Vintage Remedies For Kids/ TOS Review

 

Vintage Remedies began with one homeschool mom that was eager to share all of the information she had been collecting with others. Now the business has books, curriculum, and classes to offer.

I received the opportunity to review Vintage remedies for Kids.  This is a fabulous health and nutrition curriculum for kids ages 2-6. My son is 7, but it is still perfect for him.

 

There are 18 chapters, and each chapter has a lesson that you read to the child. There are plenty of hands on activities, projects and recipes to keep your little one involved.

The chapters are:

1. Why do I eat food?
2. Natural Candy-Fruit
3. Vegetables: Keeping me Healthy
4. A Rainbow of Food
5. Nuts and grains
6. Foods that are not real Foods
7. I can grow Food!
8. How I Grow
9. How to Catch a Bug
10. staying Healthy
11. When I get Sick
12. Bruises and Scrapes
13. My Little Apothecary
14. A Great Big World with Lot's of Surprises
15. Taking care of My World
16. Things I can Use Again and Again
17. Staying Clean
18. Outside of My Community

The first thing we did was make homemade pizza! My son loved this. He made the dough and everything! I did take pictures but I can't find my memory card adapter. lol (I'll try to add them when I find them.)

One of my favorite parts of this book are the recipes. There are so many like, homemade pizza, Almond Butter Crunchies, and hot cocoa mix.

I highly recommend this curriculum for your family.

I also want you to check out what my fellow Crew mates thought of what they reviewed, because we all reviewed different things!

You can purchase Vintage Remedies for Kids here for $25.00. Be sure to check out everything else Vintage Remedies offers.

*I have received a copy of Vintage Remedies for Kids, free, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, in return for my honest opinion.
No other compensation has been given to me.*

2011 Gratitude Challenge - November 12th

Wow, it is day 12 of the 2011 Gratitude Challenge, and so far I have made it each day! Yay me!

OK, a few of them have been at night, but I still made it. lol

Today I am thankful for herbal and natural medicines. I am grateful that God made these things for us so that we can treat ourselves naturally.

Now, I am not against doctors, don't get me wrong. I just like to try natural methods first.

I'll tell you a couple of things that we really like.

We use Olive Leaf Throat Spray by Seagate for sore throats. At the first sign of one, we start using it. It has always worked so far.

I also like Seagates Ear Ache Remedy. But something that worked for me when I had swimmers ear, when nothing else would, was to take one tablespoon of olive oil, warm it up, and then add 10 drops of tea treee oil.

And of course, foods can be natural healers as well. 

I have also learned that it may take a little longer to heal when you are letting your body heal itself, but it is worth it.

God's ways are always great!

What are you thankful for today?

2011 Gratitude Challenge - November 4th

Today is day 4 of the 2011 Gratitude Challenge. I actually wrote up another post and then decided to post it tomorrow instead. Today I want to express my gratitude to the Lord for our family's health.

There are so many problems going around that it is almost unbearable at times. I have so many family members who are suffering from serious health issues.

I have had my fair share of health issues, mostly all related to simply being in bad health.  Thankfully I have not had anything permanent. My children and husband are in good health. For this I am so thankful.

I am also very thankful for the ability to do something about my health problems. I know that if I actually get in shape, my health problems will go away. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I am growing in to treat my family naturally.

God is so good, and He has provided so many things for us to treat ourselves naturally. I am trying to learn how to do this more.

I am so thankful that I can get up and go workout, and help myself. I need to really internalize that more, and realize that I have the option now; I may not have it later. I need to do something about my health.

God is blessing me with the chance to do that, and I haven't been taking it. Well, no longer. I won't waste the time God gave me any longer. And I am going to take better care of my family's health and nutrition from now on. God is so good. Thank you Lord for all of your blessing, large and small. Thank you Lord for the ability to change our health, and to make our lives better. Thank you Lord for the ability to get up and go  and change my health. I am so sorry that I have been wasting that blessing Lord. You are amazing. I ask your forgiveness Lord for ruining my health and not accepting the blessing you have been trying to give me. Please forgive me Lord and see me through this time that it will take to get myself back to the healthy life it should be. You are so good Lord, and I am so grateful for you Lord.

