Vaughnshire Farm

Wow, a visit to the chiropractor is heave–especially when pregnant! At 37 weeks along, I am feeling the weight of this growing baby.

The midwife is visiting me weekly and we are trying to get this baby in a good position. Up to date the baby has been laying in a twisted transverse position that is highly uncomfortable for me and poses a challenge to breathing as it feels like a large mass is resting in my diaphragm. As well–this position is not good for birthing Yesterday, the chiropractor gave me some much needed relief. She has changed positions and now I am working on getting her to turn from a posterior position to anterior.

I visited the chiropractor in my last pregnancy and actually had the baby a week early after an adjustment. Using chiropractic care, the baby was turned from a breech position to the proper anterior head down position.

Chiropractic care in pregnancy– HIGHLY recommended.

I saw a post recently on the QF digest praising The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. While I did greatly enjoy the movie and most of the books, I thought it important to offer some caution and point out some un-biblical points about the series and the movie that may be good to discuss with your children.

We purchased the books a month prior to the release of the movie as I wanted my children to read and let their minds produce the images of the setting to the stories before I allowed Hollywood to impress it’s images on their minds. So the comments offered are from freshly reading the series and seeing the movie.

First CS Lewis, was not known for his Christian virtue early in life. In fact, like all of us, he was an enemy of Christ for the early part of his life. He finally converted in 1931 and says “I came into Christianity kicking and screaming.” I say that to point out that he was human and is indeed fallible just like the rest of us.

This is important to understand as we attempt to place the stamp of Biblical Christianity on his works. Like all of us who are on a path to maturity and growing in Christ, I would make the case that not everything in the Narnia series lines up with a true Christian allegory. I believe Lewis was maturing as a Christian, but do not believe he effectively portrayed what Christianity is in the series. In fact, a case could be made that he confused what true Christianity is by his inclusion of the following issues. Continue Reading »

This week we prepare our goals for the upcoming year. As tradition around here, we prepare for a big New Year’s party where we will celebrate the year and revisit the highlights as well as re-examine our goals for the last year. Sometimes this re-examination is a bit humbling! Did we do what we said we were going to do? It is an exciting time. We usually have this as a family time but this year we are having several days of celebration- Friday and Saturday as well as Sunday, the New Years Day.

Friday we will be fellowshipping here in our home with many friends which is an added party we have not had before. We hope to spread our vision of goal setting, family accountability through regular goal meetings throughout the year as well as a challenge to set goals not just yearly but multi-generationally.

On Saturday, we will have our family goal party and share a bit more intimately on our family vision and goals, as well as have a time of prayer and celebration over the what the Lord has done in our family over the last year and pray for His guidance as we head into a new year.

On Sunday, we will be worshipping at our Church as this year falls on the Lord’s Day - a day that we have focused on keeping holy this last year and seen many benefits to our reforming our families convictions of keeping the 4th commandment.

Here is how I develop my goals and continue to develop my previous years’ goals.

I divide my goals into categories: Personal Character, Marriage, Home, Homeschool, Projects, Business.
Under personal character, I put things like my goals for personal devotion times, character traits I need to work on and how I am going to improve, what tapes I need to listen to or books I need to read, exercise and nutrition goals. Under marriage, I put things like: what I need to work on, date nights etc. Under the section of Home: many things can fall into this category. This includes chore charts and some home schedules, meal planning to insure the home is running smoothly. Under home schooling I list goals of what I need to accomplish with each child. For example last year it was teaching one of my children to read. Under projects, I list a project that I would like completed. Last year I set a goal to get my loose photos in albums. Under business, I set goals for my website.

The important thing is to be reasonable. It is easy to set yourself up for failure by all the grandiose planning your mind can conceive. Look at it logistically. Look at the amount of time you have and do not place something like a home business over home. Do not schedule out every 30 minutes of the day in a new schedule you think you should be following only to find that doesn’t work always with a bunch of toddlers around. Start small. Break it down into monthly tasks to insure you are meeting your year goal. Have family goal meetings regularly.

Excellent and must haves for mommies— I ordered 2 of Shonda Parker’s books off her website and have almost finished The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy, The Essential Guide To Nutritional and Botanical Medicine For The Childbearing Years. Here is the link for the books: Naturally Healthy Website

The other book is called Mommy Diagnostics, The Art Of Taking Care Of Your Family. It is a huge resource for everything you ever wanted to know on how to treat common ailments herbally and naturally.

