Thanks to the commenters last time! 

Anonymous--I'm sorry you'll miss us on Oct 3!  Did you guys really get 2 feet of snow this week?? 

Michelle--Thanks!  I'm having a blast.  I know several people who have had a hard time believing that these cookies are "healthy".  (or at least, healthier!)

I really am having a blast.  I wish I could do this full time.  Maybe one day.  For now, though, it is a great way to spend an evening!  My crew is pretty pleased, too.  When I bake up an order, they get the "uglies". You know, those cookies that just don't turn out quite right.  Or aren't as pretty.  The "rejects".   Silly crew!

When we moved into our cabin, the landlord and neighbors told us it gets pretty windy up here.  We had no idea.  It has been pretty windy a few times, but tonight is first taste of "real" wind.  I'd love to know exactly how hard that wind is blowing.  I stood on the deck and Hubby took a pic of my hair covering my face and blowing STRAIGHT out beside me.  It is really unreal.

And, as you can see in the picture, we have termination dust!  Just the other day it was sunny and 65.  Then over night the temps dropped and we now have loads of snow on the mountains.  It keeps creeping lower and lower, too.  Last year we had the snow on the mountains, then it would melt, then snow again, in a cycle for several weeks.  I'm not sure it is going to work that way this year!   Two weeks ago, our friend predicted that we'd have snow on the ground at our house in 3 weeks.  He may be right at this rate!!

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After my last post, I did a lot of thinking and praying.  I really really love to bake.  I've been wanting to have a home bakery for years.  I have actually PM'd a few people on here to ask how they did it, but I never took that plunge.

A couple of weeks ago, my Hubby was on the brink of taking a job in our town, and I was hoping to get to stay home.  I'd need some income, so I did it!!  I built a web page and voila, one each home bakery!  Hubby wound up turning down that job, as it was only going to be part time, but I kept the web page up.  I've actually been doing quite well with my little side business!

And now, we have a major promotion!  The ladies at Torrid clothing store in the mall in Anchorage have invited me to set up a table during their breast cancer awareness event!  I'll be handing out samples for their customers to munch while they shop.  I'll also be donating some bread and cookies for the goodie basket they will be raffling off.   I'll be getting my name out there and helping support breast cancer research at the same time!  I'm pretty stoked about it.

So, any locals, I want to see you on October 3 at Torrid in the Dimond Mall in Anchorage!  And non-locals, go to www.littlesliceofheaven.net and try out my home-baked goodies!  I ship anywhere in the US.  :)

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I am sorry I've been so scarce!  This hour and a half (one way!) commute is taking a huge chunk out of our day.  We barely have time to keep the house chores done, let alone have time to blog.  But here we are on a long weekend, so I'm taking this opportunity to pop in with an update.  :)

The cabin is fantastic.  The new town is perfectly perfect in every way.  (Well, except that I can't be here like I want to right now!) I can not even begin to tell you how very much I love it here on my mountain!!

Of course, there are quirks to living in a log cabin.  This one has a very odd heating/hot water system.  We've had a few issues here and there, but my Hubby, being the awesome man that he is, gets it taken care of right away.  Let me just tell you...hot water on demand gets my vote for mankind's greatest invention!  One doesn't miss it until it is gone!  LOL  Our landlord is incredible in that he will drop whatever he's doing and come help us out at any time.  He has taught Hubby a lot.

The crew loves it here and begs us daily to please please please find jobs in the Valley rather than Anchorage.  I have been praying for something to open up where Hubby can work in the Valley and perhaps I can stay home with my crew.  (the way I feel the Lord has led us)  I truly feel convicted about working, but we have so much debt that we need to take care of that we don't feel we have an option.  Well, I know that my God is big enough to provide if He sees fit, so I'm praying to that end.  I'd love to be able to work from home and have income that way.  I am considering opening an etsy shop and selling various things on there, perhaps sell some baked goods locally as well.  Not sure what sort of market there is, or how much I'd make, but I'm putting feelers out there anyway.  Anyone have any other suggestions?

Speaking of baked goods, the Alaska State Fair is going on right now.  I LOVE our state fair!!  This year, I did something I've never done before. I entered  a couple of  things in the baked goods exhibit. This was a huge step for me.  My wheat bread won 3rd place and my peanut brittle took 1st!  I'm so excited.  I can't wait for next year.  This is addicting!  I plan on entering LOTS of things next year. This year was just getting my feet wet.  ;)

In other news, my youngest has now been reintroduced to ALL of his previous food allergies and is doing great!  He has complained of tummy aches a couple of times since we reintroduced potato, but he swears it feels different than his previous allergic symptoms.  I'm keeping an eye on that, but this is mild, so he may have to just make a choice.  I feel he's old enough to understand the consequences of eating something that will make him not feel well and let him make his own decision whether he wants to deal with it or not.

