Ricci Family Adventure

Refreshed

2012-01-16T07:11:00.001-08:00

I woke up at 5am today. Nothing unusual for me. I went to bed at 10 last night and usually that is too late for me if I want to get up at my standard 5am time and not be sleepy or grumpy. When my alarm went off I thought, well I could lay here for just 10 more minutes (as is my standard lately) but I decided to just get up, I think that made the difference between groggy and awake. Something about those 10 extra minutes in bed where you aren't really sleeping but you are resting while at the same time convincing yourself why you don't really need to get up and all the things that you need to do that can wait. Then you finally get up and are rushed and cranky because you have 800 things to do and no time to do it. Today I just did it, I got up. That is going to be my new rule, just wake up. I need to wake up, wake up my attitude, my soul to really to be ready to parent these kids I have been blessed with! God has called me to be a mom to these girls, it isn't a small task, it is a very important task. I feel that I often make light of it, as if someone else's job is more important or has more impact than mine. I have come to realize over the years that comparing myself isn't helpful. Really God has called each of us to a different task, I need to focus on mine because He designed me for this task, I can't be successful in someone else's position because I wasn't called there. And why would I want to? Would I want someone else to do my job of raising my babies? Well Somedays maybe, I won't lie. But most days I couldn't imagine someone else loving them and taking the time with Ellie that is takes to figure out how she ticks. Would anyone else be able to understand Lucy's mumbling when she is upset? Could anyone else harness Jorja and all of her energy? what about Abi and her fourth grade emotions? And Kylie, she needs to laugh would someone else be too serious with her?So, Today my goal is to love on my babies, be slow to speak and quick to listen and breath in the day and blessing and struggles that come along with it.

Time gets away

2012-01-15T21:45:00.001-08:00

Wow my goal was to post daily. Maybe I was expecting too much of myself. This posting thing takes a while and time got away from me! Let's see, what was I up to? Thursday night OT for Ellie and then a meeting on bullying. Friday, dinner with our co-leaders who are teaching us the ropes at Canyon Creek, Saturday snow and grocery shopping with my sis, Sunday more snow and my nieces wedding. Sheesh that was a lot.As I realize how fast time gets away from me just with this blog it reminds me how time if flying by with my girls. How can I make the most of it? How can I get them to listen so I don't get irritated? How do I remember to tell them all of the most important things that I never want them to forget once they leave my home? Things pull at me day after day, laundry, dishes, sleep, working out haha like that ever happens anymore. I feel guilty if I don't spend time with the girls like they want, but irritated when I trip and fall over all of the junk left on the floor. Balance is the key but I would love to just cuddle on the couch all day if I could!I won't catch up on the days I missed here on this blog I don't have time or the memory to. Just like if I busy my time away with my girls I won't ever get to make that up either. So my goal and my prayer for this next week, is to not let time get away. I don't expect to be perfect, but one day, one task at a time I will choose the one that I can't get back, the moments that make memories. Here is to you my girls, Mama loves you!

Bob's Birthday Day

2012-01-11T21:32:00.001-08:00

Wow, today was an easier day for me. Well of course it was, I met with the cabinet guy in Monroe to pick out cabinets, duh, and what is better than "shopping"? It was over in an hour so Bob said I could run some errands kid free...on his birthday while he watched the kids...I have a good man!

I swung by the dollar store really quick and then went to Ben Franklin. I ordered my "word" of the year in vinyl letters. I got the frame on sale for half off, I think it was $6 but it is cool looking marble like with browns and black so it will match where ever I put it. This is my word in a frame from last year.

While I was there I got a 16x20 frame that I am going to put our verse of the year in. This is something new I am doing and I feel God gave me the idea while pastor Christian was praying the other day at church. He was thanking God that he loves us no matter what but that some of us are struggling and could he help us to feel his love. It stuck out to me because I know with every fiber of my being that Jesus loves me no matter what, as my mom likes to say "There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and nothing you can do to make him love you less, he just loves you!" but sometimes we struggle because we dont "feel" it. So our verse this year is Romans 8:38-39. I am not expecting all of the kids to have the verse memorized word for word perfectly by the end of the year, but my bet is they will UNDERSTAND what the verse is saying and feel Gods heart for his people and know where to find it in the bible. My plan is to take turns reading it every night at dinner from the frame it will be hanging in by the table somewhere (yet to be determined). I am sure some nights there won't be much talk about it, some nights there will be. It is just a way to get into my kids heads that Jesus loves them no matter what! I made a lot of mistakes after I left home and I want my kids to be equipped with truth when they are no longer under my care to fight off all of the lies in the world. And I want them to know where to find it in the bible when they start to doubt. I am excited about this as I feel God gave me the idea so he has a plan for it!

Random change of subject. I am picking out all of the stuff for the house and tonight I picked some lighting for the girls rooms. My favorite was the babies room. So cute! I love it!

Jorja went to bed at 4:30 tonight so I am hoping she doesn't wake up at 3:30!

Tuesday, always so busy!

2012-01-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

Tuesdays seem to be the busiest days around here. Everyday is busy lately but Tuesday's you can barely breathe. This Tuesday was no different. We are in the process (ever so slow process) of building a house. So we met with the electrician this Tuesday. He came to our house instead of us coming to his office. This was by his choice after I said we would be bringing 3 kids with us. Haha! I am not usually a fan of having strangers in my house, especially when they are male (sorry guys!) because of my little girls. BUT Bob was home with me and he has worked with our contractor (who is a trusted friend) for 18+ years. So I made an exception. He was a really nice older guy and i felt very comfortable with him. He knew his stuff and we enjoyed the 2 hours of talking about lights.

While we were doing this the three littles played together. Ellie did a little bit of school work but mainly played. Every time there is playing there will be fighting and Tuesday was no exception. I think they hit a threshold of patient where their bucket empties. This time it was Lucy who flipped and Ellie was in the mix of it of course. Ellie and Lucy are so much a like so they butt heads a lot. Ellie was telling Lucy what to do while playing on Lucy's bed and Lucy wasn't having it because it is her bed and she is in charge on her bed. Lucy was crying and Ellie didn't want her to be rude to the guest in the house so she covered her mouth with her hand. Lucy did like that and bit her.

After he left we had lunch and I let the girls watch a little TV. Why do I do that? They fight or have snotty attitudes when the TV is on more than any other time ever! Grrr. We had to leave for vision therapy for Ellie, she didn't want to turn off the TV, she couldn't find ANY shoes that "felt right" even though she has about 10 pairs of shoes and some days loves them so much she won't take them off. It is so frustrating. It is so hard to get out the door for Ellie. If it isn't her shoes it is her socks, or she forgot something or she doesn't want to go. I don't understand. And it isn't just "Mom, I can't find the right shoes", no it is crying and whining and throwing herself on the floor in frustration. If we are in a rush or running late it is 100 times worse. Even if I have her put all of her stuff (shoes, socks, lunch, toys she wants to take) by the door she always manages to have an issue with something.

She did the best she has done at vision therapy this week though so for that I am proud.

We came home and Tuesday night at our house is when the "boys" come over. Two of our good friends, turned employees, turned family come over for dinner and a movie. Bob and I say we have adopted them (ages 18 and 27) and the girls call them their brothers. So as soon as we got home we started to make cinnamon rolls because Wednesday is Bob's birthday. I was rushing because I hadn't started dinner but need to get the dough started for the rolls for the next morning. Why do I try to do too much in a short amount of time? I should change that. Anyway I was talking on the phone while rushing through the GLUTEN FREE recipe which is more picky than normal recipes. I used the wrong kind of yeast and needless to say had to through all of the dough out and start over.

Not to mention earlier in the day I had an issue with the architect. This is the second time he has been down right rude, he knows his stuff but he has a bit of a temper. I let him know this wasn't acceptable. Not what I wanted to deal with today or any day really. :)

Anyway we had dinner and it was good. I did notice as we were sitting at the table for about 30 minutes after we ate talking that Ellie does insert herself into the conversation I think because she is comfortable with us, but at times she will repeat what other people have said before to make it seem like she understands and knows about what we are talking about when I don't think she clearly does. She often looks at me even she is talking to others to see if what she is saying is right or to get my approval. I am not sure but I just noticed it more at dinner.

Overall it was a good day with a few glitches in there and now the house is thrashed. I have to worry less about that and spend more time with my kids. So much easier said than done, I think I have some OCD!

Oh Monday, why must yoube so mean?

