Friday, January 30, 2009
Procrastinating
....i am sitting at panera bread on alpine. i am procrastinating. it has been a long, but wonderful, week and instead of playing online, i really truly should be doing something productive. i have student work to grade, lord of the flies to be reading for english 11, lessons to glance over, articles to read for my grad class paper, and a paper i could be working on.....none of this is truly "due" within the next few days but it is all looming and needs to be taken care of at some point. i find it interesting that i feel guilty for "playing" at panera when truly i can take this time to play. if i am not behind on due dates, is this truly procrastinating?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Love This!
My awesome Minnesota friend Kimberly sent me TWO (yes 2) CDs of her husband's high school marching band! You see, I am a band geek by nature but never had the capability or talent to play a band instrument. Kim and her Hubby Levi are both HS band directors and help me indulge my band geekiness by keeping me well stocked with marching band music! I cranked up one of the cds immediately upon opening the package and both boys started dancing! It created quite a scene and we ALL had a good time!!! :)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
adventures in Dogsitting
Scott and Shannon took their kids to a Piston's game today but poor Elliot was to be left home alone. When they called to see if we could run over and let him out a few times, I bravely offered to host Elliot for the day. The boys had such a good time caring for Elliot and Lukie even got over being afraid of him. Elliot was exceptionally behaved--he did not bark at all and was very loving towards the boys! We had a GREAT day caring for such a sweet dog.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Re Post of Advice for Newbie Parents
I typed this blog way back in October but due to the sheer number of newbie parents in my life, I decided to repost this :):) Take it with a grain of salt! One more tid bit of advice--never too early for time outs :) TB
Advice for Newbie Parents
Inspired by V and G's HUGE announcement of Baby E on the way (see previous blog), I decided to blog about all of the random parenting things we have learned....some the hard way!
1. Babies who cry in the middle of the night after three months are NOT hungry--they just have learned that when they cry someone will come in. Our pediatrician in MN was AWESOME--she gave us this tidbit of advice and it changed our life! She said that when kids cry in the middle of the night after three months old, they are NOT starving and need to be fed....instead they are crying as a learned behavior. Her solution to this was to let them cry 15 minutes the first night before going in to soothe the baby--DO NOT FEED. 2nd night, let baby cry 30 minutes before soothing--DO NOT FEED. 3rd night, let baby cry 45 minutes then soothe--DO NOT FEED. 4th night should not wake up. As parents, this is HARD but well worth it as Jack was a GREAT sleeper as a BABY!
2. Play the SAME cd at night as baby falls asleep! This has technique has been awesome for us! MY own doctor (one I had as a teen) gave us this tidbit when we took Jack there our first Christmas with him (croup...nasty to travel with a 4 month old baby who has croup). We started with Luke immediately (around 1 month)--push play as you rock, feed, etc. He now hears the music start and knows it is time to get in bed! Both boys use the same CD so when we travel, they hear the music and no matter where we are, they get into bed and fall asleep FAIRLY easily (not always awesome but pretty good). This has helped us as we have traveled over the years--it has also helped us when the kids wake up in the middle of the night--we soothe, check on them etc. and then push play...music puts them right back in "time to go to sleep" mode!
3. Relax--kids are resilient! Mistakes happen.....like when Luke fell off the dryer (ER trip....was okay)..... and kids survive!
4. Mylecion (GAS X) drops are a new mom's best friend!!!! Jack was a SUPER fussy baby! He cried ALL of the time and seemed to always be in pain--rolling his legs up into a ball. Our friend Chris finally told us her secret for her twins--Mylecion drops! These things cannot hurt the baby! When in doubt, give the reccommended dosage--within 10 minutes Jack was usually much happier and calmed down!
5. Bordeaux Butt Paste---AWESOME diaper rash cream!!!! WORTH the MONEY!!!!!
6. MOM GUILT.....so powerful! Find a friend who will listen to you cry, share, scream, etc.! There are times when you need to just let out your thoughts and feelings and this is VERY healthy! You are not a bad mom! Mom guilt can be a VERY powerful feeling--Taking care of yourself DOES NOT make you selfish--it makes you a good mom who is healthy!!!!!
