Vim and Vigor

Our meal plan

  (Our pumpkin smoothies..yum!)

 

Monday:

Breakfast: Kefir smoothies and scrambled eggs (from our lovely laying hens!)

Lunch: Homemade chicken soup  (Made extra yesterday to have for today's lunch.)

Supper: Fish, quinoa and steamed veggies with butter

Snack: Crispy nuts and raw cheese

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Soaked oatmeal and tangerines

Lunch: (at homeschool co-op) Turkey wraps, sourdough pretzels, and grapes

Supper: out

Snack: Dried fruit leather

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Blueberry breakfast popovers (from the Well-Fed baby cookbook....everyone loves them!)

Lunch: Pumpkin smoothie with Pumpkin french toast

Supper: Clam chowder...trying for the first time

Snack: Chewy Chocolate Bars...these are soooooo good!

Thursday:

Breakfast: Soaked 7-grain oatmeal

Lunch: Cheesy nachos ( from deceptively delicious cookbook)

Supper: Breakfast burritos--sometimes it's fun to have breakfast for supper! (These will include sausage, egg, and sauteed veggies on a corn tortilla with cheese.)

Snack: Men's smoothie...not just for men, but this is my husband's favorite, he told me yesterday!

Friday:

Breakfast: Blueberry morning--blueberry smoothie using oats as the base; or yogurt with ezekiel bread toast

Lunch: Chicken pizza (soaked crust recipe)

Supper: At mother-in-law's

Snack: trail mix (homemade with pumpkin seeds, raisins, almonds, chocolate chips, and whatever other goodies I can find.)

 

Happy Monday,

Joy~

{This post is a part of Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday and Works for me Wednesday, and Pennywise Platter}

This moment

This moment

Inspired by Soulemama

 

 

Drink your way to wellness

 

My kiddos have been feeling a bit under the weather during the past week, and it's a good thing I was stocked up on all of our favorite natural sickness remedies.  My absolute favorite thing to have on hand, is elderberry syrup....it helps lessen the severity and length of colds and flu.  Plus, it is so easy to make! I try to always have dried elderberries on hand to make it, and do so in small batches when needed.

We also have  a cupboard full of different kinds of tea--many are medicinal in their properties, and are such a wonderful benefit to children when they are feeling sick.  Traditional Medicinals makes some teas that are made just for kids....they have ones just for colds, sore throats, and a sweet nighty-night tea that is chammomile based for easing the trasition into bed.

I have to admit, sometimes my kiddos don't like the flavor of teas. Even when I put raw honey in them, which has throat soothing and immune boosting properties of it's own, they sometimes don't want to drink them.  My solution? 

Well, I make a strong tea...which just means I steep it longer.  About 10 minutes is sufficient.  (While it's steeping, I have the mug of tea covered with a plate or bowl, to keep all the good properties in it.)  Then, I pour half of that mug of tea, into a new mug or into whatever my kiddos will drink it out of, and add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of juice. 

If they like the taste, they are much more likely to drink up their tea, and it also helps them to stay hydrated, which lowers fevers and is just a good thing in general when you aren't feeling your best.

Here's to more happy tea drinkers,

Joy~

 {This post is a part of Pennywise Platter and Simple Lives Thursday}

 

 

These are the days.....

 {"Mama, what was life like as we were growing....what did we play, what did we spend our days doing?  And, what were your days like as our mama? " I took the time to record some snippets of our days. A portion of a day is recorded below, along with photographs.  Just in case my children ever ask.....}

 10:10-On a Saturday morning at home... 

    -I'm making homemade butter from our farmshare raw milk.

    -I discipline Miss Lady K who insists on watching t.v. and turns it on, even though I told her she could not watch a show right now.

    -Drink some Tazo black tea forI'm lacking in the sleep department a bit....

10:30-Put buttermilk in the fridge-will soak with flour later to make buttermilk pancakes for tomorrow.

10:32-Cut up cauliflower to steam {Making homemade baby food, so I'm steaming and pureeing the cauliflower.  I also sneak it into our meals, for added veggies.}

10:43-Baby W is up from his nap, and sweet G, my 14 y.o. goes and picks him up for a cuddle. 

    -Miss Lady K comes in, (3 y.o.), and wants me to remove the top layer of her ensemble.  (She is wearing 5 (five!) layers, including a leotard, swimsuit, and dresses!  I give her a kiss, and she calls me a "Koosh, Koosh!", which is her favorite word right now.

10:50-Give my best friend a quick call, asking about a food co-op she is a part of, and trying to figure out if it works for our family.  Something to think on.

-Laugh at the baby who is throwing books off of the lowest shelf.  He just started doing that this week, and finds it tons of fun!

-Receive a box in the mail full of two boxes of granola bars and more to sample with my family and the ladies in the  natural living class I am teaching...

11:03-Hold and talk with the baby.  He loves the playskool vintage telephone, and we pretend to call grandma together. 

    -daddy realized on the mudroom door, that the outer window is severely cracked, and he decided to "punch" it out, safely.  The baby loved watching this occur.

 11:03-Get knives in the dishwasher away from baby trying to grab them.

-Daddy takes a break from his work in the garage, to share an apple with baby W.  He bites wee little bites, while daddy watches closely.

-Talk with Queen B, (15 y.o.) about how to celebrate Joseph's life this year. {He is our son who died in the womb, 9 days before he was due to arrive in this world.  This will be the 5th anniversary of his journey heavenward.} Toss around a few ideas of how to honor his life, and think about supporting a child through Compassion International, that would be the same age as Joseph. 

-Put on The Name Game  song for Miss Lady K (3), and dance and sing with her.  She loves music and dancing around, almost as much as she loves to change her clothing and layer it on.

-Find out how much baby W loves steamed cauliflower florets...he ate and ate and ate them!

