Last Friday was just one of those days that basically nothing went the way I wanted it to. After a long morning of shuffling things around and fun things falling through, I decided I really needed to change my pouty attitude and find other ways to enjoy the day.
My new plan involved picking Caleb up from school and take the boys to the park to enjoy the beautiful fall afternoon we were having. One of our best friends met us there for a bit and then a crew showed up and took down the fences around all the new playground equipment! We had been waiting for those fences to come down all summer! The boys had a blast! The new equipment is fabulous. Noah discovered he loves to climb (scares me to death!). As the sun started to go down, we decided it was time to go home and spend the evening with daddy, who was getting off work early.
Then we got to my car. There was a lovely pile of shattered glass next to the front passenger window. I wanted to scream profanities and vomit all at the same time. But, instead, I exercised my best mama self-control and did neither of those things in front of my children. I called the sheriff's department, knowing full well it would be a waste of time, which it was, but felt like I should tell someone "official". And, yes, I am one of those stupid mom's who leaves her purse in the car while we're in the park so I don't walk off and leave it for someone to steal when I'm distracted with my kids. (I KNOW this is a stupid thing to do, so no lectures are necessary, thank you.) This time, I will say though, in my own defense that it was actually covered. And then it dawned on me why the thieves would have been motivated to break in....my husband has a hand gun that he carries at home and work, but until he has his concealed carry permit (don't even get me started on that ridiculous process), he transports it to and from work in a small, locked safe that is usually attached to the bolts holding the seat in. The connecting cable had snapped a few days before, so the (praise the Lord) EMPTY gun safe was sitting on the passenger seat. Never even occurred to my naive mind how attractive that would be to some dumb thugs. And, no, it was not hard after that to find my purse.
Let me just say that I am so thankful that not only were we safe and protected, but the gun safe empty (SUCKERS!!!!), and my wallet only had $4 cash in it. That said, I lost my expensive prescription glasses I am bound to 24/7 ( I was wearing my equally expensive prescription sunglasses in the park), my ID, checkbook, credit cards, etc. All my cards come from the same bank so one phone call to a very kind customer service associate took care of that. The rest will take time and some money to replace.
So that long, drawn out story brings me to the title of this post. My six year old was completely dumbfounded that someone would break into a car that doesn't belong to him (or her) and take things that were not his. I cried when I realized that he still assumed that "bad guys" only exist in movies and that people are all good in real life. It was really hard for him to understand. I explained that there are people that make really bad choices and do mean, bad things. As he mulled that over, he started to panic. "But, Mom, what if the bad guys follow us home?" "What if they come back and take more stuff?" "What if they hurt us?". All those questions and the worried tone in his voice shattered my heart just like the window glass.
I realized that it's only just beginning.....as he grows and matures and experiences more of the bad side of the world we live in, his innocence will slowly be lost. And there's very little I can do to protect him from that. But, what I can do is prepare him for it. He asked me to pray on the way home (which I was already doing since I was driving home with my sunglasses on after the sun went down!) and then later at home just spontaneously prayed again on his own. The rest of the evening involved more praying and a lot of re-assuring that those same bad guys were not going to find our home. (Which I could thankfully do since nothing in my purse, drivers license included, had our new home address on it).
A very bitter loss of innocence, indeed. Oh, my sweet boy, how I wish I could protect you and insulate you from all the bad stuff in the world.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The little dudes
I've been spending quite a bit of time on the couch the past few days thanks to my little shingles situation, so I thought I'd write a little update on my boys.
Caleb is finishing up his 3 week at Fresno Christian and we are simply thrilled with the whole situation. He is doing great. His teacher said that he is focused (which truly surprises us), engages well in class and is kind to his classmates. Her only "constructive criticisms" (which she explained to me with a smile and no irritation whatsoever) were that his desk is messy and he tends to try to "debate" with her. (NO idea where he gets that from!!!) He loves school and is growing tremendously day by day. We are so thankful that after our initial school crisis, we have been able to settle into such a great place.
Noah is now 2 months into his speech therapy program. His progress has honestly been much slower than I hoped it would be, but we are seeing some good changes. He's only started spontaneously using one new word (bringing him to a grand total of 10 words whereas he should have between 50 and 250), but he is making good progress with his sign language. I'm really not concerned that he's never going to talk but it is really hard to deal with his level of frustration when he can't communicate things to me. Having a 12 month gap in what he understands and what he can express is a big deal for a little guy like him. We're going to keep persevering and praying that either his verbal language will catch up or we'll all become fluent in ASL.
