Crazy Weekend

Well it has been a crazy weekend here. My mom had a heart attack. She is currently in the hospital. They do not need to do surgery (good thing) and will just give meds for the pain. 19 years ago she suffered a heart attack and had 6-way bipass surgery. 5 of the 6 are still open, one is blocked. The surgery will do more harm than good they feel, which is why she will only get meds for pain instead. She also has a lot of confusion, even off of medication so a CT scan was ordered. While they are still looking for some answers, they were able to tell us that she has the beginning stages of dementia. While none of this truly stresses me out, it really only confirms things that I had already known. She should be home from the hospital in a few days.

Meanwhile, I am steadily trying to keep up with the kids, get ready for their camping trip, attempt to clean/organize my house, get things ready for back-to-school, etc. I think at some point today I'll just turn life off and take a nap.

Blessings until I can get back to the keyboard!

Move Over Cupcakes! There's a yummier treat in town!

Recently, I was offered the opportunity to do a blog review of the book Ice Pop Joy by Anni Daulter. Being that the days have been so hot, and I am not always a huge fan of giving my kids sugary snacks or desserts, I said yes. Let me tell you how happy I was to do so!

Ice Pop Joy is filled with amazing (and amazingly easy), yummy recipes for creating healthy desserts in the form of popsicles. I love frozen fruit bars, but never thought I could love popsicles made with vegetables. I have many fond memories as a child making popsicles from Juicy Juicy. Now, I am sharing these experiences with my own children, and, with Anni's book Ice Pop Joy, I can take it a step further and make it nutritious as well.

Now, not only will you find the recipes simple to follow, Anni Daulter has really taken the book a step further. She offers tips on getting your kids to eat healthy, gives an explanation of the different, healthier option sweeteners that are listed throughout the recipes, as well as, discussing about buying local and fresh. You will also find a breakdown of the different pop molds that are available to purchase from stainless steel to getting creative with something like a loaf pan. Ms. Daulter explains the equipment needed and also explains why. At the bottom of each page that features a recipe, you will find shopping tips, seasonal tips, booster (as in immunity) tips, or health tips. The end of the book lists out resources and references for items that may be a little harder to come by at your local market.

Recipe after recipe is filled with yummy goodness that you aren't going to find in the freezer aisle of your local grocery store chain. There aren't just recipes with fruit, or vegetables. There are recipes that have both, recipes that include tofu, soy milk, and even herbal teas. There is a recipe to fit practically every palate out there.

My kids and I had such a wonderful time with this book and making some of the different pops. What really makes me happy is knowing that what they are eating is good and good for them. There's no guessing what they might be ingesting or trying to decode the ingredient label on a box. I know exactly what it is they are eating because it was made at home.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Popsicles created, or even inspired, from Ice Pop Joy beat out the world's best cupcake on any given day of the week, hands down. Having tried out recipes from this book, I went to the library and borrowed a copy of Anni Daulter's first book, Organically Raised: Conscious Cooking for Babies and Toddlers. All I can say is YUM!

My Latest Creation

Sometimes I wonder WHAT I was thinking when my daughter and my sister both convinced me I should have a table at the Delmarva Pagan Pride Festival this year, but I am definitely committed to it.

Having kids, a radio show geared towards Pagan children and just generally getting involved in my community (online and in-person) I really began to realize that our children can use spiritual guidance. I don't believe they are ever "too young" to be exposed to our faith & spirituality. I involve my children and they have just this incredible understanding.

In my home, we have a "family altar." Anyone is able to help by adding things to what is there. I also think personal altars are nice. With kids of varying ages, it became obvious to me that something simple should be used with younger children. So, I developed a children's learning altar cloth, complete with elemental goddesses and "markers," per se, for where candles would be placed.

The great thing about this is that the elementals can be moved and placed however needed. For example (in case I've lost anyone), if the place where you lay this cloth faces west, the elementals can be arranged so West is at the top, and all the others placed accordingly. Each elemental can also be picked up and held. This creates the perfect learning opportunity for children. Children can learn about each element with their parents and place anything they feel represents that element with it. By designing this learning cloth as such, I have also left plenty of room for personalization.

My younger children haven't seen this yet, but my oldest loves it. Everything was sewn by hand, so there is plenty of positive magickal intent in there! Now to make the other 17!

Well, I am off to continue working on my latest broadcast of Raven's Circle before heading to bed.

Have an Awesome Day!!!!

My 14 Month Old Boy, the Vegetarian...Almost

Having 6 children of varying ages, taste preferences, etc. can be a bit challenging when it comes to family mealtime. One needs to make sure that all palates are satisfied, but not compromise on healthy. It's not impossible, but can be interesting.

Enter Anthony, our now 14 month old son. He loves eating right alongside all of us. He loves fruits and veggies, although he is allergic to bananas; poor boy. We bbq quite a bit and so the kids love their hot dogs and hamburgers. Anthony used to eat hot dogs. He used to eat macaroni & cheese made from the box (when mom needs a quick fix for dinner sides). He used to eat chicken. Then, one day he stopped. He won't even touch them unless the chicken is a breaded chicken dinosaur and the mac n cheese needs to be made from scratch. The only beef he will eat is teriyaki beef jerky; long enough to chew the taste out of it, then he gives it to the dog. My son also hates cow's milk. Anytime I have attempted to give it to him, he takes a sip then looks at me like I've poisoned him.

