I am a christian wife and mother to a brood of five. My wonderful husband helps with the chaos control. My children are on a gfcf diet due to autism and other medical issues. I deal daily with medical and learning special needs. I strongly want to encourage all home schoolers, most especially those with special needs! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:28:00 -0600 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:28:00 -0600 Around here things are always happening. Is it 5 kids? Is it curious homeschooled minds? No matter what it is I have children that must try everything for themselves. That has meant gravity experiments off the front porch. 2kids+1gallon blue paint+not telling mom=blue foot prints through the house, streaks on the FRONT of my house and regretful but nonetheless excited giggling. Recently I have had to spend most of the day in my wheelchair. Because my right leg and hip will go paralyzed at anytime, so I fall. It is safer in the chair. My house is two story and not handicap accessable at all. Yesterday afternoon it stopped raining for a bit. The kids put on boots, jackets the works and all 5 went out back to stretch their legs. I had to walk out to check on them. I thought it would be a quick peek and done. When I went out the baby was in the garden playing in the dirt and holding the neighbors cat to her chest. The cat was not very happy about this. So I holler for the rest of the kids to help. Then the chase began. The baby (okay she is going to be 2 soon so not really a baby) and the cat took off around the house. Then went the laughing 4 and 6 year old girls. I think they were actually egging Peanut on. Then went my 2 oldest trying to get to the baby. Last was me thumping along behind the mix trying not to fall over. The keystone cops would have been proud. Secretly I thought it was a hoot and loved the happy laughing children. When we caught the baby she handed over the cat. I am suspisous about that cat he stayed and rubbed all around Peanut's ankles.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/746157/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:28:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/746157/ Do you ever have one of those days that all you can work yourself up to making is scrambled eggs?  I really enjoy cooking and creating interesting meals. On the flip side if I haven't planned anything or if I have no good ideas I can punk out. Yesterday started our projects week. This week is dedicated to doing the larger grander projects that don't fit easily into our standard routine. After a day of keeping up with the kids and I am still pretty sick. I was exhausted. So I lamed out on dinner, scrambled eggs it was. New day, but more big projects and now sick children. Again dinner loomed.... I threw into the oven a bunch of potatoes and trolled through the freezer. I found an interesting package. I thought had browned beef. As it thawed there was not browned beef but rather some sad, creepy frost bitten thing. I laid it to rest. We went vegetarian. Now tomorrow is already on my mind. BUT I have a plan. I have a thawed roast ready to go. I'll add pototoes, corn and some rice dumplins. If I can pull it together possibly some fresh bread PB+Js for lunch. I think that will make up for the dinner disasters. Strange post... sorry I'll blame it on the steriods. Please feel free to follow me on FB I'd be happy to return the favor. The link is on the side bar. Also I post more often on my www.specialneedshomeschooling.com blog. God bless my friends!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/740175/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/740175/ Wow I was surprised to find my article in the homeschool encouragement newletter from Crosswalk.com this morning! if you are visiting from that newletter welcome! Thank you for taking the time to read it and I pray it helped you.  If you are interested in more articles on special needs homeschooling see the button on the right that shows the Company Porch. I write every week an article pertaining to special needs. You can also find me at my ministry site Special Needs Homeschooling  God bless my friends. Heather http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/735432/ Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/735432/ Hello my friends!  I was just passed this great deal over on FB.  If you use the code "thanksgiving" you can recieve a free e-cookbook.  Jules Gluten Free  I would ask that if you are doing some shopping for gluten free products consider buying them here. It's a thank you for giving us this cookbook free. Thank you Jules! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/732557/ Fri, 2 Oct 2009 07:08:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/732557/ Changing the whole way a person bakes can be daunting! When you are told gee you can't have wheat, soy, or dairy I just about cried. After all I am from dairy farm country in Ohio. My grandfather had a dairy farm! Change was necessary so we did. There have been breads that would work nicely as hockey pucks. Cookies that turned to goo and ran all over my oven. But nothing beats a recent pancake fiasco! My hubby likes to triple recipes, try new recipes at big parties, you know the time fly by the seat of his pants. He also assumes that anything he makes that looks generally correct must taste fine. So hubby is making the pancakes while I mix up some new all purpose flour mix.  The first pancakes come off the gridle and the baby is there crying for them. So we put her in the highchair to nibble on one while we finished. WHIZZZZ the pancake gets thrown back at hubby! Hubby scolds the baby picks it back up and puts a new pancake on her tray. WHIZZZZ another pancake goes flying. "Honey is there something wrong with the pancakes?" seemed like a good question to me. "Nothing they look great."  As hubby continues to make more. I stepped over and tasted one YUCK! They tasted like baking powder, bitter and nasty. The entire batter tasted like that. Putting our heads together we assumed that one of the helpful herd of kiddos had added baking powder into the mix when we weren't looking. So we throw it out and try again. This batch is wow fluffy and growing. Tastes....YUCK!!  Remember when I said that I was mixing a all purpose flour mix? Sam's changed the outer wrapper on the baking powder now it looked like the cornstarch. sigh I had to throw out over 20 cups of all purpose (baking powder) mix. At that point we decided to give up and get breakfast on the go. While we were getting our shoes on, there was a scream from the kitchen. One of the kids had found the forgotten second batch of pancake mix. I was growing, and growing, and growing.... It had overgrown the bowl and was trying to eat the stove. That is one of those memories that will get rehashed every Thanksgiving for the rest of my life, but it's a good one! ;) happy gluten free baking! