pregnancy ups and downs

Well, I am 26 weeks pregnant this week. So far, this pregnncy has been ok. This morning, at 5am I awoke to contractions! Not Braxton Hicks, full blown contractions! You can just imagine how I felt. 26 weeks is to early for this baby girl to make her appearance. So, I remembered something I read in my favorite book. I think I have mentioned this book before, but if not, the title is Be Your Own "Doctor", an informative Guide to Herbal Home Health Care by Rachel Weaver M.H. I have been using this book for about two years now and would highly recommend it to anyone.

There is a chapter entitled "Pregnancy and Motherhood" and it gives all kinds of information and recipes for pregnancy. I truly love this book. So, when I realized I was having contractions, I went straight to my book for encouragement.

It has a section in this chapter that tells us what we need to do if we start experiencing Preterm Labor. She says for those who are at risk of developing or are currently experiencing true, preterm labor, here are some things you can do:

~Take a lukewarm water (not hot) bath loaded with epsom salt. Use two to three cups of salts. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate which is what they actually use to stop preterm labor in a hospital. Do it every day if you need, to keep strong contractions from coming back. Especially do it at bedtime to relax you so that you can sleep better.

~Drink at least 12-14 8-ounce glasses of water a day. More if you can take it. Dehydration (even mild) is a leading cause of contractions. But when you do, you need to take at least 1/2 teaspoon of salt to keep your minerals in balance so that you do not feel dizzy from flushing them all out with water.

~Eat a nice amount of good protein. Protein foods include milk, eggs, cheese, meat, nuts and peanut butter.

~Stop drinking all tea and coffee, whether caffeinated or not. Tannins in these beverages can be very irritating to the uterus.

~Stop drinking red raspberry leaf tea or eating anything with raspberries at all.

~Avoid all herbs in the mint family, including basil.

~Lie on your left side as much as possible. It improves blood flow and calms contractions.

~5-10 drops of false unicorn tincture every 15 minutes for an hour and then hourly for a few hours if needed (while lying down). A source if provided.

~Start taking at least 1000mg. of vitamin C per day, immediately and throughout your pregnancy and two to three grams of alfalfa per day or two to three cups of alfalfa tea, which will help prevent premature rupture of membranes and prevent bleeding.

Talk to your doctor or midwife to see if you should be on full bed rest.

She also says to drink a large protein drink. She gives a recipe for this in her book.

A Good Protein Shake

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon powedered milk (extra protein)

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 tablespoon instant chocolate powder or carob if you wish

Blend in the blender. Add a bit of ice and blend. This will give you two or more cups of drink. Drink two cups immediatelyu. This will give you a quick bit of protein that your baby needs.

I took an Epsom salts bath early this morning and it stopped my contractions! What a blessing. I also made me the protein shake and to my surprise it wasn't to bad. I cheated a little and added a little sucanat to make it a bit sweeter.

I will continue to use this book throughout my pregnancy and any other time I feel me or my family needs it.

This book was designed to provide information in regard to the subject matter covered. The author or publishers are not liable for the misuse of the material provided. If you choose to use the following or any information provided here you are doing so at your own risk!

God Bless!

our Auntie!!!

Well, three years ago, our Auntie (my little sister, Michelle Wroten) was accepted to LSU Law School. After many long, exhausting hours of studying, she finally made it to the day we were all looking forward to, GRADUATION! The wonderful day was Friday, May 31, 2013.  We are so proud of her and love her so very much. We knew all along this day would become a  reality. Here are a few snapshots I took on that very special day!

Here are a few pictures I took of the bugs on this great day!

Here is the cake a couple of our friends got for the celebration after graduation.

Way to go Auntie! We Love You!

big bass.......

Take a look at what Red Bug caught this afternoon out of our pond!

This bass weighed in at 3 lbs. She was so excited. We are going to have this nice fish mounted for her.

This will be a nice memory for when she is older.


God Bless!

TOS Crew Review - Spanish for You!

We are reviewing the Fiestas curriculum from Spanish for You!

This is a really fun curriculum. We have never studied any type of foreign language so this is all new to us.

Spanish for You! is a year long, multi-level curriculum. It is recommended for children in grades 3-8 and is designed for family, self-study and classroom use. The package includes:

     ***a soft-cover guide book or ebook
     ***24-30 weeks of lesson guides (pdf)
     ***self-checking worksheets (pdf)
     ***audio files of the entire book, includes bonus audio of
           native speaker (mp3)
     ***flashcard/activity pictures (pdf)

The cost for all grade levels in a set is $64.95. If you want just certain grades, you can purchase a package just for grades 3-4 or 5-6 or 7-8 for $39.95. Teacher lesson plans are NOT included and can be purchased for $12.95.

We found that, Fiestas, the curriculum we are using, is really easy to use. I appreciated the different level of lessons. This is perfect for our many children. We enjoyed making the flashcards, we love flashcards! This is very helpful for the little ones. I feel, if they can see a picture of something that we are learning about, it make s it easier for them to comprehend and learn.

