Fresh Finds....Sprouts

Just took a peak at the Sprout's ads....

Organic grass-fed ground beef:  $3.99 per pound

Organic Celery:  $.99 each

Almond milk yogurt: 4/$3 New to the market

20% off all Biokleen products

Mango's, not organic but very little pesticides if any:

3/$1. Great to chop and freeze for smooties

Good through July 27th. 

This is one of the best prices for organic ground beef so stock up and freeze!

Another thing to check out:

Frontera sauces are a super thing to have on hand for quick meals. I have had the green chili enchilada sauce and the red sauce and they taste fresh and homemade! They have great ingredients as well. If you check the label of the canned green chili sauces, you will be amazed at what you are really eating. There may be some out there that are better than others but the Frontera enchilada sauce is pure and natural. I was so excited to see this. It is exhausting to make everything yourself sometime!

Just Breathe....

     It is always hard coming home from the beach. For 8 days, I don't have anything resting on my shoulders. I sleep, eat, play, eat, sleep, etc. I don't let the stresses of the world rest on my shoulders and I realized how very good it is to get sleep. Real sleep that lasts more than 5 hours. That part is my fault but I always come home committed to change. I have all of these wonderful life changing ideas when I am out of the daily grind. Some stick, the sleep part never does. 

     I came home and made the mistake of jumping on the computer to check a week worths of emails. 298 emails. Reality hit and I could feel the tension mounting on my shoulders. It isn't like I have a rough life or am facing major turmoil in my life, it is just that I have responsibilities that felt nice left behind for a while. My daughter is playing "Just Breathe" on the guitar and the words are ringing in my ears. Just breathe, Miss Shari. I went through all 298 emails. I jotted down my to do lists and pondered the days ahead. I couldn't sleep that night. I want those quiet moments on the beach back where all that mattered was my family and good food. Life just isn't supposed to be that quiet, I suppose.

I just returned from my grandmother's bedside. A place she spends most of her hours at this time. "Just Breathe," I told her. The air will clear your mind and give you peace. She took a deep breath and so did I. It wasn't the beach but sitting there, holding her hand felt as calm and right as the moments I spent watching the waves. 

I know that we have the burdens and stresses in life to make us appreciate the quiet moments and to make us bigger and better than we were before. I know that there is breath in life everywhere, especially when we serve and take a moment to drink it all in. I am thankful that I have strong shoulders to carry the load and a family that shares the load with me. 

I came home from the beach resolved to be better in the more important arenas in life. 

Scriptures

Worship

Family time, one on one with my children

cleaning my closet

Exercise

Reading to my little ones

Creating new recipes

Restocking my year supply

Leaving stress behind

Sleeping.....

So many good ideas. I will really try. I promise. Summer is a great time to reboot. I think back to school time is akin to the New Year. Thank goodness there is more than one chance a year to get our acts together. 

How has your summer been? Are you taking the time to Breathe a little? I hope so. We all need a reboot now and then. 

Time to switch the laundry load. I brought half the beach home with me, I am sure.

Sticker Therapy

Yep, I am still on vacation but I want to let you know about a little project you can help with. 


Operation Sticker Therapy.


Remember sweet Abigail Goss? She is the sweet little one who is fighting stage 4 cancer. It has been a very bumpy road and many of you have helped out. Her sweet mama has thought of a way to help out other little ones who are also facing this struggle. That is how she is, always thinking of others even when she is facing the toughest battle of her life. Read the info below that she has posted on her blog page and help if you can. 

Operation: Sticker Therapy

Your mission: to help bring happiness and distraction to toddlers fighting cancer by mailing stickers, sticker books, or happy vibes!

Hi! This is Abigail the day before her 2nd birthday. You can see her central line and her surgery scar.

When she was 19 months old she was critically ill, and diagnosed with cancer--stage 4, high-risk Neuroblastoma.

She has been through a lot--with a lot still yet to go through. Abigail loves stickers and they offer distraction and entertainment during multiple hospital stays.

When kids are fighting cancer, they go through a lot of yucky therapies: chemotherapy, radiation therapy, antibody therapy, etc. We decided to call this project Sticker Therapy...a therapy they could look forward to!!

Our goal with Operation: Sticker Therapy is to receive enough stickers to be able to put some packets together to share with other children we meet who are fighting for their lives. We encourage you to donate some stickers, and then know that you are blessing the lives of some precious children.

Please mail them to:

To: Operation: Sticker Therapy
C/O Fans Across America Charitable Foundation
18521 E. Queen Creek Rd., Suite 105-187
Queen Creek, AZ 85142

Thank you for your kindness and generosity, and may it be returned unto you!

If you would like to make a financial donation to Abigail, that would be greatly appreciated. You can do so by visiting this site:
http://www.fansacrossamerica.com/assist_a_family/registry/families/families_in_need/abigail_goss_family.php

or by including a check payable to "Abigail Goss Medical Trust Fund" with your stickers. Thank you dearly!

Guest Post, natural laundry solutions.

I am still on vacation but my good blogging friend, Raygon wanted to let you all know about her all natural laundry solutions. She was sweet enough to write up a little post for you all. Enjoy!