In the meantime, they are keeping us busy and on our toes....and we're thankful for all of it!
Caleb is finishing up his 3 week at Fresno Christian and we are simply thrilled with the whole situation. He is doing great. His teacher said that he is focused (which truly surprises us), engages well in class and is kind to his classmates. Her only "constructive criticisms" (which she explained to me with a smile and no irritation whatsoever) were that his desk is messy and he tends to try to "debate" with her. (NO idea where he gets that from!!!) He loves school and is growing tremendously day by day. We are so thankful that after our initial school crisis, we have been able to settle into such a great place.
Noah is now 2 months into his speech therapy program. His progress has honestly been much slower than I hoped it would be, but we are seeing some good changes. He's only started spontaneously using one new word (bringing him to a grand total of 10 words whereas he should have between 50 and 250), but he is making good progress with his sign language. I'm really not concerned that he's never going to talk but it is really hard to deal with his level of frustration when he can't communicate things to me. Having a 12 month gap in what he understands and what he can express is a big deal for a little guy like him. We're going to keep persevering and praying that either his verbal language will catch up or we'll all become fluent in ASL.
In the meantime, they are keeping us busy and on our toes....and we're thankful for all of it!
Monday, October 10, 2011
A Renaissance Year
As my birthday approached this year, I found myself feeling very pensive and reflective. I never had the "I can't believe I'm turning 30" crisis, so when I started having a bit of a meltdown about turning 35, I was caught off guard. As the summer came to a close this year, I found myself in a bit of a dark place. I think all the events of the year had started to take their toll on me. Combining that with the fact that I have seriously neglected my own physical, spiritual and emotional well being in the midst of all the chaos left me treading the murky waters of self-pity, sadness and a discontented heart. Definitely not a place I wanted to be for long.
In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I felt like I was at a Y in the road. I could continue down the same path I was on or I could chose something different. In spite of the fact that we have suffered loss, and been through the stress of a move and a chronically ill child, we have been blessed beyond measure as well. We are finally living in a home we love, where we have all the space we need, our kids are happy and mostly healthy and John and I both have jobs we love and allow us to be very flexible and to be our children's primary caregivers. And, above all else, I serve a big God who loves me and cares for me no matter what.
So, I chose to do something different this year. I am choosing to do some things that are very important to my heart like growing in my relationship with Christ, finding new and simple ways to manage life and to take care of my body by changing my eating and exercising. Whoa! One might say, but in all reality, I am starting off with very small steps in each of these areas to make sure that I can manage for the long haul.
My hope and prayer is that as I intentionally take time to take care of me, Julie, I will in turn be a better wife to my husband, mama to my boys, friend to my friends and therapist to my patients. I can't do those things well when Julie is not ok. And, let me just add, I am incredibly grateful that I am in a place in life where I CAN do these things.
After processing all of my emotions and beginning to make changes, I came to the conclusion that there is no reason that 35 can't be my best year yet!
In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I felt like I was at a Y in the road. I could continue down the same path I was on or I could chose something different. In spite of the fact that we have suffered loss, and been through the stress of a move and a chronically ill child, we have been blessed beyond measure as well. We are finally living in a home we love, where we have all the space we need, our kids are happy and mostly healthy and John and I both have jobs we love and allow us to be very flexible and to be our children's primary caregivers. And, above all else, I serve a big God who loves me and cares for me no matter what.
So, I chose to do something different this year. I am choosing to do some things that are very important to my heart like growing in my relationship with Christ, finding new and simple ways to manage life and to take care of my body by changing my eating and exercising. Whoa! One might say, but in all reality, I am starting off with very small steps in each of these areas to make sure that I can manage for the long haul.
My hope and prayer is that as I intentionally take time to take care of me, Julie, I will in turn be a better wife to my husband, mama to my boys, friend to my friends and therapist to my patients. I can't do those things well when Julie is not ok. And, let me just add, I am incredibly grateful that I am in a place in life where I CAN do these things.
After processing all of my emotions and beginning to make changes, I came to the conclusion that there is no reason that 35 can't be my best year yet!
After fall comes winter.....
