Thursday, August 18, 2011

She's Growing Up

My little girl is growing up (heck, all my kiddos are!), and I'm all emotional.  There are sure signs..like her getting taller (and when she stands on the kneeler at church, she's taller than me), and wearing older, less ruffle-y clothes, and wanting to carry a purse.  Then, there are the days she doesn't wear a bow..that make me cry.  Not because she wants to spread her wings (although she does), but because her hair looked better that way..and it did.

And..earlier this week, we got to go with friends (Leigh and Emma!) to get Mary Claire's first real pedicure and manicure!  She's had the little painted nails (even in a salon) before, but never the Real Deal.  She got it all..while enjoying her royal seat watching 3-D Tangled.   How much more spoiled can you get?  ; ) (I must admit Leigh and I were across from them watching while we sat in our warm massage-y chairs getting our own nails done!) Absolutely the best of both worlds! : )  Here they are:
talking and smiling, and doesn't that foot scrubbing tickle!?

She could totally be a princess full-time.  (Next time she will wear shorts.) ; )

They are drying..

Check out the blue/white zebra with silver sparkles along the edges!

And the pink/white zebra with silver sparkly edges too.  Pretty.

Sweet, sweet girls...glad we all got to go together! : )

And then..(because who wants to mess up your nails cooking?) we had dinner at Olive Garden together!  Yum!  They practiced good manners and everything. ; )

And then reality..Ethan started school Tuesday morning.  We were all r-e-a-l-l-y sleepy, but we made it by 9..he was so excited!  (and I was thrilled he was excited..I never know!), Mary Claire had dressed herself and done her own hair (and she always chooses ponytails):

And then, the very next day, my big kids started school.  And they look amazingly older than last year.  Really.  (It's partly the no-bow look, and partly that they just aren't those squishy-cheek little kids anymore.)
*Love* these kids.
And..bow or no..still beautiful.  And Clay in his clean hair with those glasses?  Adorable!!  Can you love them more as they grow up?  I think so. : )

And for fun..an old first-day-or-school picture:
I know..it's only from 2009, but that's as far back as my digital pictures go on this computer. ; )

Gosh..in TWO years!  I am so thankful to God for watching over us, and getting us this far.  Parenting is not an easy task, and I'm not the best, but I'm thankful God's graces are new every day! : )  I pray they all have an awesome school year, that they learn, and that they impact their classes in a positive way.  (and keep growing..but slower?)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Diabetes Gets Ready for the First Day of School-Nothing like a deadline to motivate you!

Hey ya’ll!  Sorry it’s been so long-it’s crazy as usual.  I have been getting the kids ready to go back to school (thought I was ready...), and I had more to do than I thought.  : )

To start, I had to work on Mary Claire’s diabetes care notebooks.  I update them every year with all our current information (emergency numbers, ratios, corrections, how to operate the pump, etc.).  I have three notebooks: mine (of course!), the nurse’s, and the teacher’s.  I also made some new tabs and changed up the Table of Contents to add our glucagon instructions and to make things easier.

Here are some pictures of my notebooks if you want to see! : )
(and I hyperlinked them with my 4shared account if you want to see them larger or download them for free!)
We're up to...three notebooks! : ) We buy the white notebooks with clear overlay..and scrapbook the outside and decorate the inside with stickers!


Her Table of Contents



Glucagon Instructions..page two was fuzzy : (
I have three (for each blood check), but this is her Lunchtime Blood Sugar Chart-takes the thought/human error out of "What to do if..?"  It has her bg in the first column, then tells what to do.  No error. ; )

And this is her Afternoon Chart (2pm check)

Her current Bolus Ratio Chart

Her current Correction Ratio Chart
This is just an extra page on what to do if she's below 70 (technical Low), above 123 (upper level of our target range), and over 240 (ketone level)

A few snacks in case they have snack in the classroom together.

These are little 4x6 cards I make (9 altogether-with her picture!) for her grade level, substitute and special teachers, offices, etc. with her low and high warning signs and our contact info on the back.  Here is the large one you can shrink.

I also updated her tub of snacks, and her drawers for the nurse’s office.  I got the plastic set of drawers when she was going into kindergarten at Wal-Mart..and they’ve been so handy! (I think they were meant to hold scrapbook paper and cardstock) : )  There are three drawers: one for lows, one for highs, and one with supplies.  The “Low” drawer has stuff for lows: glucose tabs, fruit snacks, cake gels (can be rubbed between their teeth and gums if they have a low and pass out-it absorbs into their cheek-no swallowing required!), and glucagon.  The “High” drawer has mixes for water bottles: Propel, Crystal Light, and she likes Splenda in water too!  The “Supply” drawer has extra meter and pump batteries, extra strips, lancets, alcohol pads, and ketone strips.

The tub of snacks (not an accurate name, BTW) is full of stuff for highs and preventing lows.  (Too long to write on the tub!)  There are water bottles, 15g and 17g juice boxes, applesauce, more fruit snacks, peanut butter crackers, goldfish, Cheez-it snack mix, and Teddy Grahams.

