What's happenin!

13 1/2 years of birthdays, christmas, etc. This is a love/hate relationship...I always want a nice, big space for my kids to enjoy themselves and have fun at home, BUT (and yes, that is a BIG BUT!) they never can seem to get them back where they go no matter how hard I try. We have WAY TOO MANY TOYS I know! I can't get rid of them because they are gentle with them so we rarely find something broken or missing pieces. Also, their age differences are so that we need a wide variety. 3 birthdays just around the corner, ughh! Anyway, here is the finished project...toy storage!


Summer break feels like it is flying by and school will be here in no time. We have spent a good amount of time at our pool, cub scout day camp, the library, park, etc.




I know this picture isn't great but we see these cute little guys frequently around here. Actually, we ran over one in our driveway. They are fun to watch (when they are alive, of course).


Here, Noah and Isacc are playing in the rain. We've had lots of good storms. You will notice a "dummy" pump on Isaac's waist there. We have started the process to get him on pump therapy for his Diabetes. It is a lot of information as we expected but I think will be so much better in the long run. He had to wear this dummy pump for a couple of days to see if he tolerated it ok before they would begin the process. It will be his new best friend...in another 6-8 weeks after our training and getting insurance to approve it. (Our insurance provider just LOVES us!)

CAMPING!

The boys love to camp! We went camping last weekend to help Matthew earn the rest of his Webelos and Arrow of Light scouting badges. We found a nice campground not too far from our house with a beach and fishing. We were one of the only tents in the whole place...everyone else had RVs. Matthew planned the whole menu and had to help cook and clean-up, pitch the tent, build the fire, etc. We went on a night hike, fishing and swimming. This was Isaac's first time fishing. Ducks, deer, moths, lightening bugs and frogs joined our campsite. It was warm but we had a great time. Isaac has asked every night since why we aren't going camping right now. I guess we'll be doing this more often.

So far behind!

I've been stressed knowing that I have stuff I want to blog about but don't have the time. So, I'm just throwing a bunch of stuff together and calling it good today so we can move on to bigger and better things. (Insert Steve's voice here from Blue's Clues "check it off our...list!") Make sure to see all the new posts...I think there are 7 with another to come.

Medical updates

We've been busy getting set up with our new medical team. What a headache! We have seen most of the doctors now and everyone is doing well.

Joshua's heart valve has not changed in this last year so he is good to go for another year again! YAY!

Matthew is doing well and finally got his IVIG 2 1/2 weeks ago after missing 3 IVs. I was not happy about that but we were very careful and prayed really hard and he stayed healthy.

We are working with the Endocrinologist on getting Isaac on an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring. I have mixed feelings about this. I know we will have much better control over his blood sugars this way and lots less poking for Isaac...BUT...it's like starting all over again. There is a lot to learn! The doctor is having us get up in the middle of the night to check blood sugars. I knew that most other parents did this but our doctor told us we didn't need to in MN and I REALLY like my sleep so we didn't. This is quite a sacrifice. Sometimes he is low and we have to wake him up and try to get him to eat something. The first time I had brought in a cookie and some apple juice. I asked Isaac which one he wanted and he said "I want to sleep." It hurts your heart a little! And then, I worry about this sugar being on his teeth the rest of the night so we have to go brush and then we are all wide awake. BLAH!

Our Endocrinologist is running some research studies and asked us to participate. We gladly accepted. This one that we did will hopefully help them learn why diabetes happens. I am happy to report that Mike and I show no antibodies for diabetes so we are at very low risk of ever getting it. We still need to have the boys tested.

Isaac had a stomach bug of some sort last week. It started on Monday around 5p.m. We were in the ER by 11:30 or so...Dr's. orders...not my idea. He could not keep anything down and his ketones and blood sugars were rising. They gave him some Zofran and IV fluids. He was a little better but still pretty sick through Thursday. We were checking blood sugars constantly. He had a lot of really dangerous lows but didn't feel like eating much. Everything the Dr. was telling me to do backfired and caused more problems so we did our own thing and got him better. It was rough but over now, thank goodness. It's so crazy what a little bug can do to these kids with chronic illness.

