Thursday Thirteen # 19

For anyone who didn't know, two lovely ladies (Carol and Beth) purchased the Thursday Thirteen and are keeping it alive.
AND YES, I REALIZE IT'S ONLY WEDNESDAY, BUT I'M BEING PROACTIVE THIS WEEK.
Thirteen Reasons I Was NOT Going To Do A Thursday Thirteen This Week

1. I have a head cold.
2. My kids want me to play with them, not reply to comments
3. Or visit other TT'ers.
4. I need to stop doing meme's and clean my house
5. or bake some allergy free cookies for my Little Man.
6. I've got nothing. No good topic to blog about this Thursday.
7. I was so sad that it was ending, that I resigned myself to not doing it anymore.
8. I added all my regulars to bloglines anyway so I'll see when yours pops up.
9. Did I mention that I'm out of topics to put on my TT this week?
10.I was in mourning over the drop in the stock market.
11. Now that it rebounded I should go shopping instead and spend our dividends (Do we get dividends? Does it really matter?)
12.I should be working on taxes not on Thursday Thirteens.
13.Does anyone read this anyway?
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

More Food Allergy "Stuff"

Last week I read on someones blog (Parenting a Child with Food Allergies, I believe)that Damon's came up with an interactive menu for people with food allergies. It's really helpful and pretty straight forward. You can check it out here. Imagine my excitement when I saw that their French fries didn't have any food allergens in them (top 8 of course: wheat, egg, milk, peanut, tree nut, fish, soy, shell fish). BUT, could they possibly have a dedicated fryer? Just because the fries don't have these allergens in them, doesn't mean they are ok for food allergic people to eat them. If they are cooked together with the allergens they are contaminated and my younger son can't eat them. So I e-mailed Damon's and here is their reply:

Dear Janeen,

Thank you for your interest in Damon's and your comment on our web site.
We unfortunately are not equipped to have a separate fryer for our
french fries, currently. We know that there is some evidence that
cross-contamination is possible, and we are looking into solutions for
those instances. As soon as any resolution on that is made we will
update our web site to let our guests know of the changes.

We use a soy bean oil with zero grams of trans fat per serving for our
frying.

Thank you for your patronage!

Sincerely,

Cara Sisson
Brand Marketing Manager
Damon's Grill
P 614.442.7900 X121
F 614.538.2521
csisson@damons.com

BUMMER! I was so hoping that we would have a place to take the Little Man to eat. If he wasn't a picky eater or anti-meat, we could get him a steak (after alerting everyone about his allergies and making sure the chef was given his "Chef Card"). But alas, I think he is going to take after me and not be a big meat eater. It's to hard to entertain a 2 1/2 year old with just a plain baked potato while everyone else eats.
I am impressed with Damon's though and the steps they have taken to accommodate people with food allergies with this new menu. And their response was prompt and honest. I wish more restaurants (hello, McDonald's?!?) could be like that. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. For now we will have to wait until Little Mans palate matures enough to move past French fries and hot dogs.

I'm Now A Member Of The Detroit Free Press Forums

And NO, I don't live in Detroit, but I'm MAD. And when I'm mad, I MUST Comment. So I joined.
I found this today over at Parenting A Child With Food Allergies
Author Upsets the Child Food Allergy Community
You may have heard of the author Todd Wilbur, not exactly a friend of the food allergy crowd. Mr. Wilbur steals restaurant recipes and reprints them in book form. Apparently he's been pretty successful, including a spot on the Oprah show.

Well, anyway, he upset quite a few folks in the child food allergy community by making this comment in a recent article

"On the 'Oprah' show, I faked a food allergy to get the T.G.I. Friday's Jack Daniel's grill glaze ingredients."

Oh boy, faking a food allergy? You shouldn't have done that, Mr. Wilbur. Here is what some parent said online...

