Blog Neglect

I've been so busy lately I haven't had time to blog. But it's for good cause. The city park in our little town is desperately in need of upgrades, with no city funds to do it. A group of us mothers decided to form a group to raise money for new playground equipment. We started talking with others who also longed for walking trails, a pavilion... So we started a community group to raise money and fix up our park. It's a big project and I have been trying to get as much done before school starts. I'm in a busy, blurry tailspin, but at the same time it is so exciting to see the community coming together. Even kids are getting involved. A very worthwhile endeavor.

Here's a link to the Booger's TV interview: http://bigcountryhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=517522

I started posting parks we visit at: http://playgroundsandpicnics.blogspot.com/
Another playground planning committee member has contributed too. We hope to design something unique for ours.

Of course I will be making SCD goodies for the bake sale.

"The F Word: Forgiveness" from One Human Journey

I know I haven't written much lately, I have been so busy, all with good stuff, but little time to post. I stumbled across a post called "The F Word: Forgiveness" from One Human Journey and I just had to pass this on...it's too lovely not to.

To understand why this topic is so important to me, a little of my background info (this isn't the most comfortable thing to talk about, kinda difficult, but this is why this post touched me so): My brother, now 42, has autism. He's very bright and yet he never reached his potential because my parents were never told he could have a potential. They were told the worst thing you could tell someone with a special needs child..."there's nothing you can do". So there they were with this kid, a rare condition, there's nothing they can do, no one in the same boat to even swap stories with, and they had to cope somehow. Like most parents of special needs kids there is no where to put the anger and negative feelings you may have to deal with. Their other child, me, was full of questions, giggles, and into everything, clueless to my parents need to grieve (or whatever it is they needed).  I think they tended to overreact to my annoying ways as a way to put those feelings somewhere. I always thought there was a bit of a black cloud over our family. I know if the doctors had told my parents to keep working with him to help him reach his potential, they would have done more and felt better.

When autism struck our family again, it was a big blow to my parents. Our son regressed into autism at age 2. But their heartbreak was soon relieved by our son's diet response and my Celiac diagnoses. They had finally gotten some answers  (gluten and gut issues) as to what was plaguing our family. The best news was there was something that could be done. That dark cloud seemed to disintegrate. My own dark cloud disappeared as well when I could understand what my parents had been through.

The other side of the family had a much different reaction, aimed right at me and our son's diet. Although we were working with a nutritionist, an allergist, and a gi doctor, they decided I was lying about the gluten and other allergy issues, and made comments about the potential for CPS to be called on me. No effort was made to learn anything about the diet or our sons health issues. This went on for a couple of months (this was 2008). My husband finally had to step in. There was absolutely nothing he could say on my behalf, so he had to explain they were insinuating him as well. I suspect some of them did what they did out of sheer meanness. But others, faced with the horrible news of autism, found it easier to demonize me than to deal with the autism (deja-vu for me).  One of those members didn't want to be stuck in the middle, while trying to avoid autism, and found it easier to jump on that bandwagon. Luckily things have calmed down and my mother-in-law makes the most delicious SCD baked goods for my son. I think she has really started to understand more. The others have varying degrees of acceptance.

It took a few years of struggling with shell shock to understand something very important: the power of forgiveness (especially when you can make no sense of someones behavior). I could be bitter or I could let it go, and living with the bitterness was just awful. The whole reason I am writing this is not to get any sympathy, or to get back at my in-laws (they are only human), those are the last thing I want. I just want to mention this because I think we all struggle with something similar, and those of us with compromised immune systems do not need this additional burden. I think resentment and negative feelings can undermine all of the work we put into trying to regain health. We also have to realize with autism, adhd, autoimmunity, cancer, etc...more and more people are forced to deal things that were never this common. Attacking someone else may be a coping mechanism.

I feel so blessed to stumble upon "The F Word: Forgiveness". Feeding our mind with healing messages can have same the powerful impact as feeding our bodies with healing foods, and maybe more.

Sports Heros with Food Allergies...What More Could a Mother Ask For?

