My GFCF kid + Udi's Gluten Free Foods = Happy Kid

Alex got a special gift the day before Christmas. A sampler box arrived from Udi's Gluten Free Foods for him to try out. It was perfect timing as we had long since finished our loaf of gluten free sandwich bread and they are not yet available at the Jersey shore. YET. You can however order them online and they ship anywhere in the US. I have plans to do this soon soon soon.

So, in the box was a loaf of their awesome sandwich bread as well as a whole grain (but still gluten free) loaf. It is rare that my son gets "whole grain" anything because of being gluten free!

There were also 2 boxes of the giant muffins: blueberry and lemon streusel. I popped the lemon ones in my freezer but Alex cracked right into the blueberry ones and was so happy. When he saw the muffins he asked me "Did it come from the oven?" As if I had just made it. So cute! Well, those 4 muffins were gone at the 1-a-day rate. It wasn't until the last muffin that I was able to break off a piece when he wasn't looking to taste it for myself. And so, I could see for myself why he ate them. Pretty darn good and not super sweet either. I'm not a big fan of blueberry muffins because usually the entire top is coated in sugar and they are almost crunchy - pleased that these were not like that at all.

Fast forward to today...

So, being that we are on winter break - the kids have been out of school for 2 weeks (also thanks to snow days here last week which gave them 3 extra days). My daughter asked me for pizza for lunch. I usually send her into pre-k on Wednesdays with pizza for lunch as Alex can't really have pizza (too many GFCF infractions) without me jumping through a lot of hoops to make him his own. Well, since little sis wanted Pizza I decided that we could do make your own pizza and how convenient because I had a 2 pack of the Udi's gluten free pizza crusts in my freezer from the sampler box. We usually use the Kinnikinnick Pizza crusts that are now sold in my "normal" grocery store (Stop N Shop) freezer section for $10 a box - it is robbery but kids love pizza and my son is no exception. So, while my daughter had her regular pizza (laden with gluten and dairy).

Alex made up his own on an Udi's gf crust. His pizza just had sauce on it with some tomatoes and seasoning - no cheese.

I am used to him eating 2 of the single serve pizzas but I could easily get away with 1 of these since they are pretty big (maybe 9" round?) . I cut it into 8 pieces.

He made quick work of eating almost an entire pizza and was so happy.

Yay for Udi's! Thank you from Alex!

Christmas Redux

What a nice white christmas we had here! The snow has since melted away and boy it was cold but it really added to the feeling of Christmas.

The kids as always scored big!

My daughter is loving her new best friend, an American Girl Doll complete with pretty purple eyeglasses. Her christmas was complete with many many a girly gift, including Pink Emu Knee High Boots, barbies, DVDs & DS games, and of course Zhu Zhu Pets.



Alex received lots of DS and Wii games, DVDs, and books that he asked for. Big hits include the Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs DS game and Wii Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs as well as his new Perry Chattering Plush. A very happy Alex, indeed.











Both kids had been longing for the As Seen on TV Touch N Brush Hands Free Toothpaste Dispenser, which Alex received. It immediately set his little sister Belle into a fit of jealousy because even though at first she thought they could "share it", this didn't work because they use different kinds of toothpaste. So, off I went to Walgreens and came home with a second one. We are now a 2 Touch N Brush family and peace has been restored. The funny thing is that several friends also with kids who have autism also had the Touch N Brush under the tree. I have noticed that a lot of ASD kids love those As Seen on TV items. In fact, I am certain that a few of the kids (my son included) can recite the commercials.

The best gift that I received this year is my son's better understanding of Christmas and the fun in GIVING gifts as well as receiving. This year he had specific things in mind that he was very set on giving.

For his sister, he gave her a Kevin Plush from the Pixar Up movie. I had already given her a "baby Kevin" that she loved but he was insistent on getting her Mommy one. Well, these are exclusive and you can only order them from Disney Movie Rewards. So, with the help of friends (and facebook) I was able to reach out and get an unused code so my husband could create a DMR account to order it (I'd used my allotment when I ordered the baby one for Belle). She loves it, and has been sleeping with it every night. Alex also insisted on giving the cats gifts. In particular he wanted to get a green collar with a Belle for our one cat that has never worn a collar. (The other cat has a red one). For the other cat he got a bag full of green cat toys. Green being Alex's favorite color and the cats being his friends, they also must like green. Happy the cat was very unsure about the green collar at first and hid in the bedroom closet for about a day. He's since had an attitude adjustment and is wearing it... happily. Of course, I think Alex likes it better than he does. If I can get a picture of the cat I'll add one to this post - because hip hip hooray - I got a new digital camera, since mine broke shortly before Thanksgiving.

