Ancients Timeline

A couple years ago I spent some time reconciling the Veritas Press Timeline used by Classical Conversations with the historical timeline of James Ussher (Click for PDF) and recent archaeological evidence presented in Down's book "Unwrapping the Pharaohs" (A definite must have book).  I contacted the leaders of CC about my finds and then posted this spreadsheet on C3. 

I recently read this article discussing the Biblical Timeline and the traditional secular timeline of the Egyptians. It is definitely worth reading:  http://creation.com/the-pyramids-of-ancient-egypt

Here is also an article explaining the validity of Ussher's timeline:  http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/world-born-4004-bc

Since we are coming around to the Ancients again I thought I'd take a moment and point out the discrepancies I found with the Veritas Press Timeline and their historical significance. 

• SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD IN EGYPT -  Veritas has this coming right after "The Twelve Tribes of Israel".  If you change the dates to 1479-1445 BC, this card falls in just after "Moses' Birth".  This leads way to the big change.
• HYKSOS INVASION OF EGYPT - Veritas positions this after the "Code of Hammurabi", closer to the time of Joseph than Moses.  If you change the date on this card to 1445-1021 it explains a lot.  A record of a conflict has not been found between the Hyksos and Egyptians, which is strange considering the Egyptians were known to exaggerate and pose their losses as wins.  But when you change the date to the time of "Plagues in Egypt" it makes perfect sense.  There wasn't a battle because the Egyptian army was at the bottom of the Red Sea.  Further evidence in support of this theory, is that it would make the Pharaoh at the time of Moses, Khasehkemre-Neferhoteph 1, which is significant because his mummy has never been found (can't mummify someone located at the bottom of the Red Sea).  As an aside, here is a  computer simulation showing how winds could make a clear path for crossing.
• CODE OF HAMMURABI - Date changes to 1792-1750 BC putting this card after "Birth and Sacrifice of Issac".
• EARLY NEW KINGDOM IS EGYPT -  Date Changes to 1021-776 BC, moving the card to after "Phoenician Civilization and the Alphabet"
• AMENHOTEP IV AND MONOTHEISM(824-802BC), REIGN OF TUTANKHAMON (802-792BC), LATER NEW KINGDOM IN EGYPT (776-686 BC) - These date changes put these three cards right before "The Olympics" instead of "The Trojan War".  Think of the significance of this - King Tut living after Homer.  How it could explain Amenhotep switching to Monotheism? Perhaps in opposition to the many Greek gods?

Personally I have found theses discrepancies significant enough that I have not worked with the boys on memorizing the Veritas Press timeline prior to the Olympics. I will continue to work this summer to create a bulkier "Ancient Timeline".  I have ordered the new CC timeline cards and look forward to seeing the dates they include from the orient and the Americas and working them into our timeline.  When I have it all finalized I will post an updated and complete timeline.

Summer Reading

For many families, reading over the summer is a tradition through the ages.  I just returned 24 books to the library today, so I'd say reading is a year round tradition in our family.  However, summer does have a special pull.  

My oldest son, Lance (9) and his best friend Matthew (10) usually read a book together each summer. Some of their favorites from years past have been "The Trumpet of the Swan" by E. B. White and "The Wheel on the School" by Meindert De Jong.

This year they are going to read "Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Speare.  However, instead of just reading a book together this summer, we are going to incorporate some of the ideas from my friend Brandy's "Sign of the Beaver" Book Club. 

For my younger son, Jared (7),  I think we are going to read "The Courage of Sarah Noble". He was pretty young when I read it aloud to Lance.  We are going to try and do some of the activities Brandy posted a while back for him also. 

My friend Cheryl posted an interesting list of "Inventor" books that would finish off CC Cycle 3 nicely.

As a family, we have started reading "Hurlbut's Story of the Bible".  I got it as part of a bundle of 225 EPUB/Kindle books from Yesterday's Classics about a year ago (the collection is full of Ancient Books) and just got around to looking at it.  It's just what I've been looking for family Bible time.  The introduction explains that the author wrote the book for children about age 10.  It takes the Bible and breaks it into 160 continuous stories.  The author has taken care not to add to the Bible any fictional aspects.  He said he didn't want the readers to someday read the Bible and find it was totally different from what he'd been read as a child.  The boys are really enjoying these readings.  Lance summarized it with "I like it because its more of a story and not so authoritative".  If it makes them love to read the Bible I couldn't ask for more.

