Just to let you know I have not abandoned the blog...

Enjoy this picture while you patiently wait for my return. :)

Yes, another October birthday

Cara turned seven years old this month. Her birthday was a comedy of errors of sort because we have had a virus in our house that has struck down three out of five members of the family. They seem to have more than one round of it, too. Hopefully, it is on its way out.

We had planned to celebrate Cara's birthday early in the month with our families because my mother and brother were going on a Hawaiian vacation on her birthday. Yeah, I said it. They were leaving for Hawaii without us on Cara's birthday. How dare they.

The day we were going to meet them at a pizza place that Cara chose, Jonah's stomach was upset. We were also going to go apple picking the next day (pictures to come). We debated about what to do and finally decided to go to Bruce's mom and celebrate. Jonah seemed to recover, so we went apple picking the next day. More on that later.

Cara's actual birthday was October 21, and we celebrated at home with Bruce's mom. Cara was funny on her birthday. She was quite excited and said that she would get anything she wanted that day. Not quite, missy. She was sweet and enjoyed her Belle cake.

Now, all is right with the world since I can once again say I have children who are spaced two years in between each one. I can't say that for 18 days in October and it really messes me up.

I am having problems with Blogger loading my pictures again. I will post some pictures later.

Today's your birthday!

Jonah officially turned five years old yesterday. He was pretty excited about it actually being his birthday. He and Cara came into our room around 6 a.m. He came in saying it was his birthday and Cara was excited because she was getting baptized.

Adriana made Jonah a cake the day before. It was chocolate with white frosting and sprinkles.



Jonah got to pick where we ate lunch, and he chose Pizza Hut. The boy loves pizza and he ate a lion's share yesterday.





For the record, he received Buzz and Woody at his birthday party. Now, Jessie completes the set. Which reminds me, I need to write his name on the bottom of Jessie's boot. We did that with Woody and Buzz, too.

He is now officially a whole hand. I have not had a problem with my baby growing up. I promise, I haven't. (*sniff*)

Hazards of baptizing your own daughter...

when she's afraid of water.



"Not yet. I'm not ready."



You almost have to go under yourself.



I could be wrong, but I am thinking John the Baptist didn't have this problem with Jesus. We think the majority of her body went under, but we are not too sure. It's okay. We aren't legalistic about it.

Jonah's birthday party

I would love to take credit for this cake, but I can't. I would love to say that I am one of those moms who has the talent and patience to make something like this. I'm not, though. I'm just glad to know someone who does. Yes, it tastes as good as it looks.

Funny thing about the hat. I bought this hat years ago and it mostly stays in the den with the toys. I had not even thought about asking him to wear it. He showed up at the party with it on. I think he did it on his own, too. (I was getting ready for the party and wasn't around when he was getting ready.)

He was just a little excited about his bike. This was right before we discovered the dead battery on the van.

This weekend, Jonah had his first birthday party with friends. He will turn five years old this coming Sunday. (He will be a whole hand. Waaaaaa!!!!!!! What happened to my baby!?!)

We have had parties for him in the past, but they have always been with just family. We went to a local park (the same one where we had our pseudo-picnic) and let the kids run loose.

His theme was a Toy Story theme, of course. He received some great toys that he has barely put down since then. At the end of opening his presents, he said, "Are these all my presents?" (As in, do I get anything else?) Yes, we need to work on that boy and his materialism. Actually, I think he was looking for his bike he asked us to get. Bruce held it as the last thing. The handlebars need to be adjusted because I didn't have the right tool to tighten them.

Good thing that it poured rain for two days after his party. (Note to self, go buy the right tool tomorrow.)

Here's a few pictures from that day. He had a great day.

We had a great day. Well, that was until our battery died in the van. My brother may or may not have violated a few rules about driving across protected lands to help jump off our battery. In his defense, some park employees witnessed the incident and actually seemed impressed.

So, Bruce had to take the van about 30 minutes away on a Saturday night to get a new battery. Not exactly the way to end the day. It's all okay now, though. Thank you, Lord, that we didn't get stranded with all the deer.

Go, God!

The most exciting news around here lately is that Cara gave her heart to Jesus last week.

