Summa time

I just recently heard that song (summertime) by Will Smith. Great song! Sorry it took me so long to discover it.

Mrs. G. Shipes (Luke's teacher assistant).
Mrs. D. Johnson (Luke's Kindergarten teacher). Thank you Lord for these ladies! They were great.

After Don's graduation, the end of school was at hand. Luke had an end of the year program.
Speaking of Luke, sweet boy: we just found out two weeks ago that he has a milk allergy. The allergist is saying no dairy for one year, then we might reintroduce it. We're talking no cheetos, no chocolate, no ice cream, no goldfish, no butter on toast... Sigh. Do you know my Luke James? Goldfish were part of his personal food pyramid! Not to mention cheetos and chocolate... Poor kid. Just when I thought my family's eating habits were complicated enough...
On the plus side, we are now being forced to eat healthier. More fruits and veggies. The trouble is, I still have picky eaters.
Here is an example of vegetable night at my house:

At the top we have Caleb's plate: mashed potatoes, spinach, a little bit of sweet potato, and I think I did some tylapia; bottom left is Luke: broccoli (his veggie of choice), with mashed potatoes and chicken nuggets; bottom right: Jon David's plate with chicken nuggets and sweet potato--he also had corn on the cob. And yes, top left is my salad spinner. So you can imagine what the kitchen looked like after using up this many dishes. If only there was more than one vegetable that EVERYBODY liked!
I've always wanted to be a low maintenance person. You know, the kind of person who can go anywhere, sleep any which way, eat whatever. I've wanted my family to be that way too. Wouldn't it be nice to take a trip, and whatever is served, your kids just gobble it up?
Not so with mine. But I love my family. And I have decided that the best thing that I can do is simply that: my very best. So I'll encourage them to try new things as much as I can, avoid the allergen triggers as much as I can, and if I feel like others look down on us for our funny eating habits, that's OK too. I'm starting to become familiar with processes such as calcium absorption, which foods contain the most calcium, and amazingly, I'm discovering that we can actually do without dairy. Also, dairy may not even have been that great for us in the first place! Crazy... Although I still think that if we had no issues, we'd all be having the occasional milk shake and Wendy's frosty. I have actually been struggling with random intestinal issues off and on for a while (that I am pretty sure are related to dairy intolerances), and am thankful for the opportunity to take the plunge with my two youngest sons into the dairy free world. You granola people out there, I have a new found respect for you. Give me your advice. I'm ready, and willing!