For more ideas of what to read this summer, check out these two books:

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson

These are more than book lists, they categorize the books by genre and reading level and provide a nice synopsis with pros and cons to reading each book.  I found myself checking them out so much from the library I just bought them both.

Final Week of Everything!

This past week was a whirl wind of activity, and a lot of fun to boot.

First on the agenda was the Year-End Cub Scouts banquet on Tuesday.  Lance received a medal for "Best Looks" with his Pinewood Derby Car and then was decorated with a new neckerchief for his promotion to "WeBeLoS".  He's growing up way too fast.

Jared also got a medal for his Pinewood Derby car but his was for Speed!  He is proud to now be a Wolf Cub.

Titus kept busy by running around the room at mach two. Amber fell asleep on the drive and woke up while I was in line for food. Chris and I decided to throw caution to the wind and were rewarded with some of the best tasting pulled pork BBQ sandwiches we have ever had. Our friend Shelly volunteered to carry her around during dinner and give us a chance to eat in relative peace, which was a nice treat.  Shelly's husband also took Lance and Jared home for us allowing them to stay and watch the end of year video. Thankfully, neither of us suffered any real ill effects from our food adventure.

Next on the schedule was a baseball game Wednesday night.  Fortunately/Unfortunately depending on your perspective, the game was rained out.  It turned into a silly game night. I bought "Where's the Water" for the iPads and we all sat on the couch playing together.  This is a great game of deductive reasoning and physics, similar to "Cut the Rope" and "Issac Newton Gravity".

Thursday, we hosted the Year-End Baseball Party for Lance's team, coached by Chris.  This was a huge success with all 15 players and their families attending the event.  

We had a potluck, medals for the kids, pictures for the parents, and gifts for the coaches.   The weather was perfect, allowing the kids to play outside on the playground. The rain kindly held off until we were home and unpacked.  Chris had such a great time coaching this spring and was blessed to have a great group of kids and parents.  In the fall its on to Minors! Oh boy!

Saturday was the final baseball game of the season.  The other team only had seven players, so Chris sent three of his players (including) Lance to the other team, which gave each team 10 players. It was a really fun game for everyone and a great way to end the season.

The week was finished off Saturday evening at a birthday party in which Chris, Lance, and Matthew played Laser Tag and all sorts of other games. The two of them were so exhausted on the drive home, Chris caught them nodding off.


Now its time to start a relaxing summer break of swim lessons, piano lessons, horse back riding lessons/camp and oh yes, can't forget the school work!  Hmmm.... doesn't sound like much of a break does it??? :-)

Legoland

Woohoo!!!

This post is way, way past due.  In February, Chris and the boys were able to go to the new "Legoland" park on a "school" field trip. Amber and I stayed home, so I'm going to let him tell you about their awesome day.

We miss you Mom and Amber!

The trip to LegoLand took over an hour and until we exited I-4 onto US27, there was little signage indicating where we were headed. Tina and I managed to keep this trip a secret from the boys. We attempt to do this as a habit for day trips as it serves two purposes: if the trip is canceled, there is no disappointment for them and secondly, we parents are able to experience the excitement through them when they see their destination for the first time. Once onto US27, there seemed to be signs and billboards for LegoLand every mile, so my talents at diversion and distraction were severely tested for an excruciating 30 minutes.

And I almost made it ... by 30 seconds.

The main LegoLand sign (which is huge) was directly in front of us and could be seen plainly from the road we were driving on. I was just about tell the boys to look out the front window, when Lance, who was looking out the side window, noticed "LegoLand" written on a road sign. He said "Dad, that sign says LegoLand!". I announced to the boys to look out the front window. All at once and in perfect unison, they exclaimed with their arms raised triumphantly - "We are going to LegoLand! Yaaaaaaay!"

"Mission Accomplished" and the day was just beginning.

This was a "school trip" organized by the Classical Conversations group the boys were attending at the time. We were the second family to arrive and we waited near the entrance for the other families to gather.  This gave Lance and Jared time to inspect the map and mark out things of interest, which was.... everything.

All in good time....

First on our list was the driving school. There are two tracks, one for kids Titus' age and one for the older kids. Titus was THRILLED to be able to drive his own car. He was the only kid on the track and had a personal assistant. Later in the day, the track was at full capacity.

How fast can I take this corner?

Jared leads the pack, with the pedal to the metal.

Vroooooooommmmm!!

Next door to the driving school was the marina and Lance and his friend Calvin had a great time ramming other boats. Titus was even able to drive his own boat on this course, with me as his faithful Captain.

Ramming Speed!!

I like the little touches around the park that allow for great photo ops...

