A Deer in headlights.

A few days ago the girls asked to sleep in my room.. "Sure whatever" I have a fan in my room, and it's been REALLY humid lately so I didn't much blame them for wanting to sleep with the fan. They were in there for a while, being kind of noisy, so I told them to "settle down, be quiet!" A while later I noticed it was silent.. "ahhh" i thought. But when I walked by my room I could tell they weren't asleep. SO I got my camera and thought I would catch them in the act of whatever it was they were doing... because they WERE doing something. So I OPEN the door and snap a shot of my Deer caught in Headlights. Presley.. COVERED in foaming hand soap. It was all over her hair, her arms and.. my bed. She told me she was "washing it" Oh the joy of children. Between cash and his daily collection of crap, his obsession with TP and my girls constantly also having to get into things, my house never seems to have a dull moment!

Toilet Paper Obsession is hard to get over

Hmmm... wonder where this goes??

It couldn't be..!

Now, that's a face of guilt.

Pumpin Time!

Yesterday Presley had an endo appointment (her diabetes specialist) and it was a good visit. I cried a little got some questions answered and we decided to put Presley on the pump. I'm having a hard time with it. I'm scared, emotional, but I KNOW it will be a good thing. I mean everybody I ever talk to who has it LOVES it. So I'm sure we'll be no different. It's just scary starting something new. I just keep telling myself..you were scared when she was first diagnosed but you worked it out somehow.. this is no different. BUT it's easier for me to say than to actually feel. I don't understand how the pump works REALLY, and I have a million questions, I am confused about what I'm confused about, and i forget all my questions when I finally get to the Dr office. I probably should write them down. But non the less, something has to change, Presley's numbers have been CRAZY high and it's had me feeling pretty low.

SO While at the Dr. office I started to cry like I've mentioned. I have been feeling very over whelmed with everything. Worried about her future, worried that I'm not being pro active enough, worried that sometimes I sleep past my 2 am BG test which always leaves me feeling guilty when she wakes up with a bad number. I think... do other parents sleep threw it too? Is that normal? Or am I being completely careless? I feel like I need to be SUPER MOM to conquer all of this and at times... well, i just can't. I'm hoping the pump can be my side kick that will help me a bit. I am not expecting it to be easy. I'm expecting to get really frustrated and I'm expecting to cry a bit. BUT I'm also expecting to give it 150% to making it work. After all, I only want whats best for Presley and I'm thinking, the pump might be it.

Below are some pictures of what they look like. They come in different sizes and brands so I'm not sure which she'll be getting, BUT i promise you once she gets it there will be a post with a picture of it. Let the pump count down begin.. October 3rd is Pump Day

First Day of school

The MUCH anticipated first day has finally come and gone. Grace was SO happy to be back at school with Ms.Martha. She wore her favorite new dress with brown shoes, her hair looked great and a hot pink headband topped of the look. Of course dropping her off was no big deal, she hardly said "BYE MOM" before she was already deep into her first activity. Oh my girl is getting so big. just think, next year kindergarten, EEK! Then FIRST GRADE.. which as my friend Katie knows is where it really counts.. it's like REAL school. That day will for SURE freak me out. but I have two years yet to worry about that. So in the mean time, i'll just enjoy what I have now.

Walking to the building her school is in.

What a cutie!

I'm proud to be her mommy.

After school I took her and Presley to lunch. I asked her how her day was and it went kind of something like this...

Mom "how as your day?"
Grace "it was fine"
Mom "Oh.. did you learn anything?"
Grace "lots of stuff"
Mom "oh. like what?"
Grace "well, stuff"
Mom "well, like what kind of stuff"
Grace "Like, lots of things"
Mom "did you learn a letter?"
Grace "sure!"
Mom.."which letter?"
Grace "MY letter"
Mom "the letter your name starts with?"
Grace "Yes.."
Mom "which letter is that.."
Grace... "K"

hmmm note to self, work on alphabet!

Back to school Hair Cut

From the front it is a regular bob with face framing (because it HAS TO stay out of her face)

From the side you can see it has a higher angle than a regular bob.

The back..

if she ever wants to go short it's going to have to be a pixi cut. which i'll TOTALLY do, but she might be a little shocked!

I am blessed

Sunday was a LOONG day for me. I worked at the Salon from 9-6 and did 21 hair cuts. So that's a LOT of on your feet action and well.. makes for a tired mommy. But when I got home that night, the girls were SO happy to see me, the just lit up and were so excited to tell me about the day they had, and about the cupcakes they made.

