Blurb?

Has anyone at all out there ever made a blog book using Blurb?  I'm having just a little anxiety tonight about my whole entire blog disappearing since I think I almost deleted everything on my computer tonight.  I didn't think that was possible, but it is!  I almost started crying, well not almost, I did cry!  Please, I need your help to bind the bloggy asap!

The Skinny (Part II of Part I)

Just a few examples of some good fats... full fat dairy. Delicious and nutritious.

The most important Cod Liver Oil. This one is a high vitamin butter oil/ fermented cod liver oil version.

Pastured Butter :)

A wonderful saturated fat, coconut oil. Good for cooking and baking. Unlike many other oils, coconut oil won't go rancid at high heat.

The Skinny On FAT~ Part I

I thought I would begin a weekly "fat write-up".  Our culture is so fat phobic.  Who wants to be fat, right?  The problem is that we have been lead to believe that fat makes us fat.  Fortunately, this is not true!  Good, high quality fats actually can help us lose, yes lose weight, bring back balance to our moods, build a strong mind and help us assimilate all those good vitamins and minerals.  I feel so good and so strongly that FAT is the reason why I feel so good, that I just have to share :)

This week starting with cholesterol!  

Cholesterol can be a scary one for many people.  Is it too high?  Too low?  What do I eat?  What do I take? 

Here is an article talking about the why cholesterol is so important.

Just a quick note "polyunsaturated fats" are those found in vegetable oils.  When our bodies don't know what to do with something we have eaten it is "stored".

Cholesterol - Your Body's Best Friend

Cholesterol is the body's repair substance. Scar tissue contains high levels of cholesterol. When your arteries develop irritations or tears, cholesterol is there to do its job of patching up the damage.

Along with saturated fats, cholesterol in the cell membrane gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability. When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is "driven" into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet, even though the body's overall cholesterol levels actually go up.

Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer; and to the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. Cholesterol is also a precursor to vitamin D and to the bile salts. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet.

Recent research shows that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant. This is the likely explanation for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer.

Cholesterol is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain. Serotonin is the body's natural "feel-good" chemical. Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicide.

Mother's milk is especially rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme that helps the baby utilize this nutrient. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system.

Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall. This is why low-cholesterol vegetarian diets can lead to leaky gut syndrome and other intestinal disorders.

Men who have cholesterol levels over 350 mg/dl are at slightly greater risk for heart disease. For women, there is no greater risk for heart disease, even at levels as high as 1000 mg/dl. In fact, mortality is higher for women with low cholesterol than for women with high cholesterol.

Cholesterol readings are highly inaccurate. They vary with the time of day, time of the patient's last meal, levels of stress and the type of test used. Tests for HDL and LDL are especially subject to inaccuracies.

Written by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig PhD

Happy Hike

Today my dear friend had a birthday. What better way to celebrate than to escape the cold and enjoy WARM sunshine! We had so much fun hiking, playing, catching worms, getting muddy, throwing rocks, launching homemade boats into the creek and fishing out chunks of ice. We are so fortunate to have such a beautiful place so close to home.  And Miss Avi got to hang out with her gal pal Ellie :)

The fam.! And our wonderful Grandma Ann and Grandpa Ran, who we enjoy endless hikes with all year long. We are so blessed to have them close by!

The fisherman. There were so many little pools of water leftover from the storm. The boys fished and threw rocks while our friends little girls found fairies in the water and collected flowers. Oh, the differences between boys and girls.

Another little fisherman taking a break. I think this was the only moment he stood still all day.  Why are kids always so much happier outside?

A great day and a great way to end a long cold week.
Happy Birthday Jilly!

Storm 2010!

Would you believe no one in our little town had seen a storm like this since 1967? I feel lucky to witness something so breathtaking. I never grew up in snow, so this was definitely the most I'd ever seen.  Just incredible!  This was our driveway.  Lucky for us, our neighbor bought a snow blower and was so generous to help us out.  I really don't know how the hubby could shovel 5 ft. of snow!

Our backyard!  Do you see the fence?  Neither do I.  The snow is almost reacing the top of our 8 ft. fence!  The sandbox to the right will most likely not be accessible until June.

And the lovely front yard.  Our big tree almost completely swallowed up by white stuff.

A sad ending.  A great local bookstore and one of my favorite fabric shops collapsed under the weight of the snow, along with several other businesses including our local ice rink.  Nobody that I know of was injured.  Still, sad to see these great businesses gone in the blink of an eye.

OK, I hate to end on a sad note, so guess what? After a week of being home bound with the kiddies, school resumes tomorrow!  Hallelujah!

