Friesencold

I’ve been thinking about story a lot lately. I just finished reading Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and my favorite part of the book was the part about Bob Goff and his family and the story they are living. I want to have a story like that, or just a story period. I am going to go back and write down all the lines I underlined in a little bird notebook my sister gave me for Christmas. I love words and quotes and lines from books, and I love having them all together in one place so they can add up to something in my life.

Here is just one line I loved from this book, “You become the character in the story you are living, and whatever you were is gone.”

I am also thinking about placing an order for some new supplements from Hallelujah Acres. I have never taken a greens supplement before, but now that Hallelujah Acres has introduced a berry blend of their well-known BarleyMax product, I was thinking I might want to try it out. I worked it out, and the cost to take BarleyMax Berry would be $1 a day.

I also want to order some of their professional strength probiotics. I realized after starting to see the chiropractor that the probiotics I have been taking don’t have nearly enough strains, especially if I am hoping for that to help resolve the hormonal issue I referenced earlier. The chiro recommends 20 billion strains a day, and for me, he said 40 billion might be good for a while. The cost of this amount would also be $1 a day. So just for these 2 supplements alone, I would be spending $2 a day on myself. That’s not counting the Iodine supplement I am also considering, or the Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12, multivitamin, or chia gel I am currently using.

I was thinking about the 67 and the 20 which are numbers our church talks about all the time. 67% of people in the world are far from God, and 20% of people in the world live on less than $1 a day. And here I was, fixing to spend $2 a day to take a concentrated greens supplement and probiotics. I am thinking about what I think about this.

What if I took that $1 a day I was going to use on BarleyMax and actually did something different and specific with it?

I think it is so interesting that there are so many causes that a person could get involved with. For example, I was at the train station one day last week with the kids. I took them there to see the trains but it was cold enough that day that we had to go inside the train station to wait for the next train to come. I saw an old man sitting there in the train station. He was wearing glasses and he was holding the paperback novel he was reading very close to his face. I couldn’t see the man’s face as his back was to me, but I kept looking at how close he was holding the book to his face in order to see the words. It made me think, what if he needs a new prescription for his glasses and he can’t afford that, so he has to make do with the glasses he has and hold whatever he is reading so close to his eyes in order to see the words? I felt very sad for that man. I told TJ about him that night, and I have thought of him and felt sad about him multiple times since that day.

What if I found a way that I could give the money I would have spent on BarleyMax to an organization that helps people who can’t afford to pay for getting glasses, or new prescriptions, or vision check ups? That would be a true gift, to enable people to see. What if I couldn’t see the words that mean so much to me? Without the words, I would not be nearly as healed as I am. Words heal me in ways I cannot describe with words and what if that healing is what I would be offering by helping people to see with their eyes? I am just thinking about all this and wanted to share it with you.

I also wanted to tell you what is on Bauer’s little mind. Besides loving Caillou, which we discovered during the itchy days of chicken pox when all he did all day was watch TV, Bauer is truly head-over-heels about the little Lego instruction booklet and product catalog that came with the Lego City police helicopter set I bought for him recently.

I have never seen Bauer so attached to one thing for so long (except Tucker). He has been carrying the little booklet around with him for days and almost always has it turned to the one page with the big green Lego airplane that sits in the middle of the Lego airport scene. He says multiple times a day how much he loves that airplane. If he happens to forget about the Lego booklet for a little while, as soon as he remembers, he is quick to ask me where his airplane book is (and of course, I always know). He wanted to go to Target the other day just to look at the Lego stuff. He wanted to know when his birthday is and if he can get the airplane for his birthday. He wanted to know if he can get it sooner with the money in his jars or if he sells stuff he has (yes, my idea). He keeps wanting to know how much the airplane costs. He took the booklet in the bedroom before his nap today and wanted to lay on the bed and look at the airplane page for a few minutes before he went to sleep. He wanted the book left open to the airplane page when I put it on the nightstand by the bed while he took his nap.

This whole thing is just so cute for me to see, that Bauer has a desire. Something he really truly wants. I like the idea that we can try to teach Bauer to be resourceful through this want of his. Like, if you want something in life, what can you trade or give up to get what you want? I am also thinking, though, about how to teach him that we are not entitled to anything, that all we have is God’s, and that what other people need is way more important than what we want.

