updose #5...over halfway there!

Number 5!!

Well, everything that could've gone wrong this morning seemed to have gone wrong 😜.  We left late for the train station and halfway there realized we left her epi at home and had to race back to get it.  We arrived at the train station only 8 minutes before the train was to leave.  That's when I realized that I booked the wrong day for the train, so I had to book it again real quick with my app because there were too many people in line to do it in person.  Thank goodness there were still seats and it wasn't full!!  But now I have to call and see if they'll credit us with the train we paid for but didn't take!  ugh!

Once we got on the train (phew!), it got delayed because something broke down on the track.  The conductor apologized for the delay and said that we were lucky we didn't have to stop altogether...so I guess that's a plus! 

When we arrived at the train station in Philly, we called an uber because it was very cold and we didn't want to walk.  The first one came and went saying we weren't at the right pick up spot (he was wrong).  The second one was very nice, but went the wrong way and a normally 7 to 8 minute ride took 15 minutes.  Overall, instead of getting there almost an hour early like we should have, we got there five minutes late!  Thank goodness for the train though because traffic was terrible. 

Ella had no issues with her last two weeks of doses so she "graduated" from oat flour mixed with peanut flour to just straight peanut flour.  we have been looking forward to this! Why?  Check it out...

the flour on the left is what she has been doing for the last two weeks, the tiny bit on the right is what she is doing now!

She had updosed to 2 teaspoons of oat/peanut flour...which is a LOT of flour to mix with something.  It thickens very quickly and it has a not so yummy taste.  Ella had a rough week making herself take it every night - gagging her way through her D'animal mix.  So, when she graduated to just 1/16th a teaspoon of peanut flour we were ecstatic!  It's nothing!  It'll be a piece of cake! 

Well, we were wrong 😢 Yes, it was a smaller amount, but since it is straight peanut flour it has a strong peanut smell.  She smelled it before the nurse even handed her the cup :( The smell alone was enough to make her queasy.  Drinking it upset her stomach.  We had to stay an extra 45 minutes to make sure she was okay because she kept having stomach pains.  She fought through it though and we stayed distracted by playing games :)

Since we had to stay late, we couldn't eat lunch and still make our train, so we decided to get a later train and eat a slow-paced lunch at the train station (we were hungry!).  We got home an hour later than expected and a little tired from the fretful morning, but it certainly could have been worse!

After doing this dose for 3 nights though, I can see that it's only going to get harder and harder, not easier like we were hoping.  Please keep her in your prayers.  She wants to do this, but forcing herself to drink the "concoction" is not easy.  Every night is a battle.  It's still giving her some stomach pains - which could be the peanuts or it could be anxiety.  Either way, if it's this difficult with just 1/16th of a teaspoon, I can't imagine what 1/2 a teaspoon will be like! 

She only has 3 more updoses after this (she will be going back every month now instead of every two weeks).  And then her last "updose" will be a full peanut which she will do in a different part of the hospital closer to the ER.  That last step is called the peanut "challenge".  That is our end goal, and we'll hopefully get there in April!  That would be an awesome Easter present :)

It seems like an eternity away and it sometimes feels like an unattainable goal.  Please pray for resilience, no reactions and for peace - she could use it!

God bless and have a Merry Christmas!!

Chillin in the train station after lunch :) 

Ella's thoughts on this adventure and some problems we encountered last month...

It's been 4-6 weeks and two doses since our last blog post! We got some disappointing news after her second dose.  She had a big reaction one evening in October and we ended up in the emergency room.  Thankfully, we never actually had to do the epi pen or check in to the ER.  We got as far as the waiting room and stopped.  After experiencing some stomach pains, then a stuffy nose which progressed to breathing problems, she took some Benadryl and we headed to the ER while I talked to the doctor on call.  From the time we got out of the car to the time we entered the building, the medicine must have kicked in because she started to breathe easier.  So, we sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes to make sure everything was fine.  Once we felt assured that the reaction had passed, we went home.  Because of that reaction, her allergy team decided that it would be best if she goes to CHOP every month instead of every two weeks. 

