I came across this short documentary and just had to share

''I FEEL'', beautiful documentary about 2 kids and their connection and perceptions about nature.
enjoy


I feel... on Vimeo.
Jasmijn is a seven year old girl, who loves hugging trees and having conversations with animals. Anything she touches seems to breathe a sense of aliveness. Robert is ten years old, and the only place where he feels at ease is in nature. He climbs trees as high as he can escaping the everyday reality that is not always easy.

I feel... is about children who experience their environment differently compared to most of us. They travel their own way against the mainstream and dare to see the world with a pureness of vision over and over again.

40 Things to do with your toddler at least once this year

1. Make a nature collage
2. Teach him a nursery rhyme
3. Sing a song
4. Go for a walk in the forest
5. Dance to music
6. Create a scavenger hunt for your toddler. It can be as simple as hiding gummy bears in random places and giving your little one hints on where to find them.
7. Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
8. Bake cookies together
9. Make popcorn and watch a movie
10. Make an easy puzzle with felt and Velcro
11. Go to the puppet theatre
12. Put on a home puppet show
13. Go to the zoo
14. Collect rocks and paint them.
15. Let your toddler paint in the bathtub
16. Run through a Sprinkler
17. Have a book reading day(read at least 20 children books in one day)
18. Create a book using pictures from magazines.
19. Create a book using pictures of family members
20. Make a Mummy with toilet paper
21. Make your own flashcards
22. Go swimming
23. Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals
24. Fly a kite together
25. Sleep in a tent outside for a night
26. Make a cereal necklace
27. Make a paper plate mask
28. Go To a "Mommy and Me" class in the community where your child can be around other children and experience music, crafts, using their bodies, etc.
29. Tie dye T-shirts and matching socks
30. Play with a bucket of water and a sponge
31. Plant seeds and grow something together
32. Have a picnic
33. Make a playhouse out of a large box!
34. Teach your toddler to count to ten
35. Ask your toddler to go around the house and get things of certain color: green, red, blue.
36. Play a musical instrument together
37. Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone!
38. Make a Shape Puzzle
39. Make a fort using an old sheet over your coffee table or kitchen table.
40. Collect conkers and make little people out of them

Parsley and Ginger green smoothie

This smoothie was an experiment, but I think its going to be a new favourite of mine. :)

 INGREDIENTS:
     3 KIWI FRUITS
     WHITE GRAPES
     BUNCH OF PARSLEY( I will put more parsley in next time)
     FRESH GINGER
     COLD PRESSED APPLE JUICE

DID YOU KNOW?

Raw parsley cleanses the blood, dissolves sticky deposits in veins, maintains elasticity of blood vessels, facilitates removal of moderately sized kidney and gallstones, treats deafness and ear infections, and benefits the sexual system. And chewing parsley prevents bad breath!

What we do when its snowing outside

It makes me feel kind of sad that you dont see many kids playing outside in the snow anymore.So we decided to have a fun day outside after blowing the dust of some old sledges. :)

GREEN SMOOTHIE TIME!

I Love to make green smoothies and since I got a new blender for Christmas I cannot stop making them.
My little 2,5 year old seems to enjoy them too :)

INGREDIENTS FOR A ZESTY GREEN SMOOTHIE:

•  one handful of white grapes
•  one large banana
•  2 cups of cold pressed organic apple juice
•  bunch of fresh spinach
•  juice of 1 lemon

my lunch :)

1 MANGO,2 CACTUS PEARS,SQUEEZE OF LEMON JUICE AND SOME FRESH MINT.YUMMY!

Rooibos and goji berry chocolate treats

SOAK THE GOJI BERRIES IN SOME COOLED DOWN ROOIBOS TEA FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR.

DRAIN THE GOJI BERRIES AND PUT ALL THE ABOVE INGREDIENTS(CHOCOLATE POWDER,COCONUT OIL,MESQUITE POWDER,CAROB POWDER,RAW HONEY,LUCUMA FRUIT POWDER) IN A FOOD PROCESSOR AND BLEND BLEND BLEND :)

IF THE ´´DOUGH´´ SEEMS TOO DRY PUT IN A FEW DROPS OF THE LEFTOVER ROOIBOS.

