Summer Fun with a Treasure Hunt

Round up some pirates booty and get the kiddos outdoors for some summer fun with a sandbox treasure hunt. Argh!

My kids both went to a pirate themed birthday party recently so I happened to have a pile of gold plastic coins, or "golden blooms" as we call them, and beaded "pirates treasure" necklaces. So when my husband picked up some new bags of sand for the sandbox, we decided to do a treasure hunt.

We tossed in the golden blooms and pirate treasures as we dumped in the bags of sand. Then the kids dug away filling their buckets with the treasures they uncovered. It was a great way to keep them outside and busy, especially if your like me and forget to count your golden blooms and necklaces. Oops! Just keep digging, I'm sure there's more. ;)

In fact, my five year old had so much fun, I have had to re-bury his bucket of treasures three times now. Then I just sit back, watch, maybe enjoy a glass of Yellow Tail and enjoy the sunshine and quiet while he digs till his little hearts content. Now that's what I call success!

Trader Joe's - Another reason not to trust a label

This is so frustrating to me! I have been looking for raw pepitas that are safe for my sons tree nut allergy to use in granola with little success. It seems as if every seed is processed with peanuts and/or tree nuts, so I was really excited when I found some at Trader Joe's with no advisory label. However, just because there was no allergy warning, I was still a bit hesitant about giving them to my son. Many of you, including myself,  have experienced issues with Trader Joe's products and there poor allergy labeling. This is why I rarely shop at Trader Joe's for anything other then bread (believe it or not, they're one of the only places I can find safe 100% whole wheat bread).

Luckily, I decided to contact Trader Joe's corporate office for confirmation about the safety of their raw pepitas and sunflower seeds in regards to my sons tree nut allergy and here was their reply:

Hello Trista,

Thank you for contacting us, and we do truly appreciate your comments. In response, our Raw Pepitas are packaged/processed on equipment with tree nuts. Of course all of our suppliers do observe Good Manufacturing Practices, which would entail segregating any of these ingredients and cleaning between each production run. However, to ensure your son's complete health and safety, we would not recommend consumption of this product. However, you will be pleased to know that our Sunflower Seeds are not processed in a facility with tree nuts.

We also want to assure you that we are indeed deeply concerned with the complete health, well-being and safety of all of our customers and crewmembers alike. This is exactly why we do voluntarily disclose any of the top 8 known allergens and ingredients in our products on our labeling for our customer review where other suppliers may not. However, as sensitivities may also tend to vary greatly, consulting with your healthcare professional is also the best rule of thumb in this regard. We also invite you to review additional information regarding our Allergen Labeling Standards via our website here:
http://www.traderjoes.com/about/product-faq.asp (see Item No. 8)

We do hope this information helps, and we thank you for shopping with us at Trader Joe's.

Sincerely,

Hazel
Trader Joe's
Customer Relations
Ugh! Don't try and take credit for looking after the well-being of your customers, and especially don't praise yourself for voluntarily disclosing the top 8 allergens and ingredients on your products unless you plan on disclosing this information on all your products! Their logic unfortunately just doesn't make much sense to me. Just another reminder to never trust a label!

Guest Post By Heather - Lily’s Village

I'd heard the saying "It takes a village to raise a child" more times than I can remember in my life. However, it wasn't until after my beautiful daughter, Lily, was born, that an unexpected event changed my life. It was through this event that I truly understood the meaning of the statement. I saw firsthand a living, breathing representation of my own personal "village" show up at critical point of my life.
My daughter was born on August 4, 2005 and my husband and I were thrilled of course. Unfortunately, my happiness was short lived. It was only three and a half months later when I received news that would change my life. November 21, 2005 was the day I was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer I had was malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer in the lining of the lung caused by asbestos (which I had unknowingly been exposed to as a child). Symptoms of mesothelioma are difficult to notice as they mimic common ailments. As I absorbed the fact that I had mesothelioma, I couldn't help but think about the little girl I just given birth to, and what this diagnosis meant for her.
If I had done nothing I was told I'd have a little more than a year left to live. Because my mesothelioma prognosis was grim, I decided to move forward with a very drastic treatment option. It was called extrapleural pneumenectomy and required the surgical removal of my left lung. The surgery kept me in the hospital for almost 3 weeks and after 2 months of recovery; I was to begin chemotherapy treatments I had to do all of this while adjusting to being a new mom who couldn't always be with her daughter. Without the help of my village, I am certain I would not have been able to make it through. 　
My daughter Lily was with my parents while I had my surgery in Boston. While my husband and I were in Boston fighting to keep me alive, we were surrounded by people in similar situations who understood what we were going through; they showed us love and support and helped us get through each day. My parents were experiencing the same thing back in South Dakota where I'd grown up.
Lily was with my parents who received a ton of help as well. There were little girls who I had baby sat for who had become mothers themselves offering to care for Lily when my parents had to work. So many of the people I'd known over the years and had gone to church with showed up and offered their support in one way or another. We were all so absolutely grateful for the outpouring of love. Because of everyone who stepped up to help in some way, Lily was able to grow and thrive while my husband I were able to focus on my health.

