Birthday

Thank you for all the Birthday wishes. It was a great day. It started off well. "Happy Birthday" were the first words out of N's mouth this morning. We even had a full conversation before he asked to watch TV. L and I took N to school then headed to the gym. I keep thinking I need to video tape our morning school drop off routine. It's the same every day. N takes off his seat belt, puts on his backpack and hugs the back of the front passenger seat while I slowly creep forward to the front of the drop off line. He fumbles to open his door and jumps out. I roll down his window. He stands right outside his window then yells "Bye, Mom. Bye, L" as loud as he possbly can. As he runs towards the doors of the school L yells back, "Don't talk to me, N!" (That's a change from earlier this year when L would yell, Bye back N.) Then N struggles to get the school door open and makes his way inside. L and I peel off and head to the gym. This morning we made it to my favorite work out class called Sh'Bam where L says "Mommy shakes her's (yes, her's)  booty."

Mom came over to our house for lunch. She came bearing gifts and a delicious GF/DF/YF chocolate cake... L was super excited to see Grammy. He talked her ear off like I've never heard him talk before. We ate lunch and visited before it was time for L to take a nap. He asked Grammy to read books to him before nap time. He didn't have to twist her arm too far. Mom and I had a nice visit before I headed out to pick N up from school. I really enjoyed picking him up from school 'cause we got a few minutes where it was just the two of us. We got to walk at our own pace and have a sweet little conversation. Grammy not only brought me gifts, but she brought Chutes and Ladders for the boys. N loves it! N and Grammy sang Happy Birthday to me and we blew out the candles and chowed on the yummy cake. L was still asleep during our initial celebration, so we re-lit the candles and sang Happy Birthday after his nap so he could have a turn celebrating.

Then it was time for our babysitter to arrive. She watched the boys while D and I went out for dinner and movie. We ate at Biaggi's again. The one item on the menu that I could find that had the least gluten, dairy or yeast was the Atlantic Cod served on top of whipped cauliflower and wilted spinach. It was super duper delicious. I got to eat the gluten free bread they serve because the waitress informed me that it's GF and yeast free. D and I enjoyed a nice, uninterrupted conversation during our meal. That's hard to come by at our house. After dinner we saw the movie "Lucky One." We really enjoyed it. It's pretty sappy and kinda predictable, but it was entertaining and a nice escape.

Tomorrow we're going to try to Skype with J, T and E. Dad is visiting J&T right now, so maybe we will see him too.

Art Cart: Giacometti

Today was my turn to teach the kids in N's class (and the class across the hall) Art Cart. We have a total of 38 kids. The lady I share the Art Cart responsibility with has a lot more experience at Art Cart than me. She's taught me a lot. She's the one who pointed me to The Usborne "Art Treasury" book by Rosie Dickins. It's a terrific resource. I might have to put it on my Birthday list! Anyway...I taught the kids about sculpture and a famous sculpture named Alberto Giacometti. I was surprised that the kids knew what a sculpture is. We talked about the various materials used to make sculptures. Giacometti mainly used bronze. We have numerous bronze sculptures in the our area, so I showed the kids pictures of bronze sculptures around town that they may have seen or will have the chance to see locally. Then I showed them pictures of Giacometti and his works. Giacometti’s sculptures were mostly of people. He would carve and carve and carve them until they were almost twig-like. That’s why they are all so slender. The kids found it interesting that the sculptures were so slender and had such big feet. After we talked about Giacometti, I walked the kids through how to make their own sculpture using pipe cleaners, foil and clay. This project idea is found in Dickin's "Art Treasury" book as well. I prepared the foil ahead of time by cutting it into strips. I also prepared their pipe cleaner people in advance. All they needed to do was wrap the people in foil, add the clay feet and wrap the clay. They found it to a bit more tricky than I thought they would, but once they got the hang of it they enjoyed it. Several of the kids were able to make their sculptures stand up in various positions. One boy said his was doing the limbo. One girl said her’s was surfing. We had fun with that. When they were done making their people each student got a crossword I made that contained words related to sculpture and Giacometti. I was amazed at how well they could do a crossword! D and I talked about it and we don't recall doing crossword puzzles until we were much older! Art Cart is always a lot of preparation, but it’s worth it. The kids don’t have an official art class, so this is all they get in terms of art education. I enjoy it and so do they.

