Invention Convention

After many, many months of planning (and one snow day), the Invention Convention was in full swing yesterday!  This is a project that all 7th graders must do and they begin the planning stages of it in October.  They write reports, come up with an idea, and make their idea a reality, so they can show during the convention at school.

Madie actually won an Honorable Mention yesterday, so she was extremely excited!  Here she is holding her ribbon. :-)  The first place winner created a box you could open on a chain-link fence, so you could take pictures on a baseball field without the fence blocking you.  It was really cool!

 Here is the board that she made.  She worked really hard on it.  She did it all by herself.  The only thing I helped with was taking the pictures of Livie and actually sewing together the pocket.

We thought these "Before" and "After" pictures of Livie were hilarious!  "Before" she was sad, because she had no place to put her doll.  The "After" picture shows her joy when she finally had a place for that doll!  The doll is in the picture at the top, sitting inside the pocket we made.

She used different fabric pieces that she picked out to show the color options for the pocket.  This side was for the girl colors/prints.

This was the boy side of colors/prints.

This is the actual pocket attached to her leggings.  We used really strong magnets to hold it onto the pants.  She put this cardboard iphone in it to show how it works.  

It was supposed to be last Wed night, but the snow day we had postponed it.  I thought I was going to miss it, because I work on Thursday nights, but thankfully they had it right after school.  Sadly, I think that kept a lot of parents away, because they had to work, because usually the place is packed during the Invention Convention.  But, I'm glad I got to go, even if the timing was bad.  And, you'll notice in this picture that Noah is growing his hair out.  Sigh.  He informed me that he's growing up and making some changes to his appearance.  Pete keeps calling him "Bieber". ;-)  It's the style and I can't fault him for wanting to be more independent and different now that he's almost 11.

We took time to go around and look at all the other inventions.  It's fun to see how creative some of these kids are.

Of course, we had to take a picture of Madie and one of her best friends, Ashley (and two of Ashley's sisters).  She's a sweet girl.

So, all that planning paid off!  They did a great job on their inventions and Madie was thrilled to pieces to win a ribbon!


**UPDATE - Today (February 18th) Madie came home and told us there was a mix up.  She actually got third place!  She will be receiving a ribbon tomorrow.  So, YAY for Madie on that great accomplishment!

Superbowl Sunday!

Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday and, even though the game sucked, we had a great time with our friends.  We had invited our friends Jayson and Laura over, as well as their kids.  Then Pete invited a couple guys from work - David, whose wife has been out of town for a while and was home alone, and Dane, who is staying at a hotel while he works at the plant for a few weeks.  He's from the WV site.  So, it was a smaller crowd than what we're used to, but it was a great time.  Pete, my introvert husband, doesn't always like when I invited 20 people to the house, so this was just perfect for him. :-)

We ordered pizza and I made lots of food for the occasion.  I swear, one of my favorite parts about hosting is making fun foods and the Superbowl definitely lends itself to some great food!  The hit of the night was the Buffalo Chicken Dip.  It's spicy and yummy and a recipe we got from our friends, the Havengas, when they came to our last Superbowl party 3-4 yrs ago.

Now that Pete has his very own "Man Cave", he was excited to share it with actual MEN!  And, for a while that worked out nicely.... UNTIL

the kids started their epic ping-pong tournament.  They all dressed up in costumes and paired off and started a really hilarious game of ping-pong.

On one side was Emma the banana and Madie the Vampiress.

Then Tessa the Sombrero lover and Noah the ?????  I don't even know what to call a kid dressed in a ballgown with a Rolie Polie Olie head, clutching a Hello Kitty doll.  But I give him points for being unique!

And, of course, we can't forget Livie Batgirl with her pom-poms of different colors to cheer them on!

The ping-pong game got them really wound up, so the noise level got a little loud.  Pete and the guys decided to head on upstairs and finish the game up there, away from the crazy, noisy children.

Laura and I and our girls (sans Livie) watched the half time show together.  The girls loved Bruno Mars (heck, who didn't), but once the Red Hot Chili Peppers came on, they were in total mock-out mode.  "Who are these OLD guys?!" they said.  "Why are their shirts off?"  "Ewww... old guys should NOT have their shirts off!"  (excessive laughter) "Why are they moving their heads back and forth like this?!" (start mimicing the band)  "Hahahaha!  That's stupid!".  Now, throughout the mocking, Laura and I tried explaining the the RHCP were popular when we were in high school and college and that HEADBANGING, yes that's what it's called, is awesome and everyone used to do it.  Quite frankly, I didn't realize that was an 80s-90s thing.  I figured the kids still did it.  I was very wrong and the girls just laughed hard.  Apparently I am now old.  Guess I should've been clued into that when Madie told me she loved the song Tonight, Tonight and I thought she was talking about the song from West Side Story, but I digress.  It was a really fun night and I'm so glad that, despite the disappointing game, we all had a great time together!

