Finally got to it!

After many years of contemplating to get it done, I finally took Master 6 to a Naturopath to get allergy tested.
Without waffling on, he is intolerant to eggs, yeast, wheat, cows milk, rye, oat, gluten, beef, shellfish, peppers, legumes, peanuts, strawberry, tomato, and ginger.

So, I want to ask you, if there are any recipes floating about could you send them my way please? Life is going to get hard quickly, trying to feed my hungry Little Man.
I have already stocked up on the grains, buckwheat, quinoa, chia, nuts, seeds, and a few others now easily available at the supermarket. If there are any online healthfood shops which deliver, please send me a link. Living in our location, it is not easy to source a lot of stuff, and I find the freshness of groceries questionable at times.

So, in the meantime, I am pigging out on the rest of the junk (with the help of Little Miss 5), to eliminate it from the household! This means a lot more thought on my behalf to keep the diet varied (there is only so many times I can feed the family fish and salad!), and a lot more exercise!!!

I am hoping this will eliminate Master 6's reflux issues, as well as the eczema he gets when eating certain foods. We were also told, if nothing was done, his immune system would decline, so I am super keen to get on top of this issue.

I can officially say I am not a paranoid parent, my concerns all these years have now been justified, and as much as it will be difficult, I am happy to finally know what to do to help my son!

Helping or hindering??

How do you know when to step in for your kids?

For me, today, a moment came when Master 6 had lined up for about half an hour to get on a duel jumping castle (where you challenge other people off a podium). All of a sudden he came over to me in tears, because the other kids wouldnt let him have a go because he didnt have someone to challenge him.
So, using my best kind Mummy voice, I told those kids they were not being fair. Just beacuse they didnt really know Master 6, didnt mean he had to miss out. I mentioned how I had seen him waiting while other pairs of children just pushed their way past Master 6, and he watched them waiting for his turn. So then I mentioned if anyone would go on with him, and the boys at the front just stared, and a girl half way down the line stepped up and agreed to go on. And because they had pushed past Master 6 and made him wait so long, I also made the kids let Master 6 go on next. I dont think they were too happy about my interruption of their dictatorship, but as the ride was a free one and being monitored by juniors, something had to be said.
I was so happy this girl was mature enough to give up her spot in line with her friend, to help my son get his turn, and we made sure she was thanked at the end, Master 6 shaking her hand for a good game.
I am proud of my son for his patience to wait so long, and I think he learnt a big lesson too. He didnt get angry, he was patient and waited his turn (never giving up his spot at the front of the line!), and when, eventually, things got beyond his control (older kids can be intimidating), he came and asked for help, albeit upset.

There are no rules to say when you should help your kids, or let them learn the lesson coming, but I believe as a parent, you know when your child needs help, and it is our responsibility to show them the right way to do things. I know we cant always be there for them, but just sometimes, it is good to show them we have their back!

Obstacles!!!

When we did tough mudder earlier in the year, Master 6 was jealous and wanted to participate also. Unfortunately he was way too young.
Since then I have learnt of several OCR's he can participate in, so on the weekend I enrolled him into a 5klm mud run obstacle, being held in february next year. Initially he was excited to hear all about it and wanted to do the event, but he does not want to train. 
It will be a family event, so we will do it together (hopefully DH can get some time off to join us), but I do want the kids to train a little bit, even just to be able to go the distance without hurtung.
So today after picking Master 6 up from school, it was just the two of us, I enticed him for a run around the block. Dont get me wrong, I am not expecting marathons out of him, god knows I cant even go that far, but I am at a point now, where he tells me something then backs out of it. I usually follow through with everything I tell my children, and now I want them to see how their words have consequences. If they tell me they want to do something, I am going to do my best to follow through with their requests!

Smiles all round!

Today marked the junior golf end of season in our small town, which means family day at our club. We played two holes then had a small presentation session. All the kids got a little something from the club, and they were so happy. We did not play many games this year, but I plan to make more of an effort next year for the kids.

Party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Wow, we have had a big weekend.

You see, it all started when I planned a trip to the big town (2hours away), for some school holiday fun, detouring about 3hours round trip to pick up a mates daughter so she could come visit for the weekend. I ended up booking in to the dentist and optometrist for the children, extending out day in town. We left home at 5am, and got back at 730pm. A long but good day.

So, the next day we were supposed to go to the other big town (an hour in the other direction), to meet someone, but they had to cancel as did DH. Instead, I took my kids to town for some more fun and playing, and a quick shop before everything closed for the long weekend.

Sunday was footy finals day. A big party was planned by some friends, which began not long after lunch. As Little Miss 4 was tired, I took her for a sleep before heading out, where we met DH and Master 6. After a lot of fun and no sleep from the kids, I decided to take the kids home. DH had had his share of fun too so we set off home around midnight.

Which brought us to today. No sleep in for my little trouble maker (aka. Little Miss 4), and as such we were up at 7. Today was the day of Little Miss 4's party, so my morning began with baking the cake (as I was a little busy last night!). As the day drew on, I felt like I had not left the kitchen, so it was a welcome relief when party time arrived!

Our guests came through the gate, and it was time to start (as unprepared as I felt), it turned out to be a great party, with the slip 'n' slide a huge hit (it was a little warm this arvo), most of the snacks gone, and the party cake devoured, the kids laughed and played the afternoon away.

Tomorrow, Little Miss 4 officially becomes Little Miss 5, and she can't wait to start school. Brings a tear to my eye! Oh well, off to wrap her present from her Mum and Dad!

 

Pleasantly surprised!

A little while ago I entered a competition to win a tefal opti grill. I thought, I never win but there is no harm in trying, right? So, I put in my entry, and a few days later when I was going through my emails, I nearly deleted the one from some stranger thinking it was spam, but it was tefal asking for my postal address as I had won. Wow, still thinking it was a scam, I sent my postal address off.
A few weeks later, I had not gotten anything,  but after seeing the pics of the other winners using their grills, I emailed tefal telling them I had not gotten anything.

Guess what arrived yesterday?

I was stoked when it finally arrived, so much so that it is all I have cooked on since! Dont get me wrong, I still love my thermomix, but this grill will hopefully eliminate the inadequacies of my small stove, and I will be able to cook those kebabs in one hit!

Work it!

Having recently discovered the source of my back/leg pain, I am on a mission to improve my core muscles, which in turn helps out with whole body fitness. Bonus, right?!

So, as most of you are aware, we are a fan of Tony Hortons P90 workouts. I recently discovered P90X2 and started on it today. A big focus of this program is core stability, so perfect for my current fitness goals. I have just finished the X2Core session, and I can say I am hooked! What a workout! And I am now a huge fan of form rollers, you basically roll over a foam log which in turn gives your muscles a 'massage'. Might just have to put that in the living room for when I am being lazy and watching the Tv!