Daughters, A Must-Read!

If you are a daughter, have a daughter, know a daughter, have a son who will marry a daughter then you must read this amazing article about modesty. The readers' comments below the article are enlightening as well. Many of us have probably missed the mark on this issue with ourselves and with teaching our daughters (and sons).

I used to believe modesty was a balance somewhere between pride and shame. I thought you should find a happy medium, a point where you aren't focusing so much on your appearance that it becomes pride (trying to earn favor with God through dress). But also not being motivated by fear of my femininity and trying to cover it up out of shame. I've probably spent a great deal of my days contemplating the midpoint on the modesty continuum. If on the modesty axis Pride is point X and Shame is point Y, then we are not even on the right axis. Turns out, modesty is not about finding a happy medium between those two points of sin, because it's not a point at all. But rather, it's the whole graph - it's about the glory of God! The aim in modesty should be to minimize our own glory, and direct focus on the Glory of God who is in all things, above all things, and creator of all things. Should it surprise me that it's about the glory of God? No. But sometimes we all get our motives off course and need a friendly nudge to get back on course.

Christmas Traditions

Traditions are such a neat concept. As a parents we hope to kick off some worthy traditions in our homes. But, what and how things end up sticking around is such a mystery. It's hard to say what we'll be doing 5 years from now...or even in 2 years. So for now we are test-driving some possible new Christmas traditions for our family.

It all began with my hope that we could celebrate Christmas all month long! Our family loves to celebrate birthdays, and who better to celebrate than Santa?! I'm joking of course! I lucked up when I found a downloadable advent calendar geared for young kids. I love finding resources where all the planning is already done for me (and free is a huge bonus). We haven't done all the activities listed on the calendar, but we have done quite few and we've tailored it to our family. The daily scriptures have been awesome in guiding our devotion time. BJ is heading up this time for the kids in the evening since they have to hear me talk all day. I didn't want this to fall into the category of "just another homeschool lesson lead by Mom." We want it to be (more) special. Not to mention, my brain is fried crispy by the end of the day and BJ can step in with a fresh new zeal (that word doesn't get used enough these days).

We are also making an advent paper chain. I can't remember where I saw this idea, but I loved it! Each night, after we read the scripture passage, Lily and Schaeffer decorate a strip of paper to be added to a paper chain (2 kids x 25 nights = 50 chain links). My addition to this activity: Box up the paper chain after Christmas and break it out next Dec 1 to begin adding to it again. Griffin will probably be old enough to participate next year (3 kids x 25 nights = 75 chain links). In 18 years we will have quite the paper chain - possible entry into the Guinness Book of World Records! Nonetheless, it'll be fun getting the paper chain out each year and looking at the links with their drawings and writings on each one.

Who says all the Christmas fun has to be focused on Santa? Jesus is the most awesome, exciting man who ever walked on earth! I cannot think of a better way to celebrate this magical season than to make it all about HIM!

Where Have I Been?

I don't know where I've been, but by the looks of things I haven't been at Phaneroo. So here's a quick update to get up to speed.

1. Phaneroo needs a makeover. I have 4 kids now and the banner doesn't reflect that.

2. Charlotte turns 9 months old this week. What?! 9 months you say? That's crazy! Yes, I know. I think so too.

3. Speaking of Charlotte, she is now 100% weaned from breastfeeding. It wasn't my idea, but my body just completely decided to quit producing. I guess after 7 years of either being pregnant or nursing my body decided it was time for a permanent hormone intermission. Part of me is sighing relief. The other part of me is sad. I cried when I realized that breastfeeding was coming to an abrupt end.

4. Our family is done growing in numbers, unless God decides to have a good laugh or he leads us to grow our family other ways. The baby-making shop is closed. Once again, I cried. Transitioning through stages of life is always difficult. But I shall look ahead to the glorious future God has in store for WWorldWide.

