Good Morning Girls Advent Study

Today is the first day of the Good Morning Girls Advent Study. This is a four-week study that I am very excited to be a part of.
I am in a small group with other home school mothers who “get” what this crazy life is like and understand when I miss a day or two or more. I am working on being more organized (more about that later…) this time, so hopefully I won’t have to miss. Selfishly, I hope that this study will be even better than the last two.

More Bread

So, the no-baking until after Thanksgiving experiment didn’t pan out. It ended yesterday. Instead of six days, I only made it two. I felt justified though, because how could I serve lonely homemade tomato soup?
I made a double batch and substituted psyllium husk for the flax seed meal (which I have been using for the past year instead of xanthan or guar gum). The dough had a thicker consistency, but I didn’t see a big difference in the final product. I really need to have a side-by-side test. My helpers would be happy to try it blind-folded, I’m sure!

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One loaf down last night with the soup, one-and-a-half with pb and banana for the six sibs at lunch, and the last one-and-a-half sliced and frozen to have with one of the two containers of tomato soup or the kale chowder in the freezer.

Another Baking Day

Today was to be get-rid-of-lots-of-clothes-and-get-the-keepers-back-in-the-attic day. I started that project, but soon tired of it and moved on to a more interesting project: baking!!

Actually, a large stock pot of kale chowder for dinner tomorrow and a freezer meal was made first, then the baking.
Baking summary:
The afternoon started with rolling out five pizza crusts for dinner, while listening to a Focus on the Family about strong-willed children;
then a 9 x 13 pan of pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing for tomorrow’s dessert, while listening to another Focus, this time about fighting fair in marriage;
followed by two loaves of bread to go with soup for lunch and dinner tomorrow and the second fighting fair program and finally;
the batter for cranberry-nut muffins, to be baked in the morning for breakfast, while listening to a Simple Mom podcast.
I also boiled 20 eggs and did about half of the dishes, Luke and Kyle helped with the rest.
This will probably be all the baking I do until after Thanksgiving, so I hope my “fix” lasts that long!

The bread:

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(Yea!! My first photo, thanks to a tutorial from the Blog Engineer!)

Baking Day

My inspiration for baking:
Two boys, who shall remain anonymous, were having trouble being quiet and still during rest time, so I decided chocolate cupcakes would be in order for snack. It was amazing at the difference in their behavior when they found out what they might miss.
After all, treats are only for those that cooperate. Harassing Mommy usually means you get to skip snack or get a less-appealing alternative.
Why make only one batch, when you can double it and put some in the freezer? I went to work making the chocolate batter and as I was getting the milk, I saw leftover oatmeal that Adam made this morning. I also I found some on the shelf behind it. It was leftover from the middle of last week and since tomorrow is muffin morning and I didn’t want to get into my freezer stash of pineapple coffee cake muffins I made last week, I made oatmeal muffins.
(I did check the fridge for any other surprises. Fortunately, there was nothing green that wasn’t supposed to be and no other surprises!)
I will share recipes for the oatmeal and pineapple coffee cake muffin recipes and the chocolate cupcakes and icing.
One of these days, I will figure out how to add pictures when the Blog Engineer has time to help. Lots of time. To show me over and over and over. And lots of patience.
This post is for him 😉

Day 2: Find a Quote and Use it as Inspiration

Worry has probably been the biggest roadblock for me on our journey to living with diabetes and celiac.
I have often thought that if I had personally been diagnosed I wouldn’t worry nearly as much, but since it affects my boys, the worry increases ten fold by ten fold by ten fold, until some days I can have myself worked up, stressed out and fearful about their futures, especially for John, my medium-guy with diabetes.

I thought going to scripture and seeing what God has to say about worry would be helpful to me, and I hope others as well.

In my search for quotes and verses for this post I came across the blog whatchristianswanttoknow.com: Bible Verses About Worry: 20 Comforting Scripture Quotes.

As I read, I tried to put each verse in the context of our life with diabetes and celiac. For length’s sake, I chose the 10 verses or passages that stood out to me today.

Matthew 6:25 and 27 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

I will leave you with a few quotes about worry, from one past and two present Christian leaders. I hope they will bless you today.

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.- Corrie Ten Boom

Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God, and yet it is a sin that Christians commit perhaps more frequently than any other.- John MacArthur

No one can pray and worry at the same time.- Max Lucado

Day 1: Why I Write About John and Luke’s Health

This is my first time writing for National Health Blog Post Month or NaBloPoMo on my baby blog. One of the choices of prompts for today was “Why I write about my health.”
I am writing about John and Luke’s health to hopefully encourage someone new on the journey to type-1 diabetes or celiac disease that their “new normal” is doable, difficult as it may be at times. Also, I hope to be able to bless someone that has been on one or both of these journeys for awhile. Being a parent of children with health issues can be tiring and lonely and I know that I appreciate any bit of encouragement or help that I can get.