I know that when I was a teen I was invincible.  I could eat anything and everything.  I knew more than my parents.  The older I get the more I see how clueless I was.  So how do you prove to your teens that what you eat does matter?  It does have a lasting affect on their body.  If anyone knows what to do with a teen please give me a clue.

Slow to speak….quick to listen applies to our kids too?  One of my kids made a very poor choice this weekend.  For the first time in a long time I was slow to speak.  What a big step for me!  It seems to have helped our relationship.  There will still be some punishment for these poor choices.  I think there is some hope at raising good kids.  It is kind of funny how following instructions (The Bible) can work for me.

Antoinette

Yeah, Antoinette, you think you’ve got a great vacation planned… Just because you’re going without your kids and husband and will have a complete break, don’t think it’ll be better than MY vacation!

I get to go to Disney tomorrow!  I will be entering into a wonderful time of amazing family vacationing.  In other words, while chasing behind my husband and holding my youngest’s hand as I drag him along, we will Conquer the Parks!  Yes, we conquer them.  We run from one ride to another, grabbing fast passes before we get in line of course so that when we get out of one, we are all set to head on to the next ride.  Of course the kids and I are consistently several steps behind my husband.  Periodically we complain, “Can we stop for lunch?  It’s 2:30 and we haven’t eaten since breakfast.”  To which he replies, “Let’s do this next ride and then we’ll leave and have a relaxing lunch outside the park.”  Of course, the ride along with the wait takes us to well past 3:00.  By now the kids are really hungry (not to mention their mother).  (This is why I try to bring a stash of nuts, fruit leathers, ANYTHING to keep us going!)  By the time we get out of the parks, it’s almost four o’clock and he’s thinking we can just wait until dinner to eat!

So, yes, Antoinette, be jealous.  Just because you will probably be sitting at nice cafes drinking cappuccinos every day having wonderful, deep conversations with your mom, don’t think that I, too, can’t have deep exchanges of thoughts with my family.  It might be about Mickey or Goofy or how a ride works, but at least we’ll enjoy being together… maybe?

I am going to Italy with my mom and sister!!!  No kids! No husband!  I still can’t believe it.  They are going to be alone for 12 days.  Scary to think of what Daddy is going to feed them.  Sooooo I decided to make big dinners between now and when I leave.  I am freezing half of each dinner.  That way they can take a bag out of the freezer in the morning.  Then they can have a healthy home made dinner.  If there are any other ideas to help me not worry about them.  Please let me know.

If anyone wants to check in on them and make sure they are brushing thier teeth feel free!!

Bonjoirno……I need to practice my Italian!!!!

Anyone ever go apple picking when they were young?  I remember going into the barn after picking the apples.  The smell of hot apple cider!!!!!!!!!!  So good!!! They would always have freshly dipped carmel apple also.  It was called Moo Ma’s Farm where I grew up and went apple picking.  I wish there was a place like that in south florida.  I guess I will have to go orange picking. 

Antoinette

School work is just about done (dd was sick so she’s behind) and the weekend is upon us!  We are ready to wind down and go see the movie “Fireproof” tomorrow with some friends I think.  One thing I like to do when we go to the movies is to make my own popcorn and put it in baggies.  I use an air popper and coat it lightly with a mixture of coconut oil and Earth’s Balance butter.  It’s really good and not as bad for you as movie popcorn! Give it a shot!

Update on Costly Federal Early Education Spending Bill

“Congress has recessed and left Washington, D.C.  H.R. 2343, the Education Begins at Home Act, never came up for a vote on the House floor.  Thank you for your calls.  They were successful and helped to educate members of Congress and their staff about the concerns with this bill.”

Sounds like this is going no where… glad that this has been left by the side, for now at least!

I don’t know about you other moms out there, but when I see a bill that will cost a lot of money and will possibly interfere with the decisions I make about my family, I get very concerned!  There’s a bill out there called H.R. 2343 that really looks scary!  Here’s a description below:

“H.R. 2343 seeks to expand the Head Start Early Home Visitation program to supposedly “educate” parents of children from infants to 5-year-olds on parenting strategies. If passed, this bill would literally open the door for government employees to enter private homes to impose unelected officials’ educational agendas, which may prove offensive and contrary to many families’ moral and religious beliefs. Although at this point enrollment in the home visitation program is voluntary, government programs almost always grow beyond their original scope when bills are amended.

This intrusive and unnecessary legislation comes at a whopping starting cost of more than $190 million—a burden that will be incurred by already struggling American taxpayers!”

Hmmm… aren’t officials concerned about the bailout of  Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG and voting on that today?  Does the government REALLY need to spend OUR money like this when they are already having to spend so much to bail out these companies?  They act like there’s an endless supply.  Okay moms, if this bugs you like it bugs me, call your representatives today and tell them to vote against H.R. 2343.

I often wonder exactly what nutrients are in different foods. I wonder when I grab a “handful” of almonds, what am I getting- how many calories, how much good fat, what vitamins?…How much should I give my kids?  WELL, I found a great website where they have tested all the foods!

One area of nutrition that I was really interested in finding out about is the different types of wheat (hard red, white, spelt, etc.). I grind my own wheat to make fresh bread, cookies, cakes, (really not that hard, you just put it in a mill and it turns it into flour) and I knew that we were getting a lot of vitamins and fiber, but I didn’t know exactly what! When you buy bread at the store, all this good nutrition is taken out of regular wheat and then it is “enriched” with some of the vitamins so that it can have a shelf life and then they tell you it’s just as good!  Now that I am making my own bread each week, when we eat a sandwhich or toast for breakfast, I don’t worry about eating a nutrient depleted bread and I feel good about giving it to my family.  Oh, and all that fiber really works well! 

(Additional info. about fresh milled wheat can be found at breadbeckers.com)

SO, if you too are curious about what’s in food, go to this site and bookmark it! http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/