Its not much but Ia m excited about it! I just had a review published by Work at Home Adventures. A huge heartfelt thanks to Miranda who suggested I do one and for liking it enough to publish it. :-)
'Till next time,
Jen
'Till next time,
Jen
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Monday, May 21, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Gardening - an all out Fmaily Event
Nothing makes me happier on a sunny day than to be out in my garden weeding and looking over the possibilities that lie ahead in the realm of fresh, delicious produce picked right out of my back yard and eaten just minutes later. Except watching my children participate in the garden. Since all of my children are now fully walking and some what independent of me, this year was the first year that all of my kids were able to really get down and dirty in the garden. When I say dirty, I totally mean dirty, too. Last year, was the first year that I had the space for a garden. We turned over new sod and my poor husband used a hand tiller to make the dirt as pliable as possible. We really only ended up planting half of the garden last year. the other half went to weeds and vining plants that were eventually taken over by squash bugs. I had a fairly successful harvest from what did manage to grow and more tomatoes than I could ever imagine.This year, with a little help from dried chicken manure from the hen house and a plow, we reworked our patch. Knowing the next phase was the dreaded hand tilling my husband contemplated his next step. By some divine intervention, our neighbor across the street saw it needed done and brought over his pull behind and worked it over really well.... no hand tilling for us this year!!
I carefully planned out my garden. In April, we planted two rows of onions (one row of white and one row of yellow),
a row of lettuce, a row of carrots, a row of sugar snap peas. the onions are looking amazing, the peas are beginning to vine onto our makeshift trellises, the lettuce is finally peeking its head above the dirt and my carrots may or may not be growing. I borrowed a book called Carrots Love Tomatoes from my mom and read it cover to cover before planning the next phase of my garden. I am wanting to do some companion planting.
I knew that my husband had planned that we would be putting our garden in through Mother's Day weekend to accommodate our other scheduling conflicts. So I went out and measured our garden (It is 12 yards by 15 yards or 36Ft x 45Ft.) and based on planting recommendations for the plants that I wanted to put in, we decided we could do about 12 "rows" leaving a large amount of space for vining plants such as water melon, cucumber, pumpkins, 3 varieties of squash and a couple of zucchini plants. We set out on Saturday afternoon. The girls and I procured the rest of our plants and seeds that were needed. Since it had been almost a month since the neighbor tilled, we busted out the hand tiller to take care of the weeds that were beginning to grow (although I had my suspicions based on the number of tomatoes I let rot last year that many of the "weeds" were actually tomato plants)
He figured out a neat way to trellis my snap peas using some metal wire shelving units that you can pull apart and put back together that we were no longer using. With the help of my kiddos, we went to work planting tomatoes - the carrot row, of course -, purple pod green beans by seed, broccoli, 2 types of cabbage, garlic, leeks, peppers, and basil..... They did a great job helping with putting plants in the rows and dropping seeds into designated spots. Even my 2 year old after watching everyone else, got a tomato plant put it into an already dug spot and covered it over with dirt. My 7 year old loved showing his sisters how to carefully place the plant and cover it over.
At some point, children like to do more playing than planting (usually about the time you start yelling at them about not stepping on the rows with plants already planted) so they were given a designating "digging spot" next to our work space.
I think these pictures are from a week or so prior... but you get the idea.. like a giant sandbox :-)
It's a little early yet for putting in gardens around here. Last night, it frosted. I heard my husband scraping his windshield and I thought "UH OH, I am going to have to start all over!!" Surprisingly, Only my pumpkin plant got disgruntled with the coldness last night. When we planted the squash and watermelon and pumpkins, it is recommended that you hill those plants. the problem was with the kid and my husband tromping around, a couple of my hills got stepped on. I had picked up these wood squares off the side of the road a couple of months ago not knowing exactly what I was going to do with them and discovered that they were a great way to tell people not to step on my plants.
I am not quite done planting yet. We have yet to plant my cucumbers, which we will be caging, and I have celery, parsley and Kale yet to put in. I still want to buy some Brussels sprouts and determine what kind of cold weather planting I want to do come August. It is so exciting and wonderful and an amazing way to spend time with your whole family in an activity that gives them great reward when it done.
'Till Next Time,
Jen
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| Garden after plowing |
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| The neighbor and his pull behind tiller... he'll never know how happy this made me |
 |
| the onions THRIVING. planted in Ap |
 |
| pappers and basil side by side as companion planting |
 |
| hubba hubba |
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| My pea pants starting to cling on to their "trellis" |
 |
| my pea plant trellis |
At some point, children like to do more playing than planting (usually about the time you start yelling at them about not stepping on the rows with plants already planted) so they were given a designating "digging spot" next to our work space.
I think these pictures are from a week or so prior... but you get the idea.. like a giant sandbox :-)
 |
| sad frosty pumpkin plant |
I am not quite done planting yet. We have yet to plant my cucumbers, which we will be caging, and I have celery, parsley and Kale yet to put in. I still want to buy some Brussels sprouts and determine what kind of cold weather planting I want to do come August. It is so exciting and wonderful and an amazing way to spend time with your whole family in an activity that gives them great reward when it done.