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/730517/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/730517/ Spend today better educating yourself about mitochondrial disease - whether you are affected or know someone who is!!! (Note from Heather: If you have more than one autistic child in the house your dr's should do basic mito testing! Mito is one of the KNOWN causes of autism!!) Here are some places to start: FAMILY SUPPORT: • United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.umdf.org • MitoAction (Mitochondrial Disease Action Committee): http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.mitoaction.org • Muscular Dystrophy Association: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.mda.org • Fatty Acid Oxidation Disorders (FOD) Support Group: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.fodsupport.org • Organic Acidemia Association: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.oaanews.org • European Mitochondrial Disease Network: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.emdn-mitonet.co.uk • Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.amdf.org.au • Marcel's Way: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.marcelsway.org • Eli's Angels: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;elisangels.net RESEARCH GROUPS: • Mitochondria Research Society: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.mitoresearch.org • National Organization of Rare Disorders: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.rarediseases.org • Indian Society for Mitochondrial Research and Medicine: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.inmit.org • European Organization of Rare Disorders: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.eurordis.org • Mitochondria Interest Group: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;sigs.nih.gov/mito/Pages/default.aspx • Mitochondrial Medicine Society: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.mitosoc.org • Mitochondrial Physiology Society: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.mitophysiology.org • American College of Medical Genetics: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.acmg.net • Society for Inherited Metabolic Disease: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.simd.org • Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.ssiem.org GENETIC TESTS & RESOURCES: • GeneTests: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/GeneTests/ • Baylor College of Medicine, Medical Genetics Laboratories: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.bcm.edu/geneticlabs/index.html • MITOMAP A human mitochondrial genome database: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.mitomap.org/ • Mitoland: A Handbook for Patients and Parents http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.mitosoc.org/blogs/wp-content/uploads/docs/mitoland.pdf • MITO 101: A Primer for Physicians and Patients - http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.umdf.org/site/c.dnJEKLNqFoG/b.4585961/k.C6AC/MITO_101.htm • Mitochondrial pathways: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;neuromuscular.wustl.edu/pathol/diagrams/mito.htm • IUBMB-Nicholson Metabolic Maps, Minimaps & Animaps: http://www.facebook.com/l/ff795;www.iubmb-nicholson.org Special Thanks to MitoAction.org and FB Mito Awareness page for putting together such a wonderful list of links!  God bless! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/729952/ Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:35:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/729952/ This week is mito awareness week. My lovely children are suspected of having mito. I have written a general description of mito and how it effects our homeschooling. Please come on over and see at Special Needs Homeschooling  You can also find me at facebook or twitter with the username gfcfmomofmany  Have a blessed week! Heather L http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/729154/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/729154/ Hello all. Today I tried a new product called Chebe Focaccia Flatbread Mix. It is gluten, casein, yeast free and soy free!  The package is snazzy but small so I was wondering about portion. I used 2 packages for a total of 6 people and covered us all perfectly.  The recipe is really easy and a quick throw together. It only takes 30 minutes to cook and should be served warm. I tried it and LOVED it! I have had 5 years of GFCF diet to draw on here. I have never had such a nice textured, herbed,  buttery tasting bread. The price was 3.39$ at my local natural foods store. I will be using this in the future and I highly recommend getting some for yourself. I was pleasantly surprised that Chebe has several other mixes and frozen products. I hope you enjoy as much as my family and I did. God bless Heather Laurie Special Needs Homeschooling http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/728251/ Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/728251/ Hello my friends. I am still dealing with major computer problems and now my hubby's car is resting in peace at a junk yard.  Needless to say until the trees out back begin growing money things aren't looking all that great. But life is good! We have a roof over our heads and food for our tummies. I even got some peaches from a local orchard. My daughter and I even canned some jelly and pie filling. Right now we are fighting illness again. 2 of my littlest ones are fighting asthma and some sort of head cold. Then daddy gets sick. I am praying for healing from their illness. I know this is small but I am exhausted. We were stuck in the Eastern Panhandle all week thanks to hubby's broken car. No books, no meds, no gfcf food, in short next to nothing unless we went and bought it. You can only do that for so long. My budget is screaming right now. So God bless my friends and may this week be wonderful! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/726422/ Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/726422/ Wow what a hair raising couple of weeks! First Peanut is on another round of antibiotics. She is still getting a low grade fever for no known reason. She is going in at the end of the month for more testing. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated. Second through all this my lupus is acting up. I keep losing all feeling and movement in my right leg. That with several other problems will see me in the dr soon. I could use some good news there but I think I will need an MRI. Homeschooling is off to a decent start. Squire is showing his aspie side. He is really upset at the schedule change. He understands it is school time for his friends and for him again, but he is still working under his summer schedule. I am standing firm and I pray that he settles into the norm again soon. Other great news going on here... I am starting a special needs support group. We are meeting here at my house Sept 19 Saturday in the morning. More good news. My hubby and I are hosting a church homegroup especially designed to handle extra special kids. With all that we are under some serious attack. My hubby's car broke down, leaving me with a sick Peanut and no vehicle. Then the desktop broke down... hours later the laptop broke down. Funny thing is even the kids know that this is an attack because we are doing God's work. Through all this the perfect amount of money or help or a one of our homegroup happened to be at the peds so I could get her all the updated info. This all has the hand of God, not my doing. I am so happy to serve such a careful caring God! As to that point. THe special needs Homeschooling blog is going to be a ministry. I am not going to ask for money to assist parents in homeschooling their children. I am going to ask for sponsors and donations. I think that I will also try to find the best price on the most needed special needs books and make them available as cheaply as possible. I truely want to help special families thrive and enjoy their homeschooling experience! Well I have to go and clean. We are having a cook out this weekend and the house is still a mess. eck! God bless my friends! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/723442/ Wed, 2 Sep 2009 21:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/723442/