Our Two Monkeys

I'm BACK!

2010-07-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

On Etsy that is! It's taken me many tedious hours but I have finally gotten all (ok, most) of my items measured, photographed and posted in my Etsy shop.

You can get to my shop either with this link or from the sidebar on my blog. Please feel free to pass the link along to anyone you think might be interested!

Since I'm still fairly new at this I'd love to hear any feedback you have for me. Thanks for looking!

Question of the Day...In Good Times and Bad

2010-07-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

My hubby Tim and I have been together since 1994, which basically means half my life! We got married in 1997, I was young but knew he was "the one".

Through the years we have been through a lot of ups and downs. As many couples do, we have been through a good deal of stressful situations together. The birth of two children, a stressful move and the diagnosis of a chronic illness in our young daughter.

This has understandably put a lot of stress on our marriage because life happens and priorities shift. As a mom, it can be difficult to go from mom mode to wife mode. As a married couple, when life changes and you grow older you either grow together or you grow apart.

There are some times in our lives when we realize what we have and what we take for granted. My husband and my marriage means everything to me and I'm not the kind of person to give up easily when things get rough. Marriage takes work. A lot of work.

My husband and I try to recognize that our marriage needs to be nurtured along with our children. We try to find time (even if only a few minutes) each day to talk and connect. We try to have regular date nights and get-a-ways as often as we can. But in reality, it's not always easy.

So my question is, with all the stresses of daily life, what do you and your spouse do to maintain marital happiness?? I would love for you to post a comment with your answer to this question!

We Did It!

2010-06-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

After a looooong week (for me), my baby made it home safe and sound from Diabetes Camp.

Having her gone was so much more difficult than I imagined it would be. Logically I knew she was fine and was probably having a blast, but without being able to talk to her I just didn't have the reassurance I needed, despite talking to her counselor on the phone last Sunday night.

All week I tried to keep myself busy and focus on the excitement of her coming home.

Today her bus was scheduled to arrive at 1:00. As if the anticipation of seeing her wasn't bad enough....the bus was about 30 minutes LATE! UGH! But when it arrived I could see her through the window with a giant smile on her face, waving excitedly. It was amazing!

Once we got home, I decided to take Janelle out to spend some alone time with her. I got to hear so many stories! She went horseback riding, rock climbing, swimming, canoeing, fishing, and hunting for dinosaur eggs! She even met a very "handsome" and "polite" boy and gulp....went on a "pretend" date with him! She also danced with him at the dance on their last night.

I can't believe how grown up my little girl seems all of a sudden! She had an amazing time and seems to have enjoyed every minute of it. She now has some incredible memories and can't wait to go again next year!

Camp Day!

2010-06-05T15:11:00.001-07:00

Today is the day we have been talking about, thinking about, and looking forward to since February, when we registered Janelle for Diabetes Camp. My daughter could not have been more excited to go!

Janelle is a very smart, independent, confident, self-assured little girl. These characteristics make going away from home for a week a welcome idea for her.

I am so happy and grateful that she gets to have this wonderful, amazing experience but I can honestly say that I don't know how I am going to get through this week without her! I miss her SO much already. Not being able to talk to her makes it harder. Being here without her is just weird and not something I think I like!

Waiting in line to get on the bus.

Getting ready to board the bus

Bye Peanut. We'll miss you!

Ted E. Bear and Baby Blue Bows

2010-06-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

I am a BIG fan of Etsy. Probably more for buying than selling. The pattern for Ted E. Bear came from one of my favorite Etsy sellers. Her patterns are so well written, easy to follow and so cute!

The pattern for this blanket came from a book called 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton. It was not hard but did take some counting and concentration which meant my family being ignored for a bit.

Sorry my pictures are so awful. I am a terrible photographer!

Recent Projects

2010-05-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

My pile of finished blankets is starting to build again, which means a trip to Phoenix Children's Hospital is in the eminent future. But first, I thought I'd post pictures of them. This isn't all of them, just some of the better ones

;-).

Rainbow Teddy Bear

Purple Orchid

Tutti Frutti

Buttercup

Lilac Granny Square

Baby Boy Granny

Strawberry Shortcake

Soft Waves

Pet Crazy

2010-05-28T16:38:00.001-07:00

As a kid we always had pets. Usually more than one at a time. We had cats, dogs, fish, mice, gerbils, even sea monkeys.

My hubby has never been an animal person but has always gone along with whatever pet I brought home.

Our first pet was a parakeet. It didn't take me long to realize that was a mistake. There were so many times when I thought for sure I'd set it free off our apartment balcony if it didn't stop squawking. And cleaning up after it was no picnic either. Naturally that thing lived to be as old as it possibly could. I remember the day I came home from work and it was upside down in the cage. On the outside I was sad, on the inside I was celebrating.

We got a cat in 1998. She was my first baby. Yep, I was one of those people who had framed pictures of their cat all over the house. She has lived through two children and two moves. She's now 12 years old and is still going strong.

Those who know me or are my Facebook friend know that through the years we have had a lot of pets and that I can be quite impulsive when it comes to adding pets to our family.

