Homecoming.

Okay, so I don't have any pictures of the dress or of her and her friends all gussied up.  They got together around 3:30 p.m. to get themselves beautiful for the big high school homecoming dance.  I sent my camera with her with instructions to take lots and lots of pictures and to give the camera to others to make sure she's in a few of the photos.  She had dinner at another friends's house and then they all went to the dance at 8:00 p.m.  We were to be the parents driving the girls home.  Jordan had other plans though.

We met her and her ride at St. Mary's Hospital around 10:30 last night.  The lucky girl had two very nice fellas escorting her.

With a blood sugar reading beyond what her meter could measure - over 600 (the rescue squad meter doesn't measure more than 500), I instructed a dance chaperone to call an ambulance.  Jordan called me in a panic when she got her 600+ reading around 10:15 p.m.  Fortunately, Jordan left the dance without proper permission to make the call outside and two chaperones followed her so I was able to tell one of them what was going on.

Upon her arrival at the hospital Jordan let me know that my camera was missing.  She doesn't know what happened to it.  It was in her dress pocket on the way to the dance, but once she got to the dance it was no where to be found.  I still don't know how we got to the hospital before she did.  Probably because we left the house before the ambulance was dispatched and I think we were five minutes from the school when Jordan called to tell me they were taking her to St. Mary's (our preferred hospital) rather than the closer hospital because St. Mary's has a 24 hour pediatric E.R.  You can see part of her pretty little strapless dress peeking out above the sheet.  I'm sure we will get copies of pictures from her friends if that camera doesn't show up.

Two and a half hours, a full bag of fluids, and nine units of insulin later she's feeling much better as she poses in her lovely hospital attire complete with bandaid covering a collapsed vein and blood pressure cuff on the left arm, heartbeat monitor on middle finger of her right hand, and an I.V. in her right forearm.

Maddie is 12 today!!!

Hope you had a great day, Mads!!

Happy Birthday, Louie.

Happy Birthday to You, Shelley!

We know you're having a wonderful day!  You always know how to make every day a great one. 

Wishing Grandma a Very Happy 87th Birthday!

At 87 she's still living in her own home and getting around by herself.  She never drove a car, but since she lives downtown, she walks to Walgreens, the eye doctor, and the few stores that are still in business.  She had many phone calls today before I called and my call was cut short by yet another well-wisher.   This photo is Grandma on the left with Aunt Patty (her sister-in-law).

Happy 19th Birthday, Shelby!

We're happy to be able to celebrate with you today!!

Belated Birthday Wishes.

To Chase - on June 13th.

and to Bryan on June 14th.

Happy 40th, Tom!

You know it's all downhill from here, right?!!  We hope you're having a terrific day!!  Love from all of us here in VA.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

There's never a dull moment with you around!  Hope you had a great day!!  Your gift is obviously late, but you'll see . . . it's worth the wait.  Luv ya!

Kids for Hire.

We went strawberry picking on Sunday and, of course, the girls had a lot of fun - just like they did when they picked apples a couple of times last fall.  I am afraid they would have picked berries all day if we'd let them.  I wonder if the berry farm would hire them.  This particular farm will have peaches to pick in June.  Can't wait to taste fresh-from-the-tree peaches!!

The girls had some ice cream before we left the farm.  At one of the look-outs we stopped to view, they kicked around Maddie's This is Not a Book.

After dinner - the reward for all of that hard work.  Jordan and Maddie made the whipped cream themselves.

Happy Birthday, Sebastian!

Weren't you just born a few months ago?  As long as you stay your kind, thoughtful, clever, funny, sweet self, I guess you can grow up.  Hope you have a great day!!  XOXO from all of us in VA.

Happy 15th Birthday, Jordan!

My first born is 15 years old today.  Poor thing woke up with a fever and didn't feel like eating the carrot cake pancakes with cream cheese that Maddie and I made for breakfast.  She wanted to take it easy today anyway.  She read, napped, and made an "eco book" from one of her idea books she received today.

Happy 50th Birthday Big Brother!

We wish we could be there to celebrate this BIG day with you!!

52 Things this year.

For this year (March 2010 to March 2011) I decided to force myself to get more done.  I'm always saying "I can make that" or "I'll make that for you (or me)" or "I'll do that as soon as I'm done with . . ." but not many of those things are ever completed.  Some are new things, some are things that NEED to get done, but most are things I just keep putting off even though they're fun, crafty things.  I've seen other bloggers do this list and they all have a different number of tasks.  Karenika currently has a list of 52 things on her list (one for each week) so I decided to go with that.  One a week sounds do-able and these are in no particular order.

