36 Weeks Pregnant

Hence the silence. I am blogging at www.rawfoodspregnancy.blogspot.com at this moment since there isn't much else going on. Right now I am nesting.

I mean, I am pretty much homeschooling, organizing, stocking up, planning and praying. Please visit my pregnancy blog and you'll hear all about where my mind and heart are at the moment...

Love,

Cathy

Cutting Corners

I'm going to cut corners this pregnancy and beyond. A few days ago, I "discovered" home delivery from a grocery shop we shop at. This is new to this shop chain, and maybe to this part of the country. However, my husband and I've used grocery home delivery service in the UK quite a bit. This is exciting!

During the final weeks of each pregnancy, I stress about prepping enough meals into the freezer for when the baby arrives. I don't usually get many made, and we end up cooking like we normally would be. This time around, I'm not interested in standing on my swollen feet and piling meals into the freezer. My feet swell in the heat and I find the idea overwhelming at the moment.  Maybe when the weather cools down a bit, I'll have more of a desire to do so.

What can we do to make the last few weeks of the pregnancy and the first few weeks with the baby, easier?

This is what we're going to do,

•  find affordable and healthy take out options

•  use home delivery

I asked my husband, what he thought about budgeting our food in a way that would allow us to eat take out more, and instead of doing major food shops (with the kids!) on paydays, we would use the home delivery service? He said, YES!

Home delivery has a cost to it, of course. But I think not only will it save us time, stress, and gas... it will save me from putting stuff into our trolley that we didn't menu plan for.  So to me, the delivery cost is so worth it! I mean someone goes around and shops for you and brings it to you!!!

What do you think of getting your shopping delivered to you?

Colour Collage - Homeschool Crafts Idea

 Teach your kids the primary colours and the different mixes of primary colours.

 Doesn't have to be anything fancy, you know... :)

Get different colours of paint samplers from your local paint shop,

and before cutting and gluing, go through the different hues/shades/tones of 6 colours; red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

 This takes a while... so do your own studies/crafts while they cut and glue...

 Let them add stickers, glitter or sequence to it... they can choose where they belong according to colour.

K and J's work.

I love them!

There's Always a Reason to Eat

There's always a reason to celebrate eat. You're thinking at 8-10 p.m, as you're biting into the chocolate bar "ah, I/we shouldn't be eating at this time"... and you or your spouse lists one of these reasons below,

• It's Friday night, end of a long week!
• It's our anniversary
• Diet starts tomorrow
• It's Saturday, start of the weekend
• It's our cat's christening.... or another make up celebration
• It's Sunday, back to work tomorrow
• Ah, one bar won't kill us
• It's been a rough day, I/we totally deserve this

I wonder why we're always making up excuses to glutton? And you know, I am not just talking about a chocolate bar. I'm talking about that Starbucks run, left overs, late night munchies, popcorn, etc. It can be healthy stuff too, like nuts and seeds /butter on home made crackers, fruit, and cheese, etc. 

This week we spent 3 days away from home. We ate out everyday. It's quite hard to eat out healthily, unless you have access to a fridge. I tried choosing better restaurants but it dawned on me, even the best and healthiest restaurants, basically serve things like, -sugar, salt, fat and wheat, and all in the bad form. It wasn't til our last day that we found a Mexican fast food joint, which served clean food. Gluten free, freshly milled wheat, organic meats/fish, and produce. Yummy! Next time, we'll know. Those "pearls" are so few and far between, but they're becoming more popular and with a little extra investigation, they're available! Forget, ABC's, IHOP's, Denny's, WhiteSpot and any other common restaurant with "home cooking" -it's all frozen!

So during our trip, while feeling mentally and physically totally robbed nutrition wise, I started menu planning, again. I decided that we would be eating more fish from now on. I love the 'meatless Monday' idea, and I'm still keen on not spending too much time cooking, so instead just throw stuff together, and voila! Dinner is serrrrrved. Also, the only thing that I thought worked out with my crockpot, is Chilli, so I won't be using that too much either. My oven is pretty high tech, so will be utilizing the options on it more. Baked fish, here we come!

Here is what I've been brainstorming to do:

• Monday- vegetarian
• Tuesday-Beef
• Wednesday- Seafood
• Thursday- Vegetarian
• Friday-  Salmon
• Saturday- Chicken
• Sunday- Seafood 

I'm pretty excited about Chinese and Mexican influenced recipes, I like it how everything is fast and simple, and the greens are usually added at the very end of the recipes. 

