It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas!

We finally got all of the Christmas decorations up and everything looks so beautiful. This time of the year always gives me warm fuzzies inside and I love the excitement that it brings.

We're going to get another year with Kacey believing in Santa and I'm cherishing every moment. I remember how sad it made me when we finally told Kayleigh but we kept the spirit alive by letting Kayleigh help us shop for her sister but we shopped for her so she still didn't know what she was getting until Christmas morning.

As we unpacked all the Christmas stuff, the memories started flowing. The girls hung the ornaments and listened to me tell stories with each one. They even told me stories that they remembered as they made some of them. Kayleigh had an emotional moment when we pulled out the ornament we'd made with her first boyfriend's name on it. *sigh* He will always hold a special place in our family and she quietly placed his ornament ball back into the box.

I took the girls for pictures. They're growing up way too fast! I couldn't believe just how much until I got the pictures back. Kacey is nearly as tall as Kayleigh now! Only about 5 inches seperate them and only 4 pounds.

While we were in the mall, there was NO line to see Santa and so I convinced the girls to have their picture taken.

Yesterday we decided to end the week with a trip to Christmas Town. It's something new that Busch Gardens was doing this year. My Mom surprised us with tickets and we surprised the girls by taking them. They were SHOCKED! Christmas lights really excite my girls and this just magical! They had lights galore over the park....real live penguins....emotional shows with traditional Christmas carols...and top it off with a Christmas show featuring characters of Sesame Street. Both of my girls were Sesame Street fans when they were little and even though they might not admit it now, they still love it! The smells through the park were amazing! They had fresh baked goods....Starbucks coffee....and apple cinnamon smelly things hidden. It looked and smelled like Christmas. We paused for a moment to look through the window at the very "real" looking Santa. His suit was gorgeous! As Kacey peered through the window, she whispered, "Mom, thats not the real Santa" and she smiled at me. I winked and whispered back, "You never know!" She smiled back at me and my heart melted. We ended the night with a final trip by the ice cream shop. I could hardly resist the peppermint flavored ice cream! Kacey chose the rainbow sherbert and Kayleigh chose the cookie dough. Diabetes wasn't rearing it's ugly face and the Herbie revealed a beautiful 94 on his screen. Thank you diabetes for not stealing our joy!

Giving Thanks

I was way too busy to write my Thanksgiving post so it's a bit late. But they always say...better late than never, right?

For our family, it was long and emotional, yet it turned out to be a start of a tradition. Over the last few weeks, I've been tossing around the idea of staying at home for Thanksgiving. For the last 11 years, we would pack up and go to Granny's house for lunch and then go to my Mom's for dinner. When I started to think about our yearly "routine", there was a BIG missing link.....no Granny. Our entire family was taking that really hard, especially Frankie. Granny played such an important part in our holidays and our traditions and this year is going to be tough. We're at the 6 month mark of her death and it's still just as hard for everyone as it was six months ago.

Granny's biggest joy was getting everyone in the family together to eat. She loved to cook and no matter what time of day it was, if you stopped by her house, you'd better have room for something to eat because she was going to cook for you. This year, the family was divided. There was no gathering at Granny's house, no cramming 25 people into an apartment and there was no Granny.

I decided that I'd take on the task of cooking this year. I spoke to my Mom about it and told her that I wanted Thanksgiving at my house this year and she could come here to visit. I then broke the news to Frankie's Aunt, who thought she was going to be alone that day. I saw a spark come back into her. She began talking about what she could make and bring. We told her we would drive down to get her in the morning and she could help me cook and then we'd take her home later after dinner. We only live about 20 minutes from her but our road is long and winding and she's scared to drive down here so once she found out we'd come and get her then she got even more excited!

