I'm Back!

I'm finally back from vacation! We had a great time but I'm certainly glad to be back! It's nice to go away but so many times you need a vacation to recover from your vacation! We went to Destin, Florida and had a great time! Already looking forward to next year :) I, however, will sit out from being the event coordinator. I think I had a little too much on the agenda! I was originally going with the idea of relaxing on the beach and just hanging out enjoying the sun and surf (with sunscreen on, of course!). What actually happened was that we had a packed schedule with not only sun and surf but a lot of extra stuff for the kids and adults. Despite being busy, every day ended with the feeling of excitement that we still had days to go before the end of the vacation. So many times, vacations just wiz by and you don't get to really enjoy them. Not this time! Every day was an adventure and it was so fun to look forward to what the next day brought.

While on vacation, I tracked calories and did amazing...til our travel days home. By that time, I felt the need to reward myself for doing a stellar job and thought I needed fries and dessert (AKA Milkshake). If I would have skipped the reward fest, I probably would have lost weight. All in all, I gained 2 REAL pounds. I say REAL pounds because I had a lot of water weight that I got rid of pretty quick. The few days after vacation when we got home I was in a funk because of my reward fest and it took me a few days to get back on track. I think I'm good but I still have moments of weakness. Let's just say I'm looking forward to a new month - September can't come soon enough. Our real schedules will start and my races will be coming up. Even now, I still feel like it' summer despite the fact that school hast started (CRINGE)!

That's right...school has started. The girls are loving school even though they'll probably tell you something different. Even thought they started on Wednesday, it wore this mama out to get things ready in the morning, showers for the girls, work full time, and head home to do dinner and help with homework not to mention clean out the flower bed. WORE OUT does not begin to describe how I felt. By Friday I was ready for a long nap. That, unfortunately, didn't happen. How am I going to cope during a longer week, you may ask? Easy answer...some friends and I are starting to make freezer meals. I'm so excited! This will help tremendously! We're starting this Thursday :) Each of us are making 2 meals so after it's all said and done, we'll have 6 meals. We're doing another session in two weeks where we're swapping with a few other girls. Hopefully by doing this, I can pop a meal in the fridge in the morning and Nate can pop it in the stove on my way home. Can't wait til Thursday! I'll fill you in on how it goes!

Bible School

At the beginning of January, I started doing something with my girls that they just love. I found tons of activity and color pages, thanks to Google, that I can use for teaching them stories from the Bible. I've organized them so that I can teach the same lesson to both of them and Ana has a color page and Aiva has an activity page that's harder for her level. When I get home, I put my stuff down and head to the kitchen where I start to get things ready for dinner. I call both girls in and tell them to get their art kits and I give them each a page. While I cook, I tell them the story. I'll have Aiva look up the verses in the Bible and have her read the kids version just to catch anything that I miss. I've even given her just the "address" for the verse and I'll have her write down the verse. It helps her get into the word and get excited about it because there are actual stories in there! I have to share what happened last night though. The lesson last night was on creation and what God created and when. Aiva just jumps at the opportunity to do anything that resembles homework so this was right up her alley. I printed out a sheet for her that had "Day 1-7" and the verses that corresponded to what God created for those days. She dove right into the Bible and wrote out what God created anon those days. She later asked if she could draw pictures of the things that He created and I of course told her to go for it. She loved it! It's really been a lot of fun to get this started and going. It's great for me because I don't have to hear them fighting when I get home. It's good for them becasue they're hearing the Word and getting into it. Plus, it's good for Nate because he gets a much needed 30-45 minute break before dinner. Here are a couple picks of what we've been doing:

