3x5 Folded Card Thank You Card

I love creating cards at Shutterfly.com during the holidays. I especially love when they give me a coupon for sharing my creations. Enjoy!

Mint Julep Thank You Card

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Candy Canes

Whose child does not love a great Candy Cane? Or as my boys always say, a great Candy Can? We have been chomping on these candy canes. They are made in Mexico, but the box promises that they are made in a nut-free facility. So far, so good. Merry Christmas!

The Spangler Website says this (and I LOVE IT): It has been our experience that families with allergic children take great care to determine the origin of the food their children consume to protect against an allergic reaction. Families should ask the origin of any candy or food product that is in an open bowl or container to ensure what their children consume is free of allergies. If you have any questions, please contact our Quality Assurance department through email at info@spanglercandy.com or toll-free 888-636-4221. 5 ways we make sure our products are allergy free. Our manufacturing facilities are 100% free of gluten (from wheat, barley and rye), dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish and shellfish. All Spangler Candy products are made on dedicated manufacturing equipment. We thoroughly clean every manufacturing line, every day. We notify all of our suppliers about our allergen standards. We also request an annual allergen report from each supplier to verify that the ingredients they provide are allergy free. At least twice a year, all of our products are tested for allergens by an independent food lab. Did you know? Facts about food allergies and intolerances in the United States. •About 3 million children have a food or digestive allergy.1 •About 4% of adults have a food allergy.2 •30-50 million people are lactose intolerant.3 •Over 3 million have celiac disease, an intolerance to gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley and rye.4 •More than 3 million are allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, or both.5 •Over 900,000 have milk allergies.6 •Over 2 million have autism.7 •From 1997 to 2007 the number of children with food allergies rose by 18%.8 (1) National Center for Health Statistics, 2008 Brief, (2) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 2007, (3) Consumer Health Interactive Report, 2008 (4) Celiac.com, 2007, & National Institutes of Health (5) Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, 2003 (6) Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), (7) Autism Speaks (8) American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology, 2008.

Cholinergic Urticaria

This very much describes L. I feel like this answers the questions to L's hives at the pool and in the bathtub, when running around the backyard, and when just getting too hot at night or when playing indoors. For example, tonight L was wearing a tee-shirt, sweatshirt, and jeans while running around the house playing. He came to me with a few hives on his face and said "Will you help me get this sweatshirt off?" I immediately think

Those hives are tempature related, not food related.

A whole new way of thinking about L's hives, for sure. I am in awe that the answer to his constant hives for the past few years is quite possibly due to tempature changes and quite possibly not food related. I really am amazed at how closely the article in the link describes L's symptoms. As always I am grateful to a loving God who has opened my eyes to yet another answer in understanding my children.