We Take a Field Trip

I don't know what got into me:  I signed us up for a field trip.



Why does something so simple cause me so much anxiety?  Self, you have to loosen up!

We had such a great day!!  We left the house right about at nap time--that's the right time to take your baby out for a field trip, right?  I was counting on it being okay, because Zack loves to be outside, and especially loves to stroll.

We went out to Landmark Park for {Homeschool} Harvest Days.  The weather was beautiful, and it wasn't overly crowded.

We started with cotton picking...  At each activity there was some teaching.  That was nice.





I love the South!

Did you know that cotton has beautiful pink flowers?   I didn't!

The cotton patch was right next to the sugar cane.  It was so tall.

Then on to the pumpkin patch.   The kids learned about how pumpkins grow:  on vines.  I thought that was funny, since these pumpkins had obviously been distributed in an old corn field.  Also, they learned about boy flowers and girl flowers.  I'm waiting for that to come back up, perhaps during breakfast some morning?  

Everyone got a pumpkin...





Even Zack...

Here, he's showing you:

This is the only picture I snapped of them all before I realized I was standing in a fire ant bed.  In my flip flops.

Okay, so the South may have some drawbacks.

We got to pick peanuts.  We threw them in a tub for the animals to eat.



Zack pretty much chilled out in his stroller most of the time.

The kids used some old fashioned corn shuckers to shuck corn.  That was neat.  It must get in your nose pretty easy...and require digging out.  (that's not my kid.  But it could have been.)

The kids loved the feel of the corn in their hands.  The lady helping asked if we had been to the corn box.  Eh?   We made note to look for that later.  Too bad I didn't get pictures of the kids with their fun bottle drinks from the general store, or their rocks they bought at the Nature Center.  We spent a good deal of time shopping.  After said shopping, and a nice snack, we found the corn box.  What bliss!  We had it all to ourselves, and even though the kids started out somewhat carefully,

they eventually dove in.

(Yes, and I'm not sure why Zack loves to chew on clothes pins so much, but he really does enjoy it.)







And now they want a Corn Box.  Don't you?

Sweet Potato Pancakes + Busy Baby

Things have been incredibly busy around here!  (Do I say that in every post?) But, life has gotten a little better since we started having pizza again on Friday nights.  Oh, how we missed our pizza.  We take a little vacation from our diet every now and then, and have not suffered enough to stop us. :) For pizza, I've been using a whole wheat crust that the kids rave about, and say it's the best pizza they've ever eaten.  Whether they believe it's the best because a) they were pizza deprived for months on end, or b) because it really is tasty is up for debate.  

We all agree on this new pancake recipe, though.  These pancakes are Gluten-free and Dairy-free and we all love them.  

Sweet Potato Pancakes

(Adapted from this "normal people recipe")

Mash together:

1 1/4 cups cooked sweet potato (more-or-less one BIG potato)

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 eggs

Dump in:

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I like Arrowhead gluten free baking mix.  Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour also works great.)

1 t. Xanthan Gum

3 1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1/2 t. cinnamon (or more to taste)

Stir the above mixture a little, then Pour in:

1 1/2 cups original flavor almond milk (or other milk substitute)

Mix it all together until smooth.  Add more "milk" if necessary to get the thickness you like.  Make it into pancakes on a griddle or skillet.  Or, fry them up in bacon grease for extra flavor :)

Zack has been a busy, busy baby lately.  He crawls all over the house, getting into all the things he shouldn't.  The other boys were at least happy to sit in their swing and watch a movie when I needed to get something done, but not this baby.  Thankfully the big boys are a huge help, and love to take turns playing with him.

Soccer is in full swing again.  This year we have 3 teams to cheer for.  The boys are having a blast.  Zack loves to play in the grass while Tim and I chat with friends and watch the game.

Hopefully I'll snag a picture of William soon, and add it to the set!

We Like Mushrooms

I totally can't believe I like mushrooms.  But I do.  Why?

a) They are sometimes beautiful.  (Sometimes they are gross.  I don't like those.)
b) You don't have to plant them or take care of them.
c) They are unpredictable...you have to go out and discover them.  And they grow so fast!  Sometimes we keep tabs on them during the day.
d) They have made my child SO happy.