Early into the discovery of my son's food issues I had all kinds of feelings going on. I was thrilled that diet made such a drastic relief in his autism and gi issues. Uncovering his food allergies and changing our diet, while not easy at first, was a huge blessing for us. Like any mother though, I had to wonder if this would make him feel left out or different than everyone else. I remember looking at what celiac and food allergy teenagers had posted on various message boards. The children whose families embraced the food issues and, for the most part, made an effort to incorporate the dietary needs into family meals, seemed well adjusted. The children whose families kept the meals separate seemed to feel quite lonely, and not just at mealtime but in general as well. My in laws, at the time, were trying to make things as difficult for us as they could.  I think part of that was the stigma they associated with it all. I was worried about how this would impact my son, but as time went on they adjusted as well. At Easter, little cousins wanted toys in their filled eggs just like Gordon's (proving that maybe it's the adults that want the candy in the eggs more than the kids). Last Valentines Day one in law even brought gluten-free cupcakes to his class party. Life, even though it's gluten-free and loaded with a few other food issues, is still as typical as it can be for my son.

Every year our school has an open house night the week before school starts. Students and parents get to visit the child's future class and meet the new teacher. This time, after visiting my son's class, he wanted to see his old kindergarten room. I assumed it was to say "hi" to his old teacher. He actually wanted to meet the new kindergartner with food allergies. He had heard there would be another little boy with food allergies and it was very important to meet him. It dawned on me that he needed to know he wasn't singled out (I have food issues too, but that's not enough).

I was excited to find this article in Baseball Nation called "Food Allergies: BSOHL Of The Future?", about three baseball players recently diagnosed with food allergies. Little boys tend to idolize sports stars, my husband loves to watch sports and big family get-togethers usually wind up with the men sitting in front of some sort of sport game yelling at the t.v.. So the idea that some of these players can't have some of the same foods he can't has this mom cheering.

2012 and Interesting Article on Gut Flora and Rheumatoid Arthritis

One of my favorite 2011 photos, my son and my mom

I did not mean to take an unintentional blog hiatus. I was accidentally glutened at Thanksgiving. It was only slight, somehow I ingested a crumb. I only hurt for a couple of days but was a little off and brain foggy. I think it would have passed quickly but it was the holidays.... If I had stayed away from sweets I would have been fine. It was not the time for "just a little won't hurt thinking". Our dry windy winter weather had me in and out of a couple of sinus infections that had me dragging. Then I had a nasty bout with food poisoning. When the day of body aches went away I woke up feeling so clear headed, something I had not felt in a couple of months. The next day I got up and felt draggy again, dreading that the sinus infection had returned and feeling a bit defeated. When I stepped outside the sky was an orange grey hazy color. So I was happy to know it wasn't just me, I was responding like everyone else to the lovely dust bowl that blew in... I'm ready for Spring. Usually I do a post at the beginning of each year looking behind and looking ahead. This one is a little late, but better late than never.

I am hoping to do a few interview posts this year. There are more and more grain-free cookbook authors and SCD stories coming out, it's nice to get to know the people behind them. My husband and I own a small business, which is slow and struggling at the moment. I thought I could take advantage of the slow time and I am attempting to put my own research down into a book. It's so daunting, we'll see how far I get. If I don't get a book done, at least I'll have some great stuff to post here, so either way it's a win-win. Since I will be spending more time researching, I hope to come across more articles to pass on to you. On today's hunt, when I googled "THE GUT AND RHEUMATIC DISEASES" a whole mess of interesting stuff came up including this one, The Microbiome and rheumatoid arthritis. I haven't had time to muddle through all of it, but I was glad to see they making more connections with RA and gut flora. There is a connection with maternal RA and autism and now both are starting to show abnormal gut flora. Maybe this will move us more in the right direction than just blaming genes.

To ring in the New Year (a bit late I know) here's a photo of a bulletin board project I did in 2011:

Is This My Child?

Doris Rapp has a book titled "Is This Your Child?". I had to ask myself that same question today. I was in the back of the house when my six year old came up and told me he was going to dust his bookcase. I thought "whatever" and handed him a damp rag. I came into the livingroom to find this:

It had not dawned on me in the last several years to dust the bookcase and it certainly would not have dawned on me when I was six. Who is channeling my child? Or was it just a good excuse to pull out all of the books and pile them on the floor (that would be the apple from the tree).