Food Allergy Update

A while back I mentioned I was prepping for food allergy/sensitivity testing. I got the results back a few weeks ago and am surprised by them. My test shows that I have reactions (sensitivities) to all dairy, yogurt (not sure why this is separate from dairy), bananas, kidney beans, baker's yeast, brewer's yeast and goat's milk. Apparently the protein in goat's milk has an almost identical structure to the protein in cow's milk, so it often shows up on the test even if you don't drink goat's milk. Surprisingly gluten did not show up on this particular blood test, but my body has proven itself to not like gluten, so I am staying away from it. For the time being, I am on a gluten free/dairy free/yeast free diet (GFDFYF) Eek! My nutritionist has me on this diet as an effort to heal the damage these allergens have done to my stomach and gallbladder. The goal is to heal my system so it can overcome these allergies. Some may be temporary, some may be permanent. Eliminating dairy and gluten from my diet made the majority of my symptoms go away, but I still had a nagging gallbladder attack feeling. I've done my very best to eliminate yeast (in addition to gluten and dairy) and, after only three days, my gallbladder symptoms have subsided. Hallelujah!!

St. Patrick's Day Weekend

We had fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day this weekend. N and I went to the local parade while Daddy and L stayed home for L's nap time. I really enjoy my "field trip" days with the boys, especially when I get to take one of them for one on one time. So, this weekend our field trip was going to the parade. We ended up finding a great parking spot and were able to get to the parade without walking too far. And on the way was the fire station that allowed us to use the restroom. I will have to remember that for next year's parade. Anyway. N enjoyed catching the candy and necklaces the parade people threw out. One of the floats handed out little boiled potatoes wrapped in foil with forks sticking out of them! You had to do a little jig to get one of those. There were several cars with their windows down and music turned up loud. On the way home from the parade N said, "Mom, can we roll down the windows and turn up the music like we're in a parade?" I said absolutely! So we rolled down the windows, cranked the music and boogied. So fun! After the parade, we stopped for lunch and went to the grocery store for a few things. N and I were both pretty tired when we got home, so we took it easy for a while before heading outside to play.

D decided to create a huge spray booth this weekend in the garage to spray some tractor parts. That project took quite some time, so the boys and I found ourselves playing outside a lot. Fortunately we've had abnormally gorgeous weather lately. It's been in the mid 70's for more than a week. I think we even hit 80 one day! Our tulips are already peeking out of the ground and the boys found a toad ("not a frog" as N would say). So, I guess it's officially Spring. I haven't put our winter clothes away though. I know Mother nature can be a little tricky sometimes.

Daddy got the power wheels out a few days ago. The boys are really enjoying riding those. It's amazing how well L can drive them considering his age. I'm just convinced he's very coordinated and athletic and that allows him to run and play the way he does.

Today I made the boys (another Pinterest inspired thing) a fruit tray in the shape of a rainbow with marshmallow and cream cheese fruit dip. N tagged this another form of "fun-due." I went with it. The boys were way more excited about the fruit and dip than I ever thought they'd be! They inhaled it like two vultures. D and I kept looking at each other like, "Holy cow! They're serious about this!" So, I took a few pictures. I wonder if I make a veggie tray in the shape of a rainbow if they'd eat it....Hmmm..

We capped the weekend off with a nice dinner at home and a walk around the block. The one nice thing about being outside the majority of the weekend means the boys went to bed easily tonight!

Helping me make GF meatballs. Should I wear a helmet too?

Rainbow Fruit Tray with Dip (equal parts strawberry cream cheese, marshmallow fluff)

Vultures, I tell you. Vultures. :)

"Butter bread" (garlic bread) makes him look like a Leprechaun