A busy October!

Sorry we've been pretty blog quiet lately. We've been busy having fun!

We made a trip to the pumpkin patch,



And the San Diego Zoo!

And of course, Halloween was an exciting time! Here's our little puppy - very interested in his candy!

Girls Weekend to NYC

Thanks to my wonderful and loving husband, I got to join the Espenschied family's Girls-get-away weekend to New York City! What a blast. There were 9 of us from 3 generations prowling the town last weekend.

My sister-in-law looks like she belongs here in Time's Square!

The two of us were able to take time for a session in the Manhattan Temple. It was a heavenly change from the noise and commotion of the city.

All nine of us girls went to "Promises, Promises" Friday night. The show left a little something to be desired, but the company was fabulous. It was fun to see Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hays on stage. I don't have pictures of the whole group, since 9 cameras was a little overkill, but I'll put them up after we share with each other.

My favorite thing about NYC is the food. This cute little place "Rice to Riches" is a rice pudding shop with as many flavors of pudding as Baskin Robbins has of ice cream! We had milk chocolate and raspberry and were loving it! While we're on the subject of food - here are a few more things we enjoyed. Everything is gluten-free!!

Grandma, Michelle and I spent several hours doing what girls do best - shopping! Grandma worked at Saks Fifth Avenue when she was a young lady, and it was so fun to go back to "her store" and try on all sorts of beautiful things!

We bought half-price tickets to Mary Poppins. It was a cute show! It had all the charm and music of the movie (minus Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, but with passable replacements) plus more character and theme development that appealed to the adult mind. The set was amazing - the whole house moved on and off stage, all three levels, in 3 different directions (up, down and back!).

After the show we had a late supper at Sardi's restaurant. Famous place known for their characatures. Kermie is my favorite :)

Here we are at our hotel soon to head back to reality. What a great time we had!

While I was off playing, Doug was home working like a slave (such a wonderful honey!) and Ben got to hang with his Grandparents and cousins. I only have this one picture from Grandma Fifield's house that I snaked from my sister's blog, but it looks like he had a blast.

And we had just enough time for a quick hello to the cousins on the Espenschied side.

But when all is said and done, there is no place like home, and we were both so very happy to see Doug at the airport :).

Thwack

Ever feel like you just can't get ahead? Could be worse. Do you see the "smudge" a bird left on our window? You can see the body, full wings and even (we think) a bit of the tail above the body. It really hit the window hard and knocked itself out. I'm hoping it's not dead because it disappeared from the sidewalk several hours later. It was traumatizing none the less. Ben kept looking out the window and saying "hoo hoo." I tried to distract him as much as possible!

The drama of the bedroom paint

We have had a heck of a time picking paint colors for the upstairs. We did ok choosing the colors for downstairs. The great room was a snap - first two colors we saw were the ones we went with. The laundry room was next, and after we finished painting it we didn't like the color. But it's just the laundry room, so we dealt with it. We picked a different color for the office

thinking it would work for the hall too - but after we painted the office, we decided it was too pink for the rest of the house. And from there, it's been like pulling teeth to choose a color. We've bought probably 2 dozen 8 oz samples from Home Depot. Our color chip collection takes up a whole shoe box. You can see our walls were a regular rainbow of swatches.

Finally we decided on a color. We woke up one Saturday, Doug turned to me and said, want to paint the bedroom!? So we zipped over to the store and picked up the paint matching the color to a card we had used already to make the 8 oz sample we liked. We painted up a storm that morning - corralling Ben in his room, which he was very patient with, though he did spread his diapers and books all over the room. As the paint dried, we got more and more nervous. The color was not what we were expecting... it was green. Below is the best pic we could get of the disaster. On the left is the wrong color. On the right is the color it was supposed to be.

Boy were we frustrated! The color match scanner must have been out of calibration because the two scans were nothing alike. The next day I dragged the remaining gallons of paint back to Home Depot, told them my sob story, talked to a manager and finally convinced them to let me return and re-buy the right color. Moral of the story--don't buy paint using a color match scan. It took us a few weeks to have an open morning for painting, but we were highly motivated!

And now, we love the color! It's the perfect warm (but not pink!) tan.

We're still on the hunt for a good color for the hall, but hopefully that will come soon. We've got to finish the paint before we order new carpet, and we'd like to have the new carpet in before we install the rest of the baseboard. One step at a time, right?

Another Step in the right direction

Work on our house progresses though slowly. Everyone told me to get as much done as we could before we moved in because after you move it, it just doesn't get done. Fairly true. But we are making progress. Yesterday we got our nice big squishy living room rug. It is the same carpet as in the office/toy room right off the great room. It is so nice to sit on and bury your toes in!

