Since it’s too hot to go outside…..

We have been staying inside a lot and trying to find fun things to do to keep the kids happy and busy. I came across this blog the other day and I really like it! So, our idea for the Cursive Name Bugs came from there. And so…..here is our crafty day. (Minus Jordan who is way too cool to get his hands dirty with fingerpaint)

 

In the beginning……

 

 

 

 

Little artists at work!

 

 

 

 

No Allie, it’s NOT lipstick!

 

 

The finished masterpiece’s……..

 

Hayleigh’s is pretty fabulous!

 

Kailyn did an awesome job!

 

Ummm…well….Allie’s barely survived. But she still did a great job!

 

The works of art on display……..

 

What a fun time they had! Next up…….4th of July crafts!

 

 

Happy 2nd Birthday Allie-gator!

She’s 2! I can’t believe she’s actually TWO! She went from this:

to this:

SO fast! I can’t believe how fast the last 2 years have gone by. I’ve been sad all day. I watched the slideshow I made of her first year and bawled my eyes out. Where did my little baby go? I wish they didn’t grow up so fast. :o(

Happy Birthday to our little red headed Sparkadoo! We love you!!!

And just to make you laugh, here is her “Zoolander” pose. ;o)

Lazy

I haven’t had much to say so I haven’t posted. I just didn’t want anyone to think I abandoned my blog. lol I’ll write more later after the other million things I have to do.

Friday the 13th

And I am actually brave enough to leave the house! Go me! ;o)

Lap dog? Not so much!

Our girl is getting BIG!

 

The Wall

Yesterday we went to see The Moving Wall. It’s a half size replica of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall and it was absolutely amazing. I would really love to see the actual wall someday. I can only imagine how amazing that one would be.

I took quite a few photos, but this one of Kailyn was my favorite of the day.

 

Summertime

I remember when I was around 5 and my parents were still married, they decided to have a pool built in our backyard. The process seemed to take forever. They dug the huge hole and my brother, sister and I used to play in it. It was 9 ft. deep and that was a lot of fun. Even more fun, of course was when it was finally finished. We had pool parties, lots of friends over and it seemed like we just swam all day. I learned to swim by falling in, no kidding. But I was proud that I taught myself. I loved jumping in early in the morning and I loved swimming late at night. Summer was good when we had that pool. Lots of memories there.

We moved from that house when I was 16. The house itself carried lots of memories. Mostly very bad. But I really missed having a pool.

Now we live in one of the hottest places possible. Summertime here can be brutal and no one ever wants to go outside. We have a small waterpark down the street that we do visit often (it’s free for the residents of our town) but honestly, sometimes it’s too hot to even go there.

Last weekend the neighborhood kids got together and had a water balloon fight. The neighbor, Reyna, down the street and I were out front watching the kids and talking. Then we started to help the kids on our side of the street by filling the water balloons for them. As we were at the faucet filling up a balloon I saw Reyna look up and then she yelled “Watch out!” Just as I looked up I saw a big red water balloon getting ready to fall right on us. It landed in between us and got us pretty wet. Then I looked across the street where it came from and saw my neighbor (father to the kids my kids always play with) cracking up laughing. HE THREW IT! So then, it was on. Before I knew it the adults joined in the water balloon fight and we all got soaking wet. It was a blast! The kids, for a second, thought the parents were pretty cool and we all had a great time playing.

I was sore and tired later on that night. I am getting too old for this stuff. lol But for a second it reminded me of being a kid and it really was a lot of fun.

Pictures of the kids before the adults got involved in the fight. (More on Flickr)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Friends

Hayleigh’s best friend is gone. She left today to move to another state.

She did get to come over and play after school yesterday. She was here for 6 hours and that wasn’t enough for the girls. They hid when her mom came and wouldn’t come out. Then they begged for a sleepover but her friend couldn’t because they were leaving early this morning.

Hayleigh is very sad and so am I. She had such a hard time making friends in Kindergarten because she was absent so much (90+ days she missed) Last year she was homeschooled and even though we went to homeschooling get togethers often she didn’t really connect with anyone like this. Her and Sam were inseparable. Sam walked her to the nurses office 3 times every day to get her blood sugar checked. She told her mom that if Hayleigh came over to play she’d take care of her because she knew how to “take care of her diabetes now.” Every time the class had a party she’d check with Hayleigh to see what food items she could have and if she was bringing cupcakes or something Hayleigh couldn’t eat, she’d bring her something special so she wouldn’t be left out. She’s a very sweet little girl so I can see why Hayleigh wanted her for a best friend.