I woke up around 7:30am and got the girls up around 8am. We did some last minute cleaning before the cooking started. Kayleigh was in charge of desserts this year and she'd already made 2 pumpkin cheesecakes. She was ready to make her cheesecake brownies. Once those were done, it was my turn to get in the kitchen! This was not only my first year cooking Thanksgiving, it was my first time ever preparing a turkey. Many of you may not know this....me, Kayleigh & Kacey are vegetarians. So cooking a turkey was a BIG deal for me! I started the turkey around 10am. Frankie left to go pick up his aunt shortly after I started cooking. I sat down and enjoyed the rest of the Macy's parade with Kayleigh since there was really nothing else I could do. Frankie arrived back home with his aunt and she walked in with a smile. This is the first time I've seen her really smile in the last 6 months. She came in with a tray of prepared yams...just like Granny used to make them for me. She said, "I made your yams the way Mama did." I smiled and when I got to the kitchen alone, I broke into tears. Granny knew I couldn't make those yams the way she did and now they're made! Kacey managed to convince Frankie and his Aunt to play the Wii with her. His Aunt had never even held a Wii remote so it was all new to her! She caught on fast and before long I could hear giggles coming from my living room. I peeked around the corner to see them all laughing hysterically and bowling on the Wii. Laughter...something that Granny loved and there hadn't been much of. She'd of been so happy :)

By 5pm, we were ready to eat! My Mom and Brian came over and my best friend Lori and her boys came over. Lori's husband is deployed right now (and has been for 23 months). He's due to come home next week so instead of spend Thanksgiving alone, we invited them over too! Ten people, lots of laughter, a football game between my team and my brothers team, more food than we could ever eat.....yep, it was perfect and a great start to a new tradition!

So as difficult as the day was, it turned out to be wonderful!

Mist vs. Shot?

Kacey's school will be giving out the H1N1 vaccines and I've got myself in a knot over it. I talked to her CDE and her Endo is suggesting that their patients get the mist. Why mist? Isn't that dangerous for someone with a chronic illness? She explained that it was more effective for her to get it that way since it was the live virus than to get the shot which wasn't live.

So I talked to the school nurse and I checked the box for "mist" but now I'm still worried. According to the research I've done....this is what I found....

"However, information released by MedImmune, the makers of FluMist, earlier this year, claim that the FluMist is safe for children with compromised immune systems. I quote from their website, "In our pilot study, immunocompromised children with cancer who received FluMist had no related serious adverse events, explained Pat Flynn M.D., director, clinical research, infectious diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We believe these data are promising and add to the extensive body of evidence supporting the overall safety of FluMist in the population for whom it is approved. A larger study will help us confirm the safe use of FluMist in immunocomprised patients.""

I also found out that people that get the mist carry and shed the live virus for 21 days. OK....so if we don't get the mist then Kacey has the chance to be exposed to the live virus from every other student in her class. This sounds pretty damn scary if you ask me!!! What about us? Since she gets the mist, then aren't we at risk at home of being exposed to it? Kayleigh's school isn't offering it yet and I'm not sure when they are due to get them. Since I work for the school, I have the opportunity to get it. I'm just scared!

I need some help with this one! Anyone had the mist? Any D-Moms take their children with diabetes to get it yet? Any symptoms afterward?

Spirit Assembly & Cake Business

I want to start this post with how AMAZING this school year has been...not only for Kacey but for Kayleigh as well! Last year, Kacey struggled hard through 3rd grade. She struggled with doing accelerated work, she struggled with managing diabetes on her own at school and she struggled with keeping up with the class after she missed so many days from illness and diabetes. By the end of the year, we were BOTH just burnt out! When she started 3rd grade, she was only about 6 weeks into her diagnosis. We both went through a rough time because we still had not had enough time to really get the hang of a schedule, much less a schedule for school. We had school nurse issues in the middle of all of that and we were VERY happy summer break arrived. Over the summer, Kacey had time to really "bond" with Herbie. We had a chance to change basals and really get on a schedule and see what worked for us. It was a nice break and it really took us a full year to accept all these changes that had entered our lives. We could also have the time to do all of this without school getting in the way...finally! By September, she was READY for 4th grade! I was very familiar with the teachers since the teachers she would have were teachers when Kayleigh went through 4th grade there. The parent/teacher relationship was already established! As a matter a fact, one of her teachers actually taught Frankie in 2nd grade!! ;) So we were thrilled with her teachers and she was more than ready. She is completely independant when it comes to taking care of her diabetes at school. She tests her own blood sugar, boluses for her own meals (snack & lunch) and only goes to see the nurse when shes not feeling well. Her teachers are not involved in her care since she manages all of this. I check Herbie when she comes home to see what her blood sugars were on days she forgot to log. It's just easier for everyone in the long run and Kacey wants it this way. She got her report card this week and it revealed one A and 4 B's!! HONOR ROLL!!! I wanted to cry! She is doing such a great job and she is really loving school this year. Now for some MORE great news....yep, theres more! We got a letter in the mail from her principal. No parent looks forward to the day you get a letter addressed "To The Parents of Kacey West". I got a knot in my throat as I opened the letter. "Dear Mr. & Mrs. West, I am pleased to inform you that your daughter, Kacey, has been selected as Student of the Month for October......." HOLY COW!!! Out of the entire 4th grade, Kacey was chosen for the month of October. Could it get any better? OF COURSE!! Kacey entered a photography contest last month at school. She won 2nd place!!! Her photos will now be sent to compete with all the other elementary schools in our county :) Very cool! She had no idea she'd won this award so it was priceless to see the shock on her face. I found out 2 days ago by accident from another teacher but I kept it a secret and took my camera to the assembly since I was working today.