I am off to go and start changing my life. I am going to go workout! lol

Slim Down Sunday - Week 1 for Me

I am joining up with April at Heartfelt Homeschooling

for Slim Down Sunday. 

I probably won't post on Sundays, as we can post anytime throughout the week. 

I will try to post on Mondays.  

This is my first week so I don't have anything to report, but I am in this for trying to lose 20 pounds. 

I need to lose more than that ultimately, but I am going to focus on smaller goals first. 

This week one of my goals is to only have one pop a day, so I can wean down. I ahve went cold tukey before, but the withdrawls are awful. 

I am going to eat much more sensibly, and I am making my morning smoothies again. 

As far as activity goes, I will not be able to have a formal workout routine, because I am getting my house ready to put up for sale, so that will give me a lot of activity. lol

So I look forward to seeing some results next week, and I hope everyone else does too. 

If you want to join us, you can find the link up here.

Vintage Healthy Home - A good week

Well, I have done much better this week,a nd have actually managed to drop a few pounds. Now, if I can just keep it up. 

I have not had pop, well, one sprite, or caffeine this week. I did manage to work out once this week, but the rest of the week I wasn't feeling well. Probably part of the reason I lost a few pounds. I am feeling much better now. 

Now that my stomach has shrunk, I hope to keep it that way, and be careful of my portion control. 

My goal is to keep up with the healthy eating, and workout at least 3 times a week from now on. 

I plan on trying to get a workout in today as well. 

I do hope that each week I will have more good news to share. 

This post is linked up with The Vintage Healthy Home.

Fit Mommy Friday!

Hey everyone. It has been a while since I have participated in FMF. SO long in fact that it is no longer even called FMF! HA

It has been changed to Vintage Healthy Home. This is so that we can post about all health related aspects, rather than just fitness.

So, that will be cool. I may be adding some fun recipes soon!

Well, I have been doing pretty good with my eating and activity, but this last week, as I was hormonal, it all went out the window. sigh

I am so tired of losing a little, but then just gaining it right back. So tired of it.

Well, I don't have a lot to say this week as I have messed up royally this week, but hopefully next week will be much brighter! See ya then.

TOS Review/ Go Trybe

GoTrybe is an online Fitness, Wellness, Nutrition and Motivation program for kids of all ages.

There are 3 different groups available.

My son is in Zoodoos, and my daughter is in Trybe180.

Each day your child logs in, and they do four things.

1. Watch a nutrition video, and answer a question about the video.
2. Watch a motivation video.
3. Watch a wellness video, and answer a question about the video.
4. Customize, and do their workout.

The videos are very short, just a minute or two.

After completing these four things, they can then buy items, such as clothes and accessories for their avatar.

There is also a forum for the kids if they have any questions they would like answered.

On their page is where they can see their avatar, and can post information about themselves, such as their favorite color, favorite song, favorite movie, etc.

They can also have "friends". They can see the avatar and pages of their friends.

It is very reminiscent of Facebook to me. They can even post a "shout" like you can on Facebook.

We did not do this part, as I don't want my kids having a FB page, or anything even similar. 

There are some good things, and some not so good things about this program.

I like the fact that kids are learning healthy tips, and that they can customize their workouts.

My favorite part of this program was the fitness and nutrition tidbits that they learned in the videos.

Although, something I noticed was that the videos and questions did not seem to be age related. Both of my kids seemed to have gotten the same type of questions.

There are some things, however, that I do not care for. .

I really don't like the looks of the older avatars.

In my opinion, the girl especially, is a little to sexy for a kids program. I don't like the body stance at all.
Again, this is only my opinion.

I had my older daughter choose the younger avatar. They seem more appropriate to me.

The younger avatars are the shorter ones. I just don't like the impression the older ones give off.

This is my daughters avatar:

And this is my son's:

I am going to up front and honest in this review. 

