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Thursday, March 29, 2012

My Favorite Shoe- Five Fingers




If you know me, you know I don't promote something unless I absolutely believe in it.  I LOVE the Five Fingers Shoe! 

They are the perfect shoe because they work with your body to help it function the way it was suppose to.  We weren't made to wear shoes.  Our anatomy is designed where we use our toes and soles of our feet to take in the shock of movement and balance.  Five Fingers allows you to do this.  Regular shoes bunch your toes together so they can't function and they make you heal strike.  This causes knee, hip and low back issues.

I have knee issues from an accident when I was 16 and I couldn't run the way I would like.  Ever since I got my Five Fingers, I can run, run, run.  And it feels so free because you don't have those heavy shoes on.  Also, my feet would burn and ache after being on my feet all day at work, but not now. : )  Still could use a good foot massage every once and a while (hint hint, Cory : ).


I do have to admit that the transition was tough.  I had to redevelop the right muscles to work again.  I was very sore the first couple of times I ran in them.  I just stretch a little extra and took Epsom salt baths.  So don't get discourage when you first get them.  Also, stay on soft surfaces.  We weren't made to run on concrete.  I try to mostly trail run but I don't have a choice some times.

Thank you to The Shoe Box for being our official sponsor at my 5k.  They have a wonderful selection of Five Fingers and the most friendly staff.  They are also a family owned business and we all need to support our small businesses.

If you come out on to the Second Annual Healthy Mama, Happy Baby 5k you could win either a $100 or a $50 gift certificate to the Shoe Box to get your pair of Five Fingers. : )

Cheers to Happy, Healthy Feet!

-Tara



Monday, March 26, 2012

Creative Play


The theory behind Creative Play is that you don't distract your child with too many toys so they can create their own play.  It is amazing what they come up with when you do this.  It's a lot cheaper and easier to clean up too. : )

It is so funny what Arabella will choose to play with even if she has toys around.  Not to say she doesn't love her toys but most of the time she will create her own "toy". 

In the top picture she found a box and I pushed her all over the house in it.  Then I started doing like the Tea Cups at Disney World and starting spinning her.  A box slides and spins really well.  I wanted to jump in for a ride. : )

The picture below was our leaf piles for the fall.  She played for hours and days in them.  I had forgotten how fun and soft leaf piles can be.



She has also just found sticks of different sizes and made a mama, dada and baby family of sticks to play house with.

At the beach she took our Starbucks (I know they put something in it to make us addicted : )  They do have some great teas if you are avoiding caffeine) cup rings and made sandcastles with them.

Like I said, she loves her baby dolls and toy cars (Thanks Uncle DJ) but it is amazing what she will come up without all the stuff.

Happy Playing!

-Tara

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Strawberry Soup


Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Strawberry Soup.  Doesn't it just sound good.  It is so easy to make but it taste like something very special.  It is our new favorite dessert, snack or syrup. 


All you do is puree however many strawberries you have in a food processor with a little water (depending on how soupy you want it) and a little sweetener if the strawberries are a little tart.  Right now we are at the end of strawberry season so I need a little sweetener.  I use raw organic cane sugar, agave or honey depending on what I have. 

For a dessert, I put a little square of my organic dark chocolate (Green & Blacks is my favorite kind) in a special bowl.  For a snack, I mix it with plain organic greek yogurt.  And for syrup, I put it over french toast or pancakes.  IT is delish no matter how you do it.

Also, strawberries are loaded with vitamin C, so this is healthy. : )  This will help you fight of colds as long as you keep the sugar low.



This is us having breakfast at our new house.  This morning we had homemade french toast made from homemade bread, fresh farm eggs and strawberry syrup.  Not a bad breakfast table setting, huh.  The pond is right behind us.  : )

Cheers with Strawberry Soup!

-Tara

Monday, March 19, 2012

Grandparents : )


I am so thankful for my parents and what great Grandparents they are to Arabella.  They want to be with her all the time, and they can be now that we live within walking distance.  All a grandchild, or any child, really wants is your time with your undivided attention. 

JoJo and Dara take every opportunity to come see Arabella and they make the most out of each visit. They get down and play with her on the floor, they read to her, they paint with her- they do just about anything she asks of them (except TV and videos- they do refrain from that activity.)  For example, Arabella loves to run and jump, and of course she asks JoJo to cartwheel for her. He never disappoints her. He is right there running, jumping and laughing with her.  Talk about Physical Therapy. : )


There are many studies that show when a child has her Grandparents involved in their lives, they feel more secure and confident.  Extended family help a child just as much, although it does not necessarily have to be blood-relatives. The WHOM is not as important as the WHAT. A child needs to feel love and security among those closest to them, regardless of whom the caregiver may be. I am so thankful for ALL of Arabella's extended family.  She is so blessed to have so many wonderful people in her life.


Love, Tara

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Perfect Ab Exercise- Plank Pose


THE perfect ab exercise is the Plank Pose.  When you do this exercise you are training your abs to pull in and stay in.  We all know that you look alot better when you pull your stomach in.  This just trains the muscles to stay in.

If you haven't done a plank before, start on your knees (like a girl push-up position) and hold for about 30 seconds.  Progress to 60 seconds before you move to the stardard pose.  Standard Plank Pose is like you are starting a push-up on your toes and hands but just keep your arms straight.  Make sure your body makes a straight plane (don't let your back sway down or arch up).  Hold for 30-60 seconds.  Think of pulling your stomach in the whole time.  This will help support your back.


