It is 5:30 am and I hear this from Christian, "Mommy, come cover me up!" And he's not asking nicely, he just yells from his bed. I decide not to reply because I am still half asleep. I hear it again, "Mommy, come cover me up!" Do I yell back or go cover him back up and not wake anybody else up??
Yet one more time, "Mommy, come cover me up!" I pull myself out of bed and go in there and tell him to stop yelling! I cover him up and say, "Now go back to sleep! It's still bed time!! "
Not even five minutes later, I heard, "Mommy, I have to go potty!" Again, yelling to me!
I yell back, "Then go. You know where it is!" I am not getting back out of bed!
He comes into my room and goes to the bathroom. He comes out and comes to the side of my bed and very nicely asks, "Can you cover me back up again?"
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(And I never did get back to sleep! Of course, he did!)
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Who else does this??
I saw this article and it made me laugh.
http://www.eatright.org/kids/tip.aspx?id=6442465420
The title is "Say no to cookie dough" and it talks about no matter how good the cookie dough is, there is always a risk of eating raw eggs. It says not to lick the beaters or spoons and wait until the cookies are fully baked before digging in. Yep, I know this and I know there is a risk of getting sick, BUT come on, who else does NOT listen to this warning and eats the cookie dough anyway?? I thought so...:)
Makes me want to go make some now...too bad I can't have cocoa anymore. But who says I just can't make the dough and enjoy that....
PS If you make the cookies with flaxseed instead of eggs, you don't have to worry about getting sick!!!
http://www.eatright.org/kids/tip.aspx?id=6442465420
The title is "Say no to cookie dough" and it talks about no matter how good the cookie dough is, there is always a risk of eating raw eggs. It says not to lick the beaters or spoons and wait until the cookies are fully baked before digging in. Yep, I know this and I know there is a risk of getting sick, BUT come on, who else does NOT listen to this warning and eats the cookie dough anyway?? I thought so...:)
Makes me want to go make some now...too bad I can't have cocoa anymore. But who says I just can't make the dough and enjoy that....
PS If you make the cookies with flaxseed instead of eggs, you don't have to worry about getting sick!!!
Monday, April 28, 2014
Chef Christian!
Lately, I think "Chef Christian" thinks he really knows what he is doing in the kitchen.
Today I was trying to go over math with Megan and Courtney was being relentless about having a snack. She kept picking sugary snacks and I am really trying to cut her back on them. She kept throwing out ideas right in the middle of the lesson and I was getting a little irritated at all the interruptions. Finally she decided that she was going to make an egg in the microwave and she was going to do it herself!
I knew she couldn't do it herself, so I said that she HAD to wait for me to finish with Megan and THEN I could help her, so she did. Finally, I finished math and I started helping Courtney with her egg.
No sooner had I done that, then I turn around and see Christian standing by the stove. He had the little skillet on the burner that we use for scrambled eggs and he was cracking himself an egg into the pan!!! AHHH!
I finished with Courtney, helped Christian, and they all had their eggs!! I think I need to teach a little patience in this house!! Luckily Christian cannot reach to turn the burner on, but I bet he would've done that too!!
And yes, he does have an apron he wears when he helps me cook!! And he loves it!
Today I was trying to go over math with Megan and Courtney was being relentless about having a snack. She kept picking sugary snacks and I am really trying to cut her back on them. She kept throwing out ideas right in the middle of the lesson and I was getting a little irritated at all the interruptions. Finally she decided that she was going to make an egg in the microwave and she was going to do it herself!
I knew she couldn't do it herself, so I said that she HAD to wait for me to finish with Megan and THEN I could help her, so she did. Finally, I finished math and I started helping Courtney with her egg.
No sooner had I done that, then I turn around and see Christian standing by the stove. He had the little skillet on the burner that we use for scrambled eggs and he was cracking himself an egg into the pan!!! AHHH!
I finished with Courtney, helped Christian, and they all had their eggs!! I think I need to teach a little patience in this house!! Luckily Christian cannot reach to turn the burner on, but I bet he would've done that too!!
And yes, he does have an apron he wears when he helps me cook!! And he loves it!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Learning and knowledge!
Awhile ago, Megan and Matt must have watched a scientific movie about learning and knowledge on Netflix. Megan had learned that when you learn something, your neurons connect and make a synapse. When that same piece of information comes up again later, you connect it back to that original connection and keep building on that knowledge. (I believe this is called a priori knowledge, but I could be wrong.)
Today as we were driving down "L" Street, she was telling me about this. I remember studying this concept in my education classes, so I was trying to tell her about it too. I told her that this is how babies learn, they're little brains are connecting neurons right and left when they are young. Then as they grow, they keep building on those original synapses in their brains. But it doesn't just apply to babies. The same thing happens when children and adults learn, they are also building synapses in their brains.
As we were driving, my very curious Christian was looking out the window and asked me what the certain flowers were that were growing in the grass. I said, "Those are dandelions, Christian." He thought a minute and then said, "Like in my Thomas Book!" (He has a seek and find Thomas the train book and one of the things you have to find is a dandelion.)
I looked back and Megan and said, "See how this works. Christian noticed the dandelions in the ditch and then thought back to where he has seen them before, he went to those connected neurons that told him that he had seen them in his Thomas book. Does that makes sense?" She said it did!
I thought that was about perfect timing for that conversation! I can't wait to study the brain in a couple of days with my girls!
Today as we were driving down "L" Street, she was telling me about this. I remember studying this concept in my education classes, so I was trying to tell her about it too. I told her that this is how babies learn, they're little brains are connecting neurons right and left when they are young. Then as they grow, they keep building on those original synapses in their brains. But it doesn't just apply to babies. The same thing happens when children and adults learn, they are also building synapses in their brains.
As we were driving, my very curious Christian was looking out the window and asked me what the certain flowers were that were growing in the grass. I said, "Those are dandelions, Christian." He thought a minute and then said, "Like in my Thomas Book!" (He has a seek and find Thomas the train book and one of the things you have to find is a dandelion.)
I looked back and Megan and said, "See how this works. Christian noticed the dandelions in the ditch and then thought back to where he has seen them before, he went to those connected neurons that told him that he had seen them in his Thomas book. Does that makes sense?" She said it did!
I thought that was about perfect timing for that conversation! I can't wait to study the brain in a couple of days with my girls!
New Unit in Science!
After a nice three day weekend, I am ready to get back to school tomorrow! I am kind of excited because we are starting a new unit in science. We are going to be studying the human body for the next 10 weeks! I have so many books on my desk right now about the human body, so many projects we can do, so many that I know we won't be able to do everything!!
We are going to be working through this book.
It is another Usborne book and of course!
Tomorrow we start with a page talking about cells, the different cell shapes, how cells make up our body parts, how those body parts make our systems!! Wow! All that in one day!
Of course, I could find something hands on to do with each of those topics, but I decided to focus in on cells tomorrow. Last year when we studied the human body, we made jello and then found candy to represent the parts of a cell and it did not work out so well!
This year, we are not going to make an edible cell, but we are going to simplify it some more. I copied off a diagram of a cell off of enchantedlearning.com, along with definitions of each part. After we talk about these, we are going to make our own diagrams, but on construction paper! Here is my goal:
http://sayitrahshay.com/tbccrafters-go-nuclear/
I am going to set the girls up in the play room where all the craft supplies are. I will help them draw out a cell, but then let them figure out themselves what craft supplies they would like to use to represent the different cell parts. Hopefully it will look like the one on the website!
This will probably take awhile!
I would also like to go over the different systems in the body, but I may need to do that on Tuesday! Luckily, we have been spreading science out across two weeks, so I can add another short project if I want on one of those extra days!
Another goal I have with this unit is to have a lifesize model of themselves. I found a roll of white paper today at Michaels that is big enough that we can trace their bodies onto. When this is done, I want to hang it up on their doors and then as we study parts of the body, we can add them onto ourselves. Make sense? I am even going to let Christian participate in this! (I found a couple of books at the homeschooling convention of body parts that I can just copy and then they can glue it on their bodies.)
