Author

Kelly Crawford

Hello! I’m Kelly and I’m glad you’re here. I’m a wife and mom, just like you. I get it. I know how hard the days can be, and how you might feel like you’re spinning your wheels or that no one sees or appreciates your work.

health

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health–Day 4

by Kelly Crawford January 9, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

We’ve all heard MSG is bad (and should even be illegal), but you may not be aware that it can be disguised as different names. Try to avoid it when possible. We have permanently cut out most canned food. I still use canned tomatoes/tomato sauce, but never canned soup which contains huge amounts of MSG.

MSG, a dangerous neuro-toxin commonly added to pre-packaged foods to make them taste better, causes changes in the nervous system and possible nerve damage.

It has been scientifically linked to serious health issues such as weight gain, headaches, hives, mouth eruptions, insomnia, cardiac irregularities, numbness,tingling, asthma attacks, runny nose and swelling or dryness of the mucus membranes (nose, mouth, sinuses, vagina & intestines) as well as brain damage in children.

So, watch your product labels! MSG or monosodium glutamate, has many derivatives such as ‘natural flavouring’, natural beef or chicken flavouring, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydolyzed protein, hydrolyzed plant protein,, plant protein extract, sodium caseinate, yeast extract, textured vegetable protein, textured protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed oat flour, and corn oil. Most popular brands of infant formula contain some form of MSG. Vaccines also contain MSG.

From Quick and Easy Health Tips

(Another substance to avoid is aspartame. Almost anything sugar-free or diet contains it. It is highly toxic and should be avoided if at all possible.)

January 9, 2009 29 comments

health

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health-Day 3

by Kelly Crawford January 9, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

Get fruity!

Fruit smoothies/slushies are one our favorite snacks. All you need is a blender. Not only are they versatile, but provide a great way to consume a lot of nutrients at one time. Although it’s not the cheapest snack, if we cut out buying most other cakes/cookies, etc., the health benefits make up the few extra dollars.

Here is some of what we put in ours:

Frozen strawberries (I have read that frozen fruit/vegetables contain more nutrients than “fresh” at the store because they are frozen as soon as they are picked and that preserves them.)

—The average strawberry has 200 tiny black seeds. Each of these tiny black seeds contain Omega 3 fatty acid.

Bananas–sweetens the smoothie.

—Bananas are one of the world’s finest foods for supplying fuel energy

Apples–put the seeds in there too! Fruit seeds contain high amounts of the vitamin B-17 which is known for preventing/curing cancer. Apricot seeds contain the highest.

—A medium sized apple contains 5 grams of fiber, 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance.

Frozen blueberries–named one of the world’s super foods for its antioxidants.

—Berries are brimming with vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

Kiwi is great too, but we don’t have it on hand as often. Peaches would be good too.

Pomegrantes pack a powerful, nutritional punch.—The antioxidant levels in the pomegranate juice stands higher than other fruit juices.
Nuts if you wish.

Flax seed–no taste, just extra omega oils.

Yogurt–great for your stomach, full of probiotics. It also makes the smoothie smooth!

Liquid vitamins–if they don’t taste bad, they usually add to the flavor.

Orange juice–just a little makes the smoothie blend and freeze better.

Raw coconut oil is an excellent nutrient to add in.

We eat is as is, make Popsicles, or stick it in the freezer and make “ice cream”.

Get “Easy Health for Busy Moms”–our practical, no-nonsense ebook guide to eating healthy without radically changing your diet!

January 9, 2009 23 comments

health

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health-Day 2

by Kelly Crawford January 7, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

Take a daily supplement.

I know that seems obvious, but sometimes we forget the simplest of things!

With our diets and our food being so depleted of necessary vitamins and minerals, I think it’s really important that we and our families take a nutritional supplement. But not all supplements are the same.

Do some research, ask around, and make sure you are taking a “whole foods” supplement, so your body can naturally ingest the nutrients. Otherwise, you may be flushing a lot of your money.

