September

We'll start at the end of August....

*Paul, our boys, and I were sealed together for all time and eternity on our 7th wedding anniversary (and my birthday) at the Salt Lake Temple. It was so beautiful. I am full of gratitude and love for those who came to support our sealing. It was neat too, as my cousin and his wife were married later that week so Paul and I had a chance to see a temple marriage so soon after our own. Absolutely wonderful.

*Kade started speech therapy. He's been going twice a week since the end of August and his speech has improved dramatically already. Not only is he doing well during sessiosn, but he's spontaneously using the correct letter sounds at home too!

And throughout September...

*Trent's vocabulary has just soared! He says at least 40 words, with new words added daily. At 17 months he folds his arms for prayers, eats well with a spoon and fork, drinks from a regular cup all by himself, kicks a ball, walks well, tries to run, enjoys "reading", throws paper airplanes, loves to pretend and dress-up, always says "thanks" after receiving something, says "amen" after bedtime prayers, loves feeding the ducks and chickens, thinks showers are the best thing in the world, poops regularly in the potty, and lots more. Yes, he is still a breastfed babe!

*Kade is trying out riding Braxton's two wheeler bike and actually stays on by himself for a moment or two! He is so amazing. Kade started school at a private preschool (yes, we are still homeschoolers!) so that he can make friends with some other kids his age. He loves it there. His teacher was a homeschooling mom herself and has taught preschool for over 20 years. Every day that I pick him up he is just so excited from the time he spent at school. When I ask him what did he do that morning he says, "I played with toys, I ate a yummy snack, I sang some songs, Read some books.....it was so much fun!!"

*Braxton's reading and math skills have really taken off. He enjoys reading the children's versions of The Book of Mormon, Old Testament, New Testament, and then of course Dr. Seuss, Arthur series, and anything that has anything to do with the ocean. His new favorite obsession though is paper airplanes. All day long he is working on those engineering skills as he designs and formats new plane ideas.

*We ate our rooster. Yes. It's true. And I don't advise anyone to eat a 1 year old bird. It was awful. Not only was the slaughtering horrific, but the taste was just terrible. Whiskey enjoyed it though.

*We acquired two new ducks, after finding out the three remaining ducks were all boys. Boo. So now we have two egg layers that we are waiting on to lay eggs. And since we don't want to just feed lots of male ducks, we gave away 2 of the 3 males. I would like to believe that they are now living happily together in a nice yard, enjoying shade and a lovely pool of water, but I think the lady who picked them up was licking her lips too much for that to happen. I have a feeling she ate orange sauce today.

*We went to the Utah State Fair and had a fantastic time. We don't do the rides or much of the expensive food. Instead we enjoy seeing the animals, the crafts, and watching the various magic shows. And the Ice Cream Festival. Oh yes, my friends, an ICE CREAM FESTIVAL. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I think this about sums up the last month and a half. I can't believe the year is 3/4 of the way over already. Now we are getting ready for Halloween, Braxton's 6th(!!!) birthday, Puerrrrrto Rrrrriico(!!), and then the holidays. Whew! That's exhausting just thinking about it. Oh, and I found a snail in the washer today. It came from Kade's pocket. I remembered after pulling the gooey-shelled creature from the penny catcher that Kade had put a snail in his pocket while we were on a walk the other day. Good times.

Mega Update

I know, I know, it's been a month since I last blogged. So here is what has happened in our lives over the last month:

Trent - has become so very fast at crawling, pulls up to stand on EVERYTHING, asks "what's that?"and "who's that?" all day long, says "wuv", "mama", "dada", "yes", and mimics a whole lot more.

Kade - turned 3!! My sweet babe has turned into quite the monster, but so goes with the territory of a having a three year old. The day before his actual birthday we took him to the dinosaur museum with our family and my younger sister's family and they got to make some awesome fossil moldings. The 3 year olds made raptor claws and the 5 year old made a T-Rex tooth. The rest of the night and all the next day Kade refused to part with his "Happy Burtday Rapper Claw". On his birthday he was ever so satisfied when he opened an overwhelming amount of train gifts (thanks, family!!) and has been in love ever since.

