Another Blog

For several months I have been considering starting a food blog.  Nearly 4 years ago I had to start learning how to cook gluten free and dairy free for my daughter.  Since the beginning of this year I've also been trying to cook without using refined sugar.  My recipes are all over the place, so I have decided to start putting them in one place.  If you want to check it out, it's called Just Another Food Blog.  It is my goal to get more recipes up so I don't loose them!

Our Little Trooper

Waiting in the Emergency Department

This is Zack!  Two and a half weeks ago we found out what a truly amazing little boy we have.  Friday night and I was baking cupcakes in the kitchen.  Suddenly, I hear crying.  No big deal, the children were playing.  I figured Abby had taken something that belonged to Zack and he was upset.  Then Abby comes running into the kitchen yelling, "Mummy!  I shut Zack's thumb in the door on accident and it's bleeding."  

I walked into the hallway to see blood.  I don't do well with blood.  There was so much blood I couldn't tell how badly it was cut so I grabbed his thumb, wrapped a dish cloth around it, applied pressure, and prayed not to pass out.  My husband was at work (with the van and car seats), so I was on my own.  Quickly I sent Abby to get my phone.  I tried calling my mother-in-law, but couldn't get a hold of her.  I remember shaking so badly that I couldn't dial my phone.  Taking a deep breath and praying to God for help, I dialed 111 (911).  The ambulance came shortly and took us to hospital.  Zack stopped crying as soon as they arrived.  He let them look and his thumb and they gave him a stuffed animal to play with. 

After arriving at the emergency department we waited for nearly 2 hours to be seen by a doctor.  One of the nurses found some books for Zack to look at so he was quite happy.  Zack didn't cry at all.  He was so content!  We were actually seen by two doctors.  The second doctor took a quick look at the thumb and said it wasn't broken and there was no need for an x-ray or stitches.  He instructed the nurses to put steri-strips on the cut, bandage it, and send us home.  His thumb was so swollen the stitches would have been incredibly hard to put in.  Zack only whimpered a little when they touched his thumb. 

We went home and Zack very happily went to bed.  The poor little guy woke up in tears at midnight.  We gave him something for the pain and he went back to sleep.  That was the only time he cried.

The next afternoon his thumb had bled through all the bandages and we decided to take him back to hospital.  After another 2 hour wait we were seen again and this time, they took one look at his thumb and sent him for an x-ray.  He sat so still and put his thumb exactly where they needed him to for the x-rays.  It turns out that his bone above the knuckle was broken - in several places.  Because of the cut above the break, there is danger that if the cut gets infected that the infection can spread to the bone.  To prevent this he was given an antibiotic to start right away. 

Two and a half weeks later and the break is healed.  Tomorrow we go back for another appointment to check and see how the cut is healing.  This will be our 7th visit and hopefully the last.  The receptionist recognizes him every time we come in and he charms her with one of his smiles.  He then proceeds to charm all the people in the waiting room.  One day we were waiting for an appointment and a lady walked in looking rather rushed.   Zack called out, "Hello!" and the lady stopped in her tracks.  She looked at him and you could see her heart melt.  She got the biggest smile on her face, said hello back, and continued on her way.  I love this boy!

Abigail's Story

Our little Abby has turned 5 years old today.  It seems like it was only yesterday that she was born.  I woke up this morning to hear the rain and the wind and it took me back to that morning 5 years ago when we were headed to the hospital to have her.  That morning it was raining and the wind was gusting.   That day was the day I got to hold my precious baby girl in my arms for the first time.  For a long time I have tried to forget everything that happened that day.  It is a day that holds a lot of pain for me, physically and emotionally.  So I have decided to share Abigail's birth story in hopes that by getting it all out my emotions may begin to heal from that day.