doing math homework on the train :) 

This would mean, of course, that the process would take twice as long as originally intended.  We were disappointed, but in the big scheme of things, it's not that big a deal.  In all, I believe there are 9 up-doses - including the final peanut challenge.  So, it meant extending the process an extra 3 months. 
However, after doing very well the last three weeks and having ZERO reactions, they decided to try the two week up-doses again.  Yea! (i think lol).  So, we're praying that there are no reactions.  We will do our part by making sure she has a full stomach beforehand and that she rests completely for the two hours afterwards.  The two reactions that she has had both came when we went out and did some "light" activities 30 minutes to an hour after her dose.  We won't do that anymore! 

#4!

Yesterday, she had her 4th updose.  She went from one teaspoon of oat/peanut flour to two. 
This is a big jump and we were a little nervous.  It's also a LOT of powder to mix with Danimals yogurt (which is what we are now using).  She has a hard time not gagging while drinking it because the taste is bad!  The good news, is that this is the largest amount of powder she'll have to do.  From here, she goes to straight peanut powder and it will be a verrrry small amount :)   Hopefully we get there in just two weeks!
Here are a few pics of our trip yesterday. 

waiting for the train when it's freezing outside isn't quite as fun:) 

CHOP has beautiful paintings on their walls :) this week, we got the "elephant room"

taking her dose and trying to keep it down!

what has now become our tradition - eating at wendy's in the Philly train
station while waiting for our train home :) 

Ella had a writing assignment in school to write about a "personal triumph".  So, she wrote about her journey so far...enjoy :)

 Overcoming Allergies

By: Ella Juarez

      As soon as my mom and I stepped out of the train station doors in Philadelphia, we heard and saw all sorts of commotion outside.  Graffiti was sprayed on almost every wall. The colors ranged from red to purple and every color in between. The car horns honked furiously and bicycle bells dinged with their bags in the little baskets that rustled throughout all the streets. We looked up and saw that the clouds danced happily to the rhythm of the street song. My mom looked at the GPS on her phone, located our hotel, and we started walking. Me and my mom started taking the steps of a lifetime adventure.

      “Hurry up,” My mom said, waiting for me and becoming impatient “it doesn't take that long to eat Wendy’s!”

“You don't know that!” I said, my mouth full of hot breaded chicken nuggets, with crumbs coming out of my mouth. After a little while, I’m done eating, and we already started walking, for we didn't want to check into our hotel any later than 7 o’clock, and it was already 6. We walked, and walked, and walked, admiring the scenery every step of the way. There were construction sites, buildings as tall as skyscrapers, and cars turning left and right and the traffic never stopped. After about 20 minutes, we were on the sidewalk leading to our hotel. Around it were restaurants and shops. The automatic door kindly welcomed us into the hotel, and what we saw! It was very beautiful, and had decorations in the perfect spots. My mom checked us in, while I almost fell asleep on their extremely soft couches in the lobby. We got our keys, went up the elevator, and started unpacking in our room. When we finished, it was 7:30, so i decided to make microwave popcorn and find movies on the TV. My mom and I decided to watch guardians of the galaxy until 10:00. Then we went to bed. What was bad was we had to wake up at 7:00 AM to walk to CHOP. so we had to get ready really quickly and get out the door. Once again, my mom pulled out her GPS, and we started walking to the hospital. After turns, walking, crosswalks, and more walking,we arrive, but then get lost. A very kind nurse directed us to CHOP. It was so cool! We waited patiently (well not that patiently) until our nurse came for the qualification to see if we could do our dose. The waiting room was very children friendly, a lot of posters and colors. “Please follow me to the peanut test.” She said. I felt scared. My nerves suddenly awake when they heard the sound “peanuts.” My stomach tingling as if spikes were poking through it. This was it, we step into our small curtain closed area, I sit down in what looks like a fancy dentists chair, and out comes our nurse. She came with a bowl filled with the tiniest amount of oat and peanut flour. We give her the pudding that we brought from home. She leaves to go to mix it up in the back room. I hear a baby’s voice through the curtain “a baby is doing this OIT?” I thought to myself. It kinda looked like my mom was thinking that too. My thought burst when my nurse came out again with the pudding all mixed into the oat and peanut flour. The confusing mixture of my first dose ever, the mixture of pudding and peanuts, was coming straight towards my mouth, not hesitant one bit. And chomp! I have eaten my first dose ever. We waited for about 30 minutes. “I’m back,” Our nurse said “and I have your second dose now”, which was a little bit more than the first dose. And then this repeated again, but then I started feeling bad. So we waited to see if I would have an even bigger reaction. Good news, I didn’t. Afriad I might get sick again, we stopped updosing for the day. I got to go home, and then my mom got an email. We qualified! My whole life, changed forever. A small day that will be one of the biggest days ever in my life, just ended. My fist real dose starts tomorrow at 9. So we had to be there as quickly as possible.