I went to pick the children up from AWANAs and one of Cara's leaders was telling me how proud everyone was of her. The pastor was talking to her group and the older group about Abraham and Isaac. He talked about how Abraham was about to sacrifice his son. He then asked if anyone knew anyone else who had done something similar. Cara then raised her hand and said God did when he sacrificed Jesus. She then told them why, for our sins. Her leader said she did this in front of all the children and adults. She said she was very brave.

Cara then started telling me she wanted to be baptized. I told her that she needed to give her heart to Jesus first and she said she knew that. She also said that she didn't want to go to hell when she dies. I told her it was more than that, also. I told her it was about a relationship with Jesus. She said she knew that, also. I convinced her to wait until we got home so she could talk to Bruce. He started talking to her at home and she said she was ready to pray. (They actually did the prayer while Cara was, ahem, indisposed. I asked him could it not wait a couple of minutes. He said then was as good a time as any.) We did an "official" for the memory book prayer with her kneeling beside her bed and I was beside her. I have to admit, I started crying a little.

The girl means business, too. She said she wanted to be baptized the very next Sunday, but we told her that she needed to come forward at church, first. (In our denomination, when you want to be baptized, you come to the front of the church and ask for acceptance into the church. Personally, I don't like the "voting" in of someone into the church, but that's a whole other post.) She said she would and she wanted to be baptized the following Sunday. When your dad's the pastor, you have those options. :)

She did come forward yesterday, so she will be baptized next Sunday. That is also Jonah's birthday, so we will have an exciting day all around.

A funny note, she told Bruce to tell whoever fills the baptism pool (or God's bathtub as Jonah has called it) not fill it too high because she is only 3 1/2 feet tall.

Labor Day picnic

Yeah, I know, a little late, but here goes.

I have been meaning to be so much better about keeping up with the blog, but life gets in the way sometimes. I thought I would have so much time on my hands once the kids were back in school. Boy, was I wrong. My school started back the day after Labor Day, and it has been kicking my hiney (as the children call it). Let's just say, being in school was a lot easier before adult life. I didn't appreciate that then, though.

Before my school started back, though, we had a Labor Day picnic at a local state park. We toyed around with staying at home and letting the kids play in the pool, but they wanted to do as we have for the last few years or so and go on a picnic.

The Cool House version of a picnic is to call and have a pick-up order ready on our way to the park. No packing of a picnic basket around. At least, that is the way the senior member of the family likes it. Works out pretty well, if I do say so.

So, we placed our order for hamburgers, fries and onion rings and headed to the state park. The day was a little warm, but we had a good time.

We were worried about Cara that day because her numbers had been running high all weekend. She also had a trace of ketones, which can be serious (google it if you dare). Labor Day, everything seemed to go back to normal. She was even able to enjoy some ice cream and a s'more.

When we came home from our picnic, Jonah and I did get in the pool for a little while. (Don't worry, no pics from that.)

Overall, it was an excellent day.

Jonah's first day of school

Jonah had his first day of school on Friday, August 27. He was actually supposed to start on Wednesday, August 25, but the night before he came into our room around 10 p.m. with a fever. About an hour later, his fever had gone up.

I took him to the doctor the next morning. Dr. G. said she thought Jonah had the beginning stages of strep throat, even though the rapid test came back negative. He was pretty sad about having to miss school (and his girlfriend), but he was pretty miserable for about a day. Almost exactly 24 hours after he started his amoxicillin, he was rebounding back to his old self.

He had been counting down the days until school started, but the morning he was to go, he decided he didn't want to go. We convinced him to go, and all was right with the world.

Laugh after a long day

I stole this from a friend's blog. Love it!

Pictures finally

Adriana, fourth grade, growing up too fast

Cara, first grade, worried about her first test

and hoping every day for homework

On the way to school

Walking in

First day of school

I am not even going to start apologizing about keeping up with the blog lately, etc. I will try soon to catch up with everything from this summer. Let's just say we have been busy. Probably too busy. (There, Honey, I said it.)

Until then, here are some pictures of the girls' first day of school. To recap for you, Adriana is now a fourth grader and Cara is a first grader. Jonah will start next week in the four-year-old Montessori program.

