Tree of Life Mothering

My wonderful friend Becky Edwards of Veggie Gals fame is offering a class this summer. I highly recommend it!

Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in clutter, chaos, and overwhelm? Believe me, I’ve felt that way. 

Let a professional organizer, emotional release worker, and mentor throw you a lifeline, helping you create order, peace, balance, and purpose. 

Don’t miss the BONUS offers at the end of the video for sharing this course with your friends! You could attend the course for FREE!

This is what I looked like a year ago, spring 2015. My “before diet” pictures. The weight had crept up after the birth of my 7th baby. I weighed as much as I did almost 6 years postpartum as I did when I was pregnant with him. So discouraging!

Below is what I looked like when the diet was pretty much done, fall of 2015. My “after diet” pictures.

 I lost over 70 lbs in 9 months without exercise! Woo-hoo! I look and feel better, and am no longer at risk for diabetes and heart disease as my waist circumference has shrunk!

I am excited to share how I accomplished this, and accompany you on your journey getting into better shape!

So I am thrilled to announce…

The Eternal Warriors* Healthy Eating Class for July 2016!

If you would like accountability, consistency in sticking to your diet/health goals, and knowledge of how to get in shape and stay in shape, this class is for you! 

“I am just doomed to be fat the rest of my life!”

Have you ever heard that lie in your head?

As someone who weighed more that I wanted to, I often had that thought. I often wondered if I was cursed with bad genetics. My sister and I seemed to have inherited the genes from the fat grandparents, whereas our siblings got the genes from the skinny side of the family tree. Our siblings could eat whatever they wanted and stay as lean as string beans whereas we always felt like baked stuffed potatoes, no matter how little we ate. Also, as a mom who has borne 7 babies, after I had each baby it was harder to lose the pregnancy weight. One summer I exercised and avoided sugar and junk food, yet at the end of the three months someone asked me if I was pregnant! After all that hard work and sacrifice, I wanted to punch him in the eye!

The great news is that I finally was able to lose the weight! I lost 70 lbs, without exercise, in 9 months, and you can too! I am here to help you do that!

How?

By taking and applying what you learn in the Eternal Warriors Healthy Eating Class!

What you will get by enrolling in the class…

-10 weeks of once a week coaching on how to achieve your health goals. These classes are held online, over Zoom (a video chatroom and phone conference room, you can use either one), so you can meet from wherever you are as long as you have an Internet or long distance phone connection. Classes are 2 hours and 15 minutes.

-Knowledge that you are not defective, cursed, or broken

-Skills on how the enemy plays tricks with your mind, especially to get you to eat emotionally, and how to beat him

-Accountability so that you are motivated to achieve your goals

-Specific principles that you can use the rest of your life on all areas: financial, spiritual, relationships, and physical

-Knowledge of questions you can use daily in your journal writing to increase your success

-Access to my web page “How to Lose 70 Lbs Without Exercise and Keep it Off”, which will be ready to view sometime in summer 2016

-Knowledge on how to stop emotional eating

-4 steps to cure your sugar addiction for life

-the 6 new lessons added to the Eternal Warriors program in 2015

-Knowledge of how to master the hormone that controls fat burning

By conquering emotional eating and how to control the fat burning hormone you can get slim and stay slim the rest of your life!

Come join me!

We will meet every Tuesday starting July 26th through Sept. 27 ^th

1 to 3:15 PM MDT

Cost:

Regular Price is $179 for tuition

Then you pay lifechangingservices.org $50 to order the

Girl Power materials kit

(kit includes a Girl Power journal, Like Dragons Did they fight book,  and a link to downloads of talks by Maurice Harker, a therapist, and a link to the four hour seminar of “Breaking the Chains”)

Regular Price, $179, ends Saturday July 23 midnight MDT

for returning Mothers Who Know/Eternal Warriors students the regular price is $97 

After July 23 the price goes up by $50!

Please register by going to paypal.com and paying whatever applicable price, according to the date, to the paypal account <info@treeoflifemothering.com> In the notes section, please include your name and the best email for you to be reached so I can send you the link for the class.

