Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 56

Changing the World, One Tutu at a Time

Several months ago, Tanna Clark — who used to be a professional organizer and fellow organizing blogger — approached me about working with her non-profit, Grace & Glory. As she shared more with me about Grace & Glory’s mission to Fight Hunger, Encourage Play and Give Hope to Children in Need of a Brighter Tomorrow, I got more and more excited about the possibilities!

We’ll see what the future holds, but to start, we decided that I would host a tutu-making party as a service project for some of our homeschooling friends.

What is a tutu making party?

One of Grace & Glory’s main activities is to distribute capes and tutus to children who are orphaned, sick, homeless or hurting in Middle Tennessee and Haiti. As part of this distribution, they also share the Gospel, encourage play and love on the children who are receiving them.

Because the opportunities to distribute capes and tutus exceeds the amount that Tanna herself can make, she invites various groups to partner with her to make these. The capes require some sewing, but tutus are easily assembled by all ages and in a group setting.

With that in mind, we invited friends from our church homeschooling group and Classical Conversations groups to join us this week in making some tutus. Although we live in the boonies and anywhere from 40-75 minutes away from most of them, we had 7 families show up with a total of 27 “kids”. (A few of those kids were actually over 18 and a few were babies!)

Since Sean is home, he helped entertain the older boys — none of whom took me up on my offer to make a tutu! — and some of the younger girls who lost interest in the tutu making. It was fun to watch them rush inside every few minutes to his plane “hangar” to choose the next plane for him to fly.

Our house is fairly small, so we were packed in pretty good, but we got more than 2 dozen tutus made, and the girls and I plan to finish the rest over the next couple of weeks!

The tutu supplies cost about $5 per tutu. Because we didn’t want the cost to keep anyone from participating, we set out a bucket to collect donations from the families who could donate but didn’t “require” a donation to participate.

All in all, we had a really good time, and I’m looking forward to making tutus throughout the year to send to Tanna. (The tutus compress easily in gallon ziplock baggies and are fairly light, so it’s not too expensive to mail them back.)

I’m also thinking about hosting another party for our American Heritage Girls troop in the fall as one of our community service projects.

My friend Denise brought all four of her daughters to the party, pulling one of them out of school for the day. I love the perspective she shared: we never know how that one tutu might impact the recipient’s life and have a ripple affect that can change the world!

 A few other things you should know:

To find out more about hosting a tutu-making party for your friends, small group, homeschool group or scouting troop, or even as part of a birthday party, email Tanna. It really is a fun activity and service project for kids or adults!


You can also buy premade tutus and capes through the Grace & Glory shop for little girls and boys in your life. These are buy one, give one and help provide tutus and capes for other children and support the other work that Grace & Glory does in Middle Tennessee and Haiti.


Tanna does not receive a salary from Grace & Glory, and I am not and do not plan to be compensated for my work with them either. We’re both just really excited about the possibilities to change the lives of children!


In addition to tutus and capes, Grace & Glory also partners with an orphanage in Montrouis, Haiti. They support the orphanage and their feeding program and are also helping them build a school. Make a one-time donation to support their work or sponsor a child to help meet their ongoing nutritional, medical and educational needs.

I love Tanna’s heart for children, and I’m excited to be partnering with her and sharing more about Grace & Glory’s work in the upcoming months!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Changing the World, One Tutu at a Time

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Summer Camp at Home: Interactive Online Activities for Kids

The following post is from Lauren Rothlisberger of Get Me Geeky :

I had lunch with a friend yesterday and as we discussed the impending summer days I realized even more that I need a summer plan. Not just for the weeks, but for the hours in the day.

Don’t get me wrong, I am really looking forward to summer, but I know that the downtime and breaks are not always what I dream of. The bottom-line is even during vacation times kids really thrive with a bit more structure.

I am all for “boredom” and letting a kid figure out something to do when they are only left with their imagination, but you as a parent will appreciate putting some required work time in place. This “work time” doesn’t have to be miserable, but instead can be an opportunity for your kids to explore a different interest.

Last year I wrote about some of the fun things kids can do online, but those were mostly games geared at younger kids. This post is dedicated to older kids who may be ready to really dig deep into a particular subject. Many of these ideas include a hands-on component. It requires a little more planning, but can give kids an opportunity to discover and hone new skills.

