Angie Webb and her sister over at www.moonjoggers.blogspot.com are looking for walkers, joggers, and runners to help them log the miles needed to 'run to the moon'. You can join up as a team or individual. Do the 1000 miles or the ultimate challenge of 2013 miles for the year. That would be 5. 6 miles a day. That will definitely be a challenge even splitting it with the Commander.
*****
This is the last full week of homeschooling three. We register for classes on Thursday at the local high school for the older 2 boys. I haven't heard from the school yet as to how many classes they have accepted for credit from the portfolios I put together, but I expect all. I want them to accept all the classwork we have done. Now, I'll hope that I'm not living in a dream world. It still feels right. I wonder what other plans God has in store for this coming year.
****
I've been asked to be a coach/demonstrater at an Oklahoma Track Clinic this spring. Yahoo ! trip home. Anyone want to drive to OKC with me in April?
Loving God, blessed to homeschool three boys with my wonderful Army husband of almost 20 years.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
twenty and plans
When we travel, we plan. We plan vacations. We plan house improvements, painting schemes, school lessons and this time we worked on garden plans. Especially raised gardens. So if you are a Pinterest buddy, you now know why I just inundated the page with different ways to make a raised garden. There are a lot of great ideas on Pinterest.
I'm ready to hit H.D. and buy the lumber. It will be nice not having track practice next week so I can work on projects around the house, to hopefully include a raised cold garden. THis is a small greenhouse type garden for first plantings. I'd like to make two. One on each side of the door to the shed. These would be on the south side of the shed, therefore protected from the north.
Next, I need to plan out the placement of the raised gardens in the yard. It would be fun to put them into a pattern like a quilt. They will need to be far enough apart for easy mowing, facing north to south on a slant so the plants dont shade each other, and out of the shade of the large trees and house. Now that I think of all the obstacles to work around, hmmm, the back yard might look like a giant tossed his lego building blocks in our yard.
This will be a fun project to work on.
THis weekend had us traveling to Aimes, IA, for a coaching clinic. It was just the two of us. The boys stayed home with the dogs and chickens. Penny started coughing - (kennel cough) and needed medicine. I called the vet from Missouri. She finally called back in Iowa. Our wonderful Youth Pastor was kind enough to drive Herogian to the vet to get the medicine. Not the medicine she wanted to give us, but one that hopefully wouldn't send Penny into seizures as before. Please no seizures, especially while we are not there! Thanking our Lord for looking after the boys and dogs, and thanking our wonderful Mr. C.C. for helping them, and our neighbor D.N. for checking on the boys.
THis week will be twenty years for the Commander and I. On our return trip today, we stopped at an Amish Country Store. I spotted the perfect sign for our anniversary. "Marriage is like a deck of cards. When you get married all you need is two hearts. After twenty years you wish you had the club and spade." A HAAA HAA. Couldn't resist showing it to Commander.
He was wonderful to take the day off and drive me to the coaching clinic. It was a very long day with little to eat. I about lost it during a late afternoon class- sugar drop for sure. Commander immediately drove me around town until we found a place we knew we could trust to get Gluten Free Food - WENDY'S.
Here's to twenty more years. I told him all I wanted was a kiss every night before bed. That's doable for us. Love you SweetHeart. 12-12-12.
I'm ready to hit H.D. and buy the lumber. It will be nice not having track practice next week so I can work on projects around the house, to hopefully include a raised cold garden. THis is a small greenhouse type garden for first plantings. I'd like to make two. One on each side of the door to the shed. These would be on the south side of the shed, therefore protected from the north.
Next, I need to plan out the placement of the raised gardens in the yard. It would be fun to put them into a pattern like a quilt. They will need to be far enough apart for easy mowing, facing north to south on a slant so the plants dont shade each other, and out of the shade of the large trees and house. Now that I think of all the obstacles to work around, hmmm, the back yard might look like a giant tossed his lego building blocks in our yard.
This will be a fun project to work on.
