Category Archives: health

Getting things done – and catching up…

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Yesterday was a very productive day and I even found some time to relax. It’s a new way I have of doing things. First, I admit to the fact that as much as I hate being a stickler and anal, being anal about scheduling can be a good thing. Maybe anal isn’t the right word here. I am not stressing if I don’t get through the schedule, but I am adding less to the schedule and including time for me. I don’t try to deviate too much and so far, it’s worked!

The boys and I did the Yoga Kids video when we came downstairs in the morning. (We’ve done various yoga dvd’s three days in a row now! Yipee!) Then had breakfast and I made some GF banana chocolate chip muffins. Then some of this awesome Historic Grains GF bread. I thought I’d give it a try using my hands like many wonderful women before me who didn’t have the luxury of a Kitchen-Aid mixer, mind you it was at least a little tempting to pick one up when they were $200 off during the holidays. Instead of using the mixer for four minutes to heat up the yeast and make sure all ingredients are well combined, I put four minutes on the microwave timer, have a seat and mix with my hand. Ouch. Pretty tough labour there but well worth it. The taste is well worth the work!

Steve came home with a migraine early afternoon for which I do not envy him at all. So, while he chilled with the boys, I went on to other things on my list. Mind you, the rest of the list came after the boys had finished their lessons for the day, including some fun grammar involving acting out the poem Dancing by Eleanor Farjeon. What does this have to do with grammar. Verbs, of course! Gotta love school!

Okay, on with the list. I managed to fix X’s new Pidove. He is a Pokemon that X picked out as part of his using a gift card from Nanna and Pappa. Then, I mended the seam on a stuffed snake he got a while ago when we went to a reptile place, ah the right word escapes me for that place, but it was while we were visiting Nanna and Pappa two years ago. The seam split probably about a year ago.

I’m getting better at this mending thing though as the last piece of the pile was the bottoms to X’s new pj’s. Each Christmas eve the boys get new pj’s and Xman’s bottoms were stupid-huge in the waist. Totally too big. But, he loved them and the top fit perfectly. Go figure. So, I fixed the bottoms. I had to pull out a lot of the waist band and in making it smaller, had to make the back/bum seam smaller, too. I have never done this type of surgery and was hoping that the elastic around the waist wasn’t sewn into the waistband but it was. That’s okay. I got to use the serger setting on my new sewing machine! I am in love with my sewing machine in the way anyone who loves sewing can be and can’t wait to do more! I bought it used on Kijiji months ago because the one I have weighs a ton, more like 30 lbs at least and if I dropped it I’d easily crush my foot. Easily, pinky swear. And that freaked me out a bit. So, I got the new machine from a wonderful older lady who purchased the machine, used it once, and then realized it was more than she needed. Thank you Kijiji. And, it only took me two months to finally sit down and use it which is way better than the history of my serger, which never left the box. Steve, don’t say a thing. 🙂 I eventually sold the serger to a textiles student at the art college who was thrilled to take it off my hands for half of what I paid. No kidding.

Not too bad a job for a first time doing this type of thing and really wanting to finish it so X could wear them to bed. I finished them as Steve got the boys into their bath. Whew!

It’s not as neat as I’d like around the waist but it won’t come apart and I barely had any material to fold over. So, I’m okay with that. 🙂

Well, goodness me! I almost forgot! I finished this too!

“What is that?” you ask. “It’s my first felted piece and I’m totally thrilled with it!”, I say. “It’s a tea cozie (duh) and felting it was easier than I expected!” It finished drying overnight and is a perfect ‘grandé soy chai latté’ fit!

I’m going to do these nests next, as X decided to take the cozie for Pidove.

Okay, that’s three posts in two days. Sweet! Now, what’s next on my list is….ah…hmmm…didn’t plan this far ahead. Apparently, there’s a hole in my scheduling planning. Gotta work on that.

 

 

Gluten-Free Waffles: a great way to start a day! and why we went GF.

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The boys have now been off gluten for maybe a month. Hmmm…wish I’d kept track of the date we started. It has gotten easier every day as I have a friend who inspired me to try the GF thing when she mentioned that since she started it with her two kids two years ago and it has made all the difference in their behaviour. When I say ‘behaviour’ I don’t mean in just how they act but how they think as well.