[PUBLISHING]

It is pretty inspiring to see your stories come alive. It is now easier than ever to actually print your own book. Scribblitt is really geared towards kids and allows them to write and create illustrations with pre-drawn characters and landscaping. If your kids are more advanced they can use something like Fast Pencil to write and  Lulu or CreateSpace to publish their book.

[MUSIC]

Music in schools is getting less and less common, and even homeschoolers have to figure out how to get kids lined up with the right person and the right instrument. There are many options to learn an instrument online. With The Zoen you actually line up with a teacher you choose and pay for classes which are taught over the web. Playground Sessions is for piano only. You watch pre-recorded videos and can plug your keyboard into your computer for feedback. For a more advanced musician check out ArtistWorks.

[LANGUAGE]

In schools, language is being introduced earlier than ever. But like most things it is easily lost without regular use. If your child really into picking up a second (or third) language check out Duolingo. Duolingo has earned high praise for being an innovative learning tool that works, is easy to use, and is free!

[ART]

In the art category there are two directions to go: There are art classes for traditional art on a site like Arty Factory.

Or if your kid likes art they might be interested in exploring the graphic design world. On the iPad you can introduce them to graphic design through iDraw. If they are more serious, a membership to Adobe Creative Cloud gives them access to all the top notch programs. There is a  student discount on the monthly fee available. If they want to dig into a tool like illustrator there are an endless number of videos online to learn how to get started.

[COOKING]

Not too long ago I read this article in the New York Times about a mother that turned over a majority of her cooking to her two sons. I think this is another area where we have lost touch with the way things used to be. Kids are no longer part of the kitchen and unfortunately, it is out of fear for hot and sharp things. But most kids love to help cook and can even learn to contribute to the weekly meals. The summer is the perfect time to work through some of those skills while you have a bit more time for guidance. While there are a gazillion food blogs, it might be best to start with some online learning that is going to develop cooking essentials.

Smart Kitchen
Learn to Cook
Let’s Feast

[HANDCRAFTS]

Despite living in a very industrial age where most everything comes from a factory thousands of miles away we continue to discover the joy of making something with our own hands. Sewing (not just for girls!), crafting, woodworking, building, pottery, electronics, robotics, and the list goes on and on. There are an amazing number of opportunities for your kid to work with their hands while learning online.

This is a short list compared to the options out there:

Popular Woodworking.com
Craftsy
Grid Kit
Little Bits
EEME

[BONUS]

There are two sites that are dedicated to learning a huge variety of things. Both have a unique way of teaching online. Skillshare is run on a membership model and Udemy is a pay per class model.

Skillshare
udemy

What other sites encourage hands-on learning?

Lauren Rothlisberger blogs and consults over at Get Me Geeky. As a military wife and mom of three girls five years old and under, she loves focusing on technology and productivity and finding new ways to simplify her life. She recently started putting together MacMinis, which are easy to follow videos for Mac users, and also wrote an ebook, Evernote for Moms.

Summer Camp at Home: Interactive Online Activities for Kids

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

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Easy Homemade Fruit & “Cream” Oatmeal

[image error]

The instant packets of Quaker fruit & cream oatmeal have always been one of my very favorite “boxed” treats (strawberries & cream and peaches & cream, to be exact).

The only problem? They’re loaded with sugar, and one packet is never enough, so they hardly count as a healthy breakfast!

[image error]Raspberry Spinach Turkey Wraps {Lunch or Dinner on the Go!}

Weekend Reading: May 10, 2014

My favorite part of my tattoos is something I didn’t even anticipate: whenever I’m doing *anything* with my hands, the part that shows on both wrists is “love”. I love it! ❤️

Oh, man, y’all — I had great big plans for a productive week this week before we continue with our summer fun, and I don’t feel like I got anything done. Jackson’s had as many bad nights as good nights, and I’ve gotten distracted by family drama on two different days (some good, some bad). I have so much on my to-do list, but when I sit down at my computer, I just feel uninspired.

