The sun will come out tomorrow...

Or today. The sun is shining, the snow is melting, the kids feel great and are having a great time in the yard. I still feel a little burnt out from one week of snow days, followed by Ramona getting sick; however, I plan to bake out my frustrations tonight with some more Creme filled cupcakes. I have the semi sweet, heavy-whip frosting left over in my fridge... it needs a cupcake home.

For today I have a Beezus post.

Beezus learned early on the power of written word. Ever since learning how to write mom she had been able to aptly express her frustration with me. In fact, her first signs or letters were simply "mom" with an "x" through it when - I had managed to displease her. I have that sign saved, so I will post it when I find it. I guess my daughter is truly a child from the sixties ready to protest at the drop of a hat... or in her case, when she is told to take a time out. The apple did not fall far from the tree in this case. I have always been one to look for injustices that need protesting. Anyway...

Her most recent letter to me is below. I received this letter when she was grounded from the iPad for not going to bed nicely. She likes to stay up late into the night reading and I am under the silly impression she needs to get rest. So I wanted her to rest and told her she would lose iPad privileges if she did not go to bed. Well, she did not go to bed and spent two days without the iPad. You would have thought the end of the world had come to pass in our house.

I also got a note that said "Roses are red, violets are blue, I need the iPad and so do you."

Ha!

Have a great weekend!

Gluten Frustration

Today it is snowing!  What???

I was driving home today from Ramona's doctor appointment, with snow falling in swirls around me (because it is blizzarding in mid-April!!) and city trucks cleaning up tree branches broken from the storm last week, and my mind is digesting the conclusion of the our most recent visit to the hospital. 

Clutching the steering wheel and sighing to myself.  Today I feel like a mom with children diagnosed with Celaics.  Most days I just feel like a mom that bakes more than average.  Most days I feel like a mom that has her shit together and is taking names and kicking gluten ass. Most days I am making lists of new products, budgeting for our favorites.  Today I just feel a little beaten by a disease.  Today I feel like maybe it rules the house despite our best efforts.

We went into the doctor this Thursday after spending most the night up with Ramona sick.  My man and I were taking turns with her in the bathroom.  When I could not be with her, it was because I had to be with her younger brother who woke up when we walked back and forth outside his room.  Till 2am she was whimpering and I felt frustrated.  Like, geeze, if gluten was a person I would be taking my anger out with a baseball bat on gluten's butt.

Ramona has these stomach aches more frequently than I like to think about, and as a result, frequently misses school due to them.  This week she came home early from school on Wednesday morning.  I was very proud of our school - she complained about a tummy ache and they called immediately, saying they figured it might be Celiac related.  They did not play her symptoms down, they did not hesitate.

So, Wednesday morning I dropped everything to get her, because Ramona never complains about pain unless she is truly in it.  And usually it is only a matter of time before she vomits or needs the bathroom once she complains about a stomach ache.  I was more afraid she would be vomiting in class if I did not hustle.

She spent the day home, resting, in pain, not particularly hungry and then the night in the bathroom.

I had it.  Oh, hell.  I have had it.

I made another appointment with the doctor.  I decided this is it!  I am going in with guns blazing.  I am going to advocate.  I am going to demand new tests.  I am going to say that my kid does not need to be in pain.  That obviously this isn't gluten!  Obviously we missed something else!  This might not be the first appointment I went in complaining about these aches and pains. 

Sometimes I have to ask myself what I am hoping to walk away with, but deep down I know exactly what I want.  I have this illogical hope that this time someone will say, Oh, we missed this very easy to diagnose and cure no-big-deal-virus!  That is why her stomach hurts.  Here is your miracle prescription.  May you never have to see your kid lose sleep over gluten again.  This will pass.  Here is your clean bill of health.

Well, I love our doctor.  I takes time to find a doctor you truly like.  I find this especially true if there are any special needs involved.  Our doctor listens, she asks questions, she does not hesitate to run tests and takes our frustration seriously.  Then she always gives it to me straight (and delicately).

We have some new tests we are running, along with a general blood count panel.  But, it comes down to this is most likely cross contamination.  Sigh.  I did have bagels for a morning playgroup on Tuesday morning, but I thought I had cleaned up.   I told the doctor this and then I stressed to her that this seems like a HUGE reaction to what must have been a crumb I missed on the counter top.

