Daddy got up pretty early today, but that's because of the glorious waste that was yesterday - he had to go in and do some last minute preparations. But the morning went off well, our last service of 2013. One of Daddy's favorites was a video we did parodying "The Lord of the Rings," but the winner was something on a more epic scale, our "Tribes" series animations. These was a spectacular animated series with the different characters that Madison got to see throughout Summer Xtreme. Back then, she was a Viking, so she was with that tribe. But a lot of people loved the luchador, which was a last minute addition that we all came up with. That was a really fun series back in the summer, nice and relaxed - and pretty fun too!
Yeah, so now we've already been talking about Summer Xtreme 2014, and what to do. It takes a lot of planning to make it all work, and the clock is ticking.
Speaking of which, we're winding down on the year, aren't we? Not much time left to do all those things we wanted to do in 2013. Which, looking back, we really can't complain about. We were blessed and highly favored. The greatest event for us would be the discovery of Mommy's reaction to gluten. While it is not a good thing, it is the reason why she's been suffering for so long. Just a tiny bit of cross contamination, and she's toast. So to speak. Her night will be ruined, cramps galore and a lot of time spent in the bathroom.
Six years ago, after the successful removal of all cancer, she started having these awful symptoms. For years, doctors attributed this to the "healing process," which of course was taking place: radiation and chemotherapy had done a number on her intestinal system. Yet for some reason, simultaneously, she developed a terrible reaction to all food with gluten in it. That's "wheat," as Madison likes to say. "Mommy can't have that because it has wheat in it."
Call it the inspiration of God, but Mommy started looking into this gluten thing this year, and started cutting it out of her diet. And we started to see results pretty quickly. What has been amazing is how gluten finds it's way into just about everything. Example: we went to a hibachi steak house this summer. All grilled vegetables and meat were on the table, being cooked. But that sneaky gluten was in the SAUCE. It's actually in soy sauce. It's in Nyquil of all things! So here you are with a cold, and you want to get better and a good night's sleep, so you take a bit of Nyquil. And your night is suddenly a whole lot worse.
But these are all steps along the way in a learning process. The bottom line is that Mommy now knows what the real culprit is, and as a result has her life back. That's not an exaggeration. She's been captive for six or seven years now, and suddenly in 2013, she's free again. Year of the Snake indeed!
We are so thankful to God for this recovery, and at the same time we know that new doors may be opening soon for us. It's all very exciting, and for us, this is the big story of 2013. We're still learning, but we're learning in a forward direction, rather than being lost with a forecast of hopelessness.
Okay, newsflash: Madison knows how to snap now. She's very proud of this. The moment you learn to whistle or snap is a big moment in your life, so I wanted to record that right now. Just in time for the new year, I can say Madison learned to snap in 2013. She's snapping left and right, although kind of quiet at first. Daddy will mentor her, and guide her to become the best snapper.
Okay, so that was a random moment from 1984. The guy's name was Ira, and he was a villain in a movie, "Romancing the Stone." He kept marveling at these alligators, saying, "Would ya' just look at them snappers!" During the golden age of VHS, we probably watched that movie a squillion times. Of course, if I go back and watch it now, I'll be shocked at the language (and more) that kids were exposed to in a PG movie. Things are certainly different today. PG seems to be safer than it used to be, for some odd reason. And PG-13 seems to be a little rougher than it used to be. The ratings system has certainly changed a bit - "Frozen" was rated PG, right? It's a animated Disney picture with pretty much nothing in it, but peril and musical sequences. "Beauty and the Beast" is rated G, and is probably more worthy of that other rating.
Anyway, the point is, things have changed. And they'll continue to change. We've had a monumental year for that, as media outlets have been at war with the traditional America. But we continue to be nicely sheltered here in our home, away from cable, satellite and even iPhones, for the time being. We're not quite Amish, obviously. But we were trying to save money for a time, and wound up simply not missing television that much.
Well, except for "Agents of Shield." For that, Mommy and Daddy have an antenna and can watch everything just fine on Tuesday nights. We got the antenna for two parades, really: the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Tournament of Roses Parade. But, without going into too much detail - and related to the paragraph above - we're skipping the Rose Bowl Parade this year.
After church, we did a bit of eating of course. We'll be fasting soon, but Mommy is tinkering with some soup recipes that are out of this world. We had this potato soup with corn in it - delicious. It was all made from scratch. She has to do that more often now, because most of Campbell's soup products contain... you guessed it: gluten.
Ah, the cruise. Remember the Disney Cruise? How incredible they were to keep gluten out of the menu. Mommy had no stress the entire trip, and for once enjoyed 100% of her vacation, without a stay in the bathroom while we ran off to play.
