Last Blog Entry

This is my last blog entry here. I am combining my photography blog, family blog, homeschool blog all in one. I'm not saying I will be blogging often. I don't know how much I will be sharing about our family. I at least hope to do more Bible study posts as well as our homeschool happenings. I am currently working on designing an animal classification notebook. Hopefully by the year's end it will be worth sharing. But don't hold our breath!

Paleo Diet Day 2

Chicken/Bone broth is still simmering. The smell is something to be desired.

Paleo Day #0.5

We didn't start out our day in Paleo mode. The kids ate regular ole breaded chicken fingers for breakfast. Yes, I said chicken fingers for breakfast. Seth didn't eat good yesterday so I wanted him to start the day with a full tummy.

The kids actually ate mustard and rosemary roasted chicken for supper. This was a miracle for Seth. I don't think he has EVER eaten a bite of non-breaded chicken without almost gagging. So, for a reward I made Paleo chocolate date bars. They were a hit!

My day ending with me getting bone broth going. It's uber healthy, but at first, it's super nasty looking. Imagine, a pot full of water with 2 chicken skeletons and giblets floating around in it. And it takes 48 hours to complete. My house smells great!

We Go Paleo

Almost two years ago (man, time flies) I went almost Paleo for 2 weeks. I lost seven pounds. I gained it right back when I started eating my usual modern-American/Western foods. Over the past 6 months, I've gained a pound here and a pound there.

Meanwhile, the kids seem to be loosing their battle with asthma. It's not life threatening at this point, but when we are shelling out $165 a month PER KID for a daily control medicine and they are still having to get breathing treatments because of coughing and congestion... well, something's gotta give.

A new friend of mine told me in passing that her sister is some sort of wellness doctor. I cannot remember her title, but it's not really important. I got her number and we talked for almost an hour. In short she told me the kids needed to be on the Paleo Diet.

Now that the holidays are over and we are back in our own home, away from grandparents who mean well, but love to shower the kids with sugar, starches and more suger, we are going Paleo. So far, it's not going well. Raine can barely swallow eggs. Seth physically cannot eat meat that requires much chewing.

I Googled "Paleo for Kids" and found this great interview with a six-year old. Boy, can Seth relate to her pre-Paleo days. I hope he'll eventually relate to where she is now.

http://www.thepaleomom.com/2013/11/like-meat-now-interview-6-year-old.html

This is My Christmas Post

FYI: This blog is maintained by me (April) only. This blog does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of my husband.

I was planning on holding my tongue fingers until after Christmas before I did my annual Scrooge post. But since I have bronchitis and was given a major steroid injection, I am wide awake at 1:00 a.m. this Christmas morn.

Usually by this time each year I have gone through my usual questions about the truth of Christmas. Then, a friend or pastor convinces me that Christmas is o.k. to celebrate. I quickly wave my hand over my forehead, wiping the sweat from my brow in relief because I just love shopping for toys to give to my kids. I love to watch them open presents on Christmas morning. Yes, my eyes would roll each and every time I heard a reference to Jesus’ birthday. But, for the most part, I enjoyed the holiday.

Well, this year is different. This year I read Deuteronomy Chapter 12. I’ll begin in verse 28 here, “Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? – that I may do the same.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

Not only does God tell us to worship Him only. He doesn’t even want us taking practices from other religions and using them for Him. His people have tried to worship Him in their own ways since Cain and Abel. Apparently Cain knew what offering he was supposed to bring for the LORD, but he chose to bring something else. When the Israelites were waiting on Moses to come down from the mountain, they knew that golden calf couldn't do a thing for them. They were planning on worshiping Yahweh the next day.

But let's think about something else for a minute. Would it be ok if we, today, each made our own golden calf, placed it on our mantel and said it was in honor of Him or His son? Would it be ok to use a Buddha statue in honor of him? What about a yin-yang? What if we took a holiday that was used by Muslims, scratched out all reference to "Allah" and replaced them with "Jesus." How would that make our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob feel?

I’m pretty sure He feels the same way about Christmas. I'm also pretty sure that he'd rather us observe the Holy Days He Himself set forth. Christmas is not a Holy Day. There is nothing Holy (set apart) about it.

The practices of Christmas started looonnnggg before Jesus was born. I could write all about it here, but there are plenty of other blogs, websites and even books (check your local library) about the history of Christmas. Yes, tomorrow I will be woken by my children who are so excited to open their presents. My four-year old will probably tell us it is Jesus’ birthday. I’m sure my kids will sing Happy Birthday Jesus as they blow out the candles on a cake their grandmother made. And I’m fine with that. Why? Because I know when they get older and begin studying the Bible, they will be able to see the truth. I have faith that one day my entire household will be worshiping the LORD our God in spirit AND truth. We shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free.

Wish I Had Time

I wish I had time to go through photos from yesterday and write all about our day... Eden's birthday. Let me just quickly hit the high points.

*Raine was sick and we spent over three hours at the doctor's office, getting chest x-ray, waiting for her Rx, etc. Raine was asleep while Seth and I decorated cake balls and cupcakes.

*Her fever broke by the time we got ready to go out to eat, so we still celebrated Eden as planned.

*It felt weird and sad to celebrate my one year old's first birthday when we've only had her in our family for 3 months.

*I think it was the fact that we had a plate full of cake balls and cupcakes with a  "1" candle for our brown baby that got us lots of attention at Mr. Bill's. Some anonymous person paid for our meal. We were so humbled.

All in all, it was a great day. Raine is feeling much better today. BTW: She was diagnosed with strep.

Oh yeah, everywhere we went (doctor's office, outpatient x-ray, outpatient registration, etc. etc.) the kids were sure to tell those that commented on Eden's cuteness that it was her birthday. They are so proud of their little sister.

Happy Holidays from Charles Spurgeon

“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority.”
(Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on Dec. 24, 1871)


“When it can be proved that the observance of Christmas, Whitsuntide, and other Popish festivals was ever instituted by a divine statute, we also will attend to them, but not till then. It is as much our duty to reject the traditions of men, as to observe the ordinances of the Lord. We ask concerning every rite and rubric, "Is this a law of the God of Jacob?" and if it be not clearly so, it is of no authority with us, who walk in Christian liberty.”
(from Charles Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalm 81:4)