Everything plus the kitchen sink

Philippians 4:19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

There are times when God is watching out for you in so many ways that you can't even imagine.  Sometimes He makes His plans known, but often He does not.  Sometimes we chalk things up to "coincidence", in yet we are not seeing the workings of our ever present Father in heaven who knows and plans for our needs.  Sometimes He answers our prayers that we have not even prayed, and then when we see the answer, we can only give Him the credit.  This is what happened the other day around here.

I happened to be once again complaining about dishes.  How I can't seem to teach the kids to do them properly.  How I can't stay on top of them because there's so many.  And then when I get finished the ones I have, I find more.  On a random counter.  In a bathroom.  Under the table.  In the car.  All those places where *people* (unnamed, of course) are not supposed to be eating.  I try to remain ever vigilant about making kids eat at the table, but that doesn't always happen either.  Of all the household chores, dishes seemed to remain the thorn in my shoe that festered in my feet, but never resolved itself.

I will note in the past that random people (husband, mom, m-i-l) have suggested getting a larger sink, but I declined the offer.  For some reason I thought that a bigger sink would make me neglect the dishes even more than I do now.  If a small sink accumulates 25 dishes, wouldn't a big one accumulate 50?  Or more?  Not what I wanted (or needed) in my day.  We had planned to remodel our kitchen this past summer, and were going to try the bigger sink when we did that.  But, those plans fell by the wayside, being a busy "baby year".  They got put back in the "someday" file for now.  

Now, back to the present.  The bigger sink option was brought up again.  I shopped online a bit.  I talked to my experienced mom who suggested a sink that was bigger on one side and smaller on the other, so I can soak big things but still have a rinsing sink too.  I told my dear patient husband that I was ready for a bigger sink should we come across a good deal somewhere.  I really wanted one of those shiny farmhouse (apron front) sinks, but our present cabinets wouldn't fit one very well.  Oh, well.  Lots of money saved.

That very day, Greg said, "I think Jeremy (our neighbor) is remodeling his kitchen and I think I saw a sink in their yard.  Let's check when we drive by next time."  When we drove by, yes, they did have a kitchen sink in their yard.  But, we were in a hurry so thought that we'd stop next time around.  When we were coming home that evening at about 10:30 p.m., we noticed that Jeremy's kids were out playing in the yard and that the front door was open.  Greg stopped, got out and checked out the sink quickly and then asked the kids if their dad was home.  He was and said that we could have the sink.  Yay!  We didn't really look too closely, because it was bigger than ours, and it was free.  That was enough for now!

When we got home, we found out that it was one of the lopsided ones which we wanted, and it was wayyy bigger than our old one.  And it had an awesome faucet on it too.  Our old sink, was both bowls 13" square and only a meager 5" deep.  When Greg was taking it out, he found a sticker on the bottom that said, "For RV Use Only".  Yeah....The new sink is 8" deep, 8"x12", and 10" deep and  17"x18".  Massive amounts of room, and a rinsing sink too.  It's also a brown color, which won't be nearly as fussy to keep clean as the gleaming white farmhouse would be.  I priced out a similar sink and found that it is worth about $325, and the faucet about $200.  So, we saved ourselves a monumental $525.  Score!  (It turns out that Jeremy had bought it at a Habitat for Humanity store, so he didn't pay full price either.  They weren't able to use it themselves and had bought another.)

So, sometimes God answers prayers that we haven't even asked.  Because He just knows what we need and when the right time is too.  In the big things, but also in the little things, we can trust that He is faithful.  Sometimes this isn't material things, but sometimes it is.  Sometimes He looks out for us in every single way, including the kitchen sink.

I also was the recipient of an anti-fatigue mat from Greg this week also.  While his coworkers have been making cool stuff like syrup spoons for Dutch Bros., Greg has been making molds for these mats.  They are rather intense to machine, as they have about 1000 rubber holes/pegs on the back which is what bears and evens out the weight.  This one has a basket weave finish on top, which also rather time consuming to program and machine.  I have been wanting one for a while, and an employee brought Greg a factory second that I could have.  It feels amazing after standing on the floor or the cheapy ones I had from Big Lots.  No comparison!  It is made of rubber, so you think it will not be comfortable, but it is.  And it matches my new sink.  I guess brown is the new black.  At least in this house!  Here's their website: Smart Cells USA  They have an engineer who used to work at Nike who designs these mats.  They also make shoe insoles and various other mats.  And they're made up in Chehalis, just a ways from here.

Daily Schedule Fall 2014

What does our day look like?  I know I've posted this long ago, and each year it changes slightly as the dynamics of our family change, but it also stays pretty much the same.  This is how I function.  I feel like so many things are out of my control these days anyhow, so the least I can do is to *try* to at least do the same things each day to keep up with all the changes that are out of my control.  5 kids is definitely more dynamics than 4 and so forth.  Schooling 3 kids this year adds a new dimension that schooling 2 children did not.  I still feel that homeschooling gives me a much better control over my day though, as I can function on our family's schedule rather than someone elses.  Nap time would otherwise get disrupted by bus time or pick up kids from practice time.   Besides, my 2 biggest helpers (now 3) would be the ones gone to school. I found out when the 2 big boys went to aunt Becky's this fall for a week how much work having only the 3 little kids was.  A LOT!  This way I can be home to start meals whenever I remember rather than cramming much more into the day and resorting to takeout because I'm driving by it.  5 kids also takes multitasking to a new level, but it seems that we're finding our groove!  (Subject to change tomorrow, I'm sure!)

7:30 Kids get up and start on their chores (get dressed, make beds, tidy the room assigned to them that month, start schoolwork).

8:30 I get up with baby (I can't get up before this, as she nurses most of the morning prior.  I use this time to plan my day, pray and sort my thoughts since I'm not sleeping.  One or more of the kids will often come and cuddle too).

9:00 Start breakfast (eggs, warm cereal or kefir smoothies on weekdays, pancakes on Saturday, hard boiled eggs/toast on Sunday)  We listen to audio Bible during this time.  The same thing for 2 weeks and then move ahead (to drill it into our heads).  I always do a real breakfast, although I know it takes longer.  We all learn/cooperate better with real food in our tummies and then don't have to worry about lunch for a while.

