http://thejoyfulkeeper.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/we-have-100-time-for-give-away.html?showComment=1340883320568#c3445647435441961502
Caroline has a great giveaway over at The Joyful Keeper.  One Thousand Gifts is a fantastic book.

Edward's Juice Experiment

 Well I could tell you about the baby not gaining weight and how I gave up raw to eat more and put on a stone but that the baby gained weight so it was all worth it.  BUT instead I want to share with you about Ed's juice experiment.  There was recently a post on Facebook about saying yes.  It really challenged me.  My Ed, who is 6, has some really hairbrained plans.  And quite often I find myself saying 'NO'.  In fact it was becoming something of a stumbling block in our relationship.  So I decided to start saying 'YES',... well at least some of the time anyway.
So Ed wanted to open a juice bar.  I did say hairbrained.  Lol.  Well, I thought that if we did some experimenting with juices and milkshakes, we could invent some of our own recipes and have a juice party, where we could give out tokens with the invitations to use as cash.  So it would kind of be a juice bar , if you see what I mean.  So here are the results.  Today we also made some fruit shaped stamps to create invitations, but that is another post. I'll follow up as the adventure unfolds.
Love Jo x

Catch Up

Well I haven't posted for absolutely ages. Sometimes life just seems to take over. Since my last post we have experienced the eventful birth of our lovely Josiah Benjamin, who is now 3 months old. Most of you will know the story, thanks to my husband's very eloquent Facebook posts, so I won't repeat it here. Suffice to say it was a very stressful time and we are extremely grateful to God that that particular season of our life is over.

It's been a busy three months since I've been home. Initially, my recovery was fairly slow. I would say that it wasn't really until mid-February that I started to feel more like myself. Anyway, I am certainly back to full speed now and am busy juggling the demands of a young baby with a VERY active toddler and homeschooling the two older boys. Did I forget to mention the housework? Well perhaps that's best not mentioned. Maybe I will devote a whole post to that sometime soon. I have so much to catch up on.

Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen of late is my foray into the world of raw food. I have been thinking about going raw for a while now. I am normally such a carb addict that I just didn't think I could hack it. Bread bread and more bread is my diet of choice. Anyhow, all that bread and my fifth pregnancy had caused my weight to rocket. I have no idea how much I weighed when I came out of hospital but it was a vast amount. Even when I had fully recovered from the CS and pneumonia I still felt tired and sluggish and was still wearing maternity clothes. Something had to be done. I tried to eat more moderately but my cravings always got the better of me. It was then that I attended the Above Rubies Ladies Retreat in Sussex. I felt terrible. All these lovely mummies with large families and most of them still lovely and slim. Where was I going wrong?

Browsing the book stall I picked up Serene Allison's book, Rejuvinate - Recipes for Energy. I decided it was worth a try. And here I am three weeks later, mostly raw. I do supplement with free range eggs and goats cheese. And I do enjoy the odd jacket potato still. But that's it. Everything else I've eaten for the last three weeks is raw. I am loving it. Today I've eaten:

Breakfast: nothing, got up too late (oops)

Lunch: spinach salad with rejuvination mayo (blended sunflower seeds with lemon, garlic, olive oil), 2 flax seed crackers with rejuvination cream cheese (blended pine nuts/sunflower seeds with garlic/lemon juice etc.)

1 banana, 2 clementines, handful of raisins

Dinner: haven't decided yet

We went on a long walk today but I wasn't hungry at all. I always feel full and am not too tempted by cooked food, even cake. Eek. I am going to blog on here about how I get on so you will hopefully be able to follow my raw journey. I will blog soon with a now piccie and details of my current weight. Then we will all be able to see how raw affects my bodyweight. Signing off for now but hoping to update you soon.

Jo x

Organisation and other stuff

I have recently been inspired by Sarah over at A Mother's Heart to get my home organised and decluttered. I started last year in a bid to bring organisation into our home but, to be honest, my intentions fell pretty flat. I think my ideas were rather too complicated and 'high-faluting' (sp) as they say. So I have decided to go back to basics. I have printed and laminated a chore chart, which details all the basic jobs to be done in each room of the house, with a tick box and a place to date the task. Hopefully this will help me to cover everything which needs doing, and the dates will help me to

casually rotate the tasks.


Also, I have added a to do list, giving myself reachable goals for each day. One of our major problems is piling up papers, as you see here, so that was top of today's to do list. Hopefully, with small manageable goals for each day, I can really get on top of this chronic disorganisation. You'll see that I've also designed a menu sheet. Only half of it is shown here; the other half is separated into the different food types (eg vegetables, bread, storecupboard items, dairy etc) so that as I am writing my menu I can also write my shopping list, and then when I am done I just cut off the list half and take it with me to the supermarket.