The trees are changing here and I will soon be taking colorful pics off our back deck.  There is a change daily and probably in the next couple of days we will peak.  It is just beautiful.  As much as I hate to see the Summer end, I do love Autumn!!

Well, dear friends, it is time to go hang more laundry on the line.  I will try to keep up a little better, especially if Hubby gets the job here in the Valley.  (he has his 2nd interview on Tuesday!)  Please keep us in your prayers and any work at home suggestions would be welcome!!

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Have you guys heard of the new James Patterson series, Daniel X?   The ladies over at MotherTalk.com sent me the 2nd book in the series, Daniel X: Watch The Skies, and asked me to read it.    I have not read the first book in the series, Dangerous Days of Daniel X, but this one seems to stand alone fine.

First, some background.  Daniel is an Alien Hunter.  He is a teen boy who is all alone after the death of his family.  However, he can produce his friends and family as "imaginary friends", recreated out of his memory.  He is hunting down the Most Wanted of evil aliens.

I, personally, wasn't as fond of this book as I was of his Maximum Ride series.  So, when in doubt, I defer to the experts.  My 12 year old son was next in line to read the book.  (As usual.  I love that he loves to read as much as I do!)  I expected to hear "Mom, this is sorta boring" or "Mom, I don't want to finish this one."  Instead, the child greeted me with snickers.  And giggling.  And guffaws.  He really liked this book.  Apparently, I don't have the same sense of humor as a 12 year old boy.  Who knew?

As I pondered how I felt about Daniel X, one word kept coming to mind.  Goosebumps.  Remember the Goosebumps series from when we were kids?   My older son owns each and every one and they read and re-read those books.  Daniel X reminds me of those books because the chapters are short, there is a sense of fear and tension, and loads of comic relief.  The reading level seems to be lower than that of Maximum Ride, but sometimes my crew likes that.  (so do I, to be honest)

So, although I didn't love this book, I am not the target audience.  My 14 year old has not read this book because the 12 year old is sort of hogging it.  He's reading it again.  I guess that means that Daniel X: Watch the Skies gets a gold star!

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Our new cabin is on the edge.  Literally.  The deck hangs out over a cliff.  It is the most breathtaking sight I've ever seen.

I could totally spend the rest of my life on that mountain.  I could see myself becoming a hermit.  I'd be perfectly happy.   Of course, we are in the middle of summer.  I may change my mind in 6 months.

Unfortunately, real life is knocking on the door and dragging me screaming down the mountain.  Here I sit in Anchorage.  We are having our yard sale, trying to sell off the bigger furniture and items we aren't taking with us.  Unfortunately, people don't seem to be in the market for furniture right now.  We've had people asking for appliances, tools, and electronics.  None of which we have.  Bummer.

When we lived in Missouri and Kentucky, there were flea market owners who made their living by going to yard sales near the end of the day and buying up the whole rest of the sale.  Then they'd mark the prices up and sell the items in their flea market.  To be honest, they were looked on as somewhat shady.  "If he can sell it for that much, so can I!"  However, today I'm exhausted, I want to go home, and I'd be delighted if one of those guys would show up with a big truck. Right now.  Only 1 hour in to our 2nd day.

We only have a few odds and ends left to pack in the crew's bedroom and few in mine & Hubby's bedroom.  Then we have to clean the whole place.  At this point, the plan is to finish what little packing has to be done today.  Then Hubby and the crew are coming on Monday to finish the cleaning.    That's the new plan, anyway. 

I am so ready to be out of this house and this city and be completely in my cabin on my mountain.

So, anyone want to come and buy up a yard sale?  Pretty please??

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We will start moving things into our new cabin on Friday.  I can't wait! 

We have to be out of our city duplex by June 30.  This weekend is VERY busy, but we'll try to get a good start.  Then we will work on it a bit through the week.  I've taken off work on Wed-Fri of next week.  I'll work on getting the rest of the stuff out of the city house on Wed/Thurs, then Fri-Sat we'll work on cleaning it AND we'll have our yard sale to get rid of the things we aren't taking.  Then Hubby will schedule the walk-through with the landlord the following week, then we'll be done!  Whooohooo!

Counting down!

