Moving

Greetings readers,

You will be able to get the latest posts and updates from Homemaker For All Seasons at our new home over here on Wordpress.  Please bear with me as I figure out the new writing platform and get our new site up and running.  I am very excited about the move and you can expect to continue to get regular posts every week over here at our new home.

-Sarah

How I Save Money Making Easy, Delicious, Homemade Bread

Homemaker For All Seasons has moved this post to our new wordpress site.  Click on the link to be taken to our homemade bread tutorial and recipe.

http://homemakerforallseasons.com/2013/03/16/how-i-save-money-making-easy-delicious-homemade-bread/

Friday Fun!

This post has been moved to our new site over at Wordpress!  Click on the link to be taken to Homemaker For All Seasons at our new site.

http://homemakerforallseasons.com/2013/03/16/friday-fun/

Organized Linen Closet: Purge Project #1

Linen Closet Before

An organized linen closet is a wonderful thing!  

    Come check out my before and afters!  As I mentioned in the intro post for this series, I would do the linen closet as the first organizational item to tackle.  have started the first project in the Purge Project series where I will go and organize/ purge 4 different areas in our home and post before and after pictures.  This week's project was the linen closet.  I had organized my linen closet plenty of times but always found that it quickly got into disarray in a short time after all my efforts.

I needed a system

     My problem was that I didn't have a system to neatly store my linens and other items in any kind of consistent manner.  Most linen closets at least have shelves that the home builder installed and that is a start.  Oftentimes, they are too deep and there never seems to be enough room.  Stuff you don't use regularly gets pushed to the back and forgotten about until the next linen closet tidy-up session.  I needed to figure out how to keep the linens separated from each other and avoid the untidy stacks of towels, washcloths, and sheets.

Keep it separated

     Adding the baskets really brightened up the closet and made it easier to keep things from piling up into each other.  After deciding which items to keep and which to toss and donate, I determined what would easily fit into these baskets.  I bought mine at our local Supercenter and you can find things like this just about anywhere.  I have even seen some pretty good basket organizers at our local dollar store.  Before you buy something, check to make sure you know the dimensions of your shelves and door opening.

Linen Closet -After (Top half)

)

Linen Closet -After (Bottom half)

Add some color

I chose red ribbons to affix the labels because after I sorted through the linens and towels I had, I realized that most of them were red, white, blue, or tan.  I picked the red because it is bright and cheerful and goes well with the red towels and other linen items I have.

Add some extra storage

Towel rods on door

I installed some cheap towel rods on my door.  Our house was built with hollow core doors so when installing the towel bars, put them into the solid parts of the door.  This is usually located in the middle near the handle and sometimes at the top.  I used the wall anchors included with the towel rod package and it seems pretty sturdy to me.  If it starts to get loose, I'll re-install them with molly screws.

 

 

The Process with guidelines for what to keep

The most important and beneficial part of the entire process was completely emptying the closet of everything and taking a good hard look at what I was going to keep.  I ended up getting rid of about a third of what I had.  Animal shelters can always use extra towels and blankets that are unsuitable for charitable donations.  Extra baby blankets make good donations.  There are lots of ways to recycle!

Here are the guidelines I followed when deciding what to keep:

2 sets of sheets per bed  (really no need for more)
2 towels per person + 2 for guest use (this might even be a little bit much but it made my shelves look prettier)
Plenty of washcloths so I filled the entire bin with them
1 set of guest sheets
1 blanket for each bed (to be used in Winter)
extra toiletries for guests.

Guest towels are hung on the rods on the inside of the door to keep them separated from the common-use towels.

I created a large space for storing club-pack sizes of toilet paper since we always seem to be running out
Cleaning supplies and rags are on the floor in a matching bin next to the toilet paper

Linen Closet - After

The bottom line is that a linen closet is managed much easier when you have less "stuff" in it.  I would love to hear about your linen closet adventures.  Do you have any spectacular after pictures that you are proud of?  Leave a comment and let me know what you think of my closet!

The Purge Project - Bigger Life, Fewer Things

     Minimalist living:  one member of my extended family has it down to a science when it comes to living minimally.  After their kids grew up and moved out, they finally ended up in a condo that is all of about 950 square feet.  They live well in that space and everything is functional without a single superfluous item to be found anywhere.  There is a place for everything and everything is in its place.  It is relaxing and simply lovely to be in their home.  Could you imagine purging enough stuff to fit all of your worldly possessions into a much smaller space? Most of us would have quite a bit of difficulty parting with so many of our possessions. 

