The End of One Year, the Beginning of Another

Looking back at the year seems to be a common way to end it. It somehow helps close the year to be able to categorize it. Was it a good year? A bad year?

It's hard to say what kind of year I had. It was both good and bad. It brought endings and beginnings. There was a lot of change, but it was mostly good change.  I've learned a lot, done a lot, been very busy.

We've now been at Door of Hope for a full year. What a blessing this church has been to our family! I am so thankful the Lord brought us here; even though the road to get here was difficult and even painful, it was worth it.

We moved (again) this year. Again, a blessing from the Lord. As our family grows, He provides the perfect home for us.

I had my third sock book published; and am almost done with a big book of patterns- stepping away from socks at last. (You can get the sock book here, if you're interested....)

But the biggest thing the Lord has brought into this year is healing.

Through much prayer from friends, family, and our amazing church; the Lord led us to the GAPS diet. (Well, it's more than a diet, really, it's a lifestyle- but the diet is our current focus. The rest is coming about.)  And from this diet, my body has drastically changed. I have energy again. I can eat without wondering if I have to go the ER this time. It's been so wonderful. A lot of hard work, but truly wonderful.   And my daughter is feeling better too. I think the boys are as well, but it's hard to tell with all the winter colds hitting us at the same time as they are going through the beginning stages of this. ;)

Now we're starting a New Year, and I'm excited about it. I'm looking forward to seeing with the Lord has in store for us this year. More endings, more beginnings, more change- because those are what life is made of. But I am excited. I have energy to face the year, and that makes it so much more fun to look ahead and anticipate.

I don't have any New Year's Resolutions, really. I'm just going into this year with a desire to learn, to grow, to do. And I think I've started already....

My loving husband worked 2 60 hour weeks and a few 12 hr weekends to get me my Christmas present this year.
And this is what he got me:

A 16cup Breville food processor.  (The king of food processors. Have I mentioned that my husband loves me? 'Cause he does.)

And I have been LOVING it. I am learning all kinds of new things!! In 4 days, I have taken this:

raw almonds

to this:

almond meal (flour)

to this:

almond butter (which looks awful, but it's good)

And raw coconuts (which I don't have a picture of, but you can figure it out) to this:

And then this:

homemade coconut milk from raw coconuts

And the remnant is currently in my dehydrator becoming coconut flour. 

That's just the stuff I have pictures of. I've made sauerkraut, grated ginger, pickles, hash browns from turnips, chopped my dried fruit to add to my new GAPS version of homemade granola:

One version with nuts and one without for my Daisy that can't have nuts.

(which I have to say is fantastically yummy and addicting, and I can't get enough of- and now I get to eat it with homemade coconut milk, which is just so incredibly good- you have no idea how jealous you should be. ;))

And all kinds of other things I've done with it already, and that food processor is making my kitchen time less, and my play time more, and I can actually look ahead at doing school and GAPS without dread anymore. So we enter the new year with excitement, ready to learn and do- and be healthy. 

Happy New Year!!! I hope your year is full of blessings and rich with evidence of the love of Jesus Christ our Lord! 

What My Saturdays Look Like

This was after 6hrs in the kitchen with both Joel and all the kids helping. This doesn't show the box of apples waiting to be peeled, chopped and turned to applesauce, nor the 25lbs of carrots at the end of the counter, nor the pickling cucumbers and 'kraut cabbage- nor the 4 large pots on the stove full of broth and soups. Just to give you an idea....
One thing I have to say: today is my birthday, and I knew I was going to have to do this- I didn't know my family was going to jump into helping me so much so fast. What we did in these pictures would have taken me 2 days all by myself. :)
I have the best family ever. :)

Food

It seems like all I think about about, all I do, all I talk about, all my kids talk about anymore is food. I'm even dreaming of it. It's exhausting. I feel like I'm obsessed. Well, I am, in a way. I have to be. I wish I didn't.

We're about 10 days into the adventure of the GAPS diet with the whole family, and at the moment, our lives pretty much revolve around food. It's getting better- but it's still the main topic, the main job, the main thing we do.