I am sure I will think of more later....and hope to add them as I think of them.... this allows all of my newbie mom friends to hear my thoughts without me pushing them down their throats :)
Advice for Newbie Parents
Inspired by V and G's HUGE announcement of Baby E on the way (see previous blog), I decided to blog about all of the random parenting things we have learned....some the hard way!
1. Babies who cry in the middle of the night after three months are NOT hungry--they just have learned that when they cry someone will come in. Our pediatrician in MN was AWESOME--she gave us this tidbit of advice and it changed our life! She said that when kids cry in the middle of the night after three months old, they are NOT starving and need to be fed....instead they are crying as a learned behavior. Her solution to this was to let them cry 15 minutes the first night before going in to soothe the baby--DO NOT FEED. 2nd night, let baby cry 30 minutes before soothing--DO NOT FEED. 3rd night, let baby cry 45 minutes then soothe--DO NOT FEED. 4th night should not wake up. As parents, this is HARD but well worth it as Jack was a GREAT sleeper as a BABY!
2. Play the SAME cd at night as baby falls asleep! This has technique has been awesome for us! MY own doctor (one I had as a teen) gave us this tidbit when we took Jack there our first Christmas with him (croup...nasty to travel with a 4 month old baby who has croup). We started with Luke immediately (around 1 month)--push play as you rock, feed, etc. He now hears the music start and knows it is time to get in bed! Both boys use the same CD so when we travel, they hear the music and no matter where we are, they get into bed and fall asleep FAIRLY easily (not always awesome but pretty good). This has helped us as we have traveled over the years--it has also helped us when the kids wake up in the middle of the night--we soothe, check on them etc. and then push play...music puts them right back in "time to go to sleep" mode!
3. Relax--kids are resilient! Mistakes happen.....like when Luke fell off the dryer (ER trip....was okay)..... and kids survive!
4. Mylecion (GAS X) drops are a new mom's best friend!!!! Jack was a SUPER fussy baby! He cried ALL of the time and seemed to always be in pain--rolling his legs up into a ball. Our friend Chris finally told us her secret for her twins--Mylecion drops! These things cannot hurt the baby! When in doubt, give the reccommended dosage--within 10 minutes Jack was usually much happier and calmed down!
5. Bordeaux Butt Paste---AWESOME diaper rash cream!!!! WORTH the MONEY!!!!!
6. MOM GUILT.....so powerful! Find a friend who will listen to you cry, share, scream, etc.! There are times when you need to just let out your thoughts and feelings and this is VERY healthy! You are not a bad mom! Mom guilt can be a VERY powerful feeling--Taking care of yourself DOES NOT make you selfish--it makes you a good mom who is healthy!!!!!
I am sure I will think of more later....and hope to add them as I think of them.... this allows all of my newbie mom friends to hear my thoughts without me pushing them down their throats :)
Friday, January 23, 2009
I am proud of myself!
I am so proud of myself. I decided right before New Year's that I wanted to start to be a healthier person. The goal is not to diet and lose weight (but definitely a perk) but to actually change my life to become healthier. With that in mind, I decided that the first change I needed to make was to start to exercise more. Now, as you all know, being a mom takes a lot of time and leaves very little personal time. Add work and grad school on top of that, plus being a fantastic wife to Josh and that left very little time at all.
I had chatted with my dad back in September (or so) about exercising and he shared with me his own exercise routine. He has built himself a little step that he used (and still does) every morning for 30 minutes. He steps up and down, most days he also adds weights. He said the perks were good (weight control plus it was easy to do and could be done anywhere as the stool was portable) and it was the right price (free--he would make it for me) so I asked him to make one. The first few months I had this step, it made an excellent toy shelf.
Now think back to the beginning of my blog, I was looking for a way to add more exercise into my life that did not take a lot of time (no extra time to head to a gym, etc) and had to be easy to do and fit into my schedule--enter my new step!
