I'm back to my old self again!

Posting here is hit and miss, eh? (That's my yooper coming out)

Well it has been an exceptionally busy week with extra appointments and stuff. Stuff like me deciding I should throw my mom a birthday party on Friday night. I decided it Sunday :)



So, my mom is such a giving person, and never expects anything for her birthday or Christmas nor acts like she wants anything- EVER! Because she has been such a huge blessing to me the last several months I really wanted to do something nice for her.



Friday night my sister's family will be here as well, so 6 adults and 7 kids will be piled in our home. The weather is supposed to cool down quite a bit, so I decided to make Ina Garten's cheddar corn chowder, sausage dogs with creamy mustard sauce, a cheese ball with crackers and apple slices, mulled cider (crockpot) and an insane chocolate layer cake decorated with candy corns and pumpkins.



And if you know me, there will be a fall tablecloth, pretty little pumpkins and mums, birthday candles on the cake and possible balloons and streamers.

Thoughts on Halloween

I was very staunch about absolutely no Halloween anything for our family. I am amazed that people get so excited about it! I mean honestly, let's compare it to Christmas.

Halloween- celebrate ghosts, monsters, skeletons, DEATH!!! Nasty, evil things like witchcraft, blood and guts, and just plain horror.

Christmas- hope, love, giving, joy, light...

The only thing in common is candy and the seasonal movies that come on TV.

So, we don't do Halloween. However, we love fall and decorating for it. My girls adore dressing up in beautiful dresses and anything princess/fairy related. And for some reason, I really like Jack-o-lanterns, even though he isn't totally innocent either...I still like them though.

I also dislike them getting lots of candy. They just do not understand moderation or sugar crashes.

Dilemma! So, I do allow costumes. In fact I really wish I could make them some this year, but it probably isn't going to happen. I did let them go 'trick-or-treating' last year to our surrounding neighbors' homes. Lucky for us, this year, our annual church hot dog roast is on Halloween, so we don't have to do anything regarding trick or treat. Still, they will be decked out in their princess rig unless it's cold. I admit, I was glad we didn't celebrate Halloween as a child (well we did until my mom found out the origins), but I did wish I could dress up and get candy.

So, because we take joy in giving our children joy, they will get costumes and a moderate amount of candy provided by the church I'm sure. If we did celebrate Halloween and get all into the scary stuff, we would have an awesome place for a haunted house/woods thing. Saturday I finally explored the rest of our property, and it's like a little forest back there! There's lots of low hanging branches and vines that would probably look pretty creepy done right.

But, we don't, so instead we'll clear the back out, and I have Christmas light plans for the little forest in the front yard! So exciting :)

Healthy and tasty Bread, plus other stuff

I am so excited! Yesterday I experimented with making 100% whole wheat bread and it turned out perfect! I tried it last week, but used the bread machine to mix it, and it turned into a brick :(

I got the original recipe from Heavenly Homemakers blog. Here is the original:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

6 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1 ¾ cups warm water, divided
1/3 cup honey
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
1 t. sea salt
3 T. melted butter

You soak half the flour in almost all the water for 30 minutes, activate the yeast in the rest of the water, then combine all ingredients, adding the rest of the flour to get a good dough, then knead till smooth and elastic, set to rise for an hour or so. You know how to do bread, most everyone I think.

Well, if you know me, you know I altered the recipe, of course :)

I didn't have honey, so I substituted molasses. I upped the salt to 1 Tablespoon, upped the yeast to 1 Tablespoon, added 1 T wheat gluten and 1 T soy lecithin, and while I was adding the rest of the flour to make a dough, Samantha woke up wanting to eat, so I tried entertaining her in the bouncy seat while I hurriedly kneaded the dough. Finally she wasn't waiting any longer so I just covered it and left it. After about 1.5 hours, it had risen, but I had to go somewhere. So I punched it down,kneaded it better this time, made into a pretty ball, put it back in the bowl and covered it, then stuck in the fridge. When I got back and hour later, it had risen perfectly. I shaped it into loaves, put them in oiled pans and let rise, almost 2 hours till risen enough.

It baked up nicely, not too high, and it's soft and the crumb is nice and even all throughout the loaf. By the way, the soy lecithin helps keep the bread soft, like storebought bread soft, and is a natural dough conditioner. The gluten helps the whole wheat rise better. Oh and the pre-soaking of flour also activates and breaks down the gluten.