By the way, my mother purchased these outfits for them. Thanks, Ma/Mama!

(Okay, you will notice no pictures are here. Blogger is acting funny tonight, so I will attempt to put some pictures on here tomorrow.)

Sometimes in life...

You just

have to

jump!

Girl Scout camp

Yummy! S'mores.

Out in the canoe. She wasn't too sure of it, so we came back in pretty quickly.

Near the end of the hike. Cara was pretty whiny the whole way.

A couple of weeks ago, Cara and I went to a mother/daughter over night at Girl Scout camp. I asked Adriana if she wanted to go this year, but she opted to attend a week long camp with one of her friends instead. I even offered for her to do both, but she said she only wanted to go with R. Sniff, sniff. I guess she is growing up.

This time was a much better time for her than it was last fall when we went with her and Adriana's troops. That weekend, the weather was yucky and Cara's blood glucose numbers had many highs and lows. Needless to say, she did not enjoy herself then.

This time, the weather was perfect and her numbers did fine overall. I told Cara before we left for the weekend that we would probably have s'mores one night and that she and I could split one. She had the great idea of stopping and getting some sugar free chocolate to take with us. With the sugar free chocolate, one graham cracker and one marshmallow, her numbers ended up fine with the s'more. I even had to give her a snack that night before bed.

When we first arrived at camp, I ran into one of my good childhood friends. What a treat! She and I were able to catch up and enjoyed talking about "old times". Cara asked me at one point when did I first meet S., and I told her that I could not remember a time of not knowing her. Cara and her daughter seemed to have hit it off, too.

We also made a couple of new friends with a lady and her daughter who were in our cabin. The Girl Scout song of "Make new friends, but keep the old," certainly rang true that weekend.

Cara did get whiny while we were on a hike. I thought then that her numbers were probably up, but when I checked her, she was fine. She was just being irritable that morning.

We went canoeing and fishing, which Cara requested. We didn't stay out in the canoe for very long because Cara was getting nervous and I was afraid she was going to cause us to overturn. She almost caught a fish once or twice, but she came up empty handed.

The only downside of the weekend was right before we left. Cara asked me if she could go to camp sometime by herself like Adriana will do in a few weeks. She was specifically asked about next year. I sat down with her and tried to explain as best I could that I think she needs to wait until she is older before she can go.

She could possibly go to a diabetes residential camp, but she wants to be able to go to a Girl Scout camp like any other little girl. We have so many things to consider about that, though. If it were a matter of just managing her numbers, then we wouldn't have a problem with allowing her to go. Now with her pump, we have to think about site (where the pump connects to her body) changes that take place every three days and the sites tend to come off in pools.

When I was talking to her about it, she started crying. (This was during a low, by the way.) I have to admit, I started crying, too. Yet another thing that diabetes has taken from my child.

Bruce and I have talked about looking at the situation again in a couple of years when she is older and can have more responsibility. Also, I could probably stay at my mother-in-law's and be available for site changes and such. She lives not too far from the camp. We could also find a week where Cara and Adriana could attend together. That way, Adriana could help the staff with Cara.

For your viewing pleasure,

I bring you the Chick Fil-A cows! Yes, once again, we participated in the Cow Appreciation Day that Chick Fil-A has every year. I am still amazed by the number of people who do not go out and make a fool of themselves dress up for free food. Even Adriana got into the act this year. As you may recall, she did not participate last year on the way home from vacation. Some of that may have had to do with the fact that a certain senior member of the family does not find pleasure in such things. It's okay. It takes all kinds to make up this world, doesn't it?

Anyway, Adriana decided to decorate her sign some more and did a good job if I do say so myself. Cara also worked on her outfit by placing the spots on hers. That is why you may notice more than two ears on her head. By the way, Jonah is the Clemson cow, Cara is a purple cow (my mom used to quote a poem about a purple cow) and Adriana is a pink cow. Jonah and Cara mooed at the employees when they took our order. All in all, a good day.

Until I can get caught up, enjoy this picture of our calves.

No, honey, I have not

abandoned the blog. Your mother doesn't have Internet service, remember?