I usually print (address) labels with the name of the food, the carbs, and the bolus (during school hours) for each..but every time I have to reload the tub, I make all new stickers, and I’ve decided that’s a lot of work! : )  So, this time I made a 4x6 card that shows through the front of the tub, shows all the foods in there, and the carb counts and bolus for each.  Much easier!

And..for the first time I wrote out the instructions for the glucagon.  I think I thought that by not reading it or touching it, I was denying it would ever need to be used.  I like that it’s never been opened when I throw each one away on it’s expiration date.  But...it could happen.  And if it happened at school...I’d want them to be prepared.  So, I read and typed, and cried, and got it done.  Now there are two pages (BIG print for shaky hands!) with exact instructions.

I went back to my 4shared account to add all of these files.  If you can't read the pictures, you can go to the site, enlarge, and/or download the file to make it really big!  Bonus! ; )

I hope this helps at least one person. ; )  I'll get back to life in a few days..I have so much to tell you about!  We've had some fun... 

**Edited on 8/8/15 (with some of Clay's stuff too, and new pictures, so ratios are a bit different!)  Let me know if you have trouble with any of the links : )

Saturday, August 13, 2011

TShirt Design, Anyone

Thank the Lord!  My letters are done...and in the MAiL!  (they won't actually go anywhere short of that big blue box on Joyce Blvd. since it was too late..but still..In. The. Mail!)  Yay!

It's a lot of work with the writing, printing, copying, pulling sticky labels off the printer wheels, matching the labels to the stamp colors, and kissing them goodbye!  It's a monumental task, that I'm so thankful to call it done. ; )

And now..on to t-shirt design.  Every year we do a new t-shirt design for our team to fit the yearly theme.  This year's theme is "Lights, Camera, CURE!" so I'm a little..stumped.  I first tried to go with the movie angle..thinking of a movie to illustrate on the front (Forest Gump's 'Life is like a box of chocolates', Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, Chocolat, etc.) and now maybe I'll just do the theme with some illustrations?  Although Ches just had a good idea: Mary Claire Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Cure! : )  I think it's great, but now I have to figure out how to throw in pink or something to pitch it to the girl! ;)

And here are my other ideas...
Gnomeo & Juliet...find a CURE!





Mary Claire Jones and the..Raiders of the Lost Cure!





Finding (a) Cure!  (Nemo)





Cure Story (Toy Story)





Curable Me (Despicable Me)





Kung Fu Cure!





Adventures in CureLand! (Wonderland)





Peter Pan: Finds a Cure in Neverland!





Princess and the Cure (Frog)


Any ideas?? Please?  I'll send you a free shirt if we choose your idea! : )

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sick Day

Today was a Sick Day.
Ethan spent the night with Gigi (his first night away from us!), and this morning..he got SiCK!  He threw up at her house, then in the car on the way home..then all day. : (

It is never fun when someone you love (especially your baby!) is sick.  He had icky poop and threw up every hour or two.  We'd wait about an hour or two after the last episode and give him a couple sips of Sprite..and then he'd throw up.  He consumed only about 4 oz. from last night to tonight at six.

I called the doctor's office, and they said I could give him one of Mary Claire's zofran dissolving tablets to help him with the nausea and vomiting.  While he was sleeping, I g-e-n-t-l-y put it under his tongue.  (he never woke up!)  Then, when it had been about 30 minutes, I went to check the tablet progress.  He had some white foamy stuff, so I used a dropper to drop a teensy bit of water onto the foam..I know chancey, but it helped wash the stuff down his throat! ; )

By the time we woke him for dinner (three hours later!), he was fine.  He had a tiny bit of Sprite, some rice, applesauce, and a bite of plain potato.  I gave him a bath (I'd used so many baby wipes on him..he needed a wash!), and then feeling really brave..we went to Ches' office to finish up.

He changed offices in 2007 (and I thought it'd only been two years, boy time flies!), and I've never been back to help organize.  We hung his diplomas, pictures, and more stuff..I cleaned out his fridge, then the kids and I cleaned out the "busy" desk drawer-it was full of super-old calculators, hardened rubber bands, old coins (Clay found a 1954 penny, and was so excited!), and even those old mini-tapes.  Mary Claire wanted them for her American Girl.  ha!  I can't believe I haven't been there in so long..and that he never felt it was time to clean. ; )  We left piles of stuff in the hall for trash..and shredded bags worth of student papers.  (and bags..meaning the big clear, shredder bags-50 gallon bags!  He was holding on to old tests!  He actually had reused them with some scan-trons, but Hell-o!  Some were written on, and I bet some made it back to dorm rooms!  You have to change up the tests, every year!)  He is so sweet, and thinks no one would cheat.

Alright, I should go..I have to check on some babes!  Praying that God heals my children, and praising Him that Aiden finally has his pump!  God is good.

*and see?  I didn't say the words "green throw-up", "undies straight to the trashcan", or "letting him use my pads in his undies".  So..it's all good! : )  Now, he can't say I embarrassed him when he was little. ; )

Oh, and ps!  I found my thingie!! Yay! : )  (it's an ipod/heart rate monitor..gone missing!)  (Get this.  I'd taken it on the trip, but found it when I cleaned out my car today.  I should celebrate..with some chocolate ice cream...filled with Reese's.  Isn't it appropriate?)  Yay!