A Call to Adventure

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week 4

2012-01-26T13:13:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I made it to week 4, lol! I *do* read, constantly, but I'm usually reading catalogs, or articles from a magazine, facebook statuses, or seven tenths of a book ;-) and can't really post on that or review.

This week's book is hopefully my last gluten free book review, because honestly, I'm tired of it!

Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Danna Korn was right up my alley. In true "dummies" style it covers all the basics of a subject, delving off into more complicated topics here and there. This book talks about everything from emotional difficulties when you or your child is diagnosed with celiac, to shopping and cooking strategies, identifying symptoms of gluten intolerance and getting diagnosed, recipes and more. The link above (to the book on Amazon) has a 'search inside' feature where you can see the table of contents and parts of the book. The short sections are just long enough to keep my ADHD brain interested, while being long enough to explain what they need to.

I only have two small complaints, and one may be because I have 14 years experience with kids with food allergies -- the author states that it's essential to eat NO gluten (none, nada, not even a trace!) if you have celiac disease, and there are places where she seems to stand by that, but there are other times where her explanations of how to stay "safe", like at a restaurant, leave me a little nervous. The second was her more than occasional reference to how she doesn't like cooking much, and to her it's best to find a way to just open up a box or use a mix...but oh, someone else tried these recipes and they actually work so here they are! LOL. I guess that's very down to earth and most people only dealing with celiac (as opposed to celiac plus other allergies or cooking needs) can appreciate that. Coming from where I'm coming from, I didn't.

BUT, I think this book was great to read if you need to know about gluten free living, cooking, and parenting, my complaints are small compared to the great amount of knowledge shared in the book.

For more book review links, visit Robin at Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks!

Pinning It Down

2012-01-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

The humility version (when are they not around here?)

Today we made Chewy Cinnamon Almond Cookies from Nourished and Nurtured.

We had fun. That about sums up the good parts, lol.

Yes I make cookies on the floor so the littles can reach and not push each other off the stools. Doesn't everyone? :-P

We decided to add chocolate chips, because that makes everything better.

And it needed "making better" because they didn't turn out at all like they should have. Yes, I had to substitute Earth Balance for the butter, but I hoped that wouldn't make too much of a difference. They were supposed to flatten to cook through and look like nice cookies. Instead they stayed round like balls and started to burn even though I set everything according to directions.

Sigh.

Live and learn! :)

I think I will start pinning crafts. Easy stuff. :)

And as my realtor (who has shown us a zillion houses, helped us write several contracts that fell through, and must be completely exasperated with me by now) likes to say when I email her with yet another reason why we can't buy the almost perfect house we just saw:

We live to fight another day!!

For more Pinning It Down wonderfulness, visit Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things!

Snap Crackle Pop

2012-01-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

Dear St. DH,

I apologize if the collars of your dress shirts are a little sticky. I was eating Rice Krispy Treats while doing your laundry. You see, I was feeling a little draggy and thought maybe I was anemic, and Gluten Free Rice Krispies provide 50% of my daily iron needs.

I know you wouldn't have wanted me to wait and risk fainting during laundry folding. You are such an understanding husband.

Love,

Your devoted wife

Amy

P.S. We left you one.

Menu Recap Week 3

2012-01-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

Sunday:

breakfast: Trader Joe's gluten free waffles, maple syrup
lunch: rice cakes with sunbutter/cream cheese, roast turkey deli meat (TJ's - so not too awful for you, lol), strawberries, clementines
dinner: soup - homemade chicken broth, jasmine rice, carrots, celery, cabbage, garlic, salt, poultry seasoning (I was looking for thyme and couldn't find any), dash of allspice...then it needed some umph so some of us added soy sauce to the broth. :)
snacks: clementines, bananas, strawberries, trail mix

Monday:

breakfast: cereal for most, I made a smoothie no one wanted to share (blackberries, kefir, kale, banana, honey)
lunch: leftover soup, rice cakes with sunbutter
dinner: tacos with corn tortillas, ground turkey, corn, black beans, salsa, lettuce, spices
snacks: soy ice cream, veggie stix,

Tuesday:

a crazy travel to doctors visits kind of day...
breakfast: TJ's GF waffles, maple syrup...then leftover soup soon after
lunch: snack food on the road - bananas, fruit snacks
dinner: rice with leftover taco meat, salsa, black beans, cheese for those who could eat it, black olives, some kind of veggie I can't remember
snacks: trail mix, applesauce, yogurt

Wednesday:

our milk delivery day!

breakfast: made chocolate chip pumpkin muffins with Jules mix. I don't think I cooked them long enough. GF cooking w/o eggs is surely an art form I have not yet begun to explore... they were good enough though.
lunch: turkey deli-meat (from TJs) roll ups, leftover rice (w/ cheese for those who can), blackberries, bananas
dinner: baked beans with cut up hotdogs (I did not check to see if these were totally GF...I should do that next time, as it was a hit), steamed broccoli and cauliflower. I was surprised at how filling the family thought this was - no begging for snacks 20 minutes later.
snacks: cereal, blackberries, brown rice bread toasted with ghee or earth balance and a touch of cinnamon-sugar.

Thursday:

NO IDEA and it was only yesterday! LOL
For dinner we did have a stir fry: jasmine rice, shredded carrots and cabbage with garlic powder and ginger powder and a touch of sugar, and browned ground beef with soy sauce and a bit of honey, then all tossed together.

Friday:

breakfast: cereal for most, one had TJ's gluten free waffles (pampering her since she has a cold and doesn't like cereal much)
lunch: leftover stir fry, avocado, tortilla chips and lentil chips with sour cream, apples, yogurt
snack: fruit shake (rice milk, safe protein powder, frozen banana and strawberries)
dinner: spaghetti squash, salmon patties

Saturday:

breakfast: cereal
lunch: corn tortillas and refried beans, tortilla chips with sour cream (yes, I need to shop...why do you ask? LOL)
dinner: crock potted pork roast, peas, applesauce
snacks: fruit shake, milk with protein powder, rice crackers dipped in almond butter, trail mix, apples

I'm generally unsatisfied with how our meals "shook down" this week. I blame it in part on sickness and a need to shop, but I also can't wrap my brain around how to get even more fruits and veggies into the kids and myself. I don't think cold turkey will work. I need to find some easy, yummy, allergen safe, and especially SNACKY ways to get those fruits, veggies, proteins and especially good FAT into our diet. It's not too hard at dinner. It's just all the other meals and snacks that are lacking.

I do know one problem is I'm not buying *enough* of things, and so I tend to get stingy. "No, you can't have an apple for snack because then they might not last the week." Ugh. I need to either get over that, or buy twice as much of each thing so I can generously dole it out and also eat it myself.

(I'm the worst offender for not eating the healthy alternatives so that others can have some)

(and trust me it's not all noble and honorable of me, it's that I prefer junk, lol)

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week 3

2012-01-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

This book couldn't have come at a better time!

Made To Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire With God, Not Food, by Lisa TerKeurst. From the book description on Amazon:

Made to Crave is the missing link between a woman's desire to be healthy and the spiritual empowerment necessary to make that happen. The reality is we were made to crave. Craving isn't a bad thing. But we must realize God created us to crave more of him. Many of us have misplaced that craving by overindulging in physical pleasures instead of lasting spiritual satisfaction. If you are struggling with unhealthy eating habits, you can break the 'I'll start again Monday' cycle, and start feeling good about yourself today. Learn to stop beating yourself up over the numbers on the scale. Discover that your weight loss struggle isn't a curse but rather a blessing in the making, and replace justifications that lead to diet failure with empowering go-to scripts that lead to victory. You can reach your healthy weight goal -- and grow closer to God in the process. This is not a how-to book. This is not the latest and greatest dieting plan. This book is the necessary companion for you to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan you choose. This is a book and Bible study to help you find the 'want to' in making healthy lifestyle choices.

I found that to be true. This was not a "how to lose weight" book, or "diet" book, or how to *anything* really, but it did put forth the idea that our constant "must have it now" craving for certain foods is better adjusted towards God, because He is worth it. YOU are worth eating better too. Lysa makes the point that dieting doesn't work, but choosing better eating as a spiritual discipline can. Choosing to eat according to a plan you have set out, not giving in to temptations, can bring one closer to God. **

I truly appreciate Lisa's admission that it was hard, that some days could find her weeping on her closet floor. Each chapter ended with discussion/reflection questions, which (ducking) I always skip, in any book like that. (I skim them.)

Overall, I recommended it for any Christian who needs to gain control of their eating habits for whatever reason.

**This has nothing to do with the book, per se, but it did make me truly thankful for the wisdom of the Catholic Church's liturgical year. There are set periods of feasting, fasting, and in between. If you live moderately in the in between, feast on the feast days, and fast when recommended, I find it a wonderfully healthy and balanced way of life. I mean, when I do it, of course. Most "in between" (or 'feria') days find me binging on chocolate. *ahem* I am a work in progress.

For more Week 3 book review links, join Robin at Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks!

Pinning It Down

2012-01-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things and Pam at Everyday Snapshots have started a great new project to encourage us all to actually *do* the things we are pinning at Pinterest. What a novel idea! ;-)

This week we made these Granola Energy Balls, from this recipe originally at The Marathon Mom.

Full of protein, and yummy to boot.

So simple, you just mix up the ingredients (we substituted sunbutter for the peanut butter due to allergies), roll them into balls, and refrigerate awhile, if you have the patience. We didn't.

Yet there is just no way to make these little brown balls look good on camera, lol.

They look even less appetizing here, being dipped in leftover popped amaranth...but it added a nice texture and taste.

You haven't lived until you've popped your own amaranth. ;-) I recommend a much larger pot than she used in the linked video, unless you want to sweep down the stove and floor when you are done. A few tablespoons of amaranth in a super hot pot, two shakes and they are all popped, then dump it out and start over. Too much and it burns in my experience, even with stirring.

So that is my "pin it down" for today! Join the crew over at Pam's this week for the Mr. Linky and more great bloggers Pinning It Down.

Thankful for the little things

2012-01-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

Took Jeffrey (and the rest of them!) to the rheumatologist this morning. Doctor says his bloodwork looks good, and since he is responding to some extent to his meds, we only have to "up" them a bit to hopefully wipe out the last of the inflammation that has settled into his knee and wrist. His other knee and elbow look better.

