Let's Play Ball

The hockey equipment is dried out and packed away. 

Baseball gloves, balls and the hitting machine have been set up in the family room (yes, you read that correctly) for several weeks now.  All in preparation of the baseball season.

Kidlet Three has been involved in three nights of baseball tryouts to secure a place on a traveling baseball team. 

Last night was the final night and he did make one of the two teams and we are all so excited.  And we are very proud of him.

The Husband and I will have a social life again now.  Since hockey ended, we've been rattling around in the house together missing all of the other hockey parents.  Isn't that a selfish reason to have your child play sports...for the social life!

So with great excitement we look forward to many evenings and weekends watching games like this one...

And I look forward to adding my chair into this line of moms watching the game... 

The Husband always grills during tournament weekends so he has been eyeing the tub of grilling supplies in the garage in anticipation...

And even the rainy ballgames will be fun and something to look forward too.

Let's play ball!

A1c Result

Woot! Woot!  There is celebrating going on in our house.

Every three months Kidlet Three has a blood A1c test.  This amazing test reveals the blood glucose levels for three months.  It is like our blood cells store 'history'.  There can be no secrets in the blood cells.  The A1c level will tell if diabetes has been in control or not.

A person that does not have Type 1 diabetes might have an A1c level between 4.5 and 5.5.  A person with Type 1 diabetes, with good control of their diabetes, will have an A1c between 6 to 8.

For the seven years Kidlet Three has had diabetes, his A1c levels have ranged between 8 and 8.9.

Which isn't bad.  I'm told there are children that have A1c levels up to 11.

But we don't want a level that 'isn't bad', we want the best possible level!  Keeping diabetes in control will keep Kidlet Three healthy and hopefully keep diabetes complications from not occurring.

Exercise, stress, teenage hormonal changes, and other factors affect blood sugar levels.  The past three months with Kidlet Three playing traveling hockey and growing several inches, have been a challenge.  The balancing act of keeping the blood sugar levels (from the finger poke blood sugar checks) in the 80 to 120 range by figuring out how much insulin to give, continues to be the challenge in management.

Drum roll please...

We got the results of the latest A1c in a letter yesterday.

Did you hear the hollers of excitement ringing through the air.

For the first time in 7 years, Kidlet Three's level is below 8.  Seeing the numbers 7.6 on the letter brought tears, hugs, and even some jumping up and down in excitement.

This great result is even more exciting because Kidlet Three has really taken over much of his diabetes management.

Woot! Woot!  It is an amazing day!

A Full Platter

Work is really complicated right now with re-organization

My father-in-law calls the house repeatedly from his skilled care room 

Kidlet Three has Type 1 diabetes which affects every single thing he does

I have a friend with serious issues in her life and I've promised to be her advocate

Oh and there is a whole lot more.

A whole lot more issues

Remember I choose to NOT let my mind go over and over the issues in my life

If I do allow my mind to go over the list, it gets just too overwhelming

Which leads me to my complaining session with God

I have a relationship with God

He and I talk about everything and anything

I trust Him and I know beyond a shadow of doubt that He is in control of my life

So I questioned Him about all of the issues that were piling up on me

In reality, my questioning was more like complaining

This all happened as I was walking between meetings at work

My brain was going over all of the issues and soon I was hyperventilating

Fighting to breathe over issues I can't control but are so important to me

And then the picture popped into my mind

A picture of a huge platter

Kind of like the platter Kidlet Three is holding in the picture

As I walked I was able to 'see' this platter get stacked with all kinds of rocks

Big rocks, little rocks, jagged rocks, dirty rocks

The rocks represented all of the issues in my life

In the picture, the rocks were really stacking up

Which led me to yell at God:  see what I mean?

Those rocks weigh a lot and are bringing me down!

God can handle me yelling at Him
I've done it before 

And in His loving way, He changed the picture for me

The picture of the platter changed to see a Hand holding it

Just like in the picture here, there was a Hand holding the rock platter

See, I am the platter

The issues are rocks that are in my life

And God is the Hand holding me up

I don't have to do anything

He holds me up

There is nothing I have to carry

Because a platter can't carry anything..literally

Someone has to carry the platter

Whew!  What freedom came to me when I looked at the Hand

And took my eyes off the rocks

How about you

What are you carrying these days on your platter

Know that God never asked you to carry things yourself

He is the only one that can give real rest.

Check out Matthew 11:25-30 from The Message Bible

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Turning 25

Guess who is turning 25 on March 16...

Our AMAZING daughter!  

Oh what a glorious day it was the day you were born.  

You have grown into a beautiful, loving, helpful, discerning, smart, fun, tender and powerful woman.  

May God just bless your socks off today and in the coming years!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Dad and Mom

The FUNNIEST Show on TV

I wonder how many of you would remember these good TV shows from the past:

Lassie

Bonanza

Walt Disney

I Love Lucy

It is so difficult to find a TV show that doesn't have:

Blood

Guns

Boobs (yup, I typed it)

Dads made to look dumb

Horrific crime scenes

You get the picture.

