The week from Hell

Sun March 22 began the week from Hell.
Adaira had been at her friends down the street. At noon her blood sugar was pretty good 9. 2 hours later she was ill and vomiting. Her blood sugar spiked to a reading of just "HI" on the monitor, and her urine showed high high keytones. So off to the hospital we go. Expecting that she would be in for a night or 2 as usual. instead she was put in the ICU with 2 Ivs each one taking about 6 tries to get into her tiny veins. Over night her blood pressure became a concern and she was put on a heart monitor and oxygen. Monday morning she could barely stay awake long enough to know i was there, it was decided to airlift her to a larger city hospital where her endocrinologist is. I think I may have sprained my tearducts crying, and praying. A woman from my church came to pray with me as we waited for the plane, and My best friend Jackie came to stay with me until we left. The weather was not co-operating, it was so icy there were a lot of accidents, so everything was delayed. Finally the plane arrived and we loaded her and I into the ambulance, drove over the worst road in Saskatchewan to the airport. *Side note* Wouldn't you think the road from hospital to airport would be at least paved? Really ill people shouldn't be jostled about! The flight was about 30 min. Her first flight and she was really to ill to notice. another ambulance from that airport to the hospital. Remember the icy roads i mentioned? There were so many accidnets that our ambulance couldn't park in the ambulance bay we parked outside and wheeled the stretcher bed in. once in i had to sign papera and then i turned around and she was gone!! OMG where is my child in this mess!! I was directed down a series of hallways to the pediatric emergency area. we sat there for a few hours... Finally an intern came and when we told him how long we had been waiting and that we had been airlifted he was surprized. Yeah they forgot us! Nice touch. 10 min later we were on the peds floor in the observation room. more IV fun, 2 interns and a nurse, gave up after 6 tries and called in a nurse from the NICU to get a line in. then another heart minitor, more oxygen, and another IV in her foot. They took blood every 4 hours, had more fun finding veins for it too. She wasn't allowed food or much water for 2 days. Rick and I stayed in the Ronald McDonald house across the street. WONDERFUL place for families with sick children, and 10 bucks a night, full kitchen, some food available space for your own groceries ect.Tues night she was allowed to eat. The Dr wanted us to count the carbs in her meals. this would have been easier if the nutrition labels were available to us or if the food wasn't all packaged. I told them that i didn't have the info i needed for the carbs. shrugged shoulders and then they report to the dr that we don't know how to count carbs!! She's been diabetic for almost 5 years I certainly know how to count carbs!! I was so mad I had to leave the room, twice before i started to knock heads together!
Wed she was doing much better and was off the IVs, YAY! That afternoon she made a friend and they watched the Twilight movie before bed. Thursday afternoon she was finally released! But because we were reported as not being able to carb count we were send to the dietician... When we and Adaira were able to answere all the questions and then explained what had happened she was a bit upset with the lack of respect we were given.
So.. Dr figures she needed a little change in her usual routine, meaning she now needs a shot of insulin at bedtime too, making 5 shots a day. and Mostly it's puberty, wreaking havoc with her. insulin is a hormone and so anytime the body starts producing more of the other hormones it affects the way the insulin is absorbed. lucky Adaira.
So the weekend was spent getting things in order, and I had a bellydance performance Mon night, Tues was appointments and scouts, today I went to the banks, and plan to do laundry. Tomorrow is eye appointments for my 3 kids, Fri is set up for a craft sale and the sale is Sat and Sun. I am already tired. But Adairas blood sugar is Ok now, so hopefully the extra insulin will keep her out of the hospital!!

Creative Spree

Last week and the week previous I was on a creative spree, everyday I had another idea to play with. It's kinda petered out now, which is good, now I have loads of stuff to list :) I did 7 wire wrap rings, which is new to me and kinda fun. 2 bracelets, 5 pairs of earrings, 3 - 3part sets(earrings, necklace and bracelet), and 7 yes 7 - 2 part sets (earrings and either bracelet or necklace) I also made my very best and all time favourite set ever!! Not bad for a run. My creativity does seem to ebb and flo this way, I'll have bunch of ideas and a compulsion to make them and then it kinda dies off. Because I know this, as soon as the creativity poops out I take all the photos in bunches as well, and then I have a couple weeks worth of listings before I get another creative spurt. I dunno if other crafty/creative folks work this way or if I am just an oddity, and it works for me. Here's a few samples of this spree:

My Little Holiday

Ahhh! Yup, that was nice, mostly.

Last week my hubby and I went to the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. http://www.templegardens.sk.ca/ It was great, day 1 we did shopping, some in Regina (1/2hr drive) some in Moose Jaw, luckily hubby is an enthusiastic shopper. He went to the hard ware shops and such. I went to Micheals and got some swarovski crystal for family pride bracelets i wanted to make and they were on sale, yay( see photo of mine) and , I bought jeans that were 1 size smaller than usual ON SALE!! then just to amaze myself I found the brown heels I have been looking for. For me shoe shopping is a nightmare, I have wide feet and VERY high arches, but i got shoes, and... they were on sale too!! OH WOW!! Good times folks, can't tell ya the high. I found stuff and everything i bought was on sale, how amazing was that? Then we had supper with a couple he is friends with, and she ordered a set of jewelry based on the bracelet i made for my hubby, score! Then a dip in the pool before bed.