2012-01-10T05:43:00.001-08:00

Monday was rough. I woke up in a funk, never a good way to start the day. I also woke up ready to research aspergers syndrome. When I am in the mood to research, it is hard to keep my mind on anything except said research. Normally I hate research but when it is for one of my kids I crave it. Ellie woke up with a bad dream and started the day out crying, never a good start either. She did her math review and VT almost right away, I think it gave me false hope our school day was going to go easy. Expectations. That is what sets us up for failure here. Anyway the rest of school was mixed productivity of my own doing. Like I said before I was trying to research and teach at the same time. The results weren't very good. However we did work on "English" and she is really good at knowing nouns, picking them out of a sentence, saying if they are plural or singular and converting singular to plural. I am proud of her, we hit our first milestone in school yesterday. She did her first work of the year on a piece of paper! I know that sounds cheesy but she doesn't learn like your average kid and would refuse to do school work on paper because of her eye issues. But she did it and didn't complain and got all the answers right.Attitude wise it was rough for her. And the later it got in the day the worse it was. I am not sure what caused that. I think maybe I waited too long to feed her lunch. That is when she flipped out and wanted gluten. It is hard I know when her sisters can have it and she can't. It is hard for me too. The difference is that most of the time she refuses to try the gf alternative so she is left with nothing. I wish I didn't have to restrict her diet but it makes such a huge difference. I left to go volunteer at the school in Abi's class and she was upset. Before I left I told her that if she mopped the floor I would pay her so that seemed to brighten her spirits. As I am about to walk into Abi's class I get a phone call and she is crying hysterically. I ask her to calm down because I can't understand a thing she is saying. She finally calms down enough to tell me she doesn't know how to put the steam mop together and turn it on. I tell her to ask her dad and she says he is in the bathroom and proceeds to have a fit because she doesn't want to wait. I am grand I had that hour away! There was a new series premiere last night of her show. All day long she insisted that it was on demand and she didn't have to wait until 7pm it didn't matter that I showed her the website that said it was at 7 on Monday she knew she was right and was convinced I was stupid, although she didn't call me that. Then her and Abi were in her room playing squinkies. They were playing in there for about 25 mines, it is nice but always ends in a fight, always! So I hear screaming, the door open, Ellie chasing Abi, Ellie slaps Abi on the back and they both start telling me their story. I stop them and Ellie said that they were playing and their "girls" were fighting she decided that she did want that for them so she paused the game and told Abi "let's pretend that didn't happen" to which Abi replies "what didn't happen?" pause right there, Abi is doing on of those word things that lets you know she understood in a cute way, kind of like "don't tell anyone I ate that candy bar" and your friend says "what candy bar?" letting you know basically that they have already forgot. Ellie doesn't understand insinuated things, she takes everything literal. So she starts explaining to Abi in detail what part she wants her to forget. Sometimes Ellie struggles to get her thoughts into words so for Ellie the explanation took a lot of effort on her part. To which Abi says again "what part?" and Ellie comes unglued. She pulls Abi's hair, chafes her down the hall and hits her. Oh the life! I talked with Ellie about hitting, yelling, hair pulling, etc. I had a talk with Abi about how her sisters brain works different. It was a struggle because I am not fully understanding how Ellie's brain works so I did as best as I could. Abi and Bob leave for basketball and things calm down a bit. We eat dinner, homemade gluten free pizza and gluten free dessert pizza for dessert of course. When Abi gets home we get in jammies and watch the season premiere the girls have been looking forward to all day. There is issues with fast forwarding the show because Ellie has the remote and doesn't stop in time when the commercials are over and then Abi says something to her and she gets frustrated and yells mean things. No kids with remotes I think is a good rule. Bedtime comes and Ellie is defiant and won't go. I have to threaten grounding which I hate to always have to come down to something bad, why won't she just obey? Needless to say she didn't get a stamp for good attitude much at all today.By the end of the day I was exhausted. The babies where clinging and whiny most of the day too. I am hoping it was Mondayitis and Tuesday will be better. We meet with the electrician for our new house today at our house, I wonder if he will go crazy?!

Sunday January 8th

2012-01-09T07:30:00.001-08:00

Today was an okay day. It always is when Ellie goes to play at someone elses house. We just came off a rough Saturday. She spent the night at a friends house on Friday night and had gluten. Will I ever learn? I need to send her food that she can eat. I always feel like I am so high maintenance when I do that. Do I call and ask what they are having for dinner and breakfast and send her something she can eat that is similar? Do families plan a menu during the weekend? I doubt it. So do I send her with gluten free food and just make her yet again be different from what everyone else has? Maybe I should let her chose what she feels like eating so even if it is different she at least likes what she is eating? That is an idea. So anyway when she came home on Saturday she was irritable and cranky. I Attribute that to three things. One she had gluten, two she stayed up late as is standard and expected at sleep overs and three she seems to go into a slight depression after she has playmates/sleepovers with friends. I know it seems weird but I do think she experiences a lull in her attitude. Maybe it is because she was having fun and now has to put up with all of her sisters again.So Sunday she had gotten a good night sleep before and woke up ok. The babies were gone Sunday morning at a friends house and Bob took Abi to church early and we met them there later. So the morning wasa easier than normal. I have learned that she needs a warning for everything under the sun a reward system works the best. So she got ready and started playing on the computer, I have to set the timer for her and let her know I am setting and she has to shut it off when it goes off. That gets her away from her activity and makes the timer the bad guy and not me. She struggled to get out of the house like always even though her shoes were by the door. She forgot to put socks there and it sent her over the edge. Yelling and crying, I got the socks and we were off. She went home with my sister that day after church, they went to Costco she had to get a salad and seemed to do ok with that, probably because she was with her Aunt and not me where she would have complained. She went to bed fairly good Sunday night. So the difference in Saturday and Sunday was sleep, and gluten.

Daily Battle

2012-01-09T06:34:00.001-08:00

Life around here is a daily battle lately. Between 5 kids, homeschool, planning for our new house, owning a business, boot camp, cooking, cleaning, playtime, family time, vision therapy, occupational therapy, husband time, alone time, church, extended family time, doctor and dentist appointments, school functions, and the list goes on. How do you fit it all in? You don't! What to cut back on is the battle. Add to that a child who isn't your typical kid it sucks you dry of any emotional energy you may have had and that makes the battle even bigger.Now I am not complaining, I am grateful for my life, my 5 kids and even my even draining child with special needs. There I said it. She is a special needs child. I have always felt bad for saying that because I have always pictured special needs kids as down syndrome, why I am not sure. I don't want to minimize the struggle that families with down syndrome have, I have no clue what it is like, but at times I think it would be a slight bit easier because people know what down syndrome is and can empathize better with children and parents of down syndrome kids. My kid has sensory processing disorder. All of this is explained in my previous blog. Not to be rude but I don't feel like explaining it again. Let me just say that she was diagnosed this summer after me just really not likening her for 4 years. Mean. Horrible. Bad mom. I know...but I have to be honest. We have gone through steps to have her diagnosed so that we can learn how she ticks to help her in life and make life a little easier for her. Don't get me wrong I love her with all of my heart, but sometimes she is hard to like. Again I am not complaining, I have had many trials in life, some were just the cards I was dealt and lots were through my own stupid decisions. All of them God has used for his glory and shaped me into who I am today, and for that I wouldn't go back and change one of them. So for the next while this blog is going to be my journal. I know there are things that I am doing well with Ellie and things that I need to work on. My hope, prayer really is that by journaling each day here on this blog I will see patterns of behavior in both her and I that I have overlooked. I am hoping to see where things have gone well and maybe I was to exhausted to notice. Or progress we have made that I wouldn't have seen if I didn't chronicle it somewhere. You get the point. My pastor at church (Canyoncreekonline.com) yesterday said that God can use the temporal for the eternal. Maybe that is his plan here. I am not sure but I know he has a plan for me and my sweet Ellie Mae. So you have been warned and I don't blame you if you don't read my blog again, this is more for me than you, selfish I know but sometimes that is what it takes.

Teaching at home

2011-12-08T10:22:00.001-08:00

I have embarked on yet another year of teaching at home. I was never going to home school my kids. I barely made it through school who am I to teach my kids? I home schooled Ellie is 1st grade (2 years ago) and it went ok. I put her back in public school in 2nd grade with an amazing teacher who was so good to her. I put her in public school again (with the same amazing teacher) this year also. However this summer we learned a lot about little Miss Ellie Mae.

If I back up a bit last year she struggled in school, not so bad that she needed to be held back but she had a lot of anxiety about tests, she struggled to keep up and told me she felt dumb because she would always finish last. She didn't understand a lot of what was being taught, she struggled with reading comprehension. She would space out a lot and just had a lot of little "quirks" that led me to believe that something wasn't quite right. I knew she was smart, but it was seeming that she danced to the beat of a different drum and I didn't know the tune. It seemed as though she was stuck in her own body and not able to get out. She was sad a lot, had no self confidence and worried like mad to the point of tears about everything. All of this from a kid who is very loved and told and shown that day in and day out. From a kid to who had an amazing teacher that went out of her way to make school easier, fun and comfortable for her.

This past summer we went through a series of MANY tests to see if we could pin point Ellie's issues. I don't know what else to call them other than that, and she had (has) many of them. She was so sick of going to doctor after doctor (as was I)! We tested her for seizures, celiac disease, anemia, literacy problems and a ton more. We ruled many things out (seizures yay!) and got "diagnosed" with a few things. Now let me say I don't need a label for my child but I do need to know her needs so that I can know how to help her. She was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder which is very complex as you can imagine with all of the senses we have. She mainly has "defensive auditory dysfunction" which is basically she can't drown out noises and focus on one thing at a time. So if she is reading and there is ANY noise in the background (shuffling feet, crinkling paper, someone sniffing) her brain tells her it is all VERY important. She is overstimulated and hugely sensitive to (and by) all noises. She is often seen with her hands over her ears and if the noises get to be too much she will growl and scream to drown them out. Her body sends her the "flight or fight" responses to almost all noises that you would get if you were walking in a parking lot and someone honked, that feeling of being in danger. That is what her brain does to her for almost every sound. She is currently in Occupational Therapy for it doing and intense listening therapy.