I did not use this program as thoroughly as I probably should have, but I will tell you why. 

First off it takes way too much time, in my opinion. Your child gets on the computer to choose his workouts, and that takes forever. At least it does with my kids. It takes them longer to choose from all of the workouts, than it does to do the actual workout. 

They never could seem to make up their minds. It was very frustrating for me. 

Secondly, after doing some of the older workouts with my daughter, and finding some of the dance moves inappropriate, I discontinued her use of the program. I don't know exactly how to explain the dance moves except that they remind me of Salsa type dances. (Sexy hip movement type stuff.)

I did not care for some of the attire that some of the instructors were wearing. There were some very short skirts, and tight tops, and couple that with some of the dance moves they were doing, and it made us very uncomfortable. 

Also, in some of the educational videos, there were several ladies wearing tops that showed quite a bit of cleavage. 

I know that modesty is subjective, and that everyone has their own opinion on what is modest, and what is not, so keep that in mind, and remember that this review is my opinion only. 

But it is enough for me to not want to continue this program. 

My daughter and son both said that the only thing they liked about the program was creating their avatars, and buying accessories for their avatars. 

My daughter also said that the dance moves were too hard to follow.

For us it just didn't fit, but I urge you to check it out for yourself to see if it is something that your family would like. 

I like the idea behind it. I would be cool to have a program that you could customize your own workout everyday. 

It is just not something that works for us right now. 

You can get a one day free trial of Gotrybe when you enter "GETFIT" as your promo code. 

If you decide to continue using gotrybe.com after the free trial period, the cost of a one year membership is $19.95 (regularly $39.95).

There were many other ladies that also reviewed this program however, and I urge you to read their reviews, so that you can get many other perspectives, other than just my own.  

*I have received a trial membership to Gotrybe, free, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, in return for my honest opinion.

No other compensation has been given to me.*

Nutrition 101:Choose Life/ TOS Review

As part of the TOS Review Crew, I have reviewed many products this year. My latest review product is Nutrition 101: Choose Life from Growing Healthy Homes.

I love this book! This has been one of my favorite review products so far this year.

Nutrition 101: Choose Life is awesome! This is not your typical health book.

First off, it is Biblically based. As a Christian, I appreciate this fact very much.

Second, it can actually be used as a curriculum. This is a 448 page family nutrition and health program/curriculum. 

Third, it is Co-authored by homeschool mother Debra Raybern, N.D., M.H., C.N.C., I.C.A.; homeschool mother and researcher Sera Johnson, B.MU; mother and writer/editor Laura Hopkins, B.S.; and mother, grandmother and former Home Economics teacher Karen Hopkins, B.S.

I love the fact that it is written by fellow homeschool moms. You know it will be written in a way that is easy to implement with your family.

You can use this program with all ages, although it is better suited for older children.
You can, however, take the key parts, and teach them to your younger children.

This book is not just for the kids. I am learning so much about health and nutrition, and how to better take care of my family, and their health. 

Your family will learn about the major body systems, how they work, how food can increase, or decrease your health, how to prevent common illnesses naturally, what foods are good for certain parts of the body, and much, much more.

The book is broken into 6 Units:

1. The Brain and Nervous System
2. Digestion and Elimination
3. Respiration and Olfactory
4. Muscular and Skeletal Systems
5. Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
6. Endocrine System and Emotions.

Each chapter talks about one specific body system/health nutrition aspect.

After you have read the main part, there are discussion questions, and activities for both the elementary and secondary ages.

One of our favorite aspects of this book are the recipes that follow each chapter. Each recipe correlates to the chapters topic.

The appendix in this book is awesome! I don't think I have ever said that before. lol

You will find wonderful charts that you will want to print out, and maybe even make a notebook with your children with all the wonderful pages. That is what we are going to do. 

This book has taught me so much. I did not know that things like high blood pressure, allergies, depression and eczema could be an Omega-3 deficiency.