I've also spent some time today making Soule Mama's laundry powder. I usually use soapnuts but have to admit that whites often need a little more. The SM recipe is great and has brought my whites up lovely. I use Dr Bronner's soap, which I purchase from Ebay, and have no shortage of willing volunteers to grate it - lol. Speaking of soapnuts, I boiled some up to use as multipurpose cleaner today. A handful of soapnuts to four cupfuls of water and boil for 20 mins. I actually boiled them twice to see what would happen and must say that the second batch seemed to be fine; I've put that in a handwash dispenser for grubby little hands.



























After much anticipation my long awaited diswasher arrived at the weekend and I have been happily avoiding washing up ever since. I do wash my pans by hand but it is sooooooo much less time consuming than previously. Praise the Lord for dishwashers!!
















Lastly I just want to post some piccies of my little man on his feet. He is nine months old and walking around the furniture. Oh joy. But such a cutie!!!!

My Weight Loss Plan

I have been inspired by Amanda over at Christian Homemaking to blog about my weight loss programme. I am hugely overweight at this time in my life. I weigh 15 stone and 12 pounds as of last Saturday, and my goal weight is 10 stone. That is a massive 5 stone, 12 pounds to lose. So,... where to start?

I am following the Slimming World food combining plan, using second hand resources bought from Ebay. I can't afford to attend a weekly slimming club so this is the next best thing for me. I find the diet fairly easy to stick to as you can eat quite a lot so I am never hungry.

In addition to my eating plan, I am also doing daily exercise. I am using a combination of Wii Active, Wii Fit and Rosemary Conley dvds to achieve my goal of half an hour daily, excluding Sunday. I don't often feel like getting up in the morning to do it but I force myself and always feel the better for it. After three weeks I can already feel the difference. I have lost 11lbs and feel more toned and much fitter. I am also going to keep a track of my waist measurement as I think this will be a good guide as to how I am doing; my middle is definitely my problem area.

The challenge in all of this is to keep first things first. Why do I want to lose weight? To be fit and healthy and therefore more able to serve my family. And to keep a youthful physique for my hubby. Please pray for me that I can keep my weightloss focused on these motivations. It is too easy for me to use my body to gain attention, or engage in a one-upmanship with other women due to a lack of self esteem. I think the most important thing, through all of it, is to pay as much (probably more) attention to my soul as my body. It is of no use being super fit on the outside when one is inwardly waning away due to lack of exercise of the spiritual muscles. Jesus speaks of such people as like 'whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside bu on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.' Matthew 23:27 God has to be God in my life; no diet or fitness programme can ever take his place. And my sanctification is worth more than shedding a few pounds. So, yes, I am determined to achieve my goals, but they extend much farther than the weighing scales.

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3: 14 NLT

Husband Appreciation

I am currently partaking in Revive Our Hearts' 30 Husband Appreciation Study. Recently some things have occured in my online community which bring home the startling reality of what an awesome bloke I married. It shouldn't therefore be that hard to appreciate my lovely man, and yet, how often do I take him for granted?! One of the tasks on my Husband Appreciation Study is to publically state my appreciation for him. And what better place to do that than here.

I appreciate my lovely Phil because (in no particular order):

1. He is easy on the eye (shallow but true - in my eyes anyway)




2. He is an awesome provider and works sooo hard for his family




3. He always puts us first; he almost never buys anything for himself but makes sure that we are all okay




4. He loves me wholeheartedly and without condition




5. He loves God more




6. He is our spiritual leader and leads us in Bible time and prayer every evening




7. He is a great dad




8. He married a size ten and ended up with a significantly larger lady; but he doesn't care (I do though and am on a weight loss plan - you'll hear more about that in forthcoming posts)




9. He is really good fun and always makes me laugh




10. He has amazing integrity




11. He loves my cooking




12. He is happy to live in a house filled with floral fabrics and crocheted throws




13. He likes simple pleasures




14. He likes animals




15. He is kind and generous




16. He compliments me, both to me and to others




17. He ensures that the children respect me




18. He would lay down his life for me or any of the children




19. He is physically tender and caring




20. He encourages my creativity and homemaking




21. I could go on.....

No-one is perfect and Phil has his flaws, just like everyone else but I truly believe that he is my soul mate and that God brought us together. Although I value opportunities to let dh know how much I appreciate him, the most important thing that I can do for him as his wife is not to appreciate him but to pray for him. I believe that prayer changes everything. We've not always had such a good relationship as we have now, but through prayer and commitment we have come through. God is a great redeemer and I believe that all things are possible through him. I have a great husband but, more importantly, I have a great saviour. Great husbands might be a bit thin on the ground sometimes, but our Saviour is forever with us. Fully reliable and always available. What a man!!!!

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Hebrews 13:5

More craftiness

Here is Eli modelling my gift for a friend's baby shower. It's not that I'd like a baby girl so much I've started dressing him like one. This bib was soooooo easy to make. It's basically a triangle 17" x 12" x 12" backed with fleece, velcro tabs added. And I think it looks rather cool, or at least it will on a girl. Lol