Progressive Sun Exposure

First off, let me just say, MY HAS IT BEEN A WHILE!!

I won't apologize, because I am not sorry--I was investing some time into my girls, my family and friends (close and far), and making a little anniversary magic...it was on the 1st of May. This year was themed the traditional flowers and/or fruit, and boy have these fingers been full of creative power! So excuse me for disappearing for so long!!

So while the sun is shining, I am constantly thinking about little babes and sunburns, so I thought I would share my sun"screen" regimen with you. I get asked about it A LOT, and I feel it's important...but I MUST start off with a disclaimer: My recommendations are in no way the substitute for medical advice, and I cannot guarantee that my method works with all skin types or conditions, please consult your physician if you have any concerns. This is just what works for my family.

We start in March, when the weather hits about 55 degrees around here, we pull on our boots and head outside where the shirts come off! The first initiative of Progressive Sun Exposure is to do exactly that, EXPOSE your skin to the sun when it is weakest. In the earliest parts of warm spring I allow my children to run around topless between the hours of 10 and 12 for the entire duration of TWO hours. In the evening, when the girls are up from their naps, and the day has warmed considerably, I stick their little booties in shorts and short-sleeved shirts (if it seems a little too cold yet, I leave their top halves in long sleeves), then we head back outside for another hour or so. This is the perfect point to gauge their skin! If they look a little "warm" when your child is usually pasty, hold off on the evening sunbathing! Then continue in this fashion through April, which will only end up being a couple times a week because of all the April showers! Just be diligent, as if you were a farmer who HAS to go outside daily to tend crops. Sometimes it can be a challenge to get out there unless the sunshine is irresistible, but there is nothing more beautiful than a body in sync with nature, skin tone obviously kissed by the sun!

I understand that the noon hour can be concerning, because between 11 and 2 the sun's rays are strongest, and normally I would recommend avoiding those hours, but since you're starting in the earliest parts of spring, I have never known the rays to be quite strong enough to burn, unless you're prolonging your exposure past noon...then you're just not following directions, and you are on your own! Still, for the fairer skin types, there are two ways to go about it.

The first way, which is easiest for me:
10-12 shirtless...
4-6 shorts and short sleeves
On any day the sun doth shine! Until May 1st. Then move the hour back to 9-11.
If you're in the water, halve your duration of exposure.

The second way, for babes under 2 and fair-skinned folk: (also helpful for late starters)
Avoiding the sun's witching hours from 11-2, expose as much skin as possible for 20 minutes.
Every 3 days of exposure add 10 minutes.
If that tell-tale pink glow appears, rest, out of the sun, for at least 2 days before resuming, and consider giving your skin a longer adjustment period, such as 4 or 5 days of the same length of exposure, especially when you hit lengths of an hour or more.

River Evelyn 1 and a few months old!

Now, why wouldn't you just use sunscreen and save yourself the trouble? I've been asked a thousand times. Because the ingredients in most sunscreens are carcinogenic, cancer-CAUSING...your great-great grandma didn't have access to sunscreen, and neither do peasants and farmers in present-day countries, such as China, and wouldn't you know it?! Their SKIN cancer levels are markedly LOW!! (Don't bring up Australia, our poor friends down under don't count!) So what about using natural sunscreen? That's decidedly better, but still,
"Vitamin D: it protects against many types of cancer, including skin cancer. Supplementation is in order for people who live in areas with long winters and/or people who do not take sunbaths."(Drake)

River, and Kaylee age 2.5. My babes NEVER burned last year!! They got close once, and we used sunscreen one time when we were in a pool that did not open until 11.

Now tell me, why would I hide my children from the glorious sunshine that God so lovingly made for us to enjoy, and mask them with man-made lotions? When it comes down to it, I always pick God-made over man-made, unless I'm treating a man-made problem with a man-made solution. Plus studies are showing that sunscreen may block rays from damaging the skin, but they do not prevent the rays from penetrating it, causing free radicals to form. So not only are you blocking your body from making Vitamin D to help deal with the free radicals, but you are also taking in the UVA rays anyway, and you are more likely to stay outside longer in this condition, thinking you are protected. (BBC News)

Low levels of Vitamin D are linked to many types of cancer; colorectal, breast cancer, renal, endometrial, colon...etc. Getting your levels above 30 is recommended, and above 60 diminishes your cancer risks by 3/4!! Even Canada has started prescribing Vitamin D to prevent cancer.(Nikoley) The following graphs relating Vitamin D levels to various cancer risks are taken from Free The Animal:

Notice how the USA is markedly above the projected incidence rate of Renal Cancer relative to it's average global latitude position...WE ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG HERE FOLKS!!!