       A couple of weeks ago, our pastor gave a sermon about financial responsibility and used Matthew 6:19 as one of the focal verses.  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  Matt 6:19.  He asked one question that has stuck in my head ever since about the successful public storage industry here in the US.  "Why do we continually store more things that we may pay extra to store some other place because we don't want anyone else to have them?"  I had never heard it phrased exactly that way before and the last clause ..."because we don't want anyone else to have them"... really grabbed me.  I immediately thought about my overstuffed linen closet and garage and the conviction fell heavily upon me.  Why should I keep all this stuff?  Some of it has not been used in years.  Why shouldn't somebody else benefit from it?

       Clutter is draining.  Having too much stuff  wastes our time and prevents others from benefiting from the use of those items that we keep stashed away in storage areas where they remain for years, often forgotten.  In upcoming posts as I mentioned while on vacation, I will start a series this week that I'm going to call "Purge Project" where I will go throughout my house and systematically purge, donate, toss, and organize the contents of some of my more excessive living spaces in an effort to reduce the amount of useless stuff we have and show you all the finished results along the way.

     Join me in this project and submit pics and links of your own organizational efforts.  This week, I'll be starting in the linen closet and will post before and after pics of how I organized it and got rid of all the excess.

Jump to next post in the series.

Spiritual Fitness Sunday - Balaam the False Prophet

     In my personal Bible reading, I have been making my way through the book of Numbers.  I know, some of you may not spend a lot of time in the book of Numbers because it is, well... full of numbers and lists of data that, at times, can be difficult to figure out how to apply them to every day life.  I am here to tell you, please don't neglect this book.  If you do, you will miss out on one of the more interesting stories in the first five Old Testament Books.  As I initially read the story of Balaam the false prophet, I had planned on continuing on with my reading in the following chapter the next day, but I could not get the story out of my head.  Consequently, I went searching on the internet for a Bible study on this particular story.  Here is an excellent study from Bible.org that really goes into some depth on the story.  Some may be familiar with the story about how the false prophet, Balaam, was hired by King Balak of Moab to put a curse on the Israelites.  Some interesting events occur, including a warning from a talking donkey, and culminating with Balaam's blessing of Israel much to the dismay of the King of Moab.  By the way, the Moabites were distant relatives to the Israelites and were Lot's relatives. (Genesis 19:30-38)

1.  This story demonstrates for us the importance of being forthright with God.  God sees and knows all things and attempting to hide one's motives from Him for personal gain is futile.  

2.  We can see that Balaam was not a true prophet of God because he apparently did not fear God enough to obey His command to not go with King Balak's men in order to curse Israel.

3.  God's permissive will is demonstrated in the story when He allows Balaam to sin by following Balak's men back to Moab in order to curse Israel in disobedience to His first command.  God will be glorified regardless of whether people obey Him or not.  In this story, Balaam's sinful disobedience of God's first command to him ended up blessing the Israelites, thus God was glorified despite Balaam's sinfulness.

So, go and grab your Bible.  Check out this story and the study from Bible.org

Homemade Tangy Kiwi-Pineapple Jam - Mmmmm!

We have moved the kiwi jam recipe to our new site over at Wordpress.  Click on the link below to be taken to the recipe on our new site.

http://homemakerforallseasons.com/2013/03/09/homemade-tangy-kiwi-pineapple-jam-mmmmm/

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Vacation in February!

Ah, the smell of the cool Winter air and the overcast skies over the lake.  This week, we decided to take a week-long break and went "camping" at the lake.  I know, February is not your typical vacation month but the price was right and we had not been anywhere in awhile.  Aside from the fact that we started our drive while we still had flu-sick people, it ended up going all right and we made it safely to our destination.  One of the benefits of homeschooling this year is that we were able to just pack it all up and do school while on vacation. 







I love the sound of my little people busily making mud-pies in the front yard of our rental cabin while I bake the cookies














The sunset above the lake is breathtaking in the afternoon

Living here this week has definitely made me appreciate a more laid-back, minimalist lifestyle.  Next week starts the first post in my Purge Project series.  My first project will be tackling our overstuffed linen closet.  Check back in to see the finished results of this organizing project!