The giveaway is over! Congratulations to our two winners, Stephanie and Linda!

I am giving away two registrations to the class! One for newcomers, and one for people who have already taken an Eternal Warriors or Mothers Who Know class. The winner will be chosen by a random drawing. Please comment below if you would like to enter the drawing. Mention if you are a new or returning student. The drawing will be held Friday June 24, 2016 around 9 AM MDT.

I hope to see you there!

*This is called Eternal Warriors instead of the usual Mothers Who Know class because I am inviting men/fathers to join the class as well.

Here’s another summer reading challenge! It’s from my latest favorite podcaster, Sarah McKenzie, who does The Read Aloud Revival. She is teaming up with Jamie Martin, another homeschooling mom, to do a geography-based summer book club/challenge. It’s called “Read the World Summer Book Club.” You can read all the details here.

Here is the inspiring podcast Sarah did with Jamie recently to help launch Jamie’s new book, which inspired them to do the challenge. Listen to it during your next chore and the time will fly by!

It starts on June 27th, so you have plenty of time to get some books lined up to read and explain it to your kids. I will definitely be giving my kids Adventure Points for reading books for this book club! The kids can enter to win prizes

I think we will layer the book club with an LDS theme by putting up a world map with LDS temple card pictures of where the temples are, and stickers or pins where my kids’ brother, cousins, and other relatives and friends have served missions!

My goal with doing all of this is not so much to give my children “the world” so they are “globally minded,” but to give them a heart for all of Heavenly Father’s children, wherever they live. I want them to feel love for all of Heavenly Father’s children, no matter the country of origin, or beliefs.

I saw this great blog post about keeping your kids active and engaged all summer. It’s by Katie of wellnessmama.com over here. I’ve adapted it to fit our homeschooling goals of keeping academic skills sharp during summer. I am giving my kids “Adventure Points”, inspired by Katie’s blog, for doing their 3 R’s everyday (reading, ‘riting’, and ‘rithmetic) with points for other engagement with our learning materials on top of that. I have four kids at home. The goal is for them to each get 50 points a day, to make 200 total Adventure Points a day, with at least 1000 by Saturday afternoon. 1000 points earns them a trip hiking, swimming, or something similar on a Saturday afternoon. 4000 points accumulated will get the kids a bigger outing like a trip to the zoo or a swimming hole far away with a natural waterslide. I am so excited to try this out!

So head on over and read Katie’s post with her activities and assigned points. Then make your own list adapted to the needs of your family. I certainly am giving more points for weeding than playing a card game! Include points earned for playing with and taking care of younger siblings. Like for reading a book to them, changing a diaper, playing a game, or taking the baby on a walk. Also include chores that you know need to be done that are hard for you to get to, like deleting bad photos from your computer’s hard drive or transferring tapes to mp3 files. I am going to reward the kids richly for learning digital photo editing skills!

Here’s to a happy, minimal screen time summer!

The following information comes from my friend Kristen Chevrier. She has worked to bring the documentary “Vaxxed” to a few theaters on the Wasatch Front. If you are open to learning about what’s going on with the mainstream health care system, please read this letter from Kristen and go watch the documentary Vaxxed. I am sorry to be getting this out so late, there’s only 1 day left to go see it, Thursday June 9th.

About a decade ago I heard about this controversy involving the MMR vaccine and Dr. Andrew Wakefield. I was sad to see how he had been treated by the medical community. I am heartened to see that people are hearing more about his story to wake up to what’s going on with the CDC, vaccines, and autism. It’s time to ask serious questions and get transparency and truth. 

Dear Friends,

 

We have a small window of opportunity in which to have a huge impact, not only on Utah, but on the nation.

A senior scientist who worked on the CDC’s 2004 autism/MMR study, and continues to work for the CDC, has come forward with over 8,000 pages of evidence thatthe CDC lied. They manipulated the data after finding that there was a connection between autism and the MMR, affecting children under age 3, across cultural and gender lines, but particularly black males.

