it runs in the family

We've been visiting family in Atlanta for the past two weeks and there have been lots of "bloggable moments" that I'm hoping to get to eventually. One such event was a quick thrifting outing with my dad who also shares the love of finding hidden treasures and bargains. We had been looking for a moment to steal away together to hit the charity stores down here since there's quite a few of them!

The first place we stopped in was The Hope Store. I had popped in to one of their locations early on in the trip and wasn't all that impressed. But Dad took me to a second location which had more of a vintage flair and was filled with more of the "junk" I'm used to sorting through. It didn't take us long before we spotted something of interest at the back of the store.

It was large, disassembled, and amidst a bunch of lawn furniture: a 1978 Atari pinball machine. The legs were gone and the top was separate from the bottom. Also the glass was missing on the playing area. Regardless, the back glass and the graphics appeared in fantastic condition.

The man working there didn't know how much it was priced for so he had to call a manager. She listed it at $45. I thought that was a decent price as the back glass could easily sell for that much on its own. But it was a big bulky item to deal with and Dad didn't take the bait right away. After looking it over for a few more minutes, the man said we could take it for $25. Dad agreed.

This was a great bonding moment for me and I think Dad will have fun getting this thing in working order. And I will feel like I had a part to play in such a unique find that will be a sure conversation piece in the Douglass household...though some may see my part as a corrupting influence. ;)

Here's a photo of the very same pinball machine in full working order.

Above photo credit: www.democraticunderground.com

Back glass: Funky retro graphics. Girl needs a better bra! Photo credit: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=2258

Playfield. Photo credit: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=2258

Side view. Photo credit http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=2258

best mother's day

All week, Ella has been ducking into her room to work on her "project." We'd finish school in the early afternoon, and then she would disappear each day for at least two to three hours at a time. She kept things top secret, though I could tell she was very, very excited about what she was working on and that it was hard not to unveil it prematurely.

Then, on Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, I literally did not see her ALL DAY LONG except during snack times and meal times. She worked in her room on "the project" tirelessly. At dinner time, the kids went to their grandparents while Bryan and I headed out for a birthday dinner for a close friend. When we returned to get the kids, the first thing Ella voiced was her plans to finalize her work when we got home.

With Bryan's blessing, she stayed up late to put the finishing touches on things and then she banished me to my room so that she could prepare for the following morning. She was giddy when she finally came up to brush her teeth around 10 pm and she could hardly settle down for bed. Honestly, I've never seen her get this excited even for Christmas morning. She could not wait for me to wake up so she could show me all her surprises!

This morning, I opened my eyes to see her next to me, wide eyed, waiting for me to get out of bed. She's crazy! She roused Simon once I began to stir so that he didn't miss out on all the fun. To start, there was a Happy Mother's Day sign over the bathroom door. Then downstairs we ventured to see more of the same signage in every room. Balloons were hung in the doorways and a large banner hung in the kitchen:

She had everyone in the family sign it, including Josie.

Once she had me settle into the couch, she piled up the wrapped gifts. She had worked so hard I couldn't wait to see what she was up to!!

This is a sampling of a few of the gifts. At the top left, you'll see a short story she wrote and illustrated about a young prince and princess who grow up sitting next to each other in school who end up falling in love and getting married when they are 20. Next to that is a pop up card which lists all the years of her life that I have been loving her along with the rest of the years that I will be watching over her. Then we have a duck tape frame with the inscription "Mom's are Great!" and a duck tape hair bow. The fancy project is a pair of blue sandals she made for me out of cardboard and painter's tape. They actually fit! (I wondered why two of my pairs of shoes were missing this week :)

My top three favorite handmade gifts from Ella were these:

Bouquet of painter's tape roses in a duck tape roll vase

Duck tape sculpture of downtown St. Louis!

Duck tape ring with gorgeous jewels

I don't know exactly what I did to deserve such adoration, but I can't tell you how full my heart was all day today. There are so many days that I wish I could express my love in a more complete and full way to our kids, to always be a source of acceptance, security and unconditional love but somehow I feel I fall short in expressing the depth of these feelings in the day to day living of life. But seeing how much Ella wanted to serve me, make me laugh and treat me special...it made me feel secure that it's really getting through. All three kids are so incredible, so special in their own way. I am blown away that I get to be their mom.

Today I truly felt like Mother of the Year. Thank you God for entrusting me with these amazing people! Bryan, Ella, Simon and Josie...I love you, I love you, I love you!

Photobooth fun today!

gone gluten free

A bit ago I gave you the back story on some of Josie's health issues which included symptoms of arthritis. I mentioned in that post that I had plans to meet with a homeopathic practice to investigate if diet could be part of her problem, a possibility that the rheumatologists didn't seem interested in checking out and pretty much told me that diet has nothing to do with arthritis. Just so you know...I'm not bitter about this but I felt very strongly that I needed to at least investigate a possible dietary issue before committing to medicating Josie for an unforeseen amount of time or to label her with a very heavy diagnosis.

I saw a homeopathic nurse practitioner at Webster Family Physicians just after Josie had received a steroid shot for the continued swelling in her ankle. (The shot was the next step recommended by the rheumatologists since medication alone wasn't totally fixing the problem.) The homeopathic nurse and I discussed doing some blood tests to see if diet was a player in the arthritis. After drawing blood that day, it took nearly a month to get the test results back. Her bloodwork indicated that she had no "allergies" but several low grade offenders which cause inflammation in her immune system. One of the offenders was apple which I had been giving her pretty much non stop through juice and applesauce which were the only foods she consistently had interest in. I had no idea that it was causing inflammation to build up in her little body! :(

The nurse explained that it was good news that Josie's tests showed no severe reactions to food but that we needed to get the inflammation under control so that her fragile immune system could recover, mature and strengthen. She assured me that if we got things under control now, she would almost certainly outgrow these sensitivities!

The plan of action was to completely remove wheat and gluten for a year or two and also cycle through the other inflammatory foods every four days, giving her system a complete digestive cycle before reintroducing them into her digestion.

I have to say, since being on this diet since March, (about two months) Josie is like a different child! She is sleeping through the night (HALLELUJAH!) which happened almost immediately. She is no longer emotionally reactive. Before, she would scream in frustration constantly, needed holding all the time and just didn't act like the carefree, easy-tempered girl I once knew. Now she's back to her old self! She sings and runs around, and laughs and plays with her siblings. And she's finally eating food! She's become a GREAT little eater! In fact, this morning I noticed that the onesie she wore to bed was way too snug. I thought to myself, "I need to take these old onesies out of her drawer because they are pulling on her neck." Then I stumbled across this photo of her from only four weeks ago wearing the exact same onesie:

Here it is baggy and loose. She has gained 4-1/2 pounds in about six weeks. It's incredible!

I so appreciate medicine and love our doctors. But I can't tell you what a relief it is to speak to a medical professional who sees the validity of diet and who is not in a rush to over medicate. I thank God for this amazing turn of events!

As of now, the swelling in her ankle has not completely disappeared. But it is well under control and is not causing her any stiffness or changing her gait. The difference between her two ankles is very subtle. But the idea is that once the inflammation has worked it's way out of her system over time, she should return completely to normal. I'll keep you updated as things progress! I'm one relieved Mama, I have to say! xx

For your viewing pleasure, here are some recent photos we had taken last week. The happy changes are visible!

Check out that healthy little toddler body!

To close, here is an image of her sleeping, sweet sleep, on the couch. She just laid down after lunch and fell right to sleep:

So happy to have my girl back.