Scary

Last week I worked up a post on our local TEA party. I wrote my post "tounge in cheek" and mostly out of humor. Today I found out that I should have taken the whole issue with the DHS a little more seriously. Go here to read about our government sending out the FBI to covertly spy on honest, hard working Americans who are concerned about the future this country holds for the next generation. Funny thing is that none of the major networks are covering this story. Folks, if we can no longer disagree with our government by peacefully protesting - we just lost our constitutional right to freedom of speech. The irony of the situation is no longer humerous, but frightening.

Detox - The Martha's Vineyard Way, But Tara's Way

Sunday on Facebook, I announced my detox. I've have numerous inquiries as to WHY, HOW and FROM WHAT am I detoxing. First I wanted to set the record straight that this is not a drug or alcohol detox program. Although I keep a supply of Tylenol, Advil, and Aleive on hand - I am very reluctant to use them. I did purchase a bottle of rum in Grand Caymen 3 years ago, but my rum cake didn't taste anything like Mary's and plenty of rum remains in the bottle today. (Side note -rum mixed with honey and lemon gives welcome relief to a wicked sore throat. Grandmother Bybee was right. Thanks Grandmother!)

It would take way too much of our time for me to give my medical history. Let's just say that I have some auto immune issues, am prone to a lot of inflammation, and have felt older, heavier, and puffier lately. A couple of moms in our home school group did the Martha's Vineyard 21 pounds in 21 days detox with impressive results, which motivated me to attempt my first detox.

The book recommends this detox for a weekend, 7 days, 14 days, or 21 days. My goal is to make it 7 to 14 days. I cannot afford to do everything the book recommends and figure any cheaper measures could only help me. Basically, I drink 6 times a day. I get 8 oz of high potency juice, 8 oz of herbal or green tea, and 8 oz of water every 2-3 hours.

I purchased an organic whole body detox/cleanse at our health store for around $30.

Kroger had all varieties of Bolthouse Farms juice (in health section) on sale so I stocked up. I am to drink 3 different varieties of juice throughout the day, a green juice, a berry juice, and a veggie juice. These all taste fantastic and I put 2 oz of aloe vera juice into one drink each day.

Ideally, one would be making fresh juice, but my life is too complicated right now and the Bolthouse juice is cheaper than buying fresh fruits and veggies. Also, the instructions have the detoxer make a vegetable soup for dinner and just eat the broth. I have not made a batch of soup yet, but I substituted a protein fruit shake in place of the soup.

This is day 5 of my detox. I am sleeping better at night. I can tell my fingers, ankles, and feet are less swollen. I feel less bloated. I have more energy. I've only had a couple of moments when I felt empty or hungry - but I had waited more than 2-3 hours between feedings. Since I am drinking a lot of fluids - potty breaks are frequent. I'm glad I'm home for most of this week :)

I think I can make it to day 7. I will evaluate how I feel and hopefully get a few more days of detox in. The herbal cleanse product I purchased at the health store is a 14 day supply. I plan to finish all the capsules regardless of when I end the juices and teas.

It is important to end a detox gradually. I will need to make a slow transition back to solid foods. I have not weighed myself before or during this detox. But wearing pants is no longer painful :)

Hannah Montana The Movie Review

Initially, Hope was a big fan of Hannah Montana. But she tired easily of all the marketing hype. The day we found Hannah Montana glue sticks last year was the day which marked her limit. Disney continues to flood the market with everything from Hannah Montana bedding to lotions and potions and Hope has expressed little interest in this pop tart music queen lately.

Last week, Hannah Montana The Movie debuted everywhere following her guest appearance on American Idol (which we all thought was sub-par). Since a good portion of the movie was filmed here in Tennessee, several locals were cast as extras. Some of those extras were home school friends of our kiddos, so Hope and I felt we should go see the movie. We did not have a chance to see the movie on opening night - which was probably a good thing since the movie was SOLD OUT at our local theatre. Being flexible home schoolers, I was able to take Hope to yesterday's matinee before "real" school let out. It's cool to have the whole theatre to yourself.

We heard other folks rave about the movie. Even Suan Hannity gave the movie a great family review and spent at least a whole minute giving it praise on the radio. All of Hope's friends at church had already seen the movie by Sunday. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much when I bought our tickets. I figured the movie would be geared towards young girls and I'd be bored for 2 hours. (I've fallen asleep during more than one kid's movie).