It won't always be like this, but jumping in to a new dietary routine- especially one so specific- is going to take a lot of adjusting to. And there doesn't seem to be any time to adjust, as right now, we add something new to the routine daily. That's why it's called an "Intro" diet......because you are constantly "introducing" something new....

So for now, we have to eat almost every 2 hrs. (It sounds ridiculous, but it's mostly soup, so believe me, you want to eat every 2 hrs.)  The first 5 days with the kids on it were so hard! I only have one that ever really liked soup to begin with, and they missed all the yummy treats like bread and cereal and pancakes, and and and.... But they are awesome kids. 10 days into it, and my difficulty is not in getting them to eat- it's in making enough food to keep up with all their eating!

I'm not kidding. I have to get up at 5:30 with Joel because I'm the one that's done all the studying and knows the schedule and what we're adding today and what he needs to have in his lunch- plus I have to get up early enough to get breakfast ready for the kids- half of which typically get up around 6 anyway, and they are hungry!  So I cook, pack food, clean the dishes, cook more food, wash the pots and refill them, cook more food, chop veggies, make tea, grate ginger, and all that jazz from about 5:30 until it's done-ish. Which usually means I sit down long enough in the morning to eat and feed the 3 year old (who refuses to feed himself this odd food- he'll eat it, but his usual comment is "Ah, dang it!"), then work until the next time I need to feed the 3 year old; then repeat. This is not an exaggeration. I'm spending over 6hrs in the kitchen on any given day at this point- and Saturdays are twice as bad because Friday is grocery day.  On Saturday, I have to peel, chop, and freeze the mountain of vegetables I brought home so we have enough for the whole week.

Is it any wonder that I'm dreaming of cooking and of food?

But really, with all that, things are going pretty well. After all, I have the ability to BE spending this much time in the kitchen! Six weeks ago, I could not have done this. So, no matter how hard it is, I am thankful. Thankful that I am healthy enough to help my family get healthy. Thankful that I haven't had a major allergic reaction for over 5 weeks. Thankful that for the first time in 19 years, today, I ate a dairy product with no reaction. Yes, I had ghee. And I was/am fine.

As much as I dislike being so obsessed with food, it's temporary (I will get the hang of this, and after the intro is done, it won't be quite so much work)- and it's working. God is using this to heal us, and I am nothing but thankfulness, no matter how tired I might be.

Prep

Today, I made GAPS food.

Sauerkraut- with red onions, Ghee, and the one in the back is the beet kvass refilled. The ghee shown is from 1 pan; I actually did 2, so had double that. From 4lbs of organic butter, and it keeps for 5 months in the pantry. We'll see how fast we go through it when the rest of the family is eating it. I'm not yet. I'm putting off the dairy and eggs until I'm done with the intro at this point, just because I've had so many issues with eggs and dairy in the past.

Sauerkraut is really very easy. I think I want to try it with red cabbage sometime, just to see if it has a different flavor.
1 cabbage, sliced thinly
1 onion, chopped fine
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1-2 Tablespoons of coarse sea salt.
Put it all in a Large bowl, wash your hands, and start kneading. Knead until the cabbage is fairly soft, and there are juices coming out when you push or squeeze.  Spoon the 'kraut into a glass jar, and with a "pounder" (mine is a 1.5" dowel cut and sanded), pound the 'kraut down to get all the air out. Add more and repeat until all the 'kraut is well pounded in the jar. Cover with a bit of cabbage leaf torn off to fit the jar. Cover snugly, place in a warm dry place (with a dish under in case it foams out of your jar) for 5-7 days, then put it in the fridge. (not in the back, as it may freeze and kill all the good bacteria.) Enjoy!  You can also add different spices. I do one where I add shredded carrots and finely grated ginger. You can also add pepper. I've heard of a curry one that is supposed to be quite good. Not being a fan of curry, I haven't tried it. The kids prefer the basic 'kraut, I like the ginger. I may try one with thyme at some point, as I really like thyme. It's an easy one to play with and find what tastes good to you. :)

I'm doing all this now in preparation. On Saturday, we become a GAPS family, instead of just a GAPS mom. My family is so great, and I have the most supportive husband ever. I am very interested to see just how this diet affects the rest of my family!

Post Thanskgiving

Thanksgiving has been so much fun! We are all a bit worn out from the festivities....