So, to recap the recipe:

6 cups whole wheat flour

1-2 cups water, I had to use more

1/4 cup honey or molasses

1 T sea salt

1 T wheat gluten (I'll add more next time, but that was all that was left)

1 T soy lecithin

1 T yeast

3 T butter, melted

Soak cups flour in 1.5 cups ore more of warm water. Let sit for 3o minutes. Combine remaining water, sweetener and yeast and allow to stand 5-10 minutes or until foamy. Melt the butter, and add it along with the lecithin and salt to liquids, then add to soaking flour. Sprinkle on the gluten and add enough flour to create a soft dough. Knead 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic, cover and let rise till doubled in size.

Punch down dough, knead a few minutes, shape into ball, allow to rise again till doubled.

Butter/oil two loaf pans. Shape dough into loaves, put in pans and allow to rise until the top of dough is level or slightly above loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees 30-35 minutes.

Cool, then slice. I wrap one loaf in plastic wrap and freeze it and keep the other out.

Because it takes awhile to rise, the prolonged soaking time helps to break down the whole grain and make the nutrients more available. If I used buttermilk or something similar, that would make it even more nutritious.

Let me tell ya, I have made so many whole wheat bricks in my past I could fill the deep freezer! Dough enhancers are awesome!

I am still struggling with organization. I am backed up on the laundry again and the floors are looking pretty sad. Yes, I put baking above cleaning. But it makes me feel good, and it's productive. I'll get to it :)

I haven't started my eating plan yet. I've barely had time to read the book since my husband has been working late so much, there's no extra hands to help with other stuff.

Alright, since I can't help but be real and honest on my blog, there is something going on. Sunday we prayed over the baby, as it appeared she had reflux. She started doing better. Well, on Tuesday I noticed her not wanting to eat and it was really a struggle to get more than 2 oz of milk down her gullet. So, I decided to call the doctor and let him know how the soy stuff went and how she was doing. He felt we should try zantac.

So, here's the deal, I am sitting in the chair trying to feed her and she's resisting it. In my heart, I just felt I should do what the doctor says and am at peace about it. I called my husband and we both agreed to give her the medicine. At least then we would know for sure.

Did God fail us? Hardly. Sometimes when we are standing and believing on several things, we get stretched thin, and it's hard to remain strong. In this instance, God wants us to use medicine. We're fine with that. When my husband was sick, he used medicine while we were believing for his healing. Using medicine isn't in place of the healing, in some instances, it's the catalyst to healing. There are Christian doctors out there (which hers is an awesome one) that God uses to help people. A lady at church was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Her and her husband prayed about the right course of action, and God told them to do the treatments. She did and at first was very ill, but then it got better and better and finally it was gone. But they stood firm on what they were led to do by the Lord. It's not always the same every time.

So, I also felt totally released in my spirit from making her formula. Before I felt like it was so vital and that if I didn't do it I was a bad mom. But, that moment, I instantly felt calm and that it would be fine.

Samantha is taking 1ml of zantac three times a day, is using Carnation good start formula with probiotics, the Dr. Brown bottles and rice cereal twice a day. (to weight the formula and help it not slosh in her belly) She spends a lot of time upright- in the bouncy seats, the swing, the carseat and we elevated the mattress in her cradle. She is happy and smiley and adorable. She has days where she's really hungry and times when not interested. I just monitor how much she eats in a day, and if we're lacking, I spoon feed some cereal and sometimes she'll want the rest of the bottle. It may take a few weeks for the zantac to work- it helps the acid from coming up into her esophagus and keep the sphincter closed so it isn't coming back into her throat.

So, there ya go. I might get a lot of flack for one, not breastfeeding for long, and 2, for giving medicine, and 3, for feeding solids early. Do not judge lest you be judged is all I have to say :-) You gotta do what works, even if it isn't popluar.

Better?

Much better don't you think? I loved the other background, but the text part was just too dark I think. This is much easier on the eyes :)

New Eating Plan

Last week I blogged about all the confusion I was in regarding how to eat to lose the extra weight I've been carrying around for several years. I wanted to do something that worked without compromising my standards of food quality.

Well, I found it! I don't even know how I got there- it was a complete accident or miracle. I choose to believe God led me to it since I've been praying about it for awhile. Anyways, oddly enough, the plan is written by a body builder and it's called The Truth about Abs.

It's an ebook detailing basically how to lose belly fat and make your ab muscles stand out. While that's good and all, I just want to get rid of the fat for now! So, I paid approximately $4 for the 21 day trial and read as much as I could. I was SO impressed! His 'diet' is filled with raw milk, quality fats and meats, real food! Yea!!! So many of these types of people do not eat very healthfully. I know I've checked into several.