Jack Black Autism Song Clip

OK, not food related, but very cute. This is a song from The Miracle Project, a group that works with special needs kids. This is a duet with Jack Black and a boy named Wyatt Isaacs, who has autism. I enjoyed it because I have had to cut so many tags out of my child's clothing. He's also quite fearless, except for fear of loud flushing public toilets.

Summer Blogging Break 2011

I haven't abandoned you. We've had a busy spell for awhile which included lots of "to do" things, including getting our broken oven fixed. Even though it's been over 100 degrees everyday, I was still lost without my oven. On the plus side, what better way to enjoy 100 plus temperatures than at Schlitterbaun. Every summer we try to visit good friends in San Antonio and spend a day at a water park.

Now this may seem like a typical photo of a family waiting in line (see below). For us it was a really big event. Notice there is no crying or screaming. Our child has never done lines well. Waiting in lines with him was agonizing, he would have a big meltdown. Here, while there was some complaining, he was no worse than his cousin who is the same age. Has he outgrown it or will we have to bring the cousin everywhere we go now?

Between Schitterbaun and San Antonio was a Snake Farm which the boys had to see. All the way there they sang "going to the snake farm":

We also ate at our favorite restaurant in San Antonio, Chama Gaucha. It's a Brazilian steakhouse and most of their cuisine is gluten-free. It's amazing.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Last night we went to the annual "Carol" party hosted by my cousin Julie every year. She always tries to include a couple of dishes my son and I can eat. This year she made chicken salad and this colorful vegetable dish with cucumbers, carrots and cherry tomatoes. I thought it was great.

This is one of the Carol cards. Julie made these cards 15 years ago (I've heard you can now buy them already made, but homemade is more charming). It's like Bingo, but with Christmas pictures. Gordon was old enough this year to play and he loved it. It's been something the five year olds and the eighty year olds can play. We always look forward to Carol. Do you have any fun family traditions?

Busy Busy

I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to post the last couple of weeks. We spent a weekend cleaning out our five year old for a colonscopy, not a fun job. He was a real trooper. I'm relieved the procedure went well. We promised him a trip to Sea World the next weekend.



This is our 36 pound child going down a large water slide at Sea World. He loved it! All you could see was an inner tube with two little hands and a top of a head flying by.



And of course, Shamu, the big attraction at Sea World. We also had a fabulous gluten-free restaurant experience in San Antonio. I will post a restaurant review as soon as I get a chance. As for tomorrow, it's the first day of kindergarten.

Gluten-Free Restaurant Review: Loonie's Place

They grow up so fast! It seems like just yesterday my son was four...and now he's opened up his own restaurant (he just turned 5). It's called "Loonie's Place", named after his favorite balloon. Diners have their choice of several seating locations. For book lovers, there is the spot right in front of the bookcase:



For starry-eyed lovers there is a cozy spot behind the couch:



For informal dates and lunches there is the "beach" theme table (Can I get an extra bucket for my other butt cheek please?):



Here is bistro-style ambiance:



Here is the Chef's kitchen:



His specialty is Blueberry Cake and Banana Cake. Gluten-Free of course.

10 Things I Never Knew Until I was a Mom

This is just for fun from one of my favorite blogs. She frequently has writers workshops with fun topics. Humor truly is the best medicine.

1. The most efficient way to rip a persons' fingernails off is to have them change a crib sheet.

2. It is possible to think your child is the brightest, cutest and most charming one on the planet.

3. Never tell a mother grizzly bear she doesn't know her cub.

4. I've always assumed being President of the United States would be a demanding job, yet many of them seemed to have found time to have sex. Any parent has to wonder how much time they really have on their hands.

5. In reference to item #4, it's amazing we all aren't only children. I tell my cousin, who is child six in her family, she's lucky to even be here.

6. It is possible to sleep with one ear open.

7. The little crappy toys, like the ones you get for a quarter from a gumball machine, will keep a child entertained much longer than an expensive one.

8. Bugs, bubbles, balls and balloons are 4 of the great wonders of the world.

9. The main purpose of bodily fluids is to keep us entertained, especially spit and boogers.

10. After our kid came down with autism and I began to research diet, then I really learned something I would have never suspected: the food pyramid is not based on overwhelming science, but is the result of a group of politicians who said "Hey let's come up with some dietary guidelines for the whole country". The rest is history, a health care crisis is our present, what will our future be?