Christmas

I decided I'm not the best at taking really good pictures. Maybe I will make that one of my New Year's resolutions.

Christmas is such a special time to me. Even though it has turned into such a crazy time of spending money and trying to remember to get a gift for everyone on my list, I try to keep in the front of my mind the real reason we do all this in the first place.

One idea I had that I hope to try next year is to collectively give to a charity at Christmas time. Myself and the family members that would like to participate can pool our money...money we would have spent on meaningless gifts, and give it to a worthy cause. And then we could do a simple gift exchange, like exchanging board games that we could play on Christmas Day. That's my idea for next year and hopefully it will be more meaningful for us...

Some pictures from Christmas...

What We Do On A Snow Day

Sled down a hill...

Take a nap...

Play a game...

Eat a grilled cheese sandwich...

...and yummy soup.

Also, we read books, baked bread, addressed Christmas cards, and watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Finding Our Tree

We took our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm last week. We chose the right place, because finding a great tree was not difficult. There were many beautiful trees to choose from...

The kids had fun walking around looking at all the trees. They would find one they liked and put a branch over it to mark it so we could find it again...

Halloween Fun

A friend and I organized a little Halloween party for kids this past weekend. The kids played games, decorated cookies, and did a pumpkin craft. It was slightly chaotic, but we expected that. The kids all had a great time, I think. We're brainstorming ideas for next years party...

Balloon popping craziness
Mummy time!

Most of the group

Crusoe

I don't watch very much T.V, but when Trevor told me about a program showing tonight, I knew I wanted to see it. It is Crusoe. It is based on the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and we happened to read the book together earlier this year. Tonight was the premier, and it was two hours long. Amazingly, we were able to watch the entire program, and we both enjoyed it. Of course the story has been embellished a bit, but that just made it more entertaining for me. I love the relationship between Crusoe and Friday. And the drama that is already unfolding. Oh, and the gentleman who plays the part of Crusoe, Philip Winchester...totally hot! Can't wait till next week!

Every little boy needs one...

...oh make me a red cape

I want to be Superman...

~John Mayer

I recently purchased some red fabric to decorate for Hannah's "High School Musical" birthday party. As I was waiting to have the fabric cut, I pondered in my mind what four yards of red fabric would be useful for after the party. And then it occured to me. A superman cape, of course! Trevor had one when he was younger that I made for him so he could be like a favorite computer game hero, Pajama Sam. He loved it. And I don't know where it is now, but it got so much use that I'm sure we trashed it. Doesn't matter though, because I had the makings for a brand new one, special for Benny. And with left over fabric, I'll make a second one for Ben's little friend Harrison.

Back to School!

Trevor, 7th grade! I can hardly believe it. He is growing up before my very eyes. He is taller than me. He is smarter than me. Well, at least in math. The boy is taking Geometry this year. Normally a 10th grade class. He'll be earning a high school credit for it which is great. He continues to amaze me with his success in school. Hannah, 3rd grade. On to a new school. Oak Grove is 3rd through 5th grades. She adjusts so well though. Even though none of her closest girlfriends were in her class, she was still very excited and ready for 3rd grade. She is already bringing home books from her classroom library, and I'm sure this will be another great school year for her.


Ben and Ava braved the big world of preschool yesterday. They had different feelings about the idea of going, though. Ava was very excited and even said she was going to be a big girl and stay without Mommy there. Ben, on the other hand, was a little nervous, as the pictures show. He wanted me to stay the whole time. But after a few minutes on the playground and having his teacher come over to him and talk to him a bit, he loosened up and was doing well when I left. They will only be going two days a week. Just enough to get some social interaction and experience a structured, school like environment. It will be strange for me to be without any children for 2 1/2 hours on those days. I'm sure I'll get used to having some free time to get things done...

Clear Lake

Clear Lake in the morning
Nichole, Hannah, and Ben at Sahalie Falls
Getting the fishing poles ready for morning, Ben said, "What does your taco box do daddy?" (He was referring to his tackle box.)
Koosah falls
My dad and his dog, Sam
Mmm....smores!

Ben's feet

Last night, quite late I might add, Ben held up his right foot and said, "Mom, is this my right foot?"
And I said, "Yes, it is!"
Then he held up his left foot and said, "And is this my wrong foot?"
It cracked me up. For a minute, I didn't even mind that he was up way past his bedtime. What a funny boy.

Considering a Pump...

We met with the Diabetes educator earlier this week to talk about putting Ben on an insulin pump. It's an exciting possibility for us because:

1. It would mean NO MORE SHOTS!! (We would do a site change every three days, which is equivalent to a shot, but once every three days as opposed to three times every day sounds great to us.)