Awesome no-bake cookies with surprise ingredient

We have moved the Awesome No-Bake Cookies recipe to our new wordpress site at the link listed below.  Click on it to be taken to the recipe on our new site!

http://homemakerforallseasons.com/2013/03/04/awesome-no-bake-cookies-with-surprise-ingredient/

Fussy Toddlers: The Tantrum - Adventures in Parenting

Our little baby, K, is growing so fast.  She learns new things every day, most of them are a wonder to watch; however, one particular behavior she has adopted is definitely less than wonderful to us.  Baby K is an expert at throwing tantrums and her prowess for "pitching a fit" as we say here in the South is second to none.  My husband had recently been traveling for business and was gone quite a bit over the last few weeks and I was finding myself frustrated and exhausted at the end of the day.  All the rest of us had come down with the flu and the fussiness just seemed to stick around after that.  At first, I just thought baby K's residual fussiness was just a part of the flu recovery with it's running nose and cough that all of us currently have.  However, her propensity to fuss started before that.

     As a sometimes harried and busy Mom, my plate was full and I had inadvertently gone into baby pacification mode, thinking this was just a phase or a passing behavior.  Baby K has been my "easy" baby and surely she couldn't be manipulating me in this manner; she is just too cute for that....or could she?  All of my children hit a growth spurt right around the 15 month mark.  With this growth spurt came the ability to form multi-word sentences consisting of both baby babble and real words.  They have also been able to repeat words we "teach" them.  For me, this growth spurt marks the  transition from being a baby to being a toddler. With this growth spurt, she has also found the ability to gain attention by being "cute" and doing things purely for the reaction from others.

     Recently, my husband had been away for business and upon his return and during our lake vacation, he immediately noticed the increased fussiness in little K.  This fussiness has reared its head in each of our children but at different ages.  Our oldest daughter didn't start in with it until she was right around 2 and our son didn't start until he was well into his 2s.

     Since our other children started trying this behavior at older ages, they each had a greater ability to reason than little K does at her tender age of 16 months.  I know reasoning with someone who is only 2 years old is also not always possible but a child understands more at that age.  To me, 16 months is right on the outer edge of babyhood and I had not thought some sort of disciplinary action such as a time out would have much effect.  My husband thinks otherwise and tried it and it worked.  So, we are going to be implementing this tactic with her.

     Little children are always more prone to having tantrums if they are hungry, tired, overstimulated, or bored so taking measures to avert these situations will also go far in tantrum prevention.  We are currently on vacation and the act of traveling and setting up our household in a different location with an irregular nap schedule has definitely contributed to her increase in tantrums as well as some habits she may have acquired during our flu weeks due to a lack of parental involvement due to sickness.  It will be an interesting time and I am curious to see how trainable she is at this age and if we will be able to successfully shape her behavior away from tantrums and toward better communication in the near future.

    How do you deal with young toddler behavior?  What methods have you found that work best at preventing those tantrums?

Ugh...the Flu Strikes

As of today, we are all down and out with the Flu.  My wonderful friend from our church homeschool group kindly brought over some herbal tea that she concocted and I am supposed to drink it every hour to help with flu symptoms.  So far, so good and I didn't even add the honey she suggested (can't taste anything right now anyway because of a stuffed up nose)

We have more hours than I would care to admit in front of the tv and I have eaten pancakes for 2 out of 3 meals today and ice cream for the other.  One of the three little ones has seemed to have made a full recovery as he got sick first.  This is the 5th day of sickness for baby K and I and my older daughter started off the day with a fever so she will be longest in recovery I think.  I hope we get over this in time for our upcoming lake trip.

What things do you do to comfort your sick ones?  Do you have any good home remedies to share?

How to Shorten a Table and Save Money

This post has been updated and can be found here

How to Get the Edge on Painting the Perfect Stripe

This post has been moved to my new blog.  Click on the link to learn how to paint awesome horizontal stripes on your walls: Garden Full of Dreams

How to Make the Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg

The article you are looking for has moved to our new site at wordpress.  Click on the link to be taken to the new home for this article!

http://homemakerforallseasons.com/2012/12/05/how-to-make-the-perfect-hard-boiled-egg/

The One-Woman Fence - part 3

In the last post (found here), I discussed using a post hole auger and how to set your fence posts.  Even though the quick set cement sets in about 30 minutes, I think it is a good idea to let your cement cure for at least a day.  This gives a chance for the water to percolate through and set all the cement in your holes and also ensure that attaching your cross beams will not cause your posts to jiggle loose.