Last May we got four guinea pigs. Yes, I said four. Why four? Well because they are social animals and do better with a buddy. So we started with two boys, then while at the pet store fell in love with a female and then realized she would need a friend.....long story short, big mistake. If you ever think you may want guinea pigs let me know and I'll talk you out of it. They're great pets, especially for kids but they are MESSY and STINKY!

I never really considered getting a dog because I just knew I was never up to the amount of work they would create for me. Plus, we had the cat, I didn't know what to expect with the kids, blah, blah, blah. So it was almost a surprise to myself when one day I decided I wanted a dog.

I remember when my best friend as a kid got a puppy. It was a Bichon Frise and was just like a little white ball of fluffiness. I remember it being such a great little dog and knew that if I ever got a dog that would be one of my top choices.

So I did some research and looked at a couple breeders and before I knew it we were visiting puppies! I knew that I had to be pretty sure before going to see them. Turns out that the breeder I chose would not sell a puppy by itself to a family who was away all day (like ours). So we decided if we were getting a dog we'd be getting two. It made sense. It wouldn't be right to leave a puppy alone all day with no one. So we made the decision and the next day went to pick up our boys! They were two eight week old Bichon Frise puppies who we named Jackson and O'Malley.

They are such great puppies! They are so sweet, great with potty training, super smart and just wonderful, perfect dogs. They are now almost 4 months old and I think I love them more every day!

We LOVE to cuddle together!

The Boys after their first trip to the groomer! So handsome!

Blog It Out

2010-05-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

I love how on Grey's Anatomy whenever Meredith or Christina have a problem they "dance it out" Today I decided to take the advice of a very dear friend and blog it out. She's right, it's summer vacation, get back into it. Seems like a good idea besides, it's too hot to dance.

Geez, I don't know how you all are so good at regular blogging! I know that I am not the only one with a job, a house, a husband and pets. I doubt I'm the only one with a son, who I've nicknamed Velcro Kid for the mere fact that he's never very far away from me and seems to need my assistance every 30 seconds. Oh wait, I take that back since as I am typing this I see he is helping himself to some juice....straight out of the bottle. And I'm not the only one with a child who has a chronic illness. So the conclusion I have drawn is that it must be my yarn obsession that is taking up the tiny amount of spare time I have in life.

This is the first official week of summer vacation. I feel SO lucky to get paid to sit at home with my kids and do fun things with my yarn for 9 weeks! This week for the most part has been everything I had hoped it would be. I could have lived without the eye doctor appointment yesterday where I found out my corneas were swollen and had to switch to different contacts. But there are worse things in life for sure!

Evan's preschool went through today so Janelle and I got a little bit of a break from him which was nice. We got to hang out together and do girl stuff. Today we had our 3 month visit with the endocrinologist. Her A1C was every bit as bad as I expected it to be. After dealing with D for a while you pretty much already know what your "report card" is going to look like. We have not had good numbers and I have definitely not been good about keeping up on needed adjustments. I'm going to pass that blame on to the two newest members of our family who have taken up a lot of my time!

So her A1C went up from 7.3 to 8.2. Yikes! The good news is that we expected it to be high. I'd rather that than to think we're doing great only to get slapped in the face with a high A1C. We pretty much adjusted everything there is to adjust. Hopefully her numbers will get better.

My plans for the summer are to crochet and to read all FIVE of the books I bought this week! I will also be taking the kids to swimming lessons, going to Seattle and to Chicago. Oh, and maybe blog a little. I love Summer Leigh!

Project Comfort

2010-03-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

Long time no blog! That darn job of mine keeps me so busy. Well, that and the two children, house and h

usband I have.

Anyway, I finally had time to upload some pics so I thought I'd share my latest project.

If you know me at all, you know that I am a bit of a freak about crochet. For a while now I have regularly donated things that I make to hospitals, shelters and crisis centers. I really enjoy this because baby blankets are my favorite thing to make but jeez, how many does a person really need?

One night while lying awake in bed (probably after a 1 am blood sugar check) I had a FABULOUS idea (if I do say so myself) that would allow me to involve some of the kids at my school in the process of donating these items.

So the next morning I talked to the teacher who runs our National Junior Honor Society and together we came up with "Project Comfort".

I bought a bunch of plain canvas bags and some fabric paint. A big group of NJHS students came to my classroom one afternoon after school and decorated all the bags. Then a couple weeks later we met again and the kids and I filled each bag with a handmade blanket, a book and a toy. The toys and books were left over from a previous NJHS project. Over Spring Break I will be shopping in our playroom for more!

The kids had so much fun, did such a great job and were so proud of themselves! It was incredible to watch their excitement as they packed the bags.

Last week we decorated another set of bags and I am busy crocheting up a storm to fill them up! Some of the bags will be going to Phoenix Children's Hospital and some will be going to a place called Homeward Bound which is a shelter for homeless and domestic violence families.

Below are some of the pictures I have taken so far. I thought I had some better ones of the bags themselves but I can't seem to find them right now.