As I am driving home I keep hearing Ramona's doctor say, "Ramona might be much more severely sensitive than her sister.  Had she not already been on a mostly gluten free diet she might have been very sick." 

It is not that it did not occur to me, it is not that this has not been said to me before, but today it just keeps playing over and over.  I remember when Ramona got sick in Mexico, we almost did not go to the Chichen Itza.  But we sucked it up, barely making it and then her sister got sick on the bus.  Everyone near them worried they had a flu and all I could think was nope, this is just Celiac kids vacationing.  Sigh, sigh double fracking sigh.

Time to be grateful:
My kids are relatively healthy most the time.
There is a cure, it is called no gluten for us.
Ramona is feeling better and spent a lot of the appointment laughing - including when she got her blood drawn.
They have nothing more serious.
They are happy.

And I am grateful and I can see that in the over all scheme of things we are okay.  Sometimes though we need to decompress, validate our feelings and just say out loud, this sucks.  Sometimes.


 

Still storming

This spring storm has really shut our city down. There have been power outages lasting for days, property damage, schools have been closed, trees have fallen over (onto houses, sidewalks and streets), tree branches have frozen and snapped off, tons of black ice is on the roads and sidewalks, police sirens have been the background noise most nights. It is storm chaos. This spring storm reminds me more of a winter storm. The city asked the residents to not clean up after the storm - worried about people becoming injured by falling branches.

The storm has taught me again how to be a South Dakotan.  Not because I had to use a hammer to chip the ice casing off which was encapsulating my car.  Not because I had to push my front door open against six inches of snow - in the month of April!  Not because of the ice covering my driveway and walkway my poor man has slipped on multiple times, or that the tree branches that have fallen or frozen to the ground!  But because of the sense of community and hospitality.  Friends, neighbors and strangers welcome those without power into their homes.  One set of neighbors came to our house to let us know our ducks got away, due to a tree branch breaking down the duck fence.  They actually sat with them to make sure they would not get far.

And of course everyone has a positive view on things.  One friend said well at least those spots in the yard with too much shade this year will have better grass coverage, another is relieved that although a tree branch fell on my home no one got hurt.  I could tell both friends felt the pain of watching their trees go as deeply as my man and I feel watching ours go.  A lot of us lost sleep listening for another snapping branch.  My man and I have been keeping positive as possible, though we admit that losing the tree that would have held the tree house this year was very sad to see.  My favorite tree is holding up as proudly as possible.  We still have the tire swing branch!  Yeah!

Needless to say this storm has made life interesting in my household. All the kids have been home since Wednesday this week.  We got a five day mini 'vacation'.  This means impromptu crafts, baking, movies and projects to keep the peace.  For the most part I have been shocked how well the week has gone... since I did not have time to prepare.

Ramona made special clothes pin clips to make butterfly snack bags for her class next week. This is something I have seen on Facebook and she apparently wants to try it out.  Beezus wants to get her autobiography project done for school, which gives her an excuse to harass me to let her on the computer. I had the girls clean their room and they actually did! Plus we finished Voyager up. Beezus was in tears, because she was sad for the series to end.  We hit an open house play date hosted by a good friend of ours.  What a great idea and way to get out of the house and see other friends for a while.  My favorite part was when all the kids had broken off into tiny groups to play different board games.  We brought over the movie Madagascar 3 and the kids huddled in the movie room to watch.  back at home the girls got to play in the snow (finally there is enough to make something out of - and it is soft and fluffy).  We had them stay away from the house and the trees and they made gigantic snow balls.

Baking during the storm:

We made a new muffin recipe peanut butter and jelly muffins.  Make sure to have the jelly in them; otherwise, they come out a bit dry.  We made our old favorite red velvet cupcakes.  I tried out a new recipe from the cupcake cookbook my sister got me a year ago Artisanal Gluten-Free Cupcakes.   We made the Boston Creme Cupcakes (pg 163). This is the first time we attempted a cupcake with filling.  There were three components to the cupcake - the cupcake itself, the custard filling and the chocolate ganache icing.  Patting myself on the back for trying something complicated with three kids home!  ;-)  I brought a few to the open house play date for my friends to try - and they liked them (important sometimes to get adult approval - though kids are more painfully honest).  Beezus was quite found of the custard (she kept sneaking into the kitchen to get some when I was not looking), and my man liked the cupcakes themselves (he also kept sneaking into the kitchen and grabbing unfilled and iced cupcakes), and Ramona could have cared less for these in general (she has different tastes).  Ramona likes the Pamela Mix Chocolate Cupcakes with milk instead of water and chocolate chips.  Ah well, to each their own.  Speaking of Pamela's Products we also made Chocolate Chunk Cookies with our Pamela Mix that we get sent as subscription order from amazon.com every three months.  Bulk ordering keeps down the costs and scheduled delivery means less shopping time.  I LOVE subscription ordering!

