Details of our regimen

Thanks for everyone's well wishes. I surely will let you know how its going :) So far the xylitol mints and everything else we are doing has had one noticeable effect on his teeth. One of his incisors which is still coming in had immediately decalcified upon emergence. It turned powdery white and began to dissolve like the others had. It has since stopped turning white and actually begun returning to the proper color which is a sign of remineralization - or healing itself. So that is giving me much hope.

For those that wanted more information, here is what we are doing:

Drinking and cooking with only reverse osmosis filtered water (we fill up the big bottles at Walmart and bought a simple lead free water crock on ebay).

Brushing with Spry xylitol non-fluoride tooth paste after every meal or more.

Giving him about 15 Ricochet xylitol mints (chocolate, punch and lemon lime flavored) from per day through out the day

Drinking only raw organic milk from pastured cows, no homogenization or pasteurization - ditto on the cheese found through realmilk.com
Minimal organic juice - only used to mix a small amount with his Fermented Cod Liver oil from Green pastures each morning

High vitamin raw butter oil from pastured cows processed as per Weston Price

Vitamins and mineral supplements crushed up in his food. The Bio-Dent and Catalyn from Standard Process

Organic pastured farm fresh eggs from my best friend Vikki
Organic pastured meats from local sources and coops

Organic veggies and fruits from coops and local sources

All grain products are made from grains I grind fresh with my new magic bullet from Walmart since I can't yet afford a real grain mill.

I process grains as specified in Nourishing traditions by presoaking them in kefir etc over night.

I am making and giving him daily fresh kefir, fil mjilk yogurt, home made cream cheese and a little bit of kombucha all purchased initially from Nick's Natural Nook


I am cooking everything in lots of butter as well as virgin cold pressed olive oil and coconut oil available from Radiant Life.

I am using Celtic or other nourishing salts in my seasoning.
For sweeteners we are using Raw Honey, maple syrup and Rapadura.

On its way in the mail from dentist.net I also have Dr. Collins Restore remineralizing toothpaste and an ionic tooth brush we will start using on him.

If any of this information can help anyone, I am very happy to share it. It is the result of pretty exhaustive research :) Much information is from the Weston A Price site and the cookbook Nourishing Traditions

I have incidentally lost 13 pounds so far in the last couple weeks without any real effort since making this diet change and taking the cod liver oil and butter oil. Which is a nice little bonus for all my hard work ;)

Best wishes to everyone else dealing with this mess,

Melissa

Another big change...

For those that don't know what has been going on with our family... my 2 year old son has been having some health issues. Nothing life threatening, we are in many ways very fortunate that his problems only involve his teeth. However, due to severe enamel problems he is having to go under general anesthesia for a second time to have more work done. The first time last April was horribly traumatic. So we aren't excited to go through it again. As a mother, I am of course trying to find the cause and solution to this problem. In spite of the near death experience that was his entry into this world, we are assured his issues are not the result of any of the medications or procedures he had or I had. Given that, and the knowledge that it is not a lock of hygiene. The next culprit I looked at was diet. While we were not perfect, I did think I was doing pretty well by him. Thanks to a very informative thread on Mothering I came to the realization that what I thought was a healthy diet was actually quiet poor. While I may never know if diet was to "blame" for his problem, along with excess fluoride in our water. What I do know is that there is a chance that I can stop and potentially reverse the damage through the diet found in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook and Weston A Price website. However, there is no way that I can continue to operate my business in any responsible way and give to my son the full and concentrated effort he now needs. I am running all over North Texas to locate and purchase the things needed for this diet. I am cooking intricate meals that require planning and coddling for days at a time. My kitchen has become a virtual science lab with jars of kombucha, kefir, fil mjilk, whey, and fermented vegetables. I've tossed out the microwave and invested in a monstrous freezer to stock up. My life must now revolve around healing my son. So... I am closing up shop. www.familypendragon.com will soon be gone, when I have the time to figure out how to close it. www.hyenacart.com/familypendragon will be restocked with only the sweater stones and pattern. I can imagine that a few times a year I may be able to stock some yarn or a custom or two. But it will be a rare occurrence I imagine, and will be announced through the blog and yahoo group. If you have a custom with me, have no fear, I do not let people down :) I am a little slower than normal, but I am reliable. I have loved creating for you. Thank you for the joy it brought me. I will miss you all very much. But I must be a mommy first :)

Sincerely,

Melissa

Closing my Hyenacart

In order to focus more on my family I will be closing my Hyena cart and only operating my main site. I will be moving the sweaterstones and patterns to www.familypendragon.com at the end of the month. They are still available on my HC through the end of November at the discounted prices. All remaining instock will soon become available on FSOT or perhaps Spots. We'll see when I get time to post it :) All previously paid customs etc will of course be honored. I just won't be maintaining my HC site anymore. Email me at familypendragon @ gmail . com if you have any questions or had your eye on anything that was instock. Prices will be discounted.

