No Dairy Necessary Hot Cocoa

 A mom's group I attend issued us moms a Christmastime challenge: celebrate each of the 12 (or 10 or 5) days leading up to Christmas by doing something special and unique with the family. I like the idea of creating special seasonal memories for my kiddos so I decided I'd give it a whirl. They gave us a list of more than 40 ideas, some simple and some more elaborate and set us off to work.

The kids loved the idea of a special holiday celebration each day leading up to Christmas, so we put stars next to the ones we liked and have checked them off as we do them. Our top choices included:

• Set up a nativity set and talk about baby Jesus
• Make & decorate Christmas cookies
• Make red & green play dough
• Have hot chocolate and toast before bed
• Perform one random act of kindness
• Listen to Christmas music
• Dance to Christmas music
• Watch a Christmas movie
• Read a Christmas book
• Drive around at night to see Christmas lights in the neighborhood

We haven't been all that structured about doing one every day, but we have managed check a few off the list in the past several days. Today, we arrived at "Have hot chocolate..." and I had to pause. Making hot cocoa may not sound all that monumental, especially in comparison to whipping up a batch of colored play dough, but Little Sister has a major problem with dairy, so hot cocoa is not something we've ever enjoyed at our house before.

Little Sister's dairy issue is not what would be commonly referred to as "lactose intolerance". It's more like a pre-anaphalactic reaction to the protein structure resulting from the high-heat pasteurization process in most commercially sold milk products...see what I'm saying...nothing to be trifled with. When she was an infant, her entire face would inflate, her eyes swelling to the point that she couldn't see...and that was second hand dairy, if you catch my meaning (yes, I'm talking about breast feeding). The dairy effect is cumulative, in that if she has a tiny amount by accident, she's usually ok. Two tiny amounts, and she starts to get red around the eyes and mouth, three, and well, it's off to the ER. Strangely, she has no reaction to raw, unpasteurized dairy, but we lack the financial resources to spend $13 on a gallon of milk, not including cow shares and dues, so, we just avoid milk all together for Little Sister, and do rice milk or coconut milk instead wherever possible.

In addition to the dairy problem, I'm not all that nuts about hot cocoa, but my darling Boy reminded me that this time of year is not all about me. He was strongly in favor of the "Have hot chocolate and toast" suggestion, so I finally agreed to look in to it.

I started my search in the grocery store where I read the ingredients on several boxes of commercially sold hot chocolate mix. Yuck. In addition to containing milk or milk products, most of them are also loaded with a long list of ingredients that we generally try to stay away from. So I hit the internet. After finding many recipes that made batches for a dozen or more people (do people have hot cocoa parties, or own chalets in the Alps where cocoa is required by law, or what?), I finally came across a recipe for creamy vegan hot cocoa, which appealed both because it used ingredients I readily had on hand, and it made just one cup. By making it in one-cup batches, I could make Little Sister her dairy-free version, and the rest of us could enjoy our creamy dairy filled recipe. I altered it as follows:

No Dairy Necessary Hot Cocoa

3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp rice milk, coconut milk, almond milk, or cow's milk (Why shouldn't I use soy milk?)
4 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa
Splash of vanilla extract (I used about 1/4 tsp)
Tiny pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water

Combine sugar, milk, cocoa, vanilla, and salt in a large mug. Pour in boiling water into mug and stir until dry ingredients dissolve. Top with mini marshmallows, and/or whipped cream (for dairy friendly consumers). Ok, I know marshmallows aren't exactly health food, but really, sometimes sacrifices must be made in favor of fun.

To me, hot chocolate is painfully sweet and this recipe is no exception, however, the flavor of this cocoa was wonderful and it was indeed creamy, as advertised. The kids got their fix of chocolate and sugar, and felt like mini-grown ups with their coffee mugs and toast. Overall, the chocolate coated smiles made it worth every minute of the resulting sugar high.

Hard to believe that three years ago...

Yesterday, we celebrated the birth of my baby girl, and I couldn't help reflecting on that day, three years ago.

