a superhero, a monster and a cow are walking down the street...

tell me if you've heard this one before: Wonder Woman, a zombie monster and a baby cow are walking down the street.... hee hee!!!

okay i'm just kidding, well about the joke but i did see all of the above walking down the road on Halloween night.... and guess what?! they were my super-fantabulous Posse of Kiddos!!!

while this year was a little off because 'P' is now officially too old to go trick-or-treating, so we had one less kidlet to chase up and down the driveways, we all had a great night.

my sweet little girlie was the ever invincible Wonder Woman!!! right down to the head band, braclets and knee boots!! just missing the invisible jet, darn!

and while we were treking through the neighborhood i could hear screams of fright and terror... coming from the general direction of my home... hhmmmmm... what could it be?

it was of course my eldest babe taking the opportunity to scare the life right out of all the trick-or-treaters brave enough to head towards our door and plead for candy!! when you see this picture of a dead zombie monster sprawled out across a bale of hay, it seriously looks like a Halloween prop, but you'd be wrong!!! it was my usually gentle mannered boy 'P' creeping out all who dare to trespass!!! (just cackle a wicked laugh right now.. lol) now his Nana did have to come out and remind him to be careful with the little kids, so don't worry, i'm sure no one is scarred for life :)

and how could i leave out a stupendously beautiful picture of my adorable little cow, baby 'K'... everyone say "aaaawwwww" together!! isn't he the cutest? okay so maybe he was not into leaving the hood on except when we walked up to the doors, he'd allow it on long enough to say "treat, peeessss! i a cow... mmmmmooooooooo!!" with a giant grin, take the candy, look it over and once approved, plop it into his bucket, say "tank yoo", quickly pull the hood off and make his way to the next house.... it was fun, fun, fun!

not only did we have some great family time tricking and treating, we were at an awesome party at church earlier in the day jumping on inflatable, eating hot dogs and seeing many families hear the Gospel and receiving the best treat: the ultimate love & salvation of Jesus!!!

so what did you guys do on Halloween: trick or treat?!!!

ponder my shoes...

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. Proverbs 4.25-27 (ESV)

i give a lot of thought to what shoes i buy and wear each day; i love, love, love shoes!! they don't have to be the top designer and most expensive shoes (except those are the ones that seem to catch my eye first!!) but i love a shoe that makes a statement, my shoes (typically) are a big part of my accessories as i choose my outfit for the day. i love heels! i love high, 4 inch stelleto heels!! oh, and sandles! cute, strappy heels with a pretty pedicure and a shiny toe ring!! love, love, love it!!

okay, so maybe you think i have officially jumped off the deep end of the clog at this point but i am moving towards a point...

while reading my Bible one evening, i was in Proverbs and came across the verse i began this post with, and verse 26 jumped out at me like it hadn't before: Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. hhhhmmmmmm..... the path of my feet... i take a lot of time to decide what color i adorn my toes in, and i search far and wide for glorious shoes that will accent my feeties ever so beautifully, but am i giving as much thought as to the path i walk in my hot pink heels? are you?

maybe you're not strolling around in 4 inch pink slingbacks, but it is an important and thought-provoking verse all the same, don't ya think?

i am so not perfect, probably the biggest understatment i've written thus far, however i have become ever so cautious with my steps and sensitive to the Spirit's guidance in my life. i still have many times a week that i regret an insensitive word and get upset with myself for not fully trusting in God's provision for me, and i could go on. however, i have thankfully taken to heart the Word and the lessons learned from my past faults with a hope to not repeat.

so my path... well, here's some things along my path right now that i am excited about and what i feel i'm in the process of learning:

...to open up my life and heart to those that the Lord brings onto my path. i have always struggled to truly let others in for fear of being hurt or getting left behind if they really knew me and i tend to just want to do most things on my own because i feel like i can do it better. but the Lord has really shown me how prideful it is to think i can do it on my own without others; it is a lonely road when we isolate ourselves & God uses people and what if He wants to use others to bless my walk?! and if i have shut off others from really getting to know me then i have cut off a way to know the Lord deeper. nope!!! i want my path to cross with many others so that i can share my experiences with them and theirs with me; that we can really live into Proverbs 27.17: 'Iron sharpens iron, and one man (or woman) sharpens another.'

...to fully accept the gift of love God has for me!! Jesus has done great things in my life, my whole life!! but we can miss it when we don't take that step of faith and believe with our whole hearts that Jesus died for us and loves us with an amazing and extravagent love. He loves every single part of me and that He has forgiven me and i am redeemed. i have walked with God for awhile now, a close walk, but i have missed out on a much deeper relationship because i've missed this. He loves me!! the King, the Creator loves me! i am a daughter of the Most High Lord and He will use my hurts, my scars, my joys and my pains to reveal His ultimate glory if i understand His unfailing love for me. He sooooo loves you too!! have you fully accepted that gift or have others tried to steal it from you? have you believed the lies of the devil that you aren't good enough for God's love? he's a liar!!! and the gift of mercy and grace and freedom is for all who want it.

