Hooray! H and I went on our first field trip on Friday. We visited Silo Christmas Tree Farm and experienced their pumpkin harvest. We had a lot of fun and H was exhausted. =D We took a nature walk and looked at different trees and grasses, we rode in the hay wagon around the farm, we played pasture games. H liked ladder golf, bean bag tossing and washers. The farm had a lovely old silo and I got some good pictures of it all. It was a lovely fall day and we just totally enjoyed being mostly normal and enjoying God's creation and our friends.
If I can figure out how to post a pic or two, I will do so.
On other subjects, I have decided that I cannot continue to work this much. I was off for about 6 days and it was great. I got to where I wasn't tired constantly and there was food available. I worked this last weekend and got so frustrated. T didn't even take H outside on Saturday. We have been spending most of our days outside since the weather is so nice. AmyDog gets to go for walks, we enjoy the weather, each other and our dog. =)
Though today, I am frustrated cause the house is a mess. The floor was nasty, the cabinets were grunchy and I am tired from working. Thank goodness I don't have to go to work tonight. I do have to work evenings for three days next weekend and Monday. I am totally not looking forward to that right now. Evenings working until 1am just throws my body clock for a huge loop. And daylight savings time is next weekend too. So it will be an hour later still to my old body. I am praying that I will make it through without too much fussing at H.
October is almost gone and I am amazed at how the year has flown by.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Eternal Perspective
Well, fall finally arrived in Central Texas on the day we were to go on our first field trip. Rain, cold wind and a high of 55 degrees. Our pumpkin harvest field trip was cancelled. =( H and I were so disappointed. But we are going to try and reschedule as a group. I sure hope that my work schedule will allow us to go.
We went to Whole Foods instead and looked at all the lovely veggies. They even had okra but it was all moldy and nasty. The chicken was on sale and I was so excited to save $1 per pound. LOL
Yesterday we went up to church and had the elders pray over us and H. I feel so alone with not being able to socialize much and not being able to fellowship at church. It was both wonderful and bittersweet to go back. We have been out of that life for 5+ years now and most people that we used to know just think that we have moved away. The sad thing is that we are still here and very alone sometimes. I want to have enough faith to trust that God can heal H and I but it has been a long lonely road. I can honestly say that he has never left me on the road though. And many times, I truly think that Christ alone sustains me. I miss the encouragement of corporate worship but I know that God has used this part of my life (both forward and backward) to teach me of his justice, sovereignty and love. Through H, I can get a glimpse of how dearly God treasures me and how frustrating and child-like that I am to him. I have such a finite perspective and I crave the eternal perspective of Almighty God. I get bogged down in the day-to-day and forget to be thankful for all those moments with H and how wonderful she is right now.
Change my heart, O God!
We went to Whole Foods instead and looked at all the lovely veggies. They even had okra but it was all moldy and nasty. The chicken was on sale and I was so excited to save $1 per pound. LOL
Yesterday we went up to church and had the elders pray over us and H. I feel so alone with not being able to socialize much and not being able to fellowship at church. It was both wonderful and bittersweet to go back. We have been out of that life for 5+ years now and most people that we used to know just think that we have moved away. The sad thing is that we are still here and very alone sometimes. I want to have enough faith to trust that God can heal H and I but it has been a long lonely road. I can honestly say that he has never left me on the road though. And many times, I truly think that Christ alone sustains me. I miss the encouragement of corporate worship but I know that God has used this part of my life (both forward and backward) to teach me of his justice, sovereignty and love. Through H, I can get a glimpse of how dearly God treasures me and how frustrating and child-like that I am to him. I have such a finite perspective and I crave the eternal perspective of Almighty God. I get bogged down in the day-to-day and forget to be thankful for all those moments with H and how wonderful she is right now.
Change my heart, O God!
Our Improvement on GF/DF++ Dietary Change
An update on our progress for my journal...
H is doing well, though still affected by chemicals. Perfumes and printing ink are particularly bad but we try to avoid most chemical exposures. Prior to the program, H could only go outside 2-3 times weekly. If we went out more, she would start with subtle symptoms of an amine reaction and night waking was first to occur. She would also be defiant, argumenative and grouchy, not very obedient, and she usually is obedient. Also, with the least chemical exposure, she would drastically reduce her limited food intake and struggle greatly with reflux symptoms, waking at night screaming and gulping and miserable. She and I had such horrid gut reactions that we had to be inside our home for several hours before we could eat... otherwise we would experience diarrhea, horrid gas, those reflux symptoms.