Here are the materials you will need for this section:

battery powered drill with 2 batteries
extra screw driver heads (nice hardened ones - go for the more expensive ones...they really are better)
3 inch deck screws (get at least 1000)
2x4x8 treated planks
level
mason line
chalk
framing hammer or nail gun
1.5 inch galvanized ring shank nails  (galvanized is for outdoor use and ring shank helps prevent nail from backing out of the hole)

When you are ready to attach your cross beams (treated 2x4x8 lumber) to the fence posts, use 3 inch deck screws and a battery powered drill with at least 2 speeds.  Years ago, my parents bought us a terrific battery powered drill that we use for everything and I absolutely love it.  One thing I must say about using battery powered tools is that it is handy to have at least 2 batteries so one can be charging while you use the other one and you don't end up waiting around for your battery to charge.   I also recommend buying some screwdriver bits made from hardened material with good shoulders on them.  Get a whole pack of them because you will go through bits pretty quickly using deck screws.  Look for the type of bits used by people who install drywall for a living.  They have good shoulders on them and prevent slipping while you are trying to drive the screws into your posts/ crossbeams.

1. measure and mark posts.  Start with the bottom cross beam and mark your posts about 8 inches from the ground.  When you are determining the locations for your cross beams, you need to also determine how you want your fence to look.  Do you want to have a style that runs with the contour of the ground or do you want to step your fence up and down in panels?  The way you set your cross beams will be determined by the style you choose.  If you choose to step your panels, make sure your cross beams are level.  If you contour your fence with the slope of the ground, just measure and adjust the bottom edge of your cross beam accordingly by measuring roughly 8 inches from the ground and marking your fence posts with chalk, keeping in mind that the ground immediately around your posts has recently been disturbed and may not be the exact same level as the ground between your posts.  8 inches is a starting point.  You will need to eyeball it to get the correct look.  (Note, see step 3 for an explanation on stacking your cross beams from neighboring sections.)

2. Begin to attach your 2x4 cross beams to your fence posts.  If you are the only one on the job, put a deck screw in to one post of the section you are working on right on the chalk line you drew for your bottom beam and use that screw as a pivot to hold up one end of the 2x4 while you affix it to the post on the other side of the section you are working on.  It may be over kill but I used 2 deck screws per side on the 2x4.  Once you have it fastened on one side, you can use that supporting deck screw as one of your screws to attach the other side of the 2x4 to your other post.

3.  The style I used for my 2x4 cross beams was to stack one on top of another with an overlap the width of the post.  For example, the bottom rung for one section was at 8 inches above ground level while the neighboring sections were stacked on top of that bottom rung and they were each about 10.5 inches up from the ground.  It doesn't look as pretty in my opinion but that is the way most fences in my neighborhood are built and it does provide more stability if you live in an area with high winds or rowdy kids!

4.  Once all your cross beams are attached, your fence will start to look more like a fence instead of a construction project.   Congratulations!  You can now start hammering pickets.  I used 1.5 inch nails for my pickets and it is really helpful to have a nail gun for this part of the job.  I bought a 30 degree pneumatic nail gun and I absolutely love it.  It was on sale for just over 100$ and I have already used it for 2 projects.  Don't be intimidated by the nail gun...it does make a loud noise but it is much easier on your fence posts because they won't bear the wear and tear that repetetive hammering will inflict upon them (you will be hammering pickets until you are blue in the face!)  If you do decide to hammer them all in by hand, get yourself a good framing hammer (they are longer in the handle, have a nice large strike face and usually the strike face is lightly spiked.  It definitely grips the nail heads better and you have less of a chance of having the hammer glance off a nail and mash your thumb..  To take the sting out of the inevitable thumb mashings, wear a good heavy pair of gloves when you start hammering. 

5.  Hammer pickets in sections - stretch mason line by tying it to the top of one of your pickets and stretch it out about 15 feet.  Nail another temporary picket and tie the mason line good and tight.  Use the mason line to follow with shoulder of dog ear for a nice straight looking fence section.  This works great for fences that follow the contour of the ground.  When placing your pickets, put a 2x4 under your first one to give it a nice space between it and the ground...this helps prevent warping and bending pickets from ground moisture being wicked up into the picket.  You will have a bit of a gap but keep in mind that it can be filled in later with a little soil or some pretty garden plantings. Leaving yourself some space between the bottom of the picket and the ground will also prevent you from having to cut the pickets as you are putting them on the fence due to uneven ground underneath.  (Trust me, I learned this the hard way!)

