My natural life

Crazy Busy

2012-01-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

It has been Crazy busy here the last weeks. Busy, because I, in a way chose to. Every one that has kids knows how busy it is to keep up with everything and I want to say boys more so than girls. Now to my voluntary busyness: I have been doing several crafts. I will just upload some pictures of what I did so I can keep track of my achievements and see how I improve over time! I still have some projects open...


A Fichu for a Neighbor Lady. She had a more than rough time the last couple of months and I hope this made her smile!

Spring outfit for myself for a special event. More to that in the next four months!

A top matching her gloves. For my oldest daughter Princess. I made the gloves as well but forgot to take a picture. I hope she will send me one of the complete set with her in it!!!

I fell in love with the colors and since I did not have a warm pullover, I decided to make one. It is tailored, has thumb holes and a wonderful cowl that turns into a head covering! It also covers my tush so I am warm all around!!!

For my photography in cold days I needed a pair of gloves where I can button down every single finger separately. I found the matching wool to make a cowl. I lanolized it so everything is wind and weather proof!

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!

2011-10-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

OMG, now, let m tell you. This is way crazy, lol. A little while ago I met this guy. When I first saw him I thought "stay down, he is WAY outa your league...". Then, when I talked to him I just thought to myself, "there MUST be something wrong with him" because being fooled one too many times I did not believe there could be a perfect guy out there for me.
Well... we started talking. More and more and I have to admit that I initiated it most of the time. He did tell me though every time we parted he'd be happy (and waiting) to hear from me any time. Weird at first but once you know him you understand why: He is the role model of a gentle man. All the guys that flattered me over my attractiveness so far made me feel like I am only worthy considering becasue of my looks, no not him. He made me feel that I mattered without making me feel awkward, but rather protected. Anyways, I could go on raving about him and don't even ask about his looks. WOW. Manly, strong, muscular m m m! His eyes... Fiery. His lips... Full. His hair waivy and shiny like the sun. He is firm and strong yet soft and gentle...
We decided to keep our deepening relationship just for us so I will, till you all will see us at the altar. In the meantime I am working on my wedding dress. Well, I got it but... you know... keeping it clean, adorning it, taking it out every 5 minutes to look at it. I am also busy chasing after the right jewelery. Pearls? My favorite stone ruby? Maybe a pearl embedded in diamonds and ruby? Hair up? Hair down? What kind of shoes, flats or heels? Decisions, decisions... He told me he doesn't care about all that as long as I don't ditch him at the altar... Are you serious? Someone like him?
I SO can't wait to see some of you guy's faces when you see him BESIDE ME of course haha. Makes me think about sending out invitations... Either way I know you will see one way or an other. I will try and post the event here if I get to and am not too busy staring at him! Till then you all know why I won't be blogging much (cause I am staring and preparing lol)! You just get married like that once and since it will be my first real wedding (and me being a bride the first time ever in my life) I am suuuuper excited and nervous. Feels like I have ants in my belly. AND my pants!

Sewing and SmugGroup and such

2011-09-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

I am SO excited! I got some of the Christmas gifts done, unfortunately they already know about it because I had to fit them!

My precious princess wanted chocolate chip cookie cotton fleece Pajama Pants. I had enough left to make an outfit for mini-me as well. Now she liked that so much that she requested a hoodie to go with her pants!
Then, I had found a boiled wool winter suit for mini-me but it was supposed to be $85 and just single layer!!! So I made a double layer for him by myself for one third of the costs thanks to naturesfabrics.com.:

It is actually a miracle in itself that I get that stuff done. My short stop is a Tornado on the scale of 11.5!!!

So recently I joined the local SmugGroup. Yesterday, I went to my first gettogether and absolutely LOVED it. It is like ointment to your soul to be able to speak with people that share the same passion!!! We got to try lensbabies, unfortunately not for my mount but J.J. was so nice to let me look at them on his camera. Else I would share some pix ;(. Either way they are an awesome toy and a little more affordable than the other gear on my wish list for my rather expensive but nevertheless most beloved hobby! This coming Friday is my first class I will be attending and I can not wait to go!

Set me free!

2011-09-09T09:46:00.001-07:00

Food dye

2011-09-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

So, fall has struck with a vengeance... It is always funny how violently the seasons change here. Short period of spring-feeling, two weeks rain straight and then you wake up one morning and everything is green! Just like now, months of unbearable humid-hot weather, couple weeks of oxygene filled fresher-air-less-humidity weather and BOOM leaves are falling, so are the temperatures and the rain sets in. I love rain :)

Now to the food dye. I actually never really thought about food dye till my precious daughter asked me for red-velvet cupcakes. It asks for A LOT of red dye. I decided to just omit the dye because it doesn't sound right to me but neither right were the cupcakes. Well, curious me started to google food dye on scholar and pay even more attention to labels. OMG!!! Shocker here. How is it possible, that something is put in food that is THAT controversial? AND in the process of being banned in European Countries? So ok, I don't want to eat that. I can't force the others living in my house but for me myself... NO! With yellow 5 and 6 as well as red being the most controversial I found exactly these dyes in:
cereal
eggo waffles
kellogg's blueberry waffles (yeah, the blueberries are dye balls...)
cheese crackers
well of course gumballs (oh noooo), M&Ms
sigh.
It triggers or worsens ADHD, so does the preservative Benzoate. According to double blinded studies, that is. I will keep reading labels and try to get my daughter to eat a controlled diet for a couple weeks. I hope she will cooperate. Wish me luck!

The word is alive

2011-08-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

When I read a book that has been written by a single author, I expect it to have a flow of continuity. It will have a central theme and purpose running through its pages and all of its chapters will support that same theme and purpose.

The Bible is such a book. This doesn’t seem very impressive until we consider the following points of distinction.

The Bible was written over a period of nearly 1500 years. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible between 1440 and 1400 B.C. The New Testament was completed in the latter part of the first century.
There were about 40 different human authors involved in the writing of the Bible. These men differed in background, education, culture and profession. Moses was a political leader, trained in the highest schools and universities of Egypt.
Amos was a simple herdsman.
Joshua was a military general.
Nehemiah was a royal cupbearer.
Daniel was a prime minister.
Solomon and David were kings.
Matthew was a tax collector for the Roman Empire.
Luke was a physician.
Peter was a fisherman.
Paul was a rabbi.
Many of these writers did not know each other and so would not have been able to compare notes.
The different books of the Bible were written in different geographic locations and under different circumstances. Moses wrote the Torah in the Sinai wilderness living the life of a desert nomad.
David wrote some of his Psalms in the midst of military campaigns.
Jeremiah wrote portions of his book during a terrible siege.
Daniel wrote from the city of Babylon.
Solomon wrote from the palace at Jerusalem.
Paul wrote some of his epistles from a prison, some from Greece and one from Rome.
John wrote from the Isle of Patmos.
Three different languages were used in the writing of the Bible. Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew with a few portions in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek.
The authors wrote about hundreds of controversial subjects. They dealt with such topics as life after death, the character and attributes of God, social and moral problems.

If I were to take a cross-section of people from the United States and ask them to write their views on topics like these, the responses would be varied and differing. It is virtually impossible to get 40 men to agree on where to have dinner, let alone what God is like or how man can find acceptance in His sight.

In spite of this, the Bible stands as a complete book, without contradiction or disagreement within its unity. The theme of redemption runs through its entire length from beginning to end. The book of Genesis begins with the story of paradise lost and this story is not completed until the end of the book of Revelation where we see paradise restored. This continuity is an evidence of the supernatural origin of the Bible.