Like I said, the morning started out rainy and windy.  We were headed to the hospital at 7:30am so I could be induced.  I was 10 days over my due date and so ready to be done being pregnant.  My mom had flown over to New Zealand to be here for Abby's birth and the time was quickly approaching for her to return back to the States.   So that morning my husband and I had a quick breakfast and went to the hospital.  

When we arrived we met the midwife that would be with me for the delivery.  She was a new midwife so she had a more experienced midwife checking in on her as well.  They got me all set up in the labour and delivery room and she did her checks on the baby.  After a few minutes she called the other midwife over and they talked for a few minutes and she said, "I think your baby is breech."  I had seen at least 555 midwives over my pregnancy and none of them had noticed this.  The more experienced midwife couldn't tell if the baby was breech or not, so they tried to get a hold of the doctor to come in and do an ultrasound.  The doctor was in a meeting and told them to just induce me and he would come and check when his meeting was over. (He didn't believe the midwife because she was new.)  The midwives came in and told me what was going on, but that it was my decision.  Looking back, I wish I had just told them not to induce me, but I can't change any of that now.

Because I had seen so many midwives and none of them had thought the baby was breech, we decided to go ahead with being induced.  The midwives decided just to give me a half dose and see how that went.  I started having contractions only a few minutes after I was induced.  

After the doctor's meeting finished he came in and did an ultrasound.  Guess what?  The baby was breech!  I had already started having contractions, but the doctor didn't seem worried and as he put it, "Babies just don't fall out."  After talking with him and hearing all the risks involved with trying to give birth to a breech baby naturally, we decided to have a C-section.  This was about 9:00 am.  We were told then that I would be going in for surgery at 3:00pm.  Surgery sounded so scary to me.  It wasn't even something I had thought about.  I had never even spent the night in hospital before, let alone had surgery.

After the decision to have a C-section the midwives started to prep me for surgery.  I had to have blood drawn.  I do not like needles and needles do not like me.  A nurse tried a couple of times to find a vein and decided to call in another nurse to help her.  The second nurse finally found a vein and I was relieved that at least that part was over.  About half an hour later another nurse came back and said they had to draw my blood again because the last nurse had put her name where my name was supposed to be.  So again they poked and prodded until they found a vein.  All the while they were doing this I was having contractions.

The day went from bad to very, very bad rather quickly.  The contractions started getting more intense, but because I was waiting for surgery and they were concerned about the baby I had to be strapped to monitors and couldn't get up and walk around or anything.  I was stuck in bed, flat on my back.  I tried to use the gas for the pain, but that made me nauseous.  Finally they gave me morphine and that helped for a while.  After the morphine wore off they couldn't give me more because it was getting close to the time to go in for the C-section.  By this time it was after noon.

During one of the contractions we heard a loud "pop" and my waters broke.  

3:00pm came and went.  More and more contractions.  We heard nothing from the doctor.  The midwife was getting anxious and was pacing the room.  I was in pain and scared.  My husband was so strong for me.  He was there the whole time holding my hand and trying to comfort me.  

Finally they said it was time to head for surgery.  I think it was around 4:00pm by now.  They wheeled me from the maternity ward to the surgical ward.  The whole way there I was in such agony from the contractions.  When I got to the surgical ward the nurse came up to the bed, looked at me, saw I was in labour, and said, "Why are you here?"  

I lost it.  

That poor nurse.  I yelled, no, I screamed, "BECAUSE THE BABY IS BREECH!"  She quickly walked away and started doing some paperwork.  We waited and waited.  We found out later that they couldn't find the anesthesiologist.  More and more contractions.  By this time I couldn't control myself any longer and I was screaming in pain with each contraction.  My husband was so great.  I don't know how I could have handled any of this without him by my side.  The midwife was starting to look more and more worried as time went on.