Like I said, so many projects, not near enough time! And we are only going to get about two or three weeks into our body unit when we are going to break for summer!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
This new diet is HARD!!
Can I just say that I am having a hard time on my new food restrictions! It is almost harder than the first time I did this! I have been thinking about this for about a week and watching what I have been eating, but it is getting very frustrating!
1. My first challenge is to battle my yeast problem. This was a 3 on my allergy test, so that means I need to do everything to stop eating any yeast or anything that feeds yeast. This is easier said than done!!
The problem now is that I need to take out ALL sugar- this does not just include "table sugar", but also anything like sugar or artificial sugar. This does include all high fructose corn syrup (which I had taken out when I was off of corn for awhile), real maple syrup, honey (which showed up on my allergy tests), brown sugar, and all sorts of organic sugar. All I am left with is stevia and that is super-hard to cook with!! And honestly, it doesn't have that "sweet" factor! (good bye cereal, brown sugar on oatmeal, sugar in baked goods, etc.)
Not only do I need to take out sugar, I also have to take out anything with vinegar because it is fermented with yeast. This includes ketchup, mustard, any salad dressing, and any canned beans!! (good bye sloppy joes, salads, canned beans that I use for chili, and baked beans)
Citric Acid is another one I am having trouble with in regards to yeast. It is in many canned tomatoes...good bye chili and spaghetti sauce. :(
Of course, fruit also includes natural sugar, so I have to take that out too. But some fruits have more sugar than others (bananas are really high), so maybe I can eat the low sugar fruits? My other problem is that some fruits are more susceptible to mold than others and I definitely need to avoid those. These would be the ones that might by moldy by the time you get home from the store, such as berries and grapes. And we need to throw all fruit juices into this category! None for me...
I also have to say good-bye to dried fruit, such as raisins and craisins...again, too much sugar and since raisins come from grapes, they are susceptible to mold.
Another problem is sodium nitrate. I'm not sure what is wrong with this, but I am assuming it has something to do with yeast. Good-bye lunch meat, bacon, ham and any other cured meat.
No pop either, which I didn't drink a lot of, but when I did, it was super good! (It is mostly made out of high fructose corn syrup anyway.)
I got the ok to go back on cow's milk (my numbers went down), but unfortunately, I cannot have any cheese. Apparently I shouldn't drink cow's milk either because of the lactose, which is the sugar in the milk.
I still need to keep peanuts out of my diet (moldy) and any baked goods that use baker's yeast. I haven't had any of these for about two years, so this is not a big change.
I need to continue to keep any gluten flours out of my diet. Again, I have not had gluten in about two years, but some how my numbers have gone UP, so I am getting it somewhere. I need to be more diligent about buying "gluten-free" products.
One more item that I will probably need to cut out is my gluten-free crackers I buy at Sam's. I believe these contain soy sauce and I need to cut that out too. I don't have any here at the moment, so I will need to check the ingredients when I go to Sam's next.
2. In addition to all these foods, I should probably cut out the foods that came up as "ones" on my allergy test. These include cashews, cocoa, white fish, lemon, lettuce, green peas, peaches, pears, black pepper, sunflower (kind of oil used for potatoes chips), tomatoes, turkey, asparagus, beef, honey, and oranges.
Now if I didn't think this food diet would work, I totally wouldn't do it!!! What is there left to eat?? Do you see my struggle?? BUT I know it does work! My numbers went down on quite a lot of the foods that I have take out the last two years (chicken, cow's milk, eggs, garlic, and pork). But they also went up on a lot of the foods that I have ate a lot of the last two years!!! Some other ones stayed about the same.
So anyway, any thoughts for supper??? Veggies anyone??
1. My first challenge is to battle my yeast problem. This was a 3 on my allergy test, so that means I need to do everything to stop eating any yeast or anything that feeds yeast. This is easier said than done!!
The problem now is that I need to take out ALL sugar- this does not just include "table sugar", but also anything like sugar or artificial sugar. This does include all high fructose corn syrup (which I had taken out when I was off of corn for awhile), real maple syrup, honey (which showed up on my allergy tests), brown sugar, and all sorts of organic sugar. All I am left with is stevia and that is super-hard to cook with!! And honestly, it doesn't have that "sweet" factor! (good bye cereal, brown sugar on oatmeal, sugar in baked goods, etc.)
Not only do I need to take out sugar, I also have to take out anything with vinegar because it is fermented with yeast. This includes ketchup, mustard, any salad dressing, and any canned beans!! (good bye sloppy joes, salads, canned beans that I use for chili, and baked beans)
Citric Acid is another one I am having trouble with in regards to yeast. It is in many canned tomatoes...good bye chili and spaghetti sauce. :(
Of course, fruit also includes natural sugar, so I have to take that out too. But some fruits have more sugar than others (bananas are really high), so maybe I can eat the low sugar fruits? My other problem is that some fruits are more susceptible to mold than others and I definitely need to avoid those. These would be the ones that might by moldy by the time you get home from the store, such as berries and grapes. And we need to throw all fruit juices into this category! None for me...
I also have to say good-bye to dried fruit, such as raisins and craisins...again, too much sugar and since raisins come from grapes, they are susceptible to mold.
Another problem is sodium nitrate. I'm not sure what is wrong with this, but I am assuming it has something to do with yeast. Good-bye lunch meat, bacon, ham and any other cured meat.
No pop either, which I didn't drink a lot of, but when I did, it was super good! (It is mostly made out of high fructose corn syrup anyway.)
I got the ok to go back on cow's milk (my numbers went down), but unfortunately, I cannot have any cheese. Apparently I shouldn't drink cow's milk either because of the lactose, which is the sugar in the milk.
I still need to keep peanuts out of my diet (moldy) and any baked goods that use baker's yeast. I haven't had any of these for about two years, so this is not a big change.
I need to continue to keep any gluten flours out of my diet. Again, I have not had gluten in about two years, but some how my numbers have gone UP, so I am getting it somewhere. I need to be more diligent about buying "gluten-free" products.
One more item that I will probably need to cut out is my gluten-free crackers I buy at Sam's. I believe these contain soy sauce and I need to cut that out too. I don't have any here at the moment, so I will need to check the ingredients when I go to Sam's next.
2. In addition to all these foods, I should probably cut out the foods that came up as "ones" on my allergy test. These include cashews, cocoa, white fish, lemon, lettuce, green peas, peaches, pears, black pepper, sunflower (kind of oil used for potatoes chips), tomatoes, turkey, asparagus, beef, honey, and oranges.
Now if I didn't think this food diet would work, I totally wouldn't do it!!! What is there left to eat?? Do you see my struggle?? BUT I know it does work! My numbers went down on quite a lot of the foods that I have take out the last two years (chicken, cow's milk, eggs, garlic, and pork). But they also went up on a lot of the foods that I have ate a lot of the last two years!!! Some other ones stayed about the same.
So anyway, any thoughts for supper??? Veggies anyone??
Homeschooling article
I saw this on Facebook today and it peaked my interest. The title of the blog is "Behold: the two absolutely worst arguments against homeschooling." As a homeschooler myself who have seen my kids thrive at home, I was curious as to what these two arguments were, so I went ahead and posted it here on my blog.
http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/04/25/behold-the-two-absolutely-worst-arguments-against-homeschooling/
Matt Walsh, the author of the blog, receives letters and once a week, he answers them. This blog is one of those letters about a parent who is obviously against homeschooling and Matt defends his points for homeschooling. It is very interesting!!
In a nutshell, the first arguments says, "What we need in public schools in parental involvement. When you pull your kids out of school, then there is no parental involvement and then our schools suffer." The author, Matt Walsh, responds that our kids are not there for the sake "of the system." Our kids are important to us and we need to do what is right for our family, not for the sake of the "system".
