Thrive Life food storage

So, i've been contemplating the whole idea of food storage for a long time.   My first thoughts about preparing for disasters, etc. occurred in 2001 when I experienced my first earthquake! It was a 7.0 (the nisqually quake) and while I was in the best possible place for it, since both Seattle, which is built on fill dirt, and Olympia, which was near the epicenter were very badly damaged, our house in a solidly foundationed Seattle suburb was fine.  I was cooking with a MOPS group in an industrial kitchen, and it sounded like an airplane overhead, but everything rattled like crazy.  We came home to discover barely anything as much as knocked over, so other than some structural damage, our area was pretty much unscathed.  However, upon arriving home, i noticed that in my fridge (it was close to shopping day) was NO milk, no water, about 2 cups of juice in a pitcher... Literally, we had about 2 cups of liquid- in the WHOLE house! and not a great supply of food, but for my family of 4 (at the time) and me being 7 mos. pregnant, had our water supply been compromised we'd have had a BIG problem.

 Last year i discovered "Thrive" foods, and was quite impressed with the quality, the taste, the retention of nutrition, and most importantly, the ease of use!  I am not a great cook, nor do I particularly enjoy it... its just one of those things that must be done.  But Thrive offers the opportunity to significantly simplify meal prep.  Seriously, if i could buy almost everything thrive, i'd be all over that.  Some of the items are kind of pricey, so i can't right now, but i plan to work our budget to where we can buy on sale as much as possible, which should help.  As it stands, i'm needing to adapt our whole mindset, to a different way of cooking, our storage, our budget, etc.  So i'm starting slowly using the Q which i just signed up for and which should ship out on friday!  i budgeted $200 a month, to go toward thrive foods, which right now is just all going to our regular meal planning- soon i'll add extra for long term food storage, but for now i just need to get a routine and get used to the added cost, which i'm convinced after a while will be minimal, particularly since i've not been menu planning and waste has been a PROBLEM.

Where to get Thrive foods?  

I'm going through an AWESOME consultant, Misty Marsh, who you can find here  She's a superstar, in Thrive, and I can't even tell you how helpful she is and how much hand-holding she's done, answering questions, helping me figure out how to budget for it, etc.   She's not local, which is a downside, but I am happy with the trade off.  I'm going to be buying a consultant kit, though i'm not going to be actively selling, just basically getting the discount for us, since we spend a small fortune on food every month!

Also, Costco online sells just a few items, but for a large discount, and they ship super fast, and so i'll get some of our staples there.

The binder:

So this is an adaptation of my original binder, which hasn't gotten use in a looooong time... i think i posted about it here a while ago...  anyway,  I thought i'd post in case anyone else might benefit from my "laid up in bed and bored" hyperactive organization.


Here's the cover, just really simple...

The tabs include

Thrive stuff- including price lists, my Q shipment schedule, etc.
Recipes- Trad
Recipes Q
Recipes Thrive
Other



















Ok, so what I did was take my regular recipes and sort them by type of meat (or vegetarian) and write the type on the top left corner on each page,  Then i filed them in the "Recipes- Trad"  file in my binder.  With like meat types grouped together.

IF you notice on the picture above, the left have a Q before the meat type- That's because they are recipes that I included when planning my Q (which is automated when you sign up for a Q, thankfully, or i'd never have the attention span to do it!)   This is important because the Thrive foods i'm ordering are based on those recipes. 

So, you can click on the pictures for a bigger view if you'd like.  On the one above, you can see how I coded the Q recipes.  First, I highlight all the items that I plan to use thrive foods for.  For example, the elbow macaroni, i'm just buying from the store, so i didn't highlight it, so i know to buy it.  The ones that are highlighted in purple, are ones that are coming on the month listed next to it.  So I know that this recipe I can make when my first shipment (June) arrives.  

OH and Misty has an awesome Q special going right now-  Which you can see here  you get 30% of what your Q is set at, in product, plus $40 off a consultant kit if you want one and 50% off one item! 

So anyway, Just thought I'd share.  i'm excited about this! 

eye appointments

Our idea of a "vacation" is hordes of appointments, and this one is no different  This week we focused primarily on eye appointments.  And Elliott WON.  He's the only one that didn't end up with glasses.   The kids see Dr. Baxstrom (or as my autocorrect on my ipod calls him, Dr. Vacation or Dr Backstroke!) Who is renowned all over the country as a developmental optometrist, which means that he doesn't just check their vision but also their tracking and binocularity, and other elements of healthy eye function.   Each one of their needs are different and their glasses reflect that

Alex goes by himself now... sniff..

