The hamburger wasn't such a good idea! A day or two later I felt yucky again, so maybe I didn't realize how much better I felt until I felt bad again? I'm still not sure if gluten is the culprit, but for now I'm back on the diet.

Well, okay.

I just spent a half hour catching up on blogs I read.. it seems to be a Friday night ritual for me.. I can't be productive on a Friday night, so instead I veg in front of the screen until my vision gets too blurry to read any more.

Today I ate a hamburger. WITH a bun. Surprisingly, I'm still living. My tummy feels okay, too. I also drank a lot of Dr. Pepper with that burger. Not that there is anything wrong with Dr. Pepper (to the contrary, I'm honestly not sure what the world did before Dr. Pepper was invented. Who do I need to thank for that???). So with all this gluten-free frenzy I've been on, the hamburger and bun are acting quite nicely in there. Thank you stomach for accepting them so graciously. Please pass the good vibes on to the intestines, if you please. I'm thinking their neighbor at the end of the road (ahem ahem) will appreciate it too.

It was a good day to be a Friday for me. I got to show off some of my favorite creations (of the non-biological nature aka C and C) to a store owner, and I just loved seeing her reactions. Validation! As a result, I'll be a very busy girl in the next few months. As if I was running out of things to do... I seriously love what I do! Play with dem bebes all the day long, and create funky cuteness when they sleep. It is the sweetest life!

Well that was my attempt at being witty and intelligent. I fear it doesn't live up to the blogger standard. I just can't seem to make an interesting story out of something very uninteresting. Intestines and sewing, wahoo!

So, no more words from me, just the photographic evidence of daily life here. That's why you read my blog anyway, right? Thought so.


He's wearing a hat! Take as many pictures as the ridiculously-slow-resetting camera will take!!



(And yes, my living room pretty much always looks like that. Quite hazardous, actually. Watch your step or you might lose a toenail.)

Occasionally, we torture our children in public by making them eat lemons.


Distressing...


....And then he takes another bite.


... And so does she.


A rare goofy face from Greg caught on camera:


I didn't even put them up to this, they just love each other, sometimes. Unless there is forced sharing involved. Then the screaming begins.




Carly models some of my latest creations.. for sale at Sparkles Boutique in Flint, TX!

Gluten Free Frenzy

I am posting this link as an entry to a giveaway of a whole buncha awesome gluten free foods.. this new blog I was told about is going to be a wealth of knowledge! Looking forward to keeping up with it!

www.glutenfreefrenzy.blogspot.com

Yay food!

Tomatoes

This morning I delivered a sack full of tomatoes to our neighbor. In the course of the very short conversation, I explained that these are home-grown tomatoes, and although they aren't pretty to look at, they are SO GOOD inside.. the neighbor commented laughingly that he wasn't much to look at either but he was good inside too. I laughingly agreed. Well, it sounded like it anyway. I will admit that I am sometimes awkward in conversations.. and I didn't know exactly how to respond to such a simple and deep statement so I said, "yeah, that's true!" Sounds like I just insulted the guy to his face, huh? But think about how true that really is.

There are two kinds of tomatoes.. the pretty ones at the store that inside are just so-so tasting. (And if you enjoy tomatoes, and have ever had homegrown, you know what I mean. You just can't buy a GREAT tomato!!) And then there are those ugly, cracked ones that are so juicy and perfect inside.

The more I thought about that statement the more I realized how much I can compare that to life. It's nearly impossible to get a beautiful tomato that tastes like Heaven too. There are a few out there I suppose, but not in my garden (or my inlaws, where these yummy tomatoes came from)!

I would so much rather be an ugly tomato that's good inside, wouldn't you?

p.s. Neighbor, if you read this, this is my official apology for the accidental insult! And I don't think you are ugly! :)

few pics

Sorry it's been a while for pictures. I haven't even taken very many. Not even one picture of July 4th! Bad mommy.

These children NEVER sit ON the couch, or IN the chairs, or on the floor..





Giving me that mischievous grin. Stinker.


This was not a fall, or an accident. She did this on purpose, and then wiggled her little self upright to a smug little sitting position. Stinker!!


Caleb's temporary pet, "Mr. Speedy." He sped away after about two days. Mommy "accidentally" left the bucket turned sideways, and he escaped.

And now for something COMPLETELY different...

I saw this picture on another blog and had to copy it. I think it is hilarious.. there is one word on there that I would NEVER call someone, so just disregard that. But doesn't it describe how closed-off our American educations are? I bet a majority of Americans believe most of these things about the world. I will admit, I have to fight against those stereotypes myself. And did anyone notice that Africa is missing altogether?

This is going to hurt...

....my feelings, if nothing else..

Under the suggestion of our new family doctor, I am going to try to follow a gluten-free diet. Well, maybe not gluten FREE at first, but a severely-reduced-gluten diet for a while. I brought up my inability to gain any weight, which to most would be no problem at all, but when you could really stand to gain 10-15 pounds, it's a problem. So, after running the standard thyroid and anemia tests with normal results he suggested this diet. I had mentioned my dairy intolerance before, but he seems to think there is still something going on in my digestive system that isn't quite right. Basically, I pooptoomuch (okay that's a family joke... sorry if it offends anyone!). But for real, my digestive system works WAY too fast for some reason (some might say good genes, or blessed metabolism, or "you are so lucky to be so skinny I hate you!") and he suspects it may be that gluten foods are irritating it and causing it to get rid of food as fast as possible, taking all the good nutrients with it. So, we are trying this. He did not say specifically to "go gluten-free" but he did say cut down on bread and sugary stuff (I'm assuming because most baked goods contain flour), and I laughed out loud since those are my two favorite food groups. In a few months we'll do a blood test to check for gluten-intolerance. Thinking back, I'm not too sure why he didn't go ahead and order it done now. I'm sure there's a reason, I just can't think of it. I figured if I'm going to go gluten-reduced, why not go big and just cut it all out.. that way I can really know if it is making my tummy rumble.

Also, while I'm at it, I think we are going to phase out High Fructose Corn Syrup in our house. It's really a bad thing, and so many things have HFCS in them. I think it'd be okay sometimes, but seriously, check the labels in your pantry and probably 80% of stuff has it, even things that don't need it. What is so wrong with SUGAR? Nothing, but it's more expensive to produce than corn, so we get what we pay for I guess. I don't know, I guess I just feel like we should eat the foods that God placed on this planet for us to enjoy and why do we need to go altering them to fit our sinful lifestyle?

Maybe I'm insane, maybe not. I am not excited about going gluten-free. I do want to try it and see what difference it makes. And it is going to be HARD to get rid of HFCS. But, heck, I'll be reading the labels on everything anyway.. and I like to read. It honestly can't hurt us to eat better. But BLAH!

update: I remembered why the doc asked to cut the sugar.. at least I think. He made a small frown at my blood sugar levels, and then asked me the diabetic history of my immediate family.. none that I know of. (right, family?) Off to do a little [more] research.

Also, after doing a little research, the name of what I was referring to as "gluten-intolerance" is really Celiac disease. I wasn't sure if Celiac referred to intolerance or allergy, but after reading on WebMD (I do not recommend this - you can come up with all kinds of diseases that you never knew you had on that site!) it seems to describe exactly what the doctor suspects. more info here: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/celiac-disease-topic-overview