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Last night the crew spent the night with my parents.  This morning, Hubby and I got up bright and early and went to the Valley to get our new PO box.  My sister and her hubby were down there for something also, so we met for lunch and we took them up to the cabin.  We still aren't able to move in just yet, but we wanted to show them where it was. We had a great time showing them our new digs and just hanging out on the deck for a few minutes.  I didn't want to leave!

After we got back into town, we went to get the crew from my parents' house.  While Hubby helped C finish cutting out his new wooden shields and sword before we left, my mom, S, and I went for a short hike.  We hiked along the creek and through the woods.  It was breathtaking.

Driving back home, we saw a bear!  He was across the creek from us, so Hubby stopped the car and got out for some pics.  He was so cute!  (I wouldn't have said that if we'd run across him while hiking!)  We've lived in Alaska for 2 and a half years and this is the first time Hubby has seen a black bear!  We saw a grizzly a few weeks ago when we went to Homer.  So, after 2.5 years, we see 2 bears in less than a month.  Awesome.  :)

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We are finally taking another step in the right direction!  We've been living in the city for 2 1/2 years now, because that is where the work is.  We are sick of the city life and the city mentality.  Plus, due to some unforseen economic changes, we are having issues paying such high rent.

We started looking for a place to rent in the Valley, where our land is.  We can't afford to build just yet, but as we are planning on living there eventually, we wanted something closer to there.  So, we found it. 

We found a 2 bedroom log cabin.  It has wind and solar power available.  It is on a farm, on a mountain.  The deck actually extends over a cliff, opening up to an amazing view of the river flowing through the valley below.  We have free reign of the entire farm, "as long as you don't torment the cows".  I can have a piece of the garden to plant my own things.  (the "garden" is bigger than the house!)

It is an hour drive to our work, so we will have a bit of a commute.  However, we'll be driving together, in 1 vehicle, rather than driving both vehicles every day.  Hubby thinks this will make the gas price pretty much equal what we spend now.  Not much more, anyway.

This rent is less than HALF what we're paying in the city.  Unbelievable.  God is good.  So, as of 30 days from now, we'll make our transition onto our temporary Little Slice of Heaven.  Which just so happens to be about 10 minutes from our permanent Slice.  We'll be able to work on it much more.  We are beyond excited.

It is partially furnished, so everything in these pics is what is in it already.  We haven't moved in yet.  I'm not including bedroom pics, but the crew's bedroom has a built in log bunk bed and we all have movable "armoires".  (though they don't have doors.  Instead they are cute curtains.)

Without further ado: 

I'll post more pics after we actually get moved in.  God is so good!

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About a month ago, I posted a blog For Women Only.   Today, I'd like to follow up on that a bit.  Sooooo, here is your warning.  If you don't want to discuss feminine products, please move on along.

The last time I posted about how I'd purchased The Keeper.  I used it on the last couple of days of my last cycle, and as I mentioned, I loved it.  There was a learning curve, but it is definitely better than the alternative.  I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about starting this cycle.  Wearing one with light flow is one thing, but I was scared about when the geyser would erupt.

I started my normal spotting like I do a few days before the gush.  I inserted the Keeper in anticipation.  When the gush arrived, Keeper handled it spectacularly.  I was completely impressed.   I am now nearing the end of my cycle and have had no leaks.  Only residual drips from when I insert and remove.  I've had much worse when I used just pads.  

After doing some research, I figured every girl needs a back-up cup.  There were 2 other brands I was very interested in trying.  One of those is currently unavailble to ship to the US, so I ordered a LadyCup.  Actually, I ordered their PinkCup.  (of course!)  I haven't received it yet, but am excited to try it out next month!

Also, because I have such miniscule leakage, I really lost it.  I've gone off the deep end.  Are you sitting down?  I bought cloth pads!  Actually, I went to our heath food store and bought one Gladrags day pad.  I tried it out and it felt amazing.  I've already washed it and am reusing it.  Fabulous.  However, I wanted to research more before I bought a whole stash.  I found, just like cups, there are zillions of brands.  There are TONS on etsy.   I think a few women on this blog site actually make a sell them, as well.  In my research I found this site that gives reviews on about a million different cloth pads. 

Through that site, I found Amy's Rag Bag.  She seems amazing.  She has a consultation form, where she asks tons of questions about your preferences, flow, experience with cloth, etc, and then she makes a personalized recommendation.  Once you decide, her order form has a place where you can choose colors and/or themes for your pads.  She even offers to email pics of your pads for your approval before she ships them.  And, what is more, she loves to barter.   She uses recycled fabrics for her pads, so she'll take fabrics, sewing notions, even baked goods!   I LOVE that!  So, needless to say, I placed an order with her.  She said she'd be shipping my pads on Friday.  Again, too late for this cycle, but next cycle I'll be set! 