Excerpt from
http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/apol03.html

Wool set: WoolSoaker, Wool-short-romper and Wool-long-romper

2011-08-25T04:59:00.000-07:00

I finally got it finished. Actually did not take long at all but I goofed around a little lol. This set is the softest baby angora wool! I love it! Unfortunately, here in Elizabethtown, KY people do not appreciate this kind of all natural diapering, else I could make some mommies happy!!!
The soaker I knitted so that only the wet zone is double-knit and can be used as training pants. The short romper is awsome in summer and for night times - also in winter. The long romper keeps baby warm in cold weather and all together are a bullet proof diaper cover!

Seeking a heart like his...

2011-08-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Weird enough - I found out just recently - my sister my daughter and I have the same absolute hero: David.
Even more weird than that, he is our absolute hero for the same reason: God gave him the title "man after his own heart". Our yearning and dream is the same: To have a heart after his own!

The last weeks I have started to study him because, well, I thought maybe, just MAYBE if I don't have a heart after God's, maybe I could learn to get one?
I have often been described as complex, difficult and '"high maintenance". Surprisingly learning about David I can find myself in everything I read about him and it is like ice on a burn wound for me. So maybe just maybe, not all hope is lost!

This morning I woke up and wanted to try to write a Psalm. I decided I wasn't even gonna try because there probably was already a Psalm like that written by David. All his writings seem like coming straight from my heart anyways. So why try?

Either way, I will expose myself and just write it out. It sounded somewhat like that:

I am so done, I scream to the Lord for help.
I beg him to redeem me.
I am so unhappy I am complaining to him day and night,
I tell him all my issues.

My power is all gone and I fear to break;
but I know you have a plan for me, you know my innerst.
You know how stupid I may react and how I may mess things up.
Yet you will fullfill your plan in my life.
I try to follow you but everywhere are stumbling stones.
I am so scared to fall!
I have NO ONE to turn to, "my" church is self-centered, my friends and family far away.
No one here to help me. Nobody that cares...

I cry to you my father, my lover, my friend.
No matter what happens to me I will forever praise you!
I remind you of your everlasting promises.
Save me! LISTEN FOR
I AM IN DESPERATE NEED!
Rescue me from evil (yeah, that was even one of my FB status messages OMG)
because it overwhelmes me.
Set me free from the prison I am in, for I cannot breathe.
Set me free so I am free to serve you!
So those that love you will hang out with me and work with me in your name,
for your everlasting glory!

Psalm from Esther

What I learned from writing my Psalm was, that David must have been extremely humble. I have big issues with exposing my feelings like that to the world and here is David, spreading it all over the world for over 2000 years... Just to have me read it and find, that my hero, at times, felt like I do!!!
So.
An hour later, baby is taking a nap, I find the chance to read Day 1 of the third week from my bible study (Beth Moore, "Seeking a heart like his"). It is about David finding refuge from Saul in the Caves. Very touching episode in his life. But what actually really, really hit me, was the Psalm he wrote during that time:

Psalm 142

Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice;

with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.

I poured out my complaint before him;

I showed before him my trouble.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

then thou knewest my path.

In the way wherein I walked

have they privily laid a snare for me.

I looked on my right hand, and beheld,

but there was no man that would know me:

refuge failed me;

no man cared for my soul.

I cried unto thee, O LORD:

I said, Thou art my refuge

and my portion in the land of the living.

Attend unto my cry;

for I am brought very low:

deliver me from my persecutors;

for they are stronger than I.

Bring my soul out of prison,

that I may praise thy name:

the righteous shall compass me about;

for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

So maybe, just MAYBE I am not that different after all? Maybe, just MAYBE I could have a heart after the one of my God?

There were a few more things that dropped a ray of light down on me:

"The vital season of David's experience provided painful preperation for the throne God had promised"

Hm... a throne!
"This time he had members of Saul's entourage pursing him with secret schemes."
I know all about an enemy with "secret schemes". Insiders know what I mean!
"We will either wrestle all our lives with unmet expectations or intentionally rest our souls in God."

"Find 'rest' in verse 5 comes from a term that means 'to stop ... cease ... hold peace ... quiet self ... rest ... tarry ... wait ...'"

Sounds similar to what I wrote couple posts ago. God seems to want me to rest. More than ever I have figured out in the last couple years, that I have barely any faith, barely, if any love, barely, if any patience and most of all:
Issues to rest. To sit still. To wait. I am SO TIRED of waiting. But I will. And meanwhile try to get aforementioned lacks of faith, love and patience under the control of the one I am waiting for!

It feels good to see that a great man like David wasn't quite as different, don't you think?

Yeah...

2011-08-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

Stand still

2011-08-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened in the last few months. Too much to comprehend, in a way. Too marvelous to believe. BUT in a way I just feel like a spectator. I still feel as stuck as I have three years ago. I am kinda in the ready-set-go position and all I hear is: "stand still my child". UGH. People that know me know what I mean and what this does to me... When I go down a road and all doors just slam shut into my face - for years now... well I have decided I just sit down. Sit down at my saviors feet, hold still and listen. Not an easy thing for me. Not at all. This being said, I am overwhelmed with joy about my oldest. Her life is a prime example of what God can do if one fully surrenders. It feels like I can FINALLY start watching her grow, develop and blossom. Partially because her real life just started now with her letting Jesus take over the wheel and because she moved to an enviroment that allows her to. Here again, only insiders will understand what I mean.

On a lighter note - I have decided to stop eating animals. Well, Sushi excluded. Even there I take a closer look, though as to what I shove into my body. You may wonder, why I do not say "I have become vegetarian". Well, it is because I am just not vegetarian. I am not against eating meat I just direct and channel my rebellious nature towards rebelling against the exploitation of the resources of mother nature. If you look closely at how the meat commerce is being handled... maybe I am just a weak old woman, but it makes me tear up. Additionally to my believe that a human body is not made for daily consumption of meat. Not with the modern life-style on top of it. Sooo, I do not eat meat, but get eggs and honey from local people that take sweet care of their bees n chicken n all that. I am still trying to find a local dairy farm where I can get my milk, though. And the meat thing... or actually everything else, it is always how and how much... It may just be a drop on a hot stone, them not getting my money anymore but I know I am setting an example for my children AND feel better about not supporting something thats just plain wrong!

A time for readjusting

2011-05-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

I have not gotten to be on the computer a lot lately. Not just that my youngest wants to go fast, no, so many other things are happening that make me wanting to gather energy for what I think is coming my way.
My youngest, though, surprises me a lot. Walking and walking fast and stable at 9 months, starting to talk, name animals and make their sounds, using his potty are just small examples of how busy this little guy keeps me. I am constantly on edge about what he is going to do next that might be putting him in danger. We read books a lot and I try to keep his vivid mind busy with un-dangerous things. Often, this keeps me from doing anything else.
My children are my life-line, though. They keep me going even though everything else seems lost. They help me focus on making things better no matter how impossible it seems. They also help not to focus on hard feelings towards those that I allowe(d) to ruin my life one way or the other.
I am taking a break. A break to make things right for my kids and ultimately for myself. If I don't owe it to myself I do certainly owe it to them.
May God help me!

