Trip to Rockaway

Several months ago, my mom asked if we would be interested in taking their week at the beach. She had bazaars and Dad had meetings so they couldn't go this September. I jumped on it! So, ight near the end of the month, we packed up and headed to Rockaway Beach, Oregon for a week of family vacation time.
The thing I love about Rockaway, well 2 things really, is how peaceful it is. Quite a few towns on the coast are so touristy and busy. Rockaway really isn't. The other thing is how much beach there is. Not a rock for miles. At low tide it feels like you are in an entire county of smooth sandy beach.
The unit we stay in has a bed, kitchen, dining in one studio-type room, plus a bedroom with two queens. It was far from E proof--but nothing really is. So that kept us hopping. It also made sue we got out and about everyday! Lots of walks on the beach and trips to the swimming pool.
I never did get a picture of the kids in the pool. They were so cute. Baby M decided the pool was just grand. She splashed her little heart out. :)
Here's a few of the pictures from the adventure.

C helping E fly a kite

M on the same day. For some reason, when everyone else was in shorts, M was bundled. *shrug*


We took a morning trip to Oswald State Park. C took the older 2 over to see some tide pools. They naturally walked in the surf on the way back. Something happened (dunno what still) and G totally went down. Face first. Into a wave. That frosted look to his hair is all sand. His mouth is fine btw, he just needed, like, 5 crackers at once to feel revitalized. He was completely fine. We were just glad it was G and not M that ate it. Or the rest of the day would have been miserable. G is such an adventurer.

The evening walks were more apt to get chilly. Especially for wet little toes. Here's my little E and me, finishing up a walk.

G displying his kelp find. He was too chicken to touch it for awhile, but warmed to the idea eventually. Not long after that, we found a dead squid that had washed up. It hadn't been dead for long, but we don't have a clue as to cause of death. I didn't have my camera and C is a bit squeamish about that kind of thing. So we don't have pictures, but I wish we did. It was huge! And in perfect shape. M had a great time poking at it as we did a semi-science lesson. I would guess the body was a little over 2 feet and the tentacles a bit longer still.

Walking back from town. The boys are racing. You can see just how vast the beach is here. Baby M took all her walks in the wrap, of course. :)

Just lucky ol' me

My scientist at work.
It started snowing last night again and M asked what would happen to the Dead Sea if it froze. We explained that would be nigh on impossible given a) it's geographical location and b) it's salinity. "But what if it got to 0 degrees for 2 weeks?" he wanted to know. Dad suggested he run an experiment. He kept notes even (reluctantly-mom's can be just horrid), and recorded his process, hypothesis and observations.
He stirred in as much salt as his jar of water would hold, drew a line at the water level, capped it and put it in the freezer overnight. The result? Salt water doesn't even come close to freezing in the freezer overnight. Gets dang cold-but no ice.

Grandma and her boys. Can you tell she likes them? Adores, spoils, thinks the world of--yup, true grandma. She had one on her lap. Another felt a little left out. The third noticed that Grandma had become the place to be and well....

M with his new cousin. She was born in October and it took FOREVER, I mean, months, for me to finally meet her. Her momma handed her over first thing, lickety split. Such a smart woman. I am quite in love with my nieces! Of course, can you blame me? Just look at her! And she and M seemed to totally hit it off too. Awwww.

For the past few, well, 15 months, we've been struggling with E's sleep. I am trying to be good about implementing the strategies outlined in Elizabeth Pantley's book, The No-Cry Sleep Solution. It's a great book, I just need to be more disciplined. And maybe not be so careless as to leave trade secrets lying around. Maybe this is why some of them aren't working as well as I'd hoped. Someone got a heads up!

And finally, the joys of my life, my guys. Every gal should be as lucky as me! Aren't they a great looking bunch?

The sign in the yard

No, not that sign yet. We're working on it though. Anyone want a cute house in a great neighborhood with 3 bed/2.5 baths and cool backyard? Ask around. Please??? :)

No, the sign I'm talking about was suggested by M last Monday. We'd had a bit of a rough day. It happens. But M was apparently fed up with his sad position in life. He called me back up to his bedroom that night.
"I just want to let you know that I'm putting a sign in the front tomorrow. It will say, '9 year old child lives here. Needs new parents.'"
I expressed that we would miss him and wished him luck. I may have suggested too that he ask around Village Home the following day. "There's lots of really nice families there."

Gah, I'm so not a nice mom. Maybe I'd better start a therapy savings account for him now, rather than a college account.

