It's Uncanny How Acurate These Things Are:

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

What's Your Personality Type?

A Horror At The Grocery Store

At the store today I saw a GIANT diplay for this:



As an allergy mom I thought "Sweet Jesus, who would do this"?


As a non allergy mom, I'd thought "Oh, those would go great with a Corona".

But just beware, my fellow non gluten eating friends, these horror of horror chips are out there (and yes, they are clearly marked, but it still made my blood turn cold).

Favorite Ingredient Friday (Pasta A La Chupieandjsmama)

I'm late posting this today, but this has been one CRAZY day!

Pasta A La Chupieandjsmama (gluten free, egg free, peanut/tree nut free, and dairy free)

I dragged the kids to the grocery store after I picked up the Older Boy at school (this wasn't the best plan I've ever had since the Little Man didn't get to nap today). I had no idea what dinner was going to be, but since Hubby eats "meat free" on Fridays (as Catholics we usually do this for lent, but he does it as a reminder all year long) I figured it wasn't too hard to come up with something. This technically isn't "original", but it's just a bunch of fresh ingredients I threw together.

Ingredients:
1. Pasta (we use Tinkyada Gluten Free Penne)
2. Olive Oil
3. Fresh Basil (2 large leaves - chopped)
4. 2 plum tomatoes (diced)
5. 1 package of mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
6. garlic (2 cloves diced)
5. Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
1. Put pasta in boiling water.
2. Heat olive oil (about 3 - 4 tbs.) in a pan and add garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes and simmer until mushrooms are tender. Add Basil and simmer a few more minutes.
3. Drain pasta
4. Combine pasta and tomato/mushroom mixture in a bowl and toss.
5. Add salt and pepper.

This can be made allergy friendly (as shown above) or made with whole wheat pasta and served with a loaf of Italian bread.

Serve with white wine (to help your nerves because the kids drove you crazy all day and because they had a fist fight in the middle of the grocery store - Klassy), and enjoy.

Very EASY.

Visit Overwhelmed With Joy for more F.I.F. recipes.

Thankful Thursday

1. I'm thankful that I have a good book to read while I sit at the preschool for 2 1/2 hours tomorrow. Hopefully the Little Man will get over his separation anxiety soon.
2. I'm thankful that I found a new diet on http://www.revolutionhealth.com/. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that my pants were tight, well they still are so I guess that means that I need to start watching what I'm eating again (and perhaps I should put down the bag of chips).
3. I'm thankful for all the beautiful fall colors that are popping up around us. As I drive around, the leaves look like a beautiful, colorful quilt blanketing our world. This time of year is always sad because it means summer is over, but it is truly gorgeous.
4. I'm thankful that it rained last night and today (I could have done without the storm and the scared child that slept on my back all night though). We really needed the rain! I planted some new mums and they were already starting to wilt because of the lack of water.
5. I'm thankful that fresh apple cider is back at the farmers market.
6. I'm thankful for my wonderful family and my wonderful life.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5


To see more thankful lists, visit Lynn this week while Iris is on vacation.

Wednesday

Product Endorsements

Not that the companies asked me to endorse their products, but I thought I'd share because good gluten free is hard to find.

Gluten Free Pantry Decadent Chocolate Cake Mix:

This was total YUM! I made this on Saturday for my Mother In Law's birthday and it was the best gluten free cake mix I've tried yet! I had to make a few substitutions to the ingredients it called for: 2 eggs worth of Ener-G egg replacer instead of 2 eggs, safe oil instead of butter, soy milk mixed with lemon juice instead of the buttermilk. And this cake STILL turned out wonderful. I topped it with Pillsbury Chocolate Frosting (I usually make my own, but had a time crunch) and everyone gave this cake 2 enthusiastic thumbs up while eating their second helping.


Visit The Website for more information.