Hello

It's been three long months since I've blogged. It was a well deserved hiatus. Much has changed but much is still the same. The summer was long but good. We spend many days at the pool and the zoo and just thinking about summer makes me wish it were still here. As I sit and type, both girls are in bed and fast asleep, not much to their liking. The house is quiet and there was nothing better to do than to write. I left everything from my to-do list at work so here I sit. For the past few days I've thought about writing my thoughts down but something always came up that required attention. It's nice to have a few quiet moments to myself. Doesn't happen much and it almost seems foreign. One day that will change though and I'm trying to soak up these "interruptions" and think of them as blessings. Aiva is turning into quite the young lady although she tries to act older than her 7 years. It must be that 8 is lurking close and she's about to turn another year ....wiser is what I'd like to say but "challenging" is what comes to mind. She's definitely more of a challenge than Ana but day by day we make it through. She has such a powerful personality that it's been difficult for her and Nate to communicate. They end up arguing and it's not pretty. I've been the peacemaker and try to mediate between them both but more times then none, they both end up crossing their arms and parting ways, frustrated. I pray that she learns how to use her personality for the good and realize the damage that it could do if she uses it the wrong way. She's the sweetest thing if you know how to talk to her and build her up. I've researched this and it's taken me awhile but I think I know some key phrases that don't cause friction and we seem to have done better.

Ana my playful child is always hard at play with her friend Riley. They're always side by side although not for long. Riley is about to start kindergarten while Ana is still in preschool. Fun as it seems, Ana looks like she should be the one in second grade. She's about ready to pass up her sister in height. She definitely takes after her daddy. The trait she's taken on is that of whining. Not the best one, but we're dealing with it. She's been whining since the day she was born and she continues to do so. One of these days she will tell us what she wants or what is wrong without whining. When that happens we all will celebrate! She does still have an infectious smile and I can't help to not smile when she's in the room.

We're looking forward to a new year and new things. So much is in store for us and I can't wait to see how things unfolds. Since I'm "back" get used to seeing me on here. I do miss seeing and hearing my updates. I look back at my blogs from time to time and it helps to see how I've grown or what we've experienced. Not just me, but it's amazing to see how the girls have grown and how they've changed. Kids grow so quick and I'm sure soon I'll look back on this and think "where did the time go". Until then, I'm enjoying each moment...hope you can enjoy it with me!

Singing

One thing that my girls love is singing. They will spin and sing for hours if we'd let them. Actually the thing that stops them is if one hits the other while spinning or one starts singing the others verse. I totally did the same thing when I was there age so I know where they got it! Like mother, like daughters :) For the past few weeks I've started singing bible songs with them before Nate goes in to tell them their daily bedtime story. Nate and I had talked and we agreed that they're not learning these great songs at church so we needed to start singing them at home and teaching them ourselves. Nate and I learned so many bible songs when we were younger that taught us the important bible stories. It's not like that these days. Times have changed and we decided to do something about it. Aiva is in first grade and before we know it she's going to be in middle school. Once this happens who knows what influences she's going to be around. We need to make sure that she's got the foundation that she needs when this time comes. Enough of my soap box and on to the singing. Every night I've taught them two songs and then they can each pick a song that they want to sing. Early on I taught them the song Jesus Loves Me - the part that they love is that it's not the traditional style. When Nate went to Jamaica in 1996 his team learned this new version of Jesus Loves Me and we have sung it ever since. So, when I started singing songs with the girls I knew one of the first songs that I taught them was Jesus Loves Me (Jamaica style). They loved it! LOVED IT! So, every night the one song that at least one of the girls picks is Jesus Loves Me. Aiva has got to the point to where she knows it all by herself. We decided to take the show on the road and go downstairs to perform for dad. They loved it and so did Nate. I let Aiva lead it and she was in heaven! It's so great to see my daughters learn bible stories and have fun doing it. I hope I'm leaving a legacy and imprinting something great on their hearts and minds. I guess it's not that I hope...it's that I am. Want to know the lyrics to Jesus Loves Me (Jamaica style)? Here ya go:

(Patting your legs/thighs)

Pat - Pat - Clap, Pat - Pat - Clap (thru the whole song)

Jesus Loves Me this I know

For the Bible tells me so

Little one who Him belong

They are weak but He is strong

Singing Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na (Hey!)

Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na (Ho!)

Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na (Hey!)