He also gives lots of tips on how to find your best metabolic rate, as in maximizing how fast you burn food and target it. Half the book is pictures of him showing the exercises, which I am delighted to learn that I do not have to go to a gym or run myself ragged doing aerobics hours each week. No, all I need are some dumbells and 30-45 minutes three times a week. Wow!

I was really impressed with the sincereity and honesty he presents, not to just make money, but to really help people. To find out more you can google the title of the book, The Truth about Abs.

So, basically I am supposed to eat 5-6 meals a day, balancing the amounts of protein, fat and carbs. If I want to lose really fast, then most of my carbs should be fruits and veggies. But it's not required, it's up to me. I get to eat real eggs with the yolks, real whole fat yogurt and fruit, and it's even recommended to drink tea! This is great!

Anyways, I haven't started it yet because we are out of food and that's what I'm doing today. I will get stocked up and prep as much as I can in advance so it's easy for me to eat on time. I'll let yall know how it goes. I m-i-g-h-t take a picture and chart the progress. That's scary though, although I did write an email and tell them that if I get a tight waist they'll want to put me on the cover of the book! Brave huh?

Ok, gotta get the girls ready and get out the door!

P.S. Samantha is sleeping all night now. At the age of 8 weeks, and really, more like when she was 6-7 weeks. Babywise works again for the 4th time!

Feeding Issues

I have been so busy with our little baby. The past week she started decreasing the amount of food she was eating. Then she starting fussing through feedings, get really burpy and gassy, spit up more, and finally just started totally refusing to eat. She eat about 1-2oz, then cry when we burped her and tried to give her more. She didn't fuss afterward, just looked around and smiled and such. It was really a puzzle.

I took her off the homemade stuff and tried a commerical formula with a lot less lactose and broken down whey protein. She did a little better, but then did worse. Finally, after going all night with only about an ounce of formula and then refusing to eat early that morning, I called the doctor. They wanted to check her out.

She was gaining weight well, she was 10lbs 1 oz, and fairly happy. No sore throat or anything, but based on what I described the doctor felt she had reflux. He gave me SOY formula. I didn't want to give it to her, but I wanted her to eat! So I did and she started eating better. I researched reflux in infants all day Saturday and she had all the symptoms and had had it for awhile I just didn't recognize it. She was doing better with the soy that day too. (wow that stuff stinks!)

Well, here is where my faith comes in. See I was praying all throughout the pregnancy that she would not have any digestive issues. So, this was really a surprise. I was stressing out about it and what to do because I didn't feel right about the soy. All night Saturday night I was stressing about it. And then I was like, duh! Do what you've been preaching to everyone woman! So we prayed over her and began standing on the Word for her healing. I felt that we should have our church anoint her with oil and pray as well, just to support me and because the Bible says that'... if any two agree in my name it shall be done." ( I'll have to find the reference later)

She didn't eat very well at all the rest of the day. So, I felt in my heart that I should act as if she was completely healed. I got a few ingredients for making a slightly modified formula, a Dr. Brown's bottle, came home, made it up and fed it to her and she loved it. She ended up drinking 3 bottles worth in 4 hours time!( 6pm, 8pm, 10:30 pm) No spitting or fussing or lots of burping. A sweet happy baby enjoying her food is what we have.

I praise God and give Him the glory. It wasn't enough for us to manage her symptoms so she didn't have to take medicine. I didn't want to have to try all different formulas or put lots of rice cereal in her bottle. I had already tried almost all the types of bottles and nipples at the store. (except Dr. Brown!) I wanted her complete and whole just the way I had been praying and believing. I wanted the best, and I can have it because His Word says I can. She slept all night, woke up at 6am and drank 4oz happily, no spit up, and laid down next to me and went back to sleep.

Big relief!

My girls are out of school today for a teacher thing, so we're all at home together and it's cloudy, rainy and wet outside. We're all in the jammies and they're watching Diego :) We'll get around here in a minute and get dressed etc. Maybe I'll get some pictures!

Going Deeper, Topic 2

I have been rather silent on my blog the last week or so. It's not entirely because of lack of time, but rather, I've been putting my time into something else. I just don't know exactly how to put it all into words.

For long time 'readers', you know my stance on the Bible. We are told we must walk by faith and not by sight. We must look at what is unseen and call things that be not as though they were. I believe that the bad things that happen are from Satan, not a tool God uses to teach us things.