Tinkyada Little Dreams Pasta:
This is a must have for any child that follows a gluten free diet. I couldn't make out all the shapes the pasta comes in, but I did see cars, trucks, stars, bikes, dinos, teddy bears, ducks, and more. Because it's Tinkyada pasta, you can boil it and the pasta stays in the shape it comes in and tastes yummy. There is another brand of gluten free pasta that makes pasta in the shape of animals, but when you boil it, it falls apart and just becomes pasta bits. That really frustrates the Little Man to no end.
So 2 cute thumbs up for Tinkyada Little Dreams and for Tinkyada pasta in general.
Check out the Tinkyada
website for more information.

The Little Man Strikes Again

He got me again. The last couple of days, every time I get in my car, there are fruit flies flying around. I've searched the car thinking that maybe on one of our trips to the farmers market we lost an apple and it rolled under the seat or maybe something fell out of one the bags on our trip to the grocery store and although I didn't "smell" anything, SOMETHING must be bringing the flies. I never found the offending fruit. Until today. I finally had enough and after our morning trip to Target, I pulled the vacuum out in to the garage and started sucking up the mound of potato chips and pretzels left in my car by the Little Man. He really is a messy eater. Then I ripped apart the back of my car and searched under the seats and still found nothing. I couldn't imagine that the chips or pretzels would bring the fruit flies. I was really starting to get concerned when I remembered the Little Mans snack cup. It attaches to the side of his car seat.
Here it is, no longer attached to the car seat, but sitting on my counter:



Notice that part of it has a lid...


I opened the lid and there it was. The nastiest piece of banana. I have no idea how long that has been there. It could have been from a few days ago, or it could have been there for weeks. NASTY!!!!!




But at least I found the source of the fruit flies. I was getting concerned that something died in my car and I was starting wonder if I'd seen the neighbors cat lately.

School Daze

Um yeah, I think that title sort of speaks for itself. The Little Man went back to preschool today (and so did I). I walked him in, gave him a kiss, told him I loved him and would see him after class was over, and then I took my seat on the couch in the lobby (about 20 feet from the class room) for my 2 1/2 hour day at preschool. My couch position was something that he and I had agreed upon before we left for school this morning. He told me that he had "Major Issues" and needed me to stay at school. Yes, he's three. And yes, he really did say Major Issues. Luckily I had a buddy today. The Little Man's partner is crime still refuses to use the potty, so his Mommy sat with me so she could change his pull up after his "morning constitutional". There was screaming and gnashing of teeth from the Little Man off and on for the whole 2 1/2 hours. He had to have special attention from the teacher, the aid, and the director of the preschool at various points throughout the morning to calm him down. I guess if I can see a bright side about today it's that I really did sit on the couch and I didn't have to go in the class room. Maybe that's a step in the right direction. I guess we'll see what happens on Thursday.

Fall Into Reading Challenge

Katrina is hosting another reading challenge. I was overly ambitious on my spring challenge and moved all of my book selections to my summer challenge so I'm going to be a bit reserved this time.

1. Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky - Good book. Interesting topic. It really kept my interest.

2. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

3. Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz

4. And Finally, Gluten Free Girl: How I Found The Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too by Shauna James Ahern - Shauna is a fellow blogger (Click Here To Read Her Blog) and I've preordered the book and can't wait to start reading it!! - Excellent book. A great read whether you avoid gluten or not. This book is for the food lovers soul.

There are my 4 books. If I can get through those, I'll be in good shape.

I added a few:
Italy Anywhere: Living An Italian Culinary Life Where Ever You Call Home - I loved this book. The recipes sounded delish, but the author also wove stories from her life in Italy through it, making it feel warm and inviting.

Finding Anna: I stumble across this book in our library. On the spine of the book they had put a sticker listing it as inspirational. I thought "I could use some inspiration". It was. It was also heartbreaking, but a very good read. It's historical and true story (at least for the most part. I don't thing the author could truly look into these peoples soul). I've started her next book.


Head on over to Katrina's to check out the rules or to join in on the challenge.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

This weeks theme is paper:

Here are pictures of all of our "Merry Christmas" paper:







Visit www.tnchick.com to participate in the hunt~

Revolution Health Launches A New Food Allergy Center

Revolution Health has just launched a new Child Food Allergy Center. Click Here to check it out.