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

The Bible tells me so

Jesus loves me when I'm good

When I do the things I should

Jesus loves me when I'm bad

Even though it makes him sad

Singing, Na-na (Repeat Na verse and Yes, Jesus Loves Me Verse)

(Repeat two times)

Sing about his love

about his love sing about

Sing about his love

About his love sing

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

The Bible tells me so

Hopefully one of these days I can get it on youtube. It's a goodie!

Anastasia

Today was Anastasia's birthday. She turned 4 years old today. My how time has passed. I can remember the day she was born. It was my first official day off work for maternity leave and I was getting ready to welcome my mother in law and brother/sister in law into town for the weekend. I had just gone to the store and Aiva and I stopped at my mom's to chat. Not sure why I did that especially with milk and other perishables in the car. We chatted on the porch for a few and then I told her we had to be leaving. Before I left I had to pee, like all pregnant women do! This might be too much info but I noticed that I was peeing for a bit too long. Once I had stopped, I stood up and was going to make my way to the sink and something didn't feel right. I sat back down to go to the bathroom and that's when I knew it. My water broke. I called my mom into the bathroom and told her that I thought my water broke and she didn't believe me. Once she saw the panic in my eyes she knew it was for real. I started crying about all my groceries that were going to go bad and she hurried me along to the car. Aiva was somewhat oblivious to what was going on which was a good thing because after I was finished crying about the groceries I started crying about leaving her! My mom drove me to our house and threw the stuff in the refrigerator and got my over night bag. I called my mother in law who was of course surprised because she wasn't planning on coming to welcome a grand daughter but the timing worked out perfect. Nate was at the hospital waiting for me, since he worked there. He was outside waiting for me with a wheel chair. Had I not been leaking so much I would have walked but my back side was wet...completely wet! I kissed Aiva and cried that I had to leave her and then turned to head to the hospital for my life to be changed forever more. I got there around 3 and she was born around 6. She was so beautiful and the first thing I noticed was that she had my thumbs. I knew then that she had to be special. Happy birthday baby girl...in honor of your birthday, here are four things that I love about her.

1) I love Ana's smile...she smiles like her mama - just like a Cheshire cat!

2) I love that her motto is "God is always with us".

3) I love that she has poker straight hair which is so different than Aiva's.

4) I love that she always asks her dad, "Dad, how do I look?" She values his opinion and aims to make her daddy happy...most times!

Hope you have a great year and that God blesses and shines on you as you celebrate being four years old!

200

YEAH! I've finally hit my 200th post! I've been waiting for this day since...actually I haven't but thought that it was pretty cool that I've blogged 200 times! That's dedication...I like to think so anyway! Thanks to all my faithful readers...you three out there :)

I said that in my last post that I had to put down some of the girls quotes so here it is.

Ana - "Mom, did Jesus die for ALL of our sins?". "Yes, baby..he did", I replied. After a few seconds she replied with, "That's gotta hurt!". Hopefully that's not a sign of things to come!

Aiva has been trying to teach Ana every little thing she can and one day it was shapes and sign language. Ana didn't want to have any part of it. Ana replied with, "Aunt Danelle said that I don't need to know that to be a butt doctor!". Aiva wouldn't back down and proceeded with sign language. "Ana, this is an A...say A." Ana said, "Aiva, I told you that Aunt Danelle told me that I don't need to know that to be a butt doctor! Just stop it OK!"

Ana - "Mommy, are you better yet? I sure miss you!"

Aiva - "I know what my Life Verse is, Mom! On the first day, God made light!" I wonder if this is the reason that she gets up at 6AM every day!

Aiva - "I don't have time for homework...my social calendar is too full!" Not sure where she got this??!!

Aiva - "Mom, I need to where my slip-on shoes...I don't have time for shoe laces!"

Preschool

Yesterday was the first day of preschool for Ana. She LOVED it. She went last year but this is 3 days a week and she felt like she was big stuff. This year she got to carry a backpack and had to get supplies like big sister Aiva. Unfortunately I was home sick yesterday but it was good timing as I got to see her off for her first day. If I weren't feeling so bad I would have gone with them but instead stayed back and heard the news once Nate got back home. After he came home it felt odd having both kids in school. I guess that's what it feels like to have a quiet house. Last time it was quiet was back in January when both girls stayed at my parents house for our birthdays. She ended up loving it and was zonked once she got home. I let her sleep about an hour before it was time for dinner. Today she did the same thing. She normally takes an afternoon nap but not anymore!

