Friday, August 28, 2009

Have You Ever Thought of Making Your Own Vitamins?

From Bulk Herb Newsletter #4 (August 2009)

Are you tired of spending lots of money on vitamins that don’t seem to make a difference? We know how you feel! Most vitamins are very hard for your body to process. In fact, it is so common for vitamins to not break down, some doctors are saying, “You are just producing really expensive pee.” Yellow, yellow, smelly vitamins down the drain, instead of doing their work in your body. That means your body is not assimilating them, and they are going right through you.
Have you ever thought about mixing your own vitamins? It is not as difficult as you might think. If your body can digest food, it can also digest and assimilate herbs. Unlike many vitamins, herbs act as a food to your body and are easily digestible. You can choose the herbs according to your needs and make your daily vitamins easily and quickly, at a fraction of the cost of a bottle of multi-vitamins.
Our favorite herbal "daily vitamins" can be made into a delicious smoothie. This mix will make enough to last 2-4 months. Use 1/2 pound each of these all-powder herbs:
• Ginkgo (Biloba): Brain food, better concentration and improves memory
• Siberian ginseng root (Eleutherococcus senticosus): Energy booster and stress reliever
• Oat straw: Excellent source of the major minerals
• Bilberry fruit: Anti-aging properties, strengthens the eyes and veins
• Hawthorn: Best herb for strengthening the heart
• Burdock root: Blood purifier, helps with varicose veins, detoxing, and more
• Horsetail/Shavegrass: High in silicon, great for skin, hair, bones, and nails
Mix all the herbs together by putting them in a 1½ gallon ziplock bag. Seal the top of the bag and shake. Let sit for 10 minutes, then pour into a clean glass jar and close with a lid. Keep in the cabinet away from sun, moisture or heat. Makes 3 pounds of Herba-Smoothie-Mix. Any time you want a refreshing smoothie that provides vitamin-packed, tasty goodness, combine the following in your blender:

• 1 rounded teaspoon of Herba-Smoothie-Mix
• 1 c. frozen fruit (such as mixed berries)
• 1/2 c. yogurt (any brand will work, homemade is best)
• 3/4 c. juice (a favorite is orange or mango)
Add some honey if you like. YUMMMM, YUM!

You can either make your own or purchase it pre-made from Bulk Herb.


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Yellow Prison Bus and the Future of American Healthcare

By: Dr. Voddie Baucham



"Conservatives are up-in-arms over the Democratic healthcare scheme. From town hall meetings, to talk radio, to the internet, the voice of the people is being heard. However, I am not at all convinced that the voice of the people will ultimately make a difference in the long run. My pessimism has less to do with the sinister motives of those seeking to take over the healthcare system. On the contrary, my pessimism stems from the hypocrisy of those shouting down their representatives and claiming to be “fed up”."
To read the rest of Dr. Baucham's article go here.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bathing Angelita Noel

This is the way we wash the dog, wash the dog, wash the dog...
this is the way we wash the dog, early on Tuesday afternoon.
Are we done yet?
Time to soap up...
how about a little massage with that wash?!?
Rinse time.
"I am so READY to be done with this!"


Sunday, August 23, 2009

A Small Look Into Our August

Bread raising
Our tomato plants are doing wonderfully...did I say that they were planted from seeds?!?
Some more of the tomatoes, Ralph picked one already and said it tasted GREAT!!! Ralph has really pampered them.

Etna Beans

The Corn, it is now over 10 feet tall!!

Ralph showed us how to care for tools
Hannah sanding a shovel
Alicia cleaning a crow bar

Enjoying a gift from my Dad, he made this when I was a little girl (a cowboy hat chip and dip ceramic bowl.)Alicia and Daddy playing Checkers, I think Daddy won this one. Alicia is a very good checkers player!Alicia and Mom taking blanched peaches out of the pot, ready to peel and pit themHannah making the extra light syrup for the peachesPeeling the peaches in preparation for canningFilling the jars

It was so nice to be able to can outside, we kept the mess and the heat out of the kitchen. We ended up with 20 quarts of peaches (one jar broke during the processing). What a great start for storing up for the winter. We hope to can enough so we won't need to purchase out of season, over priced fruit during the winter.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Children are a Blessing, not a carbon curse

"A leader in the Southern Baptist Convention says the argument that the world's carbon footprint should be limited by the number of children couples have is faulty and godless."

