The Raven Award and Horrible Hair Day!

A few weeks ago at the 4th Six Weeks Awards Ceremony, Luke received The Raven Award out of all of the kids in his class. It is given each six weeks to one student for excellent behavior. We are so proud of him that his teacher picked him for this special award!!!

Luke posing with his teacher, Mrs. Knapek! Even though he does not look like it, he was very excited to get this award!

Then on another note.....Kindergarten recently had a Horrible Hair Day. So, Luke wanted his hair to be spray painted green. He looks like an unhappy Jolly Green Giant, but he was excited to do this to his hair even though he isn't smiling for the picture! Don't they do such fun things in Kindergarten!!! :)

Happy Birthday To My Sweet Eight Year Old!

On February 12, our sweet little girl turned 8 years old. It just seems like she was just born! Where has the time gone? It is so sad to me, that in 8 more years she will be driving and then two more years from that, she will be going to college and no longer living with us. It is almost like half of her life under our roof is already gone! I can't even write that without starting to cry!

I thought that I would list 8 great things that I love about Emily on her 8th birthday!

1. She has such a loving heart!

2. She is SO brave!

3. I love to hear her giggle and how she laughs so hard sometimes at the silliest things (like her brother).

4. She is such a talented gymnast!

5. She is so smart and cares so much to do so well in school!

6. She is MY girl!

7. Even at 8 years old, she still has to have her "baby" with her when she sleeps and she doesn't care who knows!

8. And last but for sure not least, she has such a Godly heart and wants to know God and have Him in her life!

Here is a recap of all of the birthday festivities!

First, we celebrated at school the day before her actual birthday with cupcakes. You really can not tell in the picture, but they were chocolate cupcakes topped with pink, yellow or purple icing and were placed on the pan to look like 3 different flowers. We could not do it on her actual birthday due to all of the Valentine Parties!

Then later that night, we went to eat supper with my family and had everyone over to our house for presents and cake! As usual, no holiday for Emily is complete if there is not ALOT of American Girl items .........

AND Barbie things!!!!!!

This year she wanted an Ice Cream Cake from Baskins Robbins. She wanted it to be a pink purse with green polka dots. I thought that it turned out so cute and needless to say it was very yummy!

This year instead of a birthday party, Emily decided she wanted to invite a good friend of ours to a place called Sweet and Sassy in the Woodlands. They have a condo in Conroe where we were able to stay Friday night. Emily was so excited about the condo because it had stairs!!!

We left after school on Friday and headed to Conroe. Friday night we had dinner at Macaroni Grill and then went to see the movie The Tooth Fairy. Then we went back to the condo to try and get some sleep before the exciting day of pampering began! For those of you that don't know about Sweet and Sassy it is the coolest spot for little girls! They do anything from hair cuts to pedicures......all for little girls!

First, the girls began by soaking their oh so tired feet before their pedicures! I really don't think they knew what to think.

Then while their feet were soaking, they began their facials. It made their little faces softer than they were before!

Next it was time for a pedicure........First, she had her legs scrubbed and massaged and then had her toes painted. Emily decided that she wanted her toes to be painted hot pink with a clear glitter top coat! Then they painted on a bright green heart on each big toe. She even got a green flower toe ring! I thought that it turned out really cute!

Now it was time to wrap their faces and clean off the facial mask! Don't they look cute smiling underneath the towels!

Next it was time for a manicure.....Emily had hers fingers painted the same bright hot pink as her toes with the glittery silver, plus green dots on her thumbs. She also got to pick out a fancy butterfly ring to wear.

A day at the spa would not be complete without an Up-Do! Emily got to chose how her hair was going to be fixed. Each hair station had a little TV for the girls to watch movies on as they had their hair fixed. Very Fancy!

I think that it turned out too cute!

Then it was finally time for the long awaited ride in the PINK limo. This was one of the main reasons Emily wanted to celebrate her birthday at Sweet and Sassy! They even rolled out a Red Carpet for them to walk out on to get into the limo! We got to cruise the streets of the Woodlands for about 15 minutes in so much style!

I had to share one of the videos I took of our day. This is the girls playing in the limo! At first they were unsure about what they were to do, but they quickly warmed up to the idea and enjoyed it to its fullest.....even waving to all of their "fans" out the window!

After the limo ride the girls got to make their own Ice Cream Sundae Shower Scrub topped with sprinkles and also some Glittery Lipgloss! So much fun!

Finally, the girls got to choose some candy powder to fill their plastic candy tubes to enjoy later! You can see the machine behind Emily that they got to choose their candy from......there were LOTS of flavors to choose from.....and of course, I think Emily took a little from each one to fill her tube!

