Alena's plan for when she grows up...

Last night after dinner, Alena snuggled up to me and said "...when I grow up I want to become a mommy..." It was just so so sweet and made my heart sing. On the other hand, I felt a tiny bit sad...Putting the tiny dark cloud away, I must be something right if this is Alena's current goal :)

Fun at a Birthday Party...even without having cake

The whole family was invited to a Birthday Party today. This was the first kids birthday party I was not 100% prepared for. Yes, I figured out ahead of time and made sure that there was food for the girls. I also thought about the cake. This is where I failed as I neither baked a cake nor stopped at Sweet Pea to get cup cakes for the girls...I shamefully admit that I really did not think this one through 100%!!!

The big thing however is that both girls had a ton of fun. Alena ate a tuna sandwich, and lots of fruit. Mia Rose just indulged herself in eating watermelon. When it was time for the cake, I told Alena that the cake had "Kuhmilch" and that I did not bring an alternate dessert. Once she knew that it was no big deal at all. She continued to stay on the swing. I also told Mia Rose that I messed up. She choose to sit at the table and watch the other kids eat. It broke my heart and I felt so bad...she on the other hand was completely OK about not being able to eat the cake. Good thing we had Raspberry Sorbet at home to make up for that...

Lesson I learned today is to always, always prepare 100% for every single party!!!

Kettelman Bagels...they are fantastic

This morning Mia and I stopped at Kettelman's to get bagels. Mia got a salt bagel, and we got Alena's favorite for her as an after school treat...the "everything bagel". I also bought a fresh raisin challah for snacking. In my opinion they have the best bagels in town. And if you like schmear on your bagel, they also carry Tofutti, plain and flavored :) Even better they are certified kosher and there is a listing with all of the items which are parve. I was so excited when I saw that...this makes picking the safe foods for the girls really safe...Kettelman's now has two locations. One in South East Portland, and the other on NW 21st. Here is a link to Kettelman's http://www.kettlemanbagels.com/

Proud Mama...

I am so proud of Alena. The three of us went shopping at New Seasons on Monday. Both girls always love to sample the bread. Martha was already gone for the day (she works in the bakery and knows the girls) so Alena took it upon herself to go to the employee and ask "Is there milk in the bread? I have a milk allergy..." I have to tell you that I was just floored. - I usually ask but have never (shame on me) told Alena that she should ask. She just knows that she cannot eat foods without our OK...Lesson of the day for me, teach Mia Rosie to always ask whether there is milk in the food. Describing it as an allergy is just a fantastic way to go about it. Then they really do not feel singled out...

Danishes at Sweet Pea every Wednesday...

Mia and I had a bunch of errands to run yesterday mornings. We had some time left before Alena's school day was done. So we took a quick break at Sweet Pea Bakery. Soy Latte for Mama along with a yummy bagel with cream cheese (of course Tofutti), and a cupcake (pink = raspberry) for Mia. They were also sampling danishes and the were just unbelivably good. I loved the apricot ones. In any case, Sweet Pea has danishes every Wednesday. Go check it out. They are just fantastic. There is no other way to say it...

Here is the link http://sweetpeabaking.com/

Alena's first play, ice cream, and cast party...

Last week Alena was in her first school play. Every class at her preschool puts on a play. They write it, make all the stage deco, and make all their own costumes (out of pillow cases and then painted). I was so excited!!! My little girly, all grown up...the kids were so cute (I will add a picture later as its on the other computer). We ate dinner before hand, and then attended the play. To celebrate we went along with other kids to Ben & Jerry's down on Hawthorne (street here in SE PDX). It was just great. Ben & Jerry's carries at least four types of vegan sorbet, and the sugar cone is vegan as well (at least at this store). The other kids had their ice cream dipped, but it was no problem at all for the girlies. Alena had a huge scoop of Mango Sorbet, while Mia Rose opted for Lemon Sorbet...both girls ate all of their ice cream. You know, when Alena was first diagnosed even the first few years (by that I mean the time before our visit w/our friends in Italy) I would have never, ever thought this possible. It was NO BIG DEAL...all kids had fun, and never did our kids feel left out!!!

The following day the teachers threw a cast party for the class. Complete with shaved ice, and popcorn. Again, Alena was completely included. They made the popcorn, Alena got her share, and then they added butter for the kids that wanted it. The shaved ice was also perfectly OK for Alena. It really did make my heart melt, and really the overriding lesson for me was that educating teachers, and trusting them really does pay off. Plus it is empowering to the child not to have their mother micromanage to the endth degree (which I am totally capable off ;)))...)

Link for dessert recipies

Leslie found a great link for desserts...Enjoy!!!

http://silkencreations.com/vt

Thank you so much, Leslie :)

Our trip to Europe, one more day trip...

