Long time, no blog, too busy on Facebook

June was kind of crazy. It seems my diabetes decided to go into overdrive. No longer being able to be controlled by diet and exercise. So, I started taking Metformin. Then somewhere down the road I started a slow acting insulin at night. Now I do all that and take a fast acting insulin with breakfast and dinner. Cameron LOVES watching me give myself shots. At least someone gets joy out of it. He watched me get my blood drawn yesterday. He thinks it's cool. Maybe that will make it easier for him. Good news was that my cholesterol was excellent!

July we went to Cannon Beach for a week for my birthday and got to hang out with the Broska's some. We had a blast. It was great weather. Afterward we headed down to Tillamook to go to the cheese factory and get some ice cream. I had the blueberry cheesecake. Yummy! Then later in the month I go to go to Port Townsend with Andrea. Her hubby was at a jazz camp, and unfortunately caught a virus while he was there. Other than that we had a great time. We ate, napped, explored and window shopped. I loved Troll Haven out near Squim(sp?).

Then Jim's mom came out for 12 days and we all enjoyed her visit. Especially the boys. Cameron unfortunately was on his worst behavior, but it turned out to be a medication problem that we didn't figure out till after she left. So, in August Cammy finished up baseball. He was so happy that Me-mom got to come to a couple of his games.

Here we are in September. Alex started college yesterday and is enjoying it so far. Cameron had his first piano lesson yesterday and was eager to do his practice this morning. Tonight he starts swim lessons up again. The busy season has begun again!

Mohawk Boy

Cammy has loved the A-Team and Mr. T and well, he wanted the mohawk! He already went through the chain phase, but they all kept getting tangled or broke. We get the B.A. sayings all the time from the show. So, here he is with Cinnamin his guinea pig webkin. Yes, I know it is spelled wrong. Webkins does not allow it to be spelled mon. Funny story about the webkin. A couple of months ago Cammt lost a dvd from the library. He tells us that he put it in the dvd player and that it didn't come out. We do NOT believe him, even though he is adament about it. He was working to earn the money to pay the library for the dvd. You can see where this is going. Tuesday morning he wakes me up telling me that he can see the disc in the dvd player through the vcr opening. Yes, it was there. So he actually got to get the money. Webkinz are on sale at Bartell's and so that was what he wanted. He loves Webkins. He was thinking about a bird, but saw the guinea pig and that was the one he wanted. Aren't they a cute pair? I really should trust him more!

Heat Wave, Alex, etc.

We've been in the 80's this week and close to 90. Still an other day or two ahead of it. Cammy's having lots of pool time, and Alex is really staying inside!

Okay, actually, yesterday Alex registered for his fall classes at Highline Community College. We decided to go with Highline instead of Bellevue, because it has a library program that Alex can get an AAS certificate in. For a librarian degree you have to get a masters. This is a good start. It's also smaller, so I think it'll be a good fit for him. He's looking forward to it. He's signed up for English 101, Business Math, Intro to Library & Info Services, and College 100. The College 100 class is 2 credits and is actually a 2 week course before the fall quarter starts. It teaches all about college and what you can get out of it.

Jim and I went on a double date on Monday and had a great time. We ate Mexican and saw the UW Percussion Ensemble and Steel Drum Ensemble. Lots of fun!

Next week is Jim's birthday!

May

I can't believe we are over half way through May already. It is a beautiful sunny day. It's almost like a summer day. Cameron is out riding his scooter and Alex is inside. Go figure!

Mother's Day this year was spent in bed, mostly. I woke up ill. I was feeling a little better by the evening. Nicole was flying home from Victoria and had a layover so I picked her up from the airport and brought her to our house. We would have had longer together if she wasn't such a problem! (Just teasin', sis!) She almost got arrested at the airport. I guess she didn't see the sign on the tram doors that said do not open. She opened them! I love her! She is awesome!

