Some days 3 kids with challenges can be so overwhelming! Nothing major needs to occur, just life! I love the summer on one hand and other days I can't wait for it to end. Having the kids around everyday and all the assorted friends that come with them can be a little crazy! I am someone who loves peace and quiet, so having 3 highly energetic kids who all love to talk is not so quiet! At least when they are in school I have a chance to enjoy some quiet before the chaos arrives home again, but in summer it is hard to get that break.

I think as moms we need to make sure that we find time to work out, read, scrapbook, do whatever it is that fills your tank. This time that we all feel guilty for taking is so important and makes us better moms in the long run! It can be so hard to find that time, but it needs to be a priority for all of us!

Take time for you!

Pamela

Camping

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but we have been away camping for a couple of weeks! I love camping with the kids since it gets us out into the woods where technology doesn't work too well! It forces my kids to let go of the X-Box, MSN, Facebook and of course the TV!! For a change they have to simply bike, swim, walk, read and sit around the camp fire! It is wonderful, they can't get away from us no matter how much they think we are annoying!

Camping before going gluten and dairy free was much easier, when we ran out of food we could simply run to the store for more and we kept is simple. Unfortunately most stores near the parks we camp at don't seem to carry the special things we need. So I do a lot of cooking ahead of time prepping so that we don't run out. The great part of this is that there is very little to do when we are there. I bake bread and hamburger buns and cookies before we go. We eat lots of salads and BBQ meat! I found some great salad dressings by Organicville that are gluten and dairy free, this was necessary since Chase will only eat Ranch dressing! Of course everyone was happy to hear that Kraft marsh mellows are OK! We even made a safe version of Graham Crackers so we could have smores!

All this stuff is lots of work, but it is worth it when your kids can do normal kid things and still feel healthy!

Happy camping!

Pamela

Special Occasions and the diet?!

So what do you do on special occasions when there are temptations everywhere? Today is Chase's Grade 8 Grad and there will be all sorts of yummies full of gluten and dairy! Generally I only let them choose things that are on within our limits, but today is really special for him! Sometimes I will help them choose the goodies that have the least amount of offenders but just about everything there will have gluten and dairy!!

On a night like tonight I will let him have whatever he wants, but I will caution him to try and limit too many bad choices. For example, more than 1 piece of pizza would be a bad choice! Chase is very aware that whenever he cheats he pays the price the next day when he feels crappy. He usually gets a stomach ache and a headache, he also gets a little spacey!

Sometimes though, like tonight, fitting in with your peer group takes priority!

Pamela

Cosmic joke!

OK so seriously the universe is playing a huge joke on people in general! Whoever came up with the plan that has families living under the same roof when the mom is peri-menopausal, the dad is hitting his mid-life crisis and then there are teenagers in the house!!! Who thought this would be a great idea??? Lucky for me my teenagers are fairly reasonable, well at least for 3 minutes every day. And Larry has not gone out and bought a red sports car yet, although if he did I may run away in it! And in our house we have the joy of ADD, ADHD and Asperger's!! Some days are just exhausting and then I realize it is only 6:30am!!

I think it will be a very long summer, right now the teens are arguing over gum?! Why? How can you have a 1/2 hour long argument over gum? Really it should not be going on this long since they are ADD and ADHD, they should have lost focus about their topic 25 minutes ago!!

Well off to run away from home!

Pamela

Must have chocolate!

OK as far as I am concerned the need for Chocolate is one of life's basic needs!! So if you are gluten and casein free, what can you do? I found some chocolate chips from Enjoy Life that are gluten and dairy free!! I get them from our local health food store and you can order them online (www.enjoylifefoods.com). With the chocolate chips you can work wonders! We melt the chips and add things like almonds and you have a chocolate bar. To make icing for our yummy chocolate cake I melt the chips and add rice milk and gluten free icing sugar until I get the right consistency! These chocolate chips are incrediably rich and sooooo good!! Apparently the Easter Bunny knows about them too and makes them into Easter eggs and puts them in plastic egg cases!

Happy chocolate!

Pamela

Best Gluten Free Cake!

Birthday's can be hard on the gluten, casein free folk in our family! Cake is the one of the yummiest inventions I have every discovered and I haven't met too many kids who don't love cake too!! So what happens when you go gluten and casein free? Well I have done some experimenting as the problem comes up more often than you would realize. Not only do you need an option for your own kids birthdays, you also need a solution when they go to other kids birthday parties!!

I tried baking my own cakes from scratch, but they just didn't cut it, nothing horrific, just not that great. OK so even my chocolate crazed kids wouldn't even finish the cake! Then we tried a Bob's Red Mills gluten, dairy free chocolate cake mix, home run with everyone in the family!! OK, it is not the cheapest cake mix out there, but sometimes it just doesn't matter. When it is your child's birthday you want to be able to give them a yummy cake! The really funny part is how much the regular folk love this cake too! I did get a little smarter this year with Chase's party, I made a regular cake and his cake. The other boys all had the regular cake so then there was lots of left overs after the party for my guys and I saved some $$$.

Next time I will share how to make the best chocolates and chocolate icing so no one feels deprived!

Pamela

Living with a sugar junkie!

Living with a sugar junkie can be very scary! I know because I am a reformed sugar junkie myself! Anything sweet was my weakness, didn't matter what form it came in I loved it!! I drank coke and ate candy whenever I could! Every time I would start to crash I would be searching for my candy or coke or ice cream or .... (the list is endless). I recently gave up processed sugar and I was shocked at how much better I felt! It was even easier to quit than I thought it would be. My moods very quickly evened out and I wasn't getting wild energy swings anymore!

My problem is that Chase is an even bigger sugar junkie than I ever was! This boy takes the quest for sugar to a whole new level. Yesterday we all went to the town fair for his birthday. He started the day with an energy drink, then went on to downing 3 Arizona's! As I am lecturing him on self-control he informs me that they are simply a fruit juice drink so it is OK. He doesn't seem to care that they have 24 grams of sugar each (only half what is in a can of coke but still a lot of sugar). Then there was the birthday cake and who knows what else that I didn't see.

We do try very hard to limit his junk intake but he goes out of his way to sneak anything he can get his hands on. He even resorts to eating straight out of the sugar bowl when he can't find anything else (yuck)! Just what an ADHD kid needs, straight sugar! All we can do at this point is fill him full of probiotics (we take Theralac) so we stop the massive yeast growth that must be happening in his body with all that sugar. The probiotics are brilliant since the yeast overgrowth can cause so many symptoms like...

abdominal gas
headaches
migraines
excessive fatigue
cravings for alcohol
anxiety
cravings for sweets
inability to think clearly or concentrate
hyperactivity
mood swings
diarrhea
constipation
hyperactivity
itching
acne
eczema
depression
sinus inflammation
dizziness
poor memory
persistent cough
earaches
low sex drive
muscle weakness
irritability
learning difficulties
sensitivity to fragrances and/or other chemicals
cognitive impairment
thrush
athletes foot
sore throat
indigestion
acid reflux
chronic pain

Pretty frightening list! The problem starts with these kids when they end up taking antibiotics, due to ear or throat infections and then the sugar just gives the yeast a happy place to grow.

Maybe a sugar intervention will be in our future.

Pamela