I have now used my step (or walked the track at school) for over 20 days in a row. This is EXCEPTIONAL for me--I have not done this much planned physical activity since High School.... yeah that was a long time ago! The step is a great little tool but being that I am "visual-spacially challenged", I have had some rather humorous stepping incidents! I have literally fallen off my small little stool at least 15 times....yeah that does work out to almost every day. Josh gets a good laugh when I have fallen (he only laughs when I am not crying--YES, I have fallen and flipped the stool into my shins..and knee...and cried. Josh does NOT laugh those times) because it is hilarious! I cannot step onto the same little section more than two times in a row. Josh has decided that my dad needs to make me training wheels for my step! :)
The benefits have far outweighed the few bruises and dings I have caused for myself. I often step for 30 minutes at night while I watch TV or during the afternoons I don't work. I definitely am on my way to losing weight--I know this because I always sweat and get an increased heart rate while I step AND because my scale has told me so.
I plan to keep my stepping up! No pun intended!
I had chatted with my dad back in September (or so) about exercising and he shared with me his own exercise routine. He has built himself a little step that he used (and still does) every morning for 30 minutes. He steps up and down, most days he also adds weights. He said the perks were good (weight control plus it was easy to do and could be done anywhere as the stool was portable) and it was the right price (free--he would make it for me) so I asked him to make one. The first few months I had this step, it made an excellent toy shelf.
Now think back to the beginning of my blog, I was looking for a way to add more exercise into my life that did not take a lot of time (no extra time to head to a gym, etc) and had to be easy to do and fit into my schedule--enter my new step!
I have now used my step (or walked the track at school) for over 20 days in a row. This is EXCEPTIONAL for me--I have not done this much planned physical activity since High School.... yeah that was a long time ago! The step is a great little tool but being that I am "visual-spacially challenged", I have had some rather humorous stepping incidents! I have literally fallen off my small little stool at least 15 times....yeah that does work out to almost every day. Josh gets a good laugh when I have fallen (he only laughs when I am not crying--YES, I have fallen and flipped the stool into my shins..and knee...and cried. Josh does NOT laugh those times) because it is hilarious! I cannot step onto the same little section more than two times in a row. Josh has decided that my dad needs to make me training wheels for my step! :)
The benefits have far outweighed the few bruises and dings I have caused for myself. I often step for 30 minutes at night while I watch TV or during the afternoons I don't work. I definitely am on my way to losing weight--I know this because I always sweat and get an increased heart rate while I step AND because my scale has told me so.
I plan to keep my stepping up! No pun intended!
Kiddos
My boys cracked me up tonight (and it is about time...the past two weeks have been TOUGH.... 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 little boys are testing mom and dad). As Josh was reading to the boys, Jack sat and listened intently, why Luke crawled ALL over Josh! It was hilariously cute! He even found his own book, and kept putting it in Josh's face saying, "Truck Book!" and then squishing back into Josh to cuddle with him....all while Josh continued reading to Jack, his attentive listener! So darn cute!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Weekly Meals
Weekly or Bi-weekly I make a menu and then shop for what I need to cook the meals for the week. I always type them up so this week I decided to share! I have some of the recipes in my head and a few I found online (weightwatchers...). If you are interested in a recipe, let me know :):)
Sunday: Spicy Steak Stew
Monday: Breaded Chicken Sandwiches with Peas or Corn and Fries or Tator Tots (Josh in charge :))
Tuesday: WW Pork Lo-Mein (Carrots, mushrooms, scallions and Pasta included) bread
Wednesday: WW Shrimp Scampi, Peas or Corn and Mashed Potatoes (boxed)
Thursday: Steaks with roasted Sweet Potatoes and potatoes and a Pasta sides plus
Friday: WW Chicken Basque ((peppers/onions/garlic/tomatoes), Brown Rice and Corn Bread
Saturday: Rosemary Pork Loin with WW Herb Roasted Peppers with garlic ** and Mashed Potatoes (home made)
Sunday:
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Clarification
I blogged the huge blog below when I was exhausted and trying to clear my thoughts. I then got great responses :) and thought some more. I want to clarify something.... We do have one set of standards for most students (gen ed and sped) but we have separate curriculum for the lowest students. Even though we have technically one set of standards for all students, sped does not always (or ever) follow the same set of standards. It seems like our sped population gets the shaft because they are the students who need to "close the gap" and we put them farther and farther behind by putting them in the resource setting where they are working on lower grade materials while their gen ed peers learn and stay up to date with grade level materials. The trouble here is that a student who is sped needs BOTH...this is a where we might have to shift our thinking and let go of personal paradigms. This is where I start to think that if we integrate a special education teacher into a general education setting (2 staff, one room, "normal number of students, no extra "sped kids just because there is a sped teacher"), we would be able to work with sped kids on gen ed curriculum exposure (for example during reading time) and then during social (or something else like art, gym..... sometime...no easy answer) work on the remediation skills as well that they need. This remediation time definately needs to be worked into the schedule for some students. It should not and cannot be a "punishment" (for example...other students should not be on recess or having tons of fun). This concept really really really needs to start EARLY!