Some stick around for only a day or two...like these:








Some take almost a year to mature.  Remember this one?


Now, almost 2 months later, it looks like this:


Weird!

Speaking of weird, look at this one from our neighbor's yard...


Friends have gotten into the mushroom-hunt with us...they email and text us pictures, they bring them over in bags.  We did some mushroom dissecting the other night on one from a friend.  That was fun, because "we" would never have pulled up (or cut up) one of our own.






Can you see the slug crawling in the middle of this one?


We foolishly left that mushroom on the counter for a little while while we did something else.  When we came back, the slug (and his 3 friends) had vacated the mushroom.  Fortunately we found 3 of them at the far ends of the counter.  Number 4?  It crawled up onto my toes while we were gathering the others.  Eew.

Happily, mushrooms aren't the only plant-life we have been enjoying.  Tim and William brought home some succulents yesterday.


They made a nice arrangement in my castle planter.


Hopefully we won't kill them!


We keep them up where Zack can't get to them.  He is ALL OVER THE PLACE.  He turned 9 months old the other day, and cut in a new tooth to celebrate.  That was 3 days ago, and today is is already back to drooling over yet another new tooth.

We put him in a booster set at the island now, and he loves sitting there with the big boys.




If you find any cool mushrooms, let us know!

Blueberries and Our Diet

It's the tail end of blueberry season, and we took our first-ever blueberry-picking trip.  I think I'm addicted!


The boys took turn pushing Zack around in the shade.


Trevor hunted mushrooms...


Blueberry-picking beats strawberry-picking hands down.  The bushes were so tall, the lanes so nicely kept and clean, and the berries were organic and so delicious!  Warm blueberries fresh of the branch is my new favorite way to eat them.


I got over-eager when we got home, and I froze every single berry.  They were so easy to sort and freeze that I got carried away.


So William and I went back the next day, *without Zack*, and picked some more!


*****

We have been swimming a lot...it has been SO hot, and all the boys LOVE to hop in the pool at Grandmother Beth's house.


*****

Also, we have been enjoying our new microscope!


Trevor has found all kinds of things to look at.  He gets so excited about each discovery.  His favorite is finding creatures--bacteria--and watching them swim around.


*****

Zack is ALL OVER the place.  Phew!  I'm still working on getting the house baby-proofed, a little at a time.  Now that he can crawl, he is quite a bit happier--Finally!  He did cut in one more tooth before we left Nebraska, bringing the total for that trip to 3, and now he is teething again.  He is into everything, but seems eager to learn and pays attention when we tell him "no".  He eats everything we offer him:  blueberries :), cherries, kidney beans, pickles, tomatoes, taco meat, and nectarines are some of his new foods.  He is still a ton of work, but now it is mostly because he is so BUSY, instead of because he is so fussy.  Thank you God!

He loves to do what we do...like brushing teeth, and wearing a hat.  He had a ball trying on Grandpa's hat on our trip.  He would open his mouth so big, and be so excited...




He's gonna miss that Grandpa!


*****

Trevor is still doing pretty well.  His OCD did seems to flare up for awhile...maybe due to the vacation?  

I noticed something new this week:  his skin is getting smooth.  He used to have little bumps all over his arms, legs, back and face.  He hated it.  He used super gentle soaps, but we never really did anything else about it, except hope it would get better someday.

This brings me to our diet...

When we started this diet (gluten-free, dairy-free) it was largely from reading the Eat Like a Dinosaur book, written by a husband and wife (the Paleo Parents) who openly shared about their family's health issues.

One of the problems they mentioned was their son's skin--it was bumpy like Trevor's, and after being on the diet it cleared up.  That really got my attention.