The Sugar pit fall

2011-04-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that I am cutting my sugars. I am a little outraged... The thing is, my oldest and I looked at amounts yesterday, not numbers. Oh, are labels SO misleading! For example: a serving size of cereal or granola is around 100g which is 1/4 - 1/2 cup. Now, if you look at the ingredients of that serving size, most cereals have over 10 grams of sugar and granola around 5 grams per 1/4 cup respectively. Here lies the irony: If you eat 1/4 cup of cereal that contains 10 grams of sugar (there are 12 teaspoons in a 1/4 cup and 10grams equals 2 teaspoons) you are actually eating 1/6 of your serving in sugars. That might not sound much but it sure looks like a bunch:

Now, if you look and see that there is an average of 22g of sugar (over 4 Teaspoons) in 8oz (thats a coffee mug 3/4 full) in 100% juice, you start seeing, how much sugar we consume!

Most people eat at least 1/2 cup of cereal (4 tsp sugar) with 1/2 cup milk (1 tsp sugar). Add 8 oz orange juice (4 tsp sugar) and that itself is a whopping
9 teaspoons of sugar! That is, in pictures, more than 4x as much as you see in that pile!!! Just for breakfast!!!

What do you think about this? I will edit this post with lunches and dinners so we can see the end pile of sugar in one day! (And you said you were scared of fat? Ok, fat will be next)

It's been a while

2011-04-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know but life has been so busy lately I barely get to do anything! My littlest has started to walk just in time for his 9months birthday and honestly I can not WAIT till he stops acting like a vacuum. The good thing is, he disciplines me to vacuum 1-2 a day just so he won't get his main meals off the floor!!!
I did quite a bit in terms of natural living, though. First of all, I cut my sugar intake! YAY! I figured out a bread that is solely based on Sourdough, water, different flours and salt. Sometimes I add seeds, of course. But that's it! When I say 'cut sugars' I mean I do not eat/drink anything that contains any added sugars. Artificial sugars I can't eat anyways, they make me throw up for some reason. So how does that work? My breakfast is homemade yogurt, (homemade) granola or the bear naked kind with the least sugar and some fruit. Raspberries, Strawberries, Blueberries, Grapes, Bananas, Mango, Oranges, Apples are constant guests in my fridge. For lunch I usually have an open face sandwich (of course the homemade bread) with a lil butter and for dinner I cook a meal. The first couple days were real hard; I am a chocolate addict by nature... After a week, I dared to eat a little bit of ice-cream, I thought I could have a treat, and got SO SICK to my stomach! We will see what happens. So far I have noticed an improvement in skin.

Another thing I switched to - finally(!!!)- is home made laundry detergent. I did the test with tide (yes, I will provide pictures soon) and was totally pleased. So, why did I switch to home-made laundry soap? One thing is, it makes me feel GOOD. Not just because I can make it but also because I KNOW what ingredients I use. It is just as it is with what I pout IN my body. I like to KNOW. What ever goes ON my body is ultimately absorbed by my skin and therefore enters my body, right? I don't know if it is necessarily cheaper than Tide, if you were to use only ONE TABLESPOON of it. The recommendation of how much to use is way exaggerated just to get the box emptied faster. I am not a chemist, so I don't know, what impact the ingredients have on the environment but, believing the internet its supposed to be better! Now, when I look at the ingredients, they are natural, but also too much natural can cause harm, so lets use common sense here. But I know it is natural and I know what it is. Trying to research the ingredients of store bought detergents, I do not get very far. They do not have to be disclosed to the consumer and in Charlie's soaps case it is also so that competitors don't ruin your profit. Home-made does in deed seem to be the lesser 'evil' ;)! Either way, I feel better about knowing what I expose myself to. That's just me! And if it happens to clean just the way the store bought does... HECK YEAH. Now, I have to say, with little children, even more so boy-children, I HAVE TO pre-treat stains. My favorite is actually a soap I get from Germany, that is made out of the gallbladder discretion from pigs. Very natural :)! Its a very simple process o top of it: Just as your stomach juice breaks down food, that pig-stomach-juice breaks down the stains and they rinse out clean. Tata. Reminds me I need to ask mom to bring me some :)

So here is my recipe:

1 box washing soda (55 oz ca. $2.77) (sodium carbonate, a natural ingredient. So, good for me BUT it does rise the ph value in the water because it is Alkaline. How much the MAKING of it impacts the environment, I don't know. It is also used to make regular soap)

1/2 box borax (76 oz ca $2.96) (sodium borat, also a natural occurring ingredient, it's toxicity and environmental friendliness is debated. So I don't know)

4 scoops oxiclean ($ 1.95) I take the sun kind/no bleach) (hydrogen peroxide. natural. Turns into oxygen, soda ash and water. Abselutely safe)

2 bars fels naphtha (I grate with food processor to get it real fine) (2 for $1.60) (sodium tallowate, used to make soap, sodium palmate and sodium cocoate or sodium palmate kernelate derived from palm oil and animal fat. Natural.)

Mix all ingredients. Use 1-2 Tablespoons, depending on load size. Since you only need a tablespoon, it lasts FOREVER. Almost! Costs: ~$9 and leftovers

Ok, and here the pictures. I treated them all the same but, because I did the home-made soap load last I ran out of pre-treatment (oxyclean) and the water wasn't so hot anymore. So actually Tide got a head start. I have a top loader about 6 years old and moderately hard water. I used for a full load 1 Tablespoon.


This is the sample washed with Home-made Soap. Above the mustard stain you see a faint "H" that I wrote with Ketchup. One side is untreated, the side with the fainter stains pre-treated with oxyclean spray.


This is the sample washed with Tide. Above the mustard stain you see a faint "T" that I wrote with Ketchup. One side is untreated, the side with the fainter stains pre-treated with oxyclean spray.

Both beside each other in comparison, pre-treated. Now remember I ran out of oxyclean on the home-made soap. Left is Tide, right is home-made.

Both un-treated shirts beside each other. Left home-made, right Tide.

Chagrin Valley Soap

2011-03-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

Finally I get to do my review on Chagrin Valley Soap! I have to say I have very sensitive skin. My scalp gets sore, red and open with most shampoos and for my body skin so called "organic" brands like burtts bee BURN! There are indeed organic brands that I can use but 1 bottle shampoo is roundabout $7 and the same again for conditioner. That lasts about a month or two depending on size AND I have to wash my hair every day. Now, at the beginning of the year I found a link on my dear friend Kristin's page while I was stalking her. All natural, handmade soap bars from www.chagrinvalleysoap.com

At first I was a bit leery, I mean, I am all about healthy and natural blah BUT I do enjoy some of the nowadays convenience and my all natural love has limits (I use make-up, and lots of it *gasp). My rule is, what I can't spell or pronounce or know what it is, should not be on my body or inside - for the most part. Of course when I read L-ascorbate, or ascorbic acid, that is a big word but I know what that is (Vitamin C), I am smart like that :D. Either way, I thought I give it a try and ordered a big bar of mud and clay shampoo soap, Sugar Scrub, Face Wash and Whipped Squalane. I read my hair needs to get used to it so I thought I need a big bar to give it some time. Plus I wanted to share with the girls. Now the first wash was amazing. The second not so great and from there on my hair was so waxy I wanted to cry. I brushed and my brush was white from all the soap residue. I was close to give up but had really liked my hair after the first was. I was torn. I am not a quitter by nature and really wanted to figure this out. Plus, my skin reacted all happy and junk ... so ...I wrote an email to Chagrin Valley. I know they have answers on their page but it wasn't really enough. We have moderately hard water and I know soap would ALWAYS leave some residue but there had to be a trick around that. For some time I did not receive an answer from customer service. So I googled and found some suggestions about baking soda and vinegar. Nothing clear, though. So I just took vinegar and baking soda with me in the shower, grinding my teeth because I am lazy and really DON'T feel like smelling like a glass of pickles! Who wants baking soda and vinegar in their bathroom??? As I said I am stubborn and like to figure out things, so I got my mud n clay bar all lathered up in my hair, dumped some (waaay too much as I found out later) baking soda over it, washed my hair, rinsed, poured white vinegar all over (also waaay too much, but heck its all natural, can't hurt, right?) and let it set while I shaved. Rinsed cold (cause it closes the hair and feels refreshing) and got out.

