Tree of Life Mothering

Wow! 19 years ago I was pregnant with my first baby. I worked as a laboratory assistant to a medical doctor at the Univ. of Utah Med School, helping him with his research work with radioactive isotopes and other complicated things I’ve forgotten about. I’ve always loved to read, so I read a ton of pregnancy and childbirth books that summer. The first parenting book I bought at the U. of U. bookstore was The Baby Book by Dr. Sears. I instantly fell in love with Dr. Sears’ philosophy of attachment parenting and embraced most of it from the start, doing the breastfeeding and babywearing things (my dh bought the sling pictured above when Valor was just a few weeks old), although the cosleeping took two more kids for me to fully jive with, so that I didn’t even unpack the crib until baby #3 was a toddler and our bedsharing bed needed more room. We attached the crib as a sidecar with the side detached.

So I am so thrilled that Dr. Sears has an article about him in the latest issue of Time Magazine, as the man who “remade motherhood.” In my circles of La Leche League and attachment parenting mothers, Dr. Sears is nothing less than a legend. I have had the privilege of hearing him speak live at least twice. I came close enough to him to reach out and touch and ask to shake his hand and get his autograph, but my shyness overcame my “groupiness.” I’ve always thought it was cool that his wife Martha is a La Leche League Leader and I’ve also enjoyed listening to her speak as well. At LLL Leader meetings, my girlfriends and I have fantasized about having him as our pediatrician. (I have to confess that for years I let my natural granola momness come to its fullest and didn’t even take my kids to the doctor, but then my dh became a public defender and got worried about not having a track record of medical doctor records for our kids.)  It’s about time Dr. Bill got some recognition in something big like Time.

I’m not sure how I feel about the cover photo of a mom nursing her almost 4 year old http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/10/has-motherhood-gone-to-extremes/, with most of her breast exposed. I have breastfed some of my children for 4 to 5 years, but I would rather do it discreetly and see others do it discreetly. As attachment parenting author Elizabeth Pantley says on Facebook, “Glad to see the topic covered, but don’t feel the photo will help the cause of normalizing BF in public.” I agree! To quote my friend and TOLM network member Sally B, “Way to make something biologically normal into a freak show. She’s a lovely mother, but her three year old looks like he could be eight! One thing’s sure: this will certainly start a discussion about breastfeeding! LOL!” I haven’t read all the articles, but I like the Q and A with the extended breastfeeding mom on the cover, featured here http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/10/q-a-with-jamie-lynne-grumet/

If anyone wants to interview with KSL about the cover photo and the articles, here’s your chance! KSL put the following announcement on Facebook:

“Attachment parenting – what do you think? How old is too old to breastfeed?
Time Magazine’s recent cover is causing a lot of talk — we want to talk about the issue. We’re looking for moms who want to talk to on camera, email social@ksl.com. “

After months of preparing, my son’s Shakespeare Conquest class is ready to deliver! The class is performing Much Ado About Nothing, set in Japanese feudal times, complete with samurai and stage crew dressed as ninjas!

Thurs, Fri, Sat May 10-12 @ 7 PM

and Sat at 3 PM as well

Bountiful Heights Church

corner of 400 North and 400 East in Bountiful UT

tickets are $3 a person, bring money for concessions as well, I’m pretty sure gluten free cookies will be there!

All the youth will have amazing hair, including topknots and extensions. My son has been growing out his hair for months. I love the fu-man-chu on one of the students picture above. Thanks to mom Coni Sue Cutler for her amazing hair talents.

Last Friday I got to hear secrets about being rich from a millionaire TJEd dad, Jerry Norton, at the SLC Friday portion of the Thomas Jefferson Education Forum, in the Salt Palace. Jerry is the father of soon to be six kids and lives in Michigan where he and his wife live a fabulous homeschooling lifestyle with dad working at home, ready to play with the kids whenever he wants, especially in their backyard lake. He makes tons of money doing real estate deals, like fixing and flipping houses, and doing real estate “backflips.”  Nicholeen Peck of http://teachingselfgovernment.com fame was there, and she talked about being at Jerry’s home in Michigan since they are friends, and that he is super fun homeschooling dad. Here he is having fun on the water:

I enjoyed his seminar.  He based a lot of it on the book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, which ironically, my husband just bought at a T. Harv Eker event. Kirk Duncan of http://3keyelements.com got his start at a similar event, the Millionaire Mind Intensive. So here was a second witness of T. Harv Eker and his book. I was pleased to learn that Jerry got his material from Harv’s book because that meant I didn’t have to catch everything Jerry said, I had the book waiting for me at home with the declarations he was sharing.