"What's next in you career, feigning CANCER? Do copyright laws mean nothing to you? Why aren't you in jail?"
"...How dare u pretend to be allergic to something and make all this money while many of us have children who are very allergic to foods. ... Wake up and think of other people in this world not just your own."

"...I spend a lot of time contacting manufacturers, trying to find out if there is something in their products that would kill my child. I never understood why many manufacturers would ask for a doctor's note to release information on ingredients. After reading this article about Mr. Wilbur making a mockery of life threatening food allergies, I now know why it is so difficult to gather information to keep my child safe. This man should be ashamed of himself."

"...I have spent hours on the phone with companies making sure that the product won't kill my son. This just makes it harder for me to get the information I need to keep my son alive and healthy."

"Talk about self-serving!!! How could you PRETEND to have food allergies basically to STEAL recipes for profit? You should be ashamed of yourself. Did you ever stop to think that by doing this you might actually make it more difficult for the parents of children who really and truly suffer from food allergies to keep their children safe....and even alive?..."

This really ticks me off. I spend COUNTLESS HOURS on the phone trying to get companies to tell me what is in their products or restaurants to tell me what is in there food so my child can safely eat and this "clown" lies about food allergies so he can scam a recipe. Apparently he's not much of a chef if he can't figure it out for himself or if he has to scam recipes off of Fridays. It's because of people like him that it is so difficult for Moms like me to find out ingredients in products or food prep to keep my child from having a severe reaction. I hope he is proud of himself. He must be if he's bragging about it in the Detroit Free Press. So of course I felt the need to respond. Not that he or anyone at the Detroit Free Press or the Oprah Show where he was a guest will care. But I care and it made me feel better.
My response (cleaned up because I had second thoughts before sending my original version):
"If he was faking any other ailment, he would never get away with it. He would be publicly humiliated and not allowed on the Oprah show. But apparently it's ok to fake food allergies because it's no big deal. My son is 2 with multiple life threatening food allergies, and let me share something with you from a mothers point of view: Until you've held your child in your arms as he's struggling to breath because of something he ate and you are scared to death that he is going to die, you have no idea the severity of food allergies. I am shocked that Oprah would allow this kind of behavior on her show. Imagine faking cancer or aids to get "secret information". And then to brag about it, like it's a joke makes it even more pathetic". - GlutenFreeMom. (Should have said Mad as Hell Mom).
To read the whole lousy article go Here and feel free to join the and leave your own comment. IT'S FREE!

Tackle It Tuesday

Todays tackle involved taking down the curtains on the sidelights of my door and washing them. That led to washing down the woodwork of the door and around the foyer, which led to washing down all the woodwork in the downstairs. Well, at least that's done. Funny how one thing leads to another. Visit 5 Minutes For Mom to join in on the cleaning fun.
before/during:


after:

Where Did The Time Go?

