I feel like so much is going on that I am not sure where to start here. I am excited about a few things.
Health Update
One, we are back on healthy eating. What I am finding is that bad habits can be tough to break. The good thing is that we are determine to live in a way that honors God and respects the body. In fact, this is one of the lines in our family mission statement ...."To care for our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit." So with this in mind, we are talking eating clean and green. The goal is to eat food that is as close to it's original form as possible and stay away from those dirty ones such as pork and other scavengers. One easy way to begin doing this is to add a green smoothie to your daily line up. When I am not super busy, or should I say, when I am most centered (I like that better..) I juice daily.
When I juice, I usually buy the big plastic box of Organic Spinach, a bag of organic carrots and a bag of organic apples. I juice these using the Juiceman Juicer then pour it into the blender. Add ice, a scoop of Colon Cleanse, ground flax seeds, Garden of Life Perfect Food and Muscle Milk protein powder. I am nursing and often don't get enough protein. I blend this together and there you go. Fresh juice is the best because it is alive. All bottled juices are actually dead. So, whenever possible I do fresh juice. When the realities of mommyhood hit and I cannot do this, I will use store bought orange juice or apple juice and go from there. Our big girl takes these KidzGreenz by Animal Parade.
Another practice that we are now embracing is the soaking of oats, nuts and seeds. We eat oatmeal in the mornings anyway so why not soak the oats and almonds the night before so that we actually get the nutrients from them. Here is a link on more about this. I am still learning about soaking oats as well as raw food living. It is an amazing journey. Our goal is to be a high raw food eating family. This is a bit more realistic than 100% raw at this time. More about the raw food journey later. I am planning to try a recipe soon!
As far as exercise, I am doing 3 sets of 10 sit ups, squats, and push ups everyday no matter what. I do go to the gym as well but just in case I don't make it which is very possible with the girls, I have a very small plan to at least engage my body in some way. When at the gym, I hit cardio, weights and stretch. I also love the steam room. This is a great time to plug having natural hair. My locs look just as good coming out of the steamroom as they did when I went in. They actually probably benefit from the moisture. I take a eucalyptus essential oil in with me and rub some into my hands. (very, very small amount) and inhale. I stay in about 15 minutes. I always feel alive afterwards, especially if I have a large glass of carrot juice following. I have a few exercise DVD's but have not really gotten into them. I haven't given up on them though. I also get a deep tissue massage at least once a month. I just love Massage Envy . The trick here is finding a therapist that you love. My guy is great! He is huge and I think that helps. He kills me each time but I need it so badly.
Homeschool Update
We are still moving along in our school though in its infancy stage. I am not sure if I mentioned it but we are planning to take the Classical Homeschooling approach. I loved reading the Well Trained Mind. WIth this approach, allowing for free play and time to grow is essential. We do a bit of phonics daily and dad adds math concepts.
However, I love what a mommy over at Preschoolers and Peace said...
"..the bottom line is, if I could give you any tiny bit of wisdom I might possess in this arena, it would be: concentrate on what matters most. Ground your little one in the Word of God. Help her to become a godly young girl. Light a fire in all aspects of learning. And go slowly. Before you know it, she will be 15. I promise."
I take that to heart and remind myself not to push too hard. We do quite a bit of Art, hang out with friends at the park, go to MOPS together and do nature studies. She also takes dance which includes ballet and tap. I have the Mudpies to Magnets book and plan to try a few of the science projects. I love this website for Art. We are also starting to use Play Plans. Each morning, I ask big girl to write her name on a piece of paper and then draw a picture of what she will do with the morning. The purpose is to have her direct her intentions.
- When children have learning plans and play plans, their activity is more more interactive and sustainable.
- The notion of being able to sustain one’s own interest is the core building block. Children are less distracted because they are so consumed in the activities they have chosen.
- Development of the internal voice or thought conversation helps children avoid distraction.
She did one today. She chose not to color it or really draw a picture but she dictated to me what she would do and I wrote it on the bottom. As she grows, these will become more clear. One last thing, I made a discipline chart to help her know how she is doing throughout the day. We use the colors blue, green, yellow, gray and red. I hot glue gunned a wallet sized photo of her that I cut out to a piece of cardboard and then to a clothespin. We move this up and down the chart as certain behaviors occur and there are consequences associated with them such as time outs or loosing a privilege.
Anywho...I have written quite a bit. Pat yourself on the back if you read this! Now time for some pictures!!!
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