Simple Woman's Daybook

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FOR TODAY: July 31, 2012

Outside my window...  It's a very warm day but not hot enough to need the air conditioner on, thank goodness.  The breeze is finally starting to pick up now also, which really helps.

I am thinking...  about life, the past, the present; I sometimes seem to struggle with reconciling my past with the present

I am thankful...  for my husband & kids & our life together

In the kitchen...  I need to make a big batch of almond milk, I'm on my last quart of it right now, but I'm feeling too lazy to do so.....will do it before the day ends

I am wearing... a lavender tank top & denim shorts

I am creating...  been working a lot outdoors, making our yard nice & neat & clean; it used to ALWAYS be this way, but it has been let go here & there over the past couple of years, life's just been very busy since Lil J was born

I am going...  to try to spend less time on the internet

I am wondering...   about how a friend from my past can approach me some 15 years later & act like all is peachy between us when the very last conversation we had was him telling me exactly what he thought of me as a person & that I was basically pond scum in his eyes

I am reading... lots of Bible & not much else really right now, just haven't been in the mood I guess

I am hoping...  to kick this sinus problem FAST, it's been lingering for a while now & it's REALLY killing me; it usually means I'm eating too much sugar or too much grains (well, since sugar is a grain it's all the same really)

I am looking forward to...  my hubby coming home from work

I am learning.....  to teach Lil J to read, I am finally starting to get the hang of the method of the book I'm using.  I didn't like it at first & I'm still not thrilled about it, but Lil J sure does love it, so I'll stick with it for his sake

Around the house...  did all my house cleaning yesterday--bathrooms, floors, dusting, laundry--still gotta do the kitchen, probably on Thursday

I am pondering...  how this line is different from the "I am wondering" line..........it seems a tad repetitious to me....

A favorite quote for today...  Micah 7:9 I will be patient as the Lord punishes me, for I have sinned against him.  But after that, he will take up my case & give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies.  The Lord will bring me into the light, & I will see his righteousness.  I saw this scripture when I was making my Child Training Bible & was surprised that I don't remember noticing it before.

One of my favorite things...  Teaching my son about the Bible

A few plans for the rest of the week:  grocery shopping, more playtime with my Lil J, hopefully some fun this weekend with my hubby

I am praying for:  my health, hubby's sleep, lots of family & friends, for Israel's protection

The Child Training Bible

This is one of the best parenting resources I have learned of since becoming a parent.  More info can be found at the website for this product.  Especially good is the how-to video they have at that website.  My cousin told me about this product & I immediately ordered it & it arrived about 2 days later (very fast IMO) & I ordered the tabs & highlighters from the links on the website (which is through amazon.com) & they arrived the very same day.  So I sat down that afternoon & put it all together.  I saw some comments on their website that the shipping was too pricey for what you're getting, BUT I don't think those people are realizing how FAST it will arrive.  To me it was worth it since it did arrive so quickly.  It took me a few hours (maybe 3-4 hours) to put it together, but I absolutely love it & feel it was a totally worthwhile project.  Since I only have one small child (& my husband was home on vacation & was able to help watch him while I was putting it together) it was doable for me, but I could actually see where some people might want this & not be able to find the time to get it put together due to having several children & other demands in their lives.  I do think it would be great if they offered the option of paying more money but receiving the whole thing already put together for you.  I personally would still choose the option of doing it myself, but I think it would be nice to have the option available to others.

After I finished I went back through & double checked myself.  I found a few mistakes.  Verses I had highlighted but not tabbed.  Verses I had skipped altogether.  Verses I had tabbed, but not highlighted.  More than one verse of the same color (but different topics) on the same page that weren't labelled accordingly.  I am glad I invested a little extra time to double check myself & know that it is complete.  I do highly recommend double checking yourself afterwards.  It's very easy to miss things without realizing it.

I have observed parents who tell their kids what the Bible has to say.  But the child themselves never actually opens their Bible for themselves.  So as a parent I knew it was really important to me to actually train up my son to open up his Bible for himself & be comfortable with using it & knowledgable about the Bible in general as well.  I want him to know that it's where you first turn when making any sort of decision in life as well as for any issues/problems in life.  But I also believe in order to instill this as firmly as I desire in my heart that I must be the one who teaches him the how-to & the habit of doing it & I must do so starting at a young age.  I want to show him firsthand what the Bible has to say & where & how to find that info.  My son is only 3 as of now, but I have been thinking this over in the back of my mind since I was only pregnant, trying to think up a logical & systematic way of accomplishing this.