Let the chelation begin

I keep forgetting to update on M. We've been seeing a Nutritional Therapist for several months now and seem to be seeing results.
Obviously, for his allergies to be so bad, there was a lot of stuff going on with M. I was worried about heavy metals, and the dr said that yes, he does have mercury, aluminum and others (those being the main 2), but his system wasn't yet ready to deal with them. First, we worked on getting the pituitary gland in working order. It's the control house. We did this through herbs--all of it, really is herbal. The chemical overload of western med would, in my opinion, be way too much for his already damaged system. Plus, western med doesn't recognize most of his issues. Anyway, since his pituitary wasn't fully functional when we started, it was having a hard time making enough HCl for his stomach to digest food with. This was the source of the increased allegies-all the new allergens. Food particles were not being broken down by the stomach, passing to his intestine where they are absorbed. But large food particles are recognized as invaders by the immune system. Hence the problem. So, getting him started on the acid supplement made a huge difference. No new allergies since that started. Whew!
Then we needed to work on draining some of the excess toxins from his kidneys and liver. Also herbal. That took awhile. The dr wants to go slow so nothing gets dumped on his system.
Awhile back we increased pro-biotics. That helps the balance in the gut. And since food is more digested, it's getting us somewhere now. His skin is mostly cleared up.
When we came back from Rockaway with his kin itchy again, it gave the dr another clue. He has put him on an iodine supplement so his body can better use fats in his diet. The theory being that even though he's eating lots of good fats, he can't really assimilate them, robbing his skin of it's protective oils. If this works, his skin should be much healthier.
And finally, since some of his organs are doing a bit better, he has started chelation therapy. This is to start moving some of the heavy metals out. We had to wait since before, with his liver and kidneys needing some help, the metals would just be re-deposited around his body. This is really, really low-level. So it may take awhile to complete, but will be easier on his system.
I can definitely tell when he starts something new. He doesn't sleep as well, and his attitude gets a little worse. But overall, I think we're making progress. We just don't have the major, huge meltdowns anymore. We still have meltdowns, just not as big! Progress!
On the food front, we took out grains for quite awhile, and have been putting them back in. I had read that soaking grains made them easier to digest. I was a little skeptical at first. But in the spirit of things, M's first re-indroduction to grains was soaked teff. Then soaked millet. He was doing just fine with them, so I went ahead and whipped up some pancakes with flour straight out of the bin. Big mistake! He was raging, evil monster all day! Totally had no emotional control and lashed out at everyone over everything. It was kinda scary. We're back to just soaked grains. That just means that I mix up the flour and liquid the night before and let it soak on the counter overnight. Or whole grains. Just like you would soak beans before cooking them. Simple, but effective.

Slow

Every year, we have the sunscreen battle. The one where mom says to wear sunscreen and the kids ignore me. So, every year, M has to get a sunburn before he believes me that you can actually come to some harm by ignoring mom.
Don't get me wrong. I'm totally not the sunscreen police. I usually want my kids out in the sun without it for a fair portion of the year. Natural vitamin D and all that jazz. It's just that 6 hours in the sun with pasty white skin can lead to pain and suffering.
This year we had our requisite burn and pain and vowing to wear sunscreen. I thought we were good. So, Friday, I told M to be sure to put on sunscreen. Dad reminded him too. I helped him put some on. Then he took off his shirt. That night, we did the aloe vera and "ouch that hurts" routine again.
Saturday he put sunscreen on his face and arms and legs (reluctantly) and headed outside. He came back in to put on his swimming suit. "Put sunscreen on!" I yelled. He ignored me.
Sunday he was in serious pain. And was banned from being in the sun all day. Oh woe.
Today I told him he had to wear a wide brimmed hat, sunscreen and stay in the shade as much as possible. He sat on the couch and whined, argued and snarked.
That kid is slow. Brilliant in so many ways, but just, slow.

