Preschool Inspiration

My oldest has just reached the age where she is considered a preschooler! We don't do any sort of formal preschool around here - but I thought it would be fun to do more activities with her. 

We read lots of books, paint with watercolors and play with playdough. She craves more though, so why not delve in some preschool activities! I researched some fun things we could do and put it all here to you can be inspired too!

 

 

1.  Colored Wheel  - this looks simple enough to make! Cut a circle out, divide into six spaces and color each one different. Then color the tips of a clothespin and write the color on the pin. Have your child match colors. Good for learning colors and fine motor skills!
2. Homemade Finger Paints! Looks super easy and fun for preschoolers and toddlers alike! :)
3. Cloud Dough. This looks really fun and easy to make.
4. Sorting colored buttons! This is a great way to keep your preschooler or toddler occupied for awhile. Purchase a bag of buttons and let them sort them into a egg carton. 

    5.  Rock Alphabet -  These are for sell but they look simple enough to make. The hard part would   be finding 26 flat stones. After that paint them and have fun learning your letters!
    6.  Colored Vinegar drops on Baking Soda - I can't wait to do this one with Gianna. The drops fizz as they land in the baking soda. How fun!
    7.  Brown Bear Head and Tail Matching - These books are easy to come by at thrift stores. There are different ones you could use as well. Great for teaching colors!
    8. Matching Color Shades - This is a great frugal and fun activity. Looks like I know what I will be grabbing at Home Depot next time we are there!



Make sure to check out more ideas on pinterest. You fill find more than you need! Thanks for stopping by!

Well, Excuse me!

 Hello! 

Please excuse my absence over here! 

I haven't been too busy, or sick with a pregnancy or moving or anything like that! Just plain 'ol uninspired. I have not had the motivation or excitement to cook or experiment with anything  in the kitchen - in fact, I dread being in the kitchen these days. And that's ok! I joke that as soon as I started a food blog I didn't want to cook anymore, and that's very close to the truth. 

So it's not a food blog anymore. It's going to be a "whatever is interesting at the moment" blog - or else it might sit here forever!

Being a stay at home mom is really hard sometimes - this blog has been a helpful outlet for me, easing the drudgery of day to day life and giving me a little to look forward to. Toddlers sometimes, just sometimes make you go a little crazy staying home everyday!

Now that the weather is turning don't you feel like sewing  and crafting? Im getting there - as soon as my children get over the flu and my husband gets home from traveling we will continue on with our lives! 

Now for a little glimpse into what we've got going on (or hope too, anyways!):

1. My daughter loves Cinderella and this tutorial looks almost too easy to pass up! If I can find some blue fabric on sale I think I will make this for her halloween costume. I can just picture the immense joy this dress will bring her. Little girls are too much fun.

2.  Homemade deodorant. This recipe rocks. Regular deodorant causes me to break out (not to mention the link to breast cancer, ewww) and natural deodorant doesn't hold a finger to this stuff. I love it, and you can make it smell great with essential oils - can't wait to whip up a new batch. :)

3. Almond Flour Pizza crust. Doesn't that pizza look delicious? I have been craving a good pizza and Domino's gluten free pizza doesn't really cut it - not to mention all the starches, rice flour, sugar, Avicel and Calcium Propionate in it. What is Avicel anyways? I tried googling it to see and couldn't really find anything about it? straaange.

4. Ever read "He Leadeth Me" by Fr. Walter Ciszek? It's this priest story of surviving a communist labor camp for 15 years I think? I just started it and have heard great things about it. Im hoping it will be inspiring - because it's not just my cooking that has been blah lately - my spiritual life is sorely lacking. I don't feel like praying, I don't want to pray and it all seems so dry. I know times like these are a test and are supposed to be a gift - but I would love for God to take it back - it's a huge cross and struggle for me.  So what do you do when you feel spiritually dry?

St. Rose of Lima, Pray for us!

If anything, St. Rose of Lima's words have carried me through this evening, thank you St. Rose. You rock. 

"Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: “Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. Let them know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven”. - S. Rose of Lima

Making your own Salad Dressing

One of the first things we changed about our diet was making our own salad dressings. It takes minutes to prepare and homemade dressings are so delicious. My children will eat every bite of their veggies if they are covered in homemade dressing. 

Nutrition wise, homemade dressing is far superior to store-bought. The Olive Oil and vinegar will supply you with a dose of vitamin E, antioxidants and enzymes - compared to the rancid soy bean oils, MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and a many other ingredients listed in commercial salad dressings. 

