8 Years Old

8 is a special birthday in our home.  It's a milestone year that comes with a baptism.  Mailaya turned 8 the second week of August and was baptised.  Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of her baptism day.  It was such a wonderful day.  We let her pick out her own set of scriptures with her name engraved on them.  All of my family was able to attend and one of Brent's siblings, his brother Mike was there.  Mailaya planned the entire program from the songs that were song, prayers, and talks by her grandparents.  She asked every person on the program to participate by herself.  We were very proud of her! 

Unexpected

Sometimes things come in unexpected ways. I've been searching for some help for my son, Jacob, for a long time. Little things here and there come along but it's seems like the steps are so small that it's hard to notice. Some big helps have been the book, "Teaching Self Government," by Nicholeen Peck and finding out that he has trouble with gluten and taking it out of his diet. One of the biggest problems is that he is very impulsive and at the same time a perfectionist. It seems he is always fighting himself.
My oldest daughter, Kellie, was really sick and I was trying to figure out what I could do to help her. I was looking up some things on the Herbal Legacy website and came across an article about nettle tea and it's cleansing properties. Soon after that, Jacob had some food with gluten and I thought I'd try the tea. It worked brilliantly. The real test came not long after that when he had a cookie at church. The new Primary Presidency didn't realize how serious it was for Jacob to have gluten and he just can't say no. I ran him home as soon as I found out about the cookie and made the tea. It worked again. I then learned about red raspberry leaves and Lobelia. This is where it gets interesting. Red raspberry has some wonderful properties of nutrition and cleansing. Lobelia is an AMAZING herb. One of it's many properties is that it can relax the body. This intrigued me because Jacob has a high level of anxiety and I wondered if it would help. However, I was a little afraid of using Lobelia because in the back of my mind I remembered hearing something negative about it.
In the meantime, I got an Herbal Legacy email with an offer to take the Family Herbalist ckass for around $200. I thought it would be worth the money to learn more. I have always tried to do things as naturally as possible and this would aid me further. One of my sister's is a Master Herbalist and had good things to say about the program. Through this class I learned that lobelia is a very safe herb. That was enough to convince me to try it. I bought some herbs online from Mountain Rose Herbs and started making tea. I use 1 tsp. nettle, 1 tsp red raspberry leaves (I get these from my yard), 1/4 tsp lobelia and 1/2 tsp horsetail (good for calcium). Can I just say WOW! He's calmer, less impulsive, happier. It's been amazing. I'm hoping that this will work long term, for his sake. Even the first week of school went amazingly well and it was a tough week. I am now taking the Nutritional Herbalist course and hoping that I learn enough to help all three of my kids that have gluten issues.

My 12 Year Old

I love Connor. He has always been my sweetheart, cuddler and all around good kid. Lately he has surprised me. One day he needed his shirt for church. I was busy and couldn't get it for him. He decided to iron it himself! It was actually done pretty well. For the past few days he has gotten up, dressed for school and started on the packed lunches. He's a keeper!

Prayers ARE Answered!

I've had an emotional week. One of my children is really struggling right now. Actually, we have been struggling for years it has just recently moved to a new intensity. I have felt completely hopeless about this situation for a while now. Today, I found out how my prayers are being answered and how much people care about our family. We had a terrible morning today. I can't tell you how awful it was. I dropped the kids off at school and just had a stomach full of anxiety. I got half way home and decided that one child needed to be home today. I drove back to the school and ran in to the director of the school. She asked if I was okay and if we needed to talk. I ended up telling her about what was going on with my child. She in turn found my child's teacher and we had a short chat. In the end we decided to keep this child in school and they would help with the problem. I then found a message from our chiropractor (I'd pleaded with him for help) and he's going to do everything he can. He has given me some things to think about and different routes we can take. Two women that I've been working with in the school parent organization saw me at the school and were quite concerned that I was upset and both called a friend of mine to see if I was okay. My friend then called and listened to me while I spilled out my worries. I also have a neighbor that knows what is going on and is helping in her own way. I feel such an outpouring of love and can see a light at the end of this tunnel. So often I try to do everything on my own but can now see that this is an impossible task. Thank you friends!!!

Preschool

Mckenna had an open house at her preschool. She has been excited since she found out she was going but got nervous just before it was time to go. She had so much fun meeting most of her classmates and playing. I knew she would go straight for the little tea set and she did - played with it for quite a while. I love her teacher. Kellie and Mailaya also had this teacher and she is wonderful. She got to teetertotter and play in this cute little mesh tent that hung from a tree. Next week she will have her official first day!

Talking

Karlyn has been saying a few things for a while but her little vocabulary is really starting to progress. Today she said Nenna (Mckenna), she says daddy, pup pup (puppy), squeals for kitty and mom mom. She is good at letting us know what she wants by putting her whole body forward and leading with her arms. She is such a little joy!

Diet - again

Our family is in the middle of a lifestyle change. We recently found out that 3 of our children have food intolerances and/or allergies. The food that is common in all three is gluten. After a lot of research I believe that the other foods are now allergens because of their consumption of gluten. I also believe that my infertility/endometriosis are linked to food because my endo symptoms receded and I became pregnant after I drastically reduced white flour and sugar from my own diet. I wanted to send a video link for people that suspect they or their family might have some sort of food allergy/intolerance. This link is specific to gluten but it still may give some idea of what types of problems can happen when someone consumes foods they have intolerances to. Also, it explains the difference between a celiac disease, gluten intolerance and gluten allergy.