One of the health tips we discussed last night was proper eating - including eating enough fiber. This website lets you choose the foods you've eaten in what amounts and then calculates how much fiber you've consumed. No math for you to do!
The Wake Forest doc said we women should eat about 25 grams of fiber each day. How are you doing?
Sharing our stories of home, hearth, and health as we build our nest in the rocks
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
'Made to Crave' by Lysa TerKeurst ....
has hit the New York Times bestseller's list! I can't wait to read it. :-)
Our first MTC meeting will be tonight at 8:15 PM at Isabelle's. We'll talk about this week's webcast and work our way through the DVD series when it arrives. If you missed this week's webcast, you can catch the next one at her website over here on Monday at 8 PM. It will re-air on Tuesday. Check the website for times.
Hope to see you tonight!
Our first MTC meeting will be tonight at 8:15 PM at Isabelle's. We'll talk about this week's webcast and work our way through the DVD series when it arrives. If you missed this week's webcast, you can catch the next one at her website over here on Monday at 8 PM. It will re-air on Tuesday. Check the website for times.
Hope to see you tonight!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
"An Amish Love" by Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, and Kelly Long
An Amish Love is actually three novellas in on book - and since all take place in one town with overlapping characters, it's easy to transition from one to the next. Each story is about someone who has left and how they find their way home again. Each story includes faith, love, and forgiveness as themes. Naaman Lapp left his wife at home while he went to visit relatives, only to return nearly one year later, facing distrust and confusion from his family. Abby Kauffman wants a way out of her father's silent household so badly that she tricks a newcomer into marriage - realizing too late what she's done. Ellie Chupp was jilted after an accident left her blind - can she forgive those involved and learn to love again?
The writing styles of each author make the stories flow smoothly. Set within the same Amish community, with the same peripheral characters and locations mentioned, this set feels more like one work.
I enjoyed the writing style of these authors and the questions that each story raised in my mind. If blinded, could I easily forgive? If my husband left, could I welcome him home with open arms? Am I careful and thoughtful in my dealings with others?
I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.
I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an impartial review.
The writing styles of each author make the stories flow smoothly. Set within the same Amish community, with the same peripheral characters and locations mentioned, this set feels more like one work.
I enjoyed the writing style of these authors and the questions that each story raised in my mind. If blinded, could I easily forgive? If my husband left, could I welcome him home with open arms? Am I careful and thoughtful in my dealings with others?
I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.
I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an impartial review.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Little Boy Gifts
This year, a lot of our grandparent and great-grandparent gifts will be homemade. It's always a struggle to find things to buy for them anyway, and this year the funds just aren't there for extravagant gifts for everyone on our list. I decided to have the kids tackle these gifts, but it was hard to find a good project for Luke to make.
There's always pictures OF him, and they're cute - but he doesn't do much but pose, and he hates that. He could MAKE a picture, but so far he only likes to draw storms and snakes, and they're still kind of hard to tell apart. You can't rush fine motor skills! I could use HIM to make a picture, like a handprint something or other, and they are always cute, but Luke would have very little involvement or creative input - I would do all the work.
I finally decided to let him make pine cone bird feeders. This is an oldie where I come from, but I was surprised to learn when I started working at a local preschool that the director there had never seen this, so maybe it will be new to you, too.
You'll need a pine cone or large plastic disposable cup, some string, a few tablespoons of peanut butter per feeder, a craft stick or plastic knife, a small sandwich baggie, and a few handfuls of birdseed.
First, cut a length of string and make a loop about an inch in diameter. "Lasso" the smaller end of the pine cone with the loop. If you're using a cup, poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup, knot the end of the string, and feed it through. When finished, this will be the hanger for the feeder. (Luke thought that he was the best string cutter ever and laughed and laughed while doing this. It's the little things, you know.)
Using the craft stick, smear peanut butter on the pine cone, covering the whole thing. Luke's started out like this ...
and ended up looking like this when he finished:
After you've thoroughly smeared your pine cone and gotten very sticky, put it in a dish with your birdseed. Roll it around or scoop the birdseed up and sprinkle it on top of the pine cone. It will stick nicely.