  That is the question this generation has failed to answer properly.  It is also one that will continue to be a challenge to America as long as we try to deny that God is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We should note that, there is not a better example of this controversy played out in modern history than in our neighboring state to the south.  The recent 10 Commandments case in the Alabama Supreme Court, clearly laid the foundation for the government’s responsibility to acknowledge God.  Not to force people to worship him, not to make everyone go to church, but to acknowledge that there is a God who created this Earth and who reins over this nation.An entire section of the Josiah Project site is dedicated to this topic along with original editorials on a few of the topics.  Hopefully the people of Alabama will remember this topic when they elect their new governor in 2006.  Roy S. Moore announced last month that he will be running for Governor of Alabama. By God’s grace may he succeed!

Also visit the official site for current updates and to offer your support.  Just as an aside, one the the most interesting things about this race will be the amount of money the RNC spends in the primary to keep Judge Moore off the ballot. I’m betting it won’t be a small amount.

Also a very helpful resource on this topic is Judge Moore’s friend and Alabama’s newest justice Tom Parker’s site, Vote For Justice.

But back to the topic at hand.  There are several great resources that are available to those who wish to know what our founders thought about God and the Role of Civil Government. Of course if you read any of the Congressional records it will be difficult to deny that the founders believed God should be publicly acknowledge. Another great source for information is to read the books the founders were reading. Such as Contra Tyrannos, a highly popular tract from America’s founding period, which has been transcribed and made available publicly. Of course one of the most famous books on the subject is Samuel Rutherford’s LEX REX.  Both of these books along with Richard Baxter’s A Holy Commonwealth would make a great foundational study for a student looking for the answer to how a government should interact with the Creator of all man kind.

Another great historical resource on the limits of government is a short story told of David Crockett when he was a member of the U.S. Congress.

These all will make a great introduction to the topic and of course there will be more to come, as we continue to lay the foundation for a Christian Nation.

It is so easy to over do the sweets…especially this time of year! I made a healthy treat that my family yummed up yesterday.

Beth’s Frozen Berry Yogurt

Large container of healthy plain yogurt. I like the Brown Cow brand but StonyField Farm has a good plain yogurt as well.
Frozen Berry Mix (black, red, blue berries) - Sam’s carries a large bag of frozen berries for a great price and they taste great.
Maple Syrup
Crushed walnuts or almonds (optional)

I poured the plain yogurt into a 8X8 square glass dish.
Put frozen berries all over the top of the yogurt.
Sprinkle crushed nuts over the top.
Drizzle maple syrup lightly over the top.

Make right before you sit down for supper and cover with plastic wrap and let it stay in the refrigerator until after supper. The frozen berries will slightly freeze some of the yogurt around it—my children called it “yogurt ice”. I will try to slightly freeze the whole thing next time to see what it turns out like. But this was really yummy—the children loved it and it wasn’t overly sweet.
Great for a snack.

I have to say that I am really impressed with how fast fresh juicing works to bring low iron levels up. At our check today, I am at 11.5! Which, she said, is perfect.
I usually juice lots of greens, a small amount of carrot, a half of an apple.

Other Iron Foods:
Also, I have either bought omega-3, free range chicken eggs or gathered some from our own eggs from our chickens (but they have been on laying strike because of being traumatized by the dogs.)
Grass-fed red beef (slow cooked crock pot roast is the best - not only makes your house smell homey and warm but is great on a cold winter day with veggies and homemade bread!)
Dates (my 3 year old calls these “big raisins”)
Lots of green vegetables and other iron rich vegetables
Sweet Potatoes
Raw nuts and Seeds (almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds)

Taking Vitamin C with Iron aids in absorption. I have found that I love (now crave) fresh squeezed grapefruit juice– didn’t know I liked grapefruit and didn’t know of all its health benefits!

I mentioned that I was reading a book called The Maker’s Diet. I am really enjoying it and highly recommend it. It is not just a “diet” book but a health nutrition book. If you are wanting to regain your health or loose weight, you can….but the whole foods, non processed, unrefined way of eating is promoted, which is highly beneficial to the entire family. If you enjoy Sally Fallon, Weston A. Price or the subject of primitive diets (what humans use to eat before the industrial revolution and the invention of white flour, Crisco and fake foods) — you will love this book. I purchased mine off ebay for $3 — a hardback version.