Before:


Putting down the mat

All done!

Ode to Joy a.k.a. Marshmallows

I love marshmallows.

When I was a little girl we moved to a new state. We traveled in a caravan and used CB radios to keep in touch (before cell phones!). My handle was "Marshmallow Nose."

It's stuck with me my whole life. I almost always have a bag on hand. And, I've perfected the art of toasting mallows over the stove using a fondue fork.

My sister, Sara, knows of my fondness for marshmallows and gave me an awesome present when I saw her this summer. A bag of super jumbo roasters. These babies are about 3 times the normal "jumbo" size and toast up to a nice tennis-ball-sized sphere of melting sugar. I've been practicing, and I think I've now got the hang of making a mind blowing graham-less s'more out of these guys.

I turn my gas burner on to low and skewer my mallow with the fondue fork. I start by toasting the top, holding the marshie upside down. It's important to do this first, otherwise the marshmallow will be too soft and can slip off your fork. I get a nice even toast all around and then pull off the outside layer. While it's nice and hot, I slide at least one square (the super jumbos can easily hold two) of Hershey's into the hollow mallow. I give it just a minute to soften up the chocolate and by the time it's cool enough to eat, the outside is crispy toastedness, and the inside is a heavenly blend of liquid sugar and melted chocolate. Oh so tasty! And that's only the first half of the marshmallow! With these extra jumbo dudes, I can easily get one more toasting and sometimes two out of the remaining mallow core.

Oh yes, I do love marshmallows.

Summer Fun Begins!

I was inspired by my sister's to-do list as she prepares for her summer trips. She's so productive and with 2 kids too! I thought I'd put together my list too and see how ready for summer travels (or behind!) I am.

Mega Target run - done!

Other last minute errands (bank, drug store etc.) - done

Feed the Elders - done!

Empty garbage especially diapers!!

Laundry Laundry LAUNDRY!

Organize everything I need for the family reunion - done

Pack our suitcases

Make sure we're fed - done

Make sure we don't have leftovers

Set up the sprinklers - done!

Consume all the perishables - mostly done, I just ate the last awesomely tasty mango (still picking the strings out of my teeth) but we have 3 bananas and a gallon of milk to knock out in two days!

Pay bills - done

Water houseplants

Dishes - ugh

Film a video tour of our new house for the family

Clean the house before the video tour!

Charge up the cameras - done

Take a nap - never done ;)

Phew! Here we go!!

Memorial Day at the Beach

We had a fun family trip to the beach along with another family of our friends. We enjoyed a picnic - mmm Chipotle, very nice weather and a little sand play for Ben. It was nice to just hang out together as a family.

Construction Saturday

We made a little more progress on the house on Saturday. We put up a wall worth of moldings. It's a slow process, but it the house is starting to take shape. Definitely well worth the time - and it's so fun to work as a family!

Ben is a great vacuumer :)

We did around the back door and along the floor of this wall with the molding. We were done before noon!

It's good to be a celiac-er

Yesterday I put on my brave girl shoes and drove up to LA all by myself for the Celiac Disease Foundation's annual education day and food faire. I was mostly excited but a little nervous. Would I find a friend? Would the information be interesting or have I already learned everything I need to since my diagnosis 6 years ago?

A-MAZ-ING!! I had no trouble getting to downtown LA (traffic isn't bad at 7:00 am on a Saturday). I was in a room full of about 600 friends! People with celiac have an instant bond and everyone was very friendly. The information presented was fascinating! I was transfixed through every presentation, took lots of notes, and actually caught myself with my mouth hanging open in amazement.

And don't get me started on the food. At the registration desk they handed me a goodie bag that was already full to brimming with samples. Then I spent the next hour wandering through the maze of about 100 vendor tables sampling the wares. I had soup, pizza, muffins, cakes, breadsticks, crackers, cheesecake, ice cream, granola, pancakes, and then I went back to the booths I liked and had more! I collected coupons, fliers, handouts, info sheets, stickers, magnets, chip clips, tote bags and books about celiac disease.

Here's the loot that made it home with me. So much more was already in my tummy that I didn't eat much the rest of the night. (Yes those are two full loaves of GF bread. Gorgeous!)

We heard from Dr's Peter Green and Sheila Crowe, both outstanding doctors and professors in the field of Celiac Disease. I could go on and on about the things I learned. If you are interested, leave me a comment and I will elaborate.