The 5 of us again

My parents brought M back in time for 4th of July. He was excited to be home, and his brothers gave him a very warm welcome.
Since my dad loves berries and picking berries, we took advantage of the berry festival being held at Smith Berry Barn on the 4th. We picked lots of berries, ate lots of berries, sampled treats from their gift shop, and enjoyed the festival. There were 2 bands who took turns playing. G loved getting out on the lawn and dancing it up. A couple had brought 2 of their Alpaca's and yarn from them. I resisted the urge to buy any. *Round of Applause!* But it did make me want to live in the country even more. Alpaca's are amazing and sweet animals!
That night, we sat out with our neighbors and enjoyed a wonderful fireworks display put on by C and J, our neighbor. C and G had a lot of fun buying lots of fireworks. I can't remember just how many we had, but it was lots! I'll post a picture as soon as I get it off the camera.
Mom and dad headed home Saturday night. We had fun with them. I bet it's a bit quiet at their house now! M is adjusting to being home. G is adjusting to not being the #1 kid around too. It's hard all around, let's face it.
The meat market called today, too. I ordered a side of beef awhile ago, and it seems my name has made it to the top of the list. I guess I need to have some people out for dinner in an attempt to clear enough space in the deep freeze for roughly 220# of meat! Sign up below? I'm excited though, it should work out to just around $2.50/lb for local, grass fed beef, cut and wrapped to order. How cool is that? It should save me a small fortune, really.
I also am heading out next week, I think, to pick berries. I'll dry and jam most of it. Probably won't freeze a whole lot. LOL And, I'm intending to spend some time preserving veggies this year. I want to can green beans, salsa, lots of pickles, ketchup, and all kinds of dried stuff. I got the dehydrator re-screened, and I'm excited to use it. The kids like dried stuff, it takes up almost no space, and I don't have to watch it like a hawk while it's drying. Perfect.
Oh, and the Hogwarts stuff. So, we were rather surprised. M really didn't catch on the fact that it was pretend. But he was really excited about it. But C felt we needed to tell him, so this morning we did. I told him he still needed to do the work, and he was even more impressed that mom had gone to all this work. But by this afternoon, when I finally got him to sit down and do the first 2 assignments, he threw a fit. Only over the writing one though. So he pitched a fit on the couch about how it was pointless, and boring, and stupid, and not even real. I am proud of myself for keeping my temper. After he was done ranting, he headed over and wrote down one more word combination, cleaned up the mess from planting ginger, and went outside to play. Crazy kid. Or could that be crazy mom too?

Fresh Milk

I'll just begin by saying oops. I forgot to take the camera. I forgot to ask the farm owners if I could talk about them. This will be general until next time.

So, last time we were at M's dr appt, I mentioned that I couldn't find a place that had goat milk and was accepting new customers. He gave me the number of a place just a few miles away. I called and, yes, I could go and pick up fresh milk that very day. Hooray!!
So we drove out to get our yummy fresh milk. The people were so nice and friendly--as people who produce food lovingly for others tend to be. And, they let the boys come into the barn and meet the goats, chickens and cats. What a fun afternoon!
Being late spring/heading into summer, the kids are old enough to start weaning. They were very friendly and playful. The mama goats were also very friendly. The kids (mine) spent a lot of time getting to know the goats, and the people who work so hard to raise them in a humane and respectful way. They even offered to let M help milk if we get there at the right time sometime. Wow. Talk about transparency in your food supply!
This farm is not certified organic. It's better. I don't need to have a certification when I can go to the farm, see what the animals are fed, see how they are treated, where they live and see how the milk is collected.
When we got home, we sampled the milk. I had heard that goat milk when fresh is just as good as cow milk. I totally thought people were joking. All the milk, cheese and yogurt I've tasted tasts goaty. Not this. It is so yummy!
I am sooooooooooo happy we have a source now for fresh, real goat milk.

Backlog

I have gotten so very far behind on the blog. Apologies. I shall try to update you on our happenings.

First, Father's Day. The Primary (children's organization at church) had this great idea of making ties for the dads. The kids glued and glittered themselves silly a few Sundays before Dad's day. They even decorated some old ties! Dutifully, they kept the secret. On Father's day, a few of their teachers handed out ziploc bags with ties inside to each dad. They even had lots of extras so some special men at church didn't get left out. The men were asked to change out the tie they put on that morning for the new improved one. Here is C wearing his creation. You can't see too well from the picture, but it has lots of sequins, rhinestones and pom poms. Buttons too I believe. Whaddya think?

Thanks to fuel prices, we are joining hoardes of fellow Americans in selling our pickup. It was nice to have (Thanks PaR!!), but it just doesn't make sense anymore to have 3 vehicles. Especially when one of them would cost over $100 to fill up. So. if you know of someone who needs a pickup in pretty good shape for a good price, let me know!


Baby news. My things go fast. First off, wherever we go, the first thing we hear is some derivative of "Look at that Hair!!" E has great 'fro and he wears it well. But what is under there? Cute eh?
So, the skills are blooming. Last post was about E trying to learn to stand. Here he is giving his adorable wave. He's got the wrist thing down! And really, would you even want to follow through on a goodbye to that face? Only the stoniest of hearts would I tell you.


