Vegan/Gluten Free/Super Healthy Pancakes

Dinner: pancakes. But not just any pancakes! 
These were great because I used...
- 1.5 cups Gluten free pancake mix (instead of regular pancake flour)
- .5 cup Coconut flour (instead of regular pancake flour)
- 2 tbsp Coconut oil (instead of vegetable oil)
- .3 cup Mashed sweet potatoes (a nice addition)

- 2 tbsp Ground flaxseeds and 6 tbsp water (instead of eggs)
- about 2 cups Water (keep adding water until the batter can pour)

Mix the ground flaxseed and water in a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes until it "gels".

The batter/pancakes will have a different consistency than regular pancakes. I personally love the texture, the sweetness of the sweet potato, and the nutty flavor of the flaxseeds.

Make sure that the pancakes are fully cooked on the bottom side before attempting to flip.
And on top: real butter and blue agave syrup.
YUMMMMMMMMMMM

Week 6: Learning the unexpected

This week was absolutely full of unexpected things. I won't bore you with all the details, but I will share a few things that happened.

I am still taking it easy in the afternoons with the homeschooling schedule because K is still napping. I am so eager to get started full force, but I think that if he is still napping on his own, then his body (and brain) must need it.  He is a much more pleasant guy after a nice nap, too, so I'm in no way complaining. Haha

We did Circle Time every day and it is really getting established. K knows the order of the activities and he is getting better at following the schedule.  He is always asking for Bible class every single time (even though he knows that we always have it). It's quite obvious that he really loves it!  K is also loving Calendar more and more. I let him hold the yardstick and point at different things (calendar-related stuff like the days of the week, weather, months of the year, etc) with it.  He is getting more and more coordinated with it, too.  To find out everything we do during Circle Time, please read last week's post (under the homeschooling drop box).  

K loves to play with play dough.  It was drying out, so I made him some. Here are 3 recipes (I made the first one).
I asked K what color he wanted his play dough to be (gave him a choice of the food coloring I have) and he chose blue.  I wanted to use just one color because he mixes all the doughs anyway, and it turns into an ugly grayish/brownish color.  
The recipe makes a ton of play dough.  He can comfortably play with one third of the entire ball, so next time, I will either make less or I will color only the third he will be using, instead of the entire ball.  That way, we can use different colorings every time.  Good idea! :)

K has really good memory. One of his favorite things to do is

memorize Scripture. Here is a video of his first verse.  He has

three memorized now. I hear him reciting them on his own.

K has memorized: 

Genesis 1:1 and 31 "In the beginning, God made the sky and earth. It was very good."

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Jesus who makes me strong."

Ephesians 6:1 "Boys and girls, obey your mom and dad in the Lord, for this is right." (very important)

I am excited to add more to the list. I won't add any if he hasn't mastered the previous ones, but he does such a great job that I don't think this will be a delay at all.

We practiced with our dressing frames. He practiced how to zip, snap, and button.
Buttons are a bit of a challenge, but we'll keep at it.

I got the kids more Baltic amber necklaces and bracelets.
They help with pain (like teething).  I wore a necklace while recuperating after
giving birth and I hardly took pain medication (compared to when I had my first baby).
I really think they work.  I also use them whenever I get headaches or any kind of pain.
If you get some, make sure that it's real Baltic amber, though. I get most of mine at http://hyenacart.com/stores/inspiredbyfinn/

My family and I love to juice fresh fruits and veggies every single morning.
We get most of our produce from a co-op that give us all of this for a very
affordable price as well as assure us that these aren't GMOs.
http://bountifulbaskets.org/

We are still practicing cutting. He is getting better and better.

A new activity was using all kinds of stamps.
K was having fun just stamping all over the paper, but when dad showed up, he started stamping with him and making up stories. That made it much more fun and it also helped K develop his imagination to make up his own stories.

Look how K was holding his pencil before.

Look how he holds it now after we practiced lots.

Essential Oils

I have a good friend who knows a lot about essential oils and their therapeutic/healing properties. She has taught me a lot and last night I got some clove essential oil from her to make a natural teething remedy for baby A to complement the Baltic amber.  Yes, she is getting a tooth already.  Sigh, time is flying! The natural teething cream is making a paste with organic shea butter, coconut oil, and a few drops of clove essential oil.  Totally edible, natural, and nontoxic.  I am excited about making it!   She also let me borrow a book that gives tons and tons of information about all essential oils out there.  So informative!  It is called Essential Oils Pocket Reference and you can find it here. I am so bummed that it is so expensive! I really would love a copy. I can totally see myself using it regularly. I'll keep an eye out for it and hopefully, find it for less than this someday! As of now, I think I'm getting this one. It seems to be very complete.  Anyway, I was reading up on it last night and saw that you can use eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils to help with coughs. K has had a cough all week and so I gave him a couple of diluted drops of each of these essential oils and voilá! No more cough! He hasn't coughed once! I am definitely onto something here! I am seriously thinking about requesting some more essential oils as birthday gifts from my husband.  We have been using some really good ones for our homemade laundry detergent, cleaning solutions, and toiletries, but I never thought of using them purely as essential oils!