Well, Kidlet Three and I have found a show that we record each week.  We even go back and re-watch certain episodes because we laugh so hard.

Before I tell you what the show is, I have to remind you that it has always been very important to me that all three of my Kidlets be able to cook several meals on their own before they graduate and move on to college.  They have to be able to sustain themselves in cooking, cleaning and doing their own laundry.  And Kidlet Three is on his way to this independence having mastered a quesadilla!  Well, he is make other meals, too, but that is his standby meal!

Back to the TV show we love.  Have you seen this show?

Watching these adults try to cook and do basic tasks is nothing less than hilarious.  Then put them with Master Chefs Anne and Bobbie and the fun gets 'kicked up a notch'.

The episode from this week had one of the women walking around the kitchen with flour all over in her hair because she hadn't put the cover on the food processor when she was mixing flour and butter.  Oh my gosh it was funny.

Check out this link, worst-cooks-in-america, to watch episodes online.  I would love to hear you laugh as you watch it!

Flu and A Good Word

After our hospital week last week, we had a fun weekend.  Saturday night our small group met together for dinner.  We usually go around the table giving each person the chance to share whatever is on their heart:  a word of encouragement, asking for help about an issue or giving an update as to what is going on with them.  No pressure..just a time to be accountable or not.  Sometimes we worship together but we do always pray for one another.  It was a highlight of the weekend.

Sunday found us at church in the morning, running errands in the afternoon and then to the hockey year-end-party in the evening.

Then the flu bug caught me.  Monday early, early morning my tummy was not a happy camper.  Because The Husband gets dehydrated after one puke event (was that too much information?) I moved to the basement bedroom and bathroom so I didn't expose him to any germs.  There I lived from Monday morning until this morning.  Thankfully I am better.

As I came upstairs today and turned the daily calendar on the Max Lucado devotional, I just knew I had to share this with you.  From his book, Next Door Savior, this is Max Lucado.  And this is a 'good word':

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You've barely dipped a toe into Matthew's gospel when you realize Jesus hails from the Tilted-Halo Society.  Rahab was a Jericho harlot.  Grandpa Jacob was slippery enough to warrant an electric ankle bracelet.  David had a personality as irregular as a Picasso painting--one day writing psalms, another day seducing his captain's wife.  But did Jesus erase his name from the list?  Not at all...

Why did Jesus hang his family's dirty laundry on the neighborhood clothesline?  Because your family has some too...[and] Jesus wants you to know, "I've been there."... To the lonely, Jesus whispers, "I've been there."  To the discouraged, Christ nods his head and sighs, "I've been there."

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Isn't that a good word?  None of us comes from a perfect family.  None of us is perfect.  Jesus wants us to know that He understands.  That because He walked on this earth He  can say "I've been there".  He is the one that has overcome all.  He is the 'good word' that we should look to in all circumstances in our lives.

May you know Him, personally.  The one that says "I've been there....for you."

Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my recipe box from YEARS ago, is a recipe entitled

Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before The Husband went into the hospital last weekend,

we made this big batch of cookies.

Here is the ingredient list:

2 cups butter (I used 1 cup shortening and 1 cup butter)

2 cups sugar

2 cups packed brown sugar

4 eggs

4 cups flour

5 cups oatmeal, blended to a powder

1 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

2 t. soda

24 oz. chocolate chips

3 cups chopped walnuts, optional

The Husband helped blend the oatmeal

 Oatmeal before blending....

...and oatmeal after blending

Set the oatmeal aside.

Place the shortening and butter in mixing bowl.

Add the brown and white sugars...

and blend together well.

Begin adding the dry ingredients...

and then the chocolate chips and nuts.

This is one full bowl!

Use an ice cream scoop and drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 12 minutes.

With a hot cup of coffee, these cookies are amazingly delicious!

War: The Fight Is On

War:  The Fight is On

Monday morning as I started my day in prayer, this is the God-Nudge that came to me.  You might remember that the night before The Husband had been admitted to the hospital with a possible bowel obstruction.

Twenty-five years ago when The Husband and I were expecting our first child, he had a bowel obstruction.  The doctors told us his abdominal x-ray looked like a rubber band that has been rubbed between your hands and is nothing but a twisted mess.  Surgery was done to straighten the twisted mess.  And within 24-hours of post-surgery, The Husband was worse!

See, he grows scar tissue like Campbell's makes soup.  Back to surgery he went and within 30 minutes of the start of surgery, the surgeon walked into the room where I was waiting.  For the second time in The Husband's life, the surgeon could not even cut him open.  The scar tissue (adhesion) was so dense, that the surgical team was breaking scalpels trying to cut open The Husband.  Those adhesions had completely closed up any remaining bowel.  He was closed up and laid in the hospital bed for two months waiting for the adhesions to soften so food could pass.  

Monday morning, I knew that this was a very real possibility in front of us.  

And the only way out of this was our Amazing God.

War:  The Fight is On

The Fight is prayer.  In prayer I worship, give honor and glory to the Living God who is and has been faithful to The Husband and I.  There were many other prayer warriors that joined me in praying for this loop of bowel to unkink.  