The Lord has been bringing me deeper and deeper into understanding faith and His Word. More and more is being illuminated to me and it's awesome. I had no idea how much fear I dealt with, because it was so subtle! Fear is the opposite of faith- fear drives it away.

I also believe in our words and the power they have. I did a study on this down in the left hand column called "Faith and Words". I don't have a lot of time to review, but basically Jesus says we can have what we say. How many people have you seen talking about something, like when they were a kid that they were going to be someone special or live somewhere particular someday, and they did! It's because they spoke it over and over again, and drove towards it, and they got it.

Mainly I want to talk about fear and the authority we have. Many times I have tried to stand in faith about something like healing, but still felt a lot of fear or anxiety inside. The fear was because in my mind I was honestly thinking, " I hope it works." or " What if God doesn't do it?" This is so off. What we have to realize is that God already did it.

In this verse that we know so well, everything we ever needed has already been taken care of.

" For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. " John 3:16-17

Saved in Greek is " sozo"~ Definition of sozo: to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

a) one (from injury or peril)

1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health

1) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue

b) to save in the technical biblical sense

a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment

b) to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance

Other words for " be saved" ~ 'save, make whole, heal, be whole'


So, Jesus already made us whole and healthy. It's a matter of continually standing on that and being fully persuaded that we are healed until the enemy runs off. If we keep it in our head that we already know the ending, he is already defeated, and we are filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. What can he do to us?

Many think, well that was Jesus, He was God. That's why He was never sick or poor etc.

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:19

"... assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17: 20

Sounds like Jesus empowered us with the same that He had.

So anyways, God has really been opening my eyes to a lot of little things I say or think that are a hindrance. And like I said before, I didn't realize how much of it was rooted in fear! Just in the last week, I have been miraculously healed from a burn, back pain and a bladder infection. I'm talking searing excruciating pain one minute and gone with no visible effects a few minutes later. All because I remembered what Jesus already did, prayed it and praised Him for it until it was gone.

Another thing we've dealt with is pests- mosquitoes and we heard that scorpions are bad around here. Well, Jesus gave us authority over those. We prayed in faith and not one person got a mosquito bite and there are no scorpions.

So what about finances and the current economic situation? First of all, we're in God's family if we are believers.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly." John 10:10

Abundant~exceeding some number or measure or rank or need

a) over and above, more than is necessary

1) exceeding abundantly, supremely

2) something further, more, much more than all, more plainly

b) superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon

1) pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent

How can we have a more excellent life if we are poor?

"...that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints..." Ephesians 1:18

Riches~ riches, wealth

a) abundance of external possessions

b) fulness, abundance, plenitude

c) a good i.e. that with which one is enriched

Another important factor is the giving of your tithe to the Lord. God doesn't need the money, but He wants us to show Him that we completely depend on Him in everything. And what is the reward for acknowledging that He is our source?

" Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]." Malachi 3:10

We have lived in exceeding abundance the last few months. We bought a house! We had literally no budget. Now we do, but, God has opened up several things that will flood it all in again soon. And we aren't the only ones!

I honestly believe that time is very very short. I know there is to be a great GREAT awakening before Jesus comes for His bride. If I was chosen to live in this hour and this day, then I don't want to miss out. I don't want to be on the sidelines watching, I want to be at the front. It's going to take people who understand how faith works to do this. We cannot go by what we see in the world, or feel. I admit I get awful sad when I hear about what's going on in Washington, but then I remember, he was meant to be there. No longer can we depend on our government to do what it was designed to do, our dependency now is on God. The President doesn't save America, what America needs is an awakening to God. So I don't let it bother me, because my Saviour is Jesus, my home is heaven. My work here isn't done and how WONDERFUL to get to be a part of this!

The early church began it, and we get to finish it. Isn't that so special? We could have lived in any time on the earth, but we were chosen to live NOW. God is creating an army, a real army of faith that can destroy the strongholds the enemy has created. An army that has more faith in the unseen than what is seen, and is unafraid. Why should we be afraid? If we walk with God we are protected, healed, delivered, whole, saved...we have power and authority like Jesus did.

I know this is a lot of info, and you may think I'm a weird radical, but Jesus was considered a radical! I have so so much pouring out of me right now, so if this doesn't flow well or make a lot of sense, it's because there's so much and not enough time to write it!

It's time for the church to kick it up a notch. I believe that many are. What do you think?