THis weekend had us traveling to Aimes, IA, for a coaching clinic. It was just the two of us. The boys stayed home with the dogs and chickens. Penny started coughing - (kennel cough) and needed medicine. I called the vet from Missouri. She finally called back in Iowa. Our wonderful Youth Pastor was kind enough to drive Herogian to the vet to get the medicine. Not the medicine she wanted to give us, but one that hopefully wouldn't send Penny into seizures as before. Please no seizures, especially while we are not there! Thanking our Lord for looking after the boys and dogs, and thanking our wonderful Mr. C.C. for helping them, and our neighbor D.N. for checking on the boys.
THis week will be twenty years for the Commander and I. On our return trip today, we stopped at an Amish Country Store. I spotted the perfect sign for our anniversary. "Marriage is like a deck of cards. When you get married all you need is two hearts. After twenty years you wish you had the club and spade." A HAAA HAA. Couldn't resist showing it to Commander.
He was wonderful to take the day off and drive me to the coaching clinic. It was a very long day with little to eat. I about lost it during a late afternoon class- sugar drop for sure. Commander immediately drove me around town until we found a place we knew we could trust to get Gluten Free Food - WENDY'S.
Here's to twenty more years. I told him all I wanted was a kiss every night before bed. That's doable for us. Love you SweetHeart. 12-12-12.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Gotta Love those trained boy scouts
Let me first say, I'm glad I wasn't here, only because the boys seemed to handle it a lot calmer than I ever would.
I don't like fire.I don't have fond memories of fire. I can remember back to my fifth year, or I might have been younger. We were camping as a family with either a tent (that's if I was younger) or the pop-up Star-craft camper. There was another family camping not too far from us. They had a daughter about my age. I remember playing with her during the day, then later that evening watching her running around the campfire with her siblings. Something happened, causing her to change directions in their game. She went right through the fire ring which had some type of metal grill over it (remembering that far back loses some details). She fell over with her foot caught in this metal. I don't know if the flames licked her leg or boiling water or baked beans spilt onto her leg. I know there was a lot of commotion with my parents trying to help them. They took her to the car wrapped up in a blanket.
Later in life the "evil beast of fire" was the bathroom heater. It was a gas unit built into the wall. Turn the gas valve on, strike a match, and POOF. No thank you. I didn't strike a match for that beast until I was 15. I took quick baths, or finagled Mom or Dad to "just light it while your in there, please."
I do better now that we have an inclosed fireplace. I enjoy the heat, the lower electric and gas bill. AHHHH, warmth.
BUT, here we go. I don't like the burn permit in our neighborhood. And I'm definitely not going to have a burn pile in our own yard. So you can imagine the shock when I get a call from Hawk asking, "when are you and Dad going to get back from the PX?"
"We are just leaving post, now. Why?"
"Oh, we had a fire in the back yard. But it's out now."
"What do you mean you had a fire in the back yard. Why would you have a fire in the back yard?"
"Well, I guess Dad asked Bradley to dump that bucket of old ashes out in the composter when he needed to clean out the fireplace earlier and wanted a clean bucket."
"Yeah, those ashes have been outside for a couple of days."
Well, there must have been some hot coals down in the middle. Herogian said he touched the top of the ash pile and they were cold. But when I looked out my window after you guys left, there was a fire as big as the bonfires Mr. Henry likes to make."
*** Mr. Henry is the boy scout leader who makes big bonfires at Winter Campouts.***
He continued, "I hollered at Gluten that there was a fire in our backyard, but he didn't believe me until he followed me outside. We grabbed the water hose and dragged it down there, then got the hose from the front yard. Herogian came out with a bucket of water from the kitchen. We doused it really good. The yard is a swamp down there now. Tell Dad the composter is gone."
Those smart, calm, trained boys knew what to do. When we got home, they walked me down there (in muck boots) to show me that everything was wet. The composter - plastic - was indeed gone except for the bottom layer covered in dog poo and mud. The pile of kindling 2x4x4 was gone, and the corner of the woodpile was toasted. There was a trenching line curving from the garden gate, around the corner, cutting the spread of flames off from the rest of the garden area. They saved our asparagus! They wouldn't have if they had known what it was.
Commander took the boys out for Chinese food the following Sunday as their reward. Thank you boy scouts troop 167 for training the boys up right in this matter.