Well, I think the day and her birthday was such a success and one that hopefully both the girls will remember. It was so much fun to be able to do this with her! I know I will remember it forever!

Our Weekend and Some Good News!

Our weekend started on Saturday morning waking up looking and feeling a little like this......

because our heater in our house was broken. Not a good time for not any heat. It was REALLY cold. We had some people come look at it to see what was wrong and were told that it could be fixed, but not until Monday when they could get the parts. So, we packed up and stayed the night at my parents house. But right as we were getting ready for bed......my parents got a call ...... with this news..........

Caroline Ann Fay was ready to be born!!!!! Yes, I have a new little niece. My sister, Laurie, was suppose to be induced on Monday, but sweet little Caroline had her own agenda and arrived at 4:28 Sunday morning weighing 7 pounds 2 oz. She is very healthy and could not be cuter, don't you think? She has the blondest hair I have ever seen on a little baby and so much of it! Mommy and baby are all doing great! Emily and Luke LOVED her and could not get enough of her. Emily loves that she has another girl on my side of the family and can not wait for her to get a little older to play with her. She already has many fun things planned for the two of them.

After returning home on Sunday night from Dallas, we decided to brave the cold and stay at our own house to make getting to school a little easier on Monday morning. So, we layered up the kiddos in their pj's, moved their mattresses to our room, heated their beds with a heating pad, and tucked each of them in under about 5 blankets. We closed the door to our room and turned on the bathroom heater and let that heat our room. Surprisingly, it worked really well. Maybe a little on the trashy side, but it worked. Granted it is something that I would not want to do every night, but it worked for one night! It made me really thankful for something that we take for granted. It made me really sad to think about families that do that every day with no hope of the heat ever coming on. We now have a heater that is working and boy do I feel blessed!

UPDATE: Also, today the dr called and told me that the biopsy came back fine. It was some kind of cyst and it was nothing to be concerned about! No cancer! Praise God! Thank you for all of your sweet thoughts and prayers!

A Few Prayer Requests, Please

Well, I was hoping I would never have to write this post, but unfortunately we are finding ourselves in an all too familiar situation. As most of you know, our daughter has had diabetes and has been living with it for almost two years now. Soon after she was diagnosed, the pediatric endocrinologist suggested that we have a few tests done on our son Luke to see if he too would some day develop diabetes. Well, two years ago we found out that, yes, unfortunately, he too would some day develop diabetes but we just did not know when. One child suffering from this horrible disease is enough, but to have BOTH of your children deal with it is TOO MUCH!!!!! Over the last two years, we have done a few more tests that have indicated that his body was starting to slowly struggle in dealing with his sugar intake. Again, something we did not want to hear. They told us that he could stay in this stage he is in from anywhere from 6 months to 20 years, but that he would probably develop it around the same time Emily did (which was late in her kindergarten year). Well, all of that to say, we are starting to see alot more signs that his diabetes is probably starting and he will soon need insulin. Before Christmas, he started drinking more and pottying more than usual. So, we did his blood sugar and it was higher than what it needed to be or really had ever been before. We contacted the dr. and he said that we just need to watch him closely and continue to do his blood sugars every so often. It is tricky because since we are catching it so early, we really can not start insulin yet because since his body is still producing so much of it and us giving him insulin could REALLY hurt him. Since that time, we have taken his BS off and on. Some days are good and some days are bad. We have started taking his BS at school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am sad to say that this week his numbers have been really high. The dr told us to contact him again if we have three BS readings in one week that are above 150....well this week we have had two that are right at 150 or over it. We are going to contact the dr and see what is next. They have indicated that we would probable go to Temple and they would do some more tests and maybe start him on an insulin pump because it can give such small doses of insulin that his body would need right now. It breaks my heart. A time I was praying would never come, has come too soon. He is too young. He has been VERY cooperative so far with the finger sticks, but I dread the day we have to give his first shot. At that point, his attitude will change and it all becomes a different ballgame. Are there any blessings in this right now???? YES, we know what to expect. We have walked down this road before. No, we did not want this day to EVER come, but it is drawing closer and we, with GOD's HELP, will get through it. It is a blessing that both of my kids' attitudes are so great about all of this. It is scary and makes me so sad that both of my kids will have to wear something/ hanging off of them for their rest of their lives in order to stay healthy. But they deal with it so much better than what maybe some adults even could. It is a blessing to me that it is JUST diabetes. It could be alot worse. It is a horrible way to live, but they are ALIVE and will continue to be and obviously that is the best blessing. There are so many parents today, right now, that are dealing with so much worse. So.......with all of that said, please pray for Luke and the days to come. Please pray his attitude will stay positive especially when we have to start insulin. Please pray for him to understand this disease as much as a little five year old boy can understand a disease like diabetes. Please pray that he will be in tune to how his body feels, especially for him to feel when his body is having a hypoglycemic episode. That is one of the scariest parts about diabetes. He has to be so in tune with how his body is feeling AND be able to tell us about it so we can help him. Please pray for Jeff and I, we will need them. Please pray for strength. Maybe we will not have to start insulin soon. Maybe he won't have to start wearing an insulin pump just yet. But regardless, we need your prayers and know it is the only way we will get through the days ahead.

