~ Free Knit Wool Cover Patterns ~

I would love to learn how to knit but at the moment I have way to much on my plate but have been collecting free knitting patterns for longies and soakers. Here are a few of my favorites Amy's Flat Knit Soaker Tiny Bird Organics Soaker Tiny Bird Orgaincs Longies

*I only got to three before the natives became restless, so I will have to give you the rest at a later time.

~ Wool Diaper Covers ~

The only covers I like better than my fleece are the wool ones. There is just something about a natural fiber diaper cover. At The Diaper Hyena they have a cool article, "Diaper Covers, Why Wool's Cool" that explains the benefits of wool. While recently surfing the web I came across two new crochet patterns, both are awesome and super easy. The first is titled The Easiest Crochet Wool Soaker Pattern and it is. Two stitches throughout, a HDC in the back loop and a slip stitch, and super stretchy, you could even learn to crochet with this one. The other is the Little Fire Crochet Pants, you can make these into longies, shorties, a skirtie, and she has a wrap pattern as well. I have to get pics for you tomorrow, trying to take pictures with a flash at night doesn't give very good results.

~ The Pink Eye Saga ~

My daughter had pink eye this past week and gave it to her little brother. Hers went away relatively quickly, but Jairden's is hanging on due in part to the head cold he got along with it and the brownie he had on Sunday. It was one that I made so it was low in sugar but it was still sugar. Bad bacteria feed on the tiniest amounts of sugar, its crazy. I have been fighting off getting sick too and I only had a half of one. It just proves to me that sugar is just something we need to stay away from all together.
This morning he woke up with super crusty eyes, poor baby, so when I got home from MOPS I washed his eye with some Burt's Bees Baby Shampoo, which is pH balanced so feels like water. Don't be fooled with other "Tear Free" baby shampoos, they are not tear free. They simply contain a numbing agent so while it is burning the heck out of your baby's eyes and doing damage to their mucus membranes they can't feel a thing. Once I had them cleaned up I put some Neosporin on a q-tip and rub that around the outside of his eye. Spend the money and get the brand name regular Neosporin, they don't use mineral oil and white petroleum is the last ingredient on the list. With in a half hour the swelling went down and the redness was gone. I did it again after he fell asleep and put some drops of fresh breastmilk in his eyes, so hopefully when he wakes up he will be goop free.
Update: After only sleeping an hour, ah-hem, he only had a small amount of goop, but really it only looks like he has sleep in his eyes. Yeah!! I will keep up this treatment until tomorrow for sure and them we will see how he is when he wakes up. 4:26 pm Tuesday Update #2: He had no goop this morning, just a little stuck to his eyelashes, I can't believe how fast that worked. I washed his eyes again last night before bed, put a little Neosporin around his eye, (in the corner and on his lashes, massage the corners to help unclogged the duct) and a few drops of fresh breastmilk. I saved $150 on an office visit and $20 for the drops, plus the torture of having to hold down a screaming infant to put drops in his eye because they sting.

~ The Fleece Pull-up Cover ~

I use Katrina's Sew Quick Soaker Pattern, found here, and I absolutely love it! She also has a pattern for longies, how to add elastic to the legs at Sew*Chic Mama, a cute circle skirt if you have a little girl, and a few other ways to adjust your soakers so that they are just right for you. She has generously shared her patterns and doesn't even mind if you sell them as long as you donate to a mama in need, so awesome. I made these with left over Christmas fleece, I started my extra soaker layer in the back and didn't make sure that it was straight in the front, so it looks a little wonky but works great. We use this one at night with my little guy. We trifold a infant prefold and use it as an extra soaker in a blue premium prefold, he hasn't ever woken up wet yet.

I made these for Grace even thought she has been potty trained for a long time. She likes her clothes to fit perfect and she is so tiny that it is hard to find clothes from a store that will fit her. These are the medium longies.

I am trying to find the time to upload all my pics of the diaper covers I have made to my photobucket account, so I will let you know when that gets done so you can go and take a peek. (cross your fingers and say a little prayer for me)

These are the wool sweaters that I found while out thrifting, now all I have to do is felt them a little bit and they will make great longies. The thing that is great about wool is it breathes, so babies can wear it even in summer and not get to hot. Cool, huh!