Gulp...... Buuuuurrrrpppp....Ahhhhhh!!

The silly firehouse show was a riot and gave the boys little ditties to sing for the rest of the day and many, many days to follow. "Use the cold stuff on the hot stuff, use the wet stuff on the hot stuff". This show was wild with lots of acrobatics (some high flying) and just a bit of water thrown around.

Silly Volunteer Fireman

The ski show played a large part in the history of Cypress Gardens and I was pleased to see LegoLand kept the skiing area.

Yes, boys the not-so-mini figures can ski

MiniLand. Wow. That about sums it up. For my Lego obsessed boys, this was by far the main attraction of our day. The level of detail was absolutely amazing. It captures scenes from around the USA, including Washington DC, New York City, San Fransisco, Cape Canaveral, and Las Vegas. Be sure to spend some time here, there is quite a bit to see and some hidden gems, if you look close enough.

There is so much to see and do, that a blog post cannot do LegoLand justice. I could post dozens of pictures and still not portray the depth that the park offers. MiniLand alone offers such detail, that one could spend hours there and still not catch all the little details put into such a large display. There are, of course, Lego creations EVERYWHERE, including "wild" animals placed around the park. Keep an eye out for them.

Tina and I never imagined the boys and I would come close to closing out the park and we nearly did. There is so much to do and see, and we never even rode a roller-coaster nor some of the larger, gentler rides. The park held our attention all day. There was never a time we were "bored" and looking for something to do or were ready to leave. Titus just turned 3, Jared was 6, and Lance almost 9 and there are things to do for all ages. There was only one ride Titus was not allowed to ride that we went to, it had a minimum age of 4 (He's been asking to "ride a horse" ever since).

Tina sent me a text message towards the close of the day saying she and Amber were bored. Knowing what happens when my wife is bored, I quickly gathered the boys and high-tailed it home and set some land-speed records for a minivan. Well, not really. We were already a little tired and slowly heading in the direction of the exit. Just over an hour later, we were home and telling exciting stories from our adventures.

The entire day was a success and the boys were well behaved and enjoyed their day tremendously, as did I. I would not hesitate to go back again. With the water park opening this summer, there is definitely enough to do for a family for a couple of days.

Grocery Shopping 101 - Be "Free"

I have a few more AVOID-at-all-cost items to add to the list we started. I also want to offer a simple starting point for products to look for when you are shopping and don't have the time or bandwidth to look into all the ingredients. "No Artificial ...." or "Free of ..." are great indicators on a package that it will be at least somewhat "good for you".

So here's the AVOID it list in total:

• ALL ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS (Click here for the post on why)
• MSG and it Aliases (Click her for the post on why)
• HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP - I will do a whole article about "Sugar" soon but this is one form you want to avoid for two reasons:  1) It's a corn product and therefore is likely to come from GMO Corn (Click here for why GMO is bad) and its processed in a way that it can become contaminated with Mercury.  There are plenty of products that do not use it, therefore its easy to avoid and best to do so.
• ARTIFICIAL PRESERVATIVES BHT, BHA, and TBHQ - These ingredients are totally unnecessary and there are much better alternatives, but these are the cheapest for the manufactures so they use them.  In addition to being a petroleum product, they are a carcinogen and are documented to cause hyper-activity.  Kids have plenty of energy and don't need any more.  There are many people out there who believe that ADHD and ADD are frequently caused by a poor diet which are high in chemicals and sugar.  These are ingredients that are easy to avoid and alternative products are widely available.
• ARTIFICIAL COLORS AND FLAVORS - These products are linked to a variety of health issues - tumors in the digestive track and sometimes cancer.  In addition, these products have long been known to cause behavioral issues, including hyper-activity.  These are also easy to avoid, as the European Union's push to eliminate them has caused manufacturers to be creative in how to dye foods naturally.  For instance, "Goldfish" have been dyed with beets and other natural ingredients for awhile. Colorful food can be had naturally in the house, it just takes a little time to read the labels and make sure it comes from natural sources, not Yellow 5 & 6 (especially when combined with Sodium Benzoate), Blue 1, Red 40 etc.

There is enormous evidence linking these five categories of food additives to autism, allergies, asthma and a wide variety of other health issues.  By eliminating these five things, the path to eating a much healthier diet will be easier.  Best part is it's not too difficult, as the alternatives are many and easy to find, it just takes a little label reading. So just BE FREE!

Year End Wrap-Up

"The Plan" was a success in many ways, though things didn't quite work out exactly as planned.