The anesthesiologist was finally found and I was wheeled into the operating theatre.  My husband got suited up in a gown and stood by my side.  They quickly got everything ready for the C-section.  They had to wait until after I had a contraction and then they sat me up and gave me the epidural.  I was so scared because of how big the needle was, but I didn't feel anything but immediate relief.  My husband said I went from screaming to calm in a matter of seconds.  Within what seems like a matter of minutes they started the C-section, we heard a cry, and the doctor held up our precious little Abigail.  The time was 5:03pm.  They took her off to weigh her and clean her up a bit while they finished with me, and then I got to hold her in my arms.

Even now as I'm typing this I'm overwhelmed with emotion.  Hearing our baby cry for the first time and then holding her in my arms was something that I just don't have the words to describe.  Here was our little girl.  The child we that we had prayed for.  That day did not turn out like I had planned, but our little girl was here and we were in love with her.

Baking Lessons (A Recipe for Gluten-Free Bread)

I love baking.  When I had Abby I thought it was going to be so much fun to teach her how to bake as she grew up.  Now that she's older this is usually how it works: I get grumpy with her because she's making a mess and then she ends up not wanting to help.  Not at all the beautiful mother-daughter bonding time I had pictured!  Well, last week I decided this needed to change.  The reason she was making messes was because I had never taken the time to show her what to do.  If you don't know how to measure flour, you are going to make a mess.  After our first "baking lesson" she is doing amazing.  I didn't even get grumpy with her for spilling a bit of flour!  (She honestly isn't that messy, I'm just a bit of a neat freak.  Wait, don't look at my house right now!)

The first thing I'm teaching her how to make is bread.  Because none of us can eat gluten and the children can't eat dairy, we make our own bread.  We can buy bread, but at $6 a loaf we don't do this very often.  A few years ago I posted a recipe for gluten-free bread, but since then I found and developed this recipe into one we all enjoy.  So below you will find a recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free bread (it's so simple a 4 year old can make it!).  This bread is amazing for sandwiches the first day you make it.  After that it's still delicious, if you toast it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tablespoons sweetener (we use honey)
1/2 Tablespoon active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup + 2 1/2 Tablespoons white rice flour
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch (also called arrowroot)
1/4 cup corn flour (cornstarch)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 Tablespoons oil
2 large eggs
1/2 Tablespoon guar gum

Directions:

First, dissolve sweetener in warm water and sprinkle the yeast over the top.  Let stand to dissolve yeast.

While the yeast is doing it's thing, measure out your dry ingredients into a bowl.

Next, mix your eggs and oil into another bowl.

After the yeast has dissolved, pour in your dry ingredients.

Add your wet ingredients.

 Give the ingredients a bit of a mix by hand.

 Put the bowl on the mixer stand (you can also use a hand-held electric mixer).

Turn the mixer to medium speed and mix for 3 minutes.

Pour dough into bread pan lined with baking paper (I helped with this bit).

Smooth down the top with wet fingers.

Watch out for the baby at your feet! :)

Clean up your mess while you leave the dough to rise for one hour.

After the dough has risen for one hour, bake for 25 minutes in an oven preheated to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F for all you Yankees).  Now, behold the finished product!

Slice and enjoy!  Zacky loves it with peanut butter.

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed!!!  Ever feel that way?  That seems to describe my life at the moment.  So much to do and so little time to do it all.  Is that really the problem, or is the problem me?  Am I overwhelmed simply because I don't take time to plan things out properly?  In college I learned this saying, "Proper, prior planning prevents poor performance."  When I look back over my day I realize I could have gotten up when my alarm went off instead of sleeping in for an extra 20 minutes.  It's so much easier to get things done while the children are still sleeping.  Then I think, "but I was tired."  Why was I so tired?  That may have been the result of staying up too late. Why do I do this to myself?  Something needs to change.  I need to change.

Maybe this feeling is because my focus is wrong.  Perhaps instead of focusing on all I have to do, I should be focusing on the people in my life.  These three people to be exact!

Lord, please guide me each day and put my focus where it belongs.

