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11 November 2014

The War Against Boys - A Momma Lion Rant

As I went thru my files preparing for my big blog makeover I found this...

Here I go again.
Sorry, I can't help myself.
I look at my son and I want to pull out my sword and start waving it with heavenly strength at any harm that would come his way.

The problem is ladies, some of that harm comes in quietly and seemingly innocently while naive, "good" mothers stand by.

I am talking about PORN.

If you need one, here is it - my two by four across the face...
Porn is not a normal part of a boys/mans life.  
On the contrary it is the complete opposite of the wonderful, normal, sex that God created.
It is not normal for a teen to be introduced to it.
It is NOT a right of passage.
However, in this culture we welcome our teen boys into adulthood with a six-pack and a sleazy DVD and say, "Hey Buddy, now you're a man!"

I for one will be and am on the front lines of this issue in our home and thankfully, my husband is standing next to me, just as passionate that our boy's eyes and heart are protected.
What does it mean to be on the front lines?
It means you are hawklike, suspicious and always on your game.
It means, that in this area, you think that the worst could happen with his friends, his friend's fathers, etc.
Sorry, call me jaded.  I don't care.  
My allegiance is not to them.

Better jaded than naive and destroyed when I find out my son is addicted to filth.

I am not talking about being one of those women that walks around hating men, thinking they are all scum  I am just talking about not being a fool.  
Hawklike, suspicious and always on your game.

Children don't have to be exposed to pop culture.
It's not their right!
In fact, I believe they have a right NOT to be.
They don't need to know about the latest video game.
They don't need every electronic device as if that is some sort of normal part of childhood.
They don't need a computer in their room.
They don't need a T.V. in their room.
They don't need to know what the latest movies are.
They don't need to spend the night at their friends house!

I start with pop culture and connect it all the way to porn because it's the first step in desensitizing.  One afternoon watching M.T.V. or playing some video game where the women are dressed like skanks... even seemingly innocent "children's" movies where the parents are made out to be doting dorks and the "kids know best" can cause the foundation of you as a parent being trusted by the child to crumble.
People have said to me, "You can not shelter them forever".  Fair enough.  But TOO MANY parents use that as a copout at the very beginning as an excuse to be lazy about what they let into their home, when friends they let their kids play with, what school they let them attend... and on and on.

I am not stupid.  I know I can't shelter forever but I will while I can and during that time he will learn about sex from his father and I, he will be warned of what this world has turned it into as opposed to the fantastic experience that God intended. 

Will Aidan spend the night at friends houses?
Ha, ha, ha.  Are you kidding?  One wrong move, one wrong click of a mouse on some Dad's computer, one wrong movie rented and it's over - Pandora's box has been opened and in too many cases Mom's don't find out 'til a full blown addicted has occurred.

If your son is watching television after school, in the evenings, than dare I say, the box has been cracked.  The commercials and advertisements for other shows are shocking and if we don't think so than it's our own fault for being desensitized by a culture that worships sex.  

As a family we watch the NASCAR races on Sundays and the junk they show is AWFUL!  Our kids know to look away and close their eyes as Joel or I swing the cabinet door closed - I mean, have you seen those Go Daddy commercials?  If I am going to pay to watch a rated R movie than I can assume what's coming up, but I swear these ads blow my mind every time!  It makes me feel like such an old lady but I just can't believe them.  Aidan looks away without the slightest curiosity.  His trust in our judgement is so deep, it's as though he would be horrified to look at something we have told him is garbage.  
When I think of the T.V. on all the time, all over the country in the homes of sweet little boys who deserve to be protected it grieves me.  And challenges me to keep praying for the boys and the parents of the boys who will one day marry my daughters!







06 November 2014

Today in the Kitchen - Fried Egg with Asparagus & Prosciutto

Eggs.  Eggs.  Eggs.

It's so funny because I "am not an animal person" but let me tell you...  If you are an animal that offers my family something - 
I love you.
My chickens are WELL taken care of.  Dare I say - spoiled.   (Which is why I am so mad at them right now.   They aren't laying eggs for nothin' right now.  Darn molt.)
They get scraps from the kitchen, cuttings from the garden and I even fluff their nesting boxes with herbs from the herb garden.

Oh yes I do.
We eat a-lot of eggs.   
If I had a bigger coop (and our coop is a good size), 
 I would have a hundred chickens.   
And I will someday.