Add to that dyspraxia which is also under sensory processing disorder. Dyspraxia is "an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. It is an immaturity in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted. The word 'dyspraxia' comes from the Greek words 'dys', meaning impaired or abnormal, and 'praxis', meaning action or deed. Dyspraxia affects the planning of what to do and how to do it. It is associated with problems of perception, language and thought". Dyspraxia is described as having two main elements:

Ideational dyspraxia: difficulty with planning a sequence of coordinated movements.
Ideo-Motor dyspraxia: difficulty with executing a plan, even though it is known.

"Developmental dyspraxia is difficulty getting our bodies to do what we want when we want them to do it", and that this difficulty can be considered significant when it interferes with the normal range of activities expected for a child of their age. In addition to the physical impairments, dyspraxia is associated with problems with memory, especially short-term memory.This typically results in difficulty remembering instructions, difficulty organizing one's time and remembering deadlines, increased propensity to lose things or problems carrying out tasks which require remembering several steps in sequence. So motor planning and ideation are the issues she has because of dyspraxia. She is also in OT for these. When her brain gets too many signals and gets overloaded (which happens many times a day) is when she has fits. Her fight or flight responses take over and she yells, is violent or runs away (to her room, alone time etc). We have been in therapy now for 4 months and we are just starting to see some improvements in her coping skills. SPD is a neurological problem. It doesn't go away and you don't grow out of it. With therapy you learn to cope better and recognize when you are getting overloaded and have a handle better on preventative maintenance. Left untreated it will get worse and harder for SPD to cope and live a normal life. She also has a few less impacting symptoms of SPD, she is really sensitive to smells and along with that either brings happiness or anxiety. If she smells something that she left at grandma's house she is extremely happy because it smells like grandma and she likes her. If we go anywhere near a public bathroom she immediately (even before smelling it) gets stressed out and almost hyperventilates. She refuses to use public bathrooms unless it is one she has been forced into before and knows it is ok. It has to be familiar to her like the "John Deere" potty at the farm or the bathroom at the Vision therapy clinic.

Vision Therapy, yep something else we had tested. I did think she needed to be tested because she could read so her eyes were fine right? Nope. She has 8 different things wrong with them. She is in vision therapy once a week and we do therapy 5 days a week at home. She also has glasses now for near work as she is far sighted and everything that is 12 inches or closer to her face is blurry or she sees double.

It now makes sense why she struggled in public school so bad. Now that she is home we have struggled to get into a routine that works well. One month in and I think we just may have found our groove. It has been a rough road figuring out how she ticks. We do a lot of things much different than "normal" but she seems to be learning. This post has gotten a lot longer that I thought it would be so I will end. I will come back and share how we do school, what I have learned about her learning style and the goals I have set for her (and myself) another day.

Memorial Day weekend and few other random things.

2011-05-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

It is Memorial Day weekend and we go camping in "2 more sleeps" as my kids say. Last year at camping I wasn't as strict about food dye because it was the beginning of our adventure but now that I have seen the results it will not graze my kids lips until they are all grown and out of the house if I have anything to say about it! So this year thanks to someone who commented on an earlier post I have stocked up on Wal-mart brand marshmallows. Dye free, normal size and only $1! Thankfully there is a Wal-mart not to far from where we stay so if I run out I can restock. We always bring junk food camping along with our good for you food and we are set on everything like frozen treats, smores and chocolate. I think I will make one more stop to Safeway for bulk gummy bears that are dye free. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the family.

For you gluten free people out there I think I have found the best gluten free flour known to man. It is called "Better Batter" www.betterbatter.org and I made pizza crust last night that was amazing. Even Bob liked it. It was fluffy like normal pizza and not just an over sized cracker! I have even made cinnamon rolls with it before. And for all you who aren't a natural in the kitchen like me, I made the pizza crust following the directions and it turned out the first time! Their website has a ton of recipes too. So check it out if gluten makes you less than what you want to be!

One little story and I am done for the morning. I was driving back from taking my oldest to drivers ed AGAIN the other day. My 9 year old who is the pickiest thing in the world and likes only nasty processed food starting talk about our day. We had gone on a field trip with her class to Pike Place Market in Seattle. While there she wanted some of those yummy mini donuts, so I got her some as a treat. I had some too and they were not good, usually those donuts are but they were way too greasy. She ate more than she should have so as we were driving that evening she tells me, "Mom, I still feel like I could throw up form those donuts. I think they had too much grease. I don't usually eat bad stuff like that and I don't think my body likes it!" As I was doing cartwheels inside that yes some of this is sinking in, she continues, "Ya know I am eating a lot healthier lately mom, have you noticed? I used to go downstairs and sneak candy from the candy drawer all of the time (lol she is admitting it) but now I don't even want to, I would rather eat fruit!" Success! Such a breath of fresh air. Will she never eat bad again? No, and I don't expect that, I do desire though for my kids to know what real food is, and know how to eat it and enjoy it. Treats are so fun and rewarding when you know you have nourished your body first and haven't gone overboard on the sugar when you do have it.

Lately my sweet tooth has been gone and I am craving more savory things, I think it is rubbing off on my kids! Yay!

My love...obsession with food!

2011-05-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Food, it is my love, passion, okay...maybe my obsession. I love everything that has to do with food. I love buying it, prepping it to be frozen, cooking it, finding the best prices on it, sharing it, and most of all eating it!

I work out usually 5 days a week at boot camp here in Snohomish. I love it. They have some eating suggestions for you and also some different programs you can do to achieve different results you are looking for. So I am on a 10 day cleanse, I have done it before as part of the 24 day challenge but this time I am just doing the cleanse getting all of the toxins out. There are strict eating guidelines while on this cleanse. No refined sugars, no wheat, no dairy, no red meat, no corn. You can have fruit, veggies, lean proteins, hummus, oatmeal, brown rice, so healthy complex carbs, healthy fats, etc you get the point. Really this shouldn't be that hard for me right? I eat pretty healthy, I love fruits and veggies, I got this, no problem!

PROBLEM! I love food, I mean I am obsessed about it. From when I wake up until I go to bed I think about it. My morning starts by feeding my 5 girls breakfast and making 3 lunches to take to school because the food there, well it isn't food. The next thing I have to think of is what to make for dinner because if I don't we will go homeless eating out all of the time. Which by the way isn't a treat really anymore when you have to practically go into the kitchen of the restaurant to make sure nothing has food dye or gluten. Add in grocery shopping, planning meals, eating for myself and all I think about is food.

I have discovered in these last 5 days (the first half of the cleanse) which has felt like an eternity, just how much I am addicted to sugar! Seriously I knew I loved the stuff but wow I think about it more now that I can't have it for these short (well for some people) 10 days. I don't pig out on sugar but I do need to have it everyday. Dark Chocolate is my favorite and I just need a little. I feel like a drug addict rationalizing reasons why it is ok to have just a little fix. I haven't cheated and I am proud. I feel better and this isn't for forever (even though it seems like it right now) and soon I will be back in the land of sugar, I will regulate hopefully a little better. I do know that after not having sugar for 10 days everything will taste sweeter when I do have it.

So I have been eating tons of raw food. Which I love of course because I am obsessed in case you missed that earlier. It is amazing the creative things that you come up with to eat when some foods are off limits. I love hummus and usually have it with multi grain chips, but chips are a no-no right now, so I tried them with celery...too watery...carrots, AMAZING! So every day I have been eating anywhere from a half of a pound to a whole pound of carrots. See I told you I was obsessed! And the hummus is so flavorful you don't need that much at all.

I am also an over eater. I know it seems a little weird because I am "little" but really I overeat often. I texted one of my trainers from boot camp today to ask if sweet potatoes were okay to eat on the cleanse because you guessed it, I love them! She said "Yes but don't OD on them!" PL, you know me too well! I didn't OD though, I probably would have but my 9 year old who doesn't like any veggies really loves sweet potatoes and ate more than half the pan!

All of this to say that in my days of reflection I feel much better when my diet is 50% or more raw food, and this cleanse has reminded me of that. To keep up on the same eating when the cleanse is over and not forget how much I love raw food and how good it is for me, well that is the reason for this random blog tonight.

So I leave you with my 3 favorite cleanse approved foods that I couldn't survive without...
#1 Carrots with hummus, my favorite is Trader Joe's Mediterranean hummus.
#2 Granny Smith apples with Adam's All Natural chunky peanut butter
#3 Popcorn, cooked on your stove top, or "Lori Pelham Popcorn" as we farm folk affectionately call it.

