Bread, books, Matariki and marbles

Monday 20th: It was Ruth and Rachel off for their EAV testing this morning with M. They were both really worried about possibly having to stop dairy, so they were both really relieved when it showed that they would be ok with dairy. Rachel shouldn't have too much (so not drinking glasses of it) but at least she doesn't need to cut it out. Rachel was the first one to not be sensitive to gluten - but she was to wheat and soy. And that was pretty much it. Ruth was the same as the others tested, and gluten was an issue - which means oats are an issue too. We can't afford gluten free oats - so we have to just do our best to make changes away from oats (which we have relied on heavily over the last 10 months). Other than gluten (which means wheat, oats, barley and rye are all out) the only other items that Ruth will need to avoid are capsicum and potato. I had wondered if potato would be an issue because her blood tests showed an increase in her inflammation after starting the FAILSAFE diet - and I put it down to the increase in potato consumption. So Ruth has always been aware of not overdoing potato, but now she will try to avoid it altogether.

I had found a recipe for bread with rice flour (and a bit of tapioca starch) and so I tried it today. It was a huge success. The family haven't had bread in 10 months - so they were thrilled. We did make oat flour bread when we started this diet, but as it didn't have yeast - it never really had a proper bread texture. This one has worked really well. We double the recipe now and make 3 big loaves (rather than 1 big and 1 small on this first test). You can find the recipe here. For the 3 cups flour I use 2 1/4 cups rice flour and 3/4 cup tapioca starch. I also increase the xantham gum from 1 1/2 tsp to 2 tsp. We also use coconut oil instead of olive oil.

When Ruth got home from school she was so excited about making a sandwich. She calls this her "dream sandwich" and this has become her standard lunch for school now.
Although Ruth didn't have many food sensitivities, she is quite low in a few vitamins and minerals and has a few toxins that need to be cleared out. M also spent quite a bit of time trying to find the source of Ruth's inflammation, but was not able to on this appointment. She is hopeful that after this first remedy, her body will be functioning better in general and then we can hopefully find out where the underlying problem is.
(NOTE: Through the week Ruth developed inflammation pain in her one ankle. This may well be a "healing crisis" as the drops start doing their job. By Sunday it wasn't hurting her any more.)

Hezekiah started coughing really badly this morning, so we decided he should rather stay at home. Asher went off to preschool and had a good morning - although she was much more quiet than normal.
Hezekiah is really loving having Noddy read to him lately. We have a whole set of the books. Nana bought it for Brendon's older sister and brother, so the books are over 40 years old.

Rachel read a chapter for him tonight. I was buys listening to Hannah read from another Noddy book. She has already finished one of them. Such a great accomplishment for her to read a "chapter book". She is working towards getting her free pizza through the library this year. She was so pleased to get her first "slice" last week (the slices get marked up as they read books, and once they have done all 7 books they get a voucher for a real pizza).

At 4:45pm Asher had a 1 1/2 minute Tonic Clonic seizure. Her temperature was up as well,at around 38, exactly what Hezekiah's went to over the weekend. So we suspected she was now coming down with the same thing. Also perhaps explaining why she was so quiet at preschool this morning. She hasn't been coughing and we wouldn't know if she had a sore throat as she can't tell us.

She was lying on my lap at 6pm when another Tonic Clonic started. This time 2 1/2 minutes and very violent. I was glad her head was on my lap as her head moved so much. The negative of that though was that I felt all the movements so intensely. I was so pleased Brendon was right there as there were times where I just had to stop singing or talking to her so that I could stop the tears. So Brendon kept reassuring her through those times. We were very thankful when the fever broke in the early hours of the morning with no more seizures overnight.
Ruth brought these two reading reports home today. They were done in May as an assessment of her reading level. She first did 9.5 - 10.5 years, receiving 99% on Oral Reading Analysis and 90% on comprehension. Then she did 10 - 11 years and got 99% on Oral Reading and 60% on comprehension. With her only turning 10 in July, we were very impressed with her results. We have always known her reading level is excellent, but it is nice to get conformation like this. And it boosts her confidence wonderfully too.

Hannah got this certificate at assembly on Friday. They have a singing assembly every fortnight (just teachers and students) and then a full primary assembly every other fortnight (where parents can attend). Both certificates that Hannah has earned have been at singing assembly, so I haven't been able to get a photo of her receiving one yet. She was so excited about it though. They had races with math fact families and she did so very well. She was only beaten by one other child. Well done Hannah!

Tuesday 21st: I took Asher and Hezekiah to the doctor this morning to just double check on them. Hezekiah was still coughing but the doctor just looked at him moving around the room and talking so much, that he said he was well enough to be back at preschool. He said the cough may hang around for weeks even, but you can see by looking at him that he is fine. He did still check his throat, ears and chest which were all fine.
Asher's ears and chest where fine with just a bit of a red throat. He did take a swab to be sent off to make sure it wasn't more serious.
Her temperature did get up to 38 again in the evening and she had a 1 minute Tonic Clonic at 6pm. Again the fever broke overnight but the coughing got really bad. So another week of missing Champion Centre.
Wednesday 22nd: We finally got to see Ruth's ballet creation today. She has been telling us about each step of it's formation. She did a really great job of it.
We have finally decided that Ruth is not going to be able to continue with Guides. Not in Culverden anyway. She may to it "by correspondence" through the Aotearoa Region (what used to be called Lone Guides).