There are so many wonderful and educational features:
1. There is a section with information on avoiding foods you or your child is allergic to and this section has printable guides that lists what to avoid, what to look for on a label, and what other ingredients you can substitute for cooking.
Click Here for printable guides.

2. The latest food allergy news and research.

3. Information on testing, diagnosing, living with food allergies, eating out with food allergies, how to handle food allergies in a school setting, and a Hot Topics section where you can check out articles and information to help you understand and live with food allergies safely.

4. A forum where you can gain support and connect with others living with food allergies or parents of children living with food allergies.

5. An "Ask the Expert" section.

6. A Food Allergy Insider Guest Blog section. This is a section for posts from Allergy Experts or guest bloggers . Click Here to see who is featured at the moment (sheepish grin - wink wink).

7. And so much more!!!! You have to go there to see all of the wonderful tools and information that are at your disposal.

I can't say enough good things about this site. It is a comprehensive food allergy center set up by Revolution Health to give you all the information you may need to deal with food allergies in one location. When your child is first diagnosed with a food allergy, tracking down information is overwhelming. But now there is a place to answer all of your questions and to help you keep your child safe. Revolution Health has been working on this site for several months and diligently researched what information would be most relevant and helpful to food allergy parents. Bravo Revolution Health!! You have gone above and beyond on this one, and for that I thank you!

Click Here to go to the Revolution Health homepage and view sections for all your health needs.

Another Dyson Giveaway

The ladies from 5 Minutes For Mom and Dyson are having another giveaway. And this time it's PINK

Dyson is giving $40.00 from every sale of it's Pink vacuum to breast cancer research. So head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom to sign up and link back or why wait? Head on over to Dyson to buy one now and do your part for Breast Cancer Research.

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I am thankful:

1. That the decorative rug (it's from K-mart so it's not that "decorative") in the upstairs bathroom is washable since the Little Man just threw up on it.

2. That I have a cell phone so the school (s) can call me when there is a problem (i.e. Little Man freaking out because he misses Mommy, or Older Boy's broken glasses).

3. That the Little Man's school called me to come get him this morning interrupting my "about to go on a non-budget binge" at the gift shop with all the cute autumn things.

4. That I have two crazy, lovable boys that keep me on my toes (three if you count my husband).

5. That tomorrow is Friday and the weekend is near (that means Hubby will be home for two days to help out).

(Please excuse my sarcastic, yet thankful heart this week)

Visit Iris to give thanks for your blessings.

It's Nice To Be Loved, But Sometimes Less Is More

The Little Man is having a tough time adjusting to preschool. The whole time we were getting ready for preschool, I was worried about his lack of potty training and it never occurred to me that he may not want to go because he'll miss his Mommy. Monday, there were issues. He went in fine, but after about a half an hour he started crying and the teacher and her aid had to comfort him and sing to him. After several minutes he calmed down enough to go to back to class, but then started crying again when they went outside to play. Since then, I've talked to him about going to school and how Mommy drops him off, but will come back when school is done and pick him up just like we've done for Big Brother hundreds of times. I could tell he wasn't buying it. We had a nice pow wow in the parking lot this morning before preschool, and he said "I'm not doing crafts today and I want you". I said "Oh, you'll have fun and you'll play with all your friends and you'll have a great time with Miss N and Miss H". Again I could tell he wasn't buying it.
Well, I was right. I took him in and he seemed fine, then he turned to go into the room and even though he had a smile on his face, I heard a big "SNIFF" and I knew that tears were near. AND WERE THEY EVER. 30 seconds later he came running out of the room screaming and crying like it was the worst place in the world and tackled me to ground and clung on for dear life. It was very hard for me to not start crying, but I held it together. I stayed a few minutes and the teacher had to pry him off of me and I left. But of course I didn't go far. I went across the street (literally) to the eye doctor to get my new contacts and then next door (literally) to a gift shop to get my Mother In Law a birthday present. And then I got the call "The Little Man just isn't calming down, and we'll leave it up to you, but we think maybe you should come". So I went. And after I got there, he was fine. I tried not to go into the room, because I don't want him to think that I'll be doing that FOREVER, but I did have to go outside to the playground because he totally broke down again. So, this means that my "free time" on Monday and Thursday mornings will now be spent sitting outside his preschool room reading a book. No more free time for me. This doesn't help my busy schedule at all. I'm really surprised that he's having such separation anxiety. I didn't expect it to be this bad. I hope he gets over it soon for his sake, the schools sake (3 other kids melted down when they saw me because they realized they missed their Mommies too), and for mine. Bye bye 2 hours of free time. I'm glad he loves me so much, and I'm sure that there will come a day when I'll wish that he wanted me around. But I do want my boy to be independent, and know that he can exist without Mommy.