Jim started a part time job this month. It's for a janitorial company cleaning offices. He's working 10-12 hours a week doing that. That should help with getting the truck running good and helping pay for gas on our camping trips this summer. I'm already looking forward to camping. We'll be in Cannon Beach for 6 days, including my birthday! July 2nd weenie roast right after the tsunami! (Inside joke, think about my birthdays!) Maybe we can have the roast on the beach. I've never had a fire on the beach. That would be fun!

This week is the last week of co-op. Cammy will be done and Alex will finish his science class. We're wrapping things up with him one subject at a time. Then he'll be off till college (Running Start) in the fall.

That's a mini update. I'm on Facebook so much that sometimes I forget to update the blog!

My boys....

This is a mini rant. Okay, I'm in the kitchen or office and someone knocks on the front door. All males in the house are within 20 feet of the door. What do they do? Mom, I think someone's at the door, or So and so is here. They can't answer it? Cammy is half excused, but come on Alex and Jim!

Art Show

Friday night was the art show for Cameron's class. His class consists of 5 boys that are pretty much the same age. They are all homeschooled and Andressa taught the class this year. They did some amazing work. The art show was great. The boys and girls art classes had all their work displayed. A big thank you to all my dear friends who showed up. I know that others wanted to be there so I have all his work online now. I was going to go to Kinko's and get all his work scanned, but they wanted $6.99 a picture just to scan! I figured I'd just take pictures of his work. Cameron was very eager to share about his artwork and was excited to get up and use a microphone for the first time. I did have to give a big warning about how to use it properly. He wanted to get up and do the A-Team theme with the words he made up..(The word "monkeybos" over and over in different tones.) I forgot to tell him to hold his paper down when he read, though. He read very well, but had his picture straight in front of his face!

Check out the art show here.

Florida Trip!

I went to Florida for a week earlier this month. I had such a good time with the family. Kind of funny since at a week there would normally be some sort of drama. I guess it was because we were so focused on my dad and his surgery. He had his gall bladder removed. His liver looked good, but there were some other complications so he stayed over night in the hospital. He went home with a catheter, poor thing! 2 days later he went back to the hospital with some other complications, but was released at the end of the day. Now his catheter is out and his stitches have been removed. He's doing much better. I loved being able to spend some time with my dad and see all his dogs and everything he is so proud of their at their home. He and Beverly are really enjoying their home in Mossy Head.

Back to the fun part! It was so nice spending time with everyone. I had a little time with everyone. We completely surprised my Nan-na! I wish we had a picture of her expression. I stayed with Nicole and her roommate Lindsay and had a blast with them. Matt came over from Tallahassee and I was able to meet his girlfriend. I saw Valerie some, it's hard to get a hold of her since she doesn't have a phone. Us sisters did a little shopping one day after the beach and it was great. We went to both of their jobs and I got something from each.

The weather was awesome. I wanted to see a good thunderstorm while I was there. I got one! I landed in the middle of it! We had a good pilot, luckily. We had a tornado warning and everything. It only lasted that one day, and the rest was gorgeous!

While there was some stress, overall it was a nice, relaxing trip. I missed the boys. They were all so happy when they picked e up at the airport. They were jumping up and down waving in the car and it just made me so happy to see then.

Running Start

Alex took the COMPASS test and passed. He had to be able to qualify for English 101 and he did. We are very proud of him. Now we finish up all his 10th grade work. In the fall he will start school at Bellevue Community College. It's exciting and scary. Alex is really looking forward to it. I think that it is going to really benefit him. He does better work when he is accountable to someone other than me. If things go well at the time of graduating high school he will actually have earned an AA.

Running Start

Last night was a Running Start info meeting up at BCC. Jim, Alex and I went. Alex turned in his application and as soon as he gets his BCC ID# he should be able to register to take the COMPASS test. He's excited and so am I. It is such a great opportunity that I wish I would have had. It's weird though that Alex will pretty much be starting college in the fall, though. We're gonna take it one step at a time. Funny thing was that when they were talking about clubs on campus, the first one she mentioned was the Super Mario Smash Brothers! Hmmm college?? I told him no clubs 1st quarter till we know if he can handle it or not. When they mentioned cons, the big one was text books. Yes, tuition is free, but textbooks and class fees are still our responsibility. No big con there since we always pay for our books! I just don't have to buy the teacher manuals, too!