Now onto Kayleigh....

She also got her report card this week... 3 A's, 2 B's and 1 C. Her C was in Spanish 3 so I'm not concerned in the least! She's having a great year this year. Last year was her first year in English Honors and she's never been a reader so she struggled through the class with a C. The class is a weighted class so the C really counts as a B...but seeing that C really bothered her. When it came time to do her schedule for this year, she begged me to let her go back to regular English, even though all her friends were in Honors. I signed the papers willingly. I hated seeing her so unhappy in a class! This year she's rockin' this English class and actually has a 98 A average :) Yep, we made the right decision! Her favorite class this year is Culinary 1. Those of you on my Facebook have already seen some of the pics of her cakes. Shes got her own site on Facebook and shes shown off her cakes but this is the first time we've been able to show off her Culinary art. In her school, the Culinary class actually runs a cafe. Anyone is welcome to come and eat in there and I'm going to make it a point to go eat sometime soon. All of the kids get a daily grade in class. Your performance counts as the grade. Everyone gets a chance to run each part of the cafe....hostess, waitress, cook (main course, sides and desserts). She took this class because she'd already had such a passion with cake decorating and lately she's been on the dessert station and this is what she produced today......

This is cheesecake with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Yes, she added the whipped cream border on the sides. AMAZING!!! And it looks delicious!!! Her teacher gave her an amazing compliment and he told her she was very mature for her age and she's going to go far. That drove her up to another level of confidence. :)

Last night, she built this.....

Its a two teir cake. The bottom layer is 12 inches round and 6 inches high. It's a yellow butter cake with chocolate Bavarian cream in the middle. The top layer is 8 inches round and 6 inches high. It's devil's food cake with chocolate Bavarian cream in the middle. Both tiers are covered in a layer of buttercream icing that is hidden by ivory fondant. There is a ribbon around both cakes and it's topped with rolled roses that are dusted with pearl dust. This is her first cake to make like this and she's pretty stinkin proud of it! Heck....I'm proud of it!! Her ultimate goal is to own her own bakery and decorate cakes full time :) but she said she will work with a catering company until she's able to do that. Right now, she's got her own little business going with word of mouth and she's had a cake to make nearly every week for the last 2 months. I keep telling her.....Practice makes perfect! Look out Cake Boss! Hahaha!

OK....now that I'm done sharing accomplishments....

Just a reminder, there is only a few more days to sign up for the Secret Santa Family Exchange. If you haven't signed up and want to play, NOW is the time to do it! So far we've got 15 signed up. If your name is NOT on the list below then that means you haven't registered with Elfster and you need to go to the link in the previous post to get on the list.

Names for the Exchange:

Jill (Organizer)

Amy L.

Amy S.

Chasiti

Hallie

Jennifer

Joanne

Kathy

Laura

Meri

Nicole

Ronda

Shannon

Tracie

Wendy

(All in ABC order, just like Elfster lists them...haha!)

Now, to answer Shannons question...We will find out on Monday who the family is that we're buying for. I click the DRAW tab on Elfster and it shuffles us all and sends us our family. I won't know who got who so it's up to you to remember who you have to buy for ....LOL! You will find out who bought for you when you open the package and they reveal themselves. I thought it would be more fun to keep it a secret than to know who was buying for who. Hope that helps :) Any other questions....just ask! :)

Exchange

WE'RE REGISTERED!!!

If you are interested in participating in the Secret Santa Family Gift Exchange then click on the following link and register yourself.

GIFT EXCHANGE

The DEADLINE for registration will be Nov. 23rd. The reason for this is so that we can hit those after Thanksgiving sales :) It also gives us a month to shop, wrap and send. Some of the Moms live further away than others. We need to take this into consideration as well. We wouldn't want a family left without a present on Christmas. So be sure to look and see where your package is going and allow mailing time.