I'm thankful:

that we are not trying stronger drugs yet
that because we are not trying stronger drugs we can give this new diet some time to work
and because of the above two, I didn't have to even mention the diet because I *really* couldn't have handled the eye rolling from the doctor this morning. :-P

The girls were so good, and Jeffrey was calm too. He used to cry through every visit with every type of doctor, no matter what they were doing to him. Today he sat there and laughed with the doctor about the dumpster emptying truck outside and didn't even squirm (much) when the blood pressure cuff squeeeeezed his arm tight. My mommy heart needed that today.

The sun even came out on the way home, and they all went outside for ten whole minutes. I had TEN MINUTES of quiet.

Those were ten Very Nice Minutes.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2012-01-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...

it is crisp and blue and cold. My favorite kind of January weather

I am thinking...

about shopping, and reading, and cooking, and wishing it was all a little less complex

I am thankful...

for calculators, and for the fact that in this day and age my dd can show how smart she is with accommodations like these

In the kitchen...

so much gluten free flour I can't find space for it on the shelves, and a huge bag of kale I'm not sure what to do with . And thankful for these things as well.

I am wearing...

navy t-shirt, deep sky blue sweater, black sweatpants (it's a 'home' day)

I am creating...

seven healthy bodies. No, I'm not pregnant with septuplets, I'm just hoping all the diet changes I'm ~~forcing~~ encouraging will help my kids and dh (and me)

I am going...

to many doctor/dentist appointments in the next few weeks

I am wondering...

if going gluten free will be enough to help Jeffrey's arthritis, and whether he should give up other things or even go paleo. He can eat eggs/dairy/nuts so he's one of 2 kids in the family I feel I could do this for. Unfortunately cooking eggs out in the open makes two others feel ill. It's never easy around here.

I am reading...

Living Gluten Free For Dummies

Extreme Makeover: Women Transformed by Christ, Not Conformed to the Culture

I am hoping...
heh, just read this blog, it spills out all over every post

I am looking forward to...
some treats in the mail - a statue of "Mary Undoer of Knots" and a vitamix(!)

We are learning ...
to get back into the swing of things after too much time off. Hoping to create some good learning habits and explore new ideas like freewriting and more art.

Around the house...
the Christmas stuff is put away,except for one lone wreath hanging from a window outside...I need to climb up on a top bunk to get it. Doing that next!

I am pondering...
I am pondering how this question is different from the "I am wondering" above, lol.

A favorite quote for today...
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

One of my favorite things...
watching a show on Netflix with dh. We are about to finish "Jericho" and need another series. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week:
rheumatologist for Jeffrey, meeting about high school classes at a co-op I'm not sure I want to drive to every week. Both in the same day, both 1+ hours from here in the same direction, but so far apart in time I have to come home in between. :-P

A peek into my day...

I wanted a scarf to dress up a very plain long sleeve t-shirt I was wearing, so I cut a strip off this old homemade ring sling:

Since I made it myself I never could have given it away or sold it for fear someone would get hurt with it, and we are way past baby carrying days here. It was just long enough to cut a scissors-wide strip off of and make this:

Keepin' it real with the mirror smudges. This picture also makes me look thinner than I am, lol.

For more daybooks, please visit The Simple Woman's Daybook. :)

Menu Recap Week 2

2012-01-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday

breakfast: TJs wheat free waffles, maple syrup, blackberries
lunch: we were running in the door and back out again: turkey lunchmeat roll-ups (organic and nitrate free at least!) bananas, almonds
dinner: rice, leftover baked chicken chopped up, broccoli/cauliflower, soy sauce, oil...all tossed together, romaine lettuce and carrot shreds.
snacks: gummy snacks, bananas, almonds (you may be noticing I go heavy on the almonds - it's the only nut I can seem to find that is peanut free), our trail mix (various GF cereals, raisins, chocolate chips)

Monday

breakfast: GF cereal
lunch: leftover rice/chicken/veggies from last night
dinner: stew (beef cubes, carrots, potatoes, celery)
snacks: chips and salsa, trail mix

Tuesday:

breakfast: oatmeal
lunch: rice cakes with sunbutter or cream cheese, tortilla chips/salsa
dinner: crock pot lemon garlic chicken, sweet potatoes, applesauce
snack: blackberries, herbal tea, more chips/salsa, cereal

Wednesday:

breakfast: cereal
lunch: leftovers, rice crackers with chicken salad
dinner: soup (rice, red lentils, chicken broth, frozen mixed veggies, spices), taquitos from TJ's
snacks: granola energy balls, cereal, avocado, apples, chips/salsa

Thursday:

breakfast: cereal for kids, I ate later and made myself an apple and made my own version of the granola energy balls above - sunbutter, rice krispies, ground flax, ground oatmeal, cocoa powder, popped amaranth, honey. Not bad.)
lunch: banana, avocado, the rest of the sunbutter-mix from this morning, chips and salsa,
dinner: leftovers for the kids (soup, taquitos), dh and I had PF Changs gluten free menu items for our in-home date night, thanks to a gift card from my parents (thanks Mom and Dad who don't read this blog! ;-) )
snacks: chocolate milk, bananas, apples, spiked chocolate milk (that was mine, lol. You know it's going to be a rough day when you are crying before 7 AM)

Friday:

breakfast: gluten free chocolate muffins
lunch: rice cakes with sunbutter or cream cheese, something else healthier I can't recall! Dh and I ate PF Chang's leftovers
dinner: salmon patties, french fries, salad, applesauce
snacks: the usual

Saturday:

breakfast: cereal
lunch: some leftover salmon cakes, french fries, last of PF chang's fried rice (for me), clementines, apples
dinner: corn pasta, chili, baked butternut squash, salad
snacks: clementines, trail mix, strawberries, chocolate milk, a few cheese puffs

Ugh, we need more veggies. :-P

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week 2

2012-01-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Second in line in my stack of gluten-free reading was Gluten Free, Hassle Free by Marlisa Brown, RD, CDE. Marlisa has a website at Gluten Free Easy.

Gluten Free, Hassle Free contains chapters on celiac disease and testing, the basics of getting started eating gluten free, some basic starter meal plans and foods that are generally safe (and not) when shopping, and dealing with your feelings, and important nutrition factors to remember when going gluten-free, among others. There are extensive lists of gluten free websites and samples of diet cards in many languages (i.e. something you can take into a restaurant that describes what you can and can't eat). The recipes do not look too finicky, but they are dairy/egg heavy so many don't work for us without substitutions -- which I hate doing, because taking an allergen free recipe and making it *more* allergen free, in my experience, leads to something not half as appetizing as the original. YMMV.

This is not a book I plan on buying, but it would probably be great for someone who only needs to give up gluten, and who hasn't had extensive practice shopping/eating allergen free already. Unlike me. We figured out the other day that we've been cooking allergen free for almost 14 years now.

To participate or see more book review links, visit Read 52 Books In 52 Weeks.

(Standard disclaimer: my links go to Amazon and I get a tiny kickback if you buy anything. Maybe in a year I'll make enough to pay for one bag of gluten free flour, lol!)

Seven Quick Takes

2012-01-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

~~1~~

We made our first gluten free muffins this morning.

And there was actually a little sunshine to take a picture!

(lol, it looked better on my computer, but you get the idea)

I realized after we started that I didn't have one of the main ingredients: sorghum flour. I did have millet and a coffee grinder, so I made millet flour (after a convoluted google search that said that might work). I also made the quinoa flour in the coffee grinder. I'm not sure I ground it enough - there was a very slight crunch to the muffins but it was not unpleasant in my opinion. They got 5 thumbs up, one thumb sideways, and one child left theirs half eaten without voting so I'm guessing it's a thumbs down. I thought they were pretty good. There was a slight quinoa taste, again, not unpleasant but odd to my wheat flour sensibilities, that actually diminished the more of the muffin I ate.

~~2~~

I think I'm the only (slightly overweight adult) person who can give up a whole class of foods and still GAIN weight. Seriously?? I feel like I'm eating less, I'm not eating any wheat and very low gluten (i.e. the only gluten we are getting is in 'may contains' and things like oatmeal.) and yet my scale is creeping up. Humph. I have not weighed the children again yet - hopefully they have ALSO gained weight.

~~3~~

I'm about two clicks away from buying a vitamix. My 40 year old Osterizer blender smells smoky every time I use it, so I think I have finally burned it out making my thick, ice cream quality frozen fruit shakes in the morning. The hope is I'll be able to use this to replace not only the blender, but the grain mill (rarely used) and the juicer (ditto). Plus the blender. The more I can streamline in this house the better. I know the vitamix is not a perfect substitute for those things, but I think it will be good enough for my tastes. Plus, I always hated throwing out most of the fruit/vegetable when I juiced in the form of all that pulp/fiber.

~~4~~

My children are doing an experiment with freezing water outside in a metal bowl vs. a glass (correlle? what is that stuff?) bowl. They are trying to do a good job eliminating variables, etc, but I don't think it will be very accurate anyway. Professional scientists rarely have to deal with 4yo boys who want to get their fingers into everything. He'll make a good scientist himself someday.

~~5~~

There were some fireworks outside our house the other night. We are guessing they were left over from New Year's Eve, which were probably left over from the 4th of July! We ran outside to look at them, but by the time we got out there, they were done. So I had fun with the "fireworks" setting on my camera:

~~6~~

I'm enjoying the rare times dh gets to work from home. We are definitely moving up from the times when Jeffrey used to scream "I need to be wiped!" from the bathroom directly across from dh's office (Jeffrey's bedroom, lol). Now, he runs up and down the hallway yelling "OOOOGAA OOOOGAAA OOOOGAAA AAAHHHHHH!". **Sigh** Deliver me! Yes I stopped him, but by the time I got to him it was too late. The situation would not have been helped by me yelling across the house, "Jeffrey, will you STOP IT!!!!" LOL

~~7~~

Does anyone else have a hard time getting back into school work after the Christmas break? It's been like pulling teeth to get even the minimums done. Luckily they have made some memories and generally are getting along -- at least the two who normally don't! I always jump back and forth over that fine line between doing "schooly" work and letting them do what they want. Behaviorally, they are much better off when I keep to a stricter school schedule of book type work, but I don't know, they seem to be better *people*, more true growth maybe?, when they allowed to do what they want and they go off and write plays, do experiements, etc. I guess a little of each every month will eventually turn them into well rounded people. I hope.