Utah is the epicenter of this debate because we have one of the highest rates of autism in the nation and we have the chairman of the congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee living in Alpine.

I have worked hard to bring the documentary that details this story and the need for congressional hearings to Utah.

I need your support in filling the theaters so we can send a strong message to Congressman Jason Chaffetz and to all of our elected officials that we demand

• truth, transparency, and accountability from the government agency tasked with safeguarding our health
• that those who monitor safety should not also promote product
• that vaccine manufacturers must be held liable for damage caused by their products

“Vaxxed” is NOT anti-vaccine. It is pro-safety, pro-transparency, pro-accountability, and anti-corruption.

Vaccine mandates are sweeping the nation and the world. And they are all based on this fraudulent study–“the study to end all studies.” It is critical that we hold congressional hearings, so we can learn the truth. Informed consent cannot exist without access to accurate information.

Please come see this movie, buy two extra tickets to bring friends, and pass this on.

June 6, 7, 8, 9; one screening per day at 7 pm (links below).

The Thursday showing at Thanksgiving Point will be followed by a Q&A with the director and producer, at no extra charge. 

(The Gateway had not yet posted showtimes last time I checked, but they have assured us that they will post soon.)

Megaplex Theatres – Thanksgiving Point

2935 Thanksgiving Way

Lehi, UT  84043

Megaplex Theatres – The Gateway

165 South Rio Grande Street 

Salt Lake City, UT 84101

 

More information: vaxxedthemovie.com

My overview of the back story and drama surrounding it can be found here. Click on Gayle Ruzicka>Gayle and Kristen on vaccines.

Please contact me with questions. 

Thank you, so much! 
Kristen Chevrier

It’s time for another giveaway! This time it’s about family history! I recently discovered these delightful activity books about family history for kids. They are part of the “Zap the Grandma Gap, My ________ Ancestor ” series by genealogist Janet Hovorka and her sister Amy Slade. Janet is the owner of familychartmasters.com. Check out their decorative charts. They make lovely wedding, birthday, anniversary, and Christmas gifts. You can customize them. Such a brilliant idea! For the kiddos in your family, Janet has these darling activity books to help the younger set delve into family history. The complete series involves all these titles: 

• My Pioneer Ancestor
• My Jewish Ancestor
• My Mormon Ancestor
• My Swedish Ancestor
• My German Ancestor
• My Civil War Ancestor
• My British Ancestor
• My Danish Ancestor

Janet has agreed to give away a set of these books to a reader who wins this random drawing.

Today I am reviewing the “My Danish Ancestor” book. If you are like me and have LDS pioneer ancestry, you probably have some Danish blood. A huge influx of Mormon pioneers came from Denmark to Utah in the mid to late 1800s. They were a hardworking, noble people whose influence lingers to this day. I have often wondered how to get my kids more interested in their Danish ancestry. This book will help me do that! Of course, the first place to start is for me to tell stories about the ancestors. I have forgotten to do that and want to get back to doing that, especially on Sunday nights. If you want to hear one of them scroll down past the video to the end of this post. I have written a story about one of my Danish ancestors down there. 

OK, back to the review of the charming and engaging book “My
Danish Ancestor.” Here is what you get in this amazing book:

• A fill in the blank pedigree chart to show how you are related to your Danish ancestor (Of course you are going to have to help your child do the research here.)
• A list of websites that have specialized information about Danish heritage to help you in your search
• Some tidbits about the Danish language, the Danish flag, Rosenberg castle, and Danish royalty
• A timeline of Danish history to help you see where your Danish ancestor fits in
• Recipe to make Danish rye bread
• A list of questions to ask your Danish ancestor or the nearest descended relative
• Puzzles to increase familiarity with Danish terms
• Some Danish music
• Paper dolls of a family (mom, dad, brother, sister, baby, aunt, uncle, grandma, and grandpa) with traditional Danish clothing
• Introduction to two famous Danes (Did you know Victor Borge was Danish? I didn’t know that until I read it in this book!)
• A traditional Danish craft 
• and more!