Here's what we planned:

• In the Beginning
• "The Plan" - Part 1:  History and American History Reading List
• "The Plan" - Part 2: Math
• "The Plan" - Part 3: Science and Must Have Books
• "The Plan" - Part 4: U.S. Geography

When summer was over, we had achieved our goal of finishing our Anatomy Study and made it through quite a bit of our History, but reality was already starting to rear its ugly head and we had our first "Change of Plans".  We scaled back a little and started to move more toward a Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling.

After our new baby girl Amber arrived in October and we proceeded, as anticipated, to a "Homeschool Lite" schedule.  What I didn't anticipate was that my adorable three year old would be more of a challenge to our homeschooling schedule than my new baby.  So we tried to adapt and get "Back in the Saddle Again" around December.  

In December, we also realized that we would not be continuing CC in the Spring.  Chris had taken the boys to CC finish up the Fall Semester after Amber was born. For various reasons, we could not continue that in the Spring and decided it was best for our family to take a break from CC Classes.  We continued to do the weekly studies on our own for a while, but that too stopped around Week 16.

The new year started out rough, but I leaned into "Their ideas" instead of just my ideas, we made some changes and we started to make progress again.  We continued our progress to a more Charlote Mason approach to homeschooling i.e. more living books, less textbooks and worksheets.  We added Xtra Math and I accepted that for the first time we would not be completing all our curricula and I was okay with that.

We have spent more time this spring reading quality literature.  We also instituted a new privilege for Lance and Jared.  After we put Titus to sleep at night, they are allowed to read quietly in their rooms till "the sun goes down", which is a little longer every night.  They have blossomed with this new privilege.  I think Lance actually sleeps better when he calms down reading a good book first, which makes his days go better.  

Also we have spent a lot more time enjoying "Fine Art Fridays" by ourselves and with our friends.  Jared really enjoys these lessons, as does Lance and even Titus.  Doing them on Fridays has allowed us to include not only our homeschool friends but also our public school friends on their days off.

Here are the end results:

• We didn't make it all the way through American History, instead we went deeply till just after the American Revolution.  We used our curricula as a back bone and added many living books and DVDs.  I am pleased with this change of plans because I think my boys will retain what we learned better than had we glossed over the entire period of American History.  The next time we study American History we will be able to quickly review up to this point and then go deep again into all that follows.
• Math went pretty much as planned we just fell a little behind in our studies.  It was partially my fault, as it was an area of conflict so I avoided assigning it during the Fall with the new baby.  Thankfully, we've worked out the emotional blockages and will finish CLE Math by the end of summer(still three Light Units left).  Even so, this is not a great concern since both boys are a year ahead of their grade level in math.  I think changing from  "Calculadder" to Xtra Math has helped a lot, as mastery of math facts makes higher math much easier.  Plus the carrot of  "Life of Fred" living books as a treat each time Lance has a quiz or test has been a great motivator.
• Anatomy was a complete success this summer as summarized above.  Though we had great plans to finish a Chemistry curricula as well, it just never happened.  We will try again this summer.
• U.S. Geography started out strong but I must admit I puttered out after a while.  Nonetheless the boys can locate all 50 states on a map and name most of the capitals.
• Language Arts is an evolving subject but I think we have a plan for how to approach it this coming year.  Two changes that have taken off are the "All About Spelling" curricula and daily "Journal Writing"; reading we have covered.

I am confident we have "shown progress" to appease the state this year. In fact I think we've made some very important changes in how we do things that I too am pleased with.  I've already started on my plan for next year and there will be some big changes I'm excited about.  Our new year starts June 1st and I'll finish up my plan in May.  In the mean time, we will work on finishing our CLE Math, CLE Bible curricula and enjoying the fine arts.


Note: for anyone who is starting to plan for CC Cycle One in the fall I highly suggest reading these two posts by my friend Brandy:
Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Planner
Preparing for Essentials

**The garden flag pictures have nothing to do with this post. I just loved the fact the boys spontaneously made them on their own one day while I was upstairs with Amber so I wanted to include them :-)

Grocery Shopping 101 - Two Ingredients to Avoid

I friend of mine recently asked me to start doing some posts to help her change her grocery purchases to healthier alternatives.  As I warned her, this needs to be done in "baby steps". if you do this all at once there is very little likelihood of it becoming a habit, and a very high likelihood you'll go back to your old ways.

