Adjusting Our Eating

I was talking to a girlfriend on the phone yesterday. We were talking about all the crazy sickness that has been going on around the Davis' house.

It seems like all the sickness has increased when I stopped putting so much effort and thought into nourishing eating.

Here's the thing. I stopped worrying about nourishment and began worrying about getting our bellies full. Just getting dinner on the table.

Looking back, it links back to when we went back to store bought milk and not good, hormone free meats. We had sickness but not near what we have had now. Dylan's asthma was less persistent, I became pregnant without assistance and colds/flu didn't seem to be so frequent.

With all these thoughts of bringing my family back to the table and bringing nourishing foods back to our stomachs, my mind has been reeling with where to begin again. What I think are the most important things to implement back in our diet are...

Here is the list I have come up with:

• milk from Farmer Haney
• good hormone free meats from Landes
• raw cheese
• fermented dairy
• raw sugars

It's going to take a while to get all these healthy steps into place but I feel better just thinking about these changes. 

Now is the Time

We are two days into the challenge and we just got back from Bob Evans for lunch.

I screwed up already, you say?

Well one could say that but I choose to say that we survived.

Dylan has had pertussis for quite some time now. We are all exhausted. We are grasping on straws to keep it together.

Dylan has the complication that every time he coughs (which is often with pertussis) his nose starts squirting blood.

Gross. I know.

Today the doctor wanted us to come in.

Ok. Well with Caleb and Tyler here as well, that makes five boys.

We can do this. So off we go.

They were so well behaved at the doctor's office but were starving and all wanted different foods when we got out.

I was in no mood to fight over lunch.

So some might say I have failed already but I say I succeeded. Instead of making a challenge more important and having a bad attitude, I took all five boys to eat cheerfully. I am much more relaxed and the boys' tummies are full.

Tonight we will eat at home and tomorrow we will pick back up. I will not be discouraged by today.

So I encourage you, no matter how today went, pick it back up. You'll be glad you did.

Shall We Give it a Go?

A fun little fact about me...

I am really competitive.

In order to be successful, I need to make it into a game and compete against myself or others. 

Today is day 179 of the year 2013. 

Do you know what that means? That means we are about half way through the year with only 186 days left. 

Scared yet? :)

Our last attempt at coming back to the table for every meal for A YEAR was cut short. We I didn't have the grit for it. I lost interest. I stopped caring. 

So here I am to try again. This year, however, it's going to be a little bit different. I am going to challenge myself to get meals on the table, around our home table for the remainder of the year 2013. 

This time, I am not going to be so ridiculous. This time, I am going to allow myself a little wiggle room. The downfall of the last experiment was that both Andy and My's families go out to eat to honor each other on their birthdays. That's just something they do. I got so tired of feeding our family then heading to a restaurant and then hearing my kids fuss that we didn't get to eat. This time, I am going to allow us to take part in family birthday meals. If we are invited to dine with friends, we will.

This time we are going to focus on nourishment and fellowship instead of a challenge. 

Now will I still make this into a personal challenge? Why of course! That's how I operate. However, I will not resent the challenge but embrace it. 

The challenge this year is..

• to eat at home all meals except for meals in which we are celebrating a extended (as in not someone in the house's) birthday and if we are invited out to fellowship with friends.
• to get on and blog something about how the day went. Whether it be recipes, menu plans, complaining, putting up food, anything to bring my focus back to my home and the family table.
• begin tomorrow, the 180th day of the year, and go through Tuesday, December 31st, the 365th day of the year.
• Don't be too hard on myself or my family. No resentment! :) 

Can we do it? Who knows! But we're going to try. What do we have to lose?

Will you join me? Bring your family back to the table. Need just a little more of a push? Check out this post!

When life hits you square in the nose...

How is eating at home going for you?

Here?

Um... We're doing better but life always seems to happen and happen hard.

Here is a little preview of what's been going on in our neck of
the woods...

Boy meets end table... End table wins.

Spidey band-aide makes it all better, right?

Wrong. After a week of continued whining and crying, I take him to the doctor. Broken nose. Here it is a week later... He's still so beautiful though. I could eat up his cheeks and stare into those eyes forever!

So let's recap... End table vs. Kristian - End table wins. End table vs. Mama (always a day late and a dollar short.) - End table wins.

But here is the rest of the story.... When I took him to the doctor. They thought there was a blood clot so down to the emergency we go. Praise God it wasn't a blood clot. Mama always had an anyurism worrying but Kristian is good! Woohooo!!

Happy day! :)