Monday, June 6, 2011

Memorial day and anniversary

It rained and was cold, but we got to test out our chili's for the cookoff in June. They turned out pretty good, with a few changes to be made...lookin' to win, but know there are a lot of cookoff veterans that will get in my way.



The deck is awesome. They got all but the trim done and we've gotten to enjoy a few cocktails on it. Can't wait till it's completely finished and we really get to enjoy it. Emmett and Jolene play on it almost everyday. It's kinda like having an extra room on the house. We've started pulling the weeds out in the yard, only to discover a large amount of grass growing beneath it. All the seed we planted last year is really filling in great. We are going to continue the back-breaking task of pulling the weeds so maybe we'll have a yard by the 4th.


We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary while mom watched the runchkins. Luke and I got to try out an out of the way restaurant that is half way up the North Fork, called the Trail Shop. It was good food, good wine, a great view with great company. It was slightly raining and a bit chilly, so they had the fireplace burning...it was nice. We stopped in town for another cocktail before heading home to relieve mom. We've got two more events this week where mom is filling in. Luke has an cocktail/art event on Friday night and we have a BBQ with friends on Saturday night. Luke and I are living it up for our anniversary week!
Next weekend for Father's Day we are headed to Utah to visit Trish and Cody for a bit of camping. Mom and Chrissy are driving, from separate locations, and we are meeting there on Thursday night. Should be a great time, weather permitting for the camping part....

























Friday, May 20, 2011

new deck

When we got home from the springs trip, the new deck had been started. Trent got the old deck off and the new deck started, but it's been raining ever since and work has stopped. So much for a big Memorial Day deck party....we'll see.















A few days later..... after it rained like crazy!





This is today's progress. It hasn't rained since late last night and you can see the impending storm in the background.




Last day of the first year of Preschool

I can't believe it's already been one year of preschool. Emmett's school had a Parent's Day tea on the last day of school. Luke and I, with Jolene, of course got to meet Emmett at school and he gave us some homemade flowers and made us a snack of fruit kebabs. Mrs. McLain had sat each kid down and ask them a round of questions that she then lamanated into a placemat. It was pretty funny stuff. Emmett rarely came home with artwork, guess he's not much into drawing as you can see from his picture of our family. Can't wait to see what he learns next year when he's in a three day class!



Tuesday, May 17, 2011

High Five, Mouse!

We had a great time visit with family and friends in the Springs this past weekend. We got in Friday after a pretty long drive with the kiddos and were treated to Deb's Swedish meatballs, along with a few glasses of wine(for opening night). Aunt Amy came down to visit while we were in town. It was good to get to catch up with her. Saturday, Mark and Deb hosted a BBQ, so a few friends could visit with us and the kids. John and Wendy came and made these awesome white cloud martinis! yum! Sarah, Ryan and the girls also came down. Always so much fun to get to see them, and the girls are instant Jolene watchers! Tim just happened to be in town after he completed a half marathon with his sister in California. The kids LOVE uncle Timmy cause he gets out there and plays hard with them. Lily and Anna kept choosing him to be the alien that was supposed to chase them. Poor guy, but you know he loves it! Lots of drinks were consumed and tons of games played. Amy, Sarah, Deb and I even played a drunk game of Sorry! We wound up convincing the Christensens' to stay a bit longer for dinner so the "kids" could all hang out longer. A great way to spend a Saturday, for sure. On Sunday, we went out for breakfast and met the cousins for a game of Bowling. This was Emmett's first time bowling and he did pretty well(considering he was having diabetes issues-crazy high numbers). He bowled a 73, with bumpers of course, and can't wait to go again. Monday, finally brought on some sunshine. Luke and Mark got to go golfing with Uncle Bobby, while Deb and I took the kids shopping. At naptime, Deb and I went out for a run, which wound up being a walk up a huge hill and a jog down the other side! At least we got some physical activity in this weekend. Another first for the kids, Mark and Deb too us to a Skysox game on Monday night. They are the farm team for the Rockies. It was bit chilly so we didn't stay for too long, maybe til the 5th inning or so. The mascot is a Fox and the kids were not sure of him at first, but by the end they were calling out to him and we got their picture with him. Jolene, I think, stole the show when she started yelling " High Five, Mouse" and " High Five Bunny!" Everyone around us was cracking up. Not once did she call him a fox. Certainly was the funny catch phrase for the rest of the trip.
Most of the pics were on Sarah's camera and Debbie's camera.....hint, hint, hint ;)


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Pampered Chef Party

I got to host a Pampered Chef party on Monday morning. Lots of great women and wonderful conversation! It's been a while since I've been to a pampered chef party so there are some really great things these days. I wound up getting some great kitchen items and more off my wish list than I expected! Mom came for a bit, but was stricken with a sinus infection leading to an ear infection just a few days before she and Chrissy leave for Italy! Plus, with all the kids, it's a pretty crazy party anyway.....we are always outnumbered by the kids. Most of us have two kids, some with three....it can be pretty darn crazy sometimes! Mom leaves for Ft. Collins and then we pack up and leave for the Springs to visit Grandma and Grandpa for a long weekend. busy, busy, busy.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mothers day weekend