Okay I might have more thoughts later as I process more but for now I have to go get cleaned up and head out into the snowy wilderness to see our neighbor play basketball :)
Okay I might have more thoughts later as I process more but for now I have to go get cleaned up and head out into the snowy wilderness to see our neighbor play basketball :)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Grad Class
As some of you know, I am working towards a Master's in Special Education Administration. My current grad class is curriculum leadership in sped administration. We are looking more closely at our personal philosophies of curriculum so we are better able to make curriculum alignments and decisions. after my weekend of class and spending time reading LOTS of articles (let me know if you want the titles and I will certainly provide them for you), I have come to the conclusion that I think there should be ONE set of curriculum for all students. Now this may sound utopia-ish or idealistic but let me explain. Even students who are Severely Multiply Impaired will benefit from one curriculum. It is not necessarily what you teach but how you interpret the curriculum and standards. It is how you adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of your learners. For example, if the standard was learn various types of poetry. The majority of students can do this :)...it does not say memorize various types of poetry....you could have students learn poetry, write poetry, interepret poetry, enjoy poetry, mimic poetry, etc. For those select few who are truly impaired to a point where they cannot neccessarily use poetry, they certainly can reap the benefits of having poetry shared with them.
After reading more over the past few days, I also think that we might be better off in our educational system with:
1. Standards Based Grading--this would help for both gen ed and sped kids. It would allow us to back off on some of the high stakes standardized testing and regain assessment at the local levels where it should be.
2. Team Teaching is best practice--good team teaching can be ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! It does not just help sped students--it helps ALL students! It might even be a way to implement RTI (response to intervention)
3. RTI needs to happen--response to intervention definately needs to be looked at for Kindergarten and first grade. Research shows there is high correlation between students that have trouble with specific prescursors to reading and significant troubles with reading in later grades. In fact much of this research is very persausive and powerful (again if you want the articles, let me know). We need to put more TIME and MONEY into early intervention programs that tap into the knowledge of sped and gen educators. We need to have our special education teachers in the general education classes to teach our at risk students with specialized instruction within the gen ed setting. My question right now is do we need RTI at the secondary level? This might be the topic of my research paper for my class...as we know I taught RTI at the secondary level for two years....
4. The definition of learning disabilities needs to be looked at more closely. One article I read yesterday and today really pointed this out. Why is it that the defintion has not changed or been looked at for the past 30 years but we have had copious amounts of research completed that show that the def of LD is passe. There are many flaws with it and I could blog an entire entry on that..... perhaps later. Need to actually do some research for my paper now.
After reading more over the past few days, I also think that we might be better off in our educational system with:
1. Standards Based Grading--this would help for both gen ed and sped kids. It would allow us to back off on some of the high stakes standardized testing and regain assessment at the local levels where it should be.
2. Team Teaching is best practice--good team teaching can be ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! It does not just help sped students--it helps ALL students! It might even be a way to implement RTI (response to intervention)
3. RTI needs to happen--response to intervention definately needs to be looked at for Kindergarten and first grade. Research shows there is high correlation between students that have trouble with specific prescursors to reading and significant troubles with reading in later grades. In fact much of this research is very persausive and powerful (again if you want the articles, let me know). We need to put more TIME and MONEY into early intervention programs that tap into the knowledge of sped and gen educators. We need to have our special education teachers in the general education classes to teach our at risk students with specialized instruction within the gen ed setting. My question right now is do we need RTI at the secondary level? This might be the topic of my research paper for my class...as we know I taught RTI at the secondary level for two years....