After we ate dinner and talked, I went with them into their room, sat on their floor and played mommy and baby birds. Now the game... not very fun, in fact it makes me tired. BUT they love it and well.. i love them. I ended up putting their bed spread over the top bunk so it made a cave.. if you will for us, which became our new nest, and well.. that was better than the floor for me.

As i sat there playing with my girls, eating pretend strawberries, putting up sticky traps to keep the spooky Eagle away, i just felt SO blessed. I felt it today too as I watched Tyler and the girls looking at a hole of dog poop watching flies die..(weird yes) I looked at my husband, handsome, sweet, a really REALLY great guy with my two girls, MY DAUGHTERS, my beautiful, funny, smart little girls, all staring at dog shit, and I thought... damn, you are SO lucky! Then Tyler walked away with the pooper scooper and his two, my two, our two beautiful little girls followed suit. It made me smile and think.. i AM SO BLESSED!!

baby birds with their mother bird

My baby bird

This picture just makes me laugh!!

You Hurt me...

Presley's little arms are bruised, bumpy, and hard from the shots over the last year. We try doing it other places like her legs BUT she HATES it. Well last night was no different. I tried to give her, her shot, and as SOON as the needled went into her little thigh she wiggled back and forth so much that the needled went in and out THREE times! It was awful, because i STILL had to give her a shot. She moved so quickly she got stuck that many times but didn't have a stick that counted so she got a total of 4 sticks for one shot. Poor thing. After i gave her the shot she looked up at me and said "You hurt me"

Family FUN Day..

This was going to be our first Saturday in a LONG time that we didn't have any obligations AND that Tyler and I were both going to be home, so in honor of that we decided that we were going to just spend the day together. It all started WAY earlier than I had hoped, but probably better off for the babies blood sugar. So, by 7:30 we were in Escondido at our favorite mom and pop's restaurant Charlies. Tyler 99% of the time gets chicken fried steak, which comes with egg's, home fries, toast AND Biscuits and gravy. I'm always amazed at how he can eat it all, and even more amazed at how he keeps his girlish figure. We knew we wanted to go see a movie, and take Grace back to school shopping. So once breakfast was over we headed to Target to get the girls some new outfits and shoes. Then we got gas, and an oil change (which I know.. doesn't seem very fun, but one, it was necessary and two.. it gave us time till the movie started) After our oil Change we went to Lowe's to look at counter tops, which again.. was fun for Tyler and I but not the girls. I did have fun at Graces expense near the Halloween section (yes it's out already) now, before I move on with this story you should all know that she HATES decoration that move, or make noises. SO their was a mummy who had glowing eyes and made scary Halloween sounds. We walked over to this section where Grace covered her eyes and said "I'm scared.." and I said " Oh Grace... look at this" and just as she uncovered her eyes I pushed the button on this mummy that made his eyes glow and make the scary sounds.. I KNOW IT WAS MEAN, but really, I couldn't help myself. She contorted herself into the bottom of the car shaped shopping cart and it made me laugh quite a bit. Awful I know. But once we walked away she was fine and said "mommy, why did you try to scare me?" I shook my head in a shameful manner and said "because mommy was being mean and I"m sorry.. it wasn't nice.. really, I'm sorry and i love you" with a kiss on the head all was right in the world.
Once we were done with Lowe's it was time to head to the movie! We ended up seeing the movie Fly me to the moon it was AWFUL! It was a 3D movie and well, wasn't very good. I think 3D movies make my head hurt first of all, and the movie just wasn't very good. I know it's animation but the acting was bad. If that's even possible, it may seem weird and I can't explain it, but the "acting" the story, the characters.. what have you, just weren't believable. SO... i was disappointed and could have left before it was over but Grace liked it. She loves going to the movies really. Just like her Auntie I think it's one of her favorite things to do. She sat there with her glasses and popcorn on her lap waiting for the movie to start, and every time anybody would eat some popcorn she would say "NO, you have to wait till the movie starts before you can eat your popcorn..." ohh she's so bossy. I was excited to see her reaction to 3D, because I knew she didn't understand it. So at the beginning of the movie a dragon fly, flies out at you and it made Grace duck and say "THAT BUG TRIED TO GET ME!" It was funny.
After the movie it was time to come home, my mom and Natalie ended up coming over for dinner. I cut every bodies hair, Presley and Grace played with Cash and their slid, then Presley and Tyler played catch, and the whole night was wrapped up with family races. Which ultimately was so fun Presley wet herself! Enjoy the day in pictures!

