It's so tasty being green

For many years now, I have battled eczema in various spots on my body. The last six months it has been on the palm of my hand. It has been a frustrating, irritating experience and I have suspected a grain allergy. After trying all kinds of creams and ointments prescription and natural, I have almost given up. Tried the zyrtec thing with bad results.

I was really praying about it and decided to go off grains. I also started wondering what natural antihistamine I could take. After a few days, stinging nettle came to mind and I am going to order some of that soon. But then, I got a phone call returned that I made a couple of weeks ago to my LDS herbal momma. She is the mom of my childhood bestest friend and she has influenced me greatly. I called her in desperation a couple of weeks ago. She was out of town and called me yesterday. She suggested water and green drinks. Oh, I remember the green drinks she used to serve her family at breakfast.

So I am upping my intake of water and I read all about green drinks and smoothies today. I bought some spinach and kale and made my first drink for dinner while my family ate pizza. OK, I had 1/2 slice of 2 pizzas. And one very large glass of the following:

A large handful of spinach (or collard greens or chard or whatever)
2 stalks of kale without the largest part of the stalk on the end
1 apple (or pear)
1 peach (or mango or other)
1 banana (or 2)
Several large spoonfuls of frozen blueberries (or other berries)
1 cup of pineapple juice (or other juice)
1/2 lid of lemon juice
1 squirt of liquid or 1 spoonful of dry stevia
sesame seeds (calcium), flax seeds (omegas), almonds (good protein/fat), etc.

Note: if this scares you, start with more fruit and one leaf, then 2, then more. Decrease the fruit as you go and replace with greens. The fruit overpowers the greens. Really!

Blend baby blend. I have a Bosch blender that did pretty well, but I am thinking about saving for a Blendtech or Vitamix. It tasted quite yummy, although the blueberries changed the beautiful green color to a little less desirable. Everyone in the family tried a taste and they all agreed it was OK to wonderful. It passed the 6 and 8 yr old test.

I am so excited to make this a daily thing and can't wait to see the results.

Parent's Pay Day

I remember the day this boy changed our lives forever. He came unexpectedly two weeks early and was born with a doctor and in a town and hospital he was not supposed to be. I remember thinking over and over, "I'm a mom." I did not feel that differently and 18-20 years seemed like a whole long time in the future to be responsible for this little person. Fast forward 19 1/2 years. Who stole the time? I remember when he was 9 1/2 and I thought wow, we are half way there. From the time he hit high school, it all became a blur, mostly because he was joined by six siblings and they all require time too. When he started driving it really started flying. Hey, he's had more than one speeding ticket. He is going somewhere fast.

Then he graduated and started college and began mission preparations. Now in only six short weeks he will really be gone for two years. I cant just see him now and then or go to lunch on a whim. He'll really be gone. Well, I can bemoan that fact later. (Scarlett: "after all, tomorrow is another day.")

Saturday we took our boy to the temple. We were joined by friends and family and it is the kind of day that you dream about and humbly welcome when it finally comes. It was a picture perfect day and I felt perhaps I had a family member from beyond the veil in attendance. That was comforting, as in my LDS walk, that has been a rare thing, to have any of my family present or supportive.

As we went to bed that night, we were both grateful. We have a ward member and friend, who buried their adult son that day. And we have friends whose children are wayward who would love to have a similar experience with their children. We know we are blessed, probably beyond what we deserve and all we can do is be grateful for it. We hope to have many more days like this one. God is good and so is life.

Mr Wildkat--4 yrs of Nortons

Andrew 2005



Again 2006



Joseph "Simmons" 2007



Mr and Mrs Wildkat 2008

I never liked drugs

I can tend to be a little extreme in my anti-medical views. I have softened over time and have found there can be benefit at times to using a doctor. Like when your gall bladder malfunctions and you try for eight months to save it and almost waste away to nothing because you are stubborn. But normally, I can treat myself and my own family thank you very much.

For the last five years I have had a rash somewhere on my body for the majority of that time. (Eczema)It has settled on to my right hand the last 6-8 months. It has been the most frustrating physical condition I have ever had. I've tried just about everything to no avail. I finally was persuaded to try Zyrtec by my husband's cousin who is a pharmacist. The first few days I noticed a big difference in my temperament. I became yucky. Hmmm. So, I cut the dose, safe for a six year old, to half and it kept the rash at bay but never cleared, so I upped the dose again and had an emotional meltdown the likes of which I have never seen. It frightened me. Worse than post partum depression.

