GNO

Every mom has a calendar. My mother was like a super woman. She kept a mental calendar. Never having to write appointments or dates down, she would just remember. She is the type of woman who doesn't need an alarm clock either. She has some kind of super brain power that lets her remember things and wakes her up at the exact time that is needed. I unfortunately didn't inherit that brain power. I have three calendars. One for work that I write down all my lesson plans and work related obligations. One for the family that has every appointment, event, practice, school assignment and Matt's travel schedule. My third calendar is my diabetes calendar that I write down every site change and every sensor restart, every battery charge, when to order pump supplies, when to order prescriptions.

This week my family calendar looked not unlike every other week since school has started. 3 football practices, 1 football game, tennis lessons twice this week, scout pack meetings, dance class, PTA spirit night at a local restaurant, 2 spelling tests, one math test, one American symbols test, Reagan is in charge of bring snack for her preschool class all week, and Matt is out of town Monday through Thursday. There was one event on my calendar for Saturday that made me smile every time I looked at it. Its so fun to leave the kids and husband at home every once and a while and go out with your girlfriends for a good movie, good food, and good gossip. I had a blast. We saw the new Richard Gere movie "Nights in Rodanthe", ate great food (including dessert), and laughed more times than I could count.

Thanks Girls. Lets do it again soon.

Dawson is 7

This week was Dawson's 7th Birthday. He was so excited for this big day. Here was a conversation on the morning of his birthday.

Dawson: Mom was I born yet?

Me: No you were born in the afternoon. Right about now I was in a lot of pain and probably screaming.

Dawson: That's why I'm never having kids.

Me: (Laughing) Well Dawson when you have kids it will be your wife who will be in a lot of pain and screaming.

Dawson: I know but I don't even want to hear all of that.

Parker: I know me either. Poor Dad he had to hear that three times.

Poor Dad? 9 months of pregnancy and hours of labor(with no drugs) and my boys are having sympathy for Dad. Where is the justice in motherhood.

It was a great birthday filled with cake, Chuck E Cheese, and the 15 mile an hour scooter he has been coveting for a while. What more could a kid want. Happy Birthday Dawson. We love you more than you will ever know.

7 Things I HATE about You

In our house there are certain words that you are not allowed to say. There are the standard 4 letter words as well as several others. Liar, stupid, jerk, shut up, suck, and hate are the big ones. Just recently we were driving in the car and the new Miley Cyrus song "7 Things" came on. I remarked to the kids that I couldn't believe she was saying the hate word. I always tell the kids that they can dislike something or someone but we should never hate. It isn't a Christ like quality. Dawson then asked me if he could hate diabetes. Tears welled in my eyes and I turned to my son and told him YES. He can hate diabetes. So in honor of Dawson and our new hate for diabetes I thought I would write down the 7 things I hate about diabetes.

1. I hate the way you make Dawson feel.

2. I hate that you have stolen a piece of his sweet innocence.

3. I hate that my son thinks about dying because of you.

4. I hate that you have taken away Dawson's independence and ability to be on his own.

5. I hate all of the sleep you take.

6. I hate the permanent damage you are constantly causing Dawson's body.

7. I hate that you chose my son.

I said it and its true. I hate diabetes. As much as I hate it, I know that this disease is making Dawson and our family stronger than ever.

My Princess

This was Reagan's week. Reagan started school this week. She couldn't wait until it was her turn. She has been waiting to wear her back to school outfit that she went shopping with Grandma and Grandpa Parker to get. She looked so cute. She was full of sass as usual. I'm glad I have one more year to share with Reagan before kindergarten.This was also a big week for Reagan because she started her tap/jazz combo dance class. When Reagan first told me that she wanted to take dance class I was shocked. I was never a good dancer. When I was Reagan's age our family friend, Martha Calder, was a dance teacher. My mom signed me up to take a ballet and jazz class. I only lasted two weeks before Martha told my mom that I should stick to swimming and dancing really wasn't my thing. I never really improved. Just a couple of years ago I got kicked out of a step aerobics class because I was messing up the entire class. My rhythm has always been questionable. I hope Reagan doesn't take after me and really enjoys her dance class. (she better after $60 month tuition, $28 tap shoes, $39 jazz shoes, $17 uniform leotard) I'm sure this class will be priceless.

I always knew this day would come. It happens to every mother. I got lucky with my boys and never experienced it. It figures that it would be my little princess. This week Reagan decided to cut her hair.(herself) I have to admit it isn't as bad as it could have been. However she has been growing her hair since she was a baby. I have never cut it. It is long and curly and beautiful. And now it is long and curly and beautiful with side bangs only on one side. I walked around sad for a couple of days until Reagan told me that I was just going to have to "Get over it." The next morning she brought me her brush and instructed me to "Make it Work". I guess that's what we are going to have to do. Make it work.

Little Tough Guy

Parker had his first football game of the season. It was so exciting. This is Parker's second year in tackle football. Last year was definitely a learning year. When he started practice this year it was remarkable how much better he was. This year he is bigger, stronger, older, and has a lot more confidence because of his experience from last year. He loves his new coach and all of his team mates. He was chosen to be a team field captain. He is such the little leader. His team is the Spotsylvania Dolphins. Parker was bummed that his game jersey didn't arrive before his first game. I'll post new pictures when they come in.