4. The definition of learning disabilities needs to be looked at more closely. One article I read yesterday and today really pointed this out. Why is it that the defintion has not changed or been looked at for the past 30 years but we have had copious amounts of research completed that show that the def of LD is passe. There are many flaws with it and I could blog an entire entry on that..... perhaps later. Need to actually do some research for my paper now.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Wiped
I am wiped out today! One night plus one full day of grad class has me mentally and physically tired...plus kiddos were with grandma and papa for the weekend while I was in class because Josh was out of town. That meant I picked them up yesterday after class and brought them home for us to sleep here....and of course I heard all sorts of noises that kept me awake! Why is it that the furnace seems to come alive during the nights I am home without Josh? He had a fantastic weekend in Boston and I am ready to have him home! Josh should be on his way home from the airport as I type. Hopefully tonight is better sleep for me!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Our little boys
Our little boys are growing up..... inevitable, yes I know!
The last blog shared a lot about Jack (and one more thing.... he "read" a whole book to himself tonight--he memorized it word for word :)) and now I want to share about Luke.
Luke is such a neat little guy with a lot of character. He loves to ask questions about the world around him and continually asks "What's that?". In the past few weeks, his vocabulary has increased SIGNIFICANTLY! He has probably grown by 500%! I love it! He is getting so much better at telling us what he wants and needs--example, the other night Josh asked Jack if he wanted to go for a drive to get gas. As Jack declined, Luke was screaming, "Me, Me!!" It was fantastic! So Josh took Luke in the truck to get gas. As they drove to the gas station down the road, he continually said to Josh, "Drive." Josh continued to reply, "Yes we are driving." When they got home, Luke looked confused and said, "Drive?" Josh said, "Yes buddy we took a drive and now we are home." Luke pointed to the the steering wheel, and yelled, "DRIVE!". Josh then put him in the driver's seat to drive (at least in the garage...and no the truck did not move). We are convinced that Luke thought he was going to get to drive the truck!
Speaking of trucks, Luke is OBSESSED with them! He loves to pretend to drive around and is great at making the truck noise (which I am convinced that boys are born with this trait). He also is fun to take in our vehicles because he points out every truck to us :)
Luke is sweet. Anytime I am sad, especially if I am crying, he is immediately at my side and trying to comfort me. He is really good at giving kisses and hugs to cheer me up! I love his sweet little empathetic side! :)
I love Luke so much!!!
The last blog shared a lot about Jack (and one more thing.... he "read" a whole book to himself tonight--he memorized it word for word :)) and now I want to share about Luke.
Luke is such a neat little guy with a lot of character. He loves to ask questions about the world around him and continually asks "What's that?". In the past few weeks, his vocabulary has increased SIGNIFICANTLY! He has probably grown by 500%! I love it! He is getting so much better at telling us what he wants and needs--example, the other night Josh asked Jack if he wanted to go for a drive to get gas. As Jack declined, Luke was screaming, "Me, Me!!" It was fantastic! So Josh took Luke in the truck to get gas. As they drove to the gas station down the road, he continually said to Josh, "Drive." Josh continued to reply, "Yes we are driving." When they got home, Luke looked confused and said, "Drive?" Josh said, "Yes buddy we took a drive and now we are home." Luke pointed to the the steering wheel, and yelled, "DRIVE!". Josh then put him in the driver's seat to drive (at least in the garage...and no the truck did not move). We are convinced that Luke thought he was going to get to drive the truck!
Speaking of trucks, Luke is OBSESSED with them! He loves to pretend to drive around and is great at making the truck noise (which I am convinced that boys are born with this trait). He also is fun to take in our vehicles because he points out every truck to us :)
Luke is sweet. Anytime I am sad, especially if I am crying, he is immediately at my side and trying to comfort me. He is really good at giving kisses and hugs to cheer me up! I love his sweet little empathetic side! :)
I love Luke so much!!!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Jack's Growing Abilities
I am warning you now--this is some bragging about Jack--warning, warning, warning :)
It seems like when your little one is, well, little, it is okay to brag--in fact it is expected that you share every smile that happens, every diaper that is wet (okay only for those who have had a jaundiced baby), the first roll over, the first steps, etc. but as the kiddo gets older, it seems like it is less "okay" to brag about your kiddo :) Well, today I have two very cool things to share. You can see them as bragging or you can see them as sharing cool achievements!