For more Seven Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary!

Menu Recap Week 1, 2012

2012-01-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was the last day of gluten in our house! I made our last wheat flour chocolate chip "muffcake". That's what we call muffin mix spread into a 9x13 pan like a coffee cake. :) We have had that almost every Sunday all year, and it's our "thing." I'm going to miss it. For now we will most likely substitute with gluten free waffles, until I can perfect some GF baking.

A note about lunches and snacks: sometimes it looks like a lot is being served- I have one with dairy allergies, so I don't always make the others do without dairy. Typically one are two things are listed for the dairy eaters, and then there are dairy free options, or sometimes a food has a "may contain peanuts" warning and everyone but the peanut allergic child eats it. Sometimes children are just being picky, lol. Usually one person is not consuming all that is listed. Unfortunately sometimes it's one child eating very healthy and a few children getting away with murder, lol. (I'm looking at you, cutie-pie Jeffrey, who likes to take all the chocolate chips out of the trail mix then say he's full)

Sunday:

breakfast: chocolate chip "muffcake", we typically have sausage or bacon but didn't today
lunch: avocado, last of the leftover soup, leftover chicken on saltine "sandwiches" for the littles, chicken. Lunch after church is always very "leftover-y"
dinner: crock pot whole chicken, baked potato, salad
snacks: muffcake, veggiestix, trail mix

Monday:

breakfast: GF cereals with milk/rice milk**
lunch: apple-cinnamon rice cakes with cream cheese or sunbutter, blackberries, avocado, almonds, Faux Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
dinner: stir fry -- jasmine rice, ground turkey, asian style mixed frozen veggies, garbanzo beans, some extra oil
snacks: veggie sticks, baked lentil chips- cracked pepper flavor, sesmark savory rice crackers (we're trying different GF snacks to see what we like) :) with black bean dip (homemade), apples

Tuesday:

breakfast: oatmeal
lunch: leftover stir-fry from yesterday, yogurt, tortilla chips/salsa
dinner: baked tilapia (drizzled with oil, salt, pepper, parsley, Old Bay), french fries
snacks: Health Valley Rice Bran cookies with the kids homemade nutella-like spread (the cookies were "eh" but better than nothing), more chips/salsa

Wednesday:

breakfast: Trader Joe's GF waffles, syrup
lunch: leftovers (fish, baked potato, fries, salad, stir fry/rice), amaranth squares
dinner: soup - homemade broth, garlic, cumin, curry powder, tumeric, salt/pepper, cubed sweet potato, peas, red lentils and jasmin rice), homemade fried corn tortilla wedges in coconut oil,
snacks: rice cakes, veggie stix, chocolate milk (or rice milk), amaranth squares

Thursday:

breakfast: GF cereal with milk/rice milk
lunch: leftover soup, almonds
dinner: TJs corn pasta, bacon, black beans, corn, cheese for those that can have it, sauce -tossed together, chocolate milk/rice milk for dessert
snacks: apple slices, veggie stix, almonds

Friday:

breakfast: cereal? I really think it was something else...
lunch: our first try of gluten free bread. Eh. Ener-g tapioca bread with sunbutter and jelly (I needed something a kid could put together)...apple slices, hmmm, I'm not sure what else.
dinner: salmon patties, black olives, applesauce ...something else I can't remember.
snacks: ?? probably the usual.

Saturday:

breakfast: Kix cereal (shopping day! it's all we had left)
lunch: banana with sunbutter, yogurt, strawberries
dinner: chicken (crock potted with lemon, carrots, celery, spices), mashed potatoes, green beans (canned, be quiet)
snacks: trail mix, chocolate milk, tortilla chips/salsa, almonds, tangerines

**just repeating for clarity that we do seem to have a very high carb, low nutrition breakfast. I know and am working on it...but we do eat lunch very early, so that is sort of like a little "kick start snack" to our morning, then we spend the rest of the day, starting at 10-10:30, eating a more balanced diet.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: WEEK 1

2012-01-07T02:00:00.000-08:00

For my first, and hopefully not *only*, week of "52 Books in 52 Weeks" I read The Everything Guide to Cooking for Children with Autism by Megan Hart, MS, RD, and Kim Lutz.

Now, I don't have children with autism, but I knew that the diet the authors would be discussing would be free of gluten and casein, which we are trying to avoid (for allergy and other reasons). So I picked this book up at the library along with a stack of similar titles.

The first fifth of the book or so contained helpful advice on cooking for and feeding an autistic child, although it did seem cursory as I'm sure is necessary to encompass such a big topic in 40 pages. The rest contained recipes broken down into: baked goods, soup, breakfast, salads/slaws, entrees, vegetarian entrees, sandwiches and snacks, sides, vegetable sides, desserts, and odds and ends.

Overall the recipes seemed simple and straightforward -- great for busy moms of special needs kids! Not *too* many exotic ingredients -- I would say almost none if you don't include xanthan gum and "gluten-free, casein-free" versions of normal pantry items like margarine, soy milk, tofu, mayonnaise. There were a few mentions of "agave nectar" I was also especially excited to see that many of the baked good and desserts did NOT contain eggs, which we also need to avoid. Recipes were high in soy (as is typical in casein free cookbooks), but not overwhelmingly so. Since we also try to limit soy due to intolerance, I am hoping our typical substitutes (rice milk, dairy/soy free cheese, etc) will be sufficient. I enjoyed how the authors sprinkled helpful hints and informative facts throughout the recipes, such as the fact that tasting uncooked batter containing xanthan gum might taste bitter, but the bitterness disappears with cooking. I didn't know that and appreciate the warning!

I will admit, I have not tried to make any of the recipes yet -- I've been too busy reading books on going gluten free to actually cook anything new and exciting. I'll need to pick out a few good ones before I return it to the library. At $6 and change at amazon, I may actually buy it. Those of you who know me IRL know that is a big deal, lol! (I never buy cookbooks and look everything up on the internet instead)

I'll save any sort of "rating" of the book until I've tried some recpies!

For more fun, join us at 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Disclaimer: Yes, my links go to Amazon. In a good year I make a whopping $5 or so, if I'm lucky, on kickbacks, so feel free to click through or not. You won't make or break our budget, lol. :)

Seven Quick Takes

2012-01-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

**1**

In the "there she goes again, is this turning into a gluten free blog?" category...going gluten free this week has been faring better than I expected. That being said, I need to go shopping and today we are running out of steam. Dinner is in 3.5 hours and I have NO idea what to make. Lunch and snacks today were pretty pitiful too. We've dipped into the expensive GF "substitute" type snacks too much for my taste - you know, gluten free breads, crackers, cookies. Most of which were just kind of "eh" tasting anyway. I was hoping to rely more on meats, fruits, and veggies. Too bad I don't like meats, fruits, and vegetables, lol.

**2**

Today Jeffrey had to go for more bloodwork. He garners lots of pity amongst the nurses and nice elderly ladies waiting for their bloodwork, who probably can't understand why I am laughing at his adorable pitiful show. Part of it is laughing so I don't cry, but part of it is because he has come a long way since last June, when all he would do is scream bloody murder and thrash about. Now he still cries, but he sists still, and between the gasps and sobs he is yelling things like, "I....hate...this!" and "I....want...this...to...stop...NOW!" Which is only cute because he is hardly that articulate at home when he is upset. He usually just hauls off and smacks somebody. :-p Maybe next month he'll be saying things like, "Kind nurse, please remove that blasted needle from my arm, would you, dear? There's a good woman." with a British accent.

**3**

Getting back into the swing of school has been hard. I lowered my expectations this week, but I still feel guilty. We read aloud, everyone (but one sneaky child) did math ~~every~~ most days. We did have a library trip, several children created games and stories, watched science videos, and there was no end to Redwall talk. Home ec was covered with learning about new foods and cooking (see #1). I do hope to ramp it up a bit next week ... I still see college breathing down my neck way too quickly.

**4**

"Sneaky child" mentioned above, has been dodging school work since we started this year. It's truly been worse than pulling teeth. (Really, she did better getting fillings at the dentist at 5yo than doing school, lol). She eventually does it, but wow. The first few months of school I tried keeping things easy even though I knew she was bored - I also wanted her to gain some endurance at just *doing it* even though she didn't want to. But honestly, I think she is just seriously bored out of her skull. She is smart...and as another child ages and grows behind her, I see how smart she really is. So starting next week, no more boring "you know this already" phonics pages (I'll only weep a little at how much money was wasted) or math ... I'm going to try to keep school short, sweet, relatively fun, but challenging for her. *gulp* She's definitely not the type to slog through the easy stuff to get to the hard, she just wants the hard(ish) stuff or nothing. Preferably nothing, lol.

**5**

Yes I'm still obsessively searching for houses, because as soon as I decide that we should just stay in this town and wait for the perfect house or build onto our own, I see another news story about a burglar coming into a house in our town when the people are HOME. Ummmm, NO. There are just too many people here for me to protect all at once. And if the world decided to go to hell in a handbasket in the near future, I see things getting real bad here, really fast. At least a little farther out there are fewer people, and houses have some land for growing produce or housing a goat or chickens or something. Unfortunately, what we can afford house-wise out there is about the same size as what we are in now here! Just more land to roam on (more being easy when now we have less than a fifth of an acre). An acre or two would seem like a grand expanse of land. I don't want to exchange a larger house for my children's safety, yet at the same time, me crabbing at them all the time because we are all on top of each other doesn't do us any good either.

**6**

A problem that comes from moving farther out from the city, though, is being a good 40+ minute drive from the community colleges, The LDs in my oldest make driving look like something that should wait a few years past "average" to learn ... so I see myself trekking 5 kids 45 minutes each way several times a week ... and then what do I do with the rest of them while one or two are in class? Ugh. While here, the class is 10 minutes away...I drop them off and am home, or if we stay we are at least not out of the house and "car schooling" half the time. I am relying on CC (at least dual enrollment if not an AA there first) to get her into a good college, because I don't think going about it the traditional way is going to work for us/her. I know, whine whine whine, but these things make my head spin. Not to mention the general lack of homeschoolers out there. The area where we could settle, not too far from my dh's job, nor too far from my parents, is like a homeschooling wasteland. Not that we are doing much with other homeschoolers NOW, but I was also hoping by moving to get to know new people and get into some activities.