Her due date was June 1st, but I thought she'd make her appearance on May 22nd. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks, but on May 22nd, a category 4 tornado blew through our town, destroying half the town in its wake. As happens when a low pressure system like a tornado hits, my body responded by going into labor. For weeks I had been praying for an early birth, but now, as I reviewed the damage to property and the loss of power, I realized how inconvenient it would be to bring my baby into the world with no power and no hot water. I crossed my legs and stayed busy. The labor stopped.

Then, June 1st came and went. Now, I was grumpy. I walked for hours to motivate my baby into action, and it would work for a bit...contractions would start, but when I stopped, the contractions stopped too. My midwife was sharing all the wonderful tips she could to naturally induce labor, but that little girl was just not going to budge. Another week went by.

We went to church on the evening of Saturday, June 7th, and at communion, as I walked past the pastor, he apparently spotted my overgrown condition and pulled me aside to pray over me. Eight hours later, I was in labor. By the time I woke up and realized I was in labor, the contractions were already 2 minutes apart. The Hubby, convinced we were in no big hurry, refused to call the midwife right away, despite confirming the contraction timing twice. Finally I convinced him to call my sister-in-law to come babysit, so that we could start the migration to my mother-in-law's house where we planned to deliver our baby.

An hour later, my sis-in-law appeared, but I was useless to give her instructions through the frequent contractions. After I deliriously delegated the instruction giving to my Hubby, we motored slowly down the gravel path to my mother-in-law's house and settled into her bedroom to go through the labor.

My midwife arrived about 45 minutes later and confirmed labor was right on track. Good to hear after my frustrating hospital delivery with Boy. The Hubby was a brilliant coach, although the cologne left on his shirt from the night before made me uncomfortably nauseous as I labored on. After a little more than an hour of peaceful uncomplicated labor, it was time to push. True to form, my little girl was late to the party, but once she decided to make her entrance, there was no stopping her. She arrived with her right arm up, as though she was a superhero flying through the air.

We estimated she was somewhere around 8.5 pounds when she made her appearance, because we didn't weigh her until she'd pooped twice, and even then she was 8 pounds 2 ounces. She slept immediately, and I gorged on breakfast, high from the most wonderful, blessed home birthing experience ever. The peace wasn't to last as she awoke at about 8:00 that night, just as I was settling in for some rest, and bawled for 12 straight hours, clearly irritated that colostrum was all that was on the menu.

For the next 12 months, Little Sister gained weight. She developed the nickname "Squishy" during this time. And what a sense of humor she had. Even before she could crawl, she would giggle and squeal incessantly to a good game of peekaboo. After she could crawl it was tag on all fours. With all that activity, she didn't gain a pound for another 9 months, but continued to shoot straight up in height.

She's crazy about her big brother, and Boy, in turn, is a fully appointed protector of his baby sister. No one can make her cry (except him). Recently, Little Sister came running in and kicked me in the shin with one of her little bare feet. In shock, I began to protest but before I could catch her, she ran top speed into her brothers room, where he was sitting in time out. I heard her tell him, "I got her for you...I kicked her in the leg...she was really mad." And then they both laughed, delighting in the fact that they'd teamed up against mom and won. I was chuckling too much to follow the assault up with any further discipline.

Since her birth three years ago, my perfect little girl has been a delight and a blessing. Never have I known a more joyful, intense, complicated, independent creature than my little girl. Simultaneously all girl, and all boy, she dons her prettiest princess dress to go hunt worms in the garden. She giggles and teases, shrieks and whispers. It's impossible not to love Little Sister. Happy Birthday, my little lady bug wrangler.

First garage sale of the season bodes well for the year!!

I hit my first garage sale of the season this morning, and I'm still breathless with anticipation about what that means...a whole new season of super deals, finds, and bargains!

The sale didn't look like much when I pulled up, but I hopped out anyway, checklist in mind and went straight for the kitchen supplies. Lo and behold, there was an oil lamp with wick and glass chimney in perfect condition...asking price: 3 bucks. I grabbed my wallet from the car and pulled out $2.00, and the oil lamp was mine.