PUT THE YUMMY CHOCOLATE GOOEYNESS INTO MOLDS,SET IN THE FRIDGE FOR HALF AN HOUR AND WOOLALA :)
BTW DO NOT USE ICE CUBE TRAYS INSTEAD OF CAKE MOLDS OR YOU END UP LIKE ME,STRUGGLING TO GET THEM OUT :)

Cucumber and Radish salad with spicy pumpkin seed dressing

SALAD:
CUCUMBERS
RED RADISHES
RED ONIONS
GREEN PEPPER

DRESSING:
COLD PRESSED PUMPKIN SEED OIL
PUMPKIN SEEDS
CLOVE OF GARLIC
CHILI POWDER
SALT
FRESH HERBS OF YOUR CHOICE (I USED 2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF BASIL AND LITTLE BIT OF OREGANO) 


The salad was very refreshing,but I think that I will throw in an avocado instead of peppers next time :) 
  
 

Plantain-Ribwort, my favourite herb friend :)

 Plantago lanceolata

So,this week I went out to pick some young Plantain leaves for drying for tea.It is a perennial weed that grows pretty much anywhere,its easy to identify and you can harvest from May to August.It has many uses and I will try to list a few that I can think of.

The earliest memories that I have of this plant is when I was a little girl and I got stung by a wasp,my Grandmother picked up a Plantain leaf chewed it up for few seconds to release the juice and then rubbed it on the sting.

                                         
                                         

 USES:
Internally:
Plantain can be used to treat all respiratory system problems like throat mucus,hooping cough,asthma,lung tuberculosis and cold.
Plantain can be used in form of tea,plantain syrup, or you can just chew on the fresh leaves.

Famous Swiss herbalist priest,expert on European herbs and a healer Johann Künzle wrote: ´´The whole plant is being used the root,the stem,the flower and the leaves.Like no other plant it will clean blood,lungs and the stomach and thats why it is good for everybody who is anemic or has bad blood,weak lungs and kidneys,for anybody who is too pale, has spots,dermatitis,or the one who coughs and is still thin as a goat even if you soak him in butter.Plantain helps weakened children,that even thought they eat good still hardly stand on their feet!´´

Externally:
People all over the countryside here in Slovakia have used Plantain for cuts,wounds,stings,eczema,poison ivy,cracked lips and even a poisonous snake bites or bites from animals with rabies(viral disease transmitted by warm blooded animals) when there is not a doctor nearby.

FOLK REMEDIES AND RECIPES:

One remedy claims that if you mix plantain with a little bit of salt and rub it onto your neck it will reduce the so called goiter (swollen thyroid)

Blisters on your feet can be healed simply by putting a few Plantain leaves in your shoes.

Another folk remedy recommends fresh plantain leaves mixed into a paste with marjoram oil (fresh marjoram  put in a bottle with olive oil and left in a warm place for 10 days) to be rubbed onto a tumour and covered with a cloth.

Wild thyme(I will write about this herb soon) mixed with equal amount of Plantain and made into a tea is good for people with liver disease and urinary tract infections.

 The seeds can be dried and infused in water for a soothing eye lotion, as a laxative, and for intestinal worms in children

 

Drying the Plantain(never dry the plant on a direct sun,alway cover with a cloth) 

                                                                 Plantain tea :)

My raw chocolate brownies are awesome!

I´m so chuffed with my Brownies today.They were the the first raw dessert I EVER made,and turned out great.
They were so rich that we couldn´t finish them at once and we will definitely have some leftovers when I get my sweet tooth tomorrow. :)

Unfortunately I´m not very good when it comes to exact measurements, I just kind of throw things in :)
But here is what I can remember:

Half a cup of raw cacao powder
About half a cup of almond pulp (leftover from making almond milk)
3 Tablespoons of raw honey
1 - 2 tablespoons of coconut oil(depends on how dry the dough is)
couple of teaspoons of mesquite powder
couple of teaspoons lucuma powder
some maca powder( depends on your preference,but I think I used a spoonful :) )
1 teaspoon of Green Barley (I would use spirulina or chlorella powder,but I don´t have any at the moment)
some redcurrants for decoration :)

-mix all the dry ingredients in a food processor,melt the coconut oil with honey in a cup of hot water(or dehydrator if you have one) and gradually add to the mix.Blend together until a dough is formed and set in the fridge for an hour.
Woolalaa :) 

Todays raw salad i made

For the last few weeks I have been on a high (about 90%) RAW diet and I´m loving it.Ive got so much more energy and I even lost a few kilos already.Yaaay :)
This little salad is something I´m finding myself addicted to and Ive been making it almost every other day,so I thought Ill share it.
Here goes:
-grated organic carrots
-grated organic apples(I prefer sour ones)
-freshly squeezed lemon juice
-organic sun dried raisins or sultanas(chopped)
-little bit of honey(optional)

you can throw in a couple of chopped walnuts for a twist too!
Kristina

Benefits of Babywearing and Babywearing around the globe :)

As a big fan of babywearing and a mother to my son Patrick,that I have been carrying around for 26 moths now(+ 9 months :) ),Ive decided to create this post to inform other people about the importance of babywearing.I have to say that I do own a stroller too and it has only been used when I needed to buy a lot of groceries and needed somewhere to put them.
I love seeing those images of women and men from all around the world carrying their little ones.
Enjoy :)

1.Babies cry less
Infants in the babywearing cultures cry much less. In Western culture we measure a baby's crying in hours, but in other cultures, crying is measured in minutes. Western parents have been led to believe that it is "normal" for babies to cry a lot, but in other cultures this is not accepted as normal. In these cultures, babies are normally "up" in arms and are put down only to sleep – next to the mother. 