2. It will allow us to be more flexible as far as when he eats. Right now, we make sure he eats breakfast at 8 a.m every day in order to give him his background insulin at the same time which is active for 24 hours. This means waking him up in the morning most days, so letting him sleep in would be a nice change.

3. It would (hopefully) mean better control of his blood sugar. The pump lets out small amounts of fast acting insulin every hour, mimicking a healthy pancreas. The amount of insulin can be adjusted at certain times of the day according to his specific needs. For example, he tends to run "high" in the afternoon. With a pump, we would be able to increase the amount of insulin during that particular time of the day to avoid a high. Also, on sick days blood sugars can be abnormal, so we would be able to temporarily adjust the basal rate of insulin. (The amount given every hour.)

And an added bonus to the particular pump we are considering is that it communicates wirelessly with a blood glucose meter. So the meter would test Ben's blood sugar, but also have the ability to control pump functions. It could calculate how much insulin would be needed for a meal, and then tell the pump to deliver it. The meter can also store carbohydrate information for 500 foods which we could customize.

Those are the major advantages to pumping. I'm hoping that once he is on the pump, we will discover many more. The plan is to have him start pumping this fall. The ball is rolling with insurance, and we need to coordinate appointments with the Diabetes educator and Ben's endocrinologist as we will be in frequent contact with them for awhile as he adjusts to the pump.

Walking with Benny's Believers

As many as 3 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, a disease most often diagnosed in childhood that strikes suddenly, lasts a lifetime, and carries the constant threat of deadly complications, including heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, and amputation. JDRF's mission is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Thanks to dramatic research progress, a cure is now within our reach.

On Sunday, September 28th, we will be walking with family and friends in JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes. It has been almost two years since Ben was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, and we are still just as hopeful as we were two years ago that a cure will be found in his lifetime.

Clear Lake

We went camping last weekend. Well, Hannah and Ben and I went. Trevor had plans with a friend and Larry had to work. We camped at Clear Lake with family. It was such a beautiful lake. The kids played, the weather was nice, and the hiking was great. We were able to stop and enjoy an amazing waterfall on the way home. I would love to spend more weekends like this.

Clear Lake
Row, row, row your boat...

This is where Clear Lake turns into the McKenzie River
A sweet little creek we passed by on our hike
The cutest little boy at camp!
Sahalie Falls

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day!

It's hard to believe it's already the 4th of July! And almost a month into summer break... I decided it would be fun to let Hannah have a couple friends over for a few hours today to play outside and celebrate the holiday. They played on the slip and slide, jumped on the trampoline, listened to her new Camp Rock CD, and had lots of treats. Good times for these girls...

Feeling nostalgic

I was going through my pictures today, looking for a particular one that was taken of a garden trellis at our previous home. I started at the beginning of my collection, knowing it was taken shortly after I got a digital camera, back in 2003. I had forgotten how much I enjoy looking at pictures from the past, especially pictures of the kids when they were so much younger.

I came across this picture of Hannah on her 4th birthday. She was really into dressing up and singing, and here she was giving me a private performance of "Me and My Teddy Bear," as sung by Baby Bop. :) The only reason I remember the song is because I took a video along with the picture. She was such a little princess, and still is. Just in a big girl kind of way...

Looking at pictures from this time period reminds me how life seemed less busy back then, and we seemed to have more time to soak up sweet little moments like these. I guess it's just the natural evolution of a family. And I'm glad I have lots of pictures like these to remind me to make time and to not get so busy that we forget to make more special memories.

Over 12 years ago

This is Trevor, on December 24, 1995. It certainly doesn't seem like it has been over 12 years since that day. Today he finishes the 6th grade.

His feet are bigger than mine, we discovered last night. He is almost taller than me, in fact I'm sure he will pass me up this summer.

He has such a big heart, cares about people and his family, and most importantly, he loves God.

He makes me laugh, and amazes me with his success in school. (So far, a 4.0 GPA this year.)

And although it wasn't my plan to become a mother at age 20, I cannot imagine life now without Trevor. He is definitely one of God's greatest gifts to me.

These Two...

...have a love/hate relationship. (Or maybe it's more like sibling rivalry.) But I think the hate part is just for show.

Getting a picture of them together can be very difficult most of the time. For example, today we stopped to take some pictures at this really beautiful field of lupine. (Ben was asleep in the car.) I asked them to stand together for a picture and to hurry because the battery in my camera was low. I just started snapping, figuring I would have to settle for a picture of them in a lupine field wrestling around being silly, but after a few shots I ended up with a pretty nice picture with the pretty purple blooms behind them.

I know they love eachother. And hopefully as they grow up they'll be able to show it more easily.