For the first half of the seminar, Jerry went through the declarations, or “wealth files,” or principles of wealth in the Millionaire Mind Book. He talked about how important it is to reprogram ourselves with these files because to become wealthy, you have to learn to think like a rich person. He shared that you can’t change the “fruits” or results until you change the cause, or “roots,” meaning, your subconscious mind. There’s the tree motif again!

These principles or declarations are listed below:

“My inner world creates my outer world.”

“ What I heard about money isn’t necessarily true. I choose to adopt new ways

of thinking that support my happiness and success.”

“What I modeled around money was their way. I choose my way.”

“ I release my nonsupportive money experiences from the past and create a
new and rich future.”

“I observe my thoughts and entertain only those that empower me.”

“I create the exact level of my financial success!”

“My goal is to become a millionaire and more!”

“I commit to being rich.”

“I think big! I choose to help thousands and thousands of people!”

“I promote my value to others with passion and enthusiasm.”

“ I am an excellent receiver. I am open and willing to receive massive amounts
of money into my life.”

“I choose to get paid based on my results.”

“I always think ‘both.’ ”

“I focus on building my net worth!”

“I am an excellent money manager.”

“My money works hard for me and makes me more and more money.”

“I am committed to constantly learning and growing.”

After going through the wealth files, Jerry explained the cashflow quadrant that comes from Robert Kiyosaki in the above book. I have read most of this book so I was very familiar with the terms.

Then Jerry explained the seven levels of investors. He said that he got these levels from John Burley. John’s free ebook about this is here http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-burley/seven-levels-of-investors/ebook/product-659558.html. Kiyosaki also goes through these seven levels in his above pictured book.

Here’s a brief summary of the seven levels:

7 Levels of Investors according to Kiyosaki

Level 0: Those with nothing to Invest
50% of adult population

Level 1: Borrowers
Pay up to 24% interest
Anything owned of value is financed with debt

Level 2: Savers
Earn 3-5% on savings
Save to consume rather than to invest

Level 3: “Smart” Investors
“Head in Sand”
“Cynics” (fear + ignorance = arrogance)
“Gamblers” (faking it)

Level 4: Long-Term Investors
Earn 8-12% Compounded
Periodic, tax-advantaged, diversified

Level 5: Sophisticated Investors
Earn 25% and up
Focused, not diversified

Level 6: Capitalists
Earn 100% and up
Create investments to sell to the market

From Level 5 to Level 6, the investor assumes more responsibility.

Then Jerry let his 11-year-old son take the floor and present about how to make money on ebay. This little kid was so cute! He said his best month was when he made over $700 on ebay. Wow! In another post I will share his secrets. Jerry said that part of his family’s homeschooling curriculum is to teach their kids to sell stuff on ebay. The older kids are now teaching the younger ones. I had to laugh when I heard what the younger kids have sold, like a bag of pinecones. I can just see my little kids coming up with odd things to sell.

My 10 year old is totally inspired by this kid’s example and we are starting his ebay store today. I am hoping this means he will be earning the money he’s been wanting lately without too many trips to the post office on my part.

If you want to learn more about Jerry and how you can get mentored by him so you can make a LOT of money, after you have your millionaire mindset, go to http://realestatebackflips.com

I like it when I see my friends with nail polish on their toes, it inspires me to someday do it myself.  This is one of the views I had at the Forum while sitting next to my friend waiting for my turn to speak to the 12-13 year olds at the Youth Forum.

Saturday at the TJED Forum I had the impromptu pleasure of eating lunch with my friends, the Bowlers, Jenni Wilson of http://momessentials.net and her husband and daughter, and some other cool people. We got on some hot topics and ended up talking a half hour past the lunch break. I talked with Jenni about her recent blog post, a review of most, if not all the vaccines out there. http://www.momessentials.net/?s=vaccines

Jenni has a Master Herbalist degree from the School of Natural Healing so I really value her review. She voiced the opinion that I have had for years, that all the vaccines have risks, and sometimes the risks are as bad as getting disease the vaccine is supposed to prevent. Each parent has to decide if they have the patience, knowledge, and resources to deal with the natural disease if the child gets it. I agree with Dr. Christopher, that there are no incurable diseases, just incurable minds. I agree with Jenni that it is better for the child to have the consequences of getting the disease naturally, than getting the possible side effects that come from introducing the artificial vaccine into the child’s body. Some people may ask, “Even death?” But like I said before, I firmly believe that there are no incurable diseases. Natural means, priesthood power, and faith could save the child from death if it were not the child’s time to die. If it were her time to die, than it doesn’t matter what I would do. I would have to trust in God’s timing.

