Monday, December 31, 2012

Top 10 List for 2012

This probably won’t really be in order of importance, but rather just a top 10. Even though I am not a Dave Letterman fan, I will do it in reverse.

10. Lavender and Blue going on their first boat ride



9. Braeden having his first job and being there to see how incredibly well he did at it – he worked as a cooking counselor at Cub Scout Camp


8. Braeden graduating from Riley and starting high school at Lincoln Academy (and winning first place at the Science Fair at LA)


7. Seeing Thane try a bunch of new things – Tubing, paddling a kayak, pedaling a boat


6. Taking a short autumn vacation in Harrington


5. Thane moving into a new bedroom


4. Finally giving in and getting a snowmobile. I have wanted one since we moved here. We actually got one years ago that never ran for us. We pick up the new used one on January 2, 2013 but it is still a great way to end the year!


3. Braeden as Judas in Godspell


2. Getting a summer house on Damariscotta Lake . . . we celebrated out 25th wedding anniversary shortly after the purchase and considered our silvered cabin to our silver anniversary gift to each other.



1. Seeing how much both of my boys have matured this year – They have both grown up so much in the past 12 months, it is truly amazing and wonderful

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Gluten-Free Sites and Blogs

Gluten-Free Listservs:
SillyYaks Listserv
GFCF Kids

Gluten-Free Recipe Blogs & Pinterest:
I have some recipes on my Pinterest
Gluten-Free Goddess blog or Pinterest
Gluten-Free Girl blog
Gluten-Free Diva blog or Pinterest
Gluten-Free Mommy blog
The GFCF Experience blog
GFCF Recipes blog
Book of Yum blog
Cooking Gluten Free blog

Other Sites for Gluten-Free Recipes:
Simply Gluten Free All Recipes About Gluten-Free Cooking
Glutenfreeda
Food Network

There is really a lot out there, so this is just a sampling. One thing I think it is important to remember for those just starting to go gluten free is that it isn't about what you can no longer have, but rather how to make it it gluten free.

Thursday, December 20, 2012



Thane, just a few days after his 9th birthday, wrote this letter to Santa Claus. It is definitely one of those things that makes a mom say "Aw! Isn't he cute?"

It was not only cute, it was surprising. Thane has Asperger's so I don't tend to imagine him wishing to do something for some unknown, ambiguous person in South America. I am also really proud of him that he messed some stuff up and was able to deal with it. OK, I also love that the paper is upside down because that just seems so much like my child.

It also made me remember when Braeden was about the same age. A teacher at his school suffered a significant property loss from a micro-burst (similar to a tornado) and there was a spaghetti supper at his school. Since Thane is gluten-free, we couldn't go to the supper, but Braeden decided to give his savings to the fund. He wrote a very sweet letter and packaged up his $71 and I don't think that teacher will ever forget. It brought tears to her eyes. A couple of years later, Braeden was saving for a large army set that was $250. He finally got to that amount when he decided to give it to a school in South America. His reason was because he felt bad for these kids having no parents, so he wanted to at least make the school better.

I think I have a couple of really great kids.