'Till Next Time,
Jen
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Been gone for so loong - chiropractics
I haven't posted since December... Much has been happening here and I cannot wait to bombard you with posts on J's progress and how we were released from the Neurologist, discovering my 3 year old has a gluten intolerance, retraining my children's table manners all because of a book I read, how its visibly apparent that Scouting is molding a leader out of my oldest son, my search for the perfect job to do from home, my garden, and the list goes on.
Today's blog is going to focus on chiropractics and children. One specific case study in my own home. I have firmly believed in the power of a proper Chiropractic adjustment. I saw a chiropractor through both of my last two pregnancies. When I was pregnant with child number 2, I fell while walking in the woods. I went on my merry way and drove the hour home. By the time I got home, every muscle in my right hip had locked up and I had to crawl up the stairs to our house. The next morning, my husband took me to our Chiropractor who instantly knew that it wasn't the hip out of place but but another small joint in the same area. He did a quick and simple adjustment and I walked out of the office as if nothing had happened the previous night. Because of this experience and many others, my point of view is very favorable for Chiropractors.
Child number 2 - here by known as "S" is a 3 year old female. Not having slept through the night for a couple of years, I sought in desperation some sort of "cure" for what I perceived as an on going problem. I was searching more for myself since I hadn't had a night of uninterrupted sleep in forever. Add to thatshe had potty trained around the age of two and had back slid over the summer, I was a fairly frustrated mom. I chose to ignore the potty training issue and we put her back in diapers at night and I continued to change her clothes several times a day. S is also known as our "crazy child" she brings the party where ever she goes. She is also very precocious. Come October, when she turned three, she began complaining of ongoing stomach discomfort. (Around November was when I chose to do diet elimination and discover gluten was our culprit - another blog for another day) While finding the food allergy alleviated the discomfort, many of the "crazy" behaviors, and some of our sleeping issues, the night waking and the bed wetting still continued. At this point, she cried every time I pulled out a diaper for her to wear at night claiming they were for babies. We tried to get out ahead of the bed wetting by waking her around 11pm but she would wake up an hour or two later completely soaked. Then her night wakings escalated to 4 per night. My almost 2 year old would sleep peacefully in her crib all through the night while I was up changing sheets and clothes and S was crying right beside me.
In February, I had finally tracked down a chiropractor specializing in children that was near me, had good reviews from people I knew and with whom I felt comfortable. (check out Pro Family Chiropractics on Facebook) She took a thorough case history, we discussed behaviors, siblings, home environment, her birth, illnesses the gamut of things that can effect her overall health. The the chiropractor went to work making several adjustments to her neck, spine and hips. We talked specifically about two bones in her spine that were out, the L2 (AKA the bed wetting bone) and L3 which is related to your gut. From reading above you know that those were two area of most concern for me. We went back twice a week for a time. In the first two weeks, there was very little improvement in anything. I was beginning to loose a little faith in what we were doing. A couple of nights she was dry but still continued to wake. By week three, however, her night wakings were down to two and her bed wetting was spotty. Through the month of April, the bed wetting was down to once or twice per week and she was only waking once to use the rest room and then sleeping through the alarm. We had to stop adjustments when my husband lost his job towards the end of April and I really thought that we would go back to bed wetting and night waking with out the regular adjustments. But the first and second weeks of May proved to be banner in my life because she slept all the way through the night. Several nights in a row. I was certainly doing the happy dance and as a result of the quality nights sleep that she is getting, her behavior has once again made some adjustments and she has really really settled down. I don't feel like we are in the middle of a hurricane. At one point, she had picked up the Moniker "the Destroyer" simply because her behavior was such that we viewed her as an out of control pinball.
We have been several weeks post chiropractic adjustments and I just hope that it continues to hold for us. For myself, my husband, my daughter and our whole family, proper chiropractic adjustment has been such a blessing.
If you have been contemplating Chiropractic adjustments for your little one, here are a few suggestions when looking for a practice:
1. Chiropractic adjustments are covered by many insurances and even several government insurance programs covers somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 per year so ask about insurance when you call. Most Chiropractors are familiar with hoops that need to be jumped through in order to get insurance to cover adjustments.
2. If you have no insurance coverage for adjustments, speak to the chiropractor or their billing department. many times, they have pro rated plans for people who have to pay out of pocket and will go even lower for those on Government insurance plans that will not cover services.
3. Ask to speak to the Chiropractor personally. Make sure you are comfortable with them before you even get to see them in person. A good Chiropractor, in my opinion, will be knowledgeable, friendly, kind, and reassuring about the process.
4. It is totally optional to get the adjustment at the first visit. Be sure that the chiropractor you choose does a FULL health history and not just one that you fill out. They should ask you very specific questions about you and your chidrens' lives from health to lifestyle to traumatic events. All of this will play into proper Chiropractic care.
