gluten-free survival guide 101

I have had several folks ask me about eating gluten free, so I thought I would share a bit of the basics that I have learned over the past couple of years.

First you have to figure out what you CANNOT eat and then go from there.  To play it safe in the beginning I cut out ALL processed foods.  Once I figured out what I could not eat I began adding safe foods back to my diet.

For a complete list of unsafe foods click here, just print this list and post it on the frig for a quick reference.  It is just over 4 pages of delightful reading... uhm...  Obviously, we cannot have Wheat, Barely, Rye & Oats.  In addition to the basics gluten MAY be hidden in artificial color, natural flavoring & soy sauce just to name a few... basically all processed foods.   Again, please see the forbidden list for all the details.

What does this mean for you?

Whether you want to or not you will be eating healthier from now on! And, you will be much happier.  YAY for energy!

The first survival food we will be discussing is the Chocolate Chip Cookie.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
I like Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip recipe called The Chewy Gluten Free.  I have made it several times and my entire family really enjoys these gooey cookies.  (You may have to hide them, like me, or they disappear quick and in a hurry!)  The first time I made them I followed the recipe and of course they were fabulous and they second time I used my AP Mix instead of his flours and it was even better, according to my husband.  He told me he thinks they may be his all time favorite cookie! 

Here is what I did- Instead of measuring out the brown rice flour, cornstarch and tapioca flour I used approximately 2 1/4 cups of MY AP Mix. (I would NOT use a store bought mix, they are just too grainy in my opinion, I would just follow his recipe in that case)  Oh, nor do I roll mine into balls- too much work for this momma.  After I refrigerate the dough I use a spoon and drop them onto the parchment paper and they still look beautiful.   With my oven, I baked them for 5 minutes rotated them as the recipe instructed and then baked for another 5 minutes (my cookies were fairly large).  Happy baking!
Note: Be sure to store all of your flour in the refrigerator as it can spoil.

BREADS
Pre-Celiac diagnosis I ate whole wheat bread, not really because I enjoyed it, but because it was the healthy option.  Once I was diagnosed I just did without for almost a year.  I had tried some GF bread and of course it tasted like cardboard even after toasting so I gave up on it.  Then I stumbled across the Udi's brand.  I totally LOVE it.  In fact I PREFER it to my glutinous whole wheat bread!  In my opinion it doesn't even need to be toasted.  Yes, it is expensive.  Yes, it is a tiny little loaf.  Yes, it is WORTH EVERY PENNY!  I usually buy mine from Whole Foods, but Raley's also carries it.  Whole Foods is an expensive place, but I have noticed they still seem to have the best prices on GF foods so go stock up! 

In addition to bread Udi's has pizza crust, bagels & muffins that I buy a little too regularly!  I am in LOVE with their Double Chocolate & Blueberry Muffins.  Go buy them, enjoy and then come tell me how right I am!  ha! 

COOKING
The thing about eating GF is baking & cooking can turn complex fairly quickly or at least tedious for sure!  This momma cannot do tedious, time consuming meals.  Some days I am happy to just get chicken nuggets heated through in the microwave for my kiddos!  This is why Everyday Food is my "go to" place for recipes.  As I have mentioned before their recipes are simple, easy & tasty.  This is NOT a gluten free website, but the recipes I have looked at do not require processed foods, which may contain gluten.  When they do call for something that does contain gluten like this YUMMY Honey-Teriyaki Chicken recipe.  It is an easy substitution.  I use gluten-free Tamari instead of regular soy sauce and the entire family is happy!

Well, that is all I have for today.  Hopefully, this has been helpful & you can make it on these "survival foods" until the next post!

Happy Eating!

chasing the wind

My big boys are outside chasing the wind right now and of course having a fabulous time!  We are having the most beautiful day here in sunny California.  I may even bundle up the babies for a stroll this afternoon.  Although, there won't be much bundling required since it is 61 degrees here with a high of 66.  It will be so nice to be outside.

I am very much missing my blogging world, but home life has required all of my energy. 

Hoping to be on again very soon.... there is so much to say.  Life has been such a roller coaster lately... praising the Lord still.

Thank you Jesus for my beautiful family and home!

