28 November 2014

Blessings

















I'm a perfectionist, in all things, which can be terrifying because as a flawed human being, perfection is impossible to attain.
  Motherhood has been the saving of me, the universe laughed when it sent me four children. Every day I am forced to release my perceived notions of how things should be. I am constantly learning to appreciate the process instead of the end result. After all, its the grubby handprint on my sheet as I lay down to sleep, a lego man left attacking a dinosaur under the dining table or a puzzle half made upside down, back to front on my sons bed that will warm my soul when I'm old, not a tidy kitchen and empty laundry basket. I feel blessed to know this, I will not regret this time devoted to my children.

As we made this mandala today, I felt myself becoming stressed over flowers moving out of place, I started fixing and adjusting, they couldn't believe it when I told them to blow it all away. I explained that nothing is permanent except for the love you have for yourself and your loved ones, that it is important not to hold onto anything, or to place value on material possessions because that will always lead to a dissatisfied heart. I was talking to myself as much as them. The happiness I felt in watching them destroy it far surpassed anything else that day.

I feel I have come a long way over the last 8 years, breathing deep, letting go, but there is still much work to be done, and these beautiful souls continue to show me see the beauty of a life with no fear but wild abandon.

18 November 2014

A frugal fantastic fairy party










Yes these were supposed to have antennae but I ran out of time :)


















When my daughter came to me and declared for her 7th birthday she wanted a dinosaur party I said "Sweetheart, darling, precious joy of my life, for the love of all things I just don't think I have another Dinosaur party in me, please choose anything else; Robots, Mermaids, whatever but plleeaassee not Dinosaurs. Next year we can do Dinosaurs but can we just have a break for this one year?? " (Terrible mother I know ) So she decided on Fairies, and after a bit of pinteresting my creative fire was reignited!!

Hubby and I are boring frugals though so I had to think up how to throw a party to remember without spending any money on pretty much anything but the food. All up except food I ended up spending $35.00 which went on some gold paint, napkins, paper plates, paper streamers and paper lanterns and a few bits sourced from op shops. I also didn't want any plastic but had to settle on some plastic cups for the vegies & dip as I already had them and it didn't make any sense to buy more.

My clever man cut all the stools and table legs from a felled tree on our property and all the others decorations were made by me using materials I already had and whatever I could find in the garage.

I like to serve yummy but healthy party food, You know, so your guests don't leave feeling all yucked out on sugar. Here's what we served;

Fruit wands
Honey Sweetened Peach Muffins topped with whipped raw cream and Strawberries
Bread Snails
Mini Pizza's
Homemade Grape Jelly
Veggies and Babaganoush or Pesto
Strawberry Toadstools
Honey Sweetened Banana Birthday Cake with naturally coloured Buttercream.

For the adults my Husband did a yummy BBQ along with garlic bread, salad and locally produced Chips. I was supposed to do a pasta salad but ran out of time.

We did splash out and hire a wonderful lady Faerie Lou, if you are local to Nelson then I would whole heartedly recommend her, she really made the day extra special and was well worth the money.

I'm so glad my beautiful eldest daughter had a magical day, hand making everything was one way I could show her how much I love her. We had such a special day with her and her friends. Happy 7th Birthday to my sensitive, caring, Fairy (and dinosaur) loving little girl xx

13 November 2014

Devotion


Sitting in the dark living room, a baby nursing at her breast, the t.v on but silent, a toddler asleep on the other couch with a bucket by her side.

Its so late, she has been cleaning, nursing, soothing, cooking, homeschooling since the sun rose, and she's tired, so tired and overwhelmed with the pain of seeing her child unwell, the responsibility, the guilt of desperately wanting a bath, does her toddler feel safe, supported, loved? Has she been patient enough? reassuring enough? Loving enough?

She expresses what milk she can with the hope of soothing her little ones discomfort, it hurts.

She should sleep as her husband does but instead she will sit; listening, waiting, checking, stroking the damp hair from her little ones face, because that's what a mama does, because she wouldn't have it any other way even if she could...........

The beautiful burden of a mothers devotion.....................

07 November 2014

What Layla eats - 10 months old


I had a message asking what my littlest is eating on a daily basis and thought what better way to answer than with pictures?! So this is what she ate yesterday and this is a pretty good example of her every day diet.



So, for Breakfast, Organic Avocado, Apple, Banana and Milk Kefir.

