Summer is nearly over, and what a summer it has turned out to be!
After writing only one article this summer, I believe we have some catching up to do. Between a death in the family, camping, family get-togethers, showing others how they can start to get rid of chemicals in their home, gardening, preparing for school, etc., I have found it difficult to sit down long enough to come up with a coherent sentence. Even now, my brain wants to pull me in multiple directions. However, I really want to reconnect with you and let you in on some of the things we’ve been doing this summer.
When I stopped regularly writing, we had just finished two weeks of doing Whole30. I had hoped that it would have led us to better eating habits, but I’m sad to say that it didn’t. I actually think it got a little worse… mostly because we got so busy. I stopped meal planning and decided to do more pizza and hot dogs because they were quick and easy. However, there’s more to the story.
The Friday after that post, my grandfather passed away. It was also the weekend before we were supposed to go camping. As you can imagine, it was quite an emotional and hectic time as we grieved the loss of a very loving, kind, and generous man, while packing double as we prepared both for his funeral out of state and our camping trip with my side of the family.
After that week, it was difficult to get back into the swing of things. I couldn’t blog, I got behind in my garden, and I struggled with my prayer life. I did try to make a concerted effort to be thankful for all that God had given me and my family; however, I wasn’t motivated to get up earlier in the morning to start the day with prayer. Quite frankly, I’m not there yet. Although I have started doing my morning prayers again on most days, I find myself doing them during breakfast instead. Grief is an interesting emotion, and one that I’m not a stranger to. I thank God that I’m not as familiar with it as some people, but it can be difficult to remember that each time I am faced with it.
Anyways, July was filled with random summer activities, get-togethers, and starting my home business. My garden has also been doing well, giving us plenty of tomatoes, green beans, and some carrots.
One day, at the end of July, my husband heard about a program, called Brain Balance, and texted me to see what I thought of it for our oldest son, D. We knew that he would need some kind of speech therapy at some point if not more, but nothing ever seemed right. Once I took a look at this website, I knew that he had found something that resonated with all that we are trying to accomplish as a family. We scheduled an assessment, and have already completed a week and a half of their home program component. I love the holistic, drug-free approach to addressing the difficulties that some children face, and I especially love the zeal and compassion that the director at our center has for the children that come in.
As part of its holistic approach, the Brain Balance Program has a nutrition component as well. I just find it funny because it is similar, although a little less aggressive, to what we were doing with Whole30. Although D is the only one who has gone dairy-free, sugar-free, and gluten-free so far, it has greatly encouraged me to get back into our healthier way of eating.
August found us learning about Brain Balance and what it could do for our son, and we finally started it by the middle of the month. It was a bit of a challenge at first since our routines were changing. The oldest two don’t take naps anymore, and I thought that my third wouldn’t be either. Thankfully, we’ve figured out a routine where the younger two do take naps and I have a little time with the older ones. I’ve also started homeschooling my two oldest. Today we will be completing our first week of Kindergarten! Both D and V are loving it and doing really well. Since V is actually 4, I’m going to take it day by day with her. However, she really wanted to do it with D and has done really well this week.
That’s all I have time for now…. the kids are starting to melt. I hope this was an adequate explanation for my absence and I will be making a larger effort to post more regularly.
♥ Nicole
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