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

Hiatus

It's been a while since I've felt like I hve the time to write a blog. I've been crazy busy lately, in a good way, and trying to limit my computer time. It seems like the computer is a brain-sucking hindrance to me, so I'm trying to lessen the time I spend on it and increase the time I spend with my kiddos or my crafting. I've been so busy with orders (and still am) that it's pretty easy to strike Facebook off my priority list, haha.

Greg's yard service is going well. The last week was in the 100s so it was HOT needless to say, but he was out there every day (and his dad too) working in that heat. Busy busy. Yesterday we got a much needed thunderstorm with plenty of rain, and the rest of the day was 85 degrees. Greg said it felt AWESOME. He's been mwoing like a maniac, and I'm so proud of what a hard worker he is for our family.

***Sidebar: Carly just walked in the office and showed me all the things she's holding, "Babboooon, Meeeeelk, Shish, Lulther one Tent, Beebo" Which means, "balloon, milk, fish, other one tent (there is another fish in the tent), belly button. " She is so chatty!***

I've been working on a wholesale order for a small boutique store, and hoping to get that finished by next week. Meanwhile, I did a couple of aprons for another store and they are interested in talking about doing some more. Had a home show over the weekend hosted by two very sweet friends that was a lot of fun and pretty successful. I've had more luck on this business through word-of-mouth than anything else. I have never paid a penny for advertising, and hope not to. Facebook and Sunday School are definitely the way to go!

Yesterday I finally did what I've been wanting to do for several months, and ordered a bulk shipment of designer fabrics. 14 bolts to be exact. I am going to add the by-the-yard sale of these to my business, and also be able to use them in my own creations. It was quite an investment that I'm hoping will yield the returns I've calculated. In any case, I am now in the fabric business!

Caleb's newest thing is his shoes.. he is a sensitive boy who likes everything in it's place, including wearing the same pair of shoes every day. It's really okay that he' like that, because his feet are XW and hard to fit, so he only HAS one pair of shoes, but a kid needs flipflops in the summer, right? So we were at Hobby Lobby last week and their flips were on sale 50% off ($.78! Can't beat that!) and I asked him if he'd like the get a pair of flip flops like daddy's and mommy's. He picked out the orange ones, after I convinced him that pink was not appropriate, and is very excited about his new shoes! The best part is, he will switch back and forth between the two pairs. I figured after we got him used to the flips he's toss the $50 Stride Rites aside and never wear them again.

Carly is a stinker, more and more every day. Yesterday she lunged head-first out of a kitchen chair that she had climbed into by herself. I was watching her, and there was nothing I could do. It was so crazy and unpredicatble. But I tell you this child is made of rubber! There was a little red spot across her shin from I'm not sure what, and other than that, not a mark to be seen. Just add this one to her long list of falls. So for now, the rule is NO MORE CLIMBING INTO THE KITCHEN CHAIRS! I've already had to get her down three times this morning and it's only 9:30. Stinker.

We are looking forward to the weekend here. 4th of july, my birthday, and a wedding at the lake all on one day! So exciting. Mawmaw is coming to visit too! I think I'll try to convince Greg to let the kiddos stay awake for fireworks, if we can find someplace close that's doing them.

I'll try to post pictures in the near future! RIght now I smell something stinky...

Time for an update

I am feeling like we are overdue for an all-around update, so here it is.

We've been VERY busy in the last 6 weeks since we got set free from Farmers. Greg immediately started working his lawn service full-time, and has done tremendously. He is busy every day, but makes himself take Sundays (or else!!!) and occasionally an afternoon to rest and regroup. He has been receiving calls left and right, and it is really great. It's funny how the combination of circumstances are always a testimony to God's work. If we hadn't transferred to Tyler... If Greg hadn't started mowing yards last summer for a little extra money... If Greg had gotten another job back when he was sorta looking several months ago... the list can literally drag on and on, we would never have had this thing happen at this time in this place. So anyway, all circumstances point us to this one truth: We feel called to do this, and it feels right!

I have also been very busy with my business in the last 6 weeks. Well, honestly I've been crazy busy since January, and have only stepped it up even more. I got my first wholesale order for a small boutique store in Flint, TX, and am working on getting ten outfits made, and working on crib bedding prices for them too. I have two wonderful friends who have offered to host a home show on June 27 to showcase my business to all of my Sunday School and MOPS group. I am hoping to book some additional shows from that (with incentives of course!). I also recently got a new sewing and embroidery combo machine, and yeehaw, it is fancy! I love it SO much. I grabbed it right out of the box and hooked up the embroidery function and did two weeks of embroidering before I ever even tried out the sewing function. Boy howdy, I was missing out! The sewing part can go without a foot pedal, which is a foreign comcept to me! It is all at a push of a button (or, more accurately, an LCD touch screen!). Needless to say, I am having fun while being creative and making money at the same time.. DREAM JOB!

Caleb is becoming more independent lately, and silly, and friendly. He talks nonstop, which is something we thought he might never do! His enunciation of words is really good-- we can understand almost everything he says. There ares till a few sounds he doesn't have, common for the age, like R, but from as quiet as he was, he has come a long way. He loves to run around and jump, and skip, and do any other kind of crazy way of walking. He is learning letters and numbers, and can say them all, and his favorite thing to do in the mornings is watch Sesame Street for the letter and number of the day (today's is S and 1). I try to engage him all day by reminding him what the letter and number of the day are and talk about things with that letter/number. We have been working a little on the letter sounds, and he likes to "spell" words in some of his books. He connects the word with the picture, so this is exciting to me! He is proving to us every day that he is SO much smarter than we ever could imagine, he just likes to keep it to himself (a lot like me at that age I think, and a lot like Greg now!).

Carly is something else... that girl!! She is 16 months old, and in to everything like she should be. She talks a lot (see next post), walks a lot, climbs a lot, eats a lot. Her latest trick is climbing onto Caleb's bed, and into the kitchen chairs. Both activities she gets in trouble for, but still she persists! Her latest words/phrases are "dink dink dink peeeeeeees," gone gone, waffle (fawfaw), frog, "Bubba peepee" (talking about the potty chair), really there are too many to list. And I feel silly typing it all out! Let's just say she can say a lot!

Well my time is up, Caleb is waking up and I've still got sewing to do!

Carly has been talking so much lately! She is such a chatty baby, SO unlike her silent, thinking brother. The two kids may look alike, but they really are polar opposites in personality! Here is a video of Carly doing her thing. She sees the camera and starts saying "Cheeeese" and making a goofy cheese face. Then she talks about animal sounds, and some oher fun words. She says one four-word sentence, "Mommy be right back" I keep trying to capture it on video, but she only says it when I leave the room, so it's hard to get her to say it when I'm sitting there holding the camera. Enjoy our funny baby! (By the way, she is sitting up on Caleb's big bed, where she
climbed up by herself, and she is wearing her brother's old pajamas.. don't be confused!)