If I could start all over again

2011-04-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

I don't really live life with regrets. Not that I am perfect and have made no mistakes but I feel that the mistakes I have made have shaped me into the person I am today. And though I don't like to run around bragging about my mistakes I do like to at least learn something from them. So today I am dedicating this blog to what I would have done different with food and my kids had I known at the start what I know now.

Food wasn't an issue for me with my oldest, she was a sick, SICK child and so she barely ate. Lucky for me when she did eat she liked fruits and veggies and still does to this day. My second and third baby who were 21 months apart, I feed them the way I thought was right and healthy. Although this way isn't necessarily "bad" it lacked "health" for the most part. I bought into the "rice cereal at 4 months, baby food in stages" gimmick of the brand name baby food companies. I am not blaming here, I was a mom who was responsible for my children and I didn't do my research. My kids grew happy and right on target according to their pediatrician. Babies 4 and 5 however I had a different approach with. Lucy #4 only nursed until she was 9 months (not by my choice the kid refused food) and then went straight to table food. She was repulsed by the texture of baby food. When she did go to table food I fed her different than the first three. One of her first foods was avocado, she still loves it to this day. Bananas, grapes (quartered of course!) broccoli, carrots she ate them all. So when Jorja started eating at a much earlier age I finally made all of my baby food at home. It felt so good to know what she was getting and knowing it was healthy.

The other day I begged my two "big kids" to try avocado knowing that they would love it like the rest of us. They refused...I was sad. I love it and it was then that I thought to myself, if only I had given it to them at a young age they would more than likely love it now. So does that mean anything you feed your kids as infants they will love when they get older? No! But half the battle for me is getting them to try something new, so if they have had it before, even if they don't remember, it is less scary for them to try it now. So feeding my kids more fruits and vegetables at a younger age would be my #1 thing I would do if I could start all over again.

#2 Would be to not introduce cereal, or at least sugar cereal to them. I love food, and I love cereal. It is the biggest thing I miss about being dairy free. For some reason Alpha-bits (my favorite) just doesn't taste good with rice, hazelnut or coconut milk! Cereal has always been a staple in our house and it was a very acceptable form of breakfast everyday no matter the ingredients or sugar content. It was even dinner some days when I was too busy or just plain lazy. There are some "OK" cereals out there but for the most part they have no nutritional value to them. I would have been better off to introduce it as a treat or special occasion type thing. I am happy to say however that we rarely eat cereal anymore. "Rarely" based on what we used to. Maybe two times a week and only cereal that is low on the sugar side.

I have recently heard 2 things from friends that made it all click in my head and give me one of those "ah-ha" moments. One was from my friend Jana who said "We don't need to teach our kids to eat bad, that comes naturally, but we need to teach them to eat healthy". The light bulb came on and it made total sense. It is easy to eat bad, why do bad things come natural to us? That is a whole different topic but YES I need to teach my kids how to eat well, balanced, healthy meals, they will figure out the "bad for you but tastes good" stuff easy enough on their own. Which leads to the second thing my dear friend Leah has started doing with her kids. When they want something to eat that isn't so healthy but is a snack food, like pretzels for example. She has them look at the nutrition label and see what a serving is, say it is 30 pretzels, she has them count them out and only eat that many. So easy yet I have never thought of it. I know I need help with portions and healthy eating habits. So to teach them to not just sit down with the bag and eat because they can but to be aware of not only what they are eating but how much,

So I can't go back and start over, which is good, I am not sure I have the energy for that! But to start where I am and make little changes one at a time to help myself and my family to be a healthier version of ourselves one bite at a time!

Two new gluten free finds!

2011-04-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have found two new gluten free foods that I am in love with. It is exciting and scary all at the same time when this happens. Exciting because I feel like I am normal and can actually go to a store and buy something that doesn't make feel "left out" and have it taste amazing. Scary because when it tastes as amazing as these two things I know I will eat more at each sitting than I should, but I love food so I over indulge at times!

My first find is gluten free tortillas. They are made by French Meadow Bakery and I found them at Safeway in the frozen section on an end cap. They aren't huge that is for sure and they aren't cheap but they are SO worth it. They are about the same size as a corn tortilla. My suggestion is to take out as many as you will need for the one meal you are cooking and let them thaw at room temperature. Then put a little (and I mean little) oil or butter or whatever you prefer in a pan on medium heat and lightly brown each side. As they heat up you will be able to tell that they are becoming more soft and pliable. Be careful though, they break easy. I haven't had anything in my last two years of being gluten free that tastes this good and maybe even better than the original it is replacing. The cost is $5.99/ package but Safeway has them on sale sometimes and I believe I have found coupons for them before.

Find #2 is from the brand Enjoy Life. They make soft baked cookies that are sold in a box at most super markets. I have had the snicker doodle one before and it was good, not anything to write home about but if you are in the mood for snicker doodles they will fill your craving. BUT I was at the Mt. Vernon food co-op the other day and I found a new flavor I had never seen before, "Lively Lemon"...I LOVE lemon...I love these cookies! Soft, really lemony, and they have these little yellow bits of lemon in them that I am sure are sugar coated but make the cookie pop. I think the box cost $3.99 and comes with 12 small (maybe 1.5 inch) cookies in them. I have eaten over half of the box since yesterday and they only reason I had any self control is because I have had to share with my 7 year old who is gluten free also. I am glad I haven't found them anywhere closer as of yet because I know I would eat too many. But I can guarantee that every time I am in Mt. Vernon I will be stopping at the food co-op to get some!

Speaking of the food co-op if you ever get a chance to get up there it is a neat place. They have an in house bakery, deli etc that you can buy lunch at and plenty of seating. In the bakery they had a chocolate hazelnut torte that was $2.25/slice and was very moist and tasty. My daughter even liked it and she is the most snobby gluten free person I know. So there ya go, two new things to try!

My "plan" for a food dye free Easter...

2011-04-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

I am a planner and have formulated one for Easter. I am sure that this will not go off without a hitch, after all I have 5 kids! I am preparing myself for something to come up that I didn't think of and there to be a little issue with attitude maybe from one of my "poor candyless" children. But I will go on with my super mom cape and swoop down and intercept any food dye that may be tempted to turn my children into bi-polar, two headed, horned monsters! I hope you sense the sarcasm in at least the first half of the sentence, the second half, well that is reality I tell you!

Off I went to Trader Joe's today because at Christmas I was able to find some fruity colored candy that was all natural in its flavors and colors. Today was just as successful! I found Trader Joe's "Bunny Gummy Tummies". They are gummy candy with a liquid type filling in their tummies. The 7oz. package was $1.99, so I got 2 so there was enough to go around our house. I have had the penguin ones from there before and they were great. I also found Trader Joe's Gourmet Jelly Beans, they have 18 natural flavors in the 15oz package and sell for $3.99. I had their 3 flavor/color mix at Christmas and it was good. They also had "spice drop type" candies. They were a citrus mix which I also have had before and I like them a lot. I don't know the price because I didn't buy them today. I found all of these candies on the shelves about the frozen food.

So here is my plan, I am taking my kids to our church, Canyon Creek Church www.canyoncreekonline.com (for any of you who want to join us) for the Easter egg hunt and I plan on letting them hunt with everyone. After the hunt we will find one or two eggs that are chocolate with no dye in them and let them eat them. Then they don't get anymore candy until we get home. Once we get home I will help my kids (especially the babies) go through their eggs and keep all of the "approved" candy and then the stuff with dye will stay in its egg and be given to me. My plan is then to empty out all of the dye filled candy and refill the eggs with the new candy I got today. I will then have a second egg hunt for them at my house with the newly filled eggs. My kids are the kind of kids that will re hide eggs 80 times even when they are empty so I know they will enjoy it. I am hoping this alleviates any of the big issues.

I would love to hear any ideas anyone else has so please share!

Natural Food Dye FUN!

2011-04-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't want the holidays to come and go just with plain old white cookies, candies and treats. I love to make things with my girls and Christmas cookies are a tradition. I found www.indiatree.com and fell in love. My head started spinning with things we could make colorful but also safe for my kids. Here are our Christmas cookies with colored frosting and sprinkles!

We also made suckers with colors galore! We barely ate any of them, but we had fun making them and coloring them.

I bought some "sugar in the raw" because the granules are bigger and we made our own sprinkles for our cookies. I have since put them in Ziploc bags and we decorate cupcakes, cakes and even sprinkle some on our whip cream on the special occasions that we have whip cream.

I do have to say that the natural food dye is a little different than the standard food dye you are used to. It is thicker. So before when I wanted to make colored sugar I would put it in a Ziploc bag, add a few drops of dye, seal it and shake it and be done. With the natural dye you have to "massage" it a little in between shakes. It isn't hard just a different method than I used before. The colors are also more earth tones, which is to be expected. Although I don't have a picture I made my girls chocolate pudding for a dessert for valentines day and put the red natural food dye in some whip cream and they had pink whip cream on their pudding. It was the highlight of their night. We plan on making some cool things this week for Easter too!