I have always struggled with creativity.  Oftentimes I see a need (like needing an approach to teaching my son the Bible) & I go to my husband & he is the creative half of us & he often comes up with solutions for me for a lot of things in life.  He is totally amazing like that.  It's a gift that I really wish I had.  And occasionally I do have that ability, but it's very limited & only in certain areas of life.  

I do think there are areas where this product could possibly be improved, BUT overall I think it's REALLY amazing & far better than anything I had come up with so far myself.  I will admit that I don't think it will work for EVERYONE out there.  While it seems very well structured & organized to me, I know that not everyones minds' work the same way.  So I'm sure there are some people out there that this would seem confusing to.  It's just a matter of knowing yourself & what works & doesn't work for you & your family.

My hubby was a little confused about it, even after watching the video on the website.  And especially while watching me put it together.  But once it was done I showed him how it works & he does get it now.  I told him to feel free to use it with his 18 year old son if he feels led to.

You need a  9x6" Bible to use for this.  On the website they use the ESV pew Bible, but I really prefer the NLT, so I ordered this one.  I do wish it had Jesus' words in red, it doesn't, but I wanted to keep this project affordable & not buy a fancy, expensive Bible.  So I feel it does the job for this particular use.  

Overall I am absolutely THRILLED with this project & tool & cannot recommend it highly enough.  If you have it or do get it & use it I would love for you to leave comments sharing your thoughts & experiences.  

I wrote an additional blog post on this topic here:

Simple Woman's Daybook

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FOR TODAY:  Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Outside my window...  the temperature is very comfortable today, but I do wish we could have a breeze

I am thinking...  about life & how short it can be sometimes, how unfair it can "appear" at times, although I know in my heart that in God's eyes it's not unfair, but actually the best for us, even if we can't see that

I am thankful...  for life, for my family, for my God

In the kitchen...  cooked black beans last night, nothing going on today until dinner time--chicken, salad, & black beans most likely for dinner tonight

I am wearing...  a flowy white see-through top with a long white tube top underneath & denim shorts

I am creating...  I'm always stumped on this one.........

I am going...  to start teaching preschool material to Lil J starting this fall

I am wondering...  how long it's going to take me to get my garden weeded......uuugggghhhh

I am reading...  I read in one sitting "when a mother follows Christ", it's a free kindle book I got & it was a good read

I am hoping...  to be able to attend my friend's funeral, we've been friends for at least 20 years, he passed away last night

I am looking forward to...  next week, as my hubby is taking the week off from work

I am learning....  about the invention related process

Around the house...  yesterday I cleaned the bathrooms, dusted the whole house, swept & vaccuumed the floors, & did the weekly tons of laundry; plus I spent some time on swagbucks building up my points as I'm hoping to get a dehydrator.

I am pondering...  what God has in store for us & why life always has to be so hard

A favorite quote for today...  Do unto others as you would have them unto you

One of my favorite things...  stealing Lil J's "buddy" (teddy bear) & running through the house yelling "I got your Buddy!" & he's on my heels screaming his head off :D

A few plans for the rest of the week:  grocery shopping on Thursday, park day (or pool maybe) on Friday.....

I am praying for:   Mark's wife Tammy, my stepson, my hubby, & lots of little ones



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FOR TODAY:  Friday, July 13, 2012

Outside my window...  It's humid, hot, & muggy.  Supposed to start cooling off on Monday, I can't wait

I am thinking...  about life & how we grow & mature & make mistakes.....it's so hard as an outsider to differentiate from that normal process & what's dangerously wrong at times

I am thankful...  for having been married 7 years now  :)

In the kitchen...  I thoroughly cleaned my kitchen this morning.  I try to do that once a week, but don't always get to it I have to admit

I am wearing...  a black & white halter top with a black tube top underneath, denim shorts

I am creating...  hmmmm, here I am stuck again on this one.....I'm working on my son's memory book, that's creative for me!  There I did it!

I am going...  this is normally the day of the week that I take Lil J to the park or the pool, but it's too hot for the park & I just don't feel like going to the pool today.....hopefully later on when it cools down I can take him for a walk or something.....I did just take him yesterday to see the train (we have a train track running by us, just outside my community, it's walking distance for us)

I am wondering...  if I have what it takes to raise my son according to God's will......I sure am trying my best, but don't most parents & yet it doesn't always show in the child once they are grown.....