1. send only handmade cards this year
2. make a quilt (for Jordan's bed)
3. switch to *and make* cloth napkins (dinner and kids' lunches)
4. decorate walls - hang artwork, patch holes, touch up paint
5. tile kitchen backsplash
6. finish 25 Days 2009 mini album
7. take photos in a photo booth
8. bake bread from scratch
9. do a "week in the life" project
10. finish digi scrapping classes
11. knit something - shawl, socks, hat?
12. make shutterfly book of Ireland/Scotland trip
13. scrap Disney 2009 trip
14. make light box for photography
15. sew every day for a week
16. crochet doilies
17. make regular exercise a habit
18. finish 100 Things I Love About Summer book
19. make birthday book
20. scrap D.C. trip
21. sew a handbag
22. take a photography class
23. do 52Q
24. sew Jordan's curtains (bought them instead)
25. declutter craft room
26. donate excess craft supplies
27. work in art journal
28. make a wreath
29. complete 39 Squares project
30. embroider doily
31. finish decorating/painting Maddie's room & bath
32. draw everyday for a week (with girls)
33. scrap Australia 2010 trip
34. finish butterfly mini album
35. make cupcake gift box
36. crochet granny squares afghan
37. put home movies on DVD
38. scrap Virginia Beach trip
39. finish Why I Scrapbook mini
40. enroll in college course(s)
41. make holiday decorations (as planned for 2009)
42. sew clothes for Hippey & Monk
43. spend a whole day crafting
44. sew master bedroom curtains
45. crochet flowers
46. load my iPod (Jordan did this for me)
47. make a magical thinking jar
48. sew last two Christmas stockings
49. declutter and organize attic
50. sew Amy Butler Tunic for myself
51. teach Maddie proper typing technique
52. teach girls how to cross-stitch

Another March Birthday.

While Jordan did this:

Maddie and I did this:

Then we resumed this:

This time it's my birthday - it was yesterday. I'm so close to the mid-40s I can see it! But just barely though because my sight isn't what it used to be. It was a good day. I had Maddie home from school with a bad cold. Her non-stop coughing would make it impossible for her or any of her classmates to get anything accomplished. She made me a few nice things for my birthday while she was "resting". Jordan decided to crash the Ecology Club meeting after school since she's had no luck with the teacher/sponsor in getting information to her about whether she could join or who was the person she needed to talk to get the information. We took the group photos above in the parking lot after Jordan got in the car. After school Jordan had "a mountain" of homework so we left her to it and I took Maddie to Kumon. Maddie quit Kumon exactly a year ago, but SHE realized it helped with her grades so she recently asked to rejoin. At Maddie's request, we had dinner of taco salad and Pete picked up the makings for strawberry shortcake. The family knows all about my quest for healthy eating. We ended the night watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I noticed my girls soaking up the information about what eating processed and junk food will do to your body. Maddie was spouting back statistics this morning about drinking soda - yay (she's loves Coke). It was a great day!

Happy Birthday, Rusty!

A very happy birthday to one of the nicest people on the planet!! Rusty, we hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday, Pam!

I love this photo. It's dated December 1972. Pam is in the middle, just nine months old. Why would I have my hand in my pocket? and I'm lovin' Rachel's brown suede shoes.
This next one is undated and Pam is on the far right. It looks like Pam would be in first or second grade, maybe? Since our mother divided all photos she had between the four of us and primarily gave each of us pictures of ourselves, I don't have any of just Pam.

Pam - I hope you're having a terrific day! Happy 38th Birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Jake!

Hope you had a great day. We miss you!

Happy 21st Birthday, Katie!

Katie, I know you're having a great day - I wish we could be there to share some cake!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Hope you have a great day surrounded by many of these monkeys!

Sydney.

The opera house from the beautiful harbor cruise:

Luna Park by day:

and by night:

A once-in-a-lifetime chance to feed kangaroos:

and pet koalas:

This was our second time in Sydney and we still didn't get to do and see all that we wanted to. I guess we'll just have to take the girls for yet another visit.

What a snow storm!

We had quite the snow storm today. I think it finally tapered off around 7:00 p.m., but I'm sure we have more than a foot of snow on the ground. The snow was coming down so hard this afternoon that it was difficult to take good photos, as you can see here and here. The girls loved it even though it was too cold to stay out for any length of time.

What a difference a year makes!

It's been exactly a year since Jordan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I vividly remember that evening after meeting with doctors, nurses and diatitians most of the day how nervous I was counting carbs and giving insulin injections!! Jordan jumped right in and took control of the situtation.

Now she's on an insulin pump. She still counts carbs, but doesn't have to give the four-times-daily injections. Instead, she changes her pump site every three days. Even though she's been doing that for several months, she still has a bit of anxiety about inserting that canula under the skin of her abdomen. I can't blame her. I wouldn't want to put that needle in my abdomen one time, let alone every three days for the rest of my life.

She's managing her diabetes very well. She eats everything any other teenager eats. However, she is learning to make healthier food choices and tries to maintain a healthy life style. Way to go Jordan!

Happy Birthday Matt!

Hope you had a great day, Matt. We love you!!