NOW upon exiting the shower and drying off, I already noticed that my hair dried WAY faster. It was SQUEAKY clean, silky and amazingly soft. My natural curls came out like when I was 10... ALL and I am saying ALL dandruff was gone!

YAY. For the most part.

As I said I am quiet stubborn. I love to support local and USA made products. I don't like to support imported, Chinese (or where ever) fabricated Wall-mart junk. BUT I hate bad customer service. Its like with Charlie's Soap. They get out of their way to make you happy AND are all natural and good for the environment AND have 100% money back guarantee. Or cottonbabies (BumGenius, Flips etc). Sooo, I stick with them!

Back to my hair: On one hand my hair was like never before. Even my hubby noticed "wow, your hair is sooo silky-soft and shiny!", I mean when even a guy notices that is so used to you that he usually doesn't even realize you are there... Quiet convincing, right? On the other hand the customer support...

That same day (about 3 weeks after my initial email, but he explained how many emails he has to go through, so that's totally ok) I got an email from them. Super sweet, awesome customer service, explanation plus a routine how to get my hair prepped for their soap. The wait was ALL worth it! (THANK YOU SAM):

What I think is happening is that your hair likely needs to go through

some adjustment periods. One major issue is that from both the water

like you mentioned, and the cleansers in store bought products, your

hair builds up residues. The chemicals (like Sodium Laurel Sulfate)

that are in shampoos are designed to "strip out" that build up.

When you switch to an All Natural shampoo bar, you no longer have

those chemicals to strip away residue (which in the end is a VERY good

thing). After a little while of use, you can begin to encounter some

of the issues you are mentioning.

What all of this means is that it can take time for both your hair and

scalp to adjust to the changes. There are a few things that you can

do to help for sure.

First, you need to eliminate the residue in one good cleanse!

Use your original "store bought" chemical shampoo and lather WELL and

rinse and REPEAT. Clean well. Then, you will want to make yourself a

Baking Soda Clarifying Hair Rinse! Check it out on our website:

http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/haircarehelp.htm#trouble%20adjusting

After you've done that, then I would start again with the bars.

When you do, you need to make sure you know your hair type and have

chosen some good bars for your hair! That too takes trial and error.

For example, the Carrot Milk shampoo IS very heavy. Unless your hair

is dry to begin with, it would likely be too much for you. I can't use

that one either. The Coconut Milk, however, is much more

'clean-rinsing'. So...

When using the bars, one thing that is very important is to LATHER

WELL! The lather is cleansing, and if you don't lather enough, you

are leaving the oils from the bar in your hair and that would

definitely make it look "waxy" as you say. Many people don't rub the

bar directly on their hair. They use a puff or a sponge to create

foam, and only use the foam to wash. It can be very helpful in making

the hair non-sticky.

What I did is that I used our bars for 2 weeks DAILY without

interruption. I use a vinegar rinse every 3-4 days or so to keep it

clean and without build up.

Then, around every 2 weeks, for 1 or 2 days, I used a "store bought"

shampoo (ie. your regular Herbal Essence or the like), so maybe 2 or 3

days a month. After a couple cycles, I was free of anything but the

bars.

I've found that doing that keeps my hair as clean as its ever been.

Finally, keep in mind that the hair does like change and that

sometimes it can be best to switch between a couple different shampoo

bar options.

I followed Sam's instructions and the following happened: My hair is amazing, wavy, silky-smooth and completely dandruff free. I only have to wash it twice a week, which makes a sample bar for $2.60 last almost forever. I have a small spray bottle from Sally's in which I have a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water 1:3 and even the person that hates vinegar did not notice any smell. Trust me, I do not smell like a jar of pickles! I also have a plastic shaker with baking soda in my bathroom. I use both 2 - 4 times a month depending. Try it, you wont go back. It is so much cheaper and your hair will be better than you ever dreamed of. Plus, I can use it on my baby!

Now to the other products. First of all it took my skin a couple weeks to get used to it. Do some research on squalane. It is amazing. Either way, I use the scrub 2x a week, the face wash in between and the squalane at least every night, sometimes, when I put make up on, as foundation.

Results: All my acne is gone. Even when I am on my cycle, it's all good. My scars reduced and the puffiness under my eyes diminished. I LOVE the texture and my skin is almost softer than my baby's. Here the list of ingredients:

Mud and Clay Shampoo Bar: Saponified oils of olive, castor bean, coconut, jojoba, sunflower, palm kernel, unrefined shea butter, rice bran; aloe vera; Dead Sea mud; rhassoul clay; filtered rainwater; sea kelp; essential oils of lavender, lemongrass, and lemon; and rosemary oil extract.

Sugar Scrub: Organic Cane Sugar; Organic Turbinado Sugar, Organic Demerara Sugar; Mango Butter; Grapeseed Oil; Avocado Oil; Jojoba Oil; Organic Palm Oil; Chagrin Valley Aloe soap; essential oils of lemon, bergamot, lavender and eucalyptus

Face Wash: Mango Butter; Avocado Oil; Chagrin Valley Aloe Soap; Rosehips Oil; Organic Virgin Palm Oil; Shea Olein; Grapeseed Oil; Jojoba Oil; Rosemary essential oil

Face and Eye Mousse (Squalane): Shea Olein; Squalane (Olive); Olive Butter; Jojoba; and organic Bulgarian Lavender essential oil

Those are definitely ingredients I can enjoy and my body thanks and rewards me for it every time I use them!

Klean Kanteen Sippy review

2011-02-11T06:41:00.000-08:00

Being exclusively breastfed, it was a torture to find anything my youngest would accept in his mouth (he knows what is good!!!). With Klean Kanteen it wasn't like he really had a choice, though lol. For that money, failure is unacceptable ;). I love that this is a bottle made from stainless steel - so basically 'unkaputtbar' (unbreakable) as we say in German. It graduates with him from a stinking cute sippy cup to a stinking normal sports bottle.
On top of it: It's dishwasher safe.

We started with the Avent 6+ months spout, which is not displayed in the picture. It is basically the same as the green (it comes with a set of the greens), but white, soft and flexible. The green is hard. There are a bunch of accessories for it as well. I read reviews, where parents wished it had grips. I found, my son has no issues to hold it. As we see, he does it in his sleep lol

I also do not put cold or hot liquids in it, only body temperature. So that is not an issue either. You CAN put icy liquids in and the bottle DOES get cold, but cute sleeves are one of the accessories you can buy for it. There was and is no smell, it is easy to clean, no chemicals, dishwasher safe, rugged, environmental, long-term use and best of all: baby liked it immediately! I have, so far, no cons and would highly recommend to every parent I like :P. Pottery Barn has really cute patterns and I probably get him another one with a print! Gotta have 2, anyways!