Wednesday, I heard a noise upstairs and figured G was playing in the upstairs hall. I called out to see what he was into. He replied, but his voice came from the living room. Hmmm. I called to M. His voice also came from the living room. Double Hmmm. I run upstairs. There is E, all the way at the top, extremely proud of his accomplishment. I was cautious because I didn't want him to lunge toward me (more on that in a minute). but he calmly turned around and started climbing down the stairs. Wow. Seems all the time playing on the floor pillow has taught him how to get down off a ledge. Phew. I still put up the gate.

When M was learning to walk, he was very cautious. He spent months holding anyone's fingers while he walked around. He didn't actually let go and walk until 15 months. When he did, it was a pretty good walk and he rarely if ever fell down. He is still a very cautious child.
When G was learning to walk, he practiced standing and pulling up. He cruised. He cautiously let go and walked. He took little trips, falling gently. He is still amazingly good at risk assesment. Some people look at him and think he is a daredevil. Not so. He is very talented physically, and very good at deciding how much damage he is willing to sustain.
E is now in the learning to walk stage. I told my mom I think he has decided walking is for chumps and he'd rather fly. He has been practicing letting go and falling back down on the pillow. He pulls up and cruises. When he decides he doesn't want to cruise there, he turns away from his support, spreads his arms out and lunges. Really, just like a giant belly flop. He flies onto the floor and starts his funky crawl. I don't know how he doesn't hurt himself. I think he is going to be one of those kids who dives into things head first.

I will post more later. Currently I need to help a very obnoxious 9 year old. He didn't want to unload the dishwasher this morning. I am a cruel and unfair mom. I haven't been fair since the time I was born (direct quote from 9yo). So he pulled the drawer face off one of my cabinets. Yeah, no shopping trip for me today. We'll be staying home doing chores out the wazzoo to work off the drawer. Oh Joy! Maybe I should list him with the truck. Twofer.

My new washing machine

10 years ago, when we found out we were expecting M, we figured a washing machine would make like a whole lot easier. Given our student budget, I think we did very well in our Sears machine. It was tiny, but it served three people very well and survived several moves.
A few days before leaving for Idaho though, it started screaming at me. Literally. You could hear it through the whole house. I called the repair guy and he guessed at the problem over the phone and said it would be in the neighborhood of $150 to fix. Much cheaper than a new machine so I almost said yes. But after talking to C, we agreed that we had gotten our money out of the old one, and it was time to upgrade to something bigger.
We did some online research, I talked to my mom who recently bought a new machine, and we did some legwork in Boise. I decided on the GE Profile based on the recommendations of the salesguy at Jim's. The great thing is, that when we got home, I got a great deal.
I called a few places around the area, trying to stick with non-box places, but I did call Sears too, just for a reference. Walt's in Sherwood gave me the best deal. They normally carry the washer for $549, but had it on clearance for $499. Jim's quoted me $548 for a contractor price. To sweeten the deal, delivery and hauling of the old machine is only $50. And get this, when I asked when it would be delivered, the woman asked if between 1 & 4 would be okay. Today?? Yup, same day. So I had my new machine up and running by 3:30 that day. Good thing too! I had 4 big Rubbermaid roughtotes in the living room brimming with laundry. All that? 5 loads. Wahooo! I'm in love. And it's sooo quiet. Due to the extended spin cycle, the dryer gets done at just about the same time too.
Now for the real experiment---
M has decided that unloading the dishwasher is horrible and boring. Well, he decided that a loooong time ago, but I digress. I made up a list of the chores that have to be done. He picked laundry. No joke. We'll see how long it lasts. He did his and G's laundry yesterday. I don't think I really want him to do mine and his dad's. I can see that being a bit of a disaster. He of course refuses to have anything to do with washing diapers. Wimp.

Everytime I turn around...

He's doing this:
E has learned to pull himself up and is full of pride for his new skill. What a whirlwind he's been. He learned to crawl while my mom was visiting in late March, he cut his first tooth almost a month ago now, and now he's upright. He was trying to figure out that whole furniture cruising thing last night. Egads.
Yesterday morning, when C came downstairs, I heard a very distinct "Da!" from E. He has babbled dada in the past, but this time he seemed to connect the sound with the object. My tiny guy is growing up. *sniff* And here Lanna thought she was going to meet my baby.

In other news...