**7**

Seriously, what am I going to make for dinner?? I need to hurry up my plans to buy a side of beef, so that I always have *something* in the freezer. Moo.

For more 7 Quick Takes this week, join Jen at Conversion Diary!

What if...

2012-01-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

There is a thread on a message board I visit, about "crises of faith". Have you had one, what was it like, did you get through it, how? I've been thinking about it for days. I don't have my thoughts together enough to actually contribute to the thread, but oh boy do I relate to the feelings expressed there ... well, some of them anyway.

Today while attempting unsuccessfully to take a picture of myself in the mirror (*ahem* - and darn this house with no good light and fewer good mirrors), I had a thought. Yes, only one, lol. The rest were not real thoughts so much as expressions of woe that there is no good camera out there that can make me look pretty. :-P

Seriously though, I had a thought. I was thinking about the feeling of God being "missing" that I and many of the posters on the above mentioned thread have experienced. Many of you probably know that feeling - that you are crying out to God, and He's just. not. there. That you are praying to a brick wall. My thought was that maybe you ARE perceiving God. That the absence of God would be so much worse than that awful, miserable feeling you are experiencing when you are praying to "the brick wall" about your current sorrow.

Think of it this way. I have heard it said that Jesus, as he was praying in Gethsemane, was beginning to feel the weight of the sin of the whole world on His shoulders. One needs to be pure to be in the presence of God (think of Heaven), so Jesus was beginning to feel God moving away from him as he changed from "sinless" to "holding all our sin"...and considering how much sin was being heaped on His head (for our sakes!), God was removing His presence far from Jesus. It was enough to make Jesus pray in agony all night. It was enough to make him sweat blood. Jesus, King of the Universe, terrified. I think *that's* what it feels like to have God not be there.

When we say God isn't there because we feel alone, I don't think we know what we are talking about. Having him *truly* out of our lives would be so much worse. I think it would be, quite literally, hell.

Carry on, Warrior!

2012-01-05T05:52:00.000-08:00

A friend shared this on Facebook, and I just had to pass it along:

2011 Lesson #2: Don't Carpe Diem

Glennon's blog, Momastery, is new to me also-- a treasure!

I remember a particular time when I got the "enjoy every moment, you'll miss this when it's gone" line. One of many just like it. I was at least 7 months pregnant, dragging one belligerent child who was having one of those shreiking-wet-noodle tantrums (you moms know the type) while trying to hold on to my diaper bag, another two bags, and keep track of my ADHD youngster ...we were at the CCD building, and two able bodied people, a man and a woman probably 15 years older than me were walking and talking with me (empty handed, mind you), noticing I was struggling and near tears, chuckling at me and telling me these are the best of times and I shouldn't forget it, I will miss this someday. And then they added on, just wait until they are teenagers. It gets worse.

Seriously?

You know what, I WILL NOT MISS THIS. I will not miss strangers telling me I'm not enjoying my life enough, while what they should have done is say, "Wow, look at me standing here empty handed while you struggle, let me help you!!"

I vow today to be like the old lady in Glennon's piece, saying:

“It’s helluva hard, isn’t it? You’re a good mom, I can tell. And I like your kids, especially that one peeing in the corner. She’s my favorite. Carry on, warrior. Six hours till bedtime.”And hopefully, every once in a while, I’ll add- “Let me pick up that grocery bill for ya, sister. Go put those kids in the van and pull on up- I’ll have them bring your groceries out.”

Carry on, warriors. Now go read her post.

Menu-Post-non-Plan-Recap

2012-01-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

OK, that is a really awkward title. Please help me come up with something catchy to call my posts which won't be a menu plan (because I don't really plan the details, and if I *do* I wind up never following it exactly) but more of a "what we ate last week" recap. I'm low on brain cells after too much Christmas Sugar and a gluten binge to help rid the house of it before January 1.

I want to keep track mostly to help me remember, but I know it helps others to see menu plans sometimes. Since most menu-plans contain a ton of stuff we can't eat, I thought I would contribute our gluten/dairy/egg/peanut free (low soy) meals. That would NOT be this week, as we totally pigged out on all the gluten in the house this week. It was hiding everywhere and I wanted it gone.

So here is what we ate last week.

Christmas Day:

breakfast - pancakes, sausage
lunch - who knows. The kids wanted to get right to the present opening after Mass. I think there were some lunchmeat rollups, fruit, avacado, leftover soup? I personally ate cookies, lol. (and 1/2 florida avocado w/ salt and pepper, yum)
dinner: balsamic vinegar/brown sugar pork roast (I used honey because didn't check the recipe, lol), baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, green beans
snacks: way too many cookies, chips, etc. Like I said, it's Christmas and I'm trying to rid the house of gluten.

Monday:

breakfast: leftover pancakes, sausage. Some kids skipped breakfast and had an early lunch.
lunch: fruit (I splurged on raspberries/blackberries this week. SO expensive! Next year I'm planting a bush), crackers with sunbutter, lunchmeat on a pancake (YUCK but my dd made it for herself and her brother...they ate it)
dinner: asian pork lettuce wraps (I used the leftover pork from Christmas instead of the chicken in the recipe)
snacks: more cookies, more pringles, more candy. Ugh. Hoping this is over soon. I'm hoping to feel nasty enough that I actually ENJOY and feel GOOD about going gluten free.

Tuesday

breakfast: cereal
lunch: sandwiches, used up last of the bread, leftovers
dinner: crock pot whole chicken, leftover baked potatoes/sweet potatoes, salad (really just lettuce, lol)
snacks: potato chips, cookies, using up that wheat flour!, assorted fruit

Wednesday

breakfast: gluten free cereal and milk/rice milk
lunch: dh took me out! lunch buffet at local italian restaurant
dinner: hot dogs, beans, cranberry sauce (dh and I weren't hungry) :)
snacks: ??

Thursday

breakfast: applesauce muffins
lunch: applewood farms lunch meat, and stuff I can't remember :-p
dinner: chicken soup with carrots, celery, and pasta stars
snacks: blackberries, chips and salsa, chocolate milk

Friday

breakfast - cereal
lunch - bread, lunch meat, blackberries, avocado
dinner - leftover soup (I usually make a ton)
snacks - blackberries, tea crackers, tea, (I snuck oreos and goldfish!), "trail mix" (cheerios, chocolate chips, raisins, mini marshmallows)

Saturday

breakfast - cereal
lunch - leftover soup, lunch meat roll ups, strawberries, saltines
dinner - Trader Joe's corn pasta (it was GOOD, very much like wheat pasta), ground beef mixed with tomato sauce to top it, steamed cauliflower as a side
snacks - trail mix, hmmm, can't remember...I wasn't feeling too well and this week was kind of a free-for-all :)

I hope to have a nice GLUTEN FREE menu for you all next week. (Except for Sunday...still working on that "ridding the house" thing)

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T06:24:00.000-08:00

This morning we used Jennifer Fulwiler's great Saint Name Generator to pick our Patron Saints for 2012. We usually do it on New Year's Eve, but didn't remember until many of us had gone to bed. So feeling kind of unprotected, lol, we hurried to do it at breakfast this morning. :)

Dh: St. Martha
Me: St. John of Parma (maybe a Blessed?)
Juliet: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Maggie: St. Philip Neri
Grace: St. Hyacinth
Leah: St. Francis de Sales
Jeffrey: St. Catherine del Ricci

When I came back to the computer to write this post, the Saint Generator was "churning" (if you use it you'll know what I mean). So I clicked on it, and we are going to use the result as our Family Patron for the year: St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Holy Men and Women of God, Pray for us!

Allergen Free Blogging Part 3

2011-12-31T04:00:00.000-08:00

More allergen free blogging:

Food Farm Health - corn, dairy, grain, gluten, soy, and sugar free and mostly nut and egg free too

Cybele Pascal - author of a great cookbook, The Allergen Free Bakers Handbook (among others)

Allergy Free Vintage Cookery - "when you have non-traditional allergies in your traditional home". Also hosts a "lunchbox love" linky party that looks informative and fun! I'm all for making this fun for my kids

Welcoming Kitchen - free of the top 8 allergens, and vegan

Yummy Allergen Free - a woman after my own heart: mom of 3 girls with multiple food allergies (including all we need to avoid)

Primal Kitchen - Christian Family cooks paleo. I like the combo of God/cooking.

Food Allergy Mama - she doesn't have to avoid all we do (unless we go back to eating gluten) but I like how she talks about *life* as a mom of food allergic kids

OK, I think I've now officially made all your eyes glaze over with food allergy links, so I'll stop for now unless I come across something great. :)

Seven Quick Takes: Goodbye to 2011!

2011-12-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

*1*
I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that the end of 2011 snuck up on us. One day left. Really? In many ways I'm glad to see it go, but I also feel like I didn't live it well and would like to do it over. Minus the drama though, this time, please? At least I'm hopeful that in 2012 I will stop writing "2001" on everything. It's no wonder I feel like 1999 was only a few years ago.

**2**
My children are designing a new sandwich/snack spread. They have a name, a slogan, and ideas for different varieties and packaging. I would share, but there is the slightest chance this actually has potential. Too bad we live in a state where making and selling food in your own home is legislated to the point where it is almost impossible for the average Joe. Or maybe that's a good thing.

*3*
We've done a few unbabyproofing projects in the last few days. First we took down the plastic covering the banister, which had been up for years and years (and looked it). It's so weird to be able to see through it clearly now! We keep putting our hand through it, just because we *can*. Today we took down the swinging baby gate in the kitchen door. Everyone who has discovered it is gone has jumped in and out the doorway in total hooray-the-gate's-gone freedom. I keep hearing people say, "Yay! A doorway!"

(whoops, editing this because I said that we finally took the "swinging baby" down from the kitchen door. Poor thing, she was there for years!) :)

**4**
Anyone making any schooling changes for 2012? We plowed through some of our more workbooky-textbooky curriculum this first few months of the school year, so I'm hoping we can do more fun things in the coming months - freewriting, Mark Kistler art lessons, piano, more read alouds, movies, tea drinking, etc. I'm really looking forward to it. We may even try a co-op for a few months.