Amy noted that a relative of hers was the one who got Congress to pass the law that vaccine manufacturers can not be sued. I learned about that when I watched The Greater Good movie last fall. http://www.greatergoodmovie.org/  Wow! From all of my study, I have learned that there is a lot more to vaccines than meets the eye of  the first glance a brand new parent gets in mainstream literature at the hospital when that first vaccine is being pushed. Why would Congress do that? Could it be that the vaccine manufacturers know that there are risks because they know doctors have reported vaccine damage? Why would they think they shouldn’t be sued? Why would Congress allow that?

Be sure to check out Jenni’s blog post. She gives a thoughtful review. I like the reading list she gives at the bottom of the page. Here is a quote of a quote from her post:

In the book, Vaccine Epidemic: How Corporate Greed, Biased Science, and Coercive Government Threaten Our Human Rights, Our Health and Our Children, it states the following, “Children today are sicker than ever before, with chronic disabilities and nutritional disorders, yet few in mainstream medicine dare ask whether there might be a vaccine link…There are no safe vaccines but only difficult choices to weigh and make. Americans want and deserve a more accurate, measured, and responsible national dialogue concerning vaccination. To dismiss as ‘anti-vaccine’ those who advocate for choice, safety transparency, and restraint harms us all.”

I had so much fun at the TJED Forum. Blog posts will be coming soon about all these pictures. The four things I am most excited about are these:

1. Listening to the mp3 files I got from Tiffany Earl about creating wealth.

2. Learning more about real estate investing from TJED dad Jerry Norton.

3. Reading the book pictured at the very top, about the love of learning phase, called LOLIPOP, from Amy Edwards, pictured above. Love of learning (LOL) is the hardest phase sometimes to inspire. The Core kids can play and work with me and have read alouds and thrive. My scholar phasers have their LEMI projects and Williamsburg Academy, but my LOLer is sometimes asking me to do things because he’s bored. So this book will help.

4. Reading the rest of the article about stupid video games that Martha Levie referenced in her talk to the 16-18 yr olds and talking to my three youth about it. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/magazine/angry-birds-farmville-and-other-hyperaddictive-stupid-games.html?pagewanted=all

My friend Shauna just sent the following email:

I just got wind of an awesome entrepreneur seminar at the Thomas Jefferson Education Forum.  Its called “Becoming A Millionaire” by Jerry Norton.  He will be teaching key principles to help our youth start their own businesses (or parents!).  The cost is normally $50 for an entire day but I have a discount deal of only $25 per person if you register at the door and mention my name (Shauna) .  Here is a link to the information.  http://www.cvent.com/events/salt-lake-city-2012-thomas-jefferson-education-family-forum/custom-120-8ccbac84ea4f4a5689a9edc89929e9d7.aspx

Look at the topics covered and the you-tube video he posts about a 14 year old girl who was able to buy her own home!!!  This girl is a homeschooler in Florida.  She now rents the house for $700 a month.  Imagine your 14 year old making that much a month?!!! 

Im not making anything off of this but I believe in the American Dream of Freedom and want to help spread the word on good deals and support our children in being financially free. 

Check it out:   http://www.cvent.com/events/salt-lake-city-2012-thomas-jefferson-education-family-forum/custom-120-8ccbac84ea4f4a5689a9edc89929e9d7.aspx

Virtue finished up the academic year of her online school last Friday. She attended Williamsburg Academy (http://wacademy.org), taking two classes, government and biology. She got a high pass on her final exam on Friday for her government class and she knows for sure she got an A in biology. I am so proud of her. She is a hard worker and diligent student. Her health problems have cleared up somewhat and she was able to focus on her studies.

Way to go! She also decided to cut her hair. She didn’t want to wait any more for me to get her to the salon, so she did it herself. So in addition to being smart and diligent, she is brave and talented at cutting hair. It looks great.

Here is part 2 of Nicholeen Peck’s recent interview on how to be calm with children:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22147763#utm_campaign=bj.utahvalleylive.com&utm_source=22147763&utm_medium=social

And here is a coupon code to get a discount on her implementation course: TSGDEALS. Go here to buy:

http://teachingselfgovernment.com/catalog/memberships/implementation-course

I highly recommend her program for creating a happier, more harmonious home!

The above video is of my son and the two below are of previous Andau scholarship winners, Margret and Lucas. My son gets to give a speech this Saturday morning at the TJEd Forum, to the adults and the youth. Watch for him! I am so proud of him. He is just finishing up his first year at George Wythe College this week.

If you are coming to the TJEd forum this weekend, please consider donating to the Andau Scholarship Fund silent auction. Think of a product or service you can provide. It can be something your husband does, like a plumbing service or accounting work, or something you do. It could be a new or gently used item. Even children are invited to participate! The sky’s the limit.