5. BJ and I are now on an animal-free diet. In technical terms it's called "vegan." I don't necessarily like the terminology because in general vegans are nutsoids. For them it's usually for religious, socioeconomic, animal activism, or environmental reasons and we don't fall into any of those categories. For us it's purely health. For BJ it's all about Rheumatoid Arthritis (dairy and meat are top 2 and 3 inflammatory foods). For me its trying to avoid what seems to be the inevitable heart disease that runs in my family, and which cropped up in the form of gestational diabetes in 3 of my 4 pregnancies. And honestly, I totally enjoy my new way of eating. It's easy, cheap, fun, experimental, healthy, light, guilt-free. (And, by the way, it's no way related to my breastmilk production issues. Production stopped well before I changed my diet.) Protein comes in many forms, but most people don't know that many veggies and grains have protein. I get more protein (minus the cholesterol and extra calories) in my breakfast oats than most folks get all day. The goal is to eat freely of vegan whole foods. I've learned that I really do like fruits and veggies just the way they are with minimal processing and no butter. My favorite lunch is a baked potato drizzled with olive oil, a dash of salt, and crushed rosemary and a side of steamed broccoli. I've always loved my veggies so now I get as many as I want. My grocery bill has been cut in half, although, the kids still have meat and dairy but they are getting exposure to a ton more fruit and veggies since they are in abundance in the fridge.

6. We are busy with school. Lily and Schaeffer are both at River's Edge 3 days per week and home schooled 2 days per week. I'm busy. And to top it off, I'm serving on the school's board of directors. I don't know what compelled me to say yes to that one. I'm learning a lot and enjoying meeting some new folks. I have been encouraged by the other board members who are trying their best to serve the school, the families, and staff at River's Edge.

7. We love having a live-in babysitter with us. Her name is Lana. She is a grad student at UT. She works part-time and helps with babysitting and chores 3 days per week here at home. I'm getting quite spoiled with this arrangement. BJ and I get date nights. Wow! What a boost to our marriage!

Well, that's the top items for now. Time to get ready for bed. A full day is ahead. I've really missed my Phaneroo moments. I shall return soon...

Cruze Dairy Farm

I found a new blog that's fun, and about a local farm family who sells organic dairy. We will be visiting their farm in a few weeks during a Pre-K field trip with Schaeffer's class. Check 'em out, ya'll!

http://www.CruzeFarmGirl.com/

ExtraPetite

If you are a shortie like me, then you have a difficult time shopping for clothes that fit proportionally. A lot of styles cater to tall and slender types - I'm more of the short & full-figure type (post-babies). There are a lot of clothes on store racks that just make me look dumpy. It's a struggle for us shorties to find outfits that flatter and that are cut to our proportions. So I was very excited to come across ExtraPetite. If you are a shortie then you will appreciate it too. (Although, the model appears to wear size 0 and 2, which I most definitely do not!)

How safe are your personal care products?

I found EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database to be extremely helpful in finding natural and safe products. I was appalled that some of my so-called natural products are not very safe because of some of the chemicals in them. Check it out and search your every-day products and see how they score.

I was concerned that the Arbonne products, which claim to be pure, safe and beneficial actually scored worse than my cheap discount store brands. I will definitely have to factor that into my review once they arrive...I'm a little scared to use them now. And, this site is helpful in identifying products if you have a member in your family who has extremely sensitive skin, such as my Griffin.

Ciera and I was up late one night this week doing some fun girl time. We made our own skin treatments: sugar honey scrub, pore strips (made of gelatin and milk), aspirin scrub & mask, and my favorite, kitty litter mask. Kitty litter without additives is actually a natural occurring mineral bentonite which is great at absorbing oil and impurities. Unfortunately the kitty litter that I had purchased was a different kind of mineral and wasn't as great at dissolving into a clay so we'll have to try that again another time. Check out Michelle Phan for some cool skin care DIY's.

A Lot Going On Around Here

So that you will be forewarned, this post will be full of randomness and it will probably end up being fairly long. That's so unlike me to be random and disorganized but that seems to be the flow of my life right now, so...we'll go with it.

Ciera has been with us all summer helping with light housekeeping (kids' laundry, vacuuming, dishes as needed, etc.) and babysitting. She has been a huge help! I DO NOT look forward to her returning to school, but she's a smart girl and her education is important. Working here probably reinforces her need for an education so that she's not stuck being someones maid or babysitter for life. I think our busy home wears her out.

