Good morning everyone. 🙂
The picture above is from Fox News, and it shows where an earthquake originated here in Michigan on Saturday! Yep, you read that right, pretty wild, huh? I was driving and Kent was biking, so neither of us or the kids felt it, but all our neighbors say it was freaky. Read more here if you're interested: 4.2 Magnitude Earthquake Felt Across West Michigan.
Here's what I've found for you this week…
- Know anyone dealing with this? Click here to find help for how to get rid of eczema! Or just get the book by my friend Emily: The Eczema Cure.
Hey Moms, here are a couple of posts I sent to a friend this week and I thought they might help you, too:
- Can Diet Changes *Really* Help a Child with ADHD?
- Is it safe to have a vasectomy or have you tubes tied?
- Tips for feeding your baby/first foods — by the way, the article in the Washington Post recently about raw milk formula really ticked me off, those who feel homemade formula is dangerous are convinced that formula made in a FACTORY is guaranteed safe?! Read my posts about raw milk here. Find homemade baby formula kits complete with everything but the fresh milk and cream here. Learn HOW to make homemade baby formula here.
- Is anyone else SOOOO EXCITED about Chipotle's news this week, that they are completely free of GMOs in their restaurant? We're going there even more now so we can VOTE WITH OUR DOLLARS, and I hope you will too! Sarah wrote an informative post about their choice of oil to switch to from the heart-killer soybean oil they were using: Is Rice Bran Oil a Healthy Choice? Also read about their plan for their tortillas. 🙂
- Did I tell you about my latest new snack find yet? I love this granola. It's not soaked, however the ingredient label is all pronounceable! My favorite is the berry…
- Don't these low-carb Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Green Peppers look DELISH?! Find more low-carb ideas here.
- This was popular on Facebook last week:
- Another medical kidnapping story! It's happening right now and they need your help. My world is still rocked from THIS story. And do you remember this one? Parents Lose Custody for Being ‘Too Active in Pursuing Health Care Matters for Their Child’.
- There was a LOT of advice if you suffer with asthma in this post. (Not all of it was great advice, one person said, “Go vegan”, yikes! Here's more on why that's not the answer for many reasons.)
- The Dangers of the HPV Vaccination!
- If you're worried about the dangers of too much screen time, you'll want to check out this new option that I'm super excited about. I’m ordering the iPad one first because the kids use that one for school the most:
5 Ways to Help Nose-Pickers – I'm curious what you think about the suggestions there. We've always just not made a big deal of it and eventually someone in public (or in school) will laugh at them once and they'll be done!
5 Ways to Help Nose-Pickers – I'm curious what you think about the suggestions there. We've always just not made a big deal of it and eventually someone in public (or in school) will laugh at them once and they'll be done!- I love this about How to Nourish Your Teenagers, since we currently have TWO of them. 🙂
- Did you catch last week’s posts? Here they arein case you missed them:
- A Tragic Story and Why This Michigan Senator ROCKS at Protecting Parental Rights
- Exorcising Pritikin’s Ghost — GOOD News: Throw Out Your Cholesterol Levels Chart!
- Real Food Basics: Be Ready When Someone Asks You These Questions
- The Best Writing Course for Kids (all ages!) and a Request for Curriculum Help with History, Science, Latin
Have a good week everyone!
(Note: Affiliate links are often included in Monday posts. Check out my official disclaimer here.)
Sarah N says
Hi Kelly, Thanks so much for linking to my nose picking post. I do hope that you saw it’s an April Fool’s joke and not something I actually do with my children. 😉 I just thought I would clarify just in case! Love your blog and I make your oatmeal bars all the time.
Blessings!
Sarah
KitchenKop says
Oh wow, that is FUNNY. I have to admit I only skimmed and did think parts of it were rather *interesting*, LOL, but other parts are things all parents deal with so I thought I’d share!!!! 🙂
Thanks Sarah!
Kel
jmmatlock says
Hey Kelly! We had an earthquake in Indiana a few years ago (originated about 180 miles southwest of us, near the KY/MI/IL borders) that was strong enough to wake myself, my husband and my son from a deep sleep (the news said it was 3.9, but a shallow quake, and therefore able to be felt over a large distance from the epicenter). I thought it felt like the house was rolling back and forth on logs, my son said it felt like a “giant was shaking the house”, and my husband thought someone had plowed their car into our house. It is a VERY freaky feeling. I used to say that an earthquake was something I wanted to experience – out in the middle of nowhere with zero chance of the earth splitting open or anything falling on me – but now that I have, I take it back. I’m happy to go the rest of my life never feeling that again!