This was a little number I made the troops for lunch and they LOVED it.  I bet you will too...

 So easy.

You will need:
Fried or broiled prosciutto
An over easy egg
Broiled asparagus
(drizzle a little olive oil over trimmed spears and season with sea salt and ground pepper)

Oh my goodness girls this kind of food is so good and with a glass of wine makes a lovely, light meal.  
Bon Appetit.

30 October 2014

Cookbook Sneak Peek!

 This cookbook is going to be all about photographs.
You are going to want it on your coffee table as much as you want it in your kitchen.

Today in the Kitchen with Parisienne Farmgirl
(Named after my recipe blog posts of course!)
will be available early Spring 2015 on Amazon but I thought you might like a couple of teaser photographs.  
These ones might make the final cut.

Of course... you can pin them.
Just sayin'.

Le Weekend is almost here.

I need it.
How about you?

-Angela
Parisienne Farmgirl




20 October 2014

Free Wild Orange Essential Oil! - doTerra Tuesday

Just one more day til my LIVE ONLINE CLASS!  
I am sooooooooooooo
nervous!

You can participate with audio or audio and video (if you want me to see you).  You'll be able to see me and I'll be sharing how to take control of your families health with nature's finest essential oils.  Reduce your yearly doctor visits.  Reduce your dependency on Advil, Tums, allergy meds...

It's all about 
Natural.  
Control.

I'll be having a free product giveaway too!
In the "spirit of the tupperware party!"

Join us!
Invite 5 friends who join us and I will be sending you a complimentary 5ml WILD ORANGE essential oil.  
One of doTerra's best sellers! 

REGISTER HERE!

See you Wednesday!!!!
Angela,
Parisienne Farmgirl



16 October 2014

Reason #173 for Homeschooling my Chickens.


In the other gardens,
and all up the vale
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail.

Pleasant summer over
and all the summer flowers.
The red fire blazes,
the grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons,
something bright in all.
Flowers in the summer,
fires in the fall.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

I have to constantly remind myself of the life I want to give my children.
A different life. 

A "free-range" life.
My "chickens".

And don't be threatened.  
I am not judging what you have chosen for your kids.
Really, I'm not.
God has given you and your husband wisdom for your children.
We must all humbly seek it.

It's sad that I have to write that.

I want freedom for my kids.
Before a life that weighs them down.

Responsibilities.  
Yes, they have a-lot.
A lot.
They keep living creatures alive for crying out loud.
And some think I am too hard on them.

I am.

And then, I am not. 

And sometimes (I am ashamed to say)
They strive to live up to my demands.

But this is a small example of what I want for them.

Freedom.

Freedom when an autumn day beckons to pack up the books and bring them to the firepit.


Freedom to gather leaves and just BE with nature while others sit at desks.

How many of us know how to "just be"?  
 
Freedom to interact with siblings instead of being apart all day long.
Freedom to smell the smoke. 
Freedom to feel the rain come in.
Freedom to learn about how not to get burned.
Freedom to play "games" with the owl in the tree.
Freedom to figure out where he has flown to by listening to his "whoo-whoo."
Freedom to sing out loud.  Bless the Lord oh my Soul, oh My Soul...
Freedom to pray together at random.  For Daddy, for Africa, for our friends who don't know Jesus...







I don't mean to say that others don't have these freedoms.
But this is how we roll.

And we love it. 










Kiss your babies.
It will all be gone so soon.

Angela
Parisienne Farmgirl

14 October 2014

LIVE with Parisienne Farmgirl - doTerra Tuesday

For this doTerra Tuesday I want to invite you to my first online LIVE Natural Solutions Class.  Essential Oils offer natural solutions by working with your body to heal its self.  EVERY day I get FB messages or emails of the things people are struggling with... migraines, painful periods, acne, allergies... after all these years of blogging about health and wellness I am so blessed to be able to share what my family and I are doing.  So check out this video invite and register here:  It's going to be lots of fun!



Tuesdays are doTerra Tuesdays here on Parisienne Farmgirl but you can join the oil conversation every day on Facebook in my new group "Essential Oils with Parisienne Farmgirl".

See you Wednesday the 22nd!
I'll be posting the link on FB and the blog next Tuesday too.

Why run to Walgreens when you can run to nature?
Make over your medicine cabinet on bottle at a time!