For my first post, I'll cover two big things to eliminate from your diet as much as possible.  Among other side effects, both are considered excitotoxins, i.e. things that cause dain bramage (oh, oops brain damage).  I'm only hitting the highlights, and if you want to know more a quick internet search will quickly reinforce why you want to avoid these ingredients.

ALL ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS SHOULD BE ELIMINATED -  TODAY!

That's right and I mean it!  There is absolutely nothing good about artificial sweeteners and list of bad stuff is the longest on the FDA list of complaints.  They are neuro-toxins and have been linked to migraines, kidney stones, Alzheimer, depression and a host of other ills.  Ironically, THEY EVEN CAN MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT.  I hear you saying "How? They are zero calorie.", They are also appetite enhancers, i.e. they make you hungry so you eat more.  That should nail the coffin of excuses as to why you can't eliminate today, so JUST DO IT.

If you are looking for a zero calorie sweetener that is safe and readily available, try STEVIA and if you're just looking for a low-glycemic alternative, try raw AGAVE.  Agave is my personal choice; it works great in warm and cold beverages and also in baking.  For a natural zero calorie soda pop try Zevia, they do a good job of imitating the major flavors (especially Dr. Pepper).

MSG - MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein) YUCK!

This is seasoning used to "blend flavors" in foods to make you eat more. It's the same reason why bars historically have free salty peanuts. Thirsty patrons drink more product. Besides the negative effects on the brain and other parts of the body, its scientifically linked to obesity.  You'll find it most commonly in highly processed foods and fast food restaurants.  Its notorious side-effects are becoming so well known that many restaurants have signs proudly stating that their restaurant is "MSG Free" and even those that don't will usually prepare your meal without MSG if you ask.

It hides under a number of other names (that alone should make you wonder):

' hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed protein; hydrolyzed plant extract, plant protein extract, sodium caseinate, yeast extract, texturized protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed oat flour, calcium caseinate.'  also 'Accent' and 'Natural Meat Tenderizer'

Basically, there is absolutely no reason to eat it, so avoid it whenever possible!  Think of this as the first step to a healthier you.  If you eliminate the foods you buy with MSG in it you'll also be eliminating the foods that have a lot of other ingredients you want to avoid.

"Most Beautiful Girl" turns Six Months

When Amber was born we received a CD called "Slugs, Bugs and Lullabies" as a gift.  The boys absolutely adore the songs, and frankly Chris and I think they are rather silly too.  The lyrics to one of the songs is "Most beautiful girl in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD", the boys have it memorized and we all end up singing it to her.  Another song they like to sing to her starts like this "You've got to burp, burp, chicken wiggle....don't spit-up, don't spit-up....".

Her Cleopatra pose.

Zoom!  Goes the baby!  Check out this video done a few weeks ago and you'll see what we mean.

She made sure to perfect her skill since this video and is very mobile.  She apparently feels babies should be competent crawlers by age six months. I wonder what she thinks about walking?

She seemed to know a big milestone was coming this week.  We lowered her crib on Saturday, just in time for her to stand up in it on Sunday.  Chris was playing peek-a-boo and next thing he knew she pulled herself up to find him.  Sunday was also the day that she started sitting up regularly on her own.  Like Chris always says, "We give birth to toddlers.".

He vocal range is amazing too.  So many different sounds and bubbles coming out all the time.  Yet one we seldom hear is a wail or a scream of frustration.  She is very patient, sometimes I come up to check on her because I haven't heard anything on the monitor in a while and I'll find her playing quietly in her crib.  When she sees me she just looks up, smiles, coos and often keeps playing with her blanket or her buddy.  It's nice.

She weighed in at 17.6 lbs and measured 27.25 in.  At her current rate, she has almost outgrown her saucer before she should have started using it, according to the great "They".

Divergent Thinking

This a presentation by Sir Ken Robinson called:

"Changing Education Paradigms"

 

He has a very unique method of presentation which would be reason enough to watch the video.  However, in addition to its uniqueness, the arguments presented are thorough, logical and humorous.

Do I have your curiosity hooked yet? 

In his presentation he illustrates:

• The driving forces behind the creation of public education; i.e. workers for the industrial revolution
• Despite the world changing from the time of the industrial revolution the structure of public education has not
• ADHD Epidemic?
• The longer our children are in school the less intelligent they become
• The ills of standardized testing
• What needs to be done to change schools to better prepare children for the future.

Health - Chris' Diet

*DISCLAIMER:  I am not a doctor or health care professional of any kind, please consult your doctor before making any diet changes.

There, now I feel better and that should appease our litigious society. :-/

Diet (noun): food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health.