But that just makes for jammy days with lots of snuggles.

It was a great day- lots of food, and most excellent company. And of course, at our house, the traditional "Feats of Strength":

(Which is really just a contest between brothers in an attempt to burn off some of the food and energy- but we all enjoy watching.)

Everyone had a great time. My niece expressed it best:

A day of big smiles. :)

And lots of food....

I made 2 of Lobug's Ultra-Rich Chocolate Pies. Recipe below...

In a mixer,
3/4 c butter (or margarine)
3/4 c sugar
Whip together well.
In a Pyrex 1 cup measuring cup, put 6 oz of Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate pieces. Fill in the cracks in the cup with sugar. Melt in a microwave for 2 minutes- 1 minute at a time so it doesn't overheat and splatter.
Add to the mixer.
Add 1 tsp or thereabouts of vanilla flavoring.
Mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 3/4 c of water and enough Ener-G Egg Replacer to be stiff. I never measure, but it's probably close to 4-6 Tblspns of the Egg Replacer.
Add that to the mixer and mix well.
Pour the chocolate mix into a prepared pie crust (I like the pre-made graham crusts from the store- if you really like chocolate, get the chocolate graham crust!).
Cover, place in the refrigerator for 5hrs before cutting and serving.

No eggs, no soy, no dairy (if you use margarine or oil), and super rich!!! Tons of sugar, so don't eat before bed! ;)

I hope your Thanksgiving was just as fun as ours!!!!

Thanksgiving Week

This is Thanksgiving week! Yay! I love Thanksgiving. I love gathering with the people that I love, and with new people, and celebrating all the blessings we have. And we have a lot of blessings!

Not the least of which right now is my health. I am feeling better than I have in years. Healing is a process, and I have a long way to go- but I am so excited about the progress that has already been made.

It is absolutely amazing how the body works together. How one thing being off affects every other aspect of the body. Things you don't expect- like the gut affecting the muscles. One of the benefits I am finding already is that my carpal tunnel problems are gone. Just gone. My arms used to ache- from my fingertips to my elbows- all the time. It was getting hard to open jars. Knitting actually hurt at times. But now- nothing! I peeled squash and beets for almost 2 hrs yesterday and normally, it would have been absolutely painful. It wasn't. My muscles got tired, but there was no pain!  And it's not like I've done anything consciously to help my arms. I just realized one day last week that the pain was gone!  Yes, I have a lot to be thankful for!!!

The kids are excited to only have 3 days of school this week. I am looking forward to the long weekend too. :)
We get to have family at our house all weekend, and I have the energy to enjoy them. :) God is good.

I hope your Thanksgiving week is full of joy and thankfulness too.

Starting to Find a New Me

I am so amazed at the change in my body in just over a week on the GAPS diet!  I was emailing a friend of mine the other day and listing how I feel different- and the list just kept going on!  I told Joel the other night, "I feel like a completely different person!". His response? "You're acting like a completely different person."

Not only had I not had an allergic reaction to any foods since starting this (I say had- because last night I did have one- but it was nothing compared to what I usually experience, and I'll get to that later.), I have so much energy!!! I had forgotten what it was like to have energy. Getting out of bed in the morning is not the intense struggle it has been for so long (like over 7 years long, we're talking about here); I feel awake and ready to deal with the day long before noon; it is actually almost hard to sit and knit at times because it's not active enough. I honestly have not felt this energized for many years. I would venture to say- since before I had kids.

Granted- this does seem like an excess of energy. I feel "keyed" up.  But at the same time, it doesn't seem like a bad kind of "keyed" up. When it is time to sleep, I am able to go to sleep. And sleep better and feel more rested by my sleep than I have for a very long time. My nutritionist and I think that this hyper-energy is my body ping-ponging- trying to find stable ground. After being down and empty and toxic for so very long, it's pretty natural for my body to "flip out" and try the opposite aspect now that it's getting what it needs and not getting toxified (yes, I made up that word. Just now. Don't you like it?).  Eventually, a balance will be found. But I confess, I am truly enjoying this excess of energy right now!

