. With my other girls, once they got the basics down we were able to go through one page a day. For Saiorse we take three days to go over one page. But that is the beauty of homeschooling, taking the needed time for a child to grasp the needed concepts to succeed.
Math: For K-2nd grade the kids use Saxon Math.
With all of the girls we are using the free online curriculum for American Sign Language, which you can find HERE. The older two girls are deciding on a foreign language that they would like to study. So far they can't make up their minds :-)
There you have it! Homeschooling for our family :-)
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