You know how the very hungry caterpillar ate all that junk, but then on Sunday he ate through one nice big green leaf?

Well, I kind of did that through my shopping experience today at Meijer.

Here are the fruits and veggies I bought:

24 Fuji apples
39 bananas
5 Bosc pears
1 Asian pear (tastes like candy, but because they cost $1 each, I only bought one)

2 one-pound clamshells of organic spinach
1 head of celery, or is it stalk?
6 cucumbers
3-lb bag of yellow onions
5-lb bag of organic russet potatoes
3 one-pound bags of organic baby carrots (on sale for $1 each!)
8 avocadoes
1 head of cauliflower
1 head of broccoli
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 bunch of kale

And here’s the other (non-produce) stuff I bought:

2 jars of mild salsa
4 large cans of diced tomatoes
1 loaf of whole wheat bread
1 pack of whole wheat hamburger buns
1 package raw walnuts

The thing I spent the longest time deciding on at Meijer was what bread to buy. I’ve noticed that I’ve done the same thing during several recent shopping trips. I just stand there on the bread aisle, looking at all the options, looking at all the prices, looking at all the ingredient lists, trying to pick the best overall. We used to always buy the Pepperidge Farm 100% Whole Wheat Hearty Texture, but when the regular price of this loaf went up and held at $3.69, I started looking to substitute with cheaper, yet similar loaves of bread.

Now I’m starting to think I might try to make some homemade bread. Maybe I will make that my project for March. We recently were given a loaf of bread from Panera and TJ really enjoyed slicing the bread himself for thick pieces of toast. I liked the idea of it, and how it seemed healthier somehow. There was no label on it, so I don’t know what the ingredients were or how much fiber or sugar or protein were in each slice. But just having that loaf of bread made homemade bread seem more achievable somehow.

During the same week as the bread from Panera, I read this article on a website that my friend Gretchen from Texas told me about and it made me feel part-inspired, part-overwhelmed. I know it’s supposed to be simple, but when you’ve never used a packet of yeast or kneaded a lump of dough in your life, well, it’s a little scary. I know the best way to start is to start small, so for the rest of February, I’m just going to think about making homemade bread. I’m not going to do it yet.

But what I am going to do this month is try to make some homemade Larabars. I searched online this past week for some recipes and found a few that look to be good copies of the real thing. I will let you know how it goes. My first kind to make will be the Cinnamon Roll kind. TJ will thank me.

[Disclaimer: This is a long post entirely related to health/nutrition/wellness stuff....so make sure you're in the right frame of mind and you have a little time on your hands. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!]

Two of our latest health-related ventures are the incorporation of chia seed into our diet and the addition of chiropractic wellness care to our arsenal against pain and sickness.

Let me remember, though, that I am not in control. I repeat, I am not in control.

Part I

Chia seed was introduced to me a while back by none other than Jeffrey L. Hardin. That’s my dad. I don’t know how he originally found out about chia seed, but he has done quite a bit of research on the topic and has shared much of what he has learned with me. It’s like my own nutrition seminar. He even bought me what could be the textbook, The Magic of Chia by James F. Scheer.

Chia seed has been around for ages but is just now starting to make a comeback because it is only in recent years that chia has been farmed in large enough quantities to be affordable to people like you and me. Today, in fact, I saw a big display of bags of organic chia seeds at Whole Foods. I was really surprised, but at the same time, not. I have been wanting to write this post for a while to share my newfound zeal for chia, but I kept feeling like I didn’t know how to sum it all up concisely enough to do it justice on the blog. But I’ll try.

Chia Gel and Chia Seeds

Here’s a little synopsis I got from an article about chia seeds that my dad printed for me a long time ago (which I cannot currently reproduce now for some reason). Chia seeds contain:
*6 times more calcium than whole milk
*15 times more magnesium than broccoli
*3 times more antioxidant capacity than fresh blueberries
*3 times more iron than spinach
*2 times more potassium than bananas
*More fiber than flaxseed
*More protein than soy
*Good source of B vitamins and the bone-building mineral combination of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, boron, and copper

I am also sharing with you this website where I purchase chia seeds (I buy the black seeds at about $7/lb, which is $4/lb cheaper than what I saw at Whole Foods today) and where you can read this to learn more for yourself about chia. Here’s another place to learn some basic facts about chia. And if that’s not enough, here’s one more article. Or just go read the book.