The Last Days

...of sunshine. Documented here. As I sit in my igloo, I can't help but reminisce a little. You know, sunshine, laughter, just a light sweater instead of a full on snow suit. Those were the good old days.

By the way, my baby girl's head really isn't that big. For some reason this picture makes her look like a monster next to her brothers!

For those of you out there in the world with blue skies, soak it up! You never know when it could be the end!
Snow pics. coming soon :)

I Can't Believe It's Butter!

What to do on the 3rd day of being snowed in with the kiddies?  Make butter of course!  I mentioned before we've been reading the "Snipp, Snapp and Snurr" books.  Well one of them is "Snipp, Snapp and Snurr and The Buttered Bread".  It is really so sweet.  The three little boys in the book go to visit their Aunt Annie to get some fresh milk from her cow, Blossom, to make butter.  Problem is that poor Blossom has only been eating old hay, so she's not making any milk.  She needs fresh green grass!  The boys talk the sun into shining again, the grass grows, Blossom makes milk, the boys get their buttered bread and all is well in Sweden :)  It really is very simple and quite delicious and makes for a good snowy day something to do.

First start with a good high quality cream.  I like Straus in the glass bottle.  Of course, if you can get raw cream, more power to ya!  Now whip, whip, whip.  You'll get whipped cream like this.  You could spoon some off of the top and save for a tasty dessert topping.  Now keeping going... mix, mix, mix.  From this point it took us twenty more minutes to get to the butter stage with an electric mixer.  My mom has an electric whisk which is much faster.

Oh, look!  The butter is starting to form!  The watery stuff is the buttermilk.  Now scoop out all of this stuff with a spatula and put it into a cheese cloth or even a clean dish towel will do the trick.  Put it over a bowl and squeeze out all of the excess liquid (buttermilk).  Open up your cloth and voila`, real BUTTER!!!!

We sprinkled a little pink Himalaya salt over ours and spread over a delicious sourdough bread.  YUM!  Sory was so cute and asked me "Mama, did you 'member the fwesh gween gwass?"  Oh Sory, if only all cows could be so lucky!

Two little boys and their buttered bread.

Three Little Words

COD. LIVER. OIL.

... and that my friends has made all the difference.  We have had virtually no sickness this year, other than a small dose in October.  Now my Dilly Doo has a little cold and what's interesting is that he is the ONLY one out of all of us that is not regular with his CLO.  I gave him a big dose today and told him he better start taking it if he wants to be well!!!  Go here to purchase yours.

"I Can't Afford To Shop There" ~ Part II

Thanks to some bloggy girlies, I discovered a fabulous little site called Ruche .... Anthro for hip, happening mamas, struggling to be cute and unique in the midst of a recession!!

So, while I can no longer afford to shop here :(

I will be shopping here :)

Because I Have Been given Much

I think in light of the devastation in Haiti, this song always helps put the small atrocities in my life in perspective:  

Because I have been given much, I too must give;

Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live;

I shall divide my gifts from thee

With every brother that I see

Who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care,

I cannot see another’s lack and I not share

My glowing fire, my loaf of bread,

My roof’s safe shelter overhead,

That he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord,

I’ll share thy love again, according to thy word. 

I shall give love to those in need;

I’ll show that love by word and deed: 

Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.

-- Grace Nowell Crowell

My heart goes out to the poor people of Haiti.  The images of hundreds and thousands of survivors lying on the ground with no shelter, clean water and food, mourning the loss of their loved ones.  It seems like too much to bear for anyone, let alone a country with so little to begin with.  I feel especially for the mothers and children and wonder how do these families survive something so horrendous?  The human spirit is amazing and I feel fortunate beyond measure.

"I Can't Afford To Shop There"

You wouldn't believe how often I hear this sentence when I mention shopping at my local natural food store.  I'm always a little surprised.  People spend incredible amounts of money on all sorts of things.  We just happen to spend our money on food... well, and a mortgage, but that's another story ;)
For us, eating well is living well.
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well”

-Virginia Woolf

This is one of my favorite quotes and sums up my thoughts exactly.  What I put into my body affects EVERYTHING... my mental, physical, spiritual and emotional health.  Did you know that before our food became cheap, processed and not at all nutritious, Americans would spend 40% of their income on their meals?  Today I read the average is about 13%.  

Ladies and Gentlemen YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!!!  And so are your families.  Can you tell me one thing that is more important than the health and happiness of your loved ones?  