So, no more zyrtec. I am trying Singular for the next few days while dropping all grains from my diet. I am on day three no grains. That is really hard. I love all whole grains. But, I have to keep trying to find a solution. Nothing seems to work.

Fair snapshots

Emily showing her 3rd place pig







Emily wins blue on her pig and blue for showmanship






Jefferson's red ribbon hog and blue for showmanship too









the quilt that wasn't











blue ribbon rag quilt










Dawn's hardest working mother at the fair "award" courtesy of Ted Olsen

Christmas in September?

Two nights ago, my youngest asked me to tuck her in. We usually just send them up in a mad rush after prayer, hugs, and kisses. This post might make me reconsider that. So, she is five and just started kindergarten. She is still the cutest little thing. I told her to get her jammies on and I would come up. When I went upstairs, she asked me to sing her Silent Night. "Silent Night? That's a Christmas song!" Well, she still wanted me to sing it. Isn't that the beauty of children? They allow us to pause and consider what we need to be reminded of. So, I sang the first verse of Silent Night as her little lids drooped heavily. I thought, why not finish her off? I kept singing through all three verses as I stroked her hair and cheek. And she drifted off sweetly long before the end of the song. It HAD been a very long day at the fair.

As I looked at her though, so sweet and peaceful and beautiful, I just did not want the moment to end. And so I lingered there with her. I laid down next to her with my hand on her chest and just looked at her sweet little face. She still has the beautiful blush of childhood that will be gone so quickly and it was almost more than I could bear to think about it. Especially since I have been a mom for over 19 years and I know how fast they grow and leave. In a few short weeks, we will send one off almost for good.

It left me very thoughtful; those few small moments in her room. How do I use my time? How can I make better use of it? What is really important? Good things to think about.

All American Day at the fair

Yeah for blue ribbons! And red ones and white ones. Emily did get a blue ribbon at the fair on her pig. It took third place in her class. Jefferson's and the family alternate both got red ribbons. The kids both did a phenomenal job at showmanship and I was convinced one of them would win Grand Champion or Reserve, but to my shock neither of them did. Go figure.

Lest you think this impressive or not, we have decided that how you finish with pigs is completely due to genetics and judges. If you are lucky enough to pick a great piglet with the kind of genes the judges like, you win! Some judges like 'em long and lean, and others like them with all kinds of other qualities. This year's judge wanted to see a smooth walking pig with a flat back, and lots of muscle, with plenty of meat. He told Emily that she had the first place pig, but it just did not have enough meat on it. Two years ago, it would have been first place with the other judge. That's OK, we are not raising pigs. And they were happy for their friends who won.

I got a blue ribbon on my plum jam and a blue ribbon on my denim rag quilt. The kids got white ribbons on their artwork. We still need to check their school artwork. The fair is a wonderful time for us filled with great memories, wonderful accomplishments, some disappointments, and a lot of hard work. We fall in to bed on Saturday night exhausted. But we love doing it every year.

County Fair

Today was the day we take the pigs to the fair and everyone does the so happy we are almost finished with pigs dance. On Sunday, we will do the official so happy we ARE finished with pigs dance. No school tomorrow and the next two days are dedicated to showing and selling the pigs. This pig is our alternate. If you don't have an alternate and it doesn't make weight, you don't get to show and sell your pig. We found that out the hard way. If your pig gets hurt, like it breaks a leg, you can't show or sell your pig. We have friends that found that out the hard way.

Putting pigs in the fair involves loading them into the trailer. Finding and putting them in the appropriate pens while lots of other people are doing the same. Letting a nice man at the fair back up the trailer because I just cannot do it and Bret could not help today. Wash all three pigs and then get them weighed while lots of other people are doing the same. Get your papers in, get your pen signs up. Get their water feeders up and make sure they are fed. And the cool thing is, it can't be done without everyone helping with the flow of pig traffic. So you help corral and people help you get yours back where they go. A very nice flow of everyone helping.

We think our pigs look pretty good this year. Emily's in particular, but it is on the smaller side. The bigger classes usually win grand champion and reserve grand champion. Tomorrow we will find out if we got blue ribbons. I also entered Andrew's rag quilt and some plum jam I made. I really wanted to enter a baby quilt I am almost finished with, but I just ran out of time. The kids entered some drawings.

