Tidbits from Kaiya
I haven’t written much about my sweet little girl since switching over to this site, so this is long overdue. It’s not much, but things she says……..wow.
Tonight, we had already eaten dinner and were having a small bite of (gluten/casein free!) yummy brownies, when Kaiya decided it was her turn to pray. She dutifully bowed her head and folded her hands, insisting that Benjamin do the same. She started mumbling something and when I told her I couldn’t hear her, she said,
“Oh, I’m just telling God not to stink.”
What?!?! And then I remembered that they had just watched Stanley the Stinkbug (Hermie and Friends). But still……I wasn’t aware that God stinks. Imagine how stinky we are to Him, though, eh?
And then tonight. She insisted on reading to me while I combed her hair. She wanted to read Dr. Seuss’ One Fish, Two Fish. So she sat on my lap, with the book upside down, reading from back to front.
“One day, the three little pigs left home to see the world.”
Wait. What?!?! Oh right. They also love The Storybook Factory by Leapfrog.
Do my kids watch too much television?? 
And then there was this morning, when she found one of my Christmas socks. You know, the kind with the little bells on top, red and white striped with green toes? Yeah. She wore that one sock around all day.
My precious little girl.
Edible Sunscreen?
These days, sunscreen is an interesting topic around here. Not only do we live in Phoenix, where I’m sure the temperature reaches 200 degrees in January (okay, I’m slightly exaggerating), but we now need to make sure our sunscreen is gluten/dairy free. **see note below
Before I get onto the edible stuff, allow me to step up onto my soapbox for a while.
Have you ever picked up a bottle of sunscreen and looked at the ingredients? Can you pronounce most of them? If not, you should put the bottle back. (Good rule of thumb, by the way, when you look at the ingredients on any food: if it’s more than three syllables and you can’t pronounce it, don’t bother.) If you see poly, methyl, paraben, EDTA, or butyl, among other things, you’re better off without it. Most of these are chemicals, synthetic materials, and fillers, none of which really contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Polyethylene, for example, is an ingredient in many cosmetics. This is what we use to make plastic bags. Did you catch that? We are putting plastic on our skin. Our skin that is the largest organ in the body. Do you think there might be a correlation between skin problems and our modern cosmetics? Do you think there might be a correlation between the rise of skin cancer and these chemicals? I do.
Now don’t get me wrong. My house isn’t chemical free, by any stretch. Nor are my sunscreens and cosmetics. Not yet, anyway. But I’m learning as I go and making choices accordingly.
Anyway, as an alternative to traditional sunscreen, we might look at using coconut oil or really research it to find a gfcf solution.
As complement to good skin care when we’re in the sun, why not eat your sunscreen? You can find the entire article here, but Natural Health Magazine gave some interesting information on foods that help prevent damage from the inside out. Ultimately, it comes down to antioxidants which can help reduce the dangerous free radicals in your body. So as not to bore you, here is a list of some of the foods, broken down by their helpful ingredients:
- Carotenoids: tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit, strawberries, and red/yellow/orange peppers
- Omega-3s: herring, mackerel, trout, salmon, or fish oil
- Flavonoids: dark chocolate, raw cocoa
- Polyphenols: green and black teas
- Sulforaphanes: broccoli, spinach, chard, or kale
Most of those are yummy, and things we eat on a regular basis. If not, we’ll try to add more into our diets, especially during the summer months. And we’ll probably experiment a little to see how our skin reacts sans sunscreen.
*Note: current studies indicate that gluten/casein molecules are too big to be absorbed through the skin; however, since children tend to put things in their mouths, we will steer clear so as not to take a chance!
Work in Progress
So, to the work in progress…trust me, it is definitely in progress. Once I get more pictures from my parents, I will add more. The quality isn’t great on some of them, but you get the idea. And since the entire song isn’t on here yet, you can read the lyrics below.
Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms
I was sure by now God you would have reached down
And wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining
As the thunder rolls I barely hear your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you” and as your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away
And I’ll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands
For you are who you are no matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried you hold in your hand
You never left my side and though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you and you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone how can I carry on if I can’t find you
But as the thunder rolls I barely hear you whisper through the rain
“I’m with you” and as your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away
I lift my eyes unto the hills; where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth
When God Speaks…
Listen and obey. Immediately. Without argument or hesitation.
That’s what my mom did today, and I’m pretty sure she’s alive because of it.
In case you missed the news on the tornado, click here.
She can tell you the story better than I can, but I can summarize and say that she experienced the Lord’s presence today and obeyed the voice telling her to get out of the church where she was at work. Minutes later, unbeknownst to her, a tornado completely destroyed the church.
That is why we must obey, immediately. Now if I could only get that across to my children!
Thank you, Lord, for keeping my family safe.
***Edited to add this YouTube video. Make sure your sound is on!
New Pancake Recipe and Verses and Benjamin
If you can imagine, I have found a new pancake recipe that I love. It is super simple, and extra delicious. This one is courtesy Bob’s Red Mill.
- 2 cups Teff flour (an Ethiopian, gluten-free grain!!)
