Another Giveaway Coming Your Way!

This particular Giveaway Post has been written and rewritten a million times, well, not really. I suppose the delete button has been hit numerous times because I want to share the right words for the classy lady who is offering my next giveaway.

A year ago this coming May, our family experienced an amazing event that resulted in our precious Mr. Smiley, a home birth. Through this experience, I became acquainted and quite connected to three women whom I will NEVER forget. Today you will meet one of those three women, Laurel Hasner. Laurel was my doula at our home birth. At the time, Laurel had just completed her doula certification, and needed to participate in several home births for her training to be complete. My midwife (one of the three influential women I was referring to--and in case you are wondering, the third special gal is my midwife's assistant) suggested Laurel.

I remember sitting in the parking lot of Wild Oats when Laurel and I spoke for the first time. I think that we could have talked the rest of the day. I knew that she was the missing piece to our birth team. What has been great, is that our interaction didn't stop after Mr. Smiley was born. We have become friends, Chai buddies, fellow bloggers, prayer warriors, and transparent moms.

So I could go on to tell you Mr. Smiley's birth story and how fabulous Laurel is, but today I want to focus on Laurel's photography. I asked Laurel to write a little blurb for me about herself and this is what she had to say:

I am wife (6 years), a stay-at-home mama (3 1/2 years) of almost 3
delightful babes, a photographer (8 years) and follower of Christ!
God has given me the passion and talent for photography and a
genuine love for seeing people and life through the eye of a lens.
The world is different, beautiful and anything you want it to be. I get to
know each person and family I "shoot" on an intimately unique level.
I take great pains to capture the personalities of my clients and their
children, and great joy in giving them the gift of the lasting portraits we
create together. I want to be part of Granola Mom's give away, because I
feel blessed to consider myself a friend of hers and I believe in the purpose of
her blog. I look forward to meeting you!

Drum roll please . . . .
The Prize: The winner of this give away will receive an entire two hour portrait session free ($250 value). Your choice of the indoor or outdoor location. Good up to one year from the winning date. Following your photo shoot prize, you may choose to order prints through my professional lab or purchase a CD containing all the edited images of your shoot (and the rights to those images) for a flat $100. With the CD, you will be able to order your own prints from any photo kiosk in store or online and also copy your CD. Travel over one hour requires extra cost.

What do you have to do? (I know, there is always a catch!)

For one entry--
1. If you aren't a follower already, then become a follower of Granola Mom 4 God.
2. Visit Laurel's website and tell me what your favorite photo is and why.

How to Earn Additional Entries: After completing the above mandatory post leave me a separate post for the following steps you participate in.

3. Blog about this giveaway with links back to here and Laurel Hasner Photography and gain 3 extra entries. You must post on my blog with a link to your post.

4. Send this post to your friends. Each friend, who is not already a follower, counts as an entry. Leave a message alerting me to who you bragged to.

5. Tell me about your favorite picture you or someone else has taken and why you find it so special. (One additional entry)

I encourage you to enter for this sweet giveaway. Laurel is really offering a fabulous prize! By the way, Laurel took all of those amazing pictures of my kiddos!

Granola Mom's Unplanned Planned Farmers' Market Experience

I was a guest blogger on my friend's Book Club blog and decided to use the following ramblings as my post today:

My favorite summertime morning event is just around the corner. The Broad Ripple Farmer's Market opens May 2nd! In the summer, I usually plan to go the Farmer's Market starting on a Monday prior to the following Saturday. For some reason, I simply drop hints to the hubby that it sure would be fun to take Mr. Smackdown, Mr. Easy, and Mr. Smiley to a venue where we could support our local farmer. After all, the children need to know where their food comes from. I usually get a grunt and we go on to talk about how the hubby could squeeze a run in on the Monon. I don't mind this addition to my plan, just as long as I can see local produce.

Saturday morning arrives. And we have not prepared for our field trip. Unexpected deliberation ensues. What Farmer's Market will we visit? Do we have any cash? Do we take the Lion Hunter, our dog? Is there enough time before naps? What about yard work?