Our Classical Conversations

 

Here is a quick glimpse into our Classical Conversations classroom.  In these pictures we are studying abstract art, doing a science experiment and learning Latin.  We have thoroughly enjoyed learning with other students and parents.  

Of course building friendships has been wonderful too!

The Sacramento Children's Museum

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of checking out the Sacramento Children's Museum with a few friends.  It really was amazing.   The boys played and played.  It really was the perfect place for them to explore.

a peek inside the museum

Okay, so maybe I got a little bit carried away with pictures from the Children's Museum, but I had so much fun and I want to share it with you.  And, yes, the boys had fun too!  If only we lived closer.

Cael & Kipp exploring "waterways" with the twins looking on from the stroller

our friends, having a great time

we had lunch in the "party room"

the big boys playing in "my neighborhood"

I had to pick Kipp up and set him in the boots :-)

Each exhibit had a mailbox so the kids were running around mailing letters- very fun!

"baby bloomers"

Yes, I realize Cael is a bit old for the "baby bloomers," but I was nursing the twins and wanted the big boys close.  This is the cutest spot for the the little guys.  They even have dress up costumes.  I wish I were able to take more pictures of everything, but when you take four boys ages 5 and under (and you are breastfeeding two of them) there isn't much time for picture taking!  And yes I took half of these pics while feeding the babies!  Hey, sometimes you just have to make it work.

"airways"

This was so neat!  This "contraption" would suck in the hankies or lightweight balls and they would go flying all the way through and then it would spit them out. 

um... yeah... I have no idea what this does...

"Studio of the Arts"

Needless to say we had a blast!  It was very convenient, relaxed and not so big that I had to worry about my children running off and it worked well for me- on my own with all four boys.  I even loved the bathrooms!  They had "real" changing tables and stall for the entire family.  Everything was just so kid friendly how could you not LOVE this place?!  We cannot wait to go back.

still here.... barely

I am really missing being able to blog, but right now every free moment I have is... Oh wait I have no free moments!
Okay, so we are trying to survive life right now.  Over the last couple of months I have started having "energy problems" again... please don't insult me by saying it is just because I am a mom of four.  All summer I have been handling four children beautifully.  We have had a fabulous summer with me waking with babies up to 6 times a night and still putting in a full day of work and feeling great.  Now the babies only get up once each, so I am up twice in the night, with my husband actually being the one to go get the babies and bring them to me and I am still struggling.

My house is a wreck, school is more than fallen by the wayside and my children are starving.  Okay so maybe that is a bit dramatic, but it is more accurate than I care to say.  Thankfully my husband comes home and puts on his mom cap.  He cooks, cleans and takes care of the kiddos while I sit and shout orders from the couch!

No, really... from the couch.

I know, it sounds like the perfect life!!  To be honest though,  I am sad I am not the one up providing for my family.  This "energy thing" is adding tons of stress to our once deliriously happy lives.  sigh...

We are not sure if it is something to do with my Celiac's or running while nursing twins and being on a limited diet... hopefully my blood work will be in soon and we will get some answers.

ANYWAY these past couple of weeks have been particularly rough... praying life gets easier soon!

Kipp's 3rd Birthday

Sunday was Kipp's Birthday.  It was a very busy day filled with tons of fun.  We started out doing the 5k at Bishop's Pumpkin Farm and finished up with a family birthday party, cooking hot dogs over an open fire.

Happy Birthday Kippy!!

We love you "SOOO MUCH"!!

Bishop's Pumkin Farm 5k Fun Run

WE DID IT!!  We ran our first official family 5k this morning.

We loved doing this together and to make it even better it was on Kipp's Birthday.  It was so fun!

Cael started out running with me and then climbed on about a third of the way through.  For the most part Sean pushed the stroller with the 4 boys and I ran beside them.  There was a small section that was pretty bumpy so Sean and the boys took pictures while I ran.  (This is why all the pics are of me running)

I loved the run!  It was so beautiful.  The morning was overcast and cool. 

You could not have asked for a more perfect morning or run. 

It was the perfect day!

 Enjoy!

 Check out Bishop's 5k here.  With our entry fee we got a train ride, corn maze, and the kids got to go down the coyote mountain slides.  And it benefited the American Red Cross, even better!