I don't like fire.I don't have fond memories of fire. I can remember back to my fifth year, or I might have been younger. We were camping as a family with either a tent (that's if I was younger) or the pop-up Star-craft camper. There was another family camping not too far from us. They had a daughter about my age. I remember playing with her during the day, then later that evening watching her running around the campfire with her siblings. Something happened, causing her to change directions in their game. She went right through the fire ring which had some type of metal grill over it (remembering that far back loses some details). She fell over with her foot caught in this metal. I don't know if the flames licked her leg or boiling water or baked beans spilt onto her leg. I know there was a lot of commotion with my parents trying to help them. They took her to the car wrapped up in a blanket.
Later in life the "evil beast of fire" was the bathroom heater. It was a gas unit built into the wall. Turn the gas valve on, strike a match, and POOF. No thank you. I didn't strike a match for that beast until I was 15. I took quick baths, or finagled Mom or Dad to "just light it while your in there, please."
I do better now that we have an inclosed fireplace. I enjoy the heat, the lower electric and gas bill. AHHHH, warmth.
BUT, here we go. I don't like the burn permit in our neighborhood. And I'm definitely not going to have a burn pile in our own yard. So you can imagine the shock when I get a call from Hawk asking, "when are you and Dad going to get back from the PX?"
"We are just leaving post, now. Why?"
"Oh, we had a fire in the back yard. But it's out now."
"What do you mean you had a fire in the back yard. Why would you have a fire in the back yard?"
"Well, I guess Dad asked Bradley to dump that bucket of old ashes out in the composter when he needed to clean out the fireplace earlier and wanted a clean bucket."
"Yeah, those ashes have been outside for a couple of days."
Well, there must have been some hot coals down in the middle. Herogian said he touched the top of the ash pile and they were cold. But when I looked out my window after you guys left, there was a fire as big as the bonfires Mr. Henry likes to make."
*** Mr. Henry is the boy scout leader who makes big bonfires at Winter Campouts.***
He continued, "I hollered at Gluten that there was a fire in our backyard, but he didn't believe me until he followed me outside. We grabbed the water hose and dragged it down there, then got the hose from the front yard. Herogian came out with a bucket of water from the kitchen. We doused it really good. The yard is a swamp down there now. Tell Dad the composter is gone."
Those smart, calm, trained boys knew what to do. When we got home, they walked me down there (in muck boots) to show me that everything was wet. The composter - plastic - was indeed gone except for the bottom layer covered in dog poo and mud. The pile of kindling 2x4x4 was gone, and the corner of the woodpile was toasted. There was a trenching line curving from the garden gate, around the corner, cutting the spread of flames off from the rest of the garden area. They saved our asparagus! They wouldn't have if they had known what it was.
Commander took the boys out for Chinese food the following Sunday as their reward. Thank you boy scouts troop 167 for training the boys up right in this matter.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Gluten free and the holidays
A couple of friends have recently been told to eat gluten free or that a child needs to eat gluten free. When you are diagnosed with Celiac Sprue, it is good to know that you can control the pain, bloating, diarrhea, wasting away, what ever the symptom, with a diet change instead of having to take drugs, surgery, or give yourself shots. THere are worse things out there to deal with. But changing your diet when the rest of the family doesn't have to change....
Cross contamination is everywhere in the kitchen from all the previous cooking with gluten = wheat, rye, barley, oats (are on the list because they can easily be contaminated out in the field) Finally, there are farms that don't switch crops.
Back to the kitchen, condiments are contaminated with malt flavoring, natural and artifical flavorings, smoke flavorings, caramel coloring, stabilizers, emulsifiers, white vinegar (doctors say it okay, but ask a celiac who is sick afterwards)certain dyes are even made from glutenous grains, and it depends on what country the maltodextrin comes from.
Go try to clear all that out of your kitchen and still cook "normal" food for the rest of your family.
I feel for my friends, it is hard. Then there comes the holidays when almost everything about the holidays centers around food. The best thing for a Celiac - is to bring their own food. THink of yourself trasping up to the door of a friends house with a plate of food for one, even if you are bringing something else to the party. It used to make me feel like I was saying, "I can't trust you to not contaminate me." The diet can make you feel self-conscious, if you tend to already be self-conscious and who isnt.