2.Good for Babies development
When your baby is carried and spends less time crying and being fussy,they are in a so called  ´quiet and alert state´ and this is the perfect time for your baby to learn.They are able to scan their environment better.They can choose what they want to look at and shut down what they don´t.This ability to make choices enhances learning.
Your baby is intimately involved in your world and get to see what you see,hear what you hear and in some ways feel what you feel.
While sitting right under your nose,you tend to give them more attention too and even when you don´t they pick up on all the subtle facial expressions, body language, voice inflections,tones etc.

3.Helps babies to adapt to the outside world
After spending 9 months in the peaceful environment of the womb feeling secure and being used to mothers rhytms, the birth temporarily disturbs this sense of security.
By carrying your baby you are helping him to adapt to the puzzle of life outside the womb.
While held close they can feel the mothers rhythmic walk, for example, (which baby has been feeling for 9 months),your heartbeat, breathing, voice and warmth are all familiar. 

Older babies and toddlers also benefit from the comfort and security of babywearing. As they grow, and learn, and explore their environments, babywearing can provide a safe “home base” where they can be close and connected to you. 

MORE BENEFITS:
4.Promote Parent and Baby attachment.
5. Make breastfeeding on demand much easier and discreet.
6.Sling allows you to take care of and comfort your baby by keeping them near you as you continue with day-to-day routine.
7.Great for traveling and getting on and off buses .
8.Toddlers appreciate the security of the sling.
9.Slings are a bonding tool for fathers, grandparents, and other caregivers. 
10. Slings are economical,they cost far less than a stroller.
11.Baby-wearing is healthy way of exercise for you! 

BABYWEARING HISTORY IN PICTURES:
                                                                             PERU

 

                                                                   GUATEMALA

                               Waorani Indians, Mother with baby, rio Cononaco, Ecuador, 1983 

BRAZIL

  

BOLIVIA

 

GERMANY

 

                                                                   SLOVAKIA
Historically, women fashion baby carriers out of large baskets. Blankets were laid in the basket to make a “bed like” environment for the child. In rural and lower socio-economic regions, women still carry their babies in these baskets. In the more wealthy areas, women use a type of wrap or ring sling. 

                                                                    POLAND

                                                                     RUSSIA

                                                                CZECH REPUBLIC

                                                                        SWEDEN

 

                                                                             ITALY

                                                                           WALES
                       Evelyn Hobbs of Tonmawr, Neath, nursing a baby ‘Welsh fashion’, c.1920s 

                                     In Wales, long pieces of fabric and shawls called 'Siol Fagu' (nursing shawl)                                                                     are used to carry babies.

                                                                     PORTUGAL

                                                         AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES 

                                                                   NEW ZEALAND

                                                                 NORTH AMERICA

                                         

                                             GREENLAND,LABRADOR AND ALASKA

                                                                         CHINA

                                                                            INDIA

                                                                      PAKISTAN

                                                                     
                                                                          TURKEY

 

TIBET 

 

  

MALAYSIA 

 KOREA

JAPAN 

LAOS 

  

THAILAND 

 

JAVA 

BORNEO 

 MOROCCO

EGYPT 

Egyptian women who pick cotton in the fields make slings out of dress fabric. The patterns are colorful and bright, and the slings are wide in the middle and narrower at the ends. The women carry their babies on their backs in this way. This is how Egyptian babies have been carried since ancient times. 

 ZIMBABWE

 

ETHIOPIA 

MOZAMBIQUE 

NAMIBIA  

 NIGERIA

 ETHIOPIA

SOMALIA 

RESOURCES:

http://www.thebabywearer.com/articles/WhyTo/GreatThings.htm

http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/laura_simeon.html 

http://blog.babesinarms.com.au/category/babywearing-around-the-world/ 

 http://maternage-proximal.blogspot.com/2009/09/lart-de-porter.html

http://www.naturalchild.org/jan_hunt/baby_gear.html 

RELATED BOOKS:

Babywearing: The Benefits and Beauty of This Ancient Tradition by Dr. Maria Blois

The Vital Touch: How Intimate Contact With Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development by Sharon Heller