I love fall. It is by far my favorite time of year. The chilly nights and mornings are warm afternoons are such a welcome change after the scorching summer heat in Fresno. I'm finding myself this year, though, dealing with a sense of anxiety and anticipation. As we head into fall, we get closer to winter and that is what brings these unsettling feelings. Last winter was one of the most stressful I have ever experienced. Having a baby who was well for no more than 13 days in a row took a toll on all of us. The seemingly endless nights of a crying baby who was unconsolable brings back sickening memories. The days of being utterly exhausted and not being able to go anywhere weighed on us. The endless doctor appointments, tests and waiting was so frustrating. But, we finally got some answers and got into the care of an excellent specialist who was willing to dig until we figured our little mystery boy out. As winter gave way to spring this year, we started finally started heading in the right direction. Although we're still dealing with some of the long term implications of what he's been through, he's been well for the majority of the summer. We've now gotten to the point where he can go most places without worrying about him getting sick, with one major exception.
Unfortunately, the one place we'd really like him to be able to go is the toddler class at our church. We decided to try this again a week ago to see if his immune system was ready to be around other children. The answer? No. Tuesday morning he woke up clearly not feeling well and we later found out that he has a swollen throat with sores in it. :( So, for now, we will continue to pack a bag full of activities for him and are thankful for a large church that always has other young (and sometimes noisy) children in the services!
So, why re-hash all of this now? The truth is, we have no idea what to expect this winter. Because there is still a lot unknown about Noah's condition, even the specialist doesn't know if or when his immune system will fully develop and function. Research and case studies of other children indicate that each year should get better and that his system should be fully kicked in by age 5. How accurate and comprehensive this research is, I don't really know.
Hence, the feelings of apprehension and anxiety as we head into the winter. We can only hope and pray that this year will be better and that Noah's system will be more effective in fighting off infection. At the very least, we already have a specialist on board who has made it very clear that we will explore more aggressive treatment options this winter if he starts to head down the same road. It is very comforting to me to know that, at the very least, we won't have to spend all winter suffering and feeling lost. I won't have to feel like a crazy mom. I won't have to look in my little boys teary eyes and say, "I don't know what to do for you." That is VERY comforting to me.
Ultimately, we are confident that the Lord has this all figured out, even if He's not showing us all the cards yet. Our little guys life and well being are in His hands, and truly, there's no better place to be! So, here's to a healthy winter!
Unfortunately, the one place we'd really like him to be able to go is the toddler class at our church. We decided to try this again a week ago to see if his immune system was ready to be around other children. The answer? No. Tuesday morning he woke up clearly not feeling well and we later found out that he has a swollen throat with sores in it. :( So, for now, we will continue to pack a bag full of activities for him and are thankful for a large church that always has other young (and sometimes noisy) children in the services!
So, why re-hash all of this now? The truth is, we have no idea what to expect this winter. Because there is still a lot unknown about Noah's condition, even the specialist doesn't know if or when his immune system will fully develop and function. Research and case studies of other children indicate that each year should get better and that his system should be fully kicked in by age 5. How accurate and comprehensive this research is, I don't really know.
Hence, the feelings of apprehension and anxiety as we head into the winter. We can only hope and pray that this year will be better and that Noah's system will be more effective in fighting off infection. At the very least, we already have a specialist on board who has made it very clear that we will explore more aggressive treatment options this winter if he starts to head down the same road. It is very comforting to me to know that, at the very least, we won't have to spend all winter suffering and feeling lost. I won't have to feel like a crazy mom. I won't have to look in my little boys teary eyes and say, "I don't know what to do for you." That is VERY comforting to me.
Ultimately, we are confident that the Lord has this all figured out, even if He's not showing us all the cards yet. Our little guys life and well being are in His hands, and truly, there's no better place to be! So, here's to a healthy winter!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Schooling our boy
Most of you know that we homeschooled Caleb for kindergarten last year. It was a great year for all of us. He loved learning and John and I really enjoyed being intimately involved in every aspect of his education. It was the right thing for our family. Things started to change a bit in the spring. Life got very chaotic with a little brother who was sick most of the time and a growing desire to be with other kids and go to "regular" school. So, we started looking in to where we could send Caleb to school. We looked at our neighborhood school and decided that would not be a good option for him. Next, I looked into the school near where both John and I work and it seemed to be a viable option. Then, we heard about a small charter school very close to where we used to live. While I was never completely clear on how the whole charter concept works, they were under the umbrella of our local school district, while offering an accelerated, international baccalaureate program and maintaining many of the classes that most schools have had to cut due to money (art, foreign language, PE, music, and leadership).
