A new beginning...

I have been in a downward spiral. I have been gaining weight, eating terribly and of course being quite sedentary. My health is in a rapid decline, I am lazy, I am losing hair, I'm constantly tired, I have very little energy, I feel depressed often, my house is a wreck.

I started reading on the internet yesterday, trying to figure out what to do. Dieting? No, I know dieting doesn't work for me. Restricting myself by counting calories? I can't do it. It doesn't work, I end up binging.

Suddenly I came across a website http://www.healthrecipes.com/ and started reading articles that spoke to me with force. I am MALNOURISHED. I am UNHEALTHY. My body is ill. The things that I put in my body are the wrong fuel. Think about it-- would you put milk in the gas tank of your car? Thats absurd! It wouldn't run! So then think about your body. Our body needs vitamins, minerals-- things that are found in FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Not refined, processed, beaten and cooked to death so-called "foods" that are mass marketed to the public. Sure you can SURVIVE on a diet of chips ahoy and dr pepper but what quality of life will you have? You certainly won't live to your life expectancy and the life that you do have will be plagued with illness and disease.

I don't want that life. I want to be healthy. I want to live. I want my kids to live. I want to instill the right eating habits in them so they will reach for the carrot before the cookie because they can read their body signals and know that the carrot is the fuel their bodies need.

Today is a new beginning. Today starts learning the right way to eat. Giving my body the fuel it needs. I am ready. I am tired of being ill. I want to know what it feels like to be truly HEALTHY.

The Nathan Chronicles, part 1

I figure if you can't beat them (ok I don't really mean BEAT I am not beating my children!) laugh about them right?

So, Nathan is by far the most trying of my children. On a daily basis he sweeps through the house emptying bookshelves, dumping out toy bins, chasing his brothers with pins (yes, pins.. from my sewing pincushions. Didn't you know they're little tiny swords?!?!) dumping his drinks on the table, throwing his food on the floor.. it never ends.

So I thought I'd chronicle his latest tricks. I know one day, a long long time from now, I'll look back and laugh-- right?

Lucky for me I have a built in alarm system, which we affectionately call "Hunter". The Hunter is always on the look out for foul play. He is quick to sound his alert when he finds something awry--'MAMA! MAMA! Look what Nathan is doing!' is generally the warning call.

So I am sitting here (on the computer, shame shame on me) and I hear the Hunter go off, something about eggs. EGGS! I stop everything and make a RUN for the kitchen. Sure enough, Nathan has found something more fun than hosing down his brothers with the toilet diaper sprayer-- EGGS! They're like water balloons with a crunch! He is throwing eggs all over the kitchen floor. I just about lost it. I didn't know what to say. I just kept asking him "What are you doing?!?!?!?!" And his reply? "I'm throwing eggs on the floor"
Shouldn't that be perfectly obvious Mom?


So I have him clean up the shells and then tell him to go play in his room. What could I do? If I had him clean up the eggs themselves he probably would have had more fun smearing them all over the kitchen floor than he did smashing them there in the first place.

I just can't wait for Jeremy to start causing mischief.

Letter to my family

My dear, dear, sweet family which excludes women save myself,

Peeing standing up is your birthright. Urinating standing up (or squatting, kneeling or lying down for that matter) in the middle of playgrounds, parking lots, grocery stores, or any otherwise public arena is not acceptable. This goes for all of you, including the big one. Nathan-- your peeing standing up IS cute and your heart is in the right place but please, lets wait until you are tall enough to pee INTO the bowl instead of urinating all over the side of it, ok?

Your loving mother

Who is the parent here?

Isn't it me? Didn't I put these kids to bed? Then why is my 4 year old son sitting in front of me at 9:15 p.m. telling me that I can't use the computer tonight and that I can only use it when the sun is shining?

ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Backyard chickens!

I want some! I'm at my moms taking care of the chickens, goats and granny while they go to a family reunion and then head to Idaho to visit my sister Becca. My mom has a million chickens. Well, maybe not a million but I'm thinking there are near 100 poultry here. There are setting hens everywhere and half the chickens have a trail of chicks behind them. I've got chick fever. I want baby chicks! And I want them to grow up and start laying eggs so I'll have fresh eggs from my own chickens.

I just have to build a chicken tractor (seen here) and then get my chickens! More to come...