Sports, Smiles, and Selebrations...

Yeah, I know that I misspelled celebration, but I wanted the alliteration, and couldn't think of another "s" word that fit. Oh well.

This week was full of sports and celebrations. It began by an amazing volleyball game Thursday night against our rivals. After losing the first two games, my team fought their way back in to win the match 3-2. The crowd was over the top, and I was so proud of my team. To top it off my family was their to witness it all, including my parents. The photographer from the paper snapped a picture of us following the game and sent it to me. Thanks John!

Friday we did not travel to Josh's football game, and instead, played a family duel of Uno. Josh's team won again, and their team is now ranked 7th in state! This week is homecoming, and the following week pits them against the other undefeated team in the league, the playoffs, so football will be on our schedule for a few more weekends.

Saturday started with an early, chilly soccer game, but the Crebbin girls played hard regardless. Besides Grandma and Papa cheering them on, Kellen and his girlfriend rooted them on too.

The day turned into a beautiful afternoon, so we headed to the pumpkin patch. Of course, to the girls, the bigger the better, so we had to do a lot of searching to find just the right one (not quite as challenging as our Christmas Tree searches, but almost). We continued the celebratory feeling by Mike and I celebrating the weekend between our birthdays, which seems to have turned into a tradition! We don't have much time midweek, so the weekend between our birthdays is usually the perfect time.

Pre-Birthday Celebration

Since Mike will be traveling to Josh's away football game tomorrow, and Kellen had today off, we decided to celebrate Mike's birthday a day early. Among his favorite gifts from the kids was the Spider Catcher, which he had asked for after seeing the commercial on TV.  If you didn't know, he is terribly afraid of spiders, and we have had a lot around here this fall. Unfortunately the gift did not arrive in the mail on time, so he opened this printout of his gift:)

Today was an amazingly beautiful fall day, so the entire family headed out for an afternoon of frisbee golf at Ft. Nugent Park. Even our dog Romeo played! Eighteen holes can be a long time for 7 year olds, but they did great and have fairly decent throwing skills. Of course, since it was Mike's pre-birthday celebration, we decided to let him win! Notice each person's unique throwing style:

While Mike and Josh headed out on a run, Kellen and I prepared one of Mike's favorite dishes together, Chipotle Macaroni & Cheese. Kellen did not enjoy cooking when he was a young kid, but now that he is out and on his own, he is wanting to learn more, so we had a good time fixing dinner together.  For dessert we chose a  Kahlua cream pie instead of a cake, so it cooled off the spiciness of the chipotle, and slid down into our already quite full tummies a bit easier.  The number "7" flashed on and off the candle, so we let the girls practice their math skills by adding the missing 40 years.

 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

Hanging On...

To say this has been a tough school year so far is an understatement. At times I have felt overwhelmed, as if I am a first year teacher again (despite being in my 20th year)!  On top of being in a new position, the little time I do get for planning is spent in meetings and paperwork.

I am so thankful for a supportive husband and family. The song below has been very uplifting to me lately, so I thought I would share it here in case you needed something to hang on to also....




Verse 1:
I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you to open my eyes
To see that You’re shaping my life
Pre-Chorus:
All I am, I surrender
Chorus:
Give me faith to trust what you say
That you’re good and your love is great
I’m broken inside, I give you my life
Verse 2:
I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you pierce through the dark
And cleanse every part of me
Bridge:
I may be weak
But your Spirit’s strong in me
My flesh may fail
My God you never will

Invisible Illness Week...

In case you didn't know (like I didn't), today wraps up Invisible Illness Week. What, you haven't celebrated it yet? Well then let me enlighten you. Before I go any further, let me credit Kerri at Six Until Me for the source of this meme.

