Homemade Mayo

I got this recipe and idea from my good friend Aimee.  She has a great blog that focuses on Paleo/Primal Eating,
http://thedunigandaily.blogspot.com/2011/07/walnut-chicken-salad.html.  My husband, Brian, gets all the credit for making this.  He is the chef in the family and I am very grateful for that because I'm capable of burning ground beef. :-) 

Aimee got this recipe from a blog that we are slightly obsessed with called Mark's Daily Apple,
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/alternative-healthy-condiment-recipes/. He has anything and everything you would want to know about the Primal lifestyle. 
We made chicken salad with it and I loved it!

Gooey Bags

I had no idea what to call these things.  When I decided to do this activity with the kids the first thing that came out of my mouth was gooey bags...it stuck with them.  I've been trying to find fun ways for Ella to practice pre-writing skills.  You can do so  many different things with these.  Here are a few we did,
practice writing horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines with finger
practice writing with "gems" (the little clear colored stones you find near vases)
practice making shapes using our fingers
put on the light table (Ella's idea)
squish, role, and feel how cool it is

Haiden "erasing" after he wrote a few words.

 Mason enjoyed putting squishing it with his finger and putting the "gems" on the bag.

 Ella practiced writing for a little while but she loved rolling it up.

Here is how you make Gooey Bags.
Gallon size bags
Hair Gel (I got the cheap stuff at the Dollar Tree.)
Food Dye
Glitter

The kids had just as much fun making these themselves.  Hold the bag and let them squirt the hair gel in the bag.  Let them put a few drops of food dye and glitter in the bag.  Seal it off and let them squish it around until it is all mixed together. 

P.S. Those little "gems" have opened a whole new world of discovery.  I'll be sharing all the activities the kids have been doing with those in a future posts. 

Baby #4

For my family I don't see very much but keeps up with us through our blog, here I am at 27 weeks.  It looks like we are having another 9 1/2 lb. baby!  I feel huge but great.  I think eating well, exercising (which isn't as often as I'd like), and running after 3 other children, has helped make this pregnancy a great one so far!

Brian's Chicken Skillet Dinner

I'm a lucky gal who has a husband that is an amazing cook!  He came up with this meal the other night and it was delicious!  I like to call it "Brian's Chicken Skillet Dinner".  It is easy, quick, and loaded with fresh organic ingredients. 

1 lb. organic chicken tenders
3 organic zucchini
3 large organic tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
1 bunch of fresh basil
1/2 lb. organic bacon

Cook bacon separately.  Season chicken with salt and pepper then saute on the skillet.  Add zucchini, tomatoes, chopped garlic, chopped basil, and white wine vinegar.  Simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and the vegetables are tender.  Add crumbled, cooked bacon on top.

I made a side of sweet potato fries to add to the meal.  This recipe is on the menu plan for this week again!

Homemade Light Table

Have I mentioned how much I love this website, http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/?!  Not only are these women mothers but some have experience in the educational field with children with special needs.  They know the importance of sensory play for all children and incorporate into their children's daily life.  The mom's have these wonderful light tables that provide endless opportunities for sensory play and exploration.  I have found these online from about $50-$200 and since that isn't in the budget right, now we made our own.

I took a storage container, put a piece of white paper in the bottom, and stuffed it with Christmas lights.  Next to the light box, I have translucent shapes from my teaching days.  I set this up before the kids woke up in the morning.

 Ella, "Wow, that is cool.  What is that Mommy? Can I play with it?"  I told her it was a light table and she could do whatever she wanted with it.  She immediately took out the shapes and said, "I'm going to make a house." She then spent a lot of time sorting the shapes by colors and talked about what they different shapes were.  She put different colors on top of each other to see what the new color was.  She thought it was pretty cool that two different colors could make a new color.

 Once Mason was awake he went straight to the light table too and started exploring with the shapes. We talked about the different colors and shapes.   Haiden wasn't as interested until we made "Gooey Bags" this week and put them on the light table. (I'll share that in a future post.)