Click here to read the entire article.


Sunday, August 16, 2009

Psalm 92


Psalm 92

"It is good to give thanks to the LORD
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your loving kindness in the morning
And Your faithfulness by night,
With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,
With resounding music upon the lyre.
For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
How great are Your works, O LORD!
Your thoughts are very deep.
A senseless man has no knowledge,
Nor does a stupid man understand this:
That when the wicked sprouted up like grass
And all who did iniquity flourished,
It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore.
But You, O LORD, are on high forever.
For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD,
For, behold, Your enemies will perish;
All who do iniquity will be scattered.
But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
I have been anointed with fresh oil.
And my eye has looked exultantly upon my foes,
My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Planted in the house of the LORD,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

Monday, August 10, 2009

A Beautiful Love Story

Story Updated: Aug 8, 2009 at 8:39 AM PDT
By BARB OWENS, Daily Record
ELLENSBURG, Wash. (AP) - A lot can happen in a year and a half. Just ask 23-year-old Jessica Hanna, nee Marchel. She went from being a model and doing hair in New York to raising a family in Ellensburg in an instant.

Jessica began modeling when she was 14. She's landed jobs in Japan, California, Canada and New York. When she was 21 and between agencies, she decided to come home to Ellensburg and visit for a while.

While home, Jessica got a phone call from a woman who she grew up with. The woman said she had a baby and she wanted Jessica to come look at him.

"I came and looked at him and he was in a total meth house," Jessica said.

State Child Protective Services removed baby Nick from the home and the care of his mother. At 9 months old, Nick was placed in Jessica's care. That was May 2007.

Jessica was able to foster-adopt Nick because she was his fictive kin, meaning she was the most involved person in his life, despite not being related by birth or marriage. It's also referred to as psychological family.

Twenty-one years old and caring for a 9-month-old baby, Jessica realized she wasn't going back to New York. She decided she should get reacquainted with the community and meet new friends.

Jessica attended Salt, a college ministry group at the Mercer Creek Church, and noticed Tom Hanna standing in the front row worshipping God.

"I was like, 'I have to meet that guy,"' Jessica remembers. Normally an outgoing person, she tried to introduce herself but found it too difficult. The second week she got the nerve to talk to Tom, but she rambled on incoherently and then blurted out that she had a baby. She retreated thinking all chances to get to know him were lost.

But technology helped make a love connection, and Tom found Jessica on MySpace. After their first date, a long talk atop Craig's Hill, the two returned to their friends and gushed about how they had found their other half.

"We were married 40 days later," Jessica said.

Tom was understanding of Jessica's situation and accepted Nick as his own.

"I wasn't real sure what to think about it at first. But after we started talking, I found out her situation," Tom said. "I admired the fact that she had left everything that she had in New York so that she could take care of this kid."

Their marriage is a story in itself. Jessica was at the Social Security office in Yakima, taking care of some things regarding Nick, when a relative of Nick's birth mother came in and threatened her. They told Jessica they wanted to put her in a body bag and run away with Nick.

Being the determined woman she is, Jessica let the threat roll off her shoulders. But she told the guard what was going on and checked on the daycare where Nick was staying.

"They put the whole church on lockdown," Jessica said. She got a restraining order and the police suggested they get out of town for a few days. That's when they decided on a whim to elope in Reno, Nev., just like Jessica's parents did years ago.

The two were married on Dec. 8, 2007, and Jessica took Tom's last name Hanna.

"My family was excited," Jessica said. "They welcomed us with a bottle of sparkling cider." (Tom was 19 at the time.)

"My mom didn't talk to me for a week," Tom said.

"It took her longer than that to talk to me," Jessica said. But his mother has come around since then.

The happily wedded couple got another surprise three months later when Jessica discovered she was pregnant. Nick was going to have a sister.

Then in July 2008, Jessica got a call asking if she wanted another baby.

"We heard that Nick had a half brother in the foster care system," Jessica said. "We jumped in with Nathan right when he was ready to be adopted - we got really lucky with that."

The Hannas took 6-month-old Nathan home a month later. Being Nick's half brother and Jessica's fictive kin helped speed the process up.

Jessica gave birth to baby Marchel, her maiden name, on Oct. 29, 2008. But the family didn't stop at three kids. Six weeks later, Jessica got another call.