In other news, I decided to start a Whole30 on a whim this week. A friend of mine was starting hers, so I went ahead and jumped in with both feet. My hope is that I can kick my sugar/carb habit and get back on track with making better choices. I’m keeping it simple this time, with sauteed veggies and eggs for breakfast, roasted veggies and meat for lunch and Whole30-friendly meals for the whole family for dinner, and  so far (today is Day 3), I’m enjoying it.

Here are some of my favorite posts from this week. As always, check out what I’m reading and what I’m pinning to see the other posts that make me stop and think (or, you know, drool…). You’ll find new posts all week long!

#BringBackOurGirls




Why girls in Nigeria should matter to you. #bringbackourgirls | Rage Against the Minivan


Thoughts on being snatched from boarding school #BringBackOurGirls | Geotraveler’s Niche


In which we pray: bring back our girls | Sarah Bessey

Seeing the Good of the Internet

Could the Internet Have Saved My Mother? | Meagan Francis


Dear Moms, Don’t Hate Yourself for Liking Social Media | Carrots for Michaelmas


Dear Everyone: Stop Judging Moms on Their Phones | Modern Alternative Mama

Food for Thought

Why I Accept Climate Change and Follow Jesus | Live Renewed


White privilege doesn’t mean what you think it means | Rage Against the Minivan

Have a great weekend!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Weekend Reading: May 10, 2014

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

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An Important Lesson for Life & Gardening from an Organic Farmer

Yesterday afternoon, the girls and I had a chance to join with a couple other families to learn some gardening basics from a local organic farmer who goes to our church (and teaches our 4-year-old’s Sunday school class!). Mr. Rod did an amazing job of teaching both the kids and adults about gardening, and I was struck by how applicable many of those lessons were to not just gardening but also to life.

For example, after a few failed attempts over the past few years, I had pretty much resigned myself to not ever having a garden. While the savings for our family could be fairly significant (since we spend anywhere from $35-50/week on produce), investing time and money into a garden just to have it fail is so discouraging.

What I realized, though, was that I needed to apply my thoughts on failure in business or goal setting to gardening and life in general as well.

Hearing from a farmer who still occasionally experiences failures when he tries new things was an encouragement to me to see that as part of the process rather than as a reason to not do it at all. He had all the kids laughing as he held up his thumbs to show that he didn’t have a green thumb either, and we laughed even harder when my friend’s 6-year-old son piped up, “Um, I think that’s an expression.”

Whether in gardening, business, motherhood or life, failure is inevitable. It happens to the best of us, and it will continue to happen again and again, especially if you’re trying to grow and learn new things. You could see the failures as a stop sign, or — better yet — you can see them as stepping stones to success and learn from them instead!

Mr. Rod went on to share the verses from Ecclesiastes 11:1-6. I love that these verses highlight how agricultural endeavors have always been uncertain. The wise embrace the risk knowing that if you don’t try, you might not fail, but you won’t succeed either:

In the morning sow your seed,


And in the evening do not withhold your hand;


For you do not know which will prosper,


Either this or that,


Or whether both alike will be good.

~Ecclesiastes 11:6

Similarly, when I’m tempted to get discouraged because I’ve snapped or yelled at the girls again, I want to apply this lesson as well. It’s worth apologizing to them. It’s worth trying again. It’s worth learning more about my triggers and how I can better manage those to do better next time.

Whether you’re going through a rough patch in your marriage, trying to lose weight, starting your journey as a homeschooler, discouraged by your attempts to eat better, or growing in any other area of life, it’s worth investing in them, even if success isn’t guaranteed. Don’t let your past failures discourage you, but look for lessons to help you as you pick up and try again!

What area of your life leaves you feeling discouraged by failure? Can you turn those failures into stepping stones instead?

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

An Important Lesson for Life & Gardening from an Organic Farmer

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

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Purple Lips, Wild Horses and More from Our Beach Vacation

We spent last week in the Outer Banks — at a beach house on the 4×4 beach in Corolla, NC, to be exact — and while the weather was chilly and rainy for most of the week, we still had a lot of fun.

In fact, the girls seemed fairly oblivious to the temperatures, happily splashing in the ocean and swimming in the pool until their lips turned purple.

But the best part was discovering that the wild ponies lived right around the house we were staying in. Last time we went, we saw wild ponies once or twice, but this time we saw them several times a day, every day, and as close as the front yard. It was definitely a highlight for our horse-loving girls and for us adults as well.