Security Blankies

Project Comfort Blankets

More blankets- oh and I taught a few of the girls how to make those cute little security blankets so they are helping with that too!

Filling the bags

Look at all those awesome kids!

Here are just some of the bags we made. Don't look at the mess in the background.

DKA

2010-01-24T02:05:00.000-08:00

These are three letters a parent never wants to hear.

A few days ago a bad pump site sent Janelle into mild DKA. Having this happen is never good but when you blame yourself the guilt can be overwhelming.

We changed her site before bed. Yes, I know that is a big no no but we had school the next morning and I didn't want to do it during the morning rush. That was mistake #1.

Mistake #2 - My husband always does a sugar check when he goes to bed--somewhere between 10 pm and 12 am. For whatever reason, that night he didn't do it.

Mistake #3- When Janelle came to me at 3:30 am saying she was dying of thirst I checked her. She was 547. I gave her a correction and we went back to bed. In retrospect I know that I should have given her a shot and checked her pump/site. Sigh....I wish I could think more clearly at 3:30 am.

So my daughter had to suffer through the physical effects of DKA, an ER visit and three attempts to put in an IV. The feelings of guilt are overwhelming. The fear and realization of how life threatening this disease really is is terrifying.

Janelle is strong. A few hours after being discharged she was running around outside with her broher. After 12 hours, when her ketones were finally gone her response was "YEAH! I fought it out!" Thank God for a happy ending. This time.

That is what I hate about this disease. Well one of the things I should say. Sometimes you feel like no matter how hard you try, no matter how diligent you are, things can go wrong and the results can be catastrophic.

The Doctor and Peanut Butter Pie

2009-12-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

I went to the doctor today for my yearly appointment and let's just say I was less than thrilled to see the number on the scale. I am short--barely 5 feet tall and have never had a problem with my weight. If anything my problem was being underweight! Two weeks after I had Janelle I weighed in at 90 pounds! Right now I weigh more than my heaviest while pregnant! AHHH!! Scary!

You're probably wondering what this has to do with Peanut Butter Pie. I really don't know except that I made Peanut Butter Pie yesterday and was sitting here eating a piece (a much smaller piece than I would have had pre-evil scale), thinking about how I should NOT be eating it, and thinking that everyone should try this pie.

The first thing you need to do is to measure your peanut butter. I love this measuring cup. It's Pampered Chef. It's perfect because all you have to do is push the bottom and out it comes!

Next you cream the peanut butter with softened cream cheese and powdered sugar.

Add some Cool-Whip and you're almost done!

You can use a graham cracker crust or the chocolate cookie crust like I used. Now there are a lot of things I think are worth the time to make from scratch, but when it comes to a graham cracker crust I don't bother.

Fill the crust with the peanut butter filling and smooth it out. Now at this point you have some options. You can leave it plain, drizzle it with chocolate syrup or top it with chopped peanut butter cups.

I put peanut butter cups on this one. YUM! If you like peanut butter you will love this pie! How can something so simple be so delicious??

Smooth and Creamy Peanut Butter Pie     

3/4 Cup creamy peanut butter 

4 oz cream cheese (half a large pack)  

1 1/4 confectioners sugar  

1 (12 oz) container Cool Whip  

1 9" prepared chocolate cookie crumb crust      

In large bowl, mix together peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar. Then stir in Cool Whip. Beat until smooth and no lumps remain.  Pour into pie crust and refrigerate for about 3 hours until pie is firm.

Jinxed

2009-12-21T02:21:00.000-08:00

The other night at our West Valley Diabetes group party I was telling my friend Wendy how good Janelle's numbers had been over the last few days. As I spoke the words I knew I was jinxing myself.

Sure enough, yesterday her number went crazy high! I was out most of the day and Janelle was home with Daddy. When I got home I found out she was over 300 all day! (Insert bad word here). I was not very happy.

Then Janelle decided to call her grammy and invite herself over for a sleepover. So she packs her things and goes to my mom's house, who luckily just lives down the street. Before leaving she was corrected for 300 something.

Around 8:00 p.m. my mom calls and says they made chocolate chip cookies and Janelle wanted some. She checked herself. 467. &^%##$^!

I told my mom Janelle would need to come home. She needed a shot, she needed a site change and she would need to have her blood sugar checked multiple times during the night.

I was so mad! Not mad at anyone--just so mad at the situation. Mad that she couldn't even have a sleep over at her grandmother's house without diabetes getting in the way. Mad that I couldn't seem to get her numbers under control regardless of how much insulin she got. I even had to increase the maximum daily amount of insulin in her pump so that her basal would continue. Mad that I didn't know for sure what the problem was. Could be a bad site, could be bad insulin, could be the fact that she was at the beginning of a cold. That always seems to send her blood sugar through the roof.

A few hours later she finally came down to 187. I increased her basal and am hoping for the best.

So anyway, here I am at 3:30 a.m.-- awake. Thinking about diabetes. Rolling numbers over in my head and trying to think of what I need to change. Definitely not the first time diabetes has kept me awake thinking for hours. Definitely not the last.