Charlies..

Breakfast...35.00

Gas 40.00

Oil change 38.00

Frightening your child at Lowe's

Movie 28.00
Popcorn 12.00
Soda 10.00

Target shopping trip 100.00

Family Fun Day.... Priceless

mmmmm... we had Carne Asada tacos and what goes better with Carna Asada tacos?? Guacamole and chips!

Cash ALWAYS waits at the end of the slid for the girls, which.. always makes them NOT want to go down.

She's going to be the boy her dad never had. (and she's got a GOOD throw too)

Family Races. The one where it looks like Tyler is falling, he did that because Presley fell and he didn't want her to lose. So he fell once then fell again.. JUST to assure the success was hers.. what a GOOD daddy.

Uh Oh! that's Pee in them britches! She had so much fun she wet her self..now that's PRICELESS.

Diabetes FACTS..

I was reading threw some materials I was sent from the JDRF. And a few of their facts caught my eye and I thought.. wow. Now one of the facts I'm going to share made me laugh because Tyler and I were talking that night about the cost of Diabetes. we got another Co-pay bill in the mail from one of Presley's hospital trips. He shook his head and said "The JDRF shouldn't spend money on a cure that isn't going to happen, what they should do is help families who have children with the disease with the cost" (more on that later) I just shook my head and kind of rolled my eyes. Then he said (which kinda made me laugh) "we should have everybody in the family sign up for months threw out the year, and the month they sign up all co pays must be paid by them" it made me laugh, now obviously he's kidding, but it's still made me laugh. Because diabetes IS expensive, and so far every time Presley has been sick, she's ended up in the hospital which.. is more expense. NOT that she isn't worth it, but lets face it.. money is money. You can't ignore it. So here are some facts about the cost of diabetes.

THE COST OF DIABETES

* Diabetes is the single most costly chronic disease.
* Diabetes accounts for 32% of all Medicare expenditures
* The "National Bill" for hospital stays related to diabetes totaled 10.2 Billion in 2003
* The nation spends 13,243 on each person with diabetes, compared to 2,560 on those who don't have diabetes as of 2002
* People with Diabetes in the US incur medical expenses that are approximately 2.4 times higher than people without diabetes
* The average length of hospital stays for diabetes with complications in 2003 was 5.5 days, at an average cost of 20,700.

here are some other facts i didn't like reading..

THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY DIABETES

* Attacks Many Organ Systems: Diabetes is the LEADING cause of kidney failure, adult blindness, and non - traumatic amputations and a leading cause of nerve damage, stroke, and heart attacks
* Increased Risk: People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than someone without the disease.
* Shortens Life: Diabetes kills one American every three minutes and is the sixth leading cause of death reported in the U.S. Life expectancy for people with diabetes is shortened by an average of 7-10 years, and the risk of death for people with diabetes is about two times that of people without diabetes.

Cash and Grace

I wanted to share these two pictures so you all can see how big our baby boy has gotten. Now remember he's only FOUR MONTHS OLD! Dang! he is going to be a BIG boy! Whats so cute about him, is he wants to be a lap dog, and I still let him sit on my lap, but it's funny when he wants to sit in the girls laps. Although I must say.. whenever THEY want him in their laps, he doesn't want to. But when HE wants to be in their lap they don't want him.. go figure. It's truly like sibling rivalry.

Cash wanting to play Tea party with Grace.

Now notice his SIZE! (4 months)woza! and look at Grace's face.. that's her saying "GET HIM OFF ME!!" and me saying "after a few pictures" haha

Daily Cash collection

I'm going to start a new weekly, daily, blog called Daily Cash Collection. See Cash although he is rather large is still a puppy, 4 months old to be exact. So because of his puppieness he likes to take random things into the yard and pull them apart, any where from underwear, toys, towels, toilet paper stuffed animals (ie.. my prior blog) Barbies, but you get the point. We call it the Daily Cash Collection pick up. somebody has to go out and pick up what ever it may be that Cash has collected that day. So here is a picture of ONE of his many collections from yesterday.