My girls, in early April!

Progressive Sun Exposure not only exposes the skin to the sun, but also incorporates diet into the method, keeping skin healthy, vibrant and producing Vitamin D instead of constantly repairing skin damage. 

Sure, increasing sun exposure steadily will help your skin adapt to the sun, but your body will have a much easier time if you give it a break from fighting toxins in fast food, and help it along with natural dietary changes to boost skin protection and rejuvenation!

First, and I can't stress this enough, WATER!!! The more hydrated your skin, the more the sun can evaporate before hitting dry tissue. Dry tissue is damaged tissue.

Secondly, look around you! What's in season?? BERRIES!!! Especially BLUEBERRIES!! In the PEAK of summer, berries are abundant, and they just so happen to contain hundreds of antioxidants and other nutrients and vitamins that aid your skin among other things! There are also plenty of tomatoes, watermelon and dark leafy greens!

In addition to tomatoes and watermelon, some other specific fruits, to pick the best out of the abundance: Pomegranate, Broccoli, Spirulina, Red Bell Pepper, Mango, Carrots, Papaya, Cherries, Chocolate. All of these for Vitamin C, Carotenoids, Astaxanthin, Lycopene, Histidines, Anthocyanines, Tocotrienals, Sulphoraphane...all that jargon says HEALTHY SKIN!!!

Also, an in-depth look at how our country's diet has changed over the past few decades--Skin cancer rates have risen annually 4.2% after an initial increase of 77% from 1992-2006, at the same time we are spending less hours in the sun and more of that time in sunscreen. So firstly, we aren't absorbing the sunshine and making Vitamin D, as I mentioned before. Also, we don't eat saturated and monounsaturated fats. We fill our fats with canola oil, veggie and soybean oils, due to the sentiment that these kinds of leaner fats are healthier for you, when in fact it's the saturated fats that help produce healthy skin cells and the other oils that are being used in substitute during cell production can cause skin cancer instead. These oils are also high in linoleic acid which is not only linked to causing skin cancer, but also inhibits the body from effectively fighting cancers too! Other dietary habits to be noted are the higher intake of grains, which cause inflammation in most humans, and the use of chemicals in food (yes, even the lovely artificial sweetener that is 0 calories) and applying chemicals to the skin via cosmetics, hygene products and sunscreen. These products are just acting on the pseudo-skin cells your body created out of fake fats, which are more likely to mutate, so then the constant exposure to the chemicals causes them to do exactly that--MUTATE! Consuming antioxidants, such as the aformentioned berries will get rid of free radicals in the body, but if you don't participate in the dietary behaviors that cause those free radicals to form, you will be MUCH better off! (Katie) 

Kaylee Autumn

Study after study will show you that food is the foundation of natural sunscreen: 2007 Cornell study of Red Delicious apples showed the skin of the apple to contain triterpenoids which block or kill cancer cells; Korean study gave 30 women 30mg of beta-carotene (6 carrots worth/ 1.5 cups, or 1 cup of sweet potatoes) which showed to prevent and reverse photoaging of currently damaged cells. (Goyanes) A University of Michigan study found the Lycopene in tomatoes and watermelon also protect the skin from sunburn after 3 months of daily doses. UC San Diego also found in a study of Green Tea that consuming or applying it directly to your skin will prevent sunburn as well. (Barrymore) Yet another study, this time on chocolate, found that 3 ounces every day for three months not only helped prevent sunburn, but also left skin smoother, moister, and healthier. Even at 6 weeks, the skin reddening was 15% less, and 12 weeks 25% less! (Raloff) You should eat healthily all the time, but if you don't there are supplements that can help you too. Some German scientists studied Beta-Carotene in supplement form and found that taking supplements for at least 10 weeks improved the skin's natural spf. (Although I must stress that supplements can have ill effects compared to their natural form! For example the beta-carotene/Vit A supplement will increase risk of lung cancer in smokers and previous smokers, but not naturally occurring Vitamin A) (European Food Information Council)


To clarify though, I do NOT recommend staying in the sun at noon, I do not recommend sunbathing for infants, because we have thinned our o-zone layer, which is just asking for a sunburn. If you HAVE to be out during those hours, or have a little one who's skin is not developed enough to adapt to sun exposure, please naturally lotion up. There are plenty of natural lotions, so you can avoid the chemicals, but even in the most extreme situations it's better to lather on the chemical crap than to burn. So use common sense! 