Aiva's been doing great with school. She's really trying to get an "orange" for the day to mean that she did AWESOME but she continues to get green meaning that she's just plain GOOD. I told her that we need to bake the teacher some cookies or brownies to get some "brownie points" (no pun intended) to get her an orange! She always wants to dress up for school which makes walking to school somewhat of a challenge. I had to go out to get different shoes and socks so her feet won't hurt on the way there and throughout the day. I think the highlight today was her buying her lunch and trading her breadstick for salad with one of her friends. At least she's making wise eating choices! She only gets to buy one time a week so this is really fun for her.

Today was my first day back to school after the long weekend. It was rough trying to get caught back up but I'll be back at it again tomorrow. I'm starting to feel better so that's good! Little Ana kept asking me if I were feeling better. I think she half cared and half really wanted to do something fun this weekend. She was a trooper while I was sick in bed...both girls were.

We've been starting to think about birthdays in October. It will be here before you know it. Not sure of all the details but Aiva is getting her ears pierced at some point. Nate's not to keen on the idea but it will grow on him. Once he sees how cute she looks he'll be OK. I can't wait! I know we're doing an iCarly cake and a Dora cake but that's all we've talked about. It's hard not to do it up big but we have to keep it small since Nate and I are going to Chicago in November. Can't wait...that's a whole different post! More tomorrow :)

Buckeyes

We're very excited that it's football season and that we can watch all the Buckeye games! Here are our little buckeyes :)


Here's Aiva...



And here is Anastasia...
Today was a rough day. No matter what I did it backfired. I should have gave up when I got home but I didn't. Nate thought someone stole his phone and wallet today so after a trip home during lunch I found it in his shorts in our bedroom. Thankfully it wasn't stolen but it was pretty intense for an hour or so.

When I got home I wanted to get Aiva some no show socks but I waited after a short nap and that was hte wrong thing to do. The girls were antsy at the store, my nerves were shot, and I was ready to loose it. It's at those times that we run into people and they see the true you. Yes, it happened to me. A friend from MOPS was shopping (Shout out to you Suzy :) ) and the girls were driving me crazy and were fighting like cats and dogs. I just wanted out. I politely said hi, finished shopping, paid and got the heck out of there with Ana screaming for a "chilly" (which is an icee). If I weren't so mad I would have laughed at her comment. No laugh came out...I just wanted to get home pronto. I got dinner quick and now the girls are making up cheers about OSU. Again, if it weren't an hour past their bed time and if my nerves weren't fried I would get pictures. This is one mom who is being real...I am so ready for their bed time and for FRIDAY! TIME FOR BED!

Whoa!

Well we recovered from "moving" last night. It went fairly well I might add. It only took us 5 hours...the girls were great and we're just happy that it's over! Aiva had a great day. I guess the crew was on their way home and back at the school, someone pulled the fire alarm. According to the "crossing guard" this is the second time it's happened. Nothing like getting the fire drills over and done with at the beginning of school!

Dinner was good. Since we had McD's last night with moving, we had the steak tonight. Spaghetti tomorrow.

Funny things from the girls:

Ana - "When I get old I'm gonna be a butt doctor like Aunt Danelle and I'm gonna check Aiva's butt!" Aiva's response, "NEVER!"

Aiva - "Ana it's not called 'branch' it's called 'ranch'. Like Long Branch without the B."

Tonight we're heading to do some shoe shopping for Aiva - I'm prepared for drama from Ana. I can't get for one without getting for the other!