Toilet paper, I'm not sure what his love obsession is with this, BUT it's a messy habit. We can't leave the paper on the roll anymore, it's on the back of the toilet, which of course is harder for the girls to reach, so it's a round and round mess of difficult toilet paper dispensing. But the reason we can't leave it attached to the TP roller is because Cash will grab the end of the roll and simply.. walk. Walk down the hallway, to the other side of the room, into another room. Anyways.. he'll go as far as he can till it brakes off. So as you can imagine, Toilet paper is a constant on going issue in this house. After i saved this roll i put it back in the girls room. Now some of you may say "GROSS" but what do you want me to do? We would go threw so many rolls if we didn't use the remainder toilet paper from the Cash invasion. But yesterday was rather funny after this went into the girls bathroom, Presley went potty and I grabbed this mangled TP and she said "NO gross Cash!!" it made me giggle. I simply responded with "Oh please.. it's just a little torn and it's your butt for goodness sake!"

Now here is one of the girls stuffed animals that have fallen victim to Cash, and Cash won this one, this is now one of his babies. I'm telling you.... do NOT buy your dog stuffed animal toys... it's a mistake =) especially once you have kids.

Date with Diabetes

Diabetes is something that is apart of our lives, it's something that will ALWAYS be apart of our lives, even when Presley is grown and gone, diabetes will still be apart of our lives.. We will always worry about it, we will always ask about it and we will always try to keep on top of it. It's eye opening to realize that Tyler and mines life isn't "normal" anymore BECAUSE we have a diabetic child. We worry more, we sleep less, we constantly have to be "on top of it" But what really made me realize this was our first date night in a LOOOOOOONG time. We went to dinner and a movie. The date started around 4:30?? So once we dropped the girls off, gave what little instruction was needed about Presley (not a lot, my mom and sister are pretty good with her) we left for dinner. We had dinner at Sammy's Woodfire Pizza or something kinda like that. It was really nice, being out with no kids, not having to consume all our time with them but with each other, not having to worry about them being loud, obnoxious or Bord, not having to worry about blood sugar numbers, insulin doses, carbohydrate counting...but to just ... be. I really don't think Tyler and I knew how to deal with that. Dinner was great, we talked, we made fun of people (oh please.. like you don't) and we had the BEST appetizer, it was artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese, deep fried then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.... AMAZING!! While at dinner I did get a text from Natalie

Text from Sister "her BG is 415 should I give her 3 units?"

I called her back "No let's try 2, she had a full correction last night and she dropped in the middle of the night, so lets just play it safe"

Sister "okay"

Once dinner was over (at a whopping 5:30... we're like old people) we had 2 hours to kill before the movie started. We decided to go to Frys. It's fun, big and we should be able to waist some time there. We looked at microwaves, and stoves, cd's, dvd's, DS's, cameras, and hand free devises for the car. After our leisurely stroll we got in the car and headed to the movie theater.

We got to the theater and bought our tickets for The Dark Knight. got some popcorn, and sodas. We found our seats at the TOP of the theater dead center to the screen, and waited for the movie to start. Once the movie started so did the Text's ....

Text from Sister "Her BG is 80 we gave her some toast and jelly, is that right? or should I give her juice?"

Text from Me "No that's okay.. but check her again in 20 min see where she's at"

Text from Sister "okay"

20 min later

Text from Sister "it's only 85.. what should I do"

Text from Me "well, 85 isn't bad, and it is going up slowly, so lets just leave her alone for a while. check her again in an hour.. how many test strips do you have?" (I'm remembering I should have given them more)

Text from sister "6"

Eek, I'm thinking.. but she should be ok till morning. I watch the movie a while then another text

Text from sister " her BG hasn't changed much.. what should I do?"

Text from ME " I would give her a LITTLE bit of watered down juice, not a lot, but a bit then check her again later"

Text from sister "okay"

I spent quite a bit of time in the movie texting. My mom asked me later if people were annoyed at me.. I don't think so. The phone didn't make ANY sound, the little light that showing was hitting my face, and well.. when it comes to my daughters health, I don't really care if people were slightly annoyed. Because they still got to enjoy their movie, if my tiny light bothered them I would say they weren't that into the movie in the first place. It just showed me how apart of our lives Diabetes is. Even when she's not WITH us we still have to deal with it. It was almost like having a date with Diabetes. Even tho it wasn't there.. it was, it still commanded my time, and interrupted my date night with my husband.

My sister said after that night she appreciated what I do much more. She said every time i wrote her and said "check her in 20, 30 an hour" she thought "AM I GOING TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT?!?!" hahaha well.. yea pretty much!

Wicked Awsome!!