6.  When you build your gate, you don't want it to sag.  They usually do anyway just because your gate posts will shift in the ground from the weight of the gate opening and closing.  (Put a nice big cement base for your gate and corner posts).  I used a gate kit I purchased from the big blue hardware store.  It included hinges, a latch, and angle brackets to help prevent sagging.  So far, the kit has worked pretty well and I like that it is pretty simple to build with the instructions provided on the box.


7. Finally, when you finish your fence sides and find yourself at a corner or gate opening with a space to cover with pickets but your picket is way too wide to fit properly, look ahead and purposely leave a space near the end of the fence section but not on the corner or right at the gate opening.  The space should be 1 picket distance away from a corner or opening so you are able to cover the hole with an uncut picket.  This looks just fine from a distance and is a good way of having a nice-looking fence without having to use a saw to cut a picket to an odd size in order to fit a small space.

The hardest part of whole thing for me was drilling the holes with the auger.  I would definitely try to enlist somebody's help if you plan on doing it yourself with a piece of machinery.  If you dig it by hand with a post hole digger, go slow, expect it to take about half hour per hole once you get good at it if you don't have overly rocky soil.  Anyone can do this project and the money you save is a nice bonus.  Good luck if you decide to take this on yourself!

The One Woman Fence - part 2

in the last post about the fence, I talked about my experience in working with an auger.  If I had to do it all over again, I would probably not have rented the towed post hole digger because it was a rather large piece of machinery.  The drawbacks to using the towed auger are many.  If you don't have a trailer hitch, you might as well forget it because having one delivered does add expense and may not get you the savings you are looking for by doing it yourself.  Also, if you are drilling on any type of slope, it becomes very difficult to maneuver the digger and drill a nice vertical hole because the slope can cause the auger bit to drill at an angle.  On the other hand, the towed auger is great for rocky clay soil, which I have over here!  It also is somewhat safer for one person to operate in that the torque from the auger bit is absorbed by the frame and it will not throw you like some of those smaller one or two man auger models you can purchase at the big box stores.  If I had to do it all over again, I would probably try to rent something like the little beaver earth drill as I have heard it is more easily operable by one person and more portable.  My local rental shop didn't have one available so I ended up renting the towed auger.

When you build a privacy fence, there are certain materials and tools you will want to have on hand

Materials List:

Nylon mason line
marking stakes
marking paint (that bright florescent stuff that sprays upside down)
3 lb metal mallet (you will use this later in your building project)
60 lb bags of quick set cement
large bucket
manual post hole digger
duct tape
post hole auger (optional - you could dig your holes by hand - estimated 45 minutes per hole in hard clay)
post hole level
shovel (spade type)
water
wheel barrow (handy for premixing cement if you choose to do it that way - mix it like peanut butter consistency)
rock breaker bar (the big tall one with the chisel on one end and spike on other end - often found near excavating tools in the big blue store)

The Process:

The following steps detail what you will need to do in order to build a fence of your own!


1. Buy one of those nylon mason lines and a bundle of stakes at your local hardware store.  Stretch the mason line nice and tight from corner stake to corner where you want to place your fence.  I marked the places where I wanted to drill my post holes with stakes, however, in hind sight, I wish I would have just used marking paint instead because when it came time to drill the holes and remove the stakes, it was difficult to ensure that the auger bit was centered in the place where the stake was. 

2. When you are marking where you want your posts to be, have in mind what size of cross beams you will be using.  I used 8ft 2x4 treated lumber for my cross beams and drilled my holes about every 7 and a half feet. So I could have 3 inches of overlap for my cross beams on either side. 

3. When you have your fence line marked with where you want your posts, you are ready to dig.  Please ensure you call that utility company number that gets all the underground utilities marked.  This will save you big bucks and perhaps your life in the end.  I called and had the utility lines marked but still ended up severing my neighbor's phone line because the phone company neglected to mark all the points where the phone line crossed our property.  Like I said earlier, I rented a rather large towed post hole auger and it was a little too big for me to handle on my own.  We got the auger blade stuck on the first hole we dug (corner post hole) and it took over an hour to get it unstuck.  I was able to handle the auger on my own for about a third of the holes that I needed for the fence posts, however those holes were not on a hill.  My neighbor across the street was so kind and came over to help me dig two thirds of the holes (the ones on the hill)  The post hole auger kept wanting to roll down the hill and it was a beast to handle.