"They call us and they say, 'hey they had another baby, do you guys want it?"' Jessica said. The couple didn't hesitate to say yes. Then came the response: "How quick can you get here? She's hungry."

Jessica was still on maternity leave, so they loaded up the gang and picked up 2-day-old baby Hailey, Nathan's full sister and Nick's half sister.

In January they opened up a Paul Mitchell focus salon called Hanna Marchel. Located in a beautiful old-fashioned house, the salon has an esthetician room, a body waxing room, performs spa facials, and will soon offer permanent makeup. Jessica is a Paul Mitchell educator and a self-proclaimed "hair nerd."

Tom is a reserve sheriff's deputy and studies business at Central Washington University. Ultimately, Tom says he'd like to lead a church.

Right now the couple says they are on a five-year-plan, meaning they don't plan on having more children for at least five years. But what if CPS calls them up tomorrow and says another baby was born?

"Then we'd have another baby," Tom says.

The Hannas say they will adopt more children in the future.

"You know people actually think that I have a screw loose," Jessica said. "Really, they think we both do. We've had the worst comments."

But Tom adds that they get a lot of support, too.

"Tons of good comments," she agrees. But the negative stuff sticks out.

When they get older, Jessica and Tom will tell the children about their adoptions.

"The cool thing about them being adopted is the fact that they're chosen children," Jessica said. "I was meant to be their mom, and Tom was meant to be their dad."

The Hannas have advice for people who are considering adoption.

"Do it," Tom says.

Jessica says she loves all the kids as if they were her own.

"It's such a blessing, and having a biological child and my other children, there's no difference. I feel no different," she said. "It's kind of cool that one looks like me a little bit. But you don't feel any different."

That's not to make the experience sound easy. It takes money, time and there are emotional risks involved.

"Being a foster parent is something special. Your heart has to be really prepared," Jessica said. "These little children's hearts are breaking. Why not let yours break a little for them?"


Tom and Jessica Hanna, of Ellensburg, Wash., relax with their children, from left to right,
Nick, 3, Nathan, 18 months, Marchel, 9 months, and Hailey, 7 months.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

A good work ethic

"Work all you can, earn all you can, give all you can."
John Wesley


Monday, August 3, 2009

Homemade Bread

I have been searching for years for the "perfect" recipe for whole wheat bread. I have tried and tried and tried MANY different recipes and used my poor family as guinea pigs. My husband likes a nice light bread for his sandwich, not the dense, heavy stuff that I kept putting out. Well, last May I held a home school Mom's retreat and a lady was invited by one of our local home school Mom's. This lady, Trisha, knows how to make GREAT homemade whole wheat bread. I begged for the recipe and she was gracious enough to share it with me. I was so hesitant when I made it for the first time. I had had so many promises from other women and their recipes, and they had all been failures for me. So when I made Trisha's bread the first time and the dough raised double in less than 20 minutes, I was floored (most of the time it takes a minimum of 60-120 minutes for it to raise the first time). I then shaped them into loaves and let them raise the second time, this time it only took 8 minutes (again, it usually takes at least 30-60 minutes the second time around). I then put them in the oven and they continued raising a little more. When it was finished baking I had two beautiful loaves of bread. But I was still skeptical; until my husband tasted it and approved, I would not be satisfied. So I gave him some that evening and he REALLY liked it. I was ecstatic. I have since made it into hamburger buns and adapted my pizza dough recipe also. Thank you, Trisha, you have saved me from a life long failure of making bread. We now really enjoy our bread, buns and pizza crust.


Our 29th Wedding Anniversary


Yesterday my WONDERFUL husband and I celebrated our 29th anniversary with our two youngest daughters. I told my husband I thought it was our best anniversary. He took the day off and we spent it together as a family. It was very relaxing. We went for a walk, came home and sang some hymns, the girls learned most of the songs on the latest Serene and Pearl cd and sang them for us, I made my husband a DVD of our life together up until now, he took us all out to dinner and we had an impromptu time of fellowship with two of the families from our home church.

I am so blessed by God for bringing Ralph into my life and for keeping us together for these 29 years and blessing us with four wonderful children and a son-in-law. I am so looking forward to the next 29 years and how God is going to bless us and prosper us, He has a plan for our future and only He knows what it holds.