on my way

I have several exciting changes happening. 

• First I am giving up on being 100% gluten free.  My son just started only eating gluten free substitues of the same non nutritional foods.  I am still being gluten free as much as possible.
• Next I am learning chartucerie.  I am getting a whole pig and learning from there.
• I am expanding my jam and jelly business to Etsy
• I am finishing my degree in holistic nutritional consultation
• I am working hard on losing weight, both myself and my boys
• Learning more gardening skills and hoping to expand into a summer business
• I am going to learn how to build something...anything
• Last but not least I am getting rid of 50% of the STUFF in my house

This is kinda like my New Years resolutions but they are really just goals.

birthday and parade

We woke up to a rainy day. Of course I still had to do market in the morning we were surprisingly steady. I almost sold out but not quite. We had to go to a parade first. I was a little nervous about the candy but we had a chat and Jordan understood that he had to ask before he could eat any. I was armed with my gfcf guide that named the brands not just the type. He asked about every piece and didn't get upset when I said NO. He just would look for another.

The birthday party was a successful. I served Tacos. I used ground beef, turkey, and venison. I used the taco seasoning recipe from myo spice mixes at gfcfrecipes@yahoo. The toppings were lettuce and olives. I made refried beans from whole pinto beans and I made my version of spanish rice. We also had a fruit tray and chips. No one really complained about the lack of cheese. I made my birthday cake using the same recipe as earlier post except I used coconut oil instead. I gave up and used food coloring for red and black. The colors ran on my cake so it wasn't my best but spiderman has been done 4 years in a row now.

Update poop, rabbits, and sleep

We are doing better now. The diarrhea had stopped. I got the privilege of seeing the stretchy strings of yeast in his poop. No I didn't take a picture but only because my toilet wasn't that clean. I really have my own issues with poop. My kids find it perfectly normal for me to have my head in the toilet to see what it looks like. Pretty pathetic I know. The worst part is I have a home daycare and I can tell by looking at the poop who forgot to flush. I even know my dogs poop from my moms dog. According to Jeffrey he thinks I should get a life and find something better to obsess about. I just keep reminding him that in the olden days doctors diagnosed a sick child by looking at their poop. Insert rolling of eyes here.

The rabbits are getting bigger and have dug their way out but they are to well fed to run away. Yesterday I couldn't find the boys even though I could here them and they were in the rabbit cage. A really good place for them.




Jordan went on a field trip today to a farm. No there was no pigs! I got the biggest laugh out of that. The school sent home a note specifying that there was no pigs on the farm. The funniest part is we are a farming community how stupid people really act when they buy into the media hysteria. According to Jordan "no pigs allowed" I asked him if there was pigs on the farm and I guess that is what he was told. Of course his aid called during the trip because everyone was having ice cream and he wanted some. Now why couldn't they tell me this ahead of time I had ice cream in my freezer that he could have brought along. I caved because I know it only takes 3 days to get out of his system compared to the months it takes gluten.

We are still having sleep issues. Every night about 4 am he wakes up screaming so I let him get in my bed. I am trying to figure it out. I put him back on Melatonin and I will give it a week to see if this makes a difference. It could just be because grandma and grandpa are going on vacation for 10 days and he doesn't think they are coming back. We printed up their itinerary and have it all mapped out so we will be OK unless they decide to stay longer. They can't stay longer though because I need them to watch the kids Sunday so I can go to autism one. They aren't seeing their dad very often anymore and he moved to a new house so I have the feeling that he thinks they are just going to disappear.

Violet Jelly

It is spring here and we are making violet jelly for the first time. Different than I expected but it is gfcf but definately not sugar free: My older son was so excited that he is going to take it to school tomorrow he also has conned me into trying a dandelion flavor next.

1 qt violet flowers (no stems) this is fun for the kids to do
fill the jar with boiling water and let set for 12 to 24 hours


when the water is added it is a ugly blue color never fear it will be pretty in the end


add 2c of violet juice to a pan
juice in 1 lemon (watch it turn pink)
add 1 box pectin and boil hard 1 minute

add 4 c. sugar and bring to a boil 1 minute

pour into hot jelly jars and process for 10 minutes

Its been a while boy am I frustrated!!!!!!!

What fun I have been having! Lets see what has been going on. We have had weeks of diarhea. The sleep has been sporatic and I am burning out. I am frustrated with the diet. I saw a difference right away and now I am not so sure. I think I was at school 3 times this week. It was actually a relief to go tent camping in the rain because I didn't have to read labels or time the medicine.

What do I do? I see improvements everyday but he still is the pickiest eater. All this diet has done is just take his five foods and sub them with a new 5 foods. Any and all new foods I can get him to try which is an improvement but he always and I mean always gags and spits it out.

An explosion!!!!!!

I got another call from school at 1 to come get Jordan because his stomach hurt. I didn't want to bring him home but....jordan had other ideas. We got home and I gave him an enzme and probiotic and he said he felt better. Later we were at grandma's and he was very lethargic and cold he just wanted to sit on our laps and cuddle. Next thing we know he lets out a huge string of farts and said "I feel better" and "excuse me" About 30 minutes later he runs down the hall and yells "I did it" Which means mom I pooped come wipe my butt. My goodness is was a huge pile of mush almost as big as a cow pie. He felt much better. I gave him a bath later with epsom salts and he got out halfway through and did it again. This one must have been what was left it was mostly water.

bedtime was easy no crying and he went right to sleep. He slept through the night and was asleep every time I checked on him. Well this morning he woke up happy and goofy. No crying that he didn't want to go to school. So far so good they get out at noon and I haven't had a call yet.

So long to glorious poop

Sorry to say it took almost a week before he would poop again but he sure managed yesterday. Luckily we were snowed in so the kids were home from school. The consistency was very soft. I haven't seen one like that in years. I have no idea how to get him to go. He believes that he is supposed to keep it in. He keep apologizing for not keeping it in.

Today at school they went on a field trip to a tree farm. It was a very cold day but the sun was shining and he said he had fun. He said the dog that was there ate his lunch. I am upset because he has an aid. Where was this aid? To top it off they offered all the kids hot chocolate. Luckily he declined but come on last I checked hot chocolate has some kind of dairy in it. He has a Dr note that says he is not to have dairy. I swear the school is so uninformed and no matter how many times I try they just don't want to meet with me.