Even though I had planned all along to peruse the farmers market, our departure resembles poor lack of planning, much scrambling around, and an excess of items placed in the jogging stroller. Nevertheless, we scamper into the Loser Cruiser and plan our morning once road bound. Off to the market we go, with fresh smiles on our faces, windows down, and the sun beaming down on our forearms. In back, Mr. Smackdown and Mr. Easy giggle over what treat we will purchase.

For me, the best part about a farmer's market is the people watching. I love to see who comes, who belongs to whom, and what dogs people bring. A parking lot becomes a rich tent for an imaginative mind. My engineering husband wants to plan our path through the vendors canopies. I am happy to simply stroll through--often at a distance from the farmers, unless they have a free food to sample (like Trader's Point Creamery). For some reason, I am bashful to talk to our produce provider, because I feel guilty if we do not purchase their hard labor!

The patrolling commences. Me with no goal and my hubby thinking about what our refrigerator needs to eat. Typically, we take a lap around the market having purchased nothing. Remember, I have no goal in coming to the farmer's market. I simply want to experience the excitement of all these people traveling to one location for a local flavor. Brushing shoulders with people who grow my food and other fellow consumers is enough to make me happy.

But you can't leave the market without having purchased something! So that begins lap two, and sometimes lap three. We often end up with a muffin from Scholar's Inn, and the most recent addition to our food trials was Chimney Bread--hot bread cooked in front of you on a thick wood spindle. Our summer purchases result in locally grown blueberries and blackberries, of which are gone by the time we get home. In the fall, we usually purchase corn and apples. If we happen to go to the Carmel Farmer's Market, we savor a fruit slushie and munch on hot kettle corn.

However, this year, I am challenged by a recent re-reading of the book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. What would our trips to the Farmer's Market look like if we made a family commitment to eat only locally grown and raised produce, meat, honey and cheese? Our trips to the market would be much more intentional and we truly would get to know our local farmer if we purchase from them weekly. It would teach our children where their food comes from and who grew it, if it wasn't from our garden. It would give them a chance to interact with other like-minded individuals and an outing to look forward to each week. To make this easier to accomplish in the kitchen we could then cook from Deborah Madison's book, Local Flavors.

I think I am up for the challenge. If anything, it will provide candy for my imagination, organic candy, that is. Be sure to check out a Farmer's Market near you! (Thanks for the map, Sarah!)

The Resurrection Day Challenge: an appropriate Gift

Sometimes being a Jesus follower can be harder among Christian circles than among friends who don't share the same spiritual beliefs. What?! Huh? Yes, among believers (people who believe that Jesus is God, lived, came to earth, died on a cross for each person's sins, rose from the dead, and went back to heaven to prepare a place for those who believe in these events) there is a camp of extreme followers of Jesus, and I am probably one of them. I'm not extreme in being cult-like, or only wearing skirts, or refraining from jewelry, or keeping my mouth shut and my opinions to myself.

I sometimes use U2 lyrics to praise God. I think our unusual dog can be a stroke away from sharing Jesus. I think that at times using our culture can reveal the hole in people's hearts, only to be filled by Jesus. I think following the Old Testament law regarding food, can actually keep you healthier. We celebrate Jewish holidays that point to our Messiah. I think essential oils can be God's healing tool. I think we should give birth like Eve did.

You could say that I am a little different, and my parent's would tell you that I have been different from birth.

I'm extreme in wanting my kiddos to experience Jesus in a radical and personal manner, void of the modern traditional ways of worshipping Jesus and celebrating modern holidays. And that causes friction. That causes tension. That causes some shaking in beliefs and people's foundation of how they have always believed. It makes life exciting, too. It causes you and me to seek the truth in God's Love Letter to us, the Bible. It causes us to ask, "God, how do YOU want me to live my life and steer the rudder of my family."

And that brings me to a recent discussion topic: what gift do you give at Easter? None. We don't celebrate Easter. Did you know that Easter is NEVER mentioned in the Bible? It is an ancient Pagan holiday. (You really should research the roots of Easter. Don't celebrate something because that is what everyone else does.) So why would we celebrate something that doesn't exist in scripture? Interesting.