It's not just the great prices at garage sales that excite me, its mostly the thrill of the hunt itself that sets me aglow. Idling up to a driveway stacked with crap and recognizing whether it conceals a treasure trove of goodies or just washed up 80s paraphernalia. Spotting the one item the seller is just as excited to get rid of as you are to give them 50 cents for it.

There's a euphoria to be had from recognizing genuine value in something lost, dust-covered and discarded by a prior owner, and getting it for dirt cheap. It can also be pretty lucrative if you can pull it off. I'm just an amateur at it, but even so, one year I made enough to pay for 2 years of garage sale shopping by buying a couple of pieces of nice furniture for dirt cheap and reselling them on craigslist. Oh, the joy of coming home and telling the hubby that I had earned my own garage sale money!!

I'm no garage sale expert, but I've picked up a couple of tricks that minimize hassle and maximize my results. First, if, like me you have to bring your kiddos, it's best to bribe them with either a trip to McDonalds for breakfast after (if they're good) or a 25 cent book or toy from one of the sales. Second, go on Friday morning for the best selection...this is a no-brainer, but I will do almost anything to avoid a crowd and being a stay at home mom gives me the advantage (for a change) over other shoppers. Third, I keep a list of the stuff I'm looking for in my glove box so I can stay focused on the priorities. Here's the stuff I'll be hunting out at the sales this year:

• Camping or backpacking gear
• Oil lamps
• Hunting/fishing supplies
• Firearms reloading supplies, books and gun parts
• Animal/farming tools & supplies (harnesses, halters, boots, bridles, farrier equipment)
• No-electricity-needed kitchen gadgets (wheat grinder, meat grinder, egg beater, food processor, etc.)
• Cast iron skillets
• Dehydrator
• Canning supplies
• Pressure canner
• Oversized stockpot
• Kids clothes, shoes & books

I hope you'll share your garage sale secrets, stories, successes, and shopping lists in the comments...I'm always looking for new ways to save and I'm as thrilled to celebrate a great find or deal as the next person. Here's to the joys of a great garage sale season for all!

Cold Wars: Fighting bugs without drugs

We don't get sick that often. Unlike most families whose kids are in school or daycare or other germ infested locations, our kids simply aren't bringing home as many bugs and I am eternally grateful for this fact. But, everyone gets sick sometimes. We used to pack everyone up at the first sign of fever or green snot and head straight to the doctor, but after a few trips, I began to realize that they had no more effective ways to combat colds than I did. And their ways (antibiotics or narcotic cough syrup) usually had added risks along with them.

I discovered a number of ways to relieve and heal colds naturally when I was pregnant and unable to take any over the counter or prescription meds, and now, I employ the tools I learned to fight most of the bugs that come in our door.

General wellness and prevention:
Wash up: Most germs are spread with our hands, so I insist that the kids wash theirs often. I know it sounds stupid, but I'm convinced that omitting this step in busy preschool rooms contributes heavily to perpetually sick kids.

Vitamins: There’s still some debate about the real benefits of supplemental vitamins, but I believe they can’t hurt and can only help, so my kids get them every day, especially when they’ve been exposed to loads of germs like the grocery store or playgroups with other kids. I give them 500 mg of Vitamin C daily, a basic chewable multivitamin, and, during the winter when we’re locked indoors or when they are fighting off a cold, Vitamin D. Vitamin D is one you CAN give to much of, so I don’t just go giving it willy-nilly. When I think the kids are fighting a bug, I add Wish Garden's Kick-It Immune tincture for a little enhanced immune support.

When the cold bug strikes:
Sinus rinses:  I use the NeilMed sinus rinse bottle and pH balanced saline solution, mixed with a splash of Alkalol.

 Water temperature should be the same as your body temp...check using your wrist, not your finger.

 Keep your head down over the sink, align the nozzle with your nostril and squeeze GENTLY. Water should come out the other nostril, along with all the gunky stuff in your sinuses. This is such an effective way to get the boogies out of toddlers that I do one with a sick kid every 2-4 hours in the beginning. I started doing sinus rinses with Boy when he was 2 years old, and with Little Sister when she was 12 months old. Now, both kids are pros.