They do know how to get along:
M and G share a loft bed with M on the top. Over M's bed is a large canopy. Sometimes, when he is feeling particularly generous, he allows G to enter his domain. They often cover the whole thing with blankets and set up flashlights. In this picture, they've hauled up a fair sampling of the kid bookshelves and settled in. Cute, no?

The funny things they say

We were planting the garden last week and M was helping GramRe with the lettuce bed. She had him mix the seeds with sand so they could evenly broadcast over the area. M refused to touch the seeds. When asked why, he responded, "because they'll stick under my fingernails and grow there!"
Fair enough. I mean, really, who wants lettuce growing from his fingers?

On Sunday, we went for a walk with GramRe and Aunt J. G was holding J's hand when they came to a street. "Look for cars. Do you see any coming?"
"Nope!" Says G. He looked right at his shoes and didn't see a single car! Obviously it was safe.

And I do think G may be a bit of a masochist. This morning, M kept losing his temper with G. Totally freak out lose the temper-ish. So I told him that one more outburst and he'd have to go elsewhere to cool off (his room). So, not 20 minutes later, G eggs M on, M lashes out and grabs G, throwing him down in a rage. I grab M by the arm and guide him to the stairs, where he proceeds to throw a huge fit. G is sobbing about M hurting him.
10 minutes later, G is crying again because he can't play with his brother. What, being hit 4 times in one day isn't enough?

Monday, when I took GramRe to the airport, we stopped at IKEA. Among our purchases were 2 laundry hampers for the boys' room. So far they've been sharing a hamper that was falling apart. So I told them how they would be responsible for bringing their own hamper downstairs to the laundry room when it's full. Every day since, G has dutifully brought his hamper downstairs and dumped the contents on the floor of my laundry room. "It's full!" he proclaims of the single outfit inside. I guess at least it's getting emptied.

GramRe is here helping out and the boys are loving it. Here they are getting ready to watch some Wallace and Gromit. Fun stuff!Some pictures of my yard and garden.
Here is my serviceberry. I really hope it produces this year.
Here is the garden wildflower bed ready to go--thanks to GramRe and M!
Look what we found in the yard! A cute bebe!
One finished shirt. Remember my crazy sew-for-all-the-kids idea? G seems to like it. I have the skirt done and all the shirts at least cut out. I still need to start the boys pants. I don't think I'll get the jacket and button front shirts done. I'm okay with that.

Kid pics

My biggest little man. Wow, is he ever growing up! M is getting pretty good about helping out around the house--with a bit of coaxing. I think we've discussed this before?

I can see that mental shift starting to occur where he is moving from being a little child to a tween. It's a fun thing to watch--sometimes.

Everyone loves baby feet. Even the baby! Look at that flexibility!

My little photographer. He actually totally filled the memory card on the old camera. That's 3oo pictures folks. Some of them are even pretty good. I'll have to sort through them and post a couple if I get time.

My mom made matching outfits for the boys. They wouldn't wear the pants this day-except G, but the shirts are cute anyway. I'm going to try again for a complete outfit picture, Mom. And, M--see my laundry chair? I told ya!

The report is done!

M giving his report at Village Home. It got done, miraculously, by noon the day before he had to give it. He wrote (most) of it himself. This kid does love birds of prey. Well animals of almost any kind really. Text below!

California Condors

California Condors look like giant vultures. They have big pouches under their beaks. On the underside, they have a white stripe at the front of their wings. They have a red blotch on their breast. Then on the tail feathers, there is a gray patch that looks like antelope prongs. The rest of their body is black. A condor's feet and head are bald. This keep disease away. Condors eat carrion, or dead meat. Often the meat is already rotting or filled with maggots. If their head was covered in feathers, it would be covered in bacteria and maggots. With a bald head, a condor can fly in the sun and the ultraviolet rays will kill any bacteria.

A California Condor can weigh up to 30 pounds. It has a wingspan up to 9.5 feet, or almost 3 meters and can be 4 feet tall. That's one big bird! A condor has a hooked beak like other birds of prey. It's head looks like most other vultures. You can see the ear hole on the side of it's head. Condors can live up to 50 years, which is a long time for a bird. Adult condors' only real predator is humans. Condors are so big that they don't flap their wings much. They flap to take off from the ground, but then just soar. They can soar at 55 miles per hour and reach heights up to 15,000 feet. They like to perch up high so it's easier to take off. But they have to perch on dead stumps and cliffs—they are too heavy for tree branches!

Condors nest on cliffs. They make rocky nest in the cliffs, and the sad thing is they only lay one egg per mating season. Or 1 egg per year. Unless the egg is taken away, then the pair will mate again and make another egg. They can make up to 3 eggs a year if you do this. This is one way conservationists are helping condors. If conservationists did not take the eggs, there would only be one egg every 2 years.