Jack is simply an amazing boy. Sure he has his naughty moments (very similar to his mother when she was young I might add) but lately he is full of questions, knowledge and fun! We have been using the computer together for quite sometime but he really has never been able to use either a mouse or my touchpad on the laptop. Yesterday, I was doing dishes, Josh was out getting gas in the truck with Luke and Jack really REALLY wanted to play games on the computer. I set him up with a sesame street workshop game and told him to watch the little clips and do the games if he could. Low and behold, he was able to use my touch pad to play the games! More impressive than that was then we switched over to curious george and I want back to dishes--he listened to the directions and FOLLOWED them on his own! I was soooo proud of Jack!!!! It was FANTASTIC to watch him use the touch pad (with only small amounts of frustration) and actually play the games on his own. He played several of the curious george games!!!!! It was great!!!!
The 2nd thing that amazed me happened today! When I picked up Jack from daycare today, Brenda--daycare Mom--asked me if I knew that Jack could say the Pledge of Allegiance. In fact, I did not know that he could. I also did not realize that they were saying the Pledge at daycare every day during story time :) On the way home, Jack said the ENTIRE Pledge of Allegiance!!!! I am SO proud of him!!!!! It was wonderful to hear such a little guy give the pledge!!!!
Okay enough bragging for today :)
It seems like when your little one is, well, little, it is okay to brag--in fact it is expected that you share every smile that happens, every diaper that is wet (okay only for those who have had a jaundiced baby), the first roll over, the first steps, etc. but as the kiddo gets older, it seems like it is less "okay" to brag about your kiddo :) Well, today I have two very cool things to share. You can see them as bragging or you can see them as sharing cool achievements!
Jack is simply an amazing boy. Sure he has his naughty moments (very similar to his mother when she was young I might add) but lately he is full of questions, knowledge and fun! We have been using the computer together for quite sometime but he really has never been able to use either a mouse or my touchpad on the laptop. Yesterday, I was doing dishes, Josh was out getting gas in the truck with Luke and Jack really REALLY wanted to play games on the computer. I set him up with a sesame street workshop game and told him to watch the little clips and do the games if he could. Low and behold, he was able to use my touch pad to play the games! More impressive than that was then we switched over to curious george and I want back to dishes--he listened to the directions and FOLLOWED them on his own! I was soooo proud of Jack!!!! It was FANTASTIC to watch him use the touch pad (with only small amounts of frustration) and actually play the games on his own. He played several of the curious george games!!!!! It was great!!!!
The 2nd thing that amazed me happened today! When I picked up Jack from daycare today, Brenda--daycare Mom--asked me if I knew that Jack could say the Pledge of Allegiance. In fact, I did not know that he could. I also did not realize that they were saying the Pledge at daycare every day during story time :) On the way home, Jack said the ENTIRE Pledge of Allegiance!!!! I am SO proud of him!!!!! It was wonderful to hear such a little guy give the pledge!!!!
Okay enough bragging for today :)
Playtime
PLAYTIME!!!!! Last weekend, Josh and I treated Shannon and Scott (our AWESOME neighbors) to dinner. This was our Christmas gift to them! :) We headed into GR to Mojo's Dueling Piano Bar for our night out. We had a fantastic dinner and great company. The show was a blast! It was a VERY fun night!!!!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
hmmm
hmmm not sure why or how the crazy sized font got in the middle of the last blog--sorry about that! I am not even sure who, besides a handful, read this blog.....
feel free to let me know who you are readers!
feel free to let me know who you are readers!
Health Nerd?