Tasty Traditions

2009-12-18T16:58:00.000-08:00

The holidays are all about traditions. Pretty much every family has their own traditions. Many traditions revolve around food. I know so many of my family's traditions do.

One of my most favorite holiday traditions are these butter cookies. For as long as I can remember these cookies were a part of every single Christmas. I don't think there has been a year that we haven't made these. I can remember as a kid how exciting it was the day my mom pulled down the cookie shooter. I can still see the blue Styrofoam box it came in.

Some people call these Spritz cookies. We call them butter cookies. Whatever you call them, they are delicious. They are not exactly the easiest cookie to make. They are time consuming and the cookie press takes some getting used to. My mom used to make hundreds of these cookies and would fill tins with them to give our teachers as gifts. How she did that with three little kids underfoot without losing her mind is beyond me! But I'm grateful for her patience!

Now I love making these cookies every year. Making them with my kids brings me back to a happy place in my childhood.

To make these cookies you first have to cream 2 sticks of butter. The butter must be softened to room temperature which means letting it sit on the counter for a few hours. You can't soften it in the microwave because if it melts even the tiniest bit the dough will not be right. These are fussy cookies.

Once the butter is good and creamed you gradually add in 1/2 cup of sugar and beat it. Then you add in 1 egg and the secret ingredient...1 tsp. almond extract. This is what gives these cookies their distinct flavor! Evan is my little chef and loves to help me in the kitchen! Those are his hands on the beater :-).

After the eggs and extract are in you slowly begin to beat in the flour.

At this point you will need to turn off the beater and switch to a wooden spoon or a nice heavy spatula. I really like this one. It's from Pampered Chef and is perfect for the job!

Keep adding flour until you have added a total of 2 1/3 cups. The batter will be pretty stiff.

Once the dough is thoroughly mixed it's time to fill the cookie press. This one from Wilton is the best one I have tried (and I have tried many)! It costs $10 and you can pretty much get it anywhere. I got mine at WalMart.

The press comes with 12 different discs so you can make whatever shapes you want. For Christmas I like to stick to the cute little trees and the little flower looking things. I love red hots and those little flowers have a spot in the middle just made for a red hot!

If you have a kid hanging around you can have them sprinkle green sugar on your trees.

When they're ready, bake them at 350 for about 12 minutes. They should still be pretty pale. You really don't want them to brown.

Once they're done you can wrap them up in cute little boxes to give away as gifts or you can just eat them by the handful until they're gone like I do :-).

These cookies freeze really well which means you can make them a month or two in advance. They also keep for a long time and are great for breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. Or dessert. I heart these little cookies!

Butter Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar

1 egg 1 tsp. almond extract

2 1/3 cup flour

Cream butter. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and almond extract. Gradually blend in flour. Fill cookie press with dough. Form desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

A Blanket for Annabel

2009-12-12T06:33:00.000-08:00

Annabel Thelma is my little brother's second child. She was born on July 10, 2009, the day before my grandmother died. Her middle name was my grandma's first name.

Here is a blanket I made for Annabel for Christmas! I hope that it will become something she holds onto her entire life!

All Aboard!

2009-12-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went up North to the Polar Express. This was our second time going.

The Polar Express is in Williams, Arizona, just North of Flagstaff. It is run by the Grand Canyon Railway. During the holidays the train turns into the Polar Express. You can buy a package which includes a dinner buffet, tickets for the train, one night stay in the hotel and a breakfast buffet the next morning. It's a pretty good deal!

The train travels from Williams, AZ to "The North Pole". While heading to the North Pole you get to listen to the story of the Polar Express, drink hot chocolate and eat cookies and sing Christmas carols. Once the train reaches the North Pole the kids get a surprise visit from Santa Clause and each child gets a bell.

It is such a fun experience! Last year Janelle loved it. Evan, being only three and being...well....Evan made the trip a little stressful. This year was so much more enjoyable for everyone!

One of the highlights of going to the Polar Express is getting to see the snow. We don't get snow in Phoenix so it's a pretty fascinating sight to see! Since we have a had a very warm winter and hardly any rain it was really no surprise that there was no snow up North. I told Janelle that I was sorry there was no snow, because I knew she was disappointed. Her reply was "That's okay. Spending time with my family is all that matters". How did I get such a great kid??

Anyway, the next morning we woke up to see that it was snowing! In fact it was a full blown blizzard! We let the kids get in a little of their so desired play time and then decided to hit the road! Good thing because as the day went on the snow continued and we probably would have been stuck there had we waited much longer! I honestly do not know how people can deal with that kind of weather.

All in all it was a truly magical experience. For me being able to spend that time as a family is something I will always treasure!

I took TONS of pictures! These are just a select few!

He had to try out the bed as soon as we got in the room!

Evan being silly

This was Janelle's 3rd low about four hours into the trip

On the train!

Janelle is excited to see Santa!

Here he is!

The kids got their bells

Finally it snowed!!

Exhausted on the way home!