     That is the story of my trip to Philadelphia and the trip that will and still is changing my life. Right now I am at 1 teaspoon of peanut flour and oat flour which is a lot. That one trip meant so much to me and my health and future. The trip that started a whole new adventure...

Twisted Mystery Thanksgiving Dinner

This turned out to be so much fun :) I found the idea on this website so I won't go into too much detail.  She did it at Christmas. If you want to know more about it, check out her site.  Basically, you give the youth a list of foods to order without telling them what they are ordering!  Included in the ordering are forks and spoons - so if they don't order one, they don't get one :)

I tweaked the idea a bit from the other site because I wanted to serve more variety for Thanksgiving, but didn't want to give them as many choices or courses.  We ended up doing 3 courses and they got 3 choices at each course.

They ordered the first two courses at the same time (so 6 dishes).  Then, I let them order the third course after they ate the other two.

A few of the plates for the first course :) 

the only one that actually ordered salad AND salad toppings...and he was so excited ;) lol

the only one who ordered a fork...which he was excited about - but not excited about the salad ;)

No fork? no problem!  They got very resourceful.  Cups can be used to eat sweet potatoes! ;) 

By letting them order the 3rd course separately, they got to do some "sleuthing" by talking to one another and figuring out which food was which number.  It was fun listening to their deducations and converations :) By the third course, they had most of them figured out so they ordered what they wanted!  And what did they order?  Pumpkin pie, goldfish (evidently a very popular Thanksgiving dish?! lol) and pudding!  Who needs turkey??

We did have a few at the very end who were still hungry, so we let them go back and get more turkey and "main dishes".  They had a good time.  We had 4 people serving and finished all three courses in just over an hour.  We put some Thanksgiving trivia (that we found on pinterest) on the table to keep them busy at the beginning and we streamed the football game that was going on.

Overall, it was a fun night.  I thought it would take longer so they had 40 minutes to kill at the end, but we would totally do it again!!

I am posting all my materials I made on my teachers pay teachers site - so if you'd like to use what I made, it's just $1.75.  You'll get the menu, the order forms (two sets - 1st/2nd course and 3rd course) blank invitations and the "key" to the menu (the foods we served).  In addition, I'm throwing in a silly ten dice game that includes fun facts you never knew about turkeys ;)  You could also search the internet for fun trivia about Thanksgiving that you could put on the tables.  I found some for free just googling Thanksgiving trivia, but if you want something more "formal", I also found a neat pdf/powerpoint version on teachers pay teachers by another seller :)  

Happy Thanksgiving!