Luckily, I am still breast-feeding him. However, nursing alone is no-where close to enough to sustain this boy. What does a mom do when her youngest decides he doesn't like meat or cow's milk? Oh, did I mention he doesn't really care for the taste of eggs either and I'm allergic to fish so I don't cook it? Enter the conundrum that is my household mealtime. I really started to think. What do I do? This kid HAS to eat. I give him all sorts of fruits and veggies; he loves to eat green beans straight from the garden, sometimes as I'm picking them. For a short bit, I panicked. Then, seeing this as a great thing, though seemingly hard in a family of meat eaters, I texted my best friend. She had me email her brother, while also providing me with sage advice. I love my best friend, she's awesome. I also messaged another friend and started researching.

After text messages, emails and Facebook messages, I finally felt better, almost. The advice and research helped greatly. The one thing I forgot was that I should trust my instincts, as well as my knowledge. Since he won't drink cow's milk, I bought a small container of vanilla soy to try out on him. Remembering that my daughter Sophia used to not be able to stomach cow's milk during the hot summer but always could drink soy milk came to mind. I also bought chocolate soy as there are kids in my house that love it. I used to use it as a special treat. Success!! He loves it! Next up, I bought tofu; extra firm to try frying up in the pan. My former mother-in-law used to cook up slices of it in soy sauce. I always loved it like that. I didn't break out the soy sauce, but, rather, bbq sauce. Pairing that with a side of peas and we have a yummy dish that he loved.

Prior to us realizing his absolute distaste for meat (mostly), I had picked up a couple of the Plum Tots squeeze pouches to have on hand for trips to the pool and such. Boy, did Anthony fall in love with them. The only thing I have to watch is the ingredient list. I didn't realize that the blueberry one with quinoa also had bananas. My poor baby's bum! Apart from that, I highly recommend them for on-the-go. I had one Peter Rabbit Organics pouch, but I knew it had bananas, so my oldest (she's 15 on Monday) and I ate that one. No wonder Anthony loves those squeeze pouches! Yummy!!!! I'm sure my kids will find at least the ones from Peter Rabbit popping up in their lunches every now and then.

So, here I am now, in a much better spot about my son's intolerance to meat. And you know what? I am so okay with it. Both my husband and I know that there isn't anything wrong with what he's eating, so we work meals around it. On nights when I know the main dish involves meat, I make a substitute for him. Otherwise, he eats what we have. Anthony is happy, I'm happy and so is everyone else. I did make sure my larger family all understand that he won't eat meat. My dad, whom I expected to maybe catch some flack from, was very supportive. He and my stepmom totally get it. My mother just said she didn't understand that, and it seemed strange to her. Ok, so my parents had the opposite reactions I thought. Live and learn.

For me, this is a great thing, a positive step to better health for the whole family, as we will all get to try out new foods that no one in our family may have ever thought to cook. And the best part? I have a new buddy to eat eggplant parmigiana with! Yay! Ok, ok, MAYBE I'll share with the rest of the family.

Summer's here already?!

Well, there goes half a year already! My how time flies. I truly can't believe how quickly the year has flown by. My oldest will be a sophmore in high school this fall and my youngest is 1 and walking EVERYWHERE!! I just can't believe how fast it's all happening.

So much has happened, and, yet, sometimes I feel as if nothing is happening.

I truly love being able to be at home each day with my children; watching them grow, helping them learn. It's an amazing thing to behold and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Most recently, the third installment of my radio show for Pagan youth, Raven's Circle, went up and is nearing 50 hits. I am very pleased with how people seem to have taken to the show. Having a "youth ministry" radio show is such a wonderful gift from the Goddess. I have been able to reach out and contact all sorts of people. I have met (virtually anyway) wonderful friends, and the path just keeps stretching further and further while I cartwheel right along.

My oldest, and my sister, have both encouraged me to open a booth at our local Pagan Pride Festival (http://www.bellbookandcandle.biz/Delmarva_Pagan_Pride.php), so I am steadily putting together my wares. Whew, what a lot of work I have ahead of me! I'm so totally excited.

Rites of Passage have been on my mind for some time now. A month ago, we celebrated our youngest son's Wiccaning. It was so wonderful. There probably aren't enough words to describe how awesome it was. Anthony was so quiet, taking in all of it. My other kids were well involved in the ritual. It was just ---- incredible. Below, is one of the pictures from that awesome, awesome day!

To make it even more wonderful, my family, whom are mostly Christian, were there and were able to see my religion first-hand for themselves. My father told me that he and my stepmother both kept remarking about just how wonderful the ceremony was. My father also told me that he could see just how peaceful and loving my religion is, and quite different and refreshing from the dogma of the religion I was raised under. Well, there went all the worry about needing to "hide" my true self, or a part of me. One of my nephews had asked his mother a question, to which he was directed, "why don't you ask your Aunt Bridget." The question was regarding my symbol of faith, what it was and what it represented. To have my family there, and being so open-minded even though unsure of what our ritual entailed, was quite a boost.

So, I think I've muttered on enough for now. If you haven't heard any of my radio shows, you can click on the links directly to the right.

Cheers!