Slacker! Confession time

So, I don't know if it's part of the ending nesting/organizing/cleaning out stage of pregnancy, or just time itself. But I've been thinking about things I've really let slide in the past year.

What have I let slide?
-My eating habits have gone downhill, I've allowed white flour and sugar into my diet.
-I haven't been eating as many nutritious raw fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
-I've started using shampoo and conditioner again, even though it's only 2-3 times a week.
-I've used pregnancy as a way to indulge in more food than I should, larger portions (even for being pregnant). That's probably why I've gained so much weight in past nine months. (50 lbs) Plus I've been eating bread.
-I haven't been exercising as much. We can blame that one on the last month of being on bed rest. But I had no good excuse prior to bed rest. It sure is nice to be able to move around again, even if it's still limited because of my growing baby belly. (we're at 38 weeks today)
-I've been eating more meat since I've been pregnant, whereas I ate very little before.

So what do I plan to do?
-Start with cutting out white flour, and soon to cut out all processed starches.
-Cut out cane sugar
-Push my hair shampooing back to once a week with baking soda/vinegar washings in between.
-Start moving more. That will increase after I deliver and then recover from birth. Thank goodness it will be summer still and easier to get outside and move.
-Eat more vegetables, especially green veggies. Which I've already been doing, as the garden is plentiful this summer.
-Eat less meat, but still get adequate protein in my diet, about 50 grams per day, which is about 17 g per meal. Wow, that seems like a lot. I think I need to focus on this goal more!

Those are my starting points. Of course I'll soon have a newborn to welcome into the world, and a new rhythem for the family, but it's all doable with time and patience.

Other health goals.
-Get my kids to eat organic peanutbutter
-Get the whole family off of white flour. We actually don't use it that much, but we still do some baking with white flour. We converted to sprouted grain bread a few years ago and it's helped with gluten sensitivities.
-Eventually convert to all glass storage dishes instead of plastic tupperware.
-Make our own medicinal tinctures for the cold/flu and immune support, rather than store bought medications. Half our family rarely takes medicines, the other half thinks over the counter drugs work.
-Get a new water filtration system.

Fourth of July update

Well, we were hoping to have the baby this weekend, but it hasn't happened so far. I think the baby is making us wait now, since we made it wait by being on bed rest. But the great news, I'm off bed rest and off the medicine to stop contractions. This are progressing, but slowly now. I can have as much patience as needed, as long as I'm able to move and be off bed rest. So we spent the weekend tinkering in the garden. The weather has been great and my wonderful husband has kept all of the garden growing while I was on bed rest for the past month. Now I'm able to get outside and do what I enjoy doing. Although I'm a bit slower and heavier then normal.

Watering my strawberries in the raised strawberry bed.

Garlic and onions. You can see the tips of the garlic turning brown, they are almost ready to pull up and cure.


Here are our 6 week old chicks, these are a top hat breed.

Top hats with a few americaunas on the left

This one still needs a good name.

Watering the other strawberry bed with the meat chickens under it in white.

The new herb bed that was put in this spring. In the background you can see the temporary/movable fencing we purchased this year for the chickens so they don't get into all the gardens. They will only have to be confined to this area until the gardens are finished producing, then they get free range of the yard again.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Third Grade Graduation!

We had an official Third Grade graduation ceremony today. Here are the kids receiving their third grade diplomas. Now onto summer break!!

I hope we'll still be home schooling next year. Things are really up in the air right now for the schedule for next year. It's all pending cooperation from their biological dad.

We hope and pray we'll be able to continue on the home schooling path we've been following for the past few years.

6/14/11 update

I'm bored out of my mind on bed rest, especially on Tuesdays when the kids are gone and we aren't home schooling. The kids have adapted well to home schooling in the living room with me reclined way back on the recliner, and the little white boards are really coming in handy.

There is so much I want to do, but I can't. My hubby has adjusted now and isn't quite as stressed about having to take on the world solo right now. He's sleeping more and doing a wonderful job, I'm so proud of him. And our friends and church family have been so supportive and helpful in running the kids to and from their activities, and helping out with meals and visiting me to curb my boredom.

The baby chicks are getting big, the top hats are getting their head feathers. The garden looks ok, although we wish it were growing better. I look out there and see all the transplanting and thinning that needs to be done, but alas, I can just look.

Baby in the oven is doing well. We're at 35 weeks this week. The plan as far as I know is that I'll get to go off bed rest and the terbutaline medicine that's holding my contractions at bay, on July 1st. And if my body reacts the way it did last round (10 years ago with the twins) then the baby will be arriving soon after going off the medication. So it looks like we'll be having a 4th of July weekend baby. We're excited! The reality of it is that we're only 17 days from going off the medicine. Which is very soon! Except for a few minor essentials like a padded changing pad for the changing table and some nursing pads, we're ready for the baby's arrival!!

