Why I Cook From Scratch

Menu planning.  Those two words used to give me despair.  I cook three meals a day for six people.  Per month that is 90 meals being prepared.  The task of sitting down and planning out meals used to be my most hated chore.  We did it for a while, but that all changed last fall . . .

After much procrastinating, I decided to start cooking using the GAPS diet.  GAPS stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome.  I really do believe that if we had been able to faithfully follow this diet it could have really helped Bubba (read "helped", not "cured"), but it was almost impossible to follow this strict diet.  I did learn a lot about cooking while attempting this.  We also experimented with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which is similar to GAPS but easier.  It was still very difficult.  And finally we spent some time cooking Paleo-style.  All of this experimentation in the kitchen got me used to making everything from scratch.  And when I say everything, I mean it.  Ketchup, taco seasoning, spaghetti sauce, dressings, etc.  Right now we have settled into a gluten-free diet for Bubba, with almost everything from scratch.  And can you believe the menu planning is no longer an issue?

I love it because we always have what we need in our pantry.  And because of the restrictions on some of the diets, we got used to eating the same meals over and over.  I have to admit that there was some mom guilt there, like my children are going to suffer as adults because I'm not giving them a different menu all the time.  But you know what?  It works!  The family is happy, I'm no longer stressed, and we're eating at home 99% of the time.  Win-win.  :)

                                         Inside our pantry

Determination!

When I was a little girl, I remember looking through my parents' bookshelves for new things to read.  From James Herriot to Laura Ingalls Wilder, there was always plenty of new material to get lost in.  I also remember their non-fiction books, and the one that was particularly tattered, "The Strong-Willed Child".  No, that book wasn't for me, it was for my brother.  I didn't really understand what him being strong-willed meant when I was a kid, but now that I'm raising one of my own do I ever get it!

Our youngest . . . she is something.  It's not unusual for Ethan and I to look at each other with eyebrows raised and mouth, "What the heck?"  when she is in the midst of a new explanation or adventure.  She is a pure delight and keeps us on our toes.  She is determined!  Whether it is to sing on the radio (like she did earlier this year) or learn to read (so she can figure out what adults are spelling when she's in the room), she will do it!

Last night I got to witness some of this when she wanted to go to the park.  I told her I had to finish vacuuming and sweeping, and then we could leave for the park.  She said, "Mom, I'll vacuum."  She has vacuumed a little bit before, but it's usually just in one spot.  I knew that we had a LOT of chip crumbs under and around our dining room table, and I never thought she would even notice it.  I was wrong.  Our little 30 lb. girl moved ALL the heavy chairs away from the table and somehow managed to vacuum up every crumb.  I kept expecting her to give up, but she wanted to go to the park!  She did the entire thing like it was no big deal.

We love our strong-willed sweetie and are eager to see what else she will do with her life!

Here We Go!

Last night was a very big night for our family.  For the last several months (and I mean SEVERAL) we have been working on an adoption home study.  Last night the big night when the social worker came out and interviewed us and looked at our home.  To say I was nervous would be an understatement.  The interview was actually really great.  She started by asking our kids questions about their basic information and how they felt about having a new child join the family.  It was so sweet to hear their thoughts.  The worker asked them what might be a downside to having a new sister or brother, and Giggles (who is now nine) answered that she might have to share her room.  She was asked if that made her feel differently about adopting, and she said "No, it's okay!  I don't mind!"  What a sweetie.  :)

The home inspection was so much easier than I had anticipated.  It was nice that we (and by we I mean Ethan) completely re-organized the garage this weekend, but she didn't even look in there.  Same thing for the inside of the fridge and showers, which I had scrubbed like a madwoman.  I'm not complaining, though; we have really appreciated having everything so clean and organized for the last few days!  