Our family chooses to celebrate Resurrection Day, which sometimes falls on the Feast of First Fruits. You say, "Granola Mom stop being so stubborn and stuck on semantics." Nope.

I'm different. I'm called to be a follower of Jesus. I want to be radical. Jesus was radical and shook things up. He wanted the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day to dismiss the traditions of man, and follow the way of Him.

OK . . . so what gift can we give our kids? Not giving the seemingly harmless Easter basket complete with a Cadbury egg and stuffed bunny is a tough memory to dispose of, I will admit that. But what does an Easter bunny or egg teach us about Christ's death and resurrection on the cross? Both symbolize fertility, which has NOTHING to do with God saving mankind.

Shouldn't the gift of eternal life make us giddy beyond belief? What an exciting miracle and gift--this is to be the focus of our celebration. We should help our children to look forward with eager anticipation the arrival of this significant, reflective day that completely defeated death and brought hope, meaning, and purpose to our lives. I will be so bold to say that Resurrection Day is almost more important than Christmas, which actually has many Pagan connotations. Yes, Jesus had to be born. But Resurrection Day is the day that took away fear for all humankind. It is the day where God really showed His power and love for you and me.

In a nutshell, I really don't have an answer for you. I love to give my children gifts and look for any excuse I can to bless them. I'll be honest, I have already scouted and purchased a gift for my children. I am really excited to give them this living gift. Additionally, we will probably also work on some Memory Cross cards. And we do have Resurrection Eggs, but I am tempted to put them in boxes! A lapbook might emerge at some point.

The biggest and best gift? Be radical. Celebrate Resurrection Day in a meaningful and bold way. Defy modern religious traditions. Read the Gospel and ask God to show you how to celebrate this incredible event that will create a lasting and eternal impact for your family.

As You Wish

The first movie I ever watched with my husband was The Princess Bride. We sat in my parent's house, in the family room, on a green couch we eventually owned after we were married. A large bowl of popcorn separated us, as our hands bumped and explored for kernels of microwave popcorn. To this day, this movie is iconic in our marriage, often providing the closing lines to our goodbyes and motivates many inside jokes. It was the first movie we purchased together once we were married, and the only movie we have ever watched more than once. I have always been moved and oddly inspired by Wesley's love and devotion to Princess Buttercup, continually serving her and never giving up on rescuing his damsel. But today, God has brought it to mind to challenge me to a bigger task. God has challenged me to be like the Farm Boy, and say, "As You Wish."

Much of my eating career has been a struggle. At times, my mouth has won. At times, my will through the help of the Lord has been victorious. After giving birth to three children, I have seen my mouth win on many occasions. Though I love my children with a passion, at times I am a poor manager of people and life can get stressful when trying to meet the needs of and serve these three precious individuals created for God's purpose, which is often to teach me a lesson. When that happens, my ugly foe called food provides a luring song that says, "Come to me and I will comfort you. Immediately. It won't hurt this one time. Tomorrow is a new day. Plus, you have been stressed. You deserve to eat me. Who cares if you aren't hungry. Live to eat, not eat to live."

WHAT A LIE! Only the Lord can satisfy.

Isaiah 55:1-3

Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

And what does this have to do with the Princess Bride? Well, I went to see my creative doctor today, who is so patient with me and listens to my plight. We have created a plan of attack to sharply kill the appetite that lurks within me for more food. And it is sharp, I will let you know. We have a physical plan that I am to employ.

I can do all that my doctor wants me to do. I can exercise. I can eat half of my dinner. I can eat whole foods. I can avoid sugar. I can go to bed early. By doing this, I may lose weight or I may not. Above all else, if I am doing this whole weight loss thing for myself, to get into my old clothes, to simply be healthy, that is CRAP.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10: 31

More than my lifestyle has to change. All that I do, including using a fork to feed my face, must be done to please God. Translation: don't eat if you aren't hungry. Stop when you are full. Don't daydream about your next meal.

Deuteronomy 30: 16-18 says, "in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess."