I don’t know if I have said this before but I’ve had a trying time with L and getting him to concentrate. He always has to be doing something with his hands, and this easily distracts him from other things, like his math book sitting out in front of him. Sometimes it would drive me around the bend as I couldn’t see what the big deal was: why should it take him and hour and a half to do two math pages????? Maybe he is distracted by the Lego in front of him. Solution: no toys on the table while doing lessons. Did this work? Yes. Briefly. Then he would just sit there and stare part of the time unless I worked through each page with him to keep him on track. At this point there are many of his lessons he can do independently. Well, he can do but doesn’t.

I read in a book titled, Beyond Survival: a Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring that we all have different learning styles. How interesting! L is actually one of those kids/people who, like myself, always needs to be doing something with his hands. How interesting! Like mother like son! So, I relented and said he could have a toy on the table to ‘watch’ him while he did his math, etc. Also, he fiddles with a toy (yet again, usually Lego) while we have our reading time where I read a book to them. (To clarify, at 5 and 7 they already know how to read, but me reading to them everyday helps them to understand how books are read when it comes to punctuation and tone and rhythm for comprehension. Also, they get to hear interesting stories that may be above their reading level.) I’d stop and ask L a question while I was reading to see if he was listening, and sure enough, he told me the answer almost word for word as I had read it. X, too – when he wasn’t doing hand stands on the couch. That boy cannot sit still! Again, mother…son. 🙂

Now, although I relented to the toys being around to ‘watch’ L as he worked he still took painfully long to get things done. I’d ask him a question he should know such as, “L, what is 5+7?” And he would say, “5+7. 5..+7..5…..+…..7……….” Boom. Gone. It was as if I had drugged him and his mind just went to mush. He would stare off into the air expressionless.

Then came the introduction of Gluten-Free foods. Can’t hurt to try, right? Makes, sense as we are what we eat. And if it worked for C and her kids then it just may work for us. In as little as 24 hours I noticed a difference with L and his school work. X, too. Albeit, X’s lesson load is much lighter as he is only five but nonetheless, the concentration was there where it hadn’t been before. It stayed. It hung around like a wonderful friend and helper. Amazing. Lucas can get his spelling done in ten minutes and his math in twenty to thirty. Aside: I also instilled a more realistic schedule for the boys that spreads out their lessons through the week where we get the brain challengers done first thing. Their various programs are also in the schedule, such as Multi-Sports class, Art Gallery and Discovery Centre and theatre group to name some, and if it keeps us out of the house for hours then I lighten the load of lessons for the day so it doesn’t seem so arduous. Also, Family Time Fitness thrown in there is a great way to get us energized again for 15-20 minutes before starting another lesson. Educational games are great too. They learn as they have fun. Well, we learn as we have fun!

Getting ready to go out the door, which used to take a good twenty minutes from the time I would ask the boys to go to the washroom, get their shoes and coats on and grab their water bottles shrunk down to a mere 5 minutes in most instances without very little repeating of this easy ‘getting out the door’ list.

Okay so, long story long, this wonderful friend of mine, C,  gave me a recipe for waffles. The GF ones at the store are expensive but the boys love them. (Oh, and her recipe for sandwich bread has finally been successful for me after trying all of those bread-machine ones. Making this one by hand is much more rewarding. Pat myself on the back for my persistence! My reward is worth it.)

Here is ‘going into the oven’ and ‘out of the oven and oh so good’ hand-made bread.

 

Yesterday I bought a waffle maker with new recipe in hand. I was inspired by C as she makes a big batch every weekend and freezes them to use for breakfasts. Brilliant. I tried out her recipe (small batch first) expecting maybe a bit of difficulty or dry, distasteful (?) waffles. I was so thrilled as my first two waffles just cooked up perfectly and the boys scarfed them down. Oh, what a great way to start a day!! LOVE that waffle maker. There is hope, after all, with GF food and sane kids! Yay! …sane Mommy too! 🙂

I think next time I may add blueberries, or chocolate chips…yum…this time Steve just added the chocolate chips onto the top of the already cooked waffles.

Such a pretty sight for my eyes – home-made GF waffles. (Yes, I know, it’s blurry, argh, camera phone, but pretty nonetheless!)

All gone! Success!

I ‘heart’ my waffle maker. I ‘heart’ my boys. All three of ’em!