Gluten Issues and Sourdough

I finally took the plunge a few weeks ago and activated the sourdough starter that I had ordered months ago.  I heard about a book on Facebook called, Vintage Remedies Guide to Bread, by Jessie Hawkins.  I was able to download it onto my computer and began reading it with much interest.  The author has done extensive research on bread and how it used to be made compared to how it is made today.  She also goes into detail about gluten and how the sourdough process almost completely breaks the gluten in the bread down to a nearly gluten free loaf by the time it is baked.  I won't be able to go into all of the details here, but it is truly fascinating.  My oldest son has struggled with loose bowels anytime he eats gluten since he was very little, (probably from the time he started eating solids; I just didn't realize it right away.)  He's been gluten free for the last 3.5 to 4 years.  Whenever he has gluten he will complain that his tummy hurts and will have diarrhea for a few days.  While I don't mind cooking gluten free, and have gotten pretty good at it, if I do say so myself, I just can't seem to figure out a good bread/pizza crust, etc.  More than that, the cost is pretty steep for us.
I remember talking with someone once about the Paleo diet, and he made the comment, that bread wasn't even in the Bible.  I know that is not true, and so I began my quest to find out how bread was made in the olden days, and to try and make it myself.  The book mentioned above was incredibly helpful to me.

I tried giving Sammy some of the sourdough pancakes I made a week ago, and he got diarrhea.  I got really discouraged, but then remembered that he'd eaten some samples at Costco with gluten and he'd had a cookie which also contained gluten the day before.  So, I decided to let his body clear all of that out, and then try the two-day bread.  I gave him his first slice on Sunday, and another on Monday and another today.  He still has not gotten any diarrhea!!  This bread is half barley flour and half unbleached white wheat flour.  He has not complained of a tummy ache either!  I am going to give a full week to see if this continues, but if it does, I am really excited.  I just don't have the time to go into more detail (wild boys live here) about all of this, but, if this continues to work well for him I am thrilled.  The bread tastes really yummy, and there are many other baked goods you can make with it.  I've got pita's rising as I type!

Here's my trusty starter.  This is San Francisco sourdough.  One of these days I will try to catch my own.  

Here is my third attempt at the two-day loaf.  It's getting better each time; still not where I want it to be, but yummy all the same!

I've also started making home made kefir.  We love to buy it, but it is pretty expensive, too.  A friend gave me some grains to get started, and now we have a quart of yummy kefir ready in a day or so.  We like it best with banana and strawberries in it.  I've really been enjoying all I have been learning, and hopefully I'll continue to share.

Kefir in the making!

It's the season of the birthdays at our house...

This little booger gets the spring birthdays started at our house.  He was born on March 23rd, 2013 and turned one this year!  He has had a great first year, and he has had to learn a whole lot of flexibility.  Right after he was born we moved into a house that was dubbed by Sammy as, "yucky".  Which, in all honesty, it was.  It has come a long way for sure.  Isaac spent a lot of his first year attached to my hip because the floors were just too dirty to put him down.  He also learned to be way more content then his brothers were in his bed and  bouncy toy.  He has had the hardest time, (although Marcus pulls a close second) with his teeth.  Up until 5 months Isaac was a really easy baby.  He slept a lot, and was happy and content for much of the time.  Around 5 months he started teething, (didn't pop the first one until either 8 or 10 months - I can't remember exactly) and then everything changed.  But, despite the grumps that can come on him when a new tooth is on the move, we still adore him.   When he's happy, he is so happy!

At 12 months, he has 6 teeth, is nearly walking, (my other two were 15 months when they walked, so this is early for me), says, "uh oh, mama, dada, nana (banana), and some other babble.  He loves to make his brothers squeal.  Right now our dining room table is not accessible due to construction, so Isaac LOVES to crawl to his brother's little table (which he is thrilled to be able to reach) and try and make a mess of their food while they are trying to eat.  He will repeat this process until, you guessed it, he winds up on my hip.  Now that he's getting heavier than my bicep and back wish to deal with, he also ends up in his high chair while his brothers finish.  Sammy and Isaac are really pals and they play well together.  Marcus tends to see Isaac as an annoyance that needs to be removed - ah, siblings!

Isaac has truly been a blessing to our growing family.  I can't wait to see him toddling around outside this summer.  He points to outside whenever I have him next to a window and says, "uh....uh!"  He LOVES the time we've spent outside this spring so far.