Wow, it's Monday already. The weekend just flew by. And I almost said it's Monday morning, but that would be wrong, because it's 2:44 pm in the afternoon and I've just finished reading my bloglines for the morning. I have been neglecting my internet duties, but that's ok, because I've been having fun.
Saturday my parents took the kids for the day. For.The.Whole.Day. Can I tell you that the Littel Man is 2 1/2 years old and this is a first. I mean, they've babysat for us, but this was THE WHOLE DAY. Did I mention The Whole Day? Hubby dropped them off at my parents house in the morning and my parents returned them safely to our doorstep at 6:00 pm in the evening. I worked out, in the morning, and didn't have to break up a fight or an argument. And I was able to listen to the radio, loudly, and no one complained. I showered and no one banged on the door needing to use the potty or crying because his big brother stole his toy. I ate lunch with out having to be a jack in the box because someone needed something every 30 seconds. Then hubby and I went to a furniture store (an expensive one and one that is really huge) and shopped for 3 HOURS and no one cried, or screamed, or whined or wanted to go home, or wanted to watch Sponge Bob or needed a snack. It was heaven. I picked out a ton of furniture that I want, and if we ever hit the lottery I will go back and get it. For right now I have a "wish list" and that is fine for me. I also have some decorating ideas and I think I can do some of them on a budget. Saturday before the boys came home, hubby and I went to church and we were able to sit in the "big people" church. No cry room for us this week thank you very much. Then they came home. And the chaos ensued once again. And I realized how much I missed them. And I missed all the hugs and the "I love you Mom" 's.
Today after I dropped my older son off at school I went to Home Depot to check out some of my "decorating on a budget" ideas and it was then I realized how nice it was to shop on Saturday without the boys. The Little Man screamed from the moment we stepped into that store until we left. Not because he didn't want to be there, but because they had John Deere tractors and he wanted to ride them. He just could not grasp the fact that they don't let you ride the tractors around the store. I hope he's that interested in tractors when he's old enough to use one and cut our grass for us. The other concept that he couldn't quite grasp is that the "pottys" aren't there for you to use. He wanted to use all the pottys that were on display. Now since we've been trying to get him to go on the potty this is a good thing, but not when he's screaming "POTTY, POTTY, PEE PEE IN THAT POTTY" in the middle of Home Depot and apparently Monday morning at 9:15 am is Contractor time, because that's all that was in there and they didn't look too thrilled with my screaming toddler. So the only thing I bought was the industrial sized jug of Simple Green on the advice of Barb at A Chelsea Morning. So that's it folks. My life in a nut shell. Exciting isn't it? I bet you all thought " She hasn't posted in a while. I wonder if she went to the Oscars"? Nope, just Home Depot and window shopping for furniture I can't afford. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Time does fly when you're having fun.


Now I've been tagged by Sue at Living My Dream for a meme so here goes:
5 Reasons I blog:
1. I started blogging because I wanted to keep a journal of our day to day life. I love keeping track of what the boys are doing, even the mundane (see potty story above).
2. I've met some very lovely people since I've started blogging and I love keeping up with all of the wonderful, thought provoking, and sometimes heart wrenching stories they tell. There's an on line community of wonderful ladies (and a few guys) that I have met that are very supportive to each other. Personally and spiritually.
3. I've found so many blogs that help me keep up with recipes and tips for the Little Man's allergies and I try to pass along that info or share anything that works for me that may help someone else out.
4. Sometimes when blogging, just putting things in writing helps me to sort out what I'm feeling or how I'm handling things (or not handling things). It can be therapeutic in a way. By putting my thoughts and feelings to paper it's helping me learn more about myself.
5. Because I can (it's still free at this point).
I won't "tag" anyone specific, but if you want to participate, just let me know in comments and have fun with it. Happy Monday :D

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Todays Theme is "Soft"






Visit TN Chick to find out more or grab the code.

Favorite Ingredient Friday (Creamy Potato Soup-low fat)

recipe from allrecipes.com
Low Fat Potato Soup - Regular version and version safe for allergies to wheat, rye, barley, egg, milk and peanut (**check ingredients to make sure recipe is safe for your own allergies or intolerance)
INGREDIENTS
1. 1 3/4 cups diced peeled potatoes
2. 1 medium onion, chopped
3. 1/4 cup chopped celery
4. 1 (14.5 ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used Kitchen Basics or other Gluten Free, dairy free broth)
5. 1/8 teaspoon pepper
6. 3 tablespoons cornstarch
7. 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated fat-free milk, divided (**see note below for dairy free version)
8. (If desired)1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (instead of adding this to the soup we added this to individual bowls)
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, onion, celery, broth and pepper.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
3. Combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup milk (soy milk) until smooth; stir into potato mixture. Add the remaining milk (or soy milk). Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat.
4. If desired, stir in cheese until melted.