Girls

This weekend we had a girls weekend since Nate was out of "town' fishing. We had a great time and really didn't do much but we were together and laughed a whole lot. Friday we went to CiCi's and had pizza and played games. Both girls got CiCi balloons and then left them both go outside in honor of Sam Bish. They thought that Sam would like the balloons since he liked CiCi's. Ana also got her brand new big girl car seat which she was ecstatic about. That's all she talked about and she kept thanking Nate and I. Too cute! That night they got to watch a movie on my laptop in their room. They thought it was almost like being in a movie theater so they thought that was too cool. I got a chance to stay up to watch movies which I rarely get to do on my own...especially girly movies! I got the Last Song and Backup Plan. They were both great and I watched Backup Plan the next night since I liked it so much. Very cute movie! Saturday I did some running around and both girls were great and were great helpers. After our errands, we went over to my parents house and hung out the rest of the day. we sat out on the porch, played on the wing set and to top it off the got to spend quite a few hours in the hot tub. it was Ana's first time in the tub since she's super sensitive to hot water. She finally braved the water and had a great time. We had lunch out on the porch and then daddy came for a few hours and had dinner and watched a movie with us at my parents. At about 8PM, we all left and Nate went to spend the night at his uncles because he had to wake up early in the morning to finish up the tournament. We actually met him at the end of his uncles driveway for some kisses. The girls thought that mom and dad kissing was so gross. Made me giggle on the inside. I'm sure I felt the same about my parents but it was just so funny to hear them talk about how they are never going to do that. The next day they continued to have plenty of kissing questions. Too bad I had to handle them on my own! Sunday was a day to relax. I knew that the week would be busy so I just wanted to take it easy. we took long naps and then just kind of laid around. Nate was gone until late so I let them have the remote to watch their shows. We watched plenty of iCarly and Big Time Rush...their new show. It was a very relaxing day and couldn't have been better :) I love my girls!

Pie

After just hearing about pie on iCarly I've all the sudden become very hungry for pie...not sure what kind, but sounds very tasty about now. May be a project for this weekend! Anyway, continuing on! The second day was a success! Can't get much out of Aiva but hey there's no homework so I'm OK with that. Last year Aiva had homework every night and it was tough keeping up with it. This no homework stuff can go on for a couple weeks! It's nice having the time to get used to having a schedule and all the tasks that go into getting ready for the school day.

Dinner was great although Aiva wasn't too keen on the Taco salad. Tomorrow is pizza night and I think we're doing CiCi's in honor of Sam Bish! Sam's funeral is tomorrow at the church. Nate, Ana & I will be going.

Dinner cleaned up...check

Clothes set out...check

Lunch packed...check

Ana - Ana decided that she didn't like sour cream tonight but she kept calling it "sour chicken".

Ana- "Mom...dad just ruined my ballerina shirt in the dishwasher!" She meant to say the washing machine!

No fun Aiva quotes just lots of fun Aiva expressions!

Sunrise

Today was a sad day for Aiva & Ana. Their good friend Sunrise moved. We knew the day was going to come but we didn't know it would be so soon. When Sunrise came over today and said today was the day and they were loading up their stuff you could just see Aiva's shoulders sink. I felt so sorry for both my girls! Their friend who they loved hanging out with and laughing with was going away. It took me back to when I was 6 and we moved from Grove City to Westerville. I left behind my friend Michelle. She was my best friend...we swam in our pool, had sleepovers, played with Barbies...everything. I remember sitting backwards in our old green Hornet staring out the back window as Michelle waved goodbye and she began to get smaller and smaller the further away we drove. Aiva had that same feeling today and all that came to mind was, "Its gonna be OK". I had the radio on and both girls loved to sing but today there were no songs coming from the backseat...only muffled cries and little sniffs. We had high hopes for Sunrise. My girls were teaching her about God and I could really see them growing as they talked about Jesus to Sunrise. We prayed today that Sunrise would remember their talks and that she would want to be more like Jesus too. Even though it was a rough day, a smile was brought to my lips as I can see how much all three girls have grown.

Mom

For Mother's Day, Ana's teacher sent home the answer's of some Mother's Day questions that she asked the kids. Here are Ana's answers:

My favorite thing to do with my mom is....planting flowers with her.

I like it when my mom cooks...eggs and cinnamon rolls

My mom likes to...go to work.

My mom likes it when I...play jokes.