Tonight we watched "Despicable Me 2," one of Madison's Christmas gifts. Or, it might have been Daddy's. No matter - it was fun to watch together. The three of us love this movie, as does most of America. Those minions are - to quote Silas Ramsbottom - "hilarious."
I do love the minions, but Silas Ramsbottom is not only a funny name: he's a great character. I just love the way he's animated. I know: completely random moment there.
Anyway, after popcorn and a movie, it was an early night for us all. In a couple nights, we'll be staying up until midnight, but right after that we'll have to start acclimating to our school schedule again. That means getting up at 6 am! Yikes!
Yeah, so now we've already been talking about Summer Xtreme 2014, and what to do. It takes a lot of planning to make it all work, and the clock is ticking.
Speaking of which, we're winding down on the year, aren't we? Not much time left to do all those things we wanted to do in 2013. Which, looking back, we really can't complain about. We were blessed and highly favored. The greatest event for us would be the discovery of Mommy's reaction to gluten. While it is not a good thing, it is the reason why she's been suffering for so long. Just a tiny bit of cross contamination, and she's toast. So to speak. Her night will be ruined, cramps galore and a lot of time spent in the bathroom.
Six years ago, after the successful removal of all cancer, she started having these awful symptoms. For years, doctors attributed this to the "healing process," which of course was taking place: radiation and chemotherapy had done a number on her intestinal system. Yet for some reason, simultaneously, she developed a terrible reaction to all food with gluten in it. That's "wheat," as Madison likes to say. "Mommy can't have that because it has wheat in it."
Call it the inspiration of God, but Mommy started looking into this gluten thing this year, and started cutting it out of her diet. And we started to see results pretty quickly. What has been amazing is how gluten finds it's way into just about everything. Example: we went to a hibachi steak house this summer. All grilled vegetables and meat were on the table, being cooked. But that sneaky gluten was in the SAUCE. It's actually in soy sauce. It's in Nyquil of all things! So here you are with a cold, and you want to get better and a good night's sleep, so you take a bit of Nyquil. And your night is suddenly a whole lot worse.
But these are all steps along the way in a learning process. The bottom line is that Mommy now knows what the real culprit is, and as a result has her life back. That's not an exaggeration. She's been captive for six or seven years now, and suddenly in 2013, she's free again. Year of the Snake indeed!
We are so thankful to God for this recovery, and at the same time we know that new doors may be opening soon for us. It's all very exciting, and for us, this is the big story of 2013. We're still learning, but we're learning in a forward direction, rather than being lost with a forecast of hopelessness.
Okay, newsflash: Madison knows how to snap now. She's very proud of this. The moment you learn to whistle or snap is a big moment in your life, so I wanted to record that right now. Just in time for the new year, I can say Madison learned to snap in 2013. She's snapping left and right, although kind of quiet at first. Daddy will mentor her, and guide her to become the best snapper.
 |
| "Look at them snappers, Ralph!" |
Anyway, the point is, things have changed. And they'll continue to change. We've had a monumental year for that, as media outlets have been at war with the traditional America. But we continue to be nicely sheltered here in our home, away from cable, satellite and even iPhones, for the time being. We're not quite Amish, obviously. But we were trying to save money for a time, and wound up simply not missing television that much.
Well, except for "Agents of Shield." For that, Mommy and Daddy have an antenna and can watch everything just fine on Tuesday nights. We got the antenna for two parades, really: the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Tournament of Roses Parade. But, without going into too much detail - and related to the paragraph above - we're skipping the Rose Bowl Parade this year.
After church, we did a bit of eating of course. We'll be fasting soon, but Mommy is tinkering with some soup recipes that are out of this world. We had this potato soup with corn in it - delicious. It was all made from scratch. She has to do that more often now, because most of Campbell's soup products contain... you guessed it: gluten.
Ah, the cruise. Remember the Disney Cruise? How incredible they were to keep gluten out of the menu. Mommy had no stress the entire trip, and for once enjoyed 100% of her vacation, without a stay in the bathroom while we ran off to play.
Tonight we watched "Despicable Me 2," one of Madison's Christmas gifts. Or, it might have been Daddy's. No matter - it was fun to watch together. The three of us love this movie, as does most of America. Those minions are - to quote Silas Ramsbottom - "hilarious."
I do love the minions, but Silas Ramsbottom is not only a funny name: he's a great character. I just love the way he's animated. I know: completely random moment there.
Anyway, after popcorn and a movie, it was an early night for us all. In a couple nights, we'll be staying up until midnight, but right after that we'll have to start acclimating to our school schedule again. That means getting up at 6 am! Yikes!
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