Lovebirds and Pumps

Clay got his braces off! : )  Yippee!  We are so happy for him, it's been a long road (for both of us!).  Lots of broken brackets, reminders to brush and wear rubber bands, and appointments.  So thankful for our orthodontist, Ethan is next..it'll be our fourth set. :O

We've seen all these fabulous birds lately around our house.  We had a pair of finches outside our kitchen porch.  They nested in a hanging lantern, and flew in and out all the time..now I think they are gone.  Poof. : (

Now we have these sweet, bigger birds on our front porch..another couple!  (We are soo in the lovebird business!)  They fly in and out of our front porch..but there is no nest, and really nowhere to build one.  I think the lanterns out there are just a date.  They have not shown any PDA, heehee. ; )
 

Can you see them both?!  One on the top of each light! : )

Our lives have calmed down a little bit since school let out and baseball ended.  We are SO regretting not signing up the kids for camp earlier in the year.  Clay and Mary Claire agreed to go to Camp Sweeney, but there were no spots for the camp that began June 27th, and we go on vacation during the last session.  We are going to plan to sign them up early for next year.  I've only heard wonderful things about it! : )  And even my shy girl agreed to go!
 

We got to see the sneak preview this past Thursday night, fun!  ..and Ethan has decided he doesn't like family pictures. : (  He was hiding behind Kevin for the first four shots!

I had this very surreal moment today.  My kids were all out swimming, and Ches was with them.  I was making cookies, and they wanted grilled cheese sandwiches, so I never got to get outside with them in the day.  Anyway, the big kids had eaten and needed their pumps to bolus for food.  The pumps were in their bathrooms.  I ran up and collected pumps, and had to stop to catch my breath.  Never did I think this was in my future.  That I'd have TWO kids on insulin pumps.  That I'd be fetching their pumps so they didn't have to stop swimming, dry off, and go upstairs.
  

I just got overwhelmed.  It's easy to just keep going, to just suck it up and focus on today.  To change their sites, fill the reservoirs, change the sensor, charge the battery, fill prescriptions, and keep. on. going.

I guess seeing the pumps together, tubing sets together, it hit me.  It'll pass.  It's almost gone.  Another site change at 2:15 this morning, and one tonight after dinner.  Just keep going.  After all, I have a million other things to get done.

I've been working on a couple of bulletin boards at church, they needed to coordinate.  One in English, and one in Spanish.  I used some cute fabric for background:

I added colored border, then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut letters and make banners with ribbon.  I also printed and matted some pictures from Vacation Bible School of all the kids together.

I totally underestimated how many notices needed to go on these boards!!  It looked really busy.  At least one of the huge posters will come down this week, so I need to go and rearrange them before I go out of town!

We also sold tickets for a raffle for three big items (Jump Castle-yes, the ENTIRE thing! a big screen TV, and a sound system), and used the old Welcome Booth (cart) that I worked on many years ago!  Boy, I need to redo the bulletin boards on that too!  The money for the raffle goes to pay for seminary for the priests in Arkansas.  (If you want to buy any tickets, let me know!  They are only $2 each!) : )

We are leaving for vacation next weekend, so it's starting to get busy (HAHA!).  I usually try to coordinate all of our clothes, and we'll do laundry about halfway through.  It's a huge undertaking.  But it's totally worth the kids not clashing, ha!  Oh, and all the diabetes supplies!!  They need their own zipcode.  The kids have been growing, upping their basals, and EATiNG!  Lots of insulin lately.

And toothbrushes.  And shampoo.  And swimsuits.  And beach toys.  And my camera.  And lots of movies.  And electronics.  And they are pushing for me to get Netflix.  How much data will that take?  For four kids watching movies for roughly 24 hours each way?  Oh, and Chicago on the way home?  That only adds a few hours. 

at the 14th Street bridge/pier.  You can almost see Angelo's behind Caroline's arm.  It's where we eat pizza EVERY day.  Yum.  And sit in our sandy suits.  And use their bathrooms. ; )

I'd better get packing, we have more memories to make.  Hope you are having a great summer! : )
Hugs,