Saturday, June 2, 2012

I just might stop washing my hair…

Yep, you read that right.  I really am thinking have decided I am going shampoo free.   Why?  Several reasons really but partly because I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the thought that we need what they have at the store to care for ourselves and partly because I am just a bit off and I like the idea of dirty hair.  (just kidding.  sarcasm, it’s a gift.)

Seriously though, I have been working so hard to keep the junk out of our bodies I can’t help but look more closely at what we are putting on it.

Anyway if you are interested here are few links…

Sorta Crunchy: Shampoo Free Why and How

Rural Spin: Tips and Trick to go Shampoo Free

Keeper of the Home: Going no ‘poo?

I’ll let ya know how it goes….

Friday, June 1, 2012

It always comes back ‘round…

About this time every year I find myself strangely emotional.  Tears come at strange moments.  The lyrics in a song cause my breath to catch.  And each year I wonder why…

My heart marks the time although my head is in the clouds…

A glance at the calendar brings it all back, the hospital..the boy who left us behind, forever broken.  The boy whose leaving made the world not right….never right again.  I stop and listen to what my heart has been saying these last days…

some things are not meant to be fixed in this world…
the tears fall…and I do not wonder why anymore.

 

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.  1 Thess 4:13

 

You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?  Ps. 56:8

 

Seasons….

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Except for a couple ewes that my daughter owns we are finished lambing.  The nightly barn checks have ended and we are transitioning the ewes and lambs apart for weaning and moving everyone to pasture. 

Changes…

It has me thinking how much life does just that.  It changes.  Seasons come but they do not stay.  No matter what we do the kids grow up, the economy rises and falls and dreams come true.   We are always in perpetual movement, even when we are standing still.

Changes are….

We have finally completed all the work necessary for foster care and adoption.  Our homestudy has been approved and we are waiting our license from the state.  And, in the bedroom just next to my office lay two little ones fending off sleep.   So desperate for love they already call me mom even though I introduced myself as Miss Rachel and they wave at everyone they meet.  My heart breaks and I think about how inadequate I am.

Changes are constant.

I must admit I wonder if I am up for the job.  If we as a family are up for the job.  I know, I know God equips those He calls but I would be a liar if I didn’t admit that I am just a bit scared.   And I think, would be foolish not to be…

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Real Food: the continuation…

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Yep, we are still at it.  And I have never felt better!  My hormones are balancing out (I barely had PMS last cycle and if you knew me well you would know that has always been a huge struggle), my mood has been better all around, I have had much less fatigue (I didn’t know that you could make it to 3:00 without dying for a nap!) and my blotchy skin is clear enough to go make up free.  No make up is amazing!  I have worn make up to cover my terrible complexion since I was 12…unless you count the times I wore it without permission. Winking smile  That is just the beginning.  I could go on for HOURS about the difference cutting out processed foods has made not just in myself but in my children too, especially my son with Autism.   In fact I call my sister (who has been living with real foods for years) often and do just that!

We have had nothing out of a box or can (aside from crushed tomatoes twice) for about 2 months, no refined table sugar and we treat high fructose corn syrup like the plague (I don’t care what the commercials say, now that it is out of my system I realize how much I was reacting to it.  Refined sugar doesn’t do to me what that stuff does!)  When we visit someone else’s home we eat whatever is offered with thankfulness (aside from Josiah, tried letting him have the occasional whatever meal and it.was.not.good) but at home our meals are focused on real foods eaten the way God designed them as often as possible.   My husband still loves a good hot dog roast so I give in here but we try to find the best hot dogs we can without breaking the budget!

A typical day is something like this:

Breakfast is sourdough whole wheat muffins, pancakes or homemade granola with farm fresh eggs a time or two.  Of course our beverage of choice is raw milk from our lovely cows.

Lunch is often plenty of veggies, many times raw with fruit for dessert and a bit or pasta or rice here and there or a slice of sourdough bread with real butter.

Dinner is pretty similar to lunch but often we have grass fed beef or lamb in addition to our veggies.  (there are many benefits to living on the farm, being able to control what’s put into our meat is one of them)

I have also been juicing a bit for the kids but especially Josiah and I.  For me because I figure years of tossing junk in takes a toll on the body and juice help with the detoxing needed and for Josiah because Autistic children often battle with digestive issues and I see it as an opportunity to give him a few extra nutrients that his body doesn’t have to work so hard to process.

I probably sound like a fanatic (and I probably am) but wow!  what a difference real food makes!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Building on…

The farmer has been working hard on our barn as of late and has made a lot of progress.

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Here you can see the lean-to he added to the front of the barn.  We will use this for lambing and new moms.

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He often spends many a late night putting in just one more fence post or putting the last touches of another gate.

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…or chasing the chickens away from the creep feed Winking smile

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Friday, May 18, 2012

Michigan Fiber Fiesta!

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The show season has officially begun!  Hope to see you tomorrow in Greenville at Klackles!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Real Food Challenge: Beyond the 10 days…

As I have mentioned before we began adding whole foods to our diet before the official real foods challenge bgan so in all we have been moving from processed  to real whole foods for about 7 weeks.   The 10 day challenge gave me the ability to present the diet change to my family in a way that seemed fun and allowed us to eliminate the small vices and see that not only could we live without them but we didn’t really miss them….

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I am making enough bread to justify buying wheat flour by the 50 pound bag!   (The picture above shows how we store it.)  We are using primarily sourdough bread and I have learned to use natural sweeteners like sucanat (which is great btw!)  We go through fruits and vegetables like crazy and we have even invested in a juicer.

It is amazing the changes that I see in my children.  They are able to focus on school better, they have more energy and my picky eater is eating like crazy and his stomach aches have stopped.   The most amazing changes however,  have been in Josiah, our 16 year old son with Autism.

Josiah used to ask nonsensical questions (at least to us) like “Why isn’t pizza a skinny round oval?”   “Are you normal to me?” or “Am a light tan and not a dark tan?”.   Those questions have stopped.  Completely.  Not only that but he has been able to express complete thoughts, something he hasn’t been able to do before.   He misses his treats full of high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners and colors but his mom thinks it’s a more than fair trade!