I am using some of the energy for the prep and cooking required to eat what I need right now. Last weekend, Joel visited my parents to do some work for them, and he brought home bounty from Mom's garden.
Take a look at this:

This is a beet. With the root and top cut off. That jar- is a half gallon size. That beet was just about the size of my head! With that one beet, I made a half gallon of beet kvass:

And had enough left over to freeze 2 quart bags full of chopped beet:

And there is still a box of beets for me to process and freeze for later. :)  I get to try the kvass this afternoon- it will be done fermenting then.

So on the intro of the GAPS diet, you start with very basic healing foods: bone broth, boiled carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, onions, and any kind of squash. Then you gradually add in specific foods and see if your body has healed enough to tolerate them. By the time you go through all 6 stages of the intro diet, you've added in a lot of foods, and the full GAPS includes even more. It just doesn't have starches, grains, or sugars, because those are the most difficult to digest- and the ones that bad bacteria and microbes feed on the most and produce toxic byproducts from.

I'm just in stage 2 at this point. It's time for me to add egg yolk and avocado. It's best to take a day or 2 for each food, just to be easy on your body.  So last night, I tried egg yolk. For the first time in 15 years. I did this very carefully, as egg is one that I was told years ago that I am "allergic" to. So first, I broke open a yolk and smeared some on the inside of my wrist and left it for hours (it's supposed to be overnight- but I always forget and go to bed without it, so I just did it in the morning). This is the Sensitivity Test. It was fine. There was a touch of itching, but I think that was just the feel of the yolk drying.

However, when I ate the yolk last night, I could tell my body was not ready for it! Normally, I would have an allergic reaction requiring Epi-Pen. Last night, my stomach was a bit upset, my asthma was annoying (not an attack, just needed an extra bit of inhaler), and I got an itchy throat. Oh, and a back ache (weird, huh? Never expected that!). And this morning, I was exhausted. It's crazy how FOOD affects the body!!!!!

So now, what I do is quit with the yolk (duh, right?), and go back to what I was eating before. I'm going to give my body a couple days to recover, then I'll try a different food, and keep working on advancing through the stages of the diet. In a week or two, when I feel like I'm doing well, I'll revisit the egg yolk- again with the Sensitivity Test first.

In the meantime, I am eating Ginger Squash Soup, Cauliflower with Beef soup, and soups that I just kind of throw together with the ingredients I am allowed. Add to that sauerkraut, beet kvass, and homemade carrot juice for probiotics and digestive support. This weekend, I'll add roast and avocado. I don't anticipate trouble with avocado, as it's a food I've never really eaten much of, so my body has no negative reactions to it at this point that I know of. :)

The diet is pretty intense, but wow. I'm serious, I'm starting to find a new me, and I am so excited about it!

Knitting and Teaching and Cooking, Oh My!

I find it hard to believe it's been over 2 weeks since I posted. What a crazy 2 weeks.

I have another pattern for sale in my Ravelry store.
These are the Kinara Gauntlets:

Glittery black with silver lace-up details. The black makes the lace stand out more against the skin. These were fun- and a pretty quick knit once I actually concentrated on them. Too bad they sat in my knitting bag for 7 months.... :)
The pattern is available for $5.                            

Other than that, I've been very busy with school- and dealing with my health issues.

How good God is. Through a series of blessings from our amazing church and equally amazing friends, I was given the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome- and the funds (and some food) to start the protocol outlined in the book (mostly diet changes).

It's been a week, and I am feeling much better! I have gone a full week without an allergic reaction to my food- and I am starting to feel like I have more energy.

The diet (GAPS diet- you may have heard of it....) is pretty simple for the most part- no starches, grains, or sugars (except natural sugars from fruits and raw honey). Basically foods that are easiest to digest- plus a lot of natural probiotics from fermented foods such as sauerkraut, beet kvass, pickles, kimchi.... All homemade from natural, organic ingredients. (I made sauerkraut! And it's yummy!)

However, while the full diet is not too bad (much less restricted than the one I was on previously), there is an introduction diet to get you started and get your body healing quickly. That's the one I'm on right now. It's a bit more challenging. Mostly homemade broths (bone broth), a few specific vegetables, and sea salt. That's how you start, then gradually add in specific foods (starting with probiotic foods) as your body tolerates it.  My stove has been on 24/7 for the last 7 days making broth.  I've learned new recipes for soups, as I had 1 or 2 basic soups I knew, and I got tired of them on day one!  So I'm making soup from butternut squash, carrots, and cauliflower, as well as my staple soups.  Eating squash is interesting, as it's not a food I've ever really enjoyed- good recipes are a must!