Madie's Dance

On Friday, Madie had another school dance.  I love that there is a theme for them each time, because she loves getting to pick out an outfit for the occasion.  That night's theme was "Masquerade".  They got to buy these masks during school that day for  $1, so she picked out the butterfly one, because it matched the outfit she had chosen the night before. :-)

This was the first dance without her very best friend Michael, but she took pictures while she was there and texted him when she got home.  It's fun to see that, despite the distance, they can still have fun together.  A couple nights before they skyped for an hour and then spent that night texting for a while as well.  

She had a great time while she was there, hanging out with her friends.  She didn't dance with any boys this time, but she said she didn't mind at all.  She just enjoyed being there and having fun!

Fancy Nancy Valentine Event

I don't know if you remember me posting back in November about a painting party I went to, but Livie and I just went to a Fancy Nancy Valentine Day Party there today and it was so much fun!

Now, you know, if you want Livie to get "fancy", she will find every possible thing in her closet to wear in order to be the very fanciest person in the world.  She decked herself out in boas, sequined gloves, a hat, and an umbrella!  Yes, folks, she was the epitome of fanciness!

She even had me get fancy.  She had me wear a heart headband, a blue boa, and several bracelets.

Taking pictures with her was a riot, because she directed the whole "shoot".  This was my favorite pose of hers. ;-)

We were worred that the event was going to be canceled, because of the snow we are getting (I think the total accumulation is somewhere around 8" and it's still snowing.  But, we braved it and are so glad we did, because we wouldn't have wanted to miss such a great afternoon!

When we got there, we quickly realized we were the fanciest ones there.  In fact, I do believe I was the ONLY fancy mom there.  At the very least, the only mom there with a boa.  Livie made sure all of her accessories were in place before we began.

At the table, she had made little raspberry lemonades for everyone with Fancy Nancy labels.  So stinkin' cute!

She even gave everyone a special Valentine's Day cardboard straw.  Livie LOVED the lemonade!  She even made Red Velvet Puppy Chow with Valentine M&Ms.  What a great snack!

She had the girls gather around, while she read the Fancy Nancy Valentine's Day book.  Livie loves Fancy Nancy and had never heard that book before, so she really liked it.

Once the story was over, we all went over to the tables where she had all the supplies ready to make Valentine's Day cards.  There was so much to choose from.  Each girl got to make 10 Valentine Cards.

She had them gather around, so she could show them how to make the cards and show them the work tables that had additional tools to use.  They had a glitter station, a rubber stamp station, and a special scissor and punch-out station.

Here is Livie at the rubber stamp station.  She really liked doing that.

But the glitter station was her favorite!  We visited this station a lot.

As we worked at our tables, she brought around special felt stickers that she had, as well as special glitter tape and yarn.  There was so much to choose from!  And, we loved all of it!

Here she is getting ready to fill in a heart with glitter.

We miscounted and actually made 11 Valentines, but no one seemed to mind that.  Didn't she make some great ones?!  She had so much fun and we definitely used up every minute of those 2 hours.

She had a wonderful time and I was so glad to spend some time with just her and me.  We don't get the chance to do that very often.  Looking forward now to the next event!

Three Years In

Yesterday marked the 3rd Anniversary of Noah's diagnosis.  Sometimes it's hard to believe it's been 3 yrs and other times it feels like that's all we've ever known.  We Type 1 parents don't want to skip over that anniversary, because it's sad and life-changing.  We want to celebrate it, because we have healthy kids DESPITE the diagnosis!  So, here's a quick look back at some of the things we've been through in this 3 year journey....

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011 was the night I quickly drove Noah to the hospital with a blood sugar reading of 571.  I remember testing him in our bathroom, using an old glucose monitor that I had used while pregnant with Olivia.  I had suspected something was up, because he was peeing so much, but really wasn't ready for that number to pop up on the screen.  I knew what it meant and instantly burst into tears.  I quickly called one of my dear friends, who had been over for a playdate just a few hours before, and told her what the number was.  Long story short, she called me back just a few minutes after that conversation and said, "Get him to the hospital!".  It was nearly 9pm and he was ready for bed, but I got him in his coat and we headed out to the emergency room.  Pete and the girls stayed behind, quite uncertain about what this all meant.  He stayed in the hospital until the next evening and this picture is from that second day.  He was comfy with his sock monkey and playing some playstation.  He had already, by this time, had more shots and finger sticks than any of us could've imagined and he was so scared every time he had to get one.  Those first few days were probably some of the most difficult days in my life.

We took a trip down to Peoria that Friday and came back with more stuff than I knew what to do with.  The organizer in me took over and went through all of that information and equipment and supplies that Saturday and got everything ready to go.  Our new life was beginning.

We spent the next 3 months going back and forth to Peoria (2 hr drive each way) to learn about this disease and how to care for Noah.  We came home with a large notebook and tons of notes, that I still keep on our shelf for reference to this day.