*5*
Clementine season has left us with 11 wooden clementine boxes. I had already decided to use a few for cassette tape storage (don't laugh, yes, we are still in the '80s) (OK, laugh if you want), but that will still leave me with , oh, like 8 more that need to be repurposed, as I hate to throw anything like that away. If any of you find yourself in the same position, here are a few fun things you can do with them.

paint and use as a doll bed
use as a planter to grow wheat grass or herbs
little raised garden beds or seed starters
this one is too cute! Picket fence planter (scroll to #2)
take one long side off, stack them and use to organize/file papers
or cans and food
freecycle them
kindling (around here, the only kindling going on is me reading on my Kindle, lol)

**6**

I *just* found out that two of my friends are expecting after many years of waiting. Go wish Jennifer a hearty congratulations! (the other friend is not online) I am so excited for both of them! Strange that I found out about both of them within five minutes of each other, in very different ways.

*7*

Happy New Year Everyone!! May 2012 bring you all many blessings!

For more Seven Quick Takes, please join Jen at Conversion Diary!

More allergen-free Blogging

2011-12-29T02:15:00.000-08:00

More new-to-me allergen free blogs:

Real Sustenance - Gluten and dairy free. Her desserts and treats look particularly divine.

Supercharged Food - gluten, wheat, dairy, yeast and sugar-free recipes

She Let Them Eat Cake - gluten free baking and living - many (if not all, I haven't checked) recipes are also egg and dairy free! (woo hoo!) (and yummy looking!)

The Spunky Coconut - gluten, casein, and sugar free cooking, I found many egg free as well

Allergie Foodie - cooking without the top 8 food allergens

A Gluten Free Vegan Mom Who Knows - gluten free vegan recipes and info

I'll stop here! I've got another post coming, but I know I like my info in littler bites! :)

T-5

2011-12-28T05:40:00.000-08:00

For most people, I guess that would be a countdown to the new year. But in my mind the significance of New Year's Day is paling in comparison to Jan 2 - the start date of us going completely gluten free. I wanted to start on January 1st, but my parents are coming over to celebrate "Christmas"for dinner, so I don't see us doing something unusual for that. I'm sure I can make it low gluten, but my parents will expect rolls or something - and they don't know we are going gluten free. No point in telling them if we are just going to drop it a month later if it doesn't work. If it works - then I have ammunition behind my explanation of why we are so "weird" as to give up yet another food, LOL!

Why are we going gluten free? First and foremost to see if it helps my son's rheumatoid arthritis. Secondly, my daughter also has an autoimmune disease - alopecia areata. She's willing to give this a try to get her hair to grow back. I personally am hoping it will help with: depression and anxiety, skin issues, thinning hair, excess belly weight, fatigue, headaches, word finding problems, and some things with the kids: ADD type behavior, anxiety, headaches, canker sores, slow growth...

I'm going to weigh and measure everyone before we start. I'm hoping *I* lose weight, and they *gain* weight. :)

Me: 5'4 140 lbs. (I know it's not awful, but I'm petite boned and it's a good 15-20 pounds heavier than where I feel healthiest)

Kids are 93, 87.5 , 43, 42.5, 33.5 lbs

I'll update with our progress!

Merry Christmas to me!

2011-12-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

I won a book! Shirley at Gluten Free Easily had many giveaways this month and I won Dangerous Grains by Dr. James Braly.

Stop by Shirley's website if you haven't before - she is helping me make going gluten free easier, educational, and fun!

Allergen free blogging (and some restaurant guides)

2011-12-26T02:00:00.000-08:00

Now that we are going to try this gluten-free thing in earnest, I thought I would share some of the allergen-free and gluten-free recipe blogs I am finding.

Hives in the Kitchen - from a homeschooling mom in TX dealing with multiple allergies

Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things has a Gluten Free Living category. Her whole blog is lovely too. :)

Nourished and Nurtured contains many allergen free and GAPS friendly recipes

Gluten Free Cooking School : Lessons and recipes for the gluten free cook

Gluten Free Easily (kind of self explanatory)

The Gluten Free Homemaker - for gluten and dairy free recipes and tips

Flour Arrangements (love this clever title) - gluten free recipes

Gluten Free Goddess - all of her recipes since 2007 are also dairy free, and she has a vegetarian/vegan tab near the top of her blog which is helpful for those who also need to avoid eggs.

Funky Food -- Feeding Kids Allergic to Food : from her blog description: "NO: Wheat-gluten, Soy,Corn, Dairy, Casein, Lactose, Peanuts, or Eggs. PLENTY: Substitutions, Product Locations, and Advice on Living with Kids with Food Allergies"

All About Home - another homeschooling mom shares many gluten/dairy free, no refined sugar recipes

Then there is my crazy little From Thy Bounty, which showcases how I throw together a little of this and a little of that, then write it down so I don't forget which tastes went well together and which ones my family actually ate, lol.

I know there are many more out there - I'd love to hear your favorites. *Especially* gluten free sites that also are low on egg and dairy. Or gluten free vegan sites that are low on soy. Picky, aren't I. Take it up with God.

ETA: I wanted to add in here two restaurant guides I just found (for gluten-free options):

Celiachandbook.com has a Gluten Free Restaurant Guide

and there is also www.glutenfreerestaurants.org.

EATA (editing again to add): I'm sure those of you with kids with food allergies have heard of the message boards at Kids With Food Allergies, but in case you haven't, they are a treasure trove of support and recipes.

Christmas Highlights

2011-12-25T05:13:00.000-08:00

@@ Having to go to a second store to food shop because I had forgotten something important at the first one, and finding *just the thing* I needed for dh's stocking.

@@ For the first time ever, we had no one crying, no one sick, no one sleeping or cranky or too young to enjoy our annual Christmas Tree Lights tour. They even spontaneously sang Christmas carols and enjoyed each other's company. First. time. ever. *happy sigh*

@@ Getting a high powered Dust Buster from dh. Call me practical, but I love a tool that *works*.

@@ Jeffrey staying up late and "helping" dh and I open our gifts to each other.

@@ No one woke up last night in pain or crying (morning was another story)

@@ Finding a hawk's nest in the backyard!

@@ Jeffrey all handsome in his navy wool coat, and the girls beautiful in their dresses. Finding tights that (almost) fit Maggie that matched the dress she wanted to wear at the last minute.

@@ Hearing child after child say, "Thank you Mom!" "Thank you Mom!"

@@ At the pinnacle of a long and random seeming Mass, hearing the priest say "Behold the Lamb of God".
Behold! The Babe is here.

Indeed.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanking God and knocking on all kinds of wood

2011-12-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

(this post not for the squeamish)

I was at the tail end of my hours long wrapping ~~torture session~~ marathon when I heard a knock at the locked bedroom door and a little voice that sounded like it was speaking through a mouthful of something. I couldn't really make out what she was saying, it was something like...

"I threw up on my mpfhomrm."

Uh oh. OH NO. No, not today, ugh, I can barely move, how am I going to deal with this? OK, maybe that isn't what she said. "What was that honey? What did you say?"

"I threw up on my mphpfhm."

Uhhhhhhh. By this point I'm nervously dragging my sorry body up off the present wrapping floor, and going to the door. I'm flushing hot and cold, my mind is racing and I'm sooooo not ready to deal with days of sick kids. "What was that again honey? Are you OK?" I open the door to see...

...my cute six year old enjoying a big mouthful of yummy sugar cookie, asking me:

"Are you through wrapping presents Mommy?"

Me: "Is that what you said?" (here I'm wondering why this poor sick child is looking so happy and already eating a sugar cookie. I'm very slow on the uptake.)

Yes, that is what she was saying.

Throughwrappingpresents :: threwuponmyprmrphrh.

Of course!

Thank God.

Seven Quick Takes

2011-12-23T16:40:00.000-08:00

(ONE)

I just spent at least four hours wrapping presents. I am SO OLD. I feel like I just ran a 10K. On my back. At least I'm done. I think.

((TWO))

Is anyone thinking of their word or phrase for 2012? I don't know if I did one last year. I think the year before my phrase was "I get to". As in, remember that I *get* to teach my kids, wash their clothes, cook their meals, because I am THAT LUCKY to be able to have my family in my life and care for them. I still need to cement this in my brain, when I am so tired of being the *only one* who "gets to" do this, lol. I have no word for next year. I'm too tired. Maybe "sleep". :)

(((THREE)))

For those of you that choose a new patron saint for your year, don't forget Conversion Diary's Saint Name Generator. This thing really works. I used it last week when I was feeling particularly down and needed some extra spiritual muscles behind me. I had just had a fight with my dh over an in-law situation (realized later it was completely a misunderstanding - I'm not having problems with my in-laws). Prayed while the website was "churning" and hit "find a saint for me" -- my saint for the next two weeks is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and the first thing mentioned in her description was "patron saint of in-law problems" !!

((((FOUR))))
I know I'm a boring broken record lately, but I'm still (over)thinking this whole "gluten free" thing. My son has a rheumatologist appointment at the end of the month. He has been on his one drug since late July/early August. It's doing some good, but the inflammation is still there and he continues to have pain and swelling. Seeing as it's essential to quell that so that he can grow properly, I have a feeling the doc isn't going to wait any longer to add another drug, which is much stronger with worse side effects. I feel backed into a wall -- I feel I need to go gluten free NOW (like two weeks ago, now) and see if there is any change in Jeffrey before his appointment, to potentially save him from needing the stronger meds. All that being (very awkwardly) said I'm struggling to find things to cook and eat that won't cause a huge revolt here at Castle Adventureland. And I just wrote and deleted a huge ramble...too long for a 7 quick takes. I think I'll "think outloud" in a post all it's own. Don't say I didn't warn you.

(((((FIVE)))))

My four year old is reading. Yes, I'm bragging. And only a teeny-tiny part of me is crying, since my *baby* is reading.

((((((SIX))))))

I think aliens have come and stolen my dh and exchanged him for an agreeable man without an over-analytical engineering brain. Either that or prayer works. The man actually said, "I don't care, whatever you want," the other day. And I think he meant it. Strange. Very strange indeed. ;-) You wives of engineers will understand.

(((((((SEVEN)))))))

Merry Christmas everyone!!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2011-12-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

{pretty}

Nothing says pretty to me like chocolate wrapped up in a bow! Ignore the not so pretty mess it's on, please.

{happy}

We made a long overdue, impromptu visit to a local petting zoo after food shopping. The little ones were *thrilled*.

{funny}

This guy was loose. My son's attempt to climb up me to the top of my head when he realized that fact was pretty funny.