10:00 Start schoolwork (Luke, James and Elise.  Isaac and Celeste play quietly on floor nearby, or Elise and Isaac help me with chores if needed).

11:30 Hopefully be done our lessons.  Reading, writing and arithmetic is what we do each morning.  Celeste goes for a nap at 11:00, which gives me more time to focus on school needs and reading to the littles.  There's also some playing in here if kids get done with chores/school.

12:30 Start lunch and eat.  Ideally this is just supper leftovers heated up, but often is not.  Quick meat/cheese/veggie wraps or pb&j on rice cakes or gluten free pasta with meat/veggies, hummus and veggies/chips has been the meal lately.  I read a devotion to them and write in my daily homeschool planner.

1:00 After lunch is cleaned up we go for a walk up the road.  Get our outside/exercise time.

2:00 Quiet time/nap time.  The older kids read learning books (science, history, social studies) or listen to audio books.  The littles nap (hopefully).  The kids will usually play quietly after their reading is finished during this time too if others are still sleeping.

4:00 Fruit time (eat some fruit for a snack).  Quick "buzzy" cleanup before Dad gets home from work.  Kids play outside some more if necessary.  Start supper if hasn't been started yet.

5:00 Dad gets home, have supper shortly after.

6:00 Kids relax and read and play/visit with Daddy.  Mom usually takes a bath.

7:00 Story time (read aloud), Bible Story, start getting ready for bed (snack, brush teeth, prayers, sing songs).

8:00 Daddy goes to bed (because he gets up at 4:30), so kids need to too.  Kids can visit quietly until 9 in bed, as they all sleep in the same room.  Celeste is ready for bed now too, so the house is quiet while I nurse her before bed.  This takes a couple hours at best.  I usually read during this time since it's quite lengthy.

11:00 I finish my evening rounds (make Greg a lunch and snack, put baby in her bed, lock doors and make sure kids are all covered up and tucked in.  Go to bed and read my Bible chapters once in bed.

Our weekly chores are:

Monday - tidy everything in the main rooms from the weekend

Tuesday - floors- vacuum, sweep and mop if necessary (always necessary!)

Wednesday - bathrooms and bill pay, grocery day if needed

Thursday - laundry - usually 3 big loads (one kids, one Greg and mine, one towels/sheets/dish towels/napkins)  If I am hanging them to dry, I spread them over Thur/Fri/Sat.  I have a huge washer and we re-wear our clothes and towels for a few days which is how I can keep laundry to a minimum.  I usually do 2 batches of cloth diapers on 2 different days also.  Now with 5 kids I sometimes need 2 batches for them, but on quiet home days (where no one is getting muddy) I can get by with 1.  Love my huge washer!  Fold and put away in evening during story time.

Friday - extra projects/town day/bedrooms tidy/catch up day

This seems to keep the majority of the house clean to my standards.  I started the weekly schedule back when Luke was an only child and we have altered it slightly, but it works pretty well.  

What does your schedule look like?  Any improvements you can see to mine?  You'll note "do dishes" is not on there anywhere.  I'm still working on that one!  Should I do them after every meal?  Once per day?  What do you do?  How long does it take?

Elise turns 5

I'm a little late, since Elise's birthday was in April, but here we go.

This young lady has really turned into our little princess, despite our concerted attempts to keep her from being one!  She loves all things frilly, sprarkly, ruffly and pink.  She loves necklaces, bracelets, purses and sparkly shoes, of course.  This is kind of hard for her, considering her brothers don't care for such things and think she's kind of ridiculous (although I think a couple of them might be slightly jealous that she can acquire such luxuries).

For her birthday she wanted a Hello Kitty's garden cake.  I found some little Hello Kitty accessories at Target and thus the cake transpired.  She mastered her new scooter right away, and has also learned to ride a 2 wheeled bike with only a couple lessons from Luke. 

This fall she has been learning to read, and also loves to play the piano pretty much every day.  I need to keep on the lessons for her (which I always forget to do, because somehow when you have 5 kids, piano lessons just never are top priority).  She tries to plunk out her own songs, so I think with a couple lessons, she could actually do something with it.    We also got a kids kitchen lately, so she's been busy playing restaurant with the boys.  She loves drawing and coloring and is always eager to help pick things from the garden or the berry patch.  Many times this summer we couldn't find her and she would be out in the blueberry patch just picking away.  I also found a little glass tea set (just like the Holly Hobbie one I had as a child) for her, so her and Isaac like to have tea parties with oodles of water and spills.

She also just adores her Daddy.  She's always cuddling with him and telling him stories.  She dotes on little Celeste and is very aware of Celeste's needs and lets me know how baby is doing.  It's so neat to see how different boys and girls are from each other.  You can tell she's totally soaking up all the mothering information so that she'll have it for when she is a mom someday.  So awesome, but makes me be more aware that I'm setting a good example for her!

We are so blessed to have our Elise Meredith in our family!

Your Liver- the good, the bad, and the inevitable!

Now comes the post I had promised about the liver.  Your liver.  My liver.  Whoever's liver!

I'm going to now cut and paste from a few websites that show deeper how the liver works and why keeping it healthy is so important.  I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but hopefully this will give enough information to delve deeper for yourself if need be.  Any deep issues should be addressed by a Naturopathic Doctor or Functional Medicine Doctor.  There are dozens of ways to address liver health, and they each work in a somewhat different way.  The main thing you want is to get your liver (your big huge blood filter) to be working properly.  Red letters indicate links for more information or links where to buy products (in case you didn't know!)

What does your liver do?

The liver performs hundreds of important tasks. Here are just a few:

• Toxin Removal: During digestion, blood from the stomach and bowel filters up through the liver. This is where toxins, drugs, alcohol, bacteria, and other poisons are cleared to the best of your liver’s ability.
• Fat Digestion: Bile is formed in the liver then stored in the gallbladder to break down fat molecules. This also helps you digest fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Your liver is key to burning fat and maintaining a healthy weight.
• Carbohydrate Metabolism: The liver helps insure steady energy levels by producing and storing glucose to regulate blood sugar. Liver problems can be the hidden cause of blood sugar issues and fatigue.