Reminder! :)

Just a reminder that Woolgirl stocked our limited edition Woolgirl exclusive winter colorways "Shiver" and "Deck the Halls" on Sunday. There were only 10 to 15 skeins created per colorway in both fingering and sport weight. When they are gone - they're gone - never to be repeated! We didn't even keep notes so we wouldn't be tempted ;)They are going fast, so hurry if you want to snag some!

Limited Edition Woolgirl Exclusives!

We have just shipped out the last batch of our Limited Edition Woolgirl Exclusive Holiday colorways to Jen of http://www.woolgirl.com/ These colorways were created for Jen for her Fall/Halloween and Winter/Christmas 2008 lines. There are only 10 to 15 skeins of each and they will  never be repeated ever. So get them when they are stocked or they may be gone ;) I know the Fall/Halloween ones (Feast and Cauldron) will be stocked this Friday according to her BLOG Here is a slideshow of these fabulous new colorways!

Custom Dye Slots Added!

I have opened some custom slots up! http://hyenacart.com/FamilyPendragon/index.php?c=40&p=80569

Family Pendragon Lotteries ending soon!

Don't forget 2 lotteries end tonight at 7pm et! Find out if you get 10% off or free shipping for tomorrows huge Celebration stocking. And the free yarn winner will be selected at 10am et when the stocking starts! Its our biggest stocking ever with a silk painting, custom tunisian slots, lots of yarn, custom dyed silk, custom dyed cashmerino, gift cards, and sweater stones and patterns are still on sale too! Here is what the winner of the FFS yarn lottery will take home


Our new Antique Roses colorway :)

Contest for $5 off

http://hyenacart.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=967292#967292

Biggest stocking EVER!

If you haven't checked out what is listed for the Oct 1st stocking lately - well you just need to go check it out! Family Pendragon There are free lotteries, custom slots, gift cards, spun silk, cashmerino, oh so much good stuff!

Also, to let you know what else we have brewing ;) We are working on a very special order for Woolgirl as well. We will be providing her with Exclusive Limited Edition Holiday colorways for Halloween as well as Christmas. They will be done exclusively for her this one time and never repeated!! I'll keep you posted on when that will be happening so you can get in on the action before they are all scooped up ;)

NEW! Guarantee a custom slot in 2009

My customs list is pretty well filled for this year and started for next year already. I thought I would try something new this time. On the October 1st stocking I am offering gift cards for $40 which will apply to the balance of a finished custom. Purchase your desired month's card and you are guaranteed a slot in that month of 2009. At this time I am only offering one slot per month for next year. An actual card will be sent to you through the mail with a unique code for your gift card purchase. January through June and July through December are listed separately to increase your chances in case of stalking ;) Customs info is HERE and yarn info is HERE.

Mother painting

In response to the pleadings of my dye partner I have taken the "Mother" painting out of stock for her, LOL! It was originally designed for her and then I decided to do a larger version - but she wants both now. So it is no longer up for sale. If I get a chance I will do another one soon ;)

More goodies added to stocking!

There are now 3 lotteries going and I have added a new silk painting shown above!

Previewing!

I am having a fairly large stocking on October 1st to celebrate my son's 2 year birthday - and the fact that I have been given the medical green light to have another child! We aren't planning on trying again for at least a year, but it's such a relief to finally know its safe after the nightmare we went through last time :) Yeah!! Right now pics are up - including a Free For Shipping Lottery. All the details will come as soon as I have time.

Thanks for looking!
~Melissa

My new thang ;)

Don't worry I haven't stopped dyeing or crocheting - just found another thing I have to do! Painting silk!! I am previewing the first one HERE that I will be offering for sale right now. I'd love to hear what you think!

What a difference a day makes!

Or daylight that is! The new pics are posted at www.hyenacart.com/familypendragon

Yarn now previewing!

