DIY Montessori Color Tiles

For free!

I have been looking up montessori toys lately and am horrified by the prices, so I started looking up tutorials for making some of them myself.  One of the easiest projects seemed to be color tiles, so I decided to give it a go.  I got really motivated to do it when my in-laws dropped off a bunch of balsa wood for us to use.  Perfect!  All I needed was some paint swatches and my handy jar of mod podge and I was on my way.
I also thought that since I was going to be chopping paint swatches and mod podging for the afternoon, I might as well go ahead and make this project double as a matching game too.

First, I cut out alllll those paint swatches and lined them up on the balsa wood.

As I went along mod podging, I realized I had a bowing issue...

I fixed it by cutting out all the pieces and then using clothespins as little vises to hold the colors down while they dried.

And painted another layer of mod podge on top.

Then, to create the matching game, I went on to my second set of paint swatches and mod podged them to the clothespins.

Et voila!

I think to start out, I might cut it down to three or four shades per color rather than six.  Everett was a little overwhelmed by so many pieces and Callum tried to bite them all.... I see lots of fun in the future with this game though!  I love that it can be open-ended or I can ask Everett (or Callum) to do certain things like group all the yellows or line them up by shade.

Life in general, February style

I know, you were expecting daily posts from this whole GF/DF two week trial thing, but here's the situation. I changed my mind.  I actually did go dairy free for about 12 days with no difference whatsoever, so I'm back on dairy as of today.  Because if it makes no difference, why lose those calories when I need them?
I am also still eating gluten.  Much reduced quantities, but I've been eating some.  Even though my initial celiac test came back negative, in the case that my doctor decides I need a biopsy, I have to be consuming gluten.  I talked with a dietitian today about celiac/gluten intolerance and didn't learn much that I hadn't already figured out.  But it was nice to talk with her about it.  After that meeting, I went and got gobs more blood stolen from my poor little vein for more testing.  I'm not even sure of what's being tested this time, but I know they are at least doing a genetic typing to see if I have the DQ types seen in people with celiac.  I've been learning of other autoimmune diseases within my genetic family so I brought that up and some more tests were ordered.  Which is why I got like seven vials sucked from my vein today.  So much blood was removed from my arm that when she was done, I realized my hand was purple.
ANYWAY.  Enough of that.  I need to figure out how to calm my brain down, step away from google, and adjust my attitude.

In light of that better attitude, here are some pictures of my beautiful boys:

This is how Callum kisses.

And Everett

Day 2 - failed already

I knew this was going to be hard, but I failed a couple times already.  I had turkey lunch meat thinking it was ok since the ingredients sounded safe.  I also made a chicken veggie soup with boxed broth.  Apparently that's also a no-no.  Only homemade broth is ok.  Sigh.  This truly sucks.  I miss cheese and oats.  Oh and I also apparently shouldn't be using my cast iron skillet or wooden spoons either.

Day 2-
Breakfast: cantaloupe, fried eggs, coffee with almond milk
Lunch: leftover soup in non gluten free broth
Snacks:  cashews, sunflower seeds, nut thins, raisins, banana with pb (which is also probably gluten contaminated)
Dinner: tacos - ground turkey and seasonings, black beans, lettuce, tomato, corn tortillas.  I nearly cried for want of cheese and sour cream

This is turning out to be very emotionally difficult for me.  It seems hopeless and I keep thinking about how I'll never be able to eat out with family and friends anymore.  It all just sucks.

Gluten and Dairy Free Trial

Hi.  I'm Beth.  I write this blog.  I figured I'd better introduce myself since I haven't been here since.....nevermind that....I'm here now!  :)
I have had little to no ambition to blog lately and I blame my health frustrations for most of it.  As I posted about before, I have been having digestion problems since late October when they appeared out of the blue after a 10 mile run.  Since then, I have had days when I feel pretty much normal and fine, and I've had days when I feel very blah, and I've had a few days when I am so exhausted, I can't get off the couch and just manage to keep the boys fed and Callum in a fresh diaper.  Last Friday was one of those days and I've had enough.  So starting yesterday, I plunged myself into a gluten and dairy free diet for two weeks.  Although I tested negative for celiac disease (thank goodness), it is still entirely possible for me to have developed an intolerance/sensitivity to gluten or lactose.  So I'm cutting them and seeing if I feel better.  If I do, I'll try reintroducing one and see how I feel.  It's a whole lot of trial and error but what else am I left with when there's nothing "medically" wrong?  To keep myself accountable, I decided I'd blog my meals for the two weeks (not necessarily a post every day, but I'll try to keep track of all the meals).
Day 1 -
Breakfast: Rice crispies with almond milk, grapes, coffee
Snack: Kind Bar
Lunch: leftover rice and peas, corn tortilla with chicken and fried bell peppers, grapes, almond milk
Snack: PB and banana, pecan thins, vanilla hazelnut tea
Dinner: Chicken and veggie soup (2 bowls full), water
Snack: Homemade dark PB cups
Felt less bloated at the end of the day.  Weight 99 lbs.  Woke up feeling my typical quasi-queasiness.

Sledding!

Everett wanted badly to play outside today, but after breakfast the temperature was somewhere between 4 and -4 so it had to wait until the afternoon. After Callum's nap, we headed over to the golf course with my mom and some siblings and went sledding!

Callum wasn't so sure about the whole idea and preferred sitting on daddy's lap.

Everett had a blast though.

I tried out my new layer from Eddie Bauer. I was awesome.