Last night Tyler said to me while on the computer "it would be cool if you took that wicked picture and put it on cork board then hung it behind the computer.." and I thought "YOUR RIGHT!!" So that night we went out and bought the cork and a solid background for my art project today. SO it's done, the Wicked Cork board is up in my closet and i'm staring at it as I write this blog.

Natalie came over today and ended up helping me quite a bit. I drew the whole thing painted Elphie and Natalie did 100% of Glinda. Now you may think that Glinda's hand looks stupid. BUT I drew it by square and believe you me, that even in the play bill her hand looks stupid, so I am just keeping with the theme. I hope you enjoy and LOVE all our hard work because, i LOVE it! and it's SO good! Even down to the Elphaba Smirk!!

VICTORY!!

That's RIGHT we PAINTED this! We ROCK

I just love it

Again, her hand looks dumb, but it is QUIET similar to the PlayBill which her hand is also stupid in.

This was a bit tricky

But they worked it out

YEA!!! I love it. The remaining green walls in the closet will also be black cork.

The BEST show on TV goes too....

The BBC's Top Gear.. that's right the BEST show on TV is a car show. I know some of you may crinkly your nose and roll your eyes.. but fact is fact.

The show is obviously filmed in England (where abouts I'm not sure) The three hosts are witty, knowledgeable, and well.... down right fun to watch! Each week they test drive cars from supper cars like a Ferrari Enzo, and the Koenigsegg CCX (which was SO crazy fast the Stig (who test drives all their cars) actually spun out. The Stig suggested putting a spoiler on the back to help with control... the company obliged and returned the car with spoiler for a second go around, which worked out much better.. excellent!!) To your everyday driver like a Ford Focus, and Honda Accord .. to wacky cars like the Ariel Atom. In between their critics of cars, excessive knowledge of everything automobile they do wacky little challenges. Like... turning a mini van into a convertible (which ended with a car wash being on fire) or going on a caravan holiday(which oddly enough ended in flames as well... ) They are extremely entertaining, and very informative. This is the kind of car show that even if you don't LOVE cars.. you'll laugh and enjoy the entertainment of this show, all while... lets face it, learning about cars. The best part about the show is that all three of them are British... well, not that, that's not probably supper obvious. But because they are British it should be pretty obvious that, that makes them extremely funny. There is something about British humor that i love, their accent makes me smile and I think they could probably say just about anything and it would make me giggle. So go on.. give the show a try! It's on Mondays at 8 I believe on the BBC (to be honest, we DVR ALL episodes so we even get reruns)

Here are the handsome blokes that you'll see on Top Gear from left to right

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.

Go on! Check them out.. what do you got to lose?

Dog Toys

The pet industry is HUGE! I'm sure a billion dollar industry every year. People have pets, who they think of as children, and well because of that they spend HUNDREDS appond THOUSANDS of dollars on their beloved pooch or puss each year. Now that I am once again a dog owner we like to buy him things. But something has become VERY clear to me. All those cute little stuffed animal toys are BAD! Very bad. I mean, maybe if your dog is your "baby" and you don't have any children with toys... they may be cute, and lets face it, that commercial with the bulldog giving the baby bulldog his stuffed baby was adorable. But i can pretty much guarantee that the owners in that commercial didn't have kids. Because like I said, they may be all cute, but they are BAD!! Let me show you what a dog toy looks like....

Dog toys, and a rather good ones I might add.

Yet another dog toy. All dogs love these.. who doesn't like a good game of tug o war?

But I can ASSURE you with ALL certainty that the two following toys are NOT dog toys!

Stuffed, fluffy, cuddly hippo... cute? Yes! practical..? NO!

Black cat.... cute? YES... again.. practical? NO! It's cute I mean, cat... dog.. haha.. But still NO

Here's the thing, dogs are dogs, how can they tell the difference between their cute cuddly, fluffy stuffed hippo, from your child's favorite stuffed elephant she got from her grandma on her last trip before her grandma passed away? (Dramatic.. yes) My point is, that I spend a good portion of my day getting stuffed animals that belong to the girls because Cash thinks they are his. (You could argue that I could make the girls pick up their toys.. which is a good idea, and well, trust me I TRY! BUT when you have a puppy who can already reach the counter it's not very practical to think just because a stuffed animal isn't on the floor, that he won't be able to get it.) DON'T get me wrong, I too have suffered from improper pet toy buying, I bought cash a cute little stuffed mallard duck, BUT how dumb to take away a stuffed animal of the girls and say "NO!" then hand him another STUFFED animal and say "this is your!" he's a DOG! So here's my advise to anybody with children who either have, want, or have had a dog.. never, i repeat NEVER! buy them a cuddle stuffed animal, you will regret it. Stick with the typical dog toys.. IE.. bones, chew toys and rope. The dog will be happy, your kid will be happy that their stuffed animal from their dead grandma isn't covered in dog slobber and you'll be happy that you don't have to monitor which cuddly friend your dog is chewing on.