One other cute thing about Isaac.  He loves music.  When he hears a song, (even if it's a random short song from one of his toys) he starts bouncing.  His favorite song is a rewrite I did of "Black Betty."  I call it, "Fat Baby."  Fat baby has a butt, bam balam, fat baby has thighs, bam balam, fat baby as cheeks, bam balam, fat baby has a belly, bam balam, oh fat baby, bam balam, oh fat baby, bam balam,oh fat baby, bam balam, oh fat baby bam balam.  When we sing this to him, he starts dancing and giggling.  It's really cute!!

We sure love our little man Isaac.  We're blessed to have him in our home!

Living and learning

Friends,

Due to the sensitive nature of the situation with my family, I have removed my previous post.  You are welcome to contact any of us with questions or concerns.  What we all need more that anything is prayer for wisdom, peace, healing and anything else you can think of!  God is at work, and we are all confident of that.

On a completely different note:

I have been meaning to post pictures of the progress of our kitchen.  It is mostly fully put together now, so the pictures below are a little out of date, but we are sure enjoying the progress.

It's November!

I can't believe that I haven't posted since August.  I guess it's just been that crazy.

The LaRock for Delegate campaign started picking up in September and October, and thanks to hard work and lots of prayers, my father in law won the election on November 5th!  The kids and I pretty much just tried to hang on those few months.  We spent as much time as possible at the park and outside.  My boys are very active, and they love to be able to run around.  We also spent time at our local mall.  They love the play area and just the big space to explore.

Peter stayed busy with the campaign, and I can tell you, we were all pretty excited at the win.  Peter's change in jobs had worried me just because I don't adapt to change well, but I can see God's hand in it.  It has stretched me, and it has been such a blessing to see Peter growing and developing new skills and interests.

Now we have some more unknown with the session in January and February down in Richmond, but I know that the Lord will see us through; whether we go down with Peter, or we face some time without daddy.

The kids are doing well.  Isaac finally popped a tooth!  My kids are late teethers.  Hopefully he'll get the other teeth soon - poor boy.  He is generally so happy, and the teeth do tend to make him sad and grumpy.

Here are some current pictures of my cutie pies!

All three boys in one picture!

Marcus playing with little Isaac.

My baby is growing up!

Cutie.

Enjoying the leaves of fall.

Of Mice and Porches and Three Crazy Boys

Last week, as the boys and I were enjoying our lunch, I saw a mouse run from the kitchen to the dishwasher(which is currently sitting in the dining room.)  I was not at all surprised to see a mouse as this house is a work in progress, and it had been closed up for some time.  I set a trap and figured that would be the end of that.  Sure enough, the trap did its job, and the mouse was disposed of.  

The next night, Peter let me know that he was almost positive that he'd seen another mouse in the dining room.  This time we set 2 traps, and the next morning we had 2 catches, ew!  Right after Peter headed out the door the next day yet another mouse, (this one was a baby) poked his little head out and proceeded to check out the kid drops of food under the table.  I observed this little guy throughout the day, but, the noise of the kids kept him from reaching his own trap destination.  He just kind of acted like the place belonged to him.  That night, we decided to lift the cabinet where we thought the little boogers were coming from, and what a strange find.  The mice were all gone, (save the last little baby) but under the cabinet was dirt, of course, 15 to 20 play, fake mice, and 2 mouse traps.  We think maybe the family dog who lived here before had toy mice that it played with, and maybe mommy mouse collected them?  Whatever the case, it was a random find, but thankfully, the mice are all gone for now.

In other house news, Peter has been hard at work on the front porch.  He started out by working on the gutters.  The one in the back, once cleaned and put back up, has kept our basement from flooding each time we get a big rain, yay!  When he took off the gutter on the front porch, we realized just how rotted the porch was.  As you can see below, he has made great progress.  The front porch also used to have a green and white awning, but that we took down awhile back.  I think once painted, this place's porch will look pretty awesome.

Before

Before

After

After

Our kiddos are growing and changing so quickly.  Here is a brief update on each of them.

Sammy and I have been working through his Sing Spell Read and Write book, and he is nearly done with the first one.  Yesterday I sat down and thought through his first official school year, and ordered a few things.  I am really enjoying doing school with him, and I love that he is loving to learn.  He's started in a beginning math book, and I think that's his current favorite subject.  It is so fun to observe his little mind working as he grasps new concepts.  This summer he has spent alot of time outside, "chuffing and puffing" like Thomas the Train up and down our sidewalk.  He's also become a big helper on our shopping, library and park trips.  He loves to help me push Isaac's stroller.  As long as he and Marcus have a few feet between them, they get along very well.