Who would have ever thought that I would be reading a book on health..... NOT me! For one thing, I don't really watch what I eat very well....for another thing, up until the birth of our kiddos, I was not really having trouble with gaining weight. I was "okay" with where I was as long as I got a tiny bit of exercise :) But, since the boys, I seemed to have blossomed! I like curves...but not quite this many. I am not going to go all health nut on myself but I have decided that knowing more about nutrition would be a good thing for my entire family. The book I am reading is called The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why by Jonny Bowden (http://www.jonnybowden.com/). The book, amazingly, reads quite easily. I picked it up at the library thinking it would be a handy reference guide to have around for a few weeks but instead I found it to be an easy to read book that is VERY informational and fairly entertaining. It is not preachy at all and I like that! I have learned some pretty amazing things..... but please do not take this as advice--I am not an expert!
sesame seeds are full of protein and fiber....plus lots of other good for you stuff...with very few calories. I like them on salads but I actually bought some to throw in my little "trail mix" of soy nuts (which by the way Dr. Jonny is not a huge soy fan), sunflower seeds (another awesome source of nutrients...mostly Vitamin E which is AWESOME for your immune system), yogurt covered raisins (he is okay with raisins as long as they are really sun dried and no sugar added) and a few cashews (he loves nuts). This little mix has been my snack at school today and will be tomorrow :)
avacados are GOOD for you!!! they have a TON of potassium--much more than bananas!!! Even though they are full of saturated fat, Dr. J feels this fat is good for you because it is natural and because of all the other great benefits from avacados! They have other nutrients...I just can't remember them off the top of my head....
Coffee is good for you--has TONS of anti-oxidents in it
Dark Chocolate and Red Wine (both in moderation of course)--ditto--see above to coffee
Grass Fed Beef...okay here is where the health nut side might come out....I never realized the HUGE difference between grass fed beef (usually found on organic farms but some farms, such as Dad Boyer's, are not "qualified" organic due to huge effort it takes but are still a healthy low anti-biotic, grass fed beef farm) and grain fed beef (mass produced beef...grain fattens them up so farm gets more money). Dr. JB goes into a HUGE explaination of how grain is not any sort of natural food for a cow--in fact I might compare it to eating JUNK or fast food for a human--not good and just fattens us up! What I did not realize is that the grain actually changes the nutrients found in beef--such as the amino acid make up of them and the other nutrient contents.... what all of this boils down to is that grass fed beef are not just a little bit healthier for us, they are a LOT more healthy for us! That being said, I am glad I have beef from Dad B to eat and I encourage you all, whoever you are, to find grass fed beef that is affordable if you eat beef on a regular basis! I am going to check into "my side" of the family to see what they are eating!
Okay that is enough for tonight, I am wiped out and need to head to bed :) If you get time, check out the book:)
The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why by Jonny Bowden (http://www.jonnybowden.com/). The book, amazingly, reads quite easily. I picked it up at the library thinking it would be a handy reference guide to have around for a few weeks but instead I found it to be an easy to read book that is VERY informational and fairly entertaining. It is not preachy at all and I like that! I have learned some pretty amazing things..... but please do not take this as advice--I am not an expert!
sesame seeds are full of protein and fiber....plus lots of other good for you stuff...with very few calories. I like them on salads but I actually bought some to throw in my little "trail mix" of soy nuts (which by the way Dr. Jonny is not a huge soy fan), sunflower seeds (another awesome source of nutrients...mostly Vitamin E which is AWESOME for your immune system), yogurt covered raisins (he is okay with raisins as long as they are really sun dried and no sugar added) and a few cashews (he loves nuts). This little mix has been my snack at school today and will be tomorrow :)
avacados are GOOD for you!!! they have a TON of potassium--much more than bananas!!! Even though they are full of saturated fat, Dr. J feels this fat is good for you because it is natural and because of all the other great benefits from avacados! They have other nutrients...I just can't remember them off the top of my head....
Coffee is good for you--has TONS of anti-oxidents in it
Dark Chocolate and Red Wine (both in moderation of course)--ditto--see above to coffee
Grass Fed Beef...okay here is where the health nut side might come out....I never realized the HUGE difference between grass fed beef (usually found on organic farms but some farms, such as Dad Boyer's, are not "qualified" organic due to huge effort it takes but are still a healthy low anti-biotic, grass fed beef farm) and grain fed beef (mass produced beef...grain fattens them up so farm gets more money). Dr. JB goes into a HUGE explaination of how grain is not any sort of natural food for a cow--in fact I might compare it to eating JUNK or fast food for a human--not good and just fattens us up! What I did not realize is that the grain actually changes the nutrients found in beef--such as the amino acid make up of them and the other nutrient contents.... what all of this boils down to is that grass fed beef are not just a little bit healthier for us, they are a LOT more healthy for us! That being said, I am glad I have beef from Dad B to eat and I encourage you all, whoever you are, to find grass fed beef that is affordable if you eat beef on a regular basis! I am going to check into "my side" of the family to see what they are eating!
