Changes...

Ahh, ya gotta love change.......well sometimes. We've had a few things here that have changed. The major one, and the not fun one was the news that Jerry is loosing his job. Thankfully his manager has given him plenty of notice, and so there will be some time for him to look for another job. I wish I could say that I took the news well. But my very first thought that popped in my head was, ' I can't fathom the idea of having to move!'. Not that we are planning to move mind you, just the thought of the remote possibility freaked me out. It took me the day to just lay it before the Lord and trust the He has all of this in His hands. But that did set me back a bit in being consistent with the children's training (really mommy training), and boy did things get crazy here quick. Not like they would have some weeks ago mind you, but it has been so peaceful here daily that it really threw me for a loop. So I am getting back on my horse and I'm gonna keep on plowing thorough!

The other change is dietary. We only started yesterday mind you, but a change is a change, and seeing as how I bought groceries accordingly we have to stick with it :-) I wanted to go sugar free. Not sugar free as in man made sweeteners (they are poison), but all regular processed sugar. We will only be using raw honey, pure maple syrup or agave nectar. Plus any wheat product or rice will be presoaked the night before. We are also getting away from any canned food and any food that has preservatives or food colorings in it. That pretty much takes care of any boxed food! I saw a real need to get my kids off of these chemicals (and they are chemicals, and there are too many real and true stories of how some of these affect children's behavior or they are allergens), and sugar, well that is just a toxin to the body....in the amounts that we eat it at. Soooooo, it took me a long time to come up with some changes to implement that wouldn't be far out, and too fast. So here is the plan:

Breakfast: Green smoothies! Yes, green. I have a lovely picture of one below for proof that they are green, although this one is more army green. We are starting small in the green department because it freaks some of my kids out, especially one particular 6 year old. I swear that child has a phobia of vegetables! All of them! So this is what our smoothies contain, it will vary so we can have different tastes, but this is the basis-right now yogurt, although this will be replaced keifer made from goats milk, then coconut oil (contrary to popular belief this is VERY healthy for you), flax seed oil (get those omega 3's), some type of greens (spinach, lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, dandelion greens, turnip greens, etc. it's important to mix them up and not eat the same ones day after day), and a bunch of fruit, fresh and frozen, plus any extra water to adjust thickness.

Lunch: This is where we needed a big change as the girls were eating mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly "stuff". So we are now having our regular breakfast foods here, although they will be improved by the soaking. So waffles, pancakes, biscuits, eggs, muffins. Soaking is important, because it is not true that whole wheat is healthy for you otherwise. Grains have natural chemicals that protect them from germinating prematurely. And these chemicals interfere with how your body absorbs the nutrients from the grains. Interesting stuff I tell you.

Snacks: We have two a day and they will be fruit, veggies and dip (made with sour cream and spices on hand, the packaged stuff has MSG), or muffins.

Dinner: We will have a big salad available at each dinner, plus our normal fare. Dinner has basically always been homemade, so I am not making any changes here, at least for now. There are some things I will be making that compared to the SAD diet are healthy, but knowing what I know about what is really and truly healthy they fall short. But I can only change so much at one time :-)

And wouldn't you know yesterday, being the first day of our new venture, I was making our (going to be DAILY smoothie) when my blender died!!!!! Um, yeah.....so for now we will have to have the greens made into a green juice until we get a new blender. We really need something like a Vitamix, but with no job lined up, we will have to go with a cheapo from Walmart. So it will be juice and fresh fruit in the mornings until the new blender gets here.

In Jedidiah news, he has been eating a lot the past few days. He is doing very well. He and Flannery got some kind of viral of some sort as they both broke out with this rash. Flannery's cleared up in about three days, but you can still see where Jedidiah's was, although it looks very faded now. I worry a little bit about Fith's disease as I did not have it as a child. It is called by many names, and most people have had it already. But being pregnant and getting it could (although the possibility is small) cause problems with the growing baby. I don't think that is what they had as neither had the characteristic red cheeks.

We are off today to test taste the goats milk. Then to the library to get new books. And if all has gone well to that point maybe off to the park for a bit. It is supposed to be a beautiful day today.

Well I went to post the pictures of everyone drinking thier green smoothie and Blogger won't let me, some error message popped up. I will have to try later. Maybe Moira will have them up on her blog. She wanted to post them to show how I "torture" them. Very funny Moira. Actually Saoirse wanted more, and Flannery unfortunately had a tummy bug yesterday, so she didn't want to eat anything. Pictures will have to wait till later. Gotta get my day started.