The second arguments is the everlasting socialization question! The person who wrote the letter wonders how our children will ever learn "proper" socialization if they don't go to public school! He states public schools gives young people a chance to be well-adjusted adults!!! Matt Walsh responds very nicely to this one and pretty much says, "Have you seen the public school kids lately?? Are they becoming well-adjusted adults by learning socialization in our schools??" I love it that my kids can socialize with every age and every grade level. They are not afraid to talk to adults and I can foster this by homeschooling them. No, we aren't perfect, but it is definitely a work in progress.
http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/04/25/behold-the-two-absolutely-worst-arguments-against-homeschooling/
Matt Walsh, the author of the blog, receives letters and once a week, he answers them. This blog is one of those letters about a parent who is obviously against homeschooling and Matt defends his points for homeschooling. It is very interesting!!
In a nutshell, the first arguments says, "What we need in public schools in parental involvement. When you pull your kids out of school, then there is no parental involvement and then our schools suffer." The author, Matt Walsh, responds that our kids are not there for the sake "of the system." Our kids are important to us and we need to do what is right for our family, not for the sake of the "system".
The second arguments is the everlasting socialization question! The person who wrote the letter wonders how our children will ever learn "proper" socialization if they don't go to public school! He states public schools gives young people a chance to be well-adjusted adults!!! Matt Walsh responds very nicely to this one and pretty much says, "Have you seen the public school kids lately?? Are they becoming well-adjusted adults by learning socialization in our schools??" I love it that my kids can socialize with every age and every grade level. They are not afraid to talk to adults and I can foster this by homeschooling them. No, we aren't perfect, but it is definitely a work in progress.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Earth Day
I thought we would talk about Earth Day a little bit tomorrow.
I found this and thought it would be something cute to do. It is a craft plus ideas about how we can save the earth! Two for one bonus!
http://boymamateachermama.com/2013/04/10/teacher-mama-earth-day-activity/
We haven't had a craft in awhile, so why not???
I also found this site- 50 ways to save your planet.
http://www.50waystohelp.com/
This should give us some things to talk about tomorrow too!
I found this and thought it would be something cute to do. It is a craft plus ideas about how we can save the earth! Two for one bonus!
http://boymamateachermama.com/2013/04/10/teacher-mama-earth-day-activity/
We haven't had a craft in awhile, so why not???
I also found this site- 50 ways to save your planet.
http://www.50waystohelp.com/
This should give us some things to talk about tomorrow too!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Easter Afternoon
The day ended with Courtney getting her penguin lego set that she wanted so bad this morning!
After we got home from church this afternoon, she wanted to look online and see if she could find it anywhere. We looked at quite a few different places, but they were all about $4.00 shipping for a $4.00 toy! I told her that we should just call Toys R Us and see if they have it and then if they do, we should just go over there to get it!
My plan worked! I called over there and they did have it, so they put a "hold" sticker on it for Courtney. We ended up going for a bike ride this afternoon over to Toys R Us to get it-that was an adventure in itself! Once we got there, I took her in and they had it at customer service. She paid for it and we headed back out the door! Now I have a happy girl!!!
After we were done at Toys R Us, we crossed Center Street and headed to the McDonalds in the Shopko parking lot for some ice cream! I even got to enjoy a couple of bites!! After we were done there, we headed home just as it was starting to cloud over.
Now, the kids are snuggled up with dad on the couch watching "Superman." We even ate supper in front of the TV tonight. They even said they would rather watch "Superman" tonight and watch "the Amazing Race" tomorrow night!
It is back to school tomorrow, or "torture" as Courtney calls it!!! (I play along with her little game and don't take her too seriously!)
After we got home from church this afternoon, she wanted to look online and see if she could find it anywhere. We looked at quite a few different places, but they were all about $4.00 shipping for a $4.00 toy! I told her that we should just call Toys R Us and see if they have it and then if they do, we should just go over there to get it!
My plan worked! I called over there and they did have it, so they put a "hold" sticker on it for Courtney. We ended up going for a bike ride this afternoon over to Toys R Us to get it-that was an adventure in itself! Once we got there, I took her in and they had it at customer service. She paid for it and we headed back out the door! Now I have a happy girl!!!
After we were done at Toys R Us, we crossed Center Street and headed to the McDonalds in the Shopko parking lot for some ice cream! I even got to enjoy a couple of bites!! After we were done there, we headed home just as it was starting to cloud over.
Now, the kids are snuggled up with dad on the couch watching "Superman." We even ate supper in front of the TV tonight. They even said they would rather watch "Superman" tonight and watch "the Amazing Race" tomorrow night!
It is back to school tomorrow, or "torture" as Courtney calls it!!! (I play along with her little game and don't take her too seriously!)
Easter morning!
Here is my Easter morning so far!
1. Wake up at 8:30 after Christian and Megan come into my room saying they want to go downstairs to see what the Easter bunny has brought them!
2. Pull myself out of bed and go downstairs with them, go to the basement to get Courtney so we could all look together.
3. Christian is THRILLED with his new lego digger and a new Cars search and find book, Megan loves her new tiger lego set and her new history book, but Courtney was not so happy as I thought she would be. Courtney really wanted the penguin lego set, but the Easter bunny couldn't find it anywhere for a decent price (or they were sold out), so she got a lego turtle set. She also got a Mercy Me CD with her favorite song "Shake." I thought she would be happy, but didn't quite have that smile on her face like I was expecting. I kept asking her if she was happy and she kept saying, "yes."
4. A little while later, I was building Christian's lego digger and Courtney out of the blue says with tears in her eyes, "Can you take it back??" I said, "What?" She repeated it again, but now she is crying pretty bad. I asked her what was wrong and she said she REALLY wanted the penguin set, not the turtle one. I gave her a great big hug and said that the penguin one was sold out and we can go get it for her soon. I told her to go ahead and play with her turtle, since she had already opened it, and we could look online for the penguin later! This seemed to make her feel better and she went back and played with her new set.
5. I also thought that since it was Easter, I would make us a nice breakfast. My doctor told me to really wait until after Easter to start eating differently, so I thought I would go all out today! I made bacon, pancakes, and orange juice. All of these will be a no, no tomorrow. :( The bacon cooked great, but I decided to make gluten free banana pancakes, I have made these before and they were a little gooey inside, so I thought I would just cook them long today. Well, after cooking about 20 minutes, they were still gooey inside and I had to throw them all away!!! UGH!!! So instead, I made eggs for three kids, I made myself oatmeal (another no, no tomorrow), and Megan just had bacon.
6. Oh, and I thought we were really going to get to church at 10! HA! Now we have to go at 11:30, which means we should get going here! There will probably be some arguments about clothes this morning and what we are doing on our free afternoon here, but oh well!
Is this how my whole day is going to go??
1. Wake up at 8:30 after Christian and Megan come into my room saying they want to go downstairs to see what the Easter bunny has brought them!
2. Pull myself out of bed and go downstairs with them, go to the basement to get Courtney so we could all look together.
3. Christian is THRILLED with his new lego digger and a new Cars search and find book, Megan loves her new tiger lego set and her new history book, but Courtney was not so happy as I thought she would be. Courtney really wanted the penguin lego set, but the Easter bunny couldn't find it anywhere for a decent price (or they were sold out), so she got a lego turtle set. She also got a Mercy Me CD with her favorite song "Shake." I thought she would be happy, but didn't quite have that smile on her face like I was expecting. I kept asking her if she was happy and she kept saying, "yes."
4. A little while later, I was building Christian's lego digger and Courtney out of the blue says with tears in her eyes, "Can you take it back??" I said, "What?" She repeated it again, but now she is crying pretty bad. I asked her what was wrong and she said she REALLY wanted the penguin set, not the turtle one. I gave her a great big hug and said that the penguin one was sold out and we can go get it for her soon. I told her to go ahead and play with her turtle, since she had already opened it, and we could look online for the penguin later! This seemed to make her feel better and she went back and played with her new set.