I went to Costco today and bought, salmon and quinoa. I love quinoa! My kids are getting there, I'm not taking no for an answer. The salmon I get will be enough for two family servings. Some of you already know that we don't eat a lot of meat/fish when we do have them, meaning, we don't have a chicken breast each. I chop up 1-2 chicken breasts into a curry sauce/stir fry/meal and that feed us, a family of 5. That is enough protein for now. Here is a trick, if you thaw a chicken breast just a little before cutting it, it's easier to slice up a lot of thin slices.

What do our kids normally have for breakfast?

• cereal
• omelets
• oats, hemp hearts and yoghurt
• porridge
• toast with cheese and cold cuts
• breakfast burritos
• Chinese pancakes (spring onion) 

+ a smoothie

 Baked Salmon. The kids devoured it, didn't manage to take an after oven pic :)

 Fried Tofu Sticks

(junk food)

 Marinade: 

• shaoshang wine
• dark soy
• light soy
• garlic
• ginger
• chili flakes (optional)

 Gone in seconds, glad I managed to take a picture.

When we lived in Finland, we never had bread or butter in our home. These days, we have both. Even to this day, I feel uncomfortable about it, but I've just let it go. I am not a big fan of yeast, I don't think eating "yeasty" foods daily is a good thing to the body. It's like up keeping an inflammation in the body, to me. However, I make my kids sandwiches for dinner 1-2 a week. I would like to cut back, but we are not allergic to gluten, or sensitive to gluten. The only thing I would like to cut back on is the yeast, therefor the bread, and swap it to whole wheat, stone milled, rich grain and seed tortillas. I don't want to take away the bread, because bread is yummy and nothing beats a fresh baked bread with butter on top, -and my kids know it!

Moving on...

There you have it, a little sneak peak to some of our family foods and also an honest, not so direct, confession on being a snacker and finding excuses for it. I'm still motivated and moving towards healthy eating while at the same time dodging all the food and diet trends... a.k.a paleo etc. Nothing lasts, nothing. Like I've said before, and I will say it again -the Bible has a lot of answers to what we should be eating and how. Really! Start from Genesis 1:29 and 2:9 and go from there... 

(These verses, totally prove that seedless cucumber from Walmart is from the devil! he he!)

Please share with me, what you feed your kids! Leave a comment!

I Cannot Compete - This is Me

I think I've taken an unnecessary detour in my blog writing. I think I've let the blogging "peer pressure" affect what I write about. Mostly, I think, I've stuck to my true nature -being open and honest about real life, real feelings, real revelations, and real marriage, but I can see that I've also blogged about my "Martha life". Which I really don't do that great in!

I am no Martha Stewart. I am no DIY champ, I'm no super baker and no photographer. I don't sew well, I organize like a "comet", and I have so much more to talk about than chevron fabric and Thanksgiving crafts. I cannot compete with the best homemakers, organizers, bakers, photographers, housewives, and so on, so I quit. I quit writing this blog the way it is, and continue on like I know best.

I am a wife, who just like you, has to work hard in marriage. I am a mother, who just like you, loves my kids to death when they sleep so peacefully and, I swear to keep my temper "tomorrow' -and I fail...again. I am a woman, just like you, who day dreams about a better way, adventures, the future and hope to develop into a better person in all areas. I am a child of God, that has no good in me, yet I'm covered by grace. 

I think I'll just spend my time with my favorite people -my family, and blog about the daily life, motherhood, wifehood, homeschooling, pregnancy, things that make our life just that little more easy, the ups, the downs, and well, the journey we're on.

Hope you enjoy the difference!

Pelvic Floor Update

Here is another cross post, a blog post written by me on my other pregnancy blog. I felt this is important to share with other mothers, especially if you've had multiple births, so please read!

Physio Update

A few weeks ago I wrote this 

..."I've been to see a physio, who specializes in women's pelvic floor (pre- and postnatal). I have homework I need to do daily to strengthen/maintain my pelvic floor during the rapid growth of the baby, help in birth and fast healing post birth. But mostly, I am doing them so I stop peeing myself every time a sneeze or have a coughing fit! I know, too much info, but I know -you know what I mean!

Daily Kegels workout:

30 x 5+sec squeezes with 10sec break in between. This takes about 8 minutes to do. 