Works Cited:

Barrymore, John. "Foods That Prevent Sunburn." HowStuffWorks. 10 Aug 2009.
<http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/sun-care/how-to-prevent-sunburn2.htm>

BBC News. "Sun Lotions Are Not Effective." 29 Sept 2003.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3142386.stm>

Drake, Karen Sinclair. "Natural Sun Protection." Dr. Frank Lipman. 22 Jul 2011. <http://www.drfranklipman.com/natural-sun-protection/>

European Food Information Council. "Beta-Carotene Supplements May Help Prevent Sunburns." EUFIC. 5 May 2014.
<http://www.eufic.org/page/en/page/LS/fftid/Beta-carotene-supplements-may-help-prevent-sunburns/>

Goyanes, Cristina. "Eat These Sun-Fighting Super Foods." Women's Health. 2014.
<http://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/food-for-skin-0>

Harris, Kimi. "Help Prevent Sunburn With These Beautiful Foods." Mother Nature Network. 5 Jul 2012.
<http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/help-prevent-sunburn-with-these-beautiful-foods#>

Katie. "Avoid Sunburn and Tan Better by Eating Real Food?" Wellness Mama. 21 Jun 2011.
<http://wellnessmama.com/2619/avoid-sunburn-and-tan-better-by-eating-real-food/>

Nikoley, Richard. "Vitamin D Deficiency and All Cancer." Free The Animal. 30 Dec 2008.
<http://freetheanimal.com/2008/12/vitamin-d-deficiency-and-all-cancer.html>

Raloff, Janet. "Chocolate As Sunscreen." Food For Thought. Science News. 14 Jun 2006.
<https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/food-thought/chocolate-sunscreen-0>

The Seasonal Family. "10 Foods that are Natural Sunscreens." 26 May 2011. <http://www.seasonalfamily.com/2011/05/10-foods-that-are-natural-sunscreens.html>

"Top 10 Foods Highest in Beta-Carotene." Health-Alicious-Ness. 6 Apr 2013.
<http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/natural-food-sources-of-beta-carotene.php>

The Ultimate Love... Captured in a Belly Cast

Not to be confused as competing with God's ultimate love, I personally venture to say a man and woman's ultimate love is their child!

Not puppy love that twitterpates you in your romantic dating years. Not young love that grows with sincerity and passion, and lingers on into early marriage. Not fur-baby love, although my snuggly cat in my lap would beg to differ!

Children make you do things no other being could expect: We adopted a Vegan lifestyle for our children (because who in their right mind gives up aged cheddar?!); a pregnant mother will stave off sushi and caffeine for their unborn child; and I've heard a man say in encouragement to their toddler, "okay! Go make a big poop, then show me!" We also gave up smoking for our children, and I know our girls kick-started an adventure to healthy, but the point of it all is that we enjoy it, and enjoy them, so we do everything to keep them healthy and happy as well as ourselves.

Kaylee was our first, and a scary adventure, but I had the MOST supportive husband! A surprise, but a welcome one! We figured everything out with her, and she was our inspiration to continue being fun-loving people and just include her in all of it! She was a smiley baby, totally colicky (over milk, so yes I paid my dues, don't be jealous!) and I love her more than myself...

River...she was also unexpected, but I was worn out, and my husband was not exactly excited this time. We were planning on talking about when we were going to have another, but not for a few more months after we found out she was already on her way, and I had to work to be excited for her. Stress came on quickly when we decided our little house was just not going to work, then the house we finally got into needed gutting and remodeling. Our whole lives revolved around stress. Granted, we bonded and teamed together to face the stress (minus the picking the house battle...whoever says it's fun is LYING!), but our contentment and joy ran out the window along with our sanity! I was not breathless with anticipation, but rather anxiety. I hadn't even come to love my new momma-body yet.

But ALL CHILDREN ARE BLESSINGS!!! And I truly do believe that. It's what you do with that blessing that will determine whether you experience the joy. I am determined to enjoy my children, I didn't labor for nothing, that's for sure! So this piece of art is where I learn to enjoy my blessings, and is the symbol of ultimate love.

