We've been busy...

...and sick. Ummm, last Thursday Erin had her Girl Scouts "Court of Awards"...where all of the troops got on stage and the leaders talked about what the troops had done. Erin wasn't too thrilled, and possibly felt like I did, that it was a waste of time. :) I'm telling ya...when you have to skip the refreshments at the end of everything, it really takes away from the whole thing. :)

All last week I worked on the scrapbook and picture boards for my niece's graduation. I did finish on time, by the way. :) This is a layout I did for her...

The grad ceremony was LONG...and hot. It started a half hour late cuz one of the graduates thought it started at 8 (It was SUPPOSED to start at 7. Ugh.) But it was very nice...and I was so proud of Lexi. Here are some pics from the ceremony and party that was on Saturday.

And this is Erin at her "Court of Awards". I told you she wasn't too excited. :)

I started getting sick on Wednesday of last week...stress, tired, and too many germs floating around, I guess. But, mind over matter, I held off the worst of it til the grad party was done. I kid you not, I got home and almost instantly collapsed on my chair. I was so sick. It took me 3 full days to get back to normal. I was lucky that it was raining the entire time, so that I didn't feel like I HAD to walk the dog. :) I must say, though, that I made a quick recovery. Normally, I'd be in bed with bronchitis by now...or sick at least for a couple of weeks. It must be the "no sugar". Huh. Go figure.

That's going pretty well, I guess. I'm down to 1 cup of coffee in the morning (that's down from 4-5 cups of hydrogenated oil/sugar-filled expensive coffee per day that I had been drinking). I was down 9 pounds at the end of last week. We're still having issues with Erin's blood glucose numbers...they've been a little high because I've reduced her insulin. But both girls are doing well with the food (and lack of carbs and sugar). Much better than I anticipated. And they're trying new things. We're headed up to my mom & dad's tomorrow...and mom has got big plans for food! :) I'm just thankful I have her support...eating this way away from home can be difficult...having her help is a major load off my shoulders.

We finally got the garden tilled up today...still need to plant. And today we powerwashed the deck...we need to seal it tomorrow before we leave.

We're hoping to have our thrift sale next weekend. Hoping. I really don't mind doing it. I just hate setting it up. Ugh. I'm also starting to pick out curriculum for next year. That's always so stressful for me...too many options make for difficult decisions. You would NEVER believe how many choices are out there for homeschoolers. And then as a parent, you feel like your children's education hangs in the balance of what curriculum decisions I make. Fun.

Ok, enough babbling. Have a good weekend!

Well, I talked with nutritionist, Karen Hurd, on Saturday, and we now have Erin on the bean diet, too. I'm guessing her doctors wouldn't be happy...but the "diet" they've had her on has never made sense to me. We were actually feeding her MORE carbs post-diagnosis than we were before it. And as Karen said, that just makes her dependent on the insulin. If we cut her carbs, she'll need less. She talked of a specific 7 year old diabetic who is now completely off of insulin shots because of how she's eating. Erin was all for no shots...until she discovered she couldn't have fruit or her nightly ice cream! :) But it's getting easier every day. The girls still have fits and cry...but so do I. I think they understand that I'm doing it for their health...that's my job...my calling.

Other people, so far, seem to have the same kind of reaction as they do to my homeschooling..."that's great for you, but I'd never do it!" Some have had almost a negative reaction...but I got the same about homeschooling. I know with homeschooling, some feel "guilty" for not doing the same, and so they turn on homeschooling and those who do it. It may be the same with this. I don't know how long we'll make it on this program. But it takes on a whole new meaning when it's your kids' health at stake...not just a few pounds.

It's been a busy week...at least for us. Monday I went to the dentist, Tuesday we went bowling for Girl Scouts, yesterday Erin's friend, Claire, came over to play and then we went to choir, and today I got a much overdue perm. And, yes, I look like a poodle. And I stink, too. :)

We really have a lot of work to do around here. Our basement is still a disaster...piled with boxes of stuff we packed up, tons of clothes to thrift sale, and junk the kids didn't get rid of (yet) but don't want in their rooms. The family is Tony's new "home away from home" and since he's coming home Sunday, we gotta get busy! I was hoping to have the walls painted by then, but I don't see that happening. Barry still says we're going to list the house, so I still need to stay motivated.

Guess that's all for now. I should get busy, but there are too many books awaiting my attention. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I did this for my dad last year, so this year I wanted to do a photo collage for Mom. (And I know she's gonna HATE this!) In fact, I don't have the abundance of pics of Mom like I did for Dad, and I'm pretty sure that's because she's always avoiding the camera (so that's where I learned that from!)

Anyway, happy Mother's Day, Mom! I know we've been through some rough times. Heck, you've been through some rough times! But as you've grown "into yourself", we've only grown closer. Thank you for always being there to support me, encourage me, and advise me...and find a book to help me! :) I hope you continue to grow and learn and change as you evolve into the person you were meant to be...that God created you to be. I'm grateful to call you my mom...and honored to call you my friend.

I love you!

Remembering Mom...