30 x quick squeezes with 10sec break in between.

I've been trying to remember to do this everyday for two weeks, and so far I have already seen felt an improvement. I have got two more weeks to do these exercises until my next appointment.."...

Today I saw my physio for a quick follow up appointment, to see how things have progressed with my 'dilemma'.

Two weeks ago, I couldn't cough, sneeze or laugh (and at times with no reason) without "leakage". I was wearing a thin liner and had to change it 2-3 x a day. I know I was 22 weeks pregnant, but this was alarming and I needed to seek professional help. 

There was no way that I, age 31 (or ever) had to be in such a weak state, where there was no connection with my mind and body, in such a way. All I can say that I am happy that I went and paid that money to see the specialist physio.

Here is where I was

• leakage, pad change 2-3 x a day
• pregnancy week 22
• waking up at night to visit the wc
• couldn't laugh, sneeze, or cough without leakage
• couldn't hold a kegel for more than 4 seconds

2 weeks later with these exercises

Here I am today

• No leakage, haven't worn a pad for 1 1/2 weeks
• pregnancy week 24
• no night time bathroom visits
• laughing, sneezing and coughing without leakage
• I can hold a kegel for more than 10 seconds

I cannot believe how fast this change took place and that it's not rocket science, as my physio puts it! Simple, simple exercises that don't make you sweat, don't take up too much time, can be done anytime and anywhere -has done so much in such little time frame.

My exercises have moved on to new ones, which I will be doing throughout my pregnancy and also after birth. I have a follow up appointment 2 months after birth to see what needs doing regarding my pelvis alignment etc.

Ladies, I urge you! Get sorted before it's super hard or too late!

Mini testimonials welcome, leave a comment!

Placenta Encapsulation -Cross Post

Placenta Encapsulation

For a few months now, I've been actively thinking about 'Placenta Encapsulation'. When our 3rd child  was born, I happened to meet a woman who specializes in placenta encapsulation. By then, the most I'd ever heard or read about the subject, was that it was the "tree hugger" trend, and even some celebrities ate their placenta, which was cooked by a hired chef. My thoughts were exactly what yours are "ew". I wasn't into that... I'm still not into that. 

Anyway, the lady gave me her business card and I kept it in a safe place, since I was intrigued and wanted to follow up on the subject. Now, nearly two years later, I visited her site HERE and like the method she uses, so that the clients can consume the "product" without a steak knife. Ha ha!

What is Placenta Encapsulation?

Placenta Encapsulations is to make this natural, nutrient-rich organ into a simple pill to support your postpartum recovery. Placenta is high in iron, protein, vitamins, minerals and of course, your own natural hormones.

Ingesting the placenta is not a new practice. Chinese have been using their placenta for over 5000 years.

Testimonials, HERE

The method she uses:

By dehydrating, powdering and placing it into capsules, it is perfectly "made for you, by you".

These are the benefits:

• Increases energy
• Decreases risk of baby blues and postpartum depression
• Decreases bleeding
• Enhances milk supply
• Replenishes vitamins & minerals (specifically iron)
• Brings hormones back into balance
• Helps uterus return to pre-pregnancy size
• Continued assistance for later use (when fatigued, stressed, depressed, menopause)
• Choices to add ingredients (e.g. Chinese herbs) for extra nourishment

I think I will be testing this out once the baby arrives, I know -weird and exciting at the same time!

What are your thoughts on Placenta Encapsulation, and why?

Collages -Homeschool Project

("God's People" by K)

This week the kids worked on collages of their own. We used the stack of National Geographic mags I've stored for too long. Now, I know how we will be using them. I fondly remember my own art lessons, especially making collages and the ideas are limitless!

Here are some ideas on Collages:

• Seasons, weather
• Celestial
• Nature
• Animals, polar, ocean, grassland, jungle etc
• Healthy and unhealthy foods
• Physical activity, sports
• Feelings, moods, faces
• Space, planets
• Technology
• Bible
• Culture
• Art
• Words
• Countries
• Colour Map

 ("God's Creation" by J)

I already have a few collage themes planned out for this school year. Some of them will cover more than the subject 'art'.

Any more ideas on a theme? Let me know!

More on Homeschooling HERE!

More on Fun With Kids HERE

Study a Language

I had the privilege of being born into a bilingual family. English and Finnish. Finnish being one of the hardest languages in the world (to me it's still a challenge, though I was born and raised in Finland)!