My heart and soul must become so devoted to the Lord, that I follow His ways, His commandments, His statutes. I want to enter my Promised Land. If I run to food for comfort and not to the Lord, then food is an idol in my life. If I do all that my doctor wants me to do, but I do not change my heart, then I will go right back to where I am today, appalled at what I have done to God's creation. I want to be blessed; I want to be able to cross over, to leap over, to vault over, to blad over, to skip into the Jordan where the clothes fit and I am at a healthy creation.

So, I will do what my gracious doctor says, because I believe he is a good and wise man. But at the same time, I will make my entire body submit to a higher authority, the Sovereign God, whose Salvation we will soon celebrate. And each time I am tempted to give in to my false idol, I will say, "As you wish."

I feel better now.

CelebratingSt. Patrick's Day a Little Late in our Garden

Our house has a bit more green in it these days. In an effort to lower our carbon footprint, reduce pollution, make less trips to the grocery store, support local worms, feed annoying bugs, create a haven for ladybugs, get our hands dirty, and create local delicious food in our own home, we began our fourth annual sprouting day on Saturday.

What shall I plant first?

Mr. Smiley wants to help, too. Got to start them "green" while they are young!

Isn't all of this green great? Thanks to my father-in-law!

The plants' new home for two months! They have much more room to grow now that they are out of those confined, dark, dry seed packets!

Guessing Game

Can you guess the contents of the following random and growing objects?

An OPINION on how to Stay Healthy or Get Healthy

I am often asked what one should do to GET healthy after being on a round of antibiotics or a marathon season of drugs and diseases. I have collected my thoughts and have come up with my layman prescription for extended health between the occasional cold or sinus infection. This isn't to say that you won't get sick, because the tips are preventative in nature. Remember that there is no quick fix, only wise choices that accumulate into a healthy gut and an active immune system.

We will start from the standpoint that your body has been worn down by conventional medicine. When you are done with your last round of antibiotics, get “your child or you” on a good probiotic. A probiotic, according to Wikipedia and the World Health Organization, are "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host." You will take a pretty strong dose for about 10 days and then you can do more of a maintenance dose after that, or make sure to eat either plain kefir or yogurt daily. You can find some good bacteria at Whole Foods or any local health food store. I usually buy the boys’ probiotics online at GPRX. It is an affiliate company of Jordan Rubin, who wrote the Maker's Diet. Also, at Whole Foods you can also purchase Jarrow and Nature’s Way, which are two other probiotics that I have used. The key feature you want for your probiotic is a powder or pill that has several strains of bacteria and can be stored at ROOM TEMPERATURE and stay alive. I do tend to lean towards Garden of Life products only because they are strong and helped to keep the hubby healthy when he was in India. Note: if you look at Garden of Life products in the store you may have a heart attack. (For this reason, I order them online because I get coupons from them frequently.)

About every week or so, do a hydrogen peroxide rinse in your ear.

You can also use colloidal silver. I buy a product called Sovereign Silver. It acts as an antibiotic, but doesn’t kill the good stuff. Many think it is quacky, will turn you blue, or is fake. However, we have seen tremendous results from using it. You can also use it on cuts, too. I have tried other brands other than Sovereign Silver, but have not seen the results. So at the first sign of sickness, I typically use the Colloidal Silver for a few days, and give it to everyone else to ward off an infection in them. I warn you some people are scared of this product, but after all of my research and discussing it with our doctor and midwife, I see no problems with it. This is what was used before pharmaceuticals. Not as strong, obviously. Actually for this reason, our kids eat off of silver spoons!

Lastly, I would recommend using Thieves Essential Oil, which does happen to be something that I can get you. Pure therapeutic grade essential oils can and do act as an aide to healing the body and preventing infection/decay. However, you must be sure to buy a quality essential oil. The only one I support is Young Living. Essential oils can act as drugs, but without the harmful side effects. Even the hubby is somewhat convinced on the use of essential oils and has seen results.