Please Pray

Please be in prayer for a family in our church.  They have been faithful members of the church since it started 16 years ago.  They work in our bus ministry, teach our Junior church, and are very involved.  Over the last few weeks this family has gone through the following:

1. The wife has been in and out of the hospital for health problems (arthritis)
2. The husband's father passed away last week
3. The wife's mother is in a rest home slowly losing her memory and slowly dying
4. The husband needs more work to keep his business going to provide for his family
5. Just today the wife had to travel out of town to visit her sister who has terminal cancer and doesn't have long to live.

This family is really under attack at the moment.  Please pray.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from sunny New Zealand.  Wishing you and your family much happiness!

*Thanks to Steve Greig for these pictures.

Today's the Day!

Wanganui Airport - Photo Credit

Finally, after six long months, the wait is almost over.  We are going to be headed to the airport in a few short hours to pick up my Mom and niece.  They get to stay with us for a month and a day. :)  That means they will be with us for Christmas!  This will be the first Christmas in 6 years that I've gotten to celebrate with at least part of my family.  I can't wait!  I woke up super early this morning (5 am) because I'm so excited!

Just for Papa

My dad likes guns. A LOT!  He likes to shoot them, collect them, and refurbish (is that the right word?) them.  So this post is just for him.

Abby was sitting at the table last night eating her tea when she called for me, "Look, Mummy, I shooting the infantry."  I turned around to see her using a piece of lettuce off her sandwich for a gun.  (In case you're wondering, she was singing "I'm in the Lord's Army" she just got the words mixed up a bit.)

I also realized I never posted this picture for my Dad.  He sent this Daisy Red Rider BB gun over for Abby.  Don't worry - it's not loaded in this picture, it is kept in a safe place where she can't get it, and she has clear instructions not to touch guns without Mummy or Daddy around.  Gun safety is very important to us and when she gets older we will teach her how to use them properly.  For now, she just doesn't touch!

Sunday Blessings

Photo taken at the Winter Gardens in Wanganui

Yesterday it was our family's turn to ride the bus to church and look after the children.  We had 29 children ride to church with us and one adult (the Mum of one of two of the children-her name is Renee).  When we arrived at church I noticed another Mum (her name is Nicola and she has never come to church before) with her daughter.  I thought she had just dropped her daughter off for church and would leave, but she stayed for Sunday school and church.  This was such a blessing.  About 10 minutes later another lady (Ruby) who has never been before walked in and sat down for Sunday school and church.  What a complete surprise and blessing.  

Because I was on the bus I didn't get a chance to talk to these ladies much, but some of the other wonderful people in our church took the time to sit with them and talk to them.  We found out that Nicola has a brother that was seriously injured in a chemical spill at his work place this week.  He was taken to a bigger hospital out of town to be treated and things were not looking good for him.  Nicola said she prayed and told God that if her brother lived through the first night she would be in church on Sunday and every Sunday after that. Her brother is still alive and she kept her promise to God.  Please pray for her brother, though, he is still in serious condition.

Would you please join us in prayer for these three ladies, Renee, Nicola, and Ruby?  

God is so good!

Little Yellow Girl

Ok, I just had to post this.  I just finished this dress for Abby.  Next time I will make some changes to the pattern, but this works for now.  

Her Daddy (and maybe her mummy, too) loves her in the colour yellow.  Found this material that someone had given us and made this for her.  Now we just have to wait for summer!

GBC November Calendar

Here is the November Calendar for our church.  A very busy month for us as we prepare for our annual preaching conference at the end of the month.  This year Pastor Bruce Goddard from Wildomar, California, will be our guest speaker.  This will be his third trip to New Zealand, and we are looking forward to having him with us.  Would you please join us in prayer for this conference?

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

We have a pretty amazing park that is only about a 10 minute walk from our house (it's only about 5 minutes if you have longer legs than a two year old and you don't stop to look at every leaf, flower, and rock on the way there).