Our 16th Anniversary was March 3rd!

Jim brought me a beautiful bouquet of red roses. Then we went to dinner at The Tantalus in Issaquah for some awesome Greek food. I ventured out and tried something new. They have a wonderful lemon soup with rice and egg. YUMMY! The Chicken Tahini was good too. But of course the absolute best was the Baklava! Doesn't it just look yummy?

The Lord has blessed our marriage in so many ways and it is just amazing to celebrate so many years together. I have such a wonderful famly.

Earhart Adoption Day was March 1st!

This year we decided to go to the Museum of Flight. Love the coupons. All three boys had a great time. We've been wanting to go onto the Concord and the 707 Air Force One. They loved the WWI and WWII exhibits. We followed the tour up with a trip to Dairy Queen.

Another lost tooth...

Don't you just love this look? I mean not just the expression. The whole space around the two teeth. He pulled this one out this morning. He's proud. He pulled it out this morning, washed it, put it in a baggie and put it under his pillow. He's all ready for the tooth fairy. Probably because he spend all his money yesterday.

UW Percussion Ensemble

Last night Andrea and I went to UW to see the Percussion Ensemble. Wow! It was so cool. There are so many pieces. I love watching the students play multiple instruments. I have a new appreciation for the marimba and those who play it. I wish I could put last night into words, but it was music. It's just not possible. Except the portion that was like a drum off between two drum sets. That was my favorite part!

I did also have Indian food for the first time. YUMMY! Garlic Naan bread is awesome! Loved the mushroom rice and the Chicken Korma Mushroom. Very good! But, since Jim thinks Indian restaraunts smell like a combo of two very disgusting things that I will not put here, it will be a cuisine I eat with my friends and not Jim.

Now what?

Everyone knows that after I see a doctor I usually have some new diagnosis or something wrong. I mean how many things can I have, geez? Actually, I praise God for my health. As many problems as I've had I still am pretty healthy.

Well, today I got the results back from my blood draw a couple of weeks ago. I'm so happy because my cholesterol is great and my A1c (diabetes) number was awesome. I'm actually at pre-diabteic levels!
Yippeee!!! Wooohoooo!!!!

A little note from bed.

I'm still sick. I got better and now feel bad again. I'm hoping that it's not pneumonia again. I'll probably be going to the doctor this week.

Cammy finished level 2 swimming. He was doing flips off the diving board during free swim. He loves swimming. He's doing great at defense in basketball, too.

Alex is still on his weekly library trips and enjoying the teen advisory board. Last night he spent over at his buddy Kai's house.

Jim and I actually had a pretty good week. We went out on a date on Tuesday to see Taken and have dinner. We also just had some fun evenings with the kids. I love those.

So there is a little mini updat! 8)

Obviously, I've been busy!

From my last blog entry you can tell that the schedule is full. Things have been busy, but now are kind of routine again. Getting back into the routine is a killer though. The kids are doing well with their school work and loving co-op. Cameron loves swimming and basketball. It's hard to believe that January has almost come to an end.

We had to plan Jim's vacation days for the year. They always have to be planned in January. It was exciting to think of the fun that we will be having this year. We are planning on going to Cannon Beach for a week on my birthday. That will be fun. We're hoping Jim's mom comes out in August for Seafair. We usually have great weather and we all enjoy watching the Blue Angels. Then we should have a fun camping trip with the Grosso's in September on Cammy's birthday.

Jim has a cold, but luckily it isn't the flu that has been going around. Not sure if Cammy or his friend David gave it to him. Alex seems to be coming down with it to. I'm praying that I don't catch it. No time for a cold here. I have too much to do. I'm feeling pretty productive right now. I'm getting lots of things done. Alex and I have had some good talks and done some of his homeschool together. Not much, but usually he wants to be so independent about it. I don't think I've taught him anything. He teaches himself.