Thieves has a story. It supposedly was used by robbers during the Bubonic plague. They would create this herbal mixture and cover their faces with a scarf doused in this mixture and go rob people who were sick. Yet, they never got the plague. Once caught, the police offered a plea bargain if the robbers would confess the recipe. So we now have Thieves Oil! My mom uses this religiously and has not gotten sick through our recent sickness. Thieves Oil doesn’t replace God, but I think we can use it to naturally support our bodies and help them function as God intended. Our family uses this oil before going to church or out to the store, in a diluted mixture and apply it to the bottom of our feet (because it transmits to the rest of the body quickest). For example, put a pealed bulb of garlic between your toes and you will taste it in your mouth in a few minutes! When the kids get sick, they take one drop orally with 4 ounces of water or juice. Once again, do not ingest any other essential oil, unless it is Young Living. If someone has an infected hang nail-on goes the Thieves! I use it for deodorant and mix it into my cleaning spray. The uses are numerous and benefits even more so. Young Living, where I get my oil, also carries Thieves Throat Drops—wow, they don’t taste great but are AMAZING in their ability to fight infection. We experienced dramatic change in our symptoms after sucking on these powerful drops. I will let you know, good Essential Oils are pricey. As preventative care, though, it is cheaper than going to the doctor. I became a distributor, which made the oil MUCH cheaper.

Oh, another helpful thing is to completely avoid white sugar and flour and processed food. When you consume white sugar it suppresses your immune system for about six hours. So if you go out somewhere and there is a bug, you open yourself up more to getting sick. The goal is to create a healthy happy gut. Eating fermented foods also increases the good bacteria floating in your body, like homemade sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, kombucha, etc.

So, the two things we probably do most regularly are Thieves Oil of a morning and probiotics. I also think a dose of Cod Liver Oil is helpful to support the immune system.

This may be more than you wanted and it also may make you think we are quacky—but these are the preventative things that I feel God has revealed to us and for the most part, WHEN I am religious to practice them, I see a direct correlation to our health. However, I must admit I got quite slack on this and all of us got quite sick!!!!!! And ended up on antibiotics ourselves. So I am back to probiotics and Thieves right now.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. I really am not an expert nor a Doctor. But I have found these things helpful in the life of our family. If you are interested in essential oils or would like to order some, let me know!

Finger Lickin' Good: Kid's Teriyaki Sandwich

Last night, I made teriyaki chicken with some of the chicken left on the carcass from making chicken stock. Teriyaki is so easy to make, much cheaper than store bought sauce, and tastes 100% better! I always know that it will be a hit with Mr. Easy and the Hubby. Mr. Smackdown tolerates it only because I make brown rice that he drowns with naturally brewed soy sauce. It takes him a bit longer than usual to eat dinner and a few more bargains are made by the hubby to entice Mr. Smackdown to chomp it up.

Still being sick today, I really didn't have much energy to make lunch or really even to eat. So, I decided to reinvent dinner. Wow. You would have thought that I served hot chocolate lava cake with ice cream on top! Mr. Smackdown absolutely LOVED my simple creation. Want to know the secret? I simply put the teriyaki chicken between two pieces of bread glued together by a slice of cheese. Then I toasted it. It was that easy!

Teriyaki Sauce

(makes 3/4 cup)

1 tbls freshly grated ginger (I often freeze my ginger and it grates much easier)

3 garlic cloves, mashed

1 tbls toasted sesame oil

1 tbls rice vinegar

1 tbls raw honey

1/2 cup naturally fermented soy sauce

Mix all ingredients together with a whisk or in the blender. Pour it over some chicken, raw or cooked. Cook as needed.

I Got Sick and this is What I Learned

My list of ways to go "Organic on the Cheap" includes said title, Don't get Sick. The irony is that we have just spent three miserable weeks being sick. Before our experiment with sickness, I was going to counsel you on the ways to be "healthy." Oh, doesn't that sound self-righteous!

Looking back, I see how haughty my thinking was. As my mother-in-law would say, "What are you? Crazy!?" I have been reminded and clearly see that my life is not always mine to direct and control. In fact, I believe the Bible even says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).