I am reading...  I finally finished the 4-A epidemic book by Dr. Kenneth Bock--I highly recommend it; I have a few books lined up that I want to read, some on my kindle app & some actual books, but haven't actually started as of yet

I am hoping...  to get outside & weed my garden soon.  I am soooo bad about that.  I had planned to do it this week, but then the heatwave hit & I was busier than usual with our anniversary falling this week.

I am looking forward to...  hubby taking some time off work coming up soon

I am learning......  how hard my body is capable of working out, been pushing hard for 2 months now, plan to keep it up for another month or two & then will drop it down a bit

Around the house...  did a lot of cleaning this week, but there's always still more that needs to be done, hopefully I can get to it soon; my goal is always to get to it before my hubby does, he works hard enough outside of the home that he shouldn't be cleaning at home IMO

I am pondering...  the dangers of life as a young adult, scary stuff sometimes

A favorite quote for today...  If He is not Lord of all then He is not Lord at all

One of my favorite things...  playing with my son, with no scheduled agenda, just free time to play whatever he desires

A few plans for the rest of the week:  going to an inventors' fair tomorrow, church on Sunday

I am praying for:  my stepson, my hubby, my health, for Ryan & Brandon & Carson & Deborah & Madison & lots of little ones

Independance Day

It's been quite a while since we've really done anything for the 4th of July.  The holiday is special to us, in the sense of the meaning behind it.  But life is busy & my hubby doesn't get the day off, it's typically a big sale event in his line of work, so it's easy to put the celebrations on hold. 

I should add that it can easily not seem so important to see fireworks when you don't have children.  Most of the time my stepson was with his mother for the holiday & my stepdaughter was already an adult, off celebrating it on her own.

I can remember going to a park to see fireworks with my stepdaughter once.  My guess would be that it was in 2006.  So for 2007 & 2008 we didn't go anywhere to celebrate. 

In 2009, 2010, & 2011 it was too difficult with Lil J.  He was typically already asleep by the time it's dark out.  Plus the loud noise of the fireworks would certainly have startled him.

But this year he's 3.  And he's able to stay up late on occasion.  And he now actually knows what fireworks are.  Well, he's seen them on TV & he is able to recognize them on TV & tell me what they are. 

So this year I really wanted him to see fireworks in person.  I didn't want to go to a big fair or anything like that.  Just some simple fireworks.  I told hubby I didn't even care if we just watched from the car. 

But we ended up going back to the same park we went to in 2006.  By the time hubby got off work it was tough to get parking.  We actually ended up moving someone's trash cans (we did move them back when we left) & parked there & still had quite a hike to the park.  The event just had a few tents up, selling kettle corn, funnel cakes, a couple of businesses promoting themselves, & a smoothie stand.  We brought our beach chairs & Lil J's umbrella stroller & we took our dinner to go with us (I made hot dogs).   There was  a live band playing & lots of kids playing with balls & running around.  It was very nice.  At 8:45 the tents/booths shut down & at 9:00 they began a 20 minute procession of fireworks while the live band played patriotic music (a live rendition of the star spangled banner & then well known recordings of other patriotic songs). 

Hubby video'd the fireworks, but my phone is broken right now so I didn't get to take any still photos.  By the time 9:00 rolled around Lil J was quite sleepy.  When they first started he was trying to sleep through it on hubby's shoulder.  But the loud noise of it all forced him to wake up & look.  Then he started getting into it & even counting all the loud booms from the fireworks.  And then before it was over he was just too sleepy & went back to sleep on hubby's shoulder. 

So all in all we had a great 4th of July together.  My stepson is now an adult & even though he lives with us full time he was off with his friends just as my stepdaughter has been all these years.

The latest on Lil J's fungal issues

So Lil J is a very picky eater, as I'm sure I've mentioned a time or two before.  And so last February when I put him on an anti-fungal diet it was tough.  His already limited list of foods that he's willing to eat got limited much further.  He then had only a small handful of items he was willing to eat.

Thank God we now are seeing good progress.  He's been on that diet for 5 months now.  And the probiotics were really the big helper most recently as I shared recently in a blog post.

I must say that I have probably done more research on this particular topic than any other topic ever.  I have lived with this issue myself.  So I have learned much first hand.  This fact has been very helpful in helping Lil J.  I often think of how daunting this journey would be if I hadn't lived it myself.  Although it's doubtful we'd be in this position had it not been for me & my issues due to excessive antibiotic use.

When I put myself on an anti-fungal diet I stayed on it about 6 months & then started reintroducing some of the restricted foods & monitored to see what I could & couldn't eat at that point. 