The blue one is 100% lambs wool and was brand new with the tags on, is a large, and cost $15. The other one is 100% wool, mens x-large and was $7. Totally a great deal considering how expensive it is to purchase some of the other wool covers out there.

I will be able to make longies out of the arms and a couple of pullup or wrap style covers with the bodies of the sweaters. Awesome deal!!

~ Cloth Diapers: Are They Truly Money Saving or Just Trendy? ~

I just read this article over at the The Cloth Diaper Whisperer and was a bit blow away by what people will spend on cloth diapers when they are toted as the "economical choice" for diapering your baby. They highlighted their GroBaby Diapering System which looks fantastic but using the system as a hybrid system will cost you, get ready, $2551.45. Holy Crap!! Using the system as a cloth system is a bit better at 375.00 but that only gets you 12 shells, 24 organic soakers, and 16 organic boosters, which would last us about a day and a half because our little guy likes to nurse and his water, so he pees a lot!! The hybrid or Biosoaker option is presented for times when cloth just isn't feasible, in the last three years I have not had one time that cloth diapering wasn't feasible. It seems like such a waste to purchase something that is just going to be thrown away, plus I would never would be able to use the Biosoakers because they are made from corn and my kids are allergic to corn, their skin would not be happy.
Three years ago I paid 479.00 (that included shipping) and bought a prefold package from Tiny Tush. It included:
36 green edge prefolds
36 blue edge prefolds
5 each small, medium, and large prowrap covers
small wet bag and large wet bag to turn a garbage can into a diaper pail
6 snappis
6 small doublers
5 large hour glass shaped doublers
toilet sprayer
3 100 count packages of flushable diaper liners
6 diaper pins
12 citrus deodorizing disks

Their prefold package is a bit different now, you get 1/2 dozen less blue edge diapers and they don't include the toilet sprayer(we never used ours because we have two older boys and figured that it would be just to tempting to play with and make a mess) but they include the Tiny Tush Wraps which are way nicer than the prowrap covers that I bought. Our prowrap cover were definitely workhorse covers, my daughter was in the medium size from 6 months till she potty trained, they are pretty much shot now but will work for daytime use when the rest of the stash is in the laundry. Now I know that prefolds are not for everyone, but hands down they are the most versatile to use with several different ways to fold them or just laying them in a cover and you can't beat the cost. They are easy to wash and dry quickly because they are flat, in the summer we only use the clothesline saving even more money by not using the dryer. We use the infant size as doublers and I love this idea although I haven't been able to make any yet. I did go through a time when I wanted some fitteds because our daughter was so thin and there is such a size difference between the infant and premium prefolds. I went on an online search and again was shocked as to how much a fitted cost. I know that there is much more time involved and materials but still I am much to frugal to pay that much for a diaper.

So, what's a girl to do, I went and bought a basic sewing machine and some flannel(most of the flannel has been remnant pieces so they are half off), rounded up some old towels, search for free patterns and made myself a few. I have bought some PUL, other diaper fabrics and notions but would guess that I haven't spent more than $250 on those purchases(a complete list coming soon). My machine was a display model and only cost me $80. We still reach for the prefolds but when we go out we use fitteds just because I know that if my little guy poops it most likely won't get all over the cover. I used Tiny Tush for a reference only because they are the only store that I have purchase from, I know that there are a lot of great ones out there. What's your favorite store or WAHM to purchase diapers from? For all of you DIY, over the next few days I am going to show you the patterns that I have used and which ones I like the best.

~ New Followers!! ~

I never realized how exciting it is when a new person signs up to follow your blog! Not that my sister doesn't count, but she's family and she has to, lol! So a big hello to Michelle , Mindy and Anna! I haven't forgotten about the cloth grocery bags, it has just been really crazy here, I was gone yesterday from 10am until 9:30 last night, stopping in only to drop of groceries and nurse a baby before I had to go to a dinner meeting.