Nik stayed the same, glasses all the time for nearsightedness.  But he's going back to seeing Judy again for neurological stuff

Little miss Chloe, not surprisingly, will be getting glasses for nearsightedness.  her right eye is SIGNIFICANTLY more nearsighted than the left and she's having pretty significant vision issues that will require visits to Judy, our vision therapist, to remedy.  She'll join Nik and Chloe in that.  Pretty soon Judy's going to have to have a "Kvenvolden kid day" twice a month :) 

Elliott is perfect! like usual :)

Leif is starting to have problems from too much close work, so he'll wear glasses for close work, reading, ipod, etc. 

Ash has a prescription to use to help him block out other stimuli.   Autistic kids can sometimes benefit from glasses to help their focus.  he'll wear glasses when doing close work or when we want him to focus better.

Annabeth needs glasses for reading, but today was a judy appointment, her vision therapist who helps her with a range of neurological issues  Annabeth REALLY needs to have a large trampoline, which is next on our large purchase list.  The difference between her with trampoline activity and without is phenomenal.  She's like tigger.  She just really needs that proprioceptive input.

Haircuts!

Wanted to share a fun quarterly event in our family- the dreaded little boy haircuts!

Well, not so fun  Here's the money shot of the whole bunch  This was immediately before Ash head-butted Leif in the nose.  Elliott, having seeming Twintuition, you can see is a bit worried about Asher's mental state, and is staying clear.

Thankfully, before that we got some good pictures  On the above left is Elliott after a couple swipes of the hair cut thingy  have done their job  Elliott LOVES haircuts  Leif too, he loves looking like an "army guy" Since Leif is all about the army.  Ash- not so much, however, he DOES do much better with short hair, like Alex when he was little, i think it calms him down.  Below is Leif and Ash (right) and Leif and Elliott (left)

Leif and 

Book Review- Advice for Seekers, by Charles H. Spurgeon

I was blessed with the opportunity to review the classic "Advice for seekers" recently released and published by Attic Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing.  nlpg.com   Charles Spurgeon was an influential Baptist Minister, who is known as the world's most influential preacher.  This book was published initially in 1896, and Attic Books recreated it, complete with original spelling and style.

I have to admit, i do not read as many "old dead guys" as I know I should.  We all have so much to learn from the old dead guys :)  And in theology this is particularly true.  I am glad i read this wonderful little gift book.

The first thing i noticed about the book when it arrived is its small, doable size.  Its a durable hardcover book with beveled pages, staggered and choppy around the edges, very artsy.  It made reading the book an experience in itself.

Spurgeon hits on the primary points of the Gospel in his brief 134 pages.  He discusses topics such as

- Why Can't we save ourselves?
- What is our natural standing as fallen man?
- What is Jesus' role in our lives?
- How to be saved?
- If you are saved, why do you not FEEL saved?
- What does Repentance look like, and why is it important?
- What gives ME the right to obtain eternal life?

These answers and more are answered in a lyrical, yet, understandable way by Sturgeon.  I'm grateful that Attic Books has reprinted this lovely little book.

Check out other bloggers opinions of this book here http://nlpgblogs.com/babel-and-seekers-reviewers/

Disclaimer-  I received this book as a free review copy in exchange for posting a truthful review.  The thoughts contained within this post are my honest opinion.

Book Review- Tower of Babel, by Bodie Hodge

This upcoming school year, we are back to year 1 history- Ancients in our 4 year cycle.  I'd been planning the upcoming year and when hearing Master Books was looking for reviewers to review Bodie Hodge's new book "Tower of Babel, the cultural history of our ancestors" I was SUPER excited.  Unlike Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, etc. times,  the earliest history is a bit hard to cover, due to lack of written resources.   This book is a big step in the direction of remedying that problem.  

Check out the trailer for the book here- 

My thoughts on the book-- Author Bodie Hodge- who you can learn more about here-  http://www.newleafpublishinggroup.com/authors.php?author_id=125 Did an amazing job bringing to life the history of the peoples of the tower of Babel.   This book is engaging and informative, seeking to answer, and succeeding, the questions:

How do you pronounce Babel?
Is the Tower of Babel real, and does it MATTER?
When and where did the scattering of peoples occur? Where?
What did the Tower look like?
How can all the languages currently in existence be accounted for?
What was the origin of writing?
What was the original language?

