Timber Creek Farms

Going with the healthier way we are trying to live, I was referred to this WONDERFUL local place that not only has all ORGANIC produce and meats plus wild caught fish, they also deliver it right to my door! How much better does that get! I go online and pick out what I want to be delivered once a week (it comes on Tuesday). Depending on what and how much I choose its usually around $25-$30.

The kids enjoying the beets we got.


Corbin will only eat off of 'Mommy's plate', hey whatever makes them eat veggies! No he didn't eat the whole plate. ;)

Rowen doing some pondering....things that make you go "hmmmm'.
Lily's 'whatever' face.Playing with the guys that come with the Geo Trax trains.

Super smart Lily!

The girl can say "peek-a-boo"!

This will make Grandma happy!

Its been over 2 years now since Grandma Ford came to help out when I had Corbin and to this day Rowen still loves to do Pony Boy that she taught him. Its ride you do on your leg but he's just singing the song here. He LOVES to sing!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!

Today is Lily's 1st Birthday! I've said it before and I'll say it again...they grow up so fast.

Lily 1.23.08

1.24.08

1.22.09

One year later 1.23.09

Lily has come a long way from a year ago, being 3 weeks early. She started walking on January 1st and is now a pro. She tries to chase her brothers but doesn't go very fast...yet. She has been refusing 'baby food' for about 2 months now. She loves most all foods, even beets and avocado (a favorite of her brothers, Daddy, and Grandpa). Her favorites are strawberries and pear (a fruit lover just like her brothers). She also loves Jamba Juice smoothies. She's only had them twice but she knows what the cup looks like and is gets all giddy and excited and repeatedly says "num"(which is her word for wanting food) until you give her some. She says some words which include, Mama, Dada, Ba-ba, and Num, kinda like Yum. She loves to wave 'Hi/Bye'. Every time she sees Rowen and Corbin she lights up with happiness. She is a very happy little girl and makes me smile and laugh everyday!

One other nice thing about a blog is I can share video!

2 out of 3

Well this seems to be the week of Emergency visits. First Lily with her eye earlier this week and tonight Rowen with croup and trouble breathing. He went to bed fine but at 9:30 I was hearing odd noises which was him with the seal cough that within 10 minutes was a bad cough with wheezing, having a hard time breathing and a fever. Since it was late I didn't want to chance something worse happening at 3AM so decided to take him in. They gave him a steroid shot to help him breathe better. We'll keep a close eye on him for the next few days. I feel so bad that he gets croup so much. :(

Brandon's Blog

Brandon has also created a Blog for his art instead of his website he has or now had. You can see to the right in my Blog list you are able to click on his blog. It says 'My art'. The name may change as he is still in the process of making it. You will always see his Blog in my list.

His blog site is: brandonhford.blogspot.com if you'd like to bookmark it as well.

Some of my new healthy choices

As you may have seen by my last entry I (and doing the same for my family) am trying be greener and eat healthier foods. These are some of my new healthy foods that we are eating/drinking.

I have been having oatmeal with goji berries, flax seed and agave nectar for breakfast. I make the kids healthy pumpkin muffins for snacks and breakfast. I use organic pumpkin, flax seed, whole wheat flour and agave nectar to sweeten it and sometimes add raisins. They LOVE them!

We've been eating a lot less meat (which also helps the price of the grocery bill), more fish, veggies, fruit, and whole grains . I have to say that with out even working out it is doing wonders for me.


Some info on Goji berries:
Goji Berries are a very rich source of vitamin C, having 500 times more vitamin C per ounce than oranges, actually more almost any fruit you could name. They are also a superb source of vitamin A, not surprising because they are a really pretty red color. Goji berries also have vitamins B1, B2, B6, and E; they are becoming a famous antioxidant.