My wonderful hubby is building legs for my sewing tables that are currently on 2x4 brackets on the wall in my studio space. My "studio space" was the storage/furnace room before I took it over, but we have learned that you can't have four kids and no storage space, it just doesn't work. So, we will rearrange half the house again, that will make it the third time in 12 months, its almost as bad as moving, but I keep telling myself that once we get everything situated we won't have to move it again, ha! Tomorrow afternoon is full so it might not be till Monday before I get sewing again, I will keep you posted.

~ Natural Remedy for Pink Eye ~

Last Saturday we went swimming with some friends at church and three hours in the pool was way to much for their little systems. Chlorine is really hard on your body and when you swallow large amounts of chlorinated water it kills all of the bacteria, good and bad, in your digestive system. Your immune health is only as healthy as your digestive tract.
So, add the pool on Saturday to the germ pool on Sunday at church and you end up with three sick kids, two that have gotten pink eye because their noses are so stuffed up. I don't like antibiotics, they are way overused and are really, really hard on your entire body. Similason has homeopathic pink eye drops that work great, but an even better remedy is bread dipped in scalded milk and them placed on the eye as a poultice. This is all my mom ever did when we were kids and it is all I have ever done with my kids. We usually do one eye at a time and read a huge stack of books as a distraction. Some might be tempted to use candy as a distraction, but don't. The sugar in candy feeds the bad bacteria in your system and you can end up with a yeast overgrowth in no time. Stale bread works best because it holds up when wet better.
Simply scald some milk on the stove in a small pan and then dip your bread into it. Let it cool enough so that your child can tolerate it on their eye and then let it sit there until it is cool, about ten minutes. It draws out all the gunk in the tear duct, thus getting rid of the infection because the eye can work properly again. It may take more than one treatment, but I don't think that I have ever had to do it more than twice.
For all you moms out there that are still breastfeeding, breastmilk is also great for pink eye because of it antibacterial properties.

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

Isn't it great when they play together!

~ Birthday Skirt ~

The little girl I babysit turned two on Saturday, so I made her a skirt using an old pair of jeans and fabric from my stash. My goal this year is to use as much of my stash as possible. Of course, it wouldn't be me if I didn't wait till the last minute to make a present so the picture was taken in the car, excuse my hubbies fingers. I find myself wishing that I could have great photo shoots of the stuff I make like some of the other really great blogs, but with homeschooling and the other 30 hours of stuff that I cram into a 24 hour day, this is just going to have to wait for now.

I used an old pair of jeans and some light yellow broad cloth and the trim and flower are scraps from a cloth bag that I made. The jewel is from a sweater that was a bit to much for me, so when one of my boys needed something to do I gave in a little scissors and told him to cut all the jewels off. There is a great tutorial from Tea Rose Home, she has some of the cutest stuff on there, I wish I had all day to sew. I plan on making one for my little girl and if you would like one for your little girl I will do custom orders.

What are you planning on up-cycling this year?

~ Cloth Grocery Bag ~

I love my cloth grocery bags. When you make or buy one cloth grocery bag, it saves the environment from eighty plastic grocery bags. Cloth bags are stronger than paper or plastic so I don't have to worry about them breaking and spilling my groceries everywhere. I also don't have room to store the plastic ones so that I can reuse them. I used to be really bad about remembering to bring them with me, but now when we come home we fold them up and put them all together and hang them on the doorknob so that them next time one of us goes out to the van we can put them back in the van for the next shopping trip.

*As soon as the clingy baby goes down for a nap I will provide links for free grocery bag patterns and announce our giveaway for this week. Typing one handed takes forever.

Okay, as I was searching for free patterns for grocery bags TipNut was the first to come up and had 35 different patterns. As I was contemplating whether I should provide one link to TipNut or 35 separate links to each bag, I decided that it would be more fun to sew a couple of the bag patterns each week and then give them away. It would be a great way to use up some of my stash and recycled fabric that is over flowing in my craft room and to help maintain my sanity by setting aside time to sew. What do you think? A Grocery Bag sew along sounds like fun, who's in? So, this weeks giveaway is for cloth grocery bags, to enter simply tell me if you use reusable grocery bags and earn one extra entry for following my blog and subscribing and two extra entries for blogging about it. Good luck!!