Heather and Family

Today, the nurses are gone and I no longer have to see my child via the grainy printed email pictures my mother would frequently me while in the hospital. Although my daughter is with me now, my parents have a unique bond with Lily because they were present for so many firsts in her life.

My entire family now has a new appreciation for life and the many blessings in it. The road has not been easy, but we have learned to embrace whatever life sends our way. Cancer, in many ways, has taught us so much about the beauty of life.

To learn more about Heather and Mesothelioma visit her blog at www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather

You can also follow Heather on twitter @HeatherVSJ

Sol Sunflower Beverage Review

I am so excited to share Sunrich Natural's NEW non-dairy beverage. SōL, a non-dairy, gluten free, soy free and tree nut free sunflower beverage, is a great alternative to milk. It is made from allergy-friendly sunflower seeds, an almighty super food full of antioxidants and phytochemicals that help neutralize cancer-causing free radicals and slow down signs of aging. Who knew?

Okay, so aside from the fact that SōL is loaded with Vitamin E, Phosphorus, Folic Acid, Calcium and Vitamin D, just to name a few, I'm particularly excited about the food allergy awareness the company has to offer.

“The journal Pediatrics recently confirmed what many American parents and teachers have suspected – that food allergies are increasingly prevalent among children in this country,” said Tina Nelson, vice president of Sales & Marketing, Consumer Products, SunOpta Grains & Foods Group.  “With 8% of U.S. children suffering from food allergies, and 40% of those kids having a history of severe reactions, parents and schools are looking for a greater selection of foods and beverages that are free from allergens such as tree nuts, which can trigger fatal or near fatal reactions.  SoL™ is made with wholesome sunflower kernels.  It’s a delicious, allergy-friendly beverage that everyone – not just those who can’t drink dairy, almond, or coconut milk – can enjoy.” 

They seem very dedicated in helping those with food allergies find healthy dietary alternatives.

So as far as my review goes, I gotta be honest in that I am not a big fan of soy or almond milk. I love regular full on dairy milk and fortunately we have no dairy allergies or intolerance's that prevent us from drinking milk, so I don't have much to go on comparison wise. However, my husband does try to avoid regular milk and dairy as a personal dietary preference.

The problem is that too much soy is said to elevate estrogen levels which, lets face it, kinda puts up a red flag for any man, including my husband. Other then possibly interfering with a mans ego, a rise in estrogen is a risk factor for breast cancer as well. (Yes, men can get breast cancer too, in case you where wondering.)

Another side effect of too much soy is hypothyroidism. So basically, as much as my husband would like to stay away from dairy, he is left with limited options given the risk factors of too much soy and  my son tree nut allergy obviously eliminates almond milk. This is why I was so excited to find SōL sunflower beverage. The health benefits are obvious and after a taste test it was clear, this was the way to go.

SōL is very close to almond milk as far as consistency, according to my husband (I have never had almond milk). In fact he preferred the thickness of SōL over both soy and almond milk. We tried the original, which I thought was pretty sweet, but they also make a Vanilla and an unsweetened which I think would work best for cooking.