I was thrilled to be able to ask Dr. Crowe about how to introduce gluten to children of Celiac parents. Her recommendation was to first have them tested for the gene (either HLA DQ2 or DQ8). If they do not have one of these genes, they are not at risk for developing Celiac. If they do have either one of these genes, they have a 30% chance of developing the disease and should be watched carefully. Gluten can be introduced in children after 4 months of age, though breastfeeding should be continued as long as possible. Once the child is eating a gluten-containing diet, they should have a blood test to check for the antibodies that indicate their bodies are responding negatively to gluten (that's a tTG + IaG test). If that test is negative, there is no Celiac, but the child should be re-tested about every 3 years because they are still "at-risk" and Celiac can develop at any time of your life. If the test is positive, the doctor may recommend an intestinal biopsy to check for damage to the small intestine. Some people have "latent Celiac" where their biopsies show negative, but their blood tests are positive. These people can continue to eat gluten and just watch out for any change in their condition. Some people have "silent Celiac" where there are no physical symptoms, but the blood test and biopsy are positive. These people need to eat GF even though they don't feel sick since their bodies are still being damaged.

Oh, that was me not elaborating, wasn't it. Sorry I just got so wrapped up and fascinated by all the info I can hardly stop myself. I've been telling Doug stories from the conference almost non-stop since I got home.

Just one other thing I thought was so fascinating -- about 25% of people are diagnosed by a screening and not because they present with classic symptoms. That's how I was diagnosed and it made me feel so good to be part of a fairly large group of diagnose-es.

One other thing I just can't not say, er, I guess that's two things now, is a few words about relatives of celiac-ers. First and second degree relatives (sorry my future kids, siblings, and parents) should probably be screened for the disease. Get the genetic test to find out if you're in the "at risk" category. If you don't have either of the genes - congrats, you're off the hook. If you do have one or the other, you should probably have the antibody blood test every couple of years just to make sure you're still healthy. After all, daughters of breast cancer patients get regular mamograms, children of parents who die from cardiac arrest generally try to keep their heart healthy--the same should be true of relatives of celiac patients.

K, I gotta stop because I'm getting all revved up again and could probably spend way too much time here.

The conference was awesome - I'll leave it at that!!

A Weekend Update

I added a green pepper plant to our little garden this weekend. We will see how everything goes. We're deeming this year our experimentation year. We're not sure about the sunlight and the watering and the soil. But the snails seem to be leaving it alone, and I haven't seen any bunnies in our yard since I blocked off their one (known) entrance.

This weekend was free dirt day. The local waste management company donated a big pile of lovely mulch and residents could come load up bags to take to their gardens. I made two trips. I was filthy and tired by the end, but it looks so nice! I think it will really help our soil too.

This weekend was also our annual city-wide yard sale. We went out as a family and visited our neighbors and found a few deals:

X-box, 3 games, 2 controllers, 2 car-steering wheel controllers: $30 (we have one, but it died in the move or at the finger of one baby, we're not sure which, so it was nice to find a cheap replacement!)

Glider/Rocker in good shape: $10 (talked down from $20 - I'm such a haggler!)

2 very large clay plant pots: $5

Adorable baby rocking chair for the play room: $5

A diaper champ disposal system: $1 (is it disgusting to buy someone else's old diaper pail? I'm going to rinse it with bleach...)

Great craft/computer desk: free!

After an hour of cruising around we felt very good about our haul and had introduced ourselves to some of our very nice neighbors. A successful day at the sales!

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden

So that's what we did!

Here's our itsy bitsy garden patch. 4 bean plants, one basil plant, two tomatoes, and a little strawberry that I found in our yard. I'm not sure if it's a volunteer or what, but it's cute, so I'll care for it.

Since this is the first time we've planted in this bed, I have no idea what to expect or hope for. Hopefully the plants will grow! I had to amend our -solid- clay with a big bag of garden soil, and I'm sure each planting we'll have to do something else to make the soil better, but at least we have a place to put a few veggies!

There used to be rose bushes where those beans and tomatoes are, but we offered them free on Craigslist to anyone who would come dig them up and haul them off. Worked like a charm! I'm still fielding calls from people who want free bushes. Don't worry, I still have a dozen - yes, twelve - rose bushes in the front yard. I think that will be plenty for me.

I got some nice organic slug and snail killer to protect against this nasty guy!

Oh, I hope it all grows! I went out to check on them this morning while I was still in my jammies and slippers. They made it through the night ;).

Stepping Closer

There's our red! The tv will be in that nook.

Before and In-Between

Our home improvement is progressing albeit slowly (a couple hours a day after the baby is asleep if we're lucky). I'm not going to call these before and after pictures, because we're only about half way through, but it's fun to see the transformations taking place.