The bottom line is that chia seeds are high in protein, calcium, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids, and they do not turn rancid the way that flaxseed is known to do. In fact, as I was learning about chia seed, I also learned simultaneously that flaxseed has been banned for human consumption in some countries because it contains toxins and other antinutritional factors. What I read was convincing enough that I threw away about 5 pounds of flaxseed that I had just purchased at Whole Foods the week before.

Chia seeds have the interesting property of absorbing up to 9 times their weight in water, which means you either need to consume it as a gel (water already absorbed into the seeds) or you need to consume the dry seeds along with liquid so that the seeds don’t soak up the fluids inside your body. The primary way I currently use chia seed is to mix 2 cups of water with 1/3 cup chia seeds. Stir the mixture with a whisk and let it sit for 15 minutes. Stir again, then put in a container with a lid, and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using. Now what you have is chia gel. The recommended amount to take, according to the paperwork I received with my chia seeds, is 3 Tablespoons of chia gel 3 times a day. My understanding, though, is that you cannot use too much so I don’t really worry that much quantities. I just try and use it when it makes sense to add it to something.

Our current use of chia seeds/gel includes:
*Adding several Tablespoons of chia gel in place of ground flaxseed to our smoothies each morning before blending in the Vita-Mix.
*I usually add a couple more Tablespoons to the top of my smoothie because I enjoy the unique texture of the gel which adds a little “chewiness” and a lot of nutrition.
*I have also added the chia gel to soup a couple times.
*I have added ground chia seed to the banana-oatmeal bars I make and also to the boxed butternut squash risotto we have on occasion.
*I have been adding 1 Tablespoon of the dry seeds to a 20 oz bottle of water and letting it sit in the fridge overnight before drinking it the next day. This ratio doesn’t end up being as much of a gel as the regular chia gel, but each little seed does form a bit of a gel pocket around it and almost makes the water chewy. Hard to explain, but a fun little experiment.
*To show another use for the whole chia seeds, here’s a little snack I’ve been enjoying lately:

Sliced Banana with Sunflower Seed Butter and Dry Chia Seeds

So that’s the chia story. Anyone who has any chia experience of your own, I’d love to hear it!

Part II

My friend Lisa has been sharing hers and her family’s chiropractic experience with me on occasion over the past year or so. I have never felt any pressure to “join,” but I have always been interested in and intrigued by things she has shared with me. Last Friday night, Lisa and I were hanging out at Starbucks and I was sharing with her the most recent of Bauer’s ailments in the long list that started right after Christmas with croup, followed by chicken pox, soon followed by a bad cold, and finally ended with an ear infection. I was talking to Lisa about the ear infection, how it was Bauer’s second ever in his life, and how we had gone for five days since it started, trying to wait it out, seeing if it would get better on its own. We took him back to the doctor to see if it was improving and they told us it was getting worse, which made sense as Bauer had not slept through the night in five nights and was complaining often of his ear hurting, not to mention his hearing was about shot.

We finally resorted to an antibiotic to try and treat the infection. I really don’t know if the antibiotic did it or if time did it, but Bauer seems to be all better now, minus the minor hearing loss he is still experiencing. After I got done with my whole speil (yes, that’s a real word and that’s how it’s spelled – I just looked it up!), Lisa shared with me about how that same week, she had taken her 9 month old daughter to the pediatrician for a well visit and came to find out that her daughter was suffering from an ear infection. Lisa was surprised to hear it as her daughter wasn’t any fussier than would be expected with the teething she was in the middle of. Nonetheless, Lisa decided to leave the pediatrician’s office and go straight to the chiropractor to have her daughter adjusted. [FYI, Lisa's daughter has been being adjusted since the day she was born, literally. Their chiropractor came to the hospital and adjusted her that soon!] Lisa decided not to tell the chiropractor about the ear infection diagnosis and just see if he noticed anything unusual when he was doing the adjustment. Lisa said that he did notice that something didn’t feel right around one of her ears or on that side of her neck, or wherever it is that they feel stuff like that. He put some pressure in that area, and Lisa said she heard a popping noise. Well, two days later, Lisa took her daughter back to the pediatrician just to have her ears looked at, and she was given a clean bill of health! That whole story was pretty convincing, given what we had just been through with Bauer. Lisa shared more things with me as well, but the ear infection incident was especially timely….more timely than I even realized that night, as I had no idea what was to come for Cash just a couple days later.