Condors used to live all over the Southwest. Now they only live in Southern California, the Grand Canyon, and Baja California. California Condors almost went extinct. The last wild Condor was put in captivity in 1987 so they could be bred. The number of condors in the wild is growing. There are now 300 condors living, 155 condors in the wild.

Threats to the condor include, habitat destruction, DDT, and lead poisoning. DDT use has been banned, so this is no longer a major threat. But lead poisoning is still a serious threat. Hunters who use lead shot leave animals entrails in the wild. Condors eat the entrails and the lead shot. The lead builds up in their system, giving them lead poisoning. Even if it doesn't kill an adult condor, the babies will not make it. Some places are trying to pass laws outlawing lead shot, but the NRA opposes this.

Four main places are working on breeding condors. They are the San Diego Zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Boise Center for Birds of Prey, and the Oregon Zoo.

What can kids do to help the condors? We can tell people all about condors and what cool birds they are. If you know a hunter, you can tell them about the dangers of lead shot and ask them to use non toxic bullets. Also remember to clean up your trash. Condors like shiny things and take them back to the nest for their young. This is because bones are good for baby condors. Glass, cans, pop tops and other trash isn't. Littering hurts all animals.

I really like California Condors. They are amazing birds. I hope that people can save them so we can see them flying in the wild forever.

http://www.oregonzoo.org/VideoArchive/CondorAssistHatch.htm

Today was den meeting for Cub Scouts. The boys had made tin can ovens in their last meeting and today they cooked hot dogs on them. Fire, food, boys, FUN!

E's toy from Lilbees came the other day. He loves it. Thanks, Brightonwoman!

This is the face that greets me when I walk into the room. Awwwww. He is very social and like most people. He'll even generally let people hold him and such. But I love the way he smiles at me.

Look at Me!

M on the playground by our house. Everyone is so glad to have some sunshine at last. The kids like to ride bikes and scooters down to the end of the block and go play. I am thankful that the benches and garbage cans are installed and ready to go. Sitting on the concrete nursing a baby was no picnic. M really wants to host a parkday with our friends once a week here.

E sitting up! Of course, he doesn't stay up like this for long. Eventually he has to make contact with the toes. He still loves his toes most of all. See, all the other toys have a tendency to disappear down to the floor or just out of reach. Not toes. Toes are good little toys and stay right where you want them. What's more is you never have to wait for mom to figure out exactly what toy you want. And even if you do stray and play with another toy, the toes are always there, faithful and true. And they are so gosh darn cute--even mom can't resist playing with them and kissing them!

pictures at last

Momma and the oldest. Also a reference picture of his face for later. This was before the peanut incident. I look a little odd because I'm trying not to drop the camera while G bounces around like the little electron he has been named after.
My three boys. The joy of my life, the cause of all the insanity and deafness. Ain't they cute? Ignore the state of their room. They're in the process of stalling the cleanup process. Showing mom how cute you are sometimes buys you a few minutes. So does guilt tripping her about how long it's been since she last took your picture.

Sleepy, stuffy baby. He's all better now--just stuffy for a few days. But you can see how all this menu planning and recipe re-writing has just worn him out. Me too.

A week's menu--rotation style

So, the rotation diet is underway since Monday. Below is the week menu I have come up with so far. I need to now sit down and plan out farther so I can make a reasonable grocery list. It is going alright so far. I'm way to stressed about it. But now that I have one week planned out, and 2 days having gone off alright, I'm feeling a bit better about the planning aspect.
I found out that the waiting list for a side of grass fed beef is over 2 months--same for pork. But it is only $2.30/# hanging weight. Not sure exactly what that will translate to dressed weight, but it will still be far better than the $15+/# I'm paying currently for grass-fed beef.
Then I called a woman here in town who gets free-range chickens from couple who raises them south of here. I got three 6# chickens at $2/# and ordered 7 more. They should be here next month.
But I'm still a bit worried about what this whole food thing is going to cost. Not to mention visits to the nutritional therapist, and a nutritionist (an appt I still need to make so I can get these menus more balanced), plus any supplements the therapists recommends. And then of course there is the sheer amount of time I spend in the kitchen and making menus and finding recipes and making recipes and shopping lists.
Here's the menu this week:

