Two Boys and The Dog

Where We've Been

2011-12-10T11:31:00.000-05:00

The last few months we have spent adjusting to additional food allergies. Now it seems T and myself are in the catagory of "eating funny" : )

T = dairy allergy. Which means switching to almond milk as I am leary about soy and we don't care for the taste of rice. And seeing as we are making the switch as a family it was important we all like the taste. Cheese was another problem, is another problem actually. We are trying goat cheese, but so far only T cares for it. Am going to try a few other non-dairy cheese, but its hard. Butter. We are still okay with butter as long as its baked ie cookies. But for everything else its margarine - which I am not thrilled about, still looking for some alternatives. Thankfully he only ever uses butter for grilled cheese sandwiches, so its not like he is using alot of margarine. We carry lactaid for when out, and do well, but only if we keep the rest of the diet clean. This is helpful for when we do pizza, although

thats not often anymore so not as big of a problem as it would have been.

Me = gluten intolerance. Oh yes. Of all things to not be able to handle. Its in just about everything! This is one of the reason we no longer have our weekly pizza night. Of all the things I have had to give up pizza has been the hardest. Sure I've tried some alternative crusts, and they are good. But its just not the same. It has been very helpful with J though. He has been struggling lately with all the food he can't eat, very whiny about it. Now I show him all the food I can't eat, and compare it to the food he can eat, and he has perked up. Although he does feel sorry for me now!