Okay that is enough for tonight, I am wiped out and need to head to bed :) If you get time, check out the book:)
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Wall Hangings!!!!
So it seems that I have collected quite a few things in the past few weeks that I needed to be hung around the house. Josh gave me a GREAT NYE gift by hanging them for me!!!
These are the pictures we had taken in the fall by my AWESOME friend Chantelle Kroll. She did a GREAT job so if you are in Western MI, you should try her out. She met us at Gary and Linda's farm and took all the pictures there. We are more than pleased with her pictures! You have also seen one--our family Christmas card picture. Didn't she do a great job? We have these pictures hanging in our bedroom.
These are the pictures we had taken in the fall by my AWESOME friend Chantelle Kroll. She did a GREAT job so if you are in Western MI, you should try her out. She met us at Gary and Linda's farm and took all the pictures there. We are more than pleased with her pictures! You have also seen one--our family Christmas card picture. Didn't she do a great job? We have these pictures hanging in our bedroom.
These pictures below were also taken by Chantelle. Josh has this hanging above his desk "at work" :)
For Christmas, our neighbors gave us this awesome frame. They did not have a picture of our family so Chloe (7) drew our family. She did such a great job, we hung her family picture on the wall! You see this picture as you walk in our front door!
The best and MOST DIFFICULT thing to hang was this spectacular clock I got from Gary and Linda for Christmas!!! We had this HUGE wall in desperate need of something--and this fit the job! I am madly in love with my clock! :)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Long, LONG, long Night
it was a long night--i even thought about blogging around 3:00 am. one might be thinking--oh teresa, it was new years eve, you must have been awake partying hardy. but then if you actually know me, you are thinking the truth--oh teresa, which child was awake!
we spent our 2008 NYE at sarah and aaron's house--it was a lot of fun. the boys went to sleep fairly well at their house and we stayed up until midnight (hard for me to do) playing psychiatrist and apples to apples with gary, linda, aaron's parents and grandparents. the longness did not start until we loaded up the boys. as i put luke in the car, it was hard not to notice the "wide awake look" in his eyes! we made it home and put them both to bed--within 30 minutes, luke was crying. i went down to check on him and found him wide awake still. this is when my long night started. i hate leaving the boys along, especially lukie, when they are wide awake at night (or in the morning for that matter)--they need more supervision than me upstairs sleeping, so i stayed in luke's room, laying on the floor with a pillow. i think i hit my lowest point when i rolled over and found him wearing a hat backwards and driving trucks on my back--he was so awake! i thought to myself, "he will never be getting to sleep tonight". I left his room somewhere between 3 and 3:30 when i noticed he was looking a teeny bit droopy--put him in his bed and escaped to mine, only to be woken up at 7:30 am :)
oh the life of a mom :) needless to say, we are tired today and all took naps!
we spent our 2008 NYE at sarah and aaron's house--it was a lot of fun. the boys went to sleep fairly well at their house and we stayed up until midnight (hard for me to do) playing psychiatrist and apples to apples with gary, linda, aaron's parents and grandparents. the longness did not start until we loaded up the boys. as i put luke in the car, it was hard not to notice the "wide awake look" in his eyes! we made it home and put them both to bed--within 30 minutes, luke was crying. i went down to check on him and found him wide awake still. this is when my long night started. i hate leaving the boys along, especially lukie, when they are wide awake at night (or in the morning for that matter)--they need more supervision than me upstairs sleeping, so i stayed in luke's room, laying on the floor with a pillow. i think i hit my lowest point when i rolled over and found him wearing a hat backwards and driving trucks on my back--he was so awake! i thought to myself, "he will never be getting to sleep tonight". I left his room somewhere between 3 and 3:30 when i noticed he was looking a teeny bit droopy--put him in his bed and escaped to mine, only to be woken up at 7:30 am :)
oh the life of a mom :) needless to say, we are tired today and all took naps!
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