Some success stories.....

For those of you that have been following my blog, you know that we have been testing things in and out. A few weeks ago, we decided that we needed to test out benzoates, because of a known sensitivity that Audrianna had to cinnamon. When she was exposed to cinnamon early on in our new diet, we noted that her concentration was markedly affected. She has been avoiding cinnamon, since that time. We recently decided to see if it was just cinnamon that she was sensitive too, or if the other natural benzoates were also an issue. When I say natural benzoates, I am speaking of foods that contain naturally occurring benzoates which includes: blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower, cinnamon, cranberries, ginger, green grapes, greengage plums, green peas, licorice extract, ripe olives, spinach and tea. Some of these included are stage 1 and some of these are stage 2. Benzoates can also be found in food, as a preservative. So for a couple of weeks, we removed all of the benzoates from our diet and waited. Then we reintroduced them back into our diet. And this time to our amazement, we didn't react. Removing benzoates seemed to have virtually no affect on us. I haven't tried to reintroduce cinnamon with Audrianna to see if the issue still exists, because I am fairly certain that it does. This was a successful test, with great results!

We did report a failed test with an unpeeled organic golden delicious apple, before we did the benzoates testing. This was very disappointing to all of us. The funny thing is the same day that I purchased the golden delicious apple, I also purchased a granny smith apple. One day short of having it for a month, we decided to test the organic granny smith apple. The apple looked virtually the same, as it did the day that I purchased it from Whole Foods. This time we decided that we should peel the apple, because the majority of the salicylates are thought to be in the skin. This time some how, we were successful and no one reacted to the apple. So needless to say, we will be testing some more organic granny smith apples that are peeled. It was such a small amount, because we shared the apple between six of us. So this time, we will try a couple apples and hopefully we will have the same results. I will say that it was very exciting to not end up being sensitive to something we once loved.

Our testing is going well for the most part. We are nearing another testing, as Jaden seems to be very sensitive to something. Thanks to our charting, I believe that I have put my finger on it. This will be a bigger test....because it involves eliminating corn. We are going to ease into this one. This isn't the first time that I have suspected corn with him. I actually believed in the very beginning that it was something he was sensitive to. Then we found an alternative cause and thought that corn was no longer the issue. Over the last few weeks, corn has become pretty prominent in the kids diet with snacks, such as popcorn, corn chips and fritos. I believe once again that CORN just might be the issue. So, we will do the best we can to slowly eliminate those things which contain corn. I guess I would rather eliminate corn than gluten. That is the other thing that we have been contemplating eliminating. Wish us luck with our new test.

Homeschooling is going really well for us. I have created workboxes for each of the kids. It is a concept that I read about on one of the homeschool groups that I belong too. The workbox system was started by a lady named Sue Patrick. It was created to help her oldest son who had autism. If you would like to learn more about it, check out her website for more info about workboxes.. There are so many different ways that you can adjust the system to fit the needs of your family. I have created these great boxes and I fill them each evening and it makes our days go so much smoother. I believe that the kids are really enjoying it too. It also helps me to get the fun things into their day, that I had a hard time fitting in.....in the past. It also makes it easier for each of the kids to see what they have left to do for the day.



We are enjoying cooking, baking, watching educational films together and just learning more about God's creation. Learning is so much fun when you do it together! Jaden is such a wiz at math and was really bored with it, so we have gone all the way through his Kindergarten math book and now we are working on first grade math. It is so nice to be able to work at your child's pace and not put them in a box and try to make them fit. I love watching each of the kid's faces light up when a new concept is learned. I truly love having them home to be schooled......it is one of God's biggest blessings to our family. We have also been blessed with an amazing home-school group and a wonderful group of kids. I know that I wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for the love and support of the wonderful women of our home-school group.