Bus Breakfast

2011-04-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

My kids had some friends stay the night last night. They got up this morning and asked for "bus breakfast" for breakfast. I didn't know what bus breakfast was at first, the more I thought about it I finally figured it out. This last week my kids have been using a chart to get ready so I don't have to nag them. It has worked well except they do everything on their chart and then realize they only have 5 minutes left for breakfast before the bus comes. We love smoothies and so I have been making them for the girls to take on the bus. So all this week the girls have had toast (gluten free for Ellie, whole wheat for Abi) and a 16oz smoothie. Here is our recipe, although I don't measure I just eyeball it. You can substitute for anything you like.

1 whole banana
1 cup frozen bananas or strawberries
3/4 cup plain yogurt (coconut yogurt if you prefer or are dairy free)
1/2 cup coconut milk keifer (Fred Meyer, Whole Foods)

Optional-vanilla, cinnamon, agave. I add these if the berries aren't as sweet or it is for a dessert, you only need a little.

Blend it up in your magic bullet or with a stick blender.

Here is a picture I made of a dessert one, I added a little whip cream and some spearmint leaves for looks.

From bargain to health

2011-04-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

I used to be a bargain shopper, I mean who doesn't like saving money? I was one of those coupon ladies that you didn't want to get behind in line. Granted there were many "couponers" much better than I could ever dream of but I did alright. Then food dye and I feel out of love with each other and my family's eating habits change big time. I have been doing a lot reflecting this week over all of the changes we have made in this last year.

One year ago in my garage you would have found about 150 granola bars (the super healthy Quaker ones with HFC), about 100 boxes of cereal and fruit snacks galore. I would have gotten them at a super good deal if not free of course so why not get a ton right?!

So this week I found myself stalking up on mango's! I love mango's, they were on a good sale so I bought 42 of them! I know overboard, but not really. I am going to cut them, freeze them and make ice cream out of them. Yep just frozen mango pureed and it is amazing, and amazingly healthy.

Our journey with food dye has lead us to healthier eating, no more cereal for breakfast or lazy nights for dinner. No ice cream galore, well except our healthy homemade kind. We aren't total health nuts (well maybe) but we just don't need to indulge in the sugar all of the time.

We eat a lot of raw food and I love it. It makes me feel so good when I send my kids off to school now knowing that they have had a healthy breakfast eating real food with good for their body nutrients in it. So no, my grocery bill isn't as low as it used to be, but I have learned moderation, I have learned that price isn't the bottom line but growing healthy kids that have a good foundation is very rewarding. We were somewhere last week and we were eating less than healthy, which is ok now and then for a treat and my girls (who usually would inhale fast food) barely ate anything. As soon as we got home they all said they were starving and went straight to the fridge and ate fruit, of their own free will. That was a proud mom moment.

I am proud of the changes we have made as a family, I am grateful that I haven't had to drag my kids down this path kicking and screaming the whole way. There has been resistance at times but they love eating fruit and even some veggies. My two little ones eat the most veggies of anyone, I wish I would have started giving them to my bigger kids as infants I think that would have made a difference.

Artificial food dye free foods!

2011-04-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

So I scanned the world, or at least my immediate part of it for food that is still "approved" for our house. I never thought I would be one of those food snobs but alas I am, and I am not ashamed. So here is some short lists of what I have found. I will try to categorize it. These will be short lists for now I don't want to put it on here if I am not 100% sure. Keep in mind they change labels often so ALWAYS double check before you buy.

Disclaimer: The food dyes that I am talking about here are FD&C Blue #1 etc. They sometimes just say Red 40 or something like that. They will always have a color and number. There are other food additives or preservatives, but right now I am just focusing on artificial food dyes, they are the ones that makes my kids crazy! Just because it is a white or light color doesn't mean it is safe, read, read, read!
Cereal-Everything below is dye free, other labels will be GF= gluten free, HFCF= High Fructose Corn Syrup Free
Kix (HFCF)
Cheerios (HFCF)
Corn Chex (HFCF), GF
Honey Nut chex (HFCF), GF
Rice Krispies (HFCF)
Cocoa Krispies (HFCF)
Cocoa pebbles
Cocoa Puffs
Frosted Flakes
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Honey Nut Cheerios
Chocolate Cheerios
Alpha-bits
Cookie Crisp
Mom's Best Naturals (Below) are the most like Lucky Charms and are on sale often at QFC for $1.00

A general rule of thumb for cereal, if it is colored it has food dye. If the box is bright it has food dye, think Trix, Lucky Charms, Apple Jacks etc.

Candy-
*Mentos (only the candy, not the gum)
*Mamba
*Fred Meyer carries bulk "Sun Drops" that are natural colored M&M type candies. They also have "gummy slice" type things in the bulk section that are dye free
*Treetop fruit snacks (big box at Costco)
*Yummy Earth Organic candy (lollipops, gummy bears, gummy worms, hard candy pieces)
*Haribo Fruity-Frutti (I found these at World Market)

*Haribo Fizzy Colas (remember those?!)

Yogurt-You have to be very careful with yogurt!
Tillamook yogurt is all food dye free to the best of my knowledge.
Yoplait you have to read every label, the Orange Creme one has no food dye but the Key Lime Pie does.
Simply gogurt (sold in bulk at Costco or at any grocery store)

Mac and Cheese
Annie's Organic makes a dye free mac and cheese.
Kraft has a "home style" mac and cheese that is dye free, but be careful with Kraft they are tricky at times so read the label.

My brain is tapped for the night on this. However I want to give you a short list of foods to watch that you would probably never guess it is in. Again this is not an exhaustive list but just what is on the top of my head.

FOOD DYE IN FOODS YOU WOULDN'T GUESS
White marshmallows
Nature Valley sweet & salty bars (Grrr...still mad about that one!)
Pillsbury Crescent rolls
Cinnamon Chex
Pickles
Dressings and BBQ sauces (not all but some)
Canned fruit (some)
Fruit Juice (a lot of them have it)
Toothpaste
Mouth wash
Chili (especially "Cheddar" flavors)
Cake mixes
Butterscotch chips
Processed items you should ALWAYS check

If there is a category missing that you want info on please let me know!

The best stores for dye free and more natural stuff that I frequent are...
Whole foods
Trader Joe's
Janell's Gluten Free Market
Sno-Isle Food Co-op
Fred Meyer/QFC
Top Foods and Safeway are getting better about their natural food section also.

Ingredients

2011-04-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have an obsession, it is a new one to add to my long list of previous obsessions...reading labels. I mean I have been reading labels for about a year now to check for food dye, but that really isn't that much fun. My new label reading addiction started after I read "In defense of food" by Micheal Pollan. Let me clarify, I am not that much into reading and have developed ADD as an adult, or maybe that is just my excuse for impatience, anyway I read the book, the parts that I wanted to know about. I didn't really care about any of it except the last 1/3 of the book. His mantra in the book is "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants". I wanted to know what he meant by those 7 words so that the part I read. I recommend you read it, or if you are like me with a short attention span and just want to get to the point, skip to the last 3rd of the book. There was a lot of good stuff in there. The part that has stuck with me talked about eating food, not processed "food like" substances. Makes sense, then he said "If it is something that you can't pronounce or your great grandma wouldn't recognize as food, chances are it isn't food. Revelation...I know I have a simple mind.

Off the grocery store I went and I picked up a tub of sour cream. Darigold, whom I have always thought of as a good brand, well respected had around 12 ingredients in their tub of sour cream. That really is par for the course with most sour creams and yogurts. However I kept reading tubs and came across Daisy sour cream, I feel like the angels sang when I read the label, don't laugh, ya know what it said? "Grade A Cultered Cream" WooHoo! Food I found food! Not that sour cream is all that healthy for you but come on if you are going to have it wouldn't you rather have cream than chemicals? It is now like an Easter egg hunt for me. Find things my family likes to eat, all with ingredients I can pronoun and find the one with the fewest ingredients. Yougurt is another one, Greek God yogurt with a little agave and cinnamon in it is to die for. No, I am not supposed to have dairy, it makes my sinuses swell but I tried it, I am in love, and I won't eat it often but man it is worth it!

I have slowly cut nasty chemicals out of my family's diet one by one. Sucralose is my #1 most hated artificial sweetener and come hell or high water it is not coming in my house. Drastic I know but for one its aftertaste is the most nasty flavor. As if that wasn't enough to stop me sucralose starts out as sugar and they process it so much and add chlorine to it. Many "health foods" have sucralose in it. Many weight loss supplements have it too. Matter of fact here is what one weight loss place says about sucralose..."Sucralose is a sweetener made from table sugar (sucrose) by chlorinating it in three positions on the molecule." They even said it, it is chlorinated sugar...no thanks.

I have also targeted high fructose corn syrup. Many things wrong with it too. The ratio of sucrose and fructose has been altered so it is much harder for our bodies to digest and process. Not to mention a random study was done of 20 high fructose corn syrup manufacturers and 9 out of the 20 came back with detectable amounts of mercury in them. I guess it happens during one of the three ways they use to make it "high" fructose corn syrup instead of regular corn syrup. Which of course is natural. This I am finding is MUCH harder to cut out of our diet. The one die hard bad habit in our family is cereal...and yes I love it so do my kids and my husband. I just told my kids tonight that whatever cereal we have that has it in it they better enjoy because they won't get it anymore. I will let them have it once in a while on special occasions but really it has no nutritional value. It should be used as a treat and not a meal. So slowly but surely we plug away at being a healthier house. And really it all boils down to eat food. So that is the effort I am making, would my great grandma know that this is food? If she would, chances are it probably is.

