Your invited to a pity party!

I'm having a moment.
I love and adore my babies probably more than I should. I want to shield and protect them from all hurt and keep them innocent and pure and healthy. I want them to have a "normal" childhood and a normal life so that they don't end up lying on some shrinks sofa rehashing traumatic moments of their childhood and telling him that their mother is a nut job. But the cold hard facts are that they are not quote on quote "normal". They are allergic to multiple foods and multiple substances that fly freely through the air we all breathe. Then if we throw the religious differences in there they are like aliens from a different planet. I might as well tattoo weirdo on their forehead.
Well as I wash hats, mittens, coat and any other article of clothing that might have hay on it from the party that we were just at were they couldn't eat ANY of the foods safely. (Don't worry we come food in tow.) The beverage was safe but when accidentally drank from the wrong cup of someone who ingested a peanut butter cookie causes a marble sized fluid filled bump on ones lip makes this momma weary some days. I wonder what it would be like to pack the kids in the car and hit a drive thru and show up to a function with a premade, processed type food out of a bag or some just add water mix some days sound so easy. A vacation without air purifiers and allergy free pillows. Not stressing over how they must feel or what is doing to them emotionally because they are so different. Dropping the kids off with out a grocery size bag of food and detailed instructions at grandma and grandpa's house just sounds, whats the word I'm looking for, um easy yes easy. Food and air it's just everywhere. I know raising kids with out allergies is no walk in the park don't get me wrong. But some days on the outside looking in it looks that way.
Well the pity party must end now. I am soooooooooooo thankful for these kids and the wealth of knowledge that I have learned from their "differences". I just had a moment. All is well again, and the dryer has beeped.

Cheap Entertainment!

A week or two ago after breaking it to the kids that the little pile of scrap wood they scrounged up wasn't going to build their dream tree house I got to thinking. How could they have a fort with out buying one? Cardboard was the answer! I searched Craigslist and found free cardboard sheets. I used the hubby's truck to pick them up and dropped them in the pole barn. The next day without me telling them what it was for the had built a "fort" and right now I have an "airplane" in the backyard. Yes its messy looking and but as soon as I can't take it anymore and they are sick of "building" we'll either burn it or recycle it. Hours and hours of fun or the about the cost of a gallon of gas- perfect!

You know they are warped when....

Saturday afternoon Lula points to her throat and said it kind of hurt. I told her it was because of too much junk, aka candy. Then she said "yeah it's because I haven't had any vegetables today."
They listen better than I think sometimes.

FIELD TRIP!

Yesterday we had our first field trip of the year. We went to a pumpkin farm. The kids had a ball besides the fact that it was freezing and we were under dressed (thanks Aunt Tracy for letting us use the coat.) They got to go on a hay ride, tractor ride and pick a pumpkin and they even got to put on a skit of how pumpkins grow. Here's some picture of our day. Thanks too to Sarah for setting it up for us.

Good thing there is Digital Camera's!

It only took 19 shots to get a decent photograph of the four of them. Back in the day that was almost a whole roll of film:0)

Brownie Points!

The kids and I watched "Annie" with Kathy Bates last night. So this morning when they wanted breakfast I jokingly said I was going to change into Miss Hannigan and not feed them any breakfast. Lula told me I couldn't be her because I didn't have clothes like her so I told her I would just buy some. Then Racky chimed in and said she was too big and I was to SKINNY to be her.
He's the best kid in the whole wide world, at least today.

"Safe" Junk food for the Hubby!

These little bad boys are gluten free! No exactly healthy but everybody needs a little junk food once in a while. I just hope he likes them:)

Wheat Free Apples Crisp that tastes GOOD!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 7 x 11 casserole dish line with peeled and sliced apples about two layers thick (about 8 apples). In a bowl mix:
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cup organic brown sugar
1/2 oat flour
1/4 sweet white sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
Sprinkle dry mixture over apples. Then slice up 1 stick of butter in thin pats and even distribute over the top. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until apples are softened. This was my first wheat free dessert I enjoyed. It had good texture and no weird after taste. I usually cut the sugar in desserts but being the first try I left it as is. Next time I will try 1 to 1 1/4 cup brown sugar. You could use any pie type fruit, peaches, cherries etc. If you used gluten free oats and ground some in a coffee grinder to make oat flour it would be gluten free also. Enjoy!

My Favorite Soup!
Fall and winter mean it's soup season again. My favorite soup is Taco soup. It has the flavor of chili but yet its a soup. I took the recipe from allrecipes and modified it a little, every time I make it it's different. Here is the recipe for my last batch:
1/2 lb. browned ground turkey
2 15 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 15 oz can red kidney beans
1 15 oz can of Mexican beans
1 cap full of the Gluten Free Pantry taco seasoning
1/2 cup of chopped onions
3 tbsp. butter
1 cup frozen corn
2 can of water (rinse out tomato cans into soup)
In a stock pot melt butter and saute' onions, I usually add a 4 oz can of green chili's but I was out. Add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 1/2 hour to hour. You can add more beans and tomatoes to stretch this meal without effecting the taste. You can use your crock pot too but saute' the onion and chili's if your using them to bring out the flavor first. Serve with corn chips or Frito's. If your not a dairy free house you could top with cheese or sour cream. I'd give it a 10/10, its yummy! (It also freezer well!)

A few tricks to make soup easier and more fun to eat for kids is coffee mugs and straws cut to the proper height for the mugs. Our kids can't have this soup but they eat chicken soup and love coffee mugs, it make a simple meal more fun and the straw makes it less messy.