More Sam Videos - 14 weeks into GAPS

I spent some time videoing Sam today while the other children were napping. I just like to do this every so often to document his progress.

In the first video Sam is playing with a gift he received for his birthday. The significance here is that Sam is playing PRETEND. Playing pretend is something that Sam didn't do before. He's making the characters speak and acting out something that he's created himself. Right before I started the video Sam was singing a song that he made up himself. The song was about indians riding in canoes. Just a few months ago Sam would've still played with the toy, but he would've simply recited the dialogue from Disney's Pocahontas movie or sung a song from the movie.


In this next video Sam reads a Bible story. Sam has been able to read for a long time, but just recently he's started taking an interest in learning about the Bible. I'll admit that, as a Christian, it's been hard hearing other moms discuss the thought-provoking questions that their 3, 4, and 5 year olds have asked concerning Jesus and God. Sam never asked "curious" type questions, so I could never participate in these conversations. Now, at 6 years old, Sam is finally asking questions like, "Why did they make Jesus die?" and "Did God make Indians?"


The final video is simply of Sam and I talking. It's obvious that he's so much more capable of participating in a two-way conversation than he was a year ago. He still thinks the videos of himself from a year ago are funny. When you ask him about those old videos he'll tell you that they're videos of him not controlling himself. In this video, the part where he talks about the red light on the camera is a reference to a video from a year ago when that's about all he repeated the entire time I asked him questions..."See the red light on the camera."


Finally, I also wanted to share that this weekend we had friends visit that we hadn't seen since late December/early January, before we started the GAPS diet. I was so excited when, within 5 minutes of being here, Tammy commented, "Sam is sure talking a lot more than I remember last time." It pleases me so much to hear when others notice a difference in Sam. The sacrifice our family is making is working!

Does Prepping Mean We Don't Trust God?

I came across a wonderful post that addresses the above question.

http://autonomy-and-faith-collide.blogspot.com/2010/07/time-to-load-up-pantry-past-time.html#comment-form

I agree with her assertion that Scripture calls us to be prepared.

I do believe that God wants us to be prudent in our decisions concerning the future. I believe that Proverbs 31:21 points out that one of my duties as a woman is to ensure that our family is prepared. That verse states:

"She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet."

To me, this means that I should take precautions before an event occurs so that my household has nothing to fear. Now, whether that event is an ice storm or an economic collapse..the premise is still the same. I have a Scriptual obligation to make sure my family is prepared.

Just some thoughts..things to think about...

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes...

Earlier today Shawn was telling Sam and Sarah the story of how God created everything. As he was describing the Garden of Eden with all of its plants and trees and flowers and animals, Sarah piped up and said quickly, "Be sure to watch out for snakes!" Knowing what we know about later events in the Garden of Eden, maybe she understands more than we give her credit for...

Then at lunchtime, we were reviewing with the kids. Shawn asked Sarah who created the Earth and outer space. She quickly replied that God did. Then he asked what the first man's name was. She quickly replied that it was Adam. Then he asked her where Adam lived. She thought for a moment and replied, "The farm of Eden." Close..

Then Shawn turned to Sam and started reviewing with him. Shawn started off by asking him who created the Earth. Sam replied, "Grandma Colette."

We had fun listening to the kids' accounts of Bible facts, but I still don't think any of the cute-ness today compares with when Sarah was sitting in the back of the van singing a church song. She sounded so cute singing: "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of...Grandma!"

So, Grandma Colette, you should be flattered. Sarah may get you confused with Jesus, but Sam gets you confused with God!

About us..

So many people have blogs, so I wanted to focus on what will make this blog different than most.

About my world in SAHMville:

I'm Janice. I'm 32 years old. Wife to Shawn for six years. Mom to 4 year old Samuel, 2 year old Sarah, and 11 month old Andrew. I'm a SAHM and Shawn works in law enforcement. We have a nice home in the county, but are currently looking at properties for our own homestead. Our dream is to have a functioning, self-sufficient homestead complete with chickens, goats, gardens, an orchard, and possibly even a milk cow!

We live a bit differently than most families around here.

Probably the first oddity that you would notice is my appearance. I only wear skirts, no pants. I have long hair that I wear put up and I do not wear makeup. I wear skirts because I struggle with accepting that Shawn is the head of the household. I'm stubborn and I like to be in control of things. The Bible states that the husband is the head of the wife. (1 Cor 11:3) Since I have such difficulty with this, I decided that I needed a physical reminder that my husband is called to be the head of this family. So, in this house, my husband literally wears the pants in the family! I don't expect any other woman to do as I do, but it does work for us.

Possibly the next oddity that you would notice about us is our way of eating. We do not eat foods with any artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives. We do not eat corn syrup, MSG, or sodium benzoate. So, basically, that leaves out most anything that is packaged or processed. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, we eat whole foods. I make all of our breads, muffins, pancakes, and desserts from scratch. I grind the wheat in my grain mill first and then proceed with the recipe. We eat this way because we want to avoid the chemicals that are added into foods when they are processed. We began eating this way in order to help Sam and Andrew. Sam had some behavioral issues that resembled autism and Andrew suffered from eczema. When we removed the artificial dyes, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives, Andrew's eczema went away within a week. Sam still has some lingering behavioral issues, but has drastically improved since starting the diet. We haven't seen any type of change in Sarah, but we keep her on the diet too for two reasons: 1.) It's easier to have everyone eating the same way. I don't want to cook separate foods for my family. 2.) It is just a healthier way of eating and I want all my children to be healthy regardless if they're being obviously affected by a chemical or not. Since we want to avoid chemicals, we also do without scented candles/air fresheners, makeup, smelly laundry detergents, perfumes, etc.

I guess the next most obvious oddity would be our frugal lifestyle. We don't buy a lot of things that others have. We don't have blackberries, iPods, flat screen TVs, or even a riding lawnmower. Our cell phones do not have cameras and we do not text with them. Our family's clothing is plain and simple. It's usually received as a gift or purchased at Goodwill or yard sales. We don't have much, but that is by choice. We forego those types of items and prefer to save our money for purchasing our homestead. For us, living simply is just easier. There's less to store, less to clean, and just less stuff to keep up with.

Welcome to our wierdness!