I have to admit that the last week and a half I have been eating horrible. Dairy and gluten which my body does NOT like, too much sugar and too big of portions and I feel horrible. Granted it all tasted really good, but I am tired, chubby and moody. It is easy to eat bad so the way I feel tonight encourages me to do better for my family and teach them how to eat right, now at a young age.

One year food dye free!

2011-04-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well folks I can honestly say I had no clue we would be where we are as a family today one year ago. Let me take you back. One year ago my ever loving 6 year old with a heart of gold and compassion for all had me at the brink of sanity. Really how sane is someone with 5 girls running around her house you ask? It is par for the course here and I wouldn't change it for the world...well except that my 6 year old the loving child would randomly change into this monster that no one liked for no apparent reason with no warning making us all want to run away. Like it or nor, loving or not, "Christ-like" or not we would nick name her (not to her face) the spawn of satan, yes it was that bad. It had been that bad for 3 years and I was fed up! This is not how life was supposed to be and I was not ready to settle for this for my daughter who deserved so much of a better life. A friend had told me about her kids who back in the day had ADD and bi-polar. I was strongly against medicating for these things, not that some kids don't need it, some do, but the majority of kids that are just thrown on it as a solution for someone wanting a quick fix and not taking the work to get to the root of the problem, that is what I am against. All that being said I was losing my ever loving mind and walking on egg shells around this kid to the detriment of the rest of my family...I was ready to get meds and I wanted them now!

That led me to my friend Pam who's kids I mentioned before. I will be honest when she said cut out the food dye I was thinking "really? That sounds crazy and not to mention a lot of work!" At the urging of my dad I just checked it out on line. Sure enough I found a blog of a mom going through the same thing as me with her son. The next day I took my little sweet Ellie and we went through the whole house and garage and read every label (talk about going cross eyed!) and rid our house of all of the food dye. Initially this was going to be a one month trial. After about 6 weeks my skeptical husband said to me, "do you notice the difference in Ellie? I haven't seen one of her bi-polar fits in a while." It was then that I realized I hadn't noticed the change because I was still so on edge just waiting for the next fit to come. But she had not had another fit since we eliminated food dye. I was in shock.

I would like to say it has been an easy road and we are all jumping for joy about not having food dye. Not so much. It is in everything, white marshmallows, Pillsbury crescent rolls to name a couple. I think I have become obsessive compulsive about reading labels, it really is an addiction now. We have had MANY a time where food dye has gotten in from either from her sneaking it and me finding a food dye wrapper cemetery under her bed or someone not reading a label and just blindly giving her something with dye. I has happened many times, more than I wish but I have discovered the "life cycle" of food dye in Ellie's body. I am sure it is different for each kid, but for Ellie the effects are not fully gone for 48 hours. It is a horrible 48 hours too! But we have made it through all holidays but one...my favorite candy holiday to be honest. Easter is fast upon us, it is late this year hence being food dye free for one year and not having Easter yet. I love food, especially sugar, and yes I know the real meaning of Easter and it has nothing to do with candy. I am already plotting how to get through the egg hunt with nothing sneaking in. It is so tempting for kids (or adults) when something you want so bad is in front of your face. I do have to say I have noticed in the last 2 weeks though that if my kids are given something that has food dye in it by someone and I see it and say, "oh that has food dye" I don't have to tell them to stop eating it, there eyes get huge and immediately through it away. This is a HUGE milestone for us. This will get easier and easier as we get more and more used to it. We have had some funny moments and hard moments through it all this last year but it has been all worth every one of them. I will be okay with my 3 year old asking me "Does this have food dye?" about EVERYTHING she sees, or my 2 year old running through a store chanting "I like food dye"...it means they are listening to me!

Not only has cutting out food dye led to a mentally better life for Ellie and our whole family, it has lead to a healthier eating style for all of us. Ellie is gluten free (I will talk about that another day) and was dairy free for a few months. We have cut out high fructose corn syrup, sucralose (which I think is so nasty) and many other things with more things to follow I am sure. My motto is one thing at a time. I have seen huge improvements in Ellie's temper, fits, communication, school work and thought process all just by cutting out food dye. There is so much more I could say, and so much I have already said. I guess my one piece of advice for anyone wanting to cut out food dye or any other thing from your life would be, take it one step at a time. If you have no limits on your diet don't try and cut out everything at once. It is SO overwhelming. Start with one thing and do it until you are comfortable and feel like you have a handle on it. Then target your next thing. If you do it all at once you will more than likely fail because it is so much of an adjustment.

I have been asked by several people to write about my family's food journey. So that is what I am attempting here on my blog. I am by no means a professional at any of this, I am not perfect, don't have all of the answers and sometimes get lazy and have an "I just don't have the energy to care right now" kind of attitude at times. My goal is to share my food journey's with anyone who is interested and hoping to help someone like I was helped by others.

I will be posting more often and I have a lot on my mind to share. If there is a specific thing that you would like to know about let me know and if I have dealt with it I will share my experience. I would also love to know what you have found on your food journey, I am a sponge and want to soak up all information and tips I can to make my family as healthy as it can be.

The power of food

2010-07-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Who knew food could have so much power? I always thought food was only a problem for people who overate...I was wrong. January of 2009 I got a sinus infection that wouldn't quit. I was on 4 different antibiotics, none helped in the least bit. I went to a specialist who said I needed to have the "roto-rooter" sinus surgery which would mean I would have to either quit nursing my baby early or have the surgery during our busy season since I couldn't handle 6+ more months of a sinus infection. So as a last resort and to prove a friend wrong who was telling me that my sinus issues were food related I went to a naturopath. She told me not to eat gluten (which is found in wheat, barely and rye) and dairy for 2 weeks while my blood test was being processed. I about died, no bread? no cheese? No cheese on bread? What would I do? But I am stubborn and knew she was wrong so I did it. Amazing thing happened...sinus infection was gone, energy back and I even had more energy than before! I was convinced...and still am. Everytime I eat the food I am not supposed to I get sick...within 20 minutes I can feel my sinuses swell or my hands itch from the skin irritation that gluten gives me. I get "sleepy eyes" as I call them and my head is foggy and I have a hard time thinking. I am amazed how fast it hits me.

Now Ellie has had issues for a while, attitude like no other since she was 4. I had her tested...what do you know she has the same issues as I do, really I shouldn't be surprised. I have now taken food dye away from all of my kids and put Ellie on a gluten free dairy free diet the changes in her are amazing...what is even more amazing is the changes that happen to her "fast and furious" when something she shouldn't have slips in. WOW! We just had one of those fits tonight, I feel so sad for her because I know how rotten she feels when she eats these things that don't agree with her body. But I do have to say that the fits help her to understand why she can't eat certain things. This gluten free dairy free diet is the hardest (and not cheap either) thing I have done in my life, but it is so worth it!

It has been a while

2010-06-08T21:51:00.001-07:00

How ironic my last blog was June 5th 2009...and it is now June 8th 2010...I suck! Truth be told this last year has been a hectic one but I see light at the end of the tunnel. Two "babies" is a busy thing to have, add three "big kids" a husband, a house, home schooling and owning your own business to the list and you can see my reasons for not blogging. I so enjoy blogging so here is my fresh start. School is winding down so homeschooling is one thing off of my list. Not to mention the "babies" are now 18 months and almost 3 so they are a little less maintenance too. Here is to hoping that I continue with this!

Our jungle

2009-06-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

During planting time our house and lawn get a big neglected. When the weather is nice Bob needs to be getting the seed in the ground. So here is what our house looked like for a good three weeks.

He only took pictures of the front lawn, you should have seen the back!

He finally "mowed the hay" and it looks much better...

Random thoughts and shots

2009-06-05T21:54:00.001-07:00

I have such a hard time deciding what pictures to post of my girls. They are all so photogenic...athough Kylie doesn't really let me take her picture! Anway here are few to enjoy.

Ellie Mae

Jorja sitting up by herself! She is growing so fast!

Lucy and her friend "Gussie"

Oh goodness me she is adorable!!!! Seriously the most adorable baby ever!

Abigail Grace

2009-06-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I love how my kids are so different from each other. I also love how they are changing so much. Abi has always been shy. She never liked to be in the spotlight or even get her picture taken for anything. Now she sings in the choir and poses for pictures. Here are a few from the backyard the other day...

Posing

She is one skilled hula-hooper!

Love this picture, she is so beautiful!

Wrapped how tight?

2009-06-05T21:38:00.001-07:00

All of my kids are loved by their by all of their grandparents but little Lucy Jo has papa Darrell wrapped extremly tight around her bitty fingers. Lifesavers, yes the candy with the whole in the middle...he started giving them to her a couple of months ago. Now she thinks papa and candy mean the same thing. He always has some in his pocket for her. Here is a series of pictures of her the other day with Papa. To set the scene, he was napping in the chair outside and she came up from the field. She knew he was sleeping and didn't want to wake him...Here is what I am sure was going threw her mind...