I had no idea how long it would take for the study to be approved.  I feel like I've been holding my breath for so long, just waiting to see if we will be able to do this.  When I asked last night, I just loved our social worker's response.  She said, "Oh, the approval on this will just take a couple of weeks, and it's not your family that is being approved, it's my report.  If I'd had any concerns about you I would have mentioned it by now."  What a great thing to hear!  I was so worried that we wouldn't be good enough.  But now that the we have gotten this far we will just be waiting to hear that we are certified to adopt!!  I can't wait.  

One last funny moment from last night.  Bubba (who is now seven) is really into sniffing (and occasionally licking) people, and he probably sniffed the social worker a half dozen times.  Luckily she has a daughter with special needs herself and she was very accommodating.  We just love his crazy quirks! 

Time Flies

Several years ago I kind of fell into keeping a blog.  It seemed like a good way to record family history, and I'm a spontaneous type of girl, so off I went.  As life picked up steam it became harder and harder to devote time to it.  I eventually decided it wasn't a priority, so I stopped blogging.  But earlier this week a dear friend asked me about our family blog.  I looked it up to make sure I was giving her the right address, and now I'm regretting that I let a year and a half pass without recording anything.  Life is still as busy as ever, but I'm going to try to record some memories here!

On Memorial Day we took the kids for a hike.  They all did really great, despite the girls' fear of seeing a rattlesnake or getting into poison ivy (which were both legitimate concerns).  We attempted to go up to this cave at one point, and I was climbing while supporting Calico.  My enthusiasm outweighed my abilities and before I knew it she and I were sliding down the side of the hill, with nothing to stop our fall.  Hello road rash!  I was so grateful to Spunky, who is the planner in our family.  She had packed a full first-aid kit and it came in handy.  Calico skinned both elbows but was so excited to be out on a hike that it barely bothered her.  She is becoming quite the brave four-year-old.

What Seeds Are You Sowing?

This morning was one of those mornings where I thought I was going to ship my girls off to public school if I heard them argue one more time.  They were just. not. getting. along.  We were taking a break from studies and tidying up when I heard another argument break out.  Frustrated, I told them to separate and then meet me in the kitchen in 10 minutes.

A while back we ordered a book that a friend had recommended called "For Instruction In Righteousness".  There are some beautiful ideas in this book for using God's word to guide our families.  I decided to work with my girls on one of the ideas from the book.  So .  . .

When the girls met me in the kitchen I handed them two containers and had them go get some fresh dirt.  When they came back in the house I had them sit down and told them we were going to plant some seeds.  I handed them a packet labeled "Strife and Contention" with pictures of angry flowers.  (Since I only spent a few minutes making the packets it wasn't like they were perfect, but they worked.)  On the back of the packet the description read "Guaranteed to produce large, stinky blooms.  Long-lasting quality.  Ingredients: selfishness, anger, spite".

The look on their faces was pretty cute.  Giggles was alarmed that they might actually grow stinky flowers.  I urged them to open up the packet and get to work.  (The packet contained grains of rice.)

After they had planted their "seeds" I held up another packet labeled "Peace and Joy".

"Now, girls . . . this is what kind of flowers I want you to grow.  The description on the back here says that these flowers will smell sweet and be pleasing to the eye.  The ingredients are selflessness and humility."

They just stared at me for a second.

"Okay, start growing these flowers!" I urged, pointing to the "sweet" flowers.

Giggles looked confused, "We can't grow that; we planted the wrong seeds!"

This naturally led to a great discussion about what kind of "seeds" we plant each day.  I swear I've talked with them about this kind of thing before but have never seen such interest.  Gotta love hands-on teaching!  Some verses we studied after this were Proverbs 16:28, Proverbs 20:3, and Proverbs 17:14.

I hope that this might be a help to some other parent, because it certainly made a difference to us today!  :)

Lest I Forget . . .

My babe (Calico, age 2 1/2) has made some adorable statements lately.  A sampling:

Broccoli is "flower power".

Instead of simply being cold, we often hear, "I so feezing!"