So, dear friends, I've officially crossed over.  And my family thought I'd lost it when I started grinding grain!  HA!

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Spring is finally showing up around here.  How do I know?

• My van is muddy
• I can still see after I turn off the lights to go to bed
• My dog looks like he has mange as he blows his winter coat
• The seagulls are here
• There is a beaver at Ship Creek
• Hikers have seen bears
• Alaskans have regrown wheels...the bike paths are filled with bikes!
• Tour busses are driving through town
• Eagles are hanging around the duck pond, in hopes of scooping up ducklings when Mamma Ducks aren't looking
• There are tiny little leaves on the tips of the bare tree branches
• I haven't worn a jacket in 3 days
• That stuff coming out of the sky is RAIN, not snow!

Whooohooo!  Bring on the summer!

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On Saturday I developed a nagging irritating cough.  As the weekend progressed, I got worse and worse, until finally, I left work early yesterday and saw the doc.  Turns out I have some sort of lung infection.  Not sure exactly what that means...bronchitis?  pneumonia? I don't know.  I didn't care at that point.  My mind was all fuzzy.  I had 102 fever and couldn't get it down for hours.

So, the doc said I have to miss work for 2-5 days.  I am to spend the days resting and healing. 

My crew and Hubby have been wonderful.  I have been waited on, hand and foot.  Part of me feels bad about it, but the part that feels so awful is very grateful indeed! 

You know, I'd been saying I needed a vacation, but this is TOTALLY not what I had in mind!!

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I was asked to provide some links and more information on menstrual cups.  Ask and ye shall receive!

The site where I got most of my "real world" information is a huge community on LiveJournal.  Before I provide the link, I just want to make a note of the fact that this site is comprised of many different people with many different lifestyles and choices.  I am in no way connected to any of them.  I have never posted there myself, only harvested and learned from their immense amount of information.   These people are very very open and informative.  In fact, WAY TMI on some things.  A lot of things.  However, I like that.  I want to know exactly what to expect.  If that makes you uncomfortable, please don't come back to me and blame me for sending you there. 

That said, I'm going to provide 2 links.  This one  takes you directly to the post comparing different brands and sizes.  It also provides links to each manufacturer.   The other link just takes you to their home page.  There is a bar to the right that has links to every topic you can imagine...and some I never even thought of.

The disposable brand of cup is Instead.  Right now, I'm feeling like I like them better than my Keeper.  Simply because I'm more familiar with them.  If for some reason I decide that the reusable cup is not for me, I'm most definitely going back to the Instead.  The catch with them, however, is that they are somewhat hard to find.  I had been looking for some time before I ran across them.  The store where I found them doesn't always have them, so I stock up when they do.

The two brands of reusable cups that are available in the US are the Keeper and the Diva Cup.  I went with the Keeper because my friend uses it and loves it.  After I found the above site, I may have gone with one of the other brands.  You can order them off ebay with no problems, apparently.  But if you want instant gratification, or if your monthly visitor is right around the corner and you don't have time to wait for shipping, Keeper and Diva are the way to go.   I bought mine at our local natural/health food store.  They carry both.   I read a post on the above site that said they purchased thiers at REI.  I never would have dreamed to look there!  So just check around. 

As I said before, my Keeper and I are still working out some kinks.  However, I do love a cup in general.  I will never go back to diapers.  (er, I mean pads....)  

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Greetings all!  It is time once again for me to bring up a rather uncomfortable topic, at least in the opinion of some people.  If you are squeamish or easily embarrassed, please don't proceed.

Ok, I gave fair warning.......

Let's talk about feminine products.  Ladies, we all need them.  (ok, most of us need them.  Some have had their plumbing removed, which, I have to admit, makes me all sorts of jealous at times)  For those of us who haven't had the pipes pulled out, let's discuss our options.

Tampons:  Probably the most popular, however, the risk of TSS freaks me out.  A family member had all sorts of scary things happen because of TSS.  Another family member spikes 103+ fever within 30 minutes of inserting one.  NOT for me, thanks.  There are all-natural/organic options out there, but I'm not sure they are any better for you. Either way, I'm not using them.