Braxton - had his first piano performance and did fantastic! Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star never sounded more beautiful. We are taking break from taekwondo for a little while and really focusing on the music. He is just thriving and really enjoys it.

Paul - turned 27!! Yep, his birthday is the day after Kade's. We had a very romantic date and enjoyed getting fancied up for our dinner reservations at The Roof (courtesy of my most recent client, thank you!!). The food was excellent, the music wonderful, and I can't tell you how nice it was to spend a few hours just enjoying one another's company. Paul had also been busy making a toy room downstairs! We are leaving the walls unfinished for now so that the kids can express their artistic urges freely and the floor made up of the mats one would find in a karate studio. It's awesome having a living room again!

Myself -exactly one month ago I attended a client for the first time in a year. My goodness, it was a beautiful birth. And my amazing friend, Megan, watched my boys for me overnight. I'm so thankful to have Megan as such a close friend. She is the best! And since then I have been putting together birthday plans and playing host as we get through all the birthday-ness. And woohoo for mail packages containing uteruses, pelvises, placentas, and more! Oh..and I have read The Best Birth (DON'T READ!), The Blue Cotton Gown (READ!), A Pea In A Pod (READ!), Homebirth in the Hospital (READ!), and Real Birth (READ!) along with the first two books in The Hunger Games. And if you haven't read those, stop whatever it is you are doing right this moment and read them!!

Together we have planted our starts and as of this evening we have about 45 yellow tomatos sproutlings. The boys love to go down and look every morning and night for new sprouts. We are still patiently waiting for our chickens to provide us with a bounty of eggs but have faith it'll happen soon. Lastly, we are learning Italian as a family. The boys are such sponges and are soaking it all up!

Ciao!

Wishing all a belated Blessed Imbolc

Yesterday was Imbolc. It is a day that belongs to the celtic goddess Brighid (pronounced Breed). She is over home and hearth, poetry, healing, and fire. She is often viewed as a triple goddess and held in the highest honors of Goddesses and Gods.

Imbolc represents the time of the Wheel of Year when the first signs of Spring are upon us. The ice is thinning, the snow is melting, and the days are starting to feel a bit warmer. It won't be too long before the first flowers, like the daffodils, make their grand appearance to remind us that the cold and quiet of the winter doesn't last forever. Soon we'll be turning over the soil in our gardens to prepare for our first planting time.

So light the fireplace and a few candles while the Earth and our souls shake off some of that winter freeze and welcome the coming light!!

For a little more about Imbolc history check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

While sitting here thinking about ways to become more ecologically friendly I decided to think over all the ways we have already, and here is my list:

*Organic gardening
*Composting (CHICKENS!!)
*Breastfeeding (no bottles, no supplementing)
*Natural Family Planning
*Reusable food storage containers
*Reusing the ziploc bags we do have and any grocery bags we might have
*Using cloth grocery bags (this one we need to do more often)
*Cloth diapers and cloth wipes
*Cutting down on paper towels (at least 50%!)
*Carpooling when possible
*Using our own homemade laundry and dishwasher detergent
*Cutting out commerical beauty supplies
*No more commerical cleaners. Vinegar is my best friend!
*Choosing to fill our recycling container over the trash container

And now for ideas that I've either been experimenting with or that interest me:

*No commerical shampoo or conditioner. I'm trying to find the right balance for using baking soda, vinegar, and coconut oil instead.
*Mama cloth.
*Finding natural cleaners for face washing. I've read that Castor Oil can be good for this and want to give it a try.
*Looking for natural baby wash, but haven't been successful yet.

A site I love for making your own mama cloth, diapers, slings, etc http://crafts.sleepingbaby.net/PADS.html

GOT GOAT'S MILK?

I knew there had to be something about the benefits of goat milk vs. cow milk and after doing a bit of research here is what Dr. Sears has to say about it...

*Different fat

*Different protein

*Different nutrients

and more! Check out the article!

GOT GOAT'S MILK?

