"I'm So Happy"

Gabriel has started using the phrase "I'm so happy." His cousins, Ashley and Forest, came to visit a few weeks ago and in his glee and excitement he shouted "I'm so happy". Up until today, he has only said it a few times when he is really excited.

This morning, he decided to throw a tantrum when I tried to dress him. He carried on for over 1/2 a hour, during which, I tried consoling him, reprimanding him, ignoring him, etc. Anyway, the culmination came when I finally had had enough and closed him out of the laundry room. I had clothes to fold and I was tired of listening to him. He went absolutely crazy. But I just left him out in the hall. I figured Todd could take care of it and he did. Todd came out, sat with him and cuddled him until he calmed down. I suppose it sounds like I wasn't being a good mom, but Gabriel was specifically mad at me and nothing I did could calm him down. Sometimes, Todd can calm him down when I can't. Anyway, after a little while Gabriel started to try to get my attention. He has never said "I'm sorry," but I could tell that he was trying to reconcile. So I went over and hugged him and kissed him and told him that I loved him. He stood back, looked me in the eyes and shyly said, "I'm so happy." I gave him another hug and kiss and told him "I'm so happy too." I didn't enjoy the tantrum, but it was wonderful to know that he knows I love him and that it makes him happy.

Gabriel's Blood Test Results

I had Gabriel's blood tested for parasites. I am pretty sure he had pinworms at one point (we treated him for it and they are gone now) and I thought that he might have gotten other worms from playing with our cat. Anyway, I was very surprised by the results. He has two types of flat worms, not nearly as bad as I was expecting. He also has 15 kinds of protozoa (bacteria in the gut), fungus and viruses. The most shocking to me was that he has very high amounts of vaccines and and some antibiotics in his blood. He has never been vaccinated or had any antibiotics. He most likely got them through me while I was pregnant. Anyway, the vaccines that showed up were DPT (no longer given, DTaP is currently on the market), Tetanus, Hepatitis B, Influenza from 1993-1999 and Influenzium toxicum. His numbers are so high that the Dr. said had I vaccinated him, it probably would have overloaded his system and pushed him into autism. Yikes! The test also showed that he has an acid pH, his thyroid, thymus and pituitary gland are affected and that his Serotonin is low. His serotonin level is probably causing his speech delay. She prescribed a treatment and in a few months we will retest and see what the outcome is. In the meantime, we are going to test Andrew's blood too and see what his toxic load is. I will keep you posted on both kids.

Sea Monsters

We went to the 3D movie Sea Monsters. It is about dinosaurs and fish that lived "millions" of years ago. It is intended for kids and is under an hour long. I have to say that the 3D was pretty cool and held our kids' attention. Some dinosaurs ate other dinosaurs, but the film makers did a good job of not making it graphic. There was little to no blood and no chewing or tearing of flesh, just a chomp and a gulp. Gabriel and Andrew were mesmerized by all the animals, (crustaceans, fish, dinosaurs, birds, etc.). However, the actual story was fiction passed off as fact. The movie starts with finding the fossil of a dolphin-like dinosaur. The story follows the life cycle of the female offspring of this creature by going back and forth between real fossils and a fictional story that links them all. This presents a problem because scientists cannot and will not ever be able to study these animals, so there is no way to accurately say how they interacted with one another or if they did at all. Since we don't believe in the old earth theory, that presented another problem. The writers had to come up with credible sounding explanations for why there are fossils within fossils. What I mean is, they had two examples of fossilized dinosaurs that had eaten either a fish or another smaller dinosaur and both sets of bones were fossilized. So their explanations were that one dinosaur ate a fish that was too big for it and it died of gluttony and the other died in a territorial fight with another dinosaur just like it right after eating. Both of those rationalizations seem ridiculous to me. First of all, most animals know what they are capable of eating and there is no way to know if an extinct animal was territorial by looking at a set of bones. Pure conjecture. I think there is a very easy explanation, they both died at the same time in a global flood. Rapid burial in large amounts of sediment would allow them to fossilize completely intact along with their lunch. Plus when an animal died in the movie, they showed it sinking. We know that as the carcass decays, sea animals bloat and rise to the surface, they don't sink. Also, as most people know, when an animal dies in the ocean or on land, for that matter, scavengers devour it immediately and scatter the bones. So it is highly unlikely that the fossils they found had died of natural causes and then sank to the bottom in tact and stayed that way for millions of years. So what is my point? Why am I tearing apart a seemingly neat movie? It is because children are not critical thinkers and when you tell them something happened and show them pictures of it happening, they believe it and it becomes ingrained in their minds. My kids are too young to really understand what I have described. Gabriel just knew he saw cool animals. But a slightly older child would get it. If your children are older, you could use this film as a discussion piece, I guess. For all of you out there who believe in evolution and millions of years, you'll probably love the movie. But really, even if I believed in evolution, I could not believe their scenarios.

