friends – NourishingWhole

Summer 2018- Part 2

It’s time for Part Two of our Summer! Missed Part one? Look HERE.

This summer we created a list of 18 things to do. I do this list so that we have something to do other than not melt in the Texas heat. We did not get to everything on the list, but here are the ones that we did!

10: Photo Scavenger Hunt

This was totally my fault, I never put it together!

11: Visit the Brazos Valley Children’s Museum 10 times.

Checking the patient on the way to the hospital.

I went shopping. The Ice cream is for me and the veggies are for you.

This is one of our favorite places, it is indoors and air conditioned, and since we have a membership, it’s free! The plan was to go at least weekly, but we didn’t always make it. Then I found out our membership expired in July! We decided that we would not renew with Mr. Z starting full day kindergarten we would not use it as much as we did this last year. We did make it 7 times before our membership expired, plus a trip to the Houston Natural Science Museum and to San Antonio children’s museum the Dosuem.

12: Watch Fireworks

We decided to check out the fireworks at the George Bush Presidential Library this year. It was pretty good. Plus the show had a live orchestra playing during the firework display, so the timing was almost perfect. Mr. Z also enjoyed some fun bounce houses and slides before it got dark.

13: Go to the Physics Roadshow

This one was another one of, mom made a mistake. I wrote down the wrong date on the calendar, and we showed up to the library 2 weeks too late!

14: Sponge Water Fight

I got this idea off pinterest, and Mr. Z loved it! No need for water guns, plus it’s more fun.

15: Picnic at the park

Summer is not the time to have a picnic outside in Texas. It was always too hot, and I just couldn’t bring myself to force us to do it.

16: Go to the Chemistry Roadshow

This one we did make! I think all the fire and “Ooohh! Aaahhh!” factor they have built into the show makes it a favorite for all kids.

17: Visit Washington on the Brazos

This was another one, that we made plans but weather did not agree with us. Once we got rained out and twice it was over 100*.

18: Write Letters to Friends.

This one was a bust. We got all the stuff out a couple of times and then Mr. Z decided he didn’t want to do it, or Baby Hercules would wake up and need my attention and Mr. Z would not finish. I think I’ll save it for next year, it might have been too early to do it this summer.

Next week I’ll post about our Big Trip and about some of the summer dreams we got to do.

Summer 2018- Part 1

1: Learn to ride a bike!

All decked out in safety gear to practice.

Mr. Z got a bike for Christmas last year, and getting him to learn to ride it has not been easy. We did get a few practice sessions in.

2: Ride a pony.

Mr. Z explaining why he won’t touch the horses.

A mom’s group that we are in, has a summer trip out to one of the members home, where she has horses and a pony. She leads the kids around for a ride on the pony. We went, but Mr. Z was scared of the large animals and wouldn’t ride or touch it. I am hopeful, that one year he will ride the pony!

3: Vacation Bible School!

Mr. Z did two weeks of VBS. IT WAS AMAZING, for us at least! Both were evening sessions and so we got to have time with just Baby Hercules. Mr. Z did enjoy VBS and loved having fun crafts to learn about bible stories.

4: Finish Summer Reading

Our library does the national summer reading program, but it is very different from our old library in Pullman. Most of the prizes here are coupons for discounted or free kids meals. But we do summer reading, more for the fun of making sure we read every day in the summer. This summer we read The BFG and James and the Giant Peach. Mr. Z loved them and I think reading at lunch will be a summer tradition for us.

5: One Week of NO TV!

This was one that Mr. Z was not excited for at all. But I knew we needed it. The first few days were hard, but by Wednesday, TV time wasn’t even asked for. We have also carried over no TV Sundays, from this.

6: Visit the 3 Splash Pads.

Mr. Z is great at making friends with everyone at the parks.

This one is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, plus, with Baby Hercules getting more mobile over the summer, he also enjoyed the splash pads. We have 3 splash pads at different city parks. One is our favorite and one we don’t really like, but I don’t like going to the same place every time. So I wanted to make sure we went to each one this year.

7: Find a 4-leaf Clover.

Mr. Z was unsuccessful in his search.

8: Read The BFG!

Like I said in 4, we did read it. It was so fun to read at lunch in the summer. Mr. Z just loved it and if I could, I think he would have wanted me to read it in one sitting!

9: Make Popsicles.

One of our favorite things, we have a couple different molds, and we like coming up with fun fruit and juice mixes. Mr. Z’s favorite this summer was strawberries and blueberries with orange juice.

Next week I’ll post the other 9 things on our 2018 Summer list.

Fermenting and Whole30

We are EIGHT days from January being over and we are ready. I have being doing Whole30 this month with a tight budget, but it is going well. I have had plenty of “I am giving up” moments but thanks to my friend’s support group, they have helped give me that extra push. Plus Mr. Wonderful has helped a lot!