I went home that Friday night after talking with Lisa and talked to TJ about all this. And then on Saturday morning I called the chiropractor’s office where Lisa goes and made an appointment for me and Bauer on Monday morning to go for a consultation with the chiropractor and to have X-rays done. I wasn’t sure at that point if TJ was going to be able to go with us, or whether I would take Cash. But at the very least, I wanted me and Bauer to go.

Once Monday morning arrived, it was very clear to me that whether TJ could go or not, Cash would definitely be going with me. The reason for this is that all Sunday night, Cash did not sleep. And that means we did not sleep. Cash started with his crying around 8 or 9 pm on Sunday night and was basically up off and on throughout the whole night, running a fever, crying, tugging at his ears, and not being the Cash we all know and love. After our recent experience with Bauer’s ear infection, I was pretty sure that was what we were dealing with with Cash. I called our pediatrician’s office first thing on Monday morning and was in there for an appointment at 9:30 am. TJ was home with the guys who were replacing our hot water heater (yay for our new 40 gallon hot water heater and showers that are actually hot from start to finish!), and Bauer was watching their every move and wishing he could help.

The pediatrician confirmed that Cash had lots of fluid in one ear and a bright red eardrum in the other ear, signaling an ear infection. She said it was a low-grade infection at this point, but could easily develop into more. As soon as the appointment ended, I went back home and picked up Bauer and off we went to the chiropractor for our scheduled 10:45 am appointment. TJ couldn’t come with us because the worker guys were still working, but thankfully my friend Lisa was able to arrive just a little after 11:00 for their weekly adjustments and then stayed to help me with the kids during what ended up being about an hour and half of talking with the doctor, me and Bauer getting X-rays done, and Cash having his first adjustment.

I don’t think the chiropractor would normally have done any adjustments on our first visit, but with the ear infection news, I was eager to have the chiropractor work his magic on Cash. At least that’s how I was thinking of it on that day. It must have been magic because when we got home, Cash ate a tiny lunch and then had a not-so-tiny nap. Five and a half hours to be exact. I was leaving at 7 pm to go out with some friends that night and Cash was still sleeping from his nap. I got home at 10:15 that night to find Cash up and just as happy as a lark. He was playing with Geo-Trax, toting around a piece of a sandwich or something TJ made him. TJ said Cash had finally woken around 8:15 pm! The chiropractor had told me Cash might want to sleep after the adjustment and he wasn’t kidding! We put Cash back to bed that night around 10:45 and he slept through the night with no problem. I will say we did give him Infants Motrin a couple times that first day and then maybe once or twice the day after, but it was nothing like the amount of Motrin we gave Bauer during his week of pain. The next morning (the morning after Cash’s long-nap-day), I noticed a dried puddle of yellowish fluid in Cash’s crib, which I assume was drainage from his ear.

We went back to the chiropractor again on Tuesday, and this time the chiropractor adjusted Cash again, and me and Bauer for the first time. Bauer was a little hesitant, but he did well. The adjustments are over so quickly so there really isn’t much time for the kids to be anxious, and I’m sure they will get more used to it the more we go. TJ came on Tuesday as well so that he could hear some of the initial results of mine and Bauer’s X-rays and so he could see how the adjustments would go. Today (Friday) we all went back again, with me, Bauer, and Cash being adjusted, and TJ staying extra so he could have an X-ray of his own and a consultation with the doctor. TJ and I will be going to a little class with some other new folks next week so we can learn more, see the detailed results of our X-rays, and go over the financial stuff (i.e. insurance coverage or non-coverage) and then decide on a plan of action for our family.

This is all very new to me, but very exciting. I just feel like chiropractic care could be the missing piece in several areas of our lives. I am still dealing with some hormone-related issues since being pregnant with and giving birth to Cash, Bauer has his ongoing allergy/asthma issues, TJ has had some knee pain that he’d like to see gone, and Cash, well Cash is the only one of us without an actual pinpointed issue, but wellness is not a bad reason to see a chiropractor.

