Free offer update and food rant

I just had to update you all on a few of the free offers from the last post....

So I've played the SOBE game probably 12 times, I've won 2 free SOBE's and 10 buy one get one free coupons. I am very happy with my winnings, because we buy SOBE anyway. My Mom on the other hand has played twice, and won 1 free SOBE and 1 $10 gift card to itunes. Perhaps we have different techniques, I always choose the guy with the highest percentage and she has been choosing a new person each time, regardless of the percentages. So there you go, GO PLAY IT!

The second thing would be the Picaboo books. I just got mine in the mail today, and I LOVE IT!!! Alex has read it about 10 times and already ripped a page, she enjoys it so much. I've talked to a few people who just don't know what to do, so to help you with your picture block, here is what I did....

I decided to make it into sort of a family picture book for the kids to look at in church. (The colors turned out perfect in real life, but you know how it is when you take a picture of a picture of a picture...)

I put in pictures of all their immediate family, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandparents.

I also just put in some of my favorite pictures, the ones you don't really want to frame, but you don't want to look in the masses of digital photos on your computer.

For the backgrounds I used some of my favorite scenic shots, or pictures of my favorites places.

I also added a bunch of my favorite quotes that had to do with family.

I am so thrilled with how it turned out. Picaboo definitely has won my loyalty as a customer. Since I don't scrapbook, I'm sure I will end up using their service again, they did such a fantastic job!

So if you haven't started your FREE photobook, go do it NOW!!! You only have until the end of the month, and I'm sure it's going to take you a few days to finish!

*Note- the first 20 pages are free, they will charge $2 for each additional page, but there is that option if you just can't fit everything you want into the first 20!

Apparently Coca-Cola is getting sued on the grounds that the company's vitaminwater products make unwarranted health claims. The crazy part is that the lawyers for Coca-Cola are defending the lawsuit by asserting that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage." Can you believe that?!! Go here for the full article, it just blows my mind.

Also I came across THIS website which also blew my mind. It an index of the different pesticides you find on fruits and veggies. Anyone who thinks buying organic is hokey, go here and just see. I looked up blueberries and found there are 52 different pesticides found on non organic blueberries!!! So if you are interested in finding out what different pesticides you are eating, check it out. It's so sad that you can't just simply eat healthy anymore. It's no longer just sugars and fats against fruits and veggies, but now pesticide free vs. not.

On that note.....

Over the last 6 months our family has become incredibly health conscious. It started with meat, and then spread to our whole diet as I researched and become more and more aware the effects the food we eat can have on our body.

I recently discovered that of all the groups (male, female, children, etc) Nursing mother's have the lowest amount of chemicals and toxins in their body. You know why? Because their babies are sucking those toxins from their mother's and getting a concentrated dose in their tiny developing bodies! That made me sick and I decided that it was just as important for me to stay healthy for Heidi's sake, as it was for me to take care of Alex. So we made some decisions and some big changes...

-We never really gave Alex candy or sugar, but now she very rarely eats sugar, NEVER gets candy, and has come to adore homemade whole wheat pancakes, fruit and juice.

-I have also "given up" treats, sweets, and those extra sugary things that so easily make their way into our diets (except I do allow a splurge once a week, usually Sunday evenings with the family).

-We have tried to eliminate as many processed foods as possible out of our diet. When I'm at the store I make sure that If I don't understand what more than 1 ingredient in something is, I don't buy it. And if something keeps popping up, I research to see exactly what it is.

-I decided that Alex and I would start drinking USDA certified Organic milk. I figured Milk is one thing we consume everyday, and even if there is only a little bit of bad in it, 3 cups a day every day is sure going to add up. It is about twice as expensive as regular milk, but I have also cut my consumption in half (which is a healthier choice anyway).

-We drink a LOT of water.

-We only eat meat about once a week, and only buy certified organic. When we do eat meat is is never the heart of the meal but more of a side dish, or something to add flavor and texture.

-Now that our garden is in full bloom we are eating a LOT of peppers. When I go to the grocery store it's for ingredients, thinks like spices, veggies, fruits, bread, cheese, etc. You can find charts of which vegetables are worth buying organic, and which aren't as important (great if you can't afford the higher price on everything.