Christmas was tough this year for me being the first Christmas without my Dad, but the joy on my childen's faces and being able to share in their joy helped me through. And this picture, is for my father - who I know is smiling from Heaven. My daughter wearing a dirndl dress that he purchased from Germany. I know that Grandpa, my Pop, would have loved to see her wearing it.

Merry Christmas to All.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

My little Prima Princessa and the Nutcracker Ballet

It can be tough being the little sister of a big brother with Autism. All the family activities are planned around whether or not we can attend as a family and with the needs/concerns of the Autistic child in mind. There are a lot of special events, especially around the holidays, that get skipped because they would be too difficult for her brother, Alex, to handle. At age 4, she doesn't always realize what she is missing out on - but I don't want her to feel like she missed out because of her brother and end up resenting him. Because of this, I try to plan special things that my daughter can do that are just for her.

As a child, I remember taking a trip every Christmas to go see The Nutcracker ballet. I usually went with my father, who I especially miss this Christmas - it is our first without Grandpa and fond memories of him are so close to the surface for me. When I found out that The Nutcracker ballet was being performed nearby, I purchased tickets for us to attend. My daughter loves ballet and is in her 3rd year of classes already! I figured that at close to 5 years old she could sit through the performance and would enjoy it. One of her favorite DVDs of all times happens to be Barbie in The Nutcracker and more recently, Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker.

In preparation for attending The Nutcracker Ballet performed by the Company of Dance Arts, we watched Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker many many times. Unlike the Barbie version which takes many liberties with the storyline, the Prima Princessa version is the "real" Nutcracker. We first fell in love with Prima Princessa last year when she received Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake DVD. What is so great about both is that they include real ballet performances of the actual ballet with child-appropriate narration explaining what is happening in that ballet Act. Unlike musicals or plays, there is no spoken word at The Ballet so kids may struggle with understanding the storyline as it is played out through dance. In between segments of dance, Prima Princessa includes video clips of children dancing ballet and illustrates real dance moves with proper terminology. My daughter takes dance class and knows many moves but she didn't know the names of the moves she was learning until watching the Prima Princessa DVDs. If you have a little girl who loves to dance, these DVDs are must haves for your collection and a nice diversion from the usual Barbie dreck.

Since she had watched her Nutcracker DVD, oh.... 10,987 times (or thereabouts) over the past few months - I think my daughter knew the Nutcracker storyline better than I did. She was counting and waiting for the days to attend the live performance. We had a close call due to a huge blizzard here in New Jersey and our Saturday afternoon performance ended up getting postponed until Sunday at 7pm. When the snow didn't stop, I feared that we wouldn't be able to attend the ballet at all. My daughter cried. I cried. I felt mad! But, we still had Prima Princessa and if we had to dress up fancy and sit down and watch it together (kicking out the boys) I would have. The good news was - the snow stopped and the roads started getting plowed out. I decided we could get safely there and back to the rescheduled performance. My daughter was over the moon excited and couldn't get ready fast enough. I worried a bit that sitting through the 2 hour program would be difficult for her - even with the 10 minute break. When we got there it was magic. My daughter sat eyes wide open and loved every minute of it. She took in every saute, glissade, and passe and couldn't take her eyes off of the dancers. Even cuter was when she was doing her own narration, ala the Prima Princessa fairy, and explaining to me what she saw on the stage. There was a little girl about 10 years old sitting near us and she commented to my daughter that she sure did know a lot about The Nutcracker! The credit goes only to the fact she has watched her beloved Prima Princessa DVD so many times.

The two of us had a magical time at the ballet together. I am glad to have taken the time and braved the snow to appreciate her for her without being in her brother's shadow.

Yes, watching The Nutcracker ballet with Belle, I fell in love with my daughter all over again. I am so proud of the beautiful and smart young girl she is shaping up to be.




Related Links:
Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake
Buy Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker
Prima Princessa Website

Disclaimer: I did receive the Prima Princessa DVDs to try for review purposes.

Carnivorous Snow in New Jersey

We woke up to even more snow today! Not a surprise.. hockey was canceled.

There is so much snow, you can't even see my husband's car - it is buried. My van was completely blocked in and the snow was practically up to the windows.















This is the most snow I have seen in New Jersey since we moved here 5 years ago.

Kurt went out to dig the snow out and Belle went out to play. She made a snow angel and couldn't stand up. She announced that "the carnivorous snow is eating me".







I took a video on my phone. She had such a blast. Both kids want to go back out and build new snowmen but Daddy needs to thaw out. He was out there for close to 3 hours and still isn't done!