I'm SOOOOO excited about this!!

So, on Nov 23rd, Elfster will magically draw names and the secret game begins! Have fun!!!


***Edit***
This exchange is open to ALL D-Moms and their families :)

Secret Santa

I've been sitting here thinking about the Secret Santa that I participated in last year with the D-OC. I had such a great time with it and I thought maybe I'd toss out the idea of doing a Secret Santa with all the D-Mom's & Kids since we have such a nice group going on here. How many D-Moms out there would be interested in participating? Last year we used Elfster and that way everyone got to particpate. You sign up and your name and address is only given to the person that is buying for you. It's computer generated so the computer picks the name and it's done fairly. If I get enough people interested, then we can set a price limit and rules and go from there.

So....how many of you out there are interested?

Do you want to shop for the D-Mom & Child? Or just the Child? What price limit? Deadline for it to be in the mail?

~~~~~~
My vote is: YES!
Shop for both Mom and Child
$10 for each one
Mailed by Dec 15th to ensure it arrives by the 25th

WDD Treats

We just ended World Diabetes Day with some special treats! I made the girls peanut butter cookies and used a tube of blue glitter icing to make the BLUE CIRCLE. Both girls were so surprised!

YES! My diabetic daughter CAN eat fresh baked cookies with all the goodness on top! :)

Why Blue?

(courtesy of http://www.diabetesbluecircle.org/)

WHAT is the Blue Circle?

The universal symbol for diabetes.
The purpose of the diabetes symbol is to give diabetes a common identity.
Until 2006, there was no global symbol for diabetes. It aims to:
support all existing efforts to raise awareness about diabetes
inspire new activities, bring diabetes to the attention of the general public
brand diabetes
provide a means to show support for the fight against diabetes

The icon was developed originally for the campaign for a UN Resolution on diabetes.
The campaign for a United Nations Resolution on diabetes was a response to the diabetes pandemic that is set to overwhelm healthcare resources everywhere. The campaign mobilised diabetes stakeholders behind the common cause of securing a United Nations Resolution on diabetes. The United Nations passed Resolution 61/255 ‘World Diabetes Day’ on December 20th 2006.

WHY a Circle?

The circle occurs frequently in nature and has thus been widely employed since the dawn of humankind. The significance is overwhelmingly positive. Across cultures, the circle can symbolize life and health. Most significantly for the campaign, the circle symbolizes unity. Our combined strength is the key element that made this campaign so special. The global diabetes community came together to support a United Nations Resolution on diabetes and needs to remain united to make a difference. As we all know: to do nothing is no longer an option.

WHY Blue?
The blue border of the circle reflects the colour of the sky and the flag of the United Nations. The United Nations is in itself a symbol of unity amongst nations and is the only organization that can signal to governments everywhere that it is time to fight diabetes and reverse the global trends that will impede economic development and cause so much suffering and premature death.

~~~~

So there ya have it! The reason we have a blue circle for a logo and the reason we've all chosen to wear blue today. We had our clothes picked out for today. Kacey had a blue shirt, jeans, blue socks, blue panties, blue earrings, blue pigtails, blue CURE diabetes bracelet, blue pump pack and she begged me to paint her nails blue but I didn't have that color! LOL!

We went shopping with my Mom today, who was also dressed in blue and complete with blue eye shadow. While we were out shopping, I doubt a single person realized we were all dressed in blue and that we were showing our support for diabetes awareness but the main point was.....we knew! And what's even more important is Kacey knew she was surrounded by loved ones that supported her.

I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful day today! We sure did

History Making Nor'easter

As most of you already know, we just made it through a history making Nor'easter here in Virginia. Being on the coast has it's up's & down's. This just happened to be one of those down moments. We almost made it through the entire hurricane season without any damage or floods. Yesterday, the tides started to rise and because of the high winds, they were not falling like they should have. Back in 2003, we survived Hurricane Isabel but our house flooded in one room. That room steps down and the water lacked about 2 inches from going through my entire house. The room at that time was my girls playroom. They were still sharing a bedroom and we used that room for all their toys and games. There was 7 inches of water in that room! When we heard this storm was being compared to the flooding we had with Isabel, my heart sank! That room is now Kacey's bedroom. We started putting things up and making sure nothing was laying on the floor that would get ruined. I was glued to the TV, watching every moment and preparing for the worst. By 7am yesterday morning, this is what we were seeing....