• Blood Regulation: The liver creates proteins for blood clotting and blood volume. Because every cell in your body is nourished by blood passing through the liver, a disabled liver clogged by stones makes your whole body a toxic breeding ground for disease.
• Hormone Balance: Estrogen, testosterone, and insulin are just a few of the hormones the liver helps regulate. Poor liver function and hormone imbalance often go hand in hand.

- See more at: (source)

*This is a good analogy of what the liver does:

Have you ever changed the oil in a car? What does the oil look like when you drain it out? It is black and gritty. When you put fresh new oil into the engine, what does it look like? It is clear, smooth (no grit) and amber colored. As this new oil circulates through the engine, it picks up carbon and dirt. The oil is keeping the engine toxin-free so that it can run at optimum capacity. If we allowed the same oil to continue to circulate through the engine for a long time—say years—what would eventually happen to the engine? It would lock-up. It would cease to function. Everyone who deals with machinery knows the importance of changing the oil in an engine. It is the same with the human body. The bile is the oil. It is responsible for carrying out waste. However, if we never change the oil, and the old oil continues to circulate over and over again, eventually that oil will lock up the engine. In this case, the engine is the gall bladder that becomes blocked with debris—the debris is the old bile or oil that is so nasty by now, that the gall bladder is no longer able to function properly. What is the answer? Change the oil. The new oil (bile) will clean out all the old bile deposits and the gall bladder will be restored to health. - See more at: (source)

*A bit on the gall bladder and how it relates to your liver.

Nasty Toxins Are Filtered From The Blood, Now What?

Once the liver has filtered these toxins and waste from the bloodstream, it is necessary to find a pathway out of the body for this “garbage.” The liver has no access to the urinary tract, so it cannot send its trash away through that system. However, the liver does make bile, and this bile goes to the gall bladder. The gall bladder stores the bile and then releases it at the appropriate time into the duodenum (first part of the small intestine where most digestion takes place). If the bile can travel the length of the intestinal tract and be expelled from the body in a bowel movement, then the liver will have been successful in ridding the body of those toxins and wastes that were placed in the bile.- See more at: (source)

*This is a fascinating article on Why Beans DON'T Cause Gas. "Beans are a bile magnet. Bile and beans have an incredible affinity or liking for one another. They make a sort of chemical bond that is almost impossible to break. Most of the other foods with which bile binds in the intestinal tract are foods with which the bile makes temporary bonds. But when the bean enters, the bile leaves all other foods behind and rushes to make a permanent bond with the bean.

Now you must know something else about bile. This digestive fluid that the liver makes is released into the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). It travels to the last part of the small intestine, doing its digestive work, and when it reaches the terminal part of the ileum, bile is reabsorbed and returns to the liver! How much bile returns? Ninety to ninety-five percent!"  Read the article to see how to get this nasty bile out of your system so that your body can make new, fresh bile.

- See more at: http://www.karenhurd.com/pages/healthtopics/specifichealthconcerns/ht-shc-whybeansdontcausegas.html#sthash.iock96pR.dpuf

*Here's one last interesting article on how a clogged/congested/sluggish liver relates to eyesight.  Yes, eyesight.  Most of us would never connect the two, but it makes a whole lot of sense~

"Blurry vision, Myopia (nearsightedness), floaters in the eyes, dry eyes, or color blindness have been linked to liver blood deficiencies. Liver blood deficiency can be caused by scarring of the liver or anemia. Both of these problems prevent the flow of blood through the liver. Blood from the liver is believed to moisten and nourish the eyes. Bloodshot eyes, pain, and burning sensations in the eyes are linked to liver heat. Liver heat is usually associated with an inflammation in the liver.Your eyeball turning upwards or moving involuntarily has been linked with internal liver wind. Internal liver wind is normally associated with extreme heat in the liver. This can be caused by extreme high blood pressure or emotional stress. Strange as it may seem, your liver and your eyes really are linked in many ways. The head bone’s connected to the neck bone!" (more information/source)

Now here is a few bits and pieces about common complaints in relation to your liver~

*How the liver works in relation to hormones.  Although hormones aren't produced in the liver, the liver regulates their release.  Mainly sex hormones and insulin, but others as well.  This next one is lengthy but also worth the read.  Especially when so many people are experiencing various hormone imbalances these days.

 More information/source:  http://drritamarie.com/blog/2013/06/04/the-role-of-liver-detoxification-in-hormonal-imbalance/

The liver and allergies

"As histamine is also asasociated with allergy, allergy itself indictes a sluggish liver. I don't believe in allergy. I believe allergy is merely a symptom of an underlying cause, notably a sluggish liver. A good naturopath should always treat the causes. Complete avoidance of wheat and milk may alleviate symptoms but is it also important to improve the breakdown of histamine in the body. I believe that people should be able to handle normal amounts of the top 8 allergens (the most common food allergies are to dairy, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish) without developing symptoms of allergy. It is not necessary for total elimination of suspect allergens. It should be enough to reduce and rotate whilst treating the “cause” of the allergy which is not wheat etc. per se, however excess histamine resulting from poor methylation by the liver. As naturopaths we should always treat the cause. In TCM also, there is also no such thing as allergy. Allergy symptoms such as itching and rash, are seen are a Liver pathology." 

(source)

*What a fatty liver is and what to do about it.

"Around one in five persons in the general population, in the USA and Australia has a fatty liver. Fatty liver is usually associated with abdominal obesity and insulin resistance and is more common in people with type 2 diabetes."  (source for more information)

This link is just a good all around one for liver health.  Lots of good information.

http://www.liverdoctor.com/liver-check

So now that you know all of this, what can you do?  There are many heavy duty cleanses out there that work really well, but for most of us, a gentler, calmer method works better.  Slowly add in more good things, and slowly flush out more bad things.  To start, here's some ideas to incorporate into your diet: 19 foods that naturally cleanse your liver. Finding out how toxic you are is also a good thing to figure out.  Here's a quick toxins quiz. A digestive bitter will help with digestion if yours is poor.  Urban Moonshine and Mountain Meadow Herbs Liver Glow (or Liver Glow II if pregnant or nursing) have some good ones for starters.  