5. I also thought that since it was Easter, I would make us a nice breakfast. My doctor told me to really wait until after Easter to start eating differently, so I thought I would go all out today! I made bacon, pancakes, and orange juice. All of these will be a no, no tomorrow. :( The bacon cooked great, but I decided to make gluten free banana pancakes, I have made these before and they were a little gooey inside, so I thought I would just cook them long today. Well, after cooking about 20 minutes, they were still gooey inside and I had to throw them all away!!! UGH!!! So instead, I made eggs for three kids, I made myself oatmeal (another no, no tomorrow), and Megan just had bacon.
6. Oh, and I thought we were really going to get to church at 10! HA! Now we have to go at 11:30, which means we should get going here! There will probably be some arguments about clothes this morning and what we are doing on our free afternoon here, but oh well!
Is this how my whole day is going to go??
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Food Articles :)
1. If you have followed my blog for awhile, you know that I have had some major food intolerances. Before I found out about these intolerances, I was dealing with anxiety and things were not going well in life. When my doctor (holistic, not medical) mentioned she thought food was a factor, my jaw dropped and was actually shocked! How does that work?? How does what you are eating correlate to your brain and how you are feeling?? But once we did a food test and saw what my body was fighting, I tried it and my anxiety went away! Yes, it took awhile, but now two years later, I am SOOOO much better than I was about this time in 2012!!! (And now my gut has healed from those original food intolerances and now I have a new set to deal with. :)
Here is an article that I saw that clearly puts brain and gut together. If you don't want to really read the article, the video does a great job!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/17/psychoneuroimmunology-inflammation.aspx
This actually explains more than a few problems I have had in the last 5 years!
If you want to heal your brain, heal your gut first!!!
2. Here's another article by the same author who states that one way to heal your gut is to eliminate all gluten and dairy from your diet! Easier said than done, right?
http://kellybroganmd.com/article/go-gluten-free-fix-your-brain/
Here is an article that I saw that clearly puts brain and gut together. If you don't want to really read the article, the video does a great job!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/17/psychoneuroimmunology-inflammation.aspx
This actually explains more than a few problems I have had in the last 5 years!
If you want to heal your brain, heal your gut first!!!
2. Here's another article by the same author who states that one way to heal your gut is to eliminate all gluten and dairy from your diet! Easier said than done, right?
http://kellybroganmd.com/article/go-gluten-free-fix-your-brain/
Thursday, April 17, 2014
New Allergy Tests Results!
For awhile now, I have been having some of my old adrenal fatigue symptoms, so I went in and talked to my doctor and decided I should redo my food allergy test. I got the results back yesterday and it was very interesting!! And yes, I found out why my symptoms were coming back!
First for the good news, I can get back on cow's milk, chicken, and eggs!!! Hip hip hooray! My body has healed and my numbers went down! Pretty excited! I can also get back on garlic, but I have been eating that for awhile without any trouble!
Now for the bad new. My yeast number was super high!! This means that I am intolerant to yeast, but the crazy thing is that I have not eaten any "yeast" in about two years. I don't eat any bread and or anything with "yeast" in it, or so I thought! Lo and behold, there is more to yeast than just "yeast." I found out yesterday that fruits, vinegar (ketchup, mustard), soy sauce, citric acid, sugar, etc. all FEED the yeast in my body and since I have been eating all those food items, I am making my yeast worse! So now am I just not off of "yeast" like before, but I need to cut all these other foods out of my diet!! A few of the foods on my test came up just because of this issue, such as mustard and peanuts.
My other bad news was gluten. Again, I have not had any gluten or wheat for almost two years, but yet gluten, wheat, bran, and malt all came up. My doctor was stumped! She said, "You are obviously getting gluten and wheat from somewhere, but where???" I am very strict about not eating gluten or wheat! The only thing we could think of that it is in breakfast cereals. I rotate between rice krispies, rice chex, and oatmeal. I know that rice krispies contains malt and none of them are specifically labeled "gluten-free." I also eat oatmeal that is not "gluten-free", I guess until this time I have not been worried about cross-contamination from the factory. I couldn't think of any place I could be getting it, but apparently I am extra sensitive to gluten, wheat, bran, and malt!!
My doctor also told me to check what I was putting ON my body, such as lotions, shampoo, make up and facial wash. She said these products often contain gluten too!
My other one food item that I cannot have is my chocolate chips made out of cocoa! They appeared on both food lists, so I can't have those anymore. :( But I knew these were bothering me. But on the good side, I can get back on milk, so I can go back to milk chocolate chips!!!
So I need to fix my diet up again! I may need to put a list on my pantry of "what I can eat" and "what I cannot eat."
First for the good news, I can get back on cow's milk, chicken, and eggs!!! Hip hip hooray! My body has healed and my numbers went down! Pretty excited! I can also get back on garlic, but I have been eating that for awhile without any trouble!
Now for the bad new. My yeast number was super high!! This means that I am intolerant to yeast, but the crazy thing is that I have not eaten any "yeast" in about two years. I don't eat any bread and or anything with "yeast" in it, or so I thought! Lo and behold, there is more to yeast than just "yeast." I found out yesterday that fruits, vinegar (ketchup, mustard), soy sauce, citric acid, sugar, etc. all FEED the yeast in my body and since I have been eating all those food items, I am making my yeast worse! So now am I just not off of "yeast" like before, but I need to cut all these other foods out of my diet!! A few of the foods on my test came up just because of this issue, such as mustard and peanuts.
My other bad news was gluten. Again, I have not had any gluten or wheat for almost two years, but yet gluten, wheat, bran, and malt all came up. My doctor was stumped! She said, "You are obviously getting gluten and wheat from somewhere, but where???" I am very strict about not eating gluten or wheat! The only thing we could think of that it is in breakfast cereals. I rotate between rice krispies, rice chex, and oatmeal. I know that rice krispies contains malt and none of them are specifically labeled "gluten-free." I also eat oatmeal that is not "gluten-free", I guess until this time I have not been worried about cross-contamination from the factory. I couldn't think of any place I could be getting it, but apparently I am extra sensitive to gluten, wheat, bran, and malt!!
My doctor also told me to check what I was putting ON my body, such as lotions, shampoo, make up and facial wash. She said these products often contain gluten too!
My other one food item that I cannot have is my chocolate chips made out of cocoa! They appeared on both food lists, so I can't have those anymore. :( But I knew these were bothering me. But on the good side, I can get back on milk, so I can go back to milk chocolate chips!!!
So I need to fix my diet up again! I may need to put a list on my pantry of "what I can eat" and "what I cannot eat."
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Article
This article is about leaky gut, the syndrome that I have been living with for too many years! I am so glad I found a great doctor who diagnosed me and got me back on the healthy track!
http://draxe.com/4-steps-to-heal-leaky-gut-and-autoimmune-disease/
After taking certain foods out of my diet for the last two years, I can definitely tell things are healing!
http://draxe.com/4-steps-to-heal-leaky-gut-and-autoimmune-disease/
After taking certain foods out of my diet for the last two years, I can definitely tell things are healing!
Easter Plans for school
We have been studying Paul's missionary journeys during our Bible time in school. I had it all planned out to be done with this unit by last Friday and then we could start our Easter unit yesterday. There are 8 lessons in that unit, so I thought it would be perfect for this week (leading up to Easter) and next week. I can't usually get 4 Bible lessons in a week, but I thought I would really push it because of the holiday.
HA! Did I really think that would work?? The unit on Paul's journeys are taking a little bit more effort than usual. I don't think my curriculum did a very good job of explaining them and I am going through and making sense of it. Yes, I could just teach it out of the book, but I don't even understand the story they put together! (They took quite a few passages of the Bible and then put them into two or three paragraphs!). I have had to sit down, sort through it all, make extra study sheets, and then present my new ideas in class.
I did the same thing last night and it took me an 1 1/2 hours!! Our next lesson is on Paul's arrest in Jerusalem and his travels to Rome, but it never said why he was arrested!! Isn't that an important thing to know?? So my mission last night was to find this out and it took forever! I felt like I was researching a paper again! I was using about three reference books I had plus the Internet and finally, I just pulled out my Bible and read from the source! I finally understood it then! Ugh!