**Recipe: Sweetened Condensed "Milk" (Using Soy or Rice Milk)
Equivalent: 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk
Ingredient:
3 cups soy or rice milk
1/2 cup white sugar or evaporated cane juice
vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Directions:
Add the soy or rice milk and the sugar to a saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until volume is reduced to 1 cup. Add a few drops of vanilla to taste, add a pinch of salt (recipe from Dairy Free Made Easy by Alisa Marie Fleming)
Join the recipe exchange at Overwhelmed With Joy

School Pictures

This post is for Michelle who thought Kayla's school picture was not so good.

I love my son and I think every picture of him is great, but ....
that being said, what kind of school picture is this? Certainly not traditional which is what the pictures that day were supposed to be. He said he just "did this pose" and they took his picture. I only bought a few for the Grandparents, as blackmail for when he gets older, and because if you didn't buy something, you couldn't get the class photo.




My youngest also goes to Mom and Tot at the school and this is the picture they took of him.



Much more traditional. Why couldn't the older sons picture be the same?
See Michelle, different States, different photographers, but ours was just as clueless. At least Kayla's picture is super cute!
Kayla

Thursday Thirteen # 18

Thirteen Reasons I'm Sad This Is The Final Thursday Thirteen 1. I have found so many interesting blogs I would have not read otherwise. 2. Thursday Thirteen challenged my brain every week to come up with different topics to blog about. 3. I have "regulars" that I enjoy visiting. 4. It's one of the only days of the week more than 2 people read my blog. 5. I can write "random" things and it seems totally normal. 6. It's ok to write about "yourself" because it's a meme for other people to get to know "you". 7. It's one of the only times I actually write anything about myself. 8. I love reading everyone elses, because there are so many creative people out there. 9. I've learned a lot. 10. A few weeks ago I read one by a Dr. who wrote about learning anatomy on cadavers. 11. Believe it or not, it was interesting and so was he. 12. There are a lot of wonderful blogs and wonderful people out there in blogland. 13. Thursday Thirteen was the 1st meme I participated in when I started blogging. It'll be like losing an old friend. What will I do next Thursday? Thank you to the ladies who started Thursday Thirteen. I'm honored to have been a "featured blog". I'll miss participating every week and I'll miss all my regular "reads". Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday:



Visit Wordless Wednesday HQ to participate.

[Gluten Free] Goddess: Gluten-Free Bloggers

If you are a gluten free blogger, check out, [Gluten Free] Goddess: Gluten-Free Bloggers. The Gluten Free Goddess is putting together a complete list of Gluten Free Bloggers that you can access by clicking on a button that will be located on her sidebar. Go on over and add yourself.

Tackle It Tuesday

I'm starting to tackle my kitchen cabinets. This is one of my most dreaded chores. I have a lot of cabinets and I have a lot of stuff. If I break it down and do a few at a time it doesn't seem so horrible. I've started with L.M's cabinets His food is kept separate from ours (for the most part) and everything is labeled with yellow smiley face stickers so it stands out as safe for his allergies. I'm glad I did his first. I thought I had more pasta than I do and there was some shelf stable soy milk that that I thought was OK, but had expired in December. I'll need to replace that for emergency situations. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before:




After:




I also FINALLY put together my "2007" folders for the filing cabinet. Yes, this should have been done in January, but I guess mid-February isn't too bad. At least it's done and the big pile of 2007 paperwork can be filed and removed from the top of my dresser.

Good luck everyone with your tackles. Visit 5 Minutes For Mom to join in on Tackle It Tuesday. Happy Tuesday :)

Monday Memories - Gluten Free

Norma, at Collecting My Thoughts posted a recipe for salt dough today on her Monday Memories. She reminded me what fun we had as kids with this, making mostly Christmas ornaments at school to give to our parents as gifts. My older son loves to do crafts and would really enjoy working with this and painting it afterwards. Due to the Little Mans food allergies, it would not be safe for us to use traditional "salt dough" at our house, so I found a recipe for a Gluten Free version in "The Kid Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook" by Leslie Hammond and Lynne Marie Rominger. I'll make some of this later and let the kids play with it and let you know how it does. Let's hope it works out better than the cookies did this weekend :).