Because the changes were hard on the girls, we took them with us to a couple of those appointments.  They didn't understand fully what was going on with their brother.  Though, in this picture, they had a few months under their belt and were handling it a lot better by then.

The next year we did our very first JDRF Walk with my sister and her family and had the BEST TIME!!!  We raised $600 for JDRF and were really proud of Noah for leading the charge on that.

For these past 3 years, we've gone to Peoria every 3 months for check-ups.  It becomes a special day for Noah and I, and sometimes all of us, as we go and make sure he's well and that his A1C levels are good and his ratios are on target.

Unfortunately, last year, we had our first experience with high ketones.  He was so sick and it was so scary.  We caught his diagnosis before he got sick, which isn't the case with most Type 1s.  We were lucky/blessed.  But, this episode with high ketones was definitely a wake-up call about how serious this disease can get.

Each August, since his diagnosis, we get his school supplies ready like all the other kids.  We just have his diabetes kit to get ready as well, with his treatment forms, snacks, juice, and supplies.  This year he got a brand new backpack and his very own cell phone, so he could start carrying his stuff from class-to-class and text his nurse his blood sugar numbers, so he wouldn't have to leave class to do that.

We got to meet with the IL Rep to the U.S. House of Representatives, Adam Kinzinger.  I know, he's super-cute, right?  We joined 3 other families that talked about the need to keep govt. funding available for Type 1 research.  He and I both shared our store and it was an honor and privilege to be a voice for Type 1.

The most exciting thing for us happened in October.  We got him a pump!  This is the goal of all Type 1s, but we didn't jump into it right away.  We took our time to think about it as an option and finally took the plunge and are thrilled that we did!

We had to do a lot of studying and take a couple classes, so that meant extra Peoria trips, but we learned a lot and were able to get it figured out enough to have him hooked up before Halloween.  This was our saline class when we learned about our pump's functions and got him hooked up to saline.

After 2 weeks of saline, we got him hooked up to insulin and haven't looked back.  What an absolute wonder this pump has been!  It's been such a god send and I'm so thankful that we have the technology that we do.  His numbers have been so good lately and the shots are a thing of the past.  Now, it's just a site change every other day.

So, here he is.  Nothing like that scared 7 yr old in the very first picture.  He's that crazy kid that we all know and love and I am SO proud of how he's handled his journey so far.  There's not a day that goes by, heck... a meal that goes by, that we don't think about how to manage his disease, but it's not hindering him or stopping him from doing anything he wants to do (except maybe eating a candy bar, which is a funny story I'll have to share later).   Yep, I'm happy to say that three years since that scary day in January of 2011 we've come so far and we hope for more wonderful years of health and happiness for him. :-)

Youth Room Redo

I mentioned back in September how our church recently started a brand new Jr. High Youth Group called LOL4JC.  It stands for "Live Our Lives 4 Jesus Christ".  I was able to go the opening kick-off back in September and had a fabulous time with everyone!  Tonight I got to help again when they decided to paint the room and make it their very own space. :-)

The room they are/have been using was in a lot of ways just a storage room.  There were a couple small couches and chairs in there, but there were also cabinets and junk and a piano.  Just lots of stupid things that were stuck in there when there wasn't another place for them.  It wasn't as bad as it HAD been, because Pete and I had cleaned the room out .... twice.... on two separate occasions, when things became overrun again.  Well, on Tuesday night, we moved all the furniture and junk out and made it open and ready to paint.  I took this picture of the youth leaders before the paint went up.  You'll see the "fantastic" aka hideous mural on the one wall.  That was put up in the early '80s by the kids' sunday school class.  Hilarious!  I had to take a picture for us to always remember the awesomeness of this mural.

Friday night, Melissa (youth leader) and her husband came in and took down the mural and painted in all the corners and stuff to get it ready to paint tonight.  They were there until nearly 4am getting it all ready!!!!  You can see Noah was pretty excited to see the changes!

Tonight, Melissa put the kids in charge of everything.  They put down the drop cloths and she helped them get the paint out.

They went to town!  Youth group lasts an hour and 15 min and they got the entire thing done in that amount of time.  Couldn't believe it!!  We had 8 kids there tonight and 5 adults.  Oh how I wish all rooms got painted that quickly! :-)

The girls were the roller queens of the night!  They kicked butt at the rolling!

And they had tons of fun doing it too!  Noah worked on painting for a while, then he decided he wanted to help with clean-up.  He spent lots of time getting brushes and rollers washed.  I was really proud of both of my kids!

While the kids worked with Melissa and Steve on painting the room and radiator, James and I worked on painting the door white.  It was some weird creamy yellow.  Not.  Cute.

This was our crew!!  They did a GREAT job and I told Melissa that she should put them to work in other areas of the church that need revamping.  They were work horses!

We moved some of the furniture back into the room, but Melissa will work on getting it set up, either on her own or with the kids at the next meeting.  I think it's going to be really awesome!!  So proud of this group of kids!