But like J, and T - I have to agree it feels good to feel good. T and I are now enoying life stomach pain free, which is really nice. And J feels less awkward being the only odd eater in the house.

~~~
Have been seriously decluttering the house of all the things it seems to collect and multiply.

Hubs built organizers for the boys closets and we got rid of three dressers. We also gave away a good bit of clothes. The boys just have so much of things they don't wear. This doesn't mean we have lot of clothes. They just have favorites and stick with those. They will actually wait for the laundry to finish to put them back on. And seeing as my laundry never backs up why keep it?

So now their rooms are clean. And have stayed cleaned for the most part these last few weeks. Yay!

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We have been doing school at a fairly regular pattern now. I am really enjoying our new curriculum. At first I was bit worried about the switch, but now I am so glad we moved on. This is a good fit for us. Our days are moving to longer ones as we incorporate more work.

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We've done a few hikes along the way. Enjoying the outdoors. The peacefulness of nature........err.....as peaceful as it can be with two boys acting like wild banshees!

And that about catches you up. So really, we have just been caught up in life. And I have chosen to enjoy life more, and worry less about blogging it right now.

And of course, we have been working on our Christmas photo!

Do Not Worry

2011-10-21T18:39:00.000-04:00

My devotions this morning were in Matthew. I was telling my mom earlier that I find doing the small sections that are assigned in MFW have a greater impact on me then trying to read a whole chapter. Its almost like I can digest it and really think about just a few verses. I felt guilty at one point for not having any "deeper" more "spiritual" devotions. But God allows things for a reason, and I feel like this is what He is allowing for this season of my life.

Back to this morning: Matthew 6:25-34 - The theme: Do Not Worry.

As a great worrier, this was very eye opening. Sure I have read it before. Heard sermons on it before. But this time it really hit me. God gave me a sense of peace as I digested these few lines.

If God watches over the birds of the field, surely He watches over me.

And the grass of the field He clothes. Where is my faith?

I have spent too much time lately worried over things that I don't have any control over to begin with. I have been stressed. Miserable. Anxious. Depressed. I over analyze things which then sinks me back into any rut I might have gotten out of. And for what? It hasn't changed anything. All my worrying has changed not one single thing!

All I did was lose time. Precious, valuable time I could have spent enjoying life.

I don't want to live stressed out so much. I don't want to just be happy, I want to be JOYFUL, to feel joyful. I want to have happiness despite circumstances = joy.

My new goal is to worry less. This will be a daily struggle, but in time I would like to be second nature for me. To get through this struggle though I will have to cling to those verses. Use them as a lifeline when I feel hopeless.

For today only. Tomorrow hasn't come yet.

Everyone Struggles

2011-10-18T18:15:00.000-04:00

but for some unknown reason, few of us are willing to admit it.

The last few days here have been a struggle. A struggle with life, a struggle with faith, and a big struggle with Trust.

J has once again been put on medication for an infection. Although this round its from a scrape that isn't healing on his arm. Last time was the bug bites (mosquito) that weren't healing and got infected. I am worn down. I don't understand why out of the blue the last two months have been so trying for him. So we have bumped up his immune system with Vit. C, started daily vitamins, and he is also taking acidophiles, on top of his antibiotic. We are also looking at possible blood work and testing to "see" if there might be anything else going on.

And of course, the antibiotic has artificial flavors. Which as of this morning, day 3 of the medicine has fully hit his system. He isn't just "off the wall" the poor thing is "off his rocker" too!!

I question our decision to let medications slide when there is a need for it when days like these happen. I wonder at times if we should visit a compounding pharmacist, but the insurance doesn't cover one, and meds get pricey. I worry that others will judge. But it will pass. It usually does.

Then there is the whole trusting God and having faith that He knows what He is doing. Yes, yes of course I know He knows what He is doing, but its times like these that I really struggle. Am I being called to walk another road?

God gives me too much credit on what He thinks I can handle. I would seriously never give myself this much to juggle. E. V. E. R. I don't see myself that strong.

I am tired. I want to have "less" of this and more of "normal". When this passes though am glad that our life isn't "normal". Normal after this is boring. Its dull. There is no ride to enjoy.

I am not sure why I walk this road. But I do. I am not sure why God has allowed this to happen, but I am thankful that He allowed the circumstances to happen that helped us find out that something wasn't quite right, otherwise we might not have found those swollen lymph nodes. I am not sure if God is going to ask me to walk a tougher path then the one I am already on, but I will trust that He knows what He is doing. I will trust that regardless of what He sends, He will also send the grace that is needed to go on. Even if its just inching forward as I struggle along, pulling myself down this path. He knows. He cares. And He loves, even when I struggle.

And I am going to admit, that I am struggling right now. I am discouraged. I feel as though I am failing as parent (who doesn't though?). And I would rather just hide in my shell and pretend that days like these don't happen. But they do.

MFW: ECC: Week 5 - Science

2011-10-11T13:45:00.000-04:00

Transpiration - the process of water being released from the leaves of plants.

In one of the science books we are reading, we touched briefly on transpiration. Although not scheduled in ECC, the book suggested a small experiment to show the process.

Here are our leaves a few minutes afer putting in our bags.

Here are our leaves after a while - I think the book called for an hour, but I think ours went a little longer as I forget to check on them!

The Little Things

2011-10-07T20:22:00.001-04:00

My nephew....who is a little under two weeks old.

It is always such a privilege to be asked to capture these special moments.

Another Trip to the Creek

2011-09-26T09:14:00.000-04:00

oh thats right, there aren't any other creek photos on here, so this is like The First One!!!

The water was just a little rough but "don't worry mom, I brought my rope so I'm okay!"

My child who never ventured out past his shoes!

Baby Girl and her *"Ruff Ruff".

Ahh, just another relaxing day at the creek. Life as we love it.

*"ruff ruff" is my obligatory animal photo from the day. sorry we didn't see anything else!

Just When I Thought I Had It All Figured Out

2011-09-20T08:56:00.000-04:00

there is always reality to keep me grounded.

About two weeks ago, I noticed J was acting a little depressed. Thinking that it was because of the weather I just told myself tomorrow would be better.

Tomorrow rolled around, and it wasn't better. In fact it was probably a little worse.   I did a quick survey of the food we were eating, but nothing was jumping out to me, it was all clean. Again, it was a little rainy and I said tomorrow would be better.

When that rolled around, others began noticing that something just wasn't right with J. He wasn't the bright eyed, full of life, happy boy. At first it was my husband, then it was my SIL, and then it was my mother, and then my teenage brother who all began asking if everything was okay with him. So I said I had no idea what was going on but I knew something was wrong. My spidey senses were kicking in, but darn if I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