She was not able to go today because I had a meeting at the school with Hannah's teacher and the Primary Headmistress. Hannah has been getting some extra help with her reading over the last two terms, and we discussed adding spelling and writing to this. With her reading having struggled to get going, her spelling and writing have been left a bit behind. It was also good to talk about some of the issues that Hannah has in the classroom with bullying, and come up with some plans to help her with this.
Thursday 23rd: Ruth enjoying a game of checkers with Dad after her ballet lesson this evening.

Friday 24th:This morning I headed into town with the 4 older children to watch Matariki - Little Eyes in the Sky at the Court Theatre. Brendon had taken off to stay home with Asher. We arrived with plenty of time to spare - so I got a photo of these three waiting for it to start.
I was a bit frustrated with my phones photos today (this was the best one I could get of them), so have decided if I ever need to take photos indoors - I need to take my proper camera with me.
The production was thoroughly enjoyable. I wasn't sure how much Hezekiah would enjoy it (being so young) or Rachel (being that bit older) but each one of us enjoyed it so very much (and we learnt a lot too). One of the things that I enjoyed the most was watching Hezekiah laugh. He understood everything what was going on and I was really impressed with his comprehension. We talked through a few things on our way home and I was amazed at how much detail he picked up.
At the end they taught us the start of one of the songs that they sang and Hezekiah learnt the words really quickly. He sang the whole thing to me on his own not long after we left.

I dropped the girls at school on our way home just before lunch and then Brendon and I headed back to the school at 2:20 for their primary assembly. It was nice that Brendon could join us today. Hannah and Brooke got to show the poster they created over the last weeks. They have been doing a Topic study of the Pacific Islands and these two choose to learn a bit more about Gospel Day. Hannah always loves spotting me during assembly and so it was really nice for her to have Dad there too today.
Again - sorry about the poor quality of photo. Lesson well learnt after this second fail in one day (again this was the only usable photo of the half dozen that I took).
And then later I took Rachel for a physio appointment. Rachel had tried to do some of her ballet lesson on Tuesday (after 2 weeks break from the injury). She didn't do anything that was on the injured leg only, she didn't do any spins or jumps and no point shoe work. She didn't have any pain on Tuesday evening, but on Wednesday she had so much pain, and the pain continued through the week. We have learnt that with a tendon injury, it can take a good 8 weeks to heal. So we have made the decision that there is just no more ballet for this term (2 more weeks) and then no practising in the holidays (2 more weeks). Hopefully the physio work will help recovery happen more quickly, but we know we just have to give it time. Rather rest and get good healing than have continuous problems with it.

Ruth got some tips on how to massage the ankle. I had heard that Ruth had rubbed it for Rachel the night before, so it was good for Ruth to get some good pointers on the two different ways to massage it (one massage and the other more friction creating which is deeper and gets to the deeper tissue). We have a great anti-flamme cream (which the physio also recommended) which she needs to regularly use to also help reduce the inflammation and encourage healing.
Rachel even allowed the physio to use 2 acupuncture needles. A really courageous effort from Rachel who has never had a needle prick before (she has never had to give blood and didn't get immunised). The needle going in wasn't so much an issue for Rachel as the sensation when the needle is "tweaked" to make sure it's doing it's job properly. I told Rachel afterwards that I actually like that feeling when the needles are in - because then I know they are really working. Rachel also had some ultrasound - a more relaxing way to end the treatment.
Saturday 25th: After their hair cuts, Brendon and Hezekiah headed off for some time at the park.
They had so much fun and came home smiling from ear to ear. Hezekiah is so imaginative and Brendon played along so much today, creating such a fun and exciting adventure for them.

Such special memories.

Story time with Rachel this evening. Enjoying a fun pop up book.


Sunday 26th: We ended up missing church again today as there were a few people struggling with runny noses and coughs. Asher's energy levels have also not gotten quite back to normal yet. She has been taking herself off for a nap well before lunch and often going for a nap in the afternoon too. Today she managed to just have her one normal nap after lunch, but if we had been in town for church, she would have gotten overtired on the trip home. So I'm glad we just took it easy today.

Ruth got creative with lemon juice today. This was her beautiful drawing. She had Hezekiah, Hannah and Brooke doing lemon art too.

We enjoyed a movie together in the afternoon and just took the time to really rest.
I bought Brendon this Chinese Solitaire board for Christmas and he finally decided to google a solution this week. It wasn't the same one his Dad taught us (we remember basic ideas of that solution but could never work it out fully). This one is really easy to remember and so Brendon taught the girls this afternoon.

Ruth then suggested having a timed competition. Brendon managed in just 48 seconds. Rachel came in at 58 seconds and then I had a go (even though I had been watching only and never done it before) and came in just after Brendon and 49 seconds. The challenge was on. So Brendon pushed and managed 36 seconds. So he stands as the ruling champion. :-)