The price is OK considering the fact that you will use this bottle for a looooong time! It ranges anywhere from $17 - $19. So try it, and let me know what YOU think!

This Winter...

2011-02-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

...is killing me, literally. I don't know, but we have all been sick in a row! Maybe a week of relieve in between, but that's about it! The last couple of weeks we have been fighting the flu and, let me tell you it keeps a sick mom busy giving TLC to one kid after the other. My first boy and hubby started, than me and baby (which is THE WORST), my oldest and last but not least princess. Sick or not boy #1 and girl #1 had to be taken to the hospital for injuries they got while not being sick with the flu!!! As a mom one shouldn't just be paid for the 24 hour service, but also get some 'hazardous pay'...
Anyways, my sore throat-barfing-feverish kiddos didn't want to eat so needless to say I was delighted to hear they were willing to eat ... IF ...
I think, at that point I would have probably cooked anything to make them happy but all they asked for were 'smurf-noodles with prego and peas"...

All hubby was wondering was, what his 'polo-shirt wearing colleagues' would think when he pulls out this delicious looking meal! I personally wonder what would be next: Smurf-mashed-potatoes maybe? Or smurf-porridge with strawberry applesauce (one of their favorites, minus the smurf, of course)

Marriage - in love forever?

2011-02-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

Is this possible?
I have been thinking about this for a while. Coming from a surrounding (military) where divorce has an extremely high rate and having been through more "bad times" than "good times" you can't help but wonder.
Both, me and my hubby are coming from a broken home and different religions. We have never learned how a couple in love after years and years of marriage would interact. We know little to nothing about love and respect. I have to admit, we are not the usual couple that fell madly in love, had a totally romantic dating time, dreamy wedding with bunches of pictures to remember nor a magical honeymoon with endless gazing into each others eyes. Actually hubby likes it the way we had it. For me, its rather a slap in the face. I think, lots of us girls stay in a harsh contrast with what we like and dream of opposed to guys. I don't know a single girl that would dream of THAT. Whatever it was/is. We were rather marked by the pressure of knowing it might just be temporary since hubby knew he had to go where military sends him - usually back to the U.S. There was that weekend relationship, not knowing his family, there were deployments, a fast "if you are still there when I come back we take the leap", then taking the leap and moving. So, technically it doesn't matter if you 'take the leap' or 'fall in love' you end up at the same spot: At the pit of one an others hearts. Trust me, down there it looks like at the pit of a trashcan. Molding, yucky, nasty leftovers from other relationships, hurts, experiences and perceptions. And let me tell you, in this case it is all natural. No WB40, no oven-cleaner. You all know I like to do it all natural. But all those burned in things that make your finger bloody, trying to scrub it out sure make you wanna reach for oven cleaner. Spray and wipe. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. That's where the big misconception starts. People either think, once they are tired of scrubbing, they have fallen out of love and need to find someone new to get that feeling again or they become lethargic, feeling kinda good about the benefits and dabbling in their own soup disconnected from anything that once reminded of intimacy, pillow talk, snuggles in the morning and playful, fun interacting. Heck, in some relationships only one scrubs and then the spouse is totally surprised when their partner is tired of maintaining love by themselves. Makes one painfully miss those loving eyes on you walking through the room or having a best buddy you can share everything with.
Maybe it was never there. Maybe for some just an illusion or dream? My understanding was, yes, love changes over the years. But it should get deeper, hotter, from a flame to a whole blown-out chemical-factory fire! But if even those that claim to be your "soulmates" categorize their feelings into what is worth to waste them on and what not, won't take risks and bind their to conditions... What would be real?

I know it is possible, but I also know it takes two. And a huge amount of dedication and focus. Mostly on each other but also on joint projects.Well, actually it takes three, but that's a whole different blog and I would call it "Do relationships without Christ really work?"
Maybe it's character, personality, maybe even upbringing. Some people need "time-outs" from their partner or "me-times". Are you serious??? Hows that going to "bring together"? After a day apart where each has to work in different locations, I would expect my love finds r'n'r in my arms - or at least company. Maybe I am just immature but honestly I rather stay that way than ending up "doing-the-deed" out of pure routine or pressure release.
Maybe it is harder to be accepted for the service and convenience - in a relationship that is, than not to be loved at all, Maybe stepping out of the convenience and at least be able to do everything the way you like instead of having to yield your, can we say "roommate with benefits and a ring" different tastes would be the way to go? At the end our decision is plainly 'damage-control' and when we die we look back on our lives with not "the-best-evers" but "the-least-damage-possible"

Zorb II review

2011-01-26T13:33:00.000-08:00

I been on the Computer less lately because there is constantly something going on. Kids sick, visitors, Cars broken ... you name it! I had to get my BGs returned/exchanged and for that time wanted to be done with some diapers I can use while these are being returned and came up with a design I am totally in love with! No folding, stuffing or whatever, just snap in and go. I wanted something easy and fast and most of all wool. Easy and fast, because he is getting more and more active, wool, well you know I believe he'd sweat a lot more in plastic than a natural breathing material.

I basically made a wool shell with a snap-in soaker that has gussets. I put extra snaps on the shell to have the option to snap in additional soaker pads for nighttime. I have hemp and wool ones. The part that touches baby is the softest bamboo velour and it has been staying soft with each wash so far. The backing is also very soft cotton flannel, so are the gussets.To make the diaper trim I wanted to try the so much promising Zorb II. It was easy to sew and during daytime use it is amazing. Also easy to wash and quick to dry. However, for night time it did not work for us. Zorb makes liquid move around quickly, which is cool during day time, when baby is moving around as well. At night time, though, my LO just lays on the side or back for extended time and exactly on that spot it will just plainly flow out. The pee that is. Gravity, ya know? So, for day time I use the Zorb snap-ins and am very happy with them but for night time or longer car rides, I use my bamboo fitteds with hemp inserts. The beauty of my wool covers: I can use them with both.

Update:
I have recently made some awesome fitted diapers for nighttime with the following layers: inner: bamboo velour, sewn-in soaker: 2HCF-1 thick zorb-2HCF (HempCottonFleece), outer HCF. Now, I still have to snap in an additional soaker on to my wool cover, but the zorb core did reduce the bulk overall, and the HCF prevents the leaks! - wow... thinking about it that is 7 layers diaper, +2cashmere/wool soaker or 5 hemp/cotton + 2 wool cover :O. Thats11 or 14 layers respectively and the diper is full after a night!!! He does pee like a horse!!!

Ok, now, the photo-bomb.

Zorb II. The dimples is a thinner, the diamonds is a thicker one.

The snap-in

Side view: Looks pretty trim, doesn't it?

Side view. Still pretty trim, hu?

The Cover. I was amazed how well it fits. This cover was just a test-drive. My mom thought its pink, but I call it "candy-apple red" haha.It was a good deal and works wonderfully!

Cover with snap-in


And additional (cashmere) soaker snapped in for night time

Now, some "action-shots" :)

Now, this is my favorite wool-cover so far. I made a double rainbow top stitching on them! Just need a Hawaii-shirt to go with it and my lil vacation man is ready to roll!!!

I love this one, too! It also has rainbow top stitching :)

I also made a onsie out of the last diapers material. It turned out quiet redneck, unfortunately, but it will work. Right now its soaking in lanolin :). Redneck, because the top looks like a tank-top (muscle shirt :o) and I made the armholes a little too big haha.