-We do eat a lot of eggs. Eggs are tricky, there are so many broad and loose terms out there when it comes to free range, cage free, natural etc. We do buy those organic as well, but I am hoping to find a family farm soon that would be willing to sell us fresh eggs that I can really trust nutritionally, but also know the chickens were treated humanly.

-Once it cools down enough so that turning the oven on won't kill us the rest of the day with it's heat, I'm going to start baking our own bread, and hopefully find a good whole wheat recipe everyone will eat.

-After trying out Amanda's suggestion for delicious food processor peanut butter, and discovering that the brand in my cupboard had corn syrup in it, I've decided to make our own peanut butter as well.

A few years ago If I had read this post I probably would have rolled my eyes and called myself some kind of hippy freak. Being a mother has really been good for me, it has taught me so much and made me a better person. It's been so easy for me in the past to waste my time, eat what I wanted when I wanted, and do what was good for me. But having children has taught me that each day is precious, and full of teaching moments, food can hurt or heal you, and nothing will make you happier than service. I feel like I am growing into a completely different person than I was 5-10 years ago, and I can say that I actually like this new me. Since I've adopted this new "diet" I have felt AMAIZING! I feel good about eating what is on my plate and I don't worry about losing weight because nothing I eat is going to make me fat. I don't crave sweets anymore and I when I do have the option I think twice about whether it is worth it or not. I don't have to worry as much about what is going into Heidi's body, because I am taking care of mine. It's really given me a new perspective on THIS scripture. As if I should have needed any other reason than God's commandments to eat healthily.

This whole food thing has really been a journey. 6 months ago It was HARD to give up juicy steaks and eat mostly veggies, now I enjoy eating beans and experimenting with new foods (try quinoa, it's a complete protein in itself and tastes sort of like rice)! I now know that it's through small and simple things that great things are brought to pass, and I encourage anyone who is sitting on the fence to take a step however small and see where it leads you.

August is here

There is the biggest most beautiful sunflower bush on the walk to church, I've been dying to get a family picture in front of it and so we finally did!
Before I forget here are some great things everyone should know about.

-The free audiobook downloads I mentioned earlier are located HERE at books should be free.com

-This is a TED talk about nutrition, the guy is funny and the talk is SO informative, I highly recommend that everyone watches it. TED talks in general are great, its an easy way to keep up on all the interesting things that are happening.

-We love SOBE. It's our road trip/ movie night beverage of choice so we only get then on road trips or picnics. The gas station charges an exorbitant $2.00, Walmart charges $1 but doesn't have the good flavors. Right now HERE, they have a game you play where you always win a buy one get one free coupon for SOBE. I've played every day and have quite the pile of coupons stacked up waiting for a sale. They don't expire until 9/30. One more hint, if you hit the back button, it lets you print the coupon twice a day (although my printer is stupid and sometimes won't print any of the coupons!)

-Picaboo is a online book printing service for photo books, and right now they have a deal where first time members can get a FREE large photo book up to 20 pages, it ends up being about $8 with shipping, but it's still about $40 off! Go HERE for your code. The deal is only good until the end of the month, so get on it! I've already made and ordered ours, and I'm SO excited to get it!

-Last of all, we have new neighbors!!! It's these guys........

They say that when you want something with all your heart, the whole universe conspires to make it happen. It's true. We don't quite have our Yurt commune on 40 acres simultaneously in the middle of nowhere/ by a big city, but being a stones throw away if almost as good. Now I just have to apply my positive thinking to getting Kara and Devin to move into the ward.

Boise

This week the girls and I tagged along with Tyler for round 2 of Boise Firefighter tryouts. We decided to leave early, take our time, and have a fun drive with some great books on tape. I'd found this great website where you can download books on tape for FREE!!! So we listened to Heidi while eating some Grandpa Brady style trail mix (basically cereal and candy).

Our first stop was at this fantastic park in Tremonton, Utah. We had a blast playing on the playground and napping in the grass. Then we pushed on to Twin Falls.

Everyone was glad to be out of the car.

The falls were beautiful, it was about 100 degrees outside and we just wanted to be playing in the water so bad!!

It wasn't long until we made it to Sweet and my Aunt Kathy's house. That evening we spent socializing and catching frogs.