Not only was Paul arrested, but he had Jews plotting against him and he had to travel to a another city in secret! He was then in jail for two years and went before three different judges and finally made his way to Rome to appeal to Caesar! And no, it wasn't an easy trip to Rome either because of storms and shipwrecks! Once he got to Rome, he continued to sit in house arrest until his trial. Wow! So interesting!
This is probably why our Bible curriculum condensed it into 2-3 paragraphs!!! I made up a study guide for the girls and I am sure it will take us at least 2-3 days to get through! Luckily this is the last lesson in our unit, but now we are not going to have time to do our Easter unit. :( I may just put it away until next year.
But now, I need to find an Easter lesson! I may just find a couple books in the "Ruwe Library" and find a craft to do on Friday. I am disappointed that we are not going to get to our study, but Paul's life is also very fascinating!!
HA! Did I really think that would work?? The unit on Paul's journeys are taking a little bit more effort than usual. I don't think my curriculum did a very good job of explaining them and I am going through and making sense of it. Yes, I could just teach it out of the book, but I don't even understand the story they put together! (They took quite a few passages of the Bible and then put them into two or three paragraphs!). I have had to sit down, sort through it all, make extra study sheets, and then present my new ideas in class.
I did the same thing last night and it took me an 1 1/2 hours!! Our next lesson is on Paul's arrest in Jerusalem and his travels to Rome, but it never said why he was arrested!! Isn't that an important thing to know?? So my mission last night was to find this out and it took forever! I felt like I was researching a paper again! I was using about three reference books I had plus the Internet and finally, I just pulled out my Bible and read from the source! I finally understood it then! Ugh!
Not only was Paul arrested, but he had Jews plotting against him and he had to travel to a another city in secret! He was then in jail for two years and went before three different judges and finally made his way to Rome to appeal to Caesar! And no, it wasn't an easy trip to Rome either because of storms and shipwrecks! Once he got to Rome, he continued to sit in house arrest until his trial. Wow! So interesting!
This is probably why our Bible curriculum condensed it into 2-3 paragraphs!!! I made up a study guide for the girls and I am sure it will take us at least 2-3 days to get through! Luckily this is the last lesson in our unit, but now we are not going to have time to do our Easter unit. :( I may just put it away until next year.
But now, I need to find an Easter lesson! I may just find a couple books in the "Ruwe Library" and find a craft to do on Friday. I am disappointed that we are not going to get to our study, but Paul's life is also very fascinating!!
Monday, April 14, 2014
Monday morning
I think due to our very busy weekend, our children forgot what it was like to focus on school this morning.
Christian forgot how to be quiet during reading time, he also forgot how to "wait until mommy is done" to do something for him. Courtney forgot how to read and Megan didn't really forget anything that has to do with school, but she has been queen of teasing her brother and sister this morning!!
Maybe this afternoon will be better! Wait, let me go break up the latest fight over legos....
Christian forgot how to be quiet during reading time, he also forgot how to "wait until mommy is done" to do something for him. Courtney forgot how to read and Megan didn't really forget anything that has to do with school, but she has been queen of teasing her brother and sister this morning!!
Maybe this afternoon will be better! Wait, let me go break up the latest fight over legos....
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Just Plain Tired!
Have you ever had a weekend where it seemed like you weren't home for more than five minutes before you were off to the next event?? Well, that was this weekend! I feel like I have been running non-stop for the last three days (I am including the field trip to the horse show in this statement.)
It is 9 pm and all I want to do is go to bed!!! I don't want to stay up and plan things out for school, honestly, I am doing as little as I have to do to get things ready for tomorrow. I have a headache on the side of my head by my jaw and I just want it to go away! I am exhausted and know once I crawl into bed, I am not getting out again!
Here's to a new week! (without much of a weekend to recuperate from the last one!)
It is 9 pm and all I want to do is go to bed!!! I don't want to stay up and plan things out for school, honestly, I am doing as little as I have to do to get things ready for tomorrow. I have a headache on the side of my head by my jaw and I just want it to go away! I am exhausted and know once I crawl into bed, I am not getting out again!
Here's to a new week! (without much of a weekend to recuperate from the last one!)
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Field Trip!
Yesterday we did something that we have not done for a long time. We went on a field trip!
We headed down to the International Horse Show! This even has been in Omaha the last four years and I saw that it was coming again, so I planned a field trip!
They had a free horse exposition plus amateur horse jumping competitions every two hours.
We got our school work done in the morning and then we met two other friends there shortly after lunch. Between us 3 moms, we had 11 kids (one mom does daycare, so she had 4 extra!) The kids were all very well behaved!!
We watched the horse jumping competition at 1, went through the exposition from about 1:30-2:30, and then headed back to the arena to watch another horse jumping competition at 3. We were done about 4 and headed home.
It was a such a nice day out with friends!!! I can't believe we haven't' done a field trip in so long, but with dance on Thursday afternoons and Learning Center on Wednesdays morning, I need my other time to get school done. If I plan ahead, like I did this week, then I can get things done and we can go have some fun!
I need to plan another field trip in the near future!!
We headed down to the International Horse Show! This even has been in Omaha the last four years and I saw that it was coming again, so I planned a field trip!
They had a free horse exposition plus amateur horse jumping competitions every two hours.
We got our school work done in the morning and then we met two other friends there shortly after lunch. Between us 3 moms, we had 11 kids (one mom does daycare, so she had 4 extra!) The kids were all very well behaved!!
We watched the horse jumping competition at 1, went through the exposition from about 1:30-2:30, and then headed back to the arena to watch another horse jumping competition at 3. We were done about 4 and headed home.
It was a such a nice day out with friends!!! I can't believe we haven't' done a field trip in so long, but with dance on Thursday afternoons and Learning Center on Wednesdays morning, I need my other time to get school done. If I plan ahead, like I did this week, then I can get things done and we can go have some fun!
I need to plan another field trip in the near future!!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
A few Courtney stories. :)
Courtney definitely keeps us on our toes around here! Here are a few of her latest antics!
1. We were out to eat the other night and looks at Christian and says, "Is it ok that I call you 'Chris?' You can call me 'Courts."
Christian: 'Ok, Courts.'
Courtney: 'Ok, Chris.'
Matt and I stepped in and said that we do not like this little game. We told her that if he wants to be called 'Chris', he can decide that when he is older, but for now, we will call him Christian.
(This was a deal I made with Matt when we were naming him. We both wanted to name him after his grandpa Chris since it was tradition, but I really wanted him to have his own name. We negotiated and the deal was that we could name him after the tradition IF we could name him a version of Chris - our options were "Christopher" or "Christian." You know how that ended. :)
2. Courtney is totally obsessed with these fairy books lately. She has always like them, but lately, we have seen many more of them than usual. Why?? She can read them ALL BY HERSELF!!! She will read at least 2-3 of them a day! The other day she had one open at lunch and we told her at least 3 times to put the book away! I think it is great that she wants to read. Until these books, I never saw her reading for fun! I think it is great! She has at least 20 checked out from the library right now and these are all she checks out when we go there!
I am not quite sure why she likes them so much (probably because she can read them herself), but they are very predictable books. They always have the same characters, same setting, and same general plot. There are always goblins involved and Jack Frost is the head of the goblins. Courtney will also tell you that there are always two problems and the first one never works!
Matt and I do not like reading these books because they are all the same, but we will read them if she asks. They are chapter books for 2nd -3rd grade and appeal to 3rd graders- she thinks it is pretty funny that she is only in 1st grade and reads them! Each chapter is about 9-10 pages long and there are pictures on about every page, so they read pretty quickly!
Courtney especially likes this one, can you guess why??
Last night, she brought me one to read at bedtime and she said, "We are going to read ALL night long, okay mom? When we are done with this one, we are going to get another one and read that one, and when that is done, we'll just keep going, ok??" I replied with, "No, you are going to bed!"
So now instead of telling Megan to put the books away at night, I now I have to tell Courtney to put her books away too!!