Kowhai Park

When we moved into this house I thought, "Yup, we are going to go to Kowhai Park  once a week."  Has that happened, umm . . . no.  The last few weeks have been getting warm here and we have started going to the park more.  This week we went twice!  

One of Abby's favourite places to go is down by the storybook characters.  There is Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet, and the Three Bears (they are all concrete statues).  Abby has invited Miss Muffet to come to church with us several times, but we're still waiting for her to come. :)

On Thursday when we went, Abby decided she wanted to eat her morning tea (snack) down with the Three Bears.  Here a few pictures of my Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Sitting on Baby Bear's lap

Mummy Bear in the background

You can't see them in the photos, but on the other side of the carpark (parking lot) there is a pirate ship and a castle.  This is such a fun park - for all ages.  The teenagers from our church even love coming here!  So much to do and so much to see.  Anyone want to come for a visit?

But I Don't Want to Give up Bread!

I love bread.  White bread, whole-wheat bread, French bread, I love it all.

A month ago I decided to give up gluten.  I hadn't been feeling well.  I was tired all of the time, I couldn't think clearly, was constantly having headaches, my mouth was full of ulcers, just to name a few problems. :)  I had already figured out how to make many things gluten-free for my daughter (she's been off gluten for over a year now) so it wasn't going to be too hard for me to do.

The one thing I knew I was going to miss was bread.  I had a bread recipe that I'd been making for Abby (here), but my bread machine is slowly dying and I knew we couldn't keep it up forever.  I had to find a recipe to make without a bread  machine.  I found this recipe on Pinterest for hamburger buns and decided to make it into a loaf with things I had available.  So, here is my recipe for yummy white bread.  {I like this recipe more than my other bread recipe}

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons yeast

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1 cup + 1-1/2 tablespoons potato starch

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/3 cup white rice flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 small eggs

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Step 1: Preheat oven to 170⁰ F (80⁰C).  Yes, it is supposed to be that low of a temperature.  Grease a loaf tin.

Step 2:  Mix sugar in water, sprinkle yeast over the top of the water and leave this to proof.

Step 3: Mix dry ingredients together.

Step 4: Separate the whites from 2 of the eggs (keep the yolks, you will need them soon).  Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  You can use an electric mixer if you want to.  It only took me 3 minutes to do it by hand.

Step 5: Add remaining egg, egg yolks, vinegar, oil, and yeast mixture to egg whites and blend together well.

Step 6: Add egg/yeast mixture to dry ingredients and stir for 3 minutes.

This is what the mixture will look like after you have stirred it for 3 minutes.  It looks runny, but trust me, it will work!

Step 7: Pour into greased loaf tin.  Put it into the warm oven and TURN THE OVEN OFF!!!!  Let rise for 30 minutes.

Step 8:  After 30 minutes take the bread out of the oven, turn the oven back on, and heat it up to 375⁰F (190⁰C).

Step 9: When the oven has heated, put the bread back into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Step 10: Remove from oven and tip out on to wire rack to cool.  Brush with melted butter or margarine.  Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before you try to cut it.

 By the way, all of the problems I was having before I gave up gluten are gone!  Now if I could only find a good tortilla recipe that's gluten free.

Spring - Around our Yard

Yes, finally, spring has come to our side of the world.  It has been a long, cold, windy, rainy, and miserable winter.  While the rest of you were enjoying your nice, hot summer, we had just the opposite here.  The days of sun are so nice.  Here is a collage with some of the flowers that are blooming in our yard.  My husband had the computer with Photoshop so I had to use Publisher to do this.  

 This is a miniature rose bush by our back porch.  I love it!

A couple of weeks ago we dug out a really ugly plant that was growing in this planter box.  We put some cauliflower and broccoli seedings in its place.  

I've also planted some spring onions, corriander (cilantro), and basil.  One of these days we will {hopefully} get the garden dug over and plant some more things.

I love spring.

Quote for the Day

"If at first you don't succeed . . . 

try. . .

try again.