Day 2 I bumped into a friend, and we had lunch. ends up she wanted to order a custom set of my antler jewelry for her moms B-day! double score. Then it was off for massages, and the guy working on my husband was from my home town and had been a client of mine when i was doing massage work, cool. went for a swim. Then the yummiest meal ever at the best place to eat I have ever been too. Hopkins dining parlour is a restored old mansion with all sorts of antiques. And apparently it's haunted by the orginal owners wife, Millie Hopkins But nothing creepy has ever happened and I have been there several times and have NEVER had anything that wasn't amazingly tasty. http://www.2020website.net/p-hopkins.html Then the pool. the pool is a fed from a natural mineral spring and is as warm as some hot tubs, it is also partially outdoors. when we went into the outdoor part the steamy mist was fairly thick making it seem more private than it is. also my hair actually froze! And there was a family with a couple toddlers and the kids were wearing touques! Ha, only in Saskatchewan do you need a touque to swim! Too funny!

Then we got a call from the guy taking care of our pets... the darn cats tipped over the filter in the fish tank and flooded the flooring and leaked downstairs all over the carpeting. he happens to have a wet vac so he got the carpet for us. but the lamanent(sp?) floor upstairs... will need to be replaced, not immediately, but it is somewhat damaged.

Ok so next morning we are having breakfast and my mom calls, my daughter who happens to be diabetic is having stomach aches and her blood sugar is very high. Si I give the sick day info and call back in a couple hours, she feels better, sugar still a bit high, managed to eat a few crackers. Now i am a knot of worry, so call back around noon, and she was OK. So then we went on a tour of the tunnels under Moose Jaw, some were used as Al Capponnes hide out, and some were used by the Chinese immigrants. very educational. then another dip in the pool, supper and off for home. It was a good few days, but the floor is a downer. Oh well we had a good time.

The Weeknd of Company

Phew!! What a busy couple of days!!

My good friend and fellow etsy artist Elaine (tooaquarius.etsy.com) and her daughter were down for a visit. As it was her B-day and her daughter is a good friend of my eldest daughtetrs we had Chloe over for a 2 night sleepover Fri and Sat. At the same time my in-laws were down to visit and they haven't seen the kids since before Christmas!!

So Sat afternoon (Valentines) we took all 6 kids to the hotel where the in-laws were staying and went swimming, and then we went out for burgers. That evening the kids played and the adults played a board game and chatted.

Sun we took the kids and In-laws to church, and then out for a brunch smorg, and good thing because I don't think I have ever seen the kids so hungry!! The 5 yr old ate way more than I did!! That evening we had a pork roast supper, and then I brought out the birthday cake, a white chocolate cheesecake with whipped cream and strawberries. Elaine must have liked it because I got several thank-you s and tiny little thing that she is had 2 helpings ( gotta tease ya, sorry) That night Adaira slept over with Chloe at E's hunnys house , who happens to be my hubbies best friend (cool no?) Today (mon) is Family day, Adaira was dropped off at 1:00 ish and Elaine and Chloe headed for home. I am a bit tired and wish we could have visited (crafted with) with Elaine more, but oh well maybe next time won't be so busy.

Happy Birthday!!

Baking with kids

MMMM cake!!

This week I have a few baking projects to do. I have a cake for a church function happening today, cupcakes for my sons kindergarten class Valentines party, and a B-day cake for my friend and fellow etsy artist Elaine aka Tooaquarius.

Last night I started making the cake for the church, angelfood cake hollowed out and filled with chocolate mousse. My daughter age 7 wanted to help sooo badly. I made the cake and she made the mousse, measuring out and adding all the ingrediants, and using my hand mixer like a pro. Actually her mousse was as good or better than mine! And the best part for herwas licking the beaters off! For me the best part was cooking with my daughter, like my mom used to bake with me. Oh the memories, and lessons learned, baking is a fun way to begin teaching the kids to cook, and they are so proud of themselves! At moms hip was where I began my passion for cooking, and I think my middle child here has it too. One of my goals as a mom is to ensure all 5 of them can cook. At least enough to feed themselves before they leave home. Mac n cheese are all well and good on occasion but I don't want them to have to live off of it. Here is the final result--> She did a great job!

Tonight I make the cupcakes and I will be getting my boy to help me with them as well, at 4 he could flip pancakes, so mixing up cupcakes should be no problem! Now, who to help with Elaines cheesecake...

blog block

Right, so i have been meaning to blog all week, and I still have no idea what to say this week. What do you do when you know you should but dunno what to blog about really? So here is what I am up to lately.

Currently I am working on a series of projects based on colour, all in shades of whatever colour, like this one: --> Which I call "Midnight Sky" last night I did the brown and right now I am working on white, and will likely go through the rainbow. Some will be necklace and earring sets some bracelets. MIGHT do 3 part sets for a few, I dunno yet.

Hubby and I are trying to plan a few days away from the kids during Feb. break. However just as we made that decision all sorts of $ drains showed up, the energy bills practically doubled, needed some bulk basics, ect. So the "go to the spa" idea might not happen. We still need to go away and relax though, he is an accountant and tax season is about to kick in and he's stressed before it starts, NOT a good thing.

The kids are amusing and frustrating all at once. The youngest girl is left handed and keeps wanting to write backwards, the middle girl is ambidextrous (sp?) and will occasionally write the letters backwards. The eldest is old enough to be going to school dances and some of her friends have boyfriends!!! Isn't 11 a bit young, sigh! The eldest boy had a fit over an assignment that was to find a compliment for everyone in class, I mean crying pouting "it's too hard!!" fit. I don't get it. The youngest boy seems to be doing alright, but he keeps talking himself up, and I think he could be a bully magnet if he doesn't tone it down.

And on Monday I finally made an appointment to see my Dr for a physical and to look into my depression and cycle concerns. However I can't get in until Feb 23! Good thing I'm not sick or anything. Also I want to do something different with my hair, but it's so short I don't know what I can do that is easy to do in the morning. I don't have time for curling irons and detailly things. Maybe I'll shave it all except the bangs and dye them purple....

Wordless Wednesday