A couple of weeks ago we got some cabbage, and it’s not something we normally have so I was looking for some things to do with it. Then I remembered that sauerkraut is fermented cabbage and when it is raw it has tons of gut health probiotics. So I made some with the help of my helper!

Then I got adventurous and made a mexican taco topping inspired vegetable ferment. If it works, I will share that one later.

I used to ferment wheat for bread and other things, think sourdough starter. It was a lot of work, and I had problems, but it is something I want to do more of. I think this summer I might bring that back.

One of the great things about fermenting is that it is doesn’t require any new equipment. Most home cooks have a glass jar, knife, salt, and a something to smash down the vegetables. I am looking forward to some probiotic full vegetables.

I am hurting too

Checking email is a part of a normal morning routine. Collapsing on the kitchen floor into an emotional mess, is not.

At my age, news of parents passing should not be something I should be dealing with. Death is something my group of girl friends from high school is becoming undesirably familiar with.

We have had grandparents pass.
Parents.
And a child.

Death is a part of life. But is doesn’t make it easier.

The sudden loss of a parent comes with an indescribable pain. It pierces your soul. It rips your heart apart and your soul comes screaming out with a force so strong your body just fails.

You start thinking about every minor detail of your life that you haven’t told them. For me, it wasn’t just minor details. Maybe that makes it harder.

Picking up the pieces, finding the will to just go, becomes a primal instinct, a flight or fight response.

My mom died 3 years ago. I was 10 weeks pregnant. I was waiting to tell her in person. The plan was to drive over for a surprise visit and tell her in person on Saturday. She died 6 days before.

This is different, they had a little bit of warning, but that doesn’t help the grieving process.

Grief of a parent is life long.

When something good happens, it is there.
When your child does something funny, sweet, milestones, birthdays.
When your child is misbehaving
When you’re at church
When your friend tells you that their mom is gone too.

I know that this weekend, isn’t about me and my grief. It isn’t about me and my missed opportunities. It is about Merri, and her grief. Her missed opportunities.

But I will be hurting too.

What do I want from this blog?

I started this blog as a way to talk my way through Whole30, without the “tough love”.

I dislike that term, by the way. Love isn’t tough. It is kind and patient, gentle and inviting. It shouldn’t make you feel like everything you have done is worthless. Which is how I felt using the forum.

But now I am done with Whole30, But I don’t want to be done blogging.

I don’t want to be another “mommy blogger” or another “mommy food blogger” or another “paleo food blogger”. But I think it is a little inevitable, I am a mom, I LOVE food, and I am paleo.

I am not the type to develop a new recipe weekly for you.

I think I will take this blog in a weight loss and health improvement blog. That is my goal in life, to nourish my body to be healthy and whole. With a little parenting, little spirituality, a little of this and a little of that, all mixed it. It is my blog. I titled it with the word, WHOLE because, I wanted it to be about, the whole of my life.

So with that, it is August. Whole30 is done. And I am on to the next thing. This month, I am working on a couple of things, half marathon training, doing the 21-Day Fix, and I want to improve my scripture study.

Half Marathon Training: I found a training calendar, and I need to just do it. I also recruited a friend to do it with me!

21-Day Fix: I know I posted I was going to do the 21-Day Fix Extreme, but I want to do that half marathon, so I thought I should cut back a little.

Scripture Study: It seems like every Fast Sunday, at least one person gets up and says “Hey you! Why aren’t you reading and studying the scriptures? It is promised that you will have more time, more energy, more everything, if you just devote that time every morning to your Heavenly Father.” And then I go, “Crap, they are talking right to me, I should do that.”

Sometimes I am great at it. But most of the time, It never crosses my mind to even crack those suckers open.

This month, I am going to read daily. There is a couple of great places to get a daily verse set and question. This year, I wanted to finish the Book of Mormon again, since I haven’t do that since high school… I am in Alma, two months behind of BofM365 instagram feed… time to double up!

July 26 and 27th–Friends, Food, and Health

Sunday, July 26th:

As we were walking out the door for church, we got invited to lunch. We also already had plans for dinner. We spent all day out of the house, with friends, family, and food!

Breakfast: Leftover carrots, onions and potatoes with a chicken sausage

Snack: GGS

Lunch: Tuna Salad, carrot sticks, salad with paleo ranch (Lunch was not a whole30 friendly meal, so I brought my own food. Glad our friends understand!)

Dinner: (I took a picture, but it isn’t on my phone…) grilled, marinated chicken, salad, roasted carrots and green beans. It was delicious!

Monday:

Monday’s are always crazy, and I tend to dislike them. But today I got some great news. More details in a coming post.

Breakfast: GGS and I added some hemp hearts and coconut oil to make it a full meal.

Lunch: Hamburger over lettuce with caramelized onions and guacamole

Dinner: Meatloaf and roasted carrots and parsnips