{real}

Post snowflake making apocalypse - and no, they didn't clean it up when they were done. :-p

For more {pretty, happy, funny, real} please visit Like Mother, Like Daughter.

If your words create your life...

2011-12-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

...then I think I should rename this blog something like, "Boring, safe, peaceful, happy, loving, life" LOL.

Nothing in particular has happened to spark this proclamation; I'm just tired of adventure and want to sleep.

Christmas shopping is almost done. We need stocking stuffers, and the children need to do something for one sibling each. Maybe we'll bake tomorrow, although I don't know if any of us are really "into" it.

I could look at the neighborhood Christmas lights all day and night though. So beautiful, sparkling bits of light, like the stars come to earth for a time. It's truly what gets me through these dark days.

Today there was a bone marrow registry drive at our church for a parishoner's daughter who is fighting lymphoma after having a heart transplant several years ago (I was surprised to find out a few years ago that this is not uncommon). I thought a few people would show up, but the place was PACKED. I was not mentally prepared for the crowd, the lines, the noise ... swabbing the inside of my cheek with six other people at my table and a huge line of people standing next to me watching was strangely unsettling and violating. Then I had to go mail the envelope containing the samples myself! With something like "human biological sample" written in big letters on it.

"Here Mr. Mailman! No, it's not urine or anything!" LOL :-P

I quietly dropped that thing in a mailbox on my way home.

I don't know why it all bothers me so much. I guess I figured that I was doing something nice for this poor girl, I didn't expect to be herded around like cattle in a noisy barn and told to deal with my own "sample". That, and I know if it were OUR family in need, there would maybe be 5 people there if we were lucky, not 500.

These are my helpers.

I do hope they find a match for the girl. I even hope it's me. That would make me feel good. I'm not even going to think about how they have to harvest the bone marrow. *shudder*

52 Books In 52 Weeks

2011-12-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

Would you like to join us in reading and discussing 52 books in 2012? Here is a Mr. Linky where you can sign up. I was hesitantant to attempt this again next year, after crashing and burning in only JANUARY the last time I signed up. But I was assured that it is OK to not review each book, it was OK to read fluff ... basically if it was a book meant for at least 9-12 years old and up it was good enough (within reason of course).

As I have blogged before, I have a stack of "How to Go Gluten Free" books on my dresser. These are mostly half advice/half cookbook type books. It's going to have to do for the 52 Books challenge because I don't think I can fit in another type of book each week on top of those, which must get read post-haste.

Check out the rest of Robin's 52 Books In 52 Weeks Blog to see how things went last year. And thanks Robin for hosting this, I hope I am up for the challenge this time!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2011-12-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's time to declutter, my heart's all a flutter
Now kids don't come near!
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
It's the hap-happiest season of all
There's more kid-cr*p in store and there's no room for more
Except maybe in the hall!
It's the hap-happiest season of all!

There'll be bags on the doorstep
Kids don't take one more step
Or Santa won't come here at all
You can't have it back
Don't you peak in that sack
You haven't touched it since two years last fall!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!
When I try to make ready
Our simple homestead and I
Tremble with fear!
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

With apologies to Andy Williams

Seven Quick Takes

2011-12-16T05:47:00.000-08:00

**1**

12yo leading 4yo down the stairs, "Let's go igmire the Christmas tree!" ( igmire is a family-joke word for admire)

4yo, hesitatingly, "Is that a ...bad thing?"

**2**

We didn't get the house we were bidding on. Time will tell if we were silly to stick with our original offer or should have bumped it up just a little bit like we were thinking of doing. Not like it matters now!

I think I knew deep in my heart that we weren't going to get it. I get these feelings when something big in my future collides with my present. I felt it when I met my husband, I felt it when I first drove to my current state to attend grad school, I felt it when I stepped into our current house. It's like a burst of awareness, a feeling of things clicking into place, that sense of being "home". That being said, I didn't feel it when I went to see the house we bid on. And I don't feel it in our current house any longer. So we continue to look. I am sure it is all for the best.

**3**

My children have recently discovered the Redwall series on Netflix. Maggie, who in the past had been watching her sister devour the books, swore she would NEVER like Redwall, that it was stupid, that she hated talking animals and would never read them. Now, she is totally smitten. They beg to watch the show, make plays of their own, create new characters, talk about it all the time and were so disappointed when the library did not have the book they wanted today.

**4**

I bravely branched out from my usual "clear" and got red and green bands around my braces this month. Thought I'd be ~~childish~~ festive! Orthodontist says my teeth are moving very fast and she's pleased with the progress. One more year!

**5**

I'm addicted to Triple Town on Facebook. Blame my kids, they think it is so cute and always ask me to play it. My husband, who thought it was silly and would look at me funny when I said how much I enjoyed it, can now be found sneaking in games when I'm not looking. And even when I am. He quickly became quite good because it's a strategy game, and he won't let it get the best of him.

**6**

My 6yo (excellent reader) loves the Faith and Freedom readers that we got through Seton years ago. She has read through all we have (5th grade I think?). Any suggestions for similar Catholic/Christian/Moral readers like that? She's also my child that balks at sitting down and schooling. Ideas for killing two birds with one stone - i.e. handing her something *good* she can read on her own that will teach her content areas would be great. She'd be happy she is reading and learning, and I'd be happy that math/science/history/health/art/music, etc are getting covered without tears. (disclaimer: of course I'd still teach and discuss things with her - but the less I have to drag her to the table for a workbook the better - and dh wants 'tangible' schooling going on, not unschooling).

**7**

The "It's a Good Thing I Have a Sturdy Nightstand" list (in part):
The Allergen Free Baker's Handbook
Allergy Free Cookbook
The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book
Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic
From Grass to Gardens: How to Reap Bounty From a Small Yard
Gluten Free, Hassle Free
Growing At the Speed of Life: A Year in the Life of My First Kitchen Garden
Living Gluten Free for Dummies
Special Diets for Special Kids Two
Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire With God, Not Food

Sensing a trend?

Thank God for my local library.

Book Quotes - Crazy Love

2011-12-15T05:29:00.000-08:00

From Crazy Love by Francis Chan

“I (Chan) spoke at a summer camp several years ago. Afterward, a number of students told me I was their ‘favorite speaker.’ It felt good to hear them talk about how funny and convicting my messages were. I loved it. I got back to my room and thanked God for helping me speak so well. About three minutes into my prayer, I stopped. It hit me that the students were talking about me, not God. I was standing before a holy God and robbing him of the glory that is rightfully His.”

This is so convicting! I keep hoping that I’ll “do something well” - that I’ll be the best at something, something beautiful to, in my mind, bring glory to God. But if *I’m* naturally good at it, and wanting to soak in all that praise (even if it’s only my own head saying, yeahhhh, you’re goooood, lol) then how is GOD getting glory! So it’s OK for me to be awful at everything. :) How else can I tell people, I stink at this, but was successful anyway because it was alllll God.

“My suggestion as you think, make decisions, and discern how God would have you live your life is to ask yourself, “Is this the most loving way to do life? Am I loving my neighbor and my God by living where I live, by driving what I drive, by talking how I talk?” I urge you to consider and actually live as though each person you come in contact with is Christ.”

OK, we are not *all* there yet, but dh and I have started asking ourselves in our talks on big subjects, “Where is the love? Which choice is the most loving?” It can be hard, because it’s not always clear - sometimes, for example, in being the most loving to my kids I may hurt my parents or friends. And sometimes what is most loving is really hard because I don’t *want* to do that thing. At all. But we try to see past the “feelings” people may have to thinking about what they truly *need*. Only God knows if we are making the right decisions, but we’re trying.

“Oswald Chambers writes, “never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.” To that I would add, “Be careful not to turn others’ lives into the mold for your own.” Allow God to be as creative with you as He is with each of us. ...We have a God who is a Creator, not a duplicator. He’s never made a Francis Chan before.”

Ohhh, I suffer from this, big time. I think the blogosphere and Facebook make it particularly difficult to fight. I whine, “Why can’t I be as clear and inspiring as Elizabeth Foss, or take pictures and turn a phrase so beautifully (dear one, you express my mind and heart in ways I never could) as Sarah Elwell? But there’s never been a “me” before, and God must know what He was doing, so He must have equipped me with what *I* need to do what *He* wants me to do. And since *I* want to do what *He* wants me to do, it all must be OK. Now to convince myself of that. :)

Hmmmm, I think my last quote contradicts my first quote, but I’m not sure what to make of that yet, lol.

Don't box me in

2011-12-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the last time I posted was AUGUST. I have blogged a lot in my head during that time, I guess it just never made it out to my fingers and the keyboard. :)

I think one of the biggest problems (besides being inarticulate and using way too many parenthesis, I mean, lol) was that I would see that other bloggers were doing something like "Simple Woman's Daybook" one day, and I would say to myself, "I should do that! Let's see...hmmm, I think I can fill in only half that meme, but not the rest. I could make up my own! Nah, too random." And just give up. Who wants to see only a {happy, real} when everyone else is doing a {pretty, happy, funny, real}?

However, it's lonely here in my head. :)

So I decided to be random despite how it bothers me. I *want* to be a joiner, it just never seems to work out. Maybe after a few brain dumps I'll be able to be normal again. ;-)

Let the randomness ensue:

(in other words, run for your lives!) :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't believe we are lighting 3 Advent candles already! Except in our case, I never get around to getting ADVENT candles and so we are lighting three white candles with a fourth and fifth white candle waiting impatiently for their turn for the fourth Sunday and Christmas. The kids don't care, they just like singing 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel' every night.

O come Emmanuel... ransom captive Israel...

The kids are addicted to clementines. I hate to just throw all those peels away! We made clementine candles one day, and simmered the peels with cinnamon and cloves a few times for a nice scent. That is the extent of my craftiness.

*************************

We are enjoying our milk delivery. I feel so retro. We are able to get cream line pasturized milk in glass bottles delivered along with cider and eggs. Their chocolate milk is also to die for and I'm thinking of stopping the egg and cider delivery -- since only 3 of us are eating the eggs -- and get the chocolate milk instead. Because it's just THAT good. Juliet has taken it upon herself to make butter every day from the cream she scoops off the top of the milk. I think the marble clinking against the side of the little jar for an hour a day is going to drive me crazy, however. She may build up some arm muscles, at least!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

We have an offer in on a house and we will find out tonight or tomorrow if the owners have accepted it. We are in competition with another family so my hopes are not really high. We didn't entirely 'low-ball' but we did offer a chunk less than they were asking. We thought it was fair and so now we are just praying! The waiting is killing me though. Heck, it drove me to blogging! We've been house hunting for almost three years! I'm so done. And then we try to come into our own house and we all fall all over each other in the 3x4 foyer while I fear someone is going to get pushed down the stairs (split foyer house) and I remember just WHY I keep going...and going...and going...