There is much to be learned in this book, and I can tell you that we will definitely be reading this together as a family, not just to the kiddos. 

I honestly feel that by reading this book, and putting these things into practice, I will be able to be a better mom and wife to my family.

I want be able to teach my kids good health and nutrition, and not just tell them "because it's not good for you". Now I can tell them why certain foods are not good for them.
They will know the reason behind what mom is saying, instead of just "Mom said so".

I highly encourage you to take a look at Nutrition 101: Choose Life!  I believe it will be such an encouragement to you, and your family.

You can see a sample of this book, with all of it's beautiful photos, here. 

You can purchase this book in 3 different packages:

1. (CD-ROM) - $79.95
2. Book - $99.95
3. Combo: CD-ROM and Book - $129.95

I know this may sound like a lot of money, and if I hadn't reviewed this book, I probably wouldn't have seen the value myself.

I think you will love it though. I think your family will be just as blessed to have this book as my family has been.

I actually reviewed the electronic version, and I would much rather have the physical book. If I could swing the physical book and the CD-ROM, that would be even better.

The electronic version is great for printing off individual pages that you may want printed out.

It is definitely worth saving your money for. And to help out a little on the financial part, I am allowed to offer you a 15% discount! Just use the code TOScrew11 when you checkout.

Also, tomorrow, April 21st, The Old Schoolhouse is hosting a webinar with Sera Johnson, one of the authors of Nutrition 101: Choose Life!, at 4:00 EDT.

This would be a great opportunity for you to get to know more about this program, and help you decide whether or not this program is for you.

Here's to your families great health!

Be sure to check out what my fellow Crew mates have to say about Nutrition 101:Choose Life!

*I have received a PDF copy of Nutrition 101: Choose Life!, free, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, in return for my honest opinion.

No other compensation has been given to me.*

Ab Glider

Today my husband bought me an Ab Glider.

I used it today for about 5 minutes, and I can already feel it!

I have the Ab Circle Pro, and I hate that thing. lol

My husband and I both thought it would be good, but it is too hard. Not hard as in I am just out of shape hard, but hard as in you are on your knees, and having to lean way down to reach the handle bars, hard.

It was so uncomfortable. I could not use it because it hurts my knees so much, and it put all my weight on my arms. It just is not well thought out.

Now, the Ab Glider on the other hand is like the well thought out version.  Your whole knees and shins are on a soft cushion, and you arms are much higher. You can actually watch TV while you work out, which make it a lot more fun. It takes your mind off of the workout.

Here is a video clip of what I just got: Ignore the bare bellies! lol



I will let you know how I like it after more use, but so far I am liking it a lot, and it is much better than the Ab Circle Pro. (In my opinion.)

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Fit Mommy Friday!

I have really been getting into the habit of working out again. 

 

All last week I worked out. (M-F)

 

This week I worked out M, W, and Th.  I did not work out Tue. because I was exhausted.

 

M and W, I worked out to Leslie Sansone's 1 mile videos. Th I went to the park and walked/Jogged around the track 3 times with my sister-in-law. 

 

I am sore. 

 

I did lose one more pound, but I am hoping that it was only one because I am bloated. lol

This next week, I am going to work on doing the 2 mile videos, so that I can up my workouts a little bit. 

I think my sister-in-law and I are going to get together each Th and walk/jog the track. Each time around the track is almost one mile. 

My mother-in-law watches the kids at the park while we walk the track at the park. 

I am also going to work more on portion control. I have to not eat as much. Even if I am not overeating it still gives me heartburn, and hurts really bad. 

I need to get this weight off. This acid is so severe. I wake up with my heart hurting every morning. 

I have heartburn all day. Gotta get this weight off. 

How did the rest of you do?

Fit Mommy Friday at Got Chai!

 

Two Days in a Row!

 

 

Alright, I worked out again today! Who-Hoo

I am trying to commit to working out 4-5 days a week.

I never feel like it, so I just tell myself to go ahead and get up, and do it real fast. I always feel better.

Today I did another Leslie Sansone video called Cardio Slimdown, On Demand.