Some can be pricey, but then again, what’s a little prevention worth?

Right now, my go-to supplement is turmeric. Research has shown SUCH amazing overall health benefits in this one, natural supplement, that it’s a no-brainer. Brain health, heart health, anti-inflammatory (join support), fights depression, helps prevent some cancers…the list keeps going. I launched my own brand this year (you can get it HERE) and I’ve heard amazing results from customers too. You should try it–its $3 off right now!

I would love to hear your recommendations for nutritional supplements!

January 7, 2009 9 comments

health

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health-Day 1

by Kelly Crawford January 7, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

A combination of wanting desperately to renew my energy and my usual resolutions for the new year brought me to a few changes I’m trying to implement in the health category. (Maybe some on simplifying meals after this?)

And I think we can all agree that busy moms need all the health and energy possible!

For all my sweet health-expert friends far beyond the rest of us (soaking and sprouting your wheat berries–do you make chia pets from them? Just kidding.) I admire you, I’m just not one of you…yet 😉

So for you, this might bore you. But for those who just want to move in the direction of better health in baby steps, I hope this will be helpful.
Today’s tip is so simple, yet I chose to start here because I think it may be one of the most important things you can do.

After reading quite extensively over the last few years about acid vs. alkaline and the importance of keeping your body’s pH balanced, I’m always on the lookout for easier ways to consume alkaline-producing foods. (If you haven’t read about this yet, I strongly encourage you to. Here is another link with a food chart. Some have reported getting rid of severe cases of cancer just by radically increasing their alkaline levels.)

Since most of a normal diet consist of acidic foods, it’s important to counter-balance it with alkaline foods.

But a really easy way to increase your body’s alkaline level is to drink a glass of water with a whole lemon squeezed into it a day. I drink mine in two glasses-half a lemon at a time to keep it from being so sour.

That’s it! Lemons are a very high-alkaline producing food, so the more you drink, the better!

“Though lemons, limes, and grapefruits are chemically acid, tests show that when they are metabolized in the body they actually have an alkalizing effect and are very beneficial. They have very little sugar. And they contain an abundance of oxygen. Lemons are said to be the richest source of minerals and vitamins of any food or foods known to man.”

Now that’s easy enough for me!

Read Day 2

Read Day 3

Read Day 4

Read Day 5

January 7, 2009 9 comments

motherhood/family/parenting

More Reasons to Homeschool

by Kelly Crawford January 6, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

According to USA Today:

“The ranks of America’s home-schooled children have continued a steady climb over the past five years, and new research suggests broader reasons for the appeal.”

Among the reasons parents answered for why they homeschool their children, I thought of another one:

When I noticed Kyla was “missing”, I found her assisting her brother with his dog-feeding chores 😉 (Really…he voluntarily took her out with him–isn’t that sweet?) Siblings are hard-pressed to learn to enjoy being together when they are not given much of an opportunity.

And I liked this early morning snuggle picture. That’s the newest addition to the family ;-/ She’s a sweet little “frug” (don’t ask) given to us by some dear friends. I actually like her, and I’ve never been a house-dog sort of person.

My favorite part of homeschooling is morning time. Where I used to be a bear trying to get myself and two kiddos dressed to leave for work by 6:30 (how did we ever manage?) we now enjoy a relaxed time (usually) in pajamas, my cup of coffee, and some Bible reading before our day gets started. If that was the only benefit, it’d be worth it to me! (My kids used to think their names were “hurry up!” and “get dressed!”–including the exclamation points.)

And here’s a picture of “The Mallie“, just for fun 😉 You can’t really tell from the picture, but her belly is hanging out of her top…quite a common “fashion problem” she encounters.

January 6, 2009 7 comments

abortion

Abortions Increasing…Planned Parenthood? Explain.

by Kelly Crawford January 5, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

Do you ever just get mad? Over things worth getting mad about…but you don’t really know what to do about it?

