Rainy Day Fun

After many days of rain we needed to find a way to burn some energy! Lucky for us a park just opened last week that has a covered basketball court. Who cares if it was raining we had a great time playing basketball outside.

Forever Friends

Be Still

It has been that kind of day today. We were forced to "be still" because Adrienne woke up sick this morning with high blood sugar and high ketones. We had big plans today school, piano, Cub Scouts........

But today I saw God in my children all day. Adrienne praying this morning that she would feel better and also praying for Cole, Mommy, and Daddy not to get sick. While coloring she drew a cross and started talking talking about what it means to sin. Cole helped his sister all day making her water, coloring with her, watching a movie with her that he really did not want to watch but he knew she loved it. I love that Adrienne without being told stopped and prayed about her situation. I love that Cole without being asked took care of his sister while she was sick.

We are always busy running here or there but I am thankful for just a day to "be still" because there were a lot of wonderful moments we would have rushed right by today.

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God

My kids.......

How can they be so different?

When we go on bikes rides Cole wants to race to the finish but Adrienne wants to ride the trails and see every little detail of nature out there.

Cole is content to have every toy he owns on the floor and a bed full of books. Adrienne can't sleep at night until her room is clean.

Adrienne will go to a class or church and tell you every detail about what happened. Cole will tell you a few things over the next 5 days.

Adrienne can play alone in her room for hours. Cole after 10 minutes is begging for someone to come play with him.

Adrienne needs to know how things work and Jeremy has been known to take apart electronics just to show her how it works. Cole could care less how it works just make it work now!!!

The list could go on but you get the picture.

So much alike but so different.

Trying to catch up......

I am behind with everything!

Everything!!!

The kids lesson plans right now are a little "what can I pull together before they wake up" but they are learning so I am okay with that. I just need a day or five to pull it all together.

We are missing a lot of TKD right now. If you know my kids you know they love their TKD classes so this is huge for them to miss them. Cole decided he did not want to test this cycle I think when he misses a lot of classes he does not feel prepared.

Housework I am not even going to go into detail lets just say I am behind on that too.

Most of the time I deal with the chaos of my life pretty good but then we have the days that I crack a little. I may have cracked this week.........

Even though I am behind with everything I am thankful to have my kids home with me everyday. Would I get more done if they were in school? Of course! All that time I spend on lesson plans could totally be used on laundry. When they are grown I am not going to wish I had a cleaner house, or laundry was always washed and put away. I will long for the days where I could just sit and color with Adrienne or play soccer in the backyard with Cole.

We may be behind with everything but we are loving this life we live!

It has been two years......

Two years ago today our world changed forever. Adrienne at 4 years old was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the immune system kills all of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

She did not get it from eating too much sugar.

She has now been on an insulin pump for a year. While it is not a cure it is the best we have right now.

Every three days we have to change the pod site. This sometimes goes smoothly other times it is gut wrenching to watch her cringe while waiting for the "pop" which is the needle going in.

She pricks her finger 6-10 times a day. Most of the time that goes fine other times she has a meltdown because she has to prick her finger before she can eat and she just wants to eat like everyone else.

Every carb has to be counted. Even the smallest piece of food has to be counted or her blood sugar will spike. We have learned she can not eat pizza, cereal, fruit, or Chinese food at night unless you want to be up all night checking her blood sugar.

Sometimes we win and her blood sugars are in range 110-180. Other times no matter how hard we try we don't quite make it. High blood sugar levels she is irritable, stomach pain, thirsty. Low blood sugar she gets very weak and "feels shaky" as she usually tells us.

Every day is a battle with a disease you can treat but never control.

I wish with all of my heart that she did not have to endure this each day. Adrienne is an amazing little girl and has a maturity about her that has helped her accept this disease.

Sad.....

That pretty much sums up what we feel in our house right now. Our Children's Pastor and friends Andy and Michaella and sweet girls Emma Lee and Kerri are moving to Macon GA. I am happy for them and this new adventure God is leading them on but sad for us. Cole and Adrienne are devastated many tears were shed tonight by them and me too.

Andy has forever left a mark on my kids lives. He has taught them with such passion and it is amazing to hear them each week telling me what they learned in Big City. I can't help but think he is the reason Cole says he wants to be a Pastor when he grows up.

Michaella is just amazing. Without even knowing it she has shown me how to be a better mom and person. Of course she is also the one who taught me everything I know about couponing for that I will be forever grateful. If only I would have learned some of those amazing baking skills from her......who is going to make my kids birthday cake now?

My kids are really going to miss playing with Emma Lee and Kerri. Adrienne called Emma Lee her "nice best friend" and I think Emma Lee and Cole had a little crush on each other.

We are going to miss them all so much! I am thinking we may have to get together at the American Girl Place after they get settled.