Angela,
Parisienne Farmgirl

10 October 2014

Basic Distressing Technique

I've been trying to think of another fun video since the great response from the "Mom Makeup Tutorial"  and then I remembered my unpainted door...

Hubby runs a kitchen cabinet makeover business and he does beautiful work...

But since we are renting this little farm didn't want to spend the time doing his über professional/factory quality look so I went with a basic distressing. 

I get a lot of questions about my kitchen cabinets when I post photos of my kitchen so here's how I did it.

You can see my kitchen (though it's changed a bit) here.

And you can see our porch here.



Both have example of this technique. 

 The color I used in Minwax's Charcoal Grey (over a Benjamin Moore white) and I used a must-have Wooster brush to apply.  Found here.

Of course, if you are in the Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan you can just have hubby come and do yours!  

If you try this - send me photos and I'll post them on the Parisienne Farmgirl Facebook Page!

Bonne Semaine!
Angela,
Parisienne Farmgirl

07 October 2014

Instant Allergy Relief -- doTerra Tuesday

 Next blog post later this week:  
VIDEO, Distressed Front Door Makeover!


Sick of ALLERGIES???  

Why run to Walgreens when you can run to nature?

Check this out - my story for doTerra Tuesday. 

Amélie is mothering a kitten whose mother was killed by coyotes.  She makes formula and everything. It's so cute.  And so is this darn cat.  And I am not a cat person.  At all.  They about kill me.  Eyes swell shut.  Nose itches so bad I want to stick a fork in it.  They make me miserable ....   This little guy has been living on our porch so the big boys (our barn cats) don't tear him to bits while he is si tiny.  And I must confess, at night he comes and snuggles with Joel on our couch.  Of course, he is adorable.  

Well, he got me.  I went nuts the other night as he and Joel played their little kitten games while we watched a movie.  "Get that thing OUT of here" I snarled through my snot and itching.  Then I said, "Wait.  Let's try something."  I Googled "oils and allergies" and came up with COUNTLESS stories about people kissing their Allegra and Claritn D au revoir. 

The main suggested protocol was 3-4 drops of lemon, peppermint and lavender swirled in the mouth for 30 seconds and then swallowed.  

Skeptical.

I am out of lemon oil but I had saved the bottle so I filled it with water, shook it up and poured it in a cup and added the lavender and peppermint.  Swirled, drank...Now remember, I was a sniveling mess!  Within THREE MINUTES I thought, What the heck is going on? I said to Joel, "Did you notice what just happened? "  He said, "You're totally FINE!  That is amazing!"



I am lovin' this company.

I love that their oils are strong and pure without the junk that was in the health food store oils I had been using.  

I love that I am actually helping people because helping people live healthier lives is very important to me.

I love being a Wellness Advocate with doTerra. 
 
doTerra Essential Oils nipped my allergic reaction to cats IN THE BUD within MINUTES.  I will use it again whenever I have to.  

What's makin' you itch?
How could you feel healthier today?

I'll bet there's an oil for that!

OH!  I made a Facebook Group where you can post your questions too!  Join in!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/733872890018993/

Want to join my team?
For extra $ or just to save 25% on your oils?
Wholesale pricing available and lots of free stuff for newbies!

Here's to eyes that don't itch!
Angela,
Parisienne Farmgirl

www.MydoTerra.com/ParisienneFarmgirl

06 October 2014

City Farmhouse Pop-Up Sale! BE THERE!


So - if you are anywhere in the area of Franklin Tennessee on the 17th and 18th I insist you check out the City Farmhouse Pop-Up Sale!!!

I can PROMISE you it won't dispoint!

My marvelous Momma will be there with all her amazing designs!
These photos don't even do her truckload justice...  I stole these from her FB page but ladies... I've seen the real stash and it is incredible!!!  She'll be loading the trailer all week getting ready to meet YOU!






PLUS!  She is the stylist for the Nina Hartmann and Matthew Mead booth!

GO GIRL!!!!

Oh that I could go...
It's going to be all I can do not to just get in the truck and head on down!
But you can!

And if you do - say HI to Momma - SavvyCityFarmer!

As my kids say to me...
Go Momma!  Go Momma!  Go Momma!

-Angela
Parisienne Farmgirl
(The Proud Daughter)

29 September 2014

Today in the Kitchen... The Cookbook!


