Camping Trip

Last weekend we went camping on the other side of the lake in Oklahoma. Just for 1 night, but it was fun to get out for a little bit! Gabriel loved it and said he wanted to live there (if we brought all his toys up there too)! Here he is sleeping in the tent...

Enjoying...uhm...destroying nature...

Cary & Gabriel and "Uncle Joe's" tent. Just an extra tent we set up for safety reasons ;-)

Heating up frozen Jimmy Dean breakfasts...I wasn't about to cook for real on such a short vacation ;-)

Fun on the 3-wheeler!

 

Big black ant on a stick

Our tent

Gabriel and his pet 'Clam'...

Me on the 3-wheeler

September Photo Album

Here are September's pictures, all in one album: September 2011.

Pottsboro Frontier Day 2011

Last Saturday we went to the annual Frontier Day here in Pottsboro. What fun we had! Especially Gabriel, who thought 4 rides was not nearly enough! Here are some pictures and videos...

We were lucky to catch the parade right before Gabriel's soccer game!

 

Soccer game...

 

 Rollercoaster

With auntie DeeDee

Our little family

4th consecutive year riding on this carousel!

Finally big enough for the ferris wheel!

Our old website...

After waiting several weeks for our old website (http://caryirma.weblog.nl) to come back after their move, they finally put it back online. That is, 7 posts out of the hundreds of posts from the past 6 years. I was also very disappointed with the new format and its limited options. Apparently it is no longer possible to show all our photos on the first page, and people would have to individually click each post to read it. I think weblog.nl has made a huge mistake with this move and they leave me no other choice than to permanently move to this blog. I will try to post weekly pictures like I did on our old website. I don't have much time to post other things, but I may occasionally post random things that are on my mind. I really hope weblog.nl will put all our old posts back online soon so I can leave a link here for those of you who would like to view our old pictures. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Taming the Tongue

No, this is not about eating or dieting!
Have you ever tried to find a Bible verse to show someone else how wrong they are? And instead have God point out how wrong you are? Well it sure happened to me the other day when I read James 1:26-27.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 

See, I'm working on the second part. But I fail miserably on the first part. No matter how many Meals on Wheels I deliver, or how many bad TV shows I don't watch, it's worthless when I can't keep my tongue under control! I am ashamed at some of the things that come out of my mouth sometimes. God, please help me to say only things that honor You and those around me! More in James 3:2-10.

 A few more verses:

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
(Proverbs 12:18,19)

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
(Psalm 34:12,13)

The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.
The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.
(Psalm 37:30,31)

He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
(Proverbs 13:3)

Weight

I am happy to report that after 2 weeks on my new diet, I have lost about 8 pounds. I now weigh 150 lbs (68 kg), which has been my goal weight for years! I always seemed to get stuck around 153, but now I've finally done it. Of course the main reason for losing weight is not just the diet itself, but also having trouble coming up with things I can eat! Which is why I'm getting the cookbook Nourishing Traditions, which was written by the president of the Weston A. Price foundation. I can't wait to start experimenting with new recipes!

We are also planning on joining a raw milk co-op in the area. Which means we take turns with other families getting our raw milk from a local farm. The milk is only $2 .50 a gallon! Right now, we're paying $8 a gallon. So this is great considering that with our new diet, we're going to need 4 gallons a week instead of the 2 we've been getting. I am going to use about 1 gallon of the milk to make yogurt, cream cheese, whey and kefir. For my Dutch readers: 1 gallon is almost 4 liters. We drink a LOT of milk!

We have been getting raw milk cheese and spouted grain bread from our health store the past couple of weeks. I find it interesting that they taste so much like Dutch cheese and bread! It's obvious most Dutch people eat healthier than most Americans (Holland has a 10% obesity rate, in the U.S. it's 30%). I think a lot of that has to do with the Dutch habit of eating simple, homemade meals, lots of dairy products and smaller portions. Also, eating out is very expensive over there, so it's something they only do on special occasions. No fast food on every street corner or pigging out at an all-you-can-eat buffet for under $10! No wonder that one of the first things I always notice when I go back, is how thin the people are!

August Photo Album

Here are August's pictures, all in one album: August 2011