5. Above all else, listen to your instincts. Too often we stick with physicians who we are uncomfortable with and end up with terrible experiences. Move on until you find someone with whom YOU feel comfortable. Remember, in every group of doctors There is a top 5 and bottom 5 but all ten are called "Doctor"
The above is just my own personal case history with one of my children. For comprehensive medical opinion and research check out Pediatric Chiropractics.
'Till Next time,
Jen
Today's blog is going to focus on chiropractics and children. One specific case study in my own home. I have firmly believed in the power of a proper Chiropractic adjustment. I saw a chiropractor through both of my last two pregnancies. When I was pregnant with child number 2, I fell while walking in the woods. I went on my merry way and drove the hour home. By the time I got home, every muscle in my right hip had locked up and I had to crawl up the stairs to our house. The next morning, my husband took me to our Chiropractor who instantly knew that it wasn't the hip out of place but but another small joint in the same area. He did a quick and simple adjustment and I walked out of the office as if nothing had happened the previous night. Because of this experience and many others, my point of view is very favorable for Chiropractors.
Child number 2 - here by known as "S" is a 3 year old female. Not having slept through the night for a couple of years, I sought in desperation some sort of "cure" for what I perceived as an on going problem. I was searching more for myself since I hadn't had a night of uninterrupted sleep in forever. Add to thatshe had potty trained around the age of two and had back slid over the summer, I was a fairly frustrated mom. I chose to ignore the potty training issue and we put her back in diapers at night and I continued to change her clothes several times a day. S is also known as our "crazy child" she brings the party where ever she goes. She is also very precocious. Come October, when she turned three, she began complaining of ongoing stomach discomfort. (Around November was when I chose to do diet elimination and discover gluten was our culprit - another blog for another day) While finding the food allergy alleviated the discomfort, many of the "crazy" behaviors, and some of our sleeping issues, the night waking and the bed wetting still continued. At this point, she cried every time I pulled out a diaper for her to wear at night claiming they were for babies. We tried to get out ahead of the bed wetting by waking her around 11pm but she would wake up an hour or two later completely soaked. Then her night wakings escalated to 4 per night. My almost 2 year old would sleep peacefully in her crib all through the night while I was up changing sheets and clothes and S was crying right beside me.
In February, I had finally tracked down a chiropractor specializing in children that was near me, had good reviews from people I knew and with whom I felt comfortable. (check out Pro Family Chiropractics on Facebook) She took a thorough case history, we discussed behaviors, siblings, home environment, her birth, illnesses the gamut of things that can effect her overall health. The the chiropractor went to work making several adjustments to her neck, spine and hips. We talked specifically about two bones in her spine that were out, the L2 (AKA the bed wetting bone) and L3 which is related to your gut. From reading above you know that those were two area of most concern for me. We went back twice a week for a time. In the first two weeks, there was very little improvement in anything. I was beginning to loose a little faith in what we were doing. A couple of nights she was dry but still continued to wake. By week three, however, her night wakings were down to two and her bed wetting was spotty. Through the month of April, the bed wetting was down to once or twice per week and she was only waking once to use the rest room and then sleeping through the alarm. We had to stop adjustments when my husband lost his job towards the end of April and I really thought that we would go back to bed wetting and night waking with out the regular adjustments. But the first and second weeks of May proved to be banner in my life because she slept all the way through the night. Several nights in a row. I was certainly doing the happy dance and as a result of the quality nights sleep that she is getting, her behavior has once again made some adjustments and she has really really settled down. I don't feel like we are in the middle of a hurricane. At one point, she had picked up the Moniker "the Destroyer" simply because her behavior was such that we viewed her as an out of control pinball.
We have been several weeks post chiropractic adjustments and I just hope that it continues to hold for us. For myself, my husband, my daughter and our whole family, proper chiropractic adjustment has been such a blessing.
If you have been contemplating Chiropractic adjustments for your little one, here are a few suggestions when looking for a practice:
1. Chiropractic adjustments are covered by many insurances and even several government insurance programs covers somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 per year so ask about insurance when you call. Most Chiropractors are familiar with hoops that need to be jumped through in order to get insurance to cover adjustments.
2. If you have no insurance coverage for adjustments, speak to the chiropractor or their billing department. many times, they have pro rated plans for people who have to pay out of pocket and will go even lower for those on Government insurance plans that will not cover services.
3. Ask to speak to the Chiropractor personally. Make sure you are comfortable with them before you even get to see them in person. A good Chiropractor, in my opinion, will be knowledgeable, friendly, kind, and reassuring about the process.
4. It is totally optional to get the adjustment at the first visit. Be sure that the chiropractor you choose does a FULL health history and not just one that you fill out. They should ask you very specific questions about you and your chidrens' lives from health to lifestyle to traumatic events. All of this will play into proper Chiropractic care.
5. Above all else, listen to your instincts. Too often we stick with physicians who we are uncomfortable with and end up with terrible experiences. Move on until you find someone with whom YOU feel comfortable. Remember, in every group of doctors There is a top 5 and bottom 5 but all ten are called "Doctor"
The above is just my own personal case history with one of my children. For comprehensive medical opinion and research check out Pediatric Chiropractics.
'Till Next time,
Jen
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