Since the program, we are out every day, multiple times daily. We walk the dog, play outside all afternoon, attend park days with the local homeschool group, etc. We also can picnic and take our food with us. This is absolutely miraculous in my humble opinion. We are not limited to hiding indoors and away from people all the time. I still must be careful with the chemical exposures for her as she then can only nibble at her food and refuses some things all together. We can now tolerate some meats from the organic grocery (chicken with quick turnover) and that makes life so much easier for me.
We are going on a field trip with our homeschool friends to a pumpkin patch 1.5 hours drive away on Monday! It is H's first field trip, made possible by PF and God's grace! I think I am more excited right now than she is because I know how far we have come.
I truly was prepared for the worst when it came to starting the program and was terrified of the effect on H. She is slowly healing, each day/week brings improvement as I look back. We are still on our original list of foods but have recently grown mung bean sprouts and tried turnips. I love having tea every 2nd day (WHOOOOO) and salad is marvelous. Crunchy cereal is our favorite and we live on it!
I am not an adventerous cook so our diet is not as exciting as some but H doesn't like exciting things! =) Maybe dh and I will branch out as we start adding more things in. He is picky about his veggies and we are all sad that okra is out of season here.
Our results are far beyond what I could have hoped for as I was totally afraid to hope after 5 years of disappointment. We have been in the kingdom for 3 months and I daily look back in wonder at our healing, no short of a miracle!
H is doing well, though still affected by chemicals. Perfumes and printing ink are particularly bad but we try to avoid most chemical exposures. Prior to the program, H could only go outside 2-3 times weekly. If we went out more, she would start with subtle symptoms of an amine reaction and night waking was first to occur. She would also be defiant, argumenative and grouchy, not very obedient, and she usually is obedient. Also, with the least chemical exposure, she would drastically reduce her limited food intake and struggle greatly with reflux symptoms, waking at night screaming and gulping and miserable. She and I had such horrid gut reactions that we had to be inside our home for several hours before we could eat... otherwise we would experience diarrhea, horrid gas, those reflux symptoms.
Since the program, we are out every day, multiple times daily. We walk the dog, play outside all afternoon, attend park days with the local homeschool group, etc. We also can picnic and take our food with us. This is absolutely miraculous in my humble opinion. We are not limited to hiding indoors and away from people all the time. I still must be careful with the chemical exposures for her as she then can only nibble at her food and refuses some things all together. We can now tolerate some meats from the organic grocery (chicken with quick turnover) and that makes life so much easier for me.
We are going on a field trip with our homeschool friends to a pumpkin patch 1.5 hours drive away on Monday! It is H's first field trip, made possible by PF and God's grace! I think I am more excited right now than she is because I know how far we have come.
I truly was prepared for the worst when it came to starting the program and was terrified of the effect on H. She is slowly healing, each day/week brings improvement as I look back. We are still on our original list of foods but have recently grown mung bean sprouts and tried turnips. I love having tea every 2nd day (WHOOOOO) and salad is marvelous. Crunchy cereal is our favorite and we live on it!
I am not an adventerous cook so our diet is not as exciting as some but H doesn't like exciting things! =) Maybe dh and I will branch out as we start adding more things in. He is picky about his veggies and we are all sad that okra is out of season here.
Our results are far beyond what I could have hoped for as I was totally afraid to hope after 5 years of disappointment. We have been in the kingdom for 3 months and I daily look back in wonder at our healing, no short of a miracle!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Making food - no one eating it...
Well, I am getting better at pasta making. The bad news is I made pasta with chick pea flour only and H says "Mommy, it tastes funny" and puts it down. Refuses, point blank, to eat it due to "tasting funny." So it will end up in the bin and I will have to make combo pasta.
The first time we made pasta, it took forever. Today was easy and she played with it like clay as well. Good OT for her! We will try again tomorrow. I am making more crunchy cereal as she and I have been living on that. She is refusing to eat muffins since last week. Sigh...
It is still hot here... mid 90's in the afternoons. We went outside this morning to get away from the heat but I still only lasted 1.5 hours. Someone down the street was mowing and I was reacting... she is difficult again today. But nothing unusual, unfortunately. The last several weeks she is clingy and needy much of the time. I would like a way to teach her to play and not just need to be right with me. So we spend time cooking so that I am getting something done and she is getting attention.