....to serve my family. i have a tendancy to get sidetracked.. i know hard to believe, huh?! but i need to simplify and focus more. my path needs to be a little less crowded by projects and more overgrown with time spent just playing and reading and talking and pruning my little Posse of Kiddos as they are growing into small people who will be accountable for their own paths. i love all the things i do at the big kids schools, and they love how involved i am, i only do it for them anyway, but sometimes in the process of 'doing it for them' the project overtakes my life and thus takes valuable time away from the ones i started doing it for in the first place! as i move forward, i want to clear my path so God can work in a greater way according to His will at that time and i don't become so busy that i don't leave any time for God and His work.

my path can be rocky and i struggle to understand the trials that continue like a lingering disease that has finally been diagnosed but without a definitive cure, or why family relationships are strained and seemingly difficult, but i will continue to walk my path as long as my Father goes before me and clears the way. it wasn't meant to be easy, but He asked me to trust and believe that His ways are higher and His plan is greater than i can comprehend; and i will from now until i meet Him face to face one day!!!

I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice...' Proverbs 8.20

What Would Your Child Say?! Wednesday

i love the sweet nothings that come out of the mouths of my babes... sometimes its a whining, screeching, crying nothing, but that is neither here nor there, i love hearing the voices and giggles of my children. i have those days, i'm sure you've had them as well, when every request or question simply grades on my nerves and i want to say "please leave me alone for 10 seconds!", it is then i have to remind myself that there will be a day not so far away that the bickering voices will be grown and not with me every day, those sweet ramblings of the school day's events will be a phone call every couple of days.... those thoughts occur to me often and humble me to kneel down to my babe's level and look them in the eye more and listen intently to their stories and requests and questions, because i do truly love the things my splendid Posse of Kiddos say!

so in celebration of the scruptious words of my babes, i wanted to play in the What Would Your Child Say! Wednesday carnival so graciously hosted by Family American Style, and if you would love to play along you should visit Marianne and link up your post too!!

it started with baby 'P', as a toddler he began the cutest thing: when in need of some mama-cuddling he would waddle over to me, lift his arms up to me and say "mommy, hole jew..hole jew" what?... oh!!! hold you!! i realized instead of saying 'hold me' he was rightly repeating what he heard me keep saying to him which was "what mommy to hold you?" so this sweet saying of my babes wanting to hold me has continued with lil' Lou-Woo and on to big 'K' and it does bring a smile to me face each day still when i hear 'K' behind me, gently yanking on my shirt pleading for the chance to "hole jew!!" (this pic is one of those moments we want to hold mama..)

this week at lil' Lou-Woo's school it is Red Ribbon Week, in celebration of living drug free!! so each day has it's own special theme and yesterday was Fancy Day!! well that is so right up my girlie's league!! she loves everything girlie & fancy, and we had a brand new dress she got as a birthday gift; so all is going to be perfection, right?

i don't know what happens to my precious daughter when she wakes in the morning, but the bad mood bug bites her the minute i ask her to put clothes on... why is that?! but you would have thought i asked her to stand on her head and juggle cats with her feet, when all i said was "please put your tights on so then we can get your gorgeous dress on!!" after much stomping and explaining to me ever so sweetly whining to me in the most annoying way ever that the tights were itchy and uncomfortable, they're ugly and stupid, we did get the dress on along with our shoes... oh i haven't even gotten to the fun part yet: fixing her hair!! and her new hair cut is so marvelous!! i love it!! Lou-Woo and i joke that i'm jealous of her hair, and she thinks her new cut is wonderful (i'm so glad, you never know!).

well i did fix her hair, but as you will see in the photo it is without decoration, but i don't even want to replay the drama that came with the big red bow that was adorning her shiny locks. but as i took her picture before we darted out the door she did make me giggle with her remarks...

me: please give me a smile for one of these photos, sis. it is not the end of the world even if you think so now. you look seriously ticked off in...

sis: (interupting me)well, it's because i kinda am, geez...

well i did try to hide my smile and giggle because she was being a little snide, but my giggle made her giggle and we forgot very quickly that we were irritated and hugged and then jetted to school to waltz around all day in her magnificent gown!!

and i would be remiss if i didn't brag a little a lot about my girlie's award she received this week at school as this month's Caring Kid!!! and the following is not what my sweet girl said but what was said about her:

she follows the rules even when no one is watching; she is kind to everyone; she is kind; she is a hard worker and helps others in class with their work; she is a good leader; she goes above and beyond to help others and her school. i could go on, i was given a paper that was filled front and back with comments from her teachers and her classmates about all the qualities that make her an absolutely outstanding student and friend. she truly hates to be the center of attention, but she was very humble and did enjoy getting to put up her handprint on the Caring Kid banner...