Recipes using SōL can be found at http://www.sunrich.com/health.html. I have been using the original in smoothies and it's great. I think I'm gonna try the vanilla next. With a little added sweetness, I think it would make a great replacement to those artificial coffee creamers.

SōL comes in shelf stable, 32oz containers and is sold at fine health food stores and natural food retailers nationwide or at Amazon.com. I found some over the weekend at our Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. It retailers for $2.69. To learn more about SōL, visit www.sunrich.com.

Too Good to be True

Yep. Some things are just too good to be true. After A's last visit with his allergist I was absolutely sure he had outgrown his allergy to tree nuts. His skin test came up negative and all we needed to do was a simple oral challenge, that I was certain he would pass with ease, and that was it; we would finally be "normal".

Ha! That will teach me to get my hopes up! Apparently my motherly instinct was on vacation.

I am sad to say that A never even made it past his skin test. When we went in for the oral cashew challenge I was in it for the long hall; sure we would be there all day. I packed his video game, they had movies and LEGO'S ..... this was gonna be a cake walk.

Okay, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't the slightest bit nervous. Thank god! I have never had to use the epi-pen so the thought of this day possibly being that day, did send me into occasional moments of utter fear. However, my instincts (you know, the ones that forgot to tell me they would be on spring break!) wouldn't let those thoughts take over for long.

The nurse came in, scratched his arms and boom! Our visit was over as quickly as it started. The hives appeared almost immediately and my heart sunk. Seriously?! I was shocked, heartbroken, and angry all at once. It was not suppose to go like that. He was gonna start elementary school next year like all the other kids. He was gonna go to every birthday party, share snacks with his friends, go out for ice cream, and never have to say the words again, "does that have nuts in it?" Labels would be a thing of the past.

And here we are. Reality kicked me in the ass ..... Hard!

DIY Keepsake Growth Charts

I have been searching for a growth chart for my boys for some time now, but most of them are so cheesy and/or super expensive that I just haven't been able to bring myself to buy one. I wanted something that would last for several years so that I could continue to track their growth, well, as long as they would let me. I needed something very classic, not babyish.

Many of you probably remember having that one wall in your house where your parents would mark your height and either your age or the date. I still look at the wall used in my dad's house and it brings back so many memories. That's what I wanted, but unfortunately we rent so that was automatically out of the question. Then I found the coolest portable growth chart kit on WhipperBerry. It was exactly what I was looking for.

The idea is that when my kids move on, I can roll up their growth charts and put them away till they have children of their own. Then they can either use the same growth chart for their kids or just keep it as a memory. This is why I suggest making one for each child. Don't worry, it is so cheap and simple, you ll have no reason not to make one for each of your children.

I'm not gonna bother with the tutorial because Heather did such an amazing job with hers, there is really no need to try and duplicate. You can check out her DIY Baby Gift ~ Portable Growth Chart Kit here.

How to catch a Leprechaun

Aside from wearing our green this St Patrick's Day we will be attempting to catch ourselves a leprechaun. Now I'm no expert on leprechauns, but from what Ive heard, they are greedy little guys who like to play pranks. They are also nearly impossible to catch, but that wont stop my little guys from trying. They have been hard at work on their leprechaun trap all day.
If you'd like to try to catch a leprechaun tonight with your kiddos here are a few things you may want to consider when building your trap:

Leprechauns love the color green, especially green clovers which represent good luck. They are also attracted to rainbows. It is said that a pot of gold lies at the end of every rainbow and being the greedy little guys that they are, they are constantly on the look out for gold and jewels. We are filling our "pot of gold" with lucky charms to lure a little guy in, but chocolate gold coins would be really cute too.

There is a trap door in front of the "pot of gold".

As Cobblers, or shoemakers, by trade I'm thinking a few pairs of shoes might do the trick. I think we will leave our trap out next to some shoes at the front door. Just need to figure out how to keep the dog out of the lucky charms. Hmm?

My kids are loving this project! Just hope they aren't terrified to go to bed tonight with the thought of a strange little green man coming into the house while we're sleeping. Haha!

If you do decide to make a leprechaun trap with your kids, please feel free to share a picture. You can leave a link in the comments below or find me on twitter @OCFAmom. I cant wait to see what ideas you and your little ones come up with.