Clay Dough
1 Cup White Rice Flour
1 Cup Salt
3/4 Cup Water

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Roll the dough into a firm ball. If the mixture is too crumbly, add additional water 1 teaspoon at a time.
2. Have children make snowmen, or use cookie cutters to make shapes.
3. Line cookie sheet with tin foil and let dry completely, for at least 1 day.
4. If you'd like, you can bake the clay dough at 200 degrees F for about 30 minutes before painting.
UPDATE:
We made the Clay Dough and it turned out pretty good!
The directions said to add more water if it was crumbly, and mine was weak and sticky so I ended up adding more rice flour. The boys had fun with it. Their creations are now drying and waiting to be painted.

Here's what it looked like:


The Boys getting ready to create (and make a giant mess):


The final product:


Please don't ask me what their "art" is. I think it's abstract:

Menu Monday

Since this week is the start of Lent, and I have to come up with 3 meat free meals (hubby is Byzantine Catholic and they are meat free today too), I thought I better do a Menu Monday to help get me organized for the week.



Monday: Homemade pizza (one regular and one gluten free)
Tuesday: BLT's
Wednesday: Rice pasta and Veggies with olive oil
Thurday: Meatloaf (gluten and egg free) and potatoes
Friday: Tuna Salad (for hubby and older son), left over gluten free pizza for Little Man

It just occured to me that I also have to come up with something to "give up" for lent. I think that this year I'll be giving up chocolate and cookies for lent.

Houston We Have A Problem, And Other Gluten Free Tales

On my Thursday Thirteen , one of the things I wrote that we would do while snowed in was bake cookies. The boys like the "Just Like Nilla Wafers" cookies that I made for Christmas (see Here) but we had a problem with making them. They turned out like this:

This is definitely not cookies. The boys were very disappointed, but I could not get them to work.

So today, I decided to give it another go and the same thing happened. I followed the directions exactly as the "Kid Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook" called for, but I had the same disastrous results.
So I decided to make: Pretzels instead (logical right?)
The recipe is from Carole Fensters "Cooking Free" and yes, they actually turned out (although in the pictures it doesn't look that way).
Small stick pretzels:

Large stick pretzels:

Small pretzels after cooking (they look burnt but weren't):

Large Pretzels after cooking:


I also couldn't let the cookies go. I tried another time to get them to work by letting them chill longer in the fridge. That wasn't the answer. I got the same gooey mess. So I tried adding more white rice flour and xanthan gum and I am now cooking them again. They are holding together this time, but not spreading like they did the first time. I'll keep trying, but I think I need to use the original recipe and add xanthan gum to it. But not tonight. It's 9:22 pm and I'm tired and done baking. This is what my kitchen looks like on "Gluten Free Saturday":


The rest of the weekend has been good. Last night I went to a "spa party" at a neighbors house. It was nice to have some "mom" time and I of course spent money on things to make me look younger (that probably won't work). We went to church tonight since my older sons PSR is cancelled tomorrow for Presidents Day. Tomorrow can be a relaxing morning, sipping coffee while listening to the boys beat on each other. Well, at least we won't have to rush around. Hope you are all (the 2 of you who read this) having a great weekend!

Favorite Ingredient Friday (Black Bean Chili)

Black Bean Chili (recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free)
Recipe from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
1. 1 onion, diced
2. 2 cloves garlic, minced
3. 1 pound ground turkey
4. 3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained
5. 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
6. 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
7. 1 tablespoon dried oregano
8. 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
9. 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large heavy pot over medium heat, cook onion and garlic until onions are translucent.
2. Introduce turkey and cook, stirring, until meat is brown.
3. Stir in beans, tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, basil and vinegar.
4. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 60 minutes or more, until flavors are well blended.


Visit Overwhelmed With Joy for more recipe ideas.