I am a Young Living essential oils distributor now. You can order from www.youngliving.com and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).

I made homemade body wash for the kids since I did some research and found out that many (most) baby washes contain either carcinogens or neurotoxins and I don't want that near my kids.  I am sorry, but I didn't save any of the research, except for these two articles (for Article 1, click here) and (for Article 2, click here), otherwise, I'd post it here for you to read. It isn't hard to find all this information online, though. I highly encourage you to educate yourself in this matter and make your own decisions.  Mainly, stay away from ingredients such as phthalates, triclosan, parabens, artificial fragrances, methylene glycol, 1,4 dioxane, aluminum, sodium benzoate, etc.

To make the body wash I made, simply buy a bar of soap that is organic and that contains ingredients that you can recognize and understand.   I got Dr. Bronner's organic lavender bar for about $3.00 .  Grate it and put it in a pot with about 4 cups of filtered water (I prefer distilled).  Turn heat to low/medium.  Stir until it has melted completely.   Add another 4 cups of filtered water and pour into a large container.   Let it sit overnight to "gel" (8-12 hours minimum, better if it's 24 hours).   In the morning, assess its consistency.  If it's too thick, add more water, but don't make it too runny.  Once it reaches the consistency you like, pour it into smaller containers (preferably with pumps). This solution will need to be shaken before every use, so I suggest using smaller containers.  It will last you forever and ever!  Be careful when using near the eyes as this isn't a tear-free solution.  My kids have been fine every time we use it, though. Reading up on what makes a solution tear-fee and how much of a chemical change the ingredients need, I opted to use something that isn't tear-free and be careful with it no going into their eyes. So far, so good.  I don't use soap on them every single day.  I use it only when they need it.  When they only need to get rinsed off, I add a few drops of coconut oil and jojoba oil in the bath water.  FYI, Aveeno is also made by Johnson&Johnson.  I cannot tell you how good (yet weird) it felt to pour our J&J baby washes down the toilet (literally)! I also made whipped shea butter lotion for the family. It is absolute heaven! I even used it on my hair as a mask and it left my hair soft and shiny. Love it! I simply ordered 100% organic raw shea butter and put it in the mixer with some coconut oil, some jojoba oil, and some lavender essential oil. I put on the kids and on myself. It is natural and safe. I love to make things for my family that are healthy for them. On a side note, we are celebrating today! We moved in to our home a year ago! We love it here so much! We feel very blessed to be where God has placed us right now. And to save the best for last, I have noticed a shift in K's attitude towards his baby sister lately. Before, she was just a blob in a chair and now he is interacting with her a lot more.  She is almost seven months old and is now sitting up, so she is more visible and participates in all our family activities more.  It is adorable how they talk to each other and play together, especially during dinner and bath time.  They are great friends and they certainly love each other very much!

Baby/Child Development by Age (Month 1 to 6 Years old)

Click here to see the link that lists developmental milestones by age (Months 1-3). Definitely helpful and worth reading.
Months 4-6
Months 7-9
Months 10-12
Months 13-15
Months 16-18
Months 19-21
Months 22-24

Age 2-3
Age 3-4
Age 5-6


Below is an example of what you can read in the links:

Month 1

Most babies should be able to . . .

• Lift head briefly when on stomach
• Respond to sound
• Blink at bright lights
• Stare and focus at faces

Some babies will probably be able to . . .

• Follow objects moved about 6 to 10 inches from face
• Ooohs and aahhs
• Turn towards familiar voices and sounds
• Look and see black and white patterns

Some babies could possibly be able to . . .

• Smile in response to your smile
• Laugh
• Hold up head at 45 degree angle
• Hold head steady when upright

•  wants with gestures other than crying
• Stand alone momentarily

Some babies could possibly be able to . . .