Again, God was faithful.  He amazes me. 

Stress and fear try to creep in when these health issues pop up.  Sometimes I am tempted to make a list of all the 'issues' in my life and there are some ongoing Could-Be-Stressful-Issues.  If I spend time reviewing that list, wow, I can really get myself into a funk.  

War:  The Fight is On 

includes my thoughts.  There is a war for my thoughts.  I have to choose to NOT review the list and to keep my thoughts on the One-That-Is-Faithful.  

Which brings me to one of my favorite songs, "This Warrior Is a Child".  I found myself singing this song today.   I hadn't heard it in years but it has been a song that I have felt could be my trademark song.  When the battle is on.  When there is War and the Fight is On...sometimes the Warrior Is a Child and needs to go running home to God.  To His Home to be refreshed and re-strengthened.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with issues in life.  If you are needing to know God's incredible, refreshing and unending love, run to Him.  

You can choose to trust in Him just as I do.

Home From the Hospital

The Husband is home from the hospital.  On Sunday I took him to the emergency room with extreme abdominal pain, nausea and excessive diarrhea.  The Husband doesn't have his colon so he gets dehydrated quite quickly.  With the diarrhea he'd been having, dehydration was a concern of ours.

After two hours of waiting in the lobby at the Emergency Room, a nurse came to re-assess The Husband and she found his blood pressure dropping and while she was talking with him, he passed out and started vomiting while he was unconscious.  Medical staff came running and cleared The Husband's airway.  It was all quite exciting...NOT!  He immediately was moved into a critical care room and for the next six hours, he had fluids pushed through his IV.  Those of you medically trained, the IV pump in this picture is not the one from the ED but the one showing his IV rate once he was in his room.  

 A CT scan showed a partial bowel obstruction.  With his history of these and with the surgical risk he is, he was admitted to a medical unit to receive IV fluids and to wait (and pray a lot) for the kink of bowel to unkink.  Three nights and four days later, he is able to drink more fluids (input) than the output his body is making.

During his hospitalization, Kidlet Three and I visited often.  Kidlet One and Favorite-Son-In-Law did also come to visit.  Here, Kidlet Three is getting ready to do his homework with his dad's help.  It was algebra and I am just dumb in algebra so Kidlet Three needed his dad's help.

I was so intrigued that the hand sanitizer has its own holder welded onto the end of the bed.  Every healthcare person coming in and out of the room used this.

IV fluids and McDonald's soft drinks.  And homework. And prayers.  Oh we prayed and thanked God for being with us during this adventure.

Thank you SO MUCH for praying for The Husband and the rest of our family.  We know that God heard your prayers.  In the past, The Husband has rebounded so quickly from a partial bowel obstruction.  

We are amazed and grateful.

Hospitalization

The Husband was hospitalized on Sunday.  I have to re-prioritize and am unable to post.  Stay tuned and pray for healing for The Husband!  Thank you!

Hair Secret

Today I feel like revealing a hair secret.  Not that this secret will ever be published as a major news release like the Kardashians. . .

Nonetheless, I continue on in my need to confess.  Last Friday morning Kidlet Three was taking his sweet time in the shower before school.  I needed to get ready for work.  My hair needed washing and the shampoo was in the bathroom, behind the locked door where Kidlet Three was scrubbing his teenage torso.

Side note:  he was probably sitting in the bathtub with the shower running....dozing.  That is what Kidlet Two used to do.  We'd have to pound on the bathroom door to wake up Kidlet Two...teenagers!

Back to the secret.  I went to the rag bag and grabbed an old towel and headed to the kitchen sink to wash my hair.  Here is the secret:

Dawn dish soap was my shampoo of choice last Friday.

To me it was no big deal.  It was the first time in my whole like that I remember using dish soap but hey, no one was going to know, right!

Here is the funny part.  I do not ever putz with my hair.  I dry it and whatever it looks like I spray it and go on with my day.  Well, Friday's style, was pretty awesome.  Whatever happened between the Dawn and the hair dryer, my hair looked good on Friday.  And you should've heard the comments I got from my co-workers.  "Did you just get your hair cut" or "your hair is really nice today" or "wow, what did you do different to your hair today".

Go figure.  The moderately-expensive shampoo we usually buy has never given me the style and compliments I received on Friday.

I just may try Dawn again on another day and see if I get the same hair results.  If I do, I may be writing to the Dawn company and submitting to them the new angle to their product!

Amazing Dawn!  Give it a try on YOUR hair!  tee hee hee....

Set Apart

God planned and packed you on purpose for his purpose.  Heaven's custom design.  At a moment before moments existed, the sovereign Star Maker resolved, "I will make __________."  Your name goes in the blank.  Then he continued with [all] your characteristics.  Insightful.  Clever.  Detail oriented.  Restless.  And since you are God's idea, you are a good idea.  What God said about Jeremiah, he said about you; "Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work" (Jeremiah 1:5).  Set apart for a special work.

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From Max Lucado's book, Cure For The Common Life