Other books on the list to read:
Mommy Diagnostics by Shonda Parker
Naturally Healthy Pregnancy by Shonda Parker
I am eagerly awaiting for them to arrive in the mail any day.

Iron and Anemia
It seems to be a constant struggle, although I have found great success in keeping my iron levels up by juicing several times a week, lately it has been much more difficult to maintain. My favorite regular juice consists of about 4 carrots, 2 long celery sticks, half a cucumber, a handful of spinach and half of apple.

I have been taking chlorophyll but because I have liquid chlorophyll, it is a bit more difficult for me to take than in pill form. I have to put it in some juice or swig it down which doesn’t end up high on the priority list.

As I was looking over my home birth supply list tonight, I ran across one of Shonda Parker’s herbs—from Tri-light herbs called Tri-Iron, which I will be ordering and trying out this time before the birth but also to take after the birth.

Below is the details on the herb:

Tri Iron (Nettle leaf, Yellow dock, Red raspberry, Dandelion, and Anise)

Most of the herbs in this formula are high in iron, with anise being an herb known to increase absorption of iron.

·Nettle leaf (Urtica dioica) - Nettles are medicinally used for their antiallergy and anti-inflammatory properties (for allergies and joint and arthritic pain) as well as showing promise in slowing progression of prostate cancer. We include them in this formula because of the high chlorophyll content which traditionally is used to boost the body’s absorption of iron.

·Yellow dock (Rumex crispus) - This herb is high in iron and is commonly used by midwives to aid in bringing pregnant mother’s hemoglobin levels up to optimal ranges before childbirth.

·Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) - Another herb high in iron that also helps offset the mild bowel stimulating aspect of yellow dock.

·Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) - Excellent mild liver support that shows effectiveness in the treatment of colitis and urinary disorders due to its mild diuretic effect. This herb has a good iron content.

·Anise (Pimpinella anisum) - Anise has been shown to increase the body’s uptake of iron. It is also used for dyspeptic tummy conditions as well as an expectorant for mucus conditions of the respiratory tract. Other actions include: mildly antispasmodic and antibacterial.

Tri Iron may be taken by anyone desiring to support healthy hemoglobin levels in the body by taking 1/2 to 1 teaspoon twice daily.

Here is some info I have found in response to some questions about fat and beef:

“Research shows that grass-fed beef contains fat that is actually good for you. grass-fed beef has more Omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce the risk of heart disease. Grass-fed also contains more beta-carotene and up to five times as much CLA.”

No feedlots, hormones, grain or antibiotics in your meat will give you better tasting meat as well as nutritionally superior meat compared to meat that comes off of a bad fatty grain fed cow. (whose fat is not comparable to grass fed cow fat)

So fat from pasture fed animals is desirable. Fat from grain fed, antibiotic and hormone filled cows is completely different in nutritional content.
Also fake fats like Crisco, margarine and other synthetic fats are completely unhealthy and should be avoided. Homemakers use to use lard instead of Crisco which was a much healthier. Not that you would just eat the lard by the spoonfuls…but the point being that fats consumed in moderation that are real and unmodified are healthy. I prefer raw butter personally as I can not get past the word “lard”. The myth that all fats are bad is simply not true. We need fats–not refined, chemically, altered fats…but real fats are beneficial and downright necessary for life. Breast milk has an incredible high amount of cholesterol because babies need this vital nutrient for proper growth and development of the neurological brain systems.
God designed cows to eat grass, not be packed in a feed lot eating as much grain as possible. Vegetables grown without being genetically modified and chemically bathed are absolutely delicious and wonderfully healthy for you. Dairy products that are raw and fresh are beneficial.
I do not believe that we should consume mostly fat and beef, however. I have just come to believe that these products, naturally produced, in moderation contribute to a well rounded diet. I am very much in favor of freshly extracted juice and lots of vegetables and believe that we should eat more raw food.

I am getting away from the refined, altered, processed, genetically modified, hormonal, medicated, fake foods.

An interesting website with lots of information is called EatWild.com

For further reading on more exact facts about the health benefits of grass-fed products - this article is a must read

Another article: Confused about Fat? Choose Grass-fed!