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Dinner	Tomorrows Prep
Monday	Teff Muffins Chicken Strips Smoothie	Hot dogs Sweet potato chips leftover muffins	lunch stuff	Teff Flatbread Chicken and veggies	pack amap make muffins thaw pot roast make beef patties
Tuesday	pot roast leftovers with shredded squash & apples smoothie	beef patties millet spoon bread relish peaches	fruit rollups chips leftover bread	beef stew	thaw bacon?
Wednesday	amaranth pancakes bacon smoothies	G-noodles M&M-toasted amaranth with avocado dressing	fruit	amaranth tortillas pulled pork avocados	muffin mix
Thursday	quinoa muffins smoothies	salmon salad oranges veggie soup with friends	quinoa granola	quinoa/veggie soup	pancake mix
Friday	sorghum pancakes smoothies	hot dogs rolled in pancakes	sorghum cookies	pizza	pancake mix thaw beef patties
Saturday	teff pancakes smoothies	beef patties carrot & celery sticks leftover beef stew from freezer	apple sauce teff cookies	meatballs made with leftover teff flatbread from Mon veggies in palm oil and nut. yeast
Sunday	millet scones bacon	leftover pulled pork from freezer	apples and oranges after church	ham and millet balls carrot and raisin slaw

We learned more about M's peanut allergy yesterday. He had a reaction to peanuts in the air. His class made those peanut butter bird feeders that you make a shape and press bird seed into. His friend came out and asked if M could be around peanuts. My fault--I assumed she meant she wanted to eat a pb&j around him. I should have said no, but told her if she washed her hands and was careful, it should be alright. I never imagined the teacher--who knew he was peanut allergic--would have a mass peanut butter craft in the classroom! She brought gloves and thought that would be enough. Yikes. He knew not to even get near the craft or the kids doing it. He said in the far corner of the room. But that peanut smell was strong. And enough.
His face broke out in hives and another parent in the room noticed, thank goodness. I made a frantic trip to the store (too many red lights) to get Benadryl. He is okay--still a rash on his face and he's a bit scratchy. Thank goodness it wasn't a full blown reaction.
I've learned to be more careful. I had admittedly gotten too complacent. Letting people be around him with nuts. Not packing the epi-pen or benadryl. But now I know. Hopefully, I won't get relaxed again. And some other parents with food allergic kids and I are going to help write a food allergy policy for Village Home. Too many people think food allergies mean you have to eat it to have a reaction.

ETA: I have one more column on the right of the table. It's not showing up. Hmm. Anyway, it is a prep for tomorrow column. I'm especially proud of that one!

Ahhh, rice.

So it seems that rice may be something that we have to watch out for. C is right. We need a rotation diet. And some professional help. So I have a call into a nutritional therapist and I'm working out new recipes. (Read--I'm dumping flours into the mixing bowls in ever new and creative ways and waiting to see what comes out of the oven.) By so doing, I've made a few disoveries.
First off, millet flour and tapioca starch biscuits are quite yummy.
Secondly, teff flour makes a delicious pizza crust. I like it better than the rice flour one. Much softer and has a better "mouth feel."
And, sadly, cooking without rice flour is expensive. A 25# bag of rice flour was running me in the neighborhood of $15. The 25# bag of teff flour I just ordered was $37.
I've been reading up on diet options. It seems we already pretty muc follow a Paleo-type diet. Only with only the meat for protein.
Our no-no's currently:

• eggs
• nuts and peanuts
• wheat and gluten (oats, rye, barley, spelt and relatives)
• sesame
• dairy
• corn
• potatoes
• refined sugar
• anything at all artificial (dyes, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives)
  

Our things to rotate--ie, not use every day:

• rice
• soy-I try to just use this as soymilk when I really need it or tofu for Thanksgiving
  
• sorghum
• goats milk
• legumes
• I may need to watch out for tomatoes as they're related to potatoes
  

But there are lots of things I can use:

• I found a good source for local, grass-fed beef if I buy a full side
• all the other grains such as, buckwheat, teff, millet, quinoa, sorghum and amaranth
• hemp seems to be safe
• flax is working out pretty well for baking with
• all other meats except shellfish are fine, and I do have access to lots of local, sustainable meats
• fruits and veggies are fine
• coconut, palm, olive, canola, avocado, grapeseed, and sunflower oils--I do have to work to make sure he gets enough fats
  

Nothing like a little challenge to keep my brain nimble. My hope is I can get M seen by the guy here in town who is so good, get his gut healed and have him be healthy finally. Wouldn't that be nice? I really don't want to have to send a really sick kid off to college who can only eat 4-5 things. I've got about 9 years.

