White Trash, A Queen of Hearts and a ?

TWO Halloween parties in ONE night.

Look at us being all social! 

Lindsay had her annual Halloween party the same night as Evie and Griffin's so we were able to stop by for a little bit. Tyler, of course, didn't feel good, so we weren't able to stay too long.

NOTE: Tyler has ongoing stomach aches and headaches and becomes dehydrated easily. We do not know what is going on with him. He has been tested for Celiac Disease - as have I twice - but he doesn't have it. He may have my history of headaches, which is not a good thing. We watch him regularly to see what steps we should take to avoid this. The worst he's ever been was on the road trip this past year when he got altitude sickness and all of his "reoccurring" systems came out at once.

I hung with Mona, the queen of hearts, and the mullet-trash-bag-wearing Violeta, half of white trash.

The costumes people come up with are hilarious. Of course, I had my face painted at the last party and came as whatever they wanted to call me - a clown? A joker? A scary white thing?

Tyler ditched his costume; Justin didn't dress up, and Ashlee was still a kitty.

Ashlee spent her time hanging with Evalina and Cali in the basement. They had an absolute blast as the only "big" kids and the only girls. And let's be honest, they don't need entertainment to have an amazing time!

Tried & Approved {or Not} - Part 30

These days, Facebook is morphing into more of a support-and-seek-out-new-gluten-free-finds type of place. And one of the places I've been scoping out for awhile is Morgana's, a gluten-free bakery.

Now, Morgana's is in Raytown, and Raytown is fairly far away from our house, so just driving there to get donuts isn't in the cards unless we have a lot of time ... but today, we finally had some time.

So we made the trek for the donut holes and apple fritters we had heard so much about (they have cinnamon rolls too, but Ashlee didn't want one for some reason?!)

And let's say Ashlee was NOT disappointed. She was yelling out in pleasure from the backseat!

I tried them and didn't find them nearly as good as the donuts from Mama Resch's, but then again, I eat both of these types of donuts filled with gluten from QT - and let's be honest, nothing can beat that!

If I had to eat them gluten-free, I bet these are great. Ashlee did, and she now wants to go back every weekend.

We did pick up some Halloween cupcakes while we were there - and Mama Resch's doesn't have anything on these decorated cakes that look just like something I'd pick up at the grocery store!! Kudos!

GF Warrior

This past Saturday was the best. day. ever.

We held the nation's first Celiac walk. And it was beyond my wildest's dreams.

You guys, we had more than 325 runners/walkers and raised more than $57,000!!! 

Official numbers will be published after we tally the 20 tables of silent auction items.

20 tables of donations!

And to think we expected 100 people and $10,000 when we met back in May to get started with this event.

And to think we panicked when we sat at 75 registrants for weeks.

And to think I wouldn't get 5 members for our team (we had 15, including Ashlee's principal and 2 teachers!)

And to think I thought $500 was a lot for Ashlee to raise. And she raised $1,160!!!!

I spent Friday evening with my best friend and our blogger, who's shirt I'm wearing in this picture. Erica, aka Celiac and the Beast, was completely amazing!

I don't think I can say amazing enough. You thought I was a Celiac crusader before. Oh, I'm just getting started now - with my whole new extended Celiac family!

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And just for a moment, let's reminisce what this gluten "poison" did to my princess:

2013 pre-diagnosis (look at those cheeks!)

 2017 post-diagnosis (tall, healthy and GF PROUD!)

Step Beyond Celiac 5K

Team No Wheat. No Cheat. For Ashlee!

* Missing Justin who had to go and pick Tyler up from basketball

Treating the Beast

My role with the Step Beyond Celiac 5K was to find and take care of the blogger(s).

Once we secured Erica, including her airfare (thanks to a volunteer for donating points and to my hubby for agreeing to "donate" her hotel room), I decided to create a welcome basket. 

I paid for most of the items and did this on my own. We were just so excited to have her here for our first year!

The goal was for the basket to in her hotel room when she arrived (they actually just handed it to her when she checked in ... with me, which kind of blew the surprise).