A report I heard today said that abortions have taken a sharp increase over the last few months. So what of Planned Parenthood’s claims (that dumb Americans buy hook, line and sinker) that more reproductive education and wider distribution of birth control is the answer to fewer abortions?

“With Planned Parenthood spending millions on public relations campaign saying it wants to reduce the number of abortions, the staggering decline should lead to fewer abortions. Not so.” From Life News

All this whining about “women’s rights” and “we just care about the women” is such baloney that it makes me sick. If you care about the women, why not spend some time offering facts about the devastation of abortion on the psychological and physical health of a woman, and talk some about adoption alternatives? If it was really about human rights, why not funnel all that money into affordable adoption clinics?

Let’s see…could it have anything to do with the fact that PP makes millions of dollars (increasing by the year) from abortions?

A PP center in Washington saw annual revenues skyrocket from 17 million to 35 million!!! Tell me again about how MY tax dollars are being used to “reduce” the number of abortions performed in the US?

My hair’s on fire.

Hey…seems I may be returning to normal after all 😉

January 5, 2009 14 comments

pregnancy/birth control

When God Makes Life

by Kelly Crawford January 3, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

This poem, or whatever you would call it, that I wrote in 2004 was lying in the floor in front of the cereal cabinet as I went for my late-night snack…haven’t seen it in a long time. (I may have posted it before, but I don’t remember.)

So it brought me a smile, and I thought I’d post it since I’m fresh out of “blog fodder”.

“A frozen silence fell over the heavens.

Only the whisper of angels wings could be heard. And then His voice broke the air…

‘Behold, it is good.’

The heavenly bodies exchanged understanding smiles and nods. For the God of the universe had just breathed breath into a tiny, new life. He had just merged two microscopic cells in which was contained every pattern necessary for the existence of a complete human life.

If we could have witnessed His countenance, perhaps we would have assumed He had never done this before. Oh, but He had. Millions of times over.

And the miracle of this one was as astonishing as the first….for every single life conceived is a living, breathing image of God Himself, crafted in His likeness and intended to fulfill His purposes.”

January 3, 2009 4 comments

Uncategorized

Write Where You Are

by Kelly Crawford January 3, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

Another title I thought about for this post…”Tender Gardening Despite the Weeds”.

I’ve been in a slump for the past week or two. In every way. Physically, emotionally, spiritually and even mentally. I’ve had a hard time even coming up with topics to post about (which, if you knew how rare that was for me, you’d know something hasn’t been right!) I have difficulty keeing my thyroid regulated during pregnancy and it can really be a thorn in my flesh until it’s back on track. And then again, I suppose I can’t blame it all on that…I am a sinful woman “prone to wander, Lord I feel it.”

The chores in my house feel overwhelming, and it seems I just can’t pull it all together. Can anyone relate?

We all go through this, I imagine, sometimes. A desert.

And mothering is so difficult when you are there. Being tender with my children has felt all but impossible. And then the guilt of “blowing it” so many times in a day compounds the defeated feelings already present.

It is these times when I must steal away and be with my Father. Even if it’s just sitting quietly, trying to listen. I must “bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”, because these are the moments Satan loves to show up.

I must refuse to let a messy house, or sibling bickering, or a lack or organization paralyze me.

It will come again. And for the time, this is still my garden. There are weeds that grow here, because it is a living garden.

I could violently rip them up in frustration, or I can walk carefully, pull gently, and nod at the tender plants I see growing underneath them all.

That’s what I’ll do. I’ll pull gently. I must. The little shoots are counting on me.

January 3, 2009 21 comments

dating/courtship marriage

No Fault Divorce: A Failed Experiment

by Kelly Crawford January 2, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

Another social experiment failing us miserably: no fault divorce.

“But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.” Jeremiah 18:12

A leading advocate for no-fault divorce laws was a feminist law professor named Herma Hill Kay. Because couples were lying in court to try to obtain a divorce in the former system (which required proof of wrong-doing), and lawyers and judges felt this activity “threatened the integrity of the American justice system”, the no fault divorce law was passed in 1970, after Governor Ronald Regan signed The Family Law Act in the state of CA in 1969.