My Aunt and Uncle live in a remodeled old hotel that sits on top of a hot spring. They have a swimming pool that is always warm, an awesome hot tub, a trampoline, and a beautiful green yard with lots of trees, it's a little oasis in the middle of Idaho. There are little ponds and streams all through the yard and they were full of these little frogs! Alex LOVED it!

The next day Kathy, Mariah and Hatcher took us up to Sage Hen Lake where we biked, kayaked, swam, and caught more frogs. My favorite part of the whole trip was taking Alex out on the lake in the Kayak and listening to her chatter and sing about everything she saw.

We like frogs.

Heidi was a trooper.

There were even a few rope swings to play on.

Alex loves to Kayak. So does Tyler.

Continuing on with the frog theme of the week, at the lake Tyler found a nesting ground full of tadpoles.

He collected a couple dozen of them in a milk carton and Alex reached in and threw them back in the lake, one by one.

We went home and enjoyed an evening in the swimming pool, making friends and watching Alex learn how to swim under Kathy's tutelage. The next day Tyler went early for his interview and test and when he returned we got to float down the Payette, just the two of us, while the girls napped and Kathy babysat them, and 9 other kids. We swam some more, visited a park in Emmett and drank slushies. We had such a wonderful time it was so hard to leave.

Alex was so cranky about leaving she wouldn't even smile or say goodbye. Even if Tyler doesn't get the job in Boise, I'm so glad we have been able to have so many little vacations and visit the wonderful Johns.

Days of summer

Now that we have turned our driveway into kid central, Alex loves hanging out in the front yard, and I love not having to walk to the park every day.

I can't get over how cute and small Heidi is, and how fast she is growing up! A few days shy of 3 months already!

I also can't get over how filthy Alex can get in a single day's activities.

When Alex get tired of hauling baby Kelly around, Heidi becomes the baby sitter.

Heidi is smiling all the time now and I finally caught a good one on camera........

I love how her eyes twinkle, so you know she's happy, even if it hasn't reached her mouth yet.

The baby game

At least every Sunday I get told how much Heidi looks like a Brady. I'm not very good at the "assigning baby features to a specific family" game, which every parent is forced to play at least for the first few months of a new child's life. Tyler and I look like brother and sister, so I don't blame people for telling me Heidi is ALL Tyler's child. But I would like to submit some evidence to the table that might prove otherwise.

Exibit A.

Who is that adorable Baby you ask? Is it Heidi?

No.

It's me.

These are Heidi.

It's hard to capture in a picture how much Heidi looks just like I did as a baby, she definitely has some Brady in her, but I looked at that top picture, and then at Heidi, and I couldn't believe it. So even if every lady in Relief Society tries to deny my contribution, I have proof, Heidi is mine too.

Brady Family Reunion

We had a great time at the Brady Family Reunion over the weekend. It was so much fun going camping and watching Alex play in the dirt with her cousins.

Any time Alex wasn't following cousin Toby around, she was making Grandma hold her.

These two girls got really dirty, and had a lot of fun.

We had to sit her down and wash her really well before bed time.

Grandpa and Grandma Brady were cute as always!

I got to experiment with some late night photography away from the city lights (It was so dark when I took this photo, I had no idea what I was pointing the camera at!)

This is about how Heidi gets woken up every morning.

Alex always wakes up pretty cheerful in the morning.

Alex usually has to wake us up in the morning.

It was sad to pack up, leave, and head back to civiliation.

I need to post pictures of our "garden". What started out as a few sunflower plants and some black beans in buckets has turned into a mini forest of peppers, lettuce, jalapenos, beans, tomatoes and sunflowers.

We've made a habit of riding our bikes to Grandma Jakes house a couple days a week to water the garden, pick raspberries and play with Grandma. We were there for almost 6 hours today playing with Grandma's dolls, playing with blocks and just having fun!

Alex loves the garden.

Last week we tried to beat the heat by turning the sandbox into the ocean.

Heidi had a fun time.

I finally caught a smile on camera.

We even played with Ashes a bit.

I've discovered the only way to get Alex to look at the camera.....

Is to shout "WHAT'S THAT!!!" or "WHOA, whats on my face?" I might not get smiles, but at least it makes her look.

Heidi is starting to coo and smile a lot. I think she looks just like I did as a baby in this picture. You can also see her red hair pretty well.