Yes, I understand I have let the cobwebs build again around here and I apologize. Life has been terribly busy lately, but it should slow down for a couple of weeks. I will update soon.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is having a great summer!

More Mommy brag

Awards day was held at the school this week. Adriana made the A/B honor roll! We are so proud of her.

At mid-term, she wasn't doing too well in one subject, but she worked and pulled her grade up. The only nine weeks this year that she did not make the honor roll was the nine weeks in which she had her surgery. We are pretty sure she was worried about that, so we cut her some slack there.

She also passed all her multiplication tables. Her class went through all 12 tables and then they had a "Magic 21" they had to pass in order to attend a party. She was giving up on the Magic 21, saying that she was not going to be able to pass it. We knew she could do it, she just needed more confidence in herself. Bruce and I both talked to her and tried to encourage her. Throw a little bribery in there to get her to work hard, and tada! She passed.

Next year, she will be in fourth grade. Yikes! Time is moving right along.

Cara's kindergarten graduation

Everyone who came to see her graduate, minus Adriana who had to go back to class.

Being named "Good Citizen" of the kindergarten grade for the nine weeks.

Cara as "Mary" and her little lamb.

Our graduation celebrations continued this week with Cara's graduation from kindergarten. I can't believe she is old enough to be entering first grade in the fall.

The ceremony was so cute. The children did a walk through of nursery rhymes as they acted them out. Cara played Mary in "Mary Had a Little Lamb." She had a stuffed lamb that she put on the floor behind her as she acted like she was walking. She told me that she had a talk with the lamb as she was placing it on the floor. She was telling the lamb that it needed to stand up straight and not fall down. So cute.

During the ceremony, awards were also handed out for the nine weeks/year. Cara was recognized as the good citizen for her class and she was also recognized as the good citizen winner for the whole kindergarten for the nine weeks. I was doing okay emotionally until the guidance counselor read what her teacher wrote about Cara and then I cried a little.

She was also given the award for "Most Responsible." I was trying to think about what stood out to make her win that particular award in her class. Then, I thought about this- a year ago, I posted this blog post. Since then, she has been thrust into a world of approximately 2, 000 finger sticks, 540 insulin shots and one insulin pump. Her teacher and the teacher assistant said that for the most part, she handles her pump herself. So, yeah, I guess that could qualify her as responsible. At least older than her years.

I had meant to post when she received her insulin pump, but things were so busy around here. This year, Cara had only been placed once in the 'Watching Chair" at school before she got her pump. After getting her pump, she ended up in the watching chair twice. The teacher assistant said that she was back to her old silly self since getting her pump. Bruce had said the same thing a couple of days after she got the pump. He said, "Our old Cara is back." I cry every time I tell someone that. Indeed, she is back to her bubbly, silly self.

After her graduation, we let her chose where to go out to eat. Unfortunately, every place she chose was closed because of Memorial Day. We finally found a place that she agreed to and was opened. After eating, she wanted to chose some candy because "it's my day and I can do what I want." Not quite, little girl, but close. We found some low carb candy and she was happy.

Her plans when she grows up? She wants to be a scientist so she can find a cure for diabetes. Maybe she will. We pray the cure will be found before then.

Congratulations, Cara, on finishing kindergarten. We can't wait to see where God uses you.

Life after Disney

So, life does exist outside of Disney. Now that I have updated my blog with our trip details and we all know that Blue (Or should I say Blue impostor?) has been found, I am going to fill you in on what we have done since then.

First, we had my birthday. No pictures of that because I have already transferred them off the computer. No presents, either. Bruce seems to think that the trip was enough. Cara couldn't understand why I didn't get anything for my birthday.

I kind of side with Cara.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Seriously, honey, I agree. Disney was enough.

Then, Cara was in a choir musical.

We celebrated Mother's Day. We lavished our mothers with gifts and I was lavished with presents. My favorites are always the homemade kind, but the others are nice, too. One of my presents was a digital photo frame. Hmm, I wonder if I have any pictures to put on it?

Have I said lately how much I love these three?

Nanny looking at her picture we gave her.

Ma looking at her card after tearing into her presents.

We had a bridging/end of the year ceremony for Girl Scouts. Adriana bridged to Juniors for the next year. Cara will still be a Daisy.

