Health Update

I meant to update in March, but I'm a bad blogger. Besides, there's nothing much to update.

Anyway, I've been wheat free for 5+ months. I have eliminated most other grains as well. I have rice or quinoa about once a week. My sugar consumption is down. My fruit and veggie consumption is up.

My joint pain is mostly gone. I am able to exercise more. Exercising more caused my treadmill to die, so now I try to sneak in YouTube workouts when I can. I do a mix of cardio and Pilates. My family is not supportive. Between the laughing and using me as a hurdle when I'm in plank position, I feel like strangling them.

My energy levels are up some. I get beyond survival mode quite often, but I don't have tons of energy.  I may have to accept that I won't. Unfortunately I still have major crashes where I feel like I'm sleep walking. Allergy season was very bad for me.  Sometimes, I have a crash for no reason. One day I was washing dishes and a wave of fatigue hit me that was so strong that I couldn't finish them. I had to rest before starting supper.

I haven't lost any more weight. I lost 4.5 lbs the first month and have stayed there. I need to lose 5 more pounds to be where I would like.

I still haven't found a new doctor. I don't have the time or money to go and try out different ones. If the doctor is not a good fit, I have to wait a year to try again unless something major happens.

What's next? Keep on keeping on. It has been suggested that I need to give up caffeine. I don't want to. I looove coffee. I don't want to give it up. I drink 2-3 cups a day. I'm willing to cut down to 2, maybe even one. I guess I could do decaf. I'm not ready yet.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday--New Shoes

Even Standardized Testing

I keep thinking about something that happened a few weeks ago when we did our yearly standardized testing. There is a business in our area that helps organize group testing for homeschoolers at churches and co-ops. We test with them at a church in the next town. I was a proctor for the eighth grade.

There was a girl in my class who liked to talk about herself. A lot. The stories she told seemed far fetched and braggy, but the other kids didn't seem to mind. The second day, we were waiting to get started. She said that she had never been in a church before. She described how her mother said that she was free to choose her own religion, and she didn't know much about Christianity. 

Now I've been a Christian for a good many years, and I can take you down the Roman Road, but God told me to keep silent. So I sat there with my mouth shut. That was difficult. Then one by one, the other teens started to witness to this girl. They told her about Jesus and what He has done. They described their relationships with the Savior. And I just sat in the corner silently rejoicing that teenagers were sharing the Gospel with this girl.

We homeschool moms complain about having to do standardized testing. It's a disruption and a large expense. But because we have this requirement, a 13 year old girl entered a church for the first time and heard about salvation. God can use anything, even standardized testing.

Angry Birds Party--Finally

Back in February, Wild Thing was having some behavioral issues, and we had to cancel his already belated birthday party. Fortunately, he was able to earn his party back though it was very, very belated. We held it a couple of weeks ago. The Crafter and I made a Pinterest board for the ideas we gathered from around the web. Here are our interpretations.

I love doing cupcake cakes. It makes serving so much easier. Also, there's no fussing about someone getting a bigger piece.

Cupcake Cake

The Pigs

The structure is made of Little Debbie Peanut Butter Bars and icing. A FaceBook friend gave me this valuable hint. The pigs and birds are made from Wilton fondant that we bought at A. C. Moore with a 50% off coupon.

 

The Birds

We did minimal inside decorations. We only put balloons up in the doorways. We sent a balloon home with each guest.



Balloon Decorations

The menu was bagel pizzas, baby carrots with dip, and Babybel cheese birds.

Red Bird Pizzas

Babybel Cheese Red Birds

After eating, we played games. We broke the pig pinata. We played pig in the woodpile. That was my brilliant idea for getting a pile of wood moved to it's summer location. Then the kids played capture the egg and pin the snout on the pig.





Pig Pinata--filled with eggs

Goody Bags

filled with pig and bird pom poms, Angry Birds fruit snacks, coloring pages, and Skittles

A good time was had by all. Wild Thing was very happy with his party. The Crafter is ready to plan the next one.

He Is Risen!

Alligator Down!

My kids like to take their stuffed animals out to play. (I know it's weird, but that's not the point.) Wild Thing thought it would be fun to take Methuselah the Alligator tree climbing. He took his beloved stuffed alligator up the magnolia tree. (Yes, that magnolia.) This time Methuselah fell. The neighbors' dogs were waiting. They got Methuselah and took off. They went for the belly and ripped out his stuffing. Only the skin was saved.

Methuselah's namesake was Methuselah the Alligator from Life at the Pond.

Not Just a Toy

I bought this little gadget on a whim last summer, but I never posted about it. I got it out this morning because the kids wanted to look at the insides of the flowers that are blooming.

It's a zOrb digital microscope. I bought it on Amazon. The price fluctuates considerably, and the blue one is usually the cheapest. I caught it for less than $20. The microscope plugs into the USB slot on the computer. You can either continuously view the images on the computer screen or push the button on top to take pictures. We've had a lot of fun.

Wild Thing's Eyelashes

Feather

Blue Jeans

Finger

I Hate Being the Bad Guy

We've been preparing an Angry Birds Birthday Extavaganza for Wild Thing. His birthday was after Christmas, but we always have his party in February so he doesn't get skimmed over. It was going to be some party. Lots of themed food and games and lots of friends were on the agenda. We even bought primary colored fondant to make edible Angry Birds.

But, alas, the party shall not be. Wild Thing pushed his luck and took his chances. Despite the warnings and the loss of pinata whacking privliages, he continued down the road to destruction. He was already having a bad attitude over his school work when we discovered melted glue sticks on the wood stove.

The Historian sent him to work the wood pile. I complained that I didn't want to do anything else for his party. The Historian agreed and cancelled the party. All guests were contacted. All the favors were put away. Losing the party was a natural consequence of his behavior.

So why am I the one who feels like a slug?

Wordless Wednesday--No Snow Edition