The project starts when you're in your last trimester, when you feel like a beached whale, and your body is screaming at you, and you're not sure if you want the baby out already, or if you want to keep it in there indefinitely! That is the time. When you are at the peak of what you feel is unattractive.

You can buy a kit, I've picked one up for cheap at T.J. Maxx, or you can just buy Plaster of Paris strips at Michaels, (bring your coupon, of course!) which is cheaper than the most discounted kit I've seen! I had to re-do mine because posture is key, and I would recommend just buying the rolls of plaster tape. Then all you need is a dish of water and scissors. It is best to stand if you can so your belly does not appear slouchy, and apply a thick coat of vaseline. I had the best results using horizontal strips cut to size on my belly, and a mixture of horizontal and vertical strips on my chest, but cut down to half the width so they followed my curves better. Be generous and layer those strips until it looks smooth. Also apply a coat of water over the whole thing at the very end to fill all of the little holes in the mesh tape. When it has dried you can sand it, but only so much!

This process helped me love my body more, even if only for the baby inside! It also gave me some much desired attention from my husband, as he was the one who put all the effort into draping wet strips of plaster all over me!

Since it was so close to River's debut, I never painted my Belly Cast before she was born. Then with the two girls so little and helpless, I had no down time to work on it until she was a year old. Now that she is 2, I have finally completed it! But that is a beautiful thing to have taken so long to finish it, because every time I set to work at it, I would think of River, my love, my mini-me, and Kaylee, her enduring sister, her patient guardian. They are my Ultimate Love! And how befitting that I would finally finish this 2-year project at this "love"ly time of year!

Feel free to Google search "Belly Cast" because MAN are there some BEAUTIFUL BELLIES to get some ideas!!!! Seriously some cute and absolutely gorgeous casts!! Make it yours, after all it's your baby you're lovin'!

Christmas Cards...Lovely Little Holiday Inspiration

First off, don't forget to play the ISPY game for your chance to win a wonderful set of Bob Books! I'm extending the guessing to Wednesday the 11th!!!

I love making my own cards, it adds a personal touch, and for holidays, they get me in the spirit of the season! I also love a bargain, and hand-making 60 holiday cards came to less than $30!!!

It starts with a photoshoot in early November. We pick a different outfit and try new setups every year. Then we choose three photos that are worth handing out to the world of friends that we have! We used to use Vistaprint for holiday cards because they usually have screaming deals and fast standard shipping, so they always look like your typical holiday card, with a bit of personalization. This year, I calculated out some pricing, and found it was cheaper to do what I love and make them myself!

I found glittery green plaid paper that was on clearance because it was deemed "spring" paper, with the green being light and bright, but any green will do for "Christmas green" for me!

For 60 cards you will need:
15 sheets of 12x12 paper --mine was 39 cents a sheet, but you can get them as low as 20 cents on a deal.
3 rolls of thin ribbon at 50 cents a roll (30 on a deal) or 60 strands at 1 foot length each.
10 sheets of Vellum (packs of 20ish sell for 5.99, but use a coupon and you halve that price!)
15 sheets of printing paper, either cardstock or regular paper, something to print your "letter" on (Or a stack of 3x5 notecards will print nicely for a buck a pack! Just flip your orientation if your printer has troubles feeding the smaller paper size)
Spray Glue!
Elmer's Craft Glue
Role of Double Sided Foam Sticky Tape (for dimension!)
Hole Punch
Your choice of pictures. We do 3 different wallet size ones. Which ends up being 3 sets of 15 sheets of wallets that come 4 to a sheet...all of it for $19 ...the most expensive part! (MATTE looks best!)
60 Standard Letter (#10) Envelopes...Office Depot sells a 500 pack for $10! Score!

I like to cut my 12x12 paper into 4 cards, each 4x8 inches. There will be a small 4x4 square left over, but that's great for using as gift tags or other projects!

Type up a cutesy little letter that is about 3 inches tall by 5 inches wide, updating your family and friends of any accomplishments you made this year, goals for next year, and a well-wish for sincerity! It's all right to brag about your family a bit, children and spouses should know that we take pride in them! Especially for those of you who, like me, tend to downplay the behavior of our family, be it kids or husbands or wives, it is a nice reminder to keep speaking well of others and building up your family in love!!