My mom is __ years old? 20

My mom smells like...peanut butter and jelly.

My little girl cracks me up! All you have to do is look at her and you crack up! Thanks Ana for lovin on me and for calling me mama!

Hiatus

So it's been awhile! Sorry for my almost two month hiatus...it's been a whirl wind of a few months but I think I can finally say that I'm back! Yeah! I sure missed blogging but it was somewhat refreshing and somewhat eye opening at the same time. Makes me almost feel like God does with us when we don't talk to Him! Things have been great and are just beginning to start back up again.



I've been picking up the slack in the office for a couple of gals being on maternity leave so it's been a little hairy at work but I've survived! They're both coming back next week and the week after so I'll be back to normal in the next few days. Makes me appreciate them all the more ;). My small group just got done with the book "Crazy Love" and it made me want to change my thinking on a few things.

I've always thought of God as being more reverent and holy but I want to try to think of Him more as Abba, Father, Daddy. A little different for me to wrap my head around but I want that personal side to my relationship with Him. It's a great book so if you haven't read it, pick it up and give it a go. We're starting a study of the book of James so I'm really excited about jumping into that next. I've also been trying to plan out activities for the kids and Nate to do during the week for the summer. I'm so jealous that I won't be able to join them! There's a lot of fun stuff planned from the summer movie series at Cinemark to free bowling to gymnastics camp! It's gonna be a good one! I've also been trying to work on a few projects that are getting up off the ground rather slowly but I'll kick it in gear soon. I've also been keeping up with menu planning and coupon saving so that's been exciting! Along with all that, I've been planning Nate's and my trip to Chicago in November for our 10th anniversary. I can't wait for a vacation! We're not really going away this summer (other than camping) so this will be our vacation for the year. It's gonna be great!

Nate has been doing well. Still adjusting to being a stay at home dad! By the time he gets adjusted, both girls will both be in school. I think he's looking forward to the summer and being more active instead of being cooped up in this little house! He's started tournament fishing which he loves so that's been great for him to get out with other men. He seems to be doing pretty good too! He would love to get a boat one of these days so I told him to start saving pennies and one day we'll get there! He's looking forward to camping, fishing, and heading to Nashville this summer.

Aiva is doing great in school. She loves math and spelling and she's just plain a smarty pants! She is so helpful with Ana but on the other hands they love to fight like cats and dogs. She has a new friend next door and her name is Sunrise. She wants to do everything with this girl! Sunrise doesn't come from the best home environment so we're trying to be good examples while hopefully not scaring our own kids! Aiva's looking forward to gymnastics camp, Round Lake camp, and soccer for this summer. She's still trying to find her niche with what she wants to do so we're still exploring our options. She's very smart and crafty but I'm not sure she's real athletic! We're still working with her though!

Ana is just plain ornery! Nate and I crack up all the time at how witty she is. She always has a smile and a joke that she readily hands out! She loves preschool and will tell you if you ask who the trouble maker is in school. She loves Ms. Mindy and can't wait for her spring show where she gets to sing a few songs that they've learned in class. She's in gymnastics at church and LOVES it. She's the oldest of the class but that doesn't bother her...she knows what she's doing and is adamant that she wants to do things on her own while in class! She will be in the 4's/5's class in preschool next year and we're hoping that Ms. Mindy will be in her class but we'll have to see! She can't wait to be in class for 3 days instead of 2 days! She loves writing her name and will watch Mulan (the Disney movie) all day if you let her.

I think that should catch you up on a few things until next time! I'll enjoy getting back into blogging again so stay tuned for what's on the horizon with me. I've enjoyed staying up with all my pals blogs so thanks to you all for keeping up while I took a break! Hope you're looking forward to summer! See you around!

Honey

The past two days have been some what of a challenge for Ana as she's been doing a lot of coughing. With her having asthma it doesn't help matters. Last night her cough medicine nor the inhaler were working so I had to do some research to figure out how I could get this girl to stop coughing adn so we could all get some sleep. What I found out was very interesting. Here's this clip from the Mayo Clinic:

"Now researchers are studying honey as a cough suppressant. In a 2007 study, children ages 2 and older with upper respiratory tract infections were given up to 2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) of honey at bedtime. The honey seemed to reduce nighttime coughing and improve sleep. In fact, in the study, honey appeared to be as effective as the cough suppressant dextromethorphan in typical over-the-counter doses."