Adriana getting ready to bridge to Juniors.

The same weekend as the Girl Scout ceremony, we attended a family reunion of my family on my father's side. We were also supposed to attend a reunion on Bruce's mom's side, but he had an uncle pass away that week.

Adriana and her Ma at the family reunion.

Cara and Jonah's class had an end of the year picnic. Bruce attended it, too, so we almost had the entire family there. We had a good time that day in spite of the afternoon rain.

Cara enjoying the slide at the picnic.

Jonah enjoying a drink after all the playing.

Cara and Jonah as they decorate the sidewalk.

Cara as her usual bubbly self. A year ago at the class picnic, she was not like this. She was very irritable and whiny. That was the weekend before she was diagnosed with diabetes.

Daddy enjoying the slide after a certain six year old begged him.

Bruce's birthday came around and we celebrated. He said all he really wanted for his birthday was to take his children to the movies to see them laughing and having a good time. We took them to the movies even though they were pretty rowdy that day. We then took Bruce out to eat. Later that week on his actual birthday, we gave him some presents and blew out candles.

Yes, you can see the number on his cake. We had a cheesecake for him, and ...

Cara had a sugar free cupcake along with a sliver of cheesecake.

Sorry about the quality of this shot. Not sure what happened.

The children had field day at their school. They had a lot of fun.

Adriana was in a relay race in which she had to dunk her head in a bucket of water.

Jonah in his relay race. I cannot remember what he had to do.

Cara and Jonah's class, along with Adriana's, won a picnic with a pony for being the class in their grade that raised the most money for an animal rescue farm. At first, Cara would not pet the pony, but she would fuss if we told her she needed to go back with her class. After much coaxing by the assistant librarian and horse owner (and Mama stepping away), she pet the pony. Yeah!

Adriana had a multiplication test that morning. Earlier in the week she was anxious about it and started to give up. We tried to motivate her and help boost her confidence. Something worked, because she passed! Later that day, she complained that she wasn't feeling well. I asked her if she wanted to go to the school nurse and she said, "no." I didn't think she felt like she had a fever.

By the time we got home, she was running a fever. Bruce came home a little early because we were all scheduled to go to my nephew's high school graduation. Bruce said he didn't feel well. I took his temperature and he was running a fever. I told him we could all stay home, but he insisted that I go. I decided to take Cara with me to help him out a little.

After getting baths/showers, everyone settled, clear liquids, Tylenol (generic, so don't worry about recalls), Cara's pump site changed and gas in the car, Cara and I were on our way. We went through the pouring rain at times to get there. Once we were there, the crowd was in the stadium waiting for the graduation to start. On bleachers. Did I mention that huge lightening streaks were coming out of the sky? And, the people sat and waited. Cara and I sat in the car. I told her that was the safest place for us.

My brother had told me that if the graduation was outside, we were invited, if not, we weren't because they didn't have enough tickets. I told him I was fine with that and understood completely. Once we were there, I told Cara I thought we would go to my brother and sister-in-law's house to wait for everyone.

When we were leaving, we spotted my mother and sister-in-law in the parking lot. The officials had finally decided to move everyone inside and wait out the storm. My sister-in-law thought we might be able to get in. So, I parked my car again.

We went in the building and waited with everyone for the storm to pass by. For two hours. The graduation was supposed to start at 8 p.m. It started at 10 p.m. Have I mentioned that Cara became a little whiny? Did I mention that I became a little whiny?

Cara and I were able to get in.

Cara with my nephew.

My nephew graduated so Cara and I headed home. In the pouring rain again. All the way home. She slept. I prayed while I drove. When we arrived in our county, we found that no rain was falling or had fallen.

So, I put her in bed at almost 2 a.m.

Cara's graduation deserves its own post, so I will have another one soon.

Disney Day 6

The rope at the entrance that keeps everyone in line. See it really is a "rope drop."

Part of the morning show at the train station.

Adriana navigating the race car. Cara drove pretty well. Adriana, not so much. I see lots of driving lessons in her future.

View of the back of the castle from Dumbo.

Peter Pan at the show in front of the castle.

