Gluten Free

No longer freaking out. That's better ay. I'm not a professional, that's for sure, but finding options. I tend to be pretty lazy, so I've opted to use products that were made in the factory shared by wheat, or on the same equipment. Well, Silas looks a bit like 3rd world starving child today. Very large, distended belly. Guess that prayer for help to stop being so lazy is taking effect.

Last night, before feeding Silas some sausages, on his prompting, "Ok me eat these?" I verified the ingredients online. More later on online. Turns out the first ingredient of the sausages was of all things, Wheat Gluten!! As I said, not a professional. Coming along studiously though.

I came accross a cool blog with lots of gluten free tips. http://glutenfreesarah.blogspot.com Interesting ingredients, Xanthum Gum??? I haven't been much of a chef with gluten, so looks like my skills are about to be upgraded all around.

I am so grateful that the internet is what it is! This makes my job so much easier. I would have had to make so many phone calls. I don't enjoy the phone as it is, that would be pretty intimidating! Thank you Lord for the conveniences of modern life:)

Silas Update

To not leave you hanging on the Silas update.... After talking to his pediatrician finally a few days ago, we have just done the entry level test. Next, another test, from there we figure more things out. So he may or may not have Celiacs.

We have eliminated wheat/gluten from his diet and he's feeling much better. He did sneak a smidgen of gluten pasta and complained in the evening of a tummy ache. So, simple solution, keep him off of gluten for now, and pray for a miracle that he is blessed to be able to handle wheat again down the line. In any case, this is not life-threatening , so I thank God for the blessings.

Tonight I went to a Tea with a home school group I'm in. I sat with some girlfriends, of which 2 are gluten free for different reasons. God has placed me with great support. I'll keep you posted as we find out the next step.

Prayer Requests

Satan has come to kill, steal and destroy. But Christ came that we might have life abundantly. I choose the life abundantly myself.

Generational destruction has been visited on me and my child. Silas has tested positive for antibodies which may mean he has celiac disease. It means some dietary lifestyle changes for our family, removing wheat, barley, and rye. It means an intestinal biopsy for Silas, blood tests every 6 months, if he has it. And least of all, but still annoying, blood tests for everyone in our family.

Prayer requests:

1. Salvation for my sons. Caleb 8 / Malachi 6 / Silas 3
2. Excellent medical team/care
3. Insurance coverage where I want to go (specialists in Palo Alto, involve herbs as well as medicine)
4. Healing of intestinal lining, Celia, and no more tummy aches or bloating
5. Protection from exposure to wheat barley and rye
6. A faith my sons own themselves, their seeing Gods hand of provision, protection, power, love and His glory in and through this situation
7. Peace of mind and spirit for me and the family


I believe in the power of prayer and I covet your prayers. All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes. What Satan means for evil I(God) will use for good.

Thank you for your prayers and care. I do not take it lightly when you pray for us. God has continued to shower us with his grace and blessings. Satan has continued to do what he can to steal kill and destroy, but the joy of the Lord is supreme and transcendent! Thank you Lord for your peace and provision.

Generational destruction, to what am I referring? My dad had many ailments, among them was Lupus, an autoimmune disease. I had Castlemans Disease(CD), in remission, very rare, so not well researched, but also an autoimmune disease. Many of the symptoms of Celiacs are similar to these other 2 diseases. How curious though, that 3 generations would have autoimmune diseases.

We are under a new covenant, yet still the laws and consequences have not been negated. We live in a fallen world, a world that is decaying. A world where Satan is real. In Nehemiah, referring to King Uzziah, and many of the kings following King David, there was reference to the blessings that follow to 1000 generations to King Uzziah, if I remember correctly, because he tore down the idols from the high places, where the kings before him had left them in place. Even Solomon had left them, or built them rather for his foreign wives.

Musings of a mind looking for answers.

10 Facts About Celiac Disease

After reading number 2, I have a deep sense of appreciation for finding this so soon. Having no history, that I knew of with Celiacs disease. My dad had a plethora of ailments, along with ongoing stomach aches. Wish I could have him tested now. Insulin dependant diabetes, lupis, rheumatoid arthritis. my family has had all of these common associations with Celiac sufferers. Along with being the child of a redhead, and an Asian(one of each!), Silas may have the genetic disposition. Time and testing will tell.


Description:
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have Celiac Disease cannot tolerate a protein called gluten that is found in wheat, rye, and barley. Research has shown that timely diagnosis of Celiac Disease is essential to treating or preventing its complications10 Facts about Celiac Disease

1. Celiac disease is common: affecting an average of 1/133 Americans and up to 1/22 for those associated with risk factors.