Pads:  Until recently, these are the only things I've used.  Gross, disgusting, diaper-like...yes.  But no TSS risk and the only other option, right?  It got even grosser when I developed some freaky allergy to them.  Breaking out, itching, burning...yeah.  No good.  Now what??  Well, I tried all-natural/organic pads, too.  But to be honest, the adhesive just really turned me off.  I was used to "mainstream" pads that stick like superglue.  The all-natural ones are more like post-it notes.  Not good when I'm doing my best impression of a geyser and trying to go about my day.  Things tend to shift.  So someone suggested cloth pads.  I know tons of people who use them, but to be honest, with my freaky heavy flow, the idea sorta grosses me out.  So a few of my other friends suggested.....

Cups:  Have you heard of these?  They are cups that fit inside, sort of like a tampon.  But rather than absorbing the flow, they collect it.  You pull the cup out and dump it into the toilet.  Depending on what kind you have, you either rinse or wipe the cup then re-insert, or you toss it and break open a new one. 

Ok, these things fascinated me.  I asked all of my cup-using friends questions that only good friends are comfortable answering.  I experimented with the disposable first.  I LOVED them.  Definitely a bit of a learning curve, but loved them regardless.  Using natural pads as back-up works great.  No more "diaper rash", and the very little, if any, leaking that I had was handled nicely by the pad. 

So today I stepped out of my comfort zone.  I bought a reusable cup.  There are several different brands and sizes (and even colors!) from which to choose.  I just went down to the health food store and picked up the one I knew my good friend uses.  After 1 day of use, I'm happy with it.  I still have some kinks to work out, but I'm confident I'll get the hang of it.

And the best part?  No more spending money on chemical-laden products that are not good for me.  No more packing the "pad pocket" in my purse so full that the zipper breaks.  (I said I have a heavy flow!)  No more fighting the dog to stay out of the bathroom trash.  No more filling the landfills with pads that won't ever decompose.  No more diaper rash!

I'm even considering the unthinkable.  One day, when I have the hang of this thing and able to prevent most leaks, I may even attempt cloth pads as my back up on heavy days.

Have you ever used or considered using a cup?  What brand do you have?  I got the Keeper, though now that I've done tons of research (AFTER I bought it...how smart is that??), I may have gone with something different.  But I figure that this will work just as well.  In about 10 years, when it is time to replace it, I can try a different brand.  ;)

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We took C back to the allergy doc yesterday.  We are allowed to start reintroducing wheat!  Whoohoo!  Unfortunately, we have to start small.  Like, TINY.  He can have 1/2 tsp the first day.  1 tsp the next day.  2 tsp the next, etc.   Eventually, he will build up to a whole piece of bread.  Yeesh.

She recommended Wheat Thins.  1/2 today, 1 whole one tomorow, etc.  Unfortunately, he doesn't like those.  Being the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad mom that I am, I allowed him to swap it with Thin Mints.  Wheat THIN/THIN Mint...see?  It is practically the same thing......

And in yet another confession of my terrible-ness....we had promised him dinner wherever he wanted.  So, we went to Pizza Hut.  We limited him to 2 pieces of pizza.  So it is just a little more than 1/2 tsp....  That's ok.  He's going to the 1/2 tsp today, so we don't completely overload him.  So far, so good.  No tummy aches yet, so I'm hopeful!

In 2-3 weeks we'll add peanut.  Then 2-3 weeks after that, we'll add carrots.  No potatoes yet.  That's ok.  Wheat makes me happy for now!!

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Fur Rondy is coming to an end.  We have had such a great time.  Our church did the snow sculpture competition and had a blast.  Ours was the manger scene, in a Native Alaskan carving type of style.  It turned out great.  I took off work one day and took the crew to ride the dog sleds and then to watch the World Championship Dog Sled race.  And of course the carnival and fireworks.  It was a blast.  Today was the Grand Prix racing.  That was quite interesting indeed.  Stock cars racing around icy city streets.  Interesting. 

Yesterday was the start of the Iditarod.  My crew was not interested in going downtown this year, so they stayed and watched it on TV at my parents's house.  Hubby and I went down there, however, and had an incredible time.  We got tons of great pics.  We were right at the staging area, just before the starting line.  It was awesome to see all of these brave and legendary mushers.  Just incredible.