Lily began therapy for Central Auditory Processing Disorder at the beginning of the summer. This disorder is very complex. She was recently tested by UT's audiology department, as referred by her therapist, so that we could get a baseline reading of her auditory system. She scored "severely" low when her left ear had to discriminate sounds that are very familiar: ba/da, chu/shu... She also scored low when her right ear had to listen closely to a voice when background noise was also present. This background noise would be similar to a classroom, restaurant, or even our home with 4 kids. It's amazing how in-depth the testing was and how revealing the results were. Based on those results, she will begin Fast ForWord on Monday at Parent-Child and will be there 2 hours per day, 5 days per week for 6 weeks. We will work around her school schedule when that starts up. But what's super exciting, this intensive computer program should help her auditory system mature quickly and she will no longer suffer from CAPD! What a huge praise!! Meantime, she will also continue to receive Occupational Therapy for some other sensory things. I am optimistic that all these things will help resolve some of her learning struggles this year.

Charlotte is almost 6 months old. I can hardly believe it! She's growing up so quickly. She is super sweet, laid back most days, loves lots and lots of attention from everybody, makes lots of noises, smiles and coos at us all the time, laughs out loud at our silly faces, grabs all sorts of toys and anything within reach not excluding my hair and jewelry. She is a precious blessing to our family.

We visited Nana Kaye and Nana Faye last week. The kids had a blast seeing the chickens, exploring the gardens, making a camp out spot on the floor (Doug style), and eating ice cream cones and the best iced lemon muffins you will ever put in your mouth. Nana Kaye's gardens are beautiful right now - green, blooming, lush, perfect.

I might be going vegetarian. I know that sounds weird and completely random. I started thinking back about my week and realized I hadn't had any meat and I didn't miss it at all. I then began to think how much I don't really love meat and in the past have just sorta ate it because I thought I needed to for protein and iron. I'm not opposed to eating meat, I just don't think I really love it enough to miss it. And besides, BJ avoids beef because his cholesterol had crept up and needed to cut it out. On my last grocery shopping trip I stocked up on a bunch of Tennessee homegrown vegetables and fruit since they are in season. And so this week I made meals around those veggies and not around meat. This week we've had vegetable pasta, black bean & homemade salsa burritos, sauteed squash & zucchini, rice, oven-roasted rosemary potatoes, harvest grain bread, corn, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, bananas, SC peaches, and a bunch more things that I can't remember. I did make some homemade chicken noodle soup for the kids because they like it and I can sneak in whole grain noodles. I realized that I enjoyed cooking all those veggies this week and mixing up a bunch of fruit into smoothies. I know I could never go vegan because I still enjoy dairy and eggs. And I do enjoy salmon and some seafood occasionally. Maybe I'll say good-bye to beef and poultry (never liked pig anyway) for a while and see what happens.

I'm still on my quest for natural beauty products, but I'm happy to report I've found some things I really like:

Aveda Smooth Infusion Shampoo & Conditioner - These products are not 100% natural but I love how it smooths without weighing my hair down. It smells amazing too. I purchase these at an Aveda salon.

Tom's of Maine Moisturizing bar soap - It is, in fact, moisturizing & gentle and can be found at Target and Walmart.

Alba facial cleanser & toner - Effective cleanser that takes off all my makeup, even waterproof mascara. Found at Target and Walmart.

Fresh Sugar Body Oil - This is a splurge at $45 a bottle but a little goes a long way. It gives me super soft non-greasy skin. I detest greasy lotions and creams. Purchased at Sephora.

Arbonne RE9 Advanced - I have not received this product yet, but I placed my order and I'm excited to start trying it. My tired worn-out skin needs an anti-aging remedy. I will report back on this one but the trial of it was great. I'm really impressed that Arbonne is botanically based (non-GMO's) and vegan (no nasty road kill in their products). There are not many cosmetic companies that can say that.

School starts back in 3 weeks. Lily and Schaeffer will both be at River's Edge. I'm excited for them to start a new year and see how much they grow and learn.

I think that's it for now. Until next time...