We could see that the field next to ours was flooding. I figured it was just rain water because we're about a mile from the rivers. It was raining so hard with no let up and I just thought it was from all of that. Over the next few hours, we watched the water flood across the road down there. That house down at the end is my neighbor's and they said the tide was coming up and it was about a foot deep in some places in their yard.

I checked the yard at 9pm and I really couldn't see anything because of the dark. There was really nothing we could do but prepare for the worst by that point. Kacey slept in the living room, just in case the waters came up. I finally dozed off somewhere around 10-11pm. My alarm went off for me to do Kacey's blood sugar check at 2am and the winds were far worse than they'd been. I did her check and peeked outside again and still couldnt see anything. I knew high tide would be rolling in between 4-5am. I went on back to sleep and when I woke up at 6am.....this is what I walked out to.....

Sticks and mess that was left by flood water in my front yard

Frankie's truck.....and MY YARD...which was now....A RIVER!!!

The further pic above looking down my driveway was now THIS.... water across the road

Frankie's dog pens were underwater! Thankfully he put his dogs in the back of his truck last night when we knew it was getting bad.

This shows where the tide came up and across my yard. My house is to the right which shows...it flooded right under my house!!

We've got alot of mess to clean up but it's still too nasty to be out there. It's still raining and the tide has gone down but we're left with a mess of debris and stuff blown all over the yard to clean up.

I'm thankful that it didn't come IN the house this time!

Herbie Fell Off!!!

Yesterday was NOT a good diabetes day!

I got a call around 1:30pm from the school nurse. My heart always skips a few beats when I hear that ring tone that sounds like a siren when my cell rings the school nurse number. I answered it and her nurse said, "Hi Jill, I don't want to scare you...but....." BUT? BUT WHAT? "Kacey lost her pump...." WHATTTTTTT? OK....before I could let her finish I was already spouting. Where was she last? How did it fall off? Did she find it? UGHHHH! I was freaking! Her nurse went on to explain... "Apparently she was in music and it fell off and another child found it and thought it was a cell phone and Kacey came rushing down to me with it. She reconnected and she tested. Her blood sugar is fine and she's gone to lunch and bolused." AHHHHHHHHH! That still doesn't explain how it fell off. Where did it disconnect? Is there air in the tube now? Forget it! I'm on my way!

I get to school and rush in carrying a new infusion set, bottle of insulin, a cartridge and a pump pack with her belt. Kacey was sitting in the nurse waiting for me. She began to explain the little vacation that Herbie decided to take. To backtrack just a little....Kacey has always been a "chunky" child and we've never been able to find jeans to fit her. Last weekend while we were shopping, we ran across plus size little girl jeans. Wow! Kacey was so excited because she usually wears stretch pants and she's wanted to wear her pump in her pocket like the teenagers do. I can understand her wanting to try it. When she tried the jeans on they were perfect fits! She was overly thrilled that she'd be able to put Herbie into the little case with the clip and wear it on her pocket. I bought her 3 pairs! Yesterday she decided to wear Herbie in the case with the clip and tuck it on her pocket. She went to music class and apparently Herbie made a break for it and bungee jumped and she never felt it. The diconnect was at the cartridge....not her infusion set! She was walking around with a tube hanging and then a child in her class picked up Herbie and gave him to the teacher, thinking it was a cell phone!!!! Thank goodness he didn't tuck it in his pocket!!! Kacey realized that it was Herbie and ran right to the nurse with him. After careful inspection, we found that the clip was broke and thats what caused Herbie's jump. :( I went ahead and did a complete site change because I wasn't taking chances on getting air bubbles! She strapped her belt back around her waist and tucked Herbie safely into her pack and with a smile she said, "I think I'll just wear my pack from now on!" Whew!! I had the sickest feeling in my stomach thinking about her losing a $6000 piece of equipment that is supposed to be "attached" to her.

For those of you that haven't seen the weather....we're being hit with a November Nor'easter here. The wind is picking up and we're already seeing some tidal flooding. The wind gusts are up to 45mph and they're expecting them to get stronger. They're expecting 2-7 inches of rain by tomorrow and they're anticipating the flooding to be worse than Hurricane Isabel. During that storm, our house flooded! I'm a little worried and I'm praying that we don't get the water like we did in 2003. They're calling it a history making Nor'easter and we'll be keeping a close eye on the news as this gets worse! Say a little prayer for us!