After all these years of blogging, and all the "Today in the Kitchen" recipe posts -- a cookbook is in the works!
"Today in the Kitchen with Parisienne Farmgirl"  
will be available (Lord willing) this winter on Amazon and ParisienneFarmgirl dot com.

If this makes you as happy as it makes me and you'd like to be a part of my marketing plan (and make $$$ on cookbook sales) please email me as hubby and I are assembling a small list of bloggers and those in social media for a "P.F. Cookbook Promotional Team".  
Be sure to tell me about your blog, Facebook page, Pinterest followers, etc. 

Details to follow.

angela@parisiennefarmgirl.com

Bonne Journée
Angela
Parisienne Farmgirl

27 September 2014

A Late Summer Morning on the Farm

 Sometimes but not often enough I get to escape outside to do the chores in the early morning.  Before children are running up and down the driveway... before the chickens have been let out...
 It's so peaceful...
 I'll load the baby in the stroller and we do the chores together in the cool yellow sunlight...
 Enjoying the last green views of the garden before fall sets in... I love this photo.
 My little trooper loaded up with feed.
 Two of our three rabbit breeding stock: Melissa and Lloyd
 Bonjour Valentino.
 Brother and sister.  Greedy for Grain.
 Like something out of Beatrix Potter a farm cat on the edge of the cistern spying on goldfish...
 Our other breeding doe:  Thelma
 Mornings are for scratching out cookbook ideas in my notebook that lives on the kitchen counter - ever ready...
 For delicious breakfasts you grew and raised yourself...
 For flower arranging to brighten the day...
 And for simple observations before the day kicks in.

_____

These photos are from about three weeks ago.  
All month long I have had Paris on the brain.  It happens every fall.  It's been over ten years.  
Sigh.
 I love mornings in Paris... the diesel smell of the green garbage trucks, the sound of café chairs being unstacked, the sea gulls on the river.

But right now I have this farm to enjoy.
The September morning sun is creeping through the trees.

I'd better get outside.

Angela,
Parisienne Farmgirl

This post is part of the Barn Hop!
www.theelliothomestead.com
 




24 September 2014

Helichrysum Oil

Here's my oil of the day... Helichrysum. 

https://nettrax.myvoffice.com/doterra/ShoppingCart/Shop.cfm?CurrPage=FrontPage&NextPage=CategoryDetail&CategoryID=78&pid=64913389202958113

And yes, I do mean "sear tissue"  this oil can be used directly on an open wound... it can even stop hemorrhaging until medical personal arrive!!!   It can be used on severe burns and wounds from the moment of damage all the way thru the healing process.
 
A must-have here on the farm with a fire pit, metal fencing, gravel driveway, pitch forks... you name it!
I feel confident as a Mom knowing there is something safe I can use in an emergency situation!
 
And now you can search for the best oil 
for your ailments and symptoms!!!
 
myoilsearch.com
I

19 September 2014

Eat Like a Parisienne Work Out Like an American Part IV - The END! A Flashback Series with Updates.

POST SCRIPT - This is the final installment of my flashback posts for this series.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I hope you find yourself enjoying food more and motivated to stay (or get) fit and healthy.    This post contains affiliate links.  At the bottom I have image links of all my secret weapons that I have mentioned throughout this series.

 

It was never my intention to drag this series out...
but life does go on and mine has been very busy.

Not feeling my best the last couple weeks... and for our big sale I made and boxed over 600 macarons.
Today I don't care if I ever see another one again!

Been working out?
Been eating well?

Ugh.

Thank goodness it's Monday (oops, now Wednesday) - I love new beginnings.

Now we all have our own story to tell...
the reasons we do or do not work out.
The excuses, contrived or legitimate.

But since we don't live like our great grandparents, since we have a more leisurely life than any generation before us we've got to keep moving.