We have been eating a nutrient dense diet for over three years and I have seen remarkable changes.  The biggest change I have seen is in my mental stability and energy  Don't worry, I wasn't a total psycho before (just a little ;)).  The best way I know to describe it is that I finally feel content.  No, trust me, it isn't about my life or my three amazing kiddies.  Those things are great, but I could not fully appreciate that if my body was starved for nutrients and GOOD fats (so important).  I heard Dr. Oz said saturated fats were something to get rid of in the new year.  I like a lot of what he has to say, but he is dead wrong with this one.  Your brain is 50% saturated fat.  Saturated fat is CRUCIAL for a healthy brain and body.  Coconut Oil is an excellent source, so is real, organic (raw if you can get it) pastured (the cows ate grass)butter.

Those of you that know me know that I could go on and on about my passion for real food from real sources, preferably local, always fresh and delicious, BUT I must go check on the babe, so I will end my rant, but only for tonight!!  Check out "Traditional Foods" under my links to learn more.

One more thing :)  I bought a bag o' bones from the meat counter at my store for $4 and made a large crock pot of beef stock tonight.  Simple and affordable, very nutrient dense.  I add my stocks to soup, cook rice in it, potatoes, make gravy.  They taste so much better than store bought broth out of a can.  Food in our country is going in a very scary direction.  It makes sense to know exactly what we are putting into our bodies.

ok, ok night night :)

Goodbye 2009

I'll admit I'm not the least bit sad to see you go.  You have been a "trying" year to put it nicely :)  BUT, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" right?  I'm still standing... hopefully a little wiser, a little more kind, a little more patient (working on it) and thankful, thankful, thankful for all that I have.  Despite 2009 being slightly horrid, I was blessed with the gift of a baby girl.  Having this precious angel has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl.  And she's finally here... the silver lining on our cloudy year :)
Thank you to my dear husband for continuing to amaze me with your humility, generosity and selflessness.  Thank you to all of my beautiful children for choosing us!  I know I'm not always the most patient mama, so thank you for your sweet hugs and thoughtful and cute little things you do and say to cheer me up.

Tonight Dylan said, "mama, don't worry... I understand"
me-  you do?
D-  yep, you just really need daddy around, don't ya?
me-  laughter :)

Today, after endless driving (long story, maybe later) Sory (tired of being strapped in the carseat) said, "mama, may I be "scused?".  We've been trying to get the boys to ask to be excused when they are finished with dinner, so I was totally tickled to hear him ask to be "scused" from the carseat :)
They really are listening... even when it seems they're really not.

To celebrate 2010 I thought I'd reminisce a little and write 10 things I was doing 10 years ago.  Boy how life has changed!  Here goes:

1.  I was living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2.  I was a nanny to two small boys who were a HANDFUL!
3.  Everyone was worried about Y2K :)
4.  One of my best friends died of a drug overdose
5.  I was wanting to move to NYC
6.  I was in a faze where I was constantly comparing myself to other girls and wondering where my life was headed.  I wondered "why is Shoshanna Lonstein so successful at such a young age and here I am in limbo?  Am I making a mistake being here?"  The the lady I worked for told me two things I'd never forget.  First, NOTHING you do in your twenties is a mistake and second, it's all about timing and who you know.  OK, Shoshanna definitely must have a few connections, right?  at least it made me feel better at the time.
7.  That whole crazy Emilio Gonzales (little boy who floated on a life raft from Cuba) thing was going on, especially crazy living in south Florida.  The city was so divided.  Cuban flags in some areas, American flags in others.
8.  The "Thong Song" was huge.
9.  Hurricane Floyd was a near direct hit!
10.  Lots of lessons learned during my time there.  Opened my eyes to a whole other world.

"There are some years in our lives that we would not want to live again. But even these years will pass away, and the lessons learned will be a future blessing."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Happy New Year!!!!!

Oh, I see...

You're getting to know yourself

and you feel insecure because you realize you're imperfect

you think when you have children one day they will be perfect

then you have children

you realize they are imperfect

then you realize they are perfectly imperfect

then you realize you are perfectly imperfect.

B-Day and Randomness

A couple pics. of Sory's party. He shared it this year with his life-long buddy. Their birthdays are only a week apart and in the middle of the holidays, so it worked out perfect. They had SO much fun as you can see!

Blowing out the candles. These three little guys seen here, were babies like yesterday! How time flies!

And just so random and sweet I couldn't help myself. A little bath in the kitchen sink. At first Miss Avi wasn't so sure about taking a bath with the wild child...

but, she slowly warmed up. These two are buddies. I have a feeling they may gang up on big bro. one day.

A Little More Christmas...

Grandpa's "tiny" gift. We were laughing that morning because Gran. Ran had opened this teeny tiny gift card and then his next present was ginormous... one of those comfy, spongy matresses. Gran. Ann made sure his last present was middle sized :)

Reading new stories with Grandma. She got us the cutest old fashioned stories about three little boys from Sweden named "Snipp, Snapp and Snurr". We've been reading them together and the boys love them. It has been making me want to move to Sweden or a least get a Swedish nanny.

