Last week, Dan got some last-minute Broncos football tickets and took Ashlyn to the game. Ashlyn wore my Broncos t-shirt over some leggings and had a great afternoon with her Dad. The Broncos lost to the Jets 20-24 on a very questionable call in the final few minutes. It's always too bad when the refs decide the game, but Dan & Ashlyn still enjoyed the experience. Ashlyn was wowed by the suite and enjoyed her second pro-football game.

Bare buns and preschool...

I was grateful that to be asked to participate in a "joy school"-type Preschool for Claire recently by some women in my ward. I had gone back and forth about whether or not I wanted to put her in Preschool this year, but this decision was easy. It's twice a week for 2 1/2 hours with 3 other girls whose families have all moved in since our family came in May. The girls' birthdays are all within 3 months of each other and they get along well. We each take a week to teach and focus on a letter and color.

It was my turn to teach this week and I had the letter "B" and the color black. We made Black "B" Bugs out of buttons, popsicle sticks and sequins, we danced and sang songs, had story time, colored mini letter "B" books and coloring pages, ate bananas and banana bread, made Baa Baa Black Sheep out of their handprints and ended the week by making bracelets with beads. I enjoyed it and so did Claire. It was fun to see the girls at church today wearing their bracelets they had made.

The other good news is that Claire is finally potty-trained... Hallelujah!!! She woke up 2 weeks ago with a dry diaper in the morning for the very first time in her life. Then, it happened again and again. We've been actively trying to train her for about 4 months now and it's been beyond frustrating. Now I think maybe she wasn't physically ready until recently. I've felt like I couldn't take her anywhere because I was worried about accidents, but she's done really well this week. The only hitch is that she insists on taking off her pants. On Wednesday Corey had a neighbor friend over and out walks Claire with no pants on! Yikes! He just laughed and said his little sister does the same thing...

New Blood Glucose Monitor!

Last week I finally started a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) with my insulin pump. I've been researching this technology for almost 2 years and was relieved when my insurance finally approved it. I wore another brand of CGM in February, 2009 for a trial week and have wanted one ever since. I've used an insulin pump for over 11 years and I currently wear a Medtronic Paradigm pump. I've had some major complaints about this pump and Medtronic, but I do like that their CGM is integrated into their pump so I don't have a separate device to carry around in my pocket. 

So, what is a CGM anyway? It's got a disposable sensor that I replace every 6 days that connects to a little transmitter. Both the pump sensor and the glucose sensor have a metal needle. After they are inserted, the metal needle pulls out and just the thin casing stays in my skin. They are both comfortable and don't bother me much. However, I did get a little creeped out inserting the glucose sensor, since it has a very long and somewhat thicker needle. I was surprised at my reaction after 22 years of shots and needles! It takes 2 hours when first inserted, but then begins to take readings every minute, then sends an average every 5 minutes to my pump. I have to calibrate it by pricking my finger and checking my blood sugar with a meter every 12 hours. I had been testing 7-9 times a day before, so this is a nice change! My fingers will thank me:-)

The CGM measures sugar in interstitial fluid (the skin above the blood vessels) so the readings can be a bit different than blood sugars. The cool thing is that I can see trends as my blood sugar is going up or down. I can see a graph on my pump over 24 hours. It beeps when my sugar is too high or too low (for the limits I choose) and is ahead of my blood sugars, meaning that it will beep BEFORE I'm too low or too high so I can treat it before I'm feeling miserable. 

I've just worn it for 12 days, but I don't ever want to be without it now! I've been extremely frustrated with my diabetes lately. I want to scream when I do everything "right" and my sugars don't cooperate. I hope that this new technology will help me see what's going on in between finger sticks...

Witch's Tea: 2010

I'm always grateful for continuing friendships. It's tough when we move so much, but Ashlyn's been good at staying in touch with a few good friends from Arizona and Erie. Her friend Adlee from her school class last year in Erie had her annual Witch's Tea last Saturday and like last year, it was incredible! Adlee's Mom Susan, who dressed as a Witch Doctor this year, goes all out and makes creepy treats ("Roadkill" sandwiches, eyeballs, Witch's fingers and Vampire blood punch). Ashlyn had fun wearing a wig, sassy fake eyelashes and black lipstick. All of this witchiness got us all in the mood for Halloween!

Ashlyn's solo at church...