Land Before Time.

Grace LOVES Dinosaurs and she loves the movie The Land Before Time. So i wasn't at all surprised when I came home yesterday from work and she said "LOOK MOM! I DREW THE LAND BEFORE TIME!" I was however surprised at how WELL she did! In fact, I loved this drawing so much I went out that last night and bought a frame. SO I thought what better way to be a dotting mom than to take a picture, share it with you all and help you see the picture.. if you will. But I have no doubt in my mind, once you know for sure who everybody is. You will think WOW! What an amazing job for a little 4 year old!

Barbie Obituary.

Poor Barbie met her death on an early Monday afternoon. She was malled by a plastic thirsty pooch. She was minding her own business laying on the floor for a tan when the pooch entered the room. She tried to run but really.. what could she do? She's plastic. So she met her fate in the mouths of a 4 month old dog. Poor Barbie. She'll be missed.

The remainder of the photos are far to gruesome to expose, I believe it's best that we all keep the thought of Barbie as we remember as children, not as a dog chew toy! So disturbing

Wii

I'm lucky enough to have made really good friends with a co worker of mine. Her name is Lorianne and she's great! She was a little much for me at first, she has a very vibrant personality. She's hyper and exciting. But once I got to know her better, and saw what an amazing person and mother she was.. I was hooked! HaHa! We have a lot of fun together. Her and her girls come over for dinner, movies and most recently WII play! She also introduced me to the Nintendo DS. I am IN LOVE with this thing. I want one really bad, even though I think "Like you really need ONE more thing to be obsessed with" But I think it would help me loose some bad habits at work. But last week Lorianne and the girls came over for dinner and to play the Wii.. and play we did!

Lorianne and I shortly after she showed up

Presley and Mommy

Lorianne and her baby! (well, really she's her oldest, BUT always her baby)
That's Lorianne Kicking my ASS on the Wii

Tyler and Natalie getting ready to box!

Then it as boxing time!

I think as far as video games go.. the Wii gets an A++ from me. If your kids must play a video game, why not have it be one that makes them get UP and move around? It may be the most exercise some kids get at all now a days (not that, that's a good thing) But I'll tell you what, after my first time playing this.. my shoulders hurt BAD!

Sorry Blogging World.

Presley likes to dab in art. She's not bad i suppose for a 2 year old. But I think we need to learn a little more clearly what IS and what ISN'T a coloring surface. She LUCKY her dad wasn't home. writing on ANYTHING that isn't suppose to have writing on it, is his PET PEEVE!

Doesn't she KNOW how long that wall took??

and this is WHY, I haven't been Blogging as much, I've decided i can't leave them alone in the morning long enough to bust out a blog.So in order to save my walls my blog has suffered. I'm sorry sweet blogging world.

Bathtime!

Believe you ME, the ONLY thing keeping this dog from jumping in, is his size. Once he's comfortable with himself.. he WILL be in that tub. Mark my words! In the near future there will be a post of Mr.Cash jumping in the tub with the girls.

167

What do you do when you've been away from people you care about for 3 days?? You come home go out to dinner and take 167 pictures of nothing. Just them, being them, you all out together having a good time. It was a fun night.

It started at Lamppost Pizza with a pitcher of Guinness.. for Natalie and Tyler and how

The Hubs and I

what do you do when you HATE your husbands beard??

Take his picture over, and over, and over.. it starts to make him self conscious.

Presley, in between two beer glasses.... classy!

Grace in between the "Beard" glasses. that's what she calls Beer....beard?

After Pizza and Beer.. we did Coldstone! What goes better with Pizza and Beer that extremely fattening and expensive ice cream.

Tyler showing off his Ugly beard! this is him saying
"BEAUTIFUL!"

Once we got home the fun didn't end. We sat outback, listened to music and I took more pictures.

Presley and her favorite person. Auntie!

Cash and Grace busy at work.

I dunno why, but I like this one.