Sanity is a precious, precious thing.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Did you know that the sound of all my children laughing together is my favorite sound in the whole world?? Especially after a day of snapping and yelling at each other.

......................................................

School is going along swimmingly in some areas, and not AT ALL in others. We have plowed through Lightening Literature 7 so fast that we are almost done. We are 3/4 done with Apologia General Science. No, I'm not going all the assignments for either by far, but I think we are covering what is needed. I'm doing these with my 8th and 6th graders, and therein lies the problem...since they are both technically 7th grade (or younger) curriculum, should I plow on with one or both girls to get through LL8 and Apologia Physical or similar this year? I'm sure my 12yo could handle it, but she's in 6th grade and doesn't *need* to be plowing ahead...then there is the 14yo who struggles with school but has such a good mind for some things. I hate to hold her back, but pushing ahead is very hard work for both of us. So often I just want to BE, not plod and drag them along with me.

Part of me says that none of this really matters, and the other half panics that I am in no way doing enough and they will get to college age and fail life and hate me. And then I'll die and God will tell me I did a lousy job and ruined them and should have worked harder. How hard is a person supposed to push themselves? And how hard is a person supposed to push another person?

((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))

I'm so tired.

((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))

Could someone please put the sun back on?

***************************

A topic I hope to cover more is Jeffrey's arthritis and how that is going, but I feel funny throwing that out there in a stupid random post like this. As at least one of you already knows, we are thinking of going gluten-free on top of our other allergen reductions in order to see if that will help the auto-immune issues in our family. I know I should at least try. I owe it to my kids! And then I sit down to make a menu, or eat a snack, and say NO WAY. There's got to be another way. Wheat is our life. I sincerely don't know if I'm capable of turning our lives upside down like that right now, with everything else we are dealing with. I even think I could handle wheat free dinners, but breakfast, lunch, and snacks are next to impossible (in my whiny mind). When we bring everything down to rice/veggies/meat/fruit nothing seems to keep us full and we are hungry allllll the time. I worry about my 8yo who is already stick thin and below the bottom of the charts. Everyone says "add good fats!" but HOW? Pouring oil onto everything is unpalatable in the short term and doesn't even help us stay full in the long term. Most nuts and seeds are out (allergies or cross contamination). I can barely eat raw veggies with my braces and besides they (and rice) give me a stomach ache. And how fair is it to my normal 12 year old to have to eat weird, but how fair is it to her 4yo brother that she gets to eat bread/cookies/pasta/whatever that he loves right in front of him?

And whahhhhhhhhh, we are already freaks, I don't want to do one more thing that makes us totally OUT THERE. I just want to be normal.

But I also want my son to stop waking up in the middle of the night crying, and I don't want to give him chemo drugs, and I want my daughter's hair to stop falling out.

So maybe after Christmas I'll ~~starve to death~~ ~~lose my mind~~ try going gluten free.

On that note, I need to get a dinner full of gluten ready. :-P

Thanks for reading.

T plus 1

2011-08-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

We started school yesterday! Surprisingly, a good day was had by all, despite a 1/2 hour trip into town for a Mass that wasn't there. :-P Silly me didn't check first, but the church changed their schedule. They have perpetual adoration at this church, so we did stay for a bit and went in by turns ... definitely not a wasted trip at all. Got my 3yo JRA son in front of Jesus and begged for some healing. Jeffrey was even quiet for a whole minute, lol. We got out of there fast, on a good note.

As of now, this is how school looks:

Religion: Divine Office for all in the morning, sometimes followed by mom reading a CLAA Catechism lesson or discussing another church related topic.

Language Arts: Lightning Literature 7 for the 13 and 11yos. 13yo has Apples and Pears Spelling. 11yo has CLAA Grammar 1. *Possibly* Grammar 1 for the 8yo also but I have not signed her up yet (this is also a Latin course). Seton English for the 8 and 6yos plus phonics for both in lieu of a spelling program. They can both read well.

Math: We are getting through MUS Epsilon and Zeta with the 13yo as a review to start MUS pre-algebra this year (8th grade). 11yo is watching MUS videos while we wait for our Math Mammoth download to be sent. She and the 8 and 6yo will do Math Mammoth at their own level. 11yo is also studying classical arithmetic, slowly, through the CLAA.

Science: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding for the 3 - 8yo crowd, and Apologia General Science for the older two.

Social Studies: CLAA Chronology 1 for the older two (the 11yo is "enrolled" and takes the tests, the 13yo can't master it due to the LDs so she reads the lessons but that's it.). For the younger two? Hmmm... at this point they are just listening to me reading the CLAA lessons aloud. I do NOT want to make things more complicated but I do want them to do something good for them.

Random: They watch all SORTS of educational things on Discovery Education Streaming and Netflix, and in particular are taking Elementary Spanish there. Hmmm...I feel like I'm missing some major category here. Do any of you have nightmares about getting to the end of homeschooling high school and having someone say, "You forgot to teach __(insert any major subject here)__!"

It is only Day 2, so I am NOT going to say that all is going well. It's going. Ask me again in a month. I am going to try harder this year to keep things rolling despite what life throws at us.

Break time over! My house somehow exploded all over itself while we were doing school, and my self-cooking oven is broken so I have to cook dinner. ;-) Sigh!

Best of luck to all of you who are starting back with school soon.

Seven Quick Takes - whine with my dairy-free "cheese" edition

2011-07-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

+1+
I think I'm back to blogging, it's either get my thoughts out of my head or watch it explode. Don't say I didn't warn you.

+2+
My 3yo was officially diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis on Tuesday. Since I already had my temper tantrum about it *before* I got the diagnosis, I think I'm handling it pretty well. OK, I got teary in the supermarket when buying Glad Press 'n' Seal to put over the EMLA cream the doctor gave us for the multiple blood draws he'll need, but with 3 girls with multiple food allergies, crying in the supermarket is not new to me, LOL! Jeffrey is pretty mild right now compared to what I've seen online, and he is starting a trial of the most mild medicine that has been known to help (Naprosyn). We've seen some side effects but nothing awful yet.

+3+
Now every single one of our children has some kind of life-altering problem. Thankfully, nothing severe at this point, unless you count all the severe food allergies, which are only a problem if you want to you know, eat.

Juliet: alopecia areata, dyslexia and other LDs, ADD, allergic to eggs/peanuts, intolerant of other foods, eczema
Maggie: hearing loss, some "mental health" issues
Grace: allergic to dairy/egg, slow growth, ADD
Leah: allergic to eggs
Jeffrey: juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

*of course* they also have many wonderful, wonderful qualities. But as their mom and "family manager," I am officially flabbergasted.

+4+
There is a silver (selfish) lining to all this - my dad, who for as long as I can remember has been *adamantly* against me searching for my birth parents (as in it would completely crush him emotionally) told me the other day, "I'll do whatever I can to help you find out information about your history." This is huge. Not like it's easy or even possible, being from a state where closed adoption records are still impossible to get to. But just the *mental* relief I feel that it is possible without crushing my dad is a big deal.

+5+
We tried to put an offer on a great house yesterday. They denied it. We can't budge any higher, they can't come much lower (w/o it being a short sale). I'm sure it's meant to be. At this point, after 2+ years of *seriously* house hunting, I was so done and just decided to stay where we are and make it work. Until...

+6+
...I remembered that the original owners of this house *also* had a child, their only, with a severe disease that eventually went on to take his life early (muscular dystrophy). All six children (not to mention some of the adults!) who have lived here have been unhealthy/unlucky. I don't think it's the house, per say, as many of the "problems" are totally unrelated to each other. Perhaps something spiritual? Either way, I. AM. SO. OUTTA. HERE.

+7+
I feel some retail therapy coming on. I've been looking at the BOSCH mixers. Wow, they have really gone up in price since I first heard of them a handful of years ago. I would want them to mix bread dough, primarily, since they can handle multiple loaves at a time...but now I'm thinking of doing a few month trial of gluten free for our family. Has anyone used one or something similar for gluten free bread? It's funny, with ALL that is going on I am most shaken up by the thought of removing gluten from our diet. Give me back our eggs and dairy and I'd be happy (so to speak) to take away gluten. Doing all while also trying to severely limit sugar? HEEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP! ;-)

Here ends my downer version of 7 quick takes. I don't *mean* to whine, it's just some of what's going on in our lives right now!

For more of this week's 7 Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary!

Simple Woman's Daybook

2011-07-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...
rain! Glorious rain after weeks of 102* temps with 99% humidity. I do hope this can cool things off a bit, or at the very least water our dead lawn.

I am thinking...
only of today. Thinking of "tomorrow" is too stressful.

I am thankful...
for a patient husband

rain
a potential new home
a patient realtor (seriously)

From the learning rooms...
We are still doing our "summer school" of Elementary Spanish from Discovery Education Streaming, and math "upkeep". Planning out the first few months of school that will begin in a few weeks!

In the kitchen...
Sloppy Toms and french fries. Hoping to totally overhaul our menu soon.

I am wearing...
red t-shirt and this skirt in black

I am creating...
a contract on a new home. Well, *I'm* not creating it, but I'm helping read and edit it. 13yo dd is crocheting a blanket out of scraps though! :)

I am going...
to the Rheumatologist with the 3yo. It's been a month and he is still limping and in pain all day. Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis seems a distinct possibility, given our history of kids with auto-immune issues. Of course I'm hoping it's something lesser and fixable, but I'm also preparing myself to deal with this possible reality.

I am wondering...
No wondering allowed this week. I'm staying "in the moment." Wondering has only lead to crying jags and a husband who looks at me with that deer in the headlights look, lol.

I am reading...
I have dropped reading this month for going nuts on Pinterest. :) Just what this visual right-brainer needed.

I am hoping...
~that the new doctor is nice, and GOOD, and thorough, and on time

~that I can come up with a new set of healthy, allergen free, yummy menu plans soon.

