Valentine's Book Review! The Five Love Languages--for kids!

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Fun Fact: Dr. Wes and I have celebrated 17 Valentine's Days together. That's a lot dark chocolate! 

I wanted to share a book with you that I really enjoyed reading, The Five Love Languages of Children. The basis of this book is that children (and adults) have 5 different love languages, some of which are more predominant than others. More importantly, it's our job as parents (or spouses) to know how each person needs to be loved and how to fill up their "love tank". 

I read the book very quickly and then checked out the website so I could give our oldest son a "love language" quiz. He liked the quiz a lot, and it confirmed what I already knew--he feels loved by Words of Affection and Quality Time. The book also states that young children need all 5 Love Languages regularly, so we try to get them all included as much as possible. I thought it was interesting that three of us took the Love Languages quiz and we all had completely different answers! 

I liked this book for quite a few reasons, but most importantly because of the following:

• Easy to read and understand. 
• Practical ideas I started using the same day I read the book.
• A deeper understanding for the individual we all are, and how I can best support each child (& hubby). 
• Ideas for supporting kids who are struggling in some aspect of their life. 
• Lots of support on the internet. 
• I read it once, applied it right away, and still actively use it months later. 

I highly recommend this book! I know it will give you some good insight into your kids--whatever their age! 

New Year, New Food

I think I finally convinced Dr. Hubby to give Paleo eating a try. He is definitely stronger and leaner than ever, but he wants to get some more muscle definition and I think it will help with his allergies as well. We are usually pretty "clean" eaters anyway, but we are going completely grain-dairy-soy-processed food-free for 21 days based on the book "The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson. 

We are trying not to use the phrase New Year's Resolution in regards to eating Paleo/Primal, but we certainly could use a strict eating plan for a few weeks since we indulged quite often over the holidays. One of my favorite Christmas presents was a new cookbook from my father-in-law called "Paleo Comfort Foods" by Charles & Julie Mayfield.  I thought it would be fun to start with some of our favorites like Barbecue Chicken and Veggies. 

I can never make a recipe exactly the way it says in the book, but I tried to stick pretty close to the recipe today. Sometimes I deviate because I don't have or like a certain ingredient, other times I'm too lazy to measure things out. :) 

I taught myself how to cut apart a whole fryer chicken today (we get ours from Prudent Produce) by watching a YouTube Video. I cooked the chicken pieces in the crock pot today and will pull off the chicken later. I took the carcass and some leftover veggies like celery, carrots, and onions, and put them in a stock pot filled with water. I simmered the stock pot for a few hours and then strained the liquid into a dish for Chicken Stock/Broth. Yum!! 

I made the BBQ sauce from the cookbook, and it smells WONDERFUL and a bit spicy too. It's nice to be able use fresh ingredients and spices to make something we love without all of the preservatives from the store. I also tried making Paleo Mayo, and it was a HUGE success too! I've never tried making mayo from scratch, but it was quite easy. 

So far, we're off to a good start! Have you found a new recipe that will help you stick to your health goals? If so, share it with us!!

Happy New Year!

--Katie