My Girls

2011-01-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

This is a post about my girls. Just as the title says! I don't know how it is in the States, but where I come from every person is a queen/king once a year: on their birthday! My mom always used to do an exceptional job with that and I feel bad about how much I get limited in doing it. The whole day is one surprise after the other. It would be rude if you had to plan your own birthday! Now, I recently had a birthday and while nobody else ever treats me like a queen the girls, once again, sure over-did themselves. They had saved up their Christmas money and gotten me a VS-PJ and Fossil sunglasses. Which I both really needed. My eyes always hurt real bad when I'm driving and the sun reflexes in the car window in front of me.

Me in my birthday gifts

Don't take me wrong, I love my boys and everybody who knows me knows, I made my 1. boy in my head before I actually got him. He fixed a lot of things inside me, period. His sweet nature ALWAYS makes me melt. The 2nd well, you know, guys usually have the bad habit to make their first kiddo look like their spitten image - which my 1. boy does. With the 2nd, a mama has a bigger chance of finding something that reminds her of herself. I always wanted that. Tata now, every time I look at my last, it is as if my own eyes looked at me through a different person. Quiet 'magical', let me tell you and makes me have bubbles inside! BUT:

My girls and I are tight on a different level. They will always have a very special spot in my heart. Probably also because of all the great difficulties and obstacles we had/have to go through. Together. And only us three really know, how bad it was/is and how we really feel about things... I wondered the other day: If God gave me a chance to start all over with all the knowledge I have at this moment... would I do it again? Part of me screams very loudly "NO!" because of all the pain and suffer. And again, only those who know me know what I am talking about. But really, I'd probably do it all over again. I could not, and would not EVER want to lead a life without them. We are best friends, we talk about everything and we have a big mutual respect. Yes, sometimes I need to remind them, that I am their mom and not their buddy. Not always at least lol. I know there are not many kids that would take their own Christmas money just to get their mom a gift. They are not just wonderful, caring personalities, they are also very pretty and extremely smart. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) they don't see themselves that way. I guess that's typical teenager, though or probably typical for females. I am extremely grateful to see how they develop. To have fun scouting out, what a person likes and getting exactly that. Not going by "oh, the thought is what counts". That saying bugs me. It is just a lame excuse of how little one actually does cares. You don't just go and buy SOMETHING to show 'I thought about you'. That's a contradiction and a waste of money. In reality it just shows someone remembered you had a birthday/anniversary or what ever. That's all. If one really cares, they love to do the secretly figuring out what the person likes, getting exactly that and going bananas over how right they were about what they scouted out. Very rewarding. I loved that as a kid and still love to do that. I guess what I am trying to say is, I get bubbles inside me and find it 'magical' how much the girls feel like I do. They probably look very much like me on the inside. And that is another gift on top of all: They look like me on the inside.

Girls, NEVER EVER forget how much I love you and what you mean to me. I know I have to get in your butts here nad there, but hey, that's my job and one day you'll do the same with your kids. But never think I would do anything to be mean to you guys. YOU ARE MY WORLD MY EVERYTHING!!! Thank you, for making my birthday so special!!!

Spinach-filled crepes

2011-01-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

Now that I got the request, I will post one of my family's favorite dish. If I were you, I would make a double batch of the batter, add 2 TBLSP sugar the next morning, make some amaretto syrup and serve it as breakfast to my loved ones. At least, thats what I do!
Ok, here it is, with pretty pictures:

Crepe batter (double if you want to make enough for next-day breakfast!)
6 eggs
1 tsp salt
300g flour
500ml milk

Beat eggs, add salt and flour. SLOWLY add milk. And I mean real slow. Almost like a drop at a time lol. Thats how you avoid lumps :). You DO NOT want lumps in your crepe batter!
Now when you make crepes, the first one never turns out. That's why some people call it "the dog-treat". In my family it is "the kids-treat". Sometimes, I am the kid :D. You want to put you stove on medium and wait, till the pan is just that hot. Add only drops of oil or better, yet just rub over it with a (unsalted) butter stick. You need the batter to stock just fast enough that you have time to get it over the bottom of the pan. I use 1/4 cup and make a swirling motion and pour access batter back in my batter-dish.

Filling:
500g hamburger
1 onion
300g frozen spinach
1 pack Feta-cheese

Fry hamburger with diced onions and spices you like (I use a little salt and pepper and some Mediterranean spice mix). Fix spinach as package suggests. I heat it up with a couple Tbsps H2O, a cube of chicken broth and a little heavy cream. Add hamburger and heat up while cubing Feta-cheese. Stir under spinach-hamburger mix till cheese is heated but not melting, Fill crepe 2 Tbsp for each, spread and roll. Makes around 20.

Now, the next day, if you doubled your crepe batter, you want to add 2 Tbspn sugar and proceed as described above to make crepes. For the syrup I heat 1 cup of water with 1 cup of (brown) sugar. I stir till sugar is melted and then add 1 cup of amaretto. I bring to boil till potion becomes syrupee. Then I put it in a creamer. I like my crepes best with a tiny bit of butter, pour some syrup over and fold it up to let butter melt. YUM

Now, let me know how you liked it!

Snowdays

2011-01-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

So my sweetness' got a couple days off due to a winter storm. I was really happy because I enjoy hanging out with them. They are the best kids and I am thrilled about every minute we get. Its bad enough school is from 8-4! That's insane, in Germany we learn a lot more but only spent time in school from 8-2 and the younger kids noon or 1. That's one way to raise a stressed nation!!! But then, you know, I have never heard of "snowdays" till I came to the states...

Anyways, this is what it looked like this morning when I woke up. Kinda. Basically you are looking at a pile of snowflakes neatly stacked up on my patio table and in the background the treeline of our backyard. Its freeezing and definitely some weather for hot chocolate and a good book with the kids.

All I have to say today!

2011-01-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
Give me your life
Lust and the lies
The past you're afraid I might see
You've been running away from me

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
It binds you to me
It's a mystery

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
I'm the giver of life
I'll clothe you in white
My immaculate bride you will be
Oh come running home to me yeah *now*

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
and Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
and it binds you to me yea now now

Well you've been a mistress, my wife
Chasing lovers it won't satisfy
Won't you let me make you my bride
You will drink of my lips
And taste new life

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
it binds you to me

You're my beloved
Forever we'll be
Our love it unites us
And it binds you to me
It's a mystery

Cleaning Party

2011-01-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

Soooo, the kids had off, today because of snow! I had been planning on cleaning the house today and was quite relieved to get some helping hands. When we clean together it looks pretty much like this: Old clothes, hair tight back, Ipod on Pandora and plugged in the stereo system, with praise music blasting through the house. We go from room to room and get it cleaned. Every nook possible. Water fights and such. Usually we start with the bathrooms. We don't like cleaning those too much. All them nasties n stuff. Today we tried self made cleaner. 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/4 baking soda mixed in 2l water, some drops of essential oils for disinfection and delicious smell. I was surprised how well it worked. I admit, its not 409, oven cleaner or Lime-away, but it cleans! I sprayed all the grime and yuck on the oven, let it soak for a minute and it wiped right off. Afterward we went to pick up a couple movies from the redbox and a quick snack - we were STARVING. We had just worked through the day forgetting all about food. Now the house is yummi clean and we are exhausted. Time to sit back, drink a cup of hot chocolate and watch "inception" and "going the distance"