Recent Projects

2009-12-05T15:36:00.001-08:00

Crocheting is one of my obsessions. Actually, to say I'm obsessed may be a slight understatement. I tend to get so involved with it that it causes me to neglect anything and everything else that may need my attention.

So it's no surprise that I decided to make most of the Christmas presents I'll be giving away this year. My plans became pretty ambitious and just three weeks away from Christmas I am feverishly working on all of my projects.

Pictured below is the Sponge Bob water bottle holder I plan to give to my daughter, Janelle. The photo of the Hello Kitty scarf is for my niece Olivia. I am also working on a dinosaur blanket for my dinosaur loving nephew, and a blanket for my other niece Anabelle. Besides that, I'm planning to make some scarves, some pot holders and a few pairs of slippers.

Wow, I better get back to work!

Hello Kitty scarf for Olivia

Sponge Bob water bottle holder

So Thankful!

2009-11-27T04:48:00.000-08:00

The older I get the more I understand the importance of gratitude. I am thankful for so many things! To say it in a sentence, I am thankful that my life right now is exactly the way I always wanted it to be.

Yesterday, like many other families, we celebrated Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my holiday to host and I love it! For one thing, I'm pretty picky about food. To me, it's all about the traditions and I want the food to be exactly the same every year. No funky stuffing please, Stove Top will do just fine!

While I do the majority of the cooking, everyone brings something. We had turkey, ham, stuffing, corn casserole, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and the best mashed potatoes EVER! For dessert we had apple pie, pumpkin pie and two kinds of cookies. Everything was delicious!

In my opinion, one of the best things about the holidays is getting to be around people and forming life long traditions for my kids. My sister, brother and I each have two kids. Growing up there were six grandchildren. It's so great to see our kids running around playing with their cousins like we did.

All in all it was a great Thanksgiving. The only downfall was that Janelle wasn't feeling too great. Thanksgiving and diabetes don't mix! I think I waaaaay under dosed her dinner (either that or she had more cranberry sauce than I thought she did). About two hours after dinner she was over 400! Luckily she was easily corrected and down to 123 at bedtime.

I hope everyone had a happy and blessed Thanksgiving and here's to kicking off the holiday season!

My sister and I with Janelle

Some of the girls

A Smile a Day

2009-11-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

This is my eighth year teaching 1st grade. Each year you get a whole new mix of kids. While you never know exactly what you are going to get, you can pretty much bet there will be a few "challenging" kiddos.

This year as expected, I have some challenges. I have one student in particular (I'll call him "M") who tries my patience daily. After the first meeting with this boy's father I realized that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

When the kids get out of school at the end of the day, sometimes someone is there to pick him up, but not always. On the days that no one is there to pick up M I take him to the office and try to call his dad. I usually can't get a hold of him and when I actually do get a hold of M's dad he doesn't care that he is late. He'll get there when he gets there. Some days picking up his son on time just isn't convenient.

M is very open and loves to tell stories about his family. I hear all about his father's gambling addiction and the fights between him and his girlfriend. I know more about that family than I want to know!

Even though M is a tough kid you can't help but to love him. He can't help the environment he is raised in or the fact that he knows and has seen things no 6 year old should. He is smart and I have seen the good in him many times!

This morning I picked my students up from the playground like I do every day. As we were walking to our classroom M came running up to me. He had a balloon animal (a green poodle to be exact) in his hand and he was grinning from ear to ear. He handed it to me and said "this is for you! My brother helped me make it." I loved it! And it must have been obvious to him because I don't think I've ever seen that boy smile so big. He just looked so happy.

It's moments like this that remind me of why I became a teacher. I love the moments that make me just stop and smile.

Carb Crazy!

2009-11-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

Janelle was always a really picky eater. She'd eat the same things every day. This used to make life with diabetes pretty simple for us.

In preschool and kindergarten Janelle would eat a pre-measured baggie of cereal for breakfast and the same lunch every single day. Once she hit first grade she decided to be a little more adventurous and try a few of the cafeteria's hot lunches.

Now that Janelle is in second grade she wants nothing else but to be with her friends and to do what the other kids do. Which means eating breakfast in the cafeteria every day and only taking her lunch box a few times a week.

I have always tried to make sure that diabetes doesn't make Janelle feel different. At least any more different than necessary. I am so happy she is becoming more adventurous and willing to try different things, but boy does it make carb counting more difficult!

I have such a great situation in that I am a teacher at the school Janelle goes to. However, I am not able to be with her all the time and unfortunately do not see every bite of food she puts in her mouth. To make matters worse, she doesn't even always know what the food she ate is called, let alone how much of it she ate!

It's never long after breakfast or lunch when I catch up with her to find out what she ate and to give her a bolus. Sometimes when I ask her what she had I can't help but laugh at the response I get.

For example, how many carbs would you say are in "half of that round brown thing that's really good"? And how much would you count for "two bites of that brown stuff you make sometimes"? Every thing she eats is always "half" of something.

So I have to guess. A lot! Usually I do pretty good if I do say so myself. But other times I am way off. Oh well. I guess you take the good with the bad right?