4. After the holes were dug with the auger, we used the manual post hole digger to ensure the bottoms of the holes were widened.  This prevents heaving when the ground freezes and helps your posts stay in place.  I put some duct tape around the handle of the manual post hole digger to help measure the depth of the holes.   After the holes were adjusted, I was ready to place the 4x4 posts.  A post hole level is a great tool to have for this phase as it allows you to level a post both horizontally and vertically all at once.  It really saves time and by the end of it, I was able to tell if the post was level just by looking at it.  It took about 1x60 lb bag of cement to fill the hole with the post.  I just dumped the dry cement into the hole and the poured a 3 gallon bucket of water into the hole.  The cement set up within 30 minutes and my posts were sturdy.  Make sure that your posts are facing the right direction or the next step will be much more difficult.



All in all, the marking, drilling, and setting of the posts for the fence was about 2 solid days worth of work.  It ended up taking me the better part of a week because I have 3 kids and was not able to put in long work days.  I ended up renting the auger on a Saturday and since it was a weekend rental, I didn't have to return it until before 9:00am on Monday so I had 2 whole days to use it for the price of 1 day's rental.  It ended up being the perfect amount of time to complete my drilling project.

Go to part 3 - Build your own fence

The One-Woman Fence - Well, not entirely! - Part 1

How to build a beautiful privacy fence for your back yard.  

Actually, I had some great help from my Dad and neighbor.  I started out building this fence because we needed one and I wanted to surprise my husband when he got back from the field exercise he was on.  The prep work for building the fence consisted of watching as many videos on you tube about fence building that I could get my hands on.  Among the most helpful were the videos that were produced by the big blue and big orange hardware stores. 

If you are planning on building a 6ft wooden privacy fence like mine, you will want to rent a post hole auger and have a manual post hole digger like these on hand. 

I had about 30 holes to dig and ended up renting a towed post hole auger with an 8 inch bit in order to dig holes that would accommodate my 4x4 fence posts.  Each hole was drilled to a depth of about 22 inches.  We live in the south and 22 inches got the fence post hole below the frost line.   The rental place tried to get me to take the 10 inch bit they had on hand but were somehow able to find the 8 inch bit as I was standing in line.  In hindsight, a 10 inch bit would drill wider holes and provide more stability for posts in places that are under more stress such as the corners and the gate posts, but I didn't know if I could personally maneuver an auger with a bit that large.



In the following posts, I will show you how I put up my own privacy fence and how you can easily build one of your own!

Go to part 2 - Build your own fence

Carb Cycling for Weight Loss

One of my current projects is to drop the last 20 lbs of baby weight that I have stacked on over the last 5 years and 3 children.  Last year, my parents both went on the Atkins diet, lost a ton of weight, and looked great.  I have to say, I have always been a little leery of the Atkins diet as I thought it mainly consisted of eating eggs and bacon all the time.  I suppose that it could be done that way but after reading the book adn seeing what the diet truly consisted of, I became a believer and started induction on the 15th of May 2012 and have lost 10 lbs since then.  I know that most of the weight is water weight as it is with most diets but a pound is a pound regardless of what it is made out of when you are first starting out and every little bit motivates me to continue.  I did pretty well sticking to the Atkins induction plan and once my body went into ketosis, I had to remind myself to eat during the day.  It was great and my cravings really did disappear.  I have to admit that after awhile, I did probably consume too much bacon as it was a good substitute for the sugary foods that I craved before the diet.  At first, I was totally appalled at the amount of dietary fat and cholesterol that I was consuming but eventually got used to it.  I figured that any negative effects on my cholesterol levels would eventually be taken care of as I ramped up exercise and started adding in more fiber.  Since starting induction, I have been adding in more carbs at strategic points during the day and have continued to lose.  At first, I was doing one big carb binge day per week.  This kicked my body out of ketosis and I immediately would gain about 3 lbs of water weight almost overnight.  Then, I would go back on induction and lose that weight plus about 2 more pounds pretty quickly the following week until the next carb day.  I have since tried some other modifications and what I am currently doing is eating my fruit or oatmeal in the morning for breakfast after I have completed a weight lifting work out.  While I was on induction, I was not working out at all and felt like my muscles were pretty weak and I would tire out quickly.  On the other hand, I had great mental clarity and energy for the long term (ie. getting through the day without that big carb crash in the afternoon.)  I absolutely loved that aspect of ultra low carb dieting.  With the current way of eating, I am trying to keep my body in a glycogen-depleted state for most of the day and hoping to reclaim that low carb-mental clarity and preserve muscular strength in order to have some energy to complete a good workout and build lean body mass in order to get rid of my current flabbiness.