Originally, I wasn't going to start this until January, but a series of events made it not only necessary, but possible (where it really wasn't possible before) for me to start early. I say me, because I intend to put the whole family on this in January. I won't ruin Thanksgiving and Christmas for the kids, but we all need this. I'm watching the kids' "minor" health issues grow just like mine have over the years, and I want to help them actually heal now while they are still resilient and young. It's going to be a journey. We need to be on this for 2 years minimum (me probably for the rest of my life), and it's expensive. I don't know how we're going to do it, but God does. He's already starting to provide for it, so here we are!

It's also a lot of work. I'm finding myself in the kitchen cooking and prepping for 6 or more hours a day some days.  Not being one that has ever really enjoyed cooking for the sake of cooking, it has proven to be quite a challenge for me. But as the week goes on, it has gotten easier, as I have the energy to be capable of doing it. That alone is enough to keep me in the kitchen!

In the time I'm not in the kitchen, I'm teaching the kids- and occasionally knitting. It's a crazy time, but this is where we're at. So, if in the year to come, this blog becomes more about cooking than about knitting.... this is why. This is where my attention needs to be at the moment.

Something New

Just posted for sale on Lulu, 10 brand new sock patterns:

You know you need this for Christmas presents......  (click on the picture to go to the site for purchase)

The cover is one of my favorites- Silver Lining.
Some samples of the other patterns-

Double Ivy (another personal fave):

 Deviate (with yarn from Tempted):

 Rainforest (with yarn from Three Irish Girls);

 and Suzee Q (with yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts):

Get the book to find out the inspiration for the patterns. :)

Many many thanks to my brother-in-law, Bert, for doing all the photography. :)

Some Knitting

Remember this post I wrote- way back in April or so?  About the brown Celtic Gryphon socks?? Well, it took me a full year, but I finally finished this pair of socks!!!! I have 2 matching socks, just in time for when I need to start wearing socks again. I can't believe how long it took me to make them. It has just been such a busy year!

Last month, I also knit a couple of baby hats.
They were the same:

Except that one had a longer cuff- as I misread the pattern. 2" is a lot more than 1/2". Oops. But it still turned out cute. I'm going to have to knit some more here very soon. There are so many new babies expected! So sweet and fun. I love knitting baby stuff. It's so fast- because it's so small....

And, I also finally finished a big sweater! One that should have taken me 6 weeks, but took more like 4 months because of the move and school starting....
So here is a sneak preview- this pattern will be coming out in my book next year, look for it!

(Doesn't it look nice on my handsome hubby? ;D)

Things I Love About Homeschooling

Building learning models together:

Field trips:

And occasionally being done with school before noon. 

Homeschooling is fun. :)

A Letter from my Husband:

Fall 2012

“The Lord bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine on you”

Thank you for receiving this letter and taking the time to read it. I hope that it finds you more in love with Jesus and dwelling on His awesome word than a few months ago when we sent the last support letter out.

This Summer has been very busy with our family. As many of you know we have moved again (12 times in 12 years of marriage…..) and are back in Southeast Portland and renting a beautiful house that belongs to the director of Skatechurch; Paul Anderson. It has been a blessing to us to be 12 miles closer in to church, Skatechurch, and to my work sites. Paul moved his family back to his hometown of San Louis Obispo California to plant another Skatechurch.

I was also blessed to be able to go on another Canada trip with the Bible study faithful’s from Skatechurch this year. We traveled, without incidentJ, throughout Vancouver B.C. Sharing the Gospel at skateparks, encouraging each other to follow the Lord, and other obnoxious behaviors contrary to society’s norms.

The demo team was busy this summer as well with a number of demos in Oregon and Washington. I was blessed to lead a great team in skateboard demonstration silliness/awesomeness and Gospel presentations.