Before we started the diet, I made a list of all our little (or not-so-little) problems:  headaches, back pain, skin problems, emotional issues, sleep problems, OCD.  About 3 days into the diet, I noticed Zack sleeping better.  Within a month, I realized that I wasn't taking ibuprofen anymore.  I had been taking it at least once a day for headaches.  And now?  I can remember maybe 2 headaches in the last couple months, one from sinus congestion, and one from driving in the car with 4 kids. :)  Also, William used to take ibuprofen frequently for his back...he was alway complaining of it hurting.  I was on the brink of taking him to a chiropractor.  Now he rarely mentions it.

AND, Trevor's skin is cleared up.  I am convinced it is because we have some gluten sensitivities and have gotten our diet cleaned up.

The first month on the diet was hard...we missed our old foods, and didn't know what to eat.  Now, we sometimes still don't know what to eat, but we don't miss our old food as much.  Plus, we are experimenting with how much wheat and dairy we can handle, and still feel good.  We can splurge on a pizza once in a while, and not notice the effects much.  I'm glad about that, because it is fun to eat pizza :).

If any of this intrigues you, or you want to know more, check out the Paleo Parents website for inspiring stories and nutrition help.

Happy Father's Day

I am writing from Nebraska! The boys and I are here visiting my parents. We have been here 8 days, and in that amount of time Zack has cut in 2 new teeth (bringing his total to 5!), and learned to crawl!! He has been busy growing, and we have been even busier soothing, bouncing, cleaning, feeding, and chasing him. Well, and taking his pictures, too. :)

Here's a sweet picture of Zack with my grandpa.  Check out that Snaggle Tooth! I'm so glad I have a few good pictures of that weird top tooth he's got.
 

And here's Zack on his first day of "real" crawling--when he can go forward, and he knows it.

He's got a goofy crawl, so I recorded it for Daddy. Poor Daddy--he's missing all the excitement.
 
The big boys got to come to Nebraska earlier than Zack and I did. My parents had come to visit us for 2(!) weeks, and then took the big boys home with them. They had an adventure-packed trip which included Pirate Mini Golf, among other things...

Zack and I flew up a week and a half later. I fully expected Zack to cry most of the way here, and was overjoyed when he fell asleep on the second flight and I actually got to sit and read! (The first flight went well, too, but was a total workout. He is one busy, and strong, baby!)

One highlight of our trip so far was visiting a sod house at the Archway Museum. It was a pretty neat re-make of a sod house, but what set the experience apart was that the pioneer woman in the house invited the kids to touch anything they wanted--open drawers, sit on the bed, taste the butter, and pick up the tools. That was super fun. We all agreed that the rope bed and hay mattress were surprisingly comfortable!

Another highlight has been shopping for wedding dresses with my sister. Yes! She is getting married! We are so excited. We were very happy to find a dress on our second day of shopping, and though I would LOVE to show you a pictures, I can't, of course!

 It has been very special to have time with my grandparents...and to have them get to know Zack.

Trevor has been keeping in touch with Tim about mushrooms. I think it is safe to say that Trevor is obsessed. :) Who knew mushrooms could be so fascinating?? We had a really interesting one pop up in our yard that has us all intrigued.

Mushroom hunting is rather contagious. I can't believe I feel compelled to show you a sample of what we've found in our yard...but I do. I can't resist. (some pictures are better than others...oh well. Between a 10 year old and a momma with a baby on her hip, what do you expect?? :)
See? Can you believe all that beauty was right there, all along, unnoticed?? Man! God is so amazing and creative. Thank you God for mushrooms!

And Thank You God for Fathers! (*Warning* Mushy Father's Day notes to follow. :)

1)Tim, you are such a blessing to our family. There's not another man I would choose to be the father for our children. Thank you for providing for us, and loving us. You give us the best parts of yourself. You sing and dance.  You make us laugh. You cook us good food. You take us on adventures. You draw us cool pictures. You tell us bland but soothing stories involving characters doing the exact same things we did during the day. And we love you!  We love you, love you, love you!!!

