We Survived Winter!
Happy Spring!
Long time no blog, I know. We are alive and well, we have just been super busy and are getting busier. Soccer has kicked off several weeks ago and is in full swing and while all of the administrative responsibilities I have with AYSO have dwindled away (I am a board member, assist the Registrar, the U5 & U6 coordinator, a coach and a ref) now we have two practices a week and games all day on Saturdays. Fun! I guess it is something I have to come to terms with being mom to three boys.
We have been blessed once again with a fantastic Winter. We have been very lucky to bypass illnesses all season although we have spent a great deal of time at home which we love. That has helped a lot. I also believe, and I find much truth in the research backing this, that everything revolves around diet. I have been wanting to blog about this subject for quite some time. If you are someone who knows me well, you know how important it is to us to have an excellent diet. We were always active and ate healthy before our kids were born but when they came things changed even more. Why even bother puting anything in their mouth that will not directly benefit them? I have always asked this question to those who badger me for not letting my kids eat candy and junk food. What are they missing? Nothing at all. Those same people who just 7 years ago mocked me for desiring to strictly breastfeed Wheat the entire first year and never let him have a bottle of formula and then only feed him organic baby food or mashed fresh fruits and veggies are coming to me all these years later for advice on how they can better their eating habits and lifestyles because they see how healthy our family is, how well our children have been all winter and how calm and focused our children are instead of bouncing off the walls. I am not a saint, nor do I have all the answers to anything. However, I am gleaming and very proud of the good habits that we have instilled in our children thus far. If we eat out in a restaurant, which is seldom because no restaurant is “good enough” for mom’s expectations, our kids choose steamed vegetables instead of fries and never eat poorly. Older generations of folks walk by our table every time and compliment us on how well our children are behaved and how amazed they are to see a 7 year old stuffing broccoli in his mouth like candy. We spend a great deal of money on good food, real vitamins and whole food suppliments but it is very important to us. At the same time, not one of us have been to the doctor since August 2007 so that is a savings of potentially hundreds in co-pays and prescriptions that we have avoided this winter. We also do not spend money on fancy clothes or theaters or myself on expensive make-up or anything we do not need to simply survive. Our money is spent only on what we need. Besides us passing around pink eye over the last few weeks, our kids have not even had a common cold. We also did not get flu shots last Fall. I have never liked them and finally read enough to stand up against such a nasty thing and avoid it and this is the first winter we have all been well. This has also been the first winter in 7 years that I have not had an infant so that decision was easier. How have we managed to stay well? Well, it’s not because my house has been spotless and sanitized regularly because that is the polar opposite of the truth in my busy world. My home has been messier than ever this winter. Who could possibly work nearly full time from home aside from preparing/cooking 3 meals a day and homeschooling children AND manage to keep a clean house? If spending time with family wasn’t a very important thing to someone it might be possible but when I have a moment without anything to do I find it better spent reading a book to River or talking to Wheat about his drawings or pushing Lake on the tire swing. This has been an incredible winter. We haven’t gone out much, but we did not need to. We have missed our friends at church over the last several weeks, but with everything that has been traveling around from home to home we have decided we are better off here until Spring. So Spring has sprung and off we go….our ants are back waving tiny little flags that read “Happy Spring…we’re back” (we do not use pesticides around our home) …flowers are blooming…birds are all over our feeders…thoughts of a summer garden and eating fresh tomatoes right off the vine are coming to mind…it’s a beautiful time of year. So get ready for some Baileys because we’re coming out. And for those of you who do not believe that a healthy diet of fresh, organic, non-processed foods are important….well, I have to disagree and I believe that my family is a perfect testament to the fact that it DOES make a difference. It is NOT a gimick or a sales tactic. Simply pick up a book and educate yourself a bit on the effects of unnatural chemicals in foods and beauty products in the human body…it is real and isn’t going away. We can fill our minds with the purest of thoughts and prayer and verses of scripture but at the end of the day if we do not have the energy to proclaim our faith because we are tired or ill then what good is all of that knowledge? At the end of the day if we didn’t have the ability or energy to run outside with our children and kick a ball or go on a family bike ride then what example are we being to them?
Stay tuned for my next vent on mass produced super hero costumes vs. a simple piece of fabric for a cape and a wooden stick…it’s only getting more interesting….