~ Diaper Cover Winner is... ~

...Laura, thanks Laura for coming and taking a look at my new blog. Send me a quick email to let me know what size you need, I have the waist and leg measurements somewhere in my studio if you need them to determine what size you would need.

~ MMM...Biscuits ~

Seriously, it took me less time to make biscuits from scratch yesterday than it would have taken me to open a package of Pillsbury dough and they were about a hundred times better. Once you get the hang of it, cooking from scratch is actually faster than fooling around with a box meal, all it takes is a little practice.

Here's the recipe: Drop Biscuits

2 cups organic sprouted whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp organic rapadura sugar
3 tsp of non-aluminum baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup of organic coconut or palm oil
1 cup of organic milk

Heat oven to 450 degrees and grease a large cookie sheet. Mix dry ingredients together in bowl and cut in coconut oil with a pastry blender until you have fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough is soft and sticky.
I used my tbsp to put 12 dollops of dough on my pan. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly brown on top and bottom. Serve with some honey butter and just see how long they last, mine lasted about 7 minutes with six of us.

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

You know your a twerp when you still fit in the kitchen sink at 14 months old! (Thank goodness he does because when there is no hot water left and we have spaghetti for dinner, we need a bath) Not sure what setting the camera was on but he was moving his arm and it came out looking like he has an extra arm sticking out of his side, I assure you, he does not.

~ The Quest is On ~

I have started looking for my seeds for our garden and most of you will say, "already"? It has been on average below zero here in the north woods of Minnesota, what the heck are you looking at seeds for? I decided that this year I am going to get all heirloom seeds, because too many of the really great varieties of fruits and veggies are being forgotten for the newer hybrids. I don't like commercial hybrids, there is just something wrong with eating a food that can not reproduce on its own the way that God intended.

The other thing I love about heirlooms is how many varieties of everything there are.

Take eggplant for example, when you go to the store there is usually one kind there, the blackish-purplish tear shaped eggplant that has a somewhat funny texture in my opinion. When I went looking for heirloom eggplant seeds, there had to have been 15 to 20 varieties at the first place I looked at. Gorgeous eggplants, some with purple strips(the one to the left is Listada de Gandia Eggplant), some white and shaped like a ball, it was amazing. The only complaint I have now is I have too many to choose from. The growing season for heirlooms tends to be a bit longer so I am going to have to start all of them in the house, but I will have nice strong plants when I want to bring them outside. If you are planting a garden this coming spring, try out a new or should I say old variety of something, keep that heritage going.

Green Zebra Tomatoes, wouldn't these be fun!

~ Awesome Recycled Bag ~

My sister made this awesome bag out of her chicken feed bag, such a good idea and a great way to recycle. If the bag is tough enough to hold 50 lbs of chicken feed you can be sure that it will be a "work horse" of a bag. *even though she is my sis, I haven't asked permission to post her pick, so if you want to see it, go here

~ My Other Blog ~

I have quite a few healthy recipes and other fun stuff on my other blog which I will be moving to the new blog as soon as I get the time. If you are looking for a great pancake/waffle recipe or a diapering idea, go check it out, In Divine Love

~ Freebie Friday ~

There are a ton of cloth diaper giveaways going on right now so I thought I would get in on the giving action. I have never bought fancy diapers. The first diapers I bought were a prefold package from Tiny Tush. My daughter was very small and when she grew out of the green edged prefolds(at six months) the blue edged one were huge so I made her some fitteds.
Now, with my son, my husband and I actually go for the prefolds first with a wool or fleece pull up cover before we head for the fitteds. I love my fleece covers, they are much like wool only they require less maintenance. I choose them over my PUL covers every time.
I will randomly select one person to receive a fleece pull up cover in their choice of size, contest ends next Thursday at midnight. Please check back here for the winner, it will be your responsibility to contact me with your choice of size. Ways to enter:
1) Answer the following question What are your favorite diapers.
2) Follow my blog
3) Subscribe
4) Blog about the giveaway (counts as 2 entries) All count as one entry unless noted. Goodluck!!