3. Last night we went for a bike ride. When we got on a bike ride, Megan and Courtney both ride their own bikes, I ride mine, and Matt pulls Christian in the trailer. We usually head either north or south down the trail.
We were heading back home on the trail when all of the sudden Courtney started screaming at the top of her lungs! We all pulled over and through her screams, she told us there was something in her eye! We pried her eye open and there was a black speck in there! Matt got his water bottle and we tried to rinse it out right there on the trail. It must have stung really bad because her eye was watering all over and getting red. She did not want to open her eye!! Finally she did and I pulled it out! It was either a bug or a piece of dirt, but it stung really bad! She was pretty upset about it!!
We let her recover a little bit and then we kept going. Her shirt was pretty wet because of the water, but by the time we got home, she was dry and fine.
1. We were out to eat the other night and looks at Christian and says, "Is it ok that I call you 'Chris?' You can call me 'Courts."
Christian: 'Ok, Courts.'
Courtney: 'Ok, Chris.'
Matt and I stepped in and said that we do not like this little game. We told her that if he wants to be called 'Chris', he can decide that when he is older, but for now, we will call him Christian.
(This was a deal I made with Matt when we were naming him. We both wanted to name him after his grandpa Chris since it was tradition, but I really wanted him to have his own name. We negotiated and the deal was that we could name him after the tradition IF we could name him a version of Chris - our options were "Christopher" or "Christian." You know how that ended. :)
2. Courtney is totally obsessed with these fairy books lately. She has always like them, but lately, we have seen many more of them than usual. Why?? She can read them ALL BY HERSELF!!! She will read at least 2-3 of them a day! The other day she had one open at lunch and we told her at least 3 times to put the book away! I think it is great that she wants to read. Until these books, I never saw her reading for fun! I think it is great! She has at least 20 checked out from the library right now and these are all she checks out when we go there!
I am not quite sure why she likes them so much (probably because she can read them herself), but they are very predictable books. They always have the same characters, same setting, and same general plot. There are always goblins involved and Jack Frost is the head of the goblins. Courtney will also tell you that there are always two problems and the first one never works!
Matt and I do not like reading these books because they are all the same, but we will read them if she asks. They are chapter books for 2nd -3rd grade and appeal to 3rd graders- she thinks it is pretty funny that she is only in 1st grade and reads them! Each chapter is about 9-10 pages long and there are pictures on about every page, so they read pretty quickly!
Courtney especially likes this one, can you guess why??
Last night, she brought me one to read at bedtime and she said, "We are going to read ALL night long, okay mom? When we are done with this one, we are going to get another one and read that one, and when that is done, we'll just keep going, ok??" I replied with, "No, you are going to bed!"
So now instead of telling Megan to put the books away at night, I now I have to tell Courtney to put her books away too!!
3. Last night we went for a bike ride. When we got on a bike ride, Megan and Courtney both ride their own bikes, I ride mine, and Matt pulls Christian in the trailer. We usually head either north or south down the trail.
We were heading back home on the trail when all of the sudden Courtney started screaming at the top of her lungs! We all pulled over and through her screams, she told us there was something in her eye! We pried her eye open and there was a black speck in there! Matt got his water bottle and we tried to rinse it out right there on the trail. It must have stung really bad because her eye was watering all over and getting red. She did not want to open her eye!! Finally she did and I pulled it out! It was either a bug or a piece of dirt, but it stung really bad! She was pretty upset about it!!
We let her recover a little bit and then we kept going. Her shirt was pretty wet because of the water, but by the time we got home, she was dry and fine.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Big Stuff happened this weekend!
We got some things accomplished during the last two days that we have been waiting at least 6 months to do!
1. Matt FINALLY bought himself a new cell phone!! This means that I got his old one. If you were around me much, you know that my phone fell off our van last May and the entire screen was cracked. I have been using this phone for almost the last year WAITING for Matt to buy himself a new one.
It is very different using a phone without a cracked screen! It's actually nice. :)
2. I got Megan's 10 year picture taken (5 months after her birthday), our family picture taken(18 months after our old one), and a new sibling picture taken (15 months since the last one!) I have been bothering Matt about this since about Christmas and he wasn't too thrilled about it, he said, "As long as I can wear jeans and don't have to get dressed up!" Ok, it's a deal!!!
We got new ones ordered and now I can cross that off my list! They should be back by Easter, so I can hand those out along with our school pictures! (Yes, I know you usually hand out school pictures in the fall, but we didn't get them taken until about December and then didn't get them back until the middle of February. We're a little late with this all this year!!)
The children did not get homework done this weekend nor did they clean their rooms. Oh well!
1. Matt FINALLY bought himself a new cell phone!! This means that I got his old one. If you were around me much, you know that my phone fell off our van last May and the entire screen was cracked. I have been using this phone for almost the last year WAITING for Matt to buy himself a new one.
It is very different using a phone without a cracked screen! It's actually nice. :)
2. I got Megan's 10 year picture taken (5 months after her birthday), our family picture taken(18 months after our old one), and a new sibling picture taken (15 months since the last one!) I have been bothering Matt about this since about Christmas and he wasn't too thrilled about it, he said, "As long as I can wear jeans and don't have to get dressed up!" Ok, it's a deal!!!
We got new ones ordered and now I can cross that off my list! They should be back by Easter, so I can hand those out along with our school pictures! (Yes, I know you usually hand out school pictures in the fall, but we didn't get them taken until about December and then didn't get them back until the middle of February. We're a little late with this all this year!!)
The children did not get homework done this weekend nor did they clean their rooms. Oh well!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Last Pages of our science book!
Tomorrow we are reading the last two pages in our science book- wow! I have learned so much!!
We are going to be studying "deep sea monsters" or the animals that live at the bottom of the ocean! You know, the ones that have built in flashlights or are really creepy looking!
Our first animal is the vampire squid- this animal actually turns itself out!
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqINTD0JTfxsAyIj7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTByZ2N0cmxpBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMg--?p=vampire+squid&vid=ba3b9c8ae6a422b67b2b2143c5779591&l=2%3A46&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608042162329489263%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIWAnliNc6wk&tit=Vampire+Squid+Turns+Itself+%26quot%3BInside+Out%26quot%3B&c=1&sigr=11aqt0cgv&sigt=11h12sobg&age=0&&tt=b
The next animal is the anglerfish.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/anglerfish/
Here's a pretty neat video about them:
The gulper eel is called the ugliest creature in the deep sea!
"World's Wierdest Fish"
http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2011/07/gulper-eel.html
The flashlight fish
http://seapics.com/feature-subject/fish/flashlight-fish-pictures.html
The hatchetfish
http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/hatchetfish.html
This is the end of our book! We have a few review pages, but no new information!
Our next ten weeks are going to be spent on the human body- I won't have to use the Internet near as much to find information or activities because I have many elementary level books on that topic. I already have a few ideas in my head- I think it will be a great topic to study!!!
We are going to be studying "deep sea monsters" or the animals that live at the bottom of the ocean! You know, the ones that have built in flashlights or are really creepy looking!
Our first animal is the vampire squid- this animal actually turns itself out!
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqINTD0JTfxsAyIj7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTByZ2N0cmxpBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMg--?p=vampire+squid&vid=ba3b9c8ae6a422b67b2b2143c5779591&l=2%3A46&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608042162329489263%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIWAnliNc6wk&tit=Vampire+Squid+Turns+Itself+%26quot%3BInside+Out%26quot%3B&c=1&sigr=11aqt0cgv&sigt=11h12sobg&age=0&&tt=b
The next animal is the anglerfish.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/anglerfish/
Here's a pretty neat video about them:
The gulper eel is called the ugliest creature in the deep sea!
"World's Wierdest Fish"
http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2011/07/gulper-eel.html
The flashlight fish
http://seapics.com/feature-subject/fish/flashlight-fish-pictures.html
The hatchetfish
http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/hatchetfish.html
This is the end of our book! We have a few review pages, but no new information!