We love going in the off-season, not only because the beach houses are suddenly very affordable (ha!), but also because the restaurants, shops, beach and activities are not crowded. We had a restaurant to ourselves on more than one occasion, played three rounds of putt-putt without worrying about holding up other families, and didn’t have to deal with a whole lot of traffic on the beach.

Since I’ve vowed to make the blog more personal in 2014, I thought I’d share some of my favorite photos from the week here. While I mostly take pictures with my phone these days, it was fun to carry around my camera for the week to capture all of our fun!

Yep, the shot above and the one below are from the same day. Kids splashing in the ice cold ocean on one side, adults huddled in sweatshirts on the other.

Climbing the lighthouse seemed like a good idea until we got out on the viewing deck. Even though the girls were calm and careful and we had a high adult-to-kid ratio, I thought I was going to have a panic attack, so my mom and I took Sidney and Jackson right back down while the rest of them enjoyed the view.

I love this man so much. The past few months have been tough — with a new baby, the holidays, PPD, Sean’s accident and more — but this week away was so very good for us. I’m feeling all giggly around him again these days!

We got home just in time to see all of this beautiful spring green in the golden sunlight, and it was the perfect welcome home!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Purple Lips, Wild Horses and More from Our Beach Vacation

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CommentsMandi, you have a beautiful family Thank you for sharing your ... by LisaRelated StoriesDear Readers… + Desktop Calendar {May 2014}Dear Readers… + Desktop Calendar {April 2014}Life Your Way Monthly on Facebook & Spring Cleaning in April

Easy Lemon Pancakes from Scratch

The following post is from Shaina of Food for My Family and Olmanson Photography:

The spring weekend. Unlike the winter weekend, where the warmth of my bed seems far more appealing than facing the frigid air that lies just beyond the covers, the spring weekend with its sunshine streaming through the window beckons full of possibilities. There are gardens to tend, walks to walk, bikes to ride, and somehow, the simple fact that I can walk outside without bundling every bit of skin makes me wake early ready to conquer the day.

Day conquering, as it turns out, starts with pancakes. I used to be turned off by “from scratch” pancakes, never really finding a simple recipe that I could rely on without stocking the fridge long in advance. This one, however, is basic. The only added zing is a lemon, and I won’t judge you if you omit the zest and use lemon juice from a bottle (the acid is necessary, so don’t take it out completely) or if you use that wrinkled lemon sitting in the bottom of the fruit drawer in the refrigerator. In fact, I don’t even put maple syrup on these most days, preferring instead a bit of butter and a sprinkle of sugar. Bonus points if you have rhubarb and top it off with some fresh from the garden.

These light and fluffy pancakes come together and cook up quickly, and they disappear even faster, leaving a whole weekend playground of possibility ready for you to conquer.

Easy Lemon Pancakes from Scratch
 

Print

Author: Shaina Olmanson
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 egg



Directions

In a small bowl using your fingers, rub the lemon zest into the sugar until it is fragrant. Add the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl or a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg, and the lemon juice. Pour the milk mixture into the flour and stir just until combined. The batter should remain lumpy.
Heat a griddle to medium. Add a small bit of butter or oil to the hot griddle. Pour pancake batter onto the griddle, about 1 cup at a time, leaving room between the pancakes.
Cook for 3-5 minutes, until bubbles appear all across the top of the pancake. Flip and continue cooking another 1-2 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove pancakes to a plate and repeat until all batter is used. Serve warm.



Notes
Suggested topping:

Rub the thinly sliced rhubarb and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in 2 tablespoons granulated sugar to release aromatics and infuse the sugar. Sprinkle over warm pancakes with additional butter, if desired. Serve immediately.

#version#

Do you have a favorite weekend breakfast?

Shaina Olmanson is the freelance writer, photographer, and home cook behind Food for My Family. Cooking daily with and for her four kids and husband, Ole, drives her desire to inspire other families to do the same. Shaina is also the author of Desserts in Jars and contributes regularly to a variety of online sites and traditional print magazines.