Two Andau winners, my son and Margret, at the Youth for Freedom summer camp where the Andau winner is interviewed and selected each year. See http://youthforfreedom.org

Then come to the Andau Silent Auction table Saturday morning at the TJEd Forum and donate your product or service to be bid on silently. All the money raised will go to the Andau scholarship fund. It sounds like a big yard sale for homeschoolers to raise money for college! What a great idea! This fund gives a student one-year tuition paid to George Wythe College. My firstborn won this scholarship last year. It was a huge financial blessing to us. He would not have been able to attend GWC without it. He believed so much in the education that he would get at George Wythe College that he gave up the scholarship he had already won for BYU, before he won the Andau, to attract the karma to win the scholarship, to go to George Wythe.

He has loved his first year of college at George Wythe. When I spoke to him on the phone for our weekly mentor meeting last week he was really sad that the year was ending and his friends were all dispersing to go home. Thank you to past donors to this fund for the scholarship my son has enjoyed. The more people donate to this fund, the more it is a grass-roots or “georgics” scholarship, a scholarship from all of us. The more people donate, the more Diann Jeppson can fulfill her dream of funding not one scholarship each year to George Wythe College, but multiple ones.

I had to take this picture with my phone, because I lost my camera…long story, but it’s back now. These are the finalists for the Andau last year, waiting to hear who the winner is.

Here is the message from Diann about the event:

During the Family Forum weekend, we’ll be holding a silent auction to support the Andau Character Scholarship. We invite each family and individual attending the Family Forum to bring a gently used or new item, or a “gift certificate” for a service that you can provide,  to donate to the silent auction. Children are also encouraged to each bring something small to donate.

The Story

The Andau Character Scholarship is named after a small bridge between Hungary and the small town of Andau Austria. During the Hungarian revolution of the 1950’s a simple Austrian school boy waited on the Austrian banks of a freezing canal near the Andau bridge watching for the rustling of the tall reeds on the Hungarian side. Walking through the freezing water with his boots across his shoulders he whispered to the Hungarian refugees lost in the reeds and led them across the canal to freedom. He did this countless times while the AVO gun towers watched the bridge.

The Andau Character Scholarship is based upon the courage and character of those who gave all they had for freedom. It represents not only the courage and sacrifice required to be free, but the need for everyday individuals to be the bridge for freedom. The recipients of the Andau Character Scholarship carry with them the hopes, desires and dreams of all the enslaved world and dedicate their lives to the cause of freedom.

Andau Character Scholarship Application Requirements

1. Submit a written essay to the application committee with Youth for Freedom.
2. Attend the Youth for Freedom conference
3. Complete a “character watch” during Youth for Freedom.
4. During the Youth for Freedom conference, complete an oral exam that evaluates their ability to effectively communicate, and tests their knowledge of topics including literature, geography, world history, The Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and world events.

Link to Youth for Freedom Website: www.youthforfreedom.org

Recipients of the Andau Character Scholarship receive a one-year full tuition scholarship to George Wythe University. The process is rigorous and challenging. The youth that have been awarded this scholarship have made remarkable contributions, shown amazing character and extraordinary scholarship.

Bring your silent auction donation with you to the Family Forum on either Friday or Saturday. When you arrive, deliver your item or service to the Silent Auction Donation Recieving table. You are invited to bid on donated items and services throughout the weekend.

Winners will pick up and pay for their items at 5:30 pm on Friday and Saturday.

Thank you for being a part of “The Scholarship from All of Us.”

Warmly,  
Diann Jeppson

LEMI, that’s Leadership Education Mentoring Institute, is offering its philosophy training (valued at $50) free this year. This is a vital foundational training for leadership education families. You will want to come to this if you want to mentor a child in scholar phase. Especially if you’ve never been to a LEMI philosophy training, you’ll want to take advantage of this opportunity. Even if you have been to the training before, it will be a great refresher. If you want to facilitate scholar phase in your home, LEMI training is invaluable. I learned so much from LEMI training from going to it last year.

The LEMI Philosophy Training will be Thursday, July 12th from 9 to noon. Check in begins at 8 AM. It will be at the Salt Lake City Library which is at 210 East 400 South.,  Salt Lake City, Utah

SLC Library parking may charge $12 per day if you park at the Library, (or more if coming, leaving and staying longer.) We suggest Diamond Parking  on 256 East and 300 South.  Entrance is on 300 South, between 200 east and 300 east.  $5 for up to 10 hours

These lovely ladies are part of LEMI’s training team. From left to right we have Kathy Mellor, Amy Bowler, Brenda Haws, and Tiffany Earl.

Here’s the link: http://lemimentortr aining.com/ register_ for_training. html

To register, click on the link. The registration form for LEMI Philosophy is on the bottom right hand side of the page. If that doesn’t work, just show up at the doors anyway and tell them you are there for the free LEMI philosophy training.