• Drink from a cup independently
• Stand alone well
• Play ball and patty cake
• Walk for a step or two
• Say one word other than mama or dada
• Put toys or object into a container

Week 5: Reviewing and reinforcing the basics

This week went well.  As I suspected, K's "no more naps" initiative didn't last long.  Obviously, right after I plan a schedule (including a few minutes of "quiet time", but not long enough for a nap), he decides to start taking naps again. That's perfectly fine with me.  I think that if he's still taking them, then he must still need them.  But now, I have to revisit my schedule and work it all out with a nap right in the middle of the day.  I personally love it when both kids nap at the same time.  I love the sound of silence for a change, haha.

So, our week didn't go 100% as planned, but it went really, really well.  I'm so excited to be doing this and both kids love it, too!

Since K started napping again, we couldn't go into any subjects in depth, but I found that it was wonderful reviewing and reinforcing the basics, like Circle Time.

During Circle Time, we
- sing 3-5 songs
- say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag, the Christian Flag, and the Bible
- repeat a Scripture memory verse (we repeat the same one until it's fully memorized, so we don't go by time, amount, or schedules yet)
- read from the Christian Mother Goose book
- do calendar (days of the week, months of the year, weather, left-right, north-south-east-west, etc)
- carry and unroll the activity rug ($4 at Walmart, in a neutral color to keep him focused on his work, see pictures below)
- have Bible story time (K especially loves this one)
- do a few pages of a preschool activity book using pencils, colored pencils, or markers (I use a different book each day, so he gets to practice different subjects and do different activities every time)
- roll and put away the activity rug
- read 2 easy reader books
- read a Library book
- read through the Dolch List flash cards (we are currently reading words from Pre-K up to 2nd grade)
- pray to thank God for our day and for our snack
- have a yummy snack like fruit and homemade limeade (this takes place in the kitchen, of course)

Singing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Pledge of Allegiance posters

Bible lesson with felt figures

Preschool activity book on the activity rug (he know to never walk on it or over it, but always around it)

He's definitely right-handed :)

Sister watches him intently

This is an activity that I found on Pinterest.

I wrote his name on the top, then put stickers in boxes underneath each letter.

Then I used regular post-it notes and traced each individual letter in his name on a separate note.

He puts them on top of each sticker to match the letters above.

This is great for letter recognition and also to learn the order of the letters in his name.

Sometimes, I even scramble the letters around. He enjoys this because it's a bit more complicated.

I just had to show you how well he reads his Dolch List sight words!

These are about a 2nd grade level. Pretty incredible! :)

And yes, both kids were sitting on my lap. Haha

So even if we only had time to do Circle Time on some day, I'd be pretty pleased because we cover a whole lot.

Homemade almond milk and almond meal

Make your own almond milk!!!!

It is very easy and I will give you all of the instructions to make it. 

I'm going a bit simpler than the versions I've found online, so bear with me.

First of all, why make my own almond milk when I can easily go buy some at the store?  

Ummm, have you seen the ingredients list on the carton?  

Have you looked at the grams of sugar, etc?  

Have you seen the price tag on almond milk?

Clearly, making your own isn't hard and you will be saving almost a dollar for every half gallon you make as opposed to buying it.  More importantly, you won't be using any sugar, sweeteners, thickeners, or obscure ingredients.

On top of that, you don't toss the almond meal (what is left after you squeeze the milk out), but it's actually almond flour and you can use it for lots of things! I'll make sure and write more on this (including recipes) at the end of the post.

Take a look and see how easy it is!

One half (1/2) cup of almonds will make 2 cups of almond milk.

One cup of almonds will make one quart (4 cups) of almond milk.

Two cups of almonds will make one half gallon (8 cups) of almond milk.

Four cups of almonds will make one gallon (16 cups) of almond milk.

1) You need: 

  -  raw almonds (I bought mine at Sam's Club because they have an incredible deal)

  -  purified water (I prefer spring water, but purified will do fine)

  -  blender

  -  colander and cheesecloth or rag

  -  a large container or a few smaller containers to hold the milk

  -  OPTIONAL: if you find that the milk is too "blah", then you can use raw honey or dates to taste. You can also add a few drops of organic vanilla extract. I find that my milk lasts longer (by a couple of days or so) when I add a little bit of organic raw honey. It sweetens it a little bit, but I think that the antibacterial and antifungal properties in honey make the milk last longer.

2)  Soak the almonds overnight. This is very important for many reasons. One of them is to prep the almonds to make the milk, but also to remove the phytic acid on them.  

Please read more on this link.

Rinse the almonds a few times if you can, but soak for about 8 hours.  Make sure the almonds are 

completely submerged in the water (water goes about an inch above the almonds because as they soak the water, they will expand).