Snow in New Jersey

Well, we've got snow on the Jersey Shore.

The kids couldn't get outside fast enough.




















To make this:















So... the weekend plans have completely been shuffled. Today I was supposed to take Belle to go to the Nutcracker ballet. She'd been preparing for weeks and had a special new pretty dress all ready to wear. Snowed out. The performance is rescheduled for tomorrow night at 7pm - that is late for a 4 year old, because it is 2 and a half hours long. She may just have to enjoy her Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker DVD instead.

Alex was supposed to go to computer school but the snowy dangerous roads put a halt to that today. Class was canceled.

Tonight we were supposed to go to a neighbors house for the Santa deliveries from the local firehouse, that looks to be off as well.

Tomorrow Alex was supposed to go to the Elks christmas party for special needs children - that is postponed as well - til next weekend - of course, after Christmas but the kids will still enjoy.

Today we are staying inside, safe and warm - enjoying family.

Green Gluten Free Cake

Because no birthday is complete without cake...

Here's the green cake that Belle and I made for Alex. Its actually chocolate cake, with a whole container of green sugar sprinkles on the top of dairy-free frosting.

Happy Birthday to Alex!

Today is Alex's 9th birthday.

It is so hard to believe that my 'baby' boy is growing older and I am the mother of a NINE year old. Next year will be double digits. I haven't cried yet as I usually do on his birthdays but the day isn't over yet.

Today at school they took a field trip to the Shoemaker and the Christmas Elves show at the Algonquin Arts center. Afterwards the class was having pizza so I sent in 2 gluten free individual pizzas made on Kinnikinnick gfcf crust. The pizzas were a hit and the teacher said he ate both of them!

I also made him a gluten free chocolate cake from Namaste Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix. Then, I had to send that in to school! I didn't trust that the cake carrier would make it on the school bus so I put it into a re-usable bag (UP of course) and sent that in. Half the cake came back home, so the kids did a pretty good job on that too. Gotta love hungry boys!!!



So, tonight we are going out to dinner to celebrate. We asked Alex where he would like to go - pick any place. He picked to go to the diner, of all places. Good choice!

And of course we will have gifts. He asked me after getting off the bus if he "earned a gift". I can't believe these haven't been ripped open yet. He was going to open them but his little sister has proclaimed that he can't open them until after dinner!!!

Here's my birthday boy wearing a new shirt that I got him just for the occasion.

Can you tell GREEN is his favorite color?

I broke one of my own rules about using holiday wrapping for his gifts. The foil bag is a Christmas gift bag but it was the only dark green they had at the store and I figure since the gifts inside are wrapped in birthday, that's ok. With a birthday so close to Christmas he has gotten many a birthday gift wrapped in christmas paper over the years - it drives me nuts.

I'm looking forward to his birthday meal and seeing how excited he gets when he opens his gifts!

Update: Bossy Belle has conceded that Alex is able to open 1 gift before dinner. She picked the one that he REALLY has been asking for. Here we have Wii - UP game!

Happy Birthday Alex!!!

Who's Afraid of Santa?

We went to the Brick Challenger Christmas party tonight.
Guess who is afraid of Santa?



















Not Alex!

...But, my typical daughter is. She wouldn't go near Santa even though she knew if she sat on his lap she would get a gift and that gift might even possibly be a Barbie... No, she would have no part of it. How ironic is it that one of the only "typical" kids in the room is the one that is afraid of Santa. Meanwhile all the autistic kids couldn't get into Santa's lap fast enough!! Go figure. Our kid is the coward. I felt so bad for her and tried to prod her to go to Santa's lap by offering to go sit on his lap with her but she was having no part of it. Oh well, maybe next year.

There was a time when this party was "too much" for Alex. But, today he did pretty darn good despite the loud music, etc. They have a DJ spinning Christmas music and the kids have to wait in line to go and sit on Santa's lap to get a gift. He did fine - nice waiting and then sat on Santa's lap, smiled, thanked Santa, gave Santa a hug. I brought his own snacks with us (gluten free cookies and pretzels) since the snacks they had there were off limits for the most part. He saw some friends there and even went over and tried to play with some of them right where the loud music was playing. He was fine, until we left - then he somehow managed to trip and fall over his own feet and hurt his knee/bruised his ego. So, it didn't end on the best note. But, overall the party was a win!

Thank You and Happy Holidays to Brick Challenger :)

Thanks to Udi's Bread My GFCF kid can finally eat Sandwiches again

About a month ago a friend of mine who also has a son on the GFCF diet told me that she had found a really good gluten free bread - the brand is Udi's.