On another note......as some you also know I have had skin cancer....about 15 years ago. I was lucky because they were able to remove all of it and it had not spread to the borders of what they removed from my side. I was told I got the best kind of cancer to get if you were going to have to get any. No further surgeries, no radiation and no chemo. Well, I guess it goes with the territory that once you have had cancer, you become alarmed anytime you see a new spot/bump or lump. Over the years, I don't know how many things I have had cut out. All of which have come back ok. Thank God! Anyway, on Monday night I found another bump on my leg that looked like exactly what was cut off my side many years ago. So, today I went to the dermatologist and they went ahead and cut it off and sent it off to be biopsied. The dr. did not think that it looked bad, but thought that it was a good idea to go ahead and send it off just to be sure. We should get the results in about 5-7 businesses days. It is a scary time. So, if you don't mind, if you will keep me in your prayers as well as we wait for the results and that the results will be benign.

Thank you for your prayers, we sure need them right now. We will keep you posted!

Christmas 2009

It is hard to believe that Christmas 2009 has come and gone. Overall, I guess you can say we had a great Christmas! As it is with all of us, it is an extremely busy time of year full with parties, presents, family and yummy treats.

The kids both had Christmas parties in their classes at school. This year I am the Room Mother for Luke's class. I have been Emily's class room mom for the past two years and wanted to now do it for Luke since it was his first year in school. So, I was responsible for planning the party for his kindergarten class. We arranged for the class to have a special treat. Santa came to visit before the party and handed out small goody bags to all of the kids.

Luke receiving his bag from Santa.....I don't think that he really knew what to think!

The kids enjoyed pizza and participated in an book exchange as well as made a Reindeer Ornament. I wanted to take a picture with Luke and his ornament and then at the last second a few extra kids jumped in the picture...what ya gonna do! Just smile! :)

Then after Luke's party, I ran to Emily's class and helped out with her class. It was a little different not being in charge, but none the less I enjoyed helping out where I could. Emily's class also had pizza and snacks and colored a wooden ornament.

As much as I love the class parties, I am always relieved when they are done and the Christmas break officially begins. However, a few days after getting out of school Luke got really sick. We spent two of the first three days going to the doctor's office trying to get him well. He was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was running a 103.7 fever and was not doing well at all. The first antibiotic did not really do much for him so after another trip to the doctor's and another prescription, he finally started to feel a bit better. So, since he was still running fever on Christmas Eve we were not able to go to some of our normal festivities that we participate in. By Christmas Eve night, we took a risk and went to my parent's house to exchnage presents with my parents, sisters and their families.

Emily is VERY much into anything that has to do with American Girl. After last year, I thought that some of her passion for all of that would fade, but she still wanted to get more of it this year.

Here she is opening up her Julie American Girl doll. So excited.....

Luke getting his first bow and arrow from Aunt Robin. He just can not wait to go and shoot it!

After my parent's house, it's back home to await Santa's arrival!

Finally, Santa had come and showered the kids with many presents. Emily getting more American Girl stuff!

And a few Barbie things......

Luke loves LEGOS. He will work for hours putting them together!

Luke very excited to receive his Space Ship!

Emmy being goofy....

The day after Christmas we went to Canyon. Because of all of the snow that area had received on Christmas Eve it made it difficult to get there because of all of the snow on the roads. But we got there and enjoyed our visit with Jeff's family.

More American Girl!!!!!

Luke taking in all of the fun!

Emily LOVES the snow, Luke not so much. I think that she is eating it in this picture, yuck!

Luke playing in the fort just built by Jeff's dad!

Emily and Luke enjoying a fun, friendly game of Candy Land with the triplets!

Every Christmas is filled with too many presents, food, and lots of visiting with family! At times it seems more than hectic, but at the end of it all I treasure every moment because it all just goes by too fast and one day I will desperately want the mess, those early Christmas mornings, the excitement children add to Christmas and the craziness it all brings..... back again!