I will post more pics of our great day at Bishop's in later post.  Now I am off to celebrate with Kippy on his THIRD birthday.

the twins are 8 months

The babies turned 8 months old on the 13th.  I can honestly say I am not excited about this...  Well, it just seems it is going too fast!  Although, I am not happy about the months speeding by, I love seeing my boys grow and change.

Finnian, Mr. Content

He has shown no interest in crawling until this past week.  I think he scooted himself about an inch forward! :-D  And today he was in different spot, a good 4 inches from his original spot.  He just moved so slowly it couldn't be seen with the naked eye.  Now that IS hard to do!!

 I love my Finn, when he smiles the whole world lights up.  You just HAVE to SQUEEZE him!!

Remington, Mr. Busybody

For the first time, yesterday he...
said mama (he was calling for me, I know it!)
began pulling himself up &
crawled on his knees

Today in church he kept getting SO EXCITED and giggly that I had to take him out.  He is always happy, even when he is crying he still tries to smile.  He is going to be a character,  like his big brother Kipp.

I love my Remy, you just HAVE to KISS him! (on his neck so he squeals)

gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free.... YUM

As you know I am gluten-free.  I am ALSO dairy-free & soy-free due to my sweet little Remy having problems with dairy and soy and possibly eggs, nuts and who knows what else.  The poor little guy spits up like a MAD MAN if I have dairy and soy.  Even though I avoid them he still spits up several times a day and I don't mean just a teaspoonful!  We are still working through this yak problem... sigh.

I am praying this is just a result of an immature digestive system and he will be able to eat a normal diet as he gets older.  I cannot imagine living life without CHEESE, yogurt and ice cream! (Yes there are some tasty alternatives, but they are inconvenient, expensive and hard to find)

And I thought it was hard "just" being gluten-free!

Sometimes I feel like there are only three things I can eat and I already ate them all for a SNACK... Seriously, what's for dinner?!  Since I am nursing twins and running I am constantly hungry!  So I am always happy when I find fun things I can eat.

My most recent find is Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss.  My husband brought home their Dark Chocolate Bars and I LOVE them!  They did not last long and I do NOT share!

WARNING:

If you want to live.... 

NEVER, NEVER touch a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nursing twins mama's food!  Especially her new ONE & ONLY TREAT!  

(Can someone PLEASE, PLEASE explain this to my husband, for HIS OWN SAFETY!)

If you are searching for this yummy treat we bought ours at Whole Foods, of course (I will NEVER be able to live more than 20 minutes from them again).

Here is a pic for anyone else that is eating only yummy-free food.

Expecting! Pregnancy #3 and the big news

As promised the beginning details...

We found out we were expecting a week before Sean deployed to the Middle East in May of 2010. We were excited about welcoming a new baby, but a little concerned how the pregnancy would go, especially with Sean out of the picture for awhile.  The last couple of times Sean deployed while I was expecting did not go well to say the least!  We were praying that this time would be different.
At the beginning of the year I was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease (more on my gluten free life here).  I, not so promptly, changed my diet and even gained some weight (a good thing).  We were hoping now that we knew why I was so anemic everything would go a lot smoother with this, my third pregnancy.

Sean left for deployment and I took our two boys to go visit my family in IL.  Flying with two little ones can be exhausting, throw in a pregnancy and you have one wiped out mama!  We had a great trip with family and all seemed to be going well with baby, but I was anxious to get home and go to my first doctors appointment.

Back in California I asked a friend to watch Kipp.  Cael and I went to the appointment to see the new baby.  As soon as the ultrasound began I thought wow that looks like two babies... I must be seeing double!  At that moment the doctor said "I see two babies."  WHAT? Are you sure?  I don't understand.  TWO?  What a shock!  It was so exciting and scary all at the same time.  I couldn't believe it.  Nothing seemed real at that point.  Cael seemed unimpressed, but I was flipping out!  I couldn't wait to tell Sean, but of course I couldn't call him, he was deployed.  I had to wait for his phone call, so I called my cousin and told her the happy, scary news.  She was appropriately shocked and couldn't wait to hear what Sean had to say.  We were laughing excitedly about the news, but less than an hour later as I was pulling into town, I started crying.  Fear was slowly creeping in.  I knew that a twin pregnancy was considered high risk.  I also knew that out of the four people I personally knew that had been expecting multiples none of them had ended up with all of their babies.  It was time to start praying.