I admit that I was extremely skeptical because sadly most GF loaf breads that I have purchased taste like styrofoam and my son won't touch it, not to mention the cost. Anyways, she told me that she was placing a big order for it and would share a loaf with me. I put it in my freezer and I forgot about it.

Earlier this week I was in my freezer and found it and decided to give it a whirl. First of all- I was surprised because it says you don't need to toast this bread! You can defrost it and keep it in the fridge! So, I did. And the next day I sent my son to school with a sandwich on it. I let him know that it was gluten free bread and that it was OK. He is so used to NOT eating bread that I didn't want to freak him out. That day - I got a note home from his para-professional asking me if he was "back on bread" again - meaning that he was off the diet. I wrote a big note back saying that it is gluten free bread and that he is absolutely still on the diet. We don't need THAT confusion going on given the other 'issues' we already have with food at school.

All week I have been making Alex "eggs in the basket", toast, sandwiches. This bread really tastes and responds just like regular bread. I love that you don't need to toast it to serve it - way more family friendly. So, now the week is done and the loaf is gone. Looks like I will be making a trip soon to Whole Foods to pick some up and/or placing my own order for Udi's Sandwich bread. My kid can finally eat Sandwiches again!

http://www.udisglutenfree.com/

Raising a Jersey Girl

December 09, 2009

Raising a Jersey Girl

On Thursday my daughter went to the Tropical Nightclub and on Friday she went to the Diva Spa. Such is the life of a four year old at the Jersey Shore. And, that is how we roll around here.

When my daughter, the social butterfly that she is, was invited to attend a party at the Tropical Nightclub for Kids I did a double take. I mean, I didn't get to see the inside of a nightclub until I was in high school and some friends and I chalked our drivers license so we could get inside for an over/under night. So, while a part of me felt that the whole "nightclub" thing was inappropriate for kids - I had to check this out. Friends of mine had just talked about taking their toddlers to Baby Loves Disco which is held in an actual club in Philly. And now, my 4 year old was invited to a nightclub (for kids). I let her go, I went with her, and she had a blast. The place looks kind of like a mix between popular Jersey Shore hot spots Jenks Club and Martell's Tiki Bar - except the patrons are all under 4 foot tall and are dancing to kids music.

On Friday, my daughter joined me in some pampering at the local "diva spa". How convenient for me (and my daughter) as the place is all of 2 minutes away from our home. My daughter has frequented several birthday parties there, and they do kids cuts, mother/daughter days, mani/pedis and all that girly fun. Since it opened in the spring we've gone there a few times and my daughter is all about the pedicure.This trip we were (finally) redeeming a mother's day gift certificate from Daddy and getting in some quality time together soaking our feet and getting our nails painted matching sparkly pink and purple. My daughter got a fancy sparking up-do hairstyle and I got a hand and foot massage. Ah Spa Bliss!

I have relatives and friends that have "lost it" on me - on facebook of all places - when I shared the cute little picture of my daughter wearing a spa-robe getting a pedicure. I've been accused of being frivolous because my 4 year old got a pedicure. I don't see the harm in teaching her that it is fun to get pampered now and again as a treat. If she came to expect it, that would be a completely different beast. For now, she is enjoying going to the girliest place on earth and I don't blame her! Besides, as the saying goes "Jersey Girls Wear Flip Flops in the Snow" - So, those toes better look nice!

But, its given me pause to think about the messages that we are sending our little kids through these "grown up" birthday parties and extravaganzas.

If we are taking our kids to Nightclubs and Spas today - what's left for tomorrow?

New Jersey Moms Blog post by MaryTara. MT blogs her adventures in parenting two beautiful children on the Jersey Shore, life with autism & without it, the gluten & casein free diet, and vaccination choice issues at The Bon Bon Gazette and raising a child with amblyopia at Adventures in Amblyopia.

Letters to Santa

The difference between my 2 children is clearly displayed in their Letters to Santa this year.





















My daughter has taken 3 days to write Dear Santa and draw a garden with flowers and grass, she isn't done yet - nor has she asked for anything (Yet!)

My son took all of 30 seconds to write (in his favorite color green) a specific list of video games he wants. I was aware of all but one of them, so I am glad I had him take those 30 seconds out of his day to spell it out for Santa!

Dear Santa,
I would like Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs DS,Gardening Mama,Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop, and Rabbids Go Home DS.
Love, Alex

So, there we have it!

Ps. Santa, I'm asking for a new digital camera since mine stopped working a couple weeks ago and now I can only take pictures using my cellphone.