Our homeschool program has the IditaRead each year.  The kids chose a musher and "race" the musher to Nome.  The child has to read 1 page per mile.  The goal is to read 1000+ pages before the chosen musher finishes.  S is sitting this one out, but C has signed up and is excited to get started.  He can't wait to re-read his favorite series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Again.  For about the zillionth time.  But that's ok.  He'd read it over again, whether he was counting pages or not!  I love that he gets so excited about reading.  And to be able to get a prize for it, well, that just puts icing on the cake for him.  So, if you are keeping tabs on the Iditarod this year, keep your eye on Chad Lister.  That's the musher C is trying to beat to Nome.  Not sure what made C chose him, but he's a rooke from Mass, I think.  Never heard of him.  But, I can tell you from experience, this is one musher we won't forget!  We're still cheering on the mushers that the crew chose last year.  Gotta love it!

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Sorry I disappeared again!  We decided to shut off our phone/cable/internet at home.  We all have cell phones and can call each other for free.  Wifi is free almost anywhere in public anymore.  We never watched the cable anyway.

So, I no longer had internet access at home.   Hubby bought me a laptop last night, so right now I'm at my parents' house on their network. Gotta love the time we live in!

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped guide us long on this gluten/potato free journey!  Only 2 more months to go until we can start reintroducing foods.  LOL

We did have a bit of a scare a couple of nights ago.  C had a stomach ache.  He was miserable.  I was freaking out, afraid that we were going to have to take out dairy.   We went to bed in a bit of a tiz.  Then Hubby woke in the night sick.  Then I woke in the night sick.  Then MIL woke up sick.   I was never so glad to feel so lousy!  That meant that C just had a bug, not an allergy problem!  Whohoo! 

On that note, I'm going to close for now.  I will still be around, just maybe not as often.  Then again, maybe so, with this new laptop.  Yay Hubby!

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Thanks for all the info everyone! 

mj--We are very blessed that he doesn't have the anaphylactic response.  So far he hasn't had any tummy aches at all, so I'm hopeful.  The youth group last night made goodies and we had to be sure he got a special one with no wheat/potato/peanut/carrot.  There are a couple of other kids who have food allergies, too, so it wasn't too traumatic for him.  He's settling in, I think!

Mel--I LOVE Bob's Red Mill.  Even before we went gluten-free, I loved him.  :)  I use tons of rice flour now.  Although, in the bread I'm making right now I used oat flour. We shall see how that turns out.  I don't actually buy the rice flour, I make my own using my grain mill.  I figure it is cheaper to just buy a bunch of rice, that way we can cook and eat rice or we can grind it and make flour.    And as for how I'm feeling...well, that is a whole other story.  At the moment I'm having prescription issues with my insurance so I've been without my meds for a week.  I hurt.  A lot.  LOL  It'll be ok, I just need to get back down to the pharmacy tonight and have yet another chat with the pharmacist.

Becky--I do actually sub the potato with tapioca!  Or arrowroot.  The dietician gave us lots of great pointers like that.  I also found one mix, Namaste, that doesn't contain potato.  We haven't actually had a chance to use the mix I bought yet, but maybe today.  I hope it tastes great, it would really be nice to use a mix sometimes!

Carrie--Thanks!  I actually bought that magazine the first time I went shopping for all of this stuff.  I enjoyed it a lot!  I haven't subscribed yet, but will definitely do so if this becomes a permanent thing.  Right now we are just in the "trial" stage.  He is eliminating these foods until April, and then we'll start to add some back and see how he does. 

Nancy--Thanks for saying that.  I know that some people think we are going overboard.  But we just really feel strongly about it. 

I have to be honest, the person who made the comments about how "it won't kill him, just give him a belly ache" is planning on taking him grocery shopping today.  I am a bit fearful.  We had a long talk about the seriousness of this issue and how they need to be sure and read EACH AND EVERY label.  I think this person will soon find that it isn't quite as simple as she thinks.  I trust him to read the labels and know what he can and can't eat, and today is going to be the real test.

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Last Thursday, when the doctor told us that my son is allergic to wheat (and potatoes, carrots, and peanuts), my head began to spin.  How on earth was this possible??  We are all about the wheat around here.  I buy it in 50 lb bags, for goodness sake!  And potatoes?  With MIL living here, potatoes are a part of EVERY meal.  

My first reaction was "I want another test!"  After the doc vetoed that and assured me that the test was, in fact, accurate, my next reaction was "C, you are grounded!" 

Ok, so he wasn't really grounded.  But seriously.  WHEAT?  Are you KIDDING me??  And as I got to looking for gluten-free items I began to feel the same way about potatoes.  Do you know how hard it is to find gluten-free mixes that DON'T contain potato starch??  Yeesh.  Which is why I'm now making much of our items from scratch.  I can sub the potato starch for something else.