12 Scripture Based/Religious Escape Rooms!

I have started writing escape rooms for my kids and youth at church - just for fun :)  I'm selling them on my teachers pay teachers site or, if you prefer a different platform, they are in my Etsy store to earn a little extra money for me and my family.  To help you decide which is the best one for your group, here is a list and description of all of the ones I've made so far - including their links and cost.  Hopefully having them all in one place will help you make a decision on which would work best for your group and occasion!  I base the cost on how many of the puzzles I have to create and how much work you have to do, as well as how much you have to buy.  To aid in the cost, the majority of my escape rooms use the same locks/boxes.  The locks and hasp you see in the below picture I use repeatedly but I don't use that lockbox anymore - too many locks don't fit in it.  Instead, I use these - and they cost less!  Have a question or suggestion for a new one?  Feel free to email me at noeylaurie@gmail.com

1.  Scripture Based Escape Room $6 (etsy link) - This was my second ER that I made.  It's the most viewed and sells the most...but in my opinion, it's not my best one. lol I think it sells more because of the name (and I wrote a separate blog about it) - but pretty much all of my ER's are Scripture based.  This one just has a LOT of scripture in it that needs to be looked up.  This one only costs $6 because there are some clues you will need to put together yourself.  

Here is the description:  

"Step by step instructions on how to carry out an Escape room for Tweens and Middle schoolers (and even high school and adults).  Includes instructions, puzzles, links to amazon to buy locks, etc. and pictures of our group and the set up.  It includes a lot of scripture to look up, math (adding to 1000 so you’ll need a calculator) and obviously some logic J  My 7 kids took one hour to complete it (and I gave a few helps when they got stuck).  I am going to modify it and do it with the staff at church in a 20-30 minute activity.  All you need to do is come up with a fun story – why are you locked in the room?  Why do you need to get out? We decided that we were locked in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and had to escape! J  Whatever your scenario – good luck!!"

2.  Paul and Silas escape room using praise songs. $8 (etsy link) This one was one of my favorites to write!  I charged $8 for this one because I made and included all the clues - there is very little you will need to do except print it out and read it and set it up!  

"Read Acts 16:16-40 from the Bible or find a children’s illustrated Bible with the story of Paul and Silas in jail.  Talk with the kids/youth about what happened before, during and after – make sure and mention how they SANG praises to God even in their darkest time.  Ask questions and let them ask you questions.  Then, tell them that they are going to be put in jail just like Paul and Silas.  To break out, they will need to decipher various clues that all have to do with praise songs and hymns!  Once they open up the final box, it will trigger the earthquake that will set them free J 

All of these clues need basic problem solving skills and one person will need to know how to read basic music.  Kids as young as 4^th/5^th grade could figure it out (perhaps offer them one free “clue” if they get stuck) and you could even use it with adults.   They may not take as long as an hour but you could make it more difficult by hiding some of the clues instead of leaving them out in the open like I suggest."

I did this one with my 4th/5th graders.  They needed some clues but did well.  I had one that could read music and one had done the pig pen cipher before.  Believe it or not, the hardest thing for them was trying to figure out what to do with a youtube video song on the ipad (the instructions were on the back of the ipad - they just never turned it over! lol).  I think that, besides the large group escape room, that this one is one of the hardest, and I would not use it with children younger than 4/5th grade.

3.  Church Library Escape Room.  $6 (etsy link)  I have sold the least of these - probably because your church needs to have an actual church library to do it, and many churches don't have those anymore.  But it was a lot of fun! I did it with two different groups of 4th/5th graders and it took them between 45 minutes and an hour to escape.  You actually use the call numbers and books on the shelves so the library is a must...

"Can your preteens/teens escape the library in time!? To escape they will need to know how to look up scripture, and find call numbers in a library.

This escape room is a bit easier for the participants and easier to set up. But a lot of fun! In hindsight, I would probably add a few steps or make the clues harder so that next time they take a little bit longer. You can easily change the clues to make it last longer or even make it a shorter time. The setting is a church library and I did use the call numbers so you'll need to have those two things for this to work. I don't charge much for these because there is still some work you have to put in - like pulling your own call numbers. You will need to buy a few supplies (almost everything was used in the other escape room with the exception of one thing which can be bought online or at ACMoore - and probably michael's)."