At this point I also like to print a little message on the vellum, because it just looks so darn cool! Merry Christmas in Red and Green, or bolded black! Remember, you will be cutting out 6 of these suckers, so place your text in a 4 inch high, 3 inch wide space; two rows of three! It's easiest to split the page into three columns, then copy paste your original text until you have 6 on one page, then space them as evenly as possible.

Next cut all of your pictures down to size, and your vellum and ribbon as well!

Now it's time to glue! I LOVE spray adhesive, it's fast, convenient, and holds just as much glue as a regular squeeze bottle. You can pick them up for about $4 a can, but if you use a coupon, you'll score some sweet savings on that, and you'll be able to continue using it into future projects! If your paper is glittery like mine, pictures won't stick well to the front side, which is where the squeeze bottle of Elmer's comes in. One line down the middle, place your picture, then move on to the next card. This way it is more like an assembly line, glue. stick. stack. glue. stick. stack. 

When you've finished all 60, go back to the beginning! I like to cut four little pieces of foam sticky tape for the corners of the second picture, so I can stack it slightly askew on top of the first for added POP! By little pieces, I mean slivers about 2-3 millimeters in width, since you're doing 4 pieces affixing each corner, it will be secure and uniform.

Finished another 60 pictures? Now flip it over! The backside of my paper boasts flat, blank whiteness, which is perfect for adorning with a picture and a letter. It also is a close friend of spray adhesive...they hug so hard that they instantly bond! ;) Haha, seriously though. Take a plastic bag from your card making purchase and place it on the floor, or desk, wherever you intend to spray the backs of your card accessories. A quick spray to the back of the picture or letter, and press into place on the back of your cardstock! The plastic bag will catch the excess glue sprayed, and keep your process quick but tidy!

Lastly, place your vellum with embellishment on the top of your card. Hold both the vellum and card in your fingertips and hole punch both ends of the card. The holes will be aligned if you punch both at the same time, so then you can slip your ribbon through and tie an adorable bow! Knots are cute if you just can't get a bow down! And you can snip the ends to any tail length you want! I chose a black ribbon to tie the vellum on, since it matched all of the accents, but they sell the thin ribbon in 9 yard spools in just about any color! I also went with a slot punch, but any hole punch works well! 

Each year is different! Sometimes I like to use little corner frames for my photos instead of foam tape! Sometimes a stamp on the vellum works better than printing it! You can even get really fancy and emboss your stamp, but the embossing gun runs about $25 and the glitter is usually $4 a bottle. All depends on what your future cardmaking plans are!

Have fun cutting and pasting, in the old school, not-so-digital, crafty way! 

Our Last Thanksgiving

This year is the first year we will be bringing all of our vegan treats with us to our families' houses, last year we were vegan, but still in transition really, so we fudged this day by being vegetarian so as not to upset the transition too much. So this year, we will be having Almond-Crusted Seitan, Haertel Stack Biscuits, Mashed Potatoes with Miso Gravy, Mango Cranberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing, Haertel Stuffing, and Pumpkin Cheese Cake! All washed down with Buttered and Spiced Apple Cider!

But while I was going over the list, something kept nagging at me...it is so much food...so much more than I ever make at once...unless it's Christmas...and while my mama explains the holiday to her littles so beautifully, "it's a day we are thankful for the Indians, who gave the pilgrims food when they had none..." those pilgrims are our ancestors...so how are we "thanking" the Indians by making a national holiday out of it? I always sweep it under the rug with a passive, "with honor. We are honoring the Indians, like we do our troops on Memorial Day, and taking a day off for dead soldiers no more thanks them than Thanksgiving does the Native Americans, but we still honor them both because we dedicate the holiday to them." And I go ahead and get excited to see family, and start my food making. Yes, it's only Wednesday, and I had biscuit batter ready two days ago!

Then Brandan came home, and I shared our feast plans with him, sparing no detail, because he usually enjoys hearing what kind of feast we are having, no matter what the occasion. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and to my surprise my husband replied, "I don't know why we celebrate Thanksgiving!" I thought he meant because it was such a hassle to be vegan this holiday, and I assured him it was fun, and just the right amount of challenge, plus we would be "saving a turkey" by not eating one this year! (He always feels good after I tell him how many animals he's saved. He's so kind, and always been so, he even admitted before we became vegan that he did not support catch and release fishing, because most of the baited fish will die later from infection from the hooks ripped out of their mouths, and the fisherman doesn't even eat it! That's my kind-hearted man!) But that was not the issue this year! Instead he said rather flustered, "No! We celebrate a culture that we [decimated] (paraphrased out his vulgarity) by stuffing our faces until we are sick!" He went on with his disgust for the holiday, and finished with, "...maybe this is the last year we celebrate Thanksgiving?"

