St. Patrick's Day

I'm not exactly sure what the point in St. Patrick's Day is.  Wikipedia says it's a day celebrating "the arrival of Christianity in Ireland observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church."  However, it also says that it's become more of a celebration of Irish culture in general over the years.  "It is one of the leading days for consumption of alcohol in the United States, as individuals are allowed to break their Lenten sacrifices for the day in order to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.  Many people choose to wear green coloured clothing and items; traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched affectionately."  So, considering I'm not any of those religions, and although I have Irish heritage, I choose not to consume alcohol, all it really is for me is a day where you're expected to wear green.

Being such a basically meaningless "holiday" now, I'd choose not to observe it, except that it's fun to make everything green for the kids!!  A friend, Ashley, and I went to the Holy Cow Boutique with all our kids, so having Kiersten with me, I figured we'd better wear green or risk people feeling they had an excuse to come pinch a cute baby!  I still had at LEAST 5 women come up to me to tell me how cute/adorable/sweet she is, but no pinching!!

Anyway, here are some pictures from St. Patty's Day:

Homemade GREEN bread for our CUCUMBER sandwiches & AVOCADO and tomato sandwiches!

Skin and Diet

Poor Keith.  We had noticed that he had been licking around his mouth and the skin is now very chapped.  This has been going on for a couple months.  Well, this week we noticed that the chapping goes all over his face, and then down under his shirt.  Today, I noticed that it's also on his hands so badly that where it's already dry and rough skin, he's got spots that are red and worse than the rest.  I feel so badly!

So, now it looks like we'll be doing a whole food diet (nothing processed, only things straight from the ground/tree/plant) so that we can clear up his skin.  Ben has psoriatic arthritis, the psoriasis portion causing his skin to break out in horribly dry spots that get thick and white if untreated.  I've had horrible eczema for years, the worst being in college when it was big bloody scabs on the back of my legs for years.  Now, our skin issues are passing on to Keith.

Right before moving to Utah, I went on a whole food diet.  As I moved here, my skin cleared up beautifully.  It's been 6 years now and I'm starting to have eczema breakouts on my legs again.  So I know that this diet can work.  I know Keith isn't going to be happy about our diet changes, but it's going to have to happen in order to heal him and us. 

I'll try to remember to post the changes in our bodies as we undertake this diet for health reasons rather than to just feel better mentally and emotionally about our food choices.  I'm sure there will be plenty of changes.

March

We're only a week in and March is already an eventful month!

On the 1st, we picked up the van.  We are now a minivan family!  I've loved it the few times I've driven it, a very smooth drive.  It's hard to back up still, and I can't see the front end, so I don't know if I've pulled far enough or too far forward.  Otherwise, it's very nice!  One of the wireless headsets didn't work once we replaced the batteries so we had to order a new one.  It'll be nice to have those two dvd players once we head to Missouri this summer for my cousin's wedding!

On the 4th, we decided that we were going to better live the Word of Wisdom by eating more veggies and less meat.  D&C 89:12-13 states "Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine."  Granted, "[m]odern methods of refrigeration now make it possible to preserve meat in any season" as stated by more modern church officials, so we don't feel the need to take meat completely out of our diet, just cut back on it.

Anyway, so we've been having some interesting meals.  One night it was a Green Salad where all the veggies (lettuce, cucumber, peas, broccoli, avocado) and even the dressing (cilantro tomatillo ranch) were green.  Then we had a fruit salad another night (canned peaches, canned pears, apples, red grapes, and I usually add walnuts but I was out).  Then we had a mock Cafe-Rio style salad last night (cilantro lime rice, black beans in a cilantro tomato sauce, romaine lettuce, parmesan, guacamole, cilantro, all inside a tortilla shell).  Tonight we're having a Jicama Orange salad (diced jicama and mandarin oranges in a sauce made from cilantro, sour cream, and a little of the juice from the canned oranges).  Also on the menu are a sweet potato soup and a different fruit salad.  Finding new recipes and being a little more healthy is quite an adventure!!

Then, on the 6th, we attended a baby blessing.  Ben has been friends with Joe since they were in junior high, maybe earlier.  His wife, Kim, and I shared a due date of Jan 4th.  We both had girls.  Haylie Peterson was born 01-01-11 and Kiersten was born 01-02-11.  A day apart!  We blessed Kiersten last month and this month was Haylie's blessing.  It was very sweet and I loved watching Ben and Joe carry around their little princesses!  I love good daddies!

Two cute things happened in the van (tee hee, we have a van now!!!) on the way to the baby blessing.  First, Keith showed his compassionate side as he heard Kiersten crying and said to me, "Mommy, I can't reach Kiersten.  Can you help her?"  What a sweet boy!  Usually, I ask him to give Kiersten her pacifier when I am either busy or can't reach Kiersten (such as while driving).  I'm so happy to hear that he's noticing the needs of others and responding to them!  The other cute thing was from Mitchell.  We were listening to the cd of Primary songs for this year and got to "Search, Ponder, and Pray" when Mitchell started shouting out "Pop-Tart Pray!"  Search, "Pop-Tart [and] Pray!"  I love it!

One week down, 3 to go!  We're planning to take the kids to Cabella's this month, and the food journey will continue.  Maybe once we have the veggies down well, we can start taking out some of the refined sugars!