Look what arrived!

Late last night, a large and heavy box was delivered.  Can you guess what it is?

Joshua was excited to open the box. 

At first glance, it isn't that exciting.  It's boxes and boxes of supplies.  (A three month supply)

 We had to look a little deeper in the box.  I love how it was packaged in a fun way.

This is it!  Joshua's pump.  The pump is on the left and the meter (or "Ping") is on the right.

The timing has gone pretty quickly in terms of the process of getting our pump.  I know we are fortunate on that front and know that this isn't the experience of everyone.  Now, we are waiting on a training session to occur with his doctor (I'm really hoping it's our favorite doctor!) and other people.  I'm really not sure who is to be in on this.  I was told when I called to set it up that it may take several weeks to get it coordinate.  I hope that they pick any day but our field trip day to do this!

We'll spend our waiting time learning.  Joshua has a workbook to go through to see what he knows.  This will be good for both of us to work through so that we understand as much as possible before he starts wearing the pump. 

I've already started reading the book Pumping Insulin.  There is a lot to take in!

We haven't quite finished with the box.

This is no light reading!  Its over 200 pages.  I think this will keep us busy until we are able to have our appointment!

Today was a beautiful day filled with lots of outside play time!  I also spent some time working on a chore system for our family.  I'm not finished, but have made good progress.  I need to do some training before we can hit this running, but that needed to be done and I'm hoping this will help us. 

I also spent time today shopping with Rebecca.  It was fun to spend time with her.  We also worked on our Bible study.  We are doing a study on the book of Esther and it's been wonderful!

God also blessed me in another way today.  This morning, my readings centered on anger.  It wasn't really something I planned, but after an incident with the boys, it was something I really needed.  I was able to have a really neat conversation with one of my boys about anger and what the Bible has to say about anger.  We also talked about how to deal with anger and made a plan.  I am so incredibly thankful that God prepared me for this time.  I know He probably wants to do this much more frequently with me if I only stopped and listened.  Today I listened and He blessed me!

We also faced a challenge tonight.  As I was serving dinner, Joshua checked the carbs on the package of rice for me.  The number seemed high and I asked him to check again.  He confirmed the numbers and we went with it.  I dosed him and he went back out to play.  In less than an hour, he told me he felt low.  He was 43.  His lowest number ever.  I'm so very thankful he felt it as I wouldn't have checked him for at least another hour.  We spent the next couple of hours working to bring his numbers up - but not send him sky high.  We read a book together and figured out where we had made a mistake.  Again, I'm thankful, so very thankful that this time he knew.  He doesn't always feel a low, but this time he did.  Thank you God for watching out for our boy!

Tomorrow we are going to an Easter  Egg hunt sponsored by the JDRF.  It's a suger free hunt!  I'm hoping that the rain holds off and even more I'm hoping that Joshua will be able to connect with another litlte boy with Juvenile Diabetes.  I would love for him to have a friend that understands what he is dealing with.  Even tonight as we were working through the low, he said "I hate diabetes".  I had to agree.  "Me too!"  It's a horrible disease that I never truly understood.  I never knew how hard it is to deal with on a daily basis.  Hoping and praying for a cure!

Hoping your tomorrow is a blessed one as we anticipate the Holy Week.

In His love

Leslie

Albert - FIAR Vol 4 Co-op

This happened a week ago, but was the same day as Daniel's eye appointment so I  haven't gotten it posted. 

We had another delightful day at co-op.  These are honestly some of my favorite days.  I love the creativity and energy put into it by the other moms.  I also love seeing the expressions of creativity by the children.  I always learn new things and just love spending a fun morning with friends!

As always, we start with reading the story.  We spend our time outside as often as weather allows.

The children had a discussion about illusion because in the story Albert, he checks the weather to see if it is a good day for going outside.  It is, until he hears a "bad noise" and then he decides to stay.  The excuse is the weather when in reality that isn't the real reason at all.  Isn't that a great thing to be talking about with children - to help them understand and deal with reality.

Miss Lynn had some examples of things that she partly showed them and then when they saw the entire thing, they realized that it was not as it had appeared.  Then they spent some time looking at some puzzles and optical illusions.

This is the book that was used and it is a really neat one!

In the story, when Albert holds his hand out to check the weather, a bird drops a twig in his hand.  Surprised, he stands there and watches as the mama and papa bird continue to drop sticks into his hand until a nest is built.  To explore a little about birds, each child was given a tag with a picture and description of a bird.  They could use this to talk and ask questions and share which bird they happened to be.

One of the highlights of the day was ... egg-speriments.  My boys loved this!

One of the experiments including observing what happened to an egg soaked in vinegar (a chemical reaction that causes the shell to be gone/absorbed (?) and turns the egg into a rubbery form that bounces.  Another demonstrated the strength of the egg shell.

Next, what happens to an egg when you light a match, place it in a bottle and place an egg on top of the bottle (blocking the entrance)?

The lighted match creates a vaccuum pulling the egg into the bottle.

Learning how to tell if an egg is boiled or not by spinning it, stopping it with your finger and then watching to see what it does.  (The raw egg starts spinning again due to the yolk still being in motion from the prior spinning.)

The children were given more pictures of birds while they looked at a poster with a variety of bird's nests on them.  They then took turns placing the birds with their nests.

The children were then given the opportunity to express themselves by decorating eggs.  They could chose to do one that had been "blown" or one that was hard-boiled.  They could use paint, markers, colored pencils, and/or tissue paper/mod podge to decorate the eggs.

Each egg was unique and different.  It's always a treat to see the children express themselves.  (And I had to try not to laugh when one of mine painted his egg ... white!)

The children played with some of the extra eggs with some making nests by the creek and others made

Egg bombs.   (One of those moments you don't envision when you first become a mom of boys!)

I just thought this was a neat picture of the egg flying through the air on its way to a tree.

The last lesson was on noise and how it moves through the air (waves) as well as the decibel level of various items.  The children learned about the effect of loud noises on their ears too.  Each child was given a slip of paper with a noise on it - from jet plane to a whisper and lots more.  Then then tried to guess the decibel level and were able to see if that item was at a sound level that was dangerous for their ears.

We finished with a yummy snack - egg, nuts, seeds. 

The children were given a cute little fabric nest for their eggs. 

Thanks Lynn and Vivian for a wonderful morning!  We had a blast!

Hope you enjoyed a peek into our day.

Blessings

Leslie