30 Things About My Invisible Illness: 2011

1. The illness I live with is: type 1 diabetes
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:  1992
3. But I had symptoms since: Just a few weeks before my diagnosis in May that year
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Carrying a big enough purse to haul all my diabetes related "stuff," like my glucose monitor, extra pump batteries, glucose tablets, snacks, etc. Also, losing my spontaneity in being able to go anywhere without it.
5. Most people assume: that because I'm a PE teacher and coach, I wouldn't have such a disease. Another assumption is that because I wear a pump and a glucose monitor, then I don't have to poke my finger to test my blood sugar, and things sort of self-monitor themselves.
6. The hardest part about mornings are: not being able to eat cereal, which I love! Cereal in the morning skyrockets my blood sugar!
7. My favorite medical TV show is: I Didn't Know I was Pregnant on TLC. It's outrageous; I mean, how in the world can you not know that???!!!
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: Definitely my insulin pump!
9. The hardest part about nights are: It doesn't happen very often since wearing my Dexcom, but waking up in the middle night with the chills, soaked in sweat, is the worst feeling.
10. Each day I take 1 pill & one vitamin D with calcium.  Who knew Hypothyroidism and Type I diabetes went hand in hand? The vitamin is because I am now over 40:) Oh yeah, I infuse insulin 24/7. 
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: have been annoyed over the years with people suggesting various treatments for my diabetes. Excuse me, but if there was a cure by now, I think the rest of us would know about it!
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:  Neither, but I don't see that option. Guess it would be invisible, then I can make the choice when and to whom I want to share it with.
13. Regarding working and career:  I've been able to talk a lot about diabetes with my students, and love teaching about living a healthy lifestyle.
14. People would be surprised to know: there is no such thing as "being in good control" of your blood sugars. It's a minute to minute thing.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: don't really have a good answer for this one, as I pretty much accepted it from the beginning.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: nothing here either, although in the beginning I did hear people mention "not being able to have babies." I love proving people wrong anyhow.
17. The commercials about my illness: the ones about the "pain free" way to check your blood sugar crack me up. After nineteen years of poking my fingers, they are so calloused that I don't feel a thing!
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: shopping for clothing when I don't have to worry about whether or not I can accessorize it with my pump
19. It was really hard to have to give up: ... smoking (just kidding, never did!)
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: reading food labels;-)
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: go mountain climbing with my husband, without having to worry about my blood sugars dropping
22. My illness has taught me:  that's an easy one...self-discipline
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: asking/telling me that I "can't eat something." Funny how they know me better than I do...
24. But I love it when people: ask me sincere questions about diabetes
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: that they aren't alone, and a life of moderation is key
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: I am actually healthier than almost anyone I know. Know what you can and cannot control. This is key.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: keeping the kids out of my room:)
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I don't usually blog about my diabetes, not because I hide it, but it's just a part of my life that I think would bore people to read about. Some of you reading this may not have even know I had it. I guess that's why I found the reference to it being an "invisible illness"intriguing.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: like you know a little more about me now, and since you have read to the bottom, you must be interested. Questions, ask away...

Sept. 8th, double duty..

My first chance to breathe since starting back to school this week. Open House, volleyball matches, soccer practice, working in the concession stand, etc., etc.  Here are the kids on their first day of school...

Poor Josh had to double his birthday with the first day of school! Unfortunately I had an away game that night, so we didn't get to do much celebrating. We definitely made up for it on the weekend though, as we had a big BBQ with 20+ of his friends.  It really turned out to be a great time, and he has a great group of friends.

You Know You're Getting Older When...

You definitely know you are not a teenager anymore when you get kitchen appliances for your birthday, and you are excited about it. That's right, Kellen is now 20 years old! Where did the time go? Along with tickets to yet another year of Bumbershoot, he was ecstatic to receive a Magic Bullet and an electric hot water pot (you know, to heat up water for the ramen noodles!) as gifts.

But the best gift was obviously the nerf gun the girls picked out for him. However, they didn't like it quite as much when he used them for targets:(   While we were in line waiting to buy the gift, I was telling Kaia that Kellen was going to be 20. She asked if that meant he was going to get married soon, to which I responded "A long time from now if we are buying him toys like this still!"

He also asked to play his favorite game, Munchkin Zombies, to which we conceded (and we "let" him win)...

Jaelyn played the roll of photographer, and took pictures of everything around the house. Thank goodness for digital cameras! She did get a good shot though of the pork chops that Kellen requested, and Mike barbecued!

 What better way to top it off with than a blizzard cake from DQ!

Does this look like an adult to you???

I think not, but you gotta love him!

The Girls' Turn...

So this week it was the girls turn to go hiking with Mike. The goal, to conquer Sauk Mountain, which not only they accomplished, but our dog Romeo did too! Kaia started to drag about 1.5 miles into the hike, but was re-energized once they hit snow. 

They peaked at over 5,500 ft., and enjoyed the beautiful wildflowers and scenery along the 4.2 mile trail. The only downside was that they were not the only ones who ventured out that day, as the trail was quite busy. 

Mike has been talking one more hike before the end of the summer, which unfortunately is coming all too quickly.