New Years Eve

New Years Eve is often a time to reflect, but I think I'll pass on that
for this year. Instead I'll end the year the way it's gone, with a
story about one of my kids.

This year marks the first year that we intend to let the girls stay up
to celebrate New Years with us. (Whether or not they make it is a whole
other story.) In light of this fact we thought we should have them take
a nap so they have a chance at seeing the New Year come in. Riley's
response? "It's not dark and my legs still have walking to do."

Have a happy and safe New Years everyone!

Gluton free? There's nothing free about it.

It's always irritated me just a little that schools have entire dietary policies in response to the restrictions/allergies of a few. It makes me want to send peanut butter sandwiches in my kids lunches followed up with some apple juice. (Good thing my girls don't do lunch at school.) I understand that some of these kids can have serious reactions, but to me it sends them a message that they don't have to take responsibility for their own well being, let the rest of the world do that. Anyway, I digress - a little.

I've offered to do a holiday cookie decorating activity for the girls preschool. As a courtesy I checked with the teacher to see if any of the kids had any dietary restrictions (I wanted them all to be able to participate.) As it turns out, one of the kids has a gluten allergy, so off I went to figure out how to make gingerbread cookies without gluten. (Only because it was my choice, and not required to do. The teacher did say the mom could provide an alternate item for her child, but this didn't seem fair to me.) And I digress again.

Anyway, Gluten free flour is ABOUT 10 TIMES THE COST OF REGULAR FLOUR and it requires Xanthem Gum which is about $25/lb!

All day today I've been trying to modify my recipe, find a new recipe, etc. to make gluten-free gingerbread cookies. So far I haven't even been able to come up with something I can roll out, and I'm burning through ridiculously expensive ingredients. I have to say I'm gaining a whole new appreciation for what these moms go through. Two thumbs up for all their hard work.

Update to follow with my final results. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Illness 101

Why Illness 101? Because it's all stuff I should know, especially considering my profession. However, as a Mom, it's sometimes difficult to bring the personal and the professional together.

The beginning of this week the girls seemed fine and both went to school on Monday. On Tuesday Sam was a bit sniffy and warm, so I debated what to do. Then she had a half hour throwing up jag in the bathroom and it became clear, she would stay home from school. Riley felt a bit warm, so to be on the safe side she stayed home too. Afterall, she was bound to get sick too, right?

Wednesday dawned bright and early, and I figured that my girls who are rarely sick would be ready for school. Not so. Sam was up for 2 hours and went back to bed for 4. Riley seemed fine so off she went, a little sad without her sister, but went anyway. So went the rest of the week. Sam stayed home, Roo went to school.

Finally, Sam seemed a lot better though still a bit sniffily. We thought Riley had dodged the bullet this time. We couldn't have been more wrong. She seemed a little tired, but the week had been busy. At dinner she said her ear hurt, asked to leave the table, and GO TO BED! Yep, you heard me right. My little non-sleeper actually requested a date with her pillow. We knew something was wrong then, but had no idea how tough my little one really was. Finally about an hour later she started howling that her ear hurt, she was holding it, her nose was running significantly more than before, and she had a low grade temp, so we called the after hours clinic. They were able to get us in right away, and it was a good thing. The doc said that this was about the worst ear infection she's ever seen. Who knew how long it had been brewing. I'm told there's a good chance her eardrum will burst, but that will actually relieve the pain because it will release the pressure. There's nothing they can do to either prevent or treat it, so we wait. In the meantime my poor baby fell asleep in the car on the way to the pharmacy, in the shopping cart at the pharmacy, and again in the car on the way home which is so not like her. She kept repeating, "Can we just get home and to bed fast? I'm tired."

After loading her up on antibiotics, ear drops, and acetaminophen she is now sleeping quietly. Let's hope for a better day for her tomorrow.

New musical instruments

We were driving in the car today, and Riley was playing music on a toy
pan from their kitchen, and Sam wanted to play too. She didn't have an
"instrument" so she started doing thinks with her hans and feet
accompanied by the appropriate musical sound from her mouth. She says
she was playing the Skode and Ruffus, two instruments she just
invented. I'm not quite sure what they are, but judging from the
gestures and sounds I'm guessing they are members of the percussion
family.