Raw Milk, Goat Milk

We have recently tried goat milk. I'm not talking from a can or from the grocery store, I'm talking goat milk fresh that morning from the goat farm. And it's gooooood. I don't think I want to go back to cow milk for my regular milk drinking needs! If only it weren't $5/half gallon. *Sigh* I like goat milk. And the boys do too!

Next is to try the raw milk. The milk we bought was pasturized, as we had never tried goat milk before and thought we'd take slow steps, in case we didn't like..and raw is a $1 more. So yes, you have to sign a waiver in able to buy raw milk saying you don't hold the local farm liable in case you get a number of serious or nonserious illnesses. I find it amusing. Anyway, yes, adventure on!

Oh! Oh! Before I forget, they also make lotion and soap out of the milk and I will update on how amazing those products are soon. And we had a great time teaching the boys about the goats while watching the buggers play about. It was wonderful!

ETA: For more local info about buying goat milk or milk products check out http://www.drakefamilyfarms.com/

Three Weeks of Misery

Over the last 3 weeks we've been taking turns passing around the nasties. Starting with Braxton and what we thought was "just" conjunctivitis that turned into an ear infection and a slight cold and treated with breastmilk in nearly every orifice to vomiting and a fever of 105.7 that sent us to the ER at the children's hospital. Turned out it was adenovirus. His lasted about 8 days and just as we thought we were done , Kade, Trent, and I awoke with crusty and goobery eyes. What joy! So the milk flowed into their eyes as well, and seemed to keep the goobers at bay for my boys, but what about my own eyes? Well....I did attempt that. And I was not successful. Although saturating a cottonball with the precious milk and rubbing on my eyes did seem to offer a bit of relief.

Slowly our eyes, noses, and coughs have been getting better and we have been filled with so much elderberry, garlic cloves, garlic oil, slippery elm, and breastmilk I'm surprised it's not leaking out our pores. And now the hubby has started with a sore throat and he's taking the elderberry as if it's going out of style, but at least he's not complaining. We all know how horrible a "man cold" can be.

But there is a point to this point rather than just rambling. I have to admit that we gave in and saw the drs. Braxton had to go for the high fever, Kade's eye turned from viral to bacterial and we needed some eye drops (they have cleared it up beautifully), Trent is borrowing the eye drops as well, and I went for a sinus infection and ear infection that I just couldn't kick. I suppose there is a time when it's a good thing modern medicine developed the "Z-pack".

Behold! The power of breasmilk!!

There are so many awesome uses for breastmilk that involve the whole family. I have discovered the healing powers of breastmilk on scrapes and scratches, how soothing it is on a rash, and my newest discovery - the power to cure infections!!

I have been dropping breastmilk into Braxton's eyes to take care of the puffiness and gooberishness, into his nose to dry up the boogers, and last night in his ears to take away his ear infection and the fever it was bringing...at it has worked each time!! This morning Braxton woke up happy as a clam and feeling fantastic.

Who knew breastmilk wasn't just for babies?

Home Is Where The Heart Is.

This year I have come to realize some pretty important things.

1)I am capable.
2)My family needs will always come first. Always.
3)My children can learn the most important life lessons right here at home.
4)My husband is the most understanding man there has ever been and loves his family more than words can express.

Starting with the birth of Trent we have come to find out just how important being at home is. I gave birth to Trent at home, on our bed, with my husband and Braxton sitting on the bed beside me and our middle son napping nearby. My sister, Meigan, and friend, Megan both supported me and my family in ways I can't even express. And my midwife keeping a watchful eye over the whole experience. While my older two boys were born med-free and labor involved with wonderful use of a jacuzzi tub, it was my most intense birth, my homebirth, that I feel the biggest smile come when I recall the day. It was so wonderful to be able to have my children involved as much as they wanted to be, to use my own shower, and to feel so open with such freedom to move about the way I needed to without fear of disrupting other "patients", nurses, or other hospital personnel.