Hayleigh and I got her a few gifts and she loved them. I got the girls necklaces that say “Best Friends” (one of them gets “Best” and one gets “Friends”) I also got them both a picture frame that says “Friends” with a photo I had taken of the 2 of them a while back. They also got matching Cheetah stuffed animals. Hayleigh said she wanted to get her a cheetah because it will make Sam think of her. We got her some things for the plane ride as well (snacks, gum for popping her ears on the way up, a notebook, crayons, pencils, a case to hold it all in, an I Spy game and a Go Fish game) I also put a small photo album  together of all the photos I had taken this year at school parties/events and other times Hayleigh and Sam played together. It turned out well and when her mom saw it, she almost cried.

Anyway, I think I am just as sad as she is. She finally made a friend that she totally clicked with and now she’s gone. I hope she has an easy time making a good friend next year. Not everyone understands her and the things she deals with like Sam did. We’ll miss her.

 

 

(Crazy hair day)

 

 

A big step!

Well, today I did it. Hayleigh’s little best friend (who is moving to another state in 2 days) begged for Hayleigh to stay over at her house and play after I gave her a ride home. Both girls wanted to have some time together SO bad. I almost said no. I was really close. But I shook off my nervous feeling and actually said “Ok. You can stay for ONE HOUR!” They were both very happy about that. So, I checked her blood sugar (122), made sure her purse was stocked (meter, test strips, lancing device, alcohol wipes, cake gel, juice box…) shoved a gluten free cookie in her mouth because 122 could drop pretty quickly with an active excited girl and left her there. (I know her friends mom very well too so it helped me relax a bit)

This was a big thing for me today. Of course I was nervous and told Scott I wanted to just drive around the neighborhood for an hour just to stay close by. He laughed at me, called me a nut and we went home.

Of course I watched the clock the entire time and in one hour I was there to pick her up. The girls were not happy to see me, of course and I had a hard time getting her in the car to go home. She was fine the whole time. They played in the backyard and had a picnic. They had grapes and Cheetos and Hayleigh bolused herself perfectly! Her blood sugar was great all day.

So, although this may seem like a tiny thing, it feels like a big step to me. I, of course, don’t want to do this too often. But I am glad she did so well today and I am proud of myself for not hiding around the corner and watching her like a crazy mom! ;o)

Avoidance

Last week a mom of one of the kids in Hayleigh’s class called about Hayleigh’s party. She said she was sorry that her daughter couldn’t make it but they had family visiting and they were going to be busy all weekend. She also let me know how upset her daughter was that she could not be there but that she wanted to invite Hayleigh over this week for a playdate. I told her we could talk about it again during the week and “maybe make some plans”. As I was saying this, I knew in the back of my mind that it was not going to happen. I would have some excuse ready or maybe I just wouldn’t answer the phone. But Hayleigh was not going.

I have been doing this since Hayleigh started school in Kindergarten. She was invited over to a few girls houses for playdates and each time I was ready with an excuse. After a while the invitations stopped coming. I felt bad that she had missed out but knew I’d feel worse if she actually went.

The neighbor girl down the street has been asking forever for Hayleigh to sleep over. At first I told her that maybe Hayleigh could do that after she got her insulin pump. I explained that things would be easier then. The day she got the pump the little girl came over and asked if she could sleep over now. I told her it would take a while for us to get used to having the pump but maybe soon she would be able to. Here we are a year and a half later and I still have not let her sleep over. This little girl lives across the street and 4 houses down. It’s not that far, but it’s too far for me to check on her and far enough for me to worry.

Hayleigh is 8. She has had health problems for most of her life. 6 years and 3 months to be exact. Here we are 6+ years later and I still worry when she sleeps in too late. I still check on her in the middle of the night. I still put my head to her chest to make sure she’s breathing ok. I worry when she is at school. I worry even when she’s quietly playing upstairs. If Kailyn wakes up in the morning and says “I tried to wake Hayleigh up but she wouldn’t wake up.” my heart starts racing and I run upstairs to check on her. She’s usually fine but I worry that one day she won’t be.

I still remember the night that Scott went to check on her at midnight. He checked her blood sugar and yelled for me to bring juice, she was 32. Waking her up proved to be a mistake. As soon as she woke up she got upset and that made her blood sugar drop even more. Then she went into a seizure.

I can’t even begin to explain how scary that was. Or how scary it is each time she is in the hospital or each time she just gets sick. I worry to the point of making myself sick. What will happen next? Will she really be ok?

I know eventually I have to let her live a normal life. As normal as she possibly can. But other parents don’t get it like I do. I don’t expect them to but I do want them to understand why we are avoiding them. Playdates at our house? Great! No problem. Playdates or sleepovers anywhere else? I can’t see that happening in the near future.

I hope she never looks back on all of this and feel she missed out and I hope she doesn’t resent me for being as overprotective as I am. But I do hope she realizes one day that I did this because I love her and because I worry. And if keeping her safe makes me seem like I am a crazy overprotective mom then so be it. I’d rather feel comfortable with her playing here with her friends then have something happen to her when I am not there.