I really liked it.

I have dozens of her videos. They have been the only ones I really liked,a long with Windsor Pilates.

I only have a DVD player in my bedroom however, and there is not a lot of room in there, so I have been doing the free ones On Demand. 

It is a struggle for me to make myself workout each day.

How do you motivate yourself to workout every day?

I worked out yesterday

I was so tired yesterday, but I made myself get up and work out.

It did make me feel better, and gave me more energy.

Funny how that works.

I did Leslie Sansone's new Walk and Tone video On Demand from Exercise TV.

I love this one. It is fun!



Does anyone else use Leslie Sansone's videos?

Fit Mommy Friday!

It is Friday again...lol.

Well, I did lose 2 pounds this week, so now I am officially back to having lost those 6 pounds that I lost, and then gained back 3. ARG.

I have been making a lot of changes to my life lately.

I recently acquired a Blendtec Blender. I love it!

I have been making green smoothies most everyday, and I have been making my own fresh juice instead of store bought.

I have made ice cream in too! Yum!

I have been increasing my water, and decreasing other drinks. I have had no caffeine, and am only drinking sprite on occasion, when I really want something.

With all of the smoothies that I have been making, I am detoxing, and cleansing. I am putting lots of spinach and kale in them. I just got some wheat germ and flax seeds yesterday too!

It has been rough though. I didn't realize how miserable it can be to detox like this.

When I went off of caffeine and sugar, I went through withdrawals and detox, and that was bad, but this has been ongoing, and just doesn't seem to end. I guess it takes a while for you to get all of the toxins out. The headaches are especially bad.

I don't know why I expected it to be all better in a few days. I have 30 years of bad eating and toxins built up in my system, and it may take a while to get all flushed out.

The thing I need to work on is adding more activity. I think, now that it is warmer, that I will try to get out and take a walk each day.

I have not had much energy since I have been trying to get healthier. Go figure. I guess it is the detoxing. I am sure I will feel better soon.

OK, I will check in next week, and if you want to see how the other Fit Mommies are doing, you can find out at Got Chai?

Fit Mommy Friday!

Monday: Worked out on the elliptical for 18 minutes, half a mile, and burned 150 calories.
The rest of the week, ARG, I just want to pull my hair out. I did not do well. I even gained half a pound.
Things have been so different around here with my nanny staying with us a lot, and running her around. Not that I mind, but our routine is off.
I have been exhausted.
No excuses though.

I hope you all did better than I did. I hope next week there is a big difference for me.


Check out the other Fit Mommies at Got Chai?

Fit Mommy Friday!

I forgot to post on Friday. Uh-Oh!

I did not do anything that spectacular this week.

I have decided to set a goal for myself, and would love to have someone join me.

I made myself a six month, (30 week), chart.

I am weighing in tomorrow, and then every Friday, to keep up with Fit Mommy Fridays.

My goal is to lose 70 pounds.

This is only slightly over 2 pounds a week. I think that is reasonable.

Would anyone like to join me?

EDITED TO ADD: I did shovel a lot of snow this week! HA HA HA. But seriously, my back was in severe pain. I haven't done that much physical labor in a long time. 

Fit Mommy Friday!

 I have done really well this week on my eating. I am still doing well with my pop and junk food. 

I have lost 6 pounds too! YAY!!!

 

I am drinking a lot more water, in fact, that is about all I drink anymore. 

 

Next week, I want to start getting into an exercise program. I worked out once this week, but that was it. 

 

I want to continue doing well with my eating and up the working out this next week. 

 

If you want to see how the other fit mommies are doing, you can check it out here.  

Fit Mommy Friday!

 

 

OK, it is Friday and I have some good news. 

 

I have been doing a lot better with my food choices. 

 

I have not had any pop in 4 days! WHoo-Hoo!

 

My junk food has been nil to none. 

I am so proud. 

I came to a realization after talking to a friend of mine, that my problem is really an addiction. And a sin. 

I mean, I knew that gluttony was a sin, but I never really thought about it having such a grip on my life. 

