Happy August and Monday Mission

Happy August to everyone! Where has this summer gone? I cannot believe that it is already August! A couple more weeks and my sweet baby is turning ONE!!!

We have had a great summer - my husband Jon is almost done with the renovations downstairs. We put a slate floor down (because it looks nice and if there is a sump pump failure again we won't have to deal with this headache all over again). He just needs to seal it and tile the half bath down there and we're back in business!

My sweet baby Finn decided to get up and walk a few weeks ago - and he's never looked back. It took about 4 days before he was walking more than he was crawling, and now he's unstoppable! He also started waving bye-bye, so we've begun signing in earnest. He's picked up on "eat" so far. And he is pointing at EVERYTHING. It's really awesome beginning to interact with him in a new way. Now we have 2 way conversations (kind of).

What kind of awesome things have happened in your family this summer?

Now for the monday mission... I just know you've been missing these!

This week, the mission has to do with Sugar. Or better yet, No Sugar. That's right! I've been thinking about this for a while now, and doing some research (as I am prone to do) and I think now is the time. I am going to give up sugar. Specifically, refined sugars (white sugar, HFCS, and definitely artificial - which I already severely limit - and the like). This means most processed foods, convenience foods, most desserts :(.

I cut ALL sugar out when I was about five months pregnant with Finn (until the end). Let me tell you - I felt so much better! Sugar has so many negative side-effects. Some people call it a poison. I'm not going to go that far. But it does have negative ramifications on fertility (for men and women), your skin (I read a story about a woman who had really bad acne and it cleared up when she cut out sugar), your health in general (lowers immune system effectiveness).

I had a conversation with Jon today. And he said that he AGREES with me (if you know Jon at all, this is a SHOCK because his thing is "I am an adult and can decide for myself what I will eat" which means... he'll eat the aforementioned processed foods, convenience foods, and lots of desserts).  So, right there, the fact that he agrees with me is nothing short of a sign from God himself!

What this will "look" like for us:

• Cutting out most desserts - this will be the hardest. I have a major sweet tooth, if left unchecked can reign supreme! This summer we have been making a lot of our own ice-cream. Which, I rationalize since I use raw milk, cream from the farmers market, eggs from pastured chickens, half the Organic sugar, is good for me - right? While it is miles above store-bought (or ice-cream truck bought) ice-cream; it's still got a lot of sugar, and I don't need it! 
• One day a week as a cheat day. We'll start with one day a week and special occasions ( Finn's birthday, our anniversary, etc).
• We have already cut out a lot of the processed foods entirely. I think the one thing that I just can't get myself to give up is Ketchup! I'm going to look up some homemade ketchup recipes.
• Eating more fruits and veggies
• Making a meal plan and sticking to it! This will help a lot with not eating out as much. 
• Making iced tea & having it in the fridge.
• Eventually experimenting with natural alternatives: maple syrup, raw honey, rapadura (or succinat).
• We do not have any travel scheduled in the near future, but if we did, this would be a challenge! 

There are a lot of good suggestions and links on Keeperofthehome.

What would going "sugar free" look like for you and your family?