On this Mother's Day, I wanted to take an opportunity to remember my Mother-in-law, Delores, who went home to her Lord in September of 2005. I am very grateful to have known her...maybe even more grateful that my kids did. I deeply regret not learning sign language while she was here so that I could communicate better with her. I've realized that I must do more to keep her memory alive with the girls, and one way to do that is to teach them to sign. She was a quiet woman...but stubborn...and was always willing to give us kids her opinion! :) Even in her final years, she was always willing to watch the girls when needed...and I'm so grateful that they had that time with her. God Bless, Mom...we miss you.

Spring Activities...

Been busy this week being a single mom...Barry finally felt good enough to go to work on Thursday night, but ended up with a fever and headache while there. Yesterday was probably his best day yet. Of course, he didn't do much more than lay on the couch. :) This morning I had my first attempt at baking for Alana. I made Bean Flour Carrot Muffins from Karen Hurd's website (she's the "Bean Queen" nutritionist we're working with http://www.karenhurd.com/index.html ) It was a little dicey as her recipe calls for 3 eggs, and I had to use Egg Replacer, but the girls liked them (seriously, it was just nice to get a texture in our mouths besides beans!)

Today, my goal is to clean house, work on my niece, Lexi's, scrapbook for her graduation on Memorial Day weekend, and, hopefully, nap.

This is a layout I did last weekend for my pal Jenn. In her etsy store, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5367046 , she designs and sells journaling blocks...she made the "flowers" on my layout. So cute! The layout is of my sister and Easton, at 3 months.

I thought this was a cool picture...it's a pigeon roosting on our garage roof. We don't get many pigeon visitors...

And these pics are from our March 29th visit to Govin's Farm in Menomonie http://www.govinsmeatsandberries.com/lambing_barn.htm They have a huge barn with sheep lambing, open to the public. We also enjoyed seeing miniature horses, baby chicks, goats and cows. Alana, especially, was in heaven! They also had fiber artists demonstrating how the turn the sheep's wool into yarn...way cool! We didn't get to see any lambs being born, but there were a couple who were just minutes old!

Well, I better get to work. I have a phone appt in a few minutes with Karen Hurd to discuss Erin this time. So many things to do...the house is still far from ready to list (although the more work we do to it, the more we like it, and the less motivation we have to sell!) Then there's scrapping for Lexi, the garden, learning to cook...Ugh.

God Bless and enjoy the weekend!

Feeling sorry for myself...

So, when we first got Alana's allergy tests results back, I think I was in shock. Probably how I would've been if Erin's diabetes diagnosis had been a little less "dramatic". Then, I think I moved into "faithful gratitude". I was thankful to God for blessing me... I guess I should explain that, huh? I was thankful that we were homeschooling...cuz I can't imagine having Alana on this "bean diet" and having so many allergies and having to send her to school! I was thankful that God made me to be a research and book geek...first of all, if I hadn't done the research in the first place, I probably wouldn't have known to test her for allergies...and I'd probably have her on narcotics for her ADD and steroids for her "asthma". But not only that, but now I have the ability and tools to care for my family. And then there's my thankfulness for a supportive hubby (most of the time!), and his job that allows us to buy the nutritious food we need. I'm thankful for the great friends who listen to me whine and make bean jokes. :) And for my mom who tells me what a good job I'm doing, when I (and others) doubt myself.
So, today I went on a shopping mission to find gluten-free/casein-free/dairy-free/egg-free/preservative free food. If you're as naive as I was, you might think that sounds fairly easy. Just buy "healthy" food, right? Wrong! Seriously...try it. Not so easy. Or fun. I came home broke, defeated, sad, and mad. Mad at God. Mad at Him for putting us through this. Mad at Him for taking so much away from us. I came home and yelled at my kids. And I cried. For their "sicknesses". For my "failure" as a mother. For the loss of ice cream, and cereal, and Snickers bars.
Funny how He works, though. He's good. I also came home to this month's Home School Enrichment magazine. I turned to an article titled, "The Harvest Lasts a Lifetime", by Jonathin Lewis. Here's where God spoke to me....

"When the storm comes, it's easy to look around us and see only the dark clouds, hear only the ominous thunder, and feel nothing but the strong wind. How easy it is to forget the sunlight when it's obscured by the gathering clouds."

"The storm lasts only a season, but the harvest lasts forever."

"Whatever we sow, we will also reap. (Galatians 6:7)"

The author is talking about homeschooling, of course. But I'm in a storm now with my kid's health. This hard work, "pain", change, and relearning how to cook and eat, what we sow, will reap much better health for us all. We need to treat our bodies as temples, entrusted to us by God...and we haven't been. Lesson learned. But I have to remember that the sun will shine again.

So, after all that, I'm still in rough shape. It doesn't help that Barry is on day 7 of a virus that has tied him to bed and kept him from work. And if you know my hubby, you'll know that he doesn't get sick, and he certainly doesn't miss work. So it's bad. No, it's not the swine flu...he tested negative for influenza. So, I've been on my own for a week. Throw that in with the "health crisis", extra work with meals, my house still in chaos, homeschooling (it's May...we're tired)...well, I'm just not in tip-top shape emotionally. :)

But the Lord has given me gifts to get me through it. He's also kept me physically healthy while my partner has been down. And a reminder that the sun will shine again....