For the wash:

About 6 months ago, I saw a deal on line for some soap nuts, it was a generic email that came to my inbox.  I had actually never heard of them, but they looked interesting.  I read about them and after learning about them, I really wanted to try them.  The company I ordered them from answered all my questions.  I emailed with a list and a very kind lady was prompt to respond.  I asked her about things like who gathers the nuts, are the compensated appropriately, is this a sustainable practice, etc.  After I learned about them I was excited to try them!  I got in on a good deal, I spent just over $40 and bought enough soap nuts for almost 400 loads of laundry!  They clean beautifully and after using them for a while, I can say I would recommend them to others. I have 3 small kids who make lots of messes thru the day, sometimes the soap nuts don't cut all the stains.  (I got a natural coconut based stain remover from the same company I got the soap nuts from, I am trying to be generic here in my information since I know you have someone who wants you to sell her soap nuts.  I don't want to detract from her business, although I did mention the price I paid....but I got mine on sale.  Maybe your lady would offer a deal to your readers?  If she sells the stain remover, you could add something here about it....its good stuff!  If you don't go with the lady that has contacted you, let me know and I will give you the name of the place I got mine from.  They were great to work with and answered tons of my questions.  I like knowing who is selling me stuff) 

There are lots of good things about the soap nuts, in my opinion.  #1 enough nuts to clean 400 loads of laundry came to my door in a medium size priority mail box.  #2 Inside there were little muslin bags full of the nuts.  After the nuts are used, they get tossed in my compost bin and the muslin bags get used to store Hot Wheels Cars, darts for the Nerf gun, shoes, etc. #3 I am not tossing any large plastic jugs in my trash can!  The waste from enough soap nuts to clean our laundry for about a year was a few quart sized bags. 

Another great addition to loads of laundry is 1/2 cup baking soda or/and 1/2 cup vinegar.  Baking soda helps brighten whites and remove stains.  Vinegar helps to soften clothes (don't worry they don't come out smelling like vinegar) 

Now for the dryer:

Since I was trying to get rid of the chemicals in the wash, I had to do the dryer too.  I had to stop tossing a sheet of Bounce in the dryer!  I actually tried drying our clothes without anything and for the most part they are fine.  But my husband wears business clothes 6 days a week and his clothes were so full of static!  I found a very reasonable solution.  My neighbor uses some of those plastic mass produced blue balls in her dryer.  The idea intrigued me but I didn't want those blue things in my laundry!  So I looked around to see if there was something similar, made from a natural product.  I finally came upon a nice little lady that sells 100% natural felted wool dryer balls.  Made from a natural fiber all the way down to the core (beware of some wool balls that are wool wrapped)  I toss those in my dryer and they have worked great!  They actually help my laundry dry faster too!  I bought mine from a lady who sells at www.wooldryerballs.com.  She was nice and friendly and answered my questions too. (she also sells on ebay and you can get a little bit better of a deal on there.)  

I have found that drying our clothes in the sun is another great and energy efficient way to dry them. (but we are short on sun up here about 6 months out of the year!) The sun has magical powers and helps remove stains from clothing.  Its how I keep my cloth diapers looking bright and white and good as new!

The last thing:  If you like your clothes to smell like Tide or Febreeze or Downy, or any kind of "smell", this is not the system for you.  There are no added dyes, fragrances, perfumes, etc.  This is a good system for my family and I think its keeping our clothes and linens looking good and clean, but it might not work for everyone.   

Anyone interested in trying out soap nuts, I have a blogging friend here in AZ who has some to sell. Just email me and I will get you the info.

Thanks, Raygon!

Time Off for Good Behavior

I can't seem to get to blogging lately and that makes me stressed for some reason. I know people don't wait around for me to blog but yet I feel some sort of responsibility. I don't know why. 


But, it is summer. My life is less organized yet somewhat busy. My routines are off and my continuing education plan has halted. I haven't really learned anything new to share and my menu ideas are at a stand still. It is just too hot to care much in the kitchen. I am spending all my computer time in creating the best preschool ever for the fall (you lucky preschoolers) so research in the health and nutrition area is halted.


With this said, I am going to let guilt go and just take a little break. Not long. Just a month. That's what you do in the summertime. I hope you are all taking a little break as well. As always, my email is open so ask any questions you desire. They always spur me to think and research and I can always use a little "spur-ing".


Peace out. Talk to you soon...hopefully I will learn something new to share or at least create a delicious meal worth repeating.

What can I do, Mom?

Are you getting tired of being activities director? I don't know about you, but my kids need something to do EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY. I am thankful that they don't like to watch TV and want to be busy, but I also need to get a few things done as well. And....we can't just go out and spend money all day long doing exciting activities. So, mommy friends....what are you doing for fun that is under 10 bucks and entertaining? Send me your ideas or leave a comment so we can all share our great ideas. We are only a few weeks into summer around here and our vacations are still a few weeks out. I would love some fresh ideas! 

The mighty cup challenge to use all the cups in the bag without it toppling was a hit. But, it lasted 3o minutes. 


Water balloons are loosing their appeal.