Wikihow Liver Cleanse has a great article on daily things you can add in to gently cleanse your liver.  Easy things like adding lemon to your water, adding more garlic, and the like.  To quote from their website,  "The liver is the second largest organ in the human body and one of the most important, because it's responsible for filtering harmful toxins out of the bloodstream. There are medical programs to detoxify the liver, but there are also several natural, simple lifestyle changes you can make that will result in a clean, healthy liver."

If your liver is congested/sluggish, this can only go on for so long.  Permanent damage is inevidible if it's constantly worn down and never renewed.  Here's a link to what liver disease is, symptoms and what can be done about it (if it's not past the point of no return).  http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/knowing-symptoms-of-liver-disease-save-life.html

Interestingly, cardamom is a great spice to be using too.  You can add it to your tea or coffee, to change it from acid to alkaline.  Either sprinkle some in with the grounds while brewing, or add a peeled pod to your coffee cup.  "Cardamom is also alkaline, making it a natural antidote to acid. As a member of the ginger family, cardamom has been used to make heavy and acidic foods easier to digest for more than 5,000 years. Throughout the Middle East even coffee is brewed with ground cardamom seeds, reducing its acid and neutralizing the stimulating effects of caffeine (plus, it tastes good!). Cardamom is also one of the richest sources of the phytochemical cineole, a potent antiseptic for bad breath, gum disease, sore throats, and respiratory conditions." (source)

There you have it.  Liver Health 101 from my perspective.

I also read "Toxic Relief" by Dr. Don Colbert who promotes juicing and fasting as a way to detoxify.  He also goes into the spiritual aspect of fasting, which I haven't really looked into much before.  I'm going to ponder that subject for a while as it seems fascinating.  I am reading "Healing Fatty Liver Disease" and "Fatty Liver Disease, You Can Reverse It" also.  Can you tell I just ordered whatever liver subject books the library had?  Yep.  That's what I did.

Visit with the Herbalist

As I mentioned in prior posts, when we were in Canada we went to see an Master Herbalist who my parents see.  What I like about her is that she looks at our blood under the microscope (Live Blood Analysis) so her results are pretty objective.  She's rather distracted and likes to visit, so I had to use my quizzical nature to my advantage and ask lots of questions to keep her on track!  Greg, myself, James and Elise saw her, as we seem to be the ones needing some health direction.  Although I feel we've been on the right track to healing, sometimes I wonder if we really are.  So, going to her is reasonably priced and gave me lots of direction as well as an overwhelming amount of information to sort through and process.  We didn't use any of her recommended supplements, as I needed to research more what herbs/vitamins were safe during nursing (most of all), but also wanted to conglomerate so that I'm not buying dozens of bottles of things when 1 or 2 would cover most of the basics.

So, what she found was that Greg and I both needed some major liver cleansing.  Mine is full of ammonia (a byproduct of having yucky parasites in my system) and Greg's was just overloaded altogether (she didn't say why, but I'm assuming workplace toxins mostly, possibly poor diet in single days, former smoker, etc.)  She wanted me to go on a parasite, candida yeast and liver cleanse, and Greg to cleanse his liver and his blood.  In the meantime, we are both showing up with random foods in our blood due to poor digestion (sensitivities).  (him just dairy and eggs, me- eggs, dairy, gluten and fish/shellfish)

James' liver actually looked quite good, which was really good to hear.  We've been working on his for probably 5 years now (off and on), although he still had gluten and dairy in his blood.  He also showed formaldehyde in his blood from stuffed animals (she just recommended washing them multiple times to reduce exposure).  He also showed low immunity, for which she recommended echinacea and probiotics.  Elise showed up highly sensitive to gluten.  As in almost-Celiac level.  And that she had low iron (solved by 1/4 c. raisins each day for a couple weeks).  

When we got home, I started with the diet.  Eliminating all those things seemed impossible, but somehow we're managing most of the time.  Back to meat and vegetables.  A few nuts and grains too. Gluten-free products in limited amounts (these are mostly nutrient poor, so I'm not too keen on just replacing bad grains with "good" ones, but they have helped fill in the gaps).  We can all do goat milk, but to avoid all other dairy.   I have been allowing milk kefir too, as it's cultured and we can really use the probiotics offered.

Then I planned on how to do the cleansing.  Since I'm a nursing mama, all the cleanses have to be safe for baby too.  So slow and steady is better than fast and intense.  When I asked the Herbalist about cleansing, she said that breast milk is the 5th way of elimination for a body, so is only used when the other 4 channels of elimination (skin, bowels, urinary tract and lymph system) are clogged and/or not working.  If the other systems are working well, then detoxing while nursing is no problem.   

One of the herbal tinctures I already had James on is great for livers.  It's technically a digestive bitter, but offers liver assistance overall.  I bought the kind that is "Mama friendly" (so it would be gentler for kids), and so I just started the rest of us taking it too.  It's called Liver Glow II from Mountain Meadow Herbs.  It's kind of spicy but a good flavor too, so the kids and I each take some before each meal.  It's easier than pills with kids too, as it's fun to drip the drops into their mouths.  This promotes more stomach juices so that your food digests better overall and you get more nutrients from your food.  It also has milk thistle in it which is a great liver protector.

I'm also taking Mountain Meadow Herbs Olive Leaf Extract which is great for Candida yeast and parasites and is also Mommy friendly.  You time this with the moon cycles to get the best remedies for parasite killing.  For Greg she wanted him also on Red Clover or Burdock Root to cleanse his blood.  I bought some pills for him since he takes them to work and it's easier for him to do pills.  I also have him on Milk Thistle/Dandelion/Turmeric for his liver.  We are also trying to do fresh juices more often (at least twice each week, although more would be even better) and eating more cabbage, beets, other cruciferous vegetables too.  We also buy Green Goodness for the days when I can't make fresh juice.  It's available at most grocery stores.  I have been drinking Teecino's Dandelion Tea each day too.  It's full of stuff to cleanse your liver and tastes almost like coffee. It has carob and chicory in it which are great for the liver too.  Another thing to add is this, if you're bowels aren't working up to par, it doesn't do much good to cleanse your liver.  You will just reabsorb the toxins before they can be eliminated.  So, adding in some colon cleansing foods/supplements can really help get you cleaned out.  Psyllium husks are an easy thing to add in as fiber to help move things along.  Apple pectin is another (or just eat 2 apples each day).  Make sure you're drinking enough water too, as these are both fibers that absorb water in your colon and help eliminate toxins.  Not enough water will cause you more problems than you started with!