Obvious consequences have followed that have broken the family:

“Members of the fathers’ rights movement state that laws establishing no-fault divorce can be seen as one of the boldest social experiments in modern history that have effectively ended marriage as a legal contract. They also state that it is not possible to form a binding agreement to create a family, adding that government officials can, at the request of one spouse, end a marriage over the objection of the other. They add that no-fault divorce has left fathers with no protection against what they describe as the confiscation of their children.”

I hardly attend a marriage these days without secretly feeling a bit sick at my stomach, wondering if the vows being spoken are being revered as holy, unchangeable and immutable, as a covenant before God. I wonder as we (meaning, as a society) allow our sons and daughters to be so flippant in their dating life, to become intimate with who knows who, if it doesn’t have something to do with the flippancy now associated with marriage and divorce.

And I wonder, what does God think of it all? How do we pick up the broken pieces of the mess we’ve made and continue to make? And those messes now being passed down to the next generation grow messier as they accumulate.

Can we reclaim the sacredness of marriage? Can we convince a new generation that marriage is for life? And therefore not to be entered without the most careful prayer, counsel and preparation?

“The idea that marriage is a covenant larger than the two people who make it has been lost. Marriage vows and the promise made to each other during those vows have lost their value. This is evident in the high divorce rate in the United States.”

“Family Court Judge Randall Hekman said, “It is easier to divorce my wife of 26 years than to fire someone I hired one week ago. The person I hire has more legal clout than my wife of 26 years. That’s wrong.”

And an on-line ad I found:

~~~~~~”We offer Do It Yourself Divorce, Divorce Forms, Divorce Papers and Divorce Kits. We know from our experience and research that many couples can handle their own, no-fault divorce without the assistance of an attorney, saving thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees and maintaining control over their divorce action. We have helped thousands of couples do their own divorce. Our products and services are designed for simple, no-fault (uncontested) divorce cases.”~~~~~~~

And another look at the reality of what divorce does to children:

“

Instead of looking at marital breakup in terms of an ethic of obligation to others, Americans began to see it in terms of an ethic of obligation to the self. In other words, no longer were the parents’ interests presumed to be subordinate to their children’s; instead, individual happiness became the new standard by which a marriage was judged.”

“Even though 80 percent of men and 50 percent of women felt their lives were better after divorce, the effects on children were disastrous. By almost every measure, children in divorced families fared worse: emotional problems, early sexual experimenting, dropping out of school, delinquency, teen pregnancy, and drug use. Remarriage was no solution; children in stepfamilies were two to three times more likely than their counterparts to suffer emotional and behavioral problems and twice as likely to have learning problems.”

“But the case is not so clear in marriages marked by marital dissatisfaction, emotional estrangement, boredom, or another romantic interest. In these instances, adults, who are more resilient than children, can be expected to sacrifice some of their own interests in order to preserve the stable and caring home necessary for their offspring to flourish. Traditionally, spouses were obligated not merely to stay in a troubled marriage for the sake of the children but to improve it.”

These last quotes from The American Myth of Divorce

January 2, 2009 11 comments

feminism

Daughter of Feminist Author Reveals Tragic Upbringing

by Kelly Crawford January 2, 2009

written by Kelly Crawford

Daughter of feminist author Alice Walker (The Color Purple) says she saw life from a very different worldview, being brought up in the home of a feminist mother. Very enlightening article.

“You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale.”

“The ease with which people can get divorced these days doesn’t take into account the toll on children. That’s all part of the unfinished business of feminism.”

“Feminism has betrayed an entire generation of women into childlessness. It is devastating.”

(An interesting note…Alice was the youngest of 8 children. Her mother’s very willingness to bring up children is what even made it possible for Alice to make her mark on the world. But she gives no credit to motherhood, denying her own power given to her from her own mother.

Read Full article

January 2, 2009 5 comments

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