I have to mention that I was also breastfeeding my 7 month old when I was doing Atkins so I had to really work at ensuring I was consuming 1800 to 2000 calories during the day and drinking enough water.  I found that the milk supply didn't really seem to drop when I was in ketosis and I feel like I was getting enough calories to fuel the breastfeeding process.  My baby continued to gain weight and be satisfied with her nursing sessions.  I have to say that I think my body went into ketosis pretty quickly when I first started and I wonder if breastfeeding may have had something to do with it.

Many people report that doing Atkins induction does not negatively affect their muscular strength.  I found that it lowered mine and I believe that could have been due to breastfeeding as breastmilk has a pretty high carbohydrate content.  I know our bodies adapt to the particular fuel that we feed them and as my body has gotten used to ketosis, energy levels have definitely improved and muscular strength has improved somewhat.

Getting into the carb cycling portion of my diet as I added back in some carbs was fun and tasty!  I still have not eaten much bread as that seems to put me to sleep pretty easily.  Most of my carbs have come from fruit and beans.  I started the carb cycling by getting into a good deep ketosis and eating my portion of carbohydrate earlier in the day and immediately after a workout.  It should take about 45 to 60 seconds of lifting to deplete glycogen stores in a particular muscle group.  When we wake up, our livers are naturally depleted of glycogen as our brains use it up during the night when we sleep.  Upon waking, we are in a more ketogenic state.  If I deplete my muscles of glycogen by working out, my muscles are primed to refuel and the hormone glucagon is activated to shuttle that carbohydrate (sugar) into the depleted muscle groups (and the liver) and thus, fat storage is not apt to happen as readily.  So far, I have tried strategic carb cycling for a day and did not gain the usual 3 lbs of water weight that I would normally gain when eating carbs.  I also notice that if I try to remain in a glycogen depleted state for most of the day by going low carb for the rest of the day after lunch, I don't get that dopey tired feeling in the afternoon and can still maintain a clear head and plenty of energy throughout the day.  This helps a great deal when chasing after little kids and keeping up with all of their shenanigans all day long.

Burning the candle at both ends

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you are running the entire day through with hardly an opportunity to come up for air?  Today was the kids' birthday party.  We had 30 party guests over to the local gymnasium for a gymnastics party.  Everyone had a blast and I like an off site party for the sheer ease I have in the clean up afterward.  This one was short and sweet and ended up being much less expensive than holding the same party at my house.  We were also able to invite more guests because the gym is obviously larger than my house so nobody was left off the guest list. 
Following that, we visited our friends' house for an impromptu pool party get together.  Where the kiddos had fun with their new "floaty" swim gear.  I have to admit that I am one of those paranoid mothers and neither of my children know how to swim.  I tend to avoid swimming pools because the thought of keeping track of two non swimmers plus baby K is even worse than actually squeezing myself into a bathing suit.  This called for an emergency trip to our local Wally World to find the necessary gear that would put this momma's mind at ease about letting my little ducklings into the water.  We purchased these Sterns puddle jumper life vests in lieu of inflatable water wings and they worked out beautifully.  Unlike water wings, they have an additional floaty part that crosses the front of the child's chest and I think it provides a bit more support and security for the young non swimmer.  Additionally, it helps them float on their backs easier, preventing water from getting up their little noses.  Our friend's little 2-year old boy also tried them out and was able to swim like a little minnow; whereas before, he disliked using those inflatable water wings that are worn on the upper arms.

After the pool party, we met our other friends to drop off keys to their house as they just pulled in from their 6 day cross country move out to our neck of the woods…Whew!  On the drive back to our house, the three kiddos in the back still had enough energy left to ask me to play with their birthday gifts that we were still toting around in the back from the birthday party this afternoon.  Since the sun was almost completely set and I knew that breaking out the toys at this point in the evening would invite more whining later, we ended up finishing our day about an hour past bedtime throwing those little TNT pop its in our driveway.  A great end to a very busy day!