The tired couple.

Three happy kids! I love seeing them sitting together like this :)

Christmas 2009

The big morning was finally here! The kiddies barely slept a wink the night before. I don't think I've ever seen them so excited, but this year Santa was bringing some pretty big ticket items... a Wii and for D and Sory and a Nintendo dsi that D has been wanting forever. When I asked him how much these things cost, his reply was "don't worry Mama! Santa just makes it!" Of course he does :)

Miss Avi modeling her cute little crochet hat with flower. This is probably the last time she will ever wear it. She's been pulling hats off left and right these days.

Sory and his favorite color changing Hot Wheels. Good job Santa! Sory played with this the entire day.

And the proud owner of a Nintendo dsi... these are actually very amazing. Like a mini computer. I kind of want one myself.

We had a wonderful Christmas with the family and Grandma Ann and Grandpa Ran. It was so nice having them here as always. We opened presents followed by my famous Christmas morning egg and sausage casserole. That afternoon we enjoyed a delicious "linner" of prime rib, cranberries, salad, baby broccolini and Grandpa's famous scalloped potatoes. Then it was a plate full of goodies and my honey's famous cherry pie for dessert. My mom found us REAL lard from pastured pigs. Hubby baked the pie crust using the lard and it was the best pie crust I have ever tasted. Nothing like the real thing! And I must mention that Christmas eve we enjoyed Grandma's famous gumbo. She also used the pastured lard and I have to say, that girl knows how to make a gumbo. THE BEST GUMBO EVER :)

I am oh so grateful for the wonderful food we are able to share and the amazing family I have been blessed with! Happy Christmas everyone!

Happy Birthday Little Love

December 19th, this little man turned four. Our Sory (as we sometimes call him) is such a joy, a mischief maker and a soft hearted, affectionate guy! And I can't believe he is FOUR.

Here are the top 4 reasons I love Sory... believe me, it was hard to narrow it down to 4, but here we go:

1. He LOVES his little sister. He is a sensitive soul. Watching him with her melts my heart and I know he'll be an excellent daddy one day. He tells me he wants to have 4 kids... all girls :)

2. He has a great sense of humor and loves to make people laugh... funny faces, funny noises... whatever it takes.

3. He is adventurous. Sory is our daredevil and even tries to lure his older brother into testing the waters at times. I love his try anything attitude.

4. He is SO affectionate. He is the only kiddo that will let you wrap him up and snuggle him tight.

WE LOVE YOU SORY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

NEVER Honk At A Tired Mama

On less than 5 hours of sleep, I bounce out of bed, shower, get dressed, dress my three little birds, make breakfast, make lunch, feed the littlest birdie and throw everyone in the car to get to school promptly by 8:30am.
I am tired, a little flustered, wishing I could go home and fall into bed.  I'm in the car line to drop off my oldest kiddo, I get out to hand him his belongings and give a kiss... that's when I notice some poor little girl has dropped hot pink snow pants on the sidewalk.  Yes, I'm in the car line, but am I supposed to leave pants there to be trampled and forgotten?????  No!  So, I do what anyone would do, I get out and get the pants and hand them to my kiddo to take inside.
Ok, for some reason it's WAY too embarressing to take someone else's snow pants into school and give them to the front desk.  So, I grab the pants, leaving my two littlest in the car line and run them in.  Takes me all of 10 seconds... tops.
I come back to someone HONKING at me to move!  Many inappropriate thoughts are now flooding my mind, but instead I smile and give and innocent wave.  I then proceed to peel out of the parking lot, making sure everyone in line knows... NEVER honk at a tired Mama!!!!!!!

Was Oscar Wilde Spying On Me?

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.

Oscar Wilde

He took the words right out of my mouth

So Sad

Is this the most pathetic picture you ever saw? My big bros. get to go play and sled and build snow forts and I have to sit here with Sagen (our loyal dolly)? Seriously??

More Amazing Snow

Here lies the street. And tonight it looks exactly the same. Are the plows coming?

The sidewalk cleared by a nice man and his snow blower. The Daddy wants one SO bad, but shoveling is such a great workout!

And the digging out has begun!

Poor little baby wanted outside so bad today! She kept going to the door and fussing. It's tough being the baby.

Snow Bunnies

Daddy training for the Iditarod.

D and his new sled.

Cuties in the snow fort. Every year Daddy builds a snow tunnel or fort for the kids to hide out in when they need a break from sledding. Here they are curled up in their igloo.

This was the first year my little Sory got out there and really had fun. I love watching my babies grow up!