My challenge--and I seem to have accepted it...

We are eliminating rice from M's diet for a few days to see what happens to his eczema. It has gotten really bad again--especially on his face. It has been hanging around since early Dec and only gets better if we keep him drugged up on Benadryl. But Benadryl has other chemicals in it that are nasty. As well as the fact that it only masks the symptoms and does nothing to actually help the eczema. So, after talking to M about it, we have cut out goat and sheep milk and rice. Rice of course, is the toughest. But it also makes sense. He eats rice at every meal. When you cut out wheat and other gluten grains, corn, potato, reduce soy, as well as his other allergens like nuts, peanuts, dairy, eggs, and sesame, well, it leaves you kinda limited. And rice is cheap. Dirt cheap. My food bill is high enough with all the specialty cooking.
Yesterday was the beginning of our trial. He's been eating applesauce a lot. Hot dogs for lunch. Salsa chicken for dinner. Millet cereal for breakfast yesterday. Oh, and ground pork for a snack. We made the decision to do this night before last, so I haven't taken the time to really plan this out. It's been sorta-go through the house and see what we've got. This morning I'm playing around with rice-free pancakes. So far-so good. M declared them edible.
I really, really hope this does nothing. I know that sounds bad on the surface. But I really, really hope it's not rice causing his problems. I think I'll spend some time today checking out the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (and picking your brain, Caitlin!). I may also make an appt on Monday for him to see the nutritional healer here in town. He's really good and I think he could really help M.
We are also keeping G off the goat milk. I kind of thought the first time I gave him some that he didn't do very well on it. But that was a year ago or so. He started eating it again just recently. He seemed to be doing okay, so I let him. Then I bought this really yummy raw milk cheddar from Whole Foods. The kids loved it and G was totally hooked. After that, he was asking for cheese all the time. Most recently, he sat down at the table with a log of chevre and a spoon. It was cute--but his potty is unbearable. So, out with the goat. It's just too much for his system.
What is S learning from all this? That she needs to keep her kids from overdoing stuff. Something she already knew, but has a hard time putting into practice apparently.

The big 100

I just realized as I went to post this that I had 99 posts. Already?? I must talk too much. So here's the little celebration I deserve-- <3
Now, I wanted to title this "I'm one of those People." Y'know? The kind that is obsessive about puzzles? I cannot have jigsaws in the house. I can't have them because I will not leave them alone until they are done. I won't eat, sleep or pee. And I can only imagine how my children would suffer if I can't meet my OWN basic needs. So, I didn't think very clearly when I started this. And why should I? I had never done chart work before. I had only done very simple lace. I thought it would just be a fun way to expand my knitting skills. That and my niece would get a nifty cardigan out of the bargain. So I bought some fun yarn and waited until my other projects were done to start it. Work commenced directly after Christmas. Wowsa. This was much more complicated than I realized. At first I considered chucking the idea of this sweater and making something more simple. But something made me continue. As I got the hang of reading the chart and the feel of the pattern, it got a smidge easier. It's not easy, it's still quite a challenge. But I can't stop. I have to keep picking this thing up. I prefer to knit it over peeing. My water intake has suffered. E gets nursed a lot more. I'm working on L's birthday present too--which is a blast. But I keep picking up the sweater. And it suddenly clicked why. My brain sees it as a puzzle. Oh dear. I guess this means it will be a finished object. Here is the progress so far:


For Christmas from my husband, I got some great bowls--huge, medium and small stainless-- and the shoe bench I wanted. But it needed to be assembled. Since D is fabulously wonderful, she came over and did it for us. Here is D with the boys sitting atop the finished product. I hope this helps with the shoe disaster.



I had to include this because it is just cute. I made chocolate cake and gave the bowl and beater to the boys. I told them to share, not really expecting that to happen. It did!! They did very well and cleaned it right up. The cake was yummy too.

Chocolate Cake with strawberry yum:
Cream together 1/2 C butter with 1 1/3 C sugar
Sift together:
1 1/2 c brown rice flour
1 C tapioca starch
1/2 C arrowroot or cornstarch
1/3 C sorghum flour
1/2 C cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
3 tsp baking powder or 1 tsp baking soda and 2 tsp cream of tartar

Add to creamed sugar alternating with 2 C water. Pour 1/2 the batter in an angel food or tube pan. Spoon strawberry jam along middle of batter. Pour remaining batter in. Bake at 350 for35 minutes or until a straw comes out clean.
For instand gratification, I microwave it in an angel food pan on 70% pwr for 10-12 minutes.