-Listen to our rooster crow out the window.  Not until this past week, when the 33 chickens we have turned 22 weeks of age, did we realize one was a rooster!

-11:40-Blend up the cauliflower for puree.

-Clean up mess I've made so far in the kitchen; Warm up the oven to bake our butternut squash.

-Queen B (15) plays with baby W, (see last photo), while I work in the kitchen.

 -Daddy gets the old tractor running, that's been sitting for a couple of years.  Of course, the little ones need to go for a ride!  Cowboy S, (6), is at gradma's for a sleepover, so daddy had to call him and let him hear the sound of it over the phone.  He thought daddy had bought a semi, so was a tad disappointed it was only the tractor.  However, he still was excited to come home and drive it.  He did so later in the afternoon, and had a high time driving it around the yard, all by himself!

-Daddy and Cowboy S, make a plan to rebuild the tractor together as a fun project.

 -Squash is in oven.

-Take a break for lunch....enjoy some chocolate stevia in our milk.  Yummmm...tastes just like the not-so-healthy chocolate milk, yet it's good for you!

All through the day: Look around and give thanks for the abundance of blessings I've been given. Knowing in my heart, these are the days I will cherish most in my life.

This Moment

This Moment

Inspired by Soulemama

{This post is a part of The long road to China}

Finding balance

 

{ Miss Lady K, 3 y.o., enjoying some down time}

   Our lives as homeschooling mamas can be quite full.  In fact, they can very easily become too full.  When the world seems to be running and running, we may feel that we should be doing this as well. 

There was a time when we had an event each night of some sort to attend to.  It might be sports on Monday and Tuesday, church on Wednesday evening, Shopping Thursday, and then a night out to dinner on Friday evening.  Now, don't forget games and tournaments on Saturday, and I hoped they were both in the same place! 

One night my weary husband looked at me and said, "Do we really need to be going somewhere every night?  My poor husband!  When we had decided to enroll the children in their activities, we hadn't really thought it through. Many times we were home during the day, and had events in the evening.  We had been home during the day, but my husband had been working all those hours.  He would come home, just to eat supper and have to leave again.  The poor man never had any down time at all. 

We did finish out the season, not wanting to back out of comittments; however, we now are much more careful about saying "yes" to things.

How do we go about this?

1. Prayerfully!  We take time to put our schedule before the Lord.  And, then listen! 'Nuff said.

2.  Communicate with your husband.  Tell him what you're thinking and feeling.  He may have some insight, that you haven't thought of.  As the leader of the home, I believe that God will show him things he may not reveal to us.  However,some husbands won't share unless they are asked.  Too many times in our early marriage I would get emotional when he gave opinions on things.  I've learned to listen to his advice without emotion. (At least most of the time!) God gave my husband to me, and his opinion is very important to me.  I want him to be able to talk to me without fear of tears, anger or me having a "pity party", if I don't like what he had to say. 

3.  Be aware of the "red flags", that have a way of showing up when we are too busy.  Even if we have prayerfully come to a schedule, and discussed it with our husbands, we can end up over our heads at times.  I have noticed some "red flags" in my life, and I have a feeling I'm not alone in this: finding myself very stressed throughout my day; raising my voice at the children much more frequently and unnecesarrily; not having the time to make homemade meals, and finding us spending alot more money on food away from home; my children's behavior worsens as I have less time for relaxing and truly enjoying them; our savings account seemed to be at a consistently lower number every month, due to spending from being out of the house much more.

I encourage you to not let your familes' schedule control you or your finances, and embrace a life of peace, joy and balance!

Blessings,

Joy~

~With my cowboy~

 

 :: With so many ages in our home...{I currently have one in high school, one in junior high, one in elementary, one in preschool, and our babe}...I can find it a challenge to come up with projects that each one of us will enjoy doing.  Not to many art projects will appeal as much to the preschooler as it would to the high schooler.  Coloring for the high schooler?  Try again.  Anything that calls for a bit of detail for my little princess preschooler?  Nope. 

This is one project that everyone in our home could do, and I knew they could tailor it to fit their own color schemes in their own bedrooms. 

I always am keeping my eyes open for craft ideas that our family would enjoy, and try to have the things on hand to do them, when the moment strikes. 

Just after suppertime, the other evening, the moment struck.  I wanted to try the project with one child, to see how it went, then show the other kiddos.  My Cowboy S, (6 yrs. old), and I , were the only ones home for a little while. 

A little one-on-one time with my buckaroo, is always a treat.  I grabbed the crayon box, and we put some in water in a bowl right in the middle of the kitchen floor.  My little cowboy was so excited to see what we would end up doing with these crayons. 

Of course, while we were peeling the crayons after they'd soaked a bit, we had to watch the portion of the Mr. Roger's episode, where they see how crayons are made.

{I loved Mr. Roger's and his gentleness, and was excited when my mother-in-law introduced us to Cowboy Dan, who our little cowboy adores. I say he is the cowboy version of Mr. Roger's!}

The project was a hit, and now others have joined in with their own pick of colors, and of course, a bit of their own style. 

Hope you were able to have lovely time with your family this weekend,

Joy~

 

:: Weekending....finding joy in a small rural festivals that we have had the priviledge of attending for years.  And, not taking a bit of this for granted. Reminiscing with my husband.  "Remember when the girls (now 14 and 15) came here and wove baskets, did the tin punching, and so forth?"  "Remember when Cowboy S was 2 and a photographer had such fun taking pictures of him?"  And, my hubby would reply, "Oh, yes."  "Honey, remember how you  went walking on the low stilts when you were  pregnant with Miss Lady K? "

Now, we have a new little man, that will soon look forward with us, to all the memories made in places like this.

Hope your weekend was wonderful......

Joy~