****ADDED NOTE: On the news last night they mentioned that Peter Pan Peanut Butter is recalling all peanut butter that has product numbers stamped on the lid starting with "2111" due to Salmonella. see Fox News for more details. I'm mentioning this because we had this in our pantry. In fact, we almost ate it all. Now I don't think we got sick from it, but who knows. Please check yours to be on the safe side.

Friday's Feast # 131

Appetizer
What sound, other than the normal ringing, would you like your telephone to make?
Our home phone is set to a music ring tone. If you ask my kids, they'd say a train whistle.

Soup
Describe your usual disposition in meteorological terms (partly cloudy, sunny, stormy, etc.). Party Sunny.

Salad
What specific subject do you feel you know better than any other subjects? When I was in school it was English, but now I don't know. I'm so rusty. I've seen that there is a new show coming out called Do You Know More Than A 5th Grader or something like that and I probably don't.

Main Course
Imagine you were given the ability to remember everything you read for one entire day. Which books/magazines/newspapers would you choose to read?
I'd read the Bible. I don't know or remember enough of the Bible.

Dessert
If a popular candy maker contacted you to create their next confection, what would it be like and what would you name it? Allergen free chocolate covered Gluten Free Nut free Egg free Milk free Cookies (all organic made in a dedicated facility). I'd call it the The Bear Bar (after my youngest).

Pop on in to The Feast for more culinary delights.

Thursday Thirteen # 17

The above graphics courtesy
Goofy Girl @ Goofy Girl Designs

Thirteen Things To Do When You Are Snowed In (With Preschoolers)

1. Clean the house. It's nice to have helpers.
2. Do Laundry. They can destroy it, after you've folded it.
3. Watch movies. The same one. Over and Over again.
4. Put on the radio and dance like fools around the family room, until someone trips on a toy and gets hurt.
5. Referee 5 million fights.
6. Make cookies.
7. Do craft projects.
8. Try and finish reading your library book which is now over due and can't be renewed because you've already renewed it too many times (this is done while playing 20 questions).
9. Find new and educational websites to entertain children (for about 5 minutes).
10. Call Grandma at least twice a day.
11. Color pictures to send off to relatives.
12. Involve children in reorganizing the toy storage system.
13. Pray for nap time.


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Valentine's Edition

Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day. We are snowed in here. No school today. Say a prayer for me. I am snowed in with a toddler and a preschooler who are loaded with sugar and have cabin fever.
Visit Wordless Wednesday HQ to join in the fun!

Tackle It Tuesday

I'll call this edition of Tackle it Tuesday "The Tax Man Cometh". First thing I'd like to do today is to get my taxes organized. I need to go through all of our medical and see what we paid and what we can write off. I don't actually do the taxes, we have an accountant for that, but I need to get everything organized before we can send them out.

Next thing is to write out the Thank You notes for the gifts from the older boys birthday party and then have him sign them. It's been a week and I don't want to wait any longer.


And then finish the dusting of the lower level that I started yesterday.


I also need to make a pot of sauce with meatballs and sausage. And of course tomorrow is Valentine's Day so I need to get the kids Valentine's together for school. I was going to make rice crispy treats for them to take, but we will just see how the day goes. I may be adding too many things on to myself. If the rice crispy treats don't get made, I have enough fruit snacks in house that will cover the Valentine treats. It won't get me Mother of the Year, but I wasn't in the running anyway. Visit 5 Minutes For Mom to join in on the Tackling fun.

A Sweet Surprise

I received a package yesterday evening in the mail from Elizabeth and it was my Valentines Day Goody Swap that was hosted by Local Girl.
What a sweet surprise!

What's in the box?


Lots of goodies! (Sorry too much flash in this picture)


That's a better picture. She sent a WHOLE bag of Reese's peanut butter cups (My Favorite!!), Coconut Lime lotion (smells wonderful) and some beautiful note cards.