Good Deals

I love good deals (remember my 20+boxes of cereal) but they are even better when they are unexpected! Today a Girl Scout troop was having a book sale where we have our homeschool classes on Fridays. You should know I do not need any books in this house. Our bookshelves are overflowing and when I tell my kids we should give away some of our books they act like I have lost my mind. That being said I could not pass these things up.

1st grade Singapore Math Workbook 50 cents
Perfect for Adrienne to use this year and I can get by fine with just the workbook no need for the textbook or teacher book.
American Girl Book (still in plastic) 50 cents
Adrienne is all about American Girl now. She got a doll for her birthday and says that is all she wants for Christmas is American Girl doll stuff. We went to the library this week and she got American Girl books on CD and has listened to all of them. I should have saved this for Christmas but I couldn't wait.
Harry Potter Puzzle 25 cents
Both kids are all about the Harry Potter books and movies right now. I know Harry Potter is a touchy subject with some people but that is a discussion for another day. Plus that 250 piece puzzle is why I am able to do this blog post right now.

I am excited about my good deals today. Do you have any good deals to share?

Choir & AWANA

Our first night of Choir and AWANA has come and gone and it was a wonderful night.

Adrienne moved to the "big choir" with Mrs. Connie and she was so excited. She is still in Sparks with me but her best bud Ryan moved up to Sparks so she is beside herself with excitement. Hopefully having Ryan will make her not want to be up under me so much.

For Cole choir is his passion. He loves everything about it and I am so thankful for such wonderful choir leaders that are feeding that passion each week. He moved up to T&T in AWANA and seemed to enjoy it tonight. He wrote on his book tonight that when we grows up he wants to be a Pastor. I had never heard that one before from him so I am curious to hear what he is thinking.

I am so excited about another year in Sparks!! We have an amazing group of kids and I am looking forward to a great year with them.

I think sweet little Ella said it best "I like it here" was what she said to me before she left tonight. It makes it all worth it for just one child to say that!

Take me out to the ballgame........

I Promise.......

This time every year I am full of wonderful lesson plans, fun field trip ideas, new schedules......but then life gets in the way of a lot of those wonderful plans. By life I mean one child takes longer to get their work done than planned, someone gets sick, I over schedule my children. I am having a little trouble admitting that I sometimes have my kids a little over scheduled. So this year I am going to make a promise list. Hopefully I will use this list as a constant reminder and at the end of the school year I will have no regrets.

I Promise........

*Before school starts each day all three of us will have our quiet time
*Read to my kids every day
*Praise my kids often
*Stop talking so much and listen to what they have to say (Really Listen)
*Enjoy our days together
*Limit my computer time
*Stop putting so much pressure on them and myself (enjoy the journey)
*More family time

This list seems so simple and all of these things we should be doing anyway. But I have a habit of getting caught up in the "get in done" mode and forget to enjoy the journey we are on.

Art

A few years ago I was talking about homeschooling and I had someone tell me the one thing they feared the most was art.

Art? Really?

I am scared I am not going to be able to teach them to read and you are talking about art. We won't talk about the bright and shiny art curriculum I have bought......I guess maybe deep down I was a little worried about art too. So far I have not used that wonderful art curriculum. We have just done art as part of our life. Draw a picture of what I just read, what do you see outside......you get the point.

Recently we took the kids to the NC Museum of Art. We said going in that when they got bored we were out of there. They never got bored and insisted on seeing every room. They even had me take a picture of a painting so they could try to draw it when they got home. They have asked numerous times to go back so I am sure there will be a field trip soon.

At the homeschool conference this year one of the workshops I went to was about art. The speaker said art is just like learning to play basketball we don't tell our kids the first time they don't make a shot oh well you are not good at basketball so quit. We encourage them to keep trying and we should do the same thing with art. Just because the first drawing they do is terrible does not mean they can't draw. It is just like sports we get them the right equipment and encourage them to keep trying.

I am not afraid of art I have given them the tools and I encourage them each day to make Mommy a new masterpiece.

School

Our school year is up and running! I have to admit I have not done my big plans for the year but that will come soon. I sat down with the kids about a month ago and asked the questions "what do you want to learn this year?" I was amazed at how specific they were. Cole as always wants to learn a lot of history and Adrienne of course wants to learn about animals, plants, really anything life science related. It makes school so much more fun when they are learning what they are interested in.

I am going to work this weekend on a lesson plan about hurricanes because that is their new fascination. We have talked a lot about hurricanes in the last couple of days and if you know me well you know I can't wait to teach my kids about hurricanes. I am totally a weather nerd. I love tracking hurricanes, snow storms, whatever...I love it.

Rock Climbing

Tonight Jeremy took a class at Vertical Edge on the basics of rock climbing. He had to "pass" the class in order for the kids to be able to rock climb. I guess it is important for the person holding the ropes to know what he is doing.

Everyone had a great time but I am still not sure why I allowed my kids to be his "test dummies" while testing at the end of class.