My Little.....Dog?

We bought this 'leash' for Sawyer when went to Palm Springs. He loves to run and explore and scoffs riding in his stroller unless he's tired.  He's also very unpredictable with his running and will go anywhere, even the stree.  Hey - he is only 2!

Sawyer and I enjoyed a lovely walk the other day while Sierra was at one of her church activites with Trevor.  Sawyer was enthralled with every little discovery - rocks, storm drains, dirt, cars, and trees to name a few.  It was cute!

Going Green

I'm quite enjoying my green tea these days. If it weren't for the caffeine I'd probably drink it even more!

Chairs!!!

I find chairs - little and large - all over my house and constantly in my way!  Here the chairs are placed so the kids can climb onto the couch arm rests and then jump off of them onto the couch.  This game was quickly halted.

To reach the counter and likely something not permitted to be had!

For Sawyer to climb into his high chair himself.  If I try and put him in he screeches and promptly gets out and goes back in by his own means.

Hmmm,  what can be reached to eat?

To reach the light switches, flicking them on and off repeatedly and drive mom and dad crazy.

Right where we need to stand to prepare food - like healthy apple snacks.

Changes

With Sierra experiencing tummy troubles (likely Irritable Bowel Syndrome), Trevor having rheumatoid arthritis and me with chronic indigestion/acid reflux I've been really considering the implications of diet.  

With all the diets and fads and diseases and "intolerance" issues it made me wonder.  I've done some reading and asking around and a thought that occurred to me, particularly with Sierra, was the possibility of gluten sensitivity/intolerance.  I've been hearing/reading increasing numbers of people who are experiencing gluten problems and naturally it made me curious.  From what I've read I'm pretty sure no one is our family has a gluten allergy put may be sensitive to it.  Not wanting to jump to conclusions, I asked my doctor about it. She said that someone may have an intolerance to something but it doesn't mean they have to avoid it.  Avoiding it altogether just makes the intolerance/sensitivity worse.  My doctor said just to eat less of it or prepare it in an alternative manner.  She compared it to vegetables: raw vegetables are very hard to digest and can increase indigestion but that doesn't mean I should quit eating vegetables - steam them!  Eliminating gluten will not be a part of my diet.

Green tea.  I continually read about how good it is for a person.  It is high in antioxidants and if drunk within two hours of eating it aids in fat absorption by 30%.  I am not a regular tea drinker.  I've never really enjoyed it but will drink it when I'm sick or want a hot beverage that isn't coffee.  The only green tea I've tried is cheap bagged tea and I find it rather distasteful.  Today I went and bought loose-leaf green tea and it is like night and day.  It tastes NOTHING like the green tea in a bag.  It is good!  Green tea still has caffeine, but about half that of coffee.  I may try to replace my coffee with it.  Caffeine is an indigestion trigger and the acids in coffee add to that.  I'm not willing to give up caffeine but I can reduce it and change it's source.

One thing I also started doing again is smaller regular "meals" through out the day.  I'm trying to consume 300 calories each for five times a day.  My doctor gave me a pamphlet on stomach irritability and one suggestion on it is exactly that - spreading meals out in smaller portions.  (Healthy meals of course!)  This is not an easy thing to do.  Keeping meals to just that and increasing "snacks" to equal 300 calories takes work!  I was finding that by meal time I was very hungry and then tended to over eat.  Yesterday was the first day I consciously spread out my meals and although I never felt full I also never felt overly hungry.   Today was trickier because I was out and about this morning and didn't have time to bring anything.  I had a latte at the store where I purchased my green tea.  By the time I got home at 11 I had an apple and a cookie and then an hour later ate lunch.  While my caloric intake was still 300calories it wasn't very well spread out.  It'll take time to figure this out and get the hang of it.

Now on to water.  We've all heard it "drink 6-8 glasses a day".  Why? 

 According to the pamphlet my doctor gave me it is instrumental in digestion.  It allows fibre to do its job.  Without water fibre will just add to constipation. Water actually helps the body metabolize all food more efficiently.

I've also read that staying hydrated also helps keep your energy levels up and headaches away.  I am living proof of this.

It keeps your skin healthy.

It naturally cleanses and flushes our body of toxins and waste products.

Therefore, I am aiming to keep my water intake up at the recommended 8 cups daily.

INSANITY!!!

The next work out program I am going to try.  The fit test just about did me in so I'm a bit nervous.

Although there are many opinions and ideas out there it all seems to boil down to one thing:

A healthy, balanced, variety of food consisting of ample vegetables and fruit and limited sugars and fats coupled with regular exercise..

Duh.

Nothing new or profound but good to remember!

Mid -Week Blather

I am so incredibly uninspired to post here these days.  

I feel like I don't have anything interesting worth writing.