4.  Parable Break out Box - $6 (etsy link)

I wrote this one because I thought it'd be a neat change, and my kids have both mentioned how they've done break out boxes at school - so I thought the kids would relate.  It's the same concept of an escape room - except they are breaking into a box and not out of a room :)  Usually, there's some kind of reward inside the box.  Also, I thought it could be used if you had a larger group and you could split up and have a competition!  

"There are four boxes total and you have to figure out how to get into each one.  You can have as many groups as you have materials for.  If you have a small group of 3-5 kids then you can form two teams and have them race or just give the group a certain amount of time (45 min-one hour) and see if they can beat it.  If you have a larger group, then you could make 3 small groups and let them race each other.  I would suggest around 5 or less on a team.  You could make as many of these as you want if you have more than 15 people, but then you would need to modify clue #1 which tells each group to find their hidden key in a certain spot in the room.  You could go to the website and make more word jumbles (“under a cabinet”, “under a lamp”, etc) or you could just give two groups the instructions to look “under a chair”.  Not really a big deal.  You would just need to make sure your room had at least two chairs, two tables, and/or two pictures.  The other clues would all be the same.

This “Break in” game is based on four parables – parable of the sower, talents, lost sheep and the good Samaritan."  

 5.  Christmas themed Escape room!   - $7 

This is a best seller :) Evidently people like doing escape rooms around Christmas! lol  It's not a difficult one to set up and shouldn't be too hard to complete - you could make it harder or easier depending on your age group.  I'm thinking this would be a great Christmas time fundraiser for families/small groups to sign up and complete!

"Since this one is not a complicated set up, you should be able to have some fun extras and put some time in for decorations 😊 The extras and décor/story really help pull together an escape room.  I set up our large nativity scene in a room and used the manger scene as a prop.  I turned the whole room into the stable where Jesus was born.  You could read the birth story of Jesus as your intro, including the 3 Wisemen.  Then, you could read the following Scripture:

The Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[c]

We "pretended" that they were locked in the room and I just hung the lock on the door handle :) improvise!

A couple of my 5th graders figuring out the Rebus clue. This was more difficult than I thought and they'll need a few clues.  

I realize that they were not in the stable when the wisemen actually visited – and you could mention that to the group.  It just makes for a fun set up 😊  This could also be done in January when the 3 wise men are celebrated!

6.  Large Group Escape Room - $20 - this one took me many weeks to organize and write.  A fellow Christian Educator asked if I had an escape room written for a large group and I said no.  I also said I didn't think that would even be possible.  But, after a lot of brainstorming and reworking, I came up with an idea! :) I provided many instructions and clues (14 total!) - hence the higher price.  If you do this escape room please let me know how it goes!  There are so many little details involved in this one - I'd be interested to know if you had to tweak anything for your group.

"This escape room is different than my other escape rooms.  It does not have a flow chart because the set up is different.  You will need to get 14 large manila envelopes.  Each envelope will include 2 unrelated clues.  You will assign one envelope to every 1-2 people depending on how many you have in your group.  You can have as few as 14 people and they get one envelope each, or you can have two on each envelope and have 28 people, or you can have two groups of 28 go against each other in a contest (you would just to buy/print double of everything)!  The options are endless!  I would recommend using this game with 14-60 people. 

There are four locks in this game.  The first three have either four numbers, letters or colors.  The last one will need a key.  Apart from the locks, hasp and lock box, there are not many supplies to buy.  Each envelope contains two clues that will HELP figure out two of these numbers/letters/symbols.  The two clues in the envelopes are not related to each other, but they are related to a clue in another envelope.  It is the job of the participants to figure out who has the other half of their clue and work together.  Some will be obvious but others will not.  The challenge of this escape room?  Each person or pair will be working with two other pairs…and those pairs will be working with another pair and so on.  Everyone will be vying for the attention of everyone else so the “key” is communication, communication and communication!  (and patience ;)" 