The only complaint I have with the movie is that some of the southern accents were fake and overdone. If you didn't grow up 'round here, it's hard to sound authentic. But I must confess the movie was a pleasant surprise. The Tennessee setting was beautiful. The story line didn't put me to sleep and there was more than one positive message in there. Miley can certainly sing pop music well, but I LOVED her "country" voice and those songs in the movie.

We've already downloaded CLIMB and HOEDOWN THROWDOWN from ITUNES. And although I am not a big fan of Hannah Montana, I think Miley has her head on straight. I'm looking forward to future achievements from this little powerhouse. And when she's a faded pop star, I hope she finds a permanent place in country music. She is certainly growing on me.

Taxes, TEA Parties, Terrorists, and Twins

Wilson County held a TEA party on tax day at the Charlie Daniels Park in Mt. Juliet TN. TEA parties across the nation were held within hours of folks filing tax returns and writing checks to Uncle Sam. The Department of Homeland Security's most recent report was also HOT off the press, warning folks of "right wing extremists" and "returning veterans" who may pose a terrorist threat to our country.

A couple of new terrorists were spotted at the local Wilson County TEA party this past Wednesday. This team, which secretly carries out right wing plots to wreak havoc on America, can double for each other. Their secret cover was blown when they showed up at Wednesday's TEA party to protest together. One of these extremist agents had the audacity to take the stage and sing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL and THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER with a group of children.

These secret extremist agents really let their guard down by allowing someone to photograph them. I am sharing this valuable information for your own protection. If you see these little terrorists near your neighborhood, school, or place of employment, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! They should never be reckoned with by ordinary citizens.

Appearently, they are VERY upset about wasteful spending by elected officials -which will leave their generation with more debt and tax burden than they can ever afford to pay back. Their parents should make appropriations for such behavior and apologize for these agents being so selfish and unpatriotic.

What is this world coming to !?!

Catching UP!

I'm having a hard time keeping up with everything that has to be done around here. There's work work, school work, house work, cooking, cleaning, laundry, church work and the list goes on and on. A lot has happened this year that I failed to feature. Here are some snippets of the goings on.

Hope's science fair project was about taste and the tounge. She had a lot of fun stuffing this giant pink tounge. She had chips, candy, sour patch kids, and unsweetend chocolate for visitors to sample. It was alot of fun.

Here is Hope showing off her second place ribbon.

Micah took second place in his division for his pin hole camera project. Honestly, I didn't really understand the whole concept but that fact didn't hold him back.

Ethan turned 18 this year and it was quite uneventful for him. No party, no celebration. Hope made him his favorite chocolate chip pie.

The weekend after his birthday we had a pack of hungry teenage boys at our house. The boys came with their own toys. We had 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers and lots of action. Here's our boy another one's toy!

Micah turned 15 and we took a group to play paint ball. Don't mess with these guys OK? Also NEVER park near a paint ball war. The paint box says it is biodegradable. But it is murder to remove from your vehicle.

Finally, here's a picture of our redneck rebel son. He is one of my typing students at school. One of the school rules is NO HATS, another rule is NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE CLASSROOM. My son does NOT follow the rules very well. Wonder where he gets that personality trait!

Wilson Post Features Taracooks.com

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege to cook dinner for Ken Beck and his wife Wendy. Ken used to write for the Tennessean newspaper. He recently retired and is now writing for one of the local papers- The Wilson Post. He contacted us one day after hearing about www.taracooks.com and asked if he could come out and interview our family.

If you are bored out of your mind today and have nothing better to do go here to read the article. I hesitate to even post about this article, but our web-site has evolved into quite a family effort. I am so proud of my husband for the endless hours he has put into designing and developing Taracooks.com. The kids are having a blast helping me cook, and are always HUNGRY -so this is a good thing. We are learning a lot about gardening, healthy alternatives, and saving money by cooking more and eating out less. This is a group effort for sure.

Finally, since we have so many friends and family supporting our efforts, we feel the need to keep you updated on where Taracooks.com is taking all of us. I feel we are all kindred spirits in our kitchens together. I appreciate all your support and positive comments since we started cooking together.

Keep the pantry stocked and the pots and pans ready now!