THen there are the people who knowingly pass you something with gluten and they say, "Just try a little bit. A little bit won't hurt you." The best answer I've heard from other celiacs is to ask the person if they want to try a spoonful of arsenic. Then we will see who feels better in the morning. They would still win.
The kicker was the person that told me to leave my gluten free stuff at home, they didn't want to mess with it. I could just eat the vegetables as my Thanksgiving meal - the turkey was stuffed, therefore contaminated. I love you too. He meant well, it just came out wrong. We all do that.
THings have changed greatly over the last 20 years that I have dealt with Celiac Sprue. It has become a multi--million dollar business. I started off having to grind rice in a grinder to have a flour to make 'hockey pucks'. Today you can by gluten free bread at the store. There are companies like www.Chebe.com and www.glutenfreepizza.com that make the best flour and pizza hands down. www.Glutino.com makes 'oreo' type cookies. WOW!
Two years after I was diagnosed, it was the middle of winter in Carlisle, PA, when I found out that Wendy's frosties were gluten free. Commander and I bundled up, put on our boots, and sloshed through the snow for a round trip over a mile just to get a frosty.
To be truely GF you must read the ingredients on everything. Thank goodness for companies that now mark their products, and stores like Dillon's that tag the shelf with gluten free markers to show you the GF item. I am thrilled with how much easier it is to get items GF. Even restaurants are trying to have GF menus. Be cautious about this, though, it doesn't always happen. One anniversary night, the Commander and I went straight from the restaurant to a large furniture-everything store across the street, because I wouldn't be able to make the ride home. Cross contamination. I spent 30- 40 minutes walking from one bathroom to the other. Really felt sorry for the ladies going in after me.
If you have a family member or friend coming to your party that you know is gluten free, keep a few things set aside that you know are clean. Put vegetables or salad in a container for them before you pour on the sauce. Keep the croutons separate. Check the sauces that you plan to use, if your not sure, they appreciate a call from you asking if it is okay to use. If it's not, that will at least clue them in to what they need to bring.
Our church does Wednesday night meals for all that come. It is so awesome to get a text or email telling us that the whole meal or parts of it is gluten free. That is such a special feeling of love, especially when your insides make you feel like such an alien.
To my new gluten free friends. Hugs. Hang in there and stay Gluten Free, your gut will love you in the morning.
Cross contamination is everywhere in the kitchen from all the previous cooking with gluten = wheat, rye, barley, oats (are on the list because they can easily be contaminated out in the field) Finally, there are farms that don't switch crops.
Back to the kitchen, condiments are contaminated with malt flavoring, natural and artifical flavorings, smoke flavorings, caramel coloring, stabilizers, emulsifiers, white vinegar (doctors say it okay, but ask a celiac who is sick afterwards)certain dyes are even made from glutenous grains, and it depends on what country the maltodextrin comes from.
Go try to clear all that out of your kitchen and still cook "normal" food for the rest of your family.
I feel for my friends, it is hard. Then there comes the holidays when almost everything about the holidays centers around food. The best thing for a Celiac - is to bring their own food. THink of yourself trasping up to the door of a friends house with a plate of food for one, even if you are bringing something else to the party. It used to make me feel like I was saying, "I can't trust you to not contaminate me." The diet can make you feel self-conscious, if you tend to already be self-conscious and who isnt.
THen there are the people who knowingly pass you something with gluten and they say, "Just try a little bit. A little bit won't hurt you." The best answer I've heard from other celiacs is to ask the person if they want to try a spoonful of arsenic. Then we will see who feels better in the morning. They would still win.
The kicker was the person that told me to leave my gluten free stuff at home, they didn't want to mess with it. I could just eat the vegetables as my Thanksgiving meal - the turkey was stuffed, therefore contaminated. I love you too. He meant well, it just came out wrong. We all do that.
THings have changed greatly over the last 20 years that I have dealt with Celiac Sprue. It has become a multi--million dollar business. I started off having to grind rice in a grinder to have a flour to make 'hockey pucks'. Today you can by gluten free bread at the store. There are companies like www.Chebe.com and www.glutenfreepizza.com that make the best flour and pizza hands down. www.Glutino.com makes 'oreo' type cookies. WOW!
Two years after I was diagnosed, it was the middle of winter in Carlisle, PA, when I found out that Wendy's frosties were gluten free. Commander and I bundled up, put on our boots, and sloshed through the snow for a round trip over a mile just to get a frosty.