7.  New Year's Eve Break out box $7

I haven't gotten to do this one, but I had a few people try it out and give me feedback - they loved it!  You can set it up a variety of ways, use it with all different ages and make it last as long as you want.  This is probably the most "fun" break out box/escape room I've made as it contains games to play as you count down! :)

Description:

This Break out box is based on 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; the OLD has gone, the NEW has come!" Out with the old and in with new :) You can expand on this verse as much as you want. The idea behind this "break out box" is to complete 10 activities before midnight (or you could have a "pretend" midnight if you have younger children). The activities/clues are to be hidden inside of 10 balloons that are labeled with the numbers 10, 9, 8, etc. Start with number ten and "countdown" to number one - hopefully in time! :) some of the activities have nothing to do with breaking into the box - they just have to be completed before moving on (ie, writing down your new year's resolutions and guessing who wrote which one). Other activities, when completed, provide you with a clue to unlock one of the locks on the lock box. You need 3 lock boxes for this break out box - one main box that has 3 locks and two boxes that contain materials your youth will need to solve other clues. Make sure and fill your final box with something fun for the new year! Maybe party favors and hats...or candy? Whatever you can think of! Like most escape rooms/break out boxes, doing this with around 10 people is probably best. Fewer is fine as well. However, since many of these activities are group activities, everyone will be included much of the time. So if you have 15-20 people you could probably make it work! If you have the funds, you could buy twice the supplies and make it a contest as well :) have fun and Happy new year!!

Note - this game can be used for any year. one clue does provide trivia for 2019 but you can easily google "trivia for the year ...." and replace my questions and answers with your own - just make sure your multiple choice answer letters match your lock combination.

8.  Valentine's Day Escape Room $6 (etsy link)

"Love is Patient, Love is Kind...
Using Scripture, puzzles, candy and more, escape the room by solving 4 puzzles and piecing together a heart puzzle that will give you the final clue! Best for ages 4th-adult, but you could alter it to make it simpler for younger elementary.
You will need 4 lock boxes and locks, or you can get creative and construct your own so you don't have to spend money. You will also need to buy some Valentine's Day candy and some decor :) Have fun!"

9. Easter Egg Hunt Escape Room $3.50

"Couple your egg hunt with an escape room! You won't need many supplies for this except for a directional lock, puzzle, easter eggs and candy. Different ages can do this together or you can gear it towards a specific age as I have provided you with instructions for an "easy" hunt and for a "hard" hunt. Most of the work is on your own so this escape room plan is only $3. It's simple to understand, simple to put together but LOTS of fun :) It'll add the little extra fun and "sustenance" to the egg hunt that you've been looking for :) One of the clues does involved Scripture of the resurrection - don't forget to explain to the children that THIS is why we celebrate Easter!
I think you could do this with 20 children if you split them up into two groups - "searchers" and "solvers" :)

10. Want to write your own escape room? Here are a few templates that I've used that help a lot. They're just blank flow charts that I put together for some of my own escape rooms.

11  Jonah!  Help Jonah escape from the whale :)  $6 (etsy link)

"This ER has 3 puzzles and needs 3 lock boxes and 3 locks. The 3 puzzles concentrate on 3 aspects of the story worth going over with your group. One, the significance of the number 3 in the Bible (and in the Jonah story), listening to God and obeying God, and Jonah's prayer (and other well known prayers in the Bible).

One of the puzzles you will need to set up - the other 2 I provide. Included is a flow chart on how the boxes work together, set up instructions, a list of materials that I use and recommend, and two puzzles. The third puzzle I include instructions for, but you need to set up.

One puzzle is best shown projected up in the room on powerpoint."

