Giveaway: Extreme 18X Soap Nut Liquid Concentrate, Guinea Pig Girl Doll & Extreme Hair Soap Nut Shampoo from the Olive Shoot Institute - $42.80 ARV {11.25; US}

This is a joint giveaway between Natural Parents Network and many other natural parenting sites. You may enter for all of the giveaways at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide!

Giveaway: Soap & Solid Perfume from Earthfaeries Homebrewed Soap - $20 ARV {11.25 US}

This is a joint giveaway between Natural Parents Network and many other natural parenting sites. You may enter for all of the giveaways at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide!

Giveaway: Gift Certificate to Bent River Bobbins - $20 {11.25; Worldwide}

This is a joint giveaway between Natural Parents Network and many other natural parenting sites. You may enter for all of the giveaways at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide!

Giveaway: Container Set and Cooler Bag from Easy Lunchboxes - $21.90 ARV {11.25; US}

This is a joint giveaway between Natural Parents Network and many other natural parenting sites. You may enter for all of the giveaways at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide!

Giveaway: $50 Giftcard from LeoandLola {11.25; US/Can}

This is a joint giveaway between Natural Parents Network and many other natural parenting sites. You may enter for all of the giveaways at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide!

Giveaway: Nursing Necklace from KangarooCare - $25 ARV {11.25; Worldwide}

This is a joint giveaway between Natural Parents Network and many other natural parenting sites. You may enter for all of the giveaways at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

Welcome to the Natural Parents Network Holiday Gift Guide!

Wordless Wednesday: Bathtime Bliss

Lydia's first bath...not a fan

Homeschool: A New Year

Though our sweet Esther is just four and a half, we've been doing our own version of homeschool with her. Though isn't everyone's homeschool their own version of it?

changing the season

At any rate, we've been on summer hiatus, enjoying the heat, water parks and pools, the zoo, and the air conditioning of the museum.
Oh. And having a baby! 
The time has come to start once again.
While most families probably start in September, there are so many other activities starting back up that month (ie: Bible Study, Cubbies, etc) that we decide to take that month off, too.
Oh the joys of flying by the seat of your pants...
Last year we really focused on letters for the most part. Recognition and writing.
This year, we're focusing on reading/phonics, math, clockwork (which she's shown an interest in), and geography (again, she has a specific interest).
The cool thing about our homeschool is that I'm not doing it alone. The husband definitely helps, but also, our friend Adrienne meets with Esther a few times a week. This year, she'll be focusing mostly on phonics and math.

Both to All: Transitioning to a Larger Family

Little hands in scratch art

Bringing our first daughter home was no easy breeze. There was much to learn and even more to get used to. It takes a certain amount of time to get used to surviving on little to no sleep (do you ever get used to that?). There was suddenly this new little person that was completely, 100% dependent on me (and the Husband). I couldn't call in sick, I couldn't quit, I didn't get vacation time. The pay off has been great. She's almost five now and quite independent. Even to the point where she's helping take care of the ones behind her, which is pretty amazing. She's full of questions and creativity. Her play time is just hilarious with her ideas and fantasies. Esther truly is a blessing.

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Help From My Friends

 Since we're in the throws of October Unprocessed, I'm sincerely appreciating some of the awesome goods we've received from our friends to help us in our quest!

Sweet Potatoes from our friend, Dejah's, yard

October Unprocessed: Week One

I am so excited to be forcing my family to partake in October Unprocessed this year! Pretty self explanatory, but I'll explain a little anyway. During the month of October, you eat food as unprocessed as possible...ok, I truly did not need to explain that. At any rate, I'm pumped. We're not going COMPLETELY unprocessed, but I am excited for a few different reasons:

1. Forcing (gently!) my family to try new foods. We've made HUGE strides in the past year, but there are areas for more improving. Especially with the four year old, who's pretty picky and generally angry about new foods. October may prove to be a rough month.
2. Forcing me to not take the easy route. Don't get me wrong, there's a time and a place for the easy route. But I'm wondering more and more if we should be taking said easy route when it comes to our food choices.
3. Budget wise, unprocessed generally equals cheaper. But it's cheaper over the long run. For instance, buying all the ingredients to make tortilla shells instead of buying tortilla shells doesn't equal out. But those same ingredients will stretch over multiple batches of tortilla shells (and other stuff!) and prove to be nicer to the bank account. 

So, for the first week, I'm planning on doing the staples that my family loves, but tweaking them to be less processed:

1. Monday = Free night. We eat at church and I don't have control over the menu. But it's always super good, so I'm ok with it.
2. Tuesday = Tacos (a Tuesday constant). Tacos at our house are pretty unprocessed as it is, but there are two things that will change. I'm going to make my own seasoning and shells. I've never made my own seasoning, but it can't be that hard, right? I have made my own shells and look forward to repeating that recipe. I think instead of frying them though, I'll bake them. We'll see how that goes. Our beef is from a local farmer as well as our produce. I missed getting cheese from the market this weekend, but will rectify that situation next week.
3. Wednesday = Brinner. Mmm. Again, pretty unprocessed anyway, but I am going to make our pancakes from scratch. Yes I usually use a mix. Don't judge me. Other than that, we'll have bacon (from a local farmer) and eggs (from our backyard). Oh, and the maple syrup that we use is actual maple syrup. None of this artificial butter flavor crapola. 
4. Thursday = Burgers and pasta. Again, our beef is from a local farmer. I'm planning on making our own buns next burger night, but for this one, we have buns left over from last week. And since I loathe wasting food, I refuse to waste these. The pasta, however, will be homemade by our house mate, which is awesome. 
5. Friday = Frittata (a Friday constant). With hens in our backyard, this has been a fun way to use up some eggs. I make it different every week, but usually add some onion, spinach, and potato. Sometimes some leftover bacon from Brinner. Always yummy and always unprocessed. 
6. Saturday = Pizza. This is another staple that's pretty unprocessed. We have sausage from a pig the husband helped butcher. I make my own pizza crust and sauce. And we just add whatever veggies we have left over from the week.

I'm excited to start our first unprocessed week! Our breakfasts are the same every day - toast with peanut butter and honey. I'm not making my own bread this week, but might dive in next week (or buy some from market.). Lunches are along the same lines: PB&J (at their boring request!), fruit and veggies, yogurt (not interested in making my own yogurt!). Snack time might be a little difficult because we generally have bunny crackers which are obviously processed, but we'll see. Maybe I can coerce them into my ways. Some of our other cheats include chips for the husband's lunch (I definitely don't have the energy to make homemade chips), granola bars for the husband's lunch (he loves his Nature Valley bars, I can't blame him), and cereal.

This whole unprocessed shindig has got me into a baking mode, too. So also on the schedule this week is Apple and Cheddar Scones and Brownies (both from the Smitten Kitchen). Oh, and lactation cookies, of course. And I started brewing my own Kombucha last night, so I'm pretty stoaked about that as well!

Happy October Unprocessed!!