This year we have come to decide to homeschool. We started Braxton out in a public preschool (the elementary he would have attended for K-6 grade) but soon after the feelings of frustration set in. Braxton is so gifted and it doesn't seem to me that giftedness is nourished and nutured in the public school setting. Instead, it's made out to be something that causes children to be disruptive and difficult. Being gifted brings on negative labels. So with the mindset that so far we have helped guide Braxton's learning already, we have decided to homeschool. Though do not think this is school at home. No curriculum, no bells, no tests. Rather, following our children's cues on what they would like to learn and providing positive experiences to encourage new thoughts and ideas. For example, Paul mentioned to Braxton that Mozart learned to play the piano when he was a small boy, and Braxton became fascinated so now we are learning about Mozart. I will make a list of what we have learned this year...it's not your average "preschool" list.

One of my greatest joys about homeschooling is that it isn't about teaching my children to pass tests. It's about learning and growing together as a family. We nurture eachother through our questions and discoveries.

This year we also grew our organic garden in the backyard complete with a compost bin. It was primarily tomatoes, but this coming year we are planning much, much more. It is my goal that the majority of what is eaten by our family is grown by our family. Hopefully though next year won't be so wonky in the weather. Too many soggy days make for some unhappy tomatoes.

We have switched our cleaning supplies to homemade concoctions. Vinegar is our friend!! It doesn't have to be smelly either, with the assistance of some pleasant essential oils it doesn't have to be very smelly at all. Vinegar is a great antibacterial cleaner and is safe if the kids lick where it was sprayed. And if you add some Clary Sage to it then you have added antibacterial power. Other than our all-purpose cleaner we have also made laundry and dishwasher detergent with the help of Borax, baking soda, and you guessed it...vinegar!!

Our next homemade projects include personal use items (i.e. "shampoo", feminine hygiene products, diaper rash ointment) and toys (i.e. felt food, peek-a-bags, wooden puzzles). I'm so excited to continue making our home a more environmentally friendly home.

Crunchitize Me, Cap'n

Since having my first son in November 2004 I have discovered that I deeply enjoy breastfeeding, so much that I let my children decide when to wean. Yes, that's right folks, child-lean weaner right here. The amazing benefits of breastmilk don't stop just because your baby has teeth, becomes mobile, or can express themselves with words or sentences. It makes me sad how many women feel they must stop breastfeeding to appease family, friends, or even worse, the average schmuck stranger who may make a comment that is nothing short of uneducated blather. I love knowing that my babes are getting great immunity from the food source designed specifically for their needs.

I've discovered that that I enjoy sleeping in the same bed with my babies. We don't have a family bed, but for the first year or so I cuddle my babies to sleep. I don't know how anyone could CIO with an infant. Babies don't cry because they are manipulative or vengeful. Babies only know what they need..whether he is a tiny babe crying out with a hungry belly or an older babe crying out for their mama's gentle touch and safe arms. My bed might seem crowded to some, but it's also full of love.

Baby wearing is something I rave about to anyone who will listen..ring sling, hotsling, mei tai..and in the event of an emergency, Snugli. When I watch other families who are using a big bulky stroller and awkwardly navigating their way around I wonder if they knew just how much easier it would be if they were wearing their babes. I wish I could carry extra slings with me wherever I went so when I passed by a mom or dad who is trying to console their unhappy baby from the carseat carrier, stroller, or shopping cart I could give them a sling and show them how easy it could be to make their baby happy. Whether we are taking a walk around the neighborhood, doing some grocery shopping, or getting some household work done, our slings (including the mei tai!!) have been a saving grace.

Something I have only recently discovered with my youngest babe, Trent, is how great cloth diapering is. AIOs are awesome and even more lately is my conversion to cloth wipes. No more money being blown on diapers and wipes every two weeks...it's all washed and used again!! Woohoo!! I am using Osocozy AIO (all in one) so that the cotton inside and cloth cover and one diaper and they connect using velcro. And for the skeptic who's wondering about the poop factor, just go take a look at the diaper sprayer. Hooks right up to the pipes for the toilet and voila! we can spray the poop right into the toilet where everybody else's poop goes. Excellent, eh? Oh! And must not forget to mention that I have my middle child, Kade, also in cloth. His opinion? Disposables are scratchy and cloth is soft.

And it is in making these gradual discoveries that along the way I have been able to unleash the tree hugger within...