I'm putting in a picture from after church this weekend of Jim and I. We never have our picture taken, so here it is. Hope all is well with everyone and know that you are all in our prayers.

Full speed ahead!

We jumped into the first full week of the new year a million miles an hour. (Cammy math?) Cameron's back in swimming and loving it. We did the family swim after his lesson Monday night. I can't count how many times he jumped off the diving board. Then as we were leaving swam underwater for a few feet. I was really impressed. Basketball started back up and he had his first game today. According to Jim he did very well. I was in bed recovering from the week!

I put in a lot of hours this week compared to the norm and it was pretty draining. I tried to get some homeschool in, but didn't make much progress there. Next week will be a little better. Being so out of routine and home bound with the snow made this past week a sort of shock.

Alex had a pretty good week getting back into things. Homeschool, library, Teen Advisory Board, hanging out with a buddy, dr. appt., co-op, and going to the teen night up at church. He's doing very well.

Jim is in project mode right now. He fixed one of the doorways and caulked it up. He's also painting the laundry room, and hopefully replacing the broken window.

A big thank you to Tim. He's sending Cammy to Monster Jam next weekend! WooHoo! I opted to stay home, while Jim, Alex and Cammy go. I love the ear plugs! They are going to need them. I'm thinking about some nice quiet time or just some girlfriend time. We'll see!

Math, Cammy style

The boys are playing bionicles. Cameron is saying that something is "quadrillion, million high. Even a thousand!"

More injuries...

As you can tell, I'm playing catch up on my blogging. Cammy had 2 more injuries last week to add to the bloody nose. I sent him downstairs to get some chicken out of the basement freezer. He's down there awhile which is nothing new. Finally, I hear him yell, but couldn't understand him. Then he yelled again that he was bleeding so I asked him to come upstairs. His tongue was bleeding a little bit. And in true Cameron fashion....he did it sticking his tongue on the metal shelf of the freezer and getting stuck!!!!

The next day he wakes me up to tell me he is bleeding and can't get it to stop. I look at his hand and it's bleeding pretty bad. I ask how it happened. He was sharpening a knife to cut carrots. 1. It was a small$1 paring knife that you don't sharpen. 2. We didn't have any carrots! So we go in the bathroom an try to clean it up an put some bandaids on. A little later it has bled through so I put some folded p gauze on it. A little later it's bled through. It stopped bleeding but was about 1/4" deep. I figured he didn't need stitches since it wasn't bleeding so I head to the pharmacy for some skin glue. The pharmacist walks us over to it, but is watching Cameron as he keeps bending his hand back opening it more. He suggested not using skin glue on him. So, off to the house where I put in my first aid knowledge (taught to me by Cameron's many trips to the er an dr.) I had to put 2 steri strips on to hold it together. After the neosporin and that I wrapped his hand completely so he couldn't mess with it. He thought it was cool to have a "glove."

I am so tired of blood. I think I'm finally getting desensitized to blood and Cameron's accidents. I used to kind of panic or at least just get nervous inside. Now it is kind of a "now what?" feeling. Lord please keep him safe!

Christmas

My first WHITE CHRISTMAS! It was beautiful. We had about a week of snow and quite a few inches of it. Cameron had a blast in it. Christmas Eve we watched The Nativity Story. For anyone who has not seen it, I highly recommend it. We each opened a gift. Alex bought me a beautiful necklace with my initial on it. He bought Jim The Dark Knight. Funny story about that. Jim saw it 3 times. Christmas morning Cameron woke up at 4am. The worst part is that Jim and I had just gone to bed! We figured there was no point in trying to get him back in bed. He'd just keeping bugging everyone. So we had an early morning Christmas and went back to bed. The kids were very grateful for their gifts. It was a wonderful day celebrating Christ's birth.