The best part - it's simple and anyone can do it! So ditch those bottles of dressing and nourish your body with a wonderful salad topped with homemade dressing!

If you click here and here you will find some great salad dressing recipes. At first I had to have a recipe until I got the hang of it. Now I throw in all the ingredients until it taste right. Being so busy these days with two toddlers, it's about all I can manage!

Our Simple Salad Dressing Routine:

 

Grab an old jar and throw in these ingredients:

2 parts Extra Virgin Olive oil

1 part vinegar. You can use ANY vinegar or combination you like. Here is what we use:
balsamic, raw apple cider vinegar, red wine or white wine.  

A squeeze of mustard. You can use whatever you have: dijon, spicy, regular. 

A dash or two of salt.

Honey or maple syrup to sweeten.


That's it! Make sure to taste it and add more oil, vinegar or whatever you want. Dressings can be made really fancy or really simple. We keep it simple. Occasionally I will follow a recipe for a nice salad, but this is what we do most of the time. 

Another great thing, you can't mess it up! If you accidentally add too much vinegar or salt, it's easy to add more oil to balance the flavor. It also works the other way around. Have fun and play with the flavors a bit. You will enjoy it!

"If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that."
              – Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Doomed to a Life of Dentist Bills...

I was peeled over in pain exams week of my Sophomore year in college. My teeth were killing me. I could barely eat, let alone focus on studying the pain was so severe. Having no money to see anyone I had my roommate call her dad so that he could prescribe me an antibiotic to kill the infection in my tooth. My parents paid for a root canal as soon as I got home. But this was only the beginning.

Four years and one baby later the dentist told me I had eleven cavities and needed another root canal. The only reason I went into the dentist was because my teeth were hurting so bad I couldn't take it anymore. This was while eating a low fat and highly refined sugar and grain diet. I had lost weight on Weight Watchers prior to getting married and followed the same principles after getting married and having a baby. We owed thousands to the dentist that year.

I figured it was the pregnancy, right? People were telling me that being pregnant is a strain on your body and your teeth might suffer. I was told that if you don't have enough nutrients for the baby, they will be taken from your teeth. Also, my family has bad teeth. I figured that I didn't have a choice, I was going to have bad teeth. My pregnancy confirmed it. I was doomed to a life of dentist bills. 

Enter Weston A. Price. A dentist who changed my life. 

When my daughter was eight months old I started reading the work of the Weston Price Foundation. I couldn't stop reading. It hit me - the research, the wisdom, all of it - I couldn't ignore it or stop reading!

Weston Price was dentist who, in the 1920's traveled the world studying people's teeth. Not just anyone's teeth, though! He studied certain indigenous cultures on what they ate and what their teeth looked like. He found that some people did not suffer tooth decay and yet others suffered terribly. What he discovered was amazing. The research is now continued through the Weston Price Foundation.

What the foundation had to say was mind blowing. Butter, lard and saturated fats are good for you? What's cod liver oil? Babies should eat raw egg yolks? Organ meats are nutritional powerhouses? We need to prepare our grains? Raw milk, whaaaaat?

I couldn't stop researching and researching. It changed my life forever. Finally some information about health and nutrition that made sense. It was not a fad diet, a trick to get you to buy something or one doctor's opinion. The Weston Price Foundation is a non-profit research institute. What they are saying is truly amazing and counter cultural.

When my daughter was 13 months old we conceived again. Needless to say, I was concerned about my teeth at this point. I was ready for more cavities, more dentist bills.

Throughout the pregnancy I ate plenty of raw milk, pastured meats with all the fat, tons of butter, some cod liver oil, soaked grains, eggs and veggies. I still had my fair share of sweets. Try keeping those away from a pregnant lady!

After my son was born I went back to the dentist for our usual check up. Not one cavity from the entire pregnancy. I was ecstatic! I could also tell my teeth were stronger and less sensitive to hot and cold.  My teeth have been feeling great ever since we changed our diet - something I never thought could happen!

At times when I start to eat a little more sugar than usual I can feel my teeth starting to hurt. I know it's a sign to back off a little. I take some cod liver oil and pour me a glass of raw milk. It usually stops hurting within 20 minutes.

Thank you to my favorite dentist, Weston Price! You rock!


Linking up at Fat Tuesday, Pennywise Platter and Fill Those Jars Friday