Update: I will be making a cover tonight and posting a pic tomorrow so that everyone can see what you will be winning!! There has been no sun here so I am still trying to get a good picture. I use Katrina's Sew Quick Pattern and I love it.

This was a medium size, which is a bit too small for a night time diaper to fit under, but I just never know with him. During the day he can still wear a green edged infant prefold with a small prowrap cover and he is 14 months old. My extra soaker is a bit crooked in the back, but the "J" was fun to do.

~ Homebirth Baby #1: She's Three ~

I had really wanted to post this yesterday but it just never got done. My baby girl turned three yesterday, oh were does the time go. She was my first planned homebirth. I was rather large with my DD, at seven and a half months I measured almost full term. I was uncomfortable and ready to have a baby, but needed to get to 37 weeks first. I finally made it, but she was still so high up and I was only dilated to two at my 37 week(on a Thursday) appointment, I wanted to cry, in fact, I think I did cry. I just wanted to have this baby, but my midwife thought that her head still felt small and that we should give her another week, but she had plans of her own.

I went to bed and woke up at about 2:30 with contractions 7 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. At 5:30 my contractions were two minutes apart and about 90 seconds long. I woke my husband up and told him to go and call the midwife, because I was getting in the shower. The midwife got there and set up all her stuff, I really didn't notice, I was busy. I have found that for me the best way to labor is standing up leaning on a piece of furniture and being able to rock back and forth, letting gravity help the baby drop down. At 7:25 I told my midwife that I was at ten centimeter and to break my water, she did and baby arrived at 7:31. It was one of the best experiences of my life and there is no way I could go back to a hospital setting. I nursed her right away to help deliver the placenta and them my husband took her downstairs to meet her new brothers, who had woken up just after she was born, took one look at her and said "Bring her down when she doesn't look so icky". I got in the shower while my midwifes were cleaning up and got out of the shower and into my own bed. With my previous baby, the bed had made me hurt more that giving birth did(he was early and a small baby). I would take my temperature and the baby's temp when we woke up and she nursed. I was served breakfast, lunch, and dinner in my own bed. I had been talked out of homebirth with my first two babies, I was so glad that I had stuck to my guns with this one.

I strongly encourage you to explore the world of homebirth. People who say homebirth is dangerous often don't know the facts and quite often scare tactics are used to convince us that a hospital is the only place to have a baby. A qualified homebirth midwife has all of the same equipment as in a hospital room and will advise you if you need to be transferred to the hospital. It is a perfectly safe and natural way to give birth at your own pace in a comfortable setting. Our bodies were divinely created and they know what to do. I have never had pain meds with any of my babies, I believe that when you numb yourself to what's happening you create a disconnect between yourself and your baby and your labor itself. If you can feel your body's rhythm you can work with it and have a successful natural deliver that God intended you to have. If you have any other question please email me!

~ A Shopping Tip ~

When most people talk to me about eating healthier, they don't really know where to start. I usually tell them to start with eliminating all the trans fats or hydrogenated oils from their diet. There is no healthy amount of trans fats that should be consumed and more important, because trans fats are a man made product our body's have no way to digested them.

When you are shopping you may see on a package "No Trans Fats" but make sure you check the ingredient label to make sure that there are no hydrogenated oils in the product. Let's use trans fat or hydrogenated oils as an example, if there is less than .50 grams in a serving size, the manufacturer can label that product "trans fat free" when in reality there are trans fats in the product. Quite a few manufacturer simply decreased the amount in a serving size so that there was less than .49 grams of trans fat per serving and thus created a product that could be labeled as "Transfat Free".

Now, I know that .49 grams doesn't sound like a lot, but add that up throughout your day and your could end up with quite a bit of trans fat in your diet without even knowing it. Hope that this helps with your next trip to the grocery store.