And so it will be! Our minds are always in sync like that, it's so awesome, but he is right, it's almost like we are rubbing it in their faces by eating everything we can manage to get down from the land that we took from them. Sounds really "thankful" doesn't it?!

Instead, we will be donating everything we would have spent on a Thanksgiving dinner to a Native American foundation every year until the end of our days. Then maybe we will have made up for some of the lost time in repaying the favor!

Here are a couple of good ones:

National Relief Charities

Strong in Traditions and Values, But Lacking in Resources

American Indian College Fund

Teaching Your Toddler the Alphabet! I SPY Giveaway!

Two words: Bob Books. They sell them at Costco periodically, and they are awesomeness!!! We have the complete collection, and paid $10 a box. You can also find them, used (which really doesn't make a difference, there are no activity pages) in the children's section at Half Price Books! I've seen them there for as low as $6!

Regardless, every day after lunch, the girls and I open up a Bob Book, and get going. Bob books are organized in sets of two or three letters per book, so we go through one book a week, and when we get to the end of the alphabet we repeat!

I sit with a girl on either side of me, point to the words and have them repeat as I read them! They are only 2 and 3 after all. When I come to a letter standing alone, I do not read it, but allow them to guess what it is, and going through the series the second time, Kaylee Autumn can name them all! She can even recognize the word, “the!” I also ask what sound the letters make, and even point out some letters within the words of the sentences on the story pages, asking them to name the letter. We have been “learning to read” since age two with Kaylee, and at first she didn't know what I was asking when I pointed to the “k” in “kite” and asked what it was. However, when you take the time to say, “there are 4 little letters in this big word, k-i-t-e, the word is 'kite,' but these little ones are letters,” eventually you can shorten it to “what's this little letter?” and she GETS IT! Then you can point out little letters everywhere, and it will make the difference between “i” and “l” much easier!

After we “read” the book, I set it face up on my lap so we can see the capital letters on the front cover. Then we take out these SUPER AWESOME dry-erase sentence boards, and our kid-size dry-erase markers. BOTH were purchased at Target in their dollar section for, you guessed it, a buck a set! 4 sentence boards and 3 markers per pack. I give each child a board, then I take the Red pen and draw the capital letter of the day on the first line, while saying a little phrase on how to remember how to draw it, and trace over it while saying my letter-drawing mantra two more times! Then I draw it again on the row below, trace over it two more times, all while repeating the letter mantra! Since there are two letters per week, we practice the first letter for two days, the second letter for two days, and on Friday we try both! After I am done writing and repeating, I take out a blue or green pen for one child, place it in their hand, helping them with the three-finger pincer grasp, and we draw the letter together directly after my Red letter, three times, move down to the next line and repeat, while matra-ing away! I repeat all of this with the next child and their individual board while I let the first one try to draw the letter on their own. They can still hear me saying how to draw it while I teach the sibling, and sometimes, they can do it!

This week was “M.” And “'M' has a straight back, with one hump, twooo humps!” After practicing together, my little smartipants three-year old, Kaylee could write it on the first try!!! Remember to tell them you are proud of them!! Because when you do, they will practice writing that letter on everything!

Kaylee Likes To Trace Before Trying The Letter On Her Own!

Teach your child to read and write for $12?! UM, YEAH! You can further their reading education in coming years, at $10-20 a year for the subsequent steps in the Bob Book curriculum, depending on how fast your child learns. My girl is fast, she could recognize the whole alphabet by 26 months, and can now write A, H, I, L, M and O!!! I'm sure there are faster children, but it's healthy to brag about your own ^_^

So! If you can tell me how many “M”s are in this picture, I will give the winner...

The First Set Of Bob Books! A White Board Set! And a Pack Of Dry-Erase Pens!!!

I spy with my little eye...

The “Family Dinner” Style Birthday Party

THE WINNER OF THE DIAPER GIVEAWAY IS:

ANNIKA MANCHESTER!!!

Please Send Me Your Address So I Can Ship Your Winnings To You!