Oh good he finally woke up...

Yes papa I said candy

Oh good he is getting it...

Oh yeah he is letting me get it out myself!

By papa!

And the smile on his face says it all!

Game on!

2009-06-02T15:31:00.001-07:00

For those of you who know Bob, he is a jokester to put it lightly. So while we were camping he started planning a prank on my sister. Well his two co-horts went survivor on him and switched teams. They recruited Tabby and got Bob instead. They went to the church while Bob was in a board meeting and saran wrapped his truck. Then they came to our house...here is the results!

LOL! It took him 1 hour and 40 minutes to clean it up. They got him good! Way to go girls...but paybacks are coming...

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy

2009-06-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

Lucy is becoming quite the independant little thing lately. "I twy it" and "stop it" are often heard coming out of her mouth. Yesterday she was in her chair eating mac and cheese while I was folding laundry. Abi and Ellie were home with pink eye so it was a house full of drama. Ellie comes in to tell me that Lucy is throwing her food on the floor. This doesn't happen often because like me she likes food way too much. So much to my surprise this is what I find when I walk in...

Note the mac and cheese on the wall behind her!!!

Abi took this picture later that same day. I think her face sums it all up!

Memorial Day Camping

2009-06-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

This past Memorial Day weekend we camping like we do every year. This year we had a "new to us" trailer that fit our whole tribe. It was a blast, each year seems to get more and more fun. Here are some highlights

Lucy and Jase playing in the dirt

Bob and Ellie

Bob and Abi

Olivia holding Jorja

Kylie after being bit in the forehead by a misquito...she eyes eventually swelled shut!

The mountain of laundry when we got back!

Thoughtfulness

2009-05-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

Ellie is a very loving girl. She is always thinking of someone and wanting to do something nice for anyone. That is why I love it when she picks me flowers. She loves beautiful things, even things that aren't always beautiful she finds beauty in them. I have come in the house before to three cups full of dandelions that she picked for me. No joke there was at least 50...but I know she thought of me and wanted me to feel loved with every single one she picked. This was the last bouquet of flowers she picked me.

Tokyo's Steakhouse

2009-05-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Bob's new found freedom with dinner at Tokyo's steakhouse. Here are a few random shots.
Kylie and her mini me...

All five Girls!

Lucy was much impressed!

Those eyes!

2009-05-14T21:42:00.001-07:00

Jorja and Ellie both have the big eyes...so cute...nothing more needs to be said!

Bob's big day!

2009-05-14T21:33:00.001-07:00

Well 8 years in the making and it is finally here. Bob was able to quit his job at Fastenal! He is now farming full time. Kazie got a little excited and on his last day of work she decided to throw an impromptu party at the farm. She bought a banner

Made cupcakes

Decorated with balloons

And invited as many of the Bob's Corn crew as could make it

Now is a time to focus on family and farm instead of Fastenal!

My rock collector

2009-05-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

We went down to the field the other day to watch some work that was going on. We all loaded up on the "Yellow Machine" and the Rhino, there was quite a few of us. As all of us adults are looking at the work and chatting here is Abi the little rock collector gathering "special" rocks.

I am not sure if Tyler liked them in the Rhino but he is good enough to not say anything!

When the kids get the camera!

2009-05-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

I just downloaded all of my photos from my camera. I have been neglectful of this blog lately. When I went to view the photos I found this one...

This Ellie with a picture she drew and words around it. Can you tell she is proud? I love these little surprises!

The sweet little words

2009-04-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

My kids grow so fast. I love how they form words when they are learning to talk and the cute things they say. Lucy today played ow-side (outside) and kept asking me to fween (swing) her. As we were doing our bedtime routine she told me "shunshine" so that I would sing her "You are my sunshine". She asks to sing "e-i-e-i-o" which we all know is "Old McDonald" and when you sing the "with a moo moo here and a moo moo there" she sings "moo moo" non stop until you are done with that line. So cute. When I put her in her crib and tell her good night she says "I luj you" I really need to record her little voice because I know I will forget it someday.

When I was asking Ellie what she wanted in her lunch tomorrow she said the infamous "meat falomy sandwich". Abi and Ellie both ask for that all of the time. I am not sure how they came up with it. The only thing I can figure is my nephew Isaiah used to have bologna sandwiches all of the time and they somehow translated it into meal falomy...which is ANY kind of sandwich with meat on it. LOL...ham, turkey, chicken it is all the same to them!

All of this got me thinking about what the other kids did when they were young. When Kylie was 2 if you asked her how old she was she always insisted she was "Seben!" Abi called the TV remote the "mote". They have all called my mom different versions of the same thing, nama, ama, mama...Jorja so far just coo's but when we were in the car the other day all five of them were talking at once...wow that was OS for me!

I was a proud mommy today in the grocery store as I was counting (coupons of course!) I could to seven outloud (I talk to myself often outloud) and when I stopped Lucy continued on 8,9,10,11,12,13,11...I was surprised she knew that much...thank you Elmo, it has paid off!

Mommy's little helper

2009-04-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

Lucy and I spend the days together while the three oldest are at school and the baby is napping. We play but we often do chores too. She LOVES to do the laundry...I hope that lasts! Anyway everytime the clothes in the dryer are ready to be folded she will hand them to me, and tell me who the piece belongs to. For example she will hand me a shirt and say "Ellie, shirt" it is quite adorable. She also is an avid lint filter cleaner. My dryer will never catch on fire do to the lint filter not being cleaned, at least not on Lucy's watch. She loves to put the dryer sheets in and push the buttons to start the dryer. Just this week she has started to get bored and change things up. Instead of standing on the ground and handing me the clothes she now climbs in the dryer and sits on top of them and hands them out one by one. I think she does this because it is warm other than that she is just a goof ball. After all of the clothes are out she plays in the dryer...again, not sure why but oh well...

Jorja Porja is growing up!

2009-04-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

So Jorja is big. She is now 4 months old and weighs 14lbs 5.5oz. She is also growing into her personality. She now plays with toys, tries to climb out of the bumbo and is starting to not like her carseat. Along with all of that I think she is starting to develop a consistent bedtime at night...woohoo!

This is "Bob Junior version 2.1" playing with her toys...

This is her trying to climb out of her bumbo and get the straw out of my cup. That bumbo lasted so much longer with Lucy...

Spring

2009-04-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

We love the sun. My kids love being outside. Especially Lucy...owside...that is what it sounds like and that is all I hear all day. So Tuesday I picked the girls up from school and we played on the "big" playground. We usually play on the kindergarten playground but we moved up that day! The only hard thing was listening to "watch this mommy" from 4 kids and trying to do it all at once. Finally they just had to take turns.
Ellie was concentrating hard here. These rings went up hill...she did good.

Lucy loves to slide, she is always saying "slide down"

Abigail can now skip on the rings...I remember when that was a big deal when I was little.

Even Kylie got into it and humored me by letting me take her picture.

The Walk

2009-04-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

On Monday my friend Kazie met me at the farm for lunch. She made an awesome salad and then we decided to go for a walk. A nice spring walk in the field sounded like a good idea. We loaded the two babies up in the stroller and off we went. It was beautiful and warm. The neighbors are doing some work in the field next to ours and so the trucks are in and out...with the wet lately there are ruts all over, so the road down was a bit bumpy...and it didn't get much better once we were down there. There is leftover stubble from the corn, big clumps of dirt from a few fields they have started to disk. Walking on it isn't a big deal but the poor babies trying to sleep got jostled from side to side...Jorja will make it through this life in tact...at least I hope! Not to mention that now that I have had all of these babies my feet have grown a ton, so the size 8.5 shoes I had on gave me a painful blister and we only walked for about 30 minutes. Thankfully Kazie came to the rescue with a bandaid that already had antibiotic ointment on it...those are pretty cool. So even thought the walk wasn't exactly the way I had it planned in my head it all turned out okay. We were able to enjoy the beautiful sun and the babies got a well needed nap.

The tank

2009-04-05T22:36:00.001-07:00

As mean as it is "Tank" is one of our many nick names for Jorja. Our kids are all blessed with many nicknames. Jorja's include Jorja Porja, Porja Pie, Bob Jr. version 2.0 and tank. She was my biggest baby at birth and continues to break the record for weight for babies in our family. She is just a rolly poly little thing and I love her. You can't help but smile when you look at her. Enjoy!

My man!

2009-04-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

I have determined that I have an awesome husband. I know he is the best although somedays I would like to strangle him, today is not one of those days. He was helpful today which is a bonus but he is a really good dad, so on those days where we get on each others nerves, he still has that going for him. He loves to cuddle on the couch with the girls, which is good because we know that all girls need that!

I am very blessed to have Bob as my sidekick for the rest of my life. I am excited to grow old with him.

The Children's Museum

2009-04-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

If you haven't ever been to the Everett Children's Museum you must go. We love it. For $70 a year we can go an unlimited amount of times...all 7 of us!!! We met my sister and her kids there the other day

along with my friend Anjie and her son Jase

My kids all love the museum and they always are changing something. The newest thing that I loved was the bus...Lucy thinks she can drive big equipment

And Abigail and Ellie look so cute as little vets!