and i do know that i have three kiddos, and i have not forgotten my eldest babe, 'P'. and what he said almost in passing this week meant so much to me. as we were finishing dinner one evening this last week, we, for some reason, were talking about be daddy's girls or mama's boys and daddy and i were giving 'P' a little teasin' about how much he was a mama's boy when he as a little boy. and as i got up to clear the plates he came up to me, hugged me tight and said "i'm still a mama's boy." aaaawwwww!!! i know!!! i could have cried big tears of joy right there but i held back and kissed his head, hugged him back and memorized that moment in my permanent files...

what did your kiddos say this week that you filed in the 'Remember this moment forever' file?

Not Me! Monday

did you plop the kiddos down in front of a movie for what was supposed to be only 15 minutes and it turned into an hour and a half? or maybe your breakfast, lunch and dinner consisted of coffee, some peanut butter m&ms and a handful of cheerios and you're feeling guilty... don't!!! Not Me! Monday is a chance for us to come together and chat about our minor imperfections (hee hee) and offer each other theraputic relief!! this most fun blog carnival is the creation of MckMama, and if you wanna play head over to MckMama's blog and link up....

i met one of my most favorite friends for lunch this week and to dish about life & work, and we did not eat 2 bowls of chips with endless amounts of salsa and cheese dip... nope, i make smart dining choices and would not just stuff myself silly with corn chips and salsa, and nothing else.... if i had done that would the salsa count as a vegetable?

and while i'm on a roll of always eating 100% healthy and organic, my little Lou-Woo and i had a girlie night on friday evening in which she cut 10 inches off her beautiful brown hair (oh my goodness, she is even more stinkin' cute than she was the 20 minutes before it was cute, if that is at all possible!!) and then we most certainly did not follow that up with andy's frozen custard for dinner. i love being totally responsible and teaching my little girl about eating veggies first and never scarfing down andy's pumpkin pie concretes as a meal!!

and because i never just leave people hanging and i am the greatest of communicators, i did not procrastinate creating and painting the book fair decorations for girlie's school, due to being sick and completely fatigued... and then even after getting the scene's painted, maps drawn and flags laminated i would never leave before it was done with the intentions to complete it later in the week and then go back up to school to see that someone else had already finished it. no i am most definitely not that loser mom that just had too much on her plate and a pesky sickness to boot that dropped the ball....

okay that this week's session is up, it is your turn on the couch!!! write up your own week's events and link up so i can see what you've been up to (or not up to).

if you'd like to win a Bonnots Mill hand-poured candle, scroll down & read my last post, leave your 2 cents worth and you'll be entered to win!!! i'll do my best to close the comments tonight and then choose my favorite and hopefully announce it in a late night post....

so glad you stopped by, leave your prayer requests in my BlogFrog community and sign up to follow me on Twitter!! it will be fun, you know you want to :)

treatment or prevention?

UPDATE: okay all you pretty people out there.... since you decided to obviously wait until the last minute, again, to enter to win your own Bonnots Mill candle, then i'll leave the comments open through tomorrow evening at 6pm CST, so leave your comment now!! smiles!!!

ORIGINAL:

okay, so i have promised for awhile now my thoughts and insight on natural medicine, and you're so blessed that today i will deliver!! now i'm of course not a doctor (but i do play one in real life!! dr.mama is my official title) but i have spent many, many hours researching, reading, working with other natropath researchers/believers and lots of conversations learning from my natropathic physican, Dr.D (who is brillant!!). so while i truly believe in all the stuff i'm going to chat with you about today, you should always contact your physcian, do your own research or find a natropath/homeopath doctor near you to answer your questions and create a protocol specific to your needs, okay? great!

remember when i wrote part #1 and part #2 concerning the medical issues i have been experiencing since march of 2008, and how i let you in on how i absolutely had my world turned upside down and around!! and in the midst of all the turmoil, i was lead to Dr.D and the world of organic eating and using alternative & natural medicines. and whoa!!! what an eye-opening experience! i never had really considered using vitamins, herbs and plants to heals disease, even though i was not big on traditional prescriptions with all the potential side effects, i had not seen the flip-side of natural alternatives.

so now i have become quite the natural medicine researcher, reading PubMed reports on what vitamins and herbs can do for cancer treatments (see a real life miracle in sweet Jaymun's life with natural cancer treatments), or how to treat 'P's allergies with an herb or give my Man more energy with the right combinations of vitamins and minerals, and bring some healing to my own body with the use of vitamins, herbs and food.

personally to keep myself going each day:

-MultiMedica for women, i love this vitamin!! weird thing to say, i know but when i feel healthy and strong and energized because of all the great stuff in these capsules then i can't help but shout it from the roof tops!! okay, maybe that's over the top, but with tons of vitamin A, all the B's, chromium, milk thistle, i could keep going but love it and how it keeps my body functioning at the highest levels possible.