- 4 tsp baking powder (gluten-free)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups water
- 2 T vegetable oil
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add liquid ingredients and whisk. Cook on a griddle over medium heat. (Because there are no eggs, they cook quite quickly on each side)
Tonight, I added coconut and flax meal, and we topped ours with strawberries and our pure maple syrup/agave mix. The kids loved them.
Now, about those verses. Psalm 139:14 says,
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
And Philippians 1:6 says,
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
The first is factual. We ARE fearfully and wonderfully made. It doesn’t say that we might be. It says that we are. The second verse is a promise. He WILL carry on the good work he has started in us.
So, why recipes (gluten-free!), verses, and Benjamin? Because we have recently found that Benjamin is gluten-intolerant (and probably possibly dairy or casein intolerant). And because God’s word promises that Benjamin is fearfully and wonderfully made. Even with a simple protein intolerance. And God’s word also promises that He will carry on a good work in Benjamin’s life. He will carry it on to completion, even in the midst of a crazy-strict new diet. Even in the midst of a world filled with gluten and casein! (I also think this means he will carry on a good work through Jarid, Kaiya, and myself!!!)
Someday, I may write about our journey to that discovery. For now, suffice it to say that this a brand new boy. No lie.
We covet your prayers as we take on a new giant.
Feel free to comment or email me if you are interested in hearing more or have questions. There will definitely be more to come on this particular issue.
Homesick
As I’m writing this, my better half is enjoying the beauty and cooler weather of Colorado Springs. I am so unbelievably jealous, I can hardly stand it. As we’re approaching another summer here (it’s supposed to be 100 degrees on Sunday!), I get more and more homesick for Colorado. Well, really for Montana, but Colorado is waaayy more feasible. I wish I could say I was literally counting the days, but for now, we’ll just wait and see where the Lord leads us.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not miserable here. We’ve made friends, found a church, have good jobs, are in good health, have learned SOO much, been so humbled, been so blessed. But it’s not home. (Can you really call a place home that reaches 100 degrees in the middle of May???) I prefer to think of it as a lay-over. An extended lay-over. Hopefully. Lord willing.
I’d like to introduce you to…
the love of my life, who will be contributing here occasionally.
By the way, any day that he wants to start writing is just fine. *hint*
Just to get you all primed for his appearance here, and to show off OLD pictures…..
Enjoy. 
First Camping Trip of ‘08
Jarid and I actually had a day and a half off together, so we decided to take the kiddos camping. We went last year, in July, and had a pretty good time. This trip is our second time with the kids. Last time, there were fire restrictions. This time, we made it before the restrictions kicked in (today!).
We left Sunday morning, with the intent of finding a church in Payson. As you can imagine, nothing went according to plan and we ended up starting the trip with breakfast at IHOP (yeesh). The kids LOVED the boysenberry syrup…go figure…if you can actually call it syrup! My deepest apologies to those who love IHOP. Nonetheless, it was fun. Especially with “Big John” as our server. Ben and Kaiya loved calling him Big John. Yikes.
Off to Payson, where the next stop was Wal*Mart. Probably not the best idea on a Sunday, in a little mountain community….I think the entire town was there. Plus tourists. I think that, what should have been a 20 minute trip, took 90 minutes. I’m sure 80 of those minutes were spent in the checkout line. You know how Wal*Mart has 20 lanes, but only 2 open? Yeah. Like that.
Poorer and more frazzled, we crammed our stuff into the Honda and headed for Tonto Creek. Found the campground, then drove to the fish hatchery a few miles up the road. The kids loved seeing the big fish. So did Ben and Kaiya!
After feeding the fish, we headed back to set up our tents. Yep, plural. Tents. This is a big step for a girl who was terrified of camping growing up. Click here to find out why. (It starts in the second paragraph, and should be noted that this happened about 30 miles from where I grew up. It should also be noted that, if I am correct, my dad dated Sandra way back in the day….sorry, dad, if I’m not right.)
Anyway, the tents.
The kiddos got pretty dirty while we set up the tents, so we walked down to Tonto Creek to play around a bit. Ben had a blast throwing rocks in and Kaiya, well, she went for a swim! Nothing too crazy, but she and Daddy had LOTS of fun!
After that, it was dinner time. We roasted hot dogs and chicken/apple brat thingies. And marshmallows. I’ve been informed that you CANNOT go camping without marshmallows. Kiddos got dirty again.
Then it was time for bed. Cute, cute
Once they were asleep, it was finally time for dad and mom to relax. It was so nice for Jarid and I to just sit and talk. And look up at the stars. And miss Colorado. And miss Montana.
Once we climbed into our tent, we realized that we had failed to properly prepare for this trip. It was cold during the night. Being the momma that I am, I got a little nervous in the middle of the night and decided to climb in with the kiddos to make sure they were warm enough. Apparently, Jarid got a little colder after I moved.
Needless to say, he was the first one up in the morning and got a nice roaring fire going for us. We had fruit and cereal for breakfast before packing up and heading home.
All in all, it was fun. We made a list of the things we’ll need to get for next time…and we’ll probably make a master list so we don’t forget anything.
I don’t think I ever would have imagined myself doing this. Guess I was wrong!