Meanwhile, we had to face The Question.  Do we buy C his own special food and maintain the rest of the household on a "regular" diet?  Do we all convert to all wheat/potato/carrot/peanut free all the time?  Do we have the house be an allergy-free zone and the rest of us live "normally" away from home?  What are the pros and cons of each option?

With the first option, the child is the only one in the house with diet restrictions. He is the only one eating "special" bread or pizza while everyone else is eating what was, quite possibly, the child's former favorite foods.  However, he is in a place where if he accidentally (or not!) eats an off-limits item, parents are there to react quickly.  It is good practice for self-control, and the rest of the family maintains normalcy.

With the second option, the whole family goes allergy-free all the time.  This affords the child to have an allergy-free home and a good support system as he deals with his limitations.  The whole family benefits from practicing self-control, and who knows...maybe some undiagnosed allergies for the rest of the family may be revealed.  Maybe the whole crew will feel better!

Option three is the one we've actually chosen.  Our home is a C safe zone.  No allergens are allowed in. We feel it is important for one's home to be a safe haven.  C has to practice plenty of self-control when he is out of the house.  However, those of us who are not allergic (as far as we know!) don't stick to the allergy-free diet while we are out.  At home, we do feel it is important for him to see us eating the same foods he is and all of us trying new things.  As time goes by and he adjusts to his new way of eating and learns a little more self-control than he's had in the past, perhaps we will consider going to the first option.  But I'm not inclined to think so.  It is hard enough out in public or at other people's homes.  We feel strongly that home is to be a sanctuary, and filling it with his old faves is bound to be discouraging to him.

So, as we all join together and try new foods (at home, anyway), we are learning some of the ins and outs of gluten-free.  What about caramel color?  What about modified food starch?  How about hot dogs?  These questions plague us.  The dietician said that food labeling laws now require that any wheat be plainly marked. (Along with the rest of the Top 8 allergens) If an item does use caramel color or modified food starch or fillers made from wheat, rather than corn, it has to state plainly that the item contains wheat.  Do we stick to that and trust the labels or do we err on the side of caution?

As someone rather bluntly said, "It isn't like it will kill him.  It will just give him a belly ache!"  I tend to trust the label.  Perhaps I'm wrong in that.  If C continues to have stomach issues, perhaps we'll pull out EVERYTHING that says caramel color or modified food starch.  So far, though, he's been without his stomach meds for 2 days and has yet to have a stomach ache.  That's a record, people.  

And as for the remark above, made when the person was trying to convince me that we don't have to be so diligent, that is true.  Eating one of these allergens may not kill him.  We are blessed in that.  However, does any of us really want to cause our children to be ill??  Why would I purposely feed him something that causes him discomfort, just for my own convenience?  The selfishness that fills that comment just makes my stomach turn.

After 1 week of wheat/potato/carrot/peanut free living, I can tell you that I have learned a little.  Not as much as I'm sure I'll learn in the coming months, but enough to feel comfortable grocery shopping without my "cheat sheets"  I'm not concerned that my family will starve to death.  (even if certain people who make the above comments disagree)  I, for one, am pleased that C is feeling better and we are all pulling together in support of him.

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I have declared today to be a No-Whine Day.  So, there will be no negative comments in this blog. :)

It was a simply beautiful day here.  The sun was shining beautifully and it was clear and bright.  We drove out to the Valley and stopped by our land.  It looks same as always.  Cold and snowy.  LOL  Then we went on to try out a locally owned grocery store we'd never gone to.  Heard lots of great things about it, just never had a chance to try it out.  It was fabulous.  They didn't have everything we needed, but we got all of the meat and most of the produce that we were looking for.  Fabulous!   Then we trekked on to StuffMart and got a few things the local store didn't have.  Then back to Anchorage to the health food store to stock up on some gluten-free baking mixes, mac and cheese, and tortillas.  All said, we actually spent less on groceries this time than normal.  I'm so thankful!

Tonight I am baking some gluten-free bread and hanging out online while it rises.  Silly C doesn't like the bread from the mix, so I do bread from scratch.  He does, however, like the bread mix made into pizza crust.  So, scratch it is.  The crew is playing video games (they are only allowed to do that on the weekends, so they try to squeeze as much in as possible!), and Hubby is studying for his Sunday School lesson.  Just a nice relaxing evening.

We actually haven't even had dinner.  No one is especially hungry tonight.  How bad would it be to just let them snack as they see fit tonight?  Hmmmmm...