I was so proud of Ashlyn for singing in Sacrament Meeting at church today! She's taking singing and piano from Cindy, who accompanied her. She sang the song "When All is Said and Done" by Katherine Nelson. We couldn't videotape her singing in the chapel, so this is Cindy and Ashlyn rehearsing before church. I don't know where she gets the nerve or her beautiful voice! Before Ashlyn sang, Cindy told her it wasn't about singing perfectly, but about sharing a message and helping people feel the Spirit... 

Now THAT's an interesting look...

I recently posted about Claire & her friend Peyton dressing up. Little did I know that Ashlyn still loves dressing up with her friends! Last week, Ashlyn & Rachel raided my closet, Dan's clothes and Claire's room and came up with these, um...interesting new fashion looks! Hmmmmm....

Say Ahhhhhhhh....

We had 2 eventful afternoons at the kids' Pediatric Dentist last week and lived to tell about it! Claire had her first exam and even sat still enough for a full cleaning and fluoride treatment. Corey had 2 cavities (UGH..our first!) and got to experience Nitrous Oxide a.k.a. "Laughing Gas" while he got a filling and his back molars sealed. Ashlyn got a stubborn tooth pulled that wouldn't budge, but was turning pink due to the permanent tooth coming in underneath. Fortunately, all 3 kids left the dentist smiling. Corey & Ashlyn were both numbed on the same side, so I took this funny picture of their crooked mouths!

Last camping trip of the year...

Last month we met my brother-in-law Ken, his girlfriend Sky and her daughters near Estes Park at East Portal for a camping trip. It was the last of the year since it's been getting so much colder. Claire couldn't even function, knowing that we were going camping... It's her favorite thing ever! The camping spot was perfect, with lots of trees and shade and we got nice big spot so both families had room. The bonus: flushing toilets and showers in the loo. Nice!  

We stayed up late talking around the campfire and in the morning, Ken got a wake up kiss from Claire, who poked her head through their tent window! The kids spent a lot of time up in the tall pine tree near our spot. Corey missed a branch on the way down and got a gouge all the way down his chest, but was still tough. Ouch! 

On the way home we stopped at Trout Haven Ranch to do some fishing. Since it was fully stocked with trout, we figured our chances were decent of hooking a few, but it turned out that Ashlyn was the only one who got lucky. Since you pay for any fish that bites, we had to cut Ashlyn off after 3 fish! Claire had fun playing with the worms and grubs that we were using for bait. Even Corey & Ashlyn didn't want to touch them, but Claire wanted to take them home as pets!

We took home 3 trout and cooked them for dinner. I grew up fishing with my Papa Hack, but it has been a long time since I've prepared fish that still had their heads for dinner! I certainly need a refresher course and I was wishing the fillets came out without bones like my Papa's!  

We ♥ Volleyball!

It's volleyball season again and Dan is coaching Ashlyn's team. The Rec Center near our home has practices and games on Wednesdays, which doesn't work for Dan, so we're back at Erie again. Dan was shocked to hear that he had 12 girls on the team! Yikes! With only 6 girls on the court at a time, that made for 2 whole teams and most of the girls had never even touched a volleyball before the first practice. We're half way through the season and still have 2 girls who have yet to get a serve over the net. It's still been fun and Ashlyn loves playing with Dan. I even get to coach occasionally when Dan has Boy Scouts. 

Last Saturday, they lost the first game by 2, won the second game by 2 and lost the last game by 1! 2 girls who hadn't previously scored on a serve got points and it was the best I've seen them play. The parents were all high-fiving each other and we were on our feet cheering them on. I love that! Our girls didn't even care that they technically lost. It was a win to them!

Muse concert...

I was beyond disappointed in April when my favorite band MUSE was stuck in a huge snowstorm in Aspen and their concert was cancelled. I bought tickets the following week when the concert was rescheduled... for October 2nd! So last weekend, Dan & I finally got to see Muse in concert after a 5 month wait. If possible, I love them even more now! Dan & I were joking that people used lighters at the last concert we went to...and now they just hold up their lighted cell phones. It was a fairly tame crowd and we laughed at the older guy who walked past us with a t-shirt that said, "I'm a rocker. I rock out." We did too!

So So So Happy...

Claire and I often take morning bike rides while the weather is still nice. Last week, we stopped to play at the park on our way home. She was in a particularly good mood and I got this video of her singing, "So so so happy..." I wish she were always SO happy!