Bad D Day

2009-11-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

We have had diabetes in our life for almost 5 years now. While I certainly don't like it, I have learned to live with it and to deal with all of it's ups and downs because what else can I do? It's not going anywhere.

Today Janelle woke up with a blood sugar of 463 and was clearly not feeling well. Great. This day has "potential disaster" written all over it.

I spent the entire day trying to bring down her blood sugar. It took until 2:30 pm to get it below 200 (179 to be exact).

At this point I was finally able to do a site change since my students were gone and my classroom was empty. In my rush to get the new site in, I must have forgotten to pull back the inset because when I placed it on her little tushie she screamed! More than the usual scream.

Yep. I had stuck the needle right in there. I'm such a bad D Mommy. I felt horrible, to say the least. So our spare site change was ruined. Had to disconnect until we got home. Blood sugar upon arrival at home = 269.

I hate diabetes today.

Noah's Ark

2009-11-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

Of all the things I have crocheted in my life, the Noah's Ark blanket is probably one of my favorites!

One day while on ravelry.com (one of my favorite websites of all time), I saw this blanket. I loved it! Who wouldn't? It's adorable!

I found out where to get the pattern and ordered it, not knowing if I would even be able to make the darn thing! It looked pretty complicated.

The pattern came and it sat there for months until I finally got up the courage to give it a try. It was actually pretty easy!

The first one I made I gave to a friend for her baby shower. She was actually doing a Noah's Ark theme so it came in pretty handy! Then a couple weeks ago a friend of mine asked if she could buy one for her sister in law who is having a baby. So I got to make another one!

The blanket is actually pretty easy to make. It took me about a day and a half to do the blanket and about another 7 hours to make the animals and sew them on (the most tedious part of the whole thing).

So here is yet another blanket under my belt!

Almost there!

It's all done!

Last Ditch Effort

2009-11-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

Having this blog out there in blogger land and knowing that I'm doing nothing with it is driving me a little crazy!

I can't seem to keep up with it, yet I also can't seem to let it go!

Here are my reasons for not writing on a regular basis.

1. I have no time.

2. I suck at writing.

3. Do I really have anything interesting to say or stories to tell?

4. Is there really a point? Is anyone really reading it anyway (besides Wendy ;-P)?

So before I abandon ship I thought I'd give it one more try. But instead of trying to keep up this blog AND my other blog, which is dedicated to all things yarny, I am just going to manage this one and let the other one go.

This blog will consist of anything and everything I am passionate about. My family, my friends, crocheting, cooking and teaching.

So if you have been following my blog, thanks and stay tuned!

Cake Ballin' With Ev

2009-08-31T18:02:00.001-07:00

Lately any time I cook anything (which isn't often these days), Evan always has to be right there by my side to "help".

While I really just want to get it done, I know that it is important to let him help.

So yesterday we made

cake balls together. If you have never had cake balls before all you do is bake a cake (any flavor), let it cool and crumble it into a bowl. Then you mix in a can of frosting (any flavor), roll them into balls, chill and dip in melted dark or white chocolate.

People love them! I'm not a big fan of box cake mix or pre-made frosting so I have to say that I don't love cake balls. Yet I continue to make them each time thinking I will like them. Oh well. Tim likes them and Evan sure had fun helping to make them!

What The Blog??

2009-08-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since my last blog. School must have started or something. :-).

For those of you who don't know, besides being a wife to the best husband in the world, and mom to the best kids in the world, I am also a 1st grade teacher.

School started on August 11th and it's been a rough start. I got to begin the year with 39 kids on my list! That's right, I said 39!! Luckily only 35 showed up. Ha! Lucky for who? Way too many kids! It was rough to say the least. These are six year olds!

Three weeks into the school year they decided to add another teacher. Since we were only allowed to add TWO teachers to the whole school they decided they would "try to get the most use out of them". So one of the teachers was put into a 1st/2nd combo and the other was a 5th/6th combo. So this means that a few kids would be taken from each of these grades and put into two new classrooms.

Let the shuffling begin. Teachers had no say over who would be chosen to go to the new classrooms. There was no real thought that went into it. Just get it done. Letters went home and it was done. All of the first grade classes went down to 26 but somehow I stayed at 30! OOPS! I decided to just let it be and be happy knowing I won't be getting any new kids for a while!

My class is interesting. I have a lot of really good, sweet kids.....who love to talk and talk and talk and talk. Could be because they're six. Could be because there are so many of them! Who knows.

Even though we are only four weeks into school the school "crud" has (and still is) already gone through my house! I'm sure it's just the first of many illnesses we will be faced with!

I am happy to report that Janelle LOVES 2nd grade and has had really good numbers so far. I am frequently reminded of how lucky I am to have her at school with me. Like when I forgot to change her site and her pump ran out of insulin in the middle of the day (Bad Mommy). Or on days like today when her site gets pulled out during P.E. Those for sure are potential disasters! Ones I am happy to be able to avoid!