What's complete torture?

Nesting in the last stages of pregnancy and being on bed rest for 4 weeks!
Uggg!
We're all holding on here, thank God we have wonderful friends and a supportive church family to help us out.

Bluegrass Festival May 2011

Here are some pictures from the Bluegrass Festival last weekend. The on stage pictures didn't turn out very well, as I was zoomed in a lot, the lighting was hard, and people were moving around. The video should be ok. The kids had a wonderful time learning to play with different musicians and having lessons. The performance was held in front of 150-200 people.

My wonderful Birthday

I had a wonderfully relaxing birthday yesterday. The kids and I went to Olympia to play in the park and do some errands. Then the whole family planted seeds in the garden, my wonderful hubby made me a yummy dinner, and the kids topped off the evening by making strawberry shortcake for dessert.

And to make my day even better, I had three people tell me while we were out and about that I was a beautiful pregnant woman. I think any mom knows that sometimes, expecially at the end of pregnancy, you don't always feel so beautiful. Women take care of other women by letting them know that they are beautiful, even when they're plum and uncomfortable. What a blessing!

Belly pics to come soon, I need to clean up my pictures on my camera and get them downloaded. Week 31 this week, and time is ticking!

A good Quote

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/265723


I couldn't cut and paste the quote directly onto my blog, so I had to attach the link, I hope it works.

If you haven't seen or read any books about Tasha Tudor, you're missing out. She's a wonderfully inspiring old woman. She passed away in 2008, but her legacy lives on in her art work and books. The few books I've found at the library about her life I tend to just look at all the wonderful pictures.

Fruit Trees on a small scale

We live on just under one acre in town, but that doesn't mean we can't grow a lot of our own food. I wanted to jot down a list of all the edible foodscapes we have on our place, not including of course the vegetable gardens.

The fruit trees we have are all semi-dwarf varieties to conserve space and resources and the vines are all trained to maximize space.

3 peach trees
1 fig tree
2 pear trees
1 cherry tree with three types of cherries (grafted)
3 plum trees
3 apple trees
1 goji berry bush
6 blueberry bushes
blackberries
2 different raspberry patches
strawberries, (22'x4') raised bed and 2 (4'x5') raised beds
white grape vine
kiwi vine
Still on the hunt for a local resource of marionberry starts

Why not put in edible landscaping? It costs about the same as regular landscaping trees, yet you get to eat the product of your growing. Kids and adults alike just love to browse in the summer and fall and partake in the yummy, nutritious, fruits of your labor, literally.

As the prices of fruit goes up, and the quality of fruit goes down, you'll be able to rest assured that you're providing the best for yourself and family.

Create your own paradise at home!





meat chickens
meat chicken area under raised strawberry bed 22'x4'

Lupine with rain drop

Daffodil flower near our blueberries

Garlic and onion bed 22' long

strawberries that have been covered in a mini greenhouse,

already in bloom and it still freezes at night

blooms on a peach tree

Living Fences

Living fences are usually easier and cheaper to build and maintain then a typical privacy type fence. They can also be used to supplement an existing fence for extra protection, privacy, or food. We had a wonderful weekend planting new trees around the parameter of our little plot of land. Above our large garden area, on the north side and near the road we planted a fast growing hemlock hedge. The little trees are only a foot tall right now, but they are supposed to grow 1-3 feet per year and make a dense hedge. Already we noticed, while putting in the trees, that someone had cut our fence with wire cutters. We aren't sure if it was to pet the goats when they were there, or if it was in preparation of the ripening plum tree right on the other side of the fence. Oh the joys of living in city limits. Don't get me wrong, I want a place where people can come visit and learn about urban gardening, etc, but I also don't' want people stealing our food, damaging our property, and invading our privacy when we want it. In the small front/lawn area near the front of our house we put up a hedge of evergreen hedges intermixed with Rose of Sharron tall shrubs. I sure hope I end up liking the Rose of Sharron, if not I'll plant in more evergreen hedge trees. In the backyard near the river we used fast growing poplar trees and willows to create a living gazebo. It will also be a few years in the making, but we (especially the kids) are excited to watch it transform. It will take some pruning and training, but the end result should be a igloo like living tent. We even have an arched willow entrance. Over the next few years we'll have to train the trees to do what we want and bind them together on the cross points. We even put the poplar trees an even space apart in order to hang a hammock on them. The total diameter is about 8 feet across. The next step is a Marion berry living fence in the backyard, on the east side of our little apple orchard. It will go along a fence we share with the neighbors. Oh yes, we also added a few flowering vines along another fence on the east side of the raised bed garden, where we have a neighbor's garage within reaching distance, and also some flowering vines up the kids' tree house. Along with useful planting we also took the time to put in some astheticlly pleasing flowers. Along the enge of the river we put in a 50 foot bulb and flower bed. We planted about 100 new bulbs in the pst week, some for spring blooming (which of course won't bloom this year) and more for summer blooms. When things get growing better I'll have to include a picture or two.