I have always been fascinated with languages, not those taught at school, but the ones that were far from me, such as Urdu, Swahili, Mandarin Chinese, and Korean. When I was in my pre-teens, I used to listen to Hong Kongese pop music, not kidding! I would memorize the songs but had no idea what they were singing. In my teens, the same with Urdu and one Hindi song. Then I moved onto Swahili, which I again picked up after my first child was born. I got far with my studies, even got to visit Tanzania, but after moving to Canada I have forgotten most of it:(! I just don't have enough east African buddies here like I did back in Finland to practice with. You know who you are, I miss you guys so much!!!!!

So, where we live at the moment is pretty much smack down in Korea and China town. What a great opportunity to study and practice these languages. I decided to go with Mandarin, because it's the most spoken language in the world, it is a mystery to me, it has characters that are thousands of years old, it has only 4 tones (compared to Cantonese!!), and I have always been a big fan of Chinese movies, food and culture.

I did a few library courses, read a few Chinese For Dummies Books and got a bit stuck. I didn't want to stop there, and since I had embarked on such a challenge, I was blessed enough to find a private tutor! I am very very blessed! Living on a single income, with a growing family, there isn't much disposable income whatsoever. This lovely lady was wonderful enough to meet where I could afford her lessons, though she is worth much much more! God is good!

I want to encourage you to pick up a language. I believe that by learning one language, it makes it easier to learn more languages in the future and opens up perspective. Time flies anyway, so in one year, even though you only took 30 minutes a week to learn a language slowly, you would have at least been studying for 26 hours in that year, which is 26h better at a language you would have not known anything about. Invest in learning a language.

More ideas on Managing Time HERE

What languages do you know fluent or semi fluent? Which languages would you like to learn and why?

21 Weeks of Pregnancy

Another update on my pregnancy HERE!

New Vitamins, scan pictures, thoughts and more!!!

Managing Your Home Part 3

A little while ago I wrote this:

..."Organizing your home is quite the task. It takes a super mom to herd her little monkeys and get everyone and her home in order at all times. This, however is unrealistic and will only bring frustration and disappointment to those mothers who thrive on this.

But there is hope for us all, even for me as I write this in the midst of a chaotic moment in my home. I write down lists for my kids of chores that need to be completed before we begin our day. "Build the home, before we play in it" is somewhat what we are after. Well, I have my eldest back chatting and rebelling, my daughter in cloud 9 dreaming of butterflies and singing, and my littlest one, causing havoc as she trots along. Not the haven, I was hoping for.

I put KLOVE on for motivational music, to help us focus and plug in, only to find out it's just adding to the chaos. I really am starting to feel hopeless now, how does anyone teach their children to contribute to the family life"...

And now, finally! 

We're done scheduling for now! It took some time, figuring it all out because no day in the week is the same for us. But we're done for now. We're on trial mode right now, just to see how well the master schedule will work out and I already have a feeling, that I'll be doing a few minor changes here and there, but all in all, I'll say it again - We're I'm DONE!

Here's an example of a day during our week. Oh yes, I went to dollar store and purchased 7 frames and some magnetic strip to minimize our fridge clutter. It looks nicer...

I've noticed better behavior in the kids and especially in me, holy moly, less of that tensed up wicked witchiness! The kids have been back chatting less, and it seems that they cannot argue with a schedule on the wall, but they can argue with me. If it's written, it goes and I've noticed an attitude change in them, I really have.

We get bible time each morning, and it can last from 15 to 30 minutes. I'm using this book with them, and we're enjoying it. The kids sit still, even our youngest who is 2 and these lessons lead to some deep conversations and it has really helped us bond. It gives a good start to the mornings and focuses our attention to the one who gives us time. Jesus. 

I must admit, I'm more flexible than maybe some other mothers are, using this method, and it's ok. Sometimes we decide to do other stuff instead of what's on the list, however, I've still noticed that everything gets done and we have plenty of rest too. It takes practice and consistency to create a new habit, a new schedule. We'll get there, I know it!

Another thing I have noticed is that the kids argue and bicker less. One, they don't get too bored and end up in each others faces, and two, I have the time to teach and take the time to guide them when I see a problem arising. I also believe that our bible time in the mornings places our hearts in a way that our minds are tuned with doing what is right. This is my opinion.