I got to make the most of the Mother's day weekend. Starting with Friday eve, when Jessica and I got to drive up to Billings. We signed up for the Womens Run on Saturday morning and decided it would be better if we stayed in Billings the night before. What that translates to is "we get to go out in Billings without kids!". Jess and I had a reasonable amount of wine and made our way to about three places. We split the most amazing goat cheese and fig pizza. I could have one right now.....We got and ran the next morning despite the looming bad weather. It actually was not too bad until an hour or so after the race, when it started to drizzle. Jessica and I wound up being 40 and 35th in our age group of 400 + women, and running 2miles in about 19 mins. There was about 8500 women total signed up for the race. Pretty awesome to be a part of something that big. We got to do some fun shopping after the race and once again we were very excited to be sans kiddos. Jessica's husband and kids met her up in Billings that afternoon and I drove home to continue the great weekend. I awoke on Sunday morning to both kids in bed with a huge singing card and a new bead for my bracelet. They were pretty excited about the singing card. We spent Sunday afternoon at mom's for a nice dinner and a few glasses of wine. Nothing like getting to consume a whole weekend on myself!
Happy Mother's Day to you all!
Jessica has the pics from the race-since I forgot my camera! I will post when I get them.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

What a crappy weekend!

The kids and Luke and I have been sick with colds but the kids seemed to get worse this weekend. The events start with Emmett and I going to pick up Grammy so we could pick up our Bountiful Baskets of fruit and veggies. The delivery truck was delayed so the pickup time was pushed back about an hour. Bummer. So mom, Emmett and I took my car thru the carwash and went back to her house for a bit to wait. Emmett started saying that he needed to go home and was acting kinda tired. Well, he had just gotten some new window stickers from Grammy and he just wanted to go home and put them up...right? Anyway, we load up to get our baskets and I realize that I have missed a call from Luke. It seems that the water canal next to our house is stopped up and overflowing and we now have a river flowing threw our backyard. Me, being the water master for the association, needs to work on stopping the flood. Luke thinks he's got it for the time being and says to get the basket then head home. Mom and I decided that she and Emmett will stand in line for the baskets and by the time I get back, they should be done and I/Luke will pick them up. I drop them off at the front door and head home. Mom calls and says that Emmett is not feeling well and no longer wants to stand on his own. I am almost home and send Luke with Emmett's meter, juice and other supplies to help out mom. Meanwhile I call my friend Brandi who I know is in line for her basket, and ask her to find mom and help out with Emmett. Luke and I trade off at home, he tears off towards the hospital(where our pick up was for baskets) and I load Jolene, who has woken up from her nap, and take off to shut down water so I may try to stop the flood. Crisis averted with the flood. I shut off water and cleaned out stopped up grates and get back to meet mom and Emmett coming up the driveway. Emmett's blood glucose number was fine, but he still looked terrible. It hits me that we need to check him for ketones, stuff we just learned about on Monday while at the doctor. Luke had earlier in the week picked up all of the prescriptions except the ketone strips(cause they are crazy $$$$) and figured we could look into where we might get them less expensive, thinking that we won't need these anytime soon. I take off for the pharmacy and empty my wallet for the strips and get back to check Emmett's blood for ketones. They are sky high, meaning something is wrong. By the numbers written down by the dietitian, if the number was over 3, we should head to the ER. It was 3.3 so I first call Jodie our dietitian to check and she gave us the steps to start to bring it down. I am on the verge of mental breakdown at this point. Literally the shit hit the fan in all of 2 hours. Emmett's numbers recover to a normal range. Once Emmett was out of the woods, Mom and I opened a bottle of wine and tried to recover from the last 3 hours. I finally know for sure that Jolene takes after me....she picked up my empty wine glass and tries to sip/imitate from the glass. Girl of my own heart-see picture below! Then, Luke drives in with his new truck. After he took supplies to Emmett and mom, he went to the Ford Dealership and finally got his new F-150 ecoboost truck. It's awesome, but very overshadowed by the crazy day. Mom heads home(taking the backroads I'm sure--we had a few glasses ;) and we all settle in for the night. Jolene goes to bed with a snotty nose and terrible cough, but with a little Advil, I'm sure she'll be ok. Emmett decides he needs to watch a movie. Whatever. About 9 pm, the phone rings. It's the asshole whose pipe clogged and flooded our yard. He's pissed at me for shutting down water and arguing with me about stupid stuff-I won't bore you with the details. I hang up the phone and lose it. Tears, tears, tears-maybe too much wine, but I'm gonna argue a really tough day.