-Micellized D3, now you might be thinking that there is probably some vitamin D in my amazing multivitamin and you would be correct; however do you know all the astounding benefits of D3 for your body? well you can click on the D3 link to learn tons more than i will ramble on about, but D3 increases your body's ability to absorb calcuim which buffers the acidity of your body, which is incredibly important, but more about that later...D3 stimulates your immune system and so much more. to help get the most out of the D3 i also take vitamin K with it.

-to keep my body's pH in check, and this is by far one of the most vital things i check each few days (of course in my opinion), and one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to keep a neutral pH is baking soda... i know crazy, huh?! check out this article from Dr.D about the importance of pH and how you can fix it!!

-you might be thinking: "what else you do take each day? geez!" but don't leave me now... one other supplement i'll share with you is my secret... ready for it? alright, it's not that big of a secret but it has made a huge difference for me, digestive enzymes. and what the heck are enzymes? so glad you asked!!! there are specific enzymes that are in our food that assist our digestive system, particularly your liver, in breaking down food and absorbing the nutrients necessary for optimum health and with colon health (i know it's your favorite thing to talk about!!), well when we cook our food the heat destroys much of the enzymes needed by our body and you're probably not getting a lot of raw or all natural foods these days. read this article as well from Dr.D about enzymes and just give it a try, if you so choose!!

alrighty!!! i won't bore you a further.... i could talk about natural medicine all day and night, i find it amazing that there are so many ways to treat our illnesses with everyday herbs and supplements. and by making some simple changes to our diets and adding a few extra supplements we can prevent illness instead of treating it. this is my new motto (hey! what's a motto with you?!! hee hee), the main reason for the complete turn around in our family is to be a great steward of these bodies God gave us. we only get one ya know!! so thus why you won't find any Double-Stuffed chocolate cookies at our home, well i do buy the all natural ones and they are super delicious, my Man didn't even know the diff!! i know that if i can form my Posse of Kiddos now into healthy eating habits & a crunchy-granola lifestyle then i am helping to prevent some sickness later.

here's a snipet of an article Dr.D wrote for me regarding keeping our kiddos well from all the pig flu (hee hee) infecting our nation:

How to protect yourself
As the 'flu is a viral infection, it will not respond to any antibiotic. Antibiotics are only effective in treating secondary bacterial infections sometimes associated with influenza.

Here are some of the best steps you can take to speed up your recovery:

*Stay in bed for a few days to rest.
*Increase your intake of vitamin A to 10,000 IUs a day. A liquid micellized form is recommended. The micellization process—a technique that may enhance absorption by producing extremely tiny droplets (micelles) that are easily assimilated by the body. Vitamin A may increase resistance to the Common Cold and may exert direct anti-viral effects against the Viruses that cause the Common Cold.
*Increase your intake of vitamin D to 2,000 IU’s a day. A liquid micellized form is recommended. Vitamin D may improve the function of the Lungs and prevent Respiratory Tract Infections.
*Take 1000-2000mg of vitamin C a day. Vitamin C may reduce the severity and duration of symptoms. Vitamin C may help to prevent Respiratory Tract Infections, reduces the severity of Respiratory Tract Infections and may accelerate the recovery from Respiratory Tract Infections.
*Use zinc lozenges to soothe a sore throat and Olive Leaf nasal spray for a runny nose.
*Chicken soup may soothe a sore throat, clear clogged passageways, and hydrate a thirsty body.

Watch out for 'flu in children
A toddler younger than two years is particularly vulnerable to highly infectious diseases like 'flu. In fact, all children younger than 12 years are susceptible to the 'flu virus. A temperature raised or lowered any degree from normal in a baby less than three months, above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit in a child of three to six months, and a temperature above 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit in an older child would be reason to get medical advice.
Tip: Do not exercise if you have 'flu! It may lead to inflammation of the heart muscle. You should generally not exercise for at least seven days after recovering from the 'flu, after which you can gradually return to exercise.

so there's my two cents for the time being regarding alternative/natural medicine... what do you think?

everyone who leaves me their two cents in the comments will be entered to win my last Bonnots Mill Candle from Flame & Flair that i have lying around.... okay i actually went out and bought it just for you!!!

so get to commentin'!!! i'll leave the comments open on this until tomorrow night at 10pm CST. i can't wait to hear what you've got to say!!

p.s. you shoud also check out my community on the right side bar about whether you are giving you kiddos the H1N1 vaccine...