12. My most recent Break out Box is "Are you my Neighbor?". $6 (etsy link)
This was a suggestion made by another Christian Educator - and I really enjoyed making it! It's also in honor of Mr. Roger's day :) Since the theme of this one is "Are you my Neighbor?", I went on a search for puzzles and challenges that required teamwork. I wanted every aspect of this to be centered around helping, encouraging, and loving your "neighbor". There are 4 puzzles - one where they will be handcuffed to their chairs to perform a task, another where they work together in a group to complete a physical puzzle that includes the Scripture from Luke (Good Samaritan), and two mental tasks. Oh, and there are water guns involved :)

An added challenge for this break out box is a hidden element! :) Tell the group at the beginning that they only have 30 minutes to complete this box BUT that they can earn up to 30 minutes more IF they say or do something specific. What exactly? Well, we won't tell them :) But if any of them say or do something nice or encouraging for their neighbor, then you announce, "You have earned five more minutes". Don't tell them why...eventually they will probably catch on and start doing more :)

13.  My Christmas Escape room is one of my best sellers, so I decided to write a new one for this year that is geared for elementary age students (here is the TPT link)!  Usually I gear them towards older elem/youth or adults.  But this one would be best for your elementary kiddos :) 

It's one of my first ones that has an opening story for you to read as well.  It sets up your escape room :)  Description from Etsy: "My first escape room geared specifically to elementary age children! could you do this with youth? Yes, you could. You would just want to add in some extra surprises, elements, etc to make it a little harder. Your elementary kids should finish this in 30-45 minutes (you will probably want to allow them to ask for one clue). There are 3 puzzles to solve and two locks to unlock.  The clues do require some spelling, but as long as you have some kids that are older and can read/spell, then you are fine. I wouldn't do this with a class of K kiddos. Can your group escape in time?? Or will they be spending almost all of Christmas Eve stuck in their Sunday school room all alone?? ;)

I also have a religious Christmas escape room for youth/adults...and if you have done it or plan on doing it, then you would already have all the supplies you'd need for this one - except the hasp! Have fun!"

I have a bundle available with ALL 12 of the Escape Rooms/Break out boxes on TPT.  You save $10 by buying them all - which is like 1 1/2 Escape Rooms for free ;) 

I also have a holiday bundle that includes xmas, new years, valentine's day and easter.  
On Etsy, you can buy a bundle with all 6 non-Holiday escape rooms (buy 5 get one free!). 

If you have an idea for an Escape room or a theme you'd like to do, shoot me an email!  Maybe I could write one for you!  noeylaurie@gmail.com

Thanks for checking out my products and my Etsy and teachers pay teachers site!  God bless!

-Laurie

Boring week...just what we want!

Her 3rd updose!  

This was a boring and uneventful two weeks - couldn't ask for anything more :) She had to miss one dose because of a migraine, but had no problem the next day picking up where she left off.  So, instead of a blog this two weeks - since we have nothing new to report - she wrote down some things that she is looking forward to once she no longer has to fear cross contamination or "may contain peanuts" labels...

1.  trying a teeny piece of a Reese's to see how it tastes :) 

2.  eating cross contaminated food 

3.  eating chinese food!!

4.  Eating foods that say "may contain" like M&M's (yum!) and chocolate covered pretzels.

5.  Eating foods (like at church) that may not have labels on them but we know don't contain nuts (like cross contamination). 

6.  traveling anywhere and not worrying! (amen to that!)

and I'll add mine in:

7.  not worrying about having an accidental ingestion at a friend's house or at school.

8.  not having to worry about someone bullying her (someone once shoved a candy wrapper in her face on the bus that contained peanuts)...sad, but true.  

9.  giving our puppy dog treats with peanut butter in them.

10.  having the security that when she makes a mistake (because we all do), it won't be life threatening <3 

My first Updose!

She didn't see the words on the window until I pointed them out to her.  I told her she's my hero for doing this :) She said she doesn't feel like one...but I disagree!

We've now been doing OIT for one month!  Ella was supposed to go back two weeks ago to get her first up-dose, but since she got sick and had to decrease her dosage, we continued with the smallest dose two more weeks.