3)  Rinse and spread them on a piece of cloth or kitchen towel to sprout for a day or two. You can totally skip this part if you are pressed for time. Your milk won't taste better or worse, it'll just be healthier if you let the almonds sprout. 

4) Put the almonds in the blender with the correct amount of water according to how many cups of almonds you are using (see above).  For example, in the pictures, I used 1.5 cups of almonds and added  6 cups of water (it's 2 cups of water per half cup of almonds).  It made 3 mason jars' worth of almond milk or 6 cups' worth. 

5)  Blend, blend, blend until you can see that the almonds are pretty fine grains.  Taste a little bit of it to see if it's got enough flavor for you.  If it doesn't, then add either raw honey or dates and blend some more.  This is strictly up to you and your taste buds.  I don't add anything to it.

6)  Pour the almond milk into a container using a colander with a rag or cheesecloth folded a few times to make sure you don't get any bits of almond in there (unless you like it with texture).  Let the milk drain through (be patient, you might need to let it sit there for 10-20 minutes).  Squeeze the excess milk out of the cheesecloth or rag.  KEEP THE ALMOND MEAL!!!

7)  Pour the milk into your container(s) and voilá! You're done!  The milk needs to be shaken every time before use.  It needs to be refrigerated and it will last about a week (give or take).

And now for the almond meal:

Almond meal is what is left over from the almonds that you blended to make the almond milk.  It is very important that it dries up completely before using and before storing.

The almond meal will be pretty moist after he milk has been squeezed out of it.  What I do is spread it thin all on a large bar pan (Pampered Chef stoneware) because it absorbs liquids and let it sit like that for a few hours.  Then I mess around with it and undo all the small clumps while I set the oven to 250 degrees.  I throw it in there for about an hour.  Some people leave the oven door cracked so the moisture can escape and dry it faster. I can't do that cause I have little ones, but it still works.  Once it's out, I leave it on the stove or counter and mess around with it (swish it around on the cookie sheet) until I feel it's completely dry.  I could tell because it not only felt dry, but it was easier to move around (think wet vs. dry sand, sort of).

If you used a cup of almonds to make almond milk, you will get about a cup of almond meal, so make your calculations according to any recipes you want to use it with.

Here are some recipes for almond meal:

-  Use it in oatmeal, yogurt, on fruit, cereal, cookies, muffins, etc.
-  http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/products/p/almondmeal.htm

Enjoy and let me know what you think. :D

Triclosan

Please read this article. It is fascinating. Click here.

Homeschooling Week 4: The Nitty Gritty

My sister-in-law was visiting us last week and left this Wednesday. Since then, I have been rearranging some stuff in K's playroom, especially on the walls. It's looking more and more like a classroom (pictures to come).
I have also made decisions about the subjects that will be taught, the schedule, and the activities we will participate in. I feel pretty pleased, but we will know if it's going to work once I put it all into practice next week. I'll be sure and post my assessment on all this at the end of next week.
For one, toddlers love and need repetition, so I will try to schedule the same subjects and activities 2 days in a row. 
This gives me the advantage for 3 reasons: 
1) it gives K the repetition to not only learn, but to practice and master the skills, 
2) I won't have to plan a different activity every single day (any teacher knows how exhausting and time-consuming it can be), and 
3) I won't have to change my entire schedule when something unexpected comes up and we can't have a lesson that day (there's always tomorrow, right?). So I'll test it out for a week or two and I can change it to teaching the same lessons 3 days in a row if needed.
I personally think that doing, for example, the same 2 subjects on Monday and Tuesday, 2 new subjects on Wednesday and Thursday, and reviewing the week's activities, lessons, etc on Fridays, it'll work out perfectly. We'll see.
As of now, I am super excited to be getting my lessons and activities planned. I love organization, lists, schedules, routines, you get the point. Hopefully, you'll see more frequent and explicit posts on the lessons I'm teaching K.
Please let me know if you need/want more details and I'd also love to get some feedback. Thank you for reading.

Homeschooling Week 3: Fun & Potty

Last week (end of July & beginning of Aug) was an interesting week. We put education on the back burner and put potty training and interpersonal relationships up front and center.

My friend and sister-in-law came to visit us for 10 days. K loved it! She was very excited to meet A, since she's already 6 months old. We had a wonderful time.

We tried to have Circle Time and a short activity every day, but it didn't always happen. 

That's totally fine because we made progress in the potty training department. Now, K tells us when he feels the urge to go and he's a lot more comfortable going on the potty or on the toilet. We are very proud. He is also going at day care daily, which is a big step, too.