Controlling coughs: If the sinus bug starts working its way into an upper respiratory infection with a bunch of coughing, especially at night, I add Eldertussin Elderberry Syryp. This stuff is the best symptom treatment I've come across as it's loaded with immune boosting goodies, along with cough suppressant. I try to NEVER run out of Eldertussin. I add King Bio cough spray for immediate relief. At night and naptimes, I fill up the humidifier and keep it running in the sickie's room too and this helps cut down on the coughing.

Viruses: If we know we're dealing with a virus, the best antiviral in the world is honey, and specifically Manuka Honey from New Zeland. This stuff is so awesome, it's been shown to CURE the herpes virus. In addition, Melissa, aka Lemon Balm and colloidal silver are great antivirals too.

 Homeopathic treatments: When the bug is accompanied with fever and body aches I go for a homeopathic flu tabs. Homeopathics, unlike herbs are safe to take for toddlers, pregnant and nursing moms, making them awesome way to battle bugs without drugs. They are relatively inexpensive and come in varieties addressing a plethora of really specific symptoms. The ones I keep on hand are Post-nasal drip, dry cough, cough, sinus...oh, and of course Arnica Montana for muscle aches & bruising, but that's another post for another day.

I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV, but these tricks and tools have helped our family fight off infections and shorten the duration of colds. Do the research on your own, and then give natural remedies a shot next time a cold bug rears its ugly head in your house...you may be surprised!

How to get pencil marks off a laptop screen

I just thought I'd share a valuable lesson I learned today...well, actually 2 valuable lessons.

LESSON 1: Never leave a 2 1/2 year old child alone with your laptop and a writing implement. If you fail to learn lesson 1, please proceed to lesson 2.

LESSON 2: To get pencil marks off of your laptop screen, use Isopropyl Alcohol (AKA Rubbing Alcohol) and a little water on a soft cotton cloth.

The info I found said to mix 90% Isopropyl Alcohol with water in a 1:1 solution. Since I only had 70% Alcohol, I used a little more alcohol than water. Dab it on a clean soft cotton cloth and apply in a left-to-right motion until pencil marks disappear. Dry promptly with cotton cloth. Presto! Good as new.

Family Safety Homeschool Unit-Part 2

Part 2 of our Safety Unit started this morning with a visit to a local preschool, where Officer Bobby from our town's police department was scheduled to speak to the class. Officer Bobby took the kids through the basics...don't talk to strangers, say "no" to drugs, and tell the police if you see something bad. Then he moved on to the most compelling part of his presentation (besides the obligatory giveaways at the end) where he showed us his Kevlar vest and described what he carried on his belt: gun, tazer, handcuffs (in two sizes), baton, knife, radio, 2 extra magazines loaded with .40 caliber hollow-point bullets (Officer Bobby made a point to share that it was far better to have too much ammo than not enough, and I couldn't agree with him more). And finally, he took the band of preschoolers outside to take turns sitting in the squad SUV, and beeping its siren...ooooh, ahhhh!

As the 15 or so preschoolers attempted to demonstrate their "good listening skills" for Officer Bobby, my head filled with a thousand leading questions with which to ambush this police spokesman, but as I looked around the preschool at the shiny little indoctrinated faces of children and teachers alike, I thought better of it and asked instead, "So, how much does all that gear you wear weigh?" LAME.

Ok, so I chickened out, but let's face it, friends, in our current political climate, if I had asked half the questions that came to mind, I'm sure I would have pulled into my driveway to find social workers on my doorstep ready to ask a few questions of their own.

After all, who really cares if a citizen's constitutional rights are violated if it means the rest of us feel safer? Who cares that police routinely operate outside the constraints of the law in order to provide us with the appearance of "security"? No one even notices that "law enforcement officer" has now somehow mutated into "community safety officer" encouraging us to abdicate our divine right to protect ourselves and our property to a disinterested third party.

But I digress...let's just say that, in spite of my inability to ask the probing questions during the preschool safety lecture, this portion of the Safety Unit I have edited very carefully for my own kids. In fact, the bundle of free schwagg we left the presentation with was chock full of implications about our dependence on police for personal safety and the supposition that all people arrested by the police are indeed guilty, so we will refrain from using them for their coloring book magnificence, and instead use them as fodder for the firepit.