Schooling is becoming more laid back. She is not wanting to practice anything so I am attempting to become creative. ;) Sure wish we could do books and numbers things but I will just have to keep thinking outside the box. God sure has grand plans for growing my creativity! =D I think he has more confidence in me than I do... but I guess He would as he did the creating!
I am tired lately... will see what turns out with that.
The first time we made pasta, it took forever. Today was easy and she played with it like clay as well. Good OT for her! We will try again tomorrow. I am making more crunchy cereal as she and I have been living on that. She is refusing to eat muffins since last week. Sigh...
It is still hot here... mid 90's in the afternoons. We went outside this morning to get away from the heat but I still only lasted 1.5 hours. Someone down the street was mowing and I was reacting... she is difficult again today. But nothing unusual, unfortunately. The last several weeks she is clingy and needy much of the time. I would like a way to teach her to play and not just need to be right with me. So we spend time cooking so that I am getting something done and she is getting attention.
Schooling is becoming more laid back. She is not wanting to practice anything so I am attempting to become creative. ;) Sure wish we could do books and numbers things but I will just have to keep thinking outside the box. God sure has grand plans for growing my creativity! =D I think he has more confidence in me than I do... but I guess He would as he did the creating!
I am tired lately... will see what turns out with that.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Another Year
Well, I have successfully become another year older. Much to my chagrin! We spent last week out of town because I had a CE conference to attend. It sure feels busy when I go to a conference and then still work the weekend. Sigh... was away from my girl for 4 days! I love being home... sometimes I need to remind myself of that though.
H is doing well, still eating muffins, cereal, pasta, meat and veggies. Fiona's program and diet/lifestyle change has been good for us. T has lost about 25 pounds and looks as slim and trim as he can be. =) He and I both feel better though he is not fond of navy bean and chickpea flours. ROFL
H and I are still reading books, doing word math problems and working on reading flash cards. She is reading but doesn't like trying the new blends and things, gets frustrated easily.
Today, I was able to take some Sweet Streets dollhouse people out of the garage and she has 6 new people and 2 dogs to play with. She has been playing and playing all afternoon! Finally... I need to order more new stuff and have it airing out in the garage. I did order Christmas for her this week and that way it has hope of airing prior to December this year. She loves playing and pretending and I love enabling her to do so. It is just so hard with her chemical sensitivities.
We are just working and trying to keep up with H. I am so thankful that we can both manage to work and still be able to keep her home and not out in the world! God provides for us and we are proof of that daily.
H is doing well, still eating muffins, cereal, pasta, meat and veggies. Fiona's program and diet/lifestyle change has been good for us. T has lost about 25 pounds and looks as slim and trim as he can be. =) He and I both feel better though he is not fond of navy bean and chickpea flours. ROFL
H and I are still reading books, doing word math problems and working on reading flash cards. She is reading but doesn't like trying the new blends and things, gets frustrated easily.
Today, I was able to take some Sweet Streets dollhouse people out of the garage and she has 6 new people and 2 dogs to play with. She has been playing and playing all afternoon! Finally... I need to order more new stuff and have it airing out in the garage. I did order Christmas for her this week and that way it has hope of airing prior to December this year. She loves playing and pretending and I love enabling her to do so. It is just so hard with her chemical sensitivities.
We are just working and trying to keep up with H. I am so thankful that we can both manage to work and still be able to keep her home and not out in the world! God provides for us and we are proof of that daily.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Well, if I thought we would never get to summer (in June I posted that), we are now in those dog days of summer. August is hot, muggy but no rain and typical for Texas weather. Our grass is drying out... had to start watering the yard last week. I probably should have been watering at the beginning of August but I just didn't.
School starts for all the "normal" kids in 2 days. I am so thankful that H is not marching off to kindergarden this year! She is reading simple words, sounding out lots of things on her own and reading from her word charts that I had laminated. She is also doing simple addition and subtraction both with real objects as well as in her head. Someone should tell her that 5 year olds don't do addition and subtraction, especially "air" math, but I sure am not. I am willing to let her run with things and see just how far she gets. She counted to 100 by 10's the other day when I came home from work. Says "my daddy taught me that!" very proudly. =D
We have started Princess Fiona's gluten free/dairy free lifestyle change in July and are actually still eating! H eats muffins, crunchy cereal, chicken, beef, fish, rutabaga and is trying bits of lettuce and such when she is brave. She even tried bamboo shoot yesterday but it was canned and didn't taste very good. She is still terribly chemically sensitive so we still struggle with being around people, scents, paper and printing ink. So we are still not very social and still can't go into places but at least she is eating some things.