I'll update as I can!

Diabetes Chat

I posted about this two days ago but I want to take this opportunity to reach out to D-Moms, D-Dads, D-Grandmas and PWD too!

What started as a post on my Facebook, led to a reach out to our network. A small group of D-Moms that chat and share on Facebook, got together and then we started reaching out saying "Oh! We have to invite so and so to come too!", "Does anyone have so and so's address or Facebook?" and we ended up with a group of 10 Moms that all have kids with diabetes. Sure, it didn't end up being a diabetes chat since we were all so excited to just be in the same room with one another online....a first for all of us! I just felt like I should post and invite others to meet with us too.

Just follow these few simple steps....

For those that are interested in getting into our online chat group
1. Download MSN Windows Messenger Live
2. Add me- butterflybrat75@hotmail.com (and let me know who you are...LOL!)
3. Meet us on Sunday at 9pm EST or when I'm lit up green I can chat anytime!
4. And....we're not limiting it to D-Moms ...D-Dads are welcome too :) and D-Grandma's ....and PWD!

Come join us for fun!!!

D-Blog Day

As D-Blog day comes to a close, I've had a lot to reflect on. Nearly 15 months ago, our life within the West household changed forever. Would I go back and change it if I could? That's a tough question!

I hate how diabetes takes control over our daily life. No day with diabetes is ever the same. We take each day as it's thrown at us and we deal with it the best way we know how to. I hate how diabetes makes Kacey feel. She can go from having an amazing day out shopping to dropping low in an instant and we have to put diabetes first and stop whatever fun we're having to make sure diabetes doesn't take full control. She can also go to sleep at a nice 150 and wake up with a crappy 400. Why? She didn't eat anything. Thats life with diabetes! So many unexplained things and "never know's". It's that part of diabetes that I hate!

If I could take all that away, I would. But on the flip side, diabetes has made me the Mommy that I am today. It forced me to look at life so much differently. It forced me to put my feelings out there and start this blog. MY Blog. My Thoughts. MY feelings. Right out there for the world to see. And as a result of that, I've made some of the closest friends that I never thought was possible. MY D-Mom friends. MY D-friends. MY friends that blog about daily life with diabetes. Many of us choose to write about things other than diabetes just so it keeps us in check and makes us feel a bit more "normal". We can't let diabetes run our lives! I'm a much better person as a result of diabetes. MY blog has given me more than I could have ever imagined. I love the support that I have here and I know that if I'm having a rough day and need to vent, then I can come here and blog about it and all of you will understand. With the exception of the idiot that posted to the McDonald's post (you know who you are), I've had NOTHING but support on here and I hope to continue blogging til Kacey is grown and beyond. One day she will start her own blog about her journey and her memories about growing up with diabetes and I hope to be right along side her as she does. So many of the diabetes bloggers here have given me hope for her future. Kerri has shown me that with the right care, Kacey CAN have a baby. Scott has shown me that with lots of control, Kacey CAN play a sport and be good at it. Cara has shown me that Kacey CAN live on her own and travel and be ok. Molly has shown me that Kacey CAN have that "companion" with 4 legs if she wants one. (We love you, Dixie!) There are other D-bloggers out there that have helped me in one way or another but I'd be here listing all day! And for all my other D-Mom friends & one D-Gma (you know who you are)....you all have shown me that it's OK to feel sad, angry, happy, miserable and excited all in the same day. It's OK to hate diabetes and feel the feelings I do. Most of all, you've shown me more love and support than one person can ask for.....and for that... I AM BLESSED!

I hope everyone had a wonderful D-Blog Day! <3

D-Mom Chat & Gift

Yesterday I managed to convince several Moms that have kids with type 1 diabetes to join msn windows live chat. Last night around 9pm EST, we all met up! There were 9 other moms and me ....all chatting at once! Imagine how hectic it was once we started getting everyone in there....heehee! We were all so excited just to be chatting that we ended up talking about that most of the time. I am so blessed to have such a strong support network and I haven't even met any of them face to face but I feel like we've been friends forever.

Hmmm....should we plan a D-Mom get together in Va Beach and go to Busch Gardens? LOL! How cool would that be? All of us walking around with our little ones and having time to just sit and talk :) It's possible!!

