When you think about what you’ve eaten the last few days, do you feel disgusted or pleased with yourself? Myself - well, I actually feel pretty pleased. That’s because my family is on a mission to healthier eating, and I think it’s going well.

Let me tell you what really got us thinking more seriously about what we’re eating. And just for the record, we don’t eat junk food all the time, nor do we eat out all the time. I like to cook and try to prepare healthy meals most of the time. Nevertheless, our diets definitely have some room for improvement.

Recently, our son was diagnosed with congenital cataracts in his eyes. At that time, the specialist told us that it was not affecting his vision and surgery was not necessary. He said we would just watch them and check periodically for any changes.

Well, last week when we went in for just a routine vision check, the cataracts had worsened. The doctor really doesn’t want to do surgery right now because of our son’s age (5 years). This means we have time to look at other possible solutions, such as herbal remedies and nutritional adjustments.

After talking to a Master Herbalist at church and researching cataracts, it has become clear to us that through proper nutrition and an herbal eyewash, it’s possible to slow down the progression of cataracts or even reverse them.

What I’ve Learned So Far Regarding Proper Nutrition

Just because we’re eating vegetables and fruit doesn’t necessarily mean we’re eating well enough. To be honest, I’m finding it a little difficult to know what’s actually best with all the conflicting information out there to read.

However, I have managed to get started by incorporating changes in the following areas:

• Greatly decreasing the amount of sugar we’re eating and drinking
• Switching to all or mostly whole wheat flour for bread, muffins and pancakes
• Eating more raw and steamed veggies, in order to preserve nutrients lost through other cooking methods
• Choosing fresh fruits instead of cookies or other desserts
• Cooking with whole wheat pastas and brown rice, instead of white

As you might imagine, I’m now on the lookout for yummy but healthy recipes. One of our favorite breakfast items is muffins. Occasionally, I make them from scratch but I admit, more often than not, it’s a Martha White or Betty Crocker mix.

Well, after browsing for a tasty whole wheat muffin recipe, I just didn’t really find one that suited me or that included ingredients I had on hand at the time, so I came up with an awesome muffin recipe.

If you want the recipe, you’ll have to tune in tomorrow. I’ll also include the way I’ve made these muffins into more of a convenience meal for myself on busy days.

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Have you ever really thought about how our children can teach us about life? Okay, you may be tempted to dismiss such a crazy idea at first. After all, kids have very little experience in life, so what can they possibly teach us that we don’t already know?

Well, truthfully, it’s not necessarily stuff that we don’t already know, so much as it’s things we have either forgotten, due to our life experiences, or we simply take them for granted.

As I began to watch my children and think about how they have changed my perspective on life, I realized a few things I should remember on a regular basis.

Keep in mind some them are a little funny and some are more serious. So, here we go - lessons you can learn from kids.

1. Always say nice things about others - You know as soon you say something about that hideous dress Aunt Sally wore to the Christmas get together, everybody in town is going to find out what you said, including Aunt Sally. Kids simply don’t know how to use discretion regarding what they say. You’ve heard that old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Well, this is just another good example of why you should take that old saying seriously.
2. Lots of stuff doesn’t make one happy or content - Kids these days, have tons of games, toys, movies and other stuff. Yet, how many times do you hear them still complain, “I’m bored.” It’s not the toys and things that make them happy. Now take a minute and think about how many times you’ve heard this statement while you were playing with them and spending quality time with them - probably never. What truly makes us happy is being loved and being with those we love.
3. Life flies by quickly - If you don’t think life will be over in the blink of an eye, just take a look at your kids. Doesn’t it just seem like yesterday when you held your newborn for the first time. Having kids really brings to reality just how fast time really does vanish before our eyes.
4. You need more exercise - Wow, kids sure do have a lot of energy. Could it have been possible that you had that much energy when you were a kid? Chasing them around every day sure lets you know you aren’t in as good of shape as you once were or wish you were.
5. True love is unconditional - Your kids never knew you before pregnancy left stretch marks or maybe a few extra pounds. They may have never seen you without a few gray strands of hair or fine lines and wrinkles. Do they care? No. They love you because you are their mom and because you’ve always been there for them when they needed you.

Can you relate to any of the above statements? What lessons have you learned from your kids?

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Posted on June 25th, 2009 in Kids and Family | 6 Comments

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Last week, I determined to try something I had never done before. I decided my son and I would make homemade playdough. I know it’s not a great feat, but remember, I’m trying to spend more time with my kids and this sounded relatively easy and fun. As I browsed the web looking for a good recipe, I came across a great post by Tipnut.

In her post, she included ten different homemade playdough recipes to choose from. As interesting as they all looked, I finally chose the first one because it looked simple and I had all the ingredients.

Here’s where I had a lot of fun. I didn’t tell David what we were going to be making, only that we needed flour, salt and a few other ingredients. Of course, he thought we were making cookies or cake. I really kept him guessing.

At the end he still wasn’t sure what we were doing until I whispered it in his ear. Then he was ecstatic because he loves playdough. And yes, he picked pink when I asked him what color we should use to make whatever we were making.

Once we were finished, the first thing that crossed my mind was how I was going to keep the kids from fighting over how much playdough belonged to each one of them.

The solution: Since the recipe made enough for two kids to each get a baseball sized ball of dough, I took Ziploc bags and wrote their name on each bag. Then I divided the dough and put half in each bag before giving them any of it. This has worked out great because they feel ownership of only the portion that is in their own bag.

I also wanted to try to keep them in one place while playing with the playdough and make clean up easier. Therefore, I found that by letting them use their placemats as their “playdough stations,” it helps them keep their playdough to themselves and it’s easy to wipe off for clean up.

To top it all off, I’m still loving this project. They have played with this stuff so much in the last few days it has given me some time to catch up on a few things around the house.

Kids absolutely amaze me sometimes at their ability to just play, create and use their imaginations.

I think we miss out on that sometimes. Maybe we should try just playing more often too. What do you think? It sure couldn’t hurt.