Inside were all things Kansas City and all things gluten-free, including:

• Live gFree crackers, pretzels and cookies from Aldi's (she doesn't have an Aldi's in Arizona where she lives)
• A Hallmark ornament (purchased from my local Hallmark; I found a cute doctor one on clearance)
• A package of gum
• GF Rotella bread. Technically from Omaha but they only deliver to a few Midwest states
• A KC hat from a local boutique (not pictured and donated)
• A package of colorful macaroons from 3 Women and an Oven bakery
• Toaster savers so she could have toast during her trip if she wished. They let gluten-free people use the regular toaster without cross contamination
• A small Ziploc with a knive, peanut butter container, Nutella container and jelly container to ensure she would have safe items for her toast

We went shopping the night of her stay, so I'm not sure she got a chance to enjoy any of her goodies while here. She did IG live the hat and macaroons, so that was fun for those businesses.

Life is {GF} Good

Tomorrow is the first Celiac walk.

My best friend Glenna drove all the way from Des Moines to volunteer with me and to celebrate my princess. And I get to spend the whole day and evening with her, with no children.

And I get to meet one of the coolest gluten-free bloggers around, Erica, aka Celiac and the Beast.

I'm one lucky lady!

No Wheat. No Cheat. For Ashlee.

Hello my friends!

I'm so sorry for my lack of postings; I promise haven't forgotten this little space on the InterWebs. I've just been busy ... doing what, you ask?

Well...I made 4 photo books.

My perfectionism makes these a much longer effort than needed.

I created one for each of our "Amazing Road Trip with Mom" as well as one for our 10th anniversary in Hawaii - that was TWO years ago!

Yes, I tend to get behind.

Then came May, and I saw a little something on the Facebook InterWebs and it peaked my interest, and I dove in head first. And I mean head first. And it has been a big time suck, but it has been so incredibly rewarding.

I'm helping lead the nation's first Celiac Walk in Kansas City.

I never realized how hard it is to organize a walk. I assume it gets easier with time, but when you are sharing everything you find with cities far and wide, you tend to strive for perfection. Add in that you're raising money for a cause people seem to not know much about (yet is actually MORE prevalent than Parkinson's!!) and it gets that much more difficult!

But here we are just a few weeks out and our numbers continue to increase as well as our donations.

Ashlee set an initial goal of $500 ... and then $600 ... and then $700 and now she's at $770. She's now going for $800. I told her to go for $1,000 but that seems unattainable. She is the third top fundraiser.

The top 2 fundraisers - an adult and a child her age - are both at almost $4,000 each, which is amazing!

Every dollar will go toward a cure for this autoimmune disorder. A cure would be so amazing. Sure, Ashlee can eat gluten free food and "avoid" gluten - as can every other Celiac person - but the issue is cross contamination and hidden gluten. And education! And this walk with help us do those things.

Won't you join us at the walk? If you'd like to donate, please comment or message me!

Lemonade for Charity

The kids had an open afternoon - and since I spent most of last week at the hospital with dad, I thought I'd spend some special time with them at a lemonade stand, raising money for Ashlee's Celiac walk.

They love lemonade stands.

Or maybe it's just the thought of the stand?
Or prepping for it?

Ashlee and her buddies, Rory and Reese, spent a good hour-plus making a sign for the table. We purchased cups and lemonade from the store and planted ourselves at the corner of our neighborhood where we assumed we'd get the most traffic.

But it was also the hottest location.

The girls were out there for about an hour before they started hiding under the table

When they started doing that, I knew it was time to leave.

I signed up for parental protection, not to sell lemonade.

The girls raised $63, just $2 shy of the $65 Ashlee needed to reach her $500 fundraising goal for the Step Beyond Celiac 5K. Daddy added in the extra $2 so she could have the $65 to meet her goal.

Let's just say we had one excited little girl on our hands. And we had one proud little friend who helped her with the task on an abnormally hot fall afternoon.