WEEEE!! remember how fun that was?
Although i must admit, it makes me nervous because the swing is above cement. My mom bought swings to be hung from the patio, and once they were hung she said "hmm that wasn't a very safe idea was it?"... uhh No =)

Something was wrong with my camera.

Busy digger

Once the girls went to bed Tyler, Natalie and I just sat up and talked, and talked,. Listened to music and had a LOT of fun! I JUST love my new house! My family never just hung out before, and I love that I have the Hang out house. It's great! I have friends over to play the Wii and dinner.. it is just such a blessing!

Palm Springs trip

At the end of July my dad and Richard came to town. Well..... really they went to Palm Springs to look at houses, they only came to MY town for dinner. But after dinner the girls and I followed them to Palm Springs where we would spend the next 3 nights. The drive, was as good as could be expected with two toddlers being stuck in a car for 2 hours. BUT a highlight of both the girls was stopping at the dinosaurs on the 10 fwy.

Long neck

That's Grace making Triceratops ears.

She was scared to get in this at first. I was kind of going for a "ahh I'm being eaten picture.." but really.. she just looks happy to be in a Dinosaur mouth.

a little better at the "AHH I'M BEING EATIN" face.

Mommy and P

AHHHH a GIANT SNAKE!

Sitting on Long Neck's Foot

The girls with Grandpa Richard

I HAD to take a picture of the miss placed toilet.

Of course the girls had to go swimming as SOON as we got in town, forget the fact that it was 9:00 at night. Good thing it was Palm Springs and HOT!

But, while the girls played.. I colored my hair! That's right baby! my life is so hectic my only free time is while I'm out of town on "vacation" My dad and Richard were outside watching the girls swim while I updated myself.

Beginning of day two.. arnt they cute! i LOVE Presley's face in this one.

Cheese!!

Cheese!!

The girls and their Grandpas

The pop's and I

We were being silly.

I had no idea we were at a Gay Restaurant till I went to the bathroom and notice ALL the bare chested men, then I realized they were every where!!

After we ate we headed to this mountain where we were going to be hanging from a trolley cable in a bucket straight up to the top! EEK!

This bucket.. (well, not THIS bucket, but a bigger one just like it)

Presley thinking "EEK we're going up their?"

But then she made this face... so sweet.

This is how I felt.. i HATED it. So scary!

Grace LOVES her Grandpa Richard.

Phewph! we made it! and it was beautiful up there. Cooler for sure.

At the end of the day, the girls went swimming again... of course.

Then the trip was over...
Presley saying "already?"

One the way home we stopped at a Denny's (yuck) for Breakfast. I took this picture and I LOVE IT!

Shop VICTORIOUSLY!!

That's right.. don't just shop, but shop victoriously.. Who's slogan is that? none other than EBAY! I must say I can go months without even LOOKING at eBay. BUT once i take a peek, it's easy for me to get hooked! You find things you not only want but feel you HAVE TO HAVE! Then it becomes more than just buying that item., but WINNING that item. So today is my latest VICTORY! A poster WITH frame of the HIT Broadway smash. WICKED! I'm SO excited! It's not very often that these items are up for auction. Because it's not just a poster it's what would have been hanging at the theater with the stars names on the poster... so needless to say.. I'mecstatic! I was a crazy person waiting for the last 3 min to go by thinking somebody would out bid me. But PHEWPH! I did as EBay told me and I.. SHOPPED VICTORIOUSLY and WON!

To many thoughts.. Can't sleep

Diabetes has me all tangled up inside. It has me battling myself with emotions I don't feel I can describe clearly, feelings people couldn't understand unless they are living my life. But then again, maybe even some of those living my life still can't understand how I feel, because feels are very personal, we can't always help how we feel.. they are just there and they are just apart of us.

Ever since I started fundraising for the JDRF walk in October sadness has consumed me for many different reasons. People have disappointed me, and it has made me VERY aware of how people can really not be bothered with something that doesn't effect their daily life. Once somebody hears I'm fundraising for JDRF i get this response.. "whats that?" to which I explain "The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation... " and I tell them WHY I'm walking, and WHO I'm walking for and the hundreds of THOUSANDS of children effected with this disease.. and they look at me and say "oh" Then nothing............... It's like my child has to have a more common disease to get a reaction out of people. Like if I was raising money for Cancer then people would be more open to help, they would be more willing to give. I'm not going to go into this whole Cancer vs. Diabetes match. I lost an Aunt to Brest Cancer in March of 07 and it was devastating to see her go threw what she went threw, and I would NEVER wish that on ANYBODY. It's awful, and I hope and pray that one day they find a cure for that too. I just WISH people would understand DIABETES IS DEVASTATING!! Not only is it devastating it's a LIFE TIME DISEASE.. it's nothing that can be beat! It is ALWAYS going to be apart of my daughter's life.