Here's my over-worded workout bio...
 I mentioned before I have worked out for the last eighteen years.  In high school I was so out of shape (even as a cheerleader!) I couldn't run a mile without my lungs feeling like they were on fire!  But soon after graduating I realized things were going to go downhill fast if I didn't stay in shape so I began doing step aerobics (which I LOVED!) and using small weights to tone my arms.  Soon after getting married I continued with my steppin' at the local women's gym and added weight machines.  I never got "buff" or anything but was able to maintain my weight pretty well.  Then a few years later I REALLY got into it thanks to some very fit friends -  I began running and soon got addicted.  Within 4 months I was up to 4 miles a day and with no kids and only a part time job I added roller blading and swimming to my routine.  Crazy!  I would run to the pool, swim a mile and then run home.  Then I got a "Total Gym" - you know, the old Chuck Norris/Christy Brinkely infomercial from days gone by.  Now that thing ROCKS!  It's fun and within five months I had serious biceps, tri's, strong abs and legs... it was awesome.  My work out schedule was decedent and self absorbed - I was working out two hours a day between the running, swimming and weights.   
Enter baby #1:
I worked out thru month seven with my first pregnancy (as sick as I was) and still packed on 42 pounds.  Six weeks after he was born I threw him in the stroller and we were off!  The weight MELTED off - I remember looking down in the shower at the newly emerging bones of my feet thinking, "Damn!  Those are sexy feet!"  
Baby #2
With baby number two I had gained some of that weight back (about 8 pounds) and was the heaviest I had ever been not pregnant so again, the minute she was six weeks old I threw together a playlist of pumping music, grabbed my old step from the basement  and did step aerobics in my bedroom while Aidan rode his plastic train up and down the hallway.  I can still remember my baby blubber belly in the mirror (you know how it's all squishy and weird after you give birth?!) hanging over my low cut shorts thinking - this is it.  It's never going away.  But that was February and by August I had lost fifty pounds and felt great.  I never gave up and often in the afternoon, once the weather was warm I would throw them in the stroller and hit the only hill in our area... I would chug up that hill and back down, ten times in a row, squeezing my a$$ the entire time, holding that belly in... believing it was going to make a difference.  Working out with two kids was worlds away from those days where I would run to the pool, swim and run home... When baby girl would cry I would do my step routine holding her (and you remember what a giant chunk she was - that was no easy feat!).  I never gave up.
Baby #3 
With baby number three I again gained a good amount, only 38 that time but instead of three months - it took seven to shed... yikes... I was getting older.  This was hard!  My wonderful mornings of walking were over - My oldest was too young to ride a bike and I didn't have a triple stroller - So I went back to step aerobics - one day I would do my routine with arms weights (small dumbbells) and the next day I would focus on the tush and legs.  I missed running so much but it was pretty clear after baby number one that aside from some sort of "pelvic floor miracle" it'd be better for me to keep up my long strides power walks and other forms of exercise.  I do miss pounding the pavement and envy my running girlfriends... I really would like to do a small triathlon someday... hopefully I can pick running up again...
With this last baby I gained the most ever - 50 pounds.  He is now 8 months old and I have only lost 48 of the pounds for my heart hasn't been in it the entire time.  But I am on a streak now with the great weather - it's time for baby showers, weddings, band in the park night... I can't hide in gardening clothes all summer!
My workout of choice thanks to my cousin who inspired me a couple years ago is Turbo Jam.  (Here).  In a word - I'm addicted.  I've been doing it super faithfully since January and you've got to know - it works.  My figure is really changing and it makes all the work worth it.  These days I don't have time to lift weights, do ab work AND cardio but with Turbo I get all three.  My favorite DVD is Cardio Party III.  The music ROCKS which is VERY important to me.  I've about maxed it out though, now using leg and arm weights and adjusting the routine to accommodate my super strong heart and lungs.  I am ready to upgrade to Turbo FIRE! 
(here). 

(Update 2014: I have since had baby #5.  Gained 50 lbs.  It took 51 weeks to get rid of it.  I used T.F. again as my workouts with the occasional, and I mean occasional run.)

Working out works.
Dieting sucks - I don't recommend it.
But if you simply enjoy food without stuffing your face and keep working out your  figure is going to improve.
It has to.
Just keep going.

When you are working out,
suck in your abs,
stand up straight,
squeeze your tush,
be strong,
be conscious of what body part you are working on - no spaghetti body!

When you are done, reward yourself with a big glass of water and sit down to plan your next meal... dreaming of flavors, herbs, textures...

(Now watch this while I wrap this whole series up in a tidy little package) 

You'll miss days here and there...
which is why you have to eat like a Parisienne....
and then you'll get a burrito craving...
which is why you have to work out like an American....

You get it.

Stay strong, stay healthy and truly enjoy food.
-Angela
Parisienne Farmgirl 











  

ALl images unless stamped ParisienneFarmgirl,  Google & Amazon