Of course she wants to pray for dinner like everyone else, so on her last rotation her prayer went something like this . . . "Thank you for the God, and thank you for the Jesus."

I took a Sunday afternoon nap recently and was woken by my sweet girl and her handful of Polly Pockets.  While relaxing with her I yawned and she stuck a Polly Pocket in my mouth.  After I sputtered and told her not to put her toys in my mouth, she marched her Polly back to the other dolls and said, "Hi girls!  I just went swimming at the pool!"

Whenever she is asked about her age, her prompt reply is, "I am seven."  She thinks her 7-year-old sister, Giggles, is the coolest thing ever.

I was going on a quick trip to the store, sans kids, and had barely made it to the door when I heard a screech.  Calico came running to me, picked up some new (to her) Nike tennis shoes she had just gotten, and exclaimed, "Take me and my pretty shoes with you!"

During school the other day I was reviewing our science lesson with the girls.  I asked them, "Nicolas Capernicus rightly assumed that what was the center of the universe, that everything revolved around?  Before either girl could speak up, Calico shouted "me"!  (Side note: I really don't think she had a clue what we were talking about and just has excellent timing.)

One more.  In the above photo she had exclaimed, "I made a snowman!"  If you look closely, you can see the milk spill in the shape of . . . yes, a snowman.  :)

Camping's For the Birds!

Well, we finally did it.  The hubby and I braved the woods with our little crew of munchkins.  Thanks to an extremely kind friend we were lucky enough to have a camper to use.  We were also lucky enough to get to go with some good friends we met at co-op last year.  So. . .

We headed out bright and early Saturday morning.  Due to a last-minute change in vehicle, we ended up putting the dog in his kennel for the ride.  (He loves his kennel.)

 

He seemed just fine, but when we got to the campground we got him out and he had blood all over his head.    We weren't sure how it had happened but we tried to clean him up as best as we could.

For some reason we ended up getting to the site at the absolute hottest time of day.  I had planned to lay the little two down for naps, but it wasn't a reality with the heat.  So we wandered down to the beach to cool off.

After a bit we came back to the camp and finished setting everything up.  We had discovered a leak coming from the trailer when we started using the water, so we scratched the idea of water.  I have to say . . . at this point I was getting a little nervous.  Yeah, I know.  Everyone who reads this has probably camped in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a sleeping bag, but I hadn't.  We had a faucet with water outside the trailer so it was okay, just different.  

A big hit for all the girls was biking.

After dinner was the most anticipated (by the kids) part of the trip:  s'mores!!

That night we put Bubba and Calico down to sleep first, which went fairly well.  Our plan was to let the kids spread out in the camper and we would sleep outside in a tent.  When Spunky and Giggles came into the camper to sleep, they somehow woke Calico.  She started crying and woke Bubba.  He was the one I was most afraid to have woken up, because once he's awake he can stay awake for hours.  True to form, he laughed, and walked around the camper, and laughed some more . . . forever!  He didn't want the camper door shut with us outside, so I decided to lay next to him until he fell asleep.  Unfortunately, it didn't seem like either of us slept much that night.

The next morning we just relaxed and finally made it over to another beach.  

It was so cute seeing the little ones play in the sand.  

We went for a nice, scenic drive.

And came back to camp for a little bit of packing up while the kids played.  

What I loved:  seeing how happy the kiddos were, spending time with our friends

What I was challenged by: dirt, little sleep, cooking w/o easy water access, dirt, the dog bleeding, dirt

Yeah. I need to embrace dirt a little more.   

The day after we got home two girls went to the doctor and the dog went to the vet.  One girl had an ear infection, one had pinkeye.  The dog had cut the tips of his ears on his kennel, and there wasn't really anything the vet could do about it.  (Offered a surgery but said there was no guarantee it would help.)  The poor pup is still bleeding, and it's been a week.

Sigh.

I really feel like camping is something I need to like.  So, I'm working on it.  Everyone camps, right?  Until next time . . .  ;)