Tomorrow is the big show day. But we love Saturday. That's the auction. We have our fingers crossed. We love the fair!

The Prickly Pear Principle

Ahhh perfection! My greatest weakness. It gets me into so much trouble. But I had an aha moment today in my quest for prickly pear jelly. A quest that I started over a week ago and I dreamed about for over a month. If you've never had cactus jelly, you are missing out! It's kind of like grape jelly, but has it's own distinct flavor. It's a lovely purple color; my favorite. And if the jelly fails, which it is prone to do, you have the most divine pancake syrup you've ever tasted. Kind of like the blueberry and raspberry syrups.

Anyway, I knew I was behind schedule just picking the fruit which is an adventure in itself. By the time I got into the desert last week, I found mostly barren cactus plants. This picture is of the one lone fruit that I found on this and many other cacti. I was literally praying, 'cause I had a business deadline to attend to. "Please help me find just a few with lots of fruit." With only ten minutes to spare before I headed out of the desert, I found three lovely cactus with lots of fruit and filled my bucket. Oh, please do not attempt to pick the fruit without gloves and tongs or you WILL have lots of fine prickles in your hands, not to mention plenty of pokes from the spines. I learned the hard way, that leather slip-on pumps are not appropriate footwear. Two days later, I was having a broken off spine removed from my foot at the Dr's office; an injury inflicted by an angry cactus intent on making me pay for stealing it's fruit. That's what I call a low blow.

I was able to get the fruit boiled and turned into two gallons of the most lovely juice. Then I was derailed by life again for five days before I got back to it. I couldn't find a good recipe but just went for it. The first batch was a failure as far as jelly goes. It is obviously syrup, but I have high hopes for the second batch which appears to be jelling only slightly. The last triple batch? I know, you shouldn't triple. I think it's all syrup too. Darn. But, I have a gallon more juice in the freezer, because I know it will be at least five more days before I get back to it.

Oh yeah. The AHA moment. Life is a lot like making prickly pear jelly. You really have to want to be successful first of all because you have to go out in the desert to find it. You may get injured in the process and it might be painful, especially if you are not properly equipped. There may be delays, but when you eventually get around to it--the reward. About the reward...you follow the instructions, and they may actually vary slightly, but it does not always turn out as planned. No one told you that the wind had to be blowing just right, the angle of the sun mattered, and you have to hold your breath just so. But how can you be disappointed that you don't get jelly, when the syrup is so tasty? Try, try again. I'm not going to correlate all the obvious. Just my random thoughts about prickly pear. :-) I think I'll get Brother Green's recipe.

Life gets in the way of living AND sleeping

So, I stayed up too late last night. But, I was thinking. I'll get up for family scriptures, convince one of the kids to pull out my pancake mix and fix pancakes and go back to bed. Haha! One of my little motto's I have made up along the way is, life gets in the way of living. I get these grand plans and then something sidelines it. That's ok. Life is about learning, but I really want to sleep.

Soooo, got up for scriptures, kids went to feed pigs while I groggily pulled out the pancake mix, my warm bed still calling to me. Jefferson came in the door and said his pig couldn't stand, was squealing, and had little drops of blood on his back. (Internal groan, there goes the warm bed). Of course, dad is on his way to work. I went to the pen in my jammies, robe, and slippers to find the pig as he said, only I noted that he was also breathing heavy. He was acting just like he had sunburn. Hmm.

I made some calls, blah, blah, blah and we decided it is sunburned. Amid my making breakfast (forget getting back to sleep), helping with lunches, calling around about swine health, Jefferson put up more sunshade tarp and put aloe vera on his piggie. The really bad thing about all of this is that we are taking the pigs to the fair in two days, and they go to market in four. Will it even be able to walk then? We don't know. Fortunately we have an alternate.

I just said to Bret the other day. "I don't want to buy a pig this year." (We are the default buyers when there is any pig crisis, but it seems like we get one every year anyway). This morning I had to call and tell him we may have to buy a pig after all. But I am hoping for recovery. I wonder if you can tap a pig? LOL! See the EFT link if that is confusing.

Now that I am completely awake, I am going to make jelly and try to finish a baby quilt. Happy sleeping.

My friend made me do it

So, I have this friend, HI CRISTI, who says I should start a blog. So I did. It's not like I have never blogged. I actually now have three. And if you want to see them, you can ask me. So, I did it. I started a blog. Wonder if I'll share it? I guess if you are reading it, I did. :-) Smile.