• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Blue House Blog

believer | creating a home of peace, health, abundance and beauty | laughing a lot

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Truth
    • Contact Me
  • Recipes
    • Trim Healthy Mama
    • Nourishing Traditions
  • My Home
    • Remodeling
    • Before and After
  • The Fine Print
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy
    • Media
  • Shop

Growing Healthy Kids.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Health

Annie’s MRI appointment last week went SO very well that I left with a profound feeling of exhilaration and hope.

And also…a renewed sense of inspiration to take better care of the bodies God gave us. When Annie was first diagnosed, I was ON A MISSION to feed my children ONLY the most nutrient-packed, God-made food that would boost their little immune systems and keep my little darlings healthy, happy, and well-adjusted…

…believing that the healthiest possible foods are the ones as close to the way God made them as possible: organic, hormone- and preservative-free, and unprocessed.

Clean.

Honestly, in the past couple of years, due to the weight of overwhelming stressful events, I’ve let my attention to their diet slide ever-so-slightly. OK, I’ll be honest: we’ve totally, completely backslidden into the wasteland of trans fats, red dye #40, and … junk food (gasp).

I kept them alive, dadgummit, and sometimes, at the end of the day, that’s the best you can hope to accomplish.

But two years ago, I was on fire. I started (and didn’t finish) a blog series about our quest for better health:
~~~~~~~~

Step One: Nourishing Traditions. Before you read any further you’ll want to click on the link and read that post… its important to start here, because Nourishing Traditions is the foundation.


Go ahead… I’ll wait.
~~~~~~~~

Step Two: Juicing. Also critically important for good health. Go ahead… you’ll need to read that blog post too. Its important.

~~~~~~~~
Seeing as how we’ve survived the last two years on a diet of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs, change in the right direction won’t be easy.

But I made a run to the health food store last night, made a menu plan, and tossed out the junkiest of the junk out of our pantry.

Today, I made a sticker chart where I plan to reward my children with one sticker for every healthy thing they eat. When they accumulate enough stickers (to be determined), we’ll go for a not-so-healthy treat like Andy’s.

They already have two stickers… for trying sauerkraut. Can you believe that? Sauerkraut!! I sort of offered it to them just for fun to see what they’d be willing to do for a sticker…and they liked it! Enough to eat two servings of it! It made me feel less guilty about heating up a nasty-white-flour-fake-cheese-and-trans-fat-frozen-pizza, since sauerkraut might possibly be the Next Chicken Soup. But the junky pizza was in the freezer already, and like I said… we’re easing back in gradually.

There are tons of health benefits to fermented foods like sauerkraut, but that’s a subject for the next blog post.

Recent Posts

  • Ask
  • Two Natural Ways to Cope with Grief
  • Covers Over
  • God vs Earthly Parents
  • For they are ever with me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathy says

    June 22, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Praise God for the MRI report. Rejoicing with you.<br /><br />I hear you on the taking care of one&#39;s body better. {As I&#39;m sipping a Coke Zero :S}<br /><br />Your comment made me smile. Yes!! My husband has a single brother and I would love to set you up! So not joking. ;o) {But my husband didn&#39;t start out a nice guy, just a heads up..his brother might though ;o)}

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

Be sure to subscribe to emails so you don't miss a post!

Search for Something

ARCHIVES

I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s the goal, though. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’m working on both.
Instagram post 18046618504353300 Instagram post 18046618504353300
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Ella Theme by Code + Coconut