FINALLY, Sean called (less than 2hrs after the appointment) and I told him the good news.  Of course he didn't believe me.  Did he really think I would be crying like this if it were a joke?! Seriously!  He, of course, was super excited.  What a crazy adventure.

Never would I have EVER thought I would have twins.  It still seems so unreal, well, until they BOTH start spitting up or have an explosion at the same time.  Double the work makes it feel VERY REAL!  Even though these sweet babies are a lot of work they are even MORE FUN!  Twins are the best!

TWINS!

Our babies at 9 weeks

The Hard Truth about Homeschooling

Week 2
of the 2011-2012 school year started off a bit rough.   I will save you all the details and just say the babies were crying, diapers were “exploding”, Kipp would not stop singing at the TOP of his lungs and Cael an unwilling pupil.

After the fourth attempt to start school I gave up and sent the big boys outside to play, put the babies down for a nap and cleaned the kitchen.  Forty-five minutes later we began again for the FIFTH time.

Thankfully it went better and we even had a productive day.

The craziness got me thinking though...

Homeschooling is a TON of WORK!  

Although, I am enjoying it I am AMAZED that people actually do this with MULTIPLE children, for YEARS and even DECADES!!  I knew it would be hard, but seriously.

And this leads me to...

The Hard Truth
(to ADMIT that is....)

I have heard homeschool moms talk about how much they love having their children at home with them all day and some even go so far as to say how much they enjoy TEACHING their children.  To be painfully honest I must admit I have never believed them.  How could they enjoy all that WORK?  And what about having time to themselves don’t they miss it?  Please, please don’t hate me homeschool moms, but I thought it had to all be an act, so that you could look like super mom maybe? 

I AM SORRY!  I did not understand.   And how could I?  I had never been there.

I had not seen the joy that comes over my child’s face as he read on his own for the very first time or recited his memory work well.

Now here I am in the very beginning of our homeschool years and loving every minute, really.

YES, it is the HARDEST thing I have ever done.  To make myself prepare and teach lessons to a child, let’s be honest, that would rather be playing is no small task.  Then to do it while nursing twins, changing diapers, preparing meals, and doing tons of laundry seems down right NUTS, but...

It has been AMAZING.  I truly am enjoying it, it must be a God thing.  Being apart of Cael's triumphs and being there to cheer him on, is really beautiful.  I cannot imagine it any other way.  My child is WORTH all the hard work, the long days and the sacrifice.

Before I overwhelm you with all this mushiness.  Let me just say I cannot imagine doing this for decades either, after all it is still HARD WORK, but I am taking it one year, well one day really, at a time and will see where God leads.  At this moment I am just grateful for the opportunity to share in this learning experience with my son.

These days there is no alone time, free time or even me time, but now is the ONLY time I have to raise my children to love the Lord, to be men of character and to serve others.  My little blessings are worth way more than I can give.  Some of you, MOST of you are thinking "she IS CRAZY!"  NOPE-- just transformed by God!

Cael's Kindergarten Curriculum 2011-2012

It has been a fun process choosing curriculum for Cael's first year of school.  I find I am having to rein myself in!  There are so many wonderful options out there.  Who knew this would be so fun?

Bible- Daily Devotions & Bible Memorization

Devotions- We have two devotional books we are using right now.

Growing with Jesus by Andy Holmes takes a verse, discusses it and gives a very simple daily application for the topic.
My Bible Pals Storyboook tells a Bible story and gets the children involved by having them make hand motions or answer questions that go along with the story.  It contains a couple discussion questions, verse and prayer with each Bible story.  I love how concise, but lively the stories are.
These two books are great for our family considering our oldest is 5. 
We are also doing "character studies." I knew I wanted to pick something along the lines of obedience and character to work on, but wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to go about it. You can see how Erica does it over on her blog.  Unfortunately for us her character studies are a bit too advanced for my young children, but I am hoping to come up with our own simple version.

Memory- We memorize one verse a week.  Bible Forget-Me-Nots has been a fun way to get started memorizing.  The boys love listening to the CD that goes with the verses.
We also memorize verses they are working on in Sunday School or anything else we think would be valuable for their age.