I'm going to write my next post all about the liver, as it gets rather lengthy.  I just keep on a-learning all kinds of new information.  The geek in me is fascinated by our body and how it works.  And how God made so many wonderful things to heal it!

CSA experience

This summer we finally signed up for local, organic produce from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for the summer.  I have been hesitant to do so in the past, mostly due to upfront costs.  But, when I actually calculated what we normally spend at the grocery store for produce, it worked out cheaper per week for fresh-off-the-farm produce.

The downside of this was (if you can even call it that) was the randomness of the produce received.  I'm totally into trying new things, but having new vegetables each week, some of which I could not figure out how to eat together proved rather challenging for my already full brain.  One night we had taco salad with a side of roasted zucchini (because there was far too much zucchini to just add to the salad).  Another night we had chicken curry (full of veggies) with a side of Greek salad.  Often we did just meal salads and threw whatever we had onto it (my favorite, easiest option).  We had a ton of tomatoes, which I eventually just ended up dicing and freezing these last few weeks.  The only weird vegetable we got was kohlrabi, which is kind of like a cabbage/jicama mixed.  I shredded it for coleslaw one time and roasted it another.  Just kind of a plain old vegetable!  We got plenty of peppers which made me happy.  The variety we got looked like a hot pepper (red Anaheim or something, I'm no pepper expert) but tasted like a really good red bell pepper.  We ate those almost every day.  We should be full of vitamin C!

We always got lots of vegetables with at least 1 fruit.   Then I would just stop at a local produce stand and buy a bit more local fruit that was in season at the time and called it good.  The kids have fruit for a snack every day when quiet time is over (4 p.m.), so have taken to calling it "Fruit Time".  Must have fruit for fruit time!

Our garden did well, but in keeping with the reality of what I can actually accomplish on a having-a-baby year, we kept it pretty small.  Just enough to supplement our other produce, not enough to can or freeze though.  We plan on expanding our small space (it's maybe 12' square now) this fall, so that it'll be ready for next summer.  We're still doing the Back to Eden style, so we have to get our compost (leftover scraps and chicken manure) down and then cover with wood chips for the winter and in the spring it should be good to go.

All in all, a good experience which we plan to repeat next summer.  If you would like to find a CSA near you, they can be found at http://www.localharvest.org

Trip to Canada

I`m finally getting back to blogging.  Our 12 year old laptop was dying a slow painful death, which made typing rather tedious.   With a baby, typing on our desktop was also a rather unenjoyable wrestling match.  So, now with the laptop out of our life, we began shopping for a new one.  After weighing all the options, we opted to just get a keyboard for our tablet and see how that goes.  It was the cheapest option too, which helped make the decision.  My only chance for writing is in the evening when everyone is in bed (and I`m endlessly nursing Celeste to sleep), so writing on my lap is most doable.  This keyboard has lighted keys, so hopefully won`t be too crampy, and I can catch back up.

I do enjoy writing, and although I don`t have the greatest writing skills nor vocabulary, it`s a good way to journal our life and share thoughts and also to sort thoughts out.  Anyhow, I`ll start with our trip to Canada in August and then see where things go.

We planned on leaving on a Thursday, but Greg`s work was pretty slow, so he asked his boss if we could leave a few days earlier.  This threw me for a loop, as I had planned to do laundry the day before we left so everything would be clean.  I also like to just pack all the clothes all at once, so then I'm not continually tallying how much of everything I have for each person.  Easier to just count out 5  shirts, 2 pants....for each kid, all at one time.  So, I frantically threw clothes in the washer and got started with the finalities.  We ended up leaving early Wednesday morning instead of Thursday after work, so got a pretty good head start.  Luke was awake at 3 a.m. and Greg was awake at 4 a.m., but after I had stayed up until 11 p.m. the night before getting everything ready, I was in no shape (or mood) to get cracking yet.  I was fighting a nasty cold, so my head was not feeling so hot.  We gassed up in Kalama at 6:30, so that was a pretty good start.

We drove all day, through the Columbia Gorge (we like taking that route on our way out, so we can see the sun coming up through there) and drove all day.  We stopped for lunch near my cousin's in Cheney, WA, although didn't get to see her as she was working and her family had plans.  We then carried on through Spokane and planned to eat supper in Sandpoint, ID at Panhandler Pies.  We usually try to stop there going one way or the other, so it worked out this time.  As we were turned north at Coeur d'Alene, we could see storm clouds in the distance and wondered whether we would get in the storm or not.  By the time we got to the restaurant, the wind and rain were getting bad.  The whole time we were eating, the doors on the restaurant were banging open and shut with the wind, and we were thankful we were inside.  After some warm soup and pie (and quesadillas for the kids), we got back on the road.  We then found that the storm was over, but there were trees downed everywhere, and the power was out all over.  When we tried to find a motel, there was no power, and we saw numerous workers out clearing debris off of the road.  James had just been asking what would happen if a tree was struck by lightning and then fell onto the road, and so we explained that it easily could have happened in that storm we just missed.  We were so thankful that God kept us safe and that we had stopped for supper and totally missed it.  We made it across the border and to Cranbrook that night, and stayed in a motel that we have stayed in before.  And then clunked off to sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast at a nearby restaurant (the motel had vouchers for a discount) and then got back on the road.  We stopped for a swim at Radium Hot Springs (my favorite) and ate our lunch of hummus and crackers and veggies on the tailgate of our station wagon.  Some kids walking by were awfully jealous of those back facing seats in the back of the station wagon.  Pretty cute!  Onward to Leslieville.  We opted to take the Lake Louise/Rocky Mountain House way, as the mountains are so gorgeous and there is so little traffic.  Driving through the Rockies is always so awe inspiring, and even though it was rainy, we enjoyed the last few hours.  Well, except Celeste.  She had pretty much had enough of the car seat by then, so we made some improvises.  We saw huge areas that had been in wildfires, and they were still smoldering in the rain.  We got to Dad and Mom's Thursday evening.