Adriana enjoying her fourth bucket of popcorn of the week. Have I said how much this girl loves popcorn? She can eat her weight of it. She also argued with us on the way home about how much she had eaten. She claimed it was only three buckets. We had the buckets to prove it and she finally relented.

Getting a hug from Belle.

Posing with Belle inside the garden. Jonah didn't want to pose with her.

Well, here we are at the end. Woohoo! We made it. Bruce worked hard the night before to load up our van so we would have only a few items to load up in the morning. We were trying to make rope drop again and we figured that if we waited until the morning we wouldn't make it. Packing up the night before did help.

We used our snack credits on our dining plan the night before, too, to get breakfast foods for the morning. We ate breakfast in our room which also helped. A nice young man in one of the resort's shops also gave Bruce a free container of milk that night because he was the one who helped him when Bruce bought my presents. He asked Bruce about them, and Bruce said they weren't delivered when they were supposed to be. The nice young man told Bruce to take the milk to make up for it. Bruce kept resisting, but he insisted. That was nice.

We rented a stroller before going into the park which helped save time. We made rope drop and were able to see the opening show again. I highly recommend getting there early to see that. Something about walking down Main Street USA and hearing "Zipadeedoodah" that starts the day off right.

We immediately went to the race cars and rode them. The children reacted just as I did when I would ride them at various theme parks. I loved those race cars for some reason. We rode them twice. The children could have ridden them longer, but the line was getting long so we moved on. Cara, Jonah and I then rode Dumbo. Cara didn't want to ride it the first time Jonah and I did, but she finally warmed up to it.

We pretty much spent our day in Fantasyland except for the brief time when we went to Toontown. Jonah wanted to ride Goofy's Barnstormer again. Cara decided this time that she wanted to ride it also. Since Adriana didn't want to ride it, that meant that Cara would be riding in a car by herself because Bruce was staying behind with Adriana. I asked to make sure she could ride it by herself. The cast member said she could. I explained to Cara several times that she would ride it by herself and we showed her the ride. She reassured us that she was fine riding it. It is a very minor roller coaster, but when we got off she fussed about it. She said she didn't know it was going to be like that. I told her again that we explained it to her. She calmed down after a couple of minutes. While we were on the ride, Bruce and Adriana toured Minnie's house.

Cara was able to finally get her ride on the carousel. In fact, Cara, Adriana and Bruce rode the carousel a couple of times. Adriana even went on a horse, which was new for her. She has always been leery on the horses, I think because of her issues with balance. This time, she rode on one. I was quite proud of her. Because of a meltdown issue, Jonah and I went elsewhere while the others rode the carousel. He had fun pressing pennies, though.

We also missed out on the "Pirates" ride again because of another Jonah meltdown. If we had been staying longer, we would have built a rest day in to help with these. To be honest, at the beginning of this day even I was thinking maybe we had had enough.

While in Fantasyland and watched a show outside of the castle that was neat. It had many of the characters and princesses. Cara and Jonah said they didn't want to watch it, so they went with Bruce to get some snacks for us. Adriana had popcorn, of course.

After that show, we went to enjoy story time with Belle. That was a great experience. We were in this little garden area with a small crowd as Belle told a story about her life. Afterwards, children could get her autograph and picture made with her.

We ate lunch at a place over in Liberty Square that was decent food. The best thing about the food there was that we were able to use two meal credits to feed all of us.

Our last attraction of the day was the Hall of Presidents. The show was a great experience, and a way for the children to get some education in since we took them out of school. It did open up a lot of questions for Adriana. I have to admit that I teared up when they showed a couple of slides from 9/11, especially when they played President Bush's words, "I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." What a moving experience.

We made a somewhat quick stop at the last souvenir stop and bought a few things before we left. We headed up the road and stopped to stay with one of my best friends from college who lives near the Florida state line. Well, we met up with her after taking a detour through Jacksonville. We shouldn't have gone through Jacksonville, but try telling Bruce that who opted not to listen to Herman.

Oh, well, we made it to her house and spent the night. We had a great visit, even though the children were a little wild. I was so exhausted that night, though.

What a difference breaking up the trip home makes. We were able to get home the next day by mid-afternoon instead of our usual after 7 p.m.