They are also a rich source of both selenium and germanium and have hence been used in a number of clinical trials involving cancer patients. When given to patients undergoing chemotherapy, the berries conferred significant protection for the liver. In Oriental medicine, they are said to correct chi deficiency, meaning that people with low energy, insomnia, heart palpitations, and even anxiety are more comfortable after consuming goji berries. The berries have 18 amino acids (higher than bee pollen) and 21 trace minerals, linoleic acid, and more beta carotene than carrots. They are also a rich source of both selenium and germanium and have hence been used in a number of clinical trials involving cancer patients. When given to patients undergoing chemotherapy, the berries conferred significant protection for the liver. In Oriental medicine, they are said to correct chi deficiency, meaning that people with low energy, insomnia, heart palpitations, and even anxiety are more comfortable after consuming goji berries. The berries have 18 amino acids (higher than bee pollen) and 21 trace minerals, linoleic acid, and more beta carotene than carrots.

In vitro studies suggest that goji berries kill many kinds of cancer cells. The mechanism whereby this happens is believed to involve some factor that inhibits the ability of the cell to divide, thus lowering its reproductive capacity. A large study in Japan suggested that tumor growth was inhibited by 58% among the patients eating goji berries as compared to the control groups. A study in Mongolia showed that patients eating the goji berries had a significant increase in lymphocyte activity and that their blood began to resemble that of much younger persons.

Info on Cacaco:
Chocolate and cocoa contain a high level of flavonoids, specifically epicatechin, which may have beneficial cardiovascular effects on health.The ingestion of flavonol-rich cocoa is associated with acute elevation of circulating nitric oxide, enhanced flow-mediated vasodilation, and augmented microcirculation.

Prolonged intake of flavonol-rich cocoa has been linked to cardiovascular health benefits, though it should be noted that this refers to raw cocoa and to a lesser extent, dark chocolate, since flavanoids degrade during cooking and alkalizing processes. Milk chocolate's addition of whole milk reduces the overall cocoa content per ounce while increasing saturated fat levels, possibly negating some of cocoa's heart-healthy potential benefits. Nevertheless, studies have still found short term benefits in LDL cholesterol levels from dark chocolate consumption.

Hollenberg and colleagues of Harvard Medical School studied the effects of cocoa and flavanols on Panama's Kuna Indian population, who are heavy consumers of cocoa. The researchers found that the Kuna Indians living on the islands had significantly lower rates of heart disease and cancer compared to those on the mainland who do not drink cocoa as on the islands. It is believed that the improved blood flow after consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa may help to achieve health benefits in hearts and other organs. In particular, the benefits may extend to the brain and have important implications for learning and memory.

Cacao also contains large amounts of antioxidants such as epicatechins and polyphenols. According to research at Cornell University, cocoa powder has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine, and up to three times the antioxidants found in green tea. Cacao also contains magnesium, iron, chromium, vitamin C, zinc and others.

Luckily Costco has been carrying a good amount organic stuff so I get most of this from there.

You are what you eat!

There is an incredible documentary called Food Matters. This film is all about the “you are what you eat” concept.

Doctors today don’t receive very much training in nutrition and most patients believe there is a pill that cures everything. IMO and the opinion of the makers of this film…that is exactly the way the “sickness” industry… doctors, pharma companies, junk food companies, etc… want to keep it. There just isn’t comparable profit in health and wellness so the object is to make us sick and keep us sick.

As one gentlemen in the film, Andrew Saul said…”good health makes a lot of sense but it doesn’t make a lot of dollars”. I think what if I had been educated about whole foods, raw foods, organics, etc. and if those were the exact foods that had been marketed to me when I was growing up. I wouldn't have eaten so mozzarella sticks! If companies had been concerned about selling fresh fruits and greens instead of pop tarts….where would society be. We might have a healthier society but less wealth would have been created. It is the oldest trick in the book…create the “poison” and then “sell” the antidote.