Today, she went to CHOP for her first "updose".  They increased her from 1/4 tsp of oat flour mixed with peanut flour to 1/2 tsp.  It's still an extremely small dose - but the important thing is she took it this morning and had zero reaction!  Here are a few words from Ella...

hanging out in our room waiting to dose - passing the time :)

My first month was pretty simple. Most of the days were the same and the first couple of days I had pudding to mix with the dose, but then the pudding started to taste gross, so I switched to applesauce. It kinda had the same outcome as the pudding, except one time I actually had a reaction to the peanuts. But I think that was just because I was sick. I think that, because I was sick for the next 3 days (and she had to take 1/2 the dosage). The applesauce actually started to taste weird, so then I switched to a smoothie thing. And I still am taking that now.  I was a little worried the first couple times I dosed at home, but now I'm not.  The only thing I don't like about dosing is that I have to rest for two hours afterwards, which is always afterschool.  This is the only time I get to be active so I don't like having to rest.

We have been taking the train to and from Philly - so much more pleasant than fighting traffic and looking for parking!

Besides that one reaction (that was quite scary!), the month was uneventful - which is what we want! :) Hopefully the next two weeks are more of the same.  Thanks for following our journey!

God bless,
Laurie and Ella

Peanut OIT - my first food challenge!

Ella's Peanut OIT journey

Dose 1!!

What is OIT?  It's oral immunotherapy. Think of it as allergy shots, but with peanuts :)  It has been around for a decade but when it started it was just a few doctors doing trials with a few patients.  Now, it has become widespread through much of the country and many more doctors and hospitals are jumping on board. There is more data and experience so the treatment is available to more and more people that are suffering with life-threatening food allergies.  I have been keeping up with this treatment for ten years, waiting for a doctor that was within four hours of us so we could be seen.  Finally, I heard that CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) was going to start the program.  We immediately signed up.  Actually, I signed her up years ago for peanut studies so she was already on the list.  We got lucky :) There are now 1000s on the waitlist!

The idea behind OIT is that you begin with a "food challenge".  The patient must eat a very small percentage (1/100th) of a peanut (or other food), wait 20 minutes, eat another small amount and continue this until the patient starts to feel queasy or sick.  One only needs to take two doses - which Ella did - to make it into the program.  If the patient needs to use the epi pen during that time, then they can not continue with OIT because the dose can't get any smaller.  We thought, part way through ella's dosing, that she was going to need the epi - but thankfully she did not. It got a bit emotional at times, but she powered through!

Now, over the next 6-9 months, she will "dose" every day.  There are restrictions and rules to keep her safe, so our lives will be different over the next year or so.  Every evening when she doses, she can not do anything to increase her heart rate for almost 3 hours. In addition, we will be traveling to CHOP every other week to increase her dose.  Once she gets up to 1 peanut, she will be done.  Being able to successfully eat one peanut means that could accidentally ingest up to 5-6 peanuts and be ok.  To keep up her immunity, she will need to eat one peanut m&m as "medicine" most every day for the rest of her life (there are certainly worse things! lol).  So, by going through this intense process for 6-9 months, she will be protecting herself the rest of her life from accidental ingestion.  Pretty awesome!  She is going to blog about her experience for the next 6-9 months so that other kids and parents can see what it's like.  I will add my "two cents" when needed and I'll be the photographer :) Take this ride with us and share it with other children and families that are suffering with a food allergy.  It is a fear that no one should have to live with every day - especially when there are treatments available!

From Ella...

Me waiting for the 

train going to 

Philadelphia

 Me on the train 

chillin'

 waiting for the doctor

to come get us for the 

treatment

 Finally eating my fist dose of peanut!  It's mixed with chocolate pudding :) 

 Me on my Ipad and

watching Dora

 Getting *real food after

my second dose of 

peanuts

 watching Harry Potter waiting

to see if i react to the 

peanuts

 My great nurse Meredith 

she took care of me :)

Swimming and relaxing at the pool at

our hotel after the

hospital

 I really enjoyed today. It was a little more complicated at first because there were a lot more people than i expected, and i didn't know I would react as much as i did, but it still wasn't that bad. I know the longer i do it, the more i will get used to the peanut doses every time I come.

-Ella