2. The average duration of symptoms for celiac patients before they are correctly diagnosed is 11 years.

3. Celiac disease is twice as common as Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and cystic fibrosis combined.

4. Approximately 50% of adult patients present with atypical symptoms.

5. Celiac disease is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or lactose intolerance and up to 1/3rd of celiac disease patients have been previously diagnosed with IBS.

6. Celiac disease meets the criteria for the World Health Organization for justifying general screening.

7. Physicians may use more widely known but less accurate serological testing that can result in missed diagnosis.

8. Up to 21% of intestinal biopsies, necessary for confirmation of celiac disease, are rejected by insurance companies, claiming that the cost of the testing isn’t justified by the symptoms. Makes me wonder if we have a hope for not having celiacs? I'll keep you posted. All we have done is test positive with the gliadin antibody so far. IgG and IgA.

9. Celiac disease has a 95 percent genetic predisposition.

10. Celiac disease is associated with or can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, premature births, reduced bone density (both osteopenia and osteoporosis), neurological disorders*I have epilepsy, malignancies such as adenocarcinoma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma*Castlemand Disease can turn into Lymphoma, and others, and a host of autoimmune disorders such as insulin dependent diabetes*My dad , thyroid disease*My mom, her mom, me- borderline , Sjogren’s syndrome, Addison’s disease, Psoriasis*My Dad, brother,sister, paterna grandfather, maternal aunt, autoimmune liver disease, and cardiomyopathy.(This blurb is from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness website. See address below.)

http://www.celiaccentral.org/

Celiacs Disease

Silas may have Celiacs disease. I'm still reeling from what I've found out. I had a suspicion, enough to get the blood work done. Had all of the kids allergy tested for the basics, and only Silas checked for Celiacs. He's had an ongoing tummy ache for a while. I thought I ran down the source, and it was a hidden dairy, but now.....

He has tested positive for the gliadin antibody. Normal range for IGA 11-17, he's 16. Normal range for IGG, 11-17 also, he's 24. I called a friend of mine who has Celiacs, she said it sounds like he's positive. Why am I guessing you ask? I had the Allergist fax me the test results last week, didn't have time to look at it well until today. NO ONE CALLED to tell me he tested positive! How ridiculous is that! Dr's are just people. Just wish they would have looked at the results to notice life changing information should be shared with the patient/parents. OK, that's done, I've got enough to be emotional about without taking that on.

It's Saturday, so I'll have to wait till Monday to call our regular pediatrician. What I wish I'd done is asked the allergists office to send the results immediately to the Ped so she'd have them. Then she would have called if anything was not normal. Future note.

God. Where is he in this. I know 2 people with Celiacs. This is a specific blood test I had to request. The fact it came to my mind to test when I really thought there was a dairy issue. This is really a miracle to find this when he's so healthy, no real big obvious issues. I was watching to see what he was eating before he had a tummy ache for that 1-2 months. Sandwiches, toast. But then I also cut a source of dairy out and he got better.

I was told today that my friend thought she was allergic to dairy but once she cut out gluten, she was able to have dairy again. My hope for Silas is he can enjoy dairy one day. But for now, we have to change some eating habits in the family.

We're all going to get tested when we get back from Oregon. I'm thinking someone else may have it too...... We shall see.

Please keep us in your prayers. Prayers for Gods glory to be revealed through this. For all of the kids and Lawrence and I to be vigilant of gluten. God will reveal how to pray. I'm a bit numb still to know what to ask for.

I am grateful that I nursed a long time. Gluten in the intestines breaks the celia and causes leaky gut, which is when food leaks out of the small intestine. The body then sees it as an enemy and fights it, thus making the person feel a terrible tummy ache.

"Sometimes you have to look for God" thoughts from Caleb

A couple weeks ago we watched The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything at church. While it was a fun movie, no big overt messages about God. Today Caleb was telling me about the movie. He said that sometimes you have to look for God in things. He got that when you don't think you can do something, you just have to try, and God sends you help which sometimes doesn't look like good help, but it is just what you need.

The crazy Cheetos bit, where the Cheetos have mouths and are chasing that gourd, he gives up and is ready to be eaten by the Cheetos when according to Caleb, God sent a crab to help him try. And sometimes if you just try, you can do more than you knew you could.

Wisdom from my deep thinker. I'm so impressed by his thought process! I love when he shares his insights. They come at the most random times. This is the preciousness of homeschooling, the gems that come when they would be at school.

Happy Birthday Malachi * 6 *

Malachi's favorite 'animal' of the Day.

Christine from Sulphur Creek shared information about Gopher Snakes, Tarantulas, and Chinchillas.







Silas meets the gopher snake.