I am looking forward to...
moving (if it happens)

heaven :)

I am hearing...
music of a Nancy Drew game my 11yo is playing, my 3yo whining to be carried upstairs, thunder

Around the house...
the scattered remains of a full life.

I am pondering...
*what God's will is, and why my whole family seems to be falling apart physically.

*how to put what I believe about schooling into practice with 5 *very* different (and needy) children

*how I can use my (few) semi-talents for God's glory AND a little spending money

One of my favorite things...
Pinterest. Did I mention how much in love I am?

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Rheumatologist visit

meet with realtor (probably more than once)

depending on how that goes, either a) cry and carry on, or b) pack and paint.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

It's a rabbit version of Where's Waldo. A few nights ago there were *four* bunnies on our lawn at the same time! Ignore the humiliating dead side of our lawn. The side not in the picture is much nicer looking. :)

For more daybooks, please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook!

(forgive the crazy formatting of this post - I didn't do it, it seems to be changing itself!)

math mnemonics

2011-05-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

OK, I can type that title, but I can't seem to say it outloud! Math menomic. Math nemomic. It's like saying "Unique New York" 10 times fast.

Nevermind.

:)

Looking through a book about ADHD I saw two mnemonics for things that I always mix up. The Associative Property and the Commutative Property:

COmmutative Property...CO allows a Change in Order of numbers (i.e. 5+7= 7+5)

Associative Property of Addition ... AP Arranges Parenthesis {i.e. (12+8) + 5 = 12 + (8+5) }

I always knew that these were rules but I could never remember which was named which.

I need all the memory helps I can get these days!

Plans for next year

2011-05-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my homeschooling yearly review.

WOO HOO IT'S OVER!

LOL

*deep breath*

Every year after that day, I say BREAK TIME! and the kids enjoy the good weather while I gather information for next year. Maybe it's the ADD in me and my kids, but by April we are itching to stop what we are doing, take a break, and start up with a whole new set of books and ideas for the next year. Now that it's May, almost June, I feel positively DONE (mentally) with the year and have enjoyed using my spare time (and not so spare) dreaming up 2011-2012 plans.

Excuse me while I break up a fight over nail polish...

OK, here is what I've decided for this summer into next year. Most is pretty set, my thoughts on history are tentitive. I'll give ~~a little~~ ~~way too much~~ some background here and there to help explain why things are chosen the way they are:

Juliet and Maggie are 13 and 11 (will both have birthdays in late fall). Next year's grades are 8th and 6th. Due to their specific strengths and weaknesses I can combine them in almost everything this year and hope to continue that for awhile.

Math: Summer will be spent nailing down fractions, decimals, and percents using Math-U-See DVDs (Epsilon and Zeta). They have already covered these topics in several other ways but *still* don't seem to understand just WHAT they are doing and why. An expensive backtracking, especially when I accidentally bought Zeta used --twice--, but hopefully worth it in the long run. I don't want pre-algebra and algebra to bomb because they aren't solid on the precursors, YKWIM? After that I have MUS pre-algebra on the shelf so we'll start there. When the new Teaching Textbooks pre-alg comes out I might use that. Depends on what I think of MUS (I'll preview before starting with the girls). I didn't like MUS for the early years because a whole course on just addition or subtraction really didn't work for us. Hopefully it's just the ticket for us now! Onward...

Language Arts: Covered somewhat by Maggie's CLAA's Grammar (Latin) class which I'll review with Juliet even though she is not taking Latin. Liturature and writing will be through Lightning Liturature 7 and 8, and Skills for Literary Analysis. Juliet will continue to work through Apples and Pears spelling and Megawords.

Science: Apologia General Science, then Physical whenever we finish General. I'm not going to rush it, but I'm not going to hold back either. I know there are complaints about how accurate their science is, but I need this level, I need it laid out for me, I need it on audio, and honestly I love that it seems to hold God first, science second. These two kids are not science lovers, nor do I think they will go into scientific fields, so I think we're good with this for middle school. Besides, I *am* a science lover, and I know that "truth" in science ebbs and flows as we discover more and disprove more. We'll use other sources here and there if we have time for other viewpoints, particularly as we get into high school. But we are not there yet. So moving along...

History: Ugh. First I thought we would just do Sonlight Core 6 or 6/7 (or G or H or whatever they are calling them now! LOL) because we've done K-5 in one form or another. Then I said, NO, let's do Core 100 since it is best for middle school or beginning high school and my 11yo *loves* the History of US by Hakim. I've heard Core 100 isn't always considered high school level so I wanted it in middle school. But then I realized that I've never done the middle ages with anyone! Besides, I'm pretty sure Juliet will need "late middle school level" for grade 9 anyway, so Core 100 is off the table until maybe next year. At this point, my ~~weird~~ plan is to have Maggie continue her CLAA Chronology class and have Juliet listen in while I read it aloud. CLAA demands 100% mastery and memorization which would just not work for Juliet unless all her other work comes to a grinding halt, so I'm not signing her up. I'll throw in historical fiction from each time period using Sonlight and these plans from Classical House of Learning. CLAA keeps the Catholicism in it so I'm good there. Maybe I'll buy the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia since Juliet has enjoyed reading through the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia this year.

Religion: Since we are woefully bad at living the liturgical year, we use textbooks for fear of dropping it altogether. The children have all liked Seton's Religion series (links to Religion 6). It's repetitive but they don't mind and it drills it into them. We do CLAA Catechism 1 as a family and Maggie and Grace are signed up for the class so take the tests, memorize, etc. Juliet will most likely move up to Seton's confirmation book even though our church doesn't start confirmation prep for another year, and Maggie will read through Religion 6. I'm also thinking of signing up for CLAA's Biblical Studies as a family. I've heard it's a great course.

Music: CLAA Music Theory 1

Art: Juliet might do an art camp this summer. Otherwise? NOT SURE. We are still hoping to finish Seton's Art 5 which is art history. I think Art 7 is as well, maybe I'll get that.

Health: Our state requires it. Maggie's working through Care and Keeping of You and Juliet's in the middle of the Joyful Mysteries of Life. I probably should move on from there...

This looks like a lot all piled up on top of each other, but hopefully in practice it will be simple.

I think I'm missing something too...

The two little girls have a much more simplified curriculum:

Grace (8 and going into 3rd grade) and Leah (6 and entering 1st) will be signed up for CLAA's Common School which will hopefully open in the fall. This will cover language arts, math, and religion. History will be historical fiction at their level corresponding to what the older girls are doing and/or listening to me teach the olders, and for science they will listen in to me doing science with the others and help with experiments. Netflix videos should round it all out nicely. They are already excellent readers so don't need a lot of hand holding in that area.

Last but not least I'm thinking of signing us up for Discovery Streaming through the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op (warning, video starts when you open link). That will definitely help me cover all the topics in a nice visual way for my technology addicted kids.

Thanks to anyone that made it this far! I mostly wrote it for my own record keeping. :) My mind is not what it used to be (see note above about buying Zeta twice in one week).

Brace yourself

2011-05-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

This week, at 42 years old, I got braces for the second time. My choice, although highly recommended by my former dentist. LOL, he's not former because he recommended this ~~torture~~, he happened to move to a different area of the state. :)

Looking on the bright side of all this:

1. In two years(!) I will have nice straight teeth again, Lord willing.

2. I have more to offer up now. Not the least of which is the mental audio of a kid getting sick behind me in the orthodontist's office, which keeps replaying in my head even though it was two days ago. *shudder*

3. I have renewed sympathy for pregnant women. Seeing these 2 years ~~of torture~~ stretch before me, I remember those first days of being pregnant...when I would look at the pregnancy tickers on my blog that said "ONLY 278 DAYS LEFT!!" ... and panic

4. I will hopefully lose a little weight.

5. On the flip side of that, the things I am finding to eat right now are mostly high fat and yummy...much easier to eat ice cream with sore teeth than a bunch of carrot sticks or even salad, YKWIM?

6. My husband has been giving me sympathetic looks and trying his best to go easy on me. Kids too.

7. It's a lesson in humility...seeing the odd looks when I smile...sitting in the ortho's office with 2 other women saying, "I did NOT want to be a 30 something mom with braces, so I got invisalign." Um, HI, I'm Amy, a 40-something mom who could only get the real deal braces. *smile* (owwww...)

8. I was bemoaning my grey hairs and wrinkles lately. But with this mouth I now look 13 again. ;-)

A wrinkled, grey 13. :)

Is 4 PM close enough to "night"?

2011-05-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

I said I would choose a winner for the I Believe in Love giveaway on Wednesday night, but I'm too excited to wait that long, LOL.

I'm such the popular blogger and facebooker that only 3 of your entered the givaway. (two here and one on facebook just fyi, because you can see that only two people...plus Jenn who already has the book...commented on my post of the other day).

I can't choose just one of you. So you all win. I'll contact you to get your addresses... I know where to find you mwahahahaha...

Congratulations to all of you and I hope the book blesses you the way it has blessed me.

A Giveaway

2011-05-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've spent much of my "seeking peace" time reading I Believe in Love: A Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Terese of Lisieux by Fr. Jean d'Elbee. I first want to share my deepest thanks to Jenn for constantly mentioning this book to me. I had attempted to read it a few times before, and I truly believe God was clouding my mind until such a time as this, because I could never really understand it -- and it's not a difficult book!

You know all the whining and questioning I do on this blog, about God, and love, His love, and heaven, answered prayers, and doing God's will? IT'S ALL ANSWERED IN THIS BOOK. When I finish it this time I'm going to go right back to the beginning and start again. I believe anyone who reads my blog and empathizes with my whining, questioning, and searching will find some measure of peace in what is taught in this book.

I believe it is such a great book that I am giving away a new copy straight from Amazon to you. Leave a comment here or on my facebook post about the same subject and I'll draw a random name on Wednesday night.

Thanks be to God.

Quiet

2011-04-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

I've moved my posts to a private journal. Two days ago I deleted all 230+ google reader feeds I followed. It's an offering to God of my time and my very self, for a very special intention.

I am sorry, truly sorry, I've been caustic here, not who I want to be. The pain in my life spills over here, with no one in real life to listen.

This is not goodbye, necessarily. Just good riddance to bad blog rubbish.

I'm searching for peace and quiet, and praying for all of my readers. I'll be back when I have something peaceful to say.