The audios are also very helpful. Hearing everything spoken in Spanish is an essential element in learning a new language. We are able to listen and say each word correctly.

If you are looking for a language program that is easy to use, fun, and offers a variety in terms of activities, then go and research this wonderful curriculum Spanish For You!

Check out what other crew members had to say about this curriculum.

Blueberry Scones

These blueberry scones are delicious! Not all of my bugs eat and enjoy blueberries so I don't make these too often but when I do, they are so good! My husband's grandparents have beautiful blueberry bushes, so every year, we get alot of blueberries and freeze them. As of right now, we are enjoying blueberry jelly. I am thinking of baking some of these in the morning. Here is the recipe:

BLUEBERRY SCONES

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

1 cup fresh blueberries, (I always use frozen)

2 large eggs, beaten

1/4 cup vanilla yogurt (I've used plain Greek)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest or lemon oil

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons coarse sugar, for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is unevenly crumbly. Gently mix the blueberries with the dry ingredients.

2. Stir together the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, lemon zest and almond extract. Add to the dry ingredients and stir very gently, just until combined. Dough will be moist like cookie dough.

3. Use a muffin scoop, jumbo cookie scoop or 1/4 cup measure to scoop the dough onto the prepared sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each. Brush each ball of dough with a bit of milk or cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

4. Bake the scones for 20-24 minutes or until lightly browned and a cake tester or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and serve warm.

Try these, you won't be disappointed!

FEELING GOOD!!!

I will be 22 weeks pregnant Monday and I am feeling good! Finally!

I have been catching up on things around the house and garden that I have neglected since I was feeling so bad in my 1st trimester. Now that I am in my 2nd, and feeling great, I decided to play catch up!

This past Wednesday, one of my best friends called me to let me know that she found strawberries for $7 a flat at a local salvage store near by. I decided this would be a perfect opportunity put some strawberries in the freezer. I ended up with four flats and decided to put some in the freezer, can some of them and make some strawberry jelly! She also let me know how easy and fast it is to use an egg slicer for slicing strawberries. It worked like a charm!

Here is what mine looks like:

I have, so far, put sliced strawberries in the freezer, strawberries with a little sugar (for strawberry shortcake) in the freezer, sliced strawberries up in jars and next week, after our little bugs birthday Monday, make strawberry jelly with the remaining 6 lbs. that is still in the frig.

I figure while I am feeling so good, I might as well do all I can until I start feeling rotten again!

God Bless!

Home School in the Woods - 20th Century America Schoolhouse Review

My bugs are pretty big hands-on learners. We do a lot of unit studies and have done quite a few lap books. We really enjoy this kind of learning. As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, we had the opportunity to review a Lap Pak from Home School in the Woods. We decided to choose The 20th Century in America.

This is an awesome product. It is a hands-on History Lap Pak. The children are learning about some of the most important moments in the 20th century. We are reviewing the download version that comes in PDF format. It has a reading text, printable projects and step-by-step directions on how to print and assemble your lap book for each project. This makes it very easy to use.

I printed the reading text, the text assignments & project directions and assembling the Lap Book and put all of these into a 3-ring binder. It made it easier on us to be able to look at these at our convenience. I am printing the projects as we go. There are 22 different activities:

1. Global Conflicts: World Wars

2. Other Conflicts: In The Americas & Global

3. Political Events: Presidents of the 20th Century

4. Social Movements: Movements that made a Mark in History

5. Modern Missionaries

6. Disasters

7. The Stock Market Crash of 1929

8. Science and Technology: Science & Invention of the 20th Century

9. Medical Advancements

10. The Space Race

11. Art: Art Movements of the Modern Era

12. Architecture: Accomplishments in Architecture

13. Literature: 20th Century Authors and Their Literature

14. Music: Music of the Century

15. Transportation: Transportation in America

16. Media: News & Media of the 20th Century

17. Sports: Sports Figures Who Made Their Mark in History

18. People of Interest Across the 20th Century: People of Interest

19. Wrapping up the Century: Diner Menu "Dining Through the Decades"

20. Fashion Through the Decades

21. Slang Terminology

22. Timeline of the 20th Century

As of right now, we have completed 8 of the 22 activities. They are Other Conflicts, Presidents of the 20th Century, Disasters, Medical Advancements, The Space Race, Sports Figures (I think this has been the favorite so far) and "Dining through the Decades." I didn't want to rush through everything just to get it completed in a short time so we are thoroughly enjoying this study and taking our time.

Today we finished up with the Diner Menu activity. It contains 8 recipe cards in this project. So........ we decided to pick one for supper tonight.Everyone chose the Philly Steak Sandwich. Sounds yummy to me!

My three oldest bugs are using this product. Here are a couple of pictures of each bugs lap book so far.



I highly recommend this product. If this is something you might be interested in go here and check it out.

The download version is $21.95 and the CD version is $22.95.

The crew also reviewed the Great Empire Activity Study and Composers Activity Pak. Head over and see what they had to say.