Malachi has a private moment with his new friend.

Malachi feeds the chinchilla a raisin. This is as close as he comes folks, protected by a 2 year old:)

Silas gets a turn high fiving a tarantula.

Caleb's turn.

Malachi's first meeting with Spidy.

Chilean Rosy Tarantula or something like that.

A brag on Malachi, on his special day. He wanted to be sure I saw Caleb's creation and took a picture of it. So thoughtful of others.

Family Heritage

I was going through my dad's pictures and I came across an album. This album went back into the late 1800's. Started with a few pictures of my dad's adopted dad. Newborn, 1 year, and around 8 years old, plus others. There were cool pictures in 1911 or so with some other kids, period dress, obviously. I wanted to grab on to this feeling of heritage, having this legacy, this piece of history..... the darkness of what I know about this man clouded the desire to lose myself in this grasp at preserving legacy. The more I thought about it, the sadder I was to realize this was not my family, (my dad was adopted and the adopted father was evil). After pouring through this album, thinking, I don't know if he really was evil.... I came to the last professional photo, opened it like a gift, and found my Grandpa Straubs family(My moms dad with his brothers and sisters and parents). It was as if God was saying, "This is your heritage, you have a tangible piece of legacy here."

Fiddling wih Facebook

I told you this was a bit of an obsession. Why not link a cool thing my sister did with my blog and figuring out how things work with Facebook. Elizabeth volunteered on a retreat for a weekend to serve food in the cafeteria. How cool is that. I'd go, in another life, maybe I'll let my kids get a little older.

I've been uploading pictures of the kids to facebook, taking away from the time we usually spend together, the pictures I usually upload for you, but it is much faster and easier there!

Ok, I'll make an effort to never mention facebook again here:-D

Facebook | Photos of Elizabeth Boyd

Facebook | Photos of Elizabeth Boyd

FaceBook

Apparently many people are already addicted to Facebook. I signed up to grab a few pictures of my sister to put on my blog. Well after a month, I never looked at it again, but now, it is a bit of an obsession. If I do forget about it, emails come in saying......so and so added you as friend on facebook. SO you have to go and check it out.... I've 'seen' people I haven't talked with in years. The time doesn't seem too long for me, but when you see the kids! Yikes! I feel like I'm one of those cheek pinching aunts astonished at how old these kids have gotten. Some of these kids have graduated from High School! Seriously, how can I be old enough for this?!?

The Origin of Halloween According to Internet Research

Below are some things I pulled off websites when reseaching Halloween and its origins. Sorry, I didn't save the sources, but if you're really interested, google using some of the words and I'm sure you'll come up with plenty. The different fonts denote coming from different websites. Just some interesting things to think about as we come upon Halloween.


The origin of Halloween dates back 2000 years ago to the Celtic celebration of the dead. A Celtic festival was held on November 1, the first day of the Celtic New Year, honoring the Samhain, the Lord of the Dead. Celtic ritual believed that the souls of the dead returned on the evening before November 1. The celebration included burning sacrifices and costumes. These early events began as both a celebration of the harvest and an honoring of dead ancestors.
Halloween spread throughout Europe in the seventh century. It began with "All Hallows Eve", the "Night of the Dead". It is immediately followed by "All Souls Day", a christian holy day. [By christian here they refer to Catholicism - note by Heidi]
The first lighted fruit was really carved out of gourds and turnips. European custom also included carving scary faces into the gourds and placing embers inside to light them. This was believed to ward of evil spirits, especially spirits who roamed the streets and countryside during All Hallows Eve.
The Irish brought the tradition of carving turnips and even potatoes with them to America. They quickly discovered that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve.
Did you know?!? Americans spend over $14 billion on costumes, decorations, party supplies and other Halloween paraphernalia!!
Bobbing for Apples is a tradition widely popular a few decades ago. It dates back to ancient roman times in honor of the Roman goddess of fruits and apples.

Halloween or All Hallows Eve, originated from the Pagan Holiday Samhain (pronounced sow-wen). Its name means summers end. This spirit connotation originated as the ancient Celtic druids paid tribute with gifts and food (and sometimes it was rumored sacrifices) to the spirit world to insure that next year’s crop would be bountiful. It was a time for communicating with the dead and receiving wisdom from past ancestors to insure prosperity.
When the Christians set about to convert the pagans, some adaptation of these spiritual rituals had to be made to keep the Pagans in the Church. Therefore, November 1st became “All Saints Day” to honor all those in heaven and October 31st was tacked on as “All Hallows Eve” or Halloween, the night when all the dead are remembered.
The Jack O’ Lantern was adapted from the old British practice of carving out turnips or other vegetables to make lanterns. Pumpkin carving remains one of the main attractions at any Halloween gathering.
Since the revival of the Pagan religion, many are again choosing to celebrate Samhain in a more traditional sense with reverence for those passed on, although many pagans enjoy modern day fun as well. And Catholics still celebrate November 1st as “All Saints Day”.


