Experiment Goes Wrong...But Makes Everyone Happy

I've recently become a fan of the website called "Pinterest". It has a lot of different ideas and recipes and crafty things that have really been fun to sift through. With Noah's birthday coming up, I was looking for a fun way to make a dessert for the kids that doesn't include cake - since Noah doesn't like the stuff. I found where someone dipped the bottoms of small balloons in chocolate and refrigerated. Once they popped the balloons, they had a small bowl shape to serve ice cream in. I loved it! Noah's birthday is all about science and I thought that fit the theme perfectly! I tried it tonight, but instead of using melted chocolate, I used melted vanilla almond bark. Well, so far the experiment has failed and isn't working out the way I hoped. I'll probably try it with chocolate like they showed on the website, but when one experiment fails, another great idea is born!



The kids decided to use the rest of the almond bark and cover pretzels with it. We've done this before and it's always a hit. So, I got the stuff melted and got out a bag of pretzel sticks and called them from the other room. You've never seen them run so fast! Everyone was thrilled and got right to work eating the leftover almond bark, while I finished up the haystacks.

They covered them with sprinkles (and left some plain for daddy) and we stuck them in the frig. Guess if the bowls never turn out, we can always serve these!

Eagle Watch Weekend

We've been staying busy at the house and running errands for the past month, so we decided we needed to do something fun instead this weekend! We found out that this weekend was "Eagle Watch Weekend" at Starved Rock. I've never seen a bald eagle in the wild, so I was so excited about this!





The weather actually cooperated and was sunny and a breezy 37. Not bad for a January day! We went to the Starved Rock Lock and Dam where we heard you could see the eagles on an island in the middle of the river. We saw a bald eagle before we even got there, so we knew that was a good sign! Once we got there though and got on the observatory at the Visitor's Center, we saw 6-7 of them flying around and a couple kept diving by the river. It was soooo cool!! Noah hopped up on one of the stationary binocular things and watched them.

Pete and Livie used our binos from home. It was so neat to see!!!

Noah and Livie got cold fairly quickly with the wind coming in, so Pete and Madie stayed while I took the other two inside. Madie enjoyed looking through the big binos too. :-)

Once we got back inside the Visitor's Center, we were able to explore a bit and see what they had out to participate in.

We went downstairs and let the kids each buy a stuffed animal eagle. They all picked out different ones. Then they had a place where you could get these make-it-yourself bird feeders. They got a big ball of pb and birdseed with a pinecone. We hope to make them tomorrow and put outside for the birds.

They had face painting and the guy let you pick out whatever eagle drawing you wanted.

As you can see, he was very talented!!

There was a native-american guy who had different things up on tables to look at and on the hour would do a presentation. More about that in a bit.

Oh, here's a shot of all of their face-painting. They all got the same one. :-)

We went back outside for a little bit and by this time the eagles had all gone back to one of the trees on the island. There were 5 in this tree, I believe. They were just amazing and beautiful!

I took this picture, so you could see the lock and dam. We were right behind this and that tree to the right is the tree that had the eagles in it. That hill across the way on the left side is Starved Rock. We've hiked up there a lot and even taken our nephews Trevor and Ty up there before. It was fun seeing it from the other side of the river!

While we were outside, the guy made an announcement that all the children should come inside and see the next presentation all about the buffalo dance. Madie and Noah were the first ones down there and he asked them to be part of the presentation. They were THRILLED! Noah was the head hunter and had to wear the wolf skin. Here he is crawling like a wolf. This is how the indian hunters would come up to the buffalo, so they wouldn't scare them.

He then told Madie she was the girl chief while the other boy was the boy chief. They both got to wear headdresses. The native-american guy showed them how to dance like a buffalo, while he beat on the drum.

Livie had been watching on the stairs with me, but once she saw all the fun they were having, she convinced Pete to walk her through the crowd, so she could be a part of it too.

It was so fun to watch them dance and chant! And, when it was all done, Livie got to try on the wolf skin too.

That's about as close as she'll get to wearing a yeti skin, so she was super-excited! The native-american guy (wish I had gotten his name!) was so great with the kids and so very nice. It was their favorite part of the whole day!

After we finished up at that visitor's center, we headed over to the Starved Rock Visitor's Center. They had more activities to do in there.

The kids wanted to see if their arms had the same wingspan as the eagles.

Who knew they were so big?!

None of them were even close. Heck, Pete even tried it and HE wasn't even able to stretch that far!

They had a bunch of different animal pelts to feel and look through. They even had the materials to make an eagle puppet using a lunchsack. I made one for Livie, while she and Madie made valentines (another of the centers).

We then drove up to the lodge. We had planned to eat lunch here, but it was so packed by then, that Pete just dropped us off and drove around for a parking space - that he never found. While he was searching, the kids made some more crafts.

Livie made this eagle headband and an eagle straw holder. Madie and Noah made eagles that went on popsicle sticks and necklaces.