Luke couldn't resist licking off some stray peanut butter. It's clean - and an extra seed is healthy, right?? ;-)
After liberally covering the peanut butter in birdseed, your pine cone should look like this:
To keep it neat (and prevent me from vacuuming up birdseed for weeks) we then wrapped the cone itself in a sandwich baggie. I let the string hang outside so it wouldn't get sticky. We found that our smallish pine cones fit well inside rectangular butter boxes and we wrapped them right away. When the grandpas open them, they'll be ready to tie onto a low branch or beam and watch the birds enjoy!
There's always pictures OF him, and they're cute - but he doesn't do much but pose, and he hates that. He could MAKE a picture, but so far he only likes to draw storms and snakes, and they're still kind of hard to tell apart. You can't rush fine motor skills! I could use HIM to make a picture, like a handprint something or other, and they are always cute, but Luke would have very little involvement or creative input - I would do all the work.
I finally decided to let him make pine cone bird feeders. This is an oldie where I come from, but I was surprised to learn when I started working at a local preschool that the director there had never seen this, so maybe it will be new to you, too.
You'll need a pine cone or large plastic disposable cup, some string, a few tablespoons of peanut butter per feeder, a craft stick or plastic knife, a small sandwich baggie, and a few handfuls of birdseed.
First, cut a length of string and make a loop about an inch in diameter. "Lasso" the smaller end of the pine cone with the loop. If you're using a cup, poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup, knot the end of the string, and feed it through. When finished, this will be the hanger for the feeder. (Luke thought that he was the best string cutter ever and laughed and laughed while doing this. It's the little things, you know.)
Using the craft stick, smear peanut butter on the pine cone, covering the whole thing. Luke's started out like this ...
and ended up looking like this when he finished:
After you've thoroughly smeared your pine cone and gotten very sticky, put it in a dish with your birdseed. Roll it around or scoop the birdseed up and sprinkle it on top of the pine cone. It will stick nicely.
Luke couldn't resist licking off some stray peanut butter. It's clean - and an extra seed is healthy, right?? ;-)
After liberally covering the peanut butter in birdseed, your pine cone should look like this:
To keep it neat (and prevent me from vacuuming up birdseed for weeks) we then wrapped the cone itself in a sandwich baggie. I let the string hang outside so it wouldn't get sticky. We found that our smallish pine cones fit well inside rectangular butter boxes and we wrapped them right away. When the grandpas open them, they'll be ready to tie onto a low branch or beam and watch the birds enjoy!
A Gift in Return
Monday we took the homemade Christmas cards that we made at our last playdate to a local assisted living center. I was happy to be traveling in a group, because while I'm not afraid of being around older people, I'm not that great at conversation with people I don't know, and that was the whole point of the visit! One woman really put the whole trip into perspective, though.
We knocked in open doors and asked if the residents wanted company for a few minutes. Everyone said 'yes' immediately except one woman. Although her door was open, she wasn't dressed yet and said she didn't feel well. After talking to the mom who knocked for a moment, however, she changed her mind and invited the whole group in.
After the children showered her with cards and goody bags and began to look around her room, she talked to the adults and told little stories about her belongings. It was obvious that this woman was active and sentimental from her room - it was covered with paper flowers, cards, makeup, and funny pictures of animals. Soon it was time for us to move on, and noticing a stuffed Rudolph, we volunteered to sing the song to her. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed the toy and pushed its tummy, which soon began to play along with us. Rudolph's nose matched her cheeks as she waved her arms and the stuffed animals, tapping and wiggling her bare toes right along with the children's voices.
As we gathered our things and said our goodbyes, she exclaimed, "I feel better now!" and wished us a 'Merry Christmas.'
All of the residents we visited seemed to appreciate the visit and enjoyed the children. Each one seemed to like seeing the little ones and the cards they had made. But for this one woman, our visit didn't just seem to be a random moment within her day, but a moment that changed her day.
I don't even know the woman's name. I never heard anyone mention it - it was hard to hear over all the excited kids. But instead of stressing about those visits, the next time I'll look forward to it - and I might even try to plan another soon.
Our kids got to go be love in action, and that's a great lesson for them. Seeing this woman face - that's a gift for us.
We knocked in open doors and asked if the residents wanted company for a few minutes. Everyone said 'yes' immediately except one woman. Although her door was open, she wasn't dressed yet and said she didn't feel well. After talking to the mom who knocked for a moment, however, she changed her mind and invited the whole group in.