At this point Lil J is now totally sick of the foods he's been living on for the past 5 months.  What's been hardest is finding food that he can eat on the go.  He normally snacks on either almonds or cashews on the go, but he's really sick of both of them at this point.  Hubby decided it's probably time to branch out & see what else he can & can't tolerate.  So we went shopping last weekend.  We agreed on no peanuts, pistachios, & corn for sure (we always try to avoid these, but I can't say that we NEVER eat them). 

So on Monday morning he ate granola bars for breakfast.  He was totally out of control on Monday.  Totally misbehaving, not listening, & being willfully disobedient.  It was a nightmare of a day.  I was starting to think that we'd need to stop introducing new foods & go back to the way it's been the past 5 months.  I have to admit I was a little upset with hubby for suggesting such a thing by the end of that day.

On Tuesday morning he had pita chips for breakfast.  They are made out of wheat.  We had a good day I have to say.  I had my son back to normal it seemed.

On Wednesday morning he had Joe's Os (it's Trader Joe's healthier version of Cheerios).  Within a couple of hours of him eating breakfast the wild child of Monday had returned.  It was shocking to me how drastically different he is when he eats oats.  I did my best to just get through the day & I told hubby we absolutely positively cannot feed him oats. 

When I try to look into behavioral issues related to oats all I come up with is gluten issues.  But since he's totally fine with wheat it's certainly not a gluten issue.  It's a very strange issue.  But I doubt that he is the only kid that has a reaction like that. 

It makes me question the kids that are diagnosed as hyperactive.  I mean, when J eats oats he's totally spastic & has zero attention span.  He cannot listen, he's practically bouncing off the walls.  It's absolute insanity.  Now I'm not saying that all kids diagnosed as hyperactive should be taken off of oats.  But what I am wondering is if they have some sort of issue with a particular food or ingredient.  And if that possibility was investigated further could the problem be solved without medications? 

I am still curious as to what it is exactly about oats that causes this behavior in him.  And I am wondering if it will be for the rest of his life or if it will change at some point.  I guess only time will tell.  Cereals are a good choice for snacks on the go.  But it's challenging to find oat & corn free varieties.  But there are some, we have a few now to choose from, made from both wheat & rice. 

And so we will move forward & monitor how he does.  Most importantly how his visible fungal areas do, but also how his behavior does.  Yes he's three & he throws tantrums & doesn't always understand appropriate behavior, I'm still working on teaching him that.  BUT I know my son well & there is an obvious difference with oats & I am keeping a close eye on his toes & groin areas that previously showed fungal issues visibly.

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FOR TODAY: Monday, July 2, 2012

Outside my window... it's been warm, but breezy; not warm enough to need the a/c on though, just have the doors & windows open, I LOVE the fresh air

I am thinking... about life, & the future, & praying for God's direction to be able to navigate my way through as best possible

I am thankful... for so much: my husband, my toddler, that I know the Lord, that my health isn't any worse than it already is

In the kitchen... hubby requested turkey burgers for dinner tonight & I'm making french bakes to go with them; I don't like burgers at all (I totally dislike ground meat) so I'm having a bowl of raisin bran with almond milk, LOL

I am wearing... a cami with a tube top underneath & denim shorts

I am creating... this blog at the moment....not much else.....I always come up short on this one.....
I am going... grocery shopping on Thursday & to the pool or a park on Friday; hoping to find some sort of firework display to take Lil J to on Wednesday evening-he now knows what fireworks are & I think he'll really enjoy it (we have never taken him before, just felt he was too young to appreciate it)

I am wondering... why people feel the need to be fake....it's so unneccesary & so hurtful

I am reading... just finished a free kindle book about menstrual cups & a book about detoxing

I am hoping... my stepson gets a job soon, he wants so much money lately & doesn't seem to understand that our income doesn't increase just because he has graduated.....where does he expect all this money to come from??

I am looking forward to... the weekend, not sure what we're doing, but I'm always happy to spend time with my hubby no matter what we are doing

I am learning..... about skin brushing & am becoming a pro with my diva cup

Around the house... my usual busy Monday of doing laundry, dusting, cleaning floors, & cleaning bathrooms

I am pondering... life in general....the sudden & unexpected loss of my BIL recently has really taken a toll on both me & hubby

A favorite quote for today... "True nobility isn't about being better than anyone else; it's about being better than you used to be"

One of my favorite things... working out

A few plans for the rest of the week: hopefully fireworks, grocery shopping, park or pool

I am praying: that I leave the legacy of being a good & godly mother, for my hubby, his job, our marriage, our health, my stepkids, my inlaws, our country, Israel, & lots of friends & lots of little ones