We wrestled with the idea of not homeschooling anymore. To be completely frank, John struggled more with the idea of sending Caleb to a public school than I did. School in general was not a great experience for him and he is adamant that his son will not go through what he did. We came to a sense of peace, though, after talking through the idea that we are not handing our son's education over to someone else and washing our hands of it, rather we are choosing to allow our child to be taught by others in a setting outside our home that we can still be involved with. That's what made the most sense for our family this year.
So, with all the best in mind, we sent Caleb off for his first day at the charter school and that vision of the great, public school education for this year almost immediately began to unravel. Every thing from minor dress code violations to ansy feet that like to tap while doing work (imagine that!) to testing authority on the playground turned into major drama. My gut was screaming at me from the beginning "GET HIM OUT!!!". But, at the same time, I was confused and frustrated, KNOWING that Caleb is perfectly capable of succeeding at this school but coming up against wall after wall in terms of helping him adjust to a classroom and a VERY long day (bell-to-bell teaching from 7:45 to 3:45). How can this be? How can there be such unwillingness to help my child succeed? What are we supposed to do now???? School has already started! Do we move him? Do we home school again? What now???? Where did this angry, over-tired and generally crabby child come from? What happened to our upbeat, happy boy?
Those were just a few of the questions racing around our heads for 2 weeks. At the end of the second week after an e-mail from his teacher that tore me up, we decided that regardless of what the next step was, we had to take him out. So, we did just that. We then spent Labor Day weekend trying to sort out what to do next. That felt like one of the longest long weekends EVER. There was nothing we could do about it but pray. And that we did. A lot.
That next week, door after door opened up. We have been blessed with the opportunity to put Caleb at Fresno Christian School this year. From the very first person I talked to there, it felt right. I read (just about) every word of their handbook, their education philosophy, went and visited the class and met his teacher and everything else possible to develop a comfort level with the school before we even considered putting Caleb there. At every point along the way, we were affirmed that this was the right place for our son. He spent the day in the the classroom today and loved it! He will officially start on Monday. We could not be happier!
So, why put this all out there? Why share such a painful and tedious process with the world? A couple quick things. First, I have really come to believe that no matter what your educational philosophy, it is our job as parents to evaluate our child's individual needs each year. Just because we homeschooled for one year and then went to a brick and mortar school doesn't mean we will never home school again. It's just going to depend on what is right for each of our children each year. Secondly, my mama gut has never failed me and I should have listened the minute it started screaming to get him out of the charter school. Never again will I ignore my gut. Nope. Not gonna do it. And lastly, even if we made the wrong choice right off the bat, it is still our choice and responsibility as parents to do what is in our child's best interest even if that means changing things up or being unconventional.
Well, there you have it! If you made it all the way though this post, thank you! I truly hope that our story will encourage other's out there who may be struggling with educating their children. Next, it's back to recipes and my home made shenanigans!
We wrestled with the idea of not homeschooling anymore. To be completely frank, John struggled more with the idea of sending Caleb to a public school than I did. School in general was not a great experience for him and he is adamant that his son will not go through what he did. We came to a sense of peace, though, after talking through the idea that we are not handing our son's education over to someone else and washing our hands of it, rather we are choosing to allow our child to be taught by others in a setting outside our home that we can still be involved with. That's what made the most sense for our family this year.
So, with all the best in mind, we sent Caleb off for his first day at the charter school and that vision of the great, public school education for this year almost immediately began to unravel. Every thing from minor dress code violations to ansy feet that like to tap while doing work (imagine that!) to testing authority on the playground turned into major drama. My gut was screaming at me from the beginning "GET HIM OUT!!!". But, at the same time, I was confused and frustrated, KNOWING that Caleb is perfectly capable of succeeding at this school but coming up against wall after wall in terms of helping him adjust to a classroom and a VERY long day (bell-to-bell teaching from 7:45 to 3:45). How can this be? How can there be such unwillingness to help my child succeed? What are we supposed to do now???? School has already started! Do we move him? Do we home school again? What now???? Where did this angry, over-tired and generally crabby child come from? What happened to our upbeat, happy boy?
Those were just a few of the questions racing around our heads for 2 weeks. At the end of the second week after an e-mail from his teacher that tore me up, we decided that regardless of what the next step was, we had to take him out. So, we did just that. We then spent Labor Day weekend trying to sort out what to do next. That felt like one of the longest long weekends EVER. There was nothing we could do about it but pray. And that we did. A lot.