Parker played both ways the entire game. As you can imagine my voice was almost gone by the end of the game from all of the cheering. He plays center on offense and nose guard on defense.
Lot's of well earned sweat. The Dolphins won 19-0. Parker recovered 2 fumbles. Way to go big guy. We're proud of you Parker.

40th Year

Matt is 39. Yup he is old. It doesn't seem possible that my husband is that old. But he is. I stopped enjoying birthdays when I turned 30. I hate getting old. I hate grey hair. I hate that my brain doesn't work like it used too. I hate that I can't remember where my cell phone, car keys, or purse are a little too often. The only comfort I have in getting older is that my sweet husband Matt is always way older. It sounds mean but I enjoy this very much. I love to tease him. My sister in law,Anna, does as well. When Matt turned 35 we joked that he was in his late 30's. Now that he is 39 she informed him that he is actually in his 40th year. Well Matt live it up. The real 40 is just around the corner.

School...Glorious School

It finally came. The day I'd been looking forward to since June 6(the day school got out). I say that only half kidding. I love lazy summer days but I much prefer structure and schedule. I'm the type who has every minute of vacations planned out too. This year my boys were very excited for back to school. Dawson got Mrs. Oliver for 1st. grade and Parker got Miss Terney for 3rd. grade. Mrs. Oliver has class pets (which excites Dawson) and she is a looping teacher which means we will have her for two years. (which excites me) Parker got the teacher he really wanted and she is "cool" in the 3rd. grade world.

I was also excited this year because my boys let me put them in matching first day of school outfits again. This year the shirts were different colors but the same shirt. I think they look so cute. I know the day is coming very soon when they won't let me do this so I'm just going to live it up while I can.

The school bus came. Both boys jumped on. Neither looked back or said good bye with tears in their eyes because they were so sad to leave me.(which probably means they were looking forward to this day as much as I was) So yes I had to peak my head in the bus and tell them to have a great day. That shouldn't have embarrassed them too much!(next year I bet they'll say good bye)

"Seek Failure"

As I mentioned in a previous post, the best thing that happened to our family this summer was definitely attending the Children With Diabetes Friends for Life Conference. The CWD Friends for Life conference in Orlando is filled with parents who care. With kids who pump and who know the carb content in their favorite breakfast cereal. With grandparents who can proudly program a pump, or siblings who know how to treat their brother or sister's low blood sugar. It's also filled with some of the diabetes medical community's finest. One of the conference speakers was Jay Hewitt. He is a type 1 diabetic who competes in iron man competitions. Jay encouraged the kids to set goals and take control of their lives.
"Make the bad things that happen to you the best thing that happened to you. Seek failure. Think about failing. Set goals that have failure potential. Failure is not a bad thing. If you've never failed, you aren't trying hard enough."

I started thinking about Jay's comments this week because it is so easy for me to feel like I'm failing as a mom. With so many "big" things to do on my daily list I often over look the little things. Its the little things that make me feel like a failure. Little things like when its your kid who forgot his water for football practice(again) or your daughter has no shoes on at the grocery store. When I remembered Jay's comments about failure it made me realize that I'm trying my hardest and failure is not a bad thing. So I want to encourage all of you to "Seek Failure".

P.S. Check out http://jayhewitt.com/. Jay is pretty darn handsome. Maybe that's why his inspirational message resonated to my very core!

A Day at the Ballpark

This weekend we finally made it to the new Washington Nationals Ball Park. It is amazing. Every year we try to make it to a couple of games per season. We were so excited when we heard that the Nats were going to get a brand new stadium because the old RFK stadium had seen better days. I have to say that the new stadium is even better than Camden Yards. There wasn't a bad seat in the entire park. The area surrounding the park is getting better and this new stadium will revitalize this part of the city which is great. The seats were great, the food was really good(but expensive), and we had a blast.

This baseball game was also really special because it was a Starlight Great Escape. Starlight is a foundation that we were first introduced to when Dawson was in Children's Hospital for his initial diagnoses. Starlight buys all the video game machines and other entertainment for Children's hospitals. They also have a Great Escapes program for seriously ill children not currently in the hospital. They hold several events throughout the year that sick kids and their families can attend. The kids get to meet other kids that are also struggling with health issues and parents are able to meet other parents that are going through similar situations. This organization is all about families. It is really an amazing organization that we are so lucky to be a part of. Our entire family looks so forward to the Starlight events. Its a fun time for everybody and one of the best things that has come to our family since Dawson's diagnosis. Thank you Starlight.

http://www.starlight-midatlantic.org

After the game the kids got to run the bases on the field. What a fun time this was. It was so cool to see the dugouts and to actually be on the grass. It was a great day. The boys loved it but as you can see Reagan was also really excited!

Journey into the City

Today I took the kids to downtown D.C. We went to see the new 3-D movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth". It was playing at our local movie theater but if you drive into the city you can see it on an IMAX screen. It was a lot of fun. 3-D has come a long way since I was a kid and we used the red and blue glasses.

After the movie we went to China Town for lunch. We picked a Mexican place to eat...go figure. I think Reagan's burrito was as big as her.

It was a great day. If you haven't seen the movie give it a try. It was a lot better than the book we all had to read in high school.