Poetry- IEW Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization (Book & CD)
I absolutely LOVE this program.  The boys have so much fun listening to the CD and memorizing the poems.  To be honest I didn't know what the point of memorizing poetry was, but it seemed like a good idea.  :-D  But as we have begun to memorize the poetry I see how we are working on our vocabulary, annunciation, attention to detail, and public speaking skills (every stray person that comes to our home is another opportunity to practice our new skills!).  And we love, LOVE Andrew Pudewa's voice, the boys are always asking to listen to the CD when we get in the car.  I cannot say enough good things about this program.


Phonics/Reading- The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise
One of things I really love about this particular reading program is that it is scripted.  This is my first time teaching a child to read; I want to know exactly what to do and then I can build from there.  It contains 231 lessons beginning with the alphabet sounds and ending with sounding out words such as "extraterrestrial."  I can use this book for Kipp to start learning the sounds of the letters and for Cael who is beginning to read.  We will be getting plenty of use out of this book, let me tell you!  I like that I don't have to juggle several books.

Our beginning reader books- BOB Books & Playful Pals by Nora Gaydos
Today Playful Pals came in the mail and we have already read the first book 3 times, this is the same boy that would rather take a nap than read (he hates naps)!  He loves it!  It is very colorful, yet doesn't contain too many sight words.
 
Math- Right Start Math
I was able to purchase this previously owned, but unused.  Cael loves it, I.... ugh... it is a ton of work.  We are going to TRY to do it this year, with Sean's help.  There are just so many little parts.  It just doesn't seem realistic for us, but Cael enjoys it so much I want to at least attempt it for a bit longer.

Handwriting- Zaner-Bloser
Our writing curriculum is currently en route!  Cael's letters look nice, but we need to really get started with proper technique I really believe we should have started this a year ago with him.  I chose Zaner-Bloser because it is what The Well-Trained Mind (WTM) recommends and after looking at it online I liked it.  I am excited to see how it works for us.


Latin- Song School Latin
We have just started using this and love it!  I have been very apprehensive about teaching Latin since I DON'T KNOW Latin, but with this program I can see it going very well.  Our first lessons have gone great and are tons of fun.

Classical Conversations- I am VERY happy to announce we are beginning Classical Conversation (CC).  This is the first year for the program in our area and I am so happy we are able to participate.  We will be covering the following subjects with CC.

Subjects
History
Latin
Science
Geography
English
Math

Activities
Hands on Science
Fine Arts

Every week they also give a presentation in front of their class.  This week's recommended topic is "Tell a Bible Story" Cael will be telling Jonah and the Big Fish.  I love it!

I am still working on making Classical Conversations flow with what we are already doing.  The hard part is figuring out how to make CC work for us.  Eventually I want it to be our spine, but to be honest it may not happen this year.  It may work best for us to concentrate on phonics, handwriting & math with CC filling in for the other subjects.  This seems a bit bare bones, but with this being Kindergarten, our first year homeschooling and our first year in CC I am okay with that. :-) Once I have a better grasp of CC I know it will all flow well.  I am looking forward to a fun year!

Additional info on Classical Conversations:
Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood
Mt. Hope Chronicles: Classical Conversations In Detail: Part I

six beautiful years

Today is our anniversary.  Oh, happy day! 

I know I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but I cannot help it.  I am SO HAPPY!  Life could not get ANY better.  God is so AMAZING!  I have a peace and a happiness that I have never had before.  God has given me an amazing husband that gently leads me and blesses me every day.

Who knew life could be this FUN?! 

Thank you Lord for your many blessings!

Happy Anniversary husband, I love you more than ever.

our first day

What a GREAT day!  It amazes me how my days are SMOOTHER when we are doing school than when we aren't.  Does this make sense to ANYONE?  It is a reminder of how much my boys need structure, a task and someone to help focus them.

For the most part we stuck to our schedule.

Here is  a quick run down of our day.