So here is my first blog as a harried and tired mom/teacher. Hopefully there will be another one before Christmas!

Good Bye Grandma

2009-07-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

If you have been following my blog you probably read my previous post about my grandmother.

I flew to Chicago to see her last Friday. When I got there she was back in the hospital, after being home for two days. She was on oxygen and only semi-conscious.

She woke up when I got there and knew I was there. She even yelled at me for coming! Very typical for her. Never wanted anyone to be inconvenienced!

It was hard to see her there. Barely able to move or even to talk. It just wasn't her.

The next morning I arrived at the hospital to find my grandma in even worse shape than she was the day before. She was unconscious and her breathing was labored and loud. The morphine was keeping her comfortable. And keeping her from waking up.

Throughout the day her breathing had become less noticeable and about 3:45 p.m. it was clear that she was slipping away. By 4:20 p.m. she was gone.

I have never watched anyone die before, let alone someone so very close to me. It was comforting that she wasn't in any obvious pain and was surrounded by her children, husband and two of her grandchildren.

By the time she took her last breath it was clear that her soul had left her body.

I believe that there is something after death. The body is a shell for the soul to live inside. I also strongly believe there is an after life. I think my grandma was showing us her presence as soon as she passed.

After leaving the hospital my immediate family met up at my cousin's house in Highland Park, Il. We were sitting around in his front yard talking about all our memories of Grandma when all of a sudden two deer appeared out of no where across the street. The crossed the street and began grazing right there in the front yard about 20 feet away from where we were all sitting! They were so calm and not at all fearful of all the people so close by. My grandparents always called each other "Dear".

This may very well have no significance whatsoever. But I like to think that it was Grandma's way of showing us she is at peace....wherever she is.

The next day my grandfather mentioned he hadn't listened to the radio in weeks. So he turned on the radio just as my grandma's favorite song was beginning. Strange coincidence? Maybe. But I don't think so.

I came home from Chicago on Wednesday. After getting home I locked my car and didn't drive it for the rest of the day. The next morning when I got to my car to leave I saw that all four windows were down. Not all the way, a little less than half, but all at exactly the same level.

I immediately called Tim to see if he had done that to my windows. He didn't. My car was locked. My windows are electric. You have to put the key in the ignition to put the windows down. There is no explanation.

Before I left Chicago I took a house coat that belonged to my grandmother. I remember her wearing it all the time. I sealed it in a ziplock bag so that it won't lose her special smell.

I miss her so much and always will. My life will always be blessed with her memory!

Time Is Running Out

2009-07-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

My grandparents are two of the GREATEST people on the planet. They live in Chicago so unfortunately I don't get to see them as much as I'd like.

When I was in 1st grade my parents went through a bitter divorce and my mom ended up moving us from our home in Chicago to Arizona.

Things between my parents were pretty awful and we went through a lot of very hard times.

Throughout my childhood, the one thing that was always pleasant and consistent was my grandparents. My mom had no money whatsoever. My grandparents made sure we had everything we needed. They supplied all the clothes and shoes that my sister and brother and I needed. They sent us to summer camp, paid for all three of us to have braces and even bought us all the latest toys (anyone remember Pound Puppies?).

Aside from that, my grandparents were fun, loving and just wonderful people to be around.

They made sure they were a constant part of our lives, whether it was weekly phone calls, or regular trips to AZ, or flying us out to IL to see them. My grandparents made every effort to be a positive part of our lives when there weren't many others.

As an adult, my grandparents continued to be involved in everything. And now they are incredible great grandparents.

Through the years I always imagined that they would live forever. I knew logically this is not possible, but still believed it. Well now reality has hit.

In April my grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer. As soon as I found out I knew in my heart that this was the beginning of the end. I flew out there a few weeks later to see them. I really wanted to see her before she began treatment. It was a great trip and I was sure to take LOTS of pictures.

Well, here we are two months later and Grandma is not doing well. She went through radiation which has pretty much damaged her lungs beyond repair. She has been sick and miserable for two months now. In and out of the hospital, unable to eat or breathe well.

The latest hospitalization is due to pneumonia. Despite all the radiation she had, her tumor has grown and now she has another one. Not a good outlook.

It is not easy for her to talk, her voice is raspy and she's on oxygen. I was able to talk to her on July 4th, which happens to be her birthday. She sounded awful. Yet the first thing she asked was "How is Evan's leg?". I don't even know how she knew about what happened with Evan's foot that day, but that's Grandma!

This Friday I will be taking a trip to Chicago to see my grandparents. I have never gone there and not wanted to as much as I do now. I have never had a trip planned to see them and not been filled with excitement. I am dreading this trip. But I know I have to go. I know that time is running out.

Grandma & Papa

April, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

Our 4th of July began with a trip to the emergency room. Last night, Evan ran to the door like he always does when Daddy comes home. However, there was a toy on the floor (nothing new) that he either stepped on or tripped over and he hurt his foot. He started to scream and cry and seemed to be in a lot of pain. He cried for much longer than he usually does when he falls or hurts himself.