Alrighty - that didn't take too long :) I will replace the 2am photos with daylight ones tomorrow though, LOL! The life of a WAHM... hee hee. But the previews are up at least! And here are the sneak peek photos. These photos don't do them justice though I have to say... The last one is my FAVE!

Fire on the Mountain

Squash Blossom

Witch's Brew (not yet re-skeined)

New yarn teaser :)

I have been playing in my dyes again... I have at least 3 sets of "longies" yarn (meaning 8 oz with the option of trim) that will be stocking Monday August 25th at noon EST. I have been wanting to try my hand at turning my Low Water Immersion technique on my yarn. And I had so much fun creating these totally one of a kind yarn sets. I think they turned out gorgeous!! The techniques rendered results similar to kettle dyeing with blends and surprises through out the yarn. They should make some fabulous and one-of-a-kind longies! Of course - I am sure you could do lots of other things too, LOL! Rather than dyeing up trim now I will have it as an option at checkout and then dye it to order so you can pick your color or choose not to have any at all. I will share pics as soon as I can!

Thanks,

~Melissa

Lowering In Stock Prices on HC!

My son and I are planning our first trip to visit my parents in Kansas at the end of this month - so I am marking in stock items down to raise some travel funds for our trip. Prices will start coming down tonight :) Check it out at www.hyenacart.com/familypendragon

The most beautiful longies/capris I've ever made :)

I hate to toot my own horn, especially since nothings selling right now, LOL! But I have to say that the longies/capris I will be posting tonight are (IMO) the most beautiful thing I've ever made. I single crocheted these small longies/capris from the top down in a brand new pattern I created for these which of course is designed to accomodate the cloth diapered babe. I used 8 full ounces of scrumptious Gaia Organic Merino bulky yarn. I first worked it up in its undyed and and unsoaked natural state in single crochet. I then soaked the longies to allow the yarn to bloom (fluff up) creating an even more dense "bulletproof" fabric. Then (and this is the really fun part) I hand painted them like a watercolor landscape painting! It was so much fun! I LOVE how they turned out!!! The have pretty lacey ruffle detailing at the bottom too... I have no little girl to put them on, and it seems silly to frame longies. So I am setting them up for auction in the cart. They will be closing when we get back from our trip on the 13th. I hope some one loves them as much as I do so I can ship them out when I get home! Anything purchased between now and then will be shipped when we get back :)

Shorties up for auction soon!

I will be adding a couple pairs of single crochet shorties up for auction today!

2nds and Surplus sale on our HC!

Over the course of the next week we will be having a "2nds and Surplus Sale". I am unloading any 2nds I find as well as extra skeins that were created for, but not used on previous customs. I will even be loading some light skeins that are under the normal weights. Some items will be regular price, some will be discounts, some will be steals! I also have a few crocheted items that I found sitting hidden on shelves, LOL! Just keep an eye on the store as I will be loading them as I get time :) Working on a few right now!

Woolgirl stocking Family Pendragon yarn Sunday!

Woolgirl will be stocking about $5K worth of Family Pendragon yarn on Sunday - if there is a colorway you've been wanting to try she's probably got it! LOL! There will even be new "Woolgirl" exclusive colorway only available through her site. Check it out at www.woolgirl.com !

Dyeing and learning everyday :)

As I have gained more dyeing experience, I have found that certain more complex colorways would benefit from space dyeing rather than painting. Please be advised of this change in our dyeing process. This means that many colorways that have more than four colors will now present you with longer sections of each color to work with :) If you have any questions when ordering please feel free to let me know!

4 New Colorway Prototypes

Looky what we have for you! We had fun dyeing today and will be adding the new colorway prototypes to the cart tonight. They will go on sale at 10am Saturday (Eastern Time). They are on Gaia Organic Worsted Merino - soooo soft :) YUM! They are the prototypes for future colorways. They will be named the same in the future, but will be slightly different than what will be available tomorrow - thus you will be getting something that is actually totally unique! One skein had a light spot and will be sold as a 2nd - so someone will score a really good deal on that one ;)

Coming soon!

226 Luscious skeins are on their way to Woolgirl right now! Which means we'll finally have time to dye up some of that delicious Gaia Organic Merino worsted and bulky yarn that has been taunting us. Look for some new colorways as well as some custom dye slots coming soon... ;)