My Bread!

About two years ago, I was blessed to be able to buy a grain mill (by the grace and provision of family). It allowed me to make all of my own flour....completely whole wheat, full of all the good stuff!

About two days ago, I was blessed to be able to buy a bosch mixer (by the grace and provision of Brandon) The best part about this mixer is that I can make 5 loaves of completely whole wheat bread to accomodate our growing family.

About two hours ago, I baked my first loaves of bread mixed in my bosch and they were amazing. 

Some of the best bread ever!!!  It was an exciting day for me.

Thanks God for providing a way for me to take care of my family.  I am always looking for more ways to keep our family eating healthy, so if you have anything your family does....please share!!

10 Ways to Boost Your Immune Health

The other day I was searching around trying to find some good tips and ideas on how to boost your immune system to help fight through the winter.  I came across this website:

http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/10_ways_to_boost_immune_health

It gave some really great ideas and they are actually very practical.  Check it out and please leave a comment if you have any other ideas.  Having four kids this year, I am trying to get us all good and healthy :)

I also heard about this onion thing.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/onion.asp

Snopes say it is fake, but some say that the Amish use it all the time and it works.  I figured it would be worth passing along and let you decide.  If it might help not get the flu,  I might for some crazy reason try it.

Celebrate Ms. Miki's Grand Opening!!

Come and celebrate with us!  We love Ms. Miki's Gymnastics!

Educational Movies

Since Big Daddy B and I have been married when have never had cable....that is well over 6 years.  We actually did not have money in the budget for it when we got married and got so used to not having it that we never ventured to get it.  With that said, I have found a PBS show, on dvd, that has caught my attention.

Since we do not have cable, we have been renting the dvd's from the libary.  Kristi revealed WordWorld to me and my kids are loving it.  It is actually the one we watch the most.  I love that they can teach the kids while they watch.  I have worked it into our school schedule that they watch their "educational video" as I am preparing for dinner....it works beautifully.  I also love that we own/rent  the DVD's.  It allows me the freedom to use them whenever I like and not be bound to the tv schedule:)

The other series we have really been enjoying is Popular Mechanics for Kids.  They show the inside scoop on just about everything and they show how things work.  I always try to make their school day "movie" something that teaches them so they can learn from that break time too.

Another homeschool mother once told me, "Its ok to have a little movie time each day and sometimes its a great break for both of you!"  That was freeing for me and I can say it has been a great refreshing time in our home and a great asset to our school day.

No More Movies!!

Alright, bear with me.

I have been consumed in proving how remarkably atrocious Prince Caspian "the movie", from the series of "The Chronicles of Narnia" books, is and how it was manipulated by...hmm,, I am not sure upon whom I should bestow the credit?? Uh...Hollywood possibly??

About two months ago, we eagerly rented Prince Caspian to watch.  I actually wanted to read the book first but I thought that my kids would be grown and gone before I finished (I am a slow reader...sometimes!).  We watched it and I loathed it.  High King Peter's character seemed amiss and Queen Susan kissing the prince almost out of nowhere seemed, well, just ridiculous.  After this night, I would plunge myself into "The Chronicles of Narnia".  My dilemma was, I could not just read Prince Caspian (it's the fourth book) so I would have to start at the beginning.  All together The Chronicles of Narnia are seven books.

So, I started.  I could not stop.  I was intrigued.  I was thrust into such a beautiful world.  A world I am not sure I have spent much time in.  The world's name....imagination.  Over the past two months, I have read five books out of the seven and it has changed my life. 

The imagination and beauty of Narnia has opened a new world for me.  I watched the trees today with my children and saw the leaves dancing in the wind and almost seeming like they were waving at you.  The colors I see when I peer out the window are bold and bright as if they were brand new and I was seeing them for the first time.  As my husband cuddled me the other night I thought in my head of a oversized, soft and furry, blue and purple scarf that snuggled so close and kept me so warm, was so pleasant and would protect me.

Thus far here is my review....C.S. Lewis is an amazing writer.  Prince Caspian the movie was abominable.  Yes, I can use a big word like this because it exactly describes what I thought about the movie.  I do not see how they will ever be able to make another movie in the Narnia series because they compromised the story on many different levels.  This explains why I was remarkably confused after watching it.

My advice: read the book and read other books.  Most movies today lack substance, good examples, imagination, and creativity.  Big Daddy B asked me if I wanted to watch a movie the other night (mind you, I love to watch the same movie over and over again because I used to love movies) and I shyly replied, "Do you think we could read instead?"  These were foreign words coming out of my mouth but nevertheless they were true.  My desire to read and tap into my imagination have brought me to a place I have never before been in my adult years.  Falling in love with Narnia has been natural as it seems to remind me of my Creator and his God-breathed Scripture.  I will have more to come about Narnia soon......

The Pumpkin Carving Party

Each year my uncle has a pumpkin carving party at his house.  Each year it gets harder and harder for us to carve pumpkins because we have one more child to keep track of.

Little Bub was the most focused, scooped out all the gunk inside and cut the top off.  Big Daddy B had to do the carving.

Big Bub was a little less focused that Little Bub but he did a lot more of the cutting.  He would not dare touch and of the goop...he has texture issues.

Peanut was the least focused of all, drew about 20 hearts and her pumpkin and asked daddy to cut them out.  She left to go play with the kids while Big Daddy B finished it up.

In the middle below are the POW Flyboys who were quite festive in their little purple costumes.  They carved pumpkins while we did.   They did theirs faster with the new state-of-the-art motorized carver.  Seriously, what will people think of next!!

This is our best attempt at a family picture.  It's actually way more realistic than the posed ones :)

The Basket Family :)

This is not their real name of course but don't they look great!  They are such a naturally photogenic family and Daddio and Mama look great together.  Did I mention that I love taking pictures?