Homeschool day at the Zoo 2010

Guess who lost her first tooth at the zoo? It was Chloe! I told her she wasn't allowed to lose a tooth at the zoo, but did she listen :)?


We met up with our friends there, and we got to watch so many of the animals being fed. The girls took a bajillion photos of the meerkats eating.


John did his yoda impression with a tiny stick. "Patience young one, Yoda I am..."


I was so excited, in the bear enclosure this cardinal showed up. The girls correctly identified the bird. See, we didn't do eight weeks of a bird unit study for nuthin!!




You might be wondering what is in that cooler. I packed a knife and a cutting board, and lots of fruit. In hindsight, the post 9/11 world isn't very friendly for knife carrying. Thankfully, I have come up with some better ideas since then. We have bought some travel friendly foods. This is the day that I realized that the diet isn't just good for me in theory, but I realized that I am actually allergic to dairy and wheat.

What we ate today

If you were wondering how this all turned out.... we did really well the past couple of days, and oddly the kids didn't seem to realize anything was all that different. Here is what we ate today. The kids surprised me by LOVING the salmon. If you can't see any of the links, I have published them all over on my recipe blog

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, steel cut oatmeal (its the chunkier oatmeal) and turkey bacon
• snack: banannas
• lunch: african peanut butter sweet potato soup, nitrate free hot dogs, cut oranges, a nice garden salad
• snack #1: handful of walnuts
• snack #2: cut apple w/ TBL natural peanut butter
• Dinner: Honey Soy Broiled Salmon, sauteed kale (blech), Black eyed peas, zuchini, and pan fried leftover potatoes (yeah, not the best choice, but we had some left over. We won't be including white potatoes much in the diet)
• Dessert: Apples, Pears and coconut stir fry

All in all, it was yummy. Well, except for the kale. But we were adventurous and tried it.

Tomorrow will be our next big challenge. We are heading to the zoo for Homeschool day. This means I have to pack a lunch... a lunch that contains no bread, no crackers, no dairy, no soy, and no sugar. It's a brain bleeder. Hopefully insipiration will strike really really soon.

Daybook Entry

This is linked to Peggy's Simple Woman's Daybook.

Outside my window...its dark and quiet

I am thinking... sleep is going to be a priority tonight

I am thankful for... a husband who is home with us tonight

I am wearing.. pajamas, I like to think of it as my work uniform

I am remembering... what a nice time we had today

I am going... to have a very busy next three days. I forgot about a few events.

I am currently reading... The well trained mind, again

I am hoping... to get Chloe and John's room primed for painting

On my mind... consistently is adjusting to this nutritional plan for the kids and ourselves

From the kitchen... pan fried apples with coconut and almonds. Everyone loved dessert

Around the house... buying and hanging curtains

One of my favorite things~ quiet

From my picture journal... little girl's braids

Nutritional Update

So I have been doing research, trying to get a grip on all the new eating plan information. If you didn't already know, I talk about the whys here. I am pretty overwhelmed over here.

When I googled "no soy, no sugar, no sugar substitute, no gluten, no dairy recipes" I half expected my computer to burst into laughter. Instead, the first search result it brought up was for the hypoallergenic food magazine Living Without. Not exactly a message of hope there. Living without .... taste? Living without ...flavor? Gee, we couldn't come up with a more inspiring name?

I talked with the kids about the changes, and the response was unenthusiastic. Yeah, I am glossing over that a bit. Emma was pretty zen with it, she loves fruit and veggies but she will miss dessert. John only had one question, "Can I still have bacon?" and since he can, he was happy.

Chloe though, my darling Chloe is much like her Mama, she loves the breads and the dairy. Once I broke through the shock and disbelief, she laid down on the carpet and cried. Then she got angry. I can't remember what the next stage of grief is, but its probably headed my way. I personally am praying for quiet acceptance. This is hard, even though I know it is for everyone's good, it's hard to temporarily disappoint them.

Anyway we have decided to adopt it as well as we can, focusing on one phase at a time. I have tried to make the menu full of things I know the kids will like, lots of new tastes to try and always a dessert. Our first phase out is going to be bread/crackers/gluten. Ouch. But I have managed to pull a menu together for the next week, which feels epic right now.

We were featured!

My article on how to manage when your husband works out of town was featured over at Quirky Momma. This is a great resource if you are looking for crafts to do with kiddos, home decor inspiration, family friendly recipes, homeschooling ideas and resources, or home decor tips.

A whole new way of looking at dinner

We went to the pediatrician today. Hormone disorders run pretty thick on the female side of my family, and they are beginning to show up with the girlies too. Our doctor recommended a nutritional therapy that includes:

• no sugars or sweeteners of any kind, absolutely no artificial sweetners.
• no dairy at all (nunca, nun, nein. how will I cream my coffee???? And no, I didn't ask her about caffeine, I'm pretty sure I don't wanna know the answer. )
  
• no soy or replacement dairy
• no breads or white rice
  
• no flour or wheat products

I KNOW in my heart this is absolutely the way we should go, but implementing it feels overwhelming. I mean, I think we just threw out my entire pantry and all my emergency "feed the kids quick" foods. I don't even wanna think about trying to pack a lunch or snacks. I just kept thinking to myself, "well, at least she say we had to eat everything raw, I can still cook". But I have a feeling baking is out for a bit.

When we first started the Feingold plan, with no additives, artificial colors and flavors that felt overwhelming too, but after a few tears (mostly on my part, in the middle of the grocery store reading food lables) we have been successful and better for it. I am pretty sure we can be sucessful with this as well, but I think I will have to take each bullet point and master it every few weeks.

So, my friends.. If you have any gluten free, dairy free, sweetner free recipes you have been hiding. PLEASE, for the love of everything holy, share them with me.

She wants to look surprised, but she had too much Botox

You know, once the kids hit four years old they just start to look all wrinkly and aged. That's why in our house we like to start them on Botox at age 5. Ha!

We went to the Dermatologist to get one of Chloe's warts frozen off. She was so very brave that the Doctor wanted to give her a treat. Since she can't have candy with the artificial colors, the doctor gave her this shirt!!! It is her favorite color purple, and its sparkly. What's not to love? Cracked me up! They also gave her a juvederm headband that matches.

Next stop the Preschool pageant Circuit!!!