After reading this I thought I had to at least give it a try. As soon as Ana heard that honey was like sugar she was all for it. I gave it to her at 9:30PM and she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She didn't cough until 4AM. At 4AM, I gave her some Motrin for her fever and another teaspoon of honey and she was back to sleep in no time. She didn't start coughing again til 9AM! Problem solved...at least while she's sleeping. Not only did she get a good nights rest but the rest of the family did to!

Natural

This past weekend, the girls and I went out for the afternoon with Nate's sister and her family. We had a great time and the girls had a blast playing at the play land at Polaris with their cousins. I wish we could do that more often...we miss having them in Westerville. Anyway, back to the "natural" conversation. I had expressed some frustration with Aiva being so sick and always having to go to the doctor or get meds for her. Amy has had some problems with her youngest, Saylor. She had told me what they were doing and all the research that she's done. They've chose to go to a more natural diet and eat more natural foods. She was telling me about all the stories that had come out of eating this way and it floored me more than the first time she talked to me about it a few years back. After hearing her, we've decided to give it a shot and try it until Aiva starts first grade in the fall and then reevaluate. Here are a couple of the things we're switching up:

1) We're going to start buying our bread at Great Harvest Bread Company. They use freshly milled wheat which is far better for you than the kind of bread that you would get at the store. To see the brochure that talks a little about their bread, click here.

Testimony #1

A 98 year old renowned doctor had never seen tonsils as small as a 9 year old patient. This 9 person family only had 3 doctor visits in 13 years. All of the kids tonsils atrophied.
Testimony #2

Tiffany Thompson, a stay at home mom has a 3 year old, with constant constipation, always running nose, ear infections, bronchitis, allergic to animals and she has all major allergies, along with eczema. Tiffany listened to the Bread Beckers, and within one week, no more runny noses, constipation, or eczema.

Testimony #3
Kim Davis, edits for Beth Moore, teaches Dr. Rex Russells Healthy Living classes. Kim had the beginning stages of Chrones disease. She had read in Hosea that, “my people parish for lack of knowledge”. She was facing sinus surgery, and chronic bladder and urinary tract infections and also had super high cholesterol. Once she started eating the bread, everything improved dramatically.

After reading and hearing some of these stories, we decided to go for it and we're already on our 2nd loaf. It's only been 3 days...so far so good.

#2) We're going to start drinking almond milk instead of cow's milk. This is what it says in Wikipedia, "It provides the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food." I believe that we're no different. Since we can eat solid foods, there are no reasons why we need a lot of milk. Also, when you drink cow's milk it makes your body produce an excess amount of mucus which of course is a breading ground for bacteria and all sorts of infections. The less mucus we have the least amount of infections we'll have as well.

#3) We're going to start eating more natural foods that are free of hydrogenated fats, shortening, margarine, aspartame and in return, eating natural foods, Great Harvest bread, more fiber, honey, etc…that sort of thing. We're going to start shopping around the outsides of the store and avoiding the middle part. Focusing more on the fruits, veggies, chicken and natural foods. Tomorrow I'm going to check out Trader Joes to look for some snacks that are good to eat and natural. Basically, we're going to eat how they did in the Bible. People lived longer because they ate better and their environment was better all around. They didn't have Doritoes and brownies so we're going to slowly take that out of our diet. The book we're going to try out is the Maker's Diet by Jordan Ruben. I've heard that some of it is pretty extreme but we're going to take it slow and see what happens.

I think that's it for now. I'll keep you up to date and let you know how it goes. I'm a little nervous to get this going but I want healthy kids and not have to worry about doing tubes again for Aiva. If you have questions, let me know. Want to join me? I'd love to have a partner do it with us!!