For the rest of the night Evan refused to stand on his foot or walk on it. This morning he continued to do the same. Since I don't own an xray machine (who does?) I decided to take him in....just to be sure.

Luckily the xray showed no broken bones so we were sent home and told to watch it. He's still got a slight limp, but at least I don't have to worry that there may be more going on.

I have to say that being at the ER was way different with him. Usually it's Janelle I am taking! It was a lot less nerve wracking with him for some reason. Oh, I know. Because he doesn't have diabetes!

After our excitement this morning it was back home for a few hours and then off to my sister's house for a bbq. By the way, my sister makes some darn good ribs! The kids love to play with their cousins. There are currently five cousins and one more to be making her appearance soon!

Today could not pass by without thinking about my dad and my grandma who happen to have their birthdays on the 4th of July! Happy Birthday Dad and Grandma! I love you and miss you both!

Bloggy Frustration

2009-07-03T19:31:00.001-07:00

First of all, I'd like to thank my friend Wendy for not only inspiring me to get a blog going, but for also helping me figure out how to do it (as if I need a new obsession in life) =).

I have to say, getting this thing up and running has not been easy! Push this button and this is supposed to happen....but it doesn't. Need to change something....spend 10 minutes trying to find where to go to change it.

I tried to change one layout to another and somehow ended up with two on at the same time! Didn't even know that was possible. After many attempts to fix that problem I ended up deciding that my only option left was to start a whole new Monkey Kid Blog and just copy and paste everything into a new one and delete the old one.

So an hour and a half and two ignored children later....here it is.

Thanks again to Wendy for letting me steal all your stuff! She has a pretty cool blog! You should check it out!

Dear Tooth Fairy,...

2009-07-03T17:52:00.001-07:00

As a mom I find that baby teeth falling out is just as exciting as baby teeth coming in.

Yesterday Janelle lost her 4th tooth. We had an appointment set for Evan's DDD coordinator to come by for his annual evaluation and naturally the details of this letter went down while she was here.

In anticipation of the Tooth Fairy, Janelle wrote a letter to her and left it, with the tooth, under her pillow.

This is her letter as written by Janelle:

"Dear Tooth-ferey. herse the story. Evan's persen came and I was eating a cookie and I bit it on my tooth and it was heneing (hanging) from it tip then my mom got a touol (towel) and poold (pulled)it and it came out.

Love,

Tooth

P.S. wats your name?"

I love it! This letter will be put away (with all the others) until she is grown. I can't wait to pull them out long after she has forgotten them to show her.

"The First 100 Years Are the Hardest"

2009-07-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

This is a quote from my grandma, passed down from her mother. They are smart women who know what raising kids is really about!

Having two children of my own has definitely not been easy! They each have their own set of challenges. I know that all children have their own challenges or their own "thing", however I can't help but feel like I have been given a little more than most people. Not that I would change anything, but some days these challenges are exhausting.

On February 28, 2005 Janelle was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. This means that her pancreas no longer makes insulin. A couple weeks prior to her diagnosis we began to notice symptoms. Excessive thirst and urination, being tired and irritable, weight loss. Very classic symptoms. The pediatrician confirmed my suspicion and sent us straight to Phoenix Children's Hospital where we spent the next three days. Tim and I were given a crash course in diabetes management and sent home to begin our "new life". That is one experience that has changed me forever.

Four years later diabetes is still a challenge. Of course we are used to it now and it's part of daily life. But it's a daily challenge none the less.

Evan came into this world a screamer and a clinger and has never changed! Evan's challenges are sometimes as difficult (or more) than dealing with diabetes. He has a speech delay, which we are working on overcoming. In addition, he has been diagnosed with Autism, OCD and anxiety. By different doctors. Following his Autism diagnosis by a developmental pediatrician, I had him evaluated by a pediatric neurologist, pediatric psychologist and a pediatric psychiatrist. Trying to get to the bottom of Evan's "issues". It was a long road and without a final "diagnosis". Does he have some signs and symptoms of Autism? Yes. But any kid could, I guess. Does he have some signs of OCD? Absolutely. But that's in his genes for sure. Evan is Evan. Not easy to live with, but he's ours, he was given to us for a reason and we love him none the less! My hope for Evan is that one day he will get past his speech delays and that we will be able to provide him whatever support he needs to be as happy as he can be!

Introduction

2009-07-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hello! My name is Leigh, I am wife to Tim and mom to two beautiful children. Besides being wife and mom, I am also a 1st grade teacher. Life is crazy and always busy. Time is always short and I am always trying to play catch up.

As I mentioned before, we have two children. Janelle Madison, our oldest was born in March, 2002. She is a joy. She is smart and funny and has a great personality. She can light up any room as soon as she enters it. She is our little Peanut and we are so proud of her.

Evan Michael was born in October, 2005. We always say that if he was our first he would be an only child =). He is not an easy kid by any means. But we love him to death anyway. Evan will win you over with his big eyes and huge smile. His smile lights up his face and you can't help but smile back. He is sweet when he wants to be and a big Mama's Boy!