The best Diaper Covers ever. WOOL or longies. Or shorties aka soakers lol

2011-01-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

So, I have been working on more "Couture" for my littlest one. Let me explain: I have actually been cloth diapering all my kids but one. Cloth diapers are totally cool while I am even more into the all natural way opposed to PUL-diapers. For some reason being all environmental and excited about being able to live without man-made material, the PUL throws me off (PUL is the material that is made out of Polyurethane Laminate, it is basically plastic and prevents the pee from leaking through). I don't know but it doesn't sound too biodegradable to me. Plus it's stinky. However I do have some while I am stocking up on the REAL COOL stuff.
Ok, now, here it is: Wool. Wool is naturally fire resistant, can take 30% of its own weight in liquid and is, combined with Lanolin (the wax that is secreted by wool-bearing animals), water repellent, yet breathable. That is also, why the military uses it. Smart, hu? And no animal has to suffer because they don't get killed in the process, wool keeps growing and is 100% biodegradable. Wool, lanolized, has also antibacterial properties, breaks down chemicals and makes it therefore a very yummi smelling used diaper (yummi and used diaper in one sentence, THERE YOU GOT IT). The other day I held a used wool-soaker in front of my MILs nose and asked her: "what's that smell like?" and she said "fresh laundry". HA! YES! HA! KWIM??? That is the cool part. I sew the cotton diaper and then wrap it. incl. my baby, in deliciously, dreamy soft cashmere couture, also made by me! Hand-knitted or sewn, it is wonderful! Best pajamas ever, no leaks no nothing and my lil one is a HEAVY wetter. I mean heavy as in pees-like-a-horse!!! I use Cashmere, Angora, Baby-suri, Merino, lambswool, alpaca, mohair and or blends of all those and create baby's own fashion line. Even cooler is, that I only wash those diaper-cover-kinda-clothes once a months. Remember, the material breaks down the bacteria INCLUDING smell causing bacteria. All you do is fill a bucket with warm water and eucalan (yes, I only use that stuff. Lavender scented mmmm), dissolve a teaspoon full of Lanolin and mix it in with the eucalan-warm-water, turn garments inside out and gently knead in water, let soak (I do over night, it gets softer every time). Next morning gently squeeze it out, put washer on wool wash and spin to get excess water out and lay to dry. TATA. And no, since it is breathable, he doesn't sweat to death and has no rashes. Next thing I will make are just covers "pampers-style" for summer and try some tank-top-style onesies. Here is some of what I made, by far not everything. Like the hooded vests that are way too cute, lol.

I just feel so sick to my stomach

2011-01-05T05:43:00.000-08:00

I goggled "roman flagellation" after learning that all and every single juristic law had been broken concerning the trial of Christ. And there were 22... In that time, Jews could not sentence and conduct punishment anymore, it was done by the Romans. Flagellation was one punishment of Christ. Anyways, roman flagellation is done by a whip that has leather straps so long they wrap around the victims body and face. At the end are razor sharp, long pieces made from metal, sheep bones and such. The first whip would tear the skin off, the 2. and 3. muscles and tissue, down to the bone. It would rip eyes out and disfigure a face so badly that even family members weren't able to identify the person.The person would be close to hypovolemic shock caused by sever loss of blood. The self-flagellation whips are just plain cute compared to that.

I feel so bad, not just because this is plain horrible, but also because I dare complaining when things don't look that bright for me. And also because I am human and happen to do things that are considered 'sin'. Not because I like to but... you know... I am human. Now, technically I induce that punishment on him, or make myself guilty of it, because the reason he went through all that was to be the last sacrifice for sin. If I was without sin, I would not be part of the pain caused. UGH. Great way to start the day - I am sick to my stomach =(. Now when you google 'thorns in Israel', there is only one tree that could have been used for the "crown of thorns" they made. Just touching skin would make it bleed let alone HIT it on the head... It is from the Acacia tree, the same tree God ordered to make the Tabernacle with, the same that was the "burning bush" in the book of Moses, and interesting enough the stuff incense is made out of. That is what the thorns look like:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/fullsize/2128557590029319295xzmtEh

still feeling free to be bad? I sure don't!

The new year has begun

2011-01-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

And everything - pretty much - is new. The 1. day of the 1. week of the new year was also the 1. day of my hubby's new Job. It is amazing to see how God provides for us and gives us more than we could ever dream of when we give him our everything. In a time of an average of 10% unemployment and a nosediving economy we pour out our hearts in thanksgiving to what he has done in our family the last year. We are totally excited about this new, new, new year! I don't know if I will ever get used to bringing a man dressed like a manager coffee in the morning instead of a soldier and receiving a hug from a guy that is not in dirty ACUs and desert boots when he returns in the evening, him being addressed with "sir" instead of military title... DIFFERENT, let me tell you. He himself still picks up the phone answering with his military title lol.
Of course the kids did not like to go back to school. This was their common reaction:

"Nein man, ich will noch nicht gehn..." lol

He always snuggles up on top of the heater while he waits for the bus. It is still dark outside when they leave! BUT my days are quieter, now. Once I have adjusted to the new situation, I will start giving this house a well needed cleaning-job! It will probably take me 3 days, big as it is!

Happy 2011

2011-01-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

Ours started with an awesome surprise: My hubby's sister with her spouse and two daughters came visit. They live about 31/2 hours away. I didn't want the kids to know but in an age of constant facebook updates it happened anyway. They were bouncing off the walls the entire time and even our littlest one was hyped up by all the excitement in the air. Every 10 minutes somebody asked when they would arrive. I have to say my kids are totally nuts over their uncle when it come to male examples in their lives. He is way up there on their little minds. Unfortunately, I got only one picture with him and my oldest son, he did not want to be photographed :(! All the pics are - again, blurry from all the action and running around. They did not stand still for a microsecond. When they weren't helping, they played nerf war, chasing each other through the house, dancing red "laser-points" all over the place. We had FUN. A great way to enter 2011. And here is my photo-bomb :D:

My oldest son and his beloved uncle

My oldest niece making cinnamon rolls

Ready for the oven!

My other niece fooling around with my oldest son (What the heck, sour worms in the NOSE???!??? Her Mom told them they could shove strings up one nose hole and have them come out the other. Strings ok. But sour patches???)

busy busy busy

hubby studyinging the instructions on how to make cinnamon rolls LOL

Happy Face!

Busy face

More Happy Faces

My sis in law making way to small hamburger patties (Hubby:"I want 1/3 pounders with chesse!" - that carnivore!!!)

Christmas

2010-12-29T05:22:00.000-08:00

So Christmas has come and gone. We are standing at the door of a brand new year. I have learned a lot this year. One thing is, that all the plans I have made at the beginning of the year, did not come to happen. Actually, looking back, NONE of my plans ever happened. Either people involved just did not play along or unexpected mountains made it impossible. Am I sad about it? Not at all. I learned my lesson. The lesson is, that God has already a plan for me and since I am his' he will make his plan happen in my life. My adjustment is now, to quit planning and instead waiting for what he unfolds. The safest place to be is right in his will, is how our pastor worded it. So far its been marvelous. Unbelievable. That's why I wont talk about it. In a world that declares believers as weak and has no courage to acknowledge the impossible, supernatural and unseen, basically everything a human mind can't grasp, I won't waste my time. I know those who want to know already heard it from me or will hear it from me. I, for myself, lay in awe at the feet of my savior. Happy to know my life in the most capable hands, moved to tears over his love and grace I don't deserve.