That next week, door after door opened up. We have been blessed with the opportunity to put Caleb at Fresno Christian School this year. From the very first person I talked to there, it felt right. I read (just about) every word of their handbook, their education philosophy, went and visited the class and met his teacher and everything else possible to develop a comfort level with the school before we even considered putting Caleb there. At every point along the way, we were affirmed that this was the right place for our son. He spent the day in the the classroom today and loved it! He will officially start on Monday. We could not be happier!
So, why put this all out there? Why share such a painful and tedious process with the world? A couple quick things. First, I have really come to believe that no matter what your educational philosophy, it is our job as parents to evaluate our child's individual needs each year. Just because we homeschooled for one year and then went to a brick and mortar school doesn't mean we will never home school again. It's just going to depend on what is right for each of our children each year. Secondly, my mama gut has never failed me and I should have listened the minute it started screaming to get him out of the charter school. Never again will I ignore my gut. Nope. Not gonna do it. And lastly, even if we made the wrong choice right off the bat, it is still our choice and responsibility as parents to do what is in our child's best interest even if that means changing things up or being unconventional.
Well, there you have it! If you made it all the way though this post, thank you! I truly hope that our story will encourage other's out there who may be struggling with educating their children. Next, it's back to recipes and my home made shenanigans!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Laundry detergent, baby wipes and a little irony
I mentioned in my last post that I have been making some of our frequently used household products. I am doing this to cut down on cost but also to continue to rid our home of chemicals. So, both of these things are very easy to do and very cost efficient.
For the laundry detergent, I bought a box of 20 Mule Team borax (available in most large grocery stores) for $4, a box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda for $3.50, and a 3 pack of Kirk's castille soap for $3.70. For just over $10, I have the supplies to make 4-5 months worth of laundry detergent. I was buying the Kirkland brand "natural and environmentally friendly" detergent before that for $13 per jug that lasted less than 2 months. Doesn't add up to a ton of cash saved, but combined with other efforts, I'm "trimming the fat" so to speak.
For the laundry detergent, I bought a box of 20 Mule Team borax (available in most large grocery stores) for $4, a box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda for $3.50, and a 3 pack of Kirk's castille soap for $3.70. For just over $10, I have the supplies to make 4-5 months worth of laundry detergent. I was buying the Kirkland brand "natural and environmentally friendly" detergent before that for $13 per jug that lasted less than 2 months. Doesn't add up to a ton of cash saved, but combined with other efforts, I'm "trimming the fat" so to speak.
Laundry Detergent "Recipe"
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 bar soap
Grate the soap on a box cheese grater and mix together with other 2 ingredients. I store mine in a rubber maid plastic drink bottle with a snap on lid. For large or particularly dirty loads, use 2 tablespoons of the mixture. For smaller loads, 1 tablespoon is enough.
Our clothes come out of the wash fresh, clean and with just a faint (natural) scent of the castille soap. I made some for a friend of mine with Ivory soap because of allergy issues and it's both easier to grate up because it's softer as well as less expensive. I like the castille soap because we don't have allergy issues with the ingredients and it does not have any synthetic ingredients.
I was a little concerned about the harshness of the soda and borax, but in reading up on them both individually and combined, and found that if I were to use the recommended 1/2 CUP "booster" they both recommend on their boxes in every load of wash, I would probably destroy our clothes! But, in 2 tablespoon increments without other soaps, it's perfectly gentle!
On to the baby wipes: this one is really easy too. Saw a giant Bounty roll of paper towels in half and place cut side down in a large plastic container (the only one I found that worked is a generic rectangular plastic tub from Walmart (where I really hate shopping). Otherwise, I'd have to put them in a heavy and cumbersome glass jar that I don't want to mess with while changing a very squirmy 2 year old. Oh, and I did not do cost comparison on this one yet. I've just wanted to try these for a long time!
Diaper Wipe "Recipe"
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons baby wash
10-12 drops tea tree oil
Combine all the liquids and pour over the paper towel roll. You don't have to use the tea tree oil, but I use it as a preservative because my first batch of wipes got stinky after a few days because there wasn't any other preservative and they go bad.