If i didn't prick her finger EVERYDAY

If I didn't Give her shots EVERYDAY

If I didn't micromanage her food EVERYDAY

If i didn't micromanage her activity EVERYDAY

She would be a VERY.... VERY.... SICK little girl and would eventually DIE! Don't people understand that? My daughter has a DISEASE THAT COULD KILL HER! It's NOT going to.. because I'M here. I Care! and I will FIGHT for her and stand by her even if nobody else will. Knowing that even the closest people to me don't understand this.. that they don't GET IT. That they don't HAVE to understand it, and can choose to look the other way makes me SO MAD. It makes me cry and look at my precious little girl sleeping in her bed with her tiny fingers....bruised and marked from the thousands of finger sticks she's had over the last year and it makes me want to YELL!!! I say to all the people out there who don't understand and who don't care to.. Be HAPPY and GLAD that your child is healthy.. Thank the lord that you DON'T HAVE to understand why I'm angry and why I'm sad. And PRAY that you NEVER DO!!

Like I've said before, I don't live my life in a state of anger and hurt or sadness, But sometimes I do. I just want Juvenile Diabetes to get the attention it deserves. Because our children living with Diabetes are beautiful and perfect in every way (minus one small detail like a working pancreas) They will grow up and be Doctors, Lawyers, Scientist, Teachers, and the millions of other things they can do if they want to. Because we as their parents are teaching them to do so, we are going to teach them that they won't be able to let diabetes win. That THEY will be winners in the end. Even IF people choose to turn a blind eye to what doesn't effect them.

This is another thing Diabetes has taught me. I will NEVER turn a blind eye to somebody suffering from something I don't understand, i will NEVER not give even if just a small amount to a parent desperate to find a cure for something their child may suffer from. Even IF I think it's not that bad. Because it IS that bad.. to THEM. It's THEIR child and it will probably mean as much to them as this does to me.

9-8 or 8-8??

That was the question today when I took Grace to the cardiologist for an Echo Cardiogram. I checked in promptly at 8:45 my check in time. Waited a bit before I was told "Your appointment isn't till 9-8-08 not 8-8-08" I was PISSED!! I looked at the women shook my head and said " you think i drove here from Oceanside today and the piece of paper I have at home doesn't say my appointment is today? why would i do that? why would I drive ALL this way.. with a toddler, while arranging to have my other daughter watched IF my appointment wasn't today??" She looked puzzled and Said "I know.. let me see what we can do" I went to sit down while I waited to see what they could do, all while being in a tissey. Grace was being herself, talking constantly, getting on and off her chair when I finally looked at her and said "Mommy is very irritated right now! Please, just sit down and be quiet!" which of course she did...( the children always listen when Crazy mom comes to visit). Finally the receptionist came to the window and said "They will be seeing you today" so of course I thanked them.

But all the while they were finding somebody to take Grace i THOUGHT really hard about that piece of paper that had her appointments on it. Did it say 9-8-08?? Now it wouldn't be at all weird that if it did say 9-8-08 that I would just automatically think "ahh.. August!" because really.. i need to count the months on my fingers to be sure. SO it was possible. and the more I thought about it the more I was SURE it was indeed MY SCREW UP! It was ME that wrote the date on the 8-8-08 spot, not the 9-8-08 spot simply because I didn't take the time to THINK, and count on my fingers. Ohh it made me want to laugh out loud.. but i tried to contain myself.

Finally they took Grace and everything went well. Once we left the office I laughed to myself then I laughed hysterically on the phone to Tyler. Because it's just such a stupid ME thing to do. Once I got home my mom said "I think they were right.. remember I wasn't going to be able to watch Presley because I had school" then I say "Yea but I thought they changed it because of that.." she said "no.... remember, She was going to call you if they had an opening..??" LIGHT BULB "ohhh yea!!!!" oh well, what's done is done, and at least I don't have to go down their next month! woohoo! Now should I call them and apologize? naww... it's okay. They screw with me enough, it's okay that I screwed with them this once. and it was an honest accident.