6:45am- slept in so I wasn't able to get my run in, made a yummy breakfast of cinnamon oatmeal.  
8:00am- ate breakfast as a family and did our devotions & character study, this week we are going over  selflessness, something I REALLY want to work on.  We kissed daddy goodbye, I sent the boys out to play and I did dishes, vacuumed, started laundry, fed and changed the babies.
9:15am- Time for school.  Our subjects today:
Bible Memory
Poetry
Phonics
Math
Handwriting
P.E. (a family walk/run this evening)
Kipp and I also reviewed colors and shapes.

We will aslo be doing CC Memory Work (I will explain this another time), Grammar, Latin, Science, Geography, Music & Art.  These will be on other days and some of these subjects are included in our CC Memory work. 

To see the details of our curriculum see Cael's Kindergarten Curriculum 2011-2012.

While Cael and I work on school, Kipp plays nearby or outside (today he was using my duster to dust daddy's grill!).  The babies should nap, but of course Finn slept in so he was up playing and Remy was roaming around the living room looking for anything the big boys may have dropped.

In between subjects we take a 3-5 minute break.  While Cael & Kipp go outside to play, I prepare the next subject,  switch over laundry & change diapers.

Now with all the little ones napping and Cael HAPPY to be playing (school makes him appreciate his play time so much more!!) I am blogging.  YAY!  Although, I hear the laundry calling my name.  I have already done four loads this morning, but I still have at least 2 more and it all needs to be folded!  Oh, and DINNER, sigh...  If only we could all just forget about the dinner part of the day.

Here are a few pictures from our day

While I was taking pictures of Cael coloring, he started posing all on his own for me!  Love that boy!

I am very thankful for our great start! 

Classical Conversations begins tomorrow!  We are super excited.

and school begins

Tomorrow is Cael's FIRST day of Kindergarten!  He of course is sleeping peacefully, but I have butterflies in my stomach.  This is a big day for us.  We are officially beginning our homeschooling journey.  My prayer is that I can keep everything in perspective and Cael will learn nothing matters without the Lord.

If he could also learn to read and write that would be FANTASTIC! :-)

Please be praying for us as we head down this new path.

Remina

Since my brother is in town this week.  I sat in the back of the van with the big boys, which gave me a great view of the babies. It seemed the perfect time to snap a few photos with my phone of my precious sleeping babes.

Before Church

Remington

Finnian

After Church

Remington in a "daddy's girl" onesie

During church Remington had an "explosion" and of course today was the ONE morning I didn't bring a spare set of clothes (we were running behind), usually I have so many extra things my bag weighs a ton.  Thankfully, a very kind, prepared mom of a DAUGHTER had an extra onesie to lend us.  Thank you to the random mom for lending me clothes for my poor naked son.  

And you thought it was bad to take your child to the store in a diaper!  Remington almost had to strut the diaper at church!

August

Another exciting month around here!  My brother is in town visiting for a week, we bought the boys a used redwood play structure (that's about the size of our back yard), Sean is best man in his best friend's wedding and Cael is starting KINDERGARTEN!!

We officially have a school age child!

Can you believe the summer is for the most part OVER?!  It went so fast.  There were so many things I was hoping to do that never got done.  We really need to have a week where Sean stays home and we do a complete overhaul of the garage and "hot spots" in the house. 

I am officially giving up on the garage sale I have been trying to have for OVER A YEAR now!  It obviously is not going to happen.  A few of the big items we will put up on Craigslist and the other stuff we will donate.  All I want is a BARE garage!

Before the summer ends I still need to...
figure out a space for school supplies
write thank yous
meal plan... ugh
take family photos

Maybe by the end of next summer it will get done? ;-D

love my gluten-free life

Can I just say I LOVE my new life?!  I have been gluten-free for over a year now and what a difference!  My life has drastically changed.  Even my attitude has changed.  Life seems so exciting and cheery!  Yes, CHEERY!  No longer does that darn glass look so empty!  My house is cleanER. I am happy. I can go hiking.  I can care for my children all day without feeling like a total failure, because I am so exhausted that I cannot meet their needs properly.  The funny thing is before I was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease (CD) I thought, "I must be lazy.  Why can I not spend all day on shopping spree with the girls or do the basics like CARE FOR MY FAMILY?!"