Though the past few weeks have been difficult, I don't think that I would erase them from our family history. I have learned some really good lessons from God. I sometimes think that He almost allows sickness for the purpose of getting us to slow down and rest. The crazy thing is that though my actual times of Bible reading or purposeful "quiet times" have almost been erased from my life recently, I have heard the Lord's voice in my ear quite frequently. So what have I learned?

1. It is OK to prop my feet up and watch Curious George and Clifford with my children. It allows for great conversation and cuddling. My kids smiled with delight that I stopped what I was doing and joined them in their misery.

2. It is OK to let your kids watch TV (with some parental advisory, of course).

3. I need to lighten up and nurture more. This means turning butternut squash from our food coop into a VeggieTale Hero that is also sick. Creating letters with their food. Giving them silly things to drink out of. Having random moments of fun. Learning to not be irritated at their complaining, but using it to have silly conversation and create a song. Giving kisses and hugs and pulling them onto my lap. Why isn't this natural for me?

4. Eat to live. Not live to eat. By myself getting sick, I wasn't consumed with my next meal or snack. I used food to get healthy and aide my body in healing. Food isn't to be our comfort. Isaiah 66:13 says, "As one whom his mother comforts, So I [God] will comfort you."

5. Avoid sugar. I have heard it said that the immune system is suppressed for 6 hours after eating sugar. Guess what I had been doing the week before?

6. Use Thieves Essential Oil regularly on my feet. What is Thieves, you ask? Well, that will be for another post. But in a nutshell, by using it daily you boost your immune system.

7. Take probiotics again!

8. Go to bed by 10 PM, at the latest.

9. Exercise!

10. Get rid of extra stuff in my life. What is a must? God, Hubby, kids. Healthy eating and my slightly time intensive cooking are staying. Blogging and Gardening still bring joy. What must go? My business of sewing.

God gave me a gentle wake up call, reminding me that I had misplaced a few priorities and it was time to readjust. Thankfully, I am more than willing to listen, even if it ended in antibiotics!

Foto Friday

Thanks to an idea inspired by my faithful friend, Christina, I am pleased to present you with Foto Friday. Stay tuned to more details from the artist behind these pictures. Hint . . . Hint . . . Hint . . . . another giveaway is just around the corner.

Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Gardening in a Small Space

Usually by this time, my greenhouse is up and gangly green shoots are causing much delight to my color starved eyes. But the greenhouse is still hiding somewhere in the garage. (By greenhouse, don't think I am talking about a walk-in, climate controlled growing room.) My green house has four shelves and a clear plastic zippered tarp that fits over the wire frame. It sits in front of a window upstairs for several months until our carefully watered and talked to plants make their way to the great outdoors.

Living on the outskirts of the city and being limited by lack of sunlight, leaving plenty of room to play, and the restrictions of a neighborhood required me to be creative in my gardening. I knew that my garden had to be artistic, easy to weed, kid-friendly, and provide instant access without mud shoes. I would like to say that I came up with the solution on my own, but I didn't. Let me direct you to the best gardening resource that I have found for the novice and master gardener alike:

So, step one to begin your gardening season is to purchase this book or check it out from the library. Here is a sneak peak at what you have to look forward to . . .

20% off at Inspired by Finn

Well, the winner of my first giveaway is Tabitha, from Colorado. Even though my very first giveaway is over, don't be sad! Kate, the owner of Inspired by Finn, has generously offered to give my readers a 20% discount when you use the code "giveaway" at checkout. If anyone does purchase some Baltic Amber Necklaces, let us know what you think!

Let me tell you, Tabitha is one cool mom. I met Tabitha about 9 years ago, I believe, when my husband and I lived out in Colorado. Tabitha and I went to the same church, Joshua's Crossing, that believe it or not, met in a nightclub on Sunday nights! Tabitha was in charge of changing the nightclub into a place of worship and it was amazing how she accomplished that! Anyway, I'm excited that Tabitha won as this artsy-fartsy gal is acquiring an artsy-fartsy Baltic Amber Cognac Chip necklace!

Enjoy! Stay reading for future giveaways! Thanks so much to everyone who participated and helped to grow my readership!