Also, I've been following a new blog. This is a little heart boy we found through Miracle Mason who we found through Paul Cardall who we found through my cousin Holly...all fellow heart buddies. I don't think this is coincidence that each person thought to put the next on their blog for us to read about...funny how things work out! This little boy was just diagnosed with Plastic Bronchitis. A horrible, usually deadly, disease that Matthew was diagnosed with 6 years or so ago and usually a complication of the Fontan (heart) surgery. It's so rare that nobody knows how to deal with it. We found that fat is the problem with Matthew and so he eats a no-fat diet and it is well controlled with that.

This family is in California getting this diagnosis after having the Fontan operation done. They sound desperate to find something that will work and are doing some hard, time consuming treatments, even meeting with transplant teams. I'm reading this poor mother's blog post about not knowing how much time they have left with their boy and screaming...try the no fat! I can't get them off my mind. I wrote a couple of messages on her blog with contact info but she hasn't responded in any way. What would you do? Keep harrassing or say I tried and let it go? What else can you do? I feel like we could save some lives with the knowledge that we've gained.

Mosquitos!

When we told people that we were moving to Minnesota 13 years ago, all we heard was "Why are you moving there? The mosquito is their state bird you know!" Well, the mosquitos never bothered us there!

Georgia is another story. We have been eaten alive...no mercy! I keep thinking when my kids come in from playing outside, they have had some allergic reaction to something but it turns out instead that they have been lunch.


They are terrible!

Last week of school

The boys enjoyed their last few days of school.




Noah invited his Dad to come and he got to read some stories to him that he wrote himself.


Matthew was surprised by an awards ceremony with the parents. The teachers kept it a secret that we were coming. He won the perfect attendance award. I have to say...I actually hate this award because all it means to me is that children came to school sick and got my child sick which could cost him his life or at least a hospital stay...yay. Of course, they were only counting GA school days and not MN school days before our move. He also got an award for having all As and Bs.


Matthew also had a class pool party.





Isaac and I got to tour our local fire and police station with some friends.






Here are some things the kids are keeping busy with now that school is out. Matthew and Isaac are performing surgery on their stuffed animals.


They love to do some "camping" in the back yard.




Pig cupcakes


Joshua can always be found in front of the computer.

And, of course, we are getting good use of the pool. It's been mid-90s every day for weeks now.

ORGANIZATION!

LOVE IT! You might think I need a little therapy but I can't tell you how excited I was to get my calendar, chore chart, menu and other such things back after living without them for several months. I rely heavily on visual organization tools and I was so lost without them. Opening boxes though has been quite frustrating. I haven't found homes for everything yet. TOYS have always been my biggest frustration!!! I've decided that I really do like to organize...but...it is only fun when you have money to do it with...so it can be done right...and...cute! We seem to never have enough money for what I would love to have so we are getting creative. I designed this and Mike (Joshua, and I)made it happen for cheap. It's nice to have a handy man around. It still needs one more coat of paint so I shouldn't be blogging this yet but I am on a roll and am very excited for it to be done. We had this huge open wall and bins full of toys all over the floor.





We will also add a readig corner with their books and a dress-up corner for our little firemen, doctors, and army men.

Mike also got the microwave up for me above the stove and off my counter last week. We were waiting for a new cabinet to come in.


Everyone helps with the menu and even Isaac is learning to cook.

Tornado Relief

There have been deadly tornados all around us but thankfully none right here where we live. Such a sad site.



Mike was able to go help with some tornado relief in Alabama one weekend. This came down from the church leadership to organize groups from the stakes to go and help. The organization was incredible. The Baptist church there in the area had everything set up and ready and the church building filled with disaster supplies. It was quite an experience for all that went. They mosty chopped up large fallen trees and got them out of the way so the real clean up could begin.