It's been awhile

There has been a lot going on at the Luckinbill house the last week or so. I have been sewing and racking my creative mind while making Merilee's Halloween costume. It turned out really cute (will post pics later). I have also been on the computer non-stop doing research and searching recipes for non-dairy and egg-free foods. I do not feel as hopeless as I did a few weeks ago. There are many snacks out there in the regular grocery stores that Cara can eat, however many are brand names and more expensive. I did go to a natural foods store close by and found dairy-free cheese, sour cream, butter, and yogurt. So far, Cara loves them all. I have made her her own loaf of bread and her new favorite food is a ham and tofutti cheese sandwich on homemade bread. I also tried a wonderful new recipe(new to me at least). It is super easy:

1 box cake mix (any kind you want, I did devils food) There are several kinds with no milk!!
1 can pumpkin
The cookies or muffins take on the flavor of the cake mix. I couldn't taste pumpkin at all!
Mix ONLY the two together and bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes (for cookies)
It also makes muffins or breads or whatever you want. And it is HEALTHY!! Yum.

I have also experimented with using applesauce as a substitute for egg...I can't really tell a difference. Anyway...I have been a baking nut and Internet junky the last few weeks.

In other news, Justin got a promotion at work. He is now a lieutenant and his title is Assistant Shift Supervisor. Sounds exciting? However, if anyone has any part-time jobs on the side to recommend, we are more than willing to take suggestions.

Do any of you frequently use coupons? Or look for samples on the Internet?

Well, I am sorry I have no pictures, but I will have some fun Halloween ones soon!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

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Dairy Free

So with the confirmed results of Cara's allergy (RAST) test, it is officially no milk for her. I didn't really think it would be that inconvenient...boy was I WRONG. There is milk in practically all the food I traditionally make or buy. I have done some research for new receipes and safe snacks, but it seems that the kids just eat the same things over and over again. Cara is a fan of food. She likes variety and a lot of it! We are also trying to be very economical and don't want to just go out and buy milk free: cheese, yogurt, ice-cream, butter, etc. It can be very expensive. Instead, I tried to only give her small amounts of food that contained milk. This was a mistake!! The more "little bits" she is given, the faster and harsher her reaction. She gets painful gas and a horrible diaper rash now, even with the littlest bit of milk product. So, now I have to get serious and be really careful. But, I am running out of ideas to feed her. I don't want to make two seperate meals every time I cook. So, if any of you have receipes that don't include milk products or have ideas for milk substitutes, please let me know.

Also, what are your feelings about "Soy". I went to the whole foods store here and told the owner that I was looking for soy and cooking with soy instead of milk and she went off on a rant about how unhealthy soy was. She said it contained estrogen and made girls mature faster and boys look like girls. She also said soy will destroy the thyroid. She said she would never put something so harmful into her body! What are your feelings on this?

Free Handbags

I am doing this to try to win a free handbag. Here is their link so you can try too!

www.handbagplanet.com

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Happy Birthday to Me!

Along with my busy weekend, I managed to have a birthday. We went to the OKC Zoo with my mom, sister and niece. We went kinda late because I insisted the kids get a nap. It was perfect weather and there were very few people there. The animals were out because is was cool and dinnertime.

My garage sales and consignment sales were too much of a success. There was way too much cute stuff to choose from. Let's just say that Cara might not wear anything twice! I bought things too big for Merilee, thinking she had grown more than she actually did. I have plenty of shirts and dresses but no pants. Anyone out there have size 5 pants (for girls)?

Merilee's primary activity was fun, but I missed the whole thing. There were no prizes for the best car, but we had fun making it anyway. They had to vacuum up tons of glitter from Merilee's car.

I am really loving my calling at church. I am the Young Women's President. I went from having 1 girl to 7 active girls. They are so fun and into hobbies that I enjoyed in high school. I am always needing activity ideas, so send them my way.

What else, I guess I should mention Cara too. She is getting really good at playing Peek-a-boo and will hide her eyes and then say "boo". Sometimes she slaps her face as she is saying "boo". She got hit on the head yesterday while at the neighbor's house and now has a bruise on her head! She is also finally happy to interact with other people even when I am in the room. Usually she would prefer me to anyone else, unless she couldn't see me. But, now she crawls to other people to play. She's growing up!

I only took a few pics of the weekend and tons of the Zoo and Express Ranch enjoy!

I forgot to mention that we went to Express Ranch in Yukon while we were visiting my family. We then scooted over to Yukon park and Merilee chased the ducks. I didn't get any pictures of her actually playing but they have some neat toys. Later that night, Justin and I went to the temple and then drove back home with some sleepy girls.