Anyway, I enjoyed every single second of the chatting last night and I hope to set up a "meeting" once a week for all of us. Are Sunday evenings a good time? I know we will chat on msn as each of us is online but I'd like to have a day that we could all know that we'd be online.

Thanks girls for a great time last night!!

Now, onto the "gift". We had gone to Walmart last night to pick up some stuff for lunches this week and for Kayleigh to get more supplies to make fondant since she's got a 2 tier cake to make for Friday. Whenever we go to Walmart as a family, we always split up. Frankie takes Kacey and they usually go to the hunting department and I take Kayleigh and we go pick up things we need. While we were in there, Kacey convinced Frankie to take her to the jewelry department. She's been wanting a locket to put Granny's picture in and I've told her to tell Santa but I figured she went on and bought one since she was carrying a small black box. I questioned her about it and she assured me it was NOT a locket because it was a present for me. A present for ME? Why? She smiled and said, "I will tell you when we get home."

Once we got home, I still had groceries to put away and dinner to start. She was just thrilled about whatever she had in the little black box. I finally had to stop what I was doing and sit down on the couch. She grinned at me and told me to close my eyes. I did. I felt her place the little black box in my hand and then I was instructed to open my eyes. The box lid was still on and I carefully opened it. What I saw next immediately brought me to tears!Why? Why did you spend your money on me? She replied, "Mommy, that is for taking care of me and Sissy when we were sick." OK....so now I'm REALLY crying! I explained to her that it was my "job" to take care of them and she didn't need to buy me anything to thank me. I hugged them both.

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE my "job"?

Catching Up

Whew! It seems like there are never enough hours in the day for me anymore. It's been over a week since I was able to catch up here. I jump on Facebook and update as I can but it's been one VERY long week.

So let's backtrack a week....

Happy Halloween! The girls made the decision to stay in this Halloween. They both still weren't feeling 100% and going door to door with all the germs just scared the crap outta me. I bought them a new movie... "17 Again" and we made homemade popcorn with kettle corn flavoring. The movie was GREAT! It's like "Back To The Future" but done in modern day. I must admit, I'm not a huge Zac Efron fan (only because he was blown up too much in HSM) but he played a great part in this movie and it was well worth buying. We were pleasantly surprised when there was a knock at the door just as we finished making the popcorn.....DADDY! Frankie came out of the woods from hunting so he didn't miss the movie with them! It made our evening. :) The best part about the evening was.....there was no candy to mess with and what was even better was....my girls were absolutely fine with it! They didn't feel like they missed out on anything at all.

On Sunday, we just stayed in. It was rainy and cold and both girls ended up playing the new CSI on the Wii. (Awesome game if you're looking for an adult game!) Both of my girls are huge CSI fans....yeah I know....bad Mom for letting them watch the crime scene stuff....LOL! But I'd rather them watch that than watch a horror movie. They're both into the suspense stuff and they are faithful watchers of Ghost Whisperer. So when we saw the CSI game for the Wii, and I saw the rating, I hesitated to buy it. It's a T rating but I figured both of my girls are mature enough to handle the language and little bit of crime scene blood it showed. They LOVE it!! You are the detective and you work the crime scene and collect evidence, do the interrogations and even work in the lab. It took them 2 days to solve the first case so it's not a game that you can beat easily ;)

Monday was back to school! After being out for a whole week with the flu, they were both swamped and so far behind. Kacey caught everything up pretty quick. Kayleigh is on block scheduling so it took her longer to do everything she needed to. It's really sad that school is so fast pace now and they cram so much learning into a week.

Tuesday they were off from school for Election Day. Kayleigh has been really excited about playing in fondant with her cake decorating so I took her to the cake store so she could get some more supplies. While we were there, she ended up getting 2 new cake pans so she could start making wedding cakes!! I can't believe how fast her little business is taking off. When we got back home, she immediately went to work in the kitchen. She baked a 12 inch cake that was 3 inches thick and then she got her fondant and buttercream ready. After the cake was cool, she went to decorating! She created her first fondant masterpiece. Sure, it's not perfect but then again, she's only 15! She's just learning and needs practice!!! She decided that this cake was going to Kacey's school for all the teachers to enjoy.