Friday and Saturday were just spent relaxing and resting, which is done best at my parents.  It's so peaceful at their farm, it's hard to get motivated to do much.  The kids played on the big swing, played with Mitts the dog and checked on things with Dad and Grandpa.  On Saturday night there was a service at church, so Greg and the kids went to that.  Isaac had come down with my sore throat/cough so I stayed home with him and Celeste.

On Sunday, back to church.  I stayed home again, as Isaac still wasn't feeling well.  While they were at church (my Dad was preaching), James saw an angel flying around up at the front.  He said it was about 1 foot high, and bright green.  It flew from side to side of the church and then vanished.  We all thought that was pretty neat, although not sure of its significance.  James is our boy who really ponders if God is real, if he is a Christian and so many other questions, and so perhaps God used this to strengthen James' faith.  He felt pretty excited about it, and felt pretty special that he was the only one who saw it.

We had a picnic that day after church for whoever wanted to come.  Lots of visiting and yummy picnic food.  And cousin time.  My nephew said, "I've never had a day go by that fast in my life, we just kept playing game after game after game!"  My kids haven't seen him in over 2 years, but they just picked right up and got along great.  Tired kids that night!

We tried to just relax most of the trip, but towards the end, things got busy.  We went to visit my sister and family, then my brother and family.  We had a potluck for the "girls" of us who grew up together.  We went to see an Herbalist who looked at our blood (that will be a whole other post of itself).  We got to see my cousin's family who moved to Michigan from Washington 4 years ago, and we haven't seen them all this time.  That was great to catch back up.  While we were at her parents, I had Celeste sitting on the grass in front of me playing with a plastic spoon.  She isn't a very good sitter yet, and toppled over before I could catch her.   When she did, the spoon poked and cut the roof of her mouth.  Even though it was the blunt end, there was still a lot of crying and a lot of blood.  We were finally able to get her calmed down and the bleeding stopped (I knew they couldn't do anything in the ER anyhow) and headed "home" to my brother's house where we were spending the night.  In the car seat she started crying again and proceeded to cry harder than ever until 2 a.m.  I had only seen a small cut in her mouth, but in the morning when I could get a better look, saw that there was another much bigger cut in another place.  Poor little thing.  We had finally given her some teething tablets that calmed her down enough to sleep.  I was so frazzled I didn't know what to do.  Thankfully it healed up good.

Greg was getting sick by now, and although the next day was my cousin's wedding, we made plans to head for home.  We ended up staying for the wedding and then heading out right after.  That would give Greg an extra day to recover once we were home before he had to go back to work.  We went to Red Deer and then headed south towards Calgary and south from there.  We stopped for supper and then headed west.  Now, I'll have you know that I've been looking for a moose the last 3-4 times we have gone to Canada.  They are such huge, amazing animals and I wanted to show Greg and the kids. My eyes have been peeled every trip, but no moose.  Just after we got on the highway to head west, a big bull moose lumbered across the road right in front of us.  Greg had to screech on the brakes (he wasn't close enough to hit it but wanted a picture) and hopped out and snapped a picture of him.  My day was made. Happy Rachel.  The kids all got to see it too.  We kept on driving through the Crowsnest Pass and ended up at the same motel in Cranbrook again.  Off to bed.

The next morning we had a long day ahead of us to get home.  Drive thru McD's for breakfast and as we were driving out of the parking lot, we see a car turning around quickly who suddenly high centered itself onto a curb.  Greg went over to help them and the man was so embarrassed at what he had done.  Then the wife confessed, "We were so busy checking out your station wagon that we weren't paying attention to the curb."  Oops!  It was a small car, so Greg was able to help them get it off the curb and then lent them some duct tape to tape the loose trim back on the car until they could fix it.  We plugged along uneventfully home at 10 that night.  Whew!  Enough is enough.

We drove our station wagon so that Celeste could sit up in front.

The kids in the rear seat get a totally different vacation than the rest of us!

At Panhandler Pies in Sandpoint, ID.

On the road

Kids on the road.  Still smiling!

Relaxing at Dad & Mom's

Helping Grandpa in the hay field

Baling

Celeste was happy with Grandpa (she was fussing for everyone else)

Cute little Hutterite girl

Catching up with the Lampinen kids (who we haven't seen in 4 years)

My moose!

Goats on the roof!

Experienced Parenting

Since we're now at baby number 5, I feel safe to say that we're in experienced parenting territory.  And the longer I'm a parent, the less advice I can give.  Because I've seen that what works for us probably won't work for you because so many dynamics are different.  You can't take any credit for an "easy" baby, just as you can't take credit for any challenges that you encounter either.  

Back when Luke was a baby, he had colic.  Every evening from 4-11 p.m. he would cry.  I listened to all kinds of advice, I read books, I prayed, I survivied.  Of everything we tried, the only thing that worked was to endure it.  So, what good was all the rest?  If we had to do it over, we'd probably exhaust all of the same avenues again, but probably just have to endure it again too.  All the support and advice availed us nothing.  We just had to keep trying things and find a few things that eased his pain a bit and then get through it.  I do have more sympathy for other parents with challenges though.  Something an easy baby doesn't teach you.

Then there's sleep.  Our babies have been consistently bad sleepers.  Light sleepers.  Wake-up-3-times-every-nap sleepers.  And no advice, tricks, methods, or books have been able to change that.  It's just been something that we have had to adapt to in our family as normal and act accordingly.

On the other hand, we've had good eaters.  Now they do think that Scorpion Sauce is "picy", and I have one boy who can't handle some textures, but overall they eat what we eat and they don't complain (very much!)  I can take no credit for this either.  It's just the way things are.

Lately my evening routine has consisted of nursing baby until she's full, taking her out into the sun room where I bounce gently on the rebounder for 5-10 minutes to get her burps up, and then go back and finish nursing her until she's finished.  Who would have told me about trying that routine in a parenting book?  But, it works.  If I try other things, she just cries and fusses.  If I try to end the nursing session early, she cries and fusses.  So, I do what makes the baby go to sleep, and that's what she likes!  People ask if she sleeps through the night.  No, she doesn't.  And I don't plan on her doing so for another year or more at least.  Because after 4 kids, it would be unrealistic to even dream about such a thing.  In fact, I don't plan on getting a full nights sleep ever again.  It'll be teenagers, and then menopause and then old age.  And none of those stages are good at getting a full nights sleep either.  And that's okay too. Because if there's one thing I've learned... you can get by on a lot less sleep than you think you can!  Your health may suffer, but you'll survive!