The start of the school year has brought back the crowds on every night of Skatechurch ministry. Please be in prayer for this coming year. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the fields because they are ripe for harvest and we want to be the ones who get to share the truth of the Gospel with them and disciple those that come to Him in faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross!

On the home front, Laurel has been very busy raising our 4 (wow!) children, doing home school, and being my wonderful helper. Laurel has also been spending a lot of time dealing with her health, as it is not going well. Her diet is very limited right now due to her increasing allergies and our lack of money to be able to get her the foods she needs and the professional help necessary (naturopaths, MD’s, and nutritionists) to move her health forward. As it is, she is having severe reactions that can only be controlled by epinephrine injections on a weekly basis.

 Please pray for her. If you are able to help us out financially it would really be a blessing right now.

Our current monthly deficit is about $500.

The Lord has provided a lot of work for me to try and fill in this gap (I am currently working around 60 hours a week) but we are still under water. This has restricted my availability to my family as well as to Skatechurch.  

I know that The Lord will provide for us and protect us in His time as He always has. I just need to ask you to be in prayer for us as we go through this season and to come on board as our supporters if at all possible. Seriously, if you could send $5 dollars a month it would be a blessing to us.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this letter and for being a part of our lives and the ministry of Skatechurch.

All donations to Skatechurch are tax deductible. You can give by check or money order by mailing to:

                Skatechurch

                11954 NE Glisan St. PMB #516

                Portland, OR. 97220

Or by visiting the Skatechurch website at www.skatechurch.net and donating with your debit or credit card using Paypal. 

Love in Christ,

Joel, Laurel, Daisy, Ian, Asher, and Milo Coombs.

Jesus Loves Me...

This I know,
For the Bible tells me so
Little Ones to Him belong,
They are weak
But He is Strong.

How good God is. All the time.

But sometimes we notice it more than other times.



Today, I went for a bike ride. We needed groceries, and Joel's bike had a basket on the back of it, so I went for a bike ride to get some groceries.
I stayed mainly on the neighborhood roads. I really dislike riding a bike on the main streets.

The line at the grocery store was long, and it took a long time to get checked out. It is Fall, and it gets darker faster than I am used to.

On the way home, at the last turn off the last main street into my neighborhood,
I got hit by a car.
No, actually, the BIKE got hit by a car. The front tire. Which is now folded at a 45 degree angle.

Now, let me tell you how I know Jesus loves me.

The driver's windows were open, he didn't see me until he hit me, but he heard me yell, so he saw me faster than he otherwise would have.  There was no other traffic on the 5-lane road we were on for quite a ways- so the cars had time to see what happened and stop so I could get myself, my bike, and my groceries out of the road. My groceries, I might add, that were undamaged except for the sweet potato that broke in half. The milk did not spill at all.

I'm alright. I have some mild sprains and some bumps and bruises, but I'm fine, really. No hospital visit, no blood, no ripped ACL's (which is amazing, considering how many times they've already been replaced).  The only real damage was to the bike- which Joel got for free anyway. I'm sad  he's out a bike and we can't do family bike rides now- but I'm not sure he'll let me back on a bike for awhile anyway....

Jesus loves me.

Last night, I was somewhat lamenting the fact that I don't meet very many people in situations where I can share Jesus with them.  Well, leave it to me to find some dramatic way to fix that.  I hope to see the driver at church some Sunday. Jesus loves him too.

Here we go again!

We started school last Monday. I had forgotten just how busy that makes me. I believe the only things I accomplished last week were cooking and teaching. It is a good thing I have kids to help me with the cleaning!

It was a good week. It took us a couple of days to get back in the swing of things, but by Friday, we were feeling comfortable and back in the routine.

For some of us, more than comfortable. Ian enjoys math so much that he would get up in the morning and just start doing it- before breakfast, even!

Friday, Joel's parents took us on a mini-vacation. We went to Cannon Beach and enjoyed the play, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, by the Coaster Theater (it was so good, and the kids loved it! Even Milo stayed awake for the whole thing), then to spend the night at a house in Seaside.

The house was great- although, it was apparently not built for tall people:

 Some beach time on Saturday:

And home again for a most excellent birthday party for the now 9 year old Ian on Sunday:

(Thank you, Diane, for the most excellent photos!)

And here we go again! Happy Monday!