2)Thanks, Dad, for loving me. Thanks for providing for me. You rub my aching shoulders, and pat my back. You tell me you are proud of me. You build things, and fix things. You do puzzles and play games with me.  You are always up for watching a movie.  Dad, I always feel accepted by you. Thank you for supporting me through all my weird stages and crazy choices--like getting engaged after dating Tim for 5 weeks (you have given me away with so much grace!); or deciding to homeschool my kids; or coming to Nebraska with no plans for how I'm going to get back home. I love you, Dad.

3)And Thanks, My-Other-Dad, for loving Tim. Thank you for always being there for Tim...for attending every event and giving him confidence. Thank you for teaching him the things he needed to know to be a good father. And thanks for accepting me into the family so graciously and joyfully. Thanks for doing all the things a dad does, like checking on our house when we are away (including feeding the cat and even scooping the litter box!!), and taking the kids to the pool, and bouncing the baby endlessly. Thanks for supporting us when Tim followed God out of the family business...what an amazing expression of love.  Also, you can make really neat bird call sounds. :)  I love you, Dad!

Okay, and also, Tim has some nice camera skills.  He can take really good pictures in which I am blocked from view by an alpaca.  :)  Gotta love that.

ZOOM! -or- The Seventh Month Part I

Another month has blown by. How do they go by so fast? Man, so much can happen in a month. Thankfully, at our house all the happenings were the every-day sort: getting new teeth, loosing old teeth, getting new glasses, taking the last day of school, eating new foods...you get the idea.

Wonderwoman begged suggested that I give an update on Trevor. I know that lots of people have been praying for us, so I'll try to at least get out a bit of Trevor-news.

About two weeks ago, Trevor and I headed up to Birmingham for some more therapy. While eating breakfast earlier that morning, I had noticed Trevor mumbling about something. I just barely restrained myself from saying something through my teeth like, "Tre-vor...cut it out" and instead happened to say something like, "what are you jabbering about?" I was rewarded with some insight. Trevor said he was calling his OCD names. Sounds strange, but it's actually one of the recommended tricks for battling OCD. I can't remember the names, but they were silly, just like they are supposed to be. I was impressed.

Later, during the car ride, I asked Trevor about it. I told him that it seemed like his OCD wasn't bothering him as much lately, and he agreed. I learned that not only is his OCD bothering him less frequently, he is also able to handle it more easily when it does bother him. Rating things on a scale is often an effective way for Trevor to communicate, so I had him rate how bad his OCD was--"0" was not bad at all, and "10" was the worst you can think of. He rated it a "3"...but then changed his mind and gave it a "2". I asked him what he would rate it at back a couple months ago when things were really bad. He gave it a "9".

Wow. That is a huge difference! It's funny how when things are bad, and they get better, sometimes you don't notice right away. It's like when things are working the way they are supposed to, you don't notice. That little conversation helped me notice what a long way we had come. I had to look back at the last couple posts to compare... I noticed that last month I said that Trevor still mentioned his OCD every day. Now, I bet it is maybe every-other day. Eating is no longer a problem. Can't remember if I ever mentioned that, but for awhile, Trevor was having a hard time even eating because of the lies that his food had feelings and that he should feel sorry for it. I know...that's totally crazy. But, that's OCD. It's totally crazy. And it can be totally crippling. But we're not there anymore!! Praise God!!! OCD is still an unwanted part of our life, but it is not in control of Trevor anymore. Trevor is control of it. When a thought comes, he battles it...and wins most of the time. When he has trouble, he asks for help, and we work it out in a couple of minutes.

So, where does that put us now?  We still have some issues that we are dealing with...

Trevor's hearing has been increasingly painful. He is sometimes brought to tears by Zack's loud crying. Today I had an idea to see if I can't get some protective ear things...whatever they are called...like you see people wear when they are mowing. I think if I kept some in the car that would help.

Also, we are doing vision therapy with Trevor. That takes about 45 minutes...every day. It's been 2 weeks, and I'm already tired of it. All we do are simple activities using only one eye in order to strengthen the eyes. But it is time-consuming. We do it while Zack is napping.

We are still doing our gluten-free, dairy-free diet, and are growing more convinced that it is helpful for our family. More on that later, hopefully.

That's all for now. Thank you so much for all the prayers! God is so faithful and good.