You can also do this kind of plank like Arabella.  You place a stability ball under your legs and hold your plank that way.  This is my favorite kind of plank because it works more of your stability muscles in your core.  More bang for your buck. : )

The Plank is also so wonderful because it helps hold your organs in the right place.  When you have that nice strong core, you keep from everything pushing down on your bladder.  And we all know what happens when our bladder is weak.  NOT good!

Happy Planking!

-Tara



Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Second Annual Healthy Mama, Happy Baby 5k Event

This is the press release for my event.  If you need a little help getting prepared, read my post here on How To Prepare for a 5k.  Hope to see all of you out here for a wonderful Spring day on the farm. : )  -Tara



Second Annual Healthy Mama, Happy Baby 5K Event

To Be Held at Lodestar Farm and Retreat on March 31.


By Claire Hamner Matturro


Run, walk, bike or push a baby stroller on a nature trail that meanders by a creek and through the flowering woods near a lake, get a free mini-massage and snack on healthy foods at the Second Annual Healthy Mama, Happy Baby 5K event March 31, at Lodestar Farm and Retreat, in Southwest Georgia, just over the Florida line.

            “There is no pressure to win a race,” organizer Tara Posey said. “We want this to be an opportunity for families to come out and enjoy the farm while they get some exercise. Whatever comfort level people are at with the 3.1 miles trail is fine with us.” Posey, who is a certified nutritionist, a licensed exercise coach and physical fitness instructor with 14 years experience, and holds a Masters Degree in Physical Therapy, added, “You can push a baby in a stroller or let Dada play with the kids and the farm animals while Mama runs. As long as you come out and get healthy.”

            Registration starts on site at 10 a.m. and the event will start at 10:30 a.m. There is no registration fee required, but donations will be accepted for Lodestar Farm Retreats for Families with Autism. Posey and Lodestar are establishing this special retreat for families with autistic children. This will be a “place where the kids can run freely and spend time with the animals in a secure environment,” Posey said. The retreat will also offer respite services for the parents and cooking classes on food shown to benefit autistic children.

            In addition to the 5K event, a massage therapist will offer mini massages and teach a small class on massages for couples. Full massages will be available for a fee.

            “And that’s not all,” Posey said, “We will have some homemade healthy snacks and a demonstration on how to make them.” Posey, who grew up practically next door to Lodestar Farm, renewed her commitment to a healthy life-style with the birth of her daughter, now two and four months old. “I had already become a certified nutritionist, but I really started digging deep on how to be the healthiest person I could be. I have worked long and hard on creating the healthiest home and body for my most prized possession, my daughter, Arabella.”

            As a part of her commitment to a healthy mama, happy baby lifestyle, Posey helped organized the first Healthy Mama, Happy Baby 5k run last year in Tallahassee. Since then, she and her husband, Cory, have had the opportunity to live at Lodestar Farm, just down the road from where Tara grew up.

            Lodestar Farms, 1523 Lower Hawthorne Trail, in Grady County, GA, was established in 1983, and offers retreats and training, eggs from the farm’s own organically fed chickens, and seasonal fruits and vegetables from the garden. The Farm is located in southern Grady County, approximately 30 miles from Tallahassee, Bainbridge and Thomasville, and only fifteen minutes from Cairo.

            The trail for the 3.1 miles run, walk or bike event, has recently been cleared and improved by Cory and Tara Posey and others who live and work at Lodestar Farms, but was originally a trail the cows made along the edge of the lake and the creek.
            “We are so excited to hold this event in our new home, at Lodestar Farms,” Tara Posey said. “The woods and trails are so beautiful right now, and the air fresh. There are some new calves, and new plants coming up in our organic garden.” For directions and more information, visit Posey at her blog,  http://healthymamahappybaby.blogspot.com/2011/10/meet-tara.html


Thank you so much to the talented Christy Baldwin for these wonderful photographs.  I am so blessed to have her as a friend and photographer.  She is amazing with kids and capturing "the moment". Contact her at Christy Baldwin Photography for more information.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Walking By Faith




Four years ago today I was told that my 8 1/2 month old baby did not have a heartbeat anymore.  My husband and I spent the next three days in the hospital delivering our baby and accepting the heartbreak that was now our reality.  Fast forward to today and I am blown away at how good life is.  I truly believe that God has us go through REALLY hard stuff in order to bless us in a way, MORE wonderfully than we could have imagined.  I know this to be true several times in my life.

I titled this post Walking By Faith because the really wonderful things started happening when we let go of things and people and truly walked by faith.  You can say you have faith but to really practice it is hard.

So lets get to the good stuff. : )  Well, as you know I have my prince charming that I have always dreamed of and my wonderful little girl, Arabella who loves to do ballet with me and wear tutus.  Anybody that knows me, knows this is a dream come true.  But the latest wonderful news is our dream place to live.  We have the opportunity to live on a sustainable farm with chickens, cows and sheep.  We can have a HUGE garden and grow almost all of our veggies and fruits.  We have a spring fed pond to fish from.  68 acres to run free with Arabella.

I am humbled into tears almost every other day when I think of how blessed we are.  This is all a dream come true.  I have tried to give Arabella the best and healthiest life I could but this was the last piece of the puzzle.

I think it is so important for children to be able to play in the woods, be around animals and experience how our food is grown.  This is how I grew up and I am so thankful. 

I am so so thankful.  tears.

Love,
Tara