Right around Christmas I was - from 2 sides - confronted with the statement, that Christmas is un-biblical. I have thought about it and have come to a - so far personal, not necessarily god-inspired, conclusion: Christmas, as celebrated nowadays by the majority of "Christmas-celebrators" is in deed un-biblical. First of all, nowhere in the bible it is written to do it. Second of all, has Christmas become a fest of self-glorification, with focus on material things, food and family. It's a shame. I dare say the majority of celebrators doesn't even recognize Christ as lord, maybe as savior, if that. That doesn't lead anywhere, though. If we want to celebrate christmas for the glory of god - and what is not done for the glory of god is considered sin - we need to start focusing on the christmas story. And the essence of it:
In the time Jesus was born, there were no stables. So Maria and Josef went to find shelters in the nearby caves outside of Bethlehem.That is why the angels came to the shepherds first with the order to find him, because they would know where to go. Those caves were used for 2 things: 1 was for the shepherds and their herds to find shelter. December is rain-season in Israel. It turns the desert to green but also is quiet wet. The other reason was, for the people to bury their dead. Plain and simple: tombs. To make things easy, they would store burial rags in those caves in which they would wrap their dead. Now, when the angels came, they gave the shepherds two signs: 1. He will be wrapped in diapers... uhm, not really a sign, right? Which baby is NOT wrapped in diapers? The original word here is rather "cloth-rag" meaning those previously mentioned burial rags. That's all Mary could find. The second was, the baby would be resting in a manger, which told the shepherds they wouldn't even have to waste their time looking in private homes but to straightly go to the animal shelters. Since that is exactly where they would find shelter from the rain for their live-stock they knew where to go.
So, the focus here is, that the new King, Jesus, was born wrapped in burial cloths. Very important symbolism, don't you think? And that is, also, exactly why I PERSONALLY celebrate Christmas. He was born to die for me. To save me. From the get go. An act nobody else has ever done for me nor will ever do. I am escaping eternal death and gaining eternal life because he was born... TO DIE. All the other babies before and after him were and are born to live. And because this makes him the best keeper of my life I gladly put it into his hands, also for the coming year. I will praise him in the storm, I will praise him in the sun. Just as I did in the gone-by year. I will remember, that the praise I give during good times is surely recognized but that my praise in impossible-times-to-praise are the ones that actually produce a scented sacrifice of the best scent he rarely finds. Christmas close to New Year shows me, who is worthy of leading my life. Every year new. Every day, every hour, every second. I celebrate him, not only on that day, but every day of my life for leaving his kingdom to become nothing and die for me. So with Downhere I sing from the bottom of my heart:

"How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me"

Happy 4th Advent!

2010-12-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

It's sunday and of course every sunday I need to bake cookies or brownies with the kids. But since it is a special sunday, we made christmas cookies! Butter cookies and vanilla crescents, oh what a delight! We also made some snicker doodles and then sat down to celebrate 4th Advent with reading, a hot cup of mocha, cookies and mandarines. It was my youngest first try of baking cookies so it was extra fun. Unfortunately there was so much excitement, that the kids bounced off the walls and never held still enough for an un-blurred picture... Even with my super-fast camera! Im going to post a photo-bomb anyways!

Checking out cookie cutters

Happy Faces :)

Cutting a cookie

with sissies assistance

Checking out flour

and dough for the first time!

Feels different, but tastes yummi!

Our advents wreath. I made it two years ago and am happy it is still holding up!

Celebrating 4th advent

The ultimate bread

2010-12-18T07:27:00.000-08:00

And I finally made it. For six months I have been trying around with mixed success but wasn't REALLY satisfied with any of the recipes I found and tried. I need to elaborate, I assume, about what I am talking about. See, I am allergic to commercial bought yeast. To find pure sourdough bread here in the states is in my area impossible! So I went on a quest - with the kids - to breed our own sourdough starter. Sourdough was developed by accident 1500 B.C. by egyptians. We thought what they can we can do as well! And we did. We called him "Chaka" and he lives, now in our fridge. Of course working with sourdough you will never get "wonderbread" but that's not what it is about anyways. It's healthier, all natural and what my taste buds concerns 1000x more exciting because you can add to the bread anything you like! In this case I chose roasted sesame and sunflower seeds. I always store two cups of Chaka in my fridge. One cup I use, the other I feed with 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water mixed and put 2 cups starter back into the fridge.

So here it is:

Since I made the recipe up myself I am extremely excited and hope my sis will get a blessing from it since it is really easy to make!

My ultimate Sourdough Bread

1 cup Sourdough starter

1 cup warm water

1 cup joghurt

1/3 cup sugar (or honey)

3 eggs

2 tsp salt

6 tblsp butter

~ 6 cups (whole weat)flour

Roasted sunflower seeds

Sesame seeds

Egg white

Take starter out of fridge and let warm up to room temperature. Mix warm water, eggs, sugar, soft butter and joghurt with wooden spoon. Add starter and stir. Add just enough whole weat flour to get a consistency of a thick batter. Let rest and roast seeds. I use as much as I like so use as much as you like. Or something else like roasted onions and bacon bits. Or olives. Maybe roasted garlic, you chose. That is the part where it gets exciting! Let cool. After 10 minutes stir in cooled seeds. Pour on countertop. Kneat adding the salt and just enough white flour till it starts pulling off countertop. Now remember, this is not commercial yeast. The dough has to be a little sticky so that the little critters can move. If you use too much flour, all you'll be able to use your finished bread for, is a door stopper or whatever else a rock would be helpful for. Adding the salt now is because for some say the salt should not be added during the autolyze. However, google that if you want to know more. Roll ball and let rise till doubled in size. Cut in half and form ovals that fit in a bread baking pan, seem side down. Let rise till doubled.

How I let it rise: Turn oven on 350 for a minute turn off, put breads in with light on.

Baking: (With baking stone) turn oven to highest setting (550F). Brush breads with eggwhite and sprinkle with (roasted) seeds (or whatever). Slash in middle (to prevent it from cracking in places you don't want your bread to have cracks at) and immediatelly put in oven and turn oven down to 350. Bake 20 minutes, turn oven down to 180 and bake another 20 minutes.

Let cool, take out of pans and let cool completely (if you can make it. I can’t. I HAVE TO eat a warm slice topped with butter…)!

Iced in

2010-12-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

So we got a little bit of an ice storm. Of course I had to go outside and take some pictures.

Thats what it basically looked like everywhere. People bought Walmart empty because they feared it was going to be as bad as two years ago lol. But it wasn't. Luckily the kids got two extra days off that we could spend as quality time together.

Short intro

2010-12-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

And this is my family:

Me... spontaneous, very smart. There is nothing I can't accomplish. Above all I know I can do anything through Christ. And no. I am against religion. It causes more harm than anything else. He is the answer, not (religious) theories. Besides that I am totally into photography, motorcycling and shooting. I love to be independent and as much self-sustainable as possible.

My beautiful oldest, smart knows everything. Not just my daughter but also sister-chick! Drama-queen above all.

My second is very pretty and a gymnastic natural. She is very caring and sweet but don't you mess with her!

My boys. Everything in a boy-packet a mom could ask for.

Getting started

2010-12-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

I have decided to blog. Why? Well, first of all I need a place where I can document my kids' and my own accomplishments. Life is a journey and there is so much to learn and discover. Secondly, I need to learn discipline. I am not very disciplined... One of weaknesses. My kids, of course like that. They take every chance to take advantage of it, lol. BUT I am their hero and that is a huge responsibility and a great honor.