To be truely GF you must read the ingredients on everything. Thank goodness for companies that now mark their products, and stores like Dillon's that tag the shelf with gluten free markers to show you the GF item. I am thrilled with how much easier it is to get items GF. Even restaurants are trying to have GF menus. Be cautious about this, though, it doesn't always happen. One anniversary night, the Commander and I went straight from the restaurant to a large furniture-everything store across the street, because I wouldn't be able to make the ride home. Cross contamination. I spent 30- 40 minutes walking from one bathroom to the other. Really felt sorry for the ladies going in after me.
If you have a family member or friend coming to your party that you know is gluten free, keep a few things set aside that you know are clean. Put vegetables or salad in a container for them before you pour on the sauce. Keep the croutons separate. Check the sauces that you plan to use, if your not sure, they appreciate a call from you asking if it is okay to use. If it's not, that will at least clue them in to what they need to bring.
Our church does Wednesday night meals for all that come. It is so awesome to get a text or email telling us that the whole meal or parts of it is gluten free. That is such a special feeling of love, especially when your insides make you feel like such an alien.
To my new gluten free friends. Hugs. Hang in there and stay Gluten Free, your gut will love you in the morning.
still kicking and laughing
It's November!!! The portfolios for the boys class credits are done and turned in. I'm hoping the school will accept all of them. They are suppose to call me soon and let me know. Soon is the magic word. My soon is Monday morning. Their soon might be day before class starts in January.
The boys are still excited about the changes ahead. I'm excited for them too. After ten years of homeschooling, they will learn a lot about life from a different perspective. I know they are both grounded firmly in Christ. I know there will be things that I don't want them to experience, but they need to build their walls against the ways of the world and they can't do that without the testing. We will work through this new experience together, just like we worked through all of our curriculum these past years. Gluten will still be at home finishing 8th grade, and helping me 'kidsit' our hopping 4 year old.
Happenings....
Gluten wanted to bleach a shirt with "question authority, not me." on the back of it.
I gave him the evil eye and smirk, then gave him the lecture about where authority comes from - God. He agreed to find something else. I suggested, "Blond, explains it." For quite a while he kept saying 'no' to this. Then he finally stated," I don't want that on the shirt because I don't know what it means." Hmmmm. "Blond, explains it." He did end up with "You can't spell AWESOME with out "ME"." He also made his Mema a sleep shirt for her birthday. "I'm not short, I'm Fun Size."
Herogian had his last hunt with the post rod and gun club this past weekend. He limited out in 30 minutes. 2 pheasants, 4 quail. Penny was allowed to hunt with him and the guide's dog. She did really well. Penny only backed off when the other dog started to attack her,when she came in to check out the first pheasant the dog had fetched. She collected quail after that, but left the second pheasant where it landed. Mom even got to retrieve her ipod she dropped with the checkcord while chasing down the wounded pheasant. I realized the cord was missing from my hoodie pouch, but didn't know the ipod was missing until I found it.
This afternoon, Commander and I came home with a new 4 foot Christmas tree with lights already on it. Its place is on the small secretary desk in the corner of the living room. Below it, on the desk, was placed the first present. (unwrapped) a 3 foot pair of pruning shears. Later, while Commander and I were in the TV room, Hawk showed up at the door with the shears in hand.
"Why is this under the Christmas tree?"
Commander looked at him, and replied, "If you and your brother don't behave at school, we'll use those to nutor you."
The shock on Hawk's face was worth it.
Herogian and Hawk have hit growth sputs. 3/4 inch in less than 2 months for Hawk. Herogian is there also. The cool part is that Herogian has finally decided to start working out to 'beef up' this includes doing TKD with Commander. He also went to the gym to workout with Commander yesterday before Boy Scouts left for camping. I have also found out that when it is bedtime, (his room is downstairs) that he uses what equipment we have to workout. Anybody have some free weights gathering dust?