So, here's the ironic part. Back in high school and college, I never saw myself becoming a "domestic", make-your-own anything kind of wife or mother. Let's be frank, I didn't even picture myself cooking meals let alone making laundry detergent and baby wipes! As a matter of fact, my one of my aunts knew someone who had a key chain that said, "My only domestic quality is that I live in a house". I wanted that keychain so badly because it was the perfect description of me! Who knew I'd turn into this crunchy, earth and budget conscious kind of mom? Ha!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Back to raising boys
I feel like my blog went from being all about my boys and our family to basically just being about our adoption journey. I have always been the kind of person that struggles with dwelling on the hard stuff and heartbreak and sometimes I just have to acknowledge that there is pain to be dealt with but that I need to focus on something else for a while. So, I am going to do a series of posts on what my journey of raising boys has been like in the past couple months, adoption drama aside.
One of my seemingly never ending quests is to be more conscientious of the foods my kids are eating and the products that are in our home. One of the things I am wanting to tackle now is the fact that there are always 3 kinds of milk in our refrigerator. I drink regular cows milk, Noah (who is allergic to soy and dairy) has almond milk and John (who does not digest the milk protein) and Caleb drink soy milk. I am becoming more and more concerned about all the issues surrounding soy and would really like to get the soy milk out of the house. There's nothing wrong with the unsweetened almond milk Noah has, but it does not have a ton of nutritional value to it. So, I decided to research raw milk.
One of the many agricultural benefits to living in the central valley is that Organic Pastures, one of the premiere raw milk farms in the state is just outside of town. I did a lot of reading about raw milk and then also got a lot of information from one of my girlfriends sisters who works there. Initially, I was not even going to consider switching my immuno-suppressed child to unpasteurized dairy but began to change my mind when I dug deeper into the facts. There have been fewer cases of milk contamination from raw milk than pasteurized milk in the past few years, so there is really no safety net just because it's heated to a certain temperature before it's shipped. I also learned that it tends to be much easier to digest because it contains all of it's live, natural properties when it is NOT heated.
I got some good tips in my reading and from my contact at OP on how to introduce raw milk into our diets and make sure that everyone is actually tolerating it. The one major draw back is the price. It is a LOT more than regular milk, although there is not as shocking of a price difference between it and the almond and soy milk I'm already buying. Nevertheless, I have started looking for ideas and ways to cut down on other household expenses to offset the cost difference. That leads me into the topic for my next post, the homemade laundry detergent and baby wipes I've started making.
So, if I haven't already bored you out of your minds, come on back a little later and I'll share some cool ideas! And yes, I do seem to becoming more "crunchy", "roots and berries" or just plain crazy the older I get in case you were wondering!
One of my seemingly never ending quests is to be more conscientious of the foods my kids are eating and the products that are in our home. One of the things I am wanting to tackle now is the fact that there are always 3 kinds of milk in our refrigerator. I drink regular cows milk, Noah (who is allergic to soy and dairy) has almond milk and John (who does not digest the milk protein) and Caleb drink soy milk. I am becoming more and more concerned about all the issues surrounding soy and would really like to get the soy milk out of the house. There's nothing wrong with the unsweetened almond milk Noah has, but it does not have a ton of nutritional value to it. So, I decided to research raw milk.
One of the many agricultural benefits to living in the central valley is that Organic Pastures, one of the premiere raw milk farms in the state is just outside of town. I did a lot of reading about raw milk and then also got a lot of information from one of my girlfriends sisters who works there. Initially, I was not even going to consider switching my immuno-suppressed child to unpasteurized dairy but began to change my mind when I dug deeper into the facts. There have been fewer cases of milk contamination from raw milk than pasteurized milk in the past few years, so there is really no safety net just because it's heated to a certain temperature before it's shipped. I also learned that it tends to be much easier to digest because it contains all of it's live, natural properties when it is NOT heated.
I got some good tips in my reading and from my contact at OP on how to introduce raw milk into our diets and make sure that everyone is actually tolerating it. The one major draw back is the price. It is a LOT more than regular milk, although there is not as shocking of a price difference between it and the almond and soy milk I'm already buying. Nevertheless, I have started looking for ideas and ways to cut down on other household expenses to offset the cost difference. That leads me into the topic for my next post, the homemade laundry detergent and baby wipes I've started making.
So, if I haven't already bored you out of your minds, come on back a little later and I'll share some cool ideas! And yes, I do seem to becoming more "crunchy", "roots and berries" or just plain crazy the older I get in case you were wondering!
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