Luke and I are up most of the night with Jolene who can't sleep cause she's so stuffy and of course worried about Emmett. The kids on Sunday morning both look ok, a bit rough to start, but then perk up when it turns out to be a pretty sunny day and we all go outside for a bit. The kids hopped in the bed of Daddy's new truck and played while dad played too- checking out all the buttons, etc. After awhile, we headed back in(it's still cold ya know) and Jolene wants to watch a movie. Whatever. Sick kids get just about anything they want just so they are comfortable and not whining. Luke, Jolene and Emmett wind up falling asleep on the couch. A much needed little snooze. Then Emmett wakes up and is roasting. 103. and the ketones are back. and he is almost in tears saying he doesn't feel good. OK- call Grammy in for duty one more time to stay with Jolene cause we are taking Emmett to the ER. They put in an IV for fluids, took some labs and then we waited. The doctor came in and told us that he had an ear infection in the right ear, which is causing all of the diabetes issues. Whenever a diabetic is sick, their numbers are thrown way off. We were in the ER for about 4 hours total. While Emmett is finally starting to perk up, Mom thinks Jolene is getting worse. I had to stop at the pharmacy, again, to pick up an antibiotic for Emmett to start in the morning and then head home to possibly take Jolene to Urgent Care to see what is going on with her. I just happened to text Brandi while I was at the pharmacy and she informed me that Urgent Care had closed five minutes ago. Poor Joey. More Advil for her and pray tonight is not as bad as last and I'll take her in tomorrow after Emmett's follow up appointment with his doctor. While driving home I called Chrissy to whine. I knew who hadn't heard my woes yet and would be the best person to call. And she was...always is. Doctor Chrissy prescribed at least two glasses of wine for my troubles. For once I will follow doctors orders!

As I sit here in front of my space heater, just after reading Emmett night time books, sipping on my cocktail, it feels as if it was all a dream. Except that I am exhausted and drained and probably going to bed-once my cocktail is finished.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

t-ball team

Emmett went to T-ball on Thursday night and they got their team gear. He was so excited that he slept in his team shirt that night. I had to pry it off of him to try and wash/shrink his shirt. They are the Grasshoppers and he sure is pumped. Games start next week...stay tuned!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

New pump

We headed to Billings to have some training on Emmett's new insulin pump. He is excited(only cause it's blue-otherwise I don't think he knew what was about to happen.) to have a "vacation" with just mom and dad in Billings and get to stay overnight in a HOTEL! Grammy stayed with Jolene so we could spend this time with Emmett and only focus on him while we were learning this whole new process. Emmett did very well during our two hour training and got to pick out a new toy afterwards and then treated to a boomerang burger at Outback for dinner. The first night was a bit rocky but went to the doctor the next morning and worked out the kinks-literally. It seems there were some air bubbles in the tubing that caused a lack of insulin which in turn caused high blood glucose numbers. Since then, we have not becomes pros, but are well on our way to making sure Emmett does not have four shots a day anymore! He is VERY excited about no more shots. We just have to change the site of his tubing every three days. He is very unsure about this and takes a bit of bribing to get it done. But if you recall back in September when all of this started, that was the case as well AND it was four times a day that we were bribing him. If you ask him what his favorite part about the trip was, he'll tell you that he got to stay in a HOTEL and eat breakfast in bed. it's the little things ya know?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter fun



The easter bunny stopped by our home Sunday morning. He left an egg by each of the kids' doors and hid eggs in the house for them to find. They had a few pieces of candy, but this years he left coins and cash! Pretty exciting stuff. Jolene has a new found love for jelly beans. I caught her with an entire carrot that was once full of beans half eaten and she wasn't giving the carrot back until it was empty. So she sat in a chair next to dad and pretty much darn near finished the whole thing. Until she dropped it and Emmett swooped in and ate a handful! Probably saved her from a horrible stomach ache so we didn't mind. Most of the pictures could have some really funny captions. I'm sure you will see what I mean. Joey couldn't find an egg right in front of her and Emmett would find an egg, open it, scream with joy and finally move on to another hidden egg. His hunt took a bit longer than Joey's. Later for dinner we headed over to Grammy's for a ham feast and the few eggs that the bunny left there too. We pulled up to the house and Emmett was practically out of his seat screaming that the bunny had been here to and "give me my basket!" What a gorgeous day we had here. The kids got to play out back with bubbles and trikes, while we watched with glasses of wine. It was a great way to end the day.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Emmett and Luke go hiking

It was a bit chilly for Jolene and I to join the boys in a hike up Heart Mountain this weekend, so we went to Billings with Mom instead. Our trip was uneventful, but the boys had fun! Luke and Emmett joined some friends-Jaren and Tara, Justin and Judy and Jake and Morissa on their hike up Heart Mountain. Luke and Emmett went for as far as they thought they could go and made it to the big meadow before the mud and snow was just too much. Luke had brought the backpack to carry Emmett when he had had enough. Luke and Emmett went down and had lunch in the car and went home for naps. The rest of the crew made it to the top. They said it was thigh deep snow in spots but the view form the top was worth it. Mom and I got home just in time for Jolene and I to change clothes and join in their BBQ. The kids rode their trikes around and had a ball, trying to soak up the last bit of sunshine for the day.