22 weeks along and going well

Baby Pratt update

Ok.......we finally went in for an ultrasound.

And...........













We're having ONE!!!





At first I was bummed because I really wanted twins again. But then I though, WOW, this is going to be easy, especially with all the help I have at home.



And we're also farther along then we thought. So we're actually at the beginning of our 5th month.

The new official due date is July 22!

And no, we're not finding out what we're having, so don't ask. :) Green will have to be the color of choice until the little one is born. One good thing is that there will still be a lot of garage sales to go to after the baby is born.

Update 2/24/2011

I haven't posted in awhile. Our home computer was getting work done to it and we didn't have it for a week or so.

AHHH, it's a snow day outside. Yes, it's odd for us to have a snow day the end of Feb, but non-the-less, winter is still here. My poor onions, garlic, and bulb flowers are all growing and now they will probably go back to sleep for a little while. As the snow falls outside we are inside planning our garden and looking at which seeds and baby chicks to purchase for the spring.

Homeschooling goes on even though the snow falls. But it also involves writing about the snow, playing board games, and sledding (for PE), and of course doing our studies with warm hot cocoa and marshmallows.

As far as baby news goes, we are measuring farther along then anticipated, so our midwife recommended that we get an ultrasound done to see whether we are having twins again, or are just further along then we thought. Either way it will be great news! Tomorrow is the ultrasound, so we'll know more then.

That's all for now!

Martin Luther King Jr Day 2011

Here is Will's lapbook he did on MLK day.

We've finally hit our three month mark

Here we are at 12 weeks! Yippy, we made it to three months. Now things should be getting easier....??? For a little while anyway.

1/6/2011 update #1

Here are the kids doing their oral presentation on some of the animals in Australia. They did about ten minutes each, but we only filmed their favorite animal.

They drew the continent, read about each animal learning about their habitats, characteristics, eating habits, breeding habits and other interesting facts (four animals each), put sticks representing the animals' different habitat ranges, wrote a page for each animal, drew the animal, and then did the presentation. They had a lot of fun with this project and will be choosing another continent to do more animals soon.

For some reason Will's presentation wouldn't download to attach.

Eating habits

Ok, since becoming pregnant my eating habits have changed a lot. I went through a lot of effort to cleanse and detox my body pre-conception to get it ready. In doing so I ate mostly RAW foods and was feeling wonderful.

Well then rolls around week six or so and the nausea sets in. All I wanted was a chicken sandwich from Burger King and french fries. If you've never been pregnant and craved french fries, then you don't know what it's like. It was pure bliss. Now normally, I am repulsed even thinking about a fast food chicken sandwich and fries. My body was really craving protein. I also couldn't even look at salad without getting sick, and that was the same for most vegetables. My diet as of lately has been egg sandwiches with cheese and ham in the mornings, toasted bagel and cream cheese for lunch, or grilled cheese sandwich, and of course various other snacks throughout the day and night.

I'm finally now to a point where I'm not feeling as sick and I notice that now I'm actually craving nutrient rich foods. I had a smoothie the other day, and salads and veggies with dinner. I'm still making sure I'm eating a lot of protein right now, as my body is craving it. I go through at least three eggs a day.

The main point is that I'm not being hard on myself for not sticking to what I thought was the healthiest diet for me. I'm still trying to keep things balanced out, but I'm not worrying about eating all or mostly raw, or even vegetarian. I know this is the most important phase of life to be eating healthy, but moderation is more important to me right now.

As I'm feeling better I'm sure I'll be enjoying my green smoothies daily again, because of course the little one inside of me will soon have taste buds and I'll have to do my best to get them enjoying yummy fruits and vegetables.

Our Christmas Surprise!

Well, the big news is that we found out we're expecting!! And not a baby chicken, or duck this time, and actual human!

The tenative due date is August 2nd, 2011.

More to come later I'm sure, my time on the computer is limited, as it makes me feel sick.

New Basement Office remodel

This is what we had to start with.

Looking towards the window

The finished library section and my reading nook!

the same window there on the right. We still need to finish the calendar white board on the wall and have an electrician come in and put in a light switch (so we will no longer have a light bulb hanging in the middle of the room).

It's not heated, but it's still cozy. I'm also going to make some curtains for the window, they will be of heavy fabric to help hold in the heat. It's so nice to have a little retreat area to hide and read, do household management, etc.

Hailey playing at the Senior Center

Hailey and her teacher are playing "Down in the Valley" for an audience of about 50 people in November. We try to have Hailey do a performance once a month at the Senior Center in downtown Shelton.

Will and Hailey playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" together.