"Tower of Babel answers these questions and many more in ways I didn't even realize possible.  I just didn't realize all that information was "out there" it just isn't available in mainstream media.  I love the use of visual aides like diagrams, charts, pictures, etc.  For a visual person like me, this is very helpful for understanding complex information dense material.  Nonetheless, i found the book to be tenable, and particularly informative.  I plan to use it as a read aloud next year with all my school-agers, who will then be ranging from 2nd grade-9th.    

this book is published by Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group.  You can find the link up, packed full of other reviews for this book here-   http://nlpgblogs.com/babel-and-seekers-reviewers/

Disclaimer-  I received this book as a free review copy in exchange for posting a truthful review.  The thoughts contained within this post are my honest opinion.

Random school review- Wednesday 4-3-13

I haven't posted in ages.  we've had a lot going on!  I'm still loving the kids independent work folder system i posted about last time, and i'm working on re-integrating group school, as i think its SO important.  in group school, we read good books, do Bible study and discussion, talk about history, science, whatever our focus is. right now, its science.  The kids, Led by Nikolas just completed their unit study on electricity, finishing the Academy of Science for Kids kit which was entirely self motivated, and was super cool watching them run with their own interestes.    So Wednesday, which is the random day i'm blog reviewing- we read the book "Oil Spill" which i believe was Chloe's choice of younger kid science lit- i let each kiddo choose, rotating to let everyone have a turn, from our sizeable stash of let's read and find out books- which are AWESOME.  Then we read chapter 1 of "Ginger Pye" our new read aloud, then we read, i believe chapters 6 and 7 from Robert Boyle.  Its hard to put that book down! we are loving it.  

What i ws REALLY  psyched about with our reading is that lately, Annabeth has been hearing and comprehending at least bits of what we are reading.  That's such progress from NOTHING that has been up until now.  I kind of feel bad making her sit and listen, knowing she's not getting much out of it, but now i'm starting to really have hope, which is cool :) wayyyy beyond cool, it feels like a miracle.  (annabeth has severe APD and SPD)  Besides, she enjoys sitting and snuggling me anyway, so its a "win" regardless.  I haven't been getting her therapy done though, AAAK!!  :( 

I had hoped to get out the "europe" puzzle and work on that, to tie in with the Robert boyle book, but never did get around to it, plus they were occupied all afternoon with the science kit.  

We spent the WHOLE morning outside, it was Sooooo nice out, you can see Ash is enjoying himself in our storage thingy.   :) love that dude.   

the latest organizational/motivational wonder in our lives...

So there have been major changes in the Kven household.  Thing 2 was having difficulty going to preschool.  he has autism, and at home requires 1 on 1 support.  the thought of keeping him home had not even crossed my radar as a possiblity, however, it was clear he needed it and after much discussion and prayer that it was what needed to be done.  And i have to say, though we still have some issues- like how to make dr. appointments and therapy appts. for the other kids happen, for example, our day to day life has been going quite well.  So anyway, i've been gradually shifting us toward more independent work, the plan being that if need be, all the work they really HAVE to do, could be independent.  Then i'll jump in when i can and do read alouds as Asher allows.

Well, while perusing the Well trained mind board yesterday I came across a post asking for little things that her kiddos could do that were educational to kill time.  That made me go hmmm.... and i came up with a vision- a new way to schedule that might actually work!   So i put together these folders.  Theyre these snap poly folders that you can get for a great price at target

i got on the computer and made a daily schedule that ended up looking like this.  the left column has the daily list of things that need to get done, then the bottom section has their main school work (which doesn't include dear time and any group stuff we do together- that we'll just do on the fly)   Then on the right is where they get to choose 3 items each day to do- the next day they chose 3 different items.  and so on.  here's one of them, completed! 

Isn't it pretty?? i'm so psyched that i figured out how to do colored shapes in word!! :)   Then i put them in a page protector, taped it on to the poly snap  folder that had any supplies they would need in there, and they can check off daily with a dry erase marker what they do!! 

I just had to post super quick, since i just had a second but i'm so psyched to not only START something cool but to FINISH it :)  

Ta Ta!

Rebecca