Our next ten weeks are going to be spent on the human body- I won't have to use the Internet near as much to find information or activities because I have many elementary level books on that topic. I already have a few ideas in my head- I think it will be a great topic to study!!!
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Banana Muffins!
I have found one banana muffin recipe that is a complete success every time I make them! I thought it would be fun to put here the original recipe out of the cookbook and then the one I remade! I made these yesterday and again, they turned out wonderful!
Original recipe:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2-3 ripe bananas
Mix all together, bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
****New recipe, which is gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free (and less sugar!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened coconut oil (or gluten free margarine)
Eggs- I use flaxseed (2 TBS + 6 TBS water, mix and let sit about 5 minutes before adding to mix)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups gluten-free flour *
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking power
1/2 cup rice milk (you could probably use any dairy-free milk)
2-3 ripe bananas
Mix all together, baking at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes!
(I sometimes like to use my "baby muffin" pan for these, then it only needs about 10-15 minutes to cook.)
Comes out perfect every time!!!
* gluten free flour- I combine 1 cup of brown rice flour, 1 cup coconut flour, 1 cup sorghum flour, and 1 cup tapioca starch and mix it together really well. I put the leftover flour in my fridge.
You could also use any combination of gluten free flours, but I like this combination. :) I would suggest that you do not use only rice flour- it is really gritty!
Enjoy!!
Original recipe:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2-3 ripe bananas
Mix all together, bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
****New recipe, which is gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free (and less sugar!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened coconut oil (or gluten free margarine)
Eggs- I use flaxseed (2 TBS + 6 TBS water, mix and let sit about 5 minutes before adding to mix)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups gluten-free flour *
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking power
1/2 cup rice milk (you could probably use any dairy-free milk)
2-3 ripe bananas
Mix all together, baking at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes!
(I sometimes like to use my "baby muffin" pan for these, then it only needs about 10-15 minutes to cook.)
Comes out perfect every time!!!
* gluten free flour- I combine 1 cup of brown rice flour, 1 cup coconut flour, 1 cup sorghum flour, and 1 cup tapioca starch and mix it together really well. I put the leftover flour in my fridge.
You could also use any combination of gluten free flours, but I like this combination. :) I would suggest that you do not use only rice flour- it is really gritty!
Enjoy!!
Friday, April 4, 2014
Making cookies during school!
I always love when one of my girls gets an assignment that they need to tell step-by-step instructions on how to do things. I always read it and do EXACTLY what it says. This usually ends in lots and lots of laughter and my children realizing that you really need to be specific when giving directions!
The other day, Megan had one of these assignments for English and she chose how to make cookies. Her assignment was to write the directions out and then say them orally. When I assigned her this, I told her that I will do exactly what she said!
Yesterday she had the written part done, so I looked at it and then gave her notebook back to her, she now had to tell me step by step how to make cookies.
She told me to get out the mixer, plug it in, put the beater on (which I put on TOP of the mixer), and then she got to the first ingredient- butter. She said, "Get a bowl out of the cupboard" Ok, "Get some butter out of the fridge." I opened up the fridge and took out a box of 4 sticks of butter and 2 other sticks. Her next directions was, "Now throw the butter in the microwave." Ok!! So I threw everything in the microwave! Seriously!!! I don't even think she realized what she said at first until I was laughing so hard that I was crying! She soon figured it out that I had "thrown" the butter into the microwave! But she kept going! She said, "Ok, open up the microwave and take all the butter out except for one stick. Leave one stick in there." (Notice she did not tell me to unwrap it or put it in a bowl.) She was just beginning to say, "Turn the microwave on" when Matt came upstairs....and yes, I was going to turn the microwave on with the butter still in it's wrapping! It's what she told me to do. :)
Matt must have heard the commotion and opened the basement door at that moment and wanted to know what was going on, so I replayed "throwing" the butter into the microwave! He thought it was pretty funny too! By this time, Megan had realized that I needed to take the unwrapped butter out of the microwave, unwrap it, put the butter in a bowl, and THEN put it back in the microwave! She then gave me the right directions and we successfully softened the butter!
Everything else went pretty smoothly. I wouldn't always fill the measuring spoons/ cups up all the way because she didn't say to, but once she realized what I was doing, she corrected herself.
In the end, I made a successful batch of cookies that I cannot even eat! (they have wheat, eggs, and milk chocolate in them!)
This is what makes homeschooling so much fun!!
The other day, Megan had one of these assignments for English and she chose how to make cookies. Her assignment was to write the directions out and then say them orally. When I assigned her this, I told her that I will do exactly what she said!
Yesterday she had the written part done, so I looked at it and then gave her notebook back to her, she now had to tell me step by step how to make cookies.
She told me to get out the mixer, plug it in, put the beater on (which I put on TOP of the mixer), and then she got to the first ingredient- butter. She said, "Get a bowl out of the cupboard" Ok, "Get some butter out of the fridge." I opened up the fridge and took out a box of 4 sticks of butter and 2 other sticks. Her next directions was, "Now throw the butter in the microwave." Ok!! So I threw everything in the microwave! Seriously!!! I don't even think she realized what she said at first until I was laughing so hard that I was crying! She soon figured it out that I had "thrown" the butter into the microwave! But she kept going! She said, "Ok, open up the microwave and take all the butter out except for one stick. Leave one stick in there." (Notice she did not tell me to unwrap it or put it in a bowl.) She was just beginning to say, "Turn the microwave on" when Matt came upstairs....and yes, I was going to turn the microwave on with the butter still in it's wrapping! It's what she told me to do. :)
Matt must have heard the commotion and opened the basement door at that moment and wanted to know what was going on, so I replayed "throwing" the butter into the microwave! He thought it was pretty funny too! By this time, Megan had realized that I needed to take the unwrapped butter out of the microwave, unwrap it, put the butter in a bowl, and THEN put it back in the microwave! She then gave me the right directions and we successfully softened the butter!
Everything else went pretty smoothly. I wouldn't always fill the measuring spoons/ cups up all the way because she didn't say to, but once she realized what I was doing, she corrected herself.
In the end, I made a successful batch of cookies that I cannot even eat! (they have wheat, eggs, and milk chocolate in them!)
This is what makes homeschooling so much fun!!
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Bridges?
Usually I am up at night studying our science lesson for the next day. I didn't even make it to science tonight! I was stuck on history!!
We are in the late 1800's right now in American history and the chapter we are reading tomorrow talks about how bridges brought the world together.
Our book mentions three bridges and important things about them. They are the Eads Bridge in St. Louis and the cassion system, Roebling and the first suspension bridge connecting Canada and the United States near Niagara Falls, and Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, which was the longest suspension bridge at that time.
The cool thing is that we were at each of these places on our trip last fall, but we weren't at any of these bridges!
1. By the pictures I can find on the internet, the Eads Bridge in St. Louis is near the arch, but I can't see it in any of our pictures.
https://stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/city-landmarks/Eads-Bridge.cfm
http://www.asce.org/People-and-Projects/Projects/Landmarks/Eads-Bridge/
http://bridgehunter.com/mo/st-louis-city/eads/
Eads was famous for his work using diving bells.
http://www.oobject.com/9-diving-bells/diving-bell-used-by-brunel/8562/
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/water-sports/diving-bell2.htm
Because of this invention, he invented the "caissons" and this is a concept he used to build the St. Louis Bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caisson_(engineering)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eads/sfeature/sf_pier_text.html
Some men actually died from caisson disease during the building of this bridge.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eads/peopleevents/e_caisson.html
2. The suspension bridge by Niagara Falls made by Roebling was torn down, but a new bridge was built in its place. I am pretty sure I can figure out where the Roebling bridge was by looking at Internet sites and comparing our pictures.
3. Finally, the Brooklyn Bridge. Yes, we were on our way there our first night in New York City. We had just finished visiting Ground Zero and we had stopped at a Burger King for a bathroom break before heading to the bridge. Out of nowhere, a terrible storm blew up! Lots of wind, pouring rain, etc!! It was already 8 pm, so we decided to run for the subway and get home. We never did get over to the Brooklyn Bridge. :(
The people who built the Brooklyn Bridge also used caissons and some also died.
http://www.racontours.com/stories/brooklyn-bridge-stories/brooklyn-bridge-construction-foundation/
Anyway, I hope my kids enjoy their lesson on bridges tomorrow because I have spent MORE than enough time learning about them!