Bugga Buggas

Gabriel loves bugs. One of the Dora the Explorer episodes features the Bugga Wugga family. Anyhow, we call them bugga buggas and he loves catching them. He is really good at it too and is getting better at catch-and-release vs. catch-and-mash. Now I have him remove the bugs from my house. He loves it and I don't have to touch them. Yeh!

Gabriel Rides

Gabriel asked to ride his bike for the first time today. It took me awhile to figure out what he was asking for because bicycle was coming out bikiscle. Anyway, he rode it for a few minutes and did not want any help. He has not figured out how to steer yet, but tends to lean right. So in true Zoolander style, he could only turn one direction and bumped into a lot of walls. I think he enjoyed it though.

Andrew Speaks

Andrew has started talking. He repeats sentences and has a few words. Right now his main vocabulary is: mama, dad or daddy, ball, more, down, what's that?, ready set go, uh oh, where did the turtle go? and no.

He fell asleep today while he was riding the spring horse. I wanted to take a picture, but I was afraid he might fall off. I caught him, just as he was starting to relax. It was really cute though.

He wants to do everything that Gabriel does. So now he uses a fork and drinks from a real cup (with help). He is quite a character.

The Dove Foundation

I just learned of www.dove.org. They provide great movie reviews for those of us who want to screen what we or our children watch. I think it is really important to keep our children as well as ourselves from watching filthy material, even if the premise of the movie seems harmless. God has been convicting me of this for quite some time now, but I have failed to listen, until now. I have decided that if a film uses the Lord's name in vain, I will not watch it, even if it is PG. It is the worst profanity that I can think of and yet I have been desensitized over years of hearing it on TV and in movies. I often hear Christians take His name in vain w/o even thinking twice; I've done it myself. The Lord is very clear that he will destroy those who profane him. Using this criteria as my filter eliminates most movies that also contain violence, drugs and sex. I don't want to give my money or my time to support this any longer. Yes, it means that I won't get to see many secular movies or TV shows. On the other hand, if more Christians stood up for what is right and refused to watch the garbage that Hollywood is pouring out, they would be forced to clean up their act. I think this is already happening a little. I have noticed a few movies have come out recently that are truly family friendly. By the way, just because a movie gets the Dove stamp of approval, doesn't mean I will watch it. They approve slight mild profanity (Hell, Damn, etc.) and the use of the Lord's name in vain as long as it is only done once or twice. Also, a good book to read on the subject is "Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Idol Makers" and a great film to see that deals with this topic is "Time Changer".

Update: See the comment by the Dove Foundation, it is good. Some of their 12+ approved movies contain OMG-oh my God, is what I think it stands for and For Go*'s Sake. Unless used in reverence to God (which they aren't because they would not need to be listed), I consider these exclamations using his name in vain. That is what I meant. Perhaps I am splitting hairs, but I don't want my kids getting in the habit of using these phrases.

Missing Knives

My kids were playing with my butter knives this morning. I didn't think much of it. I was busy doing laundry and tidying up the house because a real estate agent was bringing some buyers over. Anyway, I cannot find the knives anywhere! I have no idea where the kids put them, but I have one knife. There are 7 others stashed somewhere. I am sure I'll find them when I least expect it, but in the meantime ...

Italian Panini Recipe

1 red bell pepper
1 eggplant (sliced)
2-3 portobello mushrooms
1-3 cloves garlic (crushed, raw or roasted)
1 loaf focaccia bread
3 TBS vegenaise/mayo
2 TBS butter/oil
provolone or mozzarella cheese

Slice and oil eggplant. Roast eggplant on both sides until light brown and bell pepper until charred on all sides. Remove vegetables from oven, peel skins off when cooled, core and remove seeds from bell pepper and cut it into strips. Saute mushrooms in oil and butter until soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Pat any excess water from mushrooms. Depending on your preference, either roast garlic and then add it to mayo or crush fresh garlic and add it to mayo. Dress the bread with the garlic mayo and layer peppers, eggplant and mushrooms onto bread. Wrap sandwiches in plastic and place under a cutting board weighted down with canned goods. Let sit for two hours. (If you use vegenaise, you don't have to worry about the mayo going bad.) Unwrap sandwiches and add cheese. You can broil them open faced to melt cheese and then close them up to eat or microwave them. Yum! They are even better the next day. If the edges are a little soggy, just toast the sandwich on both sides under the broiler.