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! If you have any family reunions coming up that involve Danish roots, I highly recommend you get it. It will help your kids understand how they connect to their heritage. Research shows that children who know their family heritage and stories endure stress and trials more happily. 

Please comment below if you are interested in entering the random giveaway of this book series along with why. The books in the series have similar pages to the ones I listed above.

My third-great-grandmother Mica Martine Pederson was one tough, stalwart, noble lady! My kids need to know her story. She heard Mormon missionaries preach the gospel in Denmark. She felt the Holy Ghost witness to her that the message was true, so she got baptized, amidst intense opposition. Despite the persecution, which included mean people pelting her with rocks and eggs as she walked down the street, she held true to her testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored by Joseph Smith. When she heard that the Saints were to gather in Zion in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, she heeded the call. On the day that she and her husband were to board the ship, her husband announced that he had decided to stay. He refused to move with her. Mica was one determined woman. She knew the gospel was true and decided to give up her husband to follow her convictions. So she left him and took their baby girl. Fortunately she did have some adult companionship as her sister decided to go with her. They arrived in Philadelphia on June 1, 1857. Then they rode the train to get to Iowa City, to join up with a handcart company. Here her sister fell in love with a man and decided not to make the trek west. So with her baby daughter, Hannah, Mica walked across the plains to get to Utah, in the Christian Christensen handcart company. She walked all day, watching her daughter jolt along in the handcart in the hot sun.

She ended up falling in love with a young man who was also on the pioneer trek, Clayborne Montgomery Elder, who was from Tennessee. After their arrival to the Salt Lake Valley, they married and settled in Grantsville, Utah. They were then called by Brigham Young to help settle Utah’s Dixie, the southern area of St. George and vicinity. By this time her husband had been married to a second wife to practice polygamy. With the red cliffstone as a backdrop, they made their home on the Virgin River.Tragically, she lost a son to a drowning accident at a sawmill when he was only 14. This was a hard time for her. She relied on her faith to get through. She also had a hard time getting along with her husband’s other wives. Eventually she and Clayborne divorced, after they had moved to Parowan. He had taken to making and wine and drinking. One account of her life that I read says that he left her and moved to northwestern Utah, abandoing her and the children with less than 100 lbs. of flour. Another account says that when he announced they were moving to Milford, Utah, she refused to move with him. We will probably never know the facts until the next life.

Mica was a slim, quick woman who was an efficient housekeeper. She grew a profitable garden and made butter, cheese, quilts, and rag rugs, on top of tending to her many children. In addition, she had a spinning wheel and loom. She carded the wool, spun the wool, and weaved the wool into fabric, to take care of her family. She married a second time but then separated after she gave birth to a baby girl. When her firstborn daughter moved to Kingston, this daughter, the one that was a baby on the trek west, invited Mica to come live there. So Mica sold her property and bought some land in Kingston and moved there with two of her sons. They didn’t even own any horses to help work the land. One of the sons bought a pair of steers, so the two boys used the pair to plow the land. Mica again proved to be a hard worker. They raised 200 bushels of grain. They were able to gradually acquire more animals and property and became rather prosperous. Eventually she took on the job of postmistress for the town as well, and a grocery store. She also served as the secretary of the Relief Society. She died in Kingston Utah as a faithful saint and her legacy lives on in a huge posterity. 

–>

As homeschool moms, we sometimes think we have to teach our children everything. That’s not true! As a homeschool mom, your job is to facilitate your child’s education with the best materials and mentors you can find. Sometimes the best mentor might not be you! Here’s a great video from homeschool mom, blogger, and podcaster Sarah Mackenzie about why and how to outsource teaching math.