~ Taco Seasoning ~

I stopped buying packets of taco seasoning a long time ago because I have a sensitivity to MSG and I didn't like all of the extra "things" i.e. chemicals that they put in a seemingly simple spice packet.

Here is a recipe for taco seasoning that is super easy and green. Why green you ask? By going to your local coop and buying spices out of the bulk jars you are minimizing the amount of packaging that goes into the landfill and you are getting fresher spices. Simple bring your own containers and have them weighed prior to filling. Canning jars work great for this, get the ones with wide mouths on them and then filling them is easy. Generally spices are also cheaper this way because you are only paying for spice, not the jar that it came in.

When you get home you can use a bigger canning jar to make a large batch of taco seasoning so that it is ready any time you need it.
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp roasted garlic granules
1 tsp mined dried onion
1 tsp each cumin, paprika, and salt
1 tsp of chipolte seasoning
pinch of cayeene pepper

Mix with meat and then add 1 tsp of arrowroot powder and a half of cup of water. Simmer until water has been absorbed.

~ Pickup Day ~

Today is pickup day for our monthly order from Azure Standard. When I get back I will fill you in with all the details....

I'm back, I love pickup time, because I hate to shop. I can get almost everything I need for the whole month in one pickup and other than the fact that it was only five degrees today while we were getting out stuff off the truck, it was great.

Here's how it works, once a month you place an order from Azure Standard in Oregon and they ship your order to you by semi. Your drop point coordinator emails you with the pickup time and you go and meet the truck to get your stuff. They only ship as far as Minnesota by truck and just added a few more routes through the midwest. They do have certain products that they will ship UPS.

What kind of stuff do they have? They specialize in organic and sustainable food and health products. Go check out there site for more info, you have to create a new account to view the prices. How are the prices? Today I got 20 lbs of organic Fuji apples for $19.60, 2.5 lbs of whole wheat organic spaghetti for $5.25 and 4 lbs of organic Valencia Oranges for $4.40 plus tons of other great produce and whole food products.

Azure Standard has totally change the way we shop and saves us a ton of money. We still shop at our local Crow Wing County Food Coop for those items that are cost comparable and to support our local farming community. If you are looking for a great food at great prices than Azure Standard is for you!!!

To get your own copy of the Winter 2009/2010 catalog simple click on the picture to bring you to their
request page.

 

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

~ Veggie Soup ~

I am still trying to work out the kinks of my new blog, but in the mean time I though it would be fun to share a new recipe with you. It has been cold here, really cold, like -25 cold, so soup always seems to fill up a belly nicely when it is this cold. Here's the kicker, I am not talking about opening up a can and dumping a gluey, globby substance into a pan, we are talking from scratch. Stay with me, you can do it, I promise. Cooking is an art, God gave us the best stuff on earth, so keep it simple and you can't go wrong. I don't really have a recipe, I just look to see what I have fresh and what I have in the freezer from last years harvest. All of the ingredients I use are organic or sustainably harvested.

A great base to get started with for basic vegetable soup is:

1/2 onion, red or white
3 carrots (don't peel, just dice or shred, which ever you prefer)
2 stalks of celery
1-2 tsp of garlic
1 medium potato, yukon golds are my favorite

Toss it all into a pot, (I received a enameled cast iron 6 qt pot for Christmas and I think I am in love) with a little butter or oil, and yes I said butter. Despite all the controversy, butter is way better for you than margarine. I have a great recipe to make you own margarine that I will share a bit later.

If you use olive oil, coat your veggies in it and then heat them up. If you heat olive oil up to much you destroy all the good stuff in it that you are using it for. I don't turn my heat up past medium and I cook the veggies for about 10 minutes.

When I was digging around in the freezer I found some cubes of baby food that I have made and never used, so, they went in the pot too. The cubes were carrots, so they gave the soup a sweet taste and the puree thickened it slightly. I also had half of a zucchini in the fridge so that went in the pot as well. I used green beans, peas, a palm full of marjoram leaves and thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

Now add your stock, about two quarts. Bone broths are the best, they will look like jello in your fridge. If you want to keep it vegetarian, then add vegetable broth or water. Bring this to a boil and then if you want to add 1 cup of whole barley uncooked, do it now. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir, adjust your seasonings and simmer for another 45 minutes.