I have ACLS this afternoon and am still not ready for it so I have to go prepare. Maybe someday I will get the hang of keeping up with this thing. I have always wanted a diary or journal... practice makes perfect?
School starts for all the "normal" kids in 2 days. I am so thankful that H is not marching off to kindergarden this year! She is reading simple words, sounding out lots of things on her own and reading from her word charts that I had laminated. She is also doing simple addition and subtraction both with real objects as well as in her head. Someone should tell her that 5 year olds don't do addition and subtraction, especially "air" math, but I sure am not. I am willing to let her run with things and see just how far she gets. She counted to 100 by 10's the other day when I came home from work. Says "my daddy taught me that!" very proudly. =D
We have started Princess Fiona's gluten free/dairy free lifestyle change in July and are actually still eating! H eats muffins, crunchy cereal, chicken, beef, fish, rutabaga and is trying bits of lettuce and such when she is brave. She even tried bamboo shoot yesterday but it was canned and didn't taste very good. She is still terribly chemically sensitive so we still struggle with being around people, scents, paper and printing ink. So we are still not very social and still can't go into places but at least she is eating some things.
I have ACLS this afternoon and am still not ready for it so I have to go prepare. Maybe someday I will get the hang of keeping up with this thing. I have always wanted a diary or journal... practice makes perfect?
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sliding downhill
Boy, I sure am not keeping up here. I had wanted to use this as a journal or running commentary on my thoughts but... who can keep track of thoughts when one doesn't write them down? Maybe if I bookmark the site it will prompt me to write. Maybe I just don't have any coherent thoughts? ROFL
It is now summer in Texas. We have had more rain this year than I ever remember in my life! Hard to believe it is June when we keep getting rain! But the grass and the weeds sure are growing .
H is growing too. She has turned 5 and is actually a decent help. =) Guess that I what I have worked and prayed for the past 5 years. She grudgingly swiffers the living room floor to "earn commission" to put into her money jars. Only does it about 2 times weekly as that is all that I have the energy to argue and corral her into doing. And she doesn't really have anything to spend her money on... maybe that is what the game CD's are for in the garage? Good thought there Ellen!
We have slacked off on school this spring, much to my chagrin. I am struggling so much with working, chemicals and allergies that I hardly have the energy to play and read. We are doing lots of exploring outside in the yard with our time outside. We love to take Amy for walks and watch the creek and discuss gravity or water drainage. She also was comparing leaf symmetry today! She loves to watch Cyberchase and they had talked about symmetry in nature last week. Amazing what she can pick up and retain! I am trying to just allow her to learn with day-to-day discussions instead of forcing schooling down her throat. Also helps that she is just now 5 and I feel that we have breathing room. Another HSing friend sent me a link to the 10 things to teach your children before they are 10 years old. The link is http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/ten_to_do_before_ten.php I haven't fully explored the page but I liked the idea of simple focus for the beginning years. But the page is anything but simple as it details the 10 areas to teach your child!
Enough for now... perhaps more thoughts later this week?
It is now summer in Texas. We have had more rain this year than I ever remember in my life! Hard to believe it is June when we keep getting rain! But the grass and the weeds sure are growing .
H is growing too. She has turned 5 and is actually a decent help. =) Guess that I what I have worked and prayed for the past 5 years. She grudgingly swiffers the living room floor to "earn commission" to put into her money jars. Only does it about 2 times weekly as that is all that I have the energy to argue and corral her into doing. And she doesn't really have anything to spend her money on... maybe that is what the game CD's are for in the garage? Good thought there Ellen!
We have slacked off on school this spring, much to my chagrin. I am struggling so much with working, chemicals and allergies that I hardly have the energy to play and read. We are doing lots of exploring outside in the yard with our time outside. We love to take Amy for walks and watch the creek and discuss gravity or water drainage. She also was comparing leaf symmetry today! She loves to watch Cyberchase and they had talked about symmetry in nature last week. Amazing what she can pick up and retain! I am trying to just allow her to learn with day-to-day discussions instead of forcing schooling down her throat. Also helps that she is just now 5 and I feel that we have breathing room. Another HSing friend sent me a link to the 10 things to teach your children before they are 10 years old. The link is http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/ten_to_do_before_ten.php I haven't fully explored the page but I liked the idea of simple focus for the beginning years. But the page is anything but simple as it details the 10 areas to teach your child!
Enough for now... perhaps more thoughts later this week?
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