My fun friend Shauna, pictured below on the right, emailed me the link to this video today. Shauna, the one I fetched a toilet for years ago, keeps me apprised of almost all things cool and awesome. Watch the video above, and prepare to be blown away! I remember our mutual friend Joyce telling us all about the Blacks in the Scriptures DVDs years ago at our Veggie Gals gatherings. I didn’t take the time to learn about the concepts then, so it is nice to see that the creator of those DVDs, Marvin Perkins, has his own YouTube channel with these great presentations. He claims that the idea of race is a theory invented by a guy in the 1700s. He also states that what we thought was skin color being mentioned in the scriptures is something else. Fascinating and so refreshing! Show it to your kids for a homeschool devotional or Family Home Evening. I’m eager to hear your comments. What do you think?

(P.S. you can watch all of the stuff from the Blacks in the Scriptures DVDs here.)

Awwww…summer! It’s finally here! I’ve always looooooved it! The freedom that comes from the warmer weather and ease of travel invigorates me! It also symbolizes the freedom of mind I want to feel all year. What better way to encourage freedom of the mind than to read more books and broaden our horizons? We may not be able to go to the beach physically, but we can go in our minds with a great book!

To that end here is a compilation of great summer reads, reading contests, and challenges.

Here’s a Reading Challenge that is not officially labeled as a “summer reading challenge,” as it was started earlier this year. It is Redeemed Reader’s version, based on the original one by Tim Challies, an author, blogger, and book reviewer. You can get the list of books he suggests here. I think it’s neat that he has categories for your book-reading ambition: light, heavy, and avid. 

Here’s the best summer reading contest I’ve seen so far. It’s from the redeemedreader.com web site, and it’s officially called the “2014 Summer Reading Challenge.” Even though it appeared in 2014, I think it’s totally worthy of being recycled. I like it because it has a focus, and it’s Christian-based. The theme is “Time Travel.” The challenge has suggested books for every week plus the insight of a Christian worldview on time travel. Sounds enlightening! I am not so structured as to follow it week by week, I am just using it as a guide to get some adventurous and history-based books my children might enjoy. (The links are not working for me today when I go to the web site, hopefully they will be up and running soon.) 

Here’s the Redeemed Reader’s 2013 Reading Challenge, 

and here is the Redeemed Reader’s list of Great Summer Reads for this year, 2016, since the people there are not doing a summer challenge this year. 

Finally, here is a list of summer reading contests. 

I hope you all enjoy summer with lots of books! And don’t forget books on CD for your road trips. We listened to The Goose Girl and Johnny Tremain last summer. It made the hours in the car so much more bearable. I also suggest this great Read Aloud Revival podcast from amongstlovelythings.com to help you build a family culture around books. Let your mind explore if your body can’t!

I wanted to get this up for Memorial Day, but alas, other responsibilities intervened, so I am getting it up today. Here are two movies suitable for Memorial Day, or any day really, to remind us of our freedoms and those that have sacrificed for it are to be honored. The first video features Stephen Pratt. He has passed away, but his legacy lives on. He worked for Cleon Skousen as his researcher in writing the book, The Making of America. The presentation above is a great overview of our Judeo-Christian heritage as an American nation. It also outlines that another movement, Communism, has been growing in direct opposition. I encourage you to watch it and discuss as a family, as a belated Memorial Day “movie.”

This movie featured here shows the fruits that come from Communist seeds. It is called “Bless You Prison.” A true story, it shows how Nicoleta Valery Grossu, a fighter for liberty, dealt with her imprisonment in Communist Romania.  It’s not one of those light, happy movies that is easy to watch. It’s like The Hiding Place, where you come face to face with brutality and man’s evil nature. But it’s good for you, so please watch it! You will have to use your discernment to determine if it’s appropriate for a family night movie. It’s probably more appropriate for 12 and up. I asked my husband to pick a movie for our date night at home a few weeks ago and he picked this one. I was looking forward to something romantic and lovely, so this was a little bit of a shock. I was so sleepy and the music in it and the theme were rather grim so I kept falling asleep and waking up to more sobering grimness, but in the end, I was glad that I watched it. It opened up my eyes to my freedoms and helped me feel more grateful for having chores. Having watched it, I feel more confident in the triumph of hope in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ’s light can shine even in dark places like a cruel Romanian prison!