We came home after that for a couple hours, so we could hang out with Tater, then we went to Hanks for dinner. Pete never did find a parking space, so we didn't get to eat lunch at the Lodge like we had planned. But, it worked out for the better. Madie and Noah recently realized their love of steaks, so Madie got a ribeye and Noah got a prime rib. He ate the entire 12oz prime rib himself AND ate a couple bites of mine - all in a matter of minutes! Pete had a tear in his eye. He was so proud! His boy loves meat as much as he does!! ;-) In fact, when I said to Noah, "You'll want to order it medium-rare," Noah said, "No. Large." We cracked up! He didn't want a little one. He wanted a BIG prime rib tonight! We had such a great meal and it was a great way to end our day. We even gave a few bites of prime rib to Tater when we got home. Noah didn't want it all to go to Tater though, so he tried to sit and grab a bite when Pete would throw it. ;-) We had such a fun day hanging out together as a family. I love a nice, relaxing weekend at home, but it's fun to throw in an adventure once in a while too. And, boy, were the eagles a great way to do that!

One Year Later

I think as Americans we like to celebrate or honor the anniversary of something important to us. It gives us time to reflect on the time that has passed since the date of the happening that marked our lives, whether for the better or the worse. One year ago today our lives changed after a simple finger poke revealed that Noah had diabetes.





This is a picture of him from last year - sad, tired, and hurting after a long night in the hospital. He got so, so many shots in that 24 hr period and, back then, he didn't like it one single bit!

But, here he is now. One year later and full of smiles. He is a happy, healthy kid that now handles his insulin shots and finger pricks like they were just always a part of his life. It's definitely been a year of adjustment for all of us. There's no way to leave this house without some planning. Have to make sure we have his insulin, a snack, his tester. That's not to say we haven't forgotten all of those things at one point or another. We have. We discovered this summer after going to lunch and eating a big meal that we didn't bring his insulin! We used that as an opportunity to hit the new bouncy house place and make him run around until those sugars came down. Worked like a charm. We've forgotten snacks. I was setting up my classroom, when Noah said he was feeling low. With a blood sugar of 65, I quickly opened some of the school's snacks and had him chow down on those. We're going to make mistakes. We're going to forget. But, we're all working together to get it all figured out and so far, we haven't done too bad a job. I went back and reread what I posted two days after he was diagnosed. I could see that I was overwhelmed and nervous about what was to come. You can read it here:

http://lj-allbecausetwopeoplefellinlove.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-difference-day-makes.html

But, he's done so well and we've all adjusted and it's now become a way of life for us. So, as I look back at our first year of diabetes, I'm so proud of us. So, so proud of Noah and his bravery with this. He deals with it all without whining or complaining. He knows what his disease is about and studied it a lot those first months and is still very active in wanting to learn more. And, honestly, the learning never ends. I thought we had it figured out until our last appt and I realized it's still surprising me! I'm proud at how my girls have made this a normal thing for them too. They talk about blood sugars and carbs like it's second nature. They like to help Noah and calculate his insulin with his meals. We play a game where he takes his blood sugar and we all have to guess what the number is and whoever is the closest wins. We try and take the yuckiness out of the disease and make it one that our whole family can embrace. Pete was the guy who couldn't stand the sight of blood and now he gives shots and takes blood sugars. He's been fantastic! And, honestly, gotta say, I'm a little proud of me. I certainly don't have to deal with the things Noah has to deal with, but I'm proud of how my math skills have improved with this! I can now add and divide with the best of 'em! Not too shabby for a girl who had to cheat her way through math class in high school to even get a "D" average!!! ;-) We give thanks to God for His continued provision for Noah. We thank Him for being our constant companion and strength when we're worried or concerned. We thank Him for giving Noah his health and protection. It's been a journey that we're only a year into, but so far, he's been doing so well. Let's hope that the years to come will only bring continued health for our boy!

Here Come the Braces!

Today was the big day! Noah entered the world of orthodontics. Like his big sister before him, he has trouble with his tooth alignment and needs intervention. This is only the beginning though. He has a lot more teeth to lose, but he has an underbite that needs corrected before all those teeth start falling out.



This boy was cool as a cucumber (as my mom used to say). Wasn't worried at all about getting it done. In fact, he was quite excited!

He got to pick out the color of the rubber bands they were going to use. I told him to make the decision quickly, because he tends to take his time thinking about these things and he's able to change them at every visit, so he can get lots of different colors over the next few months.

Check him out! Just relaxing away as they work on his mouth.

And, there you have it! He has two brackets on the top front teeth for now. They want to close the gap between his teeth before moving onto the rest of them. He has 2 brackets on the second to last molars on the top too, but no wire for now. He'll get that at the next appt or the appt after that. The colors he chose for those two front teeth were black and gold. Purdue colors. I don't know if he realized they were the colors of Purdue, but Pete is proud anyway. :-) So, we welcome yet another child into the world of retainers and braces. I'm sure in a couple years, Livie will be joining them!

