Ollie-ism

At church someone complimented Oliver on his new shoes. 
Oliver said "These are my Goofers, for goofing off."
Clara corrected him by saying they were called Loafers, for loafing around.
That story made it around the adult Sunday School circle very quickly.
Here's a picture of Ollie "goofing off".  He is a cat with  blue face paint and yellow teeth.

Ollie borrowed a pirate hat, knife and hook from Clara's piano teacher.  He was so excited about this that first thing the next morning I HAD to make him an eye patch, vest and sash to complete the look.  ARRRRR!

Dinosaur Land

Oliver has had fun lately creating "Dinosaur Land."
This one was created on the balcony with chalk landscape and with help from Clara and me.

For this inside version I was instructed to let you all know that Ollie made this "all by himself."

My Reconstructed Clothing

I bought this linen blend dress at Goodwill for under $3.00.  I shortened it to knee length and used the leftover fabric to create a ruffle that runs from the shoulder down, crosses over the bust and then straight to the hem.  I thought it turned out rather well and was a very simple project. 

ReConstructed Clothing Co.

Awhile back I mentioned that I might be selling some of my Etsy items in shops that have contacted me through my site.  Fortunately, one of these became a reality!  A brave young woman is opening a shop in Seattle called ReConstructed Clothing Co.  It will sell handmade clothing and accessories made from existing materials/clothing.  I sent her 5 cashmere scarves, 5 wool scarves and 10 armwarmers.  We are planning a trip to Oregon the last week of April and might drive up to Seattle, time permitting, and pop in on her shop.

New Life in Spring

The weather is already warm here in Texas. We've been spending as much time outside as possible and have the window flung wide open for a breeze. I just switched out the kids closets and drawers, replacing the sweaters with shorts.

We planted a tiny garden on the church property with 3 heirloom tomatoes, 1 lonely jalapeno plant and some zinnia and cosmos seeds.

At the church there is play equipment including a sandbox. The kids really enjoy looking at and watering "the garden" but also can play and swing when we are there.

Another new adventure for me is trying to fit an exercise routine into my day. I admittedly have not been as active as I should be, especially through the winter months. I have decided to drag my behind out of bed every morning at 5:30 to get in a brisk walk. There simply is no other time during the day for this. Also, I am doing a series of stretching and back strengthening exercise to help with posture. Maybe if I lay all this out here for others to read I will have a better chance of sticking to my routine.

Damian and I sang in a small choir in church for Easter Sunday and are practicing another song for May. This has been fun and a good way to participate when we often can't in other ways.

Brain-Gut-Immunity

Anti-inflammatory foods

Here is a fabulous link to a website that lists a menagerie of anti-inflammatory foods.

Ultra Prevention

Here is a link to a website devoted to preventing illness and especially promoting brain health. It also happens to be a book by Dr. Mark Hyman. He has several including Ultra Wellness, Ultra Metabolism, Ultra Mind Solution, and the Ultra Simple Diet. We have the companion cookbook to Ultra Metabolism. It's fabulous and, I recommend it to everyone.

Stress busting (a mental/immune exercise) - Psychoneuroimmunology

In the previous link, Dr. Hyman mentions the deleterious effects of stress, especially the stress hormone cortisol (he refers to it as 'stress juice'). There are several components to this stress juice including cortisol, dopamine, norepinephrine, and the rampant metabolite of these is epinephrine (known commonly as adrenaline). However, the person to identify the link between the stress response and the stress hormone(s) released from our adrenal cortex was Walter Cannon who described this link in his book The Wisdom of the Body in which he defines it as the 'fight or flight' response. A little later, a Swiss scientist named Hans Selye built upon Cannon's work and dissolved any delineation between physical and psychological stress by physically and psychologically stressing rats and observing their adaptation response to the stressors which was consistent between the types of stress. Selye called this the General Adaptation Syndrome. Yet another scientist devoted his research to the effects of stress on the body. Dr. Herbert Benson devoted his career to combating the negative effects of stress on the body and mind by studying the 'relaxation response.' He essentially took a Yogi developed relaxation technique called Transcendental Meditation and distilled it into these simple steps:

1. Pick a focus word or phrase such as: One, Love, Peace, Shalom, Relax, Om, or . . . whatever is quieting to you.
2. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
3. Close your eyes.
4. Relax your muscles.
5. Breathe slowly and naturally, and on each exhalation, mentally repeat your focus word or phrase to yourself.
6. Assume a passive attitude. Don't worry about how well you are doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say to yourself, "Oh, well," and gently return to your focus word.
7. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes.
8. Do not stand immediately. Continue sitting quietly for a minute or so, allowing other thoughts to return. Then open your eyes and sit for another minute before rising.
9. Perform this technique once or twice daily.

My professor and mentor, Edward Brown, DC, DABCI, published an article in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research in 2005. All of the Psychoneuroimmunology information I've shared with you herein can be read in complete detail in his article by following this link.

May you find wellness as enabling as I do. - Damian

Piano Lessons

I have been meaning to post a video of Clara on piano for quite some time but was having problems with blogger. I finally got it working again.

Clara has been taking piano lessons since January from a friend from church. Everyone in the city is so spread out, except the Blalocks happen to live only about 15 minutes from us. Micah plays piano in church and their family is very musical. We decided to ask if Micah would be willing to teach Clara, even though we didn't have money to pay. He, without hesitation, agreed and we came up with a plan. The family seems to enjoy having the kids over (they have invited us for trick or treating the past 2 years.) I often take them food as my form of "payment". They tell me it isn't necessary, but I want to let them know we do not take this for granted. Ollie is always excited to go because they have a trampoline in their backyard. Clara loves to pet their dog. We are truly blessed to have this opportunity for Clara.

Can you here Izzy singing in the background?

Doctor Yourself

Okay, so the last time I posted something on the blog, it received a grand total of ZERO comments. Maybe that's because everyone reading this already knows about Chiropractic and the correlations to the various parts of the body that each vertebral segment mirrors, OR that adjusting the C7 segment (that's at the base of the neck) can improve shoulder pain, tingly/numbness down the arm and into the hand and fingers, thyroid function - be it under functioning or over functioning - or, more importantly, prevent it all; or, other reasons I have no clue about.

BUT, please follow the supplied link to the website Doctor Yourself hosted by Dr. Andrew Saul - alphabet soup, literally, behind his name - who has 34 years of experience providing natural health education to millions of curious, adventurous readers; like you. He has an index of ailments/topics to the left of the webpage linking you to such an enormous array of information it would take a month of reading 24/7 just to get through it all - links to information on coughing, ear aches, high blood pressure, emphysema, cancer, osteoporosis, thyroid, vaccination, menstrual periods (or lack of them), etc, etc, etc. . . the list goes on. I also have some advice for preventing/managing painful menstruation. Just ask.

So, please, I implore you, check out this website. It is phenomenal. Here is the LINK (or copy and paste it into your browser http://www.doctoryourself.com/index.html) You will be thoroughly impressed. I know I was, and still am. Sometimes I wonder about things like what to do for Oliver's nagging nighttime cough, or the swollen fire ant bite wounds on Isabel's thumb and feet, or Clara's wheezy breathlessness when she has an allergic/asthmatic response to . . . something. Then, I remember this website. I always find excellent advise. So, check it out. ENJOY! Oh, don't forget to share this information with your friends, and DON'T forget to go see your doctor (preferably a Doctor of Chiropractic).

Thanks for reading! - Damian