It's an Art

We went to the zoo today. We got the parking space closest to the entrance of the zoo. There were hardly any people there. And the weather was beautiful. We have the routine down pat. Go on a school day when there's a chance of rain in the morning. The first half of the week is best. Wait until 2 in the afternoon to get there. Stay until they close. You'll have the place to yourselves! :-)

Smell the Roses

This was one of those mornings when I woke up and thought, "I have kids, don't I? And they grow up quickly, don't they? I'd better stop the ambitious 'get organized' mode I've been in lately and spend some fun time with them". So when they woke up, we spent some cuddling time together, followed by their favorite pancake breakfast. Then we wrestled around, had a pillow fight, and then we made a huge tent out of sheets in the family room.

Why is it that I always get into the rut of thinking that my to-do list is more important than having fun with my children, and truly capturing their hearts?

What Is Normal? Not me...

I want to blog an apology today to anyone who has been offended by what I write here. Certainly I don't mean to offend anyone by my views. I don't have any reason to change my views, but yet that doesn't excuse insensitivity. I will try to be more sensitive in the future, yet somehow I feel like there are times when being transparent on how I feel about things is valuable. Maybe sometimes I am right, maybe sometimes I'm wrong. I'll even admit I'm wrong when I feel someone has made a good point to the contrary. Or maybe I'm right, and it's something that some people would benefit from thinking about.

What is normal? What are the views of your average person, someone who is clearly in the "mainstream"? I think that whoever you are, if you have read my blog for very long, you realize that "normal" and "mainstream" are not words that describe me. In fact, it seems the older I get (almost 34!), the less "normal" I become (do I hear laughter in the distance?). I never want to confuse "mainstream" with truth. Often the two are not even similar. So feel free to dismiss what I write with an "Oh, that's just Amey...she's weird". I won't mind at all. :-)

As far as the food issues are concerned, please know this: I am not obsessed with what I eat. I'm just trying to make the best decisions for me and my family. It's an issue I'm interested in, and that's why I write about it. Same thing with homemaking, homeschooling, books, and politics (though my interest here is waning).

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging...(feel free to comment, though).

How To Start a Fight

Print out this article and pass it around to your friends.

Is It Food?

I just read an amusing article about how to distinguish between actual food and food products. If you would like to start eating more healthfully, but aren't sure where to start, read this article!

Here's an example of food:



Here's an example of a food product:


The only problem I have with this article is that it refers to evolution. ("Given the fact that humans co-evolved over millions of years with natural foods, it is safe to assume that our digestive system is well-tuned to ancestral food sources.") The evolution portion of this article does not render the remaining substance of the article invalid. God made our bodies to consume actual food for fuel. Either way (creation or evolution), real food is the way to go.

Reading List

Here's what I've been reading over the last few weeks:
Created To Be His Help Meet, by Debi Pearl
Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program, by Dr. Joseph Mercola
The Coconut Diet, by Cherie Calbom
Confessions of an Organized Homemaker, by Deniece Schofield
Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon (with Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.)
Basic Greek in 30 Minutes a Day, by Jim Found
Hebrews

I also read recently that there is a new history book by Ruth Beechick coming out this fall. She wrote Adam and His Kin, which I greatly enjoyed reading last month. Sign me up for the new one, too! I can't wait!

The Pearl book I would highly recommend to any ladies struggling in their marriages. It's not for the faint of heart, but putting her suggestions into action could turn literally ANY marriage around (some of her stories are amazing).

A Peachy Day

It's peach day. Again. This time I have 25 lbs. of peaches to use. Before I only had two peach days of 15 lbs. each (jam, and then pie filling). Today I'm canning them. I was only going to get 17 lbs., but the kind young lady at the produce stand told me I would pay a dollar more to get 17 lbs. than it would cost me to get 25 lbs. Go figure.

I've never canned peaches before. But I thought I'd give it a try. I spent last winter wishing I had done more canning and freezing the previous summer, so here I am, spending half of the the summer in the kitchen. My great hope is THAT IT WILL BE WORTH IT. Meanwhile, my kids get to run wild and watch more tv than usual, as long as they don't come into the kitchen.

Every big project I have done this summer I have injured myself in some way. I don't know if I'm clumsy, careless, or if these kind of jobs are just plain risky. Last time I burned my forearm. Today I sliced my finger along with the peaches (not sure where that piece of skin went...JUST KIDDING!). Fortunately, it didn't mess up the peaches, but I did have to take a band-aid break.

Ah, summer. Despite my heat intolerance, I'm kind of sad that it's starting to wind down.

Coconut Oil Review

Here are some brands of coconut oil we have tried, and what we think of each:
LouAnn - cheap oil from Wal-Mart. Definitely cheap. We don't buy it any more.
Spectrum Naturals (expeller pressed organic coconut oil, from Krogers) - this is cheaper than the really good stuff, but still of ok quality to cook with, which is what we do.
Tropical Traditions (ordered through Dr. Mercola's on-line store) - Dr. Mercola's choice, but I'm not as crazy about it. To me it seems to have a bit of a waxy taste. Very high quality.
Nutiva (health food store) - My husband's favorite. My second favorite. I think it has a smoky flavor. Also very high quality.
Garden of Life (health food store) - From Jordan Rubin's company (of The Maker's Diet fame). This is my absolute favorite. I could eat it right out of the jar. THE BEST, in my opinion.

One of the books I read (most of) on vacation is called The Coconut Diet, by Cherie Calbom. It has a lot of very helpful information in it on coconut oil, including an explanation of the flawed information previously used to show that coconut oil was not good for you. We have found that it has lowered our cholesterol and blood pressure, helped us to lose weight, increased our metabolism, and it has also improved my complexion (I think). It's a very tasty way to get away from using the vegetable oils (corn, soy, canola, etc.).

In summary, WE LOVE COCONUT OIL! :-)

Surprises

We got three surprises last night upon returning home from our vacation:
1. A 1-1/2 foot long zucchini
2. A 3 month-old tadpole that had (finally) changed into a frog
3. 5 eggs from our youngest hens (bought this spring)

Commercial Break

Try Pomona's Universal Pectin for all your jamming and jelling recipes. I did, and I liked it! (They're not even paying me for this)

I made peach jam yesterday and it turned out great! I used Pomona's with honey for the sweetener. It jelled better than the stuff I usually get at Wal-Mart (I don't remember what brand that was). It was a little more complicated than the Wal-Mart stuff, but it was worth it because you can make DOUBLE OR TRIPLE BATCHES.