Hence the gap.

Here's an overview:

Life is good.

Trevor received a very positive report regarding his RA a couple of weeks ago.  He said the doctors were "grinning from ear to ear" at his progress since his diagnosis a year ago.  We are thankful every time he can get out of bed without issue and toss his kids into the air among many, many other seemingly ordinary actions.

My baby turned 2 last week.

He is such a happy, busy, delightful little boy to have in our lives.

Sawyer still lacks the ability to utter many words but his communication skills are extremely effective!  He does try to and can speak with some prompting - we suspect he's merely lazy.
Sawyer loves his afternoon naps and thanks to his sister does not know what sleeping in is.

Once again I am switching exercise programs - hey, I've done P90X off and on for about a year!  Although I've been enjoying P90X I am getting a bit bored with it.  My next challenge? 
Insanity.  
It looks to be a little....insane!

I have not one free weekend until maybe April?

Life is busy.

Life is treating us well!

What I Learned While Cleaning My House Today

House cleaning.

I like to consider myself a reasonably good housekeeper.    I don't particularly enjoy cleaning but I hate the mess and dirt worse which leaves cleaning as the only alternative.  The discouraging part is that as soon as something is clean it only take 0.0024 for one of my kids to revert it back to its previous state.

Today Trevor and I cleaned our house from top to bottom.  Other than my aching tired body it feels good to have accomplished this. I had a few thoughts while slaving away that I thought I'd share with you:

First of all, after wiping down our leather couches for over half-an-hour, which I did after I had already wiped down many walls and doors full of little kid smears, I was cursing all the food bits and sticky spots and I decided that when food or liquid is consumed by anyone in this house it will be at the table or counter.  If I can localize the crumbs, stickiness, bowls, sippy cups, napkins and whatever else comes from food or beverage ingestion to one area than cleaning up of said products will be far less work. (?)  I have discovered bananas behind the TV, sippy cups in dressers, and the crumbs......EVERYWHERE!

Secondly, a chocolate chip mashed into carpet for several months does not come out easily.

Thirdly, half a bottle of laundry detergent and a third of a bottle of bleach found upside down behind the washer made an awful mess.  The washer danced a little too much and managed to jiggle both bottles to the back edge and over, oh and remove the lids. (the lid of the detergent may have possibly not been on but I know the bleach lid was!)  I'm too short to have noticed this was taking place until one day I smelled bleach quite strongly.

Forth, I detest cleaning floors.  Wait.  I knew that already. 
But you see, cleaning floors isn't simply a matter of vacuuming/sweeping/mopping etc.  Before the actual cleaning can take place the floors must be clear and then while performing the floor cleaning task many other cleaning necessities come to light.  I.E. filthy couches, walls, bar stools, baseboards....

Fifth,  Chinese food, a bath, and now a glass of cab/merlot finished this sort of day off nicely and were well earned!

To Sing

After a two year hiatus I get to sing again. 
A good friend of ours has formed a short-term choir (eight rehearsals and one concert) and I am thrilled to be able to be a part of it.

I have been singing for as long as I can remember.  Growing up as part of the Mennonite Church surrounded me with rich wonderful music for much of my life and had a vital part in instilling the love for singing in me.  Choirs were always being directed and I was always a part of them.  The greater Mennonite Church community even has a province-wide annual music weekend called "Songfest" where, yes, many of us would get together and sing! 

 As much as I enjoy singing, my voice has never been likened to that of an angel or anything. 
I'm no soloist.  In fact I get scared spitless when it's just me and I sound like I've never sung a true note in my life, and I definitely have no hankering to be on American/Canadian Idol or anything!  Fortunately, get me singing with someone else - even one other person - and I do manage to carry a tune and not cause those around me to shudder and cover their ears. ( I hope so anyway, no one has actually said...)
 After practically a lifetime of singing I quit just before Sawyer was born.  Pregnancy affected my breathing and since breathing is kinda integral to singing I struggled.  My voice was starting to cause those around me to cringe so I stepped away.

Sawyer came along and life naturally became busier and more complicated.  Add to that an already busy schedule and limited singing opportunities and I never managed to rejoin our church choir or a worship team.  This past fall I really began to miss it.

Now, thanks to this friend, I get to sing again!  Historically a high soprano, I croaked my way through the first rehearsal, apologizing to those in front of me as I worked on evicting the frogs who'd set up house.  My voice remembered how to make a sound that resembled singing by the second rehearsal, however any note remotely on the higher side refused to come out.  Yesterday was the third rehearsal and I think the frogs have finally left their residence in my throat (they'd had it good for two years I don't blame them for resisting!) because it mostly felt like I could once again sing.

Maybe by next week I'll even be hitting those high Bs!