Easy Lemon Pancakes from Scratch

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     
CommentsThose look great! Just bookmarked them for a future menu. by BethanyRelated StoriesMom’s Superfood Brownies {Plus Other Ways to Use Pumpkin All Year Long!}Raspberry Spinach Turkey Wraps {Lunch or Dinner on the Go!}Traditional Cream Puffs Recipe

Why We Pretty Much Ignore Our Grass (& You Should, Too)

The following post is from Katie of Kitchen Stewardship:

“Ugh, it’s the little white balls again.”

“I don’t like the little white balls – they’re yucky, right, Mommy?”

“Yep…they scare me. We could cross the street so we don’t have to walk through them but they have them over there, too.”

“We’ll wipe our feet really well when we get to our grass, right, Mommy?”

Do you know what we’re talking about yet?

This is a normal conversation between my 5-year-old daughter and me during a family walk in the spring…or summer…or even fall.

The “little white balls” are the result of other people fertilizing their lawns or spreading weed killers – and the tiny yard signs that say a company has just sprayed that day, “Children and Pets, Keep Off,” are just as bad.

It’s one of the major reasons I obsessed about my doormat and entryway enough to write an entire post about doormats a few years back (!), and I still think of our mudroom as “the yuck” and tell kids to keep out of there with socks on.

Would You, Could You, With a Bug?

Nope. At our house, we just don’t.

No fertilizer. No pesticides. Nothing on our lawn.

(gasp)

And we only have second thoughts about two weeks out of the year, when the dandelions get so tall we start to lose small children in our lawn and worry that the neighbors will ask us to move out of embarrassment.

Why We Embrace the Bugs

Sure, we could probably figure out some natural lawn treatments – homemade concoctions with beer as the base, “eco-friendly” options at the hardware store – but I hesitate to bother with the research.

First of all, I firmly believe people spend way too much time, money and effort on their lawns. There are so many more helpful things to grow (um, food?) and do with our time (play with children?).

Second, when you fertilize, your grass will grow faster, right? So that leads to more mowing and more time spent. I’m pretty happy with the green-ness and lushness of our lawn, so I’m not going to worry about feeding it more than water during dry periods.

Cutting more than 1/3 of the grass off stresses the grass (leading to more fertilizer usage), and leaving it long-ish not only feels great on bare feet, but also tends to quell weed growth by providing natural shade and thickness that makes it harder for other junk to grow. Those folks who mow super short 2-3 times a week? Counterproductive.

And finally, aesthetics.

Do the dandelions look horrible? Well, yes.

But just about the time we want to scream and grab some toxic chemicals, they go away. (Phew!)

And thankfully, our neighbors don’t hate us (that we know of) yet.

And Why I Embrace My Doormat

When everyone around me is still pouring/spraying/spreading chemicals on their yards, I have a pretty strict “shoes off” policy for the house, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that my own lawn doesn’t carry all these potential side effects (of grass fertilizers and weed killers):

Pesticide poisoning – headaches, nausea, vomiting, fever.
Carcinogenic effects
Toxic pollution of air and water (even after it’s dry!)
Cell damage, birth defects

Nice, right?

Add to that the fact that my brown thumb and I attempt an organic vegetable garden each summer, and I really don’t want any chemicals on the lawn two inches from my tomatoes.

I also appreciate that my husband doesn’t have to spend an hour four times each summer spreading scary white balls on the grass, nor do we pay a few hundred dollars to have our lawn taken care of by professionals – I can think of plenty to do with four hours of husband time and a few hundred bucks!

The final bonus benefit?

Our garage and/or shed doesn’t hit your nose with an overwhelming chemical smell like everyone else who DIYs their lawn.

Three cheers for an “au naturale” lawn!

How much time/energy do you spend making your lawn pretty? Any natural methods you can recommend? 

Katie Kimball has been “green” since 5th grade when she read 50 Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth. She remains slightly disappointed that she didn’t actually save the whole thing back then, but now that she has 3 kiddos counting on her, she keeps plugging away hopefully. Katie blogs at Kitchen Stewardship about real food and natural living and is the author of Healthy Snacks to Go and other eBooks, available for Kindle.

Why We Pretty Much Ignore Our Grass (& You Should, Too)

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

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Weekend Reading: May 3, 2014

Yep, pretty much the highlight of the week for these four!