Geocaching

This evening we did something that we've talked about doing but never tried. Geocaching! I found a couple coordinates and we were on our way. First thing to keep in mind if you do this is to go when you have plenty of light and probably when there's not a lot of snow. I wanted to get out earlier but I was just so comfy at home to get moving too much earlier. It was just me and the girls, so I explained what we were going to be doing the day before, so they were really pumped. I told them it was like treasure hunting so they were all about it...I think they've seen Peter Pan one too many times! The first cache we totally couldn't find and they didn't get the idea of driving and then looking. I figured that we could go on another day to try this one again. It was getting dark so I typed in the coordinated to our next cache and we were on our way. In the description on this cache it said that it was by a cemetery but not in it. Needless to say, we were right in the middle of this cemetery, I kept telling myself to put the thoughts out of my head that we were walking on these dead people and just kept my eyes pealed for this cache. The girls were real troopers too. They were walking in ankle deep snow but they both loved it...until their feet started to get wet. We were all over this cemetery and nothin! At one point I thought I was headed in the right direction when I heard, "Hey!". It scared me to death...I looked all over this valley of headstones to find my mom walking towards me cracking up. She knew she got me. I called my dad before we left and my dad knew where we were headed so he told my mom and she thought it would be nice to prank me...she sure got me! After she looked around for a few seconds with us she said she was headed home. I thought it was a good time to stop since it was started to get darker and the cemetery was no place I wanted to be at night. Aiva was pretty determined though that she didn't want to leave. She wanted to find her treasure! She thought some other kid would get it if we didn't get it tonight. I had to explain it again how the whole thing worked so it gave her a little piece of mind that there was still home. I thought she was good til we got to my parents house where she proceeded to tell my mom that she was really hoping that the next cache we look for has a "DS" in it. She has her heart set on getting a Nintendo DS that she'll do anything for it...including treasure hunting! All in all, it was an good time...the girls had a blast in the cemetery and I think I saw Ana smile the biggest smile as she was running through the cemetery in search of her treasure. She told my mom she was hunting for a red shirt...who knows where she got that idea but I'll let her go with it. Hopefully next time though we'll have better luck! Maybe we'll see you out there!

Recap

We have been waiting for this day ever since we've hit the month of December! It was finally time to see Santa! The girls and I went shopping in the morning and afternoon but then we came home for naps so they would feel refreshed to see the big guy! Nate and us girls headed over to Easton so we could see the good Santa that we've seen ever since Aiva was born. I was hoping and praying that he would be there and he was! This year he was a few pounds lighter. My mom even made the comment that he was a skinny Santa this year. We waited in line for what seemed like FOREVER but we finally made it up there! Aiva asked for a Barbie car and Ana asked for a Dora kitchen. I'm a little nervous because neither of them are getting what they asked for. We have a kitchen now that they don't really play with and I'm waiting to get rid of some unused toys before I start expanding the Barbie collection! Hopefully they'll be OK with that they get...it's really cool stuff! After we saw Santa, we went over to Steak and Shake and had some dinner. Since the girls waited in such a long line to see Santa we thought it was OK to treat them to some milkshakes. We had a lot of fun and the milkshakes were tasty too!

Recap

Last night we made rice krispie treats and hot cocoa instead of having a red/green day and night. It was more of an event for me than the girls since it was a pretty sticky event but the girls loved the M&M's that went on the treats as well as the hot cocoa. Who can turn down hot chocolate! Not Ana!

Recap

We were a little late in decorating the Christmas tree this year but that's OK. It was actually a multi night affair! We had a couple complications with ornaments and lights but we got everything sorted out! we couldn't find the ornaments and I was about ready to have a fit but! I was at the storage unit and had about the whole thing tore apart and then finally I saw a box I hadn't yet opened. Sure enough...it was the one I had been looking for! Then the lights...I couldn't find all the strands of lights so we went to grab a few more strands at the store only to find them once we got home! Funny though that the news strands were the LED kind and I feel like I've got little flashlights all over the tree that illuminates that fact that we have a "fake" tree! Next year, we're either getting a real tree or getting a new artificial tree! It sure does look pretty though. More pics to come of the tree and our many flashlights!