One thing I like about colour coding the schedule is, that my middle child doesn't yet know how to read, but by knowing the theme of the colours, she memorizes them quickly.

More on Organizing your home and scheduling HERE!

More on Fun With Kids HERE

More on Managing Your Home HERE

What are your tricks for keeping on top of things, or semi? :)

Mango "Pudding" -Kiisseli

When I was little, my gramma used to make us Kiisseli. It's like a berry/fruit soup. I loved it. We had it hot, we had it cold, we had it in our porridge or just as it was. It was yummy!

I had a bag of frozen mango in our freezer and I decided to make Kiisseli for homesickness sakes. It turned out well, and the kids scoffed it down, and now I'm experimenting with berries and thickness.

Ingredients:

• fruit 400g
• water 4-6C
• brown sugar 1/2C
• vanilla (optional) I used coconut
• potato starch and 1C cold water

Bring mangoes, sugar and water to boil, and then simmer for about 20minutes. You can use a hand blender to smooth out the consistency or a potato masher to leave texture. I went with texture. After it has simmered long enough, remove from heat, in a separate cup, mix potato starch in cold water (read package for instructions, and depending on how thick you want it) and slowly pour it into the soup mixing it at the same time. Place back onto heat and boil for a few minutes for it to thicken up.

Let it cool down slightly before you serve it. It is piping hot! We like to chill ours, so I put it in the fridge to thicken up.

Healthy, yummy Mango Kiisseli!

More Recipes HERE!

40,000 WOW!

Wow! 

My blog has hit 40,000 views today! Amazing! 6,000 views just this week! 

I am so happy you're here, thank you for visiting! I hope you'll visit again!

A BIG Thank YOU!

 Love, Cathy

p.s please leave a comment, I would love to hear which topics interest you the most!

YOU Can Do One! - DIY Wall Decor Step By Step Guide

My husband is out of town. The creative bug has bit me. I'm bored of our bedroom, it's white and sterile and not the "boudoir" I would want it to be. We don't spend a lot of time in our bedroom, so we never thought of investing in the decor, since it felt like a waste of money -for us, so I came up with this idea. My husband doesn't know about it yet, but I'm sure by the time you are reading this post, he knows as well. This is how I did it, and this is how you can too!

First I thought about what I wouldn't mind looking at each night and then I 'googled' for ideas. In this case I 'googled' for images of Cherry Blossom trees. I took a pencil and while I was holding my phone in my left hand, I sketched as I saw fit. Yes, free handed, straight onto the wall. Trust me, it's OK -you can always erase it if it looks wonky. I didn't measure or even try to copy the images I looked at. I just took a rough idea of what the branches looked like and how they fell, then I sketched away! 

A good idea is to sketch eye level, any picture or frame looks best at eye level. My husband is tall, so i kind of estimated my way around.

 (These are very light, click to see them, or any photo larger)

I used a spirit level to draw lines on which I could use to write on. 

I decided to use acrylic (which I watered down a bit) paint for a few reasons. I am pregnant and can't be breathing in toxic fumes, I make mistakes, I change my mind often, I wanted to do it now, I can always wash it off if I'm unhappy or I can gloss it over, if it's just how I want it. This way, it lasts!

So I went through some verses I liked and I found Song Of Solomon 3:4, that goes well with us!

..." I have found The One whom my soul Loves"...

Then I decided on the colours. I went with our bedroom curtains, different hues of blue/turquoise.

I painted away! I'm one of those people who likes to finish it right away. Unfortunately if I stretch it out a few days, it will never get finished. 

If you paint over your sketching, there will be less erasing afterwards. Trust me, it hurts to erase pencil off the wall, ha ha!

Then... after the branches and text were finished I took some old laminated schedules and used them as stencils for my blossoms. I took a permanent fine point marker and sketched a few blossoms real quick. I tried making them all shapes and sizes.

After this I stenciled away! :)

I added some flowers around the picture, to give it a flowing effect. I'm hoping I succeeded! I took another brush and hand painted darker details inside the flowers and fixed my mistakes around the letters.

After I was happy with it, I hand painted finer details in the flowers.

Finally I went over the letters with left over black to give it more of a depth. I was done. It'll do!

Hope he likes it!! 

And now, I'll tackle the kids' room!! Try and stop me!

More DIY and Crafts ideas HERE!

Check out the mural I painted in our living room HERE!