Our 3 year old has also been falling asleep on the living room floor after everyone goes to bed each night too.  And it's fine.  Because if he's in the bedroom, then he's pestering the older kids (and remember I'm endlessly nursing a baby at this time) and if he's in our room (where we have a little bedroll for him so he doesn't crash in on us when he awakes in the night) then he keeps Greg awake.  If he's alone in a room then he's lonely or gets into mischief, so, he falls asleep on the floor and then I move him to his bed when I go to bed.  And it's all okay.

Greg recently told me about a coworker of his who never had his own bedroom (or bed) during his whole childhood.  He was on the younger end of a large family (in America!) and slept on the couch his whole childhood.  And now he's a well-adjusted man now, doing fine.  This helped me be okay with doing what is best for right now, even if it is unconventional.  Sometimes I feel like I am doing my kids a disservice by keeping up certain standards, but sometimes I think I'm doing them a favor by doing the same things.  Make any sense?

All in all, most things are no big deal.  Do what works and change as necessary.  That's my advice.  Dr. Sears says, "Do whatever it takes to get the most people in the house the most sleep."  Yep, so true in many other categories too.

My Grandma Kurtti used to say (when you were out and about with a baby), "You're the Mom who goes home with that baby."  In other words, Mama knows best.  If Mama knows that baby hasn't had a nap or is fighting a cold or whatever, then Mama (and Dad) need to make the decisions accordingly.  Not everyone else who has an opinion but doesn't have to deal with the consequences of that decision.

Another thing she'd say was, "Babies do best at home".  I try to remember that, and God has also tried to teach me that, much as I'd like to run here, there and everywhere.

For the love of sauerkraut

I've known about sauerkraut being a superfood for a couple years now, but haven't gotten around to making it until now.  Well, actually I did attempt it once, but it turned out all soggy so I was rather nervous to try it again.  I do buy the Bubbie's now and then, but the kids have learned to love it so much that they were eating wayyy too much of it.  (Not too much of the benefits, but the cost was too high!)  I figured I'd better buckle down and try it again.  I do have a shredder, so the work wasn't scaring me, but just the fact that *things*can*go*wrong*, if you know what I mean.  What if it molds?  Is soggy? Tastes weird?  I looked into what causes these things and learned a few things that I'll share with you down below.

What's so good about sauerkraut anyways, you ask?  Here's a list to get you started from Probiotics- Love That Bug

"If you still need convincing on the benefits of sauerkraut just take a look at what Lactobacillus plantarum - the biggest group of bacteria in fully fermented cabbage - has been proven to do.

• Provides (lots of) Vitamin C - Captain Cook prevented his crew from catching scurvy by taking barrels of sauerkraut with them
• Reduced incidence of diarrhea in daycare centres⁴
• Especially effective in reducing inflammation in inflammatory bowel; e.g., enterocolitis in rats, small bowel bacterial overgrowth in children, pouchitis⁴
• Reduced pain and constipation of irritable bowel syndrome⁴
• Reduced bloating, flatulence, and pain in irritable bowel syndrome⁵
• Positive effect on immunity in HIV+ children⁶
• Drastically reduces the phytic acid, polyphenols and trypsin inhibitor activity in grains and soy which significantly increases the digestibility of starch and protein⁷
• Contains the antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismustase which can help fight off free radicals.
• Turns hard to digest lactose into easily to digest lactic acid.
• Helps generate omega-3 fatty acid and GTF chromium a trace mineral that help with digestion"
• Reduces cancer too (link)

"Nature provides the most effective stomach acid regulator, which is unpasteurized sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is unique because it raises stomach acid "if" it is too low, and it lowers stomach acid "if" it is too high. Eating 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sauerkraut with meals is one of the best ways to improve digestion." (source)

Here's what I've learned about making it-

#1. Use an airlock.  These are a one-way valve that have water in them to let the oxygen out and ensure that your kraut stays anaerobic (this is the reaction that takes place that turns plain old cabbage into probiotic heaven).  You can buy them online or at a homebrew store.  I bought a couple and Greg fitted them into a plastic wide mouth mason lid with a bung (rubber stopper with a hole in the middle), that you can also buy at the same place.  Mold likes air, so keeping air out of the jar will keep it out of your kraut. (huge peace of mind for me)

#2. Make sure your cabbage is under liquid.  If needed, add a bit more water.  This is your best bet at reducing mold.

#3.  Don't get bogged down by a million different recipes.  There are MANY ways to do it, so pick one and go for it (from a reputable source, of course).  Mother Earth News, Cultures for Health have good information.

I've only made it a few times, so am no expert, but here's what I do.  I found this recipe in a book I have, and the woman said to just make sure you have at least 1 T. of salt per quart jar of kraut (that tastes right to us, but you can use up to 3 T).  Don't use more than 3 T. because you can inhibit the probiotic effect if you do.  I use a 2 qt. jar, so use 2 T. of salt.  The reason for the salt is to keep bacteria at bay until the lactic acid takes over and converts the cabbage into sauerkraut.  Non-iodized salt is necessary as iodine can change the condition of cabbage and inhibit good bacteria growth.  Sea salt or pickling salt is fine.

The whey is optional.  Yogurt and kefir (and anything with liquid whey) can be used to give your sauerkraut a jump start.  It is filled with the exact good bacteria you're looking for, so adding it speeds up the process.  I haven't used it, but you sure can.