Finding a Balance

Finding a balance seems impossible right now.  I've been slightly overwhelmed by all of our upcoming events so I wrote everything down to get it out of my mind.  I would like to think this was a coping strategy but I think I needed to prove to myself that I wasn't going crazy, we really have a lot going on.  In the next two months, here is what I have going on:

mail a,b,c, and d's photo order
processes e's photo order
Haiden starts at a new school
plan and organize Ella's homeschool (because who wouldn't want to homeschool right when a baby is about to enter the family?)
senior shoot
friend's bridal shower in Southern Indiana
friend's bachlorette party in Southern Indiana
Haiden's soccer practice
Haiden's soccer games
another friend's bridal shower in Southern Indiana
Ella starts phonological preschool
Ella continues with dance class
family/newborn shoot #1
finalize photo booth
shooting a dear friend's wedding in Southern Indiana
maid of honor in a dear friend's wedding in Southern Indiana
bridesmaid in my brother's wedding in Southern Indiana
attending a friends wedding in Indy
family shoot #2
Ella's birthday party
family shoot #3
family shoot #4
Don't forget the usual; play with my kids, keep up with laundry, cook homemade meals, keep the house clean, be a wife, and get ready for baby #4!

So balance in life isn't my strength right now.  We have a dry erase board on our pantry door in the kitchen and it is usual filled with quotes and reminders.  Yesterday, I erased everything off and wrote BE CALM.  I feel like I could be very impatient, snappy, and distant right now but my kids need me to be patient, calm, and engaged.  So everyday I have to make a conscious effort to be my best for my kids because it's what they deserve.

So how do you keep balance in your life?  Do you feel like stress in your life affects your parenting?

Why Vitamins Are Important to Us

Growing up I remember taking Flintstones vitamins every morning.  When I became a mom, I started giving Haiden vitamins as soon as he was able to take them.  I didn't know exactly why, it was just what my mom did, and I wanted to be just like her in every way. 
It wasn't until we had a DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctor conduct extensive blood work on Haiden that I realized just how important vitamins were.  Haiden's test showed severe malabsorption issues.  So even though we completely revamped his diet, he still wasn't able to absorb all the nutrients.  We started out giving him over 12 vitamins/supplements a day!  It was overwhelming at first but it slowly became routine to him.  At that time we also questioned if this was all safe but we soon started to notice small improvements in Haiden's overall health.  Was it the diet?  Was it the vitamins?  Was it the supplements?  Was it the removal of toxins from his environment?  Honestly, I feel it was a little of everything. 
I also know that you can't just give your child any vitamin.  All those great looking vitamins on Wal-marts shelves aren't that great.  If you do give your child vitamins, which I strongly encourage, make sure you are giving them GOOD vitamins.  If not, you are just wasting your money.  Here is a great website with high quality vitamins, http://www.ourkidsasd.com/. 
Now that Haiden is so healthy, we've been able to cut out over half of his vitamins he was taking.  I also give Mason and Ella a few vitamins that I feel are important.

On the left is Mason and Ella's liquid omega from Nordic Naturals.  Next, is a new vitamin, called Juice Plus.  You can find out more about Juice Plus here, https://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/content/Welcome.soa.  I'm not for sure if we will continue with Juice Plus or go back to our Kirkman Multivitamin.  Next, is Haiden's fish oil loaded with omegas in pill form.  Then, Kirkman Pro Bio Gold Probiotic for Haiden and myself.  Last in line, is a liquid Vitamin D for all 3 kids.

As our diet continues to transition to mainly meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds, I'm hoping we can take out the Juice Plus/multivitamin. 

What we do for healthy kids! :-)  So I'm interested to know, do you give your kids vitamins?  If so, do you notice improvements in their health?  What kind of vitamins do you use?  I love your comments!