I was really convicted after our conversation, and have not had any pop, or junk since then. 

The biggest junk I had was a muffin.

 

It has been amazing. I haven't even really had much of a craving for pop. 

I have had a few cravings, mostly for desserts, but when I feel like I want one, I really ask myself,  do I want to let this have control over my life? Of course, the answer is NO!

 

I am so happy, and I really feel like things are changing for real this time!

Thanks to God's wonderful grace, and how He is helping me.

Fit Mommy Friday

Alright, so, Um, Yeah, I am the same. Pathetic, I know.
BUT, let me tell you something good.
I am realizing why I am not working out and eating better, and for me, it is all about being organized.
I have been working on that, and I know that I will get it.
I have to work it in,a nd I have to have everything ready, especially food wise.
So, I have been doing better on some things, but I am def. working on getting things more organized at home, so that I can add these things in easily.
So, while I have not done well so far, I am not giving up, and I am fixing the things that are in my way.
I have been super busy, and I really think that after the holidays it will be much easier for me, so I hope we will have another challenge for the new year as well.
OK, well, I hope you all did great!

Fit Mommy Friday

OK Ladies, I am going to put it out here and say that I am going to join the Fit Mommy Friday's Ten Week Challenge.

Basically we are going to put our goals out there for the week and work on this together.
You can read all about it here.

OK, so my goals for this week are:

1. Be mindful of how much I am eating. This is a problem for me. I tend to eat it all whether or not I am still hungry.

2. Limit my pop intake to one a day. This may not sound like a big deal, and you may think that I should just get rid of it totally, but I know myself, and I want to be reasonable.
And, remember this is just for this week.

3. To work out 3-4 times this week for at least 2 miles ( I do the Leslie Sansone videos)

4. To drink at least 4 glasses of water each day. I know it should be more, but I am going form basically no water and all pop, so it will be a big increase.

5. To only eat out for lunch during the week once. I do this way too much.

6. Be mindful of what I choose to eat.

7. And, I hope that if I do this, I will lose at least 2 pounds this week.

OK, a little background on me.
After I had my first baby I was still pretty small, but I got the depo shot and gained 30 pounds in less than a month. ( I do not use birth control now, I did not know then what I know now. )

Anyhow, I kept gaining weight every time I got a shot.

After I got off it, I lost some but not too much.
After my last baby, I decided to really do it. And I did.
I did a 12 week program where I had no pop, no junk, worked out everyday, and I losr 36 pounds in 12 weeks!
Needless to say, I gained it all back.

I have tried countless times to do it again, but can never stay motivated.
I really want to have more babies, but want to get some weight off first, and I don't know why that is not enough motivation for me. It should be.

Anyhow, at the end of this ten weeks, my ultimate goal would be to have lost 15-20 pounds, have more energy, be eating healthier, and to PLEASE, have my heartburn be gone. This is SOOO bad for me.

For me staying otivated has been hard, but I need to do this, and now is the perfect time.
If you would like to join us, go here and read all about it.

Happy 4th and a new goal of mine.

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you all have a fun day!
I want to tell you all of a new goal of mine.
Before I get to that though, I just have to say, I recently found the E-Book readers! WOW! I have to have one!!!
I have heard of the kindle, but I have never seen any other ones, but yesterday, I was in Sam's, and I saw 2 Sony readers.
I came home and did some research on all
I have also really wanted an I Pod Touch, but don't usually have the money. 
But, I discussed with my husband about setting some weight loss goals for my self using those as rewards.
So, back to my goal!
When I lose 30 pounds, I will get a reader.
When I lose 60 pounds, I will get an I Pod touch.
I have wanted an I Pod for a while, but I can really see how having a reader would help me so much this year on the TOS Homeschool Crew.
I am currently reviewing Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others, and I have decided not to print it out becauseof all of the pictures.
Having a smaller reader would be so helpful to get those read without having to use the computer.
Well, I will keep you updated on how I am doing. I hope to have that reader soon!