There was a day trip I have not yet talked about...We went to the Mainau for a day. It is a "flower" island on the Lake of Constance, right by Konstanz. Here are a couple of links. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainau, http://www.mainau.de/I just LOVE the Lake of Constance and the Mainau. I have never taken the girls there before...it was fantastic. My Step mom and my sister came along as well. We had so much fun...No cars, a huge fantastic new playground, lots of beautiful pretty spring flowers, and sunshine. What else could we have asked for. Alena even got to ride on a pony. It was her first pony ride and she did love it [once she got over her initial hesitation ;))) ]. A sunny day of course also calls for ice cream, and yes there was again the "Caretta Orange". For a quick lunch the girls indulged in Pommes Frites (French Fries) with lots of ketchup, along with a green salad.

On the car ride back to Tuttlingen we ordered pizza for take out...

Here is a picture of me, Mia Rose, Alena, and my sister...

Our trip to Europe - the fun and the food...

We had so much fun on our trip and went to the pool almost daily. Tuttlingen has a fantastic pool, just in case you are interested here is the link http://www.tuwass.de/0_fr_start.htm. There is a little kids pool, a play pool, slides, lap pool, outdoor hot spring, indoor hot spring...just great fun. We generally stayed for almost two ours which left the girls so hungry. Sausage really is not an option there as it generally contains whey, and the kitchen did not know. But you know what the kids ate as a treat? Did you guess it right? The very nutritional french fry...OK, not every single day, but quite often and they both LOVED it. Of course, right?!

We also took a couple of day trips. One to Konstanz, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstanz, where we also went swimming (we really, really LOVE to swim...). After our swim we went to a nice cafe in the heart of the city. They served cake, which all was full of dairy, but offered soy milk, and sorbet. It was a hit. Both girls ate sorbet, while I indulged in a soy latte along with a piece of cake...

The other trip we took was to the Wilhelma in Stuttgart. Here are a couple of links http://www.wilhelma.de/nc/en/home.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelma. Ended up to be a beautiful day. Alena got a book about the zoo and the animals. It was a huge hit for both girls. We had packed a lunch, and as a treat the girls got some ice cream. Of course, not ice cream but an orange pop sickle. I was just so happy to see that "Caretta Orange" is still available. It is an orange pop sickle which I already loved as a kid. - Besides that we just hung out, but ordered pizza a couple of times. Because we have been back to Tuttlingen a few times already, I know the pizzerias to order from. Quite a few restaurants do add milk derivatives to their dough, or sauce, so it is always good to double check. Another favorite with the girls when eating out is Schnitzel. We order it "natur" which means not breaded, without sauce/gravy, and with french fries. If there is a salad with it (generally not for kids so) it also is on the side. In Germany cucumber salad, but also greens sometimes are served with a buttermilk like dressing...

So this was our trip in a nutshell. I will post a few pictures next week...oh, and for treats of course Gummibears, and delicious Laugenwecken (rolls) every morning :)

Our trip to Europe...The flight

Time flies we have been back for almost a month already. Wow! - We had such a great time and everything just worked out great. Not once did I have any sort of anxiety about the food...and why did I not blog while in Europe. OK, here is the reason and yes, I know it sounds lame. My friends convinced me that I have to read about the teenage vampires in Twilight. Yes, unbelievable but its true so all my spare time (unless I was in the Sauna) I spent reading the entire series. And yes, I am way past my teenage years...but enough of this here is how the trip went.

Food on the Flight PDX - FRA via Chicago
I packed a bunch of snacks for the girls, including cookies, crackers, hard boiled eggs, soy yogurt, soy milk, etc. however on the first flight I bought them each a snack box. We flew United and I got the "Right Bite" one. It contains Lemon Tuna, Hummus, Pita Chips, both girls loved it. For entertainment we used the IPod Touch. Ron downloaded a a couple of "Dora" and "Winnie the Pooh" episodes. Once in Chicago I stuck to my plan. What was the plan? I decided to let the girls eat Happy Meals at McDonalds. It worked out perfectly as the gate for our Frankfurt flight was right next to the McDonald's. The Happy Meals actually kept both girlies very happy and it did ease my guilt (about eating McDonald's that is)...

Shortly after take off in Chicago we were served dinner. I had ordered vegan meals for the girls, let me just say that I was SO HAPPY that both had eaten dinner. Neither girl liked the food very much but then again it is airplane food...Mia Rose fell asleep right after dinner and I had to wake her shortly before landing in Frankfurt. She slept on my arm the entire flight, luckily I got some sleep too. Alena was busy drawing and eventually also got some sleep...Honestly the whole trip to Europe went so much better than expected. It was fantastic.

Upon landing in Frankfurt we rented a car and drove three hours to my home town, Tuttingen. The snacks which I had originally packed with the airplane ride in mind, were eaten in the car ride :) So glad that I packed the food...

I am BACK...

OK so I took another hiatus from blogging, sorry, I hope nobody gave up on me...I probably should blame it on the IPod Touch Ron gave me b/c that means that my laptop stays mostly in my office now. I have to admit that I have not tried to blog the IPod yet.

In any case I am back and I have a few things to share :)