Speaking of snacks, have you tried these? amzn.to/1GLojDZ I am really liking the Cacao Gogi and LOVING the Citrus Chia. I usually grab a few pieces when I’m going to be out for the afternoon so I’m not tempted to stop anywhere for bad stuff (Starbucks, a fast-food place). They don’t make a mess in the car, they keep me from being hungry and I don’t feel guilty eating them.
I’ll have to “agree to disagree” on the writing program. 😉 I’m still a huge fan of IEW, and as someone who has done it for multiple kids (and seen it done over multiple generations), I disagree that it is time- or parent-consuming. It takes a bit of investment to get started, yes (and I found the “Teaching Writing: Structure and Style to be personally beneficial in my own writing), but I’ve seen the end results and have NOT found any program to be its equal in terms of quality. Add to that you aren’t just getting “writing”, but also grammar, spelling, handwriting…essentially an entire language arts program, and it makes it even more worth it. I understand the cost can be a factor, but I’m fairly certain it is the ONLY writing program that offers a 100% money back guarantee for LIFE if you ever decide you’re unhappy with it. Since many employers rate “spoken and written communication” at the top of their lists of MUST-HAVE skills for employees, I think it’s worth it to ensure that our kids are mastering writing well. Just my $.02 you didn’t ask for. (haha)
Finally, gotta share that I have one kid who is trying very hard to convince me that it SHOULD NOT be a public “crime” to pick one’s nose in front of people. I’m not kidding. This child will debate with me for hours about how it’s a natural thing, and everybody sometimes needs to remove things and how is it no different than wiping your mouth or licking your lips or blinking! (silly kid) Apparently “because it’s gross” is not a sufficient reason for this child! YUCK!!!
KitchenKop says
Too funny about the nose picking, maybe he’s on to something. 🙂 I know I know about the writing program, but the thing is, if you have a kid you KNOW will fight you every step of the way, I just don’t know if I’m up for that! So about the snacks, they don’t look too yummy, can you tell me more about their taste and texture? Thanks!
Kel
jmmatlock says
They are definitely not much to look at, I’ll give you that. Taste/texture – similar to a Larabar with either a strong cocoa (cacao gogi) or orange (citrus chia) flavor and a bit of crispy crunch because of the little seeds. *I* like them, but have yet to get (let) anyone else in my family to try them because they can’t get past the look (I haven’t showed them to my youngest because she’ll eat them all!). I will say it’s a little odd, when you manage to get a chia seed stuck in your teeth, because it just swells up like they do when you put them in anything else wet, then it’s like…well, kind of like you have a booger between your teeth! How’s that for a recommendation!?!? 😀 They’re yummy, not messy, filling, and keep me from the bad stuff. That’s all I ask.
I’m not trying to push you – obviously you’ve found something that works for you – so take these as suggestions for anyone still on the “writing program fence”. One of the great things about IEW’s Student Writing Intensive program (and their continuation programs) is that Andrew Pudewa is doing the *teaching*, not you. If you’ve never had the chance to hear him speak/see him speak, it is SO worth it. One kid calls him “the funny man with the wonderful words” and I completely agree. My kids love him on the dvds, and I recently signed my oldest up to take his SAT/college essay class. When I told him, “I signed you up for a writing class.” he of course did the , “UGH, mom, I don’t want to take a writing class!” and I told him, “…with Andrew Pudewa” and then he laughs and says, “That’s not a writing class, that’s AWESOME!” We both had a great time, and got a TON out of the 6 hour seminar. I’ll let you know how he does on the writing portion of the SAT after he takes in (early June), but I fully expect he’ll do amazing.
KitchenKop says
Oh I wasn’t complaining, I LOVE hearing more feedback, maybe I should let my kids watch some of his videos and see what they say… Like a sample video with a lesson, that would be a good test! I think I will try to find that online!
Kel p.s. Thanks for the scoop on the snack!
Kenn32 says
Larabar granola is GMO free as are other Larabar items, but Larabar is on the boycott list. I did like their bars!
https://www.google.com/search?q=larabar%2C+gmo+boycott+list&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
jjoyl says
Happy about the Chipotle no GMO move! This is our go-to choice for busy nights. I know it’s not perfect, but they are really trying hard and I’m so happy they are getting a lot of buzz for their decision. Thanks for sharing, Kelly!