After a few more tomorrows rolled around and we still weren't perking up, and instead were becoming more and more down and lifeless I began wondering if perhaps a trip to the doctor was in order. This was a Thursday evening, almost a week after everything started. I told my mom that come Monday if he still wasn't right I was calling the doctor and asking her to perhaps run some tests for mono, anemia, something.   She kindly mentioned that he has a tendency to usually act like this right before he gets sick, but agreed that if it went on much longer he should be seen.

I prayed most of Thursday night that he would either perk back, I would feel a strong sense of confirmation that going to the doctor was right, or I could figure out why he was so depressed.

Friday rolled around, and my child was back in all forms. He was happy, he had bright eyes again, and he just had life to him. I was happy too!

By lunch though, he started to take a dive for the worse again. And I began thinking back through what had been ingested, or used (as we have that problem with dyes and our skin) throughout the morning. And then this little light bulb went on in my head. The only thing he had eaten from the time I noticed he was happy to the time he started to get depressed was his allergy medicine. Allergy medicine he has been taking ever since I noticed he was acting alittle off.

Even though I seemed to recall other moms mentioning that they used this particular brand, hence the reason I bought it, and that it was only a little white chalky pill, I decided to check the ingredients anyway.

Down through the list I read, and then I stopped. FD&C Blue #1. Because I thought it was mentioned as safe, I broke the number #1 rule with Feingold, always double check the label for changes. I was torn between feelings of elation because I figured out what was wrong, and feelings of guilt because what the heck? How could I drop the ball on this? I am so careful.

After a trip to the health food store, and a talk with the owner, and a consultation with my Food Guide, I came home with a safe allergy medicine that is helping. Although we have to take a few doses a day instead of just one. Everything in our house is returning to as it should be.

This whole incident got me thinking though. What would have happened if I took him to the doctor? The blood tests would reveal nothing, and would we have been giving depression meds? Would counselling have been suggested? What ball would have gotten rolling that was totally unnecessary? And then it hit me, how many children are put on other medications because of something as simple as Blue #1 causing depression? or short attention spans? or hyperactivity? or even health problems?

This is just another confirmation that we really are doing the right thing. Even though at times it is trying.  Even though at times we are misunderstood and perhaps ridiculed. Even though there is just no substitute for some foods and we just go without (not happily either). It is worth it.

MFW: ECC - Wk 2 - World Cake

2011-09-13T11:10:00.001-04:00

The best way to learn your countries!

The directions actually call for blue water and green land. I of course am never actually "on the ball" when it comes to anything, and seeing as I couldn't find any approved food coloring to go with our Feingold lifestyle (last minute of course!), we opted for Chocolate land, and regular vanilla icing for water.

I am so proud of the boys. Other then icing cutout cookies they had never tackled anything as complex as icing a cake, let alone countries!

some finger licking may have occured!

We traced the continents onto wax paper, then cut the countries out, outlined the countries, lifted the paper and then filled in as needed. The boys split this up by doing one continent at a time until it was completed.

*Of greater importance for me ; ) this was my first "made from scratch" cake since starting Feingold 3 years ago, and I am very impressed. I didn't use the recipe in the Blue Binder, but a similar one. I also made Buttercream icing from scratch, and will only admit to eating part of the leftover icing, I am not sure who actually ate the rest...........thats what I am saying anyway!

2011-2012 School Year

2011-09-08T09:20:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned our school year has started and we overhauled just about all our curriculum this year.

I just felt it was time for a change. Things that had been working for us perviously were no longer cutting it. So out went Math, and Language Arts. Bible and Spelling. Social Studies and Science. Health went out. Oh yeah, handwriting too.

Now you are probably wondering what actually was left? Well..........lets see...........I kept J's math program. I also kept his reading program and spelling, and um..........thats it.

What we have going on for us now though is more of a Charlotte Mason approach. I believe I made mention of this in those posts that I lost ahem.

To be honest I am probably not even close to what she suggested, but I am trying to apply some of her teachings. I know what I don't want our school to be like, and I know that what we were at the end of last school year wasn't even close. We seemed to have strayed very far from my goal.

This year *knock on wood, has started off a little better then all our previous years. And other then a few hiccups I wonder if perhaps I am doing something wrong, as there is very little of anything but smooth sailing to our school day.

Even when its 8:30 at night and we sit down to finish up our spelling for the day, there aren't really any complaints.

I also am a little more flexible then what I was last year. I feel as though this scheduling allows me to be so. I can changed the days to be as intense or as relaxed as I need them to be, without feeling as though I am falling behing in anything and will have to spend another day catching up on missed work. Let me tell you this is crucial for me because our lives are always unpredictable.

We are using My Fathers World: Exploring Countries and Cultures this year for our "main" curriculum. This will cover Geography, Science, Bible, Vocabulary, and Reading. I also added in all those other subjects you need too ; )

It shall be interesing to see how I feel come the end of the school year, but I have high hopes.

Science Project

2011-09-05T15:40:00.000-04:00

Recently we were given a science kit. Of course it didn't sit around the house very long before we simply had to create something!

Our first slime was:

Thankfully it didn't smell nearly like it sounded!

Seriously is there anything cooler then creating something gross?

I mean other then playing with it of course!

*this was not part of our MFW curriculum

Life.........

2011-09-01T17:48:00.002-04:00

As life would have it, when I put this blog on hiatus in May, I saved all my posts using a program on my computer, so I could just put them back up when I figured out what I wanted to do.

My hardrive crashed - of course!

Which means, that I don't have anything I previously posted about, and am not sure I actually want to go back and try to repost anything. Sad I know.

~

We have started our new school year. This year we are using My Fathers World in place of Sonlight. I needed a change of pace, and wanted to cover some things I knew we were lacking in, so we have started Exploring Countries and Cultures. Hopefully by the end of this school year we will be a little less shaky with our Geography facts. Personally I am excited to learn right along with the boys.

Temporary Hiatus

2011-05-30T07:22:00.000-04:00

In an effort to simplify life I have decided to shut this blog down for a while.
I am going to give it until the end of the Summer and then see where I stand on things.