Running In Circles

Lately I feel like a crazed woman.


(This is not a picture of me. I would not be caught dead in those "mom" jeans)

Between driving kids around, running errands, trying to keep the house running, making appointments (and trying to remember to keep them), cooking, cleaning, and laundry, I feel like my plate is full.

I'm hoping that October slows down a little bit, but so far it looks to be even busier. Sooner or later somethings got to give.



I haven't really been posting much, but I have been reading. And yesterday I was given the "You make me smile" award from Mary. I think this is one of my favorite awards. Thanks Mary for the honor and the compliment! Mary made me smile by giving me the award and now I'd like to pass the smile a long to:

Christie O.
Bev
Sue
Barbara
Michelle
PEA
Aimee
Barb
Kelly
Boomama (she probably received this 100 times already)

"This is what the person that created this award says about it- the thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell,and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with.

I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement.Although there are MANY people I want to give this award to at this very moment, I am going to choose ten bloggers:

Please grab your badge and wear it(with a smile) proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me, thank you."



I'm going to try and do a Thankful Thursday post tomorrow, because it always puts things into perspective for me. So please forgive me for erratic posting and rambling thoughts. I'm trying to find a way to slow things down, but for now, we're living life in the fast (and totally disorganized) lane.

Just A Friendly Reminder

That tomorrow the New Monk and Neagle CD hits the stores. I won my copy a while back through a contest and haven't stopped listening since I received it.




Please check out the link above or the video (remember to turn off my music on my sidebar). Their music is beautiful and truly inspirational.

Click HERE to check out their MySpace page for more information and for concert dates. You won't be disappointed.

Busy, Sick And Injured

Yea, that pretty much describes my weekend. I was going to take a picture of the "injury" but I couldn't get a good enough picture and really, do you need to see a picture of my foot? I think not. Friday night I was putting away laundry and I turned toward the dresser and smashed my left foot in the leg of my sons bed either breaking or severely bruising my toe (the one next to the little piggy that went "wee wee wee all the way home". I think it's the one that had no roast beef). Man did that hurt!! It's a lovely purply-black color now. And the best part is that the temperatures have only been in the 50's and now I can only wear flip flops. I'm setting a new fashion trend. Parka's and flip flops will be HUGE this year, trust me.
My Older Boy had a soccer game yesterday and he scored his first goal. Momma was so proud! Then we came home and some kind of stomach bug hit me, so I spent the better part of the day in bed watching an "America's Next Top Model" marathon, because when you're sick and your foot is throbbing nothing makes you feel worse about yourself then watching a bunch of young, skinny women.
Today was my first day as PSR Aid. I think it went well. All the kids were accounted for. It just seems a little unorganized to me. The teachers (two high school girls) are doing a great job, there just isn't much communication between the program director and everyone else. Or maybe there's just not much communication between the program director and me. I don't know. Either way, I'm a little confused. I'm also concerned about the food allergy issue, because NO ONE HAS MENTIONED THAT YET. Of course I brought it up to the teachers today. I said I would take care of the Little Man's snack and I asked them to please let me know ahead of time if they plan on doing any craft projects that involve food. I kind of got a deer in the head lights look so I'm really glad that I'm in the class room with the Little Man the whole time. Since the Older Boy is going to school there now, my feeling about the entire school program, day school and PSR, is that they really don't know much about food allergies or how to deal with them. I'm highly concerned and I have a feeling I'm either going to be teaching them or taking the Little Man elsewhere for his education.
Well, I'm off to prop up my foot and see what other kind of "marathons" are on the tube today.