One scary statistic is that since our food travels 1500-2000 miles to reach us and it is already a week old when it hits stores so we are lucky if we get 40% of the original nutritional content from that food. The food is probably already being grown in unhealthy, depleted soil to begin with. Add to that the herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers, GMOs, etc…all the crap that is put in our food or done to it as it grows and we have a SERIOUS problem….a perfect recipe for sickness. A recipe that is profitable. It may not have gotten its start as something malicious but the fact that it continues to go on is IMO.
We take home these deficient foods and then cook them…destroying half or more of the remaining nutritional content they have and all the enzymes or “life” in the food. Interestingly in the video they mention that when we eat cooked food our body makes white blood cells in response to the food…reacting to what it considers to be no longer “natural” and taking a pro-active stance…as if saying “What is this crap? I need to be on guard in case this stuff is toxic.” Incredible…our bodies think “cooked” food is unnatural or an invader.
David Wolfe discusses superfoods like Spirulina and cacao beans and how they are some of the most “perfect” foods out there as far as nutrients. He also discusses how our values are making us sicker. We put more emphasis on having a nice car or house than we do having the best possible foods. Why? Because every day we have people marketing to us to tell us that the car is important, the iPod is important, that flat screen is important. We don’t get bombarded with ads for spirulina, kale, or spinach do we?
My favorite part was where Andrew Saul spoke about how the very things that may make us healthier… vitamins, natural medicines, herbs, or supplements, etc. are being touted by our government via the FDA as suspect or dangerous. Every year the assault gets more vicious. They raid stores selling herbal tinctures, they threaten them with law suits, and they make draconian laws that say they can’t tell people that these things can “cure”. The DO NOT want us to have access to the things that could heal us. Their position is that the only things that can heal us are pharmaceutical drugs. This is the greatest travesty. They want us to believe that anything therapeutically valuable MUST be dangerous. It is in fact illegal in many countries to treat cancer with any sort of nutritional therapy. Even if that is the route you want to go… it is illegal. The only legal therapies are chemo, radiation, and surgery. Ask yourself why that is… money… 200 billion dollars annually.
The only thing I really did not agree with is when one guy said that surgery isn’t helpful. The video also has some VERY alarming things to say about things we are introducing into the body like chemicals, drugs, and silver, mercury fillings you get at the dentist…one word about those…DON’T. There are some horrifying things about cancer which honestly made me really uncomfortable to watch. It was super scary stuff. But along side that there was great info about the Gerson Institute and all they have accomplished in healing cancers without drugs and many times without surgery.

This video is one that all people should watch and high schools should be showing it annually. This information needs to get out to people so that they know that health and wellness can be just a matter of taking personal responsibility.

You can watch it online for only $5 or buy the DVD for $30. Pass it around to friends and family. It is an AMAZING film. Watch the trailer below:

Lily's tumble

The beggining

So I have decided to do a blog since scrap booking is just too much to do at the moment. I mean come on 3 kids 3 and under! This will hopefully be easier to do every couple of days for 10 minutes or so. Then I would like to print it into a book and do it every year so I have a hard copy that the kids can look back on and see what did that year and how much they change. Like a scrapbook but not. And its better than just looking at photos. My friend Liz gave me the idea. She does it and it is a really nice thing to look back on.

The new year started a few weeks ago and it started quite well I would say with Lily taking her first steps on the 1st! She took 3 steps and has been going further and further everyday. She pretty much walks everywhere now as her main means of moving. And of course with learning to walk comes tumbles as we learned on Sunday the 18th. We had a trip to the immediate care with Lily losing her balance while climbing on the chair and falling smack on her face into the bookshelf which made a nice laceration next to her right eye along with bruising and swelling. Luckily she didn't need stitches, they just taped it closed so lets hope for no scaring!

We went to a birthday party for our friends little girl Jade on the 19th at a place called Pump It Up. It is a place that is filled with big jumpy things. They had a blast! We will consider doing the boys there when they are a bit older. Rowen loved playing with the other kids, as did Corbin, and had a ton of fun going down the HUGE slide. Rowen went by himself but Corbin went down with me. I did let him go once. He did good, he did some spinning towards the bottom but loved it!