After the children showered her with cards and goody bags and began to look around her room, she talked to the adults and told little stories about her belongings. It was obvious that this woman was active and sentimental from her room - it was covered with paper flowers, cards, makeup, and funny pictures of animals. Soon it was time for us to move on, and noticing a stuffed Rudolph, we volunteered to sing the song to her. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed the toy and pushed its tummy, which soon began to play along with us. Rudolph's nose matched her cheeks as she waved her arms and the stuffed animals, tapping and wiggling her bare toes right along with the children's voices.
As we gathered our things and said our goodbyes, she exclaimed, "I feel better now!" and wished us a 'Merry Christmas.'
All of the residents we visited seemed to appreciate the visit and enjoyed the children. Each one seemed to like seeing the little ones and the cards they had made. But for this one woman, our visit didn't just seem to be a random moment within her day, but a moment that changed her day.
I don't even know the woman's name. I never heard anyone mention it - it was hard to hear over all the excited kids. But instead of stressing about those visits, the next time I'll look forward to it - and I might even try to plan another soon.
Our kids got to go be love in action, and that's a great lesson for them. Seeing this woman face - that's a gift for us.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Christmas is Comin'
Christmas is a-comin'
And the goose is gettin' fat!
Please to put a penny in an old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny then a ha'penny would do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny then God bless you!
We used to play the 'Bonanza' Christmas album that features that song over and over at Christmastime when I was a kid. I don't hear it often anymore, but it does hint around at the real spirit of Christmas.
Last week for playgroup we tried to focus on the real reason for the season. We met at a local church, where the pastor read the children a story by Ruth Graham that talked about the very first Christmas.
After that, he assigned each child a part in the Christmas story, and they dressed up using simple costumes that the church had on hand. (I think it would be really fun to make some costumes like this sometime ....) The pastor then read the Christmas story from the book of Luke and directed each 'actor' when his part was read. The angel was very excited about his wings!
After that, it was time to break loose for a bit. Everyone brought craft supplies, and the kids made cards for our next field trip, when we'll visit with the residents at an assisted living center. Some were especially excited about fancy scissors, while others were more interested in decorating shapes and gluing them onto their cards..
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Do a Little, Do a Lot
Every year one day during the Christmas season is designated as 'Cookie Day' on the family calendar so that I can make all the cookies, candies, and other treats that we eat, share, and gift during this holiday season. When the kids were babies, my wonderful husband would plan a date day for them so that they could do something special and I could work uninterrupted by bottles, diapers, and Cheerio snacks.
Now that the kids are bigger, however, (5 and 3 - the time REALLY flies!) the kids stay here and help out. They both love to help in the kitchen, and there are lots of jobs that even little kids can do to learn how it works and to lend a helping hand.
My little princess decided that she needed to dress the part.
She started out by rolling the peanut butter cookies into balls and getting them ready to bake.
After that she got the Hershey's kisses ready to turn the cookies into blossoms. My little worker man decided that he needed to be involved in any candy being handled.
Later today, we'll paint the sugar cookies and package them for delivery. Obviously I don't have pictures of that since we haven't done it yet this year, but we like to make these cookies and do so often, so here's what it looked like last year ... painting away with Grandma ....
Now that the kids are bigger, however, (5 and 3 - the time REALLY flies!) the kids stay here and help out. They both love to help in the kitchen, and there are lots of jobs that even little kids can do to learn how it works and to lend a helping hand.
My little princess decided that she needed to dress the part.
She started out by rolling the peanut butter cookies into balls and getting them ready to bake.
After that she got the Hershey's kisses ready to turn the cookies into blossoms. My little worker man decided that he needed to be involved in any candy being handled.
Later today, we'll paint the sugar cookies and package them for delivery. Obviously I don't have pictures of that since we haven't done it yet this year, but we like to make these cookies and do so often, so here's what it looked like last year ... painting away with Grandma ....
The kitchen can be a dangerous place for little ones with the many sharp utensils and hot areas, but it can also be a place of great exploration and experimentation. Cooking is as much an art as a science, right? Kids CAN be in the kitchen as long as they are well supervised. Some great beginning jobs for kids in the kitchen are :
- watching though the oven door for baking progress
- washing fruits and veggies
- crushing crackers and candy
- decorating cookies and cakes
- using a spoon to combine dry ingredients
- rolling out or shaping doughs
- topping pizzas
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