So after taking birthdays bake down to their origins, starting with Momma, we open up the

holiday to family, making a wonderful family dinner that everyone can come together and enjoy, celebrating wonderful life with us! Basking in all the love, cherishing each other, and sharing AWESOME food, if I do say so myself! The Family Dinner also provides the opportunity for grandparents who can attend to shower the little lady with love, and celebrate her, it's the perfect little space that honors family connections. Eventually, it's just not going to be feasible to invite grandparents and uncles to the “kid party” the girls share, even this year we are running out of space to invite all the extended family. That is where the Family Birthday Dinner takes the cake! We are able to round up as many uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents that we can and celebrate it all together! Then the kid party has its space, birthday day with momma has its space, and we have just one more excuse to have a grand time!!!

For Kaylee's Family Birthday Dinner, I hosted 14 guests alongside our 4-person family. And what to feed a 18-person brood? The Haertel Riesling Pasta! Mango Walnut Salad! Biscuits shaped like butterflies! And a gorgeous, melt-in-your mouth, Blueberry-Cashew Cream Cake!

The Haertel Riesling Pasta is entirely my own design. I first invented the recipe when I was not vegan, three years ago, and back then I called it Shrimp Pear Sake, this is because the original recipe called for sauteed shrimp and any Pear Sake I could get my hands on! Since we are vegan now, we do not eat shrimp (plus, River has an allergy to shellfish, who'd have thunk?!) and Pear Sake is hard to come by, plus it's usually not worth the price, so I reinvented the recipe using Riesling! My favorite is Kung Fu Girl! Many would say that it is an insult to consider a wine a cooking wine, because they have cooking wine for that purpose, however, as the name suggests, it is necessary to use a wine you like for this dish! The undertones of the wine you use become part of the exquisiteness of the pasta! Shrimp Pear Sake actually tastes like pears! Kung Fu Girl is the closest mimicry to this flavor, and she's only 9 bucks a bottle on average!

Shrimp Pear Sake

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 # Shrimp

1 # Noodles

¼ Cup Flour

2 Tablespoons Sugar

½ teaspoon Salt

½ cup Butter

1 1/3 cup Milk

2/3 cup Pear Sake

½ cup Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon Thyme

2 Tablespoons Chives

Haertel Riesling Pasta

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 # Seitan or other Vegan Sausage

1 # Noodles

¼ Cup Flour

2 Tablespoons Sugar

½ teaspoon Salt

½ cup Coconut Oil

1 1/3 cup Plain Soy Milk

2/3 cup Riesling

½ cup Lemon Juice (Lime is good too!)

1 teaspoon Thyme

2 Tablespoons Chives

(1 tsp Parsley and 2 Tbs Italian Seasoning is also a good mix in a pinch!)

Instructions:

Sautee your shrimp or sausage, you may add salt and pepper to taste at this stage. Bring a pot of water to a boil for your noodles. Melt your butter or oil in a medium saucepan. Mix up your flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl then add it to the melty goodness. Stir until all of the flour soaks up the liquid, then add the remaining ingredients! Whisk until smooth and creamy, then bring to a boil for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol, stirring constantly. Then reduce to a simmer. Cook up your pasta noodles, drain, and combine all three pots of goodness together!

Mango Walnut Salad: Baby Spinach, 1 Mango diced, 2 Avocados diced, 1 Red Onion minced, and some poppy seed dressing...YUM!

And the finishing touch is Blueberry Cheese Cake! From Vegan Zombie! The “cheese” is actually pureed cashew, and the crust is raw in his directions, but I like to bake my crust on 200 for 15 minutes. Either way is crunchy good!

To top it all off, all of the dinnerware was compostable, so there was zero waste!

Now on to party pictures!!!

Had To Steph!!!

Can You Believe HE Is Her Uncle?!

Momma With Babe...So Sweet!

Munch, Crunch!

A Quick Snap Blurred This One, But The Sentiment Is Still Profound!

Kind And Thoughtful Auntie-Belle!

So Many Books! Wonderful Idea For Any Age!!!

Cards and Letters Are Awesome! Kaylee Adores Them!

Puzzles And Activity Books To Encourage A Growing Mind!

Birthday Ribbons Are The Best!

Because "Hi Kitty" Boots Are A Must!

Enjoyable Company!

Gifts Are Already Being Put To Use Before The Night Is Out!