That's it, your done. I have even made this in the crock pot and it turned out just as good. If you are a meat eater then add your preferred meat when you stir and adjust your seasonings. There, see, simple as can be! Don't settle for goo out of a can when you can have something delicious and nutritious instead. Served with homemade whole wheat bread and you have one kicker of a meal. Have questions? Just email me! I am sorry I don't have a photo for you, my family ate it before I could get a picture of it.

~ Hello!! ~

Four years ago we were like any other standard American family, eating and buying the cheapest food and household products we could get a hold of. I felt terrible most of the time, not ever sick, just terrible. I wasn't over weight and I loved fresh fruit and veggies so I had not even stop to think that this could be from all of the white flour and sugar we were shoveling into our sugar addicted bodies.

Then I got a hold of a book call The Makers Diet by Jordon Rubin. I am not sure why I even picked it up, I hate the word DIE-t, because they never work! I knew that you had to totally change the way you lived in order to make any changes last, but I read that book anyway. It was the start of something big, my husband likes to joke that I am now so far in the deep end that I am out of the pool.

When I was little we did the "health food thing", whole grains, food from scratch, earthy good for you things, but as we got older and my mom went to work we got out of the habit. I spent my entire senior year in the theater and had a deli-express burrito and a snapple almost every night for dinner. I have a BA in Agricultural Science, after my food science class I didn't think that I ever would want to eat again. Parts per million mouse in my breakfast cereal, I think I will stick to eggs thank you! Then you find out how those poor birds live and what they are being fed and you think, no more eggs, toast and jam. Then you enter the pesticide, herbicide, fungicide part of the class and find out that you are being poisoned everyday and you give up hope that you will ever find anything that you want to eat again.

Then with my first pregnancy, through an business opportunity, I started learn about all of the new breakthroughs in science with omega fatty acids and organics and as I started to change my diet and get rid of the refined foods I started to feel better. Just before baby number two arrived, my husband had to have foot surgery and didn't work for about eighteen months, so money was really tight and we went back to all our old "money" saving ways and I went back to feeling terrible. Things really got bad when my second son develop a vaccine injury after he was given his MMR and chicken pox vaccine at eighteen months. Hindsight is 20-20 and as I look back I could have made so many changes if only I was given the info, but with only medical doctors to turn to, none was there.

MDs don't get nutritional training or alternative medicine training in school, truly saddening. I miscarried just be for I read The Makers Diet and that's when I got thinking that things could really be different and it didn't take the latest and greatest pill to do it. I had wanted to have a home birth with my first son, but was talked out of it. I did have a totally natural, drug free birth with a nurse midwife in a hospital setting. Again, wanting to have a home birth with the second baby, but talked out of it. My third and fourth pregnancy I chose home birth. This is the way God meant it to be, letting your body take control and do what God designed it to do, free from procedure happy and germ infested hospitals, to be able to nurse your baby in your own bed.

By now we were eating better, we had cut out all of the refined white products from out diets, but this baby seemed to be a spitter, so we went to the chiropractor and that didn't help like it did with the first two babies. Anyway, through a lot of trial and error we finally discovered that she was allergic to corn, which is in everything, from modified corn/food starch to high fructose corn syrup. That started the revolution folks, it was what got me to were I am today, an organic eating, extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, making all of our food from scratch, granola crunching mama. And you know what? We spend way less now, because we are eating foods that nourish our bodies and not just filling up on junk. That is why I love organic!

God so wonderfully and beautifully created this earth. I try everyday to slow down and revel in God's Blessing for me and to be able to share that with you makes it even more special. You may think that I am loopy, but if I am able to share one thing that makes your life better, then it's worth it!!

~ Recycled Wristlet ~

This is an fun little upcycled project. I used an old pair of jeans for the denim and the orange is ecofelt, even the zipper was recycled. It went together fairly quickly, maybe an hour from start to finish. I love to recycle stuff and it's a really cheap way to get material for small projects!!!