Followed by a few breastfeeds over the course of the morning.


Lunch was 1 organic free range egg, scrambled with organic pumpkin and Broccoli along with a few slices of cucumber.

Another few Breastfeed's and a slice of apple kept her happy until Dinner.


Now this is a photo of one of the children's plates because I forgot to photograph mine. Layla sits with us and I often feed her from my plate which is what happened with this simple meal of Mince & Rice with salad (raw carrot for the kids). Layla had mince and carrot but not rice.

Oh and if your wondering why we eat white rice, this is a great article; 

http://holisticsquid.com/is-white-rice-bad-for-you/

2 or 3 more feeds with mama and down for the night :)

Layla started solids very slowly at 8 months. Now at 10 months, Layla's solid food diet in made up primarily of fruit and veg, eggs and raw dairy products with two to three servings of grass fed or wild meat a week. She loves and prefers the complex tastes of curry, stew,quiche etc..  to the simple flavours of separate foods.

I include dairy in the form of Kefir, raw milk or organic cheese and raw carrot, pepper and so on to knaw on, strengthen the jaw and soothe those gums.

We avoid grains until at least 1 year because babies below this age do not have the necessary enzymes to digest them. Feeding them grains or the horrendous baby rice can lead to leaky gut syndrome and/or other digestive disorders later on in life. Also, without grains, they get to fill their tummies with a far more varied diet full of lots of lovely vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and so on.

Here is a quote from this article by Sally Fallon

"Babies produce only small amounts of amylase, needed for the digestion of grains, and are not fully equipped to handle cereals, especially wheat, before the age of one year. (Some experts prohibit all grains before the age of two.) Baby's small intestine mostly produces one enzyme for carbohydrates—lactase, for the digestion of lactose. (Raw milk also contains lactase.) Many doctors have warned that feeding cereal grains too early can lead to grain allergies later on. Baby's earliest solid foods should be animal foods as his digestive system, although immature, is better equipped to supply enzymes for digestion of fats and proteins rather than carbohydrates."

I try to make sure she has some form of good fat daily in the form of Avocado, olive oil, coconut oil and Butter.

She also enjoys fish and legumes on a weekly basis.

We use lots of herbs and spices in our cooking, and I haven't stopped this because exposing her palate to all these different flavour's now means that she is more likely to enjoy them as the grows older. Plus who wants to eat bland food?

Organic food is extremely important to us, the amount of pesticides in non organic food in comparison to the size of a little babies body is frightening and their ability to flush them all out in the form of waste is impossible. Therefore I would prefer to breastfeed more than expose her body to non organic food at least until she is bigger.

Here is a brilliant, comprehensive article on this topic;

 http://www.nrdc.org/health/kids/ocar/chap5.asp

 I have given her some organic porridge made with raw milk on occasion (the day before grocery shopping) I mean hey!, we all do the best we can but in this house sometimes porridge for dinner is what keeps me sane!!

In saying all of that, Layla still gets the majority of her nourishment from me and that's how we would like it to continue until she is at least 1 year. I don't keep note of how much she eats, and we try to allow her to feed herself as much as possible :)

So there you go! Do you feed your baby similar foods? What do you do differently?


* Please remember I am not a qualified anything. This is just how I feed my family based on my own research and knowledge.

04 November 2014

Exhale












After the whirlwind birthday weekend just past (which I will post about soon), We are now slowly getting back to normal, (and my OCD is getting a good workout, putting the house to right) after all the prepping, baking and so on. Its lovely to be able to give your children these special memories but it can also leave us parents rather shell shocked. Especially those of us used to a slower pace of life.

Our crops are coming along nicely and I can't wait to enjoy them, the garden is fruiting and flowering and looking all kinds of beautiful, I so love all the dens and hideouts the children create in it.

School has taken a back burner of late, replaced by sand pit afternoons, crafting and the company of friends. They are now itching to get back into it, which is wonderful. Of course learning never stops and the daily Q&A'S ensure we are all discovering new facts every day, but there is something about us all convening at the dining table and putting pen to paper that makes this mama feel like a superwoman/awesome home educator chick for five minutes :)

Oh and we have our first Ginger bug on the go, it is starting to carbonate which is very exciting !!

On a random note. Someone (small and cheeky) pulled out the wire from my hat which means I'm now on the hunt for a new one, any suggestions?