Two days left till my girls are back in school... feeling the kids at home burn.  Here are some photos from the last couple days.


Ramona helping baking.

Beezus said that the one cupcake with sprinkles that are round instead of stars could be a 'spirit bead' or as she said 'a spirit cupcake'.  The she explained the concept of a spirit bead to me, which I have in turn looked up for you: "As they created intricate geometric patterns out of thousands of tiny beads, Native American women would intentionally string a wrong-colored bead into an otherwise perfect pattern. This was called the spirit bead. The spirit bead was placed in an otherwise flawless piece of art as an act of humility, a way of recognizing the inherent imperfection of humans. Presuming that a human could create something perfect would be an affront to the true perfection of the gods."

Red Velvet Cupcake with a ton of cream cheese frosting,
and gold stars for decoration.

Happy Weekend!
We will be cleaning up branches in the backyard!
 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins:
3  1/2 cups Pamela’s flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 tbsn. vanilla
1/2 tspn jelly filled in center

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine ingredients in mixer, making sure butter is room temperature. Mix on medium till smooth. Place in lined muffin rack. Place teaspoon jelly in center press down gently till jelly is submerged. Put in oven and cook for twenty minutes.

First Spring Storm, sort if...

We have had a pretty long winter. It had plenty of snow and cold, not as bad as past winters. The snow never stuck to the ground long enough to become very high - usually melted off and snowed again a week later, just to repeat the process. The wind chill was not as bad as past years, but the length in cold spells might have been worse. Mostly the winter has lasted a really long time. We got some to have some breaks and ran out to enjoy them. I think I posted each break. For instance, last week was beautiful, and the girls and I walked a full three miles. I tried to walk to pick up as often as e weather would allow. The girls love that we can walk to and from their school.

Anyway, we are back to storming. Last night my whole family was woken repeatedly by wind, rain, hail and general South Dakota noises. This morning as my girls got ready for school our home was pelted by frozen rain and hail. As I rushed them out the door, with my man, I warned them to go directly to the car, no goofing off. We crowded around the cold doorway and waited for a break in the ugly down pour, then they ran for the car.

Well, to be more articulate my youngest, and my worrier, ran to the car. She is quick to assume she might die getting there. I always have to clarify to her, I promise you are not going to die.

Today the exact quote, you are not going to die, you just need to move kind of quickly so you do not get rained on.

In which she replied, hail can break car windshields.

To which I had to reply, the car wind shield is not going to break. See there is not even hail happening right now.

Of course she refused to move without her father holding her hand and when he was taking too much time she made a run for it, slamming her car door shut when she was safely inside. She is blessed with an ample amount of drama in her genes.

My oldest is a whole different story. She dragged her feet watching the ground. I have no idea what she was thinking plodding along like that. I would put my money on the fact that the ground was crunchy with ice. The noise and different texture no doubt called to her senses. And it was my turn to worry she would take so much time the hail would start up again. My oldest has always been rather oblivious to the world. She did understand the weather was not ideal and insisted on finding protective head gear before leaving the house - which, as it turned out in her mind was a Saint Patricks Day hat we wore to the parade this year. Luckily for my oldest daughter it was nice and clear for the entire duration of her slow march to the car. I was relieved when her sister opened her car door and scooted over instead of fighting.

And so welcomed the Spring Storms.

I took some photos for my mother to see the damaged foliage in our yard. It is wild!

The little man asleep in the stroller on our way to get the girls.
I did not realize his hat fell in his face.  Oops.

Living in the Midwest has taught me, above all, nature calls the shots.  And Mother Nature sucks.  One day it is a clear, blue sky and the temperature has risen above freezing.  Rejoice, throw on your shoes and your jacket, grab your kids and dog and run for the backyard.  Don't walk, run.  There have been days that start out nice (nice now means above freezing people) and that same day can end in snow or thunder.  Mother nature does not have to make sense.

