May's challenge

So I read the book Seven Pillars of Health by Don Colbert. It was a good book. Here are the changes my family is or is working on instilling in our house.

• Weed out the white flour, HFCS, white/brown sugar, MSG (and all the other names for it)
• Drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies, buy as much organic as money allows.
  

That's enough for now. His book goes in to great detail about supplements and things like that, but I feel we will be more successful with just working on a couple of things right now.

Really our family has been on a healthier eating path for many years. It seems that each time I read a book like this, we come another step or two closer to how I'd love to live. One thing I realized by reading this book (that wasn't even discussed in the book) is that for me, my husband, and my SEVEN children - good eating is something that I'm willing to spend more money on. For some people, food is a great place to save money. Not for us.

Also, here is how the changes are really fleshed out around here.

• no more Mrs. Butterworths HFCS syrup - moving to pure maple syrup
• no more white flour in stuff - replacing with whole wheat. This will affect the taste of dutch babies, obviously.
• MSG (in it's various forms) is in way more stuff than I realized - like my Progresso bread crumbs. Weed that stuff out of the house and find a good alternative or make my own. Did you know that MSG can be included in stuff under the ingredient "spices"?
• no more white or brown sugar...and less honey. Working on alternatives for this. Agave nectar has gone over well as has pure maple syrup.
  
• We are already big water drinkers around here, but I'd like to invest in stainless steal water bottles like these. Anyone want to invest in some as gifts for us??
• Cereal is pretty much out. Gross stuff in most of it. The healthy, organic options are just not cost worthy, so now we're coming up with other breakfast options like homemade granola - oatmeal is relatively cheap.
  

All in all, I think this has been a pretty productive challenge for me. I'm in charge of making great healthy food choices for my family, so I want to do all I can to instill good habits in my babies now.

What are you doing to become more healthy?

Breathe your life!
amy

twitter

So if you are following my husband's blog, you will know that he is putting a big plug in for signing up for Twitter. I've been a skeptic since I found out about it. Really, who actually wants to know when I'm changing a stinky diaper or showering for the first time this week? And really, do I want to know when YOU are doing those things? Do I really need to be hyper-connected with you?

Well, apparently the answer is yes. I've been convinced because of the reasons Tyson pointed out in his blog post and because we were just in Oklahoma City visited a friend who is hyper-connected to like a bagillion people. Because of his connections via Twitter, he has personally connected and met with over 30 people in his city that he would have not had the opportunity to otherwise.

So for someone like me - who is at home most always during the day and at church with mainly the same people weekly - how cool would it be to meet someone at, say, Safeway that I "know" because we follow each other on Twitter?

I'm still not on Facebook, but I've been told numerous times that I should be. Apparently, I'll be glad I did because then I can see pictures of people I knew in 5th grade. (Still trying to figure out the benefit of that. Seriously, that was 25 years ago!)

Anyway, if you want to "follow" me on Twitter, just look up my name in about 10 minutes. I guess I'll be there telling you all of the great details of my life.

Breathe your life,
Amy

May - half way into it now...

So this month is our Eden's birthday. She turned 4 and here is a picture of her and her wink.

I will have to get the picture of her in her birthday outfit up soon, but right now the batteries are dead in the camera and our next Costco trip (where we purchase said batteries) is not until early next week.

Eden is full of life and is working on learning that - no - the world does not actually revolve around her. Eden Bailee means "delightful administrator"and that she is. We often joke that everyone just does what she wants (administrator) because she IS so delightful. It really is hard to say no to this one.
Not really sure what she is up to in this picture. Probably showing us her angry face....








April's challenge was a bust - I must say. I'm giving all of the books back. I give up. I need to read something different. I did get through 2 more in April, but that is really all I can manage right now.

So I just read Going Home by Wanda Brunstetter. I don't really recommend it. It was a quick read about and Amish lady who went to find fame with the "Englishers" then came home for a visit. I won't give the rest away in case any of you are set on reading it. You will know what happens at the end by reading the first three pages though. My daughter, Malea, is reading it now and she had the same feeling as I did about it: too much repitition (like actually saying the same things over and over and over) and the author (though I'm sure she is a wonderful lady) leaves nothing to the imagination. The reading is TOLD everything, leaving nothing to the imagination. Anyway, I'd rate it a 1 out of 5.

I'm also reading the Seven Pillars of Health by Don Colbert, MD. He breaks up the "seven pillars" into 50 days of nice bite-sized chunks. So far, I've read about the importance of drinking water, how much to drink, and what type to drink. My monthly challenge for May is to read two-days worth per day (I'm such a rebel) and impliment the suggestions for better health. It's a very good read and very informational.

One more thing before I go change another stinky diaper: Tyson allowed me to speak on Sunday, Mother's Day. It was a great church service and you can check out my message called Finding Myself HERE .

Have an excellent day. (I don't know why I'm in underline mode right now)

Breathe your life.

Amy