Things I'm Loving

I have a lot of "favorite things." Those of you who know me probably get sick of me recommending the things that I love all.the.time!! But hey, at least I know what I like, right? ;)

Homeschool:

• Really enjoying doing Cursive First with my girls. They LOVE the salt boxes, and I adore the fact that they are learning cursive as their primary form of handwriting. It's so much neater and, in my opinion, easier since it doesn't require picking up the pencil. (We're not doing the whole SWA curriculum, just the CF.)

Baby:

• My new Bamberoo Lana Olive Wrap Conversion mei tai. (I'm not in those pics, nor is my actual carrier which is GORGEOUS, but wanted to link you to the infamous Bamberoo anyway!) I saved up for what felt like f.o.r.e.v.e.r. in order to buy this (used), and I sold a lot of my other carriers. I still have my Beco, Sleepy Wrap, and a solarveil Hotsling, but I needed something that didn't hurt my weak shoulders (thanks volleyball!) or my disinegrating lower back (thanks pregnancy!), which my Beco does after a while. This wrap conversion is awesome. I haven't ever felt like a "mei tai girl" because I could never get them very comfortable. But this is like an entirely different world of a carrier. It's like a feather, even with a giant baby in it (or my 5 year old...though she's only 10lbs heavier than my 15 month old!!). If you need a good carrier for a bigger baby, I now speak from experience when I say it is worth saving up to be able to afford a nice wrap conversion (at least a Bamberoo one, since I haven't ever tried any other brands).

Mr. C in a back carry in our new wrap conversion!

• pedipeds! I got our first pair when my 2nd daughter was 9 months old and I won them in a blog giveaway. They are awesome! I have since purchased a few pairs for my son (both new and used). They are soft-soled shoes, but they look like "real" shoes, so they have comfort and a great design in one. And they are so lightweight and easy for the little ones to walk in!

Reading:

• Be Your Own "Doctor" by Rachel Weaver, M.H. We received this from one of our sweet Mennonite neighbors (who gets them straight from Pennsylvania), and I'm loving it! I actually plan on doing an entire post about it in the future.

• Now, I'm normally a non-fiction kinda gal. Give me a medical history book or a great compilation of herbal remedies and I'll curl up in the chair and read until midnight. But since we got our iPod touch in February (our tax refund "present"), I've been reading from the free Kindle app books that I cannot find at my itty bitty local library. I have discovered that I absolutely ADORE historical fiction!!! (particularly western stuff from the mid-late 1800's, which really surprised me!) The book I got was a freebie, Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan. Oh.my.goodness. I LOVED it. I just had to purchase the next 3 books, and I'm so glad I did. Woman of Grace, Lady of Light, and Child of Promise were all such wonderful, encouraging stories about God's grace and love.

• When I finished that series I discovered Tamera Alexander's books...again, the first, Rekindled, was a Kindle freebie. I quickly discovered that just like Kathleen, Tamera had a gift from God with her ability to write such edifying, encouraging books. So you guessed it, I purchased the rest of that series, Revealed and Remembered.

• Above Rubies...by far the most encouraging publication I've ever read. It's a free subscription (though donations are greatly appreciated, and the print whenever funds are available!), and I highly recommend it. I was introduced to Above Rubies 6 years ago by my sweet neighbor, and have been a subscriber ever since. I have kept every issue, because these are the kind of things I want to keep for my own daughters!

Health:

• Black Walnut "mouthwash." This is complementary to our homemade toothpaste, and I'm excited to see how it benefits us! From the "Be Your Own 'Doctor'" book mentioned above.

My empty glass dressing bottle, doubling as a pre-mixed black walnut mouthwash container!

Recipes:

• We recently made this Santa Fe Chicken Chili and it was oh so delicious!! Both hubby and I felt like it could use a little something extra, but overall I thought it was really good. I used raw honey instead of agave, more green chile than she listed (we LOVE green chile!), and my own canned tomatoes instead of the fire-roasted ones. The honey and the vinegar really "make" the flavor, I think!

Other Stuff:

• My Camera, the Canon SX30IS. My parents bought me this for Christmas. I researched cameras for weeks on end before deciding this was the best fit for me right now...I needed to upgrade from a tiny Point & Shoot, but couldn't afford to dive into the DSLR realm (though that's my dream!!). This one is fantastic, and is SO versatile and customizable. Has a great aperture range as well as shutter speeds, and the zoom is awesome!!

• My AmeriBag Healthy Back Bag, a.k.a. my purse. (though mine is a small, so not as big as the one in the pic) I bought mine at a local shoe store, and paid for it with a $50 gift card I earned in ONE survey through Lightspeed (now MySurvey). I was looking for something to take on vacation with us that would double as a purse and a camera bag, and this fit the bill, WITH the added benefit of being close to my body at all times. Love it!

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