Awesome family shoot with the Daniels family.

  I finally got out and did some more family pictures.  I LOVE taking family pictures and I don't get to do it very often.  This family is also related to me, so it makes it that much more fun.

What the......?

  I have been wondering pretty much my whole marriage, what is wrong with my husband?

    Before you jump to conclusions and think I hate my wonderful hubby, listen to the background.  My husband has had IBS for 12 years now and suffers quite badly from that.  He thought it was cause by a milk allergy so we just stayed away from milk products.  Over the years, it has slowly gotten worse.  Now it doesn't seem to matter if he had milk or not, he will have a horrible reaction.

  I have been asking him for years to go see the doctor and see if they can tell him what is going on.  Well finally he was fed up with it, so he went.  It's kind of like "you can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."  It had to be his own idea.

  The doctor gave him a few tests, but he said it was probably a Gluten allergy.  They sent him for a blood test to see if that was it.

  Since he came home that day and told me, I have been on the hunt for GOOD gluten free recipes.  I have tried a few.  Some are awful, but others are wonderful!!

I made gluten free pancakes for my hubby tonight, while I was making normal pancakes for everyone else.  I added food coloring to the mix so that they wouldn't get mixed up with the normal pancakes.  They were a "wonderful" shade of green......my kids thought they looked cool.  They tasted awesome!  Not grainy or anything!

Here's the recipe;

 GLUTEN FREE PANCAKE MIX

1 cup gluten free all purpose baking flour. (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup  sugar
1/4 tsp salt

For each cup of dry mix, add
1 egg
2 Tbsp oil
and milk to make it the right consistency.



I also have been harvesting my garden lately.  I planted two zucchini plants and neither of them have been producing much, so my friend brought me two of her zucchini.  They were ENORMOUS!!!  I used one and made zucchini brownies.  The other one I made Gluten Free Zucchini Bread.  It is really good.  I was worried that it was going to be grainy like the banana bread that I made earlier this week.  FYI, never use all rice flour when making a recipe, always mix it with the gluten free flour.

Here's the recipe for the Zucchini Bread.

GLUTEN FREE ZUCCHINI BREAD

 
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Cooking oil
1 cup White sugar
1 cup Grated zucchini
1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 cups   Gluten free all purpose baking flour (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
1/2 cup    Coconut flour
1 tsp  Baking powder
1 tsp  Baking soda
1/2 tsp   Salt
1 tsp   Cinnamon

Mix the wet ingredients and then mix the dry and them mix them together.  Now here's the IMPORTANT part, LEAVE THE BATTER COVERED IN CLING WRAP IN THE FRIDGE OVER NIGHT!!!  It allows the coconut flour to soak up the moisture so it won't taste grainy.
Grease the 9x5x3 loaf pan.

Cook at 350*F  for 60 minutes

   I am really trying to help my hubby stay gluten free but have tasty things to eat.  If you have any recipes to share, I would love to hear about them in the comments.

sick kids!

     So these last two weeks have been the longest weeks of my life, except for maybe the end of each pregnancy when all you want is that baby to come out!!!    I swear that the end of May left in a hurry so it wouldn't have to deal with my sick kids!  The very beginning of June started with a giant fever in one of my dayhome children so she was sent home in a hurry, but not fast enough to keep it away from my kids.  My 3yr old got it first.  She was miserable!  Carrying a blanket around everywhere, wanting to "tuddle" all the time, and then falling asleep in random places.

    On one afternoon, I found that she had fallen asleep with her head on her bed but her feet were still on the floor.  Like she had started to get into bed and then realized that it was too much work, so she just fell asleep right there.  Her fever was 39*C (103*F) and Tylenol barely touched it.  We gave her lukewarm baths, which made her cry because she said they were cold.   They did help to bring down her fever though, so we endured the crying because it was for her own good.   After 4 days of this, we finally started to see the "light at the end of the tunnel".  Her fever was not as high and she was smiling and finally starting to eat again.  After 4 days of not eating anything and only drinking water, I was starting to really get worried.

  I was sitting on the couch that Thursday night, thinking that we were lucky that she was the only one to get it when my 6yr old came downstairs crying and saying his head hurt.  Dang it!   I should have knocked on wood or something!  He had a fever of 39.8*C (104*F).   We gave him some meds and then he sprawled on dad's legs and fell asleep while dad was working on his laptop.  My husband then carried our son's clammy, shivering little body upstairs and tucked him into bed.  Because of sick kids, I closed my dayhome and worried about my own kids for a few days. 

   That morning I peeked in to see how Thorin was sleeping and found he had made a bed on the floor.  That didn't surprise me at all.  I have so many pictures of him, asleep on the floor, when he's been sick over the years.  The night after Thorin came down with the fever, my oldest son started to feel horrible as well.  It was my own personal nightmare. 

    I HATE it when my kids are sick and I can't do anything about it.  The worst part of it was that my darling husband had to work that Saturday.  He never has to work Saturdays, but he had a special training day with the RIOT squad that Saturday.  I really needed a break!!!  I felt like I was having the life sucked out of me by sick children!  Our babysitter was amazing and put her health in jeopardy to watch our kids that Saturday evening while Erik and I went out for supper.  We didn't stay out very long but just long enough that it felt like a break, which was exactly what I needed.

   So to recap, 1 girl feeling better, 2 boys feeling rotten and not eating anything, and one baby boy who I was trying to keep away from his siblings so he wouldn't get sick.  By Monday afternoon, my two boys were feeling somewhat better and I was holding my breath, hoping that my baby would be passed over and not get it.  Man, was I WRONG!!!!  He started feeling hot and being really weepy Monday night. Checked his temp. and yep, he had it too.  I was so frustrated!!  I gave him some Tylenol and a bottle then put him to bed.  Usually he is such a great sleeper, but not that night.  He was not feeling good at all. 

  So three days of cuddling and him falling asleep in my arms on a daily basis (which never happens normally) and now he is starting to smile and has the energy to scoot around.  YAY!!!!  It's almost over, and this time I knocked on wood. ;)  

phewww its been a busy year!

I haven't been on the ball in a long time.  I really need to keep everything more up to date.  I had a goal to write a blog post every month..... but as you can tell that didn't happen. LOL!  Wishful thinking. 

Well a lot has been happening in this crazy household of mine. I have done a few more family sessions, I had a baby last summer and then 2 days later my brother got married and I did their wedding photos.  Yes I know, I'm crazy. 

 my 4th and last Baby, Aksel.

 

 

I know, they make you sick don't they!  LOL  They could be in a bridal magazine, they are so gorgeous! 

 

 

 

I have also been busy with my dayhome.  Keeping all the kids learning and happy.

 

Here are some sensory bins that we made and the kids can't get enough of them.

 



 

 Colored rice and My little ponies

water beads and reptiles.

 

I bought the reptiles in a bin at the dollar store and the water bead are from Michaels.

The beads come in a tiny little package and are very small until you add water and they absorb the water.  This is a favorite with the older kids.  The little ones can't use it

because of the choking hazard and there is a caution on the bag of water

beads that littles should not swallow them. 

 

 

 

Now lastly, this mother's day I asked for something different that most mothers.  Most mothers want jewelery, or flowers, or both.   Don't get me wrong, those things are great but this year I really wanted something to build.  If you know me, this comes as no shock at all.  I really enjoy building things, whether its out of paper, food, fabric, or wood.  I decided to plan and build an elevated playhouse for my kids.  It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

 

The only thing left is to buy the slide that is going to go off the front (where the diagonal board is)

 

                                                 Thanks for reading up on my crazy life!  

                                             

                                        Kallie-Jo