Last night Hubby and I had a long talk about what direction our lives are going.  We seem to have gotten a bit off-track and lost sight of our goal.  So, we are knuckling down.  Expenses will be cut, savings will be built back up, and we will once again put our homesteading lifestyle in the forefront.  I'm excited to hear him talk about it again.  Having to bake gluten-free has got us turning our backs on the Microwave Mama mentality that had been creeping back in.  See, C's allergies are a blessing in disguise! 

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I know it has been a while since I updated and I do apologize.  There have been some wild things going on in our lives.

For starters, my rheumatologist has not diagnosed me with Lupus.  He is a bit befuddled.  I have lupus symptoms, but my blood tests don't show it.  He said it is clear that I do have some kind of auto-immune situation, he just isn't sure yet what.  I am on Plaquenil for now and it seems to be helping. 

My 11 year old son has been having some health issues of his own.  His whole life has been full of asthma and allergies.  He was taking allergy shots in Kentucky, but they said he'd have different allergens up here.  He was never tested for food allergies and we were told once to cut out this, this, and this for 1 week.  If he doesn't improve, he's not allergic.  (I now know that is foolishness.  It has be longer than a week!)  The docs in MO and KY never once did lung function tests, just the regular peak flows.

After begging 2 different docs here, I FINALLY got someone to send him to an asthma/allergy clinic.  At this clinic, the first thing they did was run lung function tests.  She said that his tests didn't change at all after treatment, and that indicates to her that there is some underlying issue, not just asthma.  So, on Christmas Eve, he had a sweat chloride test to check for Cystic Fibrosis.  She has also sent him to an ENT to check for immotile cilia.

The CF test came back borderline, so they ordered genotyping.  The genotyping checks 97 of the most common gene mutations.  (There are 1500 known mutations)  That test was negative.  We breathed a sigh of relief, as most people with CF have one of those 97 mutations.  However, the pulmonologist stll wants to meet with us to discuss the implications of his elevated sweat chloride.  We go there on Feb 16.  He could still have any of the more rare mutations, but we are going to say he's negative for CF right now.

The ENT found a polyp in his left sinus and found that his right ear tube was crusted over.  She has to put him to sleep to do the biopsy for immotile cilia, so she will replace that tube and remove the polyp at the same time.  She wants to wait until after he sees the pulmonologist, just in case he wants to do a bronchoscopy.  They can do it at the same time.

Meanwhile, the asthma/allergy doc did some allergy testing.  He tested positive for dog, cat, mice, dust mites, horses, and every type of grass.  We'd had testing done in Kentucky, so we knew a lot of that, but she had to have it in her record to order shots for it.  This time the horse test swelled up and bruised.  It was pretty intense.

She also did patch testing to check for food allergies.  My son, who lives on carbs, is allergic to wheat, potatoes, carrots, and peanuts.   The diary test was inconclusive.  We will remove the first 4 things for 2 weeks and if he isn't better, we will remove dairy, too.

We have spent the weekend clearing out all of the offending foods and experimenting with gluten and potato free cooking.  It is quite interesting indeed.  I have discovered that gluten-free baking is much more work intensive than 'regular' baking.   It boggles my mind, to be honest.

We are so blessed to live where we do.  Where we lived in Kentucky, and more so where we lived in Missouri, C would have starved to death.  Here there are TONS of resources and foods available. 

In yet another example of how God takes care of the details, even before we know about them, I got a Bosch Universal mixer 2 weeks ago.  (Which, BTW, is INCREDIBLE!)  Now as we start our gluten-free journey, I learn that you CAN'T do gluten-free baking by hand.  You MUST have a mixer.  Is God awesome or what???  I had the financial resources available 2 weeks ago, and don't this week.  I have had time to make my (most amazing) 6 loaves of oh-so yummy honey wheat bread and share with friends and family.  I got a chance to do what I'd always wanted to do with my Bosch before I had to retire my wheat. 

My son is on a trial removal of those foods.  We go back to the doctor in April and will then discuss adding some of these items back into his diet to see how he does. 

I've been pretty impressed with his attitude about the whole thing.  He is a bit bummed, but he is being such a trooper about trying new things.  That has NEVER been his strength.  He is very much a picky eater.  In fact, his main staples were potatoes and bread.   But he's being strong.  I'm very proud of him.

Now they are testing my husband for some potentially serious issues, as well.  I just feel like our family is really being tested right now.  I know that if we continue to stand in the shadow of God's love and let Him take care of us, we'll be ok.  We may not like or enjoy the things we endure, but He will get us through.

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