Snow vs.Tater

We haven't had snow since winter began, but today it's finally catching up with us and Tater is LOVING it! He got a taste of snow when we were in IN over Christmas break. They had a bit of snow on the ground in Warsaw. But, today he's gotten to play in windy, falling snow where there is quite a bit of accumulation. :-)



As you can see from his nose, he's having a fun time in it too!

When I got home from work, I put on his winter vest and took him outside. He sniffed it for a second, then ran out in it, burying his nose in and jumping around. It was so fun to watch!

He also really likes eating it. Looks like snow is one thing that Tater is crazy for! At least he and the kids can be excited about it. I want those amazing 50 degree days to come back soon!

Another Peoria Trip

We hit the road at 7am this morning for our first check-up with Noah in the new year. We haven't been down there since July and his numbers had him in a much different place at that point than we find ourselves in today. I was very glad to be going down there to see them. Found out several things today - some good, some fabulous. First, I found that he IS still in the honeymoon phase. With his numbers being in the high 100s and 200s (with some 300s thrown in the mix from time to time), I figured that meant his pancreas was done. When we saw them in July, it was rare for him to have a double digit number at all and we had lots of lows, which I thought were a good thing. His pancreas is on the way out, but one of the markers is that if his pancreas was totally done, he would take 15 units of Lantus at bedtime and he's only currently taking 7, so that's really good news. The other thing I found out is that my fear about all these high numbers is unfounded. A glucose level (blood sugar level) of 200 or less is actually ok. As an adult, they want that number to be around 90-120 and his base level is 120, but if it's 180 or 200, it's still ok, because as a kid they handle that differently. They would rather see a higher number like that to be safe than see a low number. Here I thought low sugars were good and they are actually very bad. They hurt and hinder his developing brain, so we really DON'T want to see any lows. So, the fact that he's only had a couple in the past couple months is good news. :-) One of the bad things is I realized after much discussion about his glucose levels and insulin levels and all that, he (and therefore we) are in for a much more changing journey than I had envisioned. It's obvious to me now that at no point will we ever sit back and say, "OK. We've got everything under control." and be able to sit back and figure everything will level out. I realized today that his numbers and ratios will always be changing and our jobs will always be to try and figure out the right balance of insulin with carbs and correction dose formulas for him from now on. Granted, it's not totally going to be OUR job. Part of that job will go to him and, eventually TOTALLY to him. Maybe the bigger part of our job will be to teach it all to him along the way, so we can know he knows his stuff. So, really glad to know that he's doing well and that his high numbers aren't high after all. Glad to get new prescriptions for him that will allow us to stockpile a bit of his product when we need it. And, glad to get new formulas for him to try and make sure his numbers stay in a good range for him. Starting to get my mind around the idea that this will never feel settled or routine, but I guess in the scheme of things, that's not too difficult to handle.

Livie's New 'Do

We all know that Livie never wants to cut her hair. She loves it long, but it was getting very straggly (is that the word?) at the ends, so I convinced her to get the ends cut. Of course, when I said "ends", I meant 4". ;-)




This is a side view to see how long it was. When it was straight (as you'll see later), it was down to her butt.

Here she is with her super-long hair!

Meaghan decided to straighten it before she cut it, because it was so long. A couple people in the room commented on how long it was!

When it was straightened, you could see the length. She had to stand up while it was getting cut.

Four inches later and she has this BEAUTIFUL new haircut!! And, boy, do I love it straight too! Might have to do that once in a while. :-) The best thing is Livie loves it! She was very worried, but it's still halfway down her back, so it's not short by any means. A beautiful new haircut for a beautiful little girl. :-)

Clean-up Time

I really enjoy getting out our Christmas decorations. I, however, don't like them to stick around too long. I like getting my house back in order once the presents have been opened and are scattered around. We got back from our trip to IN on Saturday and by Sunday afternoon, I was stripping the decorations from the walls and the shelves.



Pete took the outside lights down. Everything on the shelves and walls were packed back up. And, then Livie helped me take down the ornaments and lights, so Pete could take down the tree.
I mention "Livie helped", because the other two weren't quite as helpful....

They chose to play their DSs instead. That's ok. I put them to work today instead. ;-) Part of the after-Christmas fun is finding places for all their new toys. We had gone through and donated a bunch before Christmas even came, but now knowing what they had to fit in their rooms, we created a new pile of stuff for the basement playroom. I'm happy to say that the kids' rooms are organized and clean now, as is the rest of my house (except my room and the basement).

We even rearranged the living room to make more space to play in. We got those gamer chairs and didn't have any room to play, so we put the other chairs together to make a loveseat and that freed up some space for the black ones. We also got a smaller coffee table (thanks, Dad!) that has storage in it so we have lots more places for toys upstairs now. Hopefully by the weekend, we'll be totally organized and clean and ready to tackle 2012!