In defense of poor Officer Bobby, who was on "Preschool Education Detail" in part because of a recent knee surgery, he never did hit upon any of the red flagged buzzwords I was primed to pounce on. I never heard him say "Police are here to keep you safe", and he didn't come across like a roided out nutcase with a power complex. Quite the opposite. He was a soft spoken, humble, Iraq vet who told the kids he became a police officer because he liked to help people. Kudos to the Department for employing one of the good guys.

Family Safety Homeschool Unit-Part 1

This week we decided to do our homeschool unit on Safety. Last fall, we went through some fire safety basics, but as the kids get older, I find they're more able to grasp the concepts so I believe it's important to reinforce and expand on what they already know...especially in the life-saving skills arena. 

After reading several books from the library on fire safety we discussed each kid's evacuation plan.  We learned how to touch a doorknob to see if it was hot, and talked about the options if it was. I took them over to each window in their rooms and, while I may regret this later, demonstrated how to open it & pop the screen so they could jump out. We agreed that in an emergency, we would meet down at the playground, some 50 yards from our house and well out of the path of any fire-related traffic.

Once I figured the kids knew how to get out in an emergency, we decided to do some "drills" to practice leaving the house in heavy smoke conditions. Each kid took turns being blind folded and then finding their way from their room to the front door on hands and knees. I even did it once from my room. They had a blast.

While Boy was able to cruise around and ultimately find the exit, he did bump his head a few times on the furniture...this was a very effective way for him to learn to get his hands out in front of him. Little Sister, on the other hand was brilliant at this game...so good, in fact that I kept checking to see if she was peeking.

After we all had a chance to practice, I pulled out the stopwatch and started timing them. Boy ran it in about a minute, less time if I was coaching. Little Sister went from her room to the front door, on hands and knees, BLINDFOLDED in 34 seconds. I have to admit it makes me feel much better to know that my kids can get out that fast in the smoke and dark if they needed to.

To wrap up our lesson, we discussed the two things fire needs to keep burning and methods that grown ups use to put fires out.  Sadly, while we had a tour of the fire station scheduled for today, Little Sister woke up with a sniffle this morning so we rescheduled.

Tomorrow, we address "personal safety" and get to meet a real police officer. I'm excited to ask him a few choice gun-related, personal defense questions, since in my experience, police officers usually prefer gun control to bunches of well armed citizens. It should be interesting to hear what he says, and of course, I will share my findings.

It's Spring!

Spring is...A cloud of dust behind our 7-month-old Angus heifer "De-calf" as she runs ripshot through the pasture after jousting with the fence post.

Spring is...Pink cheeks and smiles on the kids' faces as they dig their bare toes in the sandbox for the first time this year.

Spring is...Curry combs chock-full of fly-away horse hair

Spring is...The ecstatic grunts of muddy, rolling dogs as they emerge from their maiden dip in the freshly-thawed water trough.

Bubbles and sidewalk chalk, robins and bumblebees...could it possibly get better than this?

This week marked the first week of spring, and I'm brimming with excitement and optimism as I've already ticked several "to-do's" off the checklist. The 6-week-old pullets are in the hen house, the garden is tilled and weed fabric rolled out, the spring veggies are in the ground, and the layers of winter chaos in the landscape have been peeled away to reveal the earth bubbling with spring bulbs.

In my home state of California, I never appreciated the true beauty of this restorative season, because how can you know the delight of rebirth if nothing ever really dies? Every winter here in Colorado I mourn the last dangling red leaf on the burning bushes and every spring I boil over with excitement as the brown transforms to green. I know what I have in store: weeding and mowing, harvesting and preserving, the labor and chores of summer all lie ahead, but I'm undaunted, ready to take on the challenge, and excited to see where God's perfect plan moves me.

It's with this same sense of giddy anticipation, excitement and suspense that I launch my new blog. So welcome, enjoy, partake...I can't wait to get to know you.