Oh and science, that may need to wait until Monday. :)
We are in the late 1800's right now in American history and the chapter we are reading tomorrow talks about how bridges brought the world together.
Our book mentions three bridges and important things about them. They are the Eads Bridge in St. Louis and the cassion system, Roebling and the first suspension bridge connecting Canada and the United States near Niagara Falls, and Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, which was the longest suspension bridge at that time.
The cool thing is that we were at each of these places on our trip last fall, but we weren't at any of these bridges!
1. By the pictures I can find on the internet, the Eads Bridge in St. Louis is near the arch, but I can't see it in any of our pictures.
https://stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/city-landmarks/Eads-Bridge.cfm
http://www.asce.org/People-and-Projects/Projects/Landmarks/Eads-Bridge/
http://bridgehunter.com/mo/st-louis-city/eads/
Eads was famous for his work using diving bells.
http://www.oobject.com/9-diving-bells/diving-bell-used-by-brunel/8562/
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/water-sports/diving-bell2.htm
Because of this invention, he invented the "caissons" and this is a concept he used to build the St. Louis Bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caisson_(engineering)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eads/sfeature/sf_pier_text.html
Some men actually died from caisson disease during the building of this bridge.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eads/peopleevents/e_caisson.html
2. The suspension bridge by Niagara Falls made by Roebling was torn down, but a new bridge was built in its place. I am pretty sure I can figure out where the Roebling bridge was by looking at Internet sites and comparing our pictures.
3. Finally, the Brooklyn Bridge. Yes, we were on our way there our first night in New York City. We had just finished visiting Ground Zero and we had stopped at a Burger King for a bathroom break before heading to the bridge. Out of nowhere, a terrible storm blew up! Lots of wind, pouring rain, etc!! It was already 8 pm, so we decided to run for the subway and get home. We never did get over to the Brooklyn Bridge. :(
The people who built the Brooklyn Bridge also used caissons and some also died.
http://www.racontours.com/stories/brooklyn-bridge-stories/brooklyn-bridge-construction-foundation/
Anyway, I hope my kids enjoy their lesson on bridges tomorrow because I have spent MORE than enough time learning about them!
Oh and science, that may need to wait until Monday. :)
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
To Break or not to Break??
For about the last 2 years, I have sought different professionals in regards to my jaw troubles. I have gathered much information and everybody pretty much says I am doomed for jaw surgery. This would include a full set of braces and surgery (break bottom and/ or top jaw).
I have got some differing opinions too, such as "Invisalign will fix it ALL" or "Just let it as it is" or "Just work on your stress and the pain will go away."
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from an orthodontist who I had seen about 18 months ago. She was writing to see where I was in my treatment plan and if she could help me any. I wrote her back and told her of all the different opinions I have received from other orthodontists, my personal dentist, and an oral surgeon. She wanted me to come back in and bring it all together.
Today I did that. Honestly, I wasn't too excited about going to the appointment. I thought I knew what she was going to say and I really didn't want to go. She sat me down and we went over my records and I told her how I deal with my jaw EVERY SINGLE DAY. It is sometimes just a dull pain, but it's there. Sometimes I yawn too wide and don't get it back into place and then my whole head hurts. Right now I have an inflamed nerve that is going from my jaw to my temple.
She looked at my teeth again and came back with the same conclusion she had 18 months ago- full braces with jaw surgery (break bottom jaw) !! She was very sweet and encouraging about it though, which I liked. She recommended a jaw surgeon that is on our insurance plan and her treatment coordinator walked me through the next steps and went through the cost.
How long can I delay this?? She said if I don't do surgery, things will only get worse, this would include pain, wear and tear on my teeth, and the osteoarthritis getting worse in my jaw joint (which leads to more pain and stiffness.) I feel like this is my only option. :(
She made it sound like the sooner the better....agh!!!!
It would take 9 months of braces to align my teeth, then surgery, then I believe another 6 months of braces to line everything up again. I can hardly imagine what it would be like to have my teeth lined up, I would actually be able to bite an apple!! I'm sure there will be many more benefits than that, probably some that I don't even know about.
Now to make a decision....and to do some fundraising. :)
And yes, I believe this is the best option for me...
I have got some differing opinions too, such as "Invisalign will fix it ALL" or "Just let it as it is" or "Just work on your stress and the pain will go away."
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from an orthodontist who I had seen about 18 months ago. She was writing to see where I was in my treatment plan and if she could help me any. I wrote her back and told her of all the different opinions I have received from other orthodontists, my personal dentist, and an oral surgeon. She wanted me to come back in and bring it all together.
Today I did that. Honestly, I wasn't too excited about going to the appointment. I thought I knew what she was going to say and I really didn't want to go. She sat me down and we went over my records and I told her how I deal with my jaw EVERY SINGLE DAY. It is sometimes just a dull pain, but it's there. Sometimes I yawn too wide and don't get it back into place and then my whole head hurts. Right now I have an inflamed nerve that is going from my jaw to my temple.
She looked at my teeth again and came back with the same conclusion she had 18 months ago- full braces with jaw surgery (break bottom jaw) !! She was very sweet and encouraging about it though, which I liked. She recommended a jaw surgeon that is on our insurance plan and her treatment coordinator walked me through the next steps and went through the cost.
How long can I delay this?? She said if I don't do surgery, things will only get worse, this would include pain, wear and tear on my teeth, and the osteoarthritis getting worse in my jaw joint (which leads to more pain and stiffness.) I feel like this is my only option. :(
She made it sound like the sooner the better....agh!!!!
It would take 9 months of braces to align my teeth, then surgery, then I believe another 6 months of braces to line everything up again. I can hardly imagine what it would be like to have my teeth lined up, I would actually be able to bite an apple!! I'm sure there will be many more benefits than that, probably some that I don't even know about.
Now to make a decision....and to do some fundraising. :)
And yes, I believe this is the best option for me...
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Communication in our house :)
Today I had to laugh. I was upstairs in my sitting room, which is off the master bedroom, and Megan and I were working on my computer. She has been working on this biography of her grandma for about four weeks now and it just needs to get done. :)
In the meantime, Matt is in the basement working and Christian and Courtney are playing on the main floor.
Before long, I receive a text message. I was already texting one of my friends, so I just assumed it was her, but it wasn't. It was Matt and he was saying that Christian was calling me. I didn't hear anything, so I kind of kept working with Megan. I responded to Matt and told him I was up in my sitting room. The next text I got from Matt said, "He's in the bathroom." Then yet the next text said, "Probably needs his bottom wiped." Ah, I got it!!
I ran downstairs and sure enough, he was in the bathroom on the main floor of the house and he had gone #2 and needed his bottom wiped.
I laugh because I was at one end of the house and Matt was at the other and texting was the only way to communicate. The bathroom that Christian was in is right above Matt's office!! No wonder he heard him hollering before I did!
I don't believe this has ever happened before!
In the meantime, Matt is in the basement working and Christian and Courtney are playing on the main floor.
Before long, I receive a text message. I was already texting one of my friends, so I just assumed it was her, but it wasn't. It was Matt and he was saying that Christian was calling me. I didn't hear anything, so I kind of kept working with Megan. I responded to Matt and told him I was up in my sitting room. The next text I got from Matt said, "He's in the bathroom." Then yet the next text said, "Probably needs his bottom wiped." Ah, I got it!!
I ran downstairs and sure enough, he was in the bathroom on the main floor of the house and he had gone #2 and needed his bottom wiped.
I laugh because I was at one end of the house and Matt was at the other and texting was the only way to communicate. The bathroom that Christian was in is right above Matt's office!! No wonder he heard him hollering before I did!
I don't believe this has ever happened before!
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