Swimming saves our life every day, thanks to family and the public pools.


There is the first Friday of the month free nights at the Phoenix art Museum, that's one day down.


Bounce U has $5 days if you sign up online for emails good for a two hour bounce. Did that several times. Getting tired of that as well.


Scavenger hunts at Target finding the worst food, best food, funniest game, funniest under ware, etc. The store employees love that! We put it all back nicely.


Rec center. Letting them climb their wiggles out on the rock wall.


Ping pong ball air hockey. Using your kitchen table, have one child on each side of the long end of the table and give them a straw. Using a ping pong ball, have them blow into the straw to try to get the ball to the other side for a score. 


Fill a bag full of junk and have them make up a play using everything in the bag. I am sure girls like this better than my boys.


Lots and lots of art projects.


Dollar store adventures.


What else???

Sunscreen continued.

Since I have received so many emails with questions about sunscreen, I thought I would post this article that my friend Terri posted on her site. It tells you a little more about sunscreen so it isn't just from me. 


Read it here.


 For those of you thinking that the FDA is on the side of Sunscreen, well they are doing many investigations right now on sunscreen as well. They are looking at things like the vitamin A reaction in sunscreen. Seems sunlight is reacting with the vitamin A and causing increased cancer risks. There is also the issue with the sunscreen not blocking the truly harmful rays of the sun, only one type of ray. There is much more to that story. Best bet, limit the use, limit your sun. Watch for ingredients. Zinc Oxide has been used for years and is always a good way to go. I like Terri's idea to mix it with coconut oil since zinc oxide is like spreading Desitin on your skin. Doesn't work so well. 


Glad you guys are doing your research! 

Toothpicks

Today after our movie day, we still had some time on our hands; me and 7 kids. We decided to take a stop in at the 99 cent store. Seriously, they have everything. I turned them all loose to buy one magical thing. It took them almost 30 minutes to find the right thing. My son had grapefruit juice. Whatever tickles his fancy! I came out with a bag of mini marshmallows and 1000 count box of toothpicks. They were curious. 

It took a whole two bucks to entertain them for one hour of tower building fun. I had them convinced, well all but one I am told, that these Mexico made marshmallows would make them really sick. They had some pretty creative designs using at least 500 toothpicks. Great fun.


On the topic of toothpicks, they are a staple for my preschool classes. They are great for developing their pincher grasps to be better at writing and coordination. When I give them their fruit for snack time, they get a little toothpick to eat with. It makes the fruit taste better, I am sure of it. They also love to lace their cheerios on the stick and count to ten. We also make shapes with them and letters. So much fun for a buck!

Sun... friend not enemy.

Growing up, I don't every remember getting slathered with sunblock the moment I stepped outside. I remember living outside in the summer. AZ summers. If we had too much sun, we came indoors. Today, kids are loaded down before they even step outside. It doesn't matter if they are going to be out for 10 minutes of 2 hours. It is just something moms are told to do.

The problem is that sunblock=chemicals. Your skin being the largest organ, soaks it all in and those nasty chemicals get absorbed right into its magnificent cells.

We aren't warned. The FDA isn't giving us any facts. We just accept that is something we should do. 

WRONG.

Why? Well, the obvious; you don't want those chemicals in your system. Horrible stuff. Second, you need D3 from the sun. The sunblock actually prevents you from absorbing the D3 that is so vitally important for every cellular function that we have. Over 85% of us are actually D deficient. It can lead to so many disorders. You don't truly absorb the D3 to the right level until the skin starts to turn a little pink. A little pink is good. 

What do you do? Practice sun safety. Use sunscreen, and a good natural one if you can, when you have to use it. For us, that means when we are going to be outdoors all day at the beach or the lake or are turning too pink and need to be out a little longer. Other than that, go outside after or before the peak sun hours of the day. I have never used sunblock when we swim after 3 or before 11. If we are out for an hour in the hot times of the day, I don't bother as well. Now, I know some burn faster than others. For this, swim shirts and hats are wonderful and seeking shade works wonders as well. Your body will tell you when yo have had to much and listen to those ques. 

Let the little ones get their sun. Let them absorb the D. Don't be afraid of a little pink in their cheeks. We don't want them burned but some color is a  good thing. 

Check labels for natural sunscreen like Soleo brand sunblock. Sure , it costs more but if you are using it less, it will even out a bit. I admit that I still use some junk kind when we are at the beach now and then but I try to keep this at a very minimum. I am still working towards all natural perfection. Maybe this year will be the beach year of Soleo sunscreen only. Yep. I just decided. 

(There, Rachel, I posted. Hope I made your night!)

Miss Shari's Playtime

I have been getting plenty of emails from frantic moms looking for last minute preschool options. Miss Shari's Preschool is full but due to popular demand, I have decided to add my 2 1/2 to 4 year old one day a week social class on Wednesdays from 9:30 to 11:30 only. We will still work on academics but the focus is on social skills, manners and fun. This is the class I taught last year and it was a great time for all.


If you are interested, I have 6 slots left. It is $40 per month. It will begin on August 17th. 


Email me with any questions.