Thank you so much Elizabeth for the beautiful and tasty gifts. Thank you for being my Valentine Swap Buddy! She was such a thoughtful buddy that she e-mailed me to make sure that we weren't "peanut free" due to Little Man's allergies before she sent the candy. We are not totally peanut free. We can't live in a bubble. We just keep things up high and locked up. And Little Man is learning that there are things that he can't eat.
Happy Valentine's Day to Elizabeth and all the Smith clan and to everyone out there in blogland!

Chocolate Pancakes - Our Safe Way

There was a very delicious sounding recipe posted by Jessica at Raising Joey for Overwhelmed With Joys Chocolate Edition of F.I.F. They looked yummy but with all of the Little Man's allergies, I wasn't sure that I could pull off a full allergy conversion and still make them taste good. I had nothing planned for dinner last night, so I thought I'd give it a try. They turned out really well and the whole family (except for L.M. because he doesn't try new things) really enjoyed them. Thanks Jessica for the recipe and here is the allergy safe version (this version is safe for L.M. allergies. Please check ingredients to make sure that it is safe for your own).

Chocolate Pancakes:

1. 2 Cups Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix
2. 3 Teaspoons of Gluten Free baking powder
3. 1/2 teaspoon of salt
4. 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
5. 1 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
6. 4-6 teaspoons of cocoa (I used Hershey's)
7. 1 Cup of Silk Soy Milk
8. 4 teaspoons dairy free margarine (melted)
9. Ener-G egg replacer prepared to equal 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir only until mixed.

Frosting:
1. 1/2 cup dairy free margarine (melted)
2. 1 cup gluten free powdered sugar
3. 1 tsp. gluten free vanilla
4. Enough Silk Soy Milk to make the mixture creamy

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy.

Enjoy!

Someone sent this to me this morning and it's so pretty that I had to share it:



Some other notes of interest:
BooMama is starting a book club. Head on over and check it out.

5 Minutes For Mom announced that Heather and Laura are starting a forum for Moms of Grace. You can head over there to check it out or grab the button.


Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday!

OH Happy Day!

Yesterday we took the boys for haircuts. It was way overdue, and I should have taken them weeks ago. But with my headaches and the weather we just never made it there. The Little Man is the anti-haircut child. He was born with a full head of hair (see below), and has been getting his hair cut since he was 7 months old, but he screams and kicks and freaks out completely and getting his hair cut is an ordeal for all involved.

Little Mans first day home from the hospital:


Somehow yesterday we made a breakthrough with L.M. We've been talking to him the last couple of days explaining that we were taking him for haircut and that it was going to be ok and there was no need to cry. We'd say "Little Man, Saturday we're going for haircut". He'd look at us with his big blue eyes and say "I'm going to cry". To which we reply "No you're not, your a big boy". So yesterday on our way there his big brother was teasing him about the haircut and about his crying and he said "Little Man, are you going to cry" (whiny, sing song voice)? And L.M. looks at him and says matter of fact "Not Today". So we were keeping our fingers crossed. Only problem we really didn't foresee was that L.M. fell asleep 10 minutes before we got there. We used to go to a salon around the corner from our house, but he screamed so much that the last time we took him there the lady got so nervous she shaved his head (without asking my permission and I was mad-see below).

So now we have to drive 45 minutes to a special kids salon where at least they know how to deal with this type of behavior. Waking him up and then having a lady start cutting his hair wasn't going to be easy.
We made a deal with him. Because he LOVES trains, if he let the lady cut his hair, he could play with the train table afterward. Somehow, this worked. No screaming, No crying, No cutting his hair at the train table like in the past. Hopefully we've turned the corner on his haircut rage. Hopefully we only have to drive 45 minutes to the kids salon a few more times to really get him used to haircuts then find a closer place (but no to the head shaving lady. She's out).
The before picture:

During:





The After:


No tears! Until we had to leave and he couldn't take all the trains with him, but that's a whole other story.