I am very thankful that Lisa shared with me about their experiences with this chiropractor and that we have the opportunity to try the practice for ourselves. I’m even thankful that Cash had the ear infection so I would know to take him along with us that first day. I’m thankful that TJ is willing to give this a try with us. I’m thankful that here in America, during this time in which we live, we are so fortunate to be able to just decide we want to do something for our health and we can do it.

You can do it! Just remember, you are not in control.

Legos are the all the rage around our house lately. Or as TJ would say, Lego. I always called them Legos – did anyone else?

Bauer has also been pretty excited lately about putting on his Kenny Chesney outfit: jeans, button-up shirt, cowboy boots, and cowboy hat. No pictures of that, but here’s Cash trying on the garb.

TJ has gone skiing today to Devil’s Head in Wisconsin with his buddy John, so it’s just been me and the boys around here. I had planned for us to get back to church today (we have missed a lot this month due to various sicknesses), but yet again we couldn’t go. Cash was running a fever of 103.8 last night and was just not himself at all yesterday. He is a lot better today but I still didn’t want to put him in the Toddler room at church. I am not feeling well myself, in fact (go figure, with all the sickness I’ve been around). It’s a head cold and it’s gettin’ old. I feel like if I could go outside and breathe in some of that fresh cold air, it would really feel nice about now.

We ran out of facial tissues unfortunately so we really needed to make a trip out this morning. The roll of toilet paper just wasn’t cutting it for all the blowing we were having to do around here. So I took the boys out for a couple small errands and we bought 12 boxes of Puffs at Target (we are not fans of the Kleenex brand, which is why I said facial tissues above), along with some Dove Dark Chocolates, sponges for the dish scrubber wand thingy, 12 oz blackberries on sale for $2.99, and a few avocados for a buck a piece.  Isn’t it fun to know what’s in someone else’s shopping cart, besides 2 little boys?

Dear God, please make the itching end soon.

Lots of TV (which he loves), lots of oatmeal baths (which he likes), and lots of the pink stuff (which he hates).

In better news, Cash got his stitches removed today. How come he didn’t even flinch when they took the stitches out, yet he fights me like crazy every time I try to brush his teeth?

I am engrossed in the book The Kite Runner which my friend Julie recommended. It is breaking my heart. I just want to read more so there can be some redemption. At least I hope that happens because any good story has redemptive value. If nothing else, I am already finding more compassion and emotion inside myself than before starting to read this book, so that’s redemption enough at this point.

I am also very much in the grips of Richard Rohr’s thoughts in Everything Belongs. I really cannot write about it just yet. There is much more sinking in to be done first.

And last is the book I’m reading called The Magic of Chia. Sounds kind of like The Coconut Oil Miracle, doesn’t it? I am learning more and more about chia seed and look forward to adding it to our diet. I hope to post about chia sometime in the future, once I can get my thoughts together on it.

Does anyone mind that all I write about lately is the kids’ ailments and the books that are helping me survive?

He’s not as happy as he looks. Today has been an itchy day. But I am glad this is going to count for us, as far as Bauer not ever having to get chicken pox again.

Cash, however, is as happy as he looks.

When he gets his paws on the Dustbuster, you can just leave him be for a while.

Just be prepared for some tears when you finally take it away.

TJ took Bauer skating for the first time this past week.

He did okay pushing the bins around on the ice, and then he was done!

I’m done, too! Wish I wasn’t but it’s time for me to go fix dinner.

The fun never ends.

It was another trip to the ER for us this past Monday. Cash got a hold of a pair of scissors (from a desk drawer that is child-proofed, mind you) and before we could intervene, it was Bauer to the rescue. Unfortunately the rescue didn’t turn out quite as intended. As the scissors were being pulled away from Cash, his finger got sliced open and required 4 stitches.

Thankfully it was on TJ’s day off so I didn’t have to brave the ER alone, and the whole trip, from home to ER and back, took less than an hour. It’s always nice when the mishaps of life work out conveniently.

Bauer’s chicken pox are coming at a rather convenient time now too. It’s been 2 weeks since he was exposed to Cash having them, so this is about what one would expect. He started with just a few spots yesterday on his belly and chest and now there are more on his front and back. I am interested to see if Bauer’s case will be as mild as Cash’s, or with Cash’s being as mild as it was, if he will get it again from Bauer. There will be an updated pox post once there is more to report.