When the doctor told me I had CD I cried.  Let's face it I LOVE to eat!  I have ALWAYS eaten whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and however much I wanted.  A diet change was not something I wanted to do... SO I went out, ate some glutinous cake and cookies and moped around the house (having no energy to do anything else).  It took me a few weeks to work up the courage to begin the diet.  Never in my life have I dieted and this wasn't going to be a "lets just make healthy choices this week, this month or this year" type of diet.  This was not a New Years resolution I could let go by the wayside in the middle of February.  This was going to be LIFE, FOREVER, PERIOD.  No cake, no cookies, no pasta, no teriyaki dinners, FOREVER.  I was discouraged.

That was last year.  THIS year I am rejoicing that the doctors discovered I had Celiac's.  Yeah, sometimes it sucks to watch everyone else eat birthday cake, BUT I have energy. Nothing taste as good as life.   I am healthy.  I am happy.  I can LIVE LIFE!  No longer do I have to send my husband and kids out hiking without me!  I can strap on a baby and go too!  I am so thankful that we discovered WHY I could barely function.

Please, do not feel sorry for me.  Yeah, I cannot eat the same things you can, but I am finally enjoying life.  Be happy.  Getting up and dressed is not the chore it was (and I didn't even realize at the time how draining every little activity was, but now that I am healthy the difference is amazing!) The Spoon Theory says it perfectly.  In a nutshell it explains life through the eyes of someone with less energy and how difficult that can be.  How thankful I am that CD can be corrected with just a diet change.  At the time it seemed huge, it was huge, but now I am able to put it in perspective and be ever so grateful for my CD diagnosis.
 
I even have the energy to cook, IF I want to that is... shhhh... don't tell my husband!  Right now I am LOVING recipes I find on Everyday Foods.  They are NOT specifically for Celiacs, but they are recipes with fresh ingredients that are realistic for me, a busy mom of 4 to make without doing a million substitutions and of course they are so TASTY!

Now I am having FUN experimenting with different flours and foods.  I am learning so much about them!  Really, who wants to learn about flour?  I sure didn't, but now I cannot wait to figure out what Teff is and if I prefer millet or quinoa flour (really enjoying quinoa right now).

My gluten-free life is a wonderful life.

If you have just been diagnosed with CD don't despair, you will be happy in the end I promise. 

getting on track

We have decided to develop and finally WRITE DOWN a family schedule/routine.  Today was day one of implementing our routines and it went fairly well; the snooze was only hit once I am happy to say.  Breakfast went picture perfect, lunch went well and everything was down hill after that!  BUT today was Cael's birthday so I knew our evening would be spent partying not sticking to a schedule. 
My reason for putting us on a schedule, even a loose one, is to take the guess work out of the day.  Hopefully, this will instill in the boys (and mom) some great LASTING habits and maybe even cut down on the arguing, whining and complaining that I do. :-D
One thing I am learning is that I prefer routines.  A schedule, for us with so many little ones, is so easily blown.  Although, I do like have a written schedule so I know how to get our day back on track if things start getting too off track, but mostly I just want to know what comes next.  So... I am scheduling our routines, (sounds crazy I know) but only as a guide!  Here we go!

Cullen Home Daily Schedule/Routines

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 6:30am    good morning mom & dad- begin early morning routine

 7:00am    boys up & breakfast

 7:25am    Sean leaves for work

 8:00am    MWF- walk with the boys

 9:00am    twins nap/school time

11:30am   lunch

 1:00pm    Kipp-nap/Cael-free "reading," nap, or school if we didn't get to it in the am

 2:00pm    twins nap

 3:30pm    begin the dinner process... ugh..

 4:30pm    big boys & mom pick up house (before daddy comes home)

 5:00pm    DADDY is home!!

 5:30pm    dinner

 6:30pm    begin bedtime routine

 7:00pm    memory work & structured reading with daddy

 8:00pm    BEDTIME for the boys!

**This is merely our guideline, except for early morning and bedtime routines I am really trying to stick to those exact times.  Having this written down gives us something to aim for, a goal.  Without a written schedule I feel like we are driving cross country without a map; it is just way too easy to get lost in our day and wind up accomplishing ZILCH!

turning five

Cael is FIVE today.  He is such a joy.

Happy Birthday Cael!

We love you.

a little walk down memory lane

Our Cael

five