As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there. It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. Young women believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors.
In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything "frightening" or "grotesque" out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday.

The American tradition of "trick-or-treating" probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

Chimps that Massage

We went to the zoo yesterday, and I wish I'd taken a picture of the Chimpanzee area.  

It looked a lot like this:

Silas was hanging around me, waiting for his nightly tummy massage.  He's been having tummy aches in the evenings ( I found the source of the dairy).  He's been clean for 2 days:)   While Silas was waiting, he was carrying around a container of coconut oil, since it's a solid, I was cool with that.  I was putting up pictures in the bare hallway, and he began giving my shins a massage.  He stuck with it, then later, had me lay down and gave me a 1/2 hour massage!  It felt good too!  

He said he was massaging like Malachi who has given Silas a belly massage before.  Gotta give credit where credits due!  Yes, I'm braggin' on my babies:)

oops

I am so careful to never send those email stories, warnings.... and other misc. non-personal emails, and I just did one of those things on accident! I've been fiddling with facebook and my friend just told me about a cool feature where you can have facebook go through your emails and tell you which people you've ever emailed or gotten email from, are in facebook. I thought I'd send one to Lawrence, funny.... I unchecked all the other emails......aparently not!@#@$@#% Didn't notice the bar on the side. My confirmation email stopped my breath. SORRY!!!

I had contract employees we haven't used in years that I sent this out to. Ok, that's all that can be done. Hope it goes to junk mail!!

The Sky is Falling!

Some of you avocado lovers out there may be distressed to know, the fruit is falling off the tree now, unripe with bird bite marks. Being inexperienced with avo's this fresh, I'm wondering if they fall off, if they can be ripened? So far no luck. They actually rattle when you shake them, at least one did.... Is there a special trick ripening these ones, magic perhaps?

Oh well, I don't like avocado's myself any way. There is so much fruit in the trees, just maybe some will be spared and last to harvest time, whenever that may be. These are smooth skinned, not Hoss.

I signed up for a facebook account, so I could copy some pictures of my sister for my blog, when she was thinking of going to the DR Congo. This thing has a life of it's own. I find myself drawn to it through emails. So-in-so added you as a friend on Facebook.

I joined my high school network. Bringing back memories. For me, mostly socially awkward ones. I was so overwhelmed with life at home then, I couldn't handle more than one friend at a time. I remember most of the names but most of my memories of them are from classes. I see group prom pictures, no wonder they enjoyed high school, they hung out together. I tell you, high school has very few fond memories for me. I feel a sadness for the lost girl I was then.

I felt the most comfortable in my choir class, that was mixed grades, freshmen to seniors. My choir teacher came to my wedding 15 years ago. I've heard her health declined, dementia. I didn't hear after that.

Isn't it interesting the power your childhood has. I have grown, had children of my own, and yet, I can feel the feelings I felt then when I think of high school.

Did you know, I had no idea I was an extrovert until I was in high school. I know, some of you are checking to see you're reading the right blog:) Maybe that's why I have a big presence now. I worked hard to be invisible in high school, probably life before that too.

Thank God for his grace! It is often said, with little thought I think, Oh, to be younger again. I would never go back. I'll take the physical changes, the grays, and whatever else comes. The teens and 20's were fraught with so much emotional challenge. The thirties came with a sense of self, being comfortable with who I am, and appreciating my uniqueness. Sounds like a psyc book. For me, it just gets better. 50's are the new 30's, so I'm still a spring chicken!

homeschool extras today

I'm so behind on laundry it has started growing things!

Caleb using his homemade bow and arrow.

The mother of all yards, host to the mother of all weeds, host to the AquinoClan

The ice dispenser that started it all! Thank you kids for jamming ripped paper, blueberries, and whatever else you see in there. The consequence for those 2 boys who filled the ice dispenser was to weed 15 weeds. Caleb got on a roll and weeded from 10:30a- 7:30p with snack breaks. That kid is so determined. He got Malachi and me to join in and weed, not nearly the same amount of hours though!

Jumping squirl in mid air (Caleb took the picture) To see you probably have to double click.

Malachi is holding a paper wasp nest. One of the treasures unearthed in the weeding.

Before


After

Doing some washing. Walking the cardboard path through the weeds.

Caleb getting started on turning the dirt for his garden.

Today's Photo Journal