The word diet has come to have a very negative connotation to it in the past decades. The word is now synonymous with people starving themselves to reach some "weight goal" or by saying "I can't eat that, I'm dieting". A diet for us is merely a food plan to help us reach optimal health.

In a previous post, I explained why we started tweaking our diet and our goal has always been one of "optimum health".  I tweak Chris' diet the most because he is physically active and receptive to it. It gives me someone to experiment on before trying it myself. :-)

MORNING INTAKE: 

ALIVE PEA PROTEIN WHOLE FOOD SHAKE:  He mixes this with about 12 oz of So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk and a serving of Living Harvest Hemp Protein.  This shake provides all his daily vitamins.  I'm pleased to say that they recently improved the formula to include more Vitamin D, more organic foods and less carbohydrates.  I add the extra protein via the Hemp, because with Chris living an active lifestyle and being a vegetarian, protein is important to Chris' diet.  Pea and Hemp are the two most complete and most absorbent proteins as I previously noted.

 

BLUEBONNET LIQUID CALCIUM WITH VITAMIN D3:  Chris has become lactose intolerant over the past decade, therefore a calcium supplement is in order.  I chose this one because it has the highest ELEMENTAL calcium.  Elemental is a key word to look for in choosing a calcium supplement.  Elemental is the amount of the calcium in the product that your body will actually use.  If they don't list the elemental amount, assume that it's not much.  The product is flavored with fructose, which is not ideal, but it's such a small percentage overall, I'm not worried about it and I think its better than sodium benzoate.

KOMBUCHA - AKA THE ELIXIR OF LIFE:  This not just a drink but a raw food and will fill you up with good stuff and good feelings.  It has the energizing effects of caffeine without the downside, lots of B Vitamins (happy vitamins!) and loads of probiotics and very few calories.  Great for the colon in two ways: decreases food cravings and keeps the internal environment healthy.

CHIA SEEDS*:  Yes, this is the same stuff used to grow "Chia Pets". Who knew it was a really healthy food also!  This serves a similar purpose as the Kombucha but approaches things in a different way.  It fills you up and energizes you at the same time. Nutritionally, it brings different benefits in copious amounts of Omega 3, fiber, and protein.  Most western diets are too high in Omega 6, which increases inflammation in the body, and too low in Omega 3, which decreases inflammation. Chia seeds are a great way to balance out your diet. For weight loss, it's reported to specifically help with eliminating fat along the waist line.  The only downside I've found is that it helps lower blood pressure and when used in conjunction with medication, blood pressure can become too low. Chris mixes 1 tbsp with 8 oz of water and lets it turn to gel (about 5-10 minutes, shaking occasionally), then drinks it down. When cold, it has very little, if any, taste. Chia seeds can also be sprinkled on food of any kind.  We use the Whole Foods brand from the bulk container - it's the cheapest and also raw and organic.

MID MORNING SNACK, LUNCH AND MID AFTERNOON SNACK:

DRIED MANGO AND TRUFFLE ALMONDS (measured/weighed each day to control calories - about 40 grams each): We grab these from the Whole Foods bulk bins. Very yummy.

AMAZING GRASS BERRY BAR:  These are a full serving of veggies, greens, raw, vegan, soy-free, alkaline, etc.

AMAZING GRASS CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BAR:  This is another serving of veggies but does include Whey protein. I'm hoping they'll switch to hemp soon like they use in their other products.  Both bars are very filling, nutritious and low in calories and also very tasty.

HARD BOILED EGG (Organic with Omega 3), an organic apple (fuji or gala), and more Chia soon once he is home. It provides a great boost after his ride home and fuels him for the attack of the kids, baseball, and whatever life throws at him in the early evening.

DINNER: Right now, nursing Amber requires me to eat very, very bland, therefore Chris is eating bland too.  I'll post more about this when the dinner recipes are a bit more interesting :-)  In the mean time, it might be worth your time to sign up for Amazing Grass Two Week Challenge.  They have two weeks of healthy meal ideas and daily emails about different health topics. It's not an MLM and I have nothing to gain from this suggestion. Amazing Grass has great products and awesome customer service.  I wish it was an MLM with all the people I now know using their products at our suggestion. It would supplement our income nicely. :-)

NOTE ON SUPPLEMENTS:  My research indicates that supplements and vitamins are best when derived from whole foods and/or in liquid form.  When not available in that form, look for vegetarian/Kosher capsules, as some of the ingredients in binders and capsules can be animal based and actually hinder absorption or neutralize the effects.