Our little jokester

2009-04-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

Abigail A.K.A. Bob Junior version 1.0 She is the prankster of the family. On April fools day she switched the cereal from box to box. Kylie woke up that morning and went to pour herself some cheerios and ended up with raisin bran instead. She was not amused but Abi was rolling on the floor she loved it. She is always the one joking just like her dad it kills her to be serious. She loves to make people laugh and just like my dad she loves to make herself laugh. Here is her attempt at eating cake on Kylie's birthday.

Of course this was all just to get a laugh out of everyone...which she did. The best though was the other night when it backfired on Bob. He tucks them in every night and prays with them and does "huggies and kissies". They each have a routine that they do with daddy...I am not sure what that is but each Abi and Ellie have something different they do. Part of Bob's routine with Abi is that he rubs his cheek on her cheek and then kisses her on the cheek. So he goes into her room the other night and goes to kiss her cheek and it is all wet...she starts laughing hysterically, she has spit on her hands and rubbed it all over her face. He laughs, tells her it is gross and that he isn't going to kiss her...so she wipes it off with her hands and says here daddy you can kiss me now, so as he kisses her she rubs the slobber that is all over her hands on his cheeks...LOL! He doesn't know what he has gotten himself into with her!

My first baby

2009-04-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

We were invited to attend the wedding some close friends of ours on saturday. When I first met Jeremy and Cheri they were young kids, elementary and junior high age I believe. They are now old (early 20's!) and married! When I met them my first baby Kylie was 1...she is now 13 where does all that time go? Here is a picture of us at their wedding.

Kylie is my first baby. She will always be my baby no matter how old we both get. For those of you who aren't parents I am sure you don't understand it, but that is okay, maybe someday you will. I often think back on how cute and cuddly she was when she was little. I think of the stories of how when she was two if you asked her how old she was she would very sternly tell you "I'm seben". I remember the day she was helping boppa dig up a small tree in the yard and she was so proud of herself for getting dirty, she said "Mommy look, Bob will be so proud I got dirty" even though her shoes were still white! Yes I miss those days, sort of...but I am not sad that they are gone because we lived them well and these days she is just as much fun if not more fun than she was then. Now we shop together, play cards (and not go fish!) we can talk about things that are important to her, I can hear her hopes and her dreams and her determination. I know I won't be a perfect parent nor will she be the perfect child, but we will both live and learn and challange each other. Most of all she will always be my baby. I love the young lady she is growing into and I am so happy to be her mom.

Ellie's half birthday

2009-04-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

In Ellie's class at school if you have a summer birthday you can choose to not celebrate or you can do it on your "half birthday". Ellie's half birthday came and went because I am a bad mom and forgot. She reminded me the other day and so I emailed her teacher as quick as I could and she let me bring in cupcakes. Her half birthday would have been January 21st...we ended up celebrating it at the end of March I REALLY forgot! So the night before I was supposed to bring the treats to her class she asks me "Mom, will I be 5 1/2 tomorrow or will I still be 5?" I didn't have the heart to tell her I forgot and that she was 5 1/2 a long time ago, so I told her, yes honey you will be 5 1/2. Someday she will know the truth when she is to bug to care.

Ellie sharing her cupcake with Lucy

Ellie with her half birthday crown...

The birthday girl close up

Jase Brodie Williams

2009-04-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

So I am having issues with my camera hence the late post on this one...sorry Jase I still love ya buddy! I was proud to attend the adoption of this little man Jase. My best freind Anjie and her husband Brodie have wanted babies for a long time...since I was pregnant with Abigail and she is 7! Anjie is so much more patient than myself. She is such a loving laid back mom I was so honored to be present on the day of Jase's "birth" into the Williams family, even if it was in a legal sense. I was teary eyed when the judge proclaimed "From this day forward this child will be known as Jase Brodie Williams". A dream come true, a blessing to all and long wish of both Anjie and Brodies finally realized. I am so happy for you both! Congratulations!

Now who is the teacher?

2009-03-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

I always thought growing up that as the adults we were supposed to teach our kids things...while that does happen at my house often almost nearly as often I learn from my kids. I have learned a ton from them over the years and wrote a lot of it down...so much that someday I could write a book. So what does that say about me? Either I am still teachable, or I didn't know much to begin with...you choose! The other night we had a business meeting at our church, not really one of the most exciting things in all of history. I was holding Jorja who is 3 months and she was sucking away on her binkie while someone was up front talking. All of the sudden they started singing and playing the music and you could tell she was startled. She looked at me like "what the heck?" and I smiled she smiled back. She started looking around like, "I am not sure what all of the noise is around here" it was loud I must say, not in a bad way just loud. She would keep looking at me making sure all way okay and then just keep watching what was going on around her, not scared, just curious.

It made me think, how often is that me? How often is there just a bunch of "loud" around me...how do I respond? Do I look into the Fathers eyes and make sure that all is okay? Do I let him hold me in his arms when there is chaos around knowing that he will protect me? Do I get distracted by the woes of life and lose focus and get scared? Do I choose to climb into his comforting lap and have peace through the storm? I pray that I am able to have the child like faith to not let the storms of life get me down but to climb into his lap, look into his eyes and know that no matter what goes on around me, he has a firm, loving grip on me and will carry me through where ever life takes me.

Spring bait

2009-03-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

Growing up we loved the snow...still do, as long as it stays in its correct season! But when we wanted it to snow we would make paper snowflakes and hang them in the window. We called it "snow bait", maybe we could trick the snow to come down if it saw its freinds in our window. So the other day Lucy was supposed to be taking a nap and she wouldn't lay down. She was in her crib for a good hour, talking, playing her musical turtle and looking out the window. Finally I went in to get her because she obviously wasn't going to bed. I opened her door just a little because I wanted to see what she was doing. I just stood there and watched and listened. She was so cute! Standing in her crib looking out her window she is saying "flowew, floooowew" over and over again. I finally went in and got her and looked out her window. There were no flowers out anywhere...it is then that I dedcided Lucy was my "spring bait" encouraging the flowers to come out.

Growing up

2009-03-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

My kids are growing so fast! This week has been an eye opener for me in this area. For starters little Lucy Jo is the one I have noticed it in the most. She has always called my sister "babby". The other day we drove by Tabby's house and she says "Where's Babby?" How did she know how to put those words together? We drove the rest of the way home (all 10 minutes) and by the time we get to our house she is now calling her Tabby instead of "babby"...I am glad she can learn fast but "babby" was so much cuter! Clip used to sound like "blip" and shoes off used to sound like "shoo shoff". She all of the sudden this morning started saying "thank you" everytime she should. She has really never said it before even when prompted. She insists on doing things herself which can get messy at feedings.

She will not let anyone put her in the car, she demands to "load up" (which sounds more like "lo lup") herself. Tonight she wouldn't get in the car until nana came out and watch her climb in herself.

This all got me thinking about the other kids. Abi and Ellie have both started singing in the choir at church. For anyone who knows my kids and especially Abigail knows that is not her normal thing. Abi was actually the one who was more gung ho about it and Ellie has just now finally warmed up to the idea. They both sang in the choir together this last Sunday for the first time.

I went to both Abi and Ellie's confrence's at school on Monday and they are both doing so well. They make me so proud because even if they have an area that they struggle in they both get excellent scores when it comes to effort!

I was at Kylie's conference tonight...Junior High, I so remember those days. They looked a lot different for me than they do for Kylie. She is a straight A student which she didn't get from me! All of the teachers love her and she is going into 9th grade math next year even though she will only be in 8th grade. She will be earning high school credits for that class. I am so proud of the determination and drive she has. She pushes herself to do her best. She told me the other night that the closest she was going to college would be WSU and in the summer she was going to travel to forgein countries and see the world...oh and she will come home for a couple of weeks...so sad that she will leave me in 5 years but so exciting that she has a dream. She almost always refuses to let me take her picture but I said I would post her hiding from me if she didn't smile so here is what she gave me...she will warm up the camera soon I hope!

And then there is Jorja...Porja as she has come to be known now. Lucy calls her Porja pie...my poor kids and all of the crazy nic-names we give them. She is my tank, she is growing so fast and is so chubby I love it. She sleeps like a champ and I owe her bigtime for that. She is such a happy baby and loves to stand when you hold her. Here is her sleeping angel face.

She really knows all of us well now and I love the joy on her face when you talk to her...her smile goes from ear to ear. What blessings we have!

Stone Soup

2009-03-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last year when Abigail was in Kindergarten they did a "play" called stone soup. So a few weeks ago when we had sun Abi, Ellie and Lucy made some "stone soup" in the backyard. Sticks, rocks, dirt and any other nasty thing they could find was included. Whoever thinks Bob doesn't have "boys" is wrong!

Here goes nothing!

2009-03-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

I want to capture memories of my kids. I often forget things they did when they were little and I am horrible at journaling...so here goes nothing. I am going to attempt this blog thing. Come on our adventure with us!