On Wednesday, I took the cake into school. I immediately got "Ohhhh's" and "Ahhhh's" from it's appearance. I didn't have to work that day and I ended up helping my friend, Lori do some things. It was sooooo nice to be able to spend time with her. We've both been working so much and I haven't had a chance to really catch up with her. By the end of the day, the cake was nearly gone and she was getting AMAZING reviews! The only bad thing we heard....and it wasn't even really bad....was that the fondant on top the cake could be a little thinner because it was so sweet. She used a Marshmellow Fondant recipe for the first time and it actually tasted good and not like the premade stuff that tastes like playdough! She rolled it as thin as she could without it tearing when she slid it over the cake. So we'll have to see what she can do about that. But it was nice to hear the feedback! What is really nice was the principal, who was also the principal when Kayleigh was at that school, asked Kayleigh if she would make the staff Christmas party cake!!! WOWWWWW!! Kayleigh was SOOOOO excited and I saw her light up like a little Christmas tree. She also got asked to make a cake to donate for auction at the Fall Festival next weekend. This is going to promote her business so she is going to have to work really hard this coming week! That evening, she got a call to make a small birthday cake, using fondant and she needs it....Friday! Wooohoooo! Back to the kitchen!

Thursday rolls around and I was called in to work in the office til 12pm, then go teach Handwriting til 3pm and then come back to the office til dismissal. It was a busy day but I loved it! I'm so comfortable in the classroom and I'm confident in the office. I'm remembering names and faces and it just makes me feel so good when the kids gasp and shout "YAYYYYY! Mrs. West is our sub!!!" When we got home, I was really tired and Kacey wasn't feeling good again. The nurse checked her before we left school and she was at a 99.3 fever. She was complaining her throat was sore and she was tired. UGH! So I figured we were gonna battle the strep throat that was now going around school. She ended up getting her homework done and laying down on the couch. By 5pm, she wasn't looking too good and she said she thought she was low. Test.....54!!! Holy low numbers Batman!!! She's gone from a 228 to a 54....crap! I gave her 2 glocose tabs while I got her some dinner. Retest 15 min later.... 62. UGHHHHH! So she ate her dinner and ended up laying back down on the couch and going to sleep!! Yep...6pm she was sound asleep and she slept there all night! I checked her sugar every hour til 11pm just to make sure it didn't do something wonky. I watched her steady climb and before 11pm, she was back in the 300's. Great! Is that cuz she's sick? Did we over do it with the glucose tabs and dinner? So then I corrected but I was scared she'd plummet again so I was back up every hour checking her. Kayleigh got the birthday cake done and ready for me to take into work on Fri.

On Friday, I was in the library all day. It was my first time in there and I loved it! It was the only place in the school that I hadn't worked all day yet. It was a great day and I enjoyed it! Kacey was feeling fine and so whatever she was coming down with, her body fought off (thank you Mr. Immune System!) I delivered Kayleigh's cake for her and the girl loved it! Another success! By Friday night, we were all so tired from the busy week that we just ended up staying in and watching TV. It was nice to relax and not have a thing to do!

Yesterday, we got up early and went to breakfast with my Mom like we usually do on Saturday mornings. We went shopping at the mall afterward. We're getting things ready for our family pics and so while we were there, we found the girls clothes for pics. We breezed through the craft store and Kayleigh bought herself a new book....Tired Cakes. We grabbed an early lunch because Kacey started dropping again. Then it was back home for he afternoon. We went to visit friends last night and watched a movie because we were all too tired to play Spades...LOL!

Also, my dear friend Wendy has been keeping us updated on her friend Holli and unfortunately Holli lost her battle she was fighting and earned her angel wings. She's got two little girls and my heart breaks for the family. Wendy is going to keep us updated and once everything settles down, we're going to band together and hopefully do some "care packages" to these little girls. We want them to know how much they are loved and how their mother touched people around the world, not just locally.

Then...last night while I was checking my Facebook, I found out that a friend that I went to high school with and played softball with has a 3 year old son that was just diagnosed with diabetes. They took him in with what they thought was a virus and ended up with a diagnosis. My heart is aching for them. I haven't had the chance to talk to her yet but I know the difficult road she's about to travel and want her to know that she's not alone in this journey. Hugs and love go out to Renee and her little man! Pray for them as they walk this D-path and begin the roller coaster ride.

And that brings me up to date! :) Long and busy week! Hope everyone had a great weekend and I'm looking forward to a calmer week! I've got so many pics to upload and need to find some time to do it ;)