Have a great week. Please pray for my uncles - yes, plural. Two are about to leave this world due to cancer. They are my father's younger brothers.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
T shirts -trying to get rid of them
I bought 72 shirts for a Track/XC fund raising idea. I'm "official team fund raiser" - I take the title because I croke at being a recruiter. Anyhew, the idea was for "Create your own USM Spirit Shirt". I went to the trouble of cutting out 72 block letters to spell U-S-M S-P-I-R-E-S for each shirt. Cut out large numbers for team sports, skull candy designs, bought stars, flowers and a bunch of foam letters to write names on the shirts and anything else the buyer could think of, along with rolls of contact paper to create their own design.
After two days of sitting in the hot afternoon sun with my boys at campus, we realized this idea wasn't going to work. The kids came by, said it was a great idea and then walked off. One who wanted to make a shirt, then questioned why I asked for money when we finished it. Oh bother.
Thank goodness the ladies from church are going to the Women of Faith Convention in KC. They helped me out by letting me make shirts for them.
Now I'm making a few more to get rid of the last 2 dozen shirts. Here they are.
We are Ambassadors for CHRIST. II Cor. 5:20
To God be the Glory Great Things He Hath Done
For God so Loves Me - I Run (with footprints)
After two days of sitting in the hot afternoon sun with my boys at campus, we realized this idea wasn't going to work. The kids came by, said it was a great idea and then walked off. One who wanted to make a shirt, then questioned why I asked for money when we finished it. Oh bother.
Thank goodness the ladies from church are going to the Women of Faith Convention in KC. They helped me out by letting me make shirts for them.
Now I'm making a few more to get rid of the last 2 dozen shirts. Here they are.
We are Ambassadors for CHRIST. II Cor. 5:20
THe shirts are $8.00 if interested. Give me a shout. Or let me know if you have a design you would like on a shirt. I'll see what I can do.
Stickers are sprayed over with bleach to bring out the design.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Changes
Thanks for your prayers on our school situation. I feel like they have been answered. Today, we met with the school counselor at the local public school. Yeah! Can you believe it? After 10 years of homeschooling, we will be sending the two oldest to LHS. Hawk wants to go back into 9th so that he'll be with his original class, and next year as a sophmore he will have a chance to try football. He is the one that made the thoughts and prayers start looking like answers to our problems. He has always said (like me) that he wouldn't go to public school. In the last year, he has developed a desire to play football. I was shocked, but glad to see his eyes light up over somethings besides XBOX.
Herogian hasn't been as thrilled with the idea, but after the visit to the school today, I think he is more on board. He realized he will be able to do more in science lab than I can give him, and woodshop - made his eyes light up. The higher sciences and math will be easier for me with the schools help.
So, come January it will be Gluten and I at home with our four-year-old charge NC. I think Gluten will enjoy the time - it should take us less time to get his work done, he will be able help kidsit more (making $$). He is also looking forward to high school at LHS so he can try out for the soccer team.
For someone who knows not to say NEVER. I've definitely have had enough lessons on it.... plus here's another.
You don't know your missing something until it is gone. I'm missing the stress and worry that was building up over the boys educational path when I thought I was in charge of it. Letting God brings relief in so many ways. I'm looking forward to the future now. Sometimes it is hard to let go when you see the release as being failure, turning it over and looking at it differently (God's way) makes a big difference.
Here's a pic from today's activities around the house. Mr. Matt is giving lessons on plumbing to NC under our kitchen sink.
Herogian hasn't been as thrilled with the idea, but after the visit to the school today, I think he is more on board. He realized he will be able to do more in science lab than I can give him, and woodshop - made his eyes light up. The higher sciences and math will be easier for me with the schools help.
So, come January it will be Gluten and I at home with our four-year-old charge NC. I think Gluten will enjoy the time - it should take us less time to get his work done, he will be able help kidsit more (making $$). He is also looking forward to high school at LHS so he can try out for the soccer team.
For someone who knows not to say NEVER. I've definitely have had enough lessons on it.... plus here's another.
You don't know your missing something until it is gone. I'm missing the stress and worry that was building up over the boys educational path when I thought I was in charge of it. Letting God brings relief in so many ways. I'm looking forward to the future now. Sometimes it is hard to let go when you see the release as being failure, turning it over and looking at it differently (God's way) makes a big difference.
Here's a pic from today's activities around the house. Mr. Matt is giving lessons on plumbing to NC under our kitchen sink.
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