In any case, recently we had a few good days.  I almost did not make the kids go for a walk, I almost let fatigue win.  The Californian in me saw the sun and only registered a simple, Ah, now that is how it should be.  The South Dakotan in me started hysterically screaming Get outside, do it now!  Run, play, be free!  

I shook off that laid back Californian persona, snapped back into my Midwest reality - it occurred to me that with the Spring comes thunder storms, tornado warnings, sometimes flash floods and  always an annoying amount of wind!  And, let us not forget the summer follows with triple digit heat and hot wind.  So frack staying indoors kids - I might be running on almost no sleep - as the little man might actually be teething for real - but we need to get outside and move it!

In the last few days the kids and I have been taking advantage of the yard.  Our dog has been doing the same, chasing the ducks and cats, and playing with our neighbors dogs.  I have walked to the school to pick my girls up - I figure it is time to get back in shape.  One day I not only walked the quarter mile to pick up the girls, but then we walked a mile and half to the library and a mile and a half back!  I was so proud of my little troopers.  We trudged along, returned books, checked out new books and worked our legs out.  The little man mostly just slept in his stroller.

It is looking like this week we are in for some rain, and possibly even snow, blech - but last week we got out of the house... so this week we can paint some more walls I guess.

Have a Great Week People!

Family Dinner Traditions: Kids Teach Mom & Dad

A couple years ago I started a ritual at the dinner table of saying what we are grateful for – I have posted about this frequently since then.  This ritual turned into a great family tradition that had helped my family and I learn how we are lucky.  It has re-worked our brains to see the wonders in life, small or large, and to mindfully notice them. 

It is time to add something new!  This last month we added to our dinner time routine.  One night a week the children present something they are learning in school to us.  They get to teach us about it.  (To make it fair we also teach something about our day).

Ideally this new practice should help my children:

• Overcome shyness in presenting by practicing once a week with family.
• As many of my teachers have pointed out over the years when you teach something you learn it even better - ideally whatever my children teach to my man and I at the dinner table will become more robust in their own minds. 
• I hope this increases their confidence and...
• I hope it gives them the floor in the family at least once a week - a special time when they get everyones attention and respect.  A rare commodity in a family with multiple children, and even rarer after a baby is born.

Beezus sharing a story with
our little man!

The first night we tried this is like the first night we try anything new.  I make my rounds earlier in the evening.  I always pre-warn my oldest daughter of my plan.  It helps her expect it ahead of time, think it over and, in her case, come up with ways she will not participate.  I pre-warn my second child, knowing she will look forward to new event, especially when it means having the center stage.  Then I prepare myself. 

To ensure anything succeeds in my family I usually have about five different back up plans ready at my disposal.  I find joy in combining in plans organization of my home.  Luckily for me one of my back up plans utilizes the papers that get sent home from the school everyday, cluttering my house and putting me in the awkward position of deciding whether to keep these papers or throw them away.  In anticipation of my children failing to come up their own subject matter to teach at dinner time  I brought to the table school papers that they bring home (i.e. graded homework, in school writing and math sheets).

For once it did not take all five back up plans, plus negotiating, plus begging, plus threatening (in which ever order works the best).  The kids each choose their subject matter from the pile of different papers and went about 'teaching us'.  My Ramon choose to read one of her in class writing assignments.  It was great reading practice for her and she enjoyed it when we laughed at the funny parts.  My oldest read through her health homework worksheet about the heart.  We learned the heart beats 3 billion times in our life times and that the right side of the heart is smaller than the left side.

Friday nights are movie night at our house!
We have gluten free pizza and sit in our family room,
 cuddling close on our sofas!
 Movie night turned into Voyager or Star Trek Night in January. 
We crowd around our TV and watch Captain Jane Way
and her crew try to make it home from the Delta Quadrant. 
This leads to some pretty interesting photos
made from a doodling program on my ipad.

We got a bonus our first night - one thing our oldest daughter taught us was to quiz each other at the end of our presentation.  The presenter can ask three questions of the rest the family to check their listening skills.  Each right answer is worth ten points.  We have to hit the table if we think we know the answer and the first person to hit the table gets to answer the question.  Turns out this game made the entire teaching event fun!

Teaching night was a success and we did have it again this week.  A little of the newness wore off, but we will just keep at it till it becomes a routine that enriches our lives.

 

Happy Saturday!

Live long and prosper.