Marcus is still our bundle of trouble, but he's a cutie pie who is also such a delight.  If Marcus is quiet it generally means he's into trouble.  The sink, the markers, the crayons, the tools, the putty, the finger nail polish.  You name, it, he'll get into it.  He has a hard time sitting still and focusing in on any activity, (unless it involves water or destruction.)  I look forward to the day when I can sit and read books with him, but for now, I just try and follow him around, cleaning up his messes, keeping him out of trouble, and getting his sloppy kisses, precious hugs, listening to his delightful laugh, and watching him learn and do.  Lately, when he takes a nap, he will have a hard time going to sleep at night.  Last night I was beginning to work out, and he popped his head around the corner and say, "You workin' out mommy?"  He then joined me and did a pretty good job :-)  As you can see from the picture below, he still thinks that he's the baby of the family.

Isaac is growing and changing so fast.  He's really chubbed up and he's such a happy baby!  Today he rolled over from his back to his tummy several times.  He is a hold me baby, who is happiest on my hip.  He wakes up each morning so happy.  He generally only gets up once to eat each night, and for that I thank him.

In The Good Old Summertime....

There is a happy, chubby baby.

There is a handsome dude in his underpants playing in the best fun in the world...WATER!  There are sprinklers

There are fairs with crazy chickens, and all kinds of cool animals.

There is a handsome little man at the fair who can't get enough of those funny chickens.

There is a cute, chunky baby checking out the fair.

There is ICE CREAM!

Hooray for ice cream!

There are TRACTORS...

and lawnmowers!

And, as always, a smiling chubba bubba.

"Why Good Morning Miss J!"

That was often the greeting I received from Rhonda Maki when she passed my office back when I worked at HSLDA.  She greeted each day in her cheery way, and proceeded to get to work.

When I moved to Virginia and started working at HSLDA, I remember being overwhelmed.  I started work during the busy summer months, and I can remember getting to the end of each long day of call after call and wondering just what I'd gotten myself into.  I will always remember Rhonda's willingness to listen, encourage, and go check with "dad", (the head of our department) to try and make things better/easier for each of us, if she could.  She was the supervisor in a department that was nearly all girls, and she really did a wonderful job handling all of us.  I think it's safe to say that she became a mom-like figure in many of our lives.

She was always so cheerful, and she had the best sense of humor.  I can remember seeing her with a huge pile of applications on her desk - big smile on her face, a small grimace, and then some quip like, "oh dear, oh dear, it's busy season."  We had some memorable callers, and I can remember recounting one caller to her, (who I think was actually in a mental institution), and when I got to the part about how this woman felt that she was queen of the world, the good laugh we shared.

As supervisor Rhonda would get the cranky callers, and as my office was right next door to hers, it was always entertaining to listen to her deal with them.  She was patient, but firm, and often, she'd finish the call, hang up the phone and and say, "Well!"

I remember that she her her husband started taking ballroom dancing lessons together, and it seemed that they were having such fun doing that.

Once when I was between housing, she and her husband invited me to stay at their place in their spare room for a month or two.  Rhonda was just like that - she tended to our needs like we were her own kiddos.

When I left HSLDA after I had Sammy, I continued working from home part time, and I always enjoyed catching up with Rhonda.  When I'd stop by the office, she'd always inquire about my growing family and wanted to see how we were doing.  She always talked about her dream to have red headed grand babies.

When I heard of her unexpected cancer diagnosis, I worried some, but Rhonda, being so full of life, I figured, had to pull through.

When Peter told me yesterday that they were thinking she wouldn't make it another day, the tears came.  I knew she'd been up and down, better then worse, then better, but I didn't expect her to die.  I really wanted to see God heal her this side of heaven.  But, His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts.

I know that she's in a perfect place now, and I know that she's happy, whole and so full of joy.  She's probably dancing her heart out in her new body, exploring beauty that she was never able to see here.  I just know that I will miss her.  I know that she will be sorely missed by her husband, family and by the many whose lives she touched.  

We had a "hat day" once in our department.  Here is Rhonda, participating right along side all of us goofy girls.  This is how I remember her.  Happy, fun, and full of life.

I will miss you, Rhonda!  See you on the other side.