Sauerkraut Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 medium head of cabbage
• One of the following:
  • 1 to 3 tablespoons non iodized salt or
  • 1 to 3 tablespoons salt and ¼ cup whey or
  • (A starter culture such as Caldwell’s Cultured Vegetable Starter or Body Ecology Starter Culture and salt as indicated by the instructions for the specific culture you are working with)

Instructions

Our shredder (hire your kids to do this part), a food processor would work good too

Jamming it down into the 2 qt. jar (1 medium head)

1. Chop or shred the cabbage depending on the desired consistency of the final product. Sprinkle with salt. (the salt pulls the liquid out of the cabbage, so add salt, leave it and then move onto #2)
2. Work the cabbage with clean hands or potato masher until there is plenty of liquid and the cabbage is a bit mushy. This portion of the process usually takes about 10 minutes.
3. If using whey, add the whey and mix well. If using a starter culture, add the culture as specified by the instructions that came with the culture.
4. Stuff the cabbage into the fermenting container, pressing the cabbage underneath the liquid. If necessary, add a bit of water to completely cover cabbage. (don't fill the jar more than 2/3-3/4 full as it expands over time)  I found 1 medium-large head filled a 2 qt. jar just about right. 
5. Culture for 3 to 10 days at room temperature. A longer fermentation period can be used if desired. (I did just 3 days each time, the warmer the temperature, the faster it will ferment)
6. Once the sauerkraut is finished, move to a storage container, if desired. Store the sauerkraut in the refrigerator or in a root cellar after the culturing process. Many people find that aging the sauerkraut in the refrigerator or root cellar for 4 to 6 weeks improves the flavor (it also increases probiotic activity the longer you leave it, but we end up eating it too fast!)
7.  Eat as desired.  Try to eat some with each meal (we usually forget, but try to get some in at lunch and supper if we can).  Use a clean utensil each time to keep bad bacteria out and the good stuff in.
   
   
   

   

   These gadgets are from my applesauce maker, but they work great to put it into the jar.

   

   2 quart jar with airlock

   
   

Makes approximately 1-2 quart.

 (PS.  My photos are no Pioneer Woman's, as I'm a mom of 5 little ones.  Lucky to even get them here!)

Dental discussion - part 2

Quick update here on James' teeth.  Yesterday we had to go and get the first cavity filled.  Unfortunately the cavity was right through the nerve, exposing it.  There was no infection present, but can still happen.  The dentist ended up doing a pulpectomy (baby root canal?) and then filling the remaining area open.  I wasn't too happy to have to have this done, but didn't know of any other options.  Having an exposed nerve is not a good thing, nor is an infection/abscess.  So, that's that.

Anyhow, the dentist was wondering a few things.  All of his cavities are on the back sides of his first molars (top and bottom, both sides).  She said that she's never seen that before.  She said that most often cavities randomly show up here and there, without a consistent pattern.  These are all in the exact same spot on 4 different teeth.  The other weird thing is that the newer molars that are touching these ones are completely healthy, no decay at all.  She said that often doesn't happen either.  If a molar has a cavity between it, then the touching molar often is decayed as well.

It got me to thinking and I came up with 2 different theories.   

1)  His health problems began with jaundice at birth along with his allergies and eczema.  We did elimination diets and tried all kinds of creams, but didn't actually get any real information on what was wrong nor what to do about it until he went to the Herbalist when he was 18 months old.(Read about it here)  These first molars would have been in by then, and because his digestion was so poor, he likely wasn't absorbing near enough vitamins and minerals to maintain healthy teeth.  Thus the cavities in his 4 major molars.  He also wasn't nursing anymore, so didn't have that back up easy-to-digest nutrition either.  By the time those second molars came in, we were doing lots of specific diet changes, probiotics and digestive enzymes which helped him get a lot more nutrients out of his food.

2)  He may have had silent acid reflux as I wrote about in part 1, and we didn't know about it.  Being his digestion was so poor, this very likely could have been true, since the decay is on the back side of each molar.  Many people have silent reflux, causing stomach acid to come up their throat in the night and causing it to eat the enamel on their teeth.  Adding in the above changes may have very well taken care of it. (better digestion)

The third thing (this was mentioned to me by a friend) was to look into a Tooth Meridian Chart.  This is kind of like reflexology, in that each tooth corresponds to a body organ.  On James, his cavities are in the "liver" area.  Hmmm.  I haven't looked into this any further, and our dentist had never heard of it, but makes me wonder.  

Our bodies are simply amazing, and this tells me how much we think we know about how they work, and how much we really don't know.  What I do know is this- cavities aren't caused by brushing/flossing or lack of it.  This isn't the main cause anyhow.  We are faithful at brushing, in yet he got these 4 and the other kids have none.  Does that make sense?  This tells me that it is an internal factor in the health of the teeth.  I know sugar is a main component in many ways (bacteria decaying on the outside, calcium/magnesium/phosphorus balance from the inside (link here) )  I've quoted this before too, but it's worth repeating, from Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions, "Last, but not least, sugar consumption is the cause of bone loss and dental decay. Tooth decay and bone loss occur when the precise ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the blood varies from the normal ratio of 4 parts phosphorus to 10 parts calcium. At this proportion, all blood calcium can be properly utilized. Dr. Melvin Page of Florida demonstrated in numerous studies that sugar consumption causes phosphorus levels to drop and calcium to rise. Calcium rises because it is pulled from the teeth and the bones. The drop in phosphorus hinders the absorption of this calcium, making it unusable and therefore toxic. Thus, sugar consumption causes tooth decay not because it promotes bacterial growth in the mouth, as most dentists believe, but because it alters the internal body chemistry. Orthodox nutritionists admit that sugar causes tooth decay, although they may be mistaken about just why this is so, but their warnings to avoid tooth decay by limiting sweets are disingenuous. Most people would be willing to pay the price for bad teeth as long as they did not have to stop eating sugar. After all, teeth can be repaired or replaced. But poor teeth are always the outward sign of other types of degeneration in the body, degeneration that cannot be repaired by mechanical means."

I also know what I'm going to focus on now.  Getting healthy new adult teeth for these kids so that they can have healthy teeth for life.  Greg & I have decided to try to stay as much as we can on the diet we've been doing.  We are allowing a few grains in here and there, but have also upped our sauerkraut intake because probiotics->better digestion->better absorption of all those important vitamins and minerals.  (Sauerkraut blog post soon to come!)  Also, when the adult teeth come in, ages 12-16 are the most critical for focusing on healthy diet to avoid cavities.  This is the time when the adult teeth do the most hardening (of enamel), and if you can avoid cavities/decay during this period, you are pretty much good for life unless your nutritional status is totally low.  Greg recalls that was the age was when his eating habits were the worst, and also when his cavities all showed up too.

I regret not getting those first 2 cavities filled when they were tiny (it's a long story why we didn't), but have learned a lot about teeth since then! 

How about you?  What have been your experiences?