Our neighbors came to stay in their Summer home next to us for a few days last week. I just love my neighbor Elana because we have a lot in common when it comes to natural foods, herbs and such. We always are delighted to see each other and exchange good foods. She brought over some tallow from their cows. It has the most beautiful smell to it…. smells like the crispy fat on a good, cooked steak. It’s a very stable fat too. If you are one to think that it’s full of cholesterol that’s bad for you, you need to read “Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon” and “Real Food by Nina Planck”.  I won’t try to convince you, they’ll do a much better job than I could ever do.  : ) Any books by Mary Enig who is the top scientist on the study of lipids (fats) will really win you over.

Elana also brought over some fresh rosemary, some delicious salad greens, olive oil and some cheese that has a dark beer in it. It was very tasty. We ate it up for lunch that afternoon with crackers and fruit. Thank you Elana and Tim!  : )

 Beef Tallow

I taught the girls how to crochet a single strand. Now I’m trying to learn how to make a dishcloth so I can teach the girls. They crocheted chains a mile long in our home last week. They crocheted for hours. It was fun!

They’ve been doing water colors too!

Some pretty dishes I found at the thrift store the other day. Only $1.50 a piece by Homer Laughlin. The larger plate had the snowflake pattern in the middle at one time too… I can see traces of the gold color still residing in the middle.

Our squiggly looking baby here is doing just fine. I was measuring right on time. The due date still stands at July 30th and it looks like we’ll have the baby the 16th of July by c-section. My new doctor delivered his first baby in 1983 and was a dentist before getting into obstetrics/gynecology. He’s been married for 41 years.

I mentioned that things must have changed for him a lot in these years in seeing a lot more drug use and STD’s. He shared, “You don’t want to know. I would rather have 100 of you (remember, I’m high risk, old maternal age, c-sections, placenta separation and more), than five 17 year-olds. They come in to my office weighing over 300 pounds.” That said a lot to me. I won’t forget those words. How sad that most 17 year olds are in poor health compared to an almost 45 year old that’s had some pregnancy complications. Very sad.  : (

Anyways, I’m very sleepy right now. The hormones are running full swing. I can’t get out of my robe today and I am not a sit around in my robe during the day unless I have a very bad flu. My homemade chocolate makes me feel nauseated, but I love eggs for breakfast now. I am not a breakfast person either. I just can’t eat breakfast… but, I am loving it now. Our next appointment is the 14th and he does ultrasounds regularly so I’ll post another picture. The heartbeat was 154…. all of my girls were in the 160’s, Matthew’s was in the 130’s so we’ll see if this one goes down.  : )

We’re still in disbelief that I’m pregnant. My cycle was 25 days long from the last one. I always thought I would have one more baby at 45 though. I’ll update at my next appointment.

Thanksgiving dinner. We were turkey-ed out from slaughtering our turkeys recently so we decided to have a pork roast for dinner.       I came out from doing the dinner dishes one evening and saw all the kids reading. I love seeing the kids read books.      A beautiful site. A very cold day, but beautiful nonetheless.

Very cold. Minus 6 or so during the night and up to 8 degrees during the day. The wind was so horribly cold. Look at the coldness swirling around on top of the water.

 The two little look a likes getting a ride from Hannah their big sister. Anna is on the left. Mommy can tell who is who.  : )

  My first Malabrigo merino wool yarn. I am going to buy a skein or two a month and make a baby blanket. This is washable. Aren’t the colors so pretty?

Homemade toothpaste. If you are prone to canker sores, don’t buy toothpaste with Sodium Laurel Sulfate. It “causes” canker sores. And most toothpastes contain SLS. Sensodyne Pro Enamel doesn’t have SLS, nor does some of the Toms of Maine. Toms of Maine carries a strawberry toothpaste for kids that is clean.

My recipe for my own toothpaste that the kids love? Coconut oil, dolomite powder (calcium carbonate), baking soda, touch of vanilla and a couple of drops of stevia. Make sure they don’t EAT the toothpaste.  : ) It’s yummy!