The Wall Street Journal And Allergy Friendly Food

The Wall Street Journal compared several on line sites for ordering allergy friendly foods and their products. To read the article click Here: "Finding Snacks For Kids With Food Allergies".

Thankful Thursday

At the moment I can do a post about what I'm not thankful for very easily (why are my pants so tight), but I just came from church so I'm going to reach down and find things that I am thankful for - even though I'm crabby (probably because my pants are too tight).



1. My youngest son attended preschool this week with ALL of his food allergies and didn't have a reaction.
2. This same child that has REFUSED to potty train for months is now "king of the potty" (fingers crossed my friends).
3. I have extra time to spend with my youngest son now that the oldest is in school full time.
4. I have the time to be INVOLVED. I'm involved in just about everything and after the class I attended last night (see post below) I AM THANKFUL.
5. I have a wonderful, beautiful family and for that I am truly blessed.
6. I am loved (enough said).

Please visit Iris for more thankful hearts.

Maybe It's A Course ALL Parents Should Sit Through

Last night I sat through a course on child ab*se. I'm going to be the aid in the Little Man's PSR class this year and it is a requirement for anyone who will be working with the children. I was also fingerprinted and will have a background check done. The course was on spotting signs of children in trouble and I won't get into too many details. I spent the whole two hours watching the videos trying not to cry or throw up. It was very disturbing. But it was also very eye opening. As parents we say things like "how could they not know"? or " I would pay more attention". But would you? Really? These people are slick. And they know how to work around YOU.
Some things they reminded us:
*Don't allow people access to your children (i.e. drop off lessons, classes etc). If possible a parent should really be there.
*Listen to your children. If they suddenly stop liking someone, a class, a situation, then investigate. There may be a reason for their dislike that you are overlooking.
*Listen to your gut. Just because all the other parents are doing something (letting kids go on an overnight with out parents) doesn't mean you have to.
*If you see something, report it. If you catch it early enough, you could save a child or many children years of pain.
*Talk to your children about privacy and do it often. Make it a safety issue, like looking both ways before crossing the street.
*Be wary of anyone who wants to spend too much time with children and only children.
There were other things discussed, but these were some of the big ones.
Never let your guard down. We don't like to think about this subject because it's not a pleasant one, but as parents we must.
I'm glad that the school fingerprinted me and is doing a background check. I'm glad, because now I know that they do that for all their teachers, aids, coaches etc. but I'm also glad because it reminded me that the Older Boys community sports league doesn't. And I know this because my husband is his soccer coach and he went through NOTHING like this. He signed up and they said "Sure, we're short on coaches, we need you". Do you know how many parents drop off their kids at soccer practice because they are too busy to attend? They don't even know my husband or the other coach. Background checks and fingerprinting aren't fool proof, but it's a start. I'll definitely be mentioning it to the community sports league that I think they should start implementing something like this for our children's safety.
Someone put it this way last night. Just because someone has the title of coach, teacher, clergy etc. doesn't make them safe. We let our kids pile in a van to go for ice cream with their coach. Would you let you child pile in a van to go for ice cream with your plumber? The same rules need to apply for everyone.
And that's my non allergy PSA for the day. Sorry for the ramble. I just felt I needed to share this important reminder.

Remembering....

A Prayerful Day:





My thoughts and prayers are with those killed that day, the injured, the survivors and the friends and families that lost so much.
(photos courtesy of Wikipedia)

Fall Is In The Air

You can tell fall is coming when you see....

Boys playing football outside during the half time show:


Fresh honey crisp apples from the farmers market:


Sunflowers and roses mixed in the same arrangement:



My fall wreath on the front door:


Mums and Asters blooming:



Bees pollinating my Rose of Sharon tree:


The leaves changing colors:


I love the fall season, but I'll sure be missing summer!

I'm A Soccer Mom