We’re on our way home from a week in this gorgeous place (Corolla, NC), where we pretty much lived with a family of 5 wild horses who could be spotted in our yard and the beach in front of the house several times a day! I’m hoping to share more pictures of our adventures with you soon, but needless to say, the girls could not get enough of the horses, which — for them, at least — more than made up for the cold, rainy weather we had for the first half of the week!

Here are some of my favorite posts from this week. As always, check out what I’m reading and what I’m pinning to see the other posts that make me stop and think (or, you know, drool…). You’ll find new posts all week long!

Let Kids be Kids

College Prep for Kindergarteners? | Lenore Skenazy


A Link Between Fidgety Boys and a Sputtering Economy | NYTimes.com



How do you raise kids without all the clutter? | Keeper of the Home


Encouragement for Moms

Stones in my pockets. | K. Elizabeth Fleck


Embracing the crazy | The Art of Simple


Be gentle with yourself, mama. Seven sayings to remember on hard days | SortaCrunchy

You Are Your Own Boss

“I didn’t have time” | Seth’s Blog


Why You Don’t Have A Time Management Problem | Productive Flourishing


My Organized Days Start with Organized Nights | AndreaDekker.com

Have a great weekend!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Weekend Reading: May 3, 2014

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

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Giveaway: Pu-erh Tea Collection (2 Winners!)

Today I’m sharing the last of our Mother’s Day gift ideas and giveaways…and it’s a tasty one:

As you know, I’ve discovered a love for tea over the past 6 months or so. Although Numi teas were already among my favorites, Numi invited me to take the official Pu-erh Challenge (drinking only Numi Pu-erh Tea and water for 2 weeks) to discover the benefits of this ancient healing tea firsthand.

For centuries, pu-erh has been celebrated in Chinese culture to have a myriad of health benefits. While formal scientific research is still in early stages, clinical trials conducted in China and France have found promising results that substantiate cultural beliefs and anecdotal evidence that pu-erh can help improve digestion and circulation and increase metabolism and energy, supporting healthy weight loss.

Unlike common tea bushes that are frequently replanted, Numi’s pe-erh comes from broad leaf trees with intricate roots that reach far down into the earth. The deep root system of these pu-erh trees makes them uniquely drought resistant and sustainable without need for irrigation, The trees harvested y local villages who pick the tea for their livelihood. These wild tea trees are carefully picked to ensure that they continue to grow for generations to come A picture of sustainability, the pue-rh trees, village and nature all harmoniously live together for mutual benefit.

Numi’s Pu-erh line includes the following flavors. I love all of them — except the Jasmine! — but Basil Mint and Chocolate are my current favorites:

Chocolate Pu-erh
Emperor’s Pu-erh
Basil Mint Pu-erh
Ginger Pu-erh
Jasmine Pu-erh
Cardamom Pu-erh

I took the Pu-erh Challenge already knowing that I love the rich flavor of pick pu-erh tea, but it’s hard to quantify the other results. I won’t lie and say I lost 10 pounds or suddenly had the energy of Super Woman, but I do love the energy boost from Numi Pu-erh tea (it’s got a higher caffeine level than other teas) and it definitely did improve my digestion (although I won’t go into details!).

Founded in 1999 by brother and sister team Ahmed Rahim (the alchemist) and Reem Rahim (the artist), Numi Organic Tea offers a line of premium quality organic, non-GMO and fair trade certified teas and teasans. Numi blends its organic leaf teas with only real herbs, fruits, flowers and spices — not unnecessary “natural” flavorings or perfumes — with dozens of amazing flavors to choose from. An award-winning social enterprise and founding B-Corporation member, Numi supports community development projects worldwide.

To learn more, visit NumiTea.com and follow Numi on Facebook and Twitter.

Enter to Win

This week, Numi is giving TWO lucky Life Your Way reader a Pu-erh Tea Collection in a beautiful bamboo box